LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County can look forward to much-improved highways thanks to millions of dollars’ worth of repair and improvement projects that are under way.

“We’ve got three major projects around the lake this summer,” said Alan Escarda, Caltrans area construction engineer.

Those three projects are the new roundabout at the junction of Highway 20 and Highway 29 in Upper Lake, the Highway 20 overlay project that stretches from Nice to the “Y” intersection at Highway 20 and Highway 53 east of Clearlake Oaks, and an overlay project in Kelseyville.

Escarda said the three projects, plus two smaller ones not yet in the construction phase, total more than $30 million in highway improvements.

He estimated that close to $10 million in materials – such as asphalt and aggregate – will be purchased locally just on the Highway 20 overlay, with 150 jobs attached to the project.

In addition, workers will be staying at local motels and purchasing services in the county throughout the summer, which Escarda said pencils out to a significant economic impact for Lake County.

Work on the $4 million roundabout project will take place in six phases, Escarda said, with the contractor – Ghilotti Construction – having just started stage three by putting up K-rail around the site.

Traffic currently continues to flow around the K-rail, behind which 75 to 80 percent of the project will be built, Escarda explained.

When that portion of the construction is completed, the K-rail will be removed and then people will be able to drive through the roundabout while the remaining 20 percent of the project is finished, he said.

Escarda estimated that the K-rail should be removed by Labor Day. “That's what we're hoping.”

After that, he said there will still be a few months' worth of work to complete the project.

While some of the early work was done at night, Escarda said going forward much of it will be done during the day.

Possible holdups could occur due to weather conditions. “We’ve been having weird weather and rain,” he said.

Escarda said two other roundabouts also are being considered for Lake County: At the Y intersection near Clearlake Oaks, where there is a two-way stop, with downhill traffic headed westbound or using the turn lane not having to stop; and on Highway 29 at Hartmann Road near Hidden Valley Lake, where there currently is a three-way stop.

“They're in the process where they're looking at alternatives,” Escarda said of Caltrans planners.

So far, however, Escarda added that final decisions haven't been made on those proposed roundabouts.

As for other summer highway work, the biggest single project is the 19-mile-long Highway 20 overlay, which by itself totals nearly $20 million, said Escarda.

In May 2014, the California Transportation Commission allocated a mix of state and federal funds to complete the project, as Lake County News has reported.

Caltrans' contractor, OC Jones, is digging down as much as half a foot in some places – especially around the Lucerne area, where there exists some of the worst pavement along the project area – to repair the roadway surface and put in fresh asphalt. Escarda said they will then put down rubberized chip seal and place over it another layer of asphalt.

“It's going to be vastly improved,” he said.

This week the work on the Highway 20 corridor is taking place from Manzanita Road to the junction of Highway 20 and Highway 53 between 6 and 9 a.m. daily, with 15-minute delays possible, Caltrans reported.

In the early days of the project last month, traffic was backed up through Nice as more than a dozen semis lined the highway to transport materials to the site. There were similar backups earlier this month, again in Nice as well as in Clearlake Oaks and Lucerne.

“We're really happy on the progress,” Escarda said, noting that almost all of the bad concrete has been repaired. 

The contractor has dug out portions of the road where the pavement had failed and replaced it with rubberized chip seal. That work was finished on June 11 on the 14 miles of the 19-mile stretch where the chip seal was necessary, he said.

That chip seal won't be the final driving surface, Escarda said. In a couple of weeks, the contractor will pave over that with a “leveling course” – a 1-inch-thick asphalt overlay.

Escarda said that five to six weeks after that, the contract will put down a 2-inch layer of rubber asphalt over the entire 19 miles of the project area.

He said the messiest, loudest part of the work – which has included jackhammering and grinding out pavement – has been completed.

“I'm sure the residents are already getting tired of it,” he said of the work and the accompanying noise, asking the community to “just stick with us” as the work progresses.

The final layer of rubber paving should be down by Labor Day, Escarda said.

He said work has been suspended by Caltrans' contractor along a two-mile stretch from Paradise Cove to Glenhaven, where Lake County Special Districts is putting in a water pipeline.

The $1.75 million water main extension project is necessary to annex the Paradise Cove community into the Clearlake Oaks County Water District, as Lake County News has reported.

Special Districts had to get the work done ahead of the Caltrans project, according to Compliance Manager Jan Coppinger, or else there would have been a seven-year moratorium on digging into the pavement repair work.

Coppinger said the county has hired OC Jones – the contractor working on the Highway 20 overlay for Caltrans – to do the work.

Special Districts confirmed to Lake County News that the pipeline is well under way.

“We decided we’re just going to stop work” in that area, said Escarda, adding that the contractor may be able to complete the work this fall, depending on whether the necessary temperatures for paving are present. If not, he said that portion of paving could be completed next spring.

Beginning on Monday, the $5 million Kelseyville overlay job gets under way, Caltrans reported.

Contracted to Ghilotti Brothers, the work will take place over a 5-mile stretch from just east of Cruickshank Road to just short of the Highway 175 and Highway 29 intersection in Lakeport, Escarda said.

Work on sidewalks and electrical has been done at the intersections in the area ahead of the paving, he said.

Work this week begins with the contractor grinding out and replacing failed asphalt along the entire project corridor. Escarda said the goal is to have that work completed by June 30 or July 1.

Caltrans said work will take place from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., Sunday evening through Friday morning. One-way traffic control will be in effect, and motorist should anticipate 15-minute delays.

Escarda said the contractor will stop work from July 1 through July 6 due to holiday traffic. Once they're back on the job, there will be a week of prep work followed by two weeks of putting down rubberized chip seal.

He said drivers should be aware that work will be taking place at night, with some lane closures that should not create too much impact on motorists.

All of that paving is expected to be done by the end of July, Escarda said.

Escarda said there is the possibility of a fourth project this year – for a $1.2 million new metal beam guardrail along Blue Lakes – that went out to bid last month.

He said four bids were received and a recommendation for a contract award is anticipated. Work would start in early August, to be finished before the winter close to construction.

Escarda said there also is one more project, the $400,000 scour repair at Saint Helena Creek Bridge near Middletown. Scour repair is the removal of sediment buildup around the bridge piers and abutments. 

That project is slated to be advertised this summer, which may mean there won’t be time to build it this year, Escarda said.

By the end of this construction season, Escarda said all but about six miles of Lake County's highways will have been repaved as the result of projects over about the last several years.

The only areas not repaved include a five-mile stretch on Highway 175 and about a mile near Cache Creek, he said.

“For a little county like Lake County, we've more than gotten our share of state funds,” Escarda said.

Escarda said some of the funds for the current projects came from the $19 billion transportation bond that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger helped pass in 2006. That $19 billion is now spent.

He said highway work in Lake County had averaged eight projects a year, at a cost of about $22 million annually, from 2007 through 2015. 

The Lake County construction office also did an additional $30 million in projects on Highway 20 between Highway 5 and Highway 101 during the same time period, he said.

Thanks to the major projects taking place now, 2015 is proving a big year for highway improvements in Lake County, he said.

“When we're done, you’re going to have some pretty good highway around the whole lake,” Escarda 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. – Walmart is moving ahead with its plans to remodel and expand its existing Clearlake store – plans which have been on hold over the last several years.

The store, located at 15960 Dam Road, originally was built in 1994. It's one of more than 11,200 stores under 71 banners in 27 countries operated by the retail giant, which reported more than $473 billion in sales in 2014.

The plan for the store remodel and expansion, submitted to the city of Clearlake during a meeting with city officials on Tuesday, calls for adding approximately 38,741 square feet of building area for a total store size of 148,258 square feet.

“Having been a part of the Clearlake community for over 20 years, we are always looking for better ways to serve our customers,” said Clearlake Walmart Store Manager Travis Peck in a written statement. “Remodeling and expanding our current store will allow us to offer our customers greater convenience by providing a one-stop-shopping experience, and create new jobs for the community.”

Walmart said the expansion of its Clearlake store will result in a larger grocery department, with additional food and general merchandise sales floor area, food sales support area, stockroom/receiving area, ancillary space and food tenant space.

The company said the remodeled store also will offer a pickup service that allows customers to order groceries and general merchandise online from Walmart’s Web site and pick up the products at the store.

One of the services the store won't be expanding – and, in fact, is removing – is the Tire and Lube Express section.

The store's exterior also will undergo a complete renovation, including parking lot lighting, signage and shading, the company said.

Altogether, Walmart said the remodeled and expanded store will bring about 85 new store jobs, plus construction jobs, with the company anticipating that additional tax revenue will be generated for the city.

The average wage for regular, full-time hourly associates in California is $13.33 per hour as of April, reported the company, which has two million associates worldwide.

Clearlake City Manager Joan Phillipe confirmed that she and Greg Folsom – the incoming city manager who will succeed her when she retires at the end of this month – met with Walmart representatives on Tuesday about the store expansion plans.

“They did bring with them the application and they left that,” said Phillipe, who hasn't yet had a chance to go through the document.

She said Walmart will be submitting an initial deposit of $220,000 to cover the costs of processing the project, including taking the environmental impact report through the administrative draft stage and covering the time of a contract planner, as the city doesn't have someone on staff with the expertise or time who can oversee such a large project.

“In the end it's not an inexpensive process,” she said.

Phillipe said the project “essentially is a remodel of an existing store,” not a brand new project.

“It's not a super Walmart by any stretch of the imagination,” she said of the proposed expansion size.

The proposed expansion, noted Phillipe, has been “an on-again, off-again project for quite some time” – even before she arrived in late 2011.

The project in a previous incarnation had gotten through the administrative environmental impact report stage before it was put on hold, said Phillipe, noting that Walmart has been undergoing a variety of internal changes regarding its direction.

“I think those things have impacted the project here,” she said. “They have started and stopped several times.”

Phillipe said the company's focus appears to be on updating older stores like Clearlake's.

She said the fact that Walmart is meeting with the city and willing to put down the money on the project indicates to her that they intend to move forward this time.

The expectations of 85 new jobs as a result of the project is an important factor for the city. “One of the city's priority goals is economic development,” said Phillipe. “One of the components of that, of course, is adding jobs into the community.”

A number of local residents and businesses have voiced concerns over Walmart's impact on the community, which Phillipe acknowledged and anticipates will be the case as the project moves forward.

“All of that will be looked at in the processing of the application,” she said.

Regarding the discontinuing of the tire and lube shop, Phillipe noted that the city seems to have a large number of such successful shops already offering those same services.

One of those is Tire Pros, owned by Gene Renner.

Renner said his business is a franchise, so it has buying power equal to Walmart's. However, he said many smaller, independently owned shops in the city have survived and thrived despite the presence of Walmart's tire shop, although other types of businesses have shuttered in competing with the store.

He attributes the success of local shops like his to a few things, including people who want to shop with locally owned business.

“I think quite a few people like to shop locally and don't want to see their money go to Bentonville, Arkansas,” he said.

He's been in the tire business for 23 years, so he watched as Walmart opened up a similar business to his own, but he said, “I'm never concerned about competition coming to town.”

Renner said service is key, so no matter how much competition local businesses have, if they are willing to offer great service, they can survive and thrive.

“People like service more than anything,” he said, noting that he has customers who work at Walmart.

“I don't think they had as a good a service and people like to shop locally,” he said, adding, “Our service is certainly a lot better than Walmart.”

For local businesses, one of the key lessons from Walmart's decision to close its tire and lube shop is, “You can compete with the big guys,” said Renner.

The company said information about the store's progress will be posted at the Walmart Clearlake store’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Walmart1979 .
                 
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 from local, state and federal agencies successfully contained a series of small wildland fires that broke out along Highway 20 and near Clearlake on Saturday afternoon.

The fires were all reported within about a half hour beginning at 4:25 p.m., according to radio reports.

The incidents – in order – were located in the area of Olympic Drive and Highway 53 in Clearlake, on Witter Springs Road near Upper Lake, Old Long Valley Road and Highway 20, and Highway 20 and Walker Ridge, east of Clearlake Oaks, based on reports from the scene.

Lake County Fire and Cal Fire worked the Clearlake fire, while Northshore Fire, Lakeport Fire, Cal Fire and the US Forest Service responded to the incidents along Highway 20 in Upper Lake and near Clearlake Oaks, scanner reports indicated.

With local resources stretched, Williams Fire and Cal Fire were dispatched to the incident near the county line and Walker Ridge, officials said.

Northshore Fire Chief Jay Beristianos said the Witter Springs Fire was located in a vineyard that had not been planted but had 6-foot-tall weeds. He said a man was mowing the weeds when the area caught fire.

Beristianos said the fire burned four and a half acres. The fire was reported controlled just before 5:30 p.m., with firefighters remaining on scene for a few hours for mop up.

Reports from the scene indicated the fire on Olympic was just under two acres. That incident was terminated shortly after 8 p.m.

The fire on Old Long Valley Road burned about half an acre, according to Northshore Fire.

Cal Fire said the fire at Highway 20 and Walker Ridge burned about two acres.

Information about the causes of the fires near Clearlake and Clearlake Oaks was not immediately available Saturday night.

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 Lake County Association of Realtors had good news to report for the month of May, as the local real estate market continues its post-recession recovery.

LCAOR reported that the median sales price of single family residences for Lake County moved up from $199,765 in April 2015 to $207,000 in May.

The May 2015 median price was nearly 24 percent above the May 2014 median price, which was $167,295, according to the report.

The first five months of 2015 showed an 18.75-percent gain in median sales price when compared to the first five months of 2014, LCAOR said.

At the same time, LCAOR said the number of units sold for the same time periods was up by 6.74 percent in 2015.

Seventy two units sold in May which was equivalent to the 72 units that sold in April. LCAOR said inventory levels remained close to six months at 6.49 months of inventory. 

In May of 2014 the inventory levels were slightly higher at 7.29 months. Six months of inventory is considered “normal” and indicates how long it would take to sell the existing inventory if no new listings were added to the market, the association reported.

“Sales have been good throughout the county,” said LCAOR’s 2015 President Yvette Sloan. “Year to date there has been 60 sales in Hidden Valley Lake, 46 sales in Clearlake, 32 in Lakeport and 30 in Clear Lake Riviera.”

Distressed sales – homes sold after foreclosure or for less than what was owed – continued to decline on a year-to-year basis, LCAOR said.

In May 2015, 13.9 percent of the sales were considered distressed compared to 30.7 percent of the sales in May 2014, LCAOR said. Standard sales, those homes being sold for more than what was owed made up 88.33 percent of the sales.

Cash sales continue to play a significant role in the purchasing of properties with 38.9 percent of the sales being purchased with cash. LCAOR said conventional loans accounted for 28.2 percent of the transactions.

Mortgage rates increased in May, with the 30-year, fixed-mortgage interest rate averaging 3.84 percent, up from 3.67 percent in April but down from 4.19 percent in May 2014, according to Freddie Mac.

Adjustable-mortgage interest rates edged up in May, averaging 2.49 percent, up slightly from 2.46 in April and 2.43 percent in May 2014, the association reported.

NUMBERS AT A GLANCE

Lake County – May 2015
Median price:  $207,000
Median days to sell: 67
Units Sold: 72

Lake County – April 2015
Median price:  $199,765
Median days to sell: 81
Units Sold: 72

Lake County – May 2014
Median price: $167,295
Median days to sell: 79
Units sold: 62

California – May 2015
Statewide median price: $485,830
Los Angeles Metro Median Price: $440,050
San Francisco Bay Area Median Price: $846,900

“When you're in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, 'Damn, that was fun'.” – Groucho Marx

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – One of Lake County's most distinctive landmarks is the Lower Lake Stone Jail.

It is listed as California Historical Landmark No. 429, and became such in October 1962.

The jail is located at 16118 Main St., Lower Lake, one-tenth of a mile south of Highways 29 and 53.

To become designated as a California Historical Landmark, a site or structure needs to meet specific criteria associated with California history.

This process began back in 1895 in Los Angeles, when a  group of citizens from the Landmarks Club sought to preserve California's Spanish missions.

The Lower Lake Stone Jail – built in 1876 by Stephen Nicolai, who was a stonemason with a local business – garnered materials from a nearby quarry. His construction partners were Theodore and John Copsey.

According to notes from Henry K. Mauldin, Lake County's first official historian, the Copsey brothers, being proud of finishing their hard work on the jail, decided to celebrate their achievement in a local saloon.

Soon they became so boisterous that they were admitted as the jail's very first lodgers!

Then, it dawned on the Copsey brothers that they had forgotten one key element of the jail's construction – that of securing the roof to the structure, hence, they were able to raise the roof and make their escape.

The need for a jail in Lower Lake was felt, even though the town's population was only 1,000 people.

This was when quicksilver, or mercury mining was booming across Lake County. With the advent  of the Sulphur Bank Mine, Lake County was gaining in popularity, and drew a great workforce.

After a hard day at the mines, the men would feel the need to blow off steam by patronizing the local saloons, and the rowdiest were thrown in the little clinker.

Since there was no outhouse in the jail, it must have been quite the rustic adventure to find yourself locked up in the Lower Lake Stone Jail.

The plaque  on California Historical Landmark No. 429  reads: “This jail, claimed to be the smallest in the United States, was erected in 1876 of stone locally quarried and reinforced with iron. During the stirring days of the first quicksilver operations of the Sulphur Bank Mine, lasting from 1873 to 1883, obvious need for a jail led to its construction.”

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.

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Firefighters are continuing to work on fire on burning since Friday night on private land within the Mendocino National Forest.

The Sanhedrin fire, reported Friday at around 7:30 p.m., is estimated to be 25 acres and is burning south of Little Signal Peak and east of the Sanhedrin Wilderness on the Upper Lake Ranger District, according to a Saturday report from Tamara Schmidt of the Mendocino National Forest.

Schmidt said the fire is burning in heavy fuels, including dead and down trees, in an area burned in 2008.

There was no estimated containment on Saturday night, Schmidt said.

Schmidt said the cause is under investigation.

Smoke from the fire is visible along Highway 101 and to communities on the west side of the forest, she said.

While it is on private land, Schmidt said the Sanhedrin fire is within the US Forest Service-designated protection area.

Schmidt said Cal Fire resources assisted with initial attack Friday night and worked through the night and into Saturday.

On Saturday night federal resources working to contain the wildfire included two engines, one water tender, one Type-1 and one Type-2 handcrew, Schmidt said.

Additional resources, including two Type-1 handcrews and one Type-2 crew are committed and currently traveling to the incident, according to Schmidt.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control's shelter remains chockful of cats and kittens needing new homes this summer.

Cats and kittens in all sorts of colors and coat types are waiting for new homes.

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”).

Domestic longhair mix cat

This domestic longhair mix mama cat has gray tabby coat.

Shelter staff calls her “super sweet.”

She's in cat room kennel No. 10, ID No. 2134.

Domestic short hair mix

This female domestic short hair mix has a coat with calico markings.

She's in cat room kennel No. 12, ID No. 2106.

'Mom'

“Mom” is a pretty domestic short hair mix with calico markings.

She's in cat room kennel No. 27, ID No. 2213.

Domestic medium hair mix kitten

This domestic medium hair mix kitten has a buff-colored coat.

He's in cat room kennel No. 29a, ID No. 2107.

Domestic short hair mix kitten

This domestic short hair mix kitten has a black coat.

He's in cat room kennel No. 29c, ID No. 2109.

Domestic short hair mix kitten

This domestic short hair mix kitten has a black coat.

He's in cat room kennel No. 29d, ID No. 2110.

Domestic short hair mix

This adult domestic short hair mix of undetermined gender has a gray tabby and white coat.

The cat is in cat room kennel No. 31, ID No. 2373.

Female orange tabby

This female orange tabby has a short coat.

She's in cat room kennel No. 35, ID No. 2416.

Orange tabby kitten

This male orange tabby kitten has a short coat.

He's in cat room kennel No. 73a, ID No. 2404.

Domestic short hair mix kitten

This female domestic short hair mix kitten has a gray coat.

She's in cat room kennel No. 73b, ID No. 2030.

Domestic short hair mix kitten

This male domestic short hair mix kitten has a gray tabby coat.

He's in cat room kennel No. 91a, ID No. 2010.

Domestic short hair mix kitten

This male domestic short hair mix kitten has a gray tabby coat.

He's in cat room kennel No. 91b, ID No. 2011.

Domestic short hair mix kitten

This male domestic short hair mix kitten has a gray tabby coat.

She's in cat room kennel No. 91c, ID No. 2012.

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. – It's an eclectic group of dogs that's available for adoption at Lake County Animal Care and Control this week.

Dogs available to new homes this week include mixes of cattle dog, Chihuahua, dachshund, fox terrier, German Shepherd, Labrador Retriever, McNab, pit bull and shepherd.

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”).

'Princess'

“Princess” is a Labrador Retriever mix with a short yellow coat.

Shelter staff said she is a sweet dog.

She's in kennel No. 2, ID No. 2469.

Female fox terrier mix

This female fox terrier mix has a short tricolor coat.

She's in kennel No. 3, ID No. 2398.

'Mimi'

“Mimi” is a Chihuahua mix.

She has a short white and tan coat.

Mimi is in kennel No. 4a, ID No. 2055.

Male Chihuahua mix

This male Chihuahua mix has a short white coat.

He's in kennel No. 4b, ID No. 2321.

Labrador Retriever-cattle dog mix

This male Labrador Retriever-cattle dog mix has a short tan and white coat.

Shelter staff said he is very good around other dogs, and showed many calming signals, like sniffing the ground, looking away and turning his body sideways. He was perfectly calm on a leash.

He's in kennel No. 5, ID No. 2227.

McNab-terrier mix

This male McNab-terrier mix has a short black and white coat.

Shelter staff said he's in kennel No. 6, ID No. 2442.

Female pit bull mix

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

Shelter staff said she has no food aggression and would be fine with children ages 7 and older. She is not good with cats, but she would be great with other dogs, male or female.

They said that, overall, she is a wonderful and loving girl.

She's in kennel No. 7, ID No. 2241.

'Kermit'

“Kermit” is a handsome male German Shepherd mix with a short tan coat.

He's in kennel No. 9, ID No. 2446.

Labrador Retriever-shepherd mix

This older female Labrador Retriever-shepherd mix is looking for her forever home.

Shelter staff said she's an older dog that needs a loving home where she can spend the rest of herlife.

She's in kennel No. 10, ID No. 2468.

Male shepherd

This male shepherd mix has a short black and tan coat.

Shelter staff said he does great with other dogs, both male and female. He has shown some food aggression, but shelter staff said that can be addressed through training and management.

He's in kennel No. 11, ID No. 2367.

'Diesel'

“Diesel” is a boxer mix with a short black and white coat.

Shelter staff said Diesel needs a home with no livestock or farm animals, but seems fine with cats.

He's in kennel No. 16, ID No. 2270.

Male pit bull terrier mix

This cute young pit bull terrier mix has a short gray and white coat.

He's in kennel No. 24, ID No. 2470.

Dachshund-terrier mix

This happy young male dachshund-terrier mix has a short buff-colored coat.

He's in kennel No. 28, ID No. 2436.

Labrador-Retriever mix

This female Labrador Retriever mix with the great big smile has a short, all-black coat and big brown eyes.

She's in kennel No. 34, ID No. 2460.

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.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Avid cyclist and longtime Lakeport resident Richard Knoll has been selected to race in the 10th Brompton World Championships this summer in London.

A part of the Prudential Ride London Grand Prix Bike Event, the 10-mile Brompton World Championships final will take place at 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 1.

The race will follow a fast 1.3-mile loop around Central London’s St. James Park. 

“Five hundred and 75 bike racers from around the world will do eight laps in a criterium style race, on a course that starts on The Mall, to Horse Guards Road and Birdcage Walk, and then finishes directly facing Buckingham Palace. Pretty amazing location, for me it's an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and an experience that I'm so grateful to be able to be a part of,” he said.

So, what is a Brompton bike?

“A Brompton is a foldable bicycle used by many people who commute to work or travel,” Knoll explained. “I understand that it was originally called a subway bike. The Brompton foldable bike is manufactured in West London and is England’s largest bicycle manufacturer.  It’s named after the Brompton Oratory in London.” 

Knoll said all Bromptons have a similar design, but there are lots of different colors and components. 

“Mine is black with tiny 16-inch wheels, a really long seat post, a straight white handlebar with brake levers and a thumb shifter for the three internal hub gears,” he said.

Knoll has had his Brompton for two years, after finding it on Craigslist in San Francisco. “I have another foldable bike that my Dad gave me, much older and not as well made. I was looking for a well made, solid small bike that I could travel with occasionally. It's been to Hawaii twice. It folds up and fits into a suitcase.”

He admits that, at his size – 6 feet, 1 inch tall and 220 pounds – it’s a funny thing watching him ride around town on his Brompton.

Knoll said his wife, April, calls it his “clown bike,” which led to him naming it “Pennywise,” for the  scary, murderous clown in Stephen King's novel, “It.”

“I love it. It’s a fun bike to ride,” he said.

As for the Brompton World Championships, “This is a serious bike race, but what makes it fun, other than it being in London, is that the bike racers cannot wear any tight fitting Lycra,” Knoll said. “Most men wear dress slacks or shorts, a button-down shirt and tie, a cool blazer, dress socks and shoes. And the women racers often wear skirts, a blouse and blazer, and flats. Basically it’s about racing in street clothes, what you would wear to work.”

Follow Knoll as he trains and travels to London for the Brompton World Championships. Check out the Richard Knoll Consulting Web site blog at www.rkplans.com or The Travel Centers Web site at www.thetravelcenters.net .

For more about the Brompton bike and the “Bromptoneers,” visit www.brompton.com and follow the hashtags #mybrompton and #bromptonmafia on social media.

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Firefighters are close to getting a wildland fire that began burning on the Lake County side of the Mendocino National Forest on Friday under full control.

The Sanhedrin fire is holding at approximately 25 acres and is estimated to be 80 percent contained, forest spokeswoman Tamara Schmidt said late Sunday afternoon.

Firefighters have made great progress towards containment and it is expected resources will start to be released from the incident on Monday, Schmidt said.

The fire, reported Friday night around 7:30 p.m., is burning on private land within the Mendocino National Forest south of Little Signal Peak and east of the Sanhedrin Wilderness on the Upper Lake Ranger District, Schmidt said.

The fire is burning in heavy fuels – including dead and down trees. Schmidt said that same area burned in 2008.

She said smoke from the fire is visible along Highway 101 and to communities on the west side of the forest.

Schmidt said the fire's cause is under investigation.

Saturn's moon Titan is home to seas and lakes filled with liquid hydrocarbons, but what forms the depressions on the surface?

A new study using data from the joint NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) Cassini mission suggests the moon's surface dissolves in a process that's similar to the creation of sinkholes on Earth.

Apart from Earth, Titan is the only body in the solar system known to possess surface lakes and seas, which have been observed by the Cassini spacecraft. But at Titan's frigid surface temperatures – roughly minus 292 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 180 degrees Celsius) – liquid methane and ethane, rather than water, dominate Titan's hydrocarbon equivalent of Earth’s water.

Cassini has identified two forms of methane- and ethane-filled depressions that create distinctive features near Titan's poles.

There are vast seas several hundred miles across and up to several hundred feet deep, fed by branching, river-like channels.

There also are numerous smaller, shallower lakes, with rounded edges and steep walls that are generally found in flat areas. Cassini also has observed many empty depressions.

The lakes are generally not associated with rivers, and are thought to fill up by rainfall and liquids feeding them from underground.

Some of the lakes fill and dry out again during the 30-year seasonal cycle on Saturn and Titan. But exactly how the depressions hosting the lakes came about in the first place is poorly understood.

Recently a team of scientists turned to our home planet for the answer. They discovered that Titan's lakes are reminiscent of what are known as karstic landforms on Earth.

These are terrestrial landscapes that result from erosion of dissolvable rocks, such as limestone and gypsum, in groundwater and rainfall percolating through rocks.

Over time, this leads to features like sinkholes and caves in humid climates, and salt-pans where the climate is more arid.

The rate of erosion creating such features depends on factors such as the chemistry of the rocks, the rainfall rate and the surface temperature.

While all of these aspects clearly differ between Titan and Earth, the researchers think the underlying process may be surprisingly similar.

A team lead by Thomas Cornet of the European Space Agency calculated how long it would take for patches of Titan's surface to dissolve to create these features. They assumed that the surface is covered in solid organic material, and that the main dissolving agent is liquid hydrocarbons, and took into account present-day models of Titan's climate.

The scientists found that it would take around 50 million years to create a 300-foot (100-meter) depression at Titan's relatively rainy polar regions, consistent with the youthful age of the moon's surface.

“We compared the erosion rates of organics in liquid hydrocarbons on Titan with those of carbonate and evaporite minerals in liquid water on Earth,” said Cornet. “We found that the dissolution process occurs on Titan some 30 times slower than on Earth due to the longer length of Titan's year and the fact it only rains during Titan summer. Nonetheless, we believe that dissolution is a major cause of landscape evolution on Titan and could be the origin of its lakes.”

In addition, scientists calculated how long it would take to form lake depressions at lower latitudes, where the rainfall is reduced. The much longer timescale of 375 million years is consistent with the relative absence of depressions in these geographical locations.

“Of course, there are a few uncertainties: The composition of Titan's surface is not that well constrained, and neither are the long-term precipitation patterns, but our calculations are still consistent with the features we see today on Titan's relatively youthful billion-year-old surface,” said Cornet.

“By comparing Titan's surface features with examples on Earth and applying a few simple calculations, we have found similar land-shaping processes that could be operating under very different climate and chemical regimes,” said Nicolas Altobelli, ESA's Cassini project scientist. “This is a great comparative study between our home planet and a dynamic world more than a billion kilometers away in the outer solar system.”

This research was recently published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, Planets.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA and the Italian Space Agency. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more information about Cassini, visit http://www.nasa.gov/cassini or http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov .

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Work on a state highway pavement rehabilitation project is set to begin in the Kelseyville area on Monday.

Caltrans said the project along Route 29 will stretch five and a half miles from Kelseyville to Lakeport.

Ghilotti Brothers is the contractor on the $5 million project, the agency said.

Nighttime work hours will take place from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., Sunday evening through Friday morning.  

One-way traffic control will be in effect, and motorist should anticipate 15-minute delays.

Work will begin by performing digouts, where failing sections of asphalt will be ground out and replaced. This work is anticipated to be completed before the July 4 weekend.  

When work resumes on July 6, the top layer of the existing asphalt will be ground off and roadway will be repaved. 

The paving is expected to be completed by the end of July, Caltrans said.

To follow the progress of this project, and others in Caltrans District 1, like Caltrans on Facebook, www.facebook.com/CaltransD1 .