Thursday, 06 March 2025

Register

News

Posted On

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has seven cats waiting to go to new homes for the holidays.

This week’s cats are all adults, in a variety of sizes and coat types.

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

For those looking for a barn cat to keep the rodents at bay, be sure to ask about the barn cat adoption program. Feral barn cats are adopted out for $1 each, which includes altering, ear notching and vaccines.

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.

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

This female domestic medium hair cat is in kennel No. 1, ID No. 9037. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Female domestic medium hair

This female domestic medium hair cat has a brown tabby coat and gold eyes.

She is in kennel No. 1, ID No. 9037.

This female domestic short hair cat is in kennel No. 9, ID No. 9031. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Female tuxedo cat

This female domestic short hair cat has a tuxedo coat and gold eyes.

She’s in kennel No. 9, ID No. 9031.

“Miley” is a female domestic longhair cat in kennel No. 11, ID No. 9007. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

‘Miley’

“Miley” is a female domestic longhair cat with a gray tabby coat and green eyes.

She already has been spayed.

She’s in kennel No. 11, ID No. 9007.

“Mookie” is a male domestic longhair in kennel No. 55, ID No. 9008. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

‘Mookie’

“Mookie” is a male domestic longhair with a chocolate point-colored coat.

He already has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 55, ID No. 9008.

This female domestic short hair is in kennel No. 112, ID No. 9021. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Female domestic short hair

This female domestic short hair has a black coat and gold eyes.

She already has been spayed.

She is in kennel No. 112, ID No. 9021.

This male domestic short hair is in kennel No. 129, ID No. 9070. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Male domestic short hair

This male domestic short hair has a flame point and white coat and blue eyes.

He’s in kennel No. 129, ID No. 9070.

This male domestic short hair is in kennel No. 148, ID No. 9010. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Male domestic short hair

This male domestic short hair has an orange tabby coat and gold eyes.

He’s in kennel No. 148, ID No. 9010.

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.
Posted On

Artist's concept of Voyager. The twin Voyager spacecraft are celebrating 40 years of continual operation in August and September 2017. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech


If you tried to start a car that's been sitting in a garage for decades, you might not expect the engine to respond. But a set of thrusters aboard the Voyager 1 spacecraft successfully fired up Wednesday after 37 years without use.

Voyager 1, NASA's farthest and fastest spacecraft, is the only human-made object in interstellar space, the environment between the stars.

The spacecraft, which has been flying for 40 years, relies on small devices called thrusters to orient itself so it can communicate with Earth.

These thrusters fire in tiny pulses, or "puffs," lasting mere milliseconds, to subtly rotate the spacecraft so that its antenna points at our planet. Now, the Voyager team is able to use a set of four backup thrusters, dormant since 1980.

"With these thrusters that are still functional after 37 years without use, we will be able to extend the life of the Voyager 1 spacecraft by two to three years," said Suzanne Dodd, project manager for Voyager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.

Since 2014, engineers have noticed that the thrusters Voyager 1 has been using to orient the spacecraft, called "attitude control thrusters," have been degrading.

Over time, the thrusters require more puffs to give off the same amount of energy. At 13 billion miles from Earth, there's no mechanic shop nearby to get a tune-up.

The Voyager team assembled a group of propulsion experts at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, to study the problem.

Chris Jones, Robert Shotwell, Carl Guernsey and Todd Barber analyzed options and predicted how the spacecraft would respond in different scenarios. They agreed on an unusual solution: Try giving the job of orientation to a set of thrusters that had been asleep for 37 years.

“The Voyager flight team dug up decades-old data and examined the software that was coded in an outdated assembler language, to make sure we could safely test the thrusters," said Jones, chief engineer at JPL.

In the early days of the mission, Voyager 1 flew by Jupiter, Saturn, and important moons of each.

To accurately fly by and point the spacecraft's instruments at a smorgasbord of targets, engineers used "trajectory correction maneuver,” or TCM, thrusters that are identical in size and functionality to the attitude control thrusters, and are located on the back side of the spacecraft.

But because Voyager 1's last planetary encounter was Saturn, the Voyager team hadn't needed to use the TCM thrusters since Nov. 8, 1980. Back then, the TCM thrusters were used in a more continuous firing mode; they had never been used in the brief bursts necessary to orient the spacecraft.

All of Voyager's thrusters were developed by Aerojet Rocketdyne. The same kind of thruster, called the MR-103, flew on other NASA spacecraft as well, such as Cassini and Dawn.

On Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2017, Voyager engineers fired up the four TCM thrusters for the first time in 37 years and tested their ability to orient the spacecraft using 10-millisecond pulses.

The team waited eagerly as the test results traveled through space, taking 19 hours and 35 minutes to reach an antenna in Goldstone, California, that is part of NASA's Deep Space Network.

Lo and behold, on Wednesday, Nov. 29, they learned the TCM thrusters worked perfectly -- and just as well as the attitude control thrusters.

“The Voyager team got more excited each time with each milestone in the thruster test. The mood was one of relief, joy and incredulity after witnessing these well-rested thrusters pick up the baton as if no time had passed at all," said Barber, a JPL propulsion engineer.

The plan going forward is to switch to the TCM thrusters in January. To make the change, Voyager has to turn on one heater per thruster, which requires power – a limited resource for the aging mission. When there is no longer enough power to operate the heaters, the team will switch back to the attitude control thrusters.

The thruster test went so well, the team will likely do a similar test on the TCM thrusters for Voyager 2, the twin spacecraft of Voyager 1. The attitude control thrusters currently used for Voyager 2 are not yet as degraded as Voyager 1's, however.

Voyager 2 is also on course to enter interstellar space, likely within the next few years.

The Voyager spacecraft were built by JPL, which continues to operate both. JPL is a division of Caltech in Pasadena. The Voyager missions are a part of the NASA Heliophysics System Observatory, sponsored by the Heliophysics Division of the Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more information about the Voyager spacecraft, visit https://www.nasa.gov/voyager and https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov.

Elizabeth Landau works for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Posted On

The Willow Terrace project elevation. The project is proposed to be built in Ukiah, Calif. Courtesy image.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – On Sept. 20, after years of planning and coordination, Rural Communities Housing Development Corp. was awarded more than $8 million in funding from the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program to build permanent supportive housing for low-income, seriously mentally ill homeless people in Ukiah.

Construction on the 38-unit apartment building is scheduled to begin in March 2018.

Since 2015, when Mendocino County Health and Human Services selected Rural Communities Housing Development Corp., or RCHDC, to develop affordable housing for this population, RCHDC has been collaborating with funders and service providers to leverage $1.3 million in seed money from the California Mental Health Services Act to build this $10.6 million project.

According to RCHDC CEO Brad McDonald, one of the most important partners in this project has been Community First Credit Union (formerly Mendo Lake Credit Union).

To apply for Low-Income Housing Tax Credit funding, RCHDC needed a partner who could help RCHDC acquire $1.3 million in Affordable Housing Program funds through the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. As a member institution, Community First Credit Union made this possible.

“We are extremely pleased that we could help RCHDC obtain the Federal Home Loan Bank funding. Community First is a federally designated Community Development Financial Institution – we focus on serving underserved populations and making our community a better place to live and work. Safe and affordable housing is a top priority,” said CEO Todd Sheffield.

RCHDC, a local nonprofit serving Northern California with a mission to provide affordable housing for low-income families and the elderly, has more than 40 years of experience developing affordable housing, providing property management services, helping low-income individuals become homeowners, and building community.

“They were the perfect partners for Willow Terrace,” said HHSA Director Tammy Moss Chandler, naming the project.

“Willow Terrace is an outstanding example of local government working closely with public partners towards a solution for a very complex problem in our community,” McDonald said. “It will offer housing for the chronically mentally ill and homeless, providing wrap-around services through HHSA and other service providers. The project really exemplifies the significance of ‘housing first’ as a solution for homelessness.”

As often happens with complex projects like this, RCHDC encountered several challenges, according to project manager Mike Pallesen. The team spent 21 months identifying an appropriate site, for example.

“Usually, land is donated for these types of projects,” he explained.

Without donated land, the funding was more difficult to acquire. To enable the project to move forward, RCHDC sold a piece of property it owned, discounting the property to RCHDC’s 1984 purchase price of $120,000 rather than selling it for its current appraised value of $420,000.

The project also faced some political hurdles, with local business owners expressing concerns to county supervisors about potential problems that could arise from having a nearby housing complex for mentally ill residents.

When community members learned that Ukiah already has several such housing units, and disturbances are less frequent there than at other apartment complexes, their worries faded, according to RCHDC Development Director Ryan LaRue.

LaRue continued, “In addition to providing better care for this population, the Willow Terrace project will likely save taxpayers money. The apartment complex will include small residences, group rooms, a garden, and a community area where residents can support each other and receive mental healthcare services onsite. When residents receive the treatment they need, whether it’s therapy, medication or other types of support, they are less likely to require expensive resources like law enforcement, emergency first responders, and hospital emergency care. With its supportive services, Willow Terrace uses both a compassionate and an economically sound approach.”

The funding for the project is enough to pay for construction and it includes a capitalized operating subsidy reserve of $2.7 million to supplement rents, allowing the facility to be economically viable for 20 years.

The site is located near Mendocino County Health and Human Services and Redwood Community Services, so service providers are conveniently close, and RCHDC will provide a full-time, onsite manager who will live there to provide additional assistance.

“We see this as a model development,” McDonald said.

When RCHDC was awarded the Mendocino County project, they had just finished a similar project in Humboldt County – Arcata Bay Crossing, the first project of its kind in the state.

Willow Terrace incorporates refinements on the Humboldt County project, and could be used as a prototype for cost-effective housing for the severely mentally ill statewide.

“We were able to leverage funds so that for every dollar we brought to the table, we received seven dollars to build the project – using tax credit financing for permanent supportive housing is a great way to get these projects built,” Pallesen said.

With tax credit financing, investors buy income tax credits in qualified properties that have received state allocation, creating cash equity for owners that reduces project development debt burden.

In exchange, the owner agrees to rent a specific number of units to qualified tenants at specified rents, usually below-market.

The RCHDC team noted that this project will provide housing for almost 40 people, which is a great start, but it does not eliminate the homeless problem in Ukiah or Mendocino County.

RCHDC supports the county’s desire to work with community partners to provide more mental health care services and to further reduce homelessness.

Pallesen expressed enthusiasm about the Willow Terrace project and wanted to be sure the public is aware that RCHDC uses local contractors whenever possible. “Right now, the architect is going like crazy. We have local contractors lined up, and we’re excited to get this project off the ground.”

The Rural Communities Housing Development Corp. development team. Front row, left to right: Ryan LaRue, director of development; Angie Figueroa, development department project manager; Yessica Figueroa, CCRH Development Department intern; back row, left to right, Tom Simms, CFO; Mike Pallesen, development department special projects; Brad McDonald CEO. Courtesy photo.
Blog Left ad
Posted On

The wrentit, although usually easier heard than seen, can be called out to view if you are patient. Photo by Brad Barnwell.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – This year, the annual Clear Lake Christmas Bird Count, held by the Redbud Audubon Society, will be on Saturday, Dec. 16.

The Christmas Bird Count, or CBC, is a traditional project of Audubon societies around the country.

This is National Audubon's 118th Christmas Bird Count with all counts being held between the dates of Thursday, Dec. 14, through Friday, 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.

There is a specific methodology to the CBC, and all participants must make arrangements to participate in advance with the circle compiler within an established circle, but anyone can participate.

Count volunteers follow specified routes through the designated 15-mile – or 24-kilometer – diameter circle, counting every bird they see or hear all day.

It's not just a species tally – all birds are counted all day, giving an indication of the total number of birds in the circle that day.

If you are a beginning birder, you will be able to join a group that includes at least one experienced birdwatcher.

If your home is within the boundaries of a CBC circle, then you can stay at home and report the birds that visit your feeder on count day as long as you have made prior arrangements with the count compiler.

The data collected by each count group are then sent to the National Audubon Headquarters in New York and is made available online.

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

This adult male Cooper’s Hawk is doing what Cooper’s Hawks do, prey on songbirds. That is a blackbird he will be feasting on. Cooper’s Hawks are fairly common in Lake County and should probably be spotted on the Christmas Bird Count. Photo by Brad Barnwell.

This is Audubon’s longest running wintertime tradition and is the 43rd 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 Anderson Marsh State Historic Park and the other will meet at the visitor’s center parking lot at the Clear Lake State Park. Both groups will meet at 8 a.m. and continue through to early or mid-afternoon.

After the count, participants are invited to a pizza dinner at 5 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. 14, Redbud Audubon meeting at the Presbyterian Church Social Hall in Kelseyville Brad and Kathy Barnwell 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. It starts at 7 p.m.

If you are interested in participating in the bird count, call 707-263-8030, leave a message with your phone number, and someone will return your call.

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.

Wilson’s Snipes are a secretive bird that frequents mudflats in wetland and lake areas. Photo by Brad Barnwell.

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.

With all of the issues, including climate change and habitat loss, facing both local bird species and birds worldwide, there is no time like the present to start getting involved in local bird conservation and educating yourself about the numerous bird species we have right here in Lake County; the annual Christmas Bird Count is a fun way of doing this.

The Redbud Audubon Society is a local charitable organization affiliated with the National Audubon Society. The group holds monthly program meetings and field trips Sept. through May and presents the annual Heron Days event. For more information visit www.redbudaudubon.org.

The cinnamon teal is a stunning duck and frequents wetlands and ponds in Lake County, Calif. Photo by Brad Barnwell.
Posted On

Cesar Arroyo Ceja, 22, of Kelseyville, Calif., was arrested on Friday, December 8, 2017, for felony driving under the influence and hit and run. Lake County Jail photo.


KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Authorities arrested a Kelseyville man on Friday for driving under the influence and hit and run after he fled the scene of a crash that left another driver with major injuries.

Cesar Arroyo Ceja, 22, was arrested following the wreck, which occurred shortly before 9:45 a.m. Friday on Highway 29 south of Bottle Rock Road, according to the California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office.

The CHP said Arroyo Ceja, driving a 2009 Dodge, was traveling southbound on Highway 29 in a left curve south of Bottle Rock Road when, due to his level of intoxication, he failed to negotiate the curve in the road and spun out of control within the curve.

The back of Arroyo Ceja’s vehicle collided with the front of a 1991 Toyota pickup driven by Lower Lake resident Douglas D. Anthony, 47, who the CHP said was traveling northbound through the same curve.

Immediately after the collision, Arroyo Ceja fled the scene in his badly damaged vehicle. The CHP said that after Arroyo Ceja traveled approximately half a mile south of the crash scene, he drove into a ditch adjacent to Highway 29’s west edge.

When CHP officers arrived at the crash scene, they found an off-duty paramedic attending to Anthony’s injuries, the CHP reported.

Anthony subsequently was flown via a REACH air ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for suspected serious head trauma, the CHP said.

The CHP report said Officer Rob Hearn then located Arroyo Ceja a short distance south of the crash scene.

When Hearn contacted Arroyo Ceja, he observed signs of alcohol intoxication and then performed an investigation for driving under the influence, the CHP said.

Hearn then arrested Arroyo Ceja for felony DUI and felony hit and run. The CHP said Arroyo Ceja was transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital where he was cleared for booking.

Arroyo Ceja’s booking sheet at the Lake County Jail showed he was booked for three felonies, one for hit and run resulting in injury and two related to DUI causing bodily injury, with bail set at $50,000.

Jail records indicated he later posted the required percentage of bail and was released. He’s tentatively scheduled to appear in Lake County Superior Court on Feb. 8.

Arroyo Ceja was arrested for being drunk in public in February, according to arrest records.

The CHP said both drivers were wearing their seat belts at the time of the wreck.

Officer Hearn is leading the investigation into the Friday crash, the CHP said.

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.
Posted On



Maybe you've already seen a bright meteor streak across the December sky? The annual Geminid meteor shower has arrived. It's a good time to bundle up, go outside and let the universe blow your mind!

"With August's Perseids obscured by bright moonlight, the Geminids will be the best shower this year," said Bill Cooke with NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "The thin, waning crescent Moon won't spoil the show."

The shower will peak overnight Dec. 13 to 14 with rates around one per minute under good conditions, according to Cooke. Geminids can be seen on nights before and after the Dec. 14 peak, although they will appear less frequently.

"Geminid activity is broad," said Cooke. "Good rates will be seen between 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 13 and dawn local time the morning of Dec. 14, with the most meteors visible from midnight to 4 a.m. on Dec. 14, when the radiant is highest in the sky."

About the Geminid shower

The Geminids are active every December, when Earth passes through a massive trail of dusty debris shed by a weird, rocky object named 3200 Phaethon. The dust and grit burn up when they run into Earth's atmosphere in a flurry of "shooting stars."

"Phaethon's nature is debated," said Cooke. "It's either a near-Earth asteroid or an extinct comet, sometimes called a rock comet."

As an added bonus this year, astronomers will have a chance to study Phaethon up close in mid-December, when it passes nearest to Earth since its discovery in 1983.

Meteor showers are named after the location of the radiant, usually a star or constellation close to where they appear in the night sky. The Geminid radiant is in the constellation Gemini.

The Geminids can be seen with the naked eye under clear, dark skies over most of the world, though the best view is from the Northern Hemisphere. Observers will see fewer Geminids in the Southern Hemisphere, where the radiant doesn't climb very high over the horizon.

Observing the Geminids

Skywatching is easy. Just get away from bright lights and look up in any direction! Give your eyes time to adjust to the dark. Meteors appear all over the sky.

Not all the meteors you might see belong to the Geminid shower, however. Some might be sporadic background meteors, and some might be from weaker, active showers like the Monocerotids, Sigma Hydrids and the Comae Berenicids.

"When you see a meteor, try to trace it backwards," said Cooke. "If you end up in the constellation Gemini there's a good chance you've seen a Geminid."

Learn more about the Geminids

Cooke and other meteor experts from NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office will be live on Facebook to discuss the Geminids and why meteors and meteoroids are important to NASA beginning at 8 p.m. EST on Dec. 12.

And if it's cloudy where you are, NASA will broadcast the Geminid shower live via Ustream starting at sunset Dec. 13 from the Automated Lunar and Meteor Observatory at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

You can also see Geminid meteors on NASA’s All Sky Fireball network page. Follow NASA Meteor Watch on Facebook for information about meteor showers and fireballs throughout the year.

Molly Porter is with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
Posted On

From left, Clear Lake State Park Superintendent Bill Salata and park Maintenance Chief Wendy Lieberg are shown with Friends of the Library President Debbie Zacharisen on delivery of the Little Free Library to the Clear Lake State Park in Kelseyville, Calif. Courtesy photo.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Clear Lake State Park has received an early holiday gift from the Friends of the Lake County Library.

A Little Free Library was delivered to the park and will soon be installed in an area easily accessible to park visitors.

Little Free Libraries have been appearing across the nation as a way to promote reading for children and adults and to demonstrate the role public libraries play in that endeavor.

They work on the principle of “take a book, leave a book.”

The Friends of the Library decided that a Little Free Library in Clear Lake State Park would be a great way to support the mission of the Lake County Library and the park is happy to host it.

The Friends will keep the Little Free Library stocked for the reading enjoyment of park visitors and look forward to seeing what books are left in return. The next time you visit Clear Lake State Park, check it out.

This is a great time to support the Lake County Library.

The Friends are currently holding a fundraiser, running through Jan. 31. Donations made during this time, up to $5,000, will be matched dollar for dollar by the Friends. The goal is to raise $10,000 for the Library to use to purchase new books and materials.

Please send your tax-deductible donation to Friends of the Lake County Library at 1425 N. High St., Lakeport, CA 95453.
Posted On

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A Lincoln woman has entered a plea in a perjury case involving a custody fight over her young child.

Shannon M. Mick, 33, pleaded no contest to one count of perjury on Dec. 1, according to the Lake County District Attorney’s Office’s Perjury Intervention Unit.

The District Attorney’s Office said a Lake County resident filed an affidavit on June 3, 2015, requesting full legal and physical custody of his 3-year-old child, alleging that Mick – his ex-wife and mother of the child – had subjected the child to domestic violence from her boyfriend, Mike Alexander, as well as alcohol abuse.

It was alleged in the family law case that the environment was a danger to his minor child, the District Attorney’s Office reported.

The report said Mick vehemently denied such claims, and in an affidavit dated June 6, 2015, she declared under penalty of perjury, “I deny all allegations of abuse between Mike and I.”

She further testified in court under the penalty of perjury that there was no domestic violence in their home. However, there was substantial evidence presented by the father in the family law trial that supported his assertion of active domestic violence and alcohol abuse, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Officials said there was evidence at the trial from a Sutter County Sheriff’s deputy that documented an incident that took place on Jan. 21, 2015, in which Alexander allegedly took hold of Mick by her ankles and dragged her outside of the house and locked the door.

The report stated that Mick then ran to the home of her neighbor, who happened to be an off-duty police officer, and reported that she had been involved in a domestic violence incident with her boyfriend.

That report highlighted that Mick “appeared upset, intoxicated and presented the odor of alcoholic beverages.” The Sutter County Sheriff’s deputy also testified that there were other instances of domestic violence at the Mick/Alexander residence.

Additionally, the District Attorney’s Office said that during the trial Mick testified she had never seen the June 3, 2015, declaration and that she had not signed the document, contending her then attorney wrote the document and forged her name. However, forgetting about her prior testimony, she later admitted to drafting and signing the document.

Upon review of all of the evidence, the court ruled that, “there clearly was an incident of domestic violence that occurred at that time involving intoxication by alcohol.” The court further stated, “Ms. Mick, you and Mr. Alexander were not candid with the Court with respect to your declarations and your presentation at the time of the hearing … It appears that there have been, all things being considered, some level of deliberate falsehoods rendered by each Mr. Alexander and Respondent, mother (Shannon Mick).”

The Lake County District Attorney’s Office subsequently charged Mick with perjury, alleging that she both declared in written affidavits and testified under oath to material facts she knew to be false.

Deputy District Attorney Daniel Flesch, who handles all perjury cases, said that Mick pleaded no contest to one count of perjury.

Mick is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 29. The District Attorney’s Office said perjury carries a maximum sentence of four years in local prison.

Lake County District Attorney Don Anderson established the unit to take on the widespread problem of perjury that the courts face all the time.

The Lake County District Attorney’s Office has received national attention for its Perjury Intervention Unit, which is believed to be the only such unit in the United States.

Anderson said he’s hopeful that people will think twice before lying in court or in affidavits.

“We are committed to curtailing some of the falsehoods testified to in court in the criminal, civil and family law arena,” he said.
Posted On

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said it has identified a female student as the source of a threat made at two Middletown schools on Thursday, with authorities still to determine if any charges will be filed against the girl.

Lt. Corey Paulich said that, with the help of students and parents, the individual responsible for writing the threat on a school wall between the Middletown High and Middle Schools has been identified as a 13-year-old girl.

The girl’s name has not been released due to her juvenile status.

Authorities said a “vague threat” was discovered written on a school wall between the Middletown High and Middletown Middle school campuses on Thursday afternoon, with Middletown HIgh School officials reporting it to the sheriff’s office.

Paulich told Lake County News that the threat was found written on a sign on the wall.

It was small and handwritten, and stated, “I’m shooting up the skool @ 8 a.m.,” Paulich said.

Paulich said school officials were not sure exactly when the threat was written.

“We treated it like it was today,” as to when the threat was intended to be carried out, Paulich said Friday.

As a result, on Friday, the sheriff’s office had an increased presence on the Middletown High and Middletown Middle School campuses, Paulich said.

Paulich said the sheriff's office worked in cooperation with school officials to investigate the threat, with authorities interviewing the involved students and their parents.

With help from students and parents, Paulich said the individual responsible for writing the threat was identified as the 13-year-old girl.

Based on the investigation, Paulich said the sheriff's office does not believe there’s any further threat.

He said the completed investigation will be forwarded to the Lake County Probation Department for review and possible prosecution.

Probation, not the District Attorney’s Office, handles juvenile-related cases, he explained.

In addition, Paulich said school officials are evaluating how they want to proceed and whether they’ll take any disciplinary action against the student.

The sheriff’s office said the partnership between the Middletown schools, students and parents allowed this threat to be addressed and identified quickly, and the agency thanked all of those who were involved.

Paulich said the sheriff's office and the Middletown Unified School District will continue to take all threats seriously.

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.
Posted On

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has a group of big dogs ready to go to new homes this week.

The dogs offered adoption this week include mixes of border collie, boxer, pit bull, Rottweiler and shepherd.

Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.

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

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

This male boxer is in kennel No. 2, ID No. 8978. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Pit bull terrier

This male boxer has a tan and white coat.

He already has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 2, ID No. 8978.

This male shepherd mix is in kennel No. 5, ID No. 9042. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Shepherd mix

This male shepherd mix has a long black coat with white markings.

He is in kennel No. 5, ID No. 9042.

This female pit bull is in kennel No. 16, ID No. 9060. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Female pit bull

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

She’s in kennel No. 16, ID No. 9060.

This male pit bull is in kennel No. 17, ID No. 9058. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Male pit bull

This male pit bull has a short brindle coat with white markings.

He’s in kennel No. 17, ID No. 9058.

This male Rottweiler-shepherd mix is in kennel No. 27, ID No. 9033. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Rottweiler-shepherd mix

This male Rottweiler-shepherd mix has a short brown and black coat.

He’s in kennel No. 27, ID No. 9033.

“Lucy” is a female border collie in kennel No. 28, ID No. 9025. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

‘Lucy’

“Lucy” is a female border collie with a medium-length black and white coat.

She’s in kennel No. 28, ID No. 9025.

This male pit bull terrier is in kennel No. 29, ID No. 9003. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Male pit bull terrier

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

He already has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 29, ID No. 9003.

This male pit bull terrier is in kennel No. 30, ID No. 8936. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Male pit bull terrier

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

He already has been neutered.

Shelter staff said his adoption fees have been paid by an anonymous donor, so he is available for adoption to the first approved application.

He’s in kennel No. 30, ID No. 8936.

This male boxer is in kennel No. 33, ID No. 9026. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Male boxer

This male boxer has a short brown coat with white markings.

He’s in kennel No. 33, ID No. 9026.

“Cooper” is a male shepherd in kennel No. 34, ID No. 9024. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

‘Cooper’

“Cooper” is a male shepherd with a short brown and tan coat.

He already has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 34, ID No. 9024.

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.
Posted On

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Rotary District 5130 Fire Relief Fund is making available a grant program to small businesses located in Lake, Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma counties that have been affected by the recent devastating fires.

The Rotary Business Grant Recovery Program began in 2015 in Lake County in response to the devastation created during the Valley fire and then again with the Clayton fire a year later.

It’s offered with the support of the Redwood Credit Union Community Fund Inc. and their partnership with the Press Democrat and the office of Sen. Mike McGuire.

“We are proud to once again support the efforts of Rotary in assisting businesses rebuild just as we did during the fires in Lake County,” said Brett Martinez, president of Redwood Credit Union. “The program has been incredibly successful over the past couple of years and we are confident that it will continue to help our business communities recover.”

The goal of the grant program is to assist in fire recovery with an emphasis on getting storefronts, agriculture and home businesses back into operation to prevent potential closure due to losses suffered as a result of the fires.

Losses can be economic or physical and grants of up to $5,000 will be made based upon need to businesses with 25 or less employees.

According to Bob Rogers, district governor for Rotary District 5130, “Businesses are the heart of a community and we believe that it’s important to support them in the rebuilding process while helping them get back on their feet during these unprecedented times”.

In addition to the business recovery grants, the Rotary District 5130 Fire Relief Fund is also taking general assistance grant requests to assist the recovery in the areas of youth services, tree reforestation and grief counseling.

For additional information on the Rotary District 5130 Fire Relief Fund, to make donations or submit a grant request please go to www.larca5130.org.

Grant applications may also be submitted to Rotary District 5130 Fire Relief Fund, P. O. Box 2921, Clearlake, CA 95422, or emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Posted On

From left, Haylee Wade and Hoku-Lani Wickard. Courtesy photos.


CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Come out and celebrate the holidays with the annual Christmas parade and tree lighting ceremony in Clearlake on Saturday, Dec. 9.

The lighted parade will begin at 6 p.m. from Redbud Park and end at Austin Park.

This year the grand marshals are Lower Lake High School seniors Haylee Wade and Hoku-Lani Wickard, who were chosen due to their great academic and athletic achievements.

Wade has been cheerleading for four years at Lower Lake High School. Her team recently qualified for the California state and the national cheer competitions this year. They will travel to Bakersfield for the state competition and Las Vegas for the National competition. Her team is working hard so that they can bring another national title back to our community in 2018.

She was the runner up for the Cheerleader of the Year in Cheerleader magazine in 2015. Her competition cheer team just won first place in San Francisco at the Slam City cheer competition on Dec. 2.

Wade has always kept a 4.0 grade point average throughout high school and plans on attending college where she would like to study nursing and sports medicine. Part of her college decision will be based on the cheer team at the school as she plans on continuing cheerleading while in college.

She has applied to several University of California and California State Universities. She has also been in contact with colleges outside of California that offer athletic scholarships to cheerleaders as well.

A competition cheer team practices almost year round. Getting a team ready to compete with the best high schools out there takes a lot of time and dedication. When not in practice, she spends her time either in the gym, studying or helping the youth cheer program with tumbling and choreographing their competition routines and mixing music to go along with them.

Wickard is a senior at Lower Lake High School. He has a 4.2 grade point average and he plays three sports: football, basketball and track.

Wickard’s main sport is football and he plans on going to a four-year college to play on scholarship, of which he currently has three.

His plan is to major in either psychology or sociology.

He has helped out with youth football, as well as youth basketball in the community to teach kids that they must be good people as well as good athletes.

LCNews

Responsible local journalism on the shores of Clear Lake.

 

Memberships:

 

Search