LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – This month we’ll spend some time exploring the constellations currently visible. Consult our star chart above as we begin our tour.

One of fall’s most striking constellations is Pegasus, the winged horse. You can find it by looking for the big square of Pegasus rising in the east.

Pegasus is one of the original 48 constellations identified by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy.

In Greek mythology, Pegasus was a magical winged horse that used its hooves to carve out a spring. Anyone who drank from the spring was blessed with the power to write poetry.

Our image of Pegasus shows the horse is flying upside down!

Below Pegasus is Pisces the fish. In Greek mythology, Pisces was the fish that carried Venus and her son Cupid to safety from the monster Typhon.

Below Pisces is Cetus the whale. Greek mythology has Cetus as a sea monster whom Perseus killed to protect the beautiful princess Andromeda.

To the west of Cetus is Aquarius, the water bearer. Aquarius is shown pouring water so that Pisces Austrinus can swim.

Pisces Austrinus, the southern fish, lies below Aquarius. The ancient Egyptians recognized this constellation and believed it represented the fish that saved the life of the Egyptian goddess Isis.

Finally, to the west of Aquarius is Capricornus, the sea goat. Capricornus is sometimes identified as Pan, the god with a goat's head, who saved himself from the monster Typhon by giving himself a fish's tail and diving into a river.

With the exception of Pegasus, all of the constellations we have seen are associated with water. Perhaps this is a good omen at a time when a strong El Niño is predicted, which is hoped will help alleviate the drought.

Other attractions in October include the Orionids meteor shower. This can best be seen after midnight on Oct. 21.

Finally, a rare grouping of 3 planets – Venus, Mars and Jupiter – will occur early in the morning of Oct. 28. Look to the east to see this.

John Zimmerman is a resident of Lake County and has been an amateur astronomer for more than 50 years. For more information about Astronomy and local resources, visit his Web site at www.lakecountyskies.com .

On Tuesday, Sept. 29, NASA's Curiosity Mars rover drilled its eighth hole on Mars, and its fifth since reaching Mount Sharp one year ago.

The drilling of the hole 2.6-inches deep in a rock the team labeled “Big Sky” is part of a multi-day, multi-step sequence that will result in the analysis of the Martian rock's ingredients in the rover's two onboard laboratories – the Chemistry and Mineralogy X-Ray diffractometer (CheMin) and the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite.

“With Big Sky, we found the ordinary sandstone rock we were looking for,” said Curiosity Project Scientist Ashwin Vasavada. “It also happens to be relatively near sandstone that looks as though it has been altered by fluids – likely groundwater with other dissolved chemicals. We are hoping to drill that rock next, compare the results, and understand what changes have taken place.”

The analyses of the Big Sky rock-powder samples by CheMin and SAM will occur over the next week. Meanwhile, the team will be turning the rover's attention and its wheels towards the second rock, where the sample analysis process will begin anew.

Curiosity is currently on the lower slopes of Mount Sharp in a region covered in sandstone called the Stimson Unit.

Two weeks ago, still in the same general vicinity, Curiosity took a pair of long-range images toward higher regions of the mountain. In the foreground – about 2 miles from the rover – is a long ridge teeming with hematite, an iron oxide. Just beyond is an undulating plain rich in clay minerals. And just beyond that are a multitude of rounded buttes, all high in sulfate minerals.

The changing mineralogy in these layers of Mount Sharp suggests a changing environment in early Mars, though all involve exposure to water billions of years ago. The Curiosity team hopes to be able to explore these diverse areas in the months and years ahead.

Farther back in the image are striking, light-toned cliffs in rock that may have formed in drier times and now are heavily eroded by winds.

“The only thing more stunning than these images is the thought that Curiosity will be driving through those lower hills one day,” Vasavada said.  “We couldn't help but send a postcard back to all those following her journey.”

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Project is using Curiosity to assess ancient habitable environments and major changes in Martian environmental conditions.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech, built the rover and manages the project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more information about Curiosity, visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/msl , http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ .

You can follow the mission on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity .

Oct. 4 to 10 is National Fire Prevention Week, and Cal Fire says it's a good time to make sure all homes have working smoke alarms.

Almost two-thirds of all home fire deaths occur in homes without a smoke alarm or no working smoke alarm.

Working smoke alarms can reduce a person’s chance of dying in a home fire by half, and they provide the precious time needed to escape the home in the event of a fire.

Fifty percent of fire deaths result from fires reported at night between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. when most people are asleep.

Home smoke alarms can alert people to a fire before it spreads, giving family and friends enough time to get out.

“In a fire, seconds count,” said California State Fire Marshal Tonya Hoover. “Think of your smoke alarm as the nose or eyes on the ceiling just smelling or seeing. When it smells or sees products of combustion like smoke, it alarms everyone at home to the danger.”

Cal Fire urges Californians to have working smoke alarms on every level in homes, in every sleeping area, and in the hallways leading to the sleeping areas.

These alarms should be hard-wired with a battery backup in case of a power outage. In California, new smoke alarms have a 10-year long battery life which means no need to change the battery.

According to the latest National Fire Prevention Association research, working smoke alarms cut the chance of dying in a fire in half.

Meanwhile, three out of five fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.

So, what can residents do?

Inspect all smoke alarms every month, clean them annually, and replace the entire smoke alarm every ten years.  If an alarm “chirps,” warning the battery is low, replace the smoke alarm battery immediately if the alarm is not a long life battery smoke alarm.

If a smoke alarm sounds, crawl low and go outside to your meeting place. Everyone should be able to do this in less than two minutes. Once outside, call 911. Make sure that nobody goes back inside for anything.

This Fire Prevention Week Cal Fire is asking all Californians to improve their own safety by having working smoke alarms in every bedroom and on every level of your home.

“Make sure you, your family, and guests know what to do when the alarm sounds because it could be the sound that saves your lives,” said Chief Hoover.

For more information about smoke alarms and home fire safety, visit the Cal Fire Web site at www.fire.ca.gov .

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control is once again transitioning back to its normal animal control and shelter operations as the Valley fire winds down.

For weeks shelter staff have been working from rescue agencies from around the region, as well as the ASPCA, to evacuate, care for and house animals impacted by the 76,067-acre fire.

Director Bill Davidson said staff is getting back into normal hours, and going back to focusing on core operations including finding homes for animals.

The dogs offered for adoption this week include mixes of Chihuahua, cocker spaniel, Labrador Retriever, pit bull terrier and terrier.

For those looking for lost pets as a result of the Valley fire, visit the Lake County Animal Care and Control Web site, which features additional dogs and cats that officials are looking to reunite with their families.

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”).

'Posey'

“Posey” is a male Labrador Retriever-terrier mix found on Lakeshore Boulevard in Lakeport.

He has a short black and white coat, and has an injured left rear leg.

He's in kennel No. 6, ID No. 3697.

'Sebastian'

“Sebastian” is a buff-colored male cocker spaniel.

His owner died and now he is looking for a new home.

He's in kennel No. 7, ID No. 3270.

Male pit bull mix

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

He's in kennel No. 7, ID No. 3458.

Terrier mix puppies

The shelter has a litter of eight terrier mix puppies.

The pups have short coats in a variety of colors.

They are in kennel No. 8a, ID No. 3726.

Male pit bull terrier mix

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

He was found on Point Lakeview Road in Lower Lake.

He's in kennel No. 16, ID No. 3675.

Chihuahua-terrier mix

This male Chihuahua-terrier mix has a short brown and white coat.

He was found on Third Street in Kelseyville.

He's in kennel No. 23, ID No. 3677.

'Maverick'

“Maverick” is a male pit bull terrier mix.

He has a short brindle and white coat.

He's in kennel No. 28, ID No. 3228.

'Rocky'

“Rocky” is a male terrier mix.

He has a short black and white coat.

He's in kennel No. 32, ID No. 3667.

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 National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning and a wind advisory for Lake County and other portions of Northern California due to concerns for high winds on Saturday night and into Sunday morning.

Both the red flag warning and the wind advisory will be in effect from 5 p.m. Saturday to 11 a.m. Sunday, the National Weather Service reported.

A red flag warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring or are anticipated. A wind advisory is issued when winds of 35 miles per hour are expected.

In the case of the potential for fire weather conditions, forecasters warned of lower humidity combined with strong winds that could create explosive growth potential for any fires that occur during the advisory period.

Forecasters said a strong and unseasonal low pressure system coming over the region from the Pacific Northwest is anticipated to bring strong, gusty winds and lower temperatures to Northern California.

North and northeasterly winds of between 25 and 35 miles per hour – with gusts up to 55 miles per hour over the region's higher terrain, are forecast, the agency said.

The National Weather Service said the strongest winds and lowest humidity areas will include the western parts of Shasta County, the interior Coast Range southward to Lake County, and the northern and central Sacramento valley.

Within Lake County specifically, the forecast predicts winds of as high as 48 miles per hour in the Cobb area, 45 miles per hour in Kelseyville, 25 miles per hour in Lakeport, 40 miles per hour in Lower Lake, 31 miles per hour in Lucerne, 44 miles per hour in Middletown and 25 miles per hour in Upper Lake.

Forecasters warned of the potential for winds to topple drought-stressed trees and damage power lines.

In areas hit by recent wildland fires, the winds also could create the potential to knock down burned and weakened trees.

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.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board adopted a general order on Friday to protect the environment from discharges associated with cannabis cultivation activities.

Most of Lake County – including all of Clear Lake – is under the jurisdiction of the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board; the rest of the county, particularly areas in the Mendocino National Forest, is governed by the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board.

The board's order serves as a permit that will be issued to landowners and cultivators engaged in growing medicinal cannabis as long as they meet specific conditions, including those imposed by local ordinances.

The order will regulate discharges from medicinal cannabis cultivation operations to ensure that fertilizers and silt don’t impact waters of the state, which includes both surface and ground waters.

The general order requires cultivators to implement best management practices, and coverage and requirements in the order are based on a site’s threat to water quality, as determined by specific physical characteristics of the cultivation operations and proximity to wetlands or watercourses.

“Our goal is to protect water quality and the environment from the significant impacts that may occur from cannabis cultivation,” said Pamela Creedon, Central Valley Water Board executive officer.

The order includes standard conditions to address erosion control and drainage features; stream and wetland buffers; water storage and use; irrigation runoff, fertilizers and pesticides; petroleum products and other chemicals and wastes.

Enrollees are not exempted from the need to comply with applicable local ordinances or state and federal laws.

Cannabis cultivation in the Central Valley Region has increased significantly in recent years, both in the number and the size of operations.

The Central Valley Water Board has serious concerns about the water quality impacts from this dramatic increase in cannabis cultivation activity on both public and private land.

The State Water Resources Control Board and regional boards are committed to helping educate both the public and cultivators about proper permitting and cultivation practices in their respective water board regions.

The Central Valley Water Board held multiple public workshops throughout its region during August and September to receive input on the Draft General Order.

The North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board adopted its general order for cannabis cultivation on Aug. 13. For more information on its program, see the North Coast Regional Board’s Web site.

Additionally, local, state and federal agencies, including the State Water Board and regional boards, are working together in task forces to find illegal growing operations and enforce applicable laws.

To learn more about what the State Water Board and regional boards are doing relative to the environmental impacts of cannabis cultivation, visit the State Water Board resource page.

The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board is a California state agency responsible for the preservation and enhancement of the quality of California’s water resources.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A historical documentary about Lake County's rich native cultural heritage has earned national and statewide recognition.

“A Walk Through Time: The Story of Anderson Marsh” will soon receive a Governor’s Historic Preservation Award and was also selected for the 2015 American Indian Film Festival.

The film was produced by the Advanced Laboratory for Visual Anthropology, or ALVA, at California State University, Chico.

“A Walk Through Time” explores the rich history of a group of the Koi people, a Pomo Indian tribe that settled near Clear Lake in Lake County more than 14,000 years ago.

The Koi people were the first to colonize the Anderson Marsh area, which is home to some of the most diverse wildlife and landscape in the state.

The film traces the Koi’s history and culture through the 1840s, when they were driven off their land by the influx of non-native settlers.

The film had its premiere at the Native American Day Gala in Clearlake on July 18, as Lake County News has reported. Actor/director Peter Coyote, was on hand for the event.

The 1,300-acre Anderson Marsh State Historic Park in 1982 was established to protect the area’s significant natural and historical resources. The marsh is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its prehistoric archeological significance.

The 28-minute film was produced this year in partnership with the California Department of Parks and Recreation and the Koi Nation of Northern California.

It was directed by ALVA lab technician Dan Bruns and produced by state park archaeologist Leslie Steidl, representatives from the Koi Nation and several consulting archaeologists. ALVA director Brian Brazeal served as executive producer.

“We are proud to have been able to tell the story of the Koi Nation, and we are gratified that the governor has recognized our work,” Brazeal said. “This film is the result of successful collaboration between a Native American nation, a state agency and an academic institution to preserve the history of a people and to educate the public. It teaches us about the glories of the ancient past, the injustices of the modern era and the possibility of a future based on the recognition of the sovereignty of native peoples.”

The Governor’s Historic Preservation Award is presented through the state’s Office of Historic Preservation and recognizes efforts to preserve, promote and highlight California history. The awards will be presented during a Nov. 19 ceremony in Sacramento.

The American Indian Film Festival is hosted by the American Indian Film Institute and is the nation’s oldest venue for American Indian film arts and entertainment. The 40th annual festival will be held Nov. 6 to 14 in San Francisco.

The Advanced Laboratory for Visual Anthropology was the first facility to use digital cinema technology in anthropological research and to communicate that research to broad audiences. The lab houses state-of-the-art filming, production and post-production equipment.

Since 2012, the lab has sought to partner with cultural resource management companies and public agencies to use film as a tool for public outreach and to share the results of their anthropological research with a wide audience.

Learn more about ALVA by visiting www.csuchico.edu/ALVA .

SOUTH LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Fire officials say the Valley fire remains on track to being fully contained early next week.

Containment on the fire, which remains at 76,067 acres, has stayed at 97 percent since earlier this week.

The fire began on Sept. 12 in Cobb before spreading to the Hidden Valley Lake and Middletown areas.

A firefighting force of 397 personnel, 15 fire engines, 10 fire crews, eight water tenders, four helicopters and three dozers remain assigned to the incident on Friday, according to Cal Fire.

Cal Fire Capt. Joe Fletcher said firefighters are still clearing materials and doing mop up in the fire area.

Work to strengthen fire perimeter lines and landscape rehabilitation activities also are continuing to take place across the fire area, Cal Fire said.

As part of the mop up operation, Cal Fire said helicopters may be operating over the fire area.

Fletcher said the fire is expected to be 100-percent contained by Tuesday night.

Cal Fire said the cause of the Valley fire remains under investigation.

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’s New Horizons spacecraft has returned the best color and the highest resolution images yet of Pluto’s largest moon, Charon – and these pictures show a surprisingly complex and violent history. 

At half the diameter of Pluto, Charon is the largest satellite relative to its planet in the solar system. Many New Horizons scientists expected Charon to be a monotonous, crater-battered world; instead, they’re finding a landscape covered with mountains, canyons, landslides, surface-color variations and more.

“We thought the probability of seeing such interesting features on this satellite of a world at the far edge of our solar system was low,” said Ross Beyer, an affiliate of the New Horizons Geology, Geophysics and Imaging (GGI) team from the SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, “but I couldn't be more delighted with what we see."

High-resolution images of the Pluto-facing hemisphere of Charon, taken by New Horizons as the spacecraft sped through the Pluto system on July 14 and transmitted to Earth on Sept. 21, reveal details of a belt of fractures and canyons just north of the moon’s equator.

This great canyon system stretches more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) across the entire face of Charon and likely around onto Charon’s far side. Four times as long as the Grand Canyon, and twice as deep in places, these faults and canyons indicate a titanic geological upheaval in Charon’s past.

“It looks like the entire crust of Charon has been split open,” said John Spencer, deputy lead for GGI at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. “With respect to its size relative to Charon, this feature is much like the vast Valles Marineris canyon system on Mars.”

The team has also discovered that the plains south of the Charon’s canyon – informally referred to as Vulcan Planum – have fewer large craters than the regions to the north, indicating that they are noticeably younger. The smoothness of the plains, as well as their grooves and faint ridges, are clear signs of wide-scale resurfacing.

One possibility for the smooth surface is a kind of cold volcanic activity, called cryovolcanism.

“The team is discussing the possibility that an internal water ocean could have frozen long ago, and the resulting volume change could have led to Charon cracking open, allowing water-based lavas to reach the surface at that time,” said Paul Schenk, a New Horizons team member from the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston. 

Even higher-resolution Charon images and composition data are still to come as New Horizons transmits data, stored on its digital recorders, over the next year – and as that happens, “I predict Charon’s story will become even more amazing!” said mission Project Scientist Hal Weaver, of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.

The New Horizons spacecraft is currently 3.1 billion miles (5 billion kilometers) from Earth, with all systems healthy and operating normally.

New Horizons is part of NASA’s New Frontiers Program, managed by the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.  APL designed, built, and operates the New Horizons spacecraft and manages the mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. SwRI leads the science mission, payload operations, and encounter science planning.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – If you applied for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and received a letter or text message saying you were not eligible for disaster aid, you should know that the first communication may not be the last word.

While applicants may be ineligible for FEMA disaster grants, they may receive assistance through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

And there may be an easy-to-resolve reason why some wildfire survivors received a notice stating that they are ineligible for assistance.

If you were informed that your application is “ineligible” or “incomplete,” more information may be needed, officials said.

A common reason for initially being ineligible for disaster assistance is that an applicant needs to provide FEMA with a copy of an insurance determination letter before a grant application can be processed.

Other reasons for a determination of ineligibility include:

• The applicant did not sign the required documents.
• The applicant did not prove occupancy or ownership.
• Applicant’s identity may not have been verified.
• The damage is to a secondary home or a rental property, not a primary residence.
• Someone else in the household may have applied and received assistance.
• Disaster related losses could not be verified.

Every applicant for federal assistance has the right to file an appeal. Appeals may be mailed, faxed or personally delivered to a Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) and must be received within 60 days of the date on the determination letter.

Applicants or someone they designate to act on their behalf must explain in writing why they believe the initial decision was wrong and provide any new or additional information and documents that support the appeal.

Applicants who have questions about filing an appeal can call the FEMA helpline at 800-621-3362; TTY 800-462-7585; 711 Relay or Video Relay Services, call 800-621-3362.

Appeals can be mailed to FEMA – Individuals & Households Program, National Processing Service Center, P.O. Box 10055, Hyattsville, MD 20782-7055.

Appeals can be faxed to 800-827-8112, Attention: FEMA – Individuals & Households Program.

Applicants may also visit a DRC, where specialists from FEMA and the SBA can help with appeals, answer questions, review applications and accept required documents.

The following DRCs are open in Lake County:

• Middletown Senior Center, 21256 Washington St. Hours of operation are Monday through 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Sunday.
•  Former Apria Health Care building, 14848 Olympic Drive, Clearlake. Hours of operation are Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to to 4 p.m.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate all hazards.

The SBA is the federal government’s primary source of money for the long-term rebuilding of disaster-damaged private property.

SBA helps businesses of all sizes, private non-profit organizations, homeowners and renters fund repairs or rebuilding efforts and cover the cost of replacing lost or disaster-damaged personal property.

These disaster loans cover losses not fully compensated by insurance or other recoveries and do not duplicate benefits of other agencies or organizations.

For more information, applicants may contact SBA’s Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center by calling 800-659-2955, emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or visiting SBA’s Web site at www.SBA.gov . Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals may call 800-877-8339.

Local attorney Dennis Fordham usually writes columns on estate planning, but his column this week looks at assistance available from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, for Valley fire victims.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Many who lost homes in the Valley fire need assistance to replace lost income, to make repairs and to cover other expenses incurred due to the fire.

On Sept. 22, President Barack Obama declared Lake County to be a federal disaster area. Now Valley fire victims can apply for assistance from FEMA.

Let us discuss FEMA assistance.

People whose homes were destroyed or made uninhabitable can request temporary housing assistance (not to exceed a total of $31,900).

As long as one person in the household is a US Citizen or Qualified Alien the entire household may qualify, even though other persons do not qualify. Household income and location are factors in determining the amount of financial assistance.

Furthermore, anyone receiving needs based government benefits (e.g., SSI, Medi-Cal and Food Stamps) should not fear losing these benefits due to FEMA assistance. FEMA assistance does not count as a resource or income and so does not impact eligibility.

To apply, one person in the affected household must register with FEMA within 60 days of the emergency declaration, with the deadline set at Nov. 23.

To register, call 1-800-621-3362 (those who have a speech disability or hearing loss and use TTY, should call 1-800-462-7585 directly; for those who use 711 or Video Relay Service, call 1-800-621-3362); apply online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov ; or via smartphone at m.fema.gov.

Once registered with FEMA it is important to stay in contact with them and to keep records of your expenses.

Keep a copy of the FEMA application and number. FEMA will then inspect your residence, issue a notice of eligibility, and provide two months of rental assistance at a time (with renewal applications).

Besides rental assistance, FEMA, through the Small Business Administration or SBA, lends up to $200,000 for “other than housing” needs to repair or replace one’s primary residence (only) for the following purposes: (1) habitable repairs only; (2) medical and dental expenses; (3) funeral and burial expenses; (4) replacing destroyed household items; (5) replacing destroyed cars; and (6) moving expenses. The money is a loan that must be repaid. The foregoing requires keeping good records of these paid expenses.

FEMA is a last resort and not a primary source of funds to repair or replace residences. Victims should make private insurance claims against any insurance policy they have that covers the damages incurred.

If FEMA advances money for repairs it does so in expectation of being repaid once insurance monies are received by the victim for such repairs.

That said, in some cases, FEMA provides additional direct assistance for repair expenses not covered by insurance.

Also, if a fire victim loses his or her income as a result of the fire – such as their place of business being destroyed or it becomes inaccessible due to road closures – then he or she should apply for state unemployment assistance first, and then also apply with FEMA for unemployment income.

It is good that during these difficult times that FEMA is another possible source of assistance, in addition to private insurance, state assistance, and charitable organizations, which is now available to Valley fire victims.

Dennis A. Fordham, attorney (LL.M. tax studies), is a State Bar Certified Specialist in estate planning, probate and trust law. His office is at 870 S. Main St., Lakeport, California. Fordham can be reached by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by phone at 707-263-3235. Visit his Web site at www.dennisfordhamlaw.com .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Rotary's annual Konocti Challenge cycling event will be back on the road this weekend.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Konocti Challenge, one of Lake County's most popular events, which takes off and ends in Lakeport on Saturday.

Lake County may be a bit battered and bruised by this summer’s string of fires that have ripped through thousands of acres of its terrain, but it is certainly not beaten.

During these past months, community members have demonstrated just how resilient they are and shown that they can certainly rise to the challenge.

“This community needs this event with these cyclists here now more than ever. It's a time of rebuilding and people need to see that we are open for business and the beauty that is Lake County is firmly intact,” said Ride Director and Lakeport Rotary President Jennifer Strong.

The Konocti Challenge brings in hundreds of thousands of dollars to the local economy each year as the majority of the registered cyclists are coming from out of county, Strong said.

“This is a really unique event for Lake County as it encompasses the entire county. Therefore, if you see a cyclist, thank them for coming and most importantly, share the road,” Strong said.

Strong said the ride has had to slim down a bit this year because of the Valley fire's damage to Cobb mountain and Middletown, an area where the 100 mile-route goes. 

“There are still major infrastructure repairs occurring in that area so we've asked our 100-mile cyclists to take on the 65-mile this year and they've been more than happy to do that,” Strong said.

The 65-mile is an award-winning route voted Cycle California! magazine's Best Metric Century of 2014. It's a major distinction in a state with hundreds of metric century rides.

The three routes that are available this year are the 65-mile, 40-mile and 20-mile, and there is zero fire damage on any of those routes.

“Because of some of the late rains we had, the lake and the terrain are actually more beautiful this year than I can ever remember seeing,” said Strong.

There will be many additional celebrations occurring including a complimentary wine tasting and live music provided by the LC Diamonds at the Friday check-in and registration from 4 to 7 p.m.

There also will be a silent auction, fire relief t-shirt sales and quilt raffle to support the Lake Area Rotary Fire Relief Fund.

The event is held at the Skylark Shores Resort in Lakeport and ride registration is available on Friday from 3 to 7 p.m. and Saturday beginning at 6 a.m.

For more information go to www.konoctichallenge.com or call Jennifer Strong at 707-349-0815.