NORTH COAST, Calif. – A crash involving a vehicle and a motorcycle near Potter Valley on Saturday left two people injured.

The crash occurred just after 11 a.m. on Highway 20 just west of Potter Valley, according to the California Highway Patrol's Ukiah Area office.

Mario Alioto, 78, of Lucerne was driving a 2003 Ford westbound in the slow lane just west of the Potter Valley exit, the CHP said.

Robert Wiley, 60, of Citrus Heights was driving a 2005 Harley Davidson westbound in the No. 1 lane with 68-year-old Jennifer Todd, also of Citrus Heights, riding as his passenger, according to the CHP.

As Wiley was passing Alioto, he allowed the motorcycle to drive into the slow lane, with the side of the motorcycle hitting the rear of Alioto's vehicle, the CHP said.

The CHP said the crash caused the motorcycle to lay over on its left side, with Wiley and Todd both being thrown from the bike.

Wiley was flown to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with major injuries, while Todd was taken to Ukiah Valley Medical Center with moderate injuries, according to the CHP report. Alioto was uninjured.

All three individuals were using their safety equipment, the CHP said.

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.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Police are investigating the Friday discovery of the body of a man who they believe was murdered.

Clearlake Police Sgt. Martin Snyder said that at approximately 5:20 p.m. Friday the agency received a call from a resident in the 16000 block of 19th Avenue reporting a young juvenile had located a deceased male in a wooded area east of 12th Avenue. 

Officer Joseph Myers responded and contacted the reporting person and the young juvenile, Snyder said.

Snyder said the young juvenile took Officer Myers several hundred yards out to a wooded area near a recently cut fire trail where the officer, with the child's help, located a deceased male. 

The cause of death appeared suspicious and Clearlake Police detectives were called to the scene and took over the investigation, Snyder said.

The body appeared to be that of a Hispanic male between 18 to 30 years of age. The male had dark-colored hair which was short in length, according to Snyder.

Identification of the male is pending an autopsy, Snyder said.

Based on the findings at the scene, Snyder said it was apparent the male was a victim of a homicide and had been dead for several days. 

Due to this being an active homicide investigation, limited information is being released regarding the cause of death, Snyder said.

He said information regarding the cause of death will be released at a later time.

If anyone has information regarding this investigation, they are encouraged to contact Det. Ryan Peterson at 707-994-8251, Extension 320.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A Lakeport woman's hard work and determination has earned her a spot next spring in one of the world's great running events.

Megan Buffalo qualified for the 2016 Boston Marathon based on her performance in the Santa Rosa Marathon on Aug. 23.

Buffalo ran her race in 3 hours, 34 minutes and 33 seconds.

The 34-year-old qualified in the 18- to 34-year-old age group for the 120th annual Boston Marathon thanks to meeting the necessary time standard.

The Santa Rosa Marathon was Buffalo's ninth marathon, so it wasn't the first time she had tried to qualify for Boston, noting it took 13 months of serious training under the guidance of a running coach to reach her goal.

The road to becoming an elite athlete has been a circuitous one for Buffalo, who is an educator, a wife and mother of two small boys.

Buffalo and her sister, Lexi Casey, grew up in Lakeport. Her father, Mike Casey, was a runner and got her into the sport at a young age.

While attending Clear Lake High School, she ran cross country, “But I was terrible at it,” she said. “I was the worst runner.”

She went on to get her undergraduate degree and attended graduate school at Cal State University, Sacramento. 

It was while she was in graduate school 10 years ago that she started getting serious about her running.

In 2006 she started running marathons. Her first, she said, was very slow. “It was about a six-hour marathon.”

In 2008 she returned to Lake County with husband, Dan, who is the city of Lakeport's finance director.

The couple have two young sons, 7-year-old Owen and 5-year-old Nolan, who attend Lakeport Elementary, where Megan Buffalo is a first grade teacher. 

She has coached track and field at Clear Lake High, focusing on distance events, and is a member of the Lake County Milers.

Buffalo believes her work ethic changed after she had her children, adding to her determination as a runner and helping her set priorities.

With her hectic life, running offers her an important balance. “It's my time to think. It's my time to get away,” she said.

While qualifying for Boston has been a goal of hers for years, Buffalo got serious about it two years ago. 

Then, in June 2014, she hired her Wyoming-based coach, Erin Henderson, who has guided her progress through phone calls, texts and online communications.

That coaching, Buffalo said, brought up her running level thanks to a much tougher training schedule that included increasing her weekly miles from 40 to 70.

Now, she said, she generally runs eight miles a day, and 22 miles on Sundays. “It's a lot of miles,” she said.

“This training has really been tough,” she said, noting that she was plagued by injuries last year because she was pushing so hard. 

She had to learn to adopt a rest and recovery cycle in order to avoid injury and continue to improve her performance.

At 5 feet 1 inch tall, Buffalo appears to be made for running thanks to her small stature and light stride.

Her 6-foot-4-inch-tall husband, however, is too big to join her in her athletic pastime, she said with a laugh. “He's very supportive, though.”

He's also proud of his wife's achievement and her tenacity, pointing out that over a year ago she fell while training in Lakeport and broke her elbow. He said she ran back to her car to go to the emergency room. 

“It sidelined her for like a day,” he said, noting she ran the Bay to Breakers in San Francisco the weekend after the injury – against her surgeon's recommendation and better judgment.

“Two surgeries later she didn't let the injury hamper her training,” he said.

Megan Buffalo said she needed something to strive for, and as a runner, “the big one” is the Boston Marathon.

She also wanted the unicorn jacket that qualifiers earn. Now she's got it.

And she and her much taller husband are looking forward to their trip to Boston for the marathon, which takes place on April 18. 

The Boston Athletic Association, the nonprofit organization that hosts the marathon, reported that it has set the field size for the 2016 Boston Marathon at 30,000 official entrants. Registration begins Sept. 14.

The couple plans on staying five days to enjoy the city, while the boys stay with their grandma.

For now, she is resting up, letting her body recover ahead of beginning her pre-marathon training regimen, which she will start in December. 

Her goal is to raise her base and get more miles into her training – between 80 and 90 miles a week.

While she's out running, she said a lot is going through her mind. She focuses on pacing, thinks through problems and, she admits, “Sometimes I'm thinking, I hate this,” when she contemplates the long miles ahead.

But, mostly, she said she feels lucky to be able to live and run in Lake County, noting she appreciates the area's beauty. 

“I just like to be out there,” she said.

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.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The 2015 Heroes of Health and Safety Fair will be held on Saturday, Oct. 17.

The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Lake County Fairgrounds, 401 Martin St.

The free, family-friendly event will include exciting safety demonstrations, including a “Jaws of Life” demonstration, medical helicopter landings and liftoffs, and a SWAT Unit Armored Vehicle.

Sutter Lakeside Hospital and the Lake County Fire Chief’s Association are the major sponsors for this exciting event. 

More than 40 Lake County health- and safety-focused organizations will host booths and provide information to community members about local services ranging from disaster preparedness and electrical safety to obesity awareness.

Last year more than 450 free vaccinations were administered at the event; this service will be provided again this year along with free health checks. 

Other highlights include free car seat safety inspections and replacements, free bike helmets, a chance to win exciting raffle prizes including kids’ bikes, and opportunities to mingle with safety characters McGruff and Smokey the Bear.

“In 2014 more than 1,500 people attended the Heroes of Health and Safety Fair, and our goal is to double that number this year,” said Siri Nelson, chief administrative officer for Sutter Lakeside Hospital. “This is an incredible venue to showcase Lake County’s health and safety resources. I hope everyone will come to learn about these resources and other ways to keep their families safe.”

Additional event sponsors include the California Highway Patrol, St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake, Lakeside Health Center, the American Red Cross, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, the Lake County Office of Education and The Hero Project, and Lake County Behavioral Health Services.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – State Sen. Mike McGuire, the author of SB 643 – The Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act – announced late Friday that the state Legislature has passed a package of legislation that he called “historic,” adding that it will change the face of a multibillion dollar industry that has gone largely unregulated for almost 20 years.

“From seed to sale, medical marijuana is one step closer to being regulated across the state of California,” McGuire (D-Healdsburg) said. “SB 643 is the bill we began working on the day I was sworn into the Senate. It has been a productive nine months working with our partners in the Assembly and of course, with Gov. Brown’s office. The hard work of countless individuals over the last 20 years has paid off and we are now sending the governor one of the strongest medical marijuana regulation packages in the country.” 

SB 643 was approved in the Assembly Business and Professions Committee Friday afternoon and received overwhelming bipartisan support on both the Assembly and Senate floors as votes were cast late into the night on Friday.

“After two decades of no regulation, we will finally have a comprehensive regulatory framework for medical marijuana,” McGuire said.

The three historic marijuana bills, headlined by Sen. McGuire’s SB 643 – cover every aspect of the commercial medical marijuana industry would be regulated and subject to licensure – both by the state and local authorities. 

The bills create a Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation under the Department of Consumer Affairs led by a director who will be confirmed by the Senate. 

Cities and counties will be eligible for grants from the Marijuana Production and Environmental Mitigation Fund. These monies can be used for local law enforcement activities and environmental cleanup.

Key to SB 643 are provisions that will track and trace all marijuana products, and a provision that will once and for all make medical marijuana officially an agricultural product in California. 

Cultivators will have to abide by the same rules and regulations as all other agriculture, including water use, water discharge, pesticide and insecticide use and more. 

SB 643 also includes robust provisions governing indoor and outdoor cultivation standards for small, medium and large growers to ensure that best practices related to land conversion, grading and electricity usage are instituted. 

The bill makes sure that the environment is cared for and that the products are safe, while also mandating strict standards for transportation to ensure that no marijuana is diverted out of state for illegal use.

“These regulations are long overdue and I’m thrilled that we were able to work together to find common ground on these historic medical marijuana regulations for our state,” McGuire said. “The time is now. Our environment and our communities have been paying the price for the state’s lack of action over the past 20 years and this package of legislation will advance sweeping regulations and desperately needed resources that are necessary to address the impacts of this multi-billion dollar industry.”

McGuire represents the North Coast of California, where the majority of marijuana is grown in the nation.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Lake Community Pride Foundation will present the fifth annual Power to the Youth Festival on Sunday, Sept. 20.

The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Clearlake's Austin Park, 14077 Lakeshore Drive.

The Lake Community Pride Foundation is a nonprofit group who maintains and supports a teen shelter, Safe House of Lake County, supports the youth performing arts and organizes youth events for the community.

Power to the Youth offers physical activities, youth entertainment, music and community education.

This year's event will feature a 3-on-3 basketball tournament for different age groups and a skate park competition for varying skill levels in scooters, BMX and skateboarding with prizes for the winners.

It is free to enter these activities and all participants must register in advance and/or be prepared to play at 10 a.m. on the day of the event.

Glory Day's Flag Football League will have their annual Power to the Youth flag football event.

Two stages across the park will play this year's musical lineup made up of: As All Else Fails, Death and Taxes, Dawn of Delirium, James Taylor, Fetti Rich, Masta Slash Beatz, Ojeezus Tha Gawd and more.

Multiple bouncy houses, sandbox, Lego table, video games and other local agency booths offering activities and information about their services will be available throughout the park.

More than 20 booths will be featured at this year's event, offering information ranging from education to politics to health care and local businesses.

Admission to the event is free so bring the whole family.

If you're interested in holding a booth for the event, volunteering for the event or donating toward the cost of the event, contact Bruno Sabatier at 707-695-0834 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , and follow the event on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PowertotheYouth .

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A wildland fire that began on Cobb Mountain on Saturday afternoon scorched thousands of acres and chased residents across the south county from their homes.

The Valley fire in the 8000 block of High Valley Road off Bottle Rock Road was first reported at approximately 1:24 p.m. Saturday, according to Cal Fire.

Within a few hours it had injured four firefighters and resulted in evacuations impacting thousands of south Lake County residents.

Shortly before 7 p.m., Cal Fire reported that the incident had ballooned to 10,000 acres.

The Lake County Sheriff's Office ordered mandatory evacuations for High Valley Road, Bottle Rock Road, the entire community of Cobb, Harbin Hot Springs, Big Canyon Road, Hidden Valley Lake, all of the community of Middletown, Highway 29 from Clearlake to Tubbs Lane in Calistoga and over to Berryessa Estates.

Numerous road closures also were in effect, including High Valley Road at Bottle Rock Road, High Valley Road at Highway 175, Highway 29 at Highway 175 in both Kelseyville and Middletown, Highway 29 at Red Hills Road, Highway 29 at Loch Lomond, Highway 29 at Lower Lake, and Highway 29 from Spruce Grove Road North in Lower Lake to Butts Canyon Road in Middletown.  

Resources from around Lake County and other parts of the state responded through the afternoon and into the evening.

Traffic around the south county was reported to be jammed as residents tried to evacuate the fire.

One minor-injury crash was reported on Highway 29 and Spruce Grove Road, with first responders reporting that northbound traffic was using all lanes on Highway 29 trying to escape the fire.

Units also were being dispatched to help evacuate residents who were unable to get out on their own.

At about 7:30 p.m. The Geysers was asked to open its gates to the roads through the facility could be used as evacuation routes through to Sonoma County if necessary.

A dark, thick pall of smoke stretched across Lake County, extending even into areas not directly impacted by the blaze.

There were numerous reports of structures damaged or destroyed, but details were not immediately available due to the quickly developing situation.

Just before 8 p.m. Cal Fire reported that all four firefighter injured in the fire's early stages had suffered second-degree burns and were in stable condition at UC Davis Medical Center.

The Lake County Office of Emergency Services activated the county's Emergency Operations Center to help coordinate response to the incident, as it had done with the Rocky and Jerusalem fires.

Evacuees are being directed to an emergency shelter at Kelseyville Presbyterian Church, 5340 Third St., as well as an evacuation center at the Napa County Fairgrounds, 1435 N. Oak St., Calistoga.

Lake County OES indicated details would be forthcoming on other shelters.

Lake Evacuation and Animal Protection and Animal Care and Control also are on call to evacuate animals from the fire area, according to Lake County OES.

Those needing help evacuating animals are directed to call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.

Additional details will be posted as they become available.

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.

Safe deposit boxes protect important documents (including one’s trust, will, and power of attorney) and small valuables against loss due to theft or destruction.

But will these important documents and valuables be accessible to the right person when the time arises?

Let’s discuss this and other questions that concern safe deposit boxes. 

Is it better to have a safe deposit box at home or at your bank? Generally speaking it is better to have a safe deposit box at a bank. 

While a home safe deposit box is very convenient that same convenience often makes it more accessible to other persons, whom you may not want examining into the contents of the safe. 

That said, however, bank safes can only be accessed during normal business hours and by those persons who the bank recognizes as having the right to access the box.

What items belong in a safe deposit box? Your will and trust, with all its amendments, and your stock certificates all belong in a safe. Your advance health care directive, however, should never be kept in bank safe deposit. It may be needed urgently.

How should one take title to a bank safe account? Generally speaking, anyone who has a living trust, and wants the safe’s contents to be distributed according to the terms of the trust, should title the bank safe account to their trust. This way the successor trustee may access and remove the contents of the bank safe deposit box in the event of the owner’s disability or death without any difficulties or delays. 

People who do not have trust, and anyone who does not want the safe deposit box contents to be distributed as part of their trust, should consider using a cosignatory joint access account or a special power of attorney with authority to open and access the bank safe. 

If the joint access account approach is used, make sure that the bank will allow access after the death of one signatory to the surviving signatory. 

The access provided to a surviving cosignatory on joint accounts varies from bank to bank. One should ask the bank in question whether the surviving cosignatory will be allowed to remove items from the bank safe.

If the special power of attorney approach is taken, then use the bank’s own form; some banks may not recognize powers of attorney other than their own. The agent will have access during the owner’s lifetime, which is particularly useful if the owner becomes incapacitated. When the owner dies the power of attorney ceases.

For bank safe deposits accounts titled in the name of a decedent banks are required to provide some limited access when certain requirements are satisfied. 

That is, a family member who appears at the bank with personal identification, the safe deposit key, the owner’s death certificate, and who can prove his or her relationship to the decedent is allowed access to the safe deposit box in order to inventory the contents of the box and to remove original wills, trusts, amendments, and instructions on the disposition of remains. 

A copy of any original document removed must be left in the safe and all original wills delivered to the court in the county where the decedent resided.

Regardless of whether a home safe or a bank safe is used, and how it is title, be sure that the right person has a key to the safe deposit box and instructions on how to proceed. 

Finally, when a bank safe deposit box is opened, the persons who come should always inventory and take pictures of the contents of the box at the time; often a bank employee will witness this event, and is often required to do so.

Dennis A. Fordham, attorney (LL.M. tax studies), is a State Bar Certified Specialist in estate planning, probate and trust law. His office is at 870 S. Main St., Lakeport, California. Fordham can be reached by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by phone at 707-263-3235. Visit his Web site at www.dennisfordhamlaw.com .

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg), the author of SB 643, The Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act, announced that an agreement has been reached on historic medical marijuana legislation between Gov. Jerry Brown’s office, the State Senate and State Assembly.

“After two decades of no regulation, I am pleased to report an agreement has been reached on one of the most comprehensive medical marijuana bills in the nation,” Sen. McGuire said.

Moving forward as a package are three historic marijuana bills, headlined by McGuire’s SB 643 – legislation that has been two decades in the making and is sprinting toward the finish line. 

The regulatory framework gained the support of key stakeholders including representatives of public safety organizations, local elected officials and community leaders, medical marijuana growers, environmentalists, labor unions and many others. 

The Senate and Assembly leadership as well as Gov. Brown’s office reached agreement this afternoon on language for the medical marijuana regulatory framework legislation.

“These regulations are long overdue and I’m thrilled that we were able to work together to find common ground on these historic medical marijuana regulations for our state,” McGuire said. “While the bills still need formal approval by the legislature before going to the governor, we are now closer than ever to securing a regulatory framework for this booming medical marijuana industry.”

SB 643 will be formally amended with the new language in the Assembly Business and Professions Committee and will then head to the Assembly floor for a vote and then back to the Senate for concurrence before Friday’s legislative deadline. 

The Assembly bills will be amended in the Senate Rules Committee before heading to the Senate floor for a vote and then back to the Assembly for concurrence. 

All three bills are incumbent on the approval and passage of the others before they can head to the Governor’s desk.

“The time is now. Our environment and our communities have been paying the price for the state’s lack of action over the past 20 years and this package of legislation will advance sweeping regulations and desperately needed resources that are necessary to address the impacts of this multi-billion dollar industry.”

“Medical marijuana patients in California will be now fully protected,” Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León (D-Angeles) said. “This important bicameral legislation will provide much-needed structure to a multi-billion industry,” he added.

Under the package of legislation, every aspect of the commercial medical marijuana industry would be regulated and subject to relicense – both by the state and local authorities. 

The bills create a Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation under the Department of Consumer Affairs led by a director who will be confirmed by the Senate. 

Cities and counties will be eligible for grants from the Marijuana Production and Environmental Mitigation Fund. These monies can be used for local law enforcement activities and environmental cleanup.

Key to SB 643 are provisions that will track and trace all marijuana products, and a provision that will once and for all make medical marijuana officially an agricultural product in California. 

Cultivators will have to abide by the same rules and regulations as all other agriculture, including water use, water discharge, pesticide and insecticide use and more. 

SB 643 also includes robust provisions governing indoor and outdoor cultivation standards for small, medium and large growers to ensure that best practices related to land conversion, grading and electricity usage are instituted. 

The bill makes sure that the environment is cared for and that the products are safe, while also mandating strict standards for transportation to ensure that no marijuana is diverted out of state for illegal use.

McGuire represents the North Coast of California, where the majority of marijuana is grown in the nation.

“The impacts have been horrendous and the drought has had a devastating effect, especially on the North Coast. Entire rivers are running dry as rogue marijuana grows have expanded, diverting millions of gallons of water illegally, and as the fourth year of this historic drought sets in,” McGuire said.

THIS STORY IS BEING UPDATED REGULARLY WITH NEW DETAILS.

COBB, Calif. – Firefighters are on the scene of a wildland fire first reported Saturday afternoon in the Cobb area that has resulted in evacuations and road closures.

The Valley fire in the 8000 block of High Valley Road initially was dispatched just before 1:30 p.m., according to Cal Fire.

Cal Fire reported that mandatory evacuations have been implemented for High Valley Road and Bottle Rock Road, and the community of Cobb.

Just before 3:30 p.m., mandatory evacuations were ordered for Harbin Hot Springs and Big Canyon Road, and Loch Lomond was added to the evacuation order at around 3:45 p.m.

At 6 p.m., Cal Fire reported that mandatory evacuations had been ordered for Hidden Valley Lake, and Highway 29 was being closed. The fire had reportedly just jumped Highway 29 at that point.

Then, just before 6:30 p.m. Cal Fire reported that Middletown had been placed under a mandatory evacuation.

Road closures include High Valley Road at Bottle Rock Road, High Valley Road at Highway 175, Highway 29 at Highway 175 in both Kelseyville and Middletown, Highway 29 at Red Hills Road and Highway 29 at Loch Lomond, and Highway 29 at Lower Lake.

Shortly after dispatch, Cal Fire's Copter 104 arrived on scene to find the fire burning about two acres with one structure threatened.

Incident command subsequently called for additional copters, tankers, hand crews and dozers, reporting a strong west wind was hitting the fire.

Shortly before 2 p.m., incident command called for evacuations of High Valley Road.

A short time later, the fire was reported to be making a strong push and crossing Bottle Rock Road, leading to calls for evacuations along Highway 175, with the possibility that Cobb may have to be evacuated.

Just before 2 p.m. a hard closure of Bottle Rock Road was implemented, with officials prepared to close Highway 175 if necessary.

A call for an in-county strike team of engines went out just before 2:15 p.m., with agencies around the lake responding.

Safety concerns for firefighters also were reported due to power lines being down in the area.

As of 2:30 p.m., the fire was two acres, Cal Fire said, and was burning at a moderate rate of spread in oak and grass woodland. Structures are threatened.

Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said a short time later that the fire size had risen to 50 acres.

Just after 3:30 p.m., the fire was at 400 acres, according to Berlant.

Resources on scene at that point included 139 firefighters, 10 engines, five air tankers, four bulldozers, four fire crews, three helicopters, two water tenders, two overhead/command personnel and one volunteer company, according to Cal Fire.

By 6:45 p.m., Cal Fire said the fire's size had ballooned to 10,000 acres.

At around 2:30 p.m. radio reports indicated there were two patients with burn injuries, with an air ambulance responding. 

Berlant later reported that there were four firefighters from Copter 104 that had suffered injuries and were being transported to a burn center. Radio reports indicated they were taken to UC Davis Medical Center.

The Lake County Office of Emergency Services reported that the county's Emergency Operations Center was activated to help coordinate response to the incident.

An evacuation shelter was being set up at Kelseyville Presbyterian Church, 5340 Third St., Lake County OES reported.

Lake Evacuation and Animal Protection and Animal Care and Control also were activated to help evacuate animals from the fire area, officials said.

At about 4 p.m., incident command was reporting that Pacific Gas and Electric was planning to deenergize power facilities in the fire area, which was a concern due to the potential impact on fire pumps.

Just before 5:15 p.m., the fire was reported to be making a “significant run” toward Hidden Valley Lake, with the fire anticipated to be at Spruce Grove Road and Highway 29 within the hour.

At 5:25 p.m., Central Dispatch indicated that an advisory evacuation order had been issued for all of Hidden Valley Lake.

A witness reported that a large spot fire had occurred near Hidden Valley Lake a short time before that advisory notification was issued.

Additional details will be posted as they become available. 

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.

New close-up images of Pluto from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft reveal a bewildering variety of surface features that have scientists reeling because of their range and complexity.

“Pluto is showing us a diversity of landforms and complexity of processes that rival anything we’ve seen in the solar system,” said New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern, of the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), Boulder, Colo. “If an artist had painted this Pluto before our flyby, I probably would have called it over the top – but that’s what is actually there.”

New Horizons began its yearlong download of new images and other data over the Labor Day weekend. 

Images downlinked in the past few days have more than doubled the amount of Pluto’s surface seen at resolutions as good as 400 meters per pixel. 

They reveal new features as diverse as possible dunes, nitrogen ice flows that apparently oozed out of mountainous regions onto plains, and even networks of valleys that may have been carved by material flowing over Pluto’s surface. 

They also show large regions that display chaotically jumbled mountains reminiscent of disrupted terrains on Jupiter’s icy moon Europa.  

“The surface of Pluto is every bit as complex as that of Mars,” said Jeff Moore, leader of the New Horizons Geology, Geophysics and Imaging (GGI) team at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. “The randomly jumbled mountains might be huge blocks of hard water ice floating within a vast, denser, softer deposit of frozen nitrogen within the region informally named Sputnik Planum.” 

New images also show the most heavily cratered – and thus oldest – terrain yet seen by New Horizons on Pluto next to the youngest, most crater-free icy plains. There might even be a field of dark wind-blown dunes, among other possibilities. 

“Seeing dunes on Pluto – if that is what they are – would be completely wild, because Pluto’s atmosphere today is so thin,” said William B. McKinnon, a GGI deputy lead from Washington University, St. Louis. “Either Pluto had a thicker atmosphere in the past, or some process we haven’t figured out is at work. It’s a head-scratcher.”

Discoveries being made from the new imagery are not limited to Pluto’s surface. Better images of Pluto’s moons Charon, Nix, and Hydra released Friday at the raw images site for New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) revealed that each moon is unique and that big moon Charon’s geological past was a tortured one.  

Images returned in the past days have also revealed that Pluto’s global atmospheric haze has many more layers than scientists realized, and that the haze actually creates a twilight effect that softly illuminates nightside terrain near sunset, making them visible to the cameras aboard New Horizons.

“This bonus twilight view is a wonderful gift that Pluto has handed to us,” said John Spencer, a GGI deputy lead from SwRI. “Now we can study geology in terrain that we never expected to see.”

The New Horizons spacecraft is now more than 3 billion miles from Earth, and more than 43 million miles beyond Pluto. 

The spacecraft is healthy and all systems are operating normally. 

Follow the mission at http://www.nasa.gov/newhorizons and http://pluto.jhuapl.edu .  

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Assemblyman Bill Dodd’s (D-Napa) low-income water rate assistance bill has passed the state legislature with bipartisan support. 

The bill, Assembly Bill 401, calls on the State Water Resources Control Board to create a plan for establishing the state’s first statewide water rate assistance program for low-income residents in California. 

The bill now heads to Gov. Jerry Brown who has one month to sign the legislation.

“The time has come to develop a comprehensive program to help relieve the financial burden on seniors and low-income families dealing with significant costs of water,” Dodd said. “I’d like to thank Sen. Mike McGuire for his help championing this bill in the Senate.”

Over time, water districts across California have increased billing rates for water service to levels that can put real financial strain on residents. 

In some cases water rates have jumped over 300 percent in less than a decade.

Communities in Dodd’s district, such as the Lake County community of Lucerne, have been particularly impacted. 

The median income in Lucerne is just half of the state average, yet residential ratepayers average nearly $1,300 annually for water service, and many pay even more.

“As this severe drought continues, we need to ensure that we have an efficient, sustainable, and equitable water system in California,” said Dodd. “This bill is one piece of that broader puzzle, and I will continue to work for smart water policy in Sacramento.”

While current California law requires gas and electric companies to provide discounted rates for low-income ratepayers, there is currently no similar requirement for water providers. 

A number of the larger water utilities in California do have some form of rate assistance program, but the lack of a statewide standard causes significant financial hardships for many people, especially seniors.

AB 401 requires the state water board to develop a plan for the funding and implementation of a low-income water rate assistance program by 2018. 

The passage of this bill follows several other pieces of legislation by Assemblyman Dodd sent to the governor this week, including legislation to promote gender pay equity (AB 1354) and help seniors obtain better access to state services (AB 664).

Dodd represents the Fourth Assembly District, which includes all or portions of Yolo, Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Solano and Colusa counties. Visit his Web site at www.asm.ca.gov/dodd .