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- Written by: Lake County News reports
Joseph Fitzgerald, 37, and Allison Strout, 27, were taken into custody early on the morning of Friday, Aug. 28, according to a report from Sgt. Eric Riboli of the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office.
Riboli said that at 3:15 a.m. that day, Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies were on routine patrol when they observed a bronze-colored Jeep traveling northbound on North State Street in Redwood Valley.
The vehicle displayed expired registration tabs, which is a violation of the California Vehicle Code. As a result, Riboli said the deputies conducted a traffic enforcement stop on the vehicle in the 7700 block of North State Street.
Riboli said the deputies contacted the driver and identified him as Fitzgerald, with Strout identified as the passenger.
A warrants check revealed two outstanding Humboldt County arrest warrants for Strout's arrest. The deputies also learned Strout was on probation with search terms. Fitzgerald came back clear in all systems, Riboli said.
Riboli said a probation search of the Jeep revealed a large quantity of heroin and a smaller quantity of methamphetamine.
As their investigation continued, the deputies developed probable cause to believe Fitzgerald possessed the heroin with the intent to sell, Riboli said.
Fitzgerald was arrested for possession of narcotics for sale and Strout was arrested for the two active Humboldt County arrest warrants, according to Riboli’s report.
Riboli said the two were transported to the Mendocino County Jail. Fitzgerald was booked for the listed charge and was released on zero bail at the conclusion of the jail booking process.
Strout was booked on the warrants and held in lieu of $50,000 bail, Riboli said.
- Details
- Written by: Preston Dyches
What's up for September? The moon with Mars and Venus, and a star with a planet … that wasn't.
On Sept. 6, you'll find the moon extremely close to Mars in the predawn sky. Now, they were even closer back on Aug. 9, but still a really pretty spectacle this month.
If you're up early and can step outside for a look, they'll be only a couple of degrees apart, meaning they'll appear in the same field of view if you take a look with most binoculars.
On Sept. 13 and 14, look in the east before dawn to see the slim crescent moon slip past brilliant Venus. On Sept. 13 you'll find the moon hanging above Venus with about 20 percent of its surface illuminated.
By the next morning, the moon has moved here, to the left of Venus, and has only about 10 percent of its sunlit surface visible.
Looking toward the south in September, there's really only one relatively bright star for most of us who live near cities. That star is called Fomalhaut, and it's got a pretty interesting story.
The star is about 25 light-years away, meaning it's relatively close by. It's also fairly young, at just a few hundred million years, and it's still surrounded by a disk of debris, which is a common feature for stars during their planet-forming phase.
Now we've discovered thousands of exoplanets – planets outside our solar system – but Fomalhaut appeared to be the first star to have a planet detected by direct imaging with a telescope (that being the Hubble Space Telescope). Astronomers announced the find back in 2008.
So Fomalhaut had itself a planet! But this is where it gets interesting, as the “planet” had a funky orbit, wasn't giving off excess heat like a young planet should, and proceeded to grow fainter over the several years that followed, disappearing by 2014.
In April 2020, another team of astronomers using Hubble announced their finding that Fomalhaut's “planet” wasn't a planet after all.
In fact, their study showed what Hubble detected was likely a giant, expanding cloud of debris resulting from a huge collision of two small bodies made of dust and ice, similar to worlds you might find in our own Kuiper Belt.
The scientists calculate collisions like this happen around Fomalhaut only every couple hundred thousand years, so Hubble just happened to be looking at the right time, not long after the collision took place.
So we may have lost a planet, but we gained a cool insight into how planetary systems form and evolve.
You can find Fomalhaut low in the south a couple of hours after sunset, to the left of the bright pair of Saturn and Jupiter.
Since it's bright and low in the sky, it sometimes appears to flicker from atmospheric turbulence. That can cause some skywatchers to wonder just what the heck it is.
Now you know: It's Fomalhaut, the nearby star where it appears we witnessed a dramatic planetary collision.
Preston Dyches works for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office did not release the name of the crash victim – a 74-year-old man from St. Helena – pending the notification of family.
Bryan K. Taber, 43, of Clearlake Oaks, the other driver involved in the crash, sustained major injuries and was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of prescription medication and cannabis, the CHP said.
The CHP said that the crash occurred at 7:20 a.m. Friday on Highway 29 just north of Grange Road.
Taber was driving a blue Kia Optima northbound on Highway 29 at a stated speed of 55 miles per hour when, for reasons still under investigation, he drifted across the solid double yellow lines and collided head-on with a white Chevrolet Prizm driven by the St. Helena man, who was traveling southbound, the CHP said.
After the collision, the CHP said both vehicles came to rest blocking the southbound lane of Highway 29.
The CHP said the driver in the Chevrolet Prizm was pronounced dead in the driver seat by medics on scene.
Taber sustained major injuries and was transported to Adventist Health Clear Lake Hospital in Clearlake, the CHP said.
After a DUI investigation, the CHP said Taber was suspected of being under the influence and placed under arrest.
Due to Taber's injuries, the CHP said he was released from custody to the hospital for treatment.
Both parties were wearing their seatbelts at the time of this collision, the CHP said.
The CHP said the crash blocked the highway’s southbound lane for several hours.
Friday’s crash was the second fatal wreck in Lake County this week. A Clearlake woman died Tuesday morning following a head-on crash on Highway 53, as Lake County News has reported.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
- Details
- Written by: LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
The US Forest Service said Friday the complex of lightning fires is up to 298,269 acres with containment remaining at 23 percent.
There are 1,015 resources committed to the complex including 22 crews, four camp crew, seven helicopters, 50 engines, 19 dozers, 26 water tenders and three masticators, the Forest Service said.
On Friday, an evacuation warning was issued for all Mendocino County areas within the Mendocino National Forest, north of Hull Mountain.
Officials said this action is necessary to address the fact that numerous private in-holdings – cabins, primary residences and undeveloped private lands – exist within the boundary of the Mendocino National Forest.
Residents are asked to be prepared for possible evacuation. The Forest Service said weather forecasts predict a shift from southwesterly to northeasterly winds from Monday through Tuesday, which may increase fire activity in the complex.
A breakdown of the warning levels can be found here.
Friday’s issuance of a new evacuation warning follows action the Forest Service took on Thursday to lift the evacuation warning for the Pillsbury Ranch area.
The Hull, Doe, Tatham, and Glade fires have merged to form one large fire. The individual breakdown of the fires given by the Forest Service are as follows: Doe fire, 258,192 acres, 23 percent contained; Tatham fire, 15,594 acres, 9 percent contained; and the Hull fire, 13,177 acres, 10 percent contained.
Firefighters have completed burnout operations from Bald Mountain, working east down the M61 road to the M1 road, to address spot fires and contain the fire’s movement toward Monkey Rock.
Additional resources have been brought in to assist with containment on the Hopkins fire located in the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness and Shasta Trinity National Forest. Heavy equipment, hotshot crews and aircraft are working on this fire, officials said.
Mendocino National Forest officials issued a new closure for the August Complex on Saturday, Aug. 29. The Forest Order 08-20-11 and map are posted on the forest website.
Daily updates and the virtual community meeting held on Wednesday can be found on the Mendocino National Forest Facebook page.
The most up to date information on the August Complex can be found on InciWeb.
