On Christmas Eve, Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced that he granted 79 pardons.

The individuals granted pardons all completed their sentences and have been released from custody for more than a decade without further criminal activity.

Among those pardoned were David James Buttke, convicted in Lake County Superior Court in October 1989 for drunk driving causing injury. He served seven months in prison and one year on parole, and was discharged in July 1991.

Also pardoned from the North Coast region were Michael Crutcher, convicted in 1982 in Mendocino County for sale and transportation of marijuana; Larry Krebs, convicted in May 1977 in Napa County for inducing a minor to buy/sell/use marijuana; and Robert Lloyd Nielsen, convicted in Napa County in January 1984 of transportation of a controlled substance.

Individuals who have been convicted of a crime in California may apply to the governor for a pardon.

A gubernatorial pardon may be granted to people who have demonstrated exemplary behavior following their conviction.

A pardon will not be granted unless it has been earned. Obtaining a pardon is a distinct achievement based upon proof of a productive and law-abiding life following conviction.

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 Legislature, and is a public record.

Copies of all 79 gubernatorial pardons can be seen below.

122412 Gov. Jerry Brown Pardons

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County is feeling the warmth of energy savings this holiday season.

The county used federal stimulus funds to install energy efficient heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.

More than 20 HVAC systems were retrofitted at government-owned buildings, including Juvenile Hall, the Mental Health Department, Probation Department Annex, and the Lake County Courthouse.  

The new HVAC units replaced older, less efficient equipment and enable the county to save on heating energy costs.

Additionally, 15 HVAC controls and 180 sensors were installed, allowing operators to control building temperature and humidity.

The project is estimated to save Lake County 67,722 kilowatt hours or the equivalent of $10,360 in annual energy costs.

Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is estimated at 35,486 pounds per year.

Completed in March, the HVAC project was funded by a $160,000 grant from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program of the U.S. Department of Energy under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA).

Administered by the California Energy Commission, these federal grants contribute to the energy efficiency goals of small cities and counties.

Federal stimulus funds to small cities and counties awarded under the ARRA's Energy Efficiency Conservation Block Grants (EECBG) and administered by the Energy Commission are providing more than $32 million to more than 270 eligible localities throughout California.

Large cities and counties are receiving funding directly from the US Department of Energy.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Community members this year have made generous donations to help the animals at Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Over the last several weeks boxes of treats, bags of food, toys, beds and other items to benefit the animals have poured in.

Shelter staff had all of the goodies on display under a Christmas tree in the shelter’s lobby.

Kennel Coordinator Sara Schramm said the shelter has had the gift tree for its adoptable pets for three years.

Among the donations was a sizable gift from the Corvettes of Lake County, which last week delivered more than 100 pounds of food along with leashes, collars, treats and toys.

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

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

NASA has named the site where twin gravity probes hit the Moon earlier this month in honor of the late astronaut, Sally K. Ride, who was America’s first woman in space and a member of the probes’ mission team.

On Dec. 14, Ebb and Flow, the two spacecraft of NASA’s GRAIL (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory) mission, were commanded to descend into a lower orbit and target a mountain near the Moon’s north pole.

The formation-flying duo hit the lunar surface as planned at 5:28:51 p.m. EST and 5:29:21 p.m. EST on Dec. 17 at a speed of 3,760 mph.

The location of the Sally K. Ride Impact Site is on the southern face of an approximately 1.5 mile-tall mountain near a crater named Goldschmidt.

“Sally Ride worked tirelessly throughout her life to remind all of us, especially girls, to keep questioning and learning,” said Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland. “Today her passion for making students part of NASA’s science is honored by naming the impact site for her.”

The impact marked a successful end to the GRAIL mission, which was NASA’s first planetary mission to carry cameras fully dedicated to education and public outreach.

Ride, who died in July after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer, led GRAIL’s MoonKAM (Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students) Program through her company, Sally Ride Science, in San Diego.

Along with its primary science instrument, each spacecraft carried a MoonKAM camera that took more than 115,000 total images of the lunar surface.

Imaging targets were proposed by middle school students from across the country and the resulting images returned for them to study. The names of the spacecraft were selected by Ride and the mission team from student submissions in a nationwide contest.

“Sally was all about getting the job done, whether it be in exploring space, inspiring the next generation, or helping make the GRAIL mission the resounding success it is today,” said GRAIL principal investigator Maria Zuber of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “We are proud we can honor Sally Ride’s contributions by naming this corner of the Moon after her.”

Fifty minutes prior to impact, the spacecraft fired their engines until the propellant was depleted. The maneuver was designed to determine precisely the amount of fuel remaining in the tanks. This will help NASA engineers validate computer models to improve predictions of fuel needs for future missions.

“Ebb fired its engines for 4 minutes, 3 seconds and Flow fired its for 5 minutes, 7 seconds,” said GRAIL project manager David Lehman of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. “It was one final important set of data from a mission that was filled with great science and engineering data.”

The mission team deduced that much each spacecraft was broken up during the impacts. Most of what remains probably is buried in shallow craters. The craters’ size may be determined when NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter returns images of the area in several weeks.

Launched in September 2011, Ebb and Flow had been orbiting the moon since Jan. 1, 2012. The probes intentionally were sent into the lunar surface because they did not have sufficient altitude or fuel to continue science operations.

Their successful prime and extended science missions generated the highest resolution gravity field map of any celestial body.

The map will provide a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed and evolved.

“We will miss our lunar twins, but the scientists tell me it will take years to analyze all the great data they got, and that is why we came to the moon in the first place,” Lehman said. “So long, Ebb and Flow, and we thank you.”

Dr. Tony Phillips works for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The county’s animal shelter has five cats ready for adoption this Christmas week.

There is a kitten, several young cats and even a more mature fellow ready for new homes.

All of this week’s featured cats have been altered and vaccinated.

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.

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”).

Female tortie

This female domestic short hair is 2 years old.

She has green eyes, a coat with dilute tortie calico coloring, and she’s had her shots and been spayed.

Find her in cat room kennel No. 13, ID No. 35059.

Brown female tabby kitten

This little brown tabby is 9 weeks old.

She has green eyes, a short brown striped coat and she’s been spayed.

Find her in cat room kennel No. 46c, ID No. 35102.

Black male domestic short hair

This black male domestic short hair mix is 3 years old.

He looks short in his all-black outfit, and he’s already neutered and has had his shots.

Visit him in cat room kennel No. 81, ID No. 35041.

Female domestic short hair mix

This female domestic short hair mix is 2 years old.

She has green eyes and a short gray tabby coat, and weighs 9 pounds. She has been spayed.

She’s in cat room kennel No. 88, ID No. 34940.

Male domestic long hair

This male domestic long hair mix is 7 years old.

He weighs nearly 10 pounds, has a long gray coat and has been neutered.

He can be found in cat room kennel No. 90, ID No. 35016.

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, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 1 p.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.

Thanks to early season storms, the California Department of Water Resources has increased its water delivery estimate for calendar year 2013 from 30 to 40 percent of requested State Water Project water.

The new delivery estimate – or allocation – of SWP water is expected to further increase as more winter storms roll in.  

The state normally receives more than 90 percent of its snow and rain from December through April.

Storms last month and those currently sweeping California have replenished reservoirs and deepened the mountain snowpack that normally provides a third of our water as it slowly melts in the spring and early summer.

Lake Oroville in Butte County, the State Water Project’s principal storage reservoir with a capacity of 3.5 million acre-feet, is at 67 percent of capacity, 107 percent of normal for the date.

Shasta Lake north of Redding, the federal Central Valley Project’s principal storage reservoir with a capacity of 4.5 million acre-feet, is at 68 percent of capacity, 109 percent of normal for the date.

The mountain snowpack is holding 93 percent of average water content for the date.

Just a normal winter will significantly increase the allocation of 40 percent of the slightly more than four million acre-feet requested by the 29 public agencies (State Water Project Contractors) that supply SWP water to more than 25 million Californians and nearly a million acres of irrigated farmland.

The final SWP allocation this calendar year (2012) was 65 percent of requested deliveries. The final allocation was 80 percent in 2011, up dramatically from the initial allocation of 25 percent.

The final allocation was 50 percent in 2010, 40 percent in 2009, 35 percent in 2008, and 60 percent in 2007.

The last 100 percent allocation – difficult to achieve even in wet years because of Delta pumping restrictions to protect threatened and endangered fish – was in 2006.

Electronic reservoir level readings may be found at http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/products/rescond.pdf .

The Department of Water Resources operates and maintains the State Water Project, provides dam safety and flood control and inspection services, assists local water districts in water management and water conservation planning, and plans for future statewide water needs.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Officials are continuing to search for a young woman whose family reported her missing on Sunday night.

Kimberly Marie Hazelwood, 23, of Nice, was the focus of the search, which has so far involved local, regional and state agencies.

Sgt. Steve Brooks of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to an address located in the 10000 block of Rancheria Road in Upper Lake at 9:15 p.m. Sunday on the report of a missing person.

Hazelwood’s family said she had walked away from the residence, and told deputies that she was upset earlier in the evening and appeared to be depressed, Brooks reported.

Family members had searched the area around the residence and located some property and articles of clothing belonging to Hazelwood, according to Brooks.

He said Lake County Search and Rescue immediately responded to the location and started a search.

Early Monday morning Lake County Search and Rescue was assisted by Mendocino County Search and Rescue, Willits Fire Department Swift Water Rescue Team, a California National Guard helicopter and aircrew from Mather Field and the California Department of Fish and Game, Brooks said.

An extensive search of the area was conducted without locating Hazelwood at the time of the sheriff’s office report, released midafternoon.

Hazelwood is 5 feet 3 inches tall, weighs 160 pounds, has brown eyes and long brown hair which goes to the middle of her back, according to a description provided by her family and the sheriff’s office.

She also was described as being emotionally distraught and may be suffering from depression.

Fliers circulated by Hazelwood’s family and friends on Monday explained that Hazelwood is in need of medical attention, as she is battling cancer. She may be frightened to be approached.

Brooks said the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Lake County Search and Rescue will continue search efforts in locating Hazelwood.  

If anyone has information regarding the whereabouts of Kimberly Hazelwood, immediately contact the Lake County Sheriff’s Office at 707-263-2690.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Investigators were working at the scene of a Kelseyville shooting late Sunday afternoon as the victim in the incident was taken to an out-of-county trauma center.

The shooting was first reported just after 1 p.m. Sunday in the 10000 block of Fairway Drive near Sierra Drive in the Clear Lake Riviera.

The victim, identified to Lake County News by his family as 20-year-old Clearlake resident Steven Farnan, was shot in the face.

A witness told Lake County News that Farnan was involved in a physical fight with a male subject when another male subject got out of a vehicle and shot Farnan, hitting him in the front of the jaw.

The suspects then fled the scene in the vehicle, described as a blue hatchback, possibly a late 1990s model Hyundai, according to a be on the lookout issued Sunday afternoon.

Kelseyville and Lake County Fire Protection District firefighters transported Farnan to a nearby fire station before taking him to Sutter Lakeside Hospital.

Later in the afternoon he was flown by REACH air ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. His family reported that the bullet shattered his jaw, went down his neck and hit a main artery.

Sheriff's detectives had an area of Fairway Drive taped off on Sunday afternoon as the investigation continued.

While detectives walked the scene and took photographs, a young friend of Farnan’s silently sat in the street.

Lake County News will continue to post additional details as they become available.

John Jensen contributed to this report.

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. – As Christmas week begins, a lot of small and young dogs are waiting at Lake County Animal Care and Control for new homes.

The dogs cleared for adoption this week range in age from 10 weeks to a year and a half old.

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”).

Female dachshund mix

This female dachshund mix is 15 weeks old.

She has a short black and white coat, weighs nearly 10 pounds and has been spayed.

She’s in kennel No. 18a, ID No. 35035.

Male dachshund mix

This male dachshund mix is 15 weeks old.

He has a short tricolor coat, weighs 12 pounds and has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 18b, ID No. 35036.

Dachshund-Chihuahua mix

This female dachshund-Chihuahua mix is 11 weeks old.

She weighs 4 pounds, has a short black coat and has been spayed.

Find her in kennel No. 19a, ID No. 35037.

Dachshund-Chihuahua mix

This male dachshund-Chihuahua mix is 11 weeks old.

He weighs nearly 6 pounds, has a short black coat and has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 19b, ID No. 35038.

American bulldog mix puppy

This male American Bulldog puppy is 10 weeks old.

He weighs 14 pounds, has a short white and brown spotted coat and has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 24a, ID No. 35085.

American bulldog mix puppy

This male American Bulldog puppy is 10 weeks old.

He weighs 14 pounds, has a short white and brown spotted coat and has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 24b, ID No. 35086.

American bulldog mix puppy

This male American Bulldog puppy is 10 weeks old.

He weighs 14 pounds, has a short white and brown spotted coat and has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 24c, ID No. 35087.

American bulldog mix puppy

This American Bulldog puppy is 10 weeks old.

Like her littermates she weighs 14 pounds, has a short brown and white spotted coat and has been spayed.

She’s in kennel No. 25b, ID No. 35083.

American bulldog mix puppy

This female American Bulldog puppy is 10 weeks old.

She weighs 14 pounds, has a short brown and white spotted coat and has been spayed.

Find her in kennel No. 25c, ID No. 35084.

Labrador Retriever-shepherd mix

This male Labrador Retriever-shepherd mix is 8 months old.

He has a short black coat, weighs nearly 32 pounds and has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 28, ID No. 35108.

Beagle-hound mix

This female beagle-hound mix is 5 months old.

She has a short tan coat, weighs 27 pounds and has been spayed.

You can find her in kennel No. 29, ID No. 35118.

Jack Russell Terrier mix

This female Jack Russell Terrier mix is a year and a half old.

She has a short black and white coat, weighs 18 pounds and has been spayed.

She’s in kennel No. 33, ID No. 34766.

Please note: Dogs 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, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 1 p.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.

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Officials are continuing to conduct rescue searches based on reports that came in on Sunday night regarding two different missing individuals, each reported to have gone into local creeks.

Northshore Fire Protection District firefighters were dispatched to the 9100 block of Bridge Arbor Road near Upper Lake shortly before 9 p.m. Sunday on the report of a male subject n the water. Radio reports said he had either fallen or jumped into the creek.

Fire Chief Jay Beristianos said they searched the area from Middle Creek and Upper Lake down to the Rodman Slough Sunday night.

Parts of the area are inaccessible on foot, so they called in a REACH helicopter to do a search from the air using spotlights, Beristianos said.

“We were unable to find anybody,” he said.

While REACH was flying, Beristianos said they received a report of another person, a female, getting into the water in the area of Rancheria Road.

He said they also were unable to locate that female subject.

Family and friends have identified the young missing woman as 23-year-old Kimberly Hazelwood.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue had taken the operation over by Monday morning, Beristianos said.

Teams were reported to have been searching the banks of the creeks on Monday morning.

Beristianos said the search and rescue operation continuing on Monday was using a National Guard helicopter.

Additional details will be posted as they become available.
             
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.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – A male subject was shot at close range in an incident that occurred early Sunday afternoon in Kelseyville.

The shooting was first reported shortly after 1 p.m. in the area of Fairway Drive and Sierra Drive, according to radio reports.

The male victim was reported to have been wounded in the face with a revolver. However, he was able to meet firefighters from Kelseyville and Lake County Fire Protection District when they arrived at the scene, scanner reports indicated.

The shooter and another male were reported to have fled in a blue hatchback, according to a be on the lookout that was issued.

Firefighters were reported to have taken the victim to the nearby Clear Lake Riviera Fire Station 56 on Soda Bay Road for treatment before transporting him by ground ambulance to Sutter Lakeside Hospital.

Reports indicated he was to be transported by air ambulance out of county later in the afternoon.

Sheriff's deputies and detectives were at the scene Sunday afternoon, with Fairway and Sierra drives blocked off as they conducted the investigation.

Additional details will be posted as they become available.

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. – Even though California’s seat belt requirement was put into law more than a quarter of a century ago, there are some drivers and passengers who still resist the few seconds it takes to safely buckle up, or they may not properly secure a child in a car seat.  

The simple act of not buckling up can have life-changing consequences, such as injuries or death.     

“An overwhelming majority of Californians are buckling up, yet there is still work to be done,” said California Highway Patrol (CHP) Commissioner Joe Farrow. “Our goal is to save lives, and one way to help achieve that is to have every single person traveling in a motor vehicle wear a seat belt or safely secured in an appropriate child passenger safety seat.”

To accomplish this mission, the CHP received a federal grant to help fund a campaign that educates drivers on the importance of passenger restraints.  

Efforts from the statewide Vehicle Occupant Restraint Education and Instruction II (VOREI II) campaign are already underway and will continue through Sept. 30, 2013.

The objective of the VOREI II grant is to reduce the number of unrestrained vehicle occupants killed or injured in traffic collisions through educational classes and child safety seat inspection events.  

In addition, grant-funded child safety seats will be distributed to motorists and CHP officers will conduct additional seat belt enforcement out on the roadways.

According to the CHP’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, in 2010, the most-recent year statistics are available, 439 people were killed and more than 9,000 others were injured in collisions where those involved were not buckled up.

“Wearing a seat belt, or using a child safety seat, will dramatically improve a person’s chances of survival if they are involved in a crash,” added Commissioner Farrow. “Buckle up every trip, every time. It might save your life.”

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.