LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has a new group of dogs featuring several pups and working breeds.

Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of Anatolian Shepherd, Catahoula Leopard Dog, Chihuahua, Dalmatian, Labrador Retriever, pit bull, shepherd, terrier and treeing walker coonhound.

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”).

Female terrier

This female terrier has a medium-length fawn-colored coat.

She is in kennel No. 6, ID No. 12233.

Female terrier

This female terrier has a medium-length fawn coat.

She has been spayed.

She’s in kennel No. 7, ID No. 12234.

‘Lucy’

“Lucy” is a female Anatolian Shepherd with a medium-length white and black coat.

She already has been spayed.

She’s in kennel No. 9, ID No. 12168.

Labrador Retriever-Dalmatian

This male Labrador Retriever-Dalmatian has a short black and white coat.

He’s in kennel No. 10, ID No. 12238.

Female shepherd

This female shepherd has a short tricolor coat.

She’s in kennel No. 11, ID No. 12180.

Catahoula Leopard Dog

This male Catahoula Leopard Dog has a short tricolor coat.

He’s in kennel No. 13, ID No. 12230.

‘Bon-Bon’

“Bon-Bon” is a male Chihuahua with a short tricolor coat.

He already has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 17, ID No. 12157.

‘Luke’

“Luke” is a male treeing walker coonhound with a short tricolor coat.

Shelter staff said he is dominant with other dogs and would prefer not to play but just soak up human affection. He can live with others but prefers to not have them in his space. Luke is good with children ages 6 and above.

He has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 18, ID No. 11771.

Male pit bull terrier

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

He’s in kennel No. 19, ID No. 12243.

Female pit bull terrier

This female pit bull terrier has a short tan coat.

She’s in kennel No. 26, ID No. 12185.

‘Bear’

“Bear” is a male Labrador Retriever with a short black coat with white markings.

He’s in kennel No. 27, ID No. 12205.

Chihuahua-terrier mix

This male Chihuahua-terrier mix has a short black coat.

He’s in kennel No. 29a, ID No. 12112.

Male Chihuahua

This male Chihuahua has a short white and brown coat.

He’s in kennel No. 31, ID No. 12216.

Female Labrador Retriever

This young female Labrador Retriever has a short black and white coat.

She has been spayed.

She’s in kennel No. 33a, ID No. 12189.

Female Labrador Retriever

This young female Labrador Retriever has a short black and white coat.

She has been spayed.

She’s in kennel No. 33a, ID No. 12190.

Female Labrador Retriever

This young female Labrador Retriever has a short black and white coat.

She’s in kennel No. 34a, ID No. 12191.

Female Labrador Retriever

This young female Labrador Retriever has a short black and white coat.

She’s in kennel No. 34b, ID No. 12192.

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.

As thousands of drivers across the state prepare to hit the road for the busy Memorial Day weekend, the California Office of Traffic Safety, or OTS, reminds the traveling public to always buckle up and wear a seat belt.

From May 20 to June 2, law enforcement agencies statewide will have additional officers on patrol looking for drivers and passengers who are not wearing their seat belt, as well as children who are not secured in a child safety seat.

The enforcement effort is part of the national Click It or Ticket campaign aimed at saving lives through increased seat belt use.

“Buckling up only takes a few seconds, and is your best protection in the event of a crash,” OTS Director Rhonda Craft said. “It’s hard to believe people continue to ride without wearing a seat belt, but it shows that education and enforcement is still needed to ensure people remain safe on the road.”

At 96.2 percent, California has one of the highest seat belt use rates in the nation, but that number is down from 96.5 percent in 2016.

In California, the fine for a seat belt violation is $162. The fine for failing to secure a child in a proper safety seat is $490. California has a primary seat belt law, which allows law enforcement officers to ticket someone for not wearing a seat belt without committing any other traffic violation.

California law requires children under two years old, 40 pounds and 40 inches to ride in a rear- facing seat. Children under the age of eight or under 4 feet 9 inches are required to be secured in a car or booster seat.

“Children are our future, and it’s important that they are as safe as possible while riding in the car,” Director Craft said.

The OTS recently launched a new campaign, “Go Safely, California,” which serves as a resource for Californians to stay safe on the go.

To learn more about the campaign, visit www.gosafelyca.org .

The OTS administers funding for traffic safety programs statewide with the goal of reducing deaths, injuries, and economic losses. The OTS is a department under the California State Transportation Agency.

For the first time in NASA’s history, women are in charge of three out of four science divisions at the agency.

The Earth Science, Heliophysics and Planetary Science divisions now all have women at the helm.

Each hails from a different country and brings unique expertise to NASA’s exploration efforts.

“We have an extraordinary group of women responsible for the success of dozens of NASA space missions and research programs, revealing new insights about our planet, Sun and solar system,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. “They are inspiring the next generation of women to become leaders in space exploration as we move forward to put the first woman on the Moon.”

Sandra Cauffman, acting director of the Earth Science division, leads the agency’s efforts to understand the intricacies of our home planet – the only one where we know life can survive. Her journey to NASA has been one full of determination and persistence.

As a child in Costa Rica, Cauffman loved reading science fiction books such as Jules Verne’s “From the Earth to the Moon” and Isaac Asimov’s novels. Her mother, whom Cauffman considers her hero and inspiration, constantly struggled to make ends meet for her children, but maintained an upbeat attitude.

“Even when we didn’t have anything, even when we got kicked out of places, even when we ended up living in an office because we had no place to go, she was always positive,” Cauffman said. Her mother told her: “You can do anything that you want, you just have to put your mind to it.”

Because the family had no television, they went to a neighbor’s house to watch the Apollo 11 landing in 1969. “I just remember telling Mom I wanted to go to the Moon,” Cauffman said.

Fascinated by physics in high school, Cauffman wanted to continue her studies in college. She worked in a hardware store to help pay for her undergraduate education in physics and electrical engineering at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

As a native Spanish speaker, she struggled daily with English – first learning words like “hammer,” “nail” and “bolt” through her job at the shop. She barely passed her test of English as a second language. But she kept going, eventually earning a master’s in electrical engineering.

She joined NASA in February 1991 as the ground systems manager for the Satellite Servicing Project at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

She worked on Hubble’s first servicing mission, the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, the Explorer Platform/Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer and others. She also contributed to the weather satellite program Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite I/M, N/P and R Series, as well as the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission.

After 25 years at Goddard, she moved to NASA Headquarters in 2016, and became deputy director for the Earth Science Division in the Science Mission Directorate.

In February 2019, upon the retirement of Michael Freilich, she was named acting director of the Earth Science Division.

In her early NASA career, she was often the only woman or one of very few in the room, and developed the courage to speak up for herself.

These days, with many more women contributing to NASA, Cauffman looks for opportunities to make sure everyone’s voice is heard.

If a young female colleague’s opinion is being overstepped in a meeting, Cauffman will intervene: “Hey, she spoke, can we listen to what she has to say?”

Though she had a brief foray into Mars missions, Earth is Cauffman’s favorite planet. And she enjoys knowing that Earth science has real benefits to society.

“What we do in observing Earth as a system gives us the additional benefit of helping humans here on Earth survive hurricanes, tornadoes, pollution, fires, and help public health,” she said. “Understanding the oceans, the algae blooms – all of those things help humans right here on Earth.”

Her message to young people who aspire to a career like hers reflects her mother’s message to her: “Don’t give up at the first ‘no.’ With determination and perseverance, we can become what we dream we can become.”

Nicola Fox, director of the Heliophysics division, leads NASA’s efforts to explore the star that makes life possible on Earth: our sun.

Scientists who study heliophysics are looking at how the sun impacts our planet and the rest of the solar system, as well as how we can protect astronauts, satellites and robotic missions from its harsh radiation. Scientists can also compare the sun to other stars that host planets, leading to insights about which distant worlds might be able to host life.

“Ever since people first looked up, they’ve been looking at the bright light in the sky,” she said. “We are really the oldest science branch.”

A native of Hitchin, a small English market town, Fox also has a special connection to the Apollo 11 Moon landing. When she was just 8 months old, her father took her out of her crib, propped her up at the television and gave her a running commentary of the historic event.

“Dad takes credit (for my space science career),” Fox said. “To him, the best thing you could do in life was to work at NASA.”

But since England didn’t have a space program, this seemed to Fox like a distant “pipe dream,” akin to winning a Grammy or an Oscar.

Fox attended an all-girls school where students were encouraged to follow their interests. Her mother also made sure she had opportunities try a wide variety of hobbies and pursuits. She never had the sense that particular subjects were “for boys” or “for girls.”

In college, however, Fox was frequently one of the only women in her science classes. After earning a bachelor’s degree in physics, Fox entered a master’s program in telematics (satellite and computer engineering), where she was in a cohort of four women out of 280 students. She then went on to complete a Ph.D. in space and atmospheric physics.

She moved to the United States for her postdoctoral fellowship at Goddard. The late Mario Acuña, a pioneer in the study of planetary magnetic fields, was a mentor there to Fox, and “really pushed me to do things that were outside my comfort zone,” she said.

In 1998, she moved to the Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Laboratory. Recently, she served as the project scientist for NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, which launched in 2018 as the first mission to “touch” the Sun.

One of her more personal connections with the sun was the 2017 solar eclipse, which she viewed from a field in Nebraska with her parents, who flew over from England, and her children.

Her hopes of seeing the sun blocked out by the moon were nearly crushed by clouds and rain. But right at the big moment, the clouds parted and framed the sun’s corona – its outer plasma layer – in all its splendor.

“It was my first eclipse. It was doubly exciting,” she said.

She moved to NASA Headquarters to lead the Heliophysics division in September 2018. She has loved how everyone, from rocket engineers to custodians, are part of NASA exploration missions, and “Taking part in something so much greater than you.” Her message to the next generation of space fans is: There’s a career for everyone at NASA.

“If you think about the diversity of roles that take getting a mission into space, all different types of jobs come together,” she said. “If you want to work at NASA, there’s a job for you.”

Lori Glaze leads the Planetary Science division, which focuses on space missions and research that seek to answer questions fundamental to how our solar system formed and evolved, and whether there are other worlds that could, or could have in the past, supported life.

When Glaze was growing up, her mother worked as an aeronautical engineer, and was very passionate about her work.

From mechanical work on commercial airliners to the space shuttle program, Glaze’s mother persisted in what was a male-dominated field and didn’t think twice about it. She worked and grew in a field she loved, making a big impression on Glaze.

“That was a tremendous inspiration for me, as a young woman, seeing that a technical career, a career in leadership in a mathematical or scientific field, was possible,” Glaze said.

In 1980, when Glaze was a high school student in Seattle, she heard the blast of Mount St. Helens erupting. Silicate ash shards rained down on houses and cars, scratching windows like little pieces of glass. Between this experience and an exhibit about the eruption that blanketed Pompeii in 79 AD, Glaze became transfixed by volcanoes.

In college, she learned that volcanoes aren’t just on Earth. NASA’s Voyager mission had revealed the first proof of volcanic activity beyond our planet at Jupiter’s moon Io in 1979. Mars has the giant dormant volcano Olympus Mons, the tallest in the solar system.

Venus holds our planetary neighborhood’s record for most volcanoes, although the jury is still out whether any are still active today.

Glaze’s curiosity led her to wonder about the way lava flows, how eruptions happen and differences among volcanoes on different planets.

She ended up getting bachelor’s and master’s degree in physics at the University of Texas, Arlington. While working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, she earned a Ph.D. in environmental science from Lancaster University in the United Kingdom.

At JPL she worked on a concept for an orbiting volcano observatory and other Earth remote sensing research projects.

After that, she spent over 10 years working for a private company, then moved to NASA Goddard. She continued pursuing her interest in how satellites can track volcanic eruptions on Earth and reveal the volcanic histories of worlds beyond our own.

Glaze has been involved with many NASA-sponsored Venus mission concept formulation studies, including as a member of the Venus Flagship Science and Technology Definition Team, as Science Champion for the Venus Mobile Explorer (2010), and Co-Science Champion for the Venus Intrepid Tessera Lander (2010).

Before her move to NASA Headquarters in 2018, she also was the principal investigator of a Venus atmospheric entry probe concept called Deep Atmosphere Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging.

Over the last 10 to 15 years, Glaze has witnessed a huge growth in opportunities for women like herself to work in leadership positions. As recently as two years ago, Glaze realized she was the only woman at a particular study meeting, but said she still felt her contributions were respected and valued. She has found NASA’s Science Mission Directorate especially welcoming.

“It’s the most diverse group of people I’ve ever worked with and it’s the kind of place where you feel like everyone’s ideas are being heard; and really moving along and advancing our understanding in how we want to go about doing science at NASA,” Glaze said. “I think it’s a great place to be today.”

Astrophysics, the other science division at NASA, is led by Paul Hertz.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Middletown Cemetery District will hold Memorial Day services to honor our veterans on Monday, May 27, at 9 a.m. on the cemetery grounds at 16357 Butts Canyon Road.

Join them at the Mary Hardesty Building, on the top of the hill for the festivities and refreshments where parking is provided.

The ceremonies include colorful flowered wreaths, made by the floral design class from the Middletown High School. The wreaths are presented in honor of our veterans who have given so much to our country.

Commander Rich Feiro and Sergeant of the Guard Larry Mick from the Lake County Military Honors Team will begin the ceremonies and veteran Bill Larry Ward will do the Church Calling and Taps. Veteran Chaplin Woody Hughes will do the invocation.

The Lake County Military Honors Team will perform the 21 gun salute. They will be ushered in by the Patriot Guard Riders.

The 4-H Club is in charge of the flag ceremony. Girl Scouts Troop No. 10403 with leader Rebecca Crawford will help with wreath placement and programs and will place the flags on the 207 veterans’ graves. Daisy troop No. 10917, with leader Adel Peterson, will help.

District 1 Supervisor Moke Simon, who also is tribal chair of Middletown Rancheria, will be the guest speaker and read the names of the veterans buried at Middletown Rancheria.

Jim Comstock, former District 1 supervisor and a Vietnam veteran, will read the names of the veterans buried in the Middletown Cemetery.

Linda Diehl Darms, vice chair of the Middletown Cemetery District, will act as mistress of ceremonies. The benediction will be given by Voris Brumfield, president of the Historical Society. David Neft will provide the sound and keyboard, accompanying Kathleen Escude vocalist.

The Lion’s Club faithfully provides the chairs and helps with many set up items on this special day.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Mendocino College Superintendent/President Arturo Reyes announced that the Mendocino College Board of Trustees has confirmed Judy Kanavle as director of the Lake Center in Lakeport.

Kanavle’s permanent appointment to the job becomes effective June 1.

She came to the Lake Center in February 2018 as its interim director.

In her time at the center, Kanavle has been reported to be an effective advocate for students and programs in Lake County.

She has been working at Mendocino College since July of 2016 when she began as the college’s first Adult Education Block Grant director.

She led a consortium of adult educators very successfully until she became the interim Lake Center director in 2018.

Her education includes a master's degree in public administration from Columbia University, a bachelor’s from U.C. Berkeley in environmental economics and an associate’s degree from Mendocino College.

Before she joined Mendocino College, Kanavle held a variety of positions in project management, community development and program facilitation. She is highly trained as a facilitator and brings that skill and many others to her work at the college.

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The Fults Family Vineyard quilt block has been added to the Lake County Quilt Trail.

The 4-foot by 4-foot quilt block has been installed on the metal barn located on the Fults Family Vineyard property at 11441 Highway 29 outside of Lower Lake near Clayton Creek.

Fults Family Vineyard is a family owned boutique vineyard and wine tasting room.

The 150-year-old ranch and former stage stop was purchased in 2001.

What began as a hobby soon turned into a full-fledged business for the Fults family.

The quilt block was designed to represent the family vineyards and the colors represent the University of Nebraska of which many family members are alumni.

Fults Family Vineyard produces a variety of red and white wines made by son, Dustin Fults.

After many devastating fires in the region, Fults Family Vineyard began a fundraising effort using their previously named label, “Wildfire.”

Originally named for the chaotic nature of red wine making, “Wildfire” ironically became the label to help give back to the community with Fults Family Vineyard’s generous fundraising efforts.

The Lake County Quilt Trail is an agricultural and tourism project designed to promote community pride.

The quilt block was drawn and painted by the Lake County Quilt Trail team.

For more information about the Lake County Quilt Trail visit its Web site or Facebook page.

A San Francisco judge on Friday ordered California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to begin disclosing police-misconduct files sought by the First Amendment Coalition.

The group hailed the decision as a victory for government transparency against one of the few remaining police agencies in the state to refuse to comply with Senate Bill 1421, California’s new landmark police transparency bill that went into effect on Jan. 1.

San Francisco Superior Court judge Richard B. Ulmer Jr. rejected the attorney general’s claim that he could not release pre-2019 files until the courts decided whether SB 1421 was “retroactive,” i.e., whether it required the disclosure of records created before the bill went into effect.

That issue has already been resolved, specifically by the California Court of Appeal, which as Ulmer noted is binding on the attorney general.

Friday’s order was tentative, but the judge indicated in court that the final order would be substantively the same.

“Judge Ulmer’s order sends the clear message that the Attorney General is not above California law,” said FAC Executive Director David Snyder. “Like every other police agency in the state, his department must produce records of police misconduct covered by SB 1421 and can no longer delay.”

The judge ordered the attorney general to meet with FAC and its co-plaintiff KQED to work out the specifics of when the department will begin releasing records.

“Transparency and accountability in policing are fundamental components to building safe and secure communities for all Californians,” said Attorney General Xavier Becerra in a statement released on Friday. “With this court’s ruling, my office now has much of the clarity we have sought in our efforts to appropriately follow the letter of the law. At the California Department of Justice, we know that the work does not stop here, and we will continue our efforts to strengthen the trust that must exist between peace officers and those they serve.”

After SB 1421 went into effect on Jan. 1, numerous police unions across the state tried to resist disclosing records by arguing the bill was not “retroactive” and that they only needed to release documents created post-Jan. 1. Those arguments have, one by one, failed.

FAC led media coalitions in courts across California – specifically, Los Angeles County Superior Court, Contra Costa County Superior Court and the California Supreme Court – to defeat the unions’ arguments.

In each instance, courts rejected the unions’ claims, with the LA and Contra Costa courts concluding that the bill does, in fact, apply to documents before Jan. 1 of this year. FAC also filed amicus briefs in similar actions in Santa Barbara County, Ventura County and Riverside County.

Despite the bill’s clear intention and the courts’ clear rulings about its “retroactive” effect, the California Department of Justice, under the authority of the Attorney General, has steadfastly refused to comply with the law. FAC requested records from the department under SB 1421 on January 4, but it refused to disclose the records in a response sent on January 28.

The refusal to comply prompted FAC to file suit in the San Francisco Superior Court on Feb. 21, with KQED later joining FAC.

The FAC-KQED suit seeks the release of records regarding four categories of serious police misconduct, which Senate Bill 1421 requires all state and local agencies to disclose.

View FAC and KQED’s lawsuit against AG Xavier Becerra.

View Friday's order by Judge Richard B. Ulmer, Jr.

FAC is represented in this matter by attorney Michael Risher.

The moon is shrinking as its interior cools, getting more than about 150 feet (50 meters) skinnier over the last several hundred million years.

Just as a grape wrinkles as it shrinks down to a raisin, the moon gets wrinkles as it shrinks. Unlike the flexible skin on a grape, the moon’s surface crust is brittle, so it breaks as the moon shrinks, forming “thrust faults” where one section of crust is pushed up over a neighboring part.

“Our analysis gives the first evidence that these faults are still active and likely producing moonquakes today as the moon continues to gradually cool and shrink,” said Thomas Watters, senior scientist in the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington. “Some of these quakes can be fairly strong, around five on the Richter scale.”

These fault scarps resemble small stair-step shaped cliffs when seen from the lunar surface, typically tens of yards (meters) high and extending for a few miles.

Astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt had to zig-zag their lunar rover up and over the cliff face of the Lee-Lincoln fault scarp during the Apollo 17 mission that landed in the Taurus-Littrow valley in 1972.

Watters is lead author of a study that analyzed data from four seismometers placed on the moon by the Apollo astronauts using an algorithm, or mathematical program, developed to pinpoint quake locations detected by a sparse seismic network. The algorithm gave a better estimate of moonquake locations.

Seismometers are instruments that measure the shaking produced by quakes, recording the arrival time and strength of various quake waves to get a location estimate, called an epicenter. The study was published May 13 in Nature Geoscience.

Astronauts placed the instruments on the lunar surface during the Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, and 16 missions. The Apollo 11 seismometer operated only for three weeks, but the four remaining recorded 28 shallow moonquakes – the type expected to be produced by these faults – from 1969 to 1977. The quakes ranged from about 2 to around 5 on the Richter scale.

Using the revised location estimates from the new algorithm, the team found that eight of the 28 shallow quakes were within 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) of faults visible in lunar images. This is close enough to tentatively attribute the quakes to the faults, since modeling by the team shows that this is the distance over which strong shaking is expected to occur, given the size of these fault scarps.

Additionally, the new analysis found that six of the eight quakes happened when the moon was at or near its apogee, the farthest point from Earth in its orbit. This is where additional tidal stress from Earth’s gravity causes a peak in the total stress, making slip-events along these faults more likely.

“We think it’s very likely that these eight quakes were produced by faults slipping as stress built up when the lunar crust was compressed by global contraction and tidal forces, indicating that the Apollo seismometers recorded the shrinking moon and the moon is still tectonically active,” said Watters.

The researchers ran 10,000 simulations to calculate the chance of a coincidence producing that many quakes near the faults at the time of greatest stress. They found it is less than 4 percent.

Additionally, while other events, such as meteoroid impacts, can produce quakes, they produce a different seismic signature than quakes made by fault slip events.

Other evidence that these faults are active comes from highly detailed images of the moon by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft, also known as LRO.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, or LROC, has imaged over 3,500 of the fault scarps. Some of these images show landslides or boulders at the bottom of relatively bright patches on the slopes of fault scarps or nearby terrain.

Weathering from solar and space radiation gradually darkens material on the lunar surface, so brighter areas indicate regions that are freshly exposed to space, as expected if a recent moonquake sent material sliding down a cliff.

Examples of fresh boulder fields are found on the slopes of a fault scarp in the Vitello cluster and examples of possible bright features are associated with faults that occur near craters Gemma Frisius C and Mouchez L.

Other LROC fault images show tracks from boulder falls, which would be expected if the fault slipped and the resulting quake sent boulders rolling down the cliff slope. These tracks are evidence of a recent quake because they should be erased relatively quickly, in geologic time scales, by the constant rain of micrometeoroid impacts on the moon.

Boulder tracks near faults in Schrödinger basin have been attributed to recent boulder falls induced by seismic shaking.

Additionally, one of the revised moonquake epicenters is just 13 kilometers (8 miles) from the Lee-Lincoln scarp traversed by the Apollo 17 astronauts.

The astronauts also examined boulders and boulder tracks on the slope of North Massif near the landing site. A large landslide on South Massif that covered the southern segment of the Lee-Lincoln scarp is further evidence of possible moonquakes generated by fault slip events.

“It’s really remarkable to see how data from nearly 50 years ago and from the LRO mission has been combined to advance our understanding of the moon while suggesting where future missions intent on studying the moon’s interior processes should go,” said LRO Project Scientist John Keller of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Since LRO has been photographing the lunar surface since 2009, the team would like to compare pictures of specific fault regions from different times to see if there is any evidence of recent moonquake activity.

Additionally, “Establishing a new network of seismometers on the lunar surface should be a priority for human exploration of the moon, both to learn more about the moon’s interior and to determine how much of a hazard moonquakes present,” said co-author Renee Weber, a planetary seismologist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

The moon isn’t the only world in our solar system experiencing some shrinkage with age. Mercury has enormous thrust faults – up to about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) long and over a mile (3 kilometers) high – that are significantly larger relative to its size than those on the moon, indicating it shrank much more than the moon.

Since rocky worlds expand when they heat up and contract as they cool, Mercury’s large faults reveal that is was likely hot enough to be completely molten after its formation.

Scientists trying to reconstruct the moon’s origin wonder whether the same happened to the moon, or if instead it was only partially molten, perhaps with a magma ocean over a more slowly heating deep interior. The relatively small size of the moon’s fault scarps is in line with the more subtle contraction expected from a partially molten scenario.

NASA will send the first woman, and next man, to the Moon by 2024. These American astronauts will take a human landing system from the Gateway in lunar orbit, and land on the lunar South Pole. The agency will establish sustainable missions by 2028, then we’ll take what we learn on the Moon, and go to Mars.

This research was funded by NASA’s LRO project, with additional support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. LRO is managed by NASA Goddard for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The LROC is managed at Arizona State University in Tempe.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – This week, the federal government announced it is making available more than $491 million in assistance grants for major 2018 California wildland fires and wind events, including last year’s Mendocino Complex fires.

The award for California was part of nearly $1.5 billion in funding awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to support seven states in their recovery from major disasters that occurred last year, from Hurricane Michael and Hurricane Florence, to California’s devastating wildland fires, among them, the Camp, Carr and Mendocino Complex.

HUD said the funds are provided through its Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery Program and will address seriously damaged housing, businesses and infrastructure in hard-hit areas of these states.

The agency said the program requires grantees to develop “thoughtful recovery plans informed by local residents.”

“Last year’s disasters left damaged homes, businesses and infrastructure in their wake,” said HUD Secretary Ben Carson. “These recovery dollars will help the hardest-hit communities in these states and allow for residents to put their lives back together again.”

California received approximately $491,816,000 for two separately declared disasters.

The first related to wildfires and high winds that occurred between July 23 and Sept. 19 in Lake and Shasta counties, with the major disaster declaration issued on Aug. 4.

That time period covers the Mendocino Complex, made up of the Ranch and River fires, which burned 459,123 acres in Lake, Mendocino, Colusa and Glenn counties from July 27 to Sept. 19.

It claimed the life of one firefighter, destroyed 280 structures and displaced tens of thousands of Lake County residents in late July and early August.

The declaration also covers the Carr fire, which burned from July 23 to Aug. 30 in Redding in Shasta County. The Carr fire killed three firefighters, destroyed about 1,600 structures – more than 1,000 of them homes – and burned 229,651 acres.

Separate from the HUD assistance, the Federal Emergency Management Agency reported that it received 496 applications for individual assistance, with approximately $7,953,959.51 approved. It has also obligated $76,078,556.54 in total public assistance grants for the two counties.

The second allocation for California is for the wildland fires in Butte, Los Angeles and Ventura counties from Nov. 8 to 25, with a major disaster declaration issued on Nov. 12.

The major fire in that group was the Camp fire, the deadliest wildland fire in California history.

It devastated Paradise, killing 85 people, burning 153,336 acres and destroying 18,804 structures.

FEMA said it has received 7,967 individual assistance applications for those three counties, with $85,077,809.73 approved and another $9,170,138.82 obligated for public assistance grants.

On Oct. 5, President Donald Trump signed Public Law 115-254, which provides $1.68 billion in Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery Program funding for “disaster relief, long-term recovery, restoration of infrastructure and housing, and economic revitalization in the most impacted and distressed areas resulting from a major disaster declared in 2018.”

In addition to California, other states receiving recovery assistance include:

– Florida: Hurricane Michael, $448,023,000.
– Georgia: Hurricane Michael, $34,884,000.
– Hawaii: Severe storms, flooding, landslides and mudslides, and Kilauea volcanic eruption and earthquakes, $66,890,000.
– North Carolina: Hurricane Florence, $336,521,000.
– South Carolina: Hurricane Florence, $47,775,000.
– Texas: Severe storms and flooding, $46,400,000.

In addition to those funds, HUD said it will allocate an additional $205 million later in the year following a comprehensive analysis of the recovery needs in American Samoa and the Northern Marianas.

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. – As it waits for the final count on its Measure M fire parcel tax, the Lakeport Fire Protection District Board this week took steps to ensure it can meet its budget needs through the end of the fiscal year and discussed concerns about a fire dispatch contract with Cal Fire.

The board met Tuesday evening at Station 50 in downtown Lakeport.

On May 7, the district held a special all-mail ballot for Measure M, forecast to bring in a beginning total of $1.2 million annually.

The district decided to move forward with the measure after having to lay off three full-time firefighters as part of the current fiscal year budget, accepted in September, as Lake County News has reported.

The early Measure M election returns, which included a tally of nearly 1,900 ballots, showed the measure receiving 74 percent of the vote. It needs a supermajority of 66.7 percent to go into effect.

Last week, an update from the Registrar of Voters Office said it has 438 ballots yet to count, including those which had been postmarked by the election date and arrived at the Registrar of Voters Office by last Friday.

The Registrar of Voters Office has 30 days from the election to conduct the official canvass, at the end of which it will certify the election results.

District Board Chair John Whitehead thanked firefighters’ union members for their efforts to advocate for Measure M.

Firefighter/paramedic Spencer Johnson said the result is a “big weight off of everyone's shoulders.”

“The level of support apparently shown by the community speaks a lot and I think you guys should be proud of that,” District Board member Alan Flora told the firefighters, noting that Measure M had higher numbers in support of it than fire measures in other parts of the county in recent years.

Engineer Dan Kane said the firefighters were humbled by that support.

While the results so far look promising for the district, if the measure does pass, it will be nearly a year before the proceeds begin to arrive. In the meantime, there are budgeting needs for the current fiscal year that have to be addressed while district board members prepare to consider the new fiscal year budget at the meeting next month.

On Tuesday, in an effort to make sure the district can meet its obligations, the board passed a resolution authorizing the appropriation of up to $200,000 from a reserve fund in order to close out the end of the fiscal year, which runs through June 30.

Mandi Huff, the district’s administrative assistant, said much of the anticipated expenditures are to cover overtime and staffing, as well as the dispatch contract with Cal Fire.

The district has some other possibilities to help its financial picture, including a federal grant that could help it rehire laid-off firefighters.

Chief Rich Bergem said Linda Hedstrom, who wrote the grant for the district, has followed up with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which told her that the district remains in the running for the grant. Announcements are expected in early July.

One potential action that the district board discussed again and once more decided to table was the possible sale of the Finley fire station. It hasn’t been used as a fire station in decades and currently houses the operations of the Clearlake Gleaners’ food bank.

The district’s considerations have included keeping the building and making it a volunteer-staffed station, with an engine stationed there, which Bergem said would lower insurance rates for businesses in Finley and at the nearby Lampson Field airport.

Whitehead restated his opposition to selling the Finley station, noting he would be willing to reconsider it in the future of the district got a new fire station.

Flora said that, at some point, the district board needs to have a discussion about all of the stations, explaining that they have three but only use one.

He said he’s not supportive of letting the building sit and have maintenance costs pile up, adding he thought it is a win-win to use it as a volunteer station.

Board members agreed with Bergem that with Measure M’s apparent passage, it takes the pressure off to make a decision about the station.

Bergem said that if Measure M does indeed pass, he wants to create a five-year plan for the district, and that he would like to see investment in Station 52, located in north Lakeport.

Firefighters raise concerns about dispatch contract

Another main item of discussion on Tuesday was the dispatch contract which Lake County fire districts as a group hold with Cal Fire.

Johnson and Kane both told the board during the meeting about their many concerns with Cal Fire’s performance, with Johnson adding that they’ve not been impressed with the contract since it began last year.

Bergem said he’s been part of meetings with Cal Fire in which an agency representative said they wanted to resolve the issues on the contract, which is in effect until June 2020.

“It's out there that we are dissatisfied,” said Bergem.

Bergem said he has met with Sheriff Brian Martin and County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson about the option of returning to a contract with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Central Dispatch. He said he had a positive reception. “They would like to have us back.”

Some of the problems mentioned at Tuesday’s meeting by firefighting personnel include being sent to the wrong locations. In one instance, Kane said they were dispatched to Beach Lane in Lakeport for a medical call.

When they received no answer at the door, Kane said he was preparing to break in when Cal Fire canceled Lakeport Fire’s response because the actual location was Beach Lane in Nice.

Kane said such misdirected dispatches have happened time and again, and it “really scares me to death.” He said they never had such issues with Central Dispatch.

Bergem said Sheriff Martin gave a rough estimate of $60,000 to take on dispatch for Lakeport Fire, which is close to what it previously cost the district.

Huff told Lake County News that the Cal Fire contract cost is determined on a per-call basis, and runs about $15,000 a quarter. She said it’s possible the district could save some money if it went back to the county.

Flora pointed out that Lakeport Fire needs to give Cal Fire a one-year written notice – due by July 1 – if it wants to pull out of the contract.

Whitehead said he wanted Bergem to contact other chiefs about the concerns. Flora said the district needed to document its problems in order to take them to Cal Fire and make a decision.

Flora said he also didn’t want to upset other districts by pulling out, explaining that a lot of them have been picking up the slack for Lakeport Fire due to its staffing issues.

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, @LakeCoN

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The National Weather Service said another weather system due to arrive this weekend will bring still more rain into the middle of next week.

The short range forecast explained that a low pressure system moving over the West will allow for unsettled weather and chilly temperatures to continue.

Lake County already this week has received a significant amount of rain.

Based on the National Weather Service’s local observation stations, the 72-hour rainfall totals in inches as of 12 a.m. Friday are as follows:

Bartlett Springs: 2.49.
Boggs Mountain: 4.46 (among the highest totals in California).
Cache Creek: 2.24.
High Glade Lookout (above Upper Lake): 1.61.
Indian Valley Reservoir: 1.18.
Jerusalem Grade: 2.03.
Knoxville Creek: 1.71.
Lake Pillsbury: 2.47.
Lakeport: 1.52.
Lyons Valley: 2.11.
Portable station south of Lake Pillsbury: 3.82.
Whispering Pines: 3.88.

The National Weather Service said the current weather system bringing rain now to Lake County and the rest of the West Coast, as well as snow in the higher elevations, is forecast to approach the Great Plains by the weekend.

Another system, moving in from the eastern Pacific, is forecast to arrive on the West Coast on Saturday, with more rain forecast into Wednesday, the National Weather Service said.

The Lake County forecast calls for rain to continue with an anticipated break on Saturday, with showers to continue through the weekend.

Chances of weather are forecast through Wednesday, clearing by Wednesday night, with partly cloudy conditions predicted to begin on Thursday.

There also is a chance of thunderstorms on Sunday, the National Weather Service said.

Wind also remains in the forecast, with gusts into the low 20s predicted on Saturday.

Nighttime temperatures will continue to hover in the low 40s, with daytime temperatures rising into the low 50s, the forecast 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.

A man wrongfully convicted in a 2002 shooting has had his conviction reversed based on newly discovered evidence, uncovered by the Northern California Innocence Project and the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, about a crucial eyewitness identification.

On April 2, 2002, a young man was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in front of his younger brother.

While he was recovering from severe injuries in the hospital, the victim identified 22-year-old Lionel Rubalcava as the shooter from a photo lineup.

The brother also identified Rubalcava, who was in the lineup for being at the wrong place at the wrong time:he had stopped in front of the victim’s house two days after the shooting.

At the three-day trial, Rubalcava provided powerful alibi evidence and testified to his innocence. But the victim and his brother both pointed to Rubalcava as the shooter.

The jury, which deliberated for longer than the trial lasted, found Rubalcava guilty of attempted murder. He was sentenced to life in prison based solely on the two eyewitness identifications.

NCIP teamed up with investigators Dre McEwen and Grant Fine and pro bono partners at Simpson Thacher to investigate Rubalcava’s case.

The team put together information showing the eyewitness identifications were unreliable and that Rubalcava should never have been convicted.

NCIP presented the case to the Conviction Integrity Unit in Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office, a special unit devoted to correcting wrongful convictions in the county.

Assistant District Attorneys David Angel and Stacey Capps immediately saw the need to investigate the case further.

Among the new information the DA’s office found was the stunning admission by the victim, who was paralyzed and has worked hard to overcome what he has been through, that he had never been completely sure of his identification.

He told them that he had only seen a tiny portion of the shooter’s face – and only for a brief moment before he was shot.

“The more we all dug, the more evidence of innocence we found. Every person we spoke to, every tape we transcribed, every new document we uncovered pointed to Lionel’s innocence,” said NCIP’s attorney on this case, Paige Kaneb.

The District Attorney’s Office said the new evidence was pivotal, “Had we known this at the time, we would not have filed the case.”

Rubalcava’s ability to get his conviction reversed hinged on the passage of a new law that NCIP helped get passed on Sept. 30, 2016.

That law, Senate Bill 1134 authored by Senators Leno and Anderson, loosened laws that had
previously made it virtually impossible for wrongfully convicted people to get a new trial based on new evidence.

Instead of the new evidence needing to “point unerringly to innocence”, the new law requires only that – had the new evidence been available at the original trial – there would “more likely than not” have been a different outcome.

As the District Attorney’s Office noted when it joined NCIP in asking the court to reverse Rubalcava’s conviction, “The foundation of our democracy and criminal justice system is the presumption of innocence.”

This bill was sponsored by the California Innocence Coalition that includes NCIP, the California Innocence Project in San Diego, and Loyola Project for the Innocent in Los Angeles.

On April 24, 17 years and 16 days after Rubalcava was arrested, his conviction was reversed by Judge Daniel Nishigaya in the Santa Clara County Superior Court.

On Wednesday, the charges against Rubalcava, who has been residing in Pleasant Valley State Prison, were dropped and he was freed.

The Northern California Innocence Project is a non-profit clinical program of Santa Clara University School of Law whose mission is to promote a fair, effective, and compassionate criminal justice system and protect the rights of the innocent.

Since its inception in 2001, NCIP has processed more than 10,000 requests for inmate assistance, investigated hundreds of cases, pursued litigation or collaborative resolution in dozens, and obtained the freedom of 26 wrongfully convicted individuals.