This week’s Fall Football Preview will feature the county’s high school teams as they get ready for the upcoming season.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Going into last season, Kelseyville Coach Rob Ishihara figured the key to a successful year would be his team’s ability to win the close North Central League I games.

He figured right.

The Knights found themselves in four tight league matches – and lost them all, finishing at 1-6 in the NCL and 1-9 overall.

Three of the losses were by less than a touchdown—7-3 to Clear Lake, 34-29 to Cloverdale and 28-25 to Middletown. And the 17-7 loss to Fort Bragg “could have gone either way,” Ishihara said.

With each game hanging in the balance, the Knights demonstrated a propensity for self-destruction.

“We made too many turnovers at inopportune times,” he said, referring to the string of fourth-quarter fumbles that turned potential victories into gut-wrenching losses.

Looking ahead to this season, Ishihara has come up with a new key to what would be a  bounce-back year – and it doesn’t involve holding on to the ball (Ishihara believes the ball-stripping drills this summer should cure the team’s chronic fumbling problem).

“This year it’s going to boil down to our players being mentally tough,” said Ishihara, a former all-league quarterback at Kelseyville. “We’re a small team. We have some talent at the skill positions, but we don’t have any size. We’ll have to be mentally tough to compete against the bigger teams.”

Among the undersized players upon whose skills Ishihara is relying are seniors John Mark Reagan (5-8, 145-pound quarterback/cornerback), Jake Peters (5-9, 165-pound running back/defensive back), Pedro Hernandez (5-10, 160-pound receiver/defensive back) and Greg Fricker (5-11, 165-pound receiver/defensive back).

Reagan ran the Knights’ wing-T offense last year, rushing for 351 yards (and a 7-yard per carry average) and passing for another 354 yards, but his inexperience showed in the early-season blowouts, especially when he was forced to pass to overcome big deficits.

Fricker (8 catches, 149 yards) was the team’s most productive receiver last season.

It’ll be interesting to see how the coaches work Peters into the scheme; the Lower Lake transfer has skills – but where’s he going to play? Maybe a little quarterback, Ishihara says, along with running back and defensive back.

Players off a JV team that went 6-4 last year will be thrown into the mix right away. Gone is last year’s top rusher, Geno Poloni (1074 yards, 5.4 avg.), but a couple of impressive underclassmen should help pick up the slack: Kevin Duty, a 6-1, 200-pound junior who doubles at linebacker, and sophomore Robert McLean (5-9, 185), who also plays strong safety.

It’s in the trenches where the undersized Knights will have to find ways to compensate. Senior Zac Cocco (6-0, 185 pounds), who was second on the team in tackles last year, returns as a two-way starter.

Up from the junior varsity is 6-feet, 180-pound junior David Simonson, who will play in the offensive line as well as at linebacker. Junior Justin Johnson will be in the mix.   

For the Knights to have a turn-around year, a year like 2010, when Ishihara was a rookie coach and his team went 7-4, they’ll have to use their quickness and athleticism to negate the size advantage that most opponents will enjoy.

They have good depth at the skill  positions, so don’t be surprised if Ishihara, a Lake County real estate agent, uses his powers of salesmanship to persuade some of his more athletic types to hunker down near the line of scrimmage and then sprint past (or dance around) opposing linemen to make the tackle or the block.

Either that or maybe the coaches can devise a defense that features one nose guard,  six linebackers and four defensive backs, which might actually work against the two or three teams they face that like to throw the ball.

But for the time being, Ishihara is counting on his team’s “mental toughness” to compete against the bigger teams, along with his better athletes to come up with some big plays – the type of plays that win games that are hanging in the balance.

Tomorrow: The Clear Lake High School Cardinals get ready for the fall season.

Rich Mellott can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Kelseyville Knights

Coach/Record: Rob Ishihara (3rd year), 8-13 1.
Assistants: Nick Veenstra, Jim Ducoti, Lou Poloni, Todd Hansen, Tim Tangley, Sonny Duty.
Last year: 1-9.
League: 1-6-1.
JVs: 6-4.
Offense: Wing-T.
Returning starters: 5 on offense, 6 on defense.

Top players: QB/DB  John Mark Reagan, QB/RB/DB  Jake Peters, RB/LB Kevin Duty, RB/DB Robert McLean,  OL/DL Zac Cocco, OL/DL David Simsonson, R/DB Gregory Fricker.  

Keep an eye on: Whether the numerous new players up from the JV team can make an early impact, including Duty, McClean and Simonson … Also, whether the ball-stripping drills in practice this summer will make a difference for a team haunted by costly fumbles last year.   

Key games: Kelseyville will have its hands full in its Aug. 31 opener against Upper Lake, but it has a good shot at matching its 2011 win total in its second game on Sept. 7 at John Swett (Crocket), which takes a 10-game losing street into its opener against South Fork … The Knights open NCL play against two of the league’s best teams, at Willits (Sept. 21) and at home against defending champ St. Helena (Sept. 28).

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Rob Ishihara had seen it before: a senior with no football experience coming out for the team.

“It can be hard for them,” the Kelseyville head coach said. “Even if they’re good athletes, there’s an adjustment, certain skills they have to develop.”

When summer drills opened last week, Ishihara welcomed a senior whose only “organized football” experience was an all-girls flag contest last spring between the Kelseyville juniors and seniors.

Crystal Maciel, who had been mulling over the possibility of playing with the boys since that “powder puff” game, decided the day before practice started to give it a go.

“If I didn’t go out, I was afraid I’d regret not taking advantage of the opportunity to play,” she said earlier this week.

She’s not just playing with the boys – she’s mixing it up with them, trying to knock them on their butts before they do the same to her.

You won’t confuse Maciel for the soccer crossovers of the ’70s and ’80s, the girls who helped bust through prep football’s gender barrier as placekickers, a role that rarely subjected them to getting smashed by testosterone-fueled linemen twice their size.

Maciel is a 5-foot-4, 270-pound candidate for lineman who happens to enjoy the contact of the game.

“Overall, I think I’m doing pretty good,” she said before last Wednesday’s practice and after a week-and-a-half of summer workouts.  

Ishihara agrees. “Her effort has been great,” he said. “So has her attitude.”

Maciel admits she wasn’t in the kind of shape required to thrive in the heat and intensity of two-a-day workouts the first week of practice. “That’s been the hardest part,” she said.

She also knows she has room for improvement in the technical aspects of blocking and tackling.

But she feels she’s learning fast. Overall, she says, “I’m keeping up (with the boys).”

Maciel got her first real taste of contact at last Tuesday night’s practice, on a play where she was  heading down field – and the next thing she knew, she was flat on the ground.

“I didn’t see it coming. But I got up. I was OK with it,” said Maciel, who’s practicing at various positions on both the offensive and defensive lines.

This isn’t her first high school team. She swam at Shasta High as a freshman and played girls soccer last fall at Upper Lake.

Though her organized football experience is limited to the one “powder puff” game, she fondly recalls as a kid playing football with her brother and cousins, and she remembers holding her own in the areas of tackling and overall roughhousing.

It was the flag football game with the girls – and the week of practice that preceded the game – that got Maciel thinking seriously about playing with the boys.

When she approached some assistant coaches on the Kelseyville staff a couple weeks ago about going out for the team, several who had apparently seen her play in the girls game encouraged her to go talk to Ishihara.

“They said I wasn’t afraid of contact,” she said. “They liked that.”

Her friends, including some guys on the team, also encouraged her to come out for the team.

Initially, Ishihara had some reservations about letting her play. But he called her a couple days before summer drills began and invited her to join the team.

According to the National Federation of State High School Associations’ Web site, 1,561 girls played high school football in the United States in 2010, up 17.5 percent from the 2006 season.

In the California high school ranks, 179 girls played football in 2010 (either on freshmen, JV or varsity teams). Statistics for the 2011 season haven’t been released yet.

Rich Mellott can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – A neighbor is being credited for saving the life of a Middletown man whose home caught fire on Saturday morning.

The fire at the home, located in the 24000 block of Hildebrand Road, was first reported minutes before 10 a.m. Saturday, according to Cal Fire Battalion Chief Mike Wink.

Wink said the home’s resident was unaware that the home was on fire, but that a neighbor riding by on a motorcycle stopped and got into the home to warn him.

The two men and the resident’s two pets were able to get out without injury, according to Wink.

“They got out just in time,” he said.

At the time of the fire the temperature was 92 degrees, with 12 percent humidity, Wink said.

Wink said the two main factors in keeping the fire from spreading into nearby wildland was a lack of any wind and the availability of a lot of local fire resources, with nine volunteers happening to be at the South Lake County Fire Station when the call was dispatched.

Personnel from South Lake County Fire, Cal Fire and Calistoga Fire Department responded, he said.

The residence and three outbuildings were destroyed, said Wink.

Wink said if there had been wind the fire could have gone right up nearby McGuire Peak, potentially sparking a major wildland fire.

The fire was knocked down within 45 minutes, but Wink said firefighters were on scene until 4 p.m., and checked the scene later that night and again on Sunday.

Wink estimated total losses at $200,000.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lake County Live!, the music and variety program that debuted in January of this year, will present its eighth production on Sunday, Aug. 26, at the Soper-Reese Community Theatre in Lakeport.

This month, the show will feature the group Majide!, featuring the talents of keyboard player Paul Kemp and vocalist Machiko. Joining them for this performance will be Jim Leonardis on saxophone. They present styles including smooth jazz, blues and a variety of other musical genres.

Also on the venue will be the return of Ear Reverence, the a cappella vocal quartet featuring Valerie Reid, Carol Cole Lewis, Bill Bordisso and Nick Reid. They delighted the audience in January, and have more great songs for you to enjoy on Aug. 26.

“We are continually looking for both new and returning guests who can entertain our audience in the theatre and on the air,” said show creator and host Doug Rhoades. “Our audience continues to grow, so I want to make sure we’re giving them the enjoyment they deserve during the hour they spend with us and the show.”  

This month’s show will feature the return of Ladies of the Lake, a visit to Kelseyville, a word from Pet Owners, Operators and Proprietors, and a lot of laughs.  

“We try to always make the humor topical, but keep it at about a PG rating,” Rhoades added. “We always want to make people laugh, and never offend.  I think we’ve met that goal since the first show.”

Lake County Live! airs at 6 p.m. on Lake County Community Radio KPFZ at 88.1 FM and is also streamed live on the Internet via www.kpfz.org .

Tickets are available at the theater box office at 275 S. Main in Lakeport Fridays from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., at the Travel Center in Lakeport at 1265 S. Main, and online at www.soperreesetheatre.com .

NORTH COAST, Calif. – A wildland fire complex burning in northern Mendocino County continued to increase in size on Monday.

The Pass Complex grew by more than 400 acres during the course of Monday, reaching 6,015 acres by nighttime, with containment remaining at 10 percent, Cal Fire reported.

The two-fire complex is located along Mendocino Pass Road, 10 miles northeast of Covelo, in both the State Responsibility Area and the Mendocino National Forest. Cal Fire and the US Forest Service have unified command of the incident.

Cal Fire said the Pass Complex was started by lightning.

Burning since Saturday morning, the Pass 1 Fire has burned 6,000 acres, some in the national forest. The Pass 2 Fire, which jumped the fire line and is burning toward Pass 1, has burned 15 acres, Cal Fire reported.

Forty-five residences are threatened. Cal Fire had reported earlier Monday that two outbuildings had been destroyed.

There were 732 fire personnel on scene Monday, as well as 65 engines, 21 fire crews, three airtankers, three helicopters, 14 bulldozers and nine water tenders.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A Clearlake Oaks man was arrested Sunday night after he attempted to evade a California Highway Patrol officer and later was found with drugs, paraphernalia and a large amount of cash.

Anthony Joseph Padilla Jr., 31, was arrested following a short pursuit, according to CHP Officer Kory Reynolds.

Reynolds said CHP Officer Matt Norton was working a traffic control detail with Caltrans as they paved a portion of Highway 53 south of 18th Avenue near Clearlake Sunday night.

At approximately 9:25 p.m. Norton observed a vehicle strike a traffic cone and enter the closed lane of southbound Highway 53, Reynolds said. The vehicle then swerved back into the open lane, striking two more traffic cones.

Norton attempted to make a traffic stop on the vehicle, which accelerated away from him onto Old Highway 53. Reynolds said Norton observed the driver throw a plastic baggie from the vehicle.  

The vehicle made a left turn and then yielded on Highlands Harbor Drive, Reynolds said.

Norton contacted the driver, identified as Padilla, and arrested him for failing to yield to his activated lights and siren, according to Reynolds.

Reynolds said that during a search Norton located $5,943 in cash on Padilla.

Norton and CHP Officer Adam Garcia returned to the area where Norton saw Padilla throw the baggie from the vehicle and they located the baggie, which contained nearly an once of methamphetamine, Reynolds said.

Padilla was booked into the Lake County Jail for possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance for sale, transporting a controlled substance, driving on a suspended license, evading arrest and a probation hold, according to Reynolds.

Padilla’s bail was set at $35,000. Jail records indicated that he remained in custody on Monday.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – A wildland fire complex in northern Mendocino County continued to grow on Monday, destroying another structure in its path.

The two-fire Pass Complex reached 5,700 acres by mid-morning, with firefighters getting 10-percent containment on it, according to Cal Fire Mendocino Unit spokesperson Julie Cooley.

The fires have been burning in heavy timber in the Williams Valley area, 10 miles northeast of Covelo, since Saturday morning. Cal Fire has not yet estimated a time for containment.

Cooley said the complex is showing rapid rates of spread with extreme fire behavior.

By Monday morning, the fire had burned another outbuilding, bringing the total to two that had been destroyed, according to Cooley.

No evacuations had been ordered, but Cooley said there were road closures, including Traveler’s Home Trail and Hams Pass/Blands Cove Road above Traveler’s Home Trailhead.

Resources assigned on Monday morning included 618 personnel, 41 fire engines, 26 fire crews, 14 bulldozers, three airtankers, one helicopter and10 water tenders, Cooley reported.

Cal Fire and the US Forest Service have unified command of the complex. Cooley said a federal Type 2 team is anticipated to arrive at the fire later Monday to take over full command.

The complex has been sending smoke south into the rest of Mendocino County as well as Lake County.

The fire prompted the Mendocino County Air Quality Management District to issue an air quality alert for inland Mendocino County on Sunday evening. The district also issued an air quality alert for Covelo/Round Valley based on high readings recorded in the area.

Both alerts were expected to be extended after they expired Monday morning, according to the district.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

This week’s Fall Football Preview will feature the county’s high school teams as they get ready for the upcoming season. The series starts with the Lower Lake High Trojans.

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – For a team that hasn’t had a winning season since 2007, the mood at Lower Lake’s practice sessions last week was surprisingly upbeat. For a team that didn’t win a game last year, the Trojans appeared convincingly confident.

Before heading out the gymnasium door for three and a half hours of drills in the sweltering summer heat, several players were discussing how they couldn’t wait to get another shot at those teams that had their way with them last year, like Hoopa Valley, which beat the Trojans, 54-0, and Middletown, which tagged them with a 35-0 loss.

No one was vowing to even the score, mind you; it was more like anticipating “the opportunity” – a popular term at the Lower Lake camp this summer.  

“We expect a lot of improvement,” said Jerald Drummond, the senior running back and safety. “Other teams are going to improve, too. But if we work hard, we have an opportunity to achieve something this season.”

For a few seconds there, you had to wonder what second-year head coach Mike Huffman was slipping into the Gatorade. Whatever it was, his players were obviously lapping it up.

Or maybe offensive coordinator Justin Gaddy, whose Facebook page is brimming with words of inspiration and team spirit, had somehow incorporated some Norman Vincent Peale into his veer option playbook, mixing in some power of positive thinking with the Trojans’ power running game.

Seriously, though, isn’t this the same group that went 0-9-1 last season, managing only a tie with Cloverdale?

In large part, it is. And that’s one of the reasons Lower Lake is projecting a different kind of vibe this summer, the poised and business-like demeanor of a group that’s survived some tough times together, and now believes that some day soon, those hard-knock lessons are going to start paying dividends.

 “We were young and inexperienced last year,” Huffman said. “This year we’re the opposite.”

Lower Lake returns six starters on offense, led by Drummond, who rushed for over 600 yards last season, quarterback Richard Tucker, who led the county with over 1200 passing yards, and  240-pound center Mike Warren, who anchors the line.

Also back is receiver Thomas Cross, whose 6-foot-2, 195-pound frame should provide Tucker with a large and mobile target.

Cross demonstrated his athleticism last winter when he emerged as the league’s top wrestler in his weight class – and among the best in the section.

Billy Martin also adds size and experience to the offensive line, which could be the most improved part of the team.

“We were small in the line last year and it was hard to get our running game going,” Huffman said. “We ended up having to pass a lot. Our line should be bigger and better this season on both sides of the ball.”

Especially if sophomore Willie Isaacs, up from last year’s 6-4 JV team, can make a sudden impact on the varsity. At 6-3, 292 pounds, he’s one of those athletic anomalies in Lake County, a kid who, at age 15 and without any varsity experience, already has some folks believing he’s a legitimate college prospect. Maybe even a Division I (large school) prospect.

“Willie has the size and he has the heart (to play Division I),” Huffman said.

Most of the standouts on offense play key roles on a Trojan defense that returns eight starters.

Tucker, Cross and Drummond are fixtures in the secondary and Warren and Martin bring some heft to the heart of the line. You have to figure Isaacs, with the size to clog up a lot running lanes, will get some “D” time as well.

“He’s a throw-back – a country boy with a great work ethic,” Huffman said of his prize sophomore.

The Lower Lake coaching staff is also a “throw-back” of sorts – to the Trojan teams of the mid-’90s that regularly competed for league titles. Nearly all of the coaches are Lower Lake alumni.  

Huffman, Gaddy and linebacker/receivers coach Ed Fuchs played for coaching legend Gordon Sadler’s last team at Lower Lake in 1995. The following year, under first-year coach Bill Cox, they won a league championship.

Huffman was an all-league lineman who, knowing he lacked the size to play college ball (at least as a lineman), opted for the Army.

Two years after graduating from high school, he was driving a tank in Kosovo as part of the NATO-led peacekeeping force.

When he came home he went to work at his alma mater, supervising the high school facilities. He also was quick to get back into football, assisting on the high school staff and connecting with the youth program.

When he took over the Trojan program last summer, he knew the job would be a challenge. He came on in late August and didn’t have an off-season program to get his players on the same page. The team spent the first part of the season playing catch-up.

About five games into the campaign, Huffman began to see improvement. “We started being competitive,” he said.

The natural ebb and flow of talent is a big part of small-school football, and with the exception of the powerhouse Middletown program, Lake County’s teams have had their shares of ups and downs over the past decade.   

Lower Lake’s football fortunes have been on the ebb for a couple years. But the staff is determined to bring some continuity back to the program – Huffman says he and his coaches are in it for the long-haul. In the meantime, they’re channeling new energy – and a new attitude.

If you’re part of Lower Lake football, there is no room gloom. There are only “opportunities” waiting to be seized.    

Unlike some head coaches who work off-campus, Huffman is there every day, along assistant coach Gary Logoteta, another Trojan alumnus who also works as a campus supervisor.

“We help the vice principal with discipline and campus control and safety,” Huffman said. “We have the opportunity to talk with all the kids and help them anyway we can.”

His job as head coach, he explains, “is about recruiting, staying involved with the youth programs; it’s about changing the culture, which means getting everyone involved. We try to get everyone to play. We don’t cut anyone. We look at it as an opportunity to teach the game.”

Players know the Huffman code, which isn’t only partly about football; it’s about 1) doing the right thing; 2) treating others the way you want to be treated; and 3) giving maximum effort all the time.
Everything else, he believes, will take care of itself, including the team’s only goal: “We want to play for the league championship every year,” he said – a lofty goal this year in what promises to be a competitive NCL I race.  

But you know the players are relishing the opportunity.

Tomorrow: The Kelseyville Knights prepare for the coming season.

Rich Mellott can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Lower Lake Trojans

Coach/Record: Mike Huffman (2nd year), 0-9-1.
Assistants: Justin Gaddy, Ed Fuchs, Scott Benefield, Troy Dahneke.
Last year: 0-9-1.
League: 0-6-1.
JVs: 6-4.
Offense: Veer option.
Returning starters: 6 on offense, 8 on defense.
Top players: QB/S Richard Tucker, C/NG Mike Warren, WR-CB Thomas Cross (6-2, 195), RB/S Jerald Drummond  (5-9, 145), OL/DL Billy Martin.
Keep an eye on: Sophomore lineman Willie Isaacs, up from the junior varsity, whom Huffman believes has the size (6-3, 292 lbs.) work ethic and potential to play Div. I college ball. Another stat Huffman likes: Isaacs’ 2.78 GPA.
Key games: Though they’ll be big underdogs in their season-opener at Hoopa Valley,  how the Trojans hold up against the Div. V section power could be an early indicator of what to expect this season. The Warriors rolled to a 55-0 win in last year’s opener … The NCL contest against Fort Bragg (5-5 ) at home on Sept. 5 could be another tell-tale  contest around which a successful season might hinge.

When Mike Huffman got the head coaching job at Lower Lake last summer, and began assembling a staff of a dozen or so assistants, there was one resource that proved particularly useful – and it wasn’t Craigslist, Monster.com or  the classified ads of any newspaper.

Instead, he just reached for his high school yearbook.

Huffman, class of 1997, picked former teammates Justin Gaddy and Ed Fuchs as varsity assistants, Gaddy as his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach and Fuchs as his linebacker and receivers coach.

Then he filled out the staff with more Trojan bluebloods, former Lower Lake students and athletes who shared his love for the school and his passion for the football program.

“The entire coaching staff, both varsity and JVs, is Lower Lake alumni” except one coach, Gaddy writes in an email.

As Trojan assistants over the years, Fuchs, Gaddy and Huffman have coached players who are now coaching with them.

For example, Fuchs coached current varsity assistant Scott Benefield when he played at Lower Lake; and Huffman and Gaddy coached current JV assistant Jeremiah Gamble when he played for the Trojans.

Gaddy and Huffman go all the way back to sixth grade, when they started playing youth football together.  

“As little kids, Mike and I would go to the high school and watch Gordon Saddler coach his teams,” Gaddy writes. “Ed Fuchs played high school ball with us and we won multiple championships together.

“Our junior year (1995) was Saddler’s last year as head coach at Lower Lake. We then won a league championship the following year (1996) under Coach Bill Cox,” Gaddy said.

Gaddy recalled how the Trojans won the game that clinched the championship.

“The last three plays … included a huge (defensive) play by Huffman on second down, a deflection on the goal line by Fuchs on third down, and a deflection in the corner of the end zone by me on fourth down.

“To keep it short, we have a lot of wonderful history with this school and community. We all look forward to our future (on the coaching staff).”

Gaddy said the only non-Lower Lake alum on the 2012 staff is varsity assistant Troy Dahneke.

“But we love him as a Lower Lake brother anyway,” Gaddy said.

Rich Mellott can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Four adoptable cats are waiting for homes at Lake County Animal Care and Control this week.

There are three kittens and a cat ready to join your home.

Cats that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed and microchipped before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.

If you're looking for a new companion, visit the shelter. There are many great pets there, hoping you'll choose them.

The following cats at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (other cats pictured on the animal control Web site that are not listed here are still “on hold”).

Female gray and white tabby

This female tabby is 2 years old.

She has a short gray and white coat, gold eyes and has not yet been spayed.

Find her in cat room kennel No. 46, ID No. 33740.

Black and white domestic long hair

This female domestic long hair mix kitten is 14 weeks old.

The kitten has a black and white coat and gold eyes. It has not been altered.

Find her in cat room kennel 95a, ID No. 33736.

Domestic long hair mix kitten

This female black and white domestic long hair mix kitten is 14 weeks old.

She has gold eyes and has not yet been altered.

She’s in cat room kennel 95b, ID No. 33737.

Male domestic long hair mix kitten

This male domestic long hair mix kitten is 14 weeks old.

He ha gold eyes and has not yet been altered.

He’s in cat room kennel 95c, ID No. 33738.

Adoptable cats also can be seen at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Cats_and_Kittens.htm or at www.petfinder.com .

Please note: Cats listed at the shelter's Web page that are said to be “on hold” are not yet cleared for adoption.

To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .

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

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

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

For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has fired its laser for the first time on Mars.

On Sunday the mission’s ChemCam instrument hit a fist-sized rock named “Coronation” with 30 pulses of its laser during a 10-second period. Each pulse delivers more than a million watts of power for about five one-billionths of a second.

The energy from the laser creates a puff of ionized, glowing plasma.

ChemCam catches the light with a telescope and analyzes it with three spectrometers for information about what elements are in the rock.

The spectrometers record 6,144 different wavelengths of ultraviolet, visible and infrared light.

“We got a great spectrum of Coronation – lots of signal,” said ChemCam Principal Investigator Roger Wiens of Los Alamos National Laboratory, N.M. “Our team is both thrilled and working hard, looking at the results. After eight years building the instrument, it’s payoff time!”

ChemCam recorded spectra from each of the 30 pulses. The goal of this initial use of the laser on Mars was to serve as target practice for characterizing the instrument, but the activity may provide additional value.

Researchers will check whether the composition changed as the pulses progressed. If it did change, that could indicate dust or other surface material being penetrated to reveal different composition beneath the surface.

“It’s surprising that the data are even better than we ever had during tests on Earth, in signal-to-noise ratio,” said ChemCam Deputy Project Scientist Sylvestre Maurice of the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie (IRAP) in Toulouse, France. “It’s so rich, we can expect great science from investigating what might be thousands of targets with ChemCam in the next two years.”

The technique used by ChemCam, called laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, has been used to determine composition of targets in other extreme environments, such as inside nuclear reactors and on the sea floor, and has had experimental applications in environmental monitoring and cancer detection.

Sunday’s investigation of Coronation is the first use of the technique in interplanetary exploration.

More information about ChemCam is available at www.msl-chemcam.com .

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

NORTH COAST, Calif. – A complex of fires burning in northern Mendocino County rapidly increased in size on Sunday.

The Pass Complex Fire grew to 5,015 acres by Sunday evening, five times the size it was reported to be earlier in the day, according to a report from Cal Fire spokesperson Julie Cooley.

Approximately 540 firefighting personnel were working the fire on Sunday evening, with Cooley reporting 10 percent containment.

The complex was first reported shortly before 3 a.m. Saturday 10 miles northeast of Covelo in Williams Valley.

The two-fire complex includes the Pass 1, which has burned into the Mendocino National Forest, and the Pass 2, which Cooley said jumped the fire line and is burning toward Pass 1.

The fires are moving east and southeast in heavy timber, Cooley reported.

Since the morning report, one outbuilding had been destroyed, according to Cooley. No evacuations were in place.

Resources on scene Sunday evening included 41 fire engines, 20 fire crews, nine bulldozers, two airtankers, two helicopters and six water tenders, Cooley reported.

Cal Fire and the US Forest Service have a unified command on the incident.

Satellite images of Northern California show the Pass Complex is sending smoke south into Lake County, where residents complained of smoky conditions throughout the day.

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