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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Overnight and through the day Friday, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. crews continued assessing winter storm damage, making repairs and restoring electric service to customers in Northern and Central California.

That work will continue until every customer has been restored, the company said.

In its last report on Friday, PG&E said 95 percent of residences and businesses that lost power due to strong winds, heavy rains and deep snow earlier this week have had their power restored.

Crews continue to focus on the areas where the largest number of customers remain without power, including locations in Lake, Mendocino, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Yolo, Amador and Humboldt counties.

In those locations and elsewhere, PG&E has found more than 1,500 instances of damaged infrastructure where equipment needs to be replaced or repaired, including 365 broken poles and 1,417 spans of wire.

The last estimate, given on Friday afternoon, said approximately 42,000 customers were without power due to storm damage. Of those, approximately 10,000 customers are located where PG&E crews can’t gain access due to high snow, falling trees and blocked roads.

Where crews can access damaged equipment, they will continue to restore service to customers today, tonight and through the weekend.

On Friday morning, less than 1,000 Lake County customers remained without power, according to PG&E spokeswoman Deanna Contreras.

As of Friday night, several hundred Lake County customers – including more than 300 along Highway 175 near Glenbrook – had not had their power restored, according to the PG&E outage map.

Based on 30 years of weather data, PG&E meteorologists described this week’s winter storm as the strongest since 2011 and say that it caused the highest two-day and three-day outage totals since 2010.

PG&E has been reaching out to every customer today who is still without power due to storm-related outages. This includes automated phone calls with updated information as well as through other channels. As crews complete damage assessments, customers will get updates providing their estimated time of restoration.

To support communities experiencing extended outages, PG&E has provided a variety of support including contributing $50,000 to the American Red Cross for storm relief, delivering blankets and water to customers in Yolo County and providing 21 megawatts of temporary generation to keep critical facilities powered in four counties.

As of Friday afternoon, PG&E said its crews had restored power to approximately 818,000 customers out of the approximately 860,000 who lost it due to heavy wind, rain and snow after the storm arrived on Tuesday.

PG&E crews, as well as some contract and mutual-aid crews, are in the field, assessing conditions, making repairs and restoring customers. Due to treacherous conditions and difficult terrain, these assessment activities are ongoing.

Damage from wind, heavy rains and snow has caused access issues due to roads blocked by trees, debris and snow In some locations, PG&E has been using helicopters, snow cats and four-wheel drive vehicles to gain access to infrastructure in the hardest-hit areas.

More than 450 crews plus another 500 or so troublemen and qualified electrical workers are engaged in assessment and restoration work. They are being supported by thousands of other employees who are staffing PG&E emergency-response centers, either virtually or in person.

On Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom swore in San Diego Assemblymember and Chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus Dr. Shirley N. Weber as California secretary of state.

Dr. Weber is California’s first Black secretary of state.

“On the eve of Black History Month, California once again makes history in swearing in Dr. Weber as secretary of state,” said Gov. Newsom. “As the state’s chief elections officer, Dr. Weber will continue her lifelong dedication to defending civil rights and will undertake a vital role in protecting our democratic process at a critical time.”

Confirmed by the Legislature this week, Dr. Weber was nominated by Gov. Newsom earlier this month to fill the secretary of state position vacated by U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, whom he appointed following the resignation of Vice President Kamala Harris from the U.S. Senate.

“The fact that each citizen is a primary officeholder in a democracy is the lodestone tenet of our system of government. It is my responsibility as secretary of state to ensure that more Californians are able to exercise that power through the electoral process, and that our elections remain secure, accessible and fair even under the most adverse conditions,” said Secretary of State Dr. Weber.

“Dr. King teaches us that we are at our best when we stand up in service of others and I am humbled to be able to continue to stand up for Californians as secretary of state. I thank the governor for his nomination, the state senators and Assembly members who confirmed my appointment, and the Californians who expressed their faith in my ability to assume this critical office. I look forward to lifting up and defending our democratic values of inclusivity and participation in this new role,” Dr. Weber said.

First elected to the California State Assembly in 2012, Dr. Weber has been a voice of moral clarity in the Legislature, providing leadership on issues of social justice.

She authored the California Act to Save Lives, landmark legislation signed by Gov. Newsom in 2019 setting new, higher standards on the use of deadly force by police.

Her ambitious legislative agenda has also included bills on education, civil rights, public safety, food insecurity, protections for persons with disabilities and voting rights.

She previously served as president of the San Diego Board of Education and as an Africana Studies Department professor at San Diego State University for 40 years.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday issued a proclamation declaring Jan. 30 as Fred Korematsu Day in California, in honor of the man who challenged the U.S. policy of interning Japanese-American citizens during World War II.

The proclamation hails the Oakland-born Fred Korematsu as a civil rights hero who made a bold decision at age 23 to challenge the policy of Japanese internment.

In 2010, then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill establishing Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution in perpetuity, the first statewide day named for an Asian American in U.S. history, according to the Fred Korematsu Institute.

The day is marked every Jan. 30, Korematsu’s birthday.

He died in March 2005 at age 86. This year marks the 102nd anniversary of his birth.

Korematsu, who worked as a welder, refused to abide by Executive Order 9066, the federal government’s demand that Japanese Americans report to incarceration camps.

Korematsu’s act of protest led to his arrest and conviction, which he fought all the way to the Supreme Court.

The highest court in the land would rule against him, arguing that the incarceration of Japanese Americans was justifiable based on military necessity.

Forty years later, a federal court overturned Korematsu’s criminal conviction.

In that ruling, Judge Marilyn Hall Patel said, “a grave injustice was done to American citizens and resident aliens of Japanese ancestry who, without individual review or any probative evidence against them, were excluded, removed and detained by the United States during World War II.”

“Over the course of his life, Korematsu fought for the civil liberties of others. He was tireless in his work to ensure Americans understood the lessons learned from one of the dark chapters of our history,” the governor’s proclamation said.

In 1998, President Bill Clinton awarded Korematsu the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

“The Supreme Court’s decision in Korematsu v. United States still hangs over this country after 77 years,” the governor’s proclamation stated. “Korematsu’s legacy reminds us that we must continue to strike out against injustice in our daily lives. Especially in a moment of increased Anti-Asian sentiment and xenophobia, each and every one of us must continue his fight for a more equal tomorrow.”

Learn more about Fred Korematsu here.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Thursday, a Spring Valley man was taken into custody after he was found in possession of drugs and an assault rifle.

Shannon Lee Henson, 42, was arrested early on Thursday, according to Lt. Corey Paulich of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

At 2:15 a.m. Thursday a sheriff’s deputy who was patrolling in the Nice area on Highway 20 conducted a traffic stop on a gray Dodge Charger for vehicle infractions, Paulich said.

The vehicle was occupied by four individuals, one of them being Henson, according to Paulich.

Paulich said a records check showed Henson was on post release community supervision and that the Charger was registered to him.

Deputies conducted a search of the vehicle, locating a syringe containing a clear substance and a clear plastic bag containing approximately 3.8 grams of suspected methamphetamine in the door compartment near where Henson had been seated, Paulich said.

In the trunk of the vehicle, Paulich said deputies located another syringe containing a clear substance and an assault rifle that had been disassembled. Along with the rifle deputies located a high capacity magazine containing 35 rounds.

Paulich said deputies located evidence on Henson’s cell phone that indicated he was traveling to Sacramento to sell or trade the assault rifle.

Henson was placed under arrest for being a felon in possession of a firearm, felon in possession of ammunition, possession of an assault rifle, possession of a controlled substance for sale, transportation of a controlled substance and transportation of an assault rifle, Paulich said.

Paulich said Henson has an extensive criminal history related to narcotics, stolen property and firearms.

Henson was booked into the Lake County Jail where he remains in custody on a no-bail hold, while the other occupants of the vehicle were released with no charges, Paulich said.

On May 10, NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer, or the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, will say farewell to asteroid Bennu and begin its journey back to Earth.

During its Oct. 20, 2020, sample collection event, the spacecraft collected a substantial amount of material from Bennu’s surface, likely exceeding the mission’s requirement of 2 ounces (60 grams). The spacecraft is scheduled to deliver the sample to Earth on Sep. 24, 2023.

“Leaving Bennu’s vicinity in May puts us in the ‘sweet spot,’ when the departure maneuver will consume the least amount of the spacecraft’s onboard fuel,” said Michael Moreau, OSIRIS-REx deputy project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Nevertheless, with over 593 miles per hour (265 meters per second) of velocity change, this will be the largest propulsive maneuver conducted by OSIRIS-REx since the approach to Bennu in October 2018.”

The May departure also provides the OSIRIS-REx team with the opportunity to plan a final spacecraft flyby of Bennu. This activity was not part of the original mission schedule, but the team is studying the feasibility of a final observation run of the asteroid to potentially learn how the spacecraft’s contact with Bennu’s surface altered the sample site.

If feasible, the flyby will take place in early April and will observe the sample site, named Nightingale, from a distance of approximately 2 miles (3.2 kilometers). Bennu’s surface was considerably disturbed after the Touch-and-Go, or TAG, sample collection event, with the collector head sinking 1.6 feet (48.8 centimeters) into the asteroid’s surface. The spacecraft’s thrusters also disturbed a substantial amount of surface material during the back-away burn.

The mission is planning a single flyby, mimicking one of the observation sequences conducted during the mission’s Detailed Survey phase in 2019. OSIRIS-REx would image Bennu for a full rotation to obtain high-resolution images of the asteroid’s northern and southern hemispheres and equatorial region. The team would then compare these new images with the previous high-resolution imagery of Bennu obtained during 2019.

"OSIRIS-REx has already provided incredible science,” said Lori Glaze, NASA's director of planetary science at the agency's headquarters in Washington. "We're really excited the mission is planning one more observation flyby of asteroid Bennu to provide new information about how the asteroid responded to TAG and to render a proper farewell.”

These post-TAG observations would also give the team a chance to assess the current functionality of science instruments onboard the spacecraft – specifically the OSIRIS-REx Camera Suite, OSIRIS-REx Thermal Emission Spectrometer, OSIRIS-REx Visible and Infrared Spectrometer and OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter.

It is possible dust coated the instruments during the sample collection event and the mission wants to evaluate the status of each. Understanding the health of the instruments is also part of the team’s assessment of possible extended mission opportunities after the sample is delivered to Earth.

The spacecraft will remain in asteroid Bennu’s vicinity until May 10, when the mission will enter its Earth Return Cruise phase. As it approaches Earth, OSIRIS-REx will jettison the Sample Return Capsule, or SRC. The SRC will then travel through the Earth’s atmosphere and land under parachutes at the Utah Test and Training Range.

Once recovered, NASA will transport the capsule to the curation facility at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and distribute the sample to laboratories worldwide, enabling scientists to study the formation of our solar system and Earth as a habitable planet.

Goddard provides overall mission management, systems engineering, and the safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona in Tucson is the principal investigator, and the University of Arizona also leads the science team and the mission’s science observation planning and data processing.

Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, built the spacecraft and provides flight operations. Goddard and KinetX Aerospace are responsible for navigating the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.

OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA’s New Frontiers Program, which NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more information on OSIRIS-REx, visit https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex and https://www.asteroidmission.org.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – During a special Thursday night meeting, the Lakeport Unified School District Board voted to hire a Kelseyville-based consultant to lead the district’s search for a new superintendent.

The unanimous vote to hire Dr. C. Richard Smith of Education Leadership Solutions came at the end of the hour-and-a-half-long meeting.

Superintendent Jill Falconer announced her plans to retire effective June 30. The board accepted her resignation at its Jan. 14 meeting.

Board Chair Dan Buffalo was concerned that the district already is late in getting into the market for a new superintendent, with recruiting often starting early in the year.

Falconer said superintendent hires usually come in three waves, with the first wave early in the year, when established superintendents move into new jobs. By late spring, the third wave arrives, and during the discussion, Buffalo noted those candidates would be less desirable.

Falconer encouraged the board to make a decision sooner rather than later to start the process.

She told the board during the discussion that she received a list of seven consulting firms that conduct searches from Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg.

She reached out to those firms, some of which said they were not interested in submitting a proposal.

However, two proposals came in, from Smith and from Leadership Associates of Santa Barbara, a headhunting firm that has conducted hundreds of executive searches.

Smith’s proposal estimated the search would cost $7,500 for him to complete. Leadership Associates gave an estimate of $14,500 for an all-inclusive fee, also offering a guarantee that if the new superintendent leaves within one year, it would conduct a new search at no cost except for travel and advertising expenses.

Smith, who made an appearance during the virtual meeting to answer questions, said he has only conducted one previous superintendent’s search.

That was one he and former Lake County Superintendent of Schools Wally Holbrook completed for the Konocti Unified School District. That search led to the selection of Dr. Becky Salato, hired just one week before the Lakeport Unified Board hired Falconer in May 2019.

During the Konocti Unified recruitment, Smith’s firm used a search committee process. His proposal for Lakeport Unified suggests doing the same.

Smith said his firm previously worked on a bond-related contract with Lakeport Unified.

The firm also was hired in January 2016 to help with formalizing the creation of the Upper Lake Unified School District, as Lake County News has reported.

Smith told the board on Thursday night that Holbrook has moved to Vacaville and he did not expect him to be part of this search process.

Board member Jeannie Markham asked about Smith’s education and career.

He said he spent five years in the US Navy before going to school to get his education degree, which led to him becoming a science teacher at Santa Rosa High School.

Smith went on to take an assistant administrator job in Ethiopia before attending the University of Kansas, where he received his doctorate in administration.

He served as superintendent of the American School in Taipei, Taiwan, worked as an executive at Stanford University and started a research institute in Washington, DC. Smith returned to California, where he was vice president of research and product development for Jostens Co., whose products include high school yearbooks and class rings, and sports championship rings.

Smith retired and moved to Kelseyville, where he and his wife have been active in working with the Kelseyville Pear Festival. He’s also worked on productions with Mendocino College’s Shakespeare at the Lake.

“In my career, I’ve hired an awful lot of people,” said Smith.

Asked by Markham about his strategy, Smith said he would work on a winnowing process that would only bring in candidates the board would seriously consider. He said they would want to prepare the interview so they know exactly what they’re looking for in a superintendent candidate.

Board member Jennifer Hanson asked if Smith is comfortable working with a committee of teachers, staff and community members.

While he said he’s not in a position to insist on it, Smith said he thinks it’s critical to include both staff and community members in the search if for no other reason than to build community support for schools.

Board member Phil Kirby, who spent decades in school administration, made clear early in the discussion that he supported hiring Smith.

Kirby moved to hire Smith and his firm to conduct the superintendent search and to authorize Buffalo to negotiate and execute and agreement with him.

Markham seconded and the board approved the motion 5-0.

Buffalo said he would contact Smith on Friday to begin those negotiations.

Smith thanked them and said that the heavy lifting in the hiring process will be on the part of the board.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.