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- Written by: Lake County News reports
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A Clearlake man has been convicted of arson and sentenced to state prison.
Charles William Cartwright, 54, was convicted of and sentenced for committing felony arson on Monday, Sept. 13, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff.
Cal Fire Arson Investigator Joe Baldwin and other Cal Fire personnel responded to a vegetation fire that occurred on July 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the area of Ogulin Canyon Road near the City of Clearlake, according to investigation reports by Cal Fire.
The fire was limited to less than a half acre of grass and oak trees as a result of successful fire suppression efforts by Cal Fire, including the use of a helicopter.
Because the fire was in a wooded grassy area between Clearlake and the Landrum Ranch area of Highway 20, it had the potential to become a serious wildland fire, officials said.
Upon arrival, Cal Fire firefighters found a dehydrated “hiker” in the area, and assisted him medically. Investigator Baldwin initially interviewed Cartwright, who stated he did not start the fire and had nothing with which to start a fire.
Baldwin then interviewed other fire personnel who were initially on the scene to gather further information.
The helicopter pilot and another fire captain advised Baldwin that when they arrived, Cartwright was lying in the grass next to the fire.
Other fire personnel reported that when they rendered assistance to Cartwright, he admitted he started the fire.
Cartwright stated that he had become lost after hiking all day and did not have water, and was afraid he could not make it back to town.
He told authorities he set the fire to signal for help so he could get back to town. Cartwright advised that he lived in the homeless encampment behind Foods, Etc.
Cartwright was charged with arson of forest land for intentionally starting the fire, and with recklessly starting a fire of forest land, Hinchcliff said.
Hinchcliff said that on Aug. 16, Cartwright pleaded no contest to arson for intentionally starting the fire.
On Monday, Judge David J. Markham sentenced Cartwright to six years in state prison, Hinchcliff said.
Hinchcliff said the conviction also qualifies as a “strike” if Cartwright commits any felonies in the future.
Cartwright will also be required to register as an arson offender for his lifetime, Hinchcliff reported.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Two water companies are supporting local and state officials in assisting Lake County residents who are being affected by a health advisory related to their private drinking water intakes.
On Wednesday evening, approximately 280 properties in the Oaks and Lower Arms of Clear Lake that use a personal, private intake to draw their household water directly from the lake were advised by Public Health officials not to consume their tap water, due to high cyanotoxin levels.
Thanks to the swift and collaborative efforts of local officials, local water systems such as Golden State Water and Mt. Konocti Mutual Water Co., and the State Water Resources Control Board, alternative filling stations have been established to provide potable, drinkable water to the affected property owners:
• Fill station for houses in the blue zone: 10680 Lakeshore Drive, Clearlake: provided by Golden State Water Co., 1-800-999-4033;
• Fill station for houses in the red zone: 4980 Hawaina Way, Kelseyville: provided by Mt. Konocti Mutual Water Co., 707-277-7466. There will be a sign that reads, "Potable Water.”
Water availability begins Saturday at noon and is strictly limited to property owners affected by the health advisory.
This water is intended to meet very basic household needs (e.g., drinking, cooking), please limit to 25 gallons per week per household.
The treatment process and testing are designed to ensure that the water delivered to our customers meets all water quality standards. The finished water has been tested and meets health guidelines for cyanotoxins.
Once the water leaves the point of connection, the Water Systems can no longer guarantee that the water continues to be free of contamination. Individuals should bring their own clean containers that are meant for food or beverage storage.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
LAKEPORT, Calif. — The Lakeport Police Department is asking the community’s assistance in locating a man wanted for child abuse.
James Ryan Anson, 33, is wanted on a felony warrant charging the willful infliction of corporal punishment resulting in a traumatic condition and under conditions likely to produce great bodily harm, and infliction of unjustifiable physical pain on a 3-year-old child.
Police said Anson is aware of this investigation and is avoiding law enforcement.
He lives in Lakeport but was last known to be in the Santa Rosa area. He is believed to be driving a gray 2014 Toyota Tundra pickup truck with California license plate number 8R63596.
Anson has prior encounters with police involving evading in a vehicle, resisting arrest, terrorist threats, robbery, burglary and domestic violence.
Police said they have information that he could have recently been in possession of a handgun.
Anson is described as a white male adult, with blond hair and blue eyes. He’s 6 feet 1 inch tall and 200 pounds.
He should be considered dangerous and police ask the public not to approach or contact him but to immediately notify their local law enforcement agency.
Anyone with information related to this investigation or the whereabouts of Anson can contact Officer Melissa Bedford at 707-263-5491 or by email at
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- Written by: NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
It’s the next best thing to being on Mars: Two online interactive experiences let you check out Jezero Crater — the landing site and exploration locale for NASA’s Perseverance rover — without leaving our planet.
One new experience, called “Explore with Perseverance,” allows you to follow along with the rover as though you were standing on the surface of Mars. Another interactive — “Where Is Perseverance?” — shows the current location of the rover and Ingenuity Mars Helicopter as they explore the Red Planet.
It’s updated after every drive and flight and allows you to track the progress of Perseverance and Ingenuity, in their journeys on and above the Red Planet.
Explore with Perseverance is made mostly with images taken by the rover from various vantage points, with additional images from the High Resolution Imaging Experiment, or HiRISE, camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter overhead.
“It’s the best reconstruction available of what Mars looks like,” said Parker Abercrombie, a senior software engineer who is leading the software development at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
The agency’s Mars Public Engagement team recruited Abercrombie and his colleagues, who work on similar tools for the mission team, to develop a public-friendly experience by stitching together and reconstructing the Perseverance and HiRISE images.
The team plans to update the site regularly with new views from the spacecraft and the rover and some new points of interest, as they are found. For example, said Abercrombie, “we can highlight scientifically interesting rocks and other features, or the Ingenuity helicopter flight locations.”
Abercrombie believes the site will help people understand the perspective as if they were on Mars. “It’s sometimes hard for people to grasp location and distance from Mars images. It’s not like here on Earth, where you can get your bearings by looking at trees and buildings. With the Martian terrain, it can be really hard to wrap your head around what you’re seeing.”
The dashboard makes it easy for parents and teachers to share the 3D views with kids, bringing them along as Perseverance explores.
The 3D tool is based on the Advanced Science Targeting Tool for Robotic Operations, or ASTTRO, that the rover’s science team uses to select interesting targets for the rover to study — but has been modified to make it more user-friendly.
“It’s a unique challenge to set things up so people can browse in a way they’ll understand, since users have varying experiences in using 3D environments,” Abercrombie said. “This is a great opportunity for the public to follow along with the mission, using the same type of visualization tools as the mission scientists.”
The Curiosity mission has a similar experience built by the same team.
A Mars map of the rover and helicopter journeys
“The Where Is Perseverance? map allows you to see more of what we’re doing and where we’re going,” said JPL Mapping Specialist Fred Calef.
It, too, is based on ASTTRO, and Calef notes that you’ll get the data almost as fast as the engineers and scientists do. Plus, you’re using practically the same software the team uses, “so everyone can explore the way we explore in almost the same way,” Calef said, zooming in, zooming out, and panning around.
The map shows the rover’s route and its stopping points with markers indicating the Martian day, or sol, and you’ll get the overview of where Perseverance and Ingenuity might head next. Terrain maps like this one allow scientists to spot interesting places to look for possible evidence of ancient life, and you’ll be able to share in the journey.
When Ingenuity flies, it’s usually a burst of activity and then a lull for a couple of weeks. The rover, said Calef, “drives more often, though not as far, traveling around 130 meters [142 yards] on its longest drive (sol) to date. When we find a geologically interesting spot, we’ll stop for a week or so to check it out.”
More about the mission
You can get more news about the activities of Curiosity on Mars at the Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity website, and follow the latest about Perseverance at the Mars 2020/Perseverance website.
A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).
Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.
The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.
JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.
For more about Perseverance visit www.mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/ and www.nasa.gov/perseverance.