LAKEPORT, Calif. – Blue Heron 4-H Club of Lakeport represented well at the Cloverdale Citrus Fair Rabbit and Cavy show last Sunday.

Three members of the Blue Heron 4-H Club participated in rabbit and/or cavy showmanship, and breed and fur judging in a double show.

Charlie Adams earned a second place ribbon in novice cavy showmanship, best of breed for his giant chinchilla rabbit, best of breed for his American Chinchilla rabbit, best opposite sex of breed for his American Cavy and first for teddy cavy intermediate.

Robin Adams placed first in novice cavy showmanship, which bumped her up to compete in junior showmanship, earning her a third place ribbon in that category.

Robin also won best of breed with her giant chinchilla rabbit, best of breed for her American Chinchilla rabbit, best opposite sex of breed for her American Chinchilla, second for teddy cavy intermediate and two first place wins for fur with her American Chinchilla.

Jaden Bussard earned a fifth place ribbon in intermediate rabbit showmanship, second place for breed with his Holland Lop rabbit and two first place wins for fur with his Holland Lop.

All three had a good time and showed great sportsmanship with their fellow 4-Hers and show attendees.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The 1934 mystery-comedy, “The Thin Man,” screens on Tuesday, March 10, with show times at 1 and 6 p.m.

Nominated for four Academy Awards, the film stars the charming and witty duo, William Powell and Myrna Loy.

Based on a novel by Dashiell Hammett, one of the fathers of noir, “The Thin Man” provides the usual clues, suspects and solution to a murder, but in tone and intent it's more like an all-dialogue version of an Astaire and Rogers musical, with elegant people in luxury hotel penthouses.

Filmed on what MGM considered a B-picture budget and two week schedule this movie quickly proved to be a “sleeper,” spawning a popular film, radio and television series.

Contrary to popular belief, the title does not refer to star William Powell, but to the missing inventor who sets the plot in motion.

Entry to the film is by donation.

The Soper Reese Theatre is located at 275 S. Main St., Lakeport, telephone 707-263-0577 and online at www.soperreesetheatre.com .

FINLEY, Calif. – The Lakeport Fire Protection District will conduct a live fire training burn on Sunday, Feb. 22.

District officials said the burn will begin at 8 a.m. and last until early afternoon.

The training will include the burn of a structure at 3467 Stone Drive in Finley just south of the packing sheds. The structure was donated by the owner.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Caltrans has provided another status update on the ongoing assessment of corrosion-protecting grout around the tower anchor rods and testing on one rod from the Bay Bridge tower foundation.

Underneath the Bay Bridge deck, there are 152, 6-inch solid steel dowels that prevent the 525 foot steel tower from sliding atop a massive steel and concrete foundation.

There also are 424 high-strength steel anchor rods – each about 25 feet long – that also link the foundation and tower for additional seismic performance during an earthquake.

Last year, one of these anchor rods was subjected to extensive laboratory testing, including soaking it in salt water for extended periods of time and then stressing to failure, a test that helped confirm the anchor rod’s strength.

These 424 anchor rods are surrounded by long steel tubes that are supposed to be filled with grout to prevent water from contacting the steel rods.

Unfortunately, the state’s contractor failed to properly fill all the 424 tubes with grout.

In September 2014, Caltrans inspectors observed water at the base of the SAS tower beneath caulking that was placed around the rods.

A quarter of the tubes were not fully grouted, with several other tubes missing inches to meters of grout.

The state’s contractor took responsibility for the errors and agreed to work with Caltrans to fix this problem.

Since then, contractors have drilled inspection holes in the existing grout, to thoroughly investigate grout and anchor rod conditions.

Tiny cameras called borescopes are being used to help evaluate the grout conditions.  

Workers also removed one of the 424 anchor rods that was not properly grouted in order to conduct extensive laboratory testing including visual inspection, examining the galvanization and mechanical testing.

The purpose of the testing is to determine whether any of the corrosion-protective galvanization on the rod was compromised and, if so, to what extent.

Removing the anchor rod for testing took nearly a month and involved hydraulic torque wrenches and 100-ton jacks.

One preliminary test result shows some galvanization is missing around the threads at the bottom of the anchor rod, leading to potential corrosion of the steel of this one bolt.

Powerful scanning electron microscopes providing 1000-times magnification show a microscopic crack in the anchor rod material. It is too early to develop conclusions about the cause or significance of this observation without additional tests and analysis. 

“We have one preliminary test result that shows a microscopic indication on the surface of the steel of one bolt,” said Dr. Brian Maroney, chief bridge engineer who ordered extensive bolt testing on the bridge. “Given the tremendous forces applied to the rod to remove it for testing, it is too early to determine exactly what this means and we are ordering additional testing. Regardless of what we discover about the past, we will take whatever steps are necessary to protect the rods from corrosion going forward.”

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Native Daughters of the Golden West Lupoyoma Parlor No. 329 Lake County continue its membership drive to bring the parlor back to life and make it active.

Lupoyoma Parlor No. 329 was chartered July 22, 1972.

The group's monthly outreach in local media and its new Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/LakecountyNDGW , appear to be helping to bring new Native Daughters to the meetings.

They continue to look for a permanent meeting location for the monthly meetings, held at 6 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month. Until that time they will continue to meet at the local Round Table Pizza in Lakeport.

One of the highlights of the monthly meetings is 100-year-old Native Daughter Ruby Glebe and her amazing stories about local history.

She is sharp as a tack and still drives herself to the meetings. She is an absolute treasure and the parlor is happy to have her as a member.

Glebe was one of the signatories on the official parlor charter and that she has been a Native Daughter for 40 years. The parlor recently presented Glebe with a Native Daughters of the Golden West certificate in recognition of her 100th birthday.

All Native Daughters are welcome to attend the monthly meetings.

For more information contact Parlor President Carla Dore, 831-524-5588, or Dee Cuney, 707-235-2902.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Relay for Life Twisted Family Ties team is planning a yard sale on Saturday, March 7.

The event will begin at 9 a.m. at Clearlake Automotive, 14090 Lakeshore Drive in Clearlake.

For more about the team, which will participate in the May Relay for Life event, visit http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?fr_id=68316&pg=team&team_id=1686458 .