LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Special Districts has issued a boil water notice for the Soda Bay water system Lake County CSA #20 Soda Bay Water System #1710022.

The Soda Bay water system is on a boil water notice due to the system not being able to meet the surface water treatment turbidity standard.

A change in Clear Lake water quality is causing treatment challenges, according to Special Districts. The water system is not able to meet treatment turbidity standards.

The water system is experiencing severe challenges with producing water and Special Districsts asks all customers to only use the bare minimum needed this weekend.

Special Districts reports that the storage tank is full, but the ozone unit is not able to keep up with water demand.

High temperatures are expected this weekend and the system could run out of water this weekend, according to Special Districts. Customers of the Soda Bay water system are advised to use water sparingly and help spread the word to your neighbors.

Approximately 1,400 consumers in the district are affected by this advisory which includes 640 connections. The Advisory was handed out around 10am Saturday,

August 15. The duration that the advisory will be in place is unknown at this time.

The Mendocino District DDW is working with the operators to help get the treatment plant to make compliant water. Public inquiries inquiries can be made to 

Special Districts at 707-263-0119 Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.. Lake County Special Districts is located on the web at http://lcsd.lakecountyca.gov/ and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/lakecountyspecialdistricts.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Stargazers were able to see the height of one of the year's main meteor showers this past week.

The Perseids – which radiate from the constellation Perseus – are active until Aug. 26, but were expected to peak in the early morning hours of Tuesday through Thursday, when a moonless sky improved viewing conditions.

John Jensen and Elizabeth Larson of Lake County News headed out to the Rodman Slough area on Wednesday and Thursday and captured some images of the meteors streaking across the sky, which are shown in the photos above and below.

NASA reported that the year's remaining meteor showers and their peak times are the Orionids in October, the Leonids in November and the Geminids in December.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – With the Jerusalem fire making a small overnight gain in acreage and firefighters pushing up the containment, Cal Fire announced on Saturday afternoon that it was lifting mandatory evacuations in the fire area.

Cal Fire said Saturday that the Jerusalem fire, burning since Aug. 9 in the Jerusalem Valley area northeast of Middletown, had burned approximately 25,146 acres overnight – growing by just 92 acres – with containment at 78 percent.

It has threatened 50 structures, with damage estimates to date including four destroyed homes and 13 outbuildings, according to Cal Fire.

To the north, the Rocky fire was fully contained on Friday at 69,438 acres, as Lake County News has reported.

But with firefighters continuing to gain on the Jerusalem fire, officials reported that they were allowing residents to return home after many of them were displaced for much of the past week.

Beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday, Cal Fire and the Lake County Sheriff's Office said evacuations and road closures were lifted including:

– Jerusalem Valley Road starting at Spruce Grove Road (east);
– Morgan Valley Road from Reiff Road southeast to Napa County line;
– Reiff Road from Morgan Valley east to Yolo County line;
– Berryessa Knoxville Road from Lake Berryessa north ;
– Road 40 at Highway 16 to the west.

“It is our responsibility to make the area safe,” officials said in the joint repopulation statement.

County roads and utility companies are working to make the area safe as well, and Cal Fire said it is doing doing everything it can to accommodate civilians and assist them back into their homes as soon possible.

Residents returning to their homes are told to stay clear of any electrical wires they see on the ground and to call Pacific Gas and Electric Co. immediately. Trees and poles with deep charring, particularly if still smoking, should be considered hazardous. 

Officials urge people to drive slowly when returning to the evacuated areas as emergency personnel are in the area. 

When reentering property and evaluating damage, be aware that hazardous conditions may exist, particularly if a residence or out-building has burned, official said. Hazards may include asbestos, heavy metals, byproducts or plastic combustion and various other chemicals.

Various agencies will also be involved with the Jerusalem Fire recovery effort and may provide additional assistance to property owners. Further details are forthcoming, officials said.

Residents with destroyed or damaged structures from the fires are asked to please call the Fire Help Line at 800-325-9604 and give information for the completion of a damage assessment.

The Fire Help Line is staffed 24/7 thanks to a partnership with the Volunteer Center of Sonoma County, and also provides referrals for services and information about current fire status.

A virtual recovery assistance center is available online at www.LakeCountyLAC.com .

If you do not have Internet access, you may access the Web site from any computer at the Lake County Libraries for free.

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.

One of the best ways to learn how our solar system evolved is to look at younger star systems in the early stages of development.

Recently, a team of astronomers including NASA scientists discovered a Jupiter-like planet within a young system that could serve as a decoder ring for understanding how planets formed around our sun.

The new planet, called 51 Eridani (Eri) b, is the first exoplanet discovered by the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI), a new instrument operated by an international collaboration, and installed on the 8-meter Gemini South Telescope in Chile.

The GPI was designed specifically for discovering and analyzing faint, young planets orbiting bright stars via “direct imaging,” in which astronomers use adaptive optics to sharpen the image of a target star, then block out its starlight.

Any remaining incoming light is then analyzed, and the brightest spots indicate a possible planet.

“This is exactly the kind of planet we envisioned discovering when we designed GPI,” said James Graham, professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and project scientist for GPI.

Other methods of planet detection are indirect, such as the transit method used by NASA's Kepler mission, in which it discovers planets by measuring the loss of starlight when a planet passes in front of its star.

As Bruce Macintosh, a professor of physics at Stanford University and member of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology figuratively described, to detect planets, Kepler sees their shadow while GPI sees their glow.

As far as the cosmic clock is concerned, 51 Eridani is young – only 20 million years old – and this made the direct detection of the planet possible. When planets coalesce, material falling into the planet releases energy and heats it up. Over the next hundred millions years, they radiate that energy away, mostly as infrared light.

“Many of the exoplanets astronomers have imaged before have atmospheres that look like very cool stars,” said Macintosh, who led the construction of GPI and now leads the planet-hunting survey. “This one looks like a planet.”

GPI observations revealed that 51 Eri b is roughly twice the mass of Jupiter. Other directly-imaged planets are five times the mass of Jupiter or more.

In addition to being the lowest-mass exoplanet ever imaged, it's also the coldest – 800 degrees Fahrenheit, whereas others are around 1,200 F – and it features the strongest atmospheric methane signal ever detected on an alien planet.

Previous Jupiter-like exoplanets have shown only faint traces of methane, far different from the distinctive signatures of methane seen in the atmospheres of the gas giants in our solar system.

All of these characteristics, researchers say, point to a planet that is very much what models suggest Jupiter was like in its infancy.

In the atmospheres of the cold giant planets of our solar system, carbon is found as methane, unlike most exoplanets where carbon has mostly been found in the form of carbon monoxide.

“Since the atmosphere of 51 Eri b is also methane rich, it signifies that this planet is well on its way to becoming a cousin of our own familiar Jupiter,” said Mark Marley, an astrophysicist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, co-lead for theory and a team member responsible for helping to interpret GPI observations.

In addition to expanding the universe of known planets, GPI will provide key clues as to how solar systems form.

Astronomers believe that the gas giants in our solar system formed by building up a large, core over a few million years and then pulling in a huge amount of hydrogen and other gasses to form an atmosphere.

But the Jupiter-like exoplanets that have been discovered are much hotter than models have predicted, hinting that they could have formed much faster as material collapsed quickly to make a very hot planet. This is an important difference.

Using GPI to study more young solar systems such as 51 Eridani will help astronomers understand the formation of our neighbor planets, and how common that planet-forming mechanism is throughout the universe.

“The newly discovered 51 Eri b is the first planet that's cold enough and close enough to the star that it could have indeed formed right where it is the 'old-fashioned way,” Macintosh said. “This planet really could have formed the same way Jupiter did – the whole solar system could be a lot like ours.”

The results are published in the current issue of Science Express and in the August 20 issue of Science.

GPI was constructed by a consortium of American and Canadian institutions, funded by the Gemini Observatory, which is an international partnership comprising the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Argentina, Brazil and Chile.

The Gemini Planet Imager Exoplanet Survey (GPIES) campaign is partially funded by National Science Foundation (NSF), NASA, the University of California and the Laboratory Directed Research and Development funding at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Earlier this month, a local family of five and several staffers at Lake County Social Services met for the first time around a glossy $11,000 check the size of a Publishers Clearing House award.

The Carmichaels have been working with Social Services Director Carol Huchingson, and department staffers Jill Wicks and Annette Adkins for more than three years, but it was only recently that they met in person.

Seated at a large table, parents Miranda and Chris Carmichael – along with their three young sons, Edward, Quentin and Christian – shared the story of how a little-known program changed their lives.

For the last three years Wicks, the housing coordinator for the Section 8 housing program, and Adkins, who is part of the housing eligibility staff, have been working with the Carmichaels through Section 8’s Family Self-Sufficiency Program.

The Family Self-Sufficiency Program helps families set long-term goals aimed at empowering breadwinners to increase their earning potential and live independently from government aid.

Miranda Carmichael shared that before she and her husband Chris came together, she was the victim of domestic violence while in a relationship with the father of her first two sons.

“I grew up with my family in poverty,” she said. “It was really hard in the beginning by myself with two boys.”

She added that soon after her sons’ father was sent to prison, she made up her mind to go school. That’s where she met Chris, a former classmate from junior high school.

“He was a really good person for the kids, a good father figure,” she said. “He helped take care of us.”

The couple are happily married, but even with Chris’ added support, and after the birth of their youngest son, Christian, it was hard to make ends meet.

“He started out working a four-hour job as a cook,” Miranda Carmichael said. “And we were on Section 8 and food stamps and Medi-Cal …”

“That was the least money I’ve made in my life,” Chris Carmichael added.

Before returning to his native Lake County, Chris Carmichael spent 10 years learning the heating and air trade in Modesto where he was well-paid. But the lack of work and hours in Lake County hit the Carmichaels hard.

When the couple signed up for Section 8, they were offered the chance to participate in the Family Self-Sufficiency Program.

“We weren’t sure how that would work out,” Miranda Carmichael said.  “Honestly, I didn’t have that much hope that we might get to finish.”

Typically, Family Self-Sufficiency Program participants agree to a three- to five-year contract during which time they work with a counselor who provides referral and case management services to help them address educational and employment barriers.

Additionally, the program takes the difference of their rent – which may increase as a result of higher earned income – and places it in an escrow account that the family gains access to at the end of their contract.

“When the family graduates from the program, they have access to the escrow account to use for any purpose, including as a down payment on a house,” Huchingson said.

The $11,000 check in the middle of the table, the total amount the Carmichaels saved in the program, is a visible testament to the hard work that Chris and Miranda Carmichael put toward their goals over the last three years.

As the Carmichaels earned more, they had to become less reliant on the forms of aid that had supported them in the past.

“At first it was hard,” Chris Carmichael said. “But we’re pretty dialed in now.”

“We do a lot of referrals,” said Wicks when asked about some of the services provided. “We keep in touch with job fairs too.”

Today, Miranda Carmichael is close to finishing her schooling and her husband has found fulfilling work in his trade.

When asked what life looks like for them now, the family exchanged amused glances.

“Busy,” Miranda Carmichael said. “It’s busy but rewarding at the same time. With the kids, we want them to be in sports, in everything!”

“We’re playing the Trojans and we just got our cleats today,” their eldest son Edward said.

“I didn’t think I would want to do social work, until I signed up for Section 8,” Miranda Carmichael said. “That’s when I was like, that’s really cool, helping out people like that, the way we needed help.”

Carol Huchingson takes the opportunity to let Miranda Carmichael in on a little secret.

“Hopefully you’re keeping track of what positions we have open,” Huchingson said. “If not we’ll let you know.”

Miranda Carmichael smiled warmly. “There’s just so many different things I can do now, “ she said, “[because of] their help, the Family Self-Sufficiency Program.”

Email Shari Shepard at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – After an initial delay, the annual Quilt and Fiber Art Exhibition at Lower Lake Historic Schoolhouse Museum will open on Saturday afternoon.

The exhibition opens with an artists' reception from noon to 2 p.m. in the Weaver Auditorium.

The show, which was postponed a week as result of the Rocky fire, will run through Sept. 5.

“I'm excited to see the different techniques the artists themselves will be demonstrating during the opening reception,” said Tony Pierucci, the museum's curator.

This year's exhibition has been expanded to include a number of fiber artists as well as Alana Tanner, whose works are designed in felt.

“This year, we've added several new artists and expanded the scope of the show and guests will see a wider variety of artwork, from felting to basket making, and quilting and weaving,” Pierucci said, recognizing the use of natural fibers used by the artists.

“It's amazing. You'll see traditional quilting and on the other side of the spectrum, you'll see sculptural form felting. All of it, from one end to the other, they use similar materials and in some cases similar techniques,” Pierucci said.

To create her pieces, 40-year basket maker Sherry Harris said she uses local plant material, such as yucca leaves, dracaena leaves and mulberry branches.

“I like to use locally found plant materials because the materials are beautiful and children are fascinated by the materials they find. Most people who take my class” – at The Art House Gallery in Clearlake – “are interested in nature,” she said.

Harris and her students, as well as other fiber artists from throughout Lake County, will be participating in this year's exhibition.

Sheila O'Hara and her weaving students also will be displaying their works.

Among the works being shown by O'Hara is a piece resurrected from 2000, entitled, “Brainstorm.”

The three-dimensional exhibit is a tribute to her mother, who died of a brain tumor four years prior. The pieces features clouds illustrated in MRI film and rain to represent the tears she cried for her mother.

“The idea is that as the colors lighten, so does the sorrow,” O'Hara said.

The exhibition also will feature antique quilts, an 1807 spinning wheel and textiles from Peru and Guatemala including the works of Rachel Wolynicc, who learned the art of backstrap weaving living in the latter.

The Lower Lake Historic Schoolhouse Museum is located at 16435 Main St.

Regular hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday.

Email reporter Denise Rockenstein at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – After spending weeks devoted to assisting with evacuating animals from the path of two large local wildland fires, work at Lake County Animal Care and Control is transitioning back to finding animals new homes.

As the new week begins, four cats – three females and a male – are being offered for adoption.

All are tabbies, from gray and brown to orange.

In addition to spaying or neutering, cats that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are microchipped before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.

If you're looking for a new companion, visit the shelter. There are many great pets there, hoping you'll choose them.

In addition to the animals featured here, all adoptable animals in Lake County can be seen here: http://bit.ly/Z6xHMb .

The following cats at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (other cats pictured on the animal control Web site that are not listed here are still “on hold”).

Male orange tabby

This male orange tabby cat has a short coat.

He's in cat room kennel No. 15, ID No. 3020.

Female domestic short hair mix

This female domestic short hair mix has a brown and gray tabby coat.

She's in cat room kennel No. 78, ID No. 2984.

'Rosie'

“Rosie” is a female domestic short hair mix with an orange tabby coat.

She's in cat room kennel No. 99, ID No. 3015.

Female domestic short hair mix

This female domestic short hair mix has a brown tabby coat.

She's in cat room kennel No. 100, ID No. 3005.

Adoptable cats also can be seen at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Cats_and_Kittens.htm or at www.petfinder.com .

Please note: Cats listed at the shelter's Web page that are said to be “on hold” are not yet cleared for adoption.

To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .

Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.

Office hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm .

For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.

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.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Firefighters had another successful day on the Jerusalem fire's lines on Saturday, holding the fire to no new growth and pushing containment up once more.

The fire, burning since last Sunday in the Jerusalem Valley northeast of Middletown, remained at 25,146 acres on Saturday evening, with containment ticking slightly upward to 80 percent, based on Cal Fire's latest report.

As fire officials have been able to safely access the fire area, they have continued damage assessments, which led to Cal Fire increasing the number of destroyed homes to nine and outbuildings to 18. The fire has threatened a total of 50 structures.

On Saturday afternoon, improving conditions led Cal Fire and the Lake County Sheriff's Office to announce that mandatory evacuations prompted earlier in the week by the fire had been lifted, as Lake County News has reported.

Officials have urged fire area residents to exercise extreme caution as they return home and begin evaluating the damage, and to be aware that potential hazards may exist.

Cal Fire also reminded the public to be aware of fire crews and emergency vehicles that continue to work in the area. 

Approximately 2,451 firefighting personnel remain assigned to the Jerusalem fire, Cal Fire reported, along with 125 engines, 64 hand crews, 22 water tenders, 21 dozers and 11 helicopters.

Altogether, some 74 law enforcement and fire agencies from across the state are participating in the effort to control the Jerusalem fire, Cal Fire said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, according to Cal Fire spokesman Scott McLean.

He said Cal Fire expects the incident to be fully contained on Friday, Aug. 21.

Fire officials also reported earlier on Saturday that smoke in the county's skies was not a result of either the Jerusalem fire or the now-contained Rocky fire, but wildland fires farther north: www.bit.ly/1DTzHmq .

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.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Rocky Fire Relief Fund, created last week by North Coast Opportunities, Mendo Lake Credit Union and the Lake County Department of Social Services, has generated incredible community response, officials reported.

Formally retitled the “Rocky-Jerusalem Fire Relief Fund,” it has raised more than $15,000 in just one week.

With Mendo Lake Credit Union matching $5,000, the total raised is more than $20,000.

“Our goal is to reach $50,000, and with such generous community support we are confident we can get there,” said North Coast Opportunities Chief Financial Officer Carolyn Welch. “No donation is too small, and we are grateful to everyone who has given any amount.”

With the Rocky fire only just fully contained on Friday and the Jerusalem fire getting closer to full containment, it's still too early to assess the full extent of damages.

However, those working on the fund said they are committed to moving forward rapidly to ensure that people can apply for and receive assistance quickly.

Anyone wishing to donate to the fire relief fund can go in person to any Mendo Lake Credit Union branch, or send a check made out to North Coast Opportunities to Mendo Lake Credit Union with “Rocky Fire” in the notes field.

There is also a PayPal account set up to accept online donations, which can be found on the front pages of both the North Coast Opportunities and Mendo Lake Credit Union Web sites.

The next important step is forming the management committee to manage and disburse funds.

This seven-person committee will comprise two representatives from North Coast Opportunities – including Welch – along with one each from Mendo Lake Credit Union and Lake County Department of Social Services, and three Lake County representatives from other organizations and the general community.

To fill out the three community seats, interested individuals are asked to fill out a short application by Monday, Aug. 24. Selected committee members will be informed that same week.

This application can be downloaded below, found on North Coast Opportunities’ Web site, www.ncoinc.org , or can be picked up from any Mendo Lake Credit Union branch.

Those affected by the fire can apply for assistance starting on Wednesday, Aug. 26, and the committee will determine how to distribute the funds once the fire has been fully contained and all impacts can be assessed.

More details will be available about how to apply for the fund on both North Coast Opportunities and Mendo Lake Credit Union’s Web sites and Facebook accounts.

For more information on how to donate, how to apply for funds, or how to apply to serve on the management committee, contact North Coast Opportunities Executive Assistant Elizabeth Archer at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 707-467-3210.

Rocky-Jerusalem Fire Relief Committee App

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.” – John Muir

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Clear Lake State Park is one of two state parks in Lake County, with Anderson Marsh State Historic Park being the other.

According to the brochure put out by California State Parks, “The Mission of California State Parks is to provide for the health, inspiration and education of the people of California by helping to preserve the state's extraordinary biological diversity, protecting its most valued natural and cultural resources, and creating opportunities for high-quality outdoor recreation.”

The park does indeed function as a grand outdoor classroom, being set upon California's, if not North America's, oldest natural lake, dating back over one and a half million years to the early Pleistocene era.

Clear Lake State Park is located at 5300 Soda Bay Road in Kelseyville, on the southwestern shore of Clear Lake.

The park has something for everyone with boating and water skiing opportunities, camping, cabins, a swimming beach, picnic areas and hiking trails.

Lake County is rich in cultural history. Here by the shores of Clear Lake the Pomo Indians lived. It 's easy to understand why this area was selected by the Pomo, with the bounty of the waters, forests and streams around them.

Proud Mt. Konocti watched over the lake and was considered a sacred site. Mt. Konocti, a dormant volcano, provided useful igneous obsidian rock used to form a variety of tools and arrowheads.

Once upon a time the lake was encircled by tule reeds – nature's filter.

The abundant tule reeds were a fish spawning area and provided safe and secure nesting places for a variety of water fowl.

Tule reed boats were constructed by the Pomo Indians, and the reeds and many other uses then.

Once on the lake you'll have the opportunity to come up close and personal to thermal vents which bubble up near the swimming beach at Soda Springs.

The park has a fantastic visitor center, which is situated by the boat launch parking lot.

The center has displays which depict the area's cultural past, a large aquarium, and interpretive dioramas to inform you on wildlife which lives in the park and the surrounding area, panels on the remarkable geology of the lake, as well as a gift shop.

Activities at the lake include bird watching which is sometimes let by the local Redbud Audubon chapter.

Hiking trails abound in the park, including the moderately difficult-to-climb two-mile Dorn Nature Trail with its lofty oaks, manzanita and colorful native wildflowers, during springtime.

The Indian Nature Trail is an easy half-mile trek, which informs hikers of the native plants used by the local Pomo Indians when the lake lands were their domain.

Campers can reserve a site from among 147 sites, along with two hike/bike sties and cabins. There is a fire ring and food locker at each site. With the group camp site you will have at your disposal campfire rings, barbecue stoves and picnic tables. Most of the campgrounds have restrooms and showers.

Ask the ranger about activities which occur at the park, such as nature walks and campfire programs.

The lake is a fishing paradise. Fisherman enjoy catching largemouth bass, catfish and crappie.

Clear Lake State Park's boat launch and marina are situated by Cole Creek, and boast battery charging outlets for boats, and a well-lit parking lot with a restroom.

For more information on Clear Lake State Park, you can view the park brochure at http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=473 .

Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is an educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also writes for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Cal Fire reported Saturday that smoke that is shrouding the skies in both Lake and Napa counties isn't coming from nearby wildland fires, but from incidents farther north.

In a report from Cal Fire spokesman Scott McLean, the agency said the smoky conditions are not associated either with the Rocky fire east of Lower Lake or the Jerusalem fire northeast of Middletown.

The Rocky fire was fully contained at 69,438 acres on Friday; the Jerusalem fire is 78-percent contained at 25,146 acres, Cal Fire reported.

Rather, Cal Fire said the smoke is drifting in from fires in the state's far northern region.

The Lake County Air Quality Management District also attributed smoke to fires including the lightning-caused Humboldt Complex, which has burned nearly 4,900 acres in Humboldt County and is 80-percent contained, according to Cal Fire.

Based on fire maps and satellite images, other fires sending smoke south include the following, with size estimates from Cal Fire: Mad River Complex in Trinity County, 22,415 acres and 55-percent contained; the Route Complex in Humboldt and Trinity counties, 26,960 acres, 28-percent contained; the Fork Complex in Trinity County, 32,009 acres, 39-percent contained; the South Complex in Trinity County, 17,653 acres, 20-percent contained; and the River Complex, 35,794 acres, 18-percent contained.

Lake County Air Quality Management District officials said smoke from wildland fires in Oregon and Washington also are contributing to the smoky conditions.

With the forecast for north winds, the district said the county may experience more smoke from these northern fires.

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.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – College of the Redwoods and the Mendocino Lake Community College District have finalized an agreement to have the Mendocino Lake Community College District provide educational and student support services at the Mendocino Coast campus through June 30, 2017.

College of the Redwoods and the Mendocino Lake Community College District have been working on this project for two years.

The coast campus has been under the oversight of Mendocino College for the last two semesters.

“I believe this memorandum of understanding is in the best interest of the students in Mendocino County,” said College of the Redwoods Interim President Keith Snow-Flamer. “Mendocino College, by virtue of its proximity to the Ft. Bragg campus, can better serve students. I want to thank Arturo Reyes and his administrative team for working with us to finalize this MOU.”

The memorandum of understanding, or MOU, also states that Mendocino College shall provide for instructional and student services in the Service Area for fiscal years 2015-16 and 2016-17.

“Mendocino Coast students will be well served by our caring, competent and dedicated faculty and staff. We look forward to increasing our presence on the Coast and providing excellent instruction and exceptional educational opportunities to the entire region,” said Mendocino College Superintendent/President Arturo Reyes.

During the term of this MOU, the Mendocino Lake Community College District will provide exclusive instructional and student services in the service area.

Programs and services may include but are not limited to: for-credit instruction, non-credit instruction, not-for-credit instruction, dual enrollment programs, distance education, adult education, high school equivalency and other testing services.

In addition, College of the Redwoods will transfer the Fine Woodworking Program to Mendocino College after necessary regulatory approvals are completed.

The two colleges also are working together to initiate a transfer of territory process that will, if approved, permanently transfer the College of the Redwoods’ Mendocino Coast service area to Mendocino College.

“We’re now going to turn our attention to working collaboratively in the process of permanently transferring the service area to Mendocino College in 2017,” Interim President Snow-Flamer said.