LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Fair has compiled its annual wish list for equipment.

Businesses and individuals can write off the full market value of equipment, supplies or funds that they donate to the fairgrounds, just as they would any other donation to a non-profit or a government agency.

“We will happily supply the proper documentation for a donor’s tax preparer,” said fair chief executive officer Richard Persons.

Although the fair is operated by a state agency, the 49th District Agricultural Association, it receives no tax dollars.

“The association depends upon revenues it derives from activities on the fairgrounds and from donations by businesses and individuals in order to survive,” said Persons. “People often think that their state income taxes help to support the fairgrounds, but that isn’t the case. There are no tax dollars of any sort, all funds are generated locally.”
 
After the publication of the wish list in previous years, the fair received donations of thousands of dollars worth of landscaping equipment, painting equipment, a backhoe tractor, a bucket lift truck, fencing, 4-inch steel pipe, a 12,000 gallon water storage tank, more than 70 new 55 gallon drums, a strap banding tool with strap supplies, several hundred hours of labor, and some cash.
 
Items on the fair’s current wish list include a small refrigerator approximately 12 cubic feet in size, large two or three door commercial refrigerators, a turf vacuum, two weed-eaters, a commercial paper shredder, ten full sheets of exterior plywood, a commercial carpet cleaner/vacuum, 40 gallons of white latex paint, a small tractor with a bucket.

Also needed are 120 feet of 36” culvert pipe, fifty cubic yards of road base, 25 cubic yards of concrete, 200 yards of pea gravel, and various roofing materials. The fair will accept donations of most types of tools or equipment in good condition, supplies, labor, or cash donations.
 
Businesses or individuals interested in donating should stop by or call the fair office at 707-263-6181. Winter hours at the fair office are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The office is located at 401 Martin St. in Lakeport.
 
Buildings and outdoor areas at the fairgrounds are available for events all year round. The annual Lake County Fair takes place Labor Day weekend each year.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – As the result of an investigation that began early this year, a Lower Lake High School teacher was taken into custody on Friday on charges of possessing child pornography and child molestation.

Clearlake Police detectives arrested Jeremy Duane Stock, 37, at his Loch Lomond residence at 9:15 a.m. Friday on an arrest warrant issued by the Lake County Superior Court, according to Sgt. Nick Bennett.

The warrant was for a felony count of possession or control of child pornography and a misdemeanor charge of annoying or molesting children, Bennett said.

Bennett said that in January of this year information was brought forward to Lower Lake High School Principal Jeffrey Dixon that Stock was having inappropriate interactions with students.  

Dixon contacted the school’s resource officer, Clearlake Police Officer Andrew Jones, and advised him of the situation, according to Bennett’s report. The investigation was then turned over to Clearlake Police Department Det. Ryan Peterson.

Additionally, Bennett said Stock was placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation.  

During the investigation, Det. Peterson completed and served several search warrants approved by the Lake County Superior Court on Stock’s residence, Bennett said.

Bennett said computers, several cellular phones, mass storage devices along with other evidence were seized from Stock’s residence during the service of the search warrants.

He said some of the evidence that was seized was forensically analyzed and, as a result, it was found that Stock was in possession of child pornography.

At this time, it is believed that none of the child pornography discovered in this investigation involved any children from the Konocti Unified School District, Bennett said.

Konocti Unified School District staff and administration were completely cooperative during the investigation, Bennett added.

Stock was booked just after 10:30 a.m. Friday at the Lake County Jail, with a bail set at $100,000, according to jail records. He is due to appear for arraignment in Lake County Superior Court on Tuesday, Dec. 11.

Anyone with information in regard to this case or cases of a similar nature involving Stock is encouraged to contact Clearlake Police Department Det. Ryan Peterson at 707-994-8251, Extension  320.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A portion of 11th Street in Lakeport was closed late Thursday morning as the result of a small chemical spill.

Lakeport Police Lt. Jason Ferguson said the spill resulted from an overturned trailer carrying a load of liquid chlorine and muriatic acid.

The open bed utility trailer was being towed westbound on 11th Street just past Manzanita at approximately 11:47 a.m. when, for unknown reasons, the trailer disconnected from the vehicle towing it and overturned, Ferguson said.

Ferguson said a half gallon of muriatic acid and chlorine were spilled.

“As a precautionary measure we’ve closed the streets down,” he said.

He said 11th Street was closed from North Street to Pool Street immediately after the incident.

Lake County Environmental Health also responded to scene, according to Ferguson.

Police Chief Brad Rasmussen said the cause of the incident is still under investigation.

Police estimated that the roadway should be reopened by 1:30 p.m.

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. – A retiring Lake County Superior Court judge will be celebrated at a party early next month.

The retirement celebration for Judge David Herrick will take place beginning at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 3, in his Department 1 courtroom on the fourth floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.

Herrick took the bench in 1994, winning election on the retirement of Judge John Golden.

He announced earlier this year that he planned to retire and so did not seek reelection.

Michael Lunas of Lakeport won the judicial race in November and will succeed Herrick on the Department 1 bench. His oath of office ceremony also is set for January.

Community members are invited to drop in during the Jan. 3 event, enjoy some cake and offer Judge Herrick congratulations on his retirement.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The holidays are in full swing in Lake County, with this weekend filled with a variety of things to do in every corner of the county.

Santa will be visiting with community members, there will be music and caroling, fun with friends and a Hanukkah celebration,

The following is a roundup of events set to take place Friday evening, and Saturday and Sunday.

FRIDAY, DEC. 7

East Lake School Parent Teacher Community Association ‘Photos with Santa’

CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – The East Lake School Parent Teacher Community Association will host its “Photos with Santa” event on Friday, Dec. 7.

The fun holiday event will take place from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the gym at East Lake School, at the corner of Highway 20 and High Valley Road in Clearlake Oaks. Organizers said hours will be extended if necessary.

Proceeds go to support school field trips. Bring the family for a visit and pictures with Santa Claus.

There is no charge to see Santa. Pictures are printed on site with photo holder card for $7. Additional prints cost $7 per sheet or $12 for a CD. There also will be a bake sale, with students preparing tasty desserts to help support this worthy cause, as well as hot chocolate, melted snowman and hot apple cider for sale.

For more information call Charmaine at 707-685-5438.

Kelseyville Christmas in the Country

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Kelseyville Business Association will present the 19th annual Merchant Open House and Parade of Lights Friday, Dec. 7, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Main Street.

There will be music, decorations, refreshments, wagon rides, caroling, photos with Santa, the county’s biggest light parade at 6:30 p.m. followed by the lighting of the town Christmas tree.

From 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. visit the Kelseyville Presbyterian Church’s chili and chowder dinner or stop by St. Peter’s Catholic Church and enjoy hot dogs and beans and other holiday treats.

Lower Lake Christmas Tree Lighting and Holiday Open House

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The Lower Lake Historical School Preservation Committee presents its annual Christmas Tree Lighting and Holiday Open House, Friday, Dec. 7, from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Lower Lake Schoolhouse Museum, 16435 Morgan Valley Road.

The tree lighting ceremony will be at 6 p.m., followed by an old-fashioned sing-a-long around the player piano. Bill Barrows also will grace the event with his guitar playing. There will be homemade refreshments, holiday displays and merriment. The museum is located at 16435 Main St. in Lower Lake.

For more information please call 707-995-3565 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

SATURDAY, DEC. 8

Clear Lake High School Band pancake breakfast

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Clear Lake High School Band will hold a fundraiser pancake breakfast on Saturday, Dec. 8.

From 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. they will serve up breakfast at the Terrace School Cafeteria on Lange Street.

On the menu are ham/sausage, pancakes, eggs, coffee/milk and juice expertly prepared by Lakeport Kiwanis.

The requested donation is $6 per person; tickets are available at the door.

Proceeds will support the band program’s educational trip to Los Angeles in February.

Anderson Marsh State Park Christmas open house

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Be sure to bring your kids or grandkids to visit Santa, enjoy Holiday goodies and listen to local musicians at the Saturday, Dec. 8, annual Christmas at the Ranch Open House at the Anderson Marsh State Historic Park near Lower Lake.

The event will take place from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

Santa Claus will be there to greet children and Christmas songs will be performed by local entertainers with the public invited to join in.

Music starts at 10 a.m. with members of the Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association (AMIA) playing, followed by David Neft at 11 a.m. then Harry Lyons, Tom Nixon, Rick McCann, and others playing at noon. Joan Moss will arrive at 1 p.m. to close out the fun day of music and Christmas cheer.

Clearlake Rotary Club Christmas dinner

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Rotary Club of Clearlake will host a free Christmas dinner and celebration at Burns Valley School on Saturday, Dec. 8.

The dinner will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the multipurpose room at Burns Valley School, 3620 Pine Ave.

The Rotary will serve ham with all the fixings, pumpkin pie, egg nog, tea and coffee.

Santa Claus will make a special appearance. Each child will receive a gift and a photo with Santa.

That same day, the school will host the annual “Warm for the Winter” coat exchange. People are welcome to bring coats that no longer fit and exchange them at this event.

Christmas Craft Faire

NICE, Calif. – The Sons of Italy will host a Christmas Craft Faire on Saturday, Dec. 8.

The faire will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Sons of Italy Hall, 2817 E Highway 20, Nice.

More than 20 local vendors will sell their Christmas products.

Hot dogs and Italian sausage sandwiches will be available for purchase.

For more information call 707-274-2244.

Christmas in Middletown

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The annual “Christmas in Middletown” celebration will take place on Saturday, Dec. 8.

The fun will take place from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. in downtown Middletown.

Shops will be open late and Santa Claus will arrive in the plaza on a fire truck at 5:30 p.m.

Hospice Services of Lake County will hold a “Light Up a Life Celebration” at 6:30 p.m.

There will be Dutch oven goodness at Studio 175, a walking Christmas tree, craft vendors at the multipurpose, carolers and more.

For more information visit www.christmasinmiddletown.com .

Stone House Museum open house and Christmas celebration

HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE, Calif. – Stone House Museum open house and Christmas celebration is Saturday, Dec. 8, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in conjunction with the Hidden Valley Lake Association (HVL) tree lighting.

A horse-drawn carriage will transport visitors between Greenview Restaurant on Hartmann Road and the Stone House on Hidden Valley Road. Refreshments and entertainment will be available in HVL’s activity center.

Although the museum is usually open for docent tours the second Saturday of each month, Stone House will not be open for tours during the day of this special holiday event.

Located at 18174 Hidden Valley Road in HVL Stone House is a California State Historical Monument. It was restored and is maintain by the Stone House Historical Society, www.lakecountystonehouse.com .

Clearlake’s Christmas by the Lake

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The city of Clearlake will host its annual “Christmas by the Lake” celebration on Saturday, Dec. 8.

The fun begins at 5:30 p.m. with the Clearlake Christmas Parade.

The parade starts at Redbud Park and ends at Austin Park. Santa's arrival will be celebrated by the gazebo.

The lighting of the Christmas tree takes place afterward.

The event is free and open to the public.

Hanukkah celebration

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Freedom Worship Center will host a Hanukkah celebration on Saturday, Dec. 8. The celebration will begin at 6 p.m. A potluck will follow.

The Freedom Worship Center is located at 5565 Main St. in Kelseyville. For more information, call Pastor Greg Hartman at 707-279-6700.

Upper Lake Christmas celebration    

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The town of Upper Lake will hold its annual holiday celebration in downtown on Saturday, Dec. 8. The free event will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Main Street.

The tree lighting will take place at 6 p.m., followed by a holiday light parade at 6:30 p.m.

The evening also will feature caroling, a 4-H barbecue and refreshments. Santa also will arrive to take Christmas wishes and photos.

The event is sponsored by Westamerica Bank and the Upper Lake Community Council, and is a benefit for the Upper Lake Auxiliary Fire Department Toy Drive.

Mystery of the Christmas Star

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Taylor Observatory-Norton Planetarium will host its seasonal presentations of “The Mystery of the Christmas Star” 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. Sundays through Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013.

Journey back 2.000 years to Bethlehem as they seek to discover which ancient star was the one the wise men followed to find the baby Jesus.

This modern retelling of the Christmas story also investigates possible dates for the birth of Christ and looks at recorded sightings of significant astronomical events during this important time in history.

What signs in the sky could have been so intriguing as to cause the wise men to cross a desert in search of the newborn King?

“Mystery of the Christmas Star” will answer all of these questions and more, while charming audiences of all ages.

Ticket prices are $5 for adults and $3 for children under age 12.

For more information, visit www.taylorobservatory.org and check its “Planetarium Programs and Movies Page.”

The Taylor Observatory-Norton Planetarium is located at 5725 Oak Hills Lane, Kelseyville.

‘Miracle on 34th Street’

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Lake County Theatre Co. will present “Miracle on 34th Street” at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, in the Gard Street School Multipurpose Room, 3890 Gard St., Kelseyville.

The play was written by Mountain Community Theater in Ben Lomond and is based on the Twentieth Century Fox motion picture of the same name.

Tickets are available at Watershed Books, 305 N. Main St., Lakeport; Wildhurst Vineyards, 3855 Main St., Kelseyville; and 30 minutes before performances as the door. Reserved seats cost $15, general $12, seniors and LCTC members save $2 and children under age 5 attend for $5 and tickets for a family of four cost $25.

For information, call 707-279-2595 or 707-998-0224.

Middletown Martha Webster Christmas Dance

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Middletown Central Park Committee will present the Martha Webster Christmas Dance on Saturday, Dec. 8.

The dance will take place from 8 p.m. to midnight, right after “Christmas in Middletown,” at the Middletown Lions Clubhouse on Central Park Road.

Light refreshments will be served and the Lions will offer a no-host bar. DJs Mike and Mary will provide the music.

Presale tickets cost $10 and are available at Catfish Coffee in Clearlake, Middletown Florist and Gifts and Studebaker’s Coffee in Kelseyville.

Tickets cost $12 at the door.

SUNDAY, DEC. 9

‘Hotcakes for Heroes’ Operation Tango Mike fundraiser

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Operation Tango Mike and the Kelseyville Lions Club will hold the “Hotcakes for Heroes” pancake breakfast on Sunday, Dec. 9.

It will be held from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Lions Club, 4335 Sylar Lane.

On the menu are pancakes, eggs, sausage, biscuits, gravy, juice and coffee.

The suggested donation is $7 per person.

‘Miracle on 34th Street’

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Lake County Theatre Co. will present “Miracle on 34th Street” at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9, in the Gard Street School Multipurpose Room, 3890 Gard St., Kelseyville.

Tickets are available at Watershed Books, 305 N. Main St., Lakeport; Wildhurst Vineyards, 3855 Main St., Kelseyville; and 30 minutes before performances as the door. Reserved seats cost $15, general $12, seniors and LCTC members save $2 and children under age 5 attend for $5 and tickets for a family of four cost $25.

For information, call 707-279-2595 or 707-998-0224.

My Divas Christmas Concert
 
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The My Divas Christmas Concert will be held at Middletown Community United Methodist Church on Sunday, Dec. 9, at 3 p.m.
 
Their songs are from Renaissance-era England, Italy, France and Spain, and also include Christmas favorites.
 
My Divas is an a Capella women’s singing group and the concert will include 20 songs.
 
Wassail and cookies will be served  and a “love offering” will be collected for My Divas.  
 
Seating will be limited to 150; contact email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 707-987-3379 for tickets for guaranteed seating.  
 
For more information, contact Claudia Listman at 707-350-4016.

Mystery of the Christmas Star

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Taylor Observatory-Norton Planetarium will host its seasonal presentation of “The Mystery of the Christmas Star” at 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday.

Ticket prices are $5 for adults and $3 for children under age 12.

For more information, visit www.taylorobservatory.org and check its “Planetarium Programs and Movies Page.”

The Taylor Observatory-Norton Planetarium is located at 5725 Oak Hills Lane, Kelseyville.

Cobb Mountain to host ‘Christmas in the Village’ Dec. 9

COBB, Calif. – Cobb Mountain’s “Christmas in the Village will be held on Sunday, Dec. 9.

The celebration will begin at 6 p.m. in the parking lot at Brick Oven Pizza, 16295 Highway 175.

There will be cookies, hot cocoa, hot cider, lighting the tree and caroling with David Neft.

Santa Claus arrives to visit with everyone at 6:30 p.m.

COBB, Calif. – The Friends of Boggs Mountain will mark its 10-year anniversary on Tuesday, Dec. 11.

The 501(c)3 nonprofit organization was formed by seven board members, and continues to carry out its mission to enhance the visitor’s experience at Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest through educational and interpretive programs.

Its original raison d'être was to provide a source of funding for the state forest’s trail maps, widely used by cyclists, equestrians, and hikers who enjoy exploring the numerous single-track trails and logging roads.

It then expanded its activities to funding and placing over fifty signs with illustrations that identify year-round and seasonal flora along the world-class self-guided Interpretive Trail.

The Friends also procure and install trail markers to help visitors navigate the 3,433-acre forest, and continues to update and fund the printing of trail maps.

The group promotes forest stewardship by organizing monthly trail maintenance workdays, regular monthly hikes for all fitness levels, sponsoring and organizing speaker events that have included geologists, botanists, archaeologists and local historians.

Thanks to a grant received from the Calpine Community Fund, and local volunteer, builder, and mountain biker, Bob Berg, a kiosk was constructed in 2007 at the main entrance parking lot. Visitors can view a large-scale map, naturalist and membership information, state forest regulations, and obtain trail maps for a $1 donation.

In 2009, the Friends obtained another grant from the community fund to smooth out and resurface the main parking lot with road base, significantly improving the area riddled with deep craters, mud in the rainy season, and unpleasant dust in the summer.

This year, the organization sponsored an eagle scout service project to build park benches at two popular trails.

In addition, a new ADA-compliant bathroom facility complete with wash basin and flush toilet is nearing completion, and will replace the rustic outhouse at the parking lot.

The restroom is being funded by the Friends of Boggs Mountain, Bike Monkey and, once again, a grant from the Calpine Community Fund. Bob Berg Construction was employed to design and build the facility.

At present, the Friends of Boggs Mountain constitutes about 85 regular and business members. Membership benefits include a logo'd bucket hat or T-shirt, and access to the quarterly newsletter. Business membership offers advertising at the kiosk and the Website.

“As the forest grows in popularity through events such as marathons, bike races, and equestrian camps, we’d like more outdoor enthusiasts to become involved in the organization,” said David Thiessen, Friends of Boggs Mountain board president.

Indeed, many large group activities this year included an orienteering weekend organized by the Bay Area Orienteering Club, the Boggs Boogie ultramarathon organized by Heart & Sole Sports, and mountain bike races such as the Bike Monkey Boggs MTB Relay and the NorCal High School MTB Race.

The forest also is an ideal camping and hiking destination for local boy scout troops, as well as shooting sports enthusiasts who avail of the designated target shooting area located in the southeast corner of the forest.

“The trail maintenance and educational programs raise awareness that the forest is not invulnerable from major events that can affect trail and campground use. We’ve been successful in this area by collaborating, for instance, with CAL FIRE management and bike race organizers who have worked cooperatively to re-route courses and perform post-race repairs on impacted areas,” Thiessen added.

Co-founder and board secretary, Peg Landini, expressed her desire to step up youth involvement in Friends of Boggs Mountain programs.

“When the board convenes in January for its annual meeting, I would like to discuss educational activities geared toward youth where for instance, teens lead hikes and trail maintenance programs,” Landrini said. “We might also organize more presentations that encourage youth in a fun, yet educational context, to explore and learn more about the forest.”

Board members meet quarterly at the Cobb Area County Water District office. Interested members of the public are invited to attend and sign up for various committees, and encouraged to consider board membership.

Current board members are drawn from a cross-section of recreational users of the forest – hikers, mountain bikers, horseback riders and bird watchers.

For more information and to get involved with the Friends of Boggs Mountain, visit their site at http://boggsmountain.org .

Scientists this week unveiled an unprecedented new look at our planet at night.

A global composite image, constructed using cloud-free night images

from a new NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite, shows the glow of natural and human-built phenomena across the planet in greater detail than ever before.

Many satellites are equipped to look at Earth during the day, when they can observe our planet fully illuminated by the sun.

With a new sensor aboard the NASA-NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite launched last year, scientists now can observe Earth’s atmosphere and surface during nighttime hours.

The new sensor, the day-night band of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), is sensitive enough to detect the nocturnal glow produced by Earth’s atmosphere and the light from a single ship in the sea.

Satellites in the U.S. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program have been making observations with low-light sensors for 40 years. But the VIIRS day-night band can better detect and resolve Earth’s night lights.

The new, higher resolution composite image of Earth at night was released at a news conference at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.

This and other VIIRS day-night band images are

providing researchers with valuable data for a wide variety of previously unseen or poorly seen events.

“For all the reasons that we need to see Earth during the day, we also need to see Earth at night,” said Steve Miller, a researcher at NOAA’s Colorado State University Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere. “Unlike humans, the Earth never sleeps.”

The day-night band observed Hurricane Sandy, illuminated by moonlight, making landfall over New Jersey on the evening of Oct. 29.

Night images showed the widespread power outag

es that left millions in darkness in the wake of the storm.

With its night view, VIIRS is able to detect a more complete view of storms and other weather conditions, such as fog, that are difficult to discern with infrared, or thermal, sensors. Night is also when many types of clouds begin to form.

“NOAA’s National Weather Service is continuing to explore the use of the day-night band,” said Mitch Goldberg, program scientist for NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System. “The very high resolution from VIIRS data will take forecasting weather events at night to a much higher level.”

Unlike a camera that captures a picture in one exposure, the day-night band produces an image by repeatedly scanning a scene and resolving it as millions of individual pixels.

Then, the day-night band reviews the amount of light in each pixel. If it is very bright, a low-gain mode prevents the pixel from oversaturating. If the pixel is very dark, the signal is amplified.

“It’s like having three simultaneous low-light cameras operating at once and we pick the best of various cameras, depending on where we’re looking in the scene,” Miller said.

The instrument can capture images on nights with or without moonlight, producing crisp views of Earth’s atmosphere, land and ocean surfaces.

Flickr slideshow of more Suomi NPP “Earth at Night” imagery.

“The night is nowhere as dark as we might think,” Miller said. And with the VIIRS day-night band helping scientists to tease out information from human and natural sources of nighttime light, “we don’t have to be in the dark anymore, either.”

“The remarkable day-night band images from Suomi NPP have impressed the scientific community and exceeded our pre-launch expectations,” said James Gleason, Suomi NPP project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Nearly 1,000 lives are cut short in California every year at the hands of an impaired driver.

In an effort to save lives and reduce the number of people who suffer injuries in alcohol-related collisions, the California Highway Patrol is engaged in a grant-funded effort called “Impaired Driving Enforcement and Apprehension (IDEA) II.”

“Our goal with this aggressive education and enforcement campaign is to deter drivers from making the poor decision to drink and drive,” said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow. “And those who fail to heed this warning will be removed from the roadway and arrested.”

California has seen a reduction in the number of alcohol-involved collisions year after year. According to the CHP’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, in 2009 there were 1,146 people killed in alcohol-involved collisions.

The following year, in 2010, there were 972 people killed, which represents a 15 percent decrease. Preliminary data for 2011 shows that encouraging downward trend is continuing.

“The majority of motorists make the responsible decision and refrain from driving under the influence,” added Commissioner Farrow. “Please choose to put the lives of your family and other motorists first this holiday season.”

The IDEA II grant enables the CHP to conduct sobriety and driver license checkpoints, driving under the influence (DUI) task force operations, and deployment of proactive DUI enforcement patrol operations statewide.

In addition, the CHP will educate drivers by holding local traffic safety presentations throughout California and implementing a statewide paid media campaign.

Anti-DUI efforts stemming from the yearlong grant continue through September 30, 2013.

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

LUCERNE, Calif. – A local businessman said he’s now in the midst of appealing a decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture last month to permanently disqualify him from participating in the food stamp program.

Kenny Parlet, owner of Lakeview Supermarket & Deli on Highway 20 in Lucerne, was notified the week of Thanksgiving of the decision, as Lake County News has reported.

He told Lake County News this week that he’s working with the USDA to complete the appeals process. Parlet said he’s not sure how long the process will take.

However, he has the support of Congressman Mike Thompson’s office, which has approached the USDA about the decision.

Thompson said in a written statement that actions like the one taken against Lakeview Supermarket “have serious implications on our county’s small businesses and families who depend on food stamps.”

Thompson said he spoke with USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack last week and made it clear to the secretary that the USDA’s actions “went too far and unnecessarily jeopardized people’s access to food stamps.”

He said Vilsack agreed with him to better train employees on food stamp rules and regulations and to expedite Lakeview Supermarket’s appeal.

The USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service made the decision based on an investigation in which it sent an agent to the store several times to use benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – or SNAP – program.

The agency concluded that the store was guilty of “trafficking,” which in the program’s terminology means to exchange SNAP benefits for cash.

Parlet said the incorrectly handled transactions amounted to $132.50. The employee responsible for the four transactions that Parlet said occurred has since been terminated.

Parlet maintains that his store hasn’t engaged in trafficking, adding he received no warning before he was banned from the program.

He said the decision ultimately could cost him as much as $500,000 annually and threatens his business.

Thus far the USDA has not offered Lake County News any details about the case, other than to acknowledge the permanent disqualification.

This past August the USDA announced it was cracking down on misuses in the program, with hundreds of stores sanctioned or disqualified due to trafficking allegations and other alleged misuses of SNAP benefits.

Parlet said Thompson’s office connected him with a USDA staffer who is helping him fulfill the appeal requirements.

“They say they’re going to expedite the process,” he said. “I don’t know how long it takes normally.”

Parlet said he’s guardedly optimistic that he can get a positive outcome in his case, but still feels he’s been caught unfairly in the government’s crackdown.

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.

The Arctic region continued to break records in 2012 – among them the loss of summer sea ice, spring snow cover, and melting of the Greenland ice sheet.

This was true even though air temperatures in the Arctic were unremarkable relative to the last decade, according to a new report released this week.

“The Arctic is changing in both predictable and unpredictable ways, so we must expect surprises,” said Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator, during a press briefing at the American Geophysical Union annual meeting in San Francisco, Calif.

“The Arctic is an extremely sensitive part of the world and with the warming scientists have observed, we see the results with less snow and sea ice, greater ice sheet melt and changing vegetation,” Lubchenco said.

Lubchenco participated in a panel discussion that presented the annual update of the Arctic Report Card, which has, since 2006, summarized the quickly changing conditions in the Arctic. A record-breaking 141 authors from 15 countries contributed to the peer-reviewed report.

Major findings of this year’s report include:

• Snow cover: A new record low snow extent for the Northern Hemisphere was set in June 2012, and a new record low was reached in May over Eurasia.
• Sea ice: Minimum Arctic sea ice extent in September 2012 set a new all-time record low, as measured by satellite since 1979.
• Greenland ice sheet: There was a rare, nearly ice sheet-wide melt event on the Greenland ice sheet in July, covering about 97 percent of the ice sheet on a single day.
• Vegetation: The tundra is getting greener and there’s more above-ground growth. During the period of 2003-2010, the length of the growing season increased through much of the Arctic.
• Wildlife and food chain: In northernmost Europe, the Arctic fox is close to extinction and vulnerable to the encroaching Red fox. Additionally, recent measurements of massive phytoplankton blooms below the summer sea ice suggest that earlier estimates of biological production at the bottom of the marine food chain may have been ten times lower than was occurring.
• Ocean: Sea surface temperatures in summer continue to be warmer than the long-term average at the growing ice-free margins, while upper ocean temperature and salinity show significant interannual variability with no clear trends.
• Weather: Most of the notable weather activity in fall and winter occurred in the sub-Arctic due to a strong positive North Atlantic Oscillation, expressed as the atmospheric pressure difference between weather stations in the Azores and Iceland. There were three extreme weather events including an unusual cold spell in late January to early February 2012 across Eurasia, and two record storms characterized by very low central pressures and strong winds near western Alaska in November 2011 and north of Alaska in August 2012.

“Popular perceptions of the Arctic as a distant, icy, cold place that has little relevance to those outside the region are being challenged”, said Martin Jeffries, co-editor of the 2012 Report Card and Arctic science adviser, Office of Naval Research & research professor, University of Alaska-Fairbanks. “As snow and ice retreat, the marine and terrestrial ecosystems respond, and talk of increased tourism, natural resource exploitation, and marine transportation grows. The Arctic Report Card does a great service in charting the many physical and biological changes.”

Apart from one or two exceptions, the scientists said the air temperatures were not unusually high this year relative to the last decade.

Nevertheless, they saw large changes in multiple indicators affecting Arctic climate and ecosystems; combined, these changes are strong evidence of the growing momentum of Arctic environmental system change.

The record-breaking year also indicates that it is unlikely that conditions can quickly return to their former state.

“The record low spring snow extent and record low summer sea ice extent in 2012 exemplify a major source of the momentum for continuing change,” added Jeffries. “As the sea ice and snow cover retreat, we’re losing bright, highly reflective surfaces, and increasing the area of darker surfaces – both land and ocean – exposed to sunlight. This increases the capacity to store heat within the Arctic system, which enables more melting – a self-reinforcing cycle.”

In 2006, NOAA’s Climate Program Office introduced the State of the Arctic Report which established a baseline of conditions at the beginning of the 21st century. It is updated annually as the Arctic Report Card to monitor the often-quickly changing conditions in the Arctic. To view this year’s report, visit http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcard/ .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Jurors in the trial of a Maine man accused of a double homicide heard about an hour’s worth of testimony as the defense began presenting its case on Thursday morning.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Art Grothe rested his case on Wednesday in the trial of 32-year-old Robby Alan Beasley, clearing the way for defense attorney Stephen Carter to begin calling witnesses on Thursday.

Beasley is charged with the shooting deaths of Frank Maddox, 32, and his wife, Yvette, 40, of Augusta, Maine, along the side of Morgan Valley Road on Jan. 22, 2010.

Beasley allegedly killed the couple, believing they had broken into his Clearlake apartment and stolen marijuana, according to the prosecution’s theory of the case. The couple came to California after Beasley offered them work in the marijuana business in which both he and McKay were engaged.

Carter first called sheriff’s Det. John Drewrey, the case’s lead detective, to go over call detail records that he had subpoenaed for a TracFone used by Beasley’s codefendant in the case, Elijah Bae McKay, 30.

McKay, who is facing the same charges as Beasley but is not yet scheduled for trial, testified in the case last month that he provided Beasley with the 9 millimeter handgun used to kill the couple, that he helped dispose of Beasley’s phone and clothing after the murders, and had destroyed the TracFone as well.

McKay also testified that, the day after Beasley is alleged to have killed the couple, he helped Beasley move the Maddoxes’ pickup from Morgan Valley Road to the Middletown area, where it was vandalized before a father and son who lived nearby took it and dismantled it.

The call records Carter briefly had Drewrey review on the stand Thursday covered the time period of Dec. 30, 2009, to Jan. 22, 2010.

Carter also asked Drewrey about speaking with Emily Dispennett at the Lake County Jail. Dispennett had told investigators that Beasley threatened the Maddoxes.

Evidence not presented to the jury suggested Beasley may have threatened at one point to kill Dispennett and her boyfriend, and that from jail he sent them a picture he had drawn that allegedly was meant to discourage them from speaking with law enforcement.

Drewrey said he and then-Det. Tom Andrews spoke to Dispennett, with Drewrey asking about her involvement in marijuana sales. Drewrey said she didn’t want to talk to him about the subject.

She also told him about the individuals who were at the birthday part for Taj McKay, Elijah McKay’s brother, on Jan. 22, 2010. Elijah McKay had testified to leaving his brother’s birthday party to go and pick up Beasley from Morgan Valley Road, where Beasley admitted to having killed the Maddoxes.

During brief cross-examination of Drewrey, Grothe asked if there was a time period of no usage on McKay’s TracFone. Drewrey said there were no calls between Jan. 13 and Jan. 22, 2010.

It was during that time period that McKay previously had testified he was visiting the East Coast.

McKay himself was returned to the stand on Thursday so Carter could question him about his trip to Boston in January 2010.

He said he recalled leaving on Jan. 10 and said he did not take his TracFone with him. After looking at the call records for the phone, McKay acknowledged he may have remembered the dates of the trip wrong, as the phone still showed usage three days after he thought he had left for Boston.

On the morning of Jan. 22, 2010, he remembered Beasley showing up to his home. That was the day the phone records showed usage resumed.

McKay also was asked if he remembered eating cake at his brother’s birthday party that day. He said he had recalled eating some after returning from picking up Beasley, where he had learned the Maddoxes had been killed. He said he was trying to act like nothing had happened.

Carter pressed McKay on whether it actually was cake or pie, which McKay couldn’t specifically recall. McKay said his parents often served pie at parties instead, and that he considered a dessert at a birthday party cake even if it was pie. “That’s a technicality,” he said.

Carter also briefly asked McKay about his sister’s marijuana growing activities as well as a head shop she and her boyfriend opened in Ukiah in 2009, and finished by having him identify a number of pictures of Beasley, McKay’s own marijuana garden and his property.

The defense’s last witness was not available on Thursday, and so Judge Andrew Blum told the jury to return to hear the rest of the defense’s case at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 12.

That same day it’s anticipated that closing arguments and jury instructions will take place, Blum told the jury.

Blum apologized to the jury for such a short day of testimony. “If it makes you feel any better, the attorneys and I don't get to go home,” he said.

Blum, Carter and Grothe met later in the morning to begin going over jury instructions that will be given to the jury before deliberations start next week.

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. – This year, the annual Clear Lake Christmas Bird Count, held by the Redbud Audubon Society, will be on Saturday, Dec. 15.

The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is a traditional project of Audubon societies around the country and takes place between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5.

Each December birders gather to record every individual bird and species encountered during the day. Each count group has a designated circle of 15 miles in diameter and tries to cover as much ground as possible within a certain period of time.

The data collected by each count group are then sent to the National Audubon Headquarters in New York.

Count data is published in a special edition of the National Audubon Society American Birds Magazine.

Redbud Audubon invites all birders and nature enthusiasts to join in the upcoming Christmas Bird Count. Birders of all skill levels are encouraged to participate.

This is Audubon’s longest running wintertime tradition and is the 38th year the count has taken place in Lake County.

There will be two main groups that participants might wish to join – one will meet at the Ranch House at Anderson Marsh State Historic Park and the other will meet at the visitor’s parking lot at the Clear Lake State Park. Both groups will meet at 8 a.m. and continue through to early or midafternoon.

After the count, participants are invited to a pizza dinner at 6 p.m. at Kelseyville Pizza on State Street in Kelseyville to join in the count compilation where the tally of the day’s sightings is compiled.

Previous to the bird count, at the Thursday, Dec. 13, meeting at the Presbyterian Church Social Hall in Kelseyville, Redbud Audubon will present an extensive slide show and discussion of distinguishing features of birds that are often seen during the annual count. The meeting is open to the public and visitors are encouraged to attend.

If you are interested in participating in the bird count, call Darlene Hecomovich, at 707-928-5591 or email her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The Christmas Bird Count began more than a century ago when 27 conservationists in 25 localities, led by scientist and writer Frank Chapman, changed the course of ornithological history.

On Christmas Day in 1900, the small group posed an alternative to the “side hunt,” a Christmas day activity in which teams competed to see who could shoot the most birds and small mammals.

Instead, Chapman proposed to identify, count, and record all the birds they saw, founding what is now considered to be the world’s most significant citizen-based conservation effort – and century-old institution.

Scientists rely on the remarkable trend data of Audubon’s CBC to better understand how birds and the environment are faring throughout North America – and what needs to be done to protect them. Data from Audubon’s signature Citizen Science program are at the heart of numerous peer-reviewed scientific studies.

National Audubon’s president, David Yarnold states: “The information gathered by its army of dedicated volunteers leads directly to solutions. At a time when people wonder if individual actions can make a difference, we know that our volunteers enable scientists to learn about the impacts of environmental threats like climate change and habitat loss. That’s good news not just for birds but for all of us.”