LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Rabbit Hill and Chaparral Preserve is a Lake County Land Trust acquisition that encompasses more than nine acres, and is located in west Middletown at 21281 Stewart St.

The Lake County Land Trust, incorporated as a nonprofit in 1994, functions to protect and preserve valuable resources in Lake County.

Some of the lands they have worked for include the Black Forest and Rodman Preserve.

 Currently they are working on purchasing the wetlands on the Big Valley shoreline of Clear Lake.  

The Lake County Land Trust is run by hardworking Lake County residents who are deeply devoted to Lake County lands and the environment. 

The Lake County Land Trust Board of Directors includes Jon Ambrose, Michael Friel, Bill Lincoln, Roberta Lyons, Val Nixon, Tom Smythe, Kathleen Windrem and John Wise.

It's a delightful walk up the Rabbit Hill trail. Swaying gray pines line the trail, painting an impressive winter scene against the cold clouds amassing beyond them.

On the way, look for leather oaks, or Quercus durata that hug the serpentine outcrops.

Leather oak is a California native plant that is native to the coast ranges, and even the islands of Baja and California. Leather oak acorn caps cover almost one-half of the acorn. 

California's American Indians utilized leather oak acorns, along with other oak species as a food staple after considerable preparations.

The measures included shelling the acorn, mashing them and leaching them to rid the acorns of bitter tannins.

Evidence of nature's ongoing  methods of recycling and returning her charges back to soil are all around.

Verdant mosses overtake a boulder silently breaking it down, bit by bit. 

Note the sculpture-like cubes which are all that remain of a rotted log. A recently downed gray pine will eventually nourish the serpentine soils with its tough, slender needles, heavy cones and bark.

Another item to watch for among the chaparral landscape is the lovely Konocti manzanita, or Arctostaphylos, which is a subspecies of the common manzanita, and is on the California Native Plant Society's Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants.

Once at the top of Rabbit Hill you can see why Hugo "Huck" Hamann and Juanita "Skee" Hamann once chose to live up here.

Blue jays, red-headed acorn woodpeckers and a red-tailed hawk all chime in with their own distinctive cries on this winter walk. 

The Collayomi Valley spreads out below, like a textured tweed wrap. Views of Cobb Mountain, Mount St. Helena and Mt. Hannah present themselves for your quiet amazement.

Huck Hamann ran a lapidary on the hill, creating a myriad of jewelry with his skilled hands.

The couple resided here until their deaths, Huck in 1975 and Skee in 1983.

Huck and Skee Hamann turned Rabbit Hill into a sanctuary to honor the memory of their daughter, Joan Hamann Dole, who was murdered in 1966 at her Anderson Springs home.

Rabbit Hill was deeded to the Madrone Audubon Society in 1968 before it came under the care of the Lake County Land Trust in 1999.

For more information on the Lake County Land Trust visit http://www.lakecountylandtrust.org/about_us.htm .

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.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A baby girl born on Tuesday has the distinction of being the first baby born in Lake County in 2015.

Parents John and Brandy Ayer welcomed daughter Jenna at 8:33 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 6, at Sutter Lakeside Hospital.

Jenna weighed in at 8 pounds and 1 ounce, and was 20 inches long.

“It was so exciting to have the first baby of the year at Sutter Lakeside,” Brandy Ayer said. “This will be a great memory to share with Jenna when she gets older.”

“The nursing staff in the Family Birth Center and Dr. Davies took amazing care of us from beginning to end,” John Ayer added. “We couldn’t have asked for a better experience.”

The happy and healthy Jenna is now at home with her parents, her big sister Jamilyn and her big brother Max.

“It’s our goal to ensure every family who chooses the Family Birth Center has a special, positive birthing experience,” said Jackie Rad, R.N.C., M.S.N., C.N.L., Family Birth Center and Respiratory Services manager. “It’s especially fun when we get to celebrate the first new baby of the New Year.”

St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake spokesperson Michelle Van Hoff said one baby has been born so far this year at that facility, but the birth took place after the Ayers family welcomed their daughter, confirming that the Sutter birth was the first in the county this year.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Assemblyman Bill Dodd (D-Napa) on Thursday introduced a resolution petitioning President Obama to create the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument.

The establishment of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument would help safeguard the area that stretches from the shores of Lake Berryessa in Napa County to the flanks of Snow Mountain, and includes portions of Lake, Mendocino, Solano, and Yolo counties.

“The designation of this unique area as a national monument will help preserve the region’s natural splendor for future generations. The national monument will provide continued recreational opportunities and will bring enhanced visitation,” said Dodd. “This is a great example of how we can protect our environment and support our local economy.”

Dodd was joined in supporting the national monument by the region’s other legislative representatives – Senators Lois Wolk and Mike McGuire and Assemblyman Jim Wood – all of whom are principal co-authors of the Assembly joint resolution, AJR 4.

“I want to recognize Congressman Mike Thompson and the broad coalition of environmental and outdoor recreation groups, hundreds of local businesses, and local governments that have been working diligently to support the national monument designation,” Dodd said.

The Berryessa Snow Mountain area includes some 350,000 acres of existing public lands and is a rich in wildlife, providing habitat for bald and golden eagles, black bears, mountain lions, tule elk, river otters and the rare Pacific fisher.

The area’s proximity to the Bay Area and Sacramento makes it an outdoor recreation destination easily accessible to millions of Californians.

Each year tens of millions of Californians participate in outdoor recreation, supporting over 700,000 jobs and creating more than $6 billion in economic activity.

Studies have shown that local economies expand around newly created national monuments.

Assemblyman Bill Dodd represents the Fourth Assembly District, which includes all or portions of Yolo, Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Solano and Colusa counties.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The 66th quilt block on the Lake County Quilt Trail has been installed on the Elks Lodge in Lakeport.

The 4-foot by 4-foot block is located at 3775 Lakeshore Blvd. in Lakeport.

The quilt block is called “Elroy the Elk,” as he is the mascot for the Elks Drug Awareness Program which reminds children that hugs are better than drugs.

The Elks believe that the youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow. As such, the Elks have teamed up with Marvel Comic Books to produce a comic featuring Marvel super heroes and Elroy the Elk in a battle against underage substance abuse.

The current Elks Lodge location on Lakeshore Drive originally was the Cafe Chateau in 1946.

Next at the site was the Happy Valley Chinese Restaurant, then the Cub and Boy Scouts, followed by People Services.

In 1986, the Lakeport Elks Lodge acquired the site and it has been there ever since.

The Lake County Quilt Trail is an agricultural and tourism project designed to promote community pride.

The 4-foot by 4-foot quilt block was drawn and painted by the Lake County Quilt Trail team, a group of dedicated quilters, graphic artists, painters, writers, carpenters and a videographer.

For more information about the Lake County Quilt Trail visit www.lakecountyquilttrail.com or go to the group's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-Quilt-Trail/187014251326163 .

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The results of the 2015 SF Chronicle Wine Competition were revealed late Friday afternoon, and Lake County’s wines and wineries made another impressive showing, with 27 winery labels produced by Lake County wineries taking home a total of 111 awards.

Best of class awards were presented for the following Lake County wines: Guenoc 2013 Lake County Sauvignon Blanc; Shannon Ridge 2013 Lake County Single Vineyard Collection Chardonnay Brassfield Estate 2013 High Valley Eruption; and Chacewater 2012 Sierra Foothills Merlot.

In addition, 17 wineries located outside of Lake County but bottling wines with a Lake County appellation on the label took home a total of 25 awards including a Best of Class for Matchbook 2012 Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon.

For a complete listing of all medal winners, visit www.winejudging.com .

“We might be small, but world, we make damned fine wines,” said Lake County Winery Association Director Terry Dereniuk. “I am so proud of the wineries here in Lake County. This year’s showing in the awards are a wonderful testament to the reputation for high quality wines and cap the results from the 2014 Chronicle Wine Competition when 17 wineries took home just over 100 awards.”

Debra Sommerfield, president of the Lake County Winegrape Growers agreed. “Lake County winegrowers have been committed to delivering high-quality, high-elevation fruit for many years, and the impressive results we have seen from this prestigious competition over the past few years demonstrate that the industry recognizes this dedication.”

The SF Chronicle Wine Competition was produced by www.winejudging.com and directed by Bob and Scott Fraser.

Bob and his son, Scott, founded www.winejudging.com in 2000 and have gained a highly respected reputation for the premier SF Chronicle Wine Competition.

They have ties to Lake County as owners of the Jago Bay Vineyards planted to Cabernet Sauvignon in the Red Hills American Viticultural Area. Bob also chairs the Lake County Wine Competition held in June.

The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition is the largest competition for American Wines in the world, breaking record with 6,418 entries this year.

Noted wine journalist and judge for the 2014 competition Ellen Landis said, “At this prestigious, well run national competition that amasses more than 5,000 entries, a wide range of stimulating wines are evaluated. Boutique wineries, mid-sized properties, and large brand producers collectively vie for the Golden prize, and award winners reap rewards for years.”

Lake County Wineries will be pouring their award winning wines at the SF Chronicle Public Tasting on Feb. 14 at Ft. Mason in San Francisco. For ticket information, visit www.winejudging.com .

LCWA events for 2015 include the 2015 Wine Adventure on May 15, 16 and 17 and the Public Tasting People’s Choice on July 25.

Award winning wines are available locally at winery tasting rooms as well as online.

For more information about ordering on-line and upcoming events, lease visit the LCWA Web site at www.lakecountywineries.org .

LCWA works to promote the wines of Lake County’s high elevation region. Membership is open to wineries, winegrape growers, and individuals or businesses interested in promoting the Lake County wine industry.

For more information about upcoming events, sponsorship, or membership opportunities, call 707-357-5237 or visit www.lakecountywineries.org .

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Safeway Inc. has reached a settlement with 42 counties – including Lake – in a case alleging that more than 500 of its stores and distribution centers violated the state's environmental laws for handling and storing hazardous materials, including the disposal of pharmaceutical waste.

The settlement, which orders Safeway to pay $9.87 million in civil penalties, also applies to the other branded stores that the Pleasanton-based supermarket chain owns – Vons, Pavilions and Pak ‘n Save.

The final stipulated judgment was approved Jan. 2 by Judge Wynne S. Carvill in Alameda County Superior Court, where the case was filed.

According to a statement from Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley – whose office was one of the lead agencies in the case – the investigation that led to the suit began after the discovery of improper shipments of hazardous and pharmaceutical waste to Safeway’s distribution centers through its reverse logistics program.

During 2012 and 2013, inspectors from the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office Environmental Protection Division along with other district attorney investigators and environmental regulators statewide, conducted a series of waste inspections of dumpsters belonging to Safeway stores, case records showed.

The inspections revealed that Safeway was routinely and systematically sending hazardous wastes to local landfills, and was failing to take measures to protect the privacy of their pharmacy customers’ confidential medical information, O'Malley's office reported.

When prosecutors notified Safeway of the widespread environmental issues at its facilities, the company “worked cooperatively to remedy the issue, enhance its environmental compliance program and train its employees to properly handle such waste,” according to O'Malley's report.

Among the facilities listed in the settlement are Lake County's two Safeway stores – 14922 Olympic Drive in Clearlake and 1071 11th St. in Lakeport.

The Lake County District Attorney's Office will receive $1,750 from the settlement, while another $3,500 in civil penalties will go to the Lake County Environmental Health division, according to the stipulated judgment.

Neighboring Mendocino County, which has three Safeway stores, will receive $2,625 for the district attorney and $5,250 for its environmental health department; Napa County, also with three stores, will receive $27,000 for its district attorney and $27,000 for its department of environmental management; Sonoma County, with 12 stores, will receive $22,750 for the district attorney, $3,500 for the cities of Healdsburg and Sebastopol, $7,000 for its fire and emergency department and $8,750 for Santa Rosa City Fire; and Yolo County, with four stores, receives $375,000 for its district attorney and $35,250 for its environmental health department.

California Safeway stores have, pursuant to the final agreement, adopted new policies and procedures designed to eliminate the improper disposal of retail hazardous waste products and pharmaceutical waste into store trash bins for eventual disposal into local landfills, officials reported.

The settlement terms also require Safeway to continue its First Assistant Store Manager Program designed to address environmental compliance at the store level and conduct annual store audits. 

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 once again mostly big dogs up for adoption at Lake County Animal Care and Control this week.

Offered are dogs that include mixes of Chihuahua, German Shepherd, Labrador Retriever, mastiff and pit bull terrier.

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”).

Male Labrador Retriever mix

This male Labrador Retriever mix has a short tan and brown coat.

He's in kennel No. 2, ID No. 1577.

'Bently'

“Bently” is a male mastiff mix.

He's got a short brindle coat.

Bently is in kennel No. 5b, ID No. 1527.

Pit bull terrier mix

This male pit bull terrier mix has a short red and white coat.

He's in kennel No. 6, ID No. 1583.

German Shepherd mix

This female German Shepherd mix has a white coat.

She's in kennel No. 8, ID No. 1499.

German Shepherd mix

This male German Shepherd mix has a medium-length tan and black coat.

He's in kennel No. 10, ID No. 1572.

German Shepherd mix

This male German Shepherd mix has a medium-length blond and black coat.

He's in kennel No. 15, ID No. 1571.

Pit bull mix

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

She's in kennel No. 16, ID No. 1380.

Male pit bull terrier mix

This fellow with the rather sad face is a pit bull terrier mix.

He has a short tan and white coat.

He's in kennel No. 17, ID No. 1514.

'Rascal'

“Rascal” is a terrier-Chihuahua mix.

He has a short black and white coat.

He's in kennel No. 25a, ID No. 1430.

'Copper'

“Copper” is a male terrier mix.

He has a short brown and white coat.

Copper is in kennel No. 25b, ID No. 1429.

Pit bull terrier mix

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

She's in kennel No. 31, ID No. 1497.

'Rocky'

“Rocky” is a male German Shepherd mix.

He's got a short blond and black coat.

Rocky is in kennel No. 34, ID No. 1516.

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. – The December rains helped the drought situation significantly, but the drought continues, county officials said Friday.

Lake County Special Districts reported that mandatory urgency conservation ordinances are still in effect for the following systems: County Service Area No. 22 – Mt Hannah, County Service Area No. 18 – Starview, County Service Area No. 7 – Bonanza Springs, County Service Area No. 16 – Paradise Valley Water, and County Service Area No. 2 – Spring Valley Water.

Urgency ordinances were lifted for Kelseyville County Waterworks District No. 3 and County Service Area No. 6 – Finley Water System, according to Special Districts.

However these systems remain in stage one of the county's drought management plan, which calls for voluntary conservation, the agency said.

County Service Area No. 13 – Kono Tayee, County Service Area No. 20 – Soda Bay and County Service Area No. 21 – North Lakeport also remain under a voluntary conservation order.

According to the drought management plan, stage No. 1 is implemented when a potential threat to capacity is seen.

A potential threat is currently present in all systems managed by Special Districts due to low water tables and low lake and reservoir levels.

If a water system has inadequate storage and supply to meet the drinking water and fire suppression needs of the community, the water system will be elevated to stage 2 or higher of the drought management plan.

Stage No. 2 and above requires mandatory conservation, prohibits nonessential water use and implements surcharges for violations.

“We are watching water levels and analyzing supply and demand with the hopes of lifting the mandatory urgency ordinances that remain. When the urgency ordinances are lifted, customers will be notified by mail,” Special Districts said in a Friday statement.

The state of California is still requiring a 20-percent reduction in usage over the same period last year. All systems managed by Lake County are currently meeting the state requirement.

If you have any questions about the conservation requirements for your district, call Special Districts at 707-263-0119.

The California Department of Public Health has been notified of seven confirmed cases of measles in patients from five different locations within California.

Dr. Ron Chapman, CDPH director and state health officer, reported that two Utah resident cases also have been confirmed and three additional California residents also are suspected to have measles and are under investigation.

All confirmed and suspect cases reported visiting Disneyland or Disney California Adventure Park in Orange County sometime between Dec. 15 and Dec. 20.

Based on information from current cases, it is likely that a person infectious with measles was at one of the theme parks on these dates. People can be infectious with measles for nine days.

Measles typically begins with fever, cough, runny nose and red eyes and within a few days a red rash appears, usually first on the face and then spreads downward to the rest of the body.

 Measles is a highly infectious, airborne disease.

“If you have symptoms, and believe you may have been exposed, please contact your health care provider,” said Dr. Chapman. “The best way to prevent measles and its spread is to get vaccinated.”

Measles has been eliminated in the United States since 2000. However, large measles outbreaks have occurred in Western Europe, Pakistan, Vietnam and the Philippines in recent years.

Travelers to areas where measles is endemic can bring measles back to the U.S., resulting in limited domestic transmission of measles.

Disney and other theme parks in California are international attractions and visitors come from many parts of the world, including those where measles is endemic.

Two doses of measles-containing vaccine (MMR vaccine) are more than 99 percent effective in preventing measles.

Measles vaccines have been available in the United States since 1963, and two doses have been recommended since 1989. If you are unsure of your vaccination status, check with your doctor to have a test to check for measles immunity or to receive vaccination.

The California confirmed cases reside in five local health jurisdictions (Alameda, Orange, Pasadena, Riverside, and San Diego) and range in age from 8 months to 21 years.

Six cases were unvaccinated for measles (2 were too young to be vaccinated), and 1 had received appropriate vaccination (two doses of MMR vaccine). Several large contact investigations are ongoing.

Health care providers treating patients with fever and a rash should consider measles, and ask patients about travel to international destinations and domestic venues that are popular with international travelers.

More information about measles can be found on the CDPH Web site at www.cdph.ca.gov .

Although NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has taken many breathtaking images of the universe, one snapshot stands out from the rest: the iconic view of the so-called “Pillars of Creation.”

The jaw-dropping photo, taken in 1995, revealed never-before-seen details of three giant columns of cold gas bathed in the scorching ultraviolet light from a cluster of young, massive stars in a small region of the Eagle Nebula, or M16.

In celebration of its upcoming 25th anniversary in April, Hubble has revisited the famous pillars, providing astronomers with a sharper and wider view.

Although the original image was dubbed the Pillars of Creation, the new image hints that they are also “pillars of destruction.”

“I’m impressed by how transitory these structures are,” explained Paul Scowen of Arizona State University in Tempe. “They are actively being ablated away before our very eyes. The ghostly bluish haze around the dense edges of the pillars is material getting heated up and evaporating away into space. We have caught these pillars at a very unique and short-lived moment in their evolution.”

Scowen and astronomer Jeff Hester, formerly of Arizona State University, led the original Hubble observations of the Eagle Nebula.

The original 1995 images were taken in visible light. The new image includes near-infrared light as well.

The infrared view transforms the pillars into eerie, wispy silhouettes seen against a background of myriad stars.

That’s because the infrared light penetrates much of the gas and dust, except for the densest regions of the pillars. Newborn stars can be seen hidden away inside the pillars.

The infrared image shows that the very ends of the pillars are dense knots of dust and gas. They shadow the gas below them, keeping the gas cool and creating the long, column-like structures.

The material in between the pillars has long since been evaporated away by the ionizing radiation from the central star cluster located above the pillars.

At the top edge of the left-hand pillar, a gaseous fragment has been heated up and is flying away from the structure, underscoring the violent nature of star-forming regions.

“These pillars represent a very dynamic, active process,” Scowen said. “The gas is not being passively heated up and gently wafting away into space. The gaseous pillars are actually getting ionized, a process by which electrons are stripped off of atoms, and heated up by radiation from the massive stars. And then they are being eroded by the stars’ strong winds and barrage of charged particles, which are literally sandblasting away the tops of these pillars.”

When Scowen and Hester used Hubble to make the initial observations of the Eagle Nebula in 1995, astronomers had seen the pillar-like structures in ground-based images, but not in detail.

They knew that the physical processes are not unique to the Eagle Nebula because star birth takes place across the universe. But at a distance of just 6,500 light-years, M16 is the most dramatic nearby example – as the team soon realized.

As Scowen was piecing together the Hubble exposures of the Eagle, he was amazed at what he saw.

“I called Jeff Hester on his phone and said, ‘You need to get here now,’” Scowen recalled. “We laid the pictures out on the table, and we were just gushing because of all the incredible detail that we were seeing for the very first time.”

The first features that jumped out at the team in 1995 were the streamers of gas seemingly floating away from the columns.

Astronomers had previously debated what effect nearby massive stars would have on the surrounding gas in stellar nurseries.

“There is the only one thing that can light up a neighborhood like this: massive stars kicking out enough horsepower in ultraviolet light to ionize the gas clouds and make them glow,” Scowen said. “Nebulous star-forming regions like M16 are the interstellar neon signs that say, ‘We just made a bunch of massive stars here.’ This was the first time we had directly seen observational evidence that the erosionary process, not only the radiation but the mechanical stripping away of the gas from the columns, was actually being seen.”

By comparing the 1995 and 2014 pictures, astronomers also noticed a lengthening of a narrow jet-like feature that may have been ejected from a newly forming star. The jet looks like a stream of water from a garden hose.

Over the intervening 19 years, this jet has stretched farther into space, across an additional 60 billion miles, at an estimated speed of about 450,000 miles per hour.

Our sun probably formed in a similar turbulent star-forming region. There is evidence that the forming solar system was seasoned with radioactive shrapnel from a nearby supernova. That means that our sun was formed as part of a cluster that included stars massive enough to produce powerful ionizing radiation, such as is seen in the Eagle Nebula.

“That’s the only way the nebula from which the sun was born could have been exposed to a supernova that quickly, in the short period of time that represents, because supernovae only come from massive stars, and those stars only live a few tens of millions of years,” Scowen explained. “What that means is when you look at the environment of the Eagle Nebula or other star-forming regions, you’re looking at exactly the kind of nascent environment that our sun formed in.”

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

How many stars like our sun host planets like our Earth?

NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope continuously monitored more than 150,000 stars beyond our solar system, and to date has offered scientists an assortment of more than 4,000 candidate planets for further study – the 1,000th of which was recently verified.

Using Kepler data, scientists reached this millenary milestone after validating that eight more candidates spotted by the planet-hunting telescope are, in fact, planets.

The Kepler team also has added another 554 candidates to the roll of potential planets, six of which are near-Earth-size and orbit in the habitable zone of stars similar to our sun.

Three of the newly-validated planets are located in their distant suns’ habitable zone, the range of distances from the host star where liquid water might exist on the surface of an orbiting planet. Of the three, two are likely made of rock, like Earth.

“Each result from the planet-hunting Kepler mission's treasure trove of data takes us another step closer to answering the question of whether we are alone in the Universe,” said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “The Kepler team and its science community continue to produce impressive results with the data from this venerable explorer.”

To determine whether a planet is made of rock, water or gas, scientists must know its size and mass. When its mass can’t be directly determined, scientists can infer what the planet is made of based on its size.

Two of the newly validated planets, Kepler-438b and Kepler-442b, are less than 1.5 times the diameter of Earth.

Kepler-438b, 475 light-years away, is 12 percent bigger than Earth and orbits its star once every 35.2 days.

Kepler-442b, 1,100 light-years away, is 33 percent bigger than Earth and orbits its star once every 112 days.

Both Kepler-438b and Kepler-442b orbit stars smaller and cooler than our sun, making the habitable zone closer to their parent star, in the direction of the constellation Lyra.

The research paper reporting this finding has been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal.

“With each new discovery of these small, possibly rocky worlds, our confidence strengthens in the determination of the true frequency of planets like Earth,” said co-author Doug Caldwell, SETI Institute Kepler scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California. “The day is on the horizon when we’ll know how common temperate, rocky planets like Earth are.”

With the detection of 554 more planet candidates from Kepler observations conducted May 2009 to April 2013, the Kepler team has raised the candidate count to 4,175.

Eight of these new candidates are between one to two times the size of Earth, and orbit in their sun's habitable zone.

Of these eight, six orbit stars that are similar to our sun in size and temperature. All candidates require follow-up observations and analysis to verify they are actual planets.

“Kepler collected data for four years – long enough that we can now tease out the Earth-size candidates in one Earth-year orbits,” said Fergal Mullally, SETI Institute Kepler scientist at Ames who led the analysis of a new candidate catalog. “We’re closer than we’ve ever been to finding Earth twins around other sun-like stars. These are the planets we’re looking for.”

These findings also have been submitted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement.

Work is under way to translate these recent discoveries into estimates of how often rocky planets appear in the habitable zones of stars like our sun, a key step toward NASA's goal of understanding our place in the universe.

For more information about the Kepler mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/kepler .

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

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A Clearlake Oaks man accused of shooting his wife to death the weekend before Christmas has pleaded not guilty to the numerous charges filed against him in the case.

Marc Anthony Clark, 59, pleaded not guilty to murder and a host of other felony counts and also denied numerous special allegations – particularly for the use of a firearm – during a Tuesday morning court appearance before Judge Andrew Blum.

Authorities said that on the night of Dec. 20, Clark used a handgun to kill his wife, 58-year-old Linda Louise Clark, at their home on Wolf Creek in Spring Valley.

After the shooting, Marc Clark called law enforcement to report that he had shot his wife following an argument, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Clark is charged with five felonies – murder, mayhem, aggravated mayhem, corporal injury on a spouse and assault with a firearm – plus 10 special allegations related to the use of a firearm and causing great bodily injury.

Defense counsel Tom Quinn represented Clark during the Tuesday appearance.

He urged Clark to agree to a general time waiver – which will allow more time to prepare a defense – due to the case's gravity, and Clark agreed.

Judge Blum ordered Clark to return to court at 8;15 a.m. Jan. 27 for the setting of a preliminary hearing.

Clark remains in custody in the Lake County Jail, with bail set at $1.5 million.

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.