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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE – The first stamp in their new US passports may be from Japan, but for many of these Middletown Middle School students, this will be the first of many worldwide adventures.
Twelve Middletown Middle School students will leave in August as part of an ongoing exchange program with their sister city, Naka-cho – which means “Middletown” – and fly to Japan for eight days to gain a better understanding of a very different culture.
"The benefits of this program are numerous," said former Middletown Middle School Principal JoAnn Rodriguez. “This trip will open up their horizons … and whet their appetites for learning about other cultures.”
Rodriguez, now retired, received written correspondence from Naka-cho asking for a cultural exchange. After several years of writing back and forth, in 1994, the first delegation from Middletown Middle School was sent to Japan.
The next year, students and parents from Naka-cho came to Middletown – and they have alternated every year since.
“It gives the students a desire to learn and appreciate other cultures,” Rodriguez said, who explained that some students host a family from Japan one year – then stay with that same family the following year when they go.
In May, the Japan Club at Middletown Middle School hosted a dinner and silent auction at the Hidden Valley Lake Country Club to raise money for the trip.
Dan Morgan, Middletown Middle School current principal, explained that each of the students go through a very rigorous screening process in order to participate in the program. In the process they must demonstrate citizenship, and show they are maintaining a high grade point average and receiving recommendations from their teachers.
“This is an amazing group of kids and parents,” said Morgan. “They're all working very hard to make this happen.”
If you would like to assist the students in the Japan Club, please contact Kris Davis at 987-4160.
E-mail Terre Logsdon at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
With the governor's signature, SB 607, an urgency measure introduced in May by North Coast Sen. Patricia Wiggins, goes into immediate effect.
Thanks to SB 607, individuals may now manufacture up to 200 gallons per household per calendar year for personal or family use without the need for a license or permit.
Wiggins introduced the bill after a state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control official said a provision in the state's business and professions code made it illegal for home winemakers to share their products with others – even at county fairs or at similar events that been held for decades, according to a statement from her office.
“Even though the provision banning home winemaker competitions had not been widely enforced in practice, the growing legions of home winemakers did not deserve to have an arcane section of state law hanging over them,” Wiggins, who chairs the Senate Select Committee on California’s Wine Industry, said in a written statement.
The bill's signing resolves the issue in time for the peak season of county fairs, Wiggins said, and in advance of what she called the “big daddy of home winemaker competitions,” the California State Fair.
Lake County is home to its own home winemakers festival, which will return for his sixth year this June 28 in downtown Kelseyville. The annual event is a benefit for Clear Lake Performing Arts.
Organizers had indicated they were continuing forward with plans for this year's festival, hoping Wiggins' bill would be in force before the event, which in fact came true.
Connel Murray of CLPA said the home winemakers festival is his group's largest annual fundraiser, attracting participants and visitors from all over Northern California.
The Lake County Fair, he said, also has a home winemaking competition, with no public tasting component, as the CLPA event does.
The event has grown each year, he said. Last year's event netted about $7,000, and they're hoping that this year's will break the $10,000 mark.
Proceeds go to such CLPA efforts as supporting its symphony orchestra.
Before Wiggins' bill adjusted the law to make the festivals legal, state law had defined a “winegrower” as “any person who has the facilities and equipment for the conversion of fruit into wine and is engaged in the production of wine, except for those persons who produce less than 200 gallons of wine per year for their personal consumption.” SB 607 expands the definition of a winegrower by removing that exception, her office reported.
The law also had allowed homemade beer to be entered into competitions without the need for a licesen or permit, according to Wiggins' office.
Stephen Chambers, executive director of the Western Fairs Association, said in a written statement that more than 50 fairs host home winemaker competitions.
“We realize that amateur wine competitions are a small piece of the puzzle, but they are, nonetheless, a piece that completes the picture for many fairs throughout the state,” Chambers said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
LAKE COUNTY – June is the month when the relatively sedate stars of spring slowly give way to the brilliance of the summer skies. But we still have several weeks to wait before summer is upon us. In the meantime, we can enjoy what’s left of spring including the celestial show.
Bootes
Directly overhead is a constellation named Bootes – someone tried to write a song about this constellation and wanted to name it “Shake Your Bootes,” until she learned that wasn’t the correct pronunciation. Bootes is pronounced “Boo-aw-tis.”
In Greek and Roman mythology, Bootes is associated with agriculture, and is most commonly referred to as a herdsman. But there is a lesser known, but somewhat amusing story that has him cast as a grape grower and winemaker.
Bacchus, the god of wine and parties, introduced Bootes to the art of winemaking. So impressed was Bootes with the taste of wine that he invited his friends over for a taste of his new discovery.
Unfortunately, his friends drank far too much, and woke up the following morning with terrible hangovers. They were so sick they thought Bootes had tried to poison them!
Bootes is shaped like a kite, with the bright star Arcturus at its base. Arcturus is the third brightest star in the sky, and compared to our sun, it is huge!
Hercules
Accompanying our celestial winemaker to the east is the strongman Hercules. Hercules is a faint constellation that requires clear, dark skies to see – and we have an abundance of skies like that in Lake County!
In Greek and Roman mythology, Hercules was the son of Zeus, king of all the gods. Hercules was born with tremendous strength. He managed to get himself into some serious trouble, and to exonerate himself, had to perform 12 labors.
One of these labors was to subdue Hydra, a nine-headed, dog-like monster that had breath that could kill (no dog-breath jokes, please!).
Hercules has one of the most beautiful objects in the night sky – an object that can only be seen through a telescope. This object is a cluster of stars called “The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules.” It is also labeled “M13” in the Messier catalog of deep sky objects. This is a cluster of several hundred thousand stars. Through a telescope, it looks like a miniature Christmas ornament.
For more information about astronomy and local astronomy-related events, visit the Taylor Observatory website at www.taylorobservatory.org.
John Zimmerman has been an amateur astronomer for 50 years. He is a member of the Taylor Observatory staff, where, among his many duties, he helps create planetarium shows.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
In January, Thompson told Lake County News he was endorsing Clinton's historic presidential bid, citing her strength on issues important to the First Congressional District, such as agriculture and the environment.
However, he had said at the time that he felt either Clinton or Obama would make “a great president.”
A statement issued from Thompson's Washington, D.C. office Saturday afternoon said the congressman was giving his support to the presumptive Democratic nominee.
“Sen. Obama’s nomination is an historic achievement for our country,” Thompson said in the written statement. “As I said from the beginning, this process would be finished long before the convention. I will do everything in my power to help make him our nation’s next president.”
Thompson called Obama “an electrifying candidate who ran a flawless campaign.”
“He has struck a vibrant chord with the American people and motivated millions of new voters to make their voices heard,” Thompson said. “From improving access to health care to protecting our environment to rebuilding our economy to ending the war in Iraq, I strongly support Senator Obama’s vision for America and believe it is directly aligned with the needs of our Congressional District.”
Thompson has had occasion to work with Obama; the two of them partnered to present legislation in both the House and Senate last year to bring home US troops from Iraq and institute an international diplomatic strategy for peace, as Lake County News reported last year.
“I look forward to working on many more important initiatives once he’s elected president of the United States,” Thompson said.
Thompson praised Clinton, who he called “a powerful leader who also energizes and inspires voters.”
He added, “I know she’ll continue her tireless efforts and help us elect Sen. Obama, change the direction of our nation, end the war, and restore our standing around the world.”
Thompson is one of more than 60 superdelegates representing California, about half of which had declared their support for Clinton this spring.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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