LAKEPORT, Calif. – At Brianna Riley's Alaskan home, the end of summer is coming and it will soon be getting cooler, just in time to return to school in the fall.

But colder weather and her senior year of high school seemed far from her mind on Saturday, as she continued her visit to Big Valley Rancheria and participated in the 15th annual Tule Boat Festival.

Riley, 17, is a member of Alaska's Arctic Youth Ambassadors Program, established by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the United States Department of State in partnership with the nonprofit Alaska Geographic.

She's one of 22 young people who went through an application process and were selected from communities around Alaska represented in the Arctic Council.

Her term as a youth ambassador began in January, and will continue until March 2017.

During that time, she and her fellow ambassadors will seek to raise awareness of climate change and work on projects that not only improve their communities but Alaska overall.

As part of her community work, she's participated in a project to help restart clubs for youth.

She said she was invited down for the festival, so she and her mother, Martina, made the trip from Kiana, an Iñupiat Eskimo village in northwestern Alaska, to California this past week as part of her ambassadorial duties.

Martina Riley said the 13-hour trip involved four airplanes, from small eight seaters to jets.

Her activities have taken Brianna Riley farther from home than most of the young people from her community travel. A more common destination is Anchorage – some 2,000 miles away from their village.

Kiana is located just above the Arctic Circle, so there no polar bears, Riley explained.

She said her community's name translates to “the place where the three rivers meet.” 

Fishing – particularly, for salmon – is important to the residents. Plus, there is the natural bounty. Just before their trip, she and her mother picked two gallons of wild blueberries. Cranberries will be ready to pick when they get home.

There also are plenty of outdoor activities, like hiking and kayaking. Martina Riley shared pictures on a tablet of her daughter out on the water at home on a kayak, with mountains – topped with just the barest hints of snow – in the background.

In addition to the Arctic Youth Ambassador Program, Brianna Riley is involved in the Youth Leaders Program. 

She's a team captain in that program, which raises awareness of suicide and bullying in school and hold activities for students. Last month she traveled to New Mexico as part of that Youth Leaders program.

At this week's Tule Boat Festival, Riley spoke about climate change, one of the topics of her ambassadorship. 

In Kiana, Riley said they're seeing changes in the environment as a result of climate change that include summers starting earlier and the melting of the permafrost.

Riley will start her senior year of high school this fall. Beyond high school, she wants to attend the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau to study political science. She said she isn't interested in political office but wants to work behind the scenes.

The Arctic Youth Ambassador Program is a good introduction to the kind of career that interests Riley. During her visit to Lake County, she made friends, shared ideas and created connections to another community. 

She also got into the tule boat racing action herself, winning a second-place medal in her age group.

To follow the Arctic Youth Ambassadors, use the hashtags #ThisArcticLife and #USArcticYouth or visit https://www.facebook.com/arcticyouthambassadors/ .

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKEPORT, Calif. –  The Westside Community Park Committee announced that it is beginning work on the second phase of the park's Memorial Grove development.

Committee Chair Dennis Rollins said the first phase of the Memorial Grove recently was completed.

The grove was planted with 12 oak trees in April, as Lake County News has reported: http://bit.ly/1UnkkbT .

Rollins said the final work included the installation of a bench donated by the Clear Lake Trowel and Trellis Club and the covering of the grove with 22 yards of woodchips donated by Lake County Waste Solutions. 

This followed the construction of a concrete slab to support the bench.  That work was performed as a donation by Gary Milhaupt, owner of Sundance Tile and Marble, and his son, Derek.

Rollins said the second phase of the Memorial Grove development will be composed of etched red bricks. Bricks are on sale for $100 each. 

They can be etched with up to three lines of text in remembrance or recognition of an individual or group chosen by the purchaser, Rollins said.

Rollins said the sale of bricks initially was begun years ago. Those records had been lost but recently were found by a previous member of the park's board of directors.

“All of the previous purchasers will have their bricks etched and included in this new area,” said Rollins.

If anyone has a question about a previous purchase they may contact Rollins at 707-349-0969.

Bricks may be ordered on the committee’s Web site at www.westsidecommunitypark.org .

They also be available at the committee’s annual fundraiser, Grillin’ on the Green from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6, at the Westside Community Park, 1401 Westside Park Road.

“Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, and it offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing.” – Ernest Hemingway

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Lake County's altitude and soil composition, along with the Mediterranean climate here, have enticed people to try their hand at winemaking since before the Gold Rush.

It was national Prohibition in 1920 that ended our county's winemaking. Then, vines were replaced by pears and walnuts.

Today, all three crops – grapes, pears and walnuts – are tops in Lake County's crop economy.

After Prohibition vineyards began a new proliferation, with wineries such as Lower Lake Winery, Guenoc Winery, Konocti Winery and Kendall-Jackson producing wines in Lake County in the following decades. 

Lower Lake Winery was located south of Lower Lake on Highway 29. Since the first crush in 1977 the owners selected fine local grapes grown in Lake County to eventually produce their award-winning wines.

According to the Lake County Information and Recreation Guide, the Lake County Grape Growers Association pamphlet, Wine Country publication by Toni Scully in 1982 , and other sources, Lower Lake Winery became the first winery to operate in Lake County since Prohibition.

In renowned wine writer Leon D. Adams' book, entitled, "The Wines of America,” third edition, he writes about Lower Lake Winery and states: "When it opened in 1977, it was the county's first new winery to start since the Prohibition era. Alhambra orthopedic surgeon Dr. Harry Stuermer and his wife Marjorie financed the redwood building, its stainless-steel tanks and oak barrels, for their winemaker son Daniel, his wife Betty, Dan's sister Harriet, and her husband, Tom Scavone."

Official groundbreaking for Lower Lake Winery occurred in 1976, and the first crush of Cabernet Sauvignon took place a year later, in 1977.

They released a white Cabernet Sauvignon in 1979, then the 1977 Cabernet Sauvignon as well as a 1979 Sauvignon Blanc were released in 1980.

Soon after that, in 1982 the winery was expanded, adding an additional 4,000 square feet.

About this time the winery's label was changed from Lower Lake to Stuermer and Arcadia.

The winery's last crush took place in 1979 when it was sold to Ployez, who produced a Chenin Blanc, and sparkling wine, among others.

Lower Lake Winery went on to garner many, many awards during its operation.

Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired 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. – Animal Care and Control continues to have a shelter filled this week with big dogs and a little one, too.

This week's dogs include mixes of American Staffordshire Terrier, dachshund, Great Dane, Great Pyrenees, Labrador Retriever, 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.

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”).

Great Pyrenees mix

This male Great Pyrenees mix has a long white coat.

He is in kennel No. 3, ID No. 5263.

Pit bull terrier mix

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

She's in kennel No. 5, ID No. 5378.

'Kush'

“Kush” is a female adult pit bull terrier mix.

She has a short tan coat and already is spayed.

She's in kennel No. 6, ID No. 5249.

Shepherd mix

This male shepherd mix has a short tan and black coat. He already is altered.

He's in kennel No. 13, ID No. 5299.

American Staffordshire Terrier

This male American Staffordshire Terrier has a short black and white coat and has already been neutered.

He's in kennel No. 14, ID No. 5194.

Dachshund mix

This senior female dachshund mix has a short brown coat.

She's in kennel No. 17, ID No. 5399.

'Storm'

“Storm” is a female pit bull terrier mix with a brown and white coat.

She's in kennel No. 24, ID No. 5363.

'Cooper'

“Cooper” is a male shepherd mix with a black and tan coat and white markings.

He's in kennel No. 25, ID No. 5377.

Great Dane-Labrador Retriever mix

This male Great Dane-Labrador Retriever mix has a short black coat with white markings.

He's in kennel No. 26, ID No. 5104.

Pit bull terrier mix

This male pit bull terrier mix is in urgent need of a new home. He's been available for adoption since May 11.

He has a short brown coat.

Shelter staff said he does not jump and is very friendly, walking well on a leash, showing no food aggression, and allowing handling of his mouth, ears, paws and tail with no problems. He also enjoys a good tummy rub.

He would do great in a home with no cats.

Shelter staff said he is great with other dogs and would do wonderful with children.

He's in kennel No. 28, ID No. 4850.

Labrador Retriever mix

This male Labrador Retriever mix has short black coat.

He's in kennel No. 31, ID No. 5344.

Labrador Retriever mix

This male Labrador Retriever-shepherd mix has a short all-black coat.

He's in kennel No. 32, ID No. 5158.

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.

Around 3.8 billion years ago, an asteroid more than 150 miles across, roughly equal to the length of New Jersey, slammed into the Moon and created the Imbrium Basin – the right eye of the fabled Man in the Moon.

This new size estimate, published in the journal Nature, suggests an Imbrium impactor that was two times larger in diameter and 10 times more massive than previous estimates.

“We show that Imbrium was likely formed by an absolutely enormous object, large enough to be classified as a protoplanet,” said Pete Schultz, professor of earth, environmental and planetary sciences at Brown University. “This is the first estimate for the Imbrium impactor’s size that is based largely on the geological features we see on the Moon.”

Previous estimates, Schultz said, were based solely on computer models and yielded a size estimate of only about 50 miles in diameter.

These new findings help to explain some of the puzzling geological features that surround the Imbrium Basin.

The work also suggests – based on the sizes of other impact basins in the Moon, Mars and Mercury — that the early solar system was likely well stocked with protoplanet-sized asteroids.

Imbrium sculpture

The Imbrium Basin – seen from Earth as a dark patch in the northwestern quadrant of the Moon’s face – measures about 750 miles across.

The basin is surrounded by grooves and gashes, large enough to be seen with even small telescopes from Earth, created by rocks blasted out of the crater when it was formed.

These features, known as the Imbrium Sculpture, radiate out from the center of the basin like spokes on a wheel, but are concentrated on the basin’s southeast side.

That suggests that the impactor traveled from the northwest, impacting at an oblique angle rather than straight on.

But in addition to features radiating from the basin’s center, there is a second set of grooves with a different alignment. These appear to come from a region to the northwest, along the trajectory from which the impactor came.

“This second set of grooves was a real mystery,” Schultz said. “No one was quite sure where they came from.”

Through hypervelocity impact experiments performed using the Vertical Gun Range at the NASA Ames Research Center, Schultz was able to show that those grooves were likely formed by chunks of the impactor that sheared off on initial contact with the surface.

The grooves created by those chunks enabled Schultz to estimate the size of the impactor.

Laboratory impacts

The Vertical Gun Range employs a 14-foot cannon that fires small projectiles at up to 16,000 miles per hour, while impact plates and high-speed cameras record the ballistic dynamics.

During his experiments with low-angle impacts, Schultz noticed that impactors tend to start breaking apart when they first make contact with the surface.

That point of initial contact is actually behind or “up-range” of the final crater, where the bulk of the impactor digs into the surface.

The chunks that break off up-range of the final crater continue to travel at a high rate of speed, scouring and grooving the surface.

“The key point is that the grooves made by these chunks aren’t radial to the crater,” Schultz said. “They come from the region of first contact. We see the same thing in our experiments that we see on the Moon – grooves pointing up-range, rather than the crater.”

After seeing these features in the lab, Schultz worked with David Crawford of the Sandia National Laboratories to generate computer models showing that the same kind of physics would also happen at the colossal scales of a lunar impact.

With an understanding of how those grooves were created, Schultz could use them to find the Imbrium impact point. And because the fragments would have broken off from the either side of the impactor, the groove trajectories could be used to estimate the impactor’s size.

Those calculations yielded an estimated diameter of 250 kilometers or 150 miles across, large enough for the object to be classified as a protoplanet.

“That’s actually a low-end estimate,” Schultz said. “It’s possible that it could have been as large as 300 kilometers.”

'Lost giants' and the Late Heavy Bombardment

Schultz and his colleagues used similar methods to estimate the sizes of impactors related to several other basins on the Moon created by oblique impacts.

Those estimates – for the Moscoviense and Orientale basins on the Moon’s far side – yielded impactor sizes of 100 and 110 kilometers across respectively, larger than some previous estimates.

Combining these new estimates with the fact that there are even larger impact basins on the Moon and other planets, Schultz concludes that protoplanet-sized asteroids may have been common in the early solar system.

“The large basins we see on the Moon and elsewhere are the record of lost giants,” Schultz said.

The research has several other significant implications, he said.

The surviving fragments from these impactors would have littered the ancient surface of the Moon, slowly becoming mixed with native soil and rock.

That could help explain why samples returned from the Apollo missions had such a high meteoritic content. That is particularly true of Apollo 16, which landed downrange from the Imbrium impact.

Furthermore, Schultz’s work suggests fragments from these giants could account for a many of the impacts that occurred during a period called the Late Heavy Bombardment, which occurred from about 3.8 billion years ago to around 4 billion years, when scientists think most of the craters we see on the Moon and Mercury were formed.

The impact models Schultz and Crawford developed suggest that thousands of the chunks that crumbled off of the Imbrium impactor and others would have broken and kept going, escaping the Moon’s gravity and flying off into space.

On subsequent orbits around the sun, those chunks would have crossed the Earth and Moon orbits again and again, creating a strong possibility of subsequent impacts. Some of those objects would have been a kilometer or two across, large enough to create 20-kilometer craters.

“These chips off the old blocks could have contributed significantly to the impact record we see on the Moon and other terrestrial planets,” Schultz said.

Schultz also said he continues to be amazed by what we can learn just by looking up at the Moon.

“The Moon still holds clues that can affect our interpretation of the entire solar system,” he said. “Its scarred face can tell us quite a lot about what was happening in our neighborhood 3.8 billion years ago.”

The research was funded in part by a grant from NASA.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – After 12 years of closure, the 45-foot lookout tower on the highest peak of Mount Konocti is once again being used to protect Lake County.

The tower had been closed due primarily to high costs as well as the proliferation of cell phones, according to tower volunteer Chuck Sturges.

However, last year, Cal Fire, in concert with the Forest Fire Lookout Association, began working to reopen the facility and return it to service.

Today, the tower's operations are supported and staffed by an all-volunteer effort.

The first volunteer training was held on Sept. 12, 2015 – the day the Valley fire broke out.

This summer, thanks to the efforts of volunteers, each morning the radio call goes out, “St. Helena, Mount Konocti Lookout … in service.”

The payoff has come almost immediately as volunteers in the tower sighted three unreported fires in the first three weeks of operation, Sturges said.

Cal Fire officials, including Cal Fire Division Chief Greg Bertelli, have credited the lookout's efforts with helping firefighters quickly respond to those incidents.

One of the season's early fires that the lookout spotted was the 215-acre Reservoir fire, which began June 26 east of Clearlake Oaks.

The lookout also was the first to report a fire at Beckstoffer Vineyards on July 1.

Lookout volunteers choose days for eight-hour shifts in the tower from an online schedule. At least one per month is required.

With a magnetic “Konocti Fire Watch Unit” sign attached to their personal high-clearance vehicle, they drive through a locked gate then three miles up the dirt road which extends from just passed Kelseyville Middle School to the top of Mount Konocti.

The summit itself has become part of Mount Konocti County Park, which normally requires a fairly steep three-mile hike to the top from the locked gate, located near a rudimentary parking area.

If an individual wishes to participate in this program serving all of Lake County and neighboring areas, the next training session for new volunteers is 9 a.m. Saturday, July 30, at the Kelseyville Fire Station.

For further information one can call Chris Rivera at 707-279- 2363 or e-mail Randall Grindle at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Follow the Forest Fire Lookout Association's Konocti Chapter on Facebook.