LAKEPORT, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol has issued a report on a Sunday wreck that killed a motorcyclist in Lakeport.

The CHP’s Clear Lake Area office said the wreck occurred on Highway 29 north of the intersection with Highway 175-Hopland at 7:18 p.m. Sunday.

The motorcyclist was a 50-year-old Lakeport man, authorities said.

The CHP did not release his name on Monday pending notification of his family.

The CHP said a second vehicle, a 2007 Dodge pickup driven by 29-year-old Tyler J. Knudsen of Middletown, also was involved in the wreck.

The report said that Knudsen was driving his pickup southbound while the motorcyclist was headed northbound on a 2008 Buell motorcycle.

Because of what the CHP said was the motorcyclist’s inattention due to him looking away from the roadway, he allowed his motorcycle to cross over the double yellow lines in front of Knudsen’s path.

The pickup and the motorcycle collided head-on, the CHP said.

The CHP said the motorcycle rider died at the scene.

Knudsen and his passenger, 22-year-old Brenda Torres of Middletown, were not injured, according to the CHP.

Driving under the influence is not suspected to be a factor in the 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.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Authorities locked down the Lakeport Unified School District campus on Monday morning in response to a threat that is reported to have been sent to many schools across California and the United States.

The temporary lockdown was in effect for less than an hour and a half and had been lifted by 1 p.m., officials said.

The Lakeport Police Department said that at 11:30 a.m. Monday Lakeport Unified School District Superintendent April Leiferman received an email from an unknown person stating they were coming to the school with three bombs and a .22-caliber handgun and would shoot and kill any staff or student.

The email further read that if any police were seen at the school they would blow up the bombs, Lakeport Police reported.

Authorities said that the district immediately called the Lakeport Police Department and the school was placed in lockdown.

Late Monday morning law enforcement units began staging around the school district, located on Lange Street, as they worked to secure the facility.

In addition to Lakeport Police, other local agencies with units on scene to assist with securing the campus included the California Highway Patrol, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Lakeport Fire and Lake County Probation, with city of Lakeport trucks being used to block off roads.

The CHP also sent a plane to fly over the campus in an effort to secure the area.

At around noon, Leiferman posted a message on the school’s Facebook page about the situation.

"The Lakeport Unified School District received an email threatening bodily harm to our students, staff, and law enforcement. We are currently on lockdown until law enforcement can clear us for safety,” Leiferman wrote.

A followup post by Leiferman said, “We have no reports of anyone currently being threatened, adding that law enforcement is checking the schools, and schools entrances are being blocked and monitored.” She added that all classrooms and buildings were to be checked.

At around 12:45 p.m., Leiferman posted, “Law enforcement is continuing to check classrooms and buildings. We do not have any evidence of a threat. We hope to lift the lockdown soon.”

As a precautionary measure, the school remained on lock down as law enforcement conducted a sweep of the campuses, police said.

The lockdown was reported to be lifted at around 1 p.m. It was at that point that parents received an automated phone call informing them that everyone was safe and the lockdown had ended.

Central Dispatch informed the last of the units on scene that they could clear the campus at about 1:10 p.m.

After a search of the campuses, police said they determined there was no evidence of a credible threat.

The Lakeport Police Department reported that, during the course of the investigation, it was discovered that a similar threat was received by numerous schools across the country near or around the same time.

Around the region, the threat had been reportedly sent to schools in Cloverdale, and to the north, the Fortuna Police Department reported that some schools in the school district there were placed on lockdown on Monday after the superintendent received an email at 11:30 a.m. – at the same time that Leiferman had received a similar email – threatening harm to the students.

Fortuna Police worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to determine the source of the email.

“We have determined that the email was a hoax and originated in Ukraine. This email went to schools throughout the county,” the agency said in a Facebook post.

There were also reports of school districts from San Diego to Fort Jones at the Oregon border receiving the email threat.

The Lakeport Police Department said it will continue its investigation into “what is believed to be a nationwide hoax” and will be in contact with the FBI.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A wreck in Lakeport on Sunday night claimed the life of a motorcycle rider.

The California Highway Patrol reported that the fatal crash happened shortly after 7:15 p.m. Sunday near the intersection of Highway 29 and Highway 175-Hopland Grade.

Cal Fire’s dispatch of the incident said a report from the scene said the motorcyclist was down and the motorcycle was on fire.

Lakeport Fire Protection District units arriving at the scene minutes after dispatch found the motorcyclist down in the roadway with CPR in progress, according to radio reports.

Firefighters reported over the radio about 20 minutes later that the individual had died.

The CHP’s initial report said another vehicle was involved but radio and CHP reports did not give additional details about it.

The CHP reported that the roadway was completely reopened by 9:15 p.m.

Additional information will be published as it becomes available.

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. – The Board of Supervisors will discuss this week a new visioning document for the county of Lake that will become part of the budget process.

The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 10, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.

The meeting can be watched live on Channel 8 and online at https://countyoflake.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx. Accompanying board documents, the agenda and archived board meeting videos also are available at that link.

In an untimed item, the board will discuss and consider, and give direction to staff regarding “Vision 2028: Reimagining Lake County,” which contains 10 key priorities to build a brighter future for Lake County, as well as the county’s mission statement and motto.

In a memo to the board for the meeting, County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson explaind that departmental budget submissions are due this Friday, “and budget season is a time to consider financial allocations and to set priorities and plans for the future.”

She continued, “In January, each of you attended a Community Visioning Forum in your District. Hundreds of Lake County residents voiced their concerns and hopes through our five Forums and related public comment opportunities. The overwhelming theme was a need to think forward – to keep Lake County residents safe, develop infrastructure that will support vibrant communities and take ordered steps to enable economic development.”

As a result, Huchingson is presenting to the board a “draft priority statement that can serve as the basis for a ten-year plan to develop a brighter future for all Lake County residents.”

Huchingson said county staff is seeking the board’s conceptual approval to include the key priorities in the board's April 13 budget submission. “Formal adoption of the final version of your priorities will occur during Recommended Budget hearings, which begin June 12.”

The 10 priorities are:

– Promote the well-being and economic resilience of every Lake County household.
– Maintain a transparent county government that is responsive, efficient, effective and fair.
– Continue rebuilding and all efforts to recover from the county’s recent disasters.
– Enhance public safety: Protect citizens and serve them well.
– Grow the economy and spur creation of quality local jobs.
– Improve infrastructure (from roads to Internet).
– Support the county workforce, through targeted training, retention and recruitment initiatives.
– Collaborate with tribes, cities and community groups to maximize opportunities.
– Care for the county’s defining feature: Clear Lake.
– Invest in Lake County’s richest resource: its people.

She said staff also has developed refreshed drafts of the county's mission statement and motto, which dovetail with Vision 2028.

“Staff is seeking your conceptual approval and direction to work with Department Heads to bring a new County Mission Statement and Motto to final form,” she said.

Also on Tuesday, in a series of presentations timed to begin at 9:10 a.m. the board will present proclamations designating April 14, 2018, as Human Trafficking Awareness Day, the week of April 8 to 14 as National Crime Victims' Rights Week in Lake County, April 2018 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month and April 8 to 14, 2018, as Public Safety Dispatcher Week in Lake County.

The full agenda follows.

CONSENT AGENDA

7.1: Approve letter of support for Senate Bill (SB) 897, Amendments to the Insurance Code relating to wildfire-related provisions of residential property insurance.

7.2: Adopt proclamation designating April 14, 2018, as Human Trafficking Awareness Day in Lake County.

7.3: Adopt proclamation designating the week of April 8 to 14, 2018, as National Crime Victims' Rights Week in Lake County.

7.4: Adopt proclamation designating the month of April 2018 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month in Lake County.

7.5: Approve agreement between the county of Lake and Breezy Janitorial for Janitorial Services at the Lake County DCSS Office not to exceed $20,000 for the term May 1, 2018, to April 30, 2019, and authorize the chair to sign.

7.6: (a) Approve Anderson Springs and Butler-Keys Community Services Districts’ resolutions to change each district’s governing body member election from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years, and direct the Registrar of Voters to send required notification to all districts within Lake County on behalf of the Board of Supervisors; and (b) schedule a public hearing for April 24, 2018, at 9:30 a.m. for public input.

7.7: (a) Approve Kelseyville Fire, Lake County Fire and South Lake County Fire Protection Districts’ resolutions to change each district’s governing body member election from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years, and direct the Registrar of Voters to send required notification to all districts within Lake County on behalf of the Board of Supervisors; and (b) schedule a public hearing for April 24, 2018, at 9:32 a.m. for public input.

7.8: (a) Approve Adams Springs, Buckingham Park, Callayomi County, Clearlake Oaks County, Cobb Area County, Konocti County, Upper Lake County, and Villa Blue Estates Water Districts’ resolutions to change each district’s governing body member election from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years, and direct the Registrar of Voters to send required notification to all districts within Lake County on behalf of the Board of Supervisors; and (b) schedule a public hearing for April 24, 2018, at 9:34 a.m. for public input.

7.9: Authorize long distance travel June 17, 2018, to June 22, 2018, to attend a Resource Conservation Recovery Act Hazardous Waste Seminar in Seattle, Wash. ,for Craig Wetherbee, hazardous materials specialist II, Environmental Health Division.

7.10: Approve permit for Lake Aero Styling & Repair to conduct aeronautical activities at Lampson Airport for FY 2017-2018 and authorize chair to sign.

7.11: Adopt proclamation designating the week of April 8 to 14, 2018, as Public Safety Dispatcher Week in Lake County.

7.12: Approve agreement between the Lake County Sheriff's Office and U.S. Forest Service for FY 18/19 annual operating and financial plan, in the amount of $11,000 for Pillsbury patrol, and authorize the sheriff and the chairman to sign.

7.13: (a) Waive the formal bidding process, per Ordinance #2406, Purchasing Code 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of goods or services; and (b) approve agreement between the county of Lake and A&P Helicopters for Fiscal Year 2018/19 in the amount of $100,000 and authorize the chairman to sign.

TIMED ITEMS

8.2, 9:10 a.m.: (a) Presentation of proclamation designating April 14, 2018, as Human Trafficking Awareness Day in Lake County; (b) presentation of proclamation designating the week of April 8 to 14, 2018, as National Crime Victims' Rights Week in Lake County; (c) presentation of proclamation designating the month of April 2018 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month in Lake County; and (d) presentation of proclamation designating the week of April 8 to 14, 2018, as Public Safety Dispatcher Week in Lake County.

8.3, 9:15 a.m.: Consideration of continuing a proclamation of a local emergency due to the Sulphur fire incident.

8.4, 9:16 a.m.: Consideration of continuing a proclamation of a local emergency due to wildfire conditions, pertaining to the Rocky, Jerusalem and Valley fires.

8.5, 9:17 a.m.: Consideration of continuing a proclamation of a local emergency due to Clayton fire.

8.6, 9:18 a.m.: Consideration of continuing a proclamation of a local emergency due to the atmospheric river storm.

UNTIMED ITEMS

9.2: Consideration, discussion, and direction to staff regarding: (a) “Vision 2028: Reimagining Lake County,” 10 key priorities to build a brighter future; (b) county mission statement and motto.

9.3: Consideration of proposed findings of fact and decision in the appeal of Richard Kuehn (AB 17-05).

9.4: Consideration of proposed findings of fact and decision in the appeal of Stott Outdoor Advertising (Larry and Frances Montgomery) (AB 17-06).

CLOSED SESSION

10.1: Public employee appointment pursuant to Gov. Code Section 54957(b)(1): (a) Interviews of Interim Water Resources director (b) appointment of interim Water Resources director

10.2: Public employee appointment pursuant to Gov. Code Section 54957(b)(1): Interviews of interim Community Development director.

10.3: Employee grievance complaint pursuant to Gov. Code Section 54957.

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.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Clearlake Animal Control has several new dogs waiting for their forever homes this week, including one that has recovered from severe neglect.

The available dogs are Apollo, Evander, Ivy, Paisley, Robbie, Sam and Tory.

To meet the animals, call Clearlake Animal Control at 707-994-8201 and speak to Marcia at Extension 103 or call Extension 118, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday, or leave a message at any other time.

‘Apollo’

“Apollo” is a 1-year-old male who shelter staff said was rescued from a heartbreaking case of neglect.

He was severely underweight at 31 pounds – described as just skin and bones, and starving for attention – but since then he’s gained 12 pounds and “has come a long way in every way,” said staff, who added he holds a special place in the hearts of the officers who saved him.

Apollo is very friendly with people and would make a great dog for an active family. He has moments of low confidence and pushy, assertive behavior so Innovative Dog Training & Education is donating some free training to his adopters as well as some free playgroup sessions to his adopters to help nurture a confident social dog.

He is recommended as the perfect dog for a dominant female or stable male dogs who will take him under their wing and teach him a few things. Apollo also is good with both adults and older, respectful children.

‘Evander’

“Evander” is a 1-year-old male Labrador Retriever mix who has an all-black coat and weighs about 45 pounds.

He is good with both children and adults, and shelter staff said they are currently working on his socializing skills.

Evander is healing nicely from wounds “inflicted by a female dog in heat when she denied his unwanted advances,” shelter staff reported.

‘Ivy’

“Ivy” is a 2- to 3-year-old female husky mix that weighs about 45 pounds.

She is good with other dogs and people.

An assessment of her found her energetic and wanting to play with other dogs, and also loving attention from people.

Her adopter will be offered four free sessions with a socialization playgroup.

‘Paisley’

“Paisley” is a 9-month-old female Labrador Retriever-pit bull mix.

She weighs 40 pounds and has a short tan coat with white markings.

Shelter staff said she is playful and energetic, and great with other dogs, adults and children. She recently attended an adoption event with Orphan Dog and loved all the attention and treats from the children.

Paisley is eager to please and would benefit from basic obedience training.

‘Robbie’

“Robbie” is a young and happy-go-lucky mix – possibly Labrador Retriever and Rottweiler.

Shelter staff said is he around a year and a half old and weighs 50 pounds.

He walks well on a leash, makes friends with other dogs, and is playful but not super active.

Robbie is vaccinated, was neutered and had a full dental cleaning.

He recently was diagnosed with heartworm, so he is undergoing treatment. If adopted or taken to rescue, he will need a quiet place to recover.

'Sam'

Sam, also known as Big Bird, is a 1-year-old male Labrador Retriever mix, weighing 70 pounds with a medium-length black coat.

Shelter staff said he is extremely high energy and can be unruly, and so he needs obedience training.

However, he also loves everyone he meets and has an exuberant personality. Staff suggested he will need an active family to make sure he has an outlet for all that energy.

He’s selective with other dogs, good with adults and recommended for children over age 10 due to his size.

‘Tory’

“Tory” is a 2-year-old female Lab mix. She weighs 50 pounds and has a short fawn coat.

Shelter staff said she is good with both children and adults, is nonreactive with cats and is “selective and assertive” with other dogs, meaning, she would do best with a social male or submissive female.

She’s reported to be calm and sweet, loves to take walks and is amazing on leash.

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.

In recognition of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, observed April 8 to 14, the California Victim Compensation Board, or CalVCB, is raising awareness about victim resources and showing support for organizations that are dedicated to helping victims of violent crime.

“This year’s National Crime Victims’ Rights Week theme of ‘Expand the Circle: Reach All Victims’ aligns perfectly with California’s commitment to improve access and quality of services to underserved victims,” said CalVCB Executive Officer Julie Nauman. “As the nation’s largest victim compensation program, CalVCB is leading the charge to be sure no victim is left behind.”

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors will present a proclamation designating April 8 to 14 as National Crime Victims' Rights Week in Lake County.

Last fiscal year CalVCB received nearly 52,000 applications in 17 different languages.

Of those applications, 33 percent were for children, who received $12.4 million in help.

Help is not just for healing physical injuries, but emotional ones too. Crime survivors seeking counseling remains the largest category of CalVCB assistance, at $18.9 million.

In an effort to further raise awareness about crime victims’ rights and support services, CalVCB will take part in several National Crime Victims’ Rights Week and Sexual Assault Awareness Month activities in the coming weeks.

Key among those events are the “Survivors Speak” rally April 10 at the State Capitol, hosted by Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice. CalVCB staff will setup an information booth for attendees.

On April 25 CalVCB will join CALCASA and other organizations – including Lake Family Resource Center in Lake County – in observing Denim Day to raise awareness about sexual assault.

By wearing jeans on this day it serves as a symbol of protest against erroneous and destructive attitudes about sexual assault.

For more information visit http://victims.ca.gov/ncvrw/.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – A magnitude 3 earthquake was reported northwest of Lake Pillsbury on Sunday morning.

The quake was recorded at 8:48 a.m. Sunday just inside the Mendocino County line, according to the US Geological Survey.

It was centered near Sanhedrin Mountain, 10 miles west northwest of Lake Pillsbury and 14 miles east northeast of Willits, at a depth of 2.9 miles.

The survey didn’t receive any shake reports on the quake, which is notable for its location; survey records show there are few quakes measuring magnitude 3 or above in that area.

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. – Do you love your local library? If so, why not volunteer?

Volunteers are an important part of the Lake County Library team, recording more than 270 hours of work per month at all four branches of the Library system.

Between 20 and 25 volunteers assist library staff at all branches and about eighty volunteer literacy tutors teach other adults to read.

Volunteers help the library in a variety of ways and are an integral part of providing quality library service to the public. The library is currently recruiting volunteers for specific positions at all four libraries.

The Lakeport Library is looking for a library aide who could come once a week to help shelve books and put library materials away.

The Redbud Library in Clearlake is looking for two volunteers. The library needs a library aide who could come in once a week to help shelve library materials. They are also looking for someone with experience reading to children to help present library storytime to grade school children in the afternoon on Thursday, as a complement to the toddler storytime.

Middletown Library is looking for a volunteer who can come in once a week to help sort through incoming donations.

Upper Lake Library is looking for a volunteer who could work weekly on Thursday afternoon to help cover the circulation desk during library storytime.

As a volunteer you will gain skills and knowledge that can help you in your career or your personal life. Students and others can gain community service credit while helping connect the community to books and learning. Anyone over the age of 15 can volunteer at the library.

Volunteers search for books that are requested or missing, and search for books that need to be cleaned, repaired or discarded, while other volunteers shelve books or straighten and organize shelves. Volunteers check in requested items, sort donated books, prepare craft kits for storytimes and inventory the shelves. Some volunteers learn to work at the circulation desk and sort book deliveries.

Besides these specific jobs, the library has many different tasks and welcomes volunteers with a variety of different skills, interests, and abilities. Potential volunteers can fill out a short application in person or online. Previous library work experience isn’t required to be a volunteer.

Be sure to check out the library’s Web site and online application at http://library.lakecountyca.gov by clicking “About” and choosing “Volunteer at the Library.”

You can also visit your local branch, or call the main library in Lakeport at 707-263-8817 for more information.

Jan Cook is a technician at the Lake County Library.

“The only thing to do was keep swinging,” Henry Aaron once said, “My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field.”

That was Henry “Hank” Aaron’s approach to life on and off the baseball diamond.

In the early 1970s when Hammerin’ Hank was getting closer to overtaking Babe Ruth as baseball’s all-time home-run champion, Aaron needed to remember that mantra more than ever.

He wasn’t worried about nerves making his bat unsteady, or eye unfocused – he was a consummate athlete after all. But as he grew closer to that 715 mark, the hate mail began to arrive in greater numbers than ever before.

This week in history marks several important anniversaries in the march towards equality.

On April 8, 1975, Frank Robinson of the Cleveland Indians, made his debut as the first black manager of a major league baseball team.

On April 11, 1947 Jackie Robinson became the first black major league baseball player when he played an exhibition game as a Brooklyn Dodger.

Among these momentous occasions is Hank Aaron’s story of perseverance in the face of hate.

One year to the day before Frank Robinson broke the color barrier as a manager of a baseball team, Hank Aaron became the world’s leading home-run champion.

Looking back at it as a single event, as a “day in history,” does not do service to the accomplishment.

Aaron’s struggle to that moment on April 8, 1974, was as much an accomplishment as that record-breaking home run itself.

At the time, people were still marching for freedom, advocating for black rights. Battles had been won, but the war was just beginning.

Only a decade had elapsed since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Such deep-seated prejudice and hatred usually takes generations to breed out of society. And here was Aaron, a black man, looking to overtake the record of white baseball’s beloved icon, in the face of the same bigots who hosed peaceful protesters and firebombed black churches.

Hank Aaron had played in the big leagues since 1952. He was a veteran, of both baseball and the racism directed at black athletes. And yet, the nearly 3,000 letters he received each day starting in the summer of 1973 overwhelmed even him.

Years later, when he was asked about the hate mail, Aaron quietly remarked, “this changed me.” He received so many letters each day that he had to hire a secretary to sift through them. Not all were full of hate, but enough were.

“You’re black so you have no business here.”

“I’D LIKE TO KILL YOU!! BANG BANG YOUR DEAD. P.S. it mite happen.”

"Dear Nigger Henry, You are (not) going to break this record established by the great Babe Ruth if I can help it. ... Whites are far more superior than jungle bunnies. . My gun is watching your every black move."

They go on and on. Life mantras were made for times like these. With the aid of his own, Aaron slipped into the sort of calm and quiet efficiency that he had maintained his entire career in the big leagues.

So when he stepped up to bat in the 4th inning on April 8, 1974 in Atlanta, he knew what he had to do. Just keep swinging.

He did more than that; he clobbered the ball, sending it rocketing over the left centerfield wall and propelling his name into history.

As he rounded the bases, the Braves fans went wild, two college students jumping onto the field and running alongside him until security escorted them off the field. The new homerun king was mobbed at home plate by his teammates.

More than 30 years later, Hank Aaron still had his record, only losing it in 2007 when another black baseball player hit his 756th home run.

Even now, Aaron still keeps some of those hate letters. When asked why, he responds, "I read the letters, because they remind me not to be surprised or hurt. They remind me what people are really like."

He wasn’t terribly surprised, then, when he faced the same hatred once more, this time 40 years later.

In April of 2014, following an interview in which he remarked on the challenges then-President Barack Obama faced, Aaron received dozens of racist letters.

They contained the same vitriol, the same spelling errors and the same lack of human decency as the hate mail he had been carrying for decades. The irony was, the letters he received actually seemed to prove the very comments he made in the interview that sparked the outrage in the first place.

“Sure, this country has a black president,” Aaron had said to the reporter, “We have moved in the right direction, and there have been improvements, but we still have a long ways to go in the country. The bigger difference is that back then they had hoods. Now they have neckties and starched shirts.”

Antone Pierucci is curator of history at the Riverside County Park and Open Space District and a freelance writer whose work has been featured in such magazines as Archaeology and Wild West as well as regional California newspapers.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – With the six-month anniversary of the North Bay fire storm arriving on Sunday, new legislation setting statewide emergency alert protocols is heading to its first official Senate committee hearing on Tuesday.

“The size and scope of wildland fire events in California are only getting worse. It’s clear there are significant shortcomings in our emergency alert system and residents deserve timely notifications and up-to-date information,” said State Sen. Mike McGuire. “Lives depend on the Legislature and governor taking swift action to ensure statewide emergency alert standards are adopted, training is implemented, and funding is secured to ensure communities big and small have reliable alert systems deployed.”

SB 833 was introduced by Sen. McGuire, along with joint authors Senators Bill Dodd and Jerry Hill, and principal co-authors Assemblymembers Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, Marc Levine and Jim Wood.

The bill will create statewide emergency alert protocols for the first time in California history.

There are several different emergency warning systems available to counties that alert residents through cell phone calls, text messages, and landline recordings.

Some systems require residents to “opt-in” to the alert notifications, and others have limitations on how they can be targeted in specific areas.

SB 833 will require every county in California to adopt the up-to-date wireless emergency alert system with trained operators who can implement an evacuation order using the alert system (or a state sanctioned equivalent system).

The legislation also will set out standards for when counties should use the system, mandate annual training for emergency managers on how to best utilize the system, require that alerts be sent out via landline telephones and mobile phones along with other communication mediums including radio, television and electronic highway billboards, facilitate communication between counties and the state at the start of a disaster, and create guidelines and protocols for when and how the alerts should be sent.

The legislation will also mandate that all emergency alert systems be opt-out, no longer opt-in.

During the October 2017 Firestorm, thousands of residents in the path of the fires didn’t receive any notifications or emergency alerts.

The fires destroyed more than 6,000 homes, scorched more than 170,000 acres, caused billions in damage, and resulted in the death of more than 40 residents.

Santa Rosa Fire Chief Tony Gossner will testify in support of SB 833 Tuesday, which will be heard in the Senate Governmental Organization Committee beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Supporting SB 833 are the California Fire Chiefs Association; California Professional Firefighters; Fire Districts Association of California; California Ambulance Association; League of California Cities; Rural County Representatives of California; City of Santa Rosa; County of Napa; County of Sonoma; Marin County Council of Mayors and Councilmembers; and the Redwood Valley Municipal Advisory Council, among many other groups.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – This week Lake County Animal Care and Control has a shelter filled with big dogs – and a few puppies – ready to enjoy spring with new families.

Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of German Shepherd, Great Pyrenees, Labrador Retriever, pit bull, shepherd and Siberian Husky.

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 shepherd mix puppy

This female shepherd mix puppy has a short black and tan coat.

She is in kennel No. 2a, ID No. 9732.

Female shepherd mix puppy

This female shepherd mix puppy has a short tan coat.

She is in kennel No. 2b, ID No. 9733.

Pit bull terrier

This female pit bull terrier has a short brown and blue coat.

She’s in kennel No. 7, ID No. 9588.

Pit bull-Labrador Retriever mix

This male pit bull-Labrador Retriever mix has a short black coat.

He already has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 11, ID No. 9591.

Female German Shepherd

This female German Shepherd has a short black and tan coat.

She's a sweet and friendly girl who walks nicely on a leash and appears to know basic commands.

She is in kennel No. 12, ID No. 9657.

‘Samson’

“Samson” is a male Siberian Husky mix.

He has a long gray and white coat.

He’s in kennel No. 17, ID No. 9727.

‘Camilia’

“Camilia” is a female German Shepherd mix with a long black and brown coat.

She’s in kennel No. 20, ID No. 9694.

‘Onyx’

“Onyx” is a female shepherd mix.

She has a medium-length black coat with white markings, and already has been spayed.

She’s in kennel No. 22, ID No. 4174.

Female German Shepherd

This female German Shepherd has a medium-length tan and black coat.

She’s in kennel No. 25, ID No. 9708.

‘Atlas’

“Atlas” is a male Labrador Retriever mix with a short tan coat.

He’s in kennel No. 26, ID No. 9712.

Female German Shepherd

This female German Shepherd has a medium-length tan and black coat.

She’s in kennel No. 27, ID No. 9706.

Female German Shepherd

This female German Shepherd has a medium-length tan and black coat.

She’s in kennel No. 28, ID No. 9710.

Female German Shepherd

This female German Shepherd has a short black and tan coat.

She’s in kennel No. 29, ID No. 9709.

‘Oso’

“Oso” is a male Labrador Retriever-Great Pyrenees mix.

He has a medium-length black coat.

He’s in kennel No. 31, ID No. 9798.

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.

BERKELEY, Calif. – Thanks to a rare cosmic alignment, astronomers have captured the most distant normal star ever observed, some 9 billion light years from Earth.

While astronomers routinely study galaxies much farther away, they’re visible only because they glow with the brightness of billions of stars. And a supernova, often brighter than the galaxy in which it sits, also can be visible across the entire universe. Beyond a distance of about 100 million light years, however, the stars in these galaxies are impossible to make out individually.

But a phenomenon called gravitational lensing – the bending of light by massive galaxy clusters in the line of sight – can magnify the distant universe and make dim, far away objects visible.

Typically, lensing magnifies galaxies by up to 50 times, but in this case, the star was magnified more than 2,000 times. It was discovered in NASA Hubble Space Telescope images taken in late April of 2016 and as recently as April 2017.

“You can see individual galaxies out there, but this star is at least 100 times farther away than the next individual star we can study, except for supernova explosions,” said former UC Berkeley postdoctoral scholar Patrick Kelly, now on the faculty at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Kelly is first author of a paper about the discovery appearing online this week in advance of publication in the journal Nature Astronomy.

The discovery of the star, which astronomers often refer to as Icarus rather than by its formal name, MACS J1149 Lensed Star 1 (LS1), kicks off a new technique for astronomers to study individual stars in galaxies formed during the earliest days of the universe. These observations can provide a rare look at how stars evolve, especially the most luminous ones.

“For the first time ever we’re seeing an individual normal star – not a supernova, not a gamma ray burst, but a single stable star – at a distance of nine billion light years,” said Alex Filippenko, a professor of astronomy at UC Berkeley and one of many co-authors of the report. “These lenses are amazing cosmic telescopes.”

The astronomy team also used Icarus to test and reject one theory of dark matter – that it consists of numerous primordial black holes lurking inside galaxy clusters – and to probe the make-up of normal matter and dark matter in the galaxy cluster.

Einstein ring

Kelly noticed the star while monitoring a supernova he had discovered in 2014 while using Hubble to peer through a gravitational lens in the constellation Leo.

That supernova, dubbed SN Refsdal in honor of the late Norwegian astrophysicist Sjur Refsdal, a pioneer of gravitational lensing studies, was split into four images by the lens, a massive galaxy cluster called MACS J1149+2223, located about 5 billion light years from Earth.

Suspecting that Icarus might be more highly magnified than SN Refsdal, Kelly and his team analyzed the colors of the light coming from it and discovered it was a single star, a blue supergiant.

This B-type star is much larger, more massive, hotter and possibly hundreds of thousands of times intrinsically brighter than our Sun, though still much too far away to see without the amplification of gravitational lensing.

By modeling the lens, they concluded that the tremendous apparent brightening of Icarus was probably caused by a unique effect of gravitational lensing. While an extended lens, like a galaxy cluster, can only magnify a background object up to 50 times, smaller objects can magnify much more.

A single star in a foreground lens, if precisely aligned with a background star, can magnify the background star thousands of times. In this case, a star about the size of our sun briefly passed directly through the line of sight between the distant star Icarus and Hubble, boosting its brightness more than 2,000 times.

In fact, if the alignment was perfect, that single star within the cluster turned the light from the distant star into an “Einstein ring”: a halo of light created when light from the distant star bends around all sides of the lensing star. The ring is too small to discern from this distance, but the effect made the star easily visible by magnifying its apparent brightness.

Kelly saw a second star in the Hubble image, which could either be a mirror image of Icarus, or a different star being gravitationally lensed.

“There are alignments like this all over the place as background stars or stars in lensing galaxies move around, offering the possibility of studying very distant stars dating from the early universe, just as we have been using gravitational lensing to study distant galaxies,” Filippenko said. “For this type of research, nature has provided us with a larger telescope than we can possibly build!”

As for Icarus, the astronomers predict that it will be magnified many times over the next decade as cluster stars move around, perhaps increasing its brightness as much as 10,000 times.

The research by Kelly and Filippenko was supported by funds from NASA, the Christopher R. Redlich Fund, TABASGO Foundation and Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science at UC Berkeley.

Robert Sanders writes for the UC Berkeley News Center.