KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The sixth annual Kelseyville Olive Festival, an event which focuses on the olive industry in Lake County, as well as other local products, will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, April 26.

The event will be held at Chacewater Winery & Olive Mill, located at 5625 Gaddy Lane.

The festival will feature locally produced olive oil, education and demonstrations, and a variety of other contests and activities for the whole family.

Vendors offering olive-related and other local products will be present the day of the event, offering samples and selling products, as well as providing educational materials about olives and our local industry. A children’s area also will be featured.

There is no cost to attend the festival; samples and demonstrations are free of charge. Local wine and beer tasting with a commemorative glass will be available for a $15 fee from noon to 4 p.m.

Several related contests will be held up to and during the festival, including a poster contest, olive pit spitting contest, and people’s choice olive oil contest.

Event proceeds from the raffle, wine store sales and wine and beer tasting fees will benefit Lake Family Resource Center.

Lake Family Resource Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency in Kelseyville that provides many programs in Lake County, including the domestic violence shelter, advocacy, counseling & prevention, 24/7 community crisis line (domestic violence, sexual assault, suicide), child abuse and neglect prevention and treatment, Rape Crisis Center, Early Head Start, parenting classes and workshops, nurturing parenting and nutrition programs.

For more information about Lake Family Resource Center's services, call 707-279-0563.

For more information about the Kelseyville Olive Festival, contact Beth Berinti at Lake Family Resource Center, 707-279-0563, Extension 135.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control is offering a number of dogs to new homes this week.

Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of Akita, Australian Shepherd, chow chow, English Bulldog, Labrador Retriever, pit bull, Rhodesian Ridgeback, shepherd and terrier.

Low adoption fees are offered for some of the dogs.

Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license 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 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 dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control Web site not listed are still “on hold”).

Female terrier mix

This female terrier mix has a short tan and black coat.

She's in kennel No. 2, ID No. 1969.

'Titan'

“Titan” is a young male shepherd mix who shelter staff calls “a bundle of cuteness.”

He's survived a brush with parvovirus and is doing well.

He has dreamy blue eyes, floppy ears and a long tail. He will be available on March 24.

Titan is in kennel No. 3, ID No. 1957.

'Jager'

“Jager” is a male terrier mix with a short tricolor coat.

He's in kennel No. 5, ID No. 1969.

Female pit bull mix

This female pit bull terrier mix has a short tan and white coat.

She's in kennel No. 6, ID No. 1977.

'Bella'

“Bella” is a young female pit bull terrier mix, estimated to be about 6 months old.

Shelter staff said she is a very loving little girl that just wants to be petted and held.

She's in kennel No. 23, ID No. 1971.

Female Australian Shepherd mix

This 6-month-old female Australian Shepherd mix has had a rough start.

She came into the shelter, the victim of neglect. Shelter staff said she currently is being treated for mange, and is doing well and already looking much better.

The pup is super sweet and needs a loving home.

She's in kennel No. 24, ID No. 1321.

'Lucky'

“Lucky” is a male pit bull terrier mix with a short gray coat.

Shelter staff said he's great with other dogs and is very people-friendly. However, he would be best in a home with no cats or chickens.

He's in kennel No. 26, ID No. 1973.

Chow chow mix

This chow chow mix has a long brown coat.

The dog's gender is undetermined.

He's in kennel No. 28, ID No. 1960.

'Bear'

“Bear” is a male English Bulldog mix.

He has a short tan and white coat.

Shelter staff said he is great with other dogs and very social with people.

He's in kennel No. 29, ID No. 1972.

'Roxie'

“Roxie” is a female Labrador Retriever mix who came into the shelter along with Max.

She is 4 years old, weighs 69 pounds and already is spayed, so she is available for a low adoption fee.

Roxie also is leash trained and knows basic commands, and has beautiful big brown eyes.

Roxie is in kennel No. 30, ID No. 1771.

Akita mix

This 5-year-old male Akita mix has a short tan and white coat.

He knows basic commands and his housebroken, and needs some leash training.

Shelter staff said he likes toys and they're looking for an owner for him who would love to spend time taking him for walks.

He is mellow and would be great with kids, but they recommend no cats.

He's in kennel No. 31, ID No. 1938.

'Sunny'

“Sunny” is a high-energy 8-year-old male Labrador Retriever mix.

He has a short black coat and is neutered.

Shelter staff said he is a really good boy who needs to be in a home with a secure fenced-in yard, as he does like to wander.

Sunny could use some leash training, but otherwise shelter staff said he would make a great family dog.

Sunny is in kennel No. 33, ID No. 1705.

Rhodesian Ridgeback mix

This male Rhodesian Ridgeback mix came in with his sister, and is also 4 years old.

Shelter staff says he gets along well with cats; his tail wagged as he watched them play.

Anyone who is interested in adopting him and who has dogs already is asked to submit an application and introduce bring their dogs in for an introduction.

He is slightly shy but with some training he could be a wonderful addition to your family or for an individual.

He's in kennel No. 34, ID No. 1762.

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.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Less than a week after marking its 2015 season opening day, Southshore Little League got an unfortunate surprise in the form of a theft.

Sometime between 8:30 p.m. Thursday and 2 p.m. Friday someone went to the league fields on Ballpark Avenue and stole the flags, according to David Singleterry Jr., the league president.

Singleterry said a US flag and two smaller league flags – one for baseball, one for softball – were stolen, and the rope on the flagpole was cut.

He said the league has lost flags to theft previously.

Each of the smaller flags costs $85, Singleterry said. He did not have an estimated replacement cost for the US flag that was taken.

It's an expensive loss for the league, which Singleterry said this year has more than 468 children taking part in softball and baseball.

Anyone who has information on the theft or the whereabouts of the flags is asked to call Helen Mitchum at 707-998-9194.

For more information about the league, visit https://www.facebook.com/Southshorelittleleagueclearlakeca?fref=ts or http://www.eteamz.com/southshore/ .

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. – Lake County Animal Care and Control is once again starting out this week with one cat available for adoption.

The male cat will be vaccinated and neutered once his new family has picked him out.

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 domestic longhair

This male domestic longhair has a gray and white coat.

He's in cat room kennel No. 46, ID No. 1970.

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.

Using observations from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have found that dark matter does not slow down when colliding with itself, meaning it interacts with itself less than previously thought.

Researchers say this finding narrows down the options for what this mysterious substance might be.

Dark matter is an invisible matter that makes up most of the mass of the universe.

Because dark matter does not reflect, absorb or emit light, it can only be traced indirectly by, such as by measuring how it warps space through gravitational lensing, during which the light from a distant source is magnified and distorted by the gravity of dark matter.

To learn more about dark matter and test such theories, researchers study it in a way similar to experiments on visible matter – by watching what happens when it bumps into other objects. In this case, the colliding objects under observation are galaxy clusters.

Researchers used Hubble and Chandra to observe these space collisions.

Specifically, Hubble was used to map the distribution of stars and dark matter after a collision, which was traced through its gravitational lensing effect on background light.

Chandra was used to detect the X-ray emission from colliding gas clouds. The results are published in the March 27 edition of the journal Science.

“Dark matter is an enigma we have long sought to unravel,” said John Grunsfeld, assistant administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “With the combined capabilities of these great observatories, both in extended mission, we are ever closer to understanding this cosmic phenomenon.”

Galaxy clusters are made of three main ingredients: galaxies, gas clouds and dark matter.

During collisions, the gas clouds surrounding galaxies crash into each other and slow down or stop.

The galaxies are much less affected by the drag from the gas and, because of the huge gaps between the stars within them, do not slow each other down.

“We know how gas and stars react to these cosmic crashes and where they emerge from the wreckage. Comparing how dark matter behaves can help us to narrow down what it actually is,” said the study’s lead author David Harvey of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland.

Harvey and his team studied 72 large cluster collisions. The collisions happened at different times and were viewed from different angles – some from the side, and others head-on.

The team found that, like the galaxies, the dark matter continued straight through the violent collisions without slowing down much.

This means dark matter does not interact with visible particles and flies by other dark matter with much less interaction than previously thought.

Had the dark matter dragged against other dark matter, the distribution of galaxies would have shifted.

“A previous study had seen similar behavior in the Bullet Cluster,” said team member Richard Massey of Durham University in the United Kingdom. “But it's difficult to interpret what you're seeing if you have just one example. Each collision takes hundreds of millions of years, so in a human lifetime we only get to see one freeze-frame from a single camera angle. Now that we have studied so many more collisions, we can start to piece together the full movie and better understand what is going on.”

With this discovery, the team has successfully narrowed down the properties of dark matter. Particle physics theorists now have a smaller set of unknowns to work around when building their models.

“It is unclear how much we expect dark matter to interact with itself because dark matter already is going against everything we know,” said Harvey. “We know from previous observations that it must interact with itself reasonably weakly.”

Dark matter may have rich and complex properties, and there are still several other types of interactions to study. These latest results rule out interactions that create a strong frictional force, causing dark matter to slow down during collisions.

The team also will study other possible interactions, such as dark matter particles bouncing off each other like billiard balls and causing dark matter particles to be ejected from the clouds by collisions or for dark matter blobs to change shape.

The team also is looking to study collisions involving individual galaxies, which are much more common.

“There are still several viable candidates for dark matter, so the game is not over. But we are getting nearer to an answer,” said Harvey. “These astronomically large particle colliders are finally letting us glimpse the dark world all around us, but just out of reach.”

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Worldwide Healing Hands (WHH) is preparing for the second annual “Hike 4 Healing” on Mount Konocti’s Wright Summit Trail on April 25.

The yearly trek is a fundraiser to support the work of Worldwide Healing Hands.

Hike participants and sponsors are sought for the event. This year WHH is encouraging “virtual” hikers, those who cannot make it to the Mount Konocti hike, to join the event via Facebook.

Hike participants will traverse a little more than 6 miles round-trip, with an elevation gain of 1,600 feet, along the trail. Entrance fee for the hike is $25 per person. There is no charge for children under the age of 12 to participate.

Participants may register at the office of Dr. Paula Dhanda, medical director for WHH, at 5685 Main St., Kelseyville.

Individuals may also register online by visiting the WHH’s Web site, www.worldwidehealinghands.org , or EventBrite ( https://eventbrite.com/event/15794115625/ ).

Facebook participants in the “Virtual Hike 4 Healing” will receive WHH visors and will be urged to post pictures of their hikes while wearing the visors. Find out more on the Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/events/898827700140409/ .

WHH seeks sponsors for the event and for hikers. Sponsors will be recognized in print and broadcast releases about the event as well as acknowledged on information available at the hike. 

All donations will help support the WHH’s goals and missions to provide quality health care to women and children, especially those who do not have access to such care.

The Hike 4 Healing was launched last year as a fundraiser for Worldwide Healing Hands’ missions, according to Hike 4 Healing coordinator Anthy O’Brien, a WHH board member and supporter.

WHH provides health care services to women and children in underserved areas of the world. WHH teams have traveled to Nepal, Chad and Haiti to deliver health services. WHH volunteer medical teams have also provided free health screenings to homeless in Lake County.

“Please join us on our Hike 4 Healing this year so that we may help many more women and children with the care they need and deserve,” O’Brien said.

For more information about the Hike 4 Healing, call 707-279-8733.

Visit WHH’s Web site, www.worldwidehealinghands.org , to read more about the organization.

“Let the farmer forevermore be
honored in his calling; for they
who labor in the earth are the
chosen people of God.”
– Thomas Jefferson

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Anderson Marsh State Historic Park is located on the southeast shore of Clear Lake, on Anderson Ranch Parkway in Lower Lake.

The park is composed of more than 1,000 acres of wetlands, oak woodlands and grasslands, with four great hiking trails: the Cache Creek, Anderson Flats, Ridge and Marsh trails, all two to three miles, round trip.

Our park is unique in another important way in that it includes a historic ranch complex, along with its prehistoric history.

There are more than 30 Native American archaeological sites here, some of which are more than 10,000 years old. The southeastern Pomo once made homes here.

The area known today as Lake County was explored and visited by European American trapper and hunters as far back as the 1820s.

The first European American settlers here at Anderson Marsh arrived in 1855, predating the Civil War. 

This part  of Lake County was known at Hot Springs Township, and was actually part of Napa County.

Then, two brothers named Achilles Fine and John Melchisadeck Grigsby arrived here from Tennessee.

It was their dream to ranch and farm the land. Looking at the ranch house, you can see the two-story portion, at the center, where they once lived.

The Grigsbys constructed that, and the older barn was thought to be theirs, as well. The Grigsby brothers built it with rough hewn redwood, and it is also known as Weatherboard.

They lived at the ranch for 15 years, making this house one of the oldest in Lake County.

The Grigsby family moved out in 1870 after a prolonged battle with the Clear Lake Water Works Co.

Large tracts of the Grigsbys' farmland were flooded after Cache Creek was dammed. At first, it appeared that the Grigsbys won the case, however, an appeal to the Supreme Court initiated a reversal of that decision, and the water works company won on legal technicalities.

The Grigsbys sold their land to the Clear Lake Water Works Co., and they held title until 1882 when it changed hands. 

Next, in 1885 John Still Anderson purchased the land from the California Agriculture Improvement Association, affiliates of the Clear Lake Water Works Co.

Anderson, a Scottish immigrant from Edinburgh, traveled by Clipper ship around Cape Horn.

He operated a cattle ranch here, along with his wife, Sarah, and their six children.

The Andersons made a comfortable home out of the tiny quarters. Their descendants carried on at the Anderson Ranch House until the 1960s.

Now, the old house stands as a silent reminder of times past.

For more information, visit Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association, www.andersonmarsh.org/ .

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.

LUCERNE, Calif. – A Corning man suffered major injuries when the semi truck he was driving overturned on Highway 20 early Saturday morning, trapping him inside as thousands of gallons of milk from the semi's crushed trailer went into the lake.

Dana Montgomery, 57, sustained a head laceration and had a complaint of pain to his right left following the wreck, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The CHP report said Montgomery was driving a 2008 Kenworth semi with a 1999 tank trailer hauling a load of milk.

Montgomery was headed westbound at an unknown speed on Highway 20 east of Lucerne at 3:30 a.m. when, for reasons that are not known, the truck went off the road to the north of the highway, the CHP reported.

The semi hit a roadside call box and continued out of control, hitting the embankment and overturning, the CHP said.

The truck's trailer ruptured and lost its load of approximately 5,000 gallons of milk. The CHP said the milk entered a culvert that led to Clear Lake and got into the water.

Montgomery was trapped in the cab until heavy duty tow trucks arrived at the scene to lift the truck so firefighters could free him from the wreckage, according to the CHP.

Northshore Fire Protection District Deputy Chief Pat Brown told Lake County News that it took firefighters from the district's four main stations – Clearlake Oaks, Lucerne, Nice and Upper Lake – two hours to extricate Montgomery from the crushed semi. Cal Fire from the Clearlake Oaks station also was involved in the rescue.

They used heavy rescue equipment to cut through the wreckage, as well as the large tow trucks and airbags to lift the truck, Brown said.

The REACH 6 air ambulance responded to Lucerne Harbor Park to pick up Montgomery. After landing at the park, Brown said the REACH crew responded to the crash scene to assist with advanced life support for Montgomery while he was being extricated.

REACH 6 subsequently transported Montgomery to an out-of-county trauma center for treatment of his injuries, the CHP said.

Due to the milk entering the lake, firefighters at the scene requested that Lake County Environmental Health and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife respond to the scene.

The CHP said Caltrans also responded to the crash site and provided one-way traffic control during the vehicle recovery, with CHP's Emergency Notification and Tactical Alert Center notified of the traffic control.

Both lanes of Highway 20 at the crash site were reopened at 9:30 a.m., the CHP said.

Montgomery used his 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.

Many will recall 29-year-old Brittany Maynard who suffered from terminal brain cancer.

Maynard moved from California to Oregon where she chose to end her own life rather than continue in excruciating pain.

The “End of Life Option Act” presently before the California Senate would allow for terminally ill residents of California to voluntarily end their own lives by requesting “aid in dying” medicine prescribed by a physician and then self-administered by the patient.

Informed consent by the patient, verification of informed consent and an opportunity for the patient to withdraw that consent is at the heart of how the legislation works.

Let’s examine the “End of Life Option Act.”

For there to be informed consent the patient must understand and acknowledge the relevant facts after being fully informed by his or her attending physician of the following: the terminal diagnosis, the prognosis, the risks associated with taking the medicine, the probable result of death by taking the medicine, the possibility that the patient may choose at any time not to take the medicine, and the feasible alternative or additional treatment opportunities (such as comfort care) instead of taking end of life medicine.

The patient must make two oral requests, at least 15 days apart, and a written request to the attending physician.

The written request must be witnesses by two qualified witnesses who attest to the patient’s soundness of mind and voluntary request.

In addition to the attending physician, a consulting physician also must examine the patient, confirm the attending physicians’ terminal diagnosis and prognosis, and verify that the individual is competent, acting voluntarily, and has made an informed decision.

Once the medicine is delivered, the patient can either decline to use the medicine or proceed as planned and self- administer the medicine.

Brittany Maynard stated the case for why voluntary dying is very different from suicide: “For people to argue against this choice for sick people really seems evil to me," she told People Magazine. “They try to mix it up with suicide and that's really unfair, because there's not a single part of me that wants to die. But I am dying."

According to an Los Angeles Times editorial published on Feb. 10, 2015, 70 percent of Californians support the legislation.

If the End of Life Option Act is enacted, California would join Oregon, Vermont and Washington as states where terminally ill persons can end their own lives.

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 .

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Wine Alliance has chosen Cache Creek Winery in Clearlake Oaks as the venue for the 16th annual Lake County Wine Auction.

The event will be presented on Saturday, Sept. 19.

This stunning facility is a perfect venue for Lake County’s premiere fundraising event, which since its inception in 2000 has raised $1,177802 to benefit Lake County groups and organizations.

Don and Margie Van Pelt, will be the honorary co-chairs for the 2015 Wine Auction.

“I am thrilled that we have been chosen to participate in the wine auction,” said Don Van Pelt in accepting the co-chairmanship, “It’s rewarding to build something and have the community use it for a great cause.”

Located at the intersection of Highway 20 and New Long Valley Road in the eastern foothills, Cache Creek Winery’s new sits on a 500-acre natural preserve that serves as home to a majestic heard of tule elk. It’s the perfect place for an unforgettable evening under the stars.

This year’s wine auction will begin at 5 p.m. and end at 11 p.m.

Tickets are $150 per person and may be reserved at www.winealliance.org or by calling 866-279-WINE.

Sponsorship information is available from Marie Beery, 707-278-0129.

Wineries, caterers and restaurants from all over the area will feature a wide variety of wines and fine foods with an emphasis on “Farm to Fork Dining.”

The charter of the Wine Alliance directs its efforts to foster the arts, benefit health services and support the community, while promoting Lake County as a premier grape growing and fine wine region.

Five high schools, five youth oriented programs and 13 other nonprofit organizations shared the $96,500 in proceeds raised at the 2014 auction.

The event's success over the years would not have been possible without the support of valued sponsors.

Sponsors of the 2014 event were Beckstoffer Vineyards, Sutter Lakeside Hospital, Six Sigma Ranch and Winery, Brassfield Estate Winery, Mendo Lake Credit Union, Calpine, Kathy Fowler Chevrolet, Umpqua Bank, Kelseyville Pharmacy, Bella Vista Farming, Southern Smiles Dental Practice, St. Helena Hospital, Shannon Ridge Winery, Trinchero Family Estates, Savings Bank of Mendocino, C-Line Trucking and the Lake County Winegrape Commission.

Members of the Wine Alliance board are Kaj Ahlmann, Lower Lake, president; Judy Luchsinger, Lakeport, vice president; Sharron Zoller, Kelseyville, secretary; Rob Roumiguiere, Kelseyville, treasurer; and Marie Beery, Kelseyville, and Bill Groody, Kelseyville, directors.

LUCERNE, Calif. – First responders spent two hours early Saturday morning extricating a driver from his overturned semi truck.

The crash was first dispatched at 3:40 a.m., according to scanner reports.

The semi, which was hauling a load of milk, rolled over on Highway 20 east of Pepperwood Cove, according to Northshore Fire Deputy Chief Pat Brown.

Radio reports indicated that the first units on scene found the semi sitting on its top, with the roadway clear.

The tank was reported to be completely ruptured, according to reports from the scene, with California Fish and Wildlife and Lake County Environmental Health asked to respond due to the runoff headed to the lake.

Brown said the driver was pinned in the overturned semi between his seat and the front dash.

The whole vehicle had to be lifted using airbags and a large tow vehicle, Brown said.

Heavy rescue from the Clearlake Oaks Station used all extrication tools to cut and remove parts of the truck in order to gain access to the patient, Brown said.

Brown said all Northshore Fire stations – Clearlake Oaks, Lucerne, Nice and Upper Lake – were involved, along with Cal Fire out of Clearlake Oaks.

The REACH 6 air ambulance crew – which had landed at Lucerne Harbor Park to transport the driver – helped Northshore Fire paramedics on scene for advanced life support for the patient during extrication, Brown said.

Additional details on the cause of the crash will be published as they become available.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – The Department of Water Resources, or DWR, will conduct this year’s fourth manual snow survey for the media on April 1 just off Highway 50 near Sierra-at-Tahoe Road approximately 90 miles east of Sacramento.

Electronic readings show that the Sierra Nevada snowpack’s water content is lower than any year in records going back to 1950 – just 8 percent of the historical average in late March.

The snowpack has been in decline since the first manual survey was taken on Dec. 30, when electronic readings found the statewide snow water equivalent at 50 percent of that date’s historical average.

The statewide readings on the second and third survey dates were 25 percent of the January 29 average and 19 percent of the March 3 average.

The media survey at Phillips Station is one of more than 230 snow courses that will be measured during a 10-day window around April 1 to determine the statewide snowpack, which normally contributes about 30 percent of California’s water when it melts.

Below-normal precipitation, combined with unusually warm weather, has produced meager snowfall during the traditional wet season.

The snowpack normally is at its peak on April 1, which historically is the seasonal total.

Barring an unexpected change in the weather, chains will not be required for vehicles, but media should be attentive to conditions. The survey will begin at 11 a.m., with results available by early afternoon. Media should not arrive before 10 a.m. due to the landowner’s concerns.

Electronic snowpack readings are available on the Internet at http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/snowapp/sweq.action .

Water Year 2015 precipitation is available at http://cdec.water.ca.gov/snow_rain.html .

Electronic reservoir readings may be found at http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/resapp/getResGraphsMain.action .

For a broader snapshot of current and historical weather conditions, see DWR’s Drought and Water Conditions pages http://water.ca.gov/waterconditions/docs/California_Signficant_Droughts_2015_small.pdf and http://www.water.ca.gov/waterconditions/ .