A series of moderate-sized earthquakes and powerful aftershocks hit near the California-Nevada border early Wednesday morning.

The United States Geological Survey reported that the series of quakes started at approximately 12:18 a.m. Wednesday with a 5.7-magnitude quake near Hawthorne, Nev., which was followed four minutes later by another quake of the same magnitude a short distance away.

Both of those quakes each received more than 1,000 shake reports as of 3 a.m. from more than 230 zip codes around central and Northern California and Nevada, the survey said.

Those initial quakes were followed over the next hour by a series of aftershocks measuring between 2.8 and 4 magnitude in Nevada and just across the California state border, according to US Geological Survey records.

At 1:13 a.m., a 5.5-magnitude quake was reported near the epicenter of the two larger quakes, and over the next two hours was followed by another series of aftershocks on both sides of the state border that had magnitudes ranging from 2.5 to 3.2, the survey said.

That 5.5-magnitude quake received nearly 900 shake reports from 243 zip codes, according to survey records.

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. – Join the Friends of the Lake County Museum for a New Year's celebration at the Historic Courthouse Museum from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7.

The staff at the Historic Courthouse Museum will be present to answer questions and show off all that they have planned for the museum in 2017.

Many of the great things donated to the museum in 2016 will also be available for viewing by attendees.

Get a sneak peek at the upcoming exhibits and events, too – a great way to mark your 2017 calendars in advance so you don’t miss out on all the activities planned at the museum.

This afternoon event also offers a chance to learn more about what the Friends of the Lake County Museum does and how you could be a part of this great group of people who help support the museum.

There will be hot cider and homemade goodies, and an opportunity to relax after the stressful holiday season.

This event is free and open to the public and will start at 2 p.m. but the cider and treats will be available the whole afternoon.

The museum is wheelchair-accessible.

The Historic Courthouse Museum is located at 255 N. Main St., Lakeport, telephone 707-263-4555.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Lake County Campus of Woodland Community College is kicking off the new year with a community open house.

The event will take place from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 10, at the Clearlake campus, 15880 Dam Road Extension.

Presentations from different departments as well as workshops will be given throughout the duration of the event at the following times:

· Keynote speakers: Building 200, noon to 5 p.m.
· Counseling: Room 150, 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m.
· Culinary kitchen tours: Aromas Café, 1:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m.
· Business and economics: Building 400, 2 p.m., 4 p.m.
· Water treatment: Room 603, 12:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m.
· Astronomy: Room 904, 2:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m.
· Biology: Room 705, 12:30 p.m., 5 p.m.
· Human services: Room 908, 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5:30 p.m.
· College application workshop: Career Center, noon, 2 p.m., 4 p.m.
· Financial aid workshop: Career Center, 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m.

Open rooms will be offered in the Culinary Arts at Aromas Café; Business Lab, Building 400; Welding, Building 500, noon to 3 p.m.;  Biology Lab, Room 705; Early Childhood Education, Room 715; Learning Center, Building 100/Lower Level; Library, Building 100/Upper Level; Bookstore; Child Development Center; WorkForce Lake, Room 902.

Booths will be available in Building 200 and will feature the Associated Students Club, Extended Opportunity Programs and Services, Disabled Students Programs and Services, Cal Fire, Marymount California University and Veterans Affairs.

There also will be support services open and available all day for the community.

The college offers many different opportunities, including the chance for employees to learn or refine skills that will help an agency or business become more productive and successful.

For more information call the college at 707-995-7900.

The California Department of Water Resources will conduct its first media-oriented manual snow survey of Water Year 2017 at 11 a.m. on Jan. 3 at Phillips Station, just off Highway 50 near Sierra-at-Tahoe Road approximately 90 miles east of Sacramento.

Electronic readings of the Sierra Nevada mountain snowpack on Tuesday peg its statewide water content at 10.5 inches, 72 percent of the December 27 average.
 
The Phillips snow course, which has been measured each winter since 1941, is one of dozens that will be traversed during a 10-day period around Jan. 1 to determine the water content of the snowpack, which normally contributes about 30 percent of California’s water when it melts. Manual readings supplement the Department of Water Resources' electronic data.

It’s too soon to know whether this winter’s wet season will deliver enough rain and snow to move California closer to the end of the state’s five-year drought.

The snowpack usually is at its deepest and most water-laden around April 1, so weather watchers won’t know with certainty what kind of wet season it has been until then.

Water Year 2017 began with above-average rainfall in October in all three Sierra Nevada regions monitored continuously by DWR.

Northern California’s wettest Oct. in 30 years sparked optimism for a robust water year. November saw below-average precipitation in all three regions, but wet weather returned in December and produced above-average rainfall in the three regions.

Rainfall measured from Oct. 1 through Dec. 27 at the department's 19 key monitoring stations totaled 150 percent of the stations’ combined historical average during that period.

As the three traditionally wettest months of the year began on Dec. 1, the statewide snowpack’s water content was just 61 percent of average on that date.

Relatively warm temperatures had tended to produce rain rather than snow in the mountains, but the cold storm that arrived last weekend improved the snowpack up to 75 percent of the Christmas Day average.

The snowpack on Tuesday held at 72 percent of the Dec. 27 average water content.

California is three months into what could become its sixth consecutive year of drought. State Climatologist Michael Anderson said, “October was one of our wettest on record, and December has produced a nice rebound from November’s below-average precipitation. California needs sustained above-average precipitation and a decent snowpack to overcome the previous years of drought.”

Statewide snowpack water content – Jan. 1 average (10.2 inches):
                   
• 2002 – 162 percent;
• 2003 – 162 percent;
• 2004 – 142 percent;
• 2005 – 159 percent;
• 2006 – 117 percent;
• 2007 – 61 percent;
• 2008 – 59 percent;
• 2009 – 78 percent;
• 2010 – 87 percent;
• 2011 – 209 percent;
• 2012 – 20 percent;
• 2013 – 137 percent;
• 2014 – 20 percent;
• 2015 – 47 percent;
• 2016 – 103 percent.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Anderson Marsh State Historic Park and Clear Lake State Park will once again celebrate New Year's by participating in the fifth annual America’s State Parks First Day Hikes initiative on Sunday, Jan. 1.

The First Day Hikes offer individuals and families an opportunity to begin the new year by connecting with the outdoors by taking a healthy hike on New Year's Day at a state park close to home.

The hikes at Anderson Marsh and Clear Lake State Park – two of Lake County's treasured outdoor venues – both start at noon.

At Anderson Marsh State Historic Park, participants will be able to choose two different free, guided nature walks.

The hike on the McVicar Trail will pass through oak woodlands, along the edge of the aquatic habitat of Anderson Marsh and end up at the gravel beach on Clear Lake across from Indian Island.

This will be a leisurely walk that will begin a noon and cover about seven and three quarter miles of mainly flat terrain. The walk should take between three and four hours, depending on how many times the group stops to admire what we see along the way.

The shorter hike will include parts of the Cache Creek, Marsh and Ridge Trails. This three-and-a-half-mile loop will include the Cache Creek riparian habitat, the Anderson Flats grasslands and the oak woodlands on Lewis Ridge. The hike will pass by an Acorn Woodpecker granary tree and a vernal pool. This shorter hike will take between two and two and a half hours.

Participants on both walks are welcome to walk part way and make an early return at their own pace. The exact routes that will be followed may have to be adjusted, depending on the weather and how wet the ground is on Jan. 1.

“This is a fabulous opportunity to experience the Anderson Marsh Natural Preserve, with the walks scheduled to experience many of the environments contained within the park, including: oak woodlands; grasslands; willow swamp/tule marsh and willow-cottonwood riparian habitats; a vernal pool, the creek and the lake,” said Henry Bornstein, a park docent who will lead the walks along with docents Gae Henry, Lisa Wilson and Tom McFarling. “Let’s get outside on New Year’s Day and share what we know about the geology and history of the area, and the flora, birds and other wildlife that we encounter on the walk.”

At Clear Lake State Park, meet with volunteer Brad Barnwell at the visitor center parking lot to start the walk down the Old Kelsey Creek Trail. Entry into the park for walk participants will be free.

The one-hour, one-mile walk is on an ADA-accessible trail that meanders along old Kelsey Creek through the cottonwood and willow trees.

The slow pace will give participants the opportunity to experience the park's flora and fauna as if you were actually one of the park’s wildlife residents.

The winter weather could be brisk. Participants should bring water and snacks and binoculars if they have them, and a hat for protection against the weather. Sturdy shoes that can handle mud are recommended. Rain will cancel the walks.

Anderson Marsh State Historic Park is located on Hwy 53, between Lower Lake and Clearlake. For more information about the walk, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 707-995-2658.

Clear Lake State Park is located at 5300 Soda Bay Road, Kelseyville, and entry into the park is free for those attending the walk.

Anyone having special needs should contact the Clear Lake State Park Sector Office Tuesday through Thursday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at 707-279-2267.

For further information on California State Parks go to www.parks.ca.gov .

NORTH COAST, Calif. – The North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board assessed a $37,079 penalty for a Clean Water Act violation against the owners of a Mendocino County property at the Board’s December meeting.

The penalty is for discharges of sediment-laden water into a tributary of the Upper Main Eel River.

The discharge was caused by the failure of a 50,000 gallon fuel bladder being used for water storage allegedly for fire protection.

Polly Franklin, trustee for the property trust, and her son, Daniel Franklin, were named in the violation order.

According to testimony at the enforcement hearing during the Regional Water Board’s December meeting, the storage bladder was overfilled, causing it to burst.

A minimum of 50,000 gallons of water were discharged, flowing over and through an adjacent earthen berm, and entering a small watercourse.

The water traveled 2,000 feet downstream, tearing out riparian vegetation, stripping away instream soil, rocks and boulders, and eventually entering the Upper Main Eel River.

Staff of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife reported seeing increased turbidity for at least a day and a half following the incident, and a high rate of fish outmigration.

The effects were observed more than three miles downstream in the Eel River at the Van Arsdale fish station.

Staff of the Regional Water Board, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the California Geologic Survey inspected the site following the event, and documented the damage throughout the segment of the watercourse from the discharge point down to the Upper Main Eel River.

The Regional Water Board adopted the order assessing a penalty of $37,079 against Polly Franklin as trustee of the trust that owns the property, and Daniel Franklin as the person responsible for activities that occurred on the property resulting in the unauthorized discharge. 

The board found that the discharge posed a significant threat of harm to beneficial uses. The board noted that while the bladder failure was not intentional, it was negligent.

Regional Water Board staff note that storage bladders, both new and military surplus, are widely available and often used for water storage throughout the North Coast Region. 

However, many bladders are not specifically designed to hold water, have a limited service life, and are susceptible to failure due to overfilling or puncture by external causes.

Water releases from ruptured storage bladders may cause significant erosion, instream damage and harm to aquatic species and habitat.

Staff encourages those individuals selling or purchasing storage bladders and/or collapsible fabric tanks to make themselves familiar with limitations and cautions associated with their specific bladders, and to take care in siting, installing, operating and maintaining storage bladders to minimize the potential for failure and abrupt release of water into nearby streams.    

For more information about the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board’s enforcement efforts, visit http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/northcoast/water_issues/programs/enforcement/ .

Gov. Jerry Brown has granted 112 pardons and one commutation.

Individuals who have been convicted of a crime in California may apply to the governor for a pardon. Those granted pardons all completed their sentences and the majority were originally convicted of nonviolent, drug-related crimes.

All applicants for a pardon who were eligible obtained a Certificate of Rehabilitation, which is an order from a superior court declaring that a person convicted of a crime is now rehabilitated.

A gubernatorial pardon may be granted to people who have demonstrated exemplary behavior and have lived productive and law-abiding lives following their conviction. Pardons are not granted unless they are earned.

When a pardon is granted, the California Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are notified so that they may update their records on the applicant. The pardon is filed with the Secretary of State and the Legislature, and it is a public record.

The governor also granted one commutation to a current inmate, which will reduce the prison sentence but not eliminate it. The individual will not be released from prison and he will remain incarcerated until he is eligible to appear before the Board of Parole Hearings.

The inmate receiving the commutation has shown exemplary behavior during incarceration, including vocational accomplishments, self-help, volunteer activities and earning multiple community college degrees.

Copies of all 112 gubernatorial pardons and the commutation can be seen below. Additional information on pardons and commutations can be found here.

December 2016 - California gubernatorial pardons by LakeCoNews on Scribd