NORTH COAST, Calif. – The Sept. 1 deadline for applying to perform for the crowd at the 9th annual Rising Stars Music Competition is rapidly approaching.

Slots in this popular multi-genre are on a first come first served basis and talented local musicians are reserving their spot.

“This is our ninth year of doing Rising Stars and many local musicians have played in the show, and claimed their prizes like studio time from City of Light Recording and Sound, Cash, dig! Music gift certificates and the famous star award,” said event organizer Mary Chadwick. “I couldn’t be prouder of the music that we have presented to the community and truly appreciate the crew, musicians, sponsors and community that makes this event possible.”

Musicians must adhere to the time limits specified, and keep their music family friendly. In an effort to keep things even and allow the musicians to perform as much as possible during their allotted time, backline equipment is provided. Musicians bring minimal gear, plug in to the existing equipment and perform for their fans.

Musicians are encouraged to visit the event’s website at www.risingstarscompetition.com, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call Chadwick at 707-272-6514 to get more information. An application secures their spot in this family friendly fun day of music.

Rising Stars is happening in Alex R Thomas Plaza in conjunction with the End of Summer Show & Shine Classic Car show. Vendors like Slam Dunk Pizza and Ukiah Brewing Co. will be on hand to provide food and wares, the car show ends at 3 p.m. but the music plays from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

This event is a multi-nonprofit fundraiser. Some of the non-profits represented will be Redwood Empire Lions, Ukiah Host Lions, North Coast Energy Services and Guitars for Troops.

Contact your favorite local band and tell them that you want to see them at Rising Stars Music Competition Sept. 16 in Alex R Thomas Plaza.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – State, local and federal firefighters took quick action on Sunday to contain a fire east of Clearlake Oaks while at the same time firefighters in Kelseyville stopped a blaze threatening a structure.

The fires in the two parts of the county were reported about an hour apart on Sunday.

The Water incident, first dispatched shortly before 11:15 a.m., was located on a hillside at the entrance to the Double Eagle Ranch subdivision east of Clearlake Oaks, according to reports from the scene.

Northshore Fire Deputy Chief Mike Ciancio said the fire was located about 30 yards up Watertrough Road, before the subdivision’s entry gate, right off of HIghway 20.

Shortly before noon, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office issued a Nixle alert urging residents in the subdivision to immediately evacuate due to the fire.

There are about 20 ranches up in the subdivision, said Ciancio. “They weren’t all directly affected.”

Ciancio said the fire burned between three and four acres and grass, with no structures damaged. It was 100-percent contained on Sunday afternoon.

He said Northshore Fire and Cal Fire had mutual aid on the incident from Lake County Fire, Kelseyville FIre, South Lake County Fire, the US Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the sheriff’s office.

The sheriff’s office sent out a followup message to the community just before 1 p.m. reporting that the fire’s forward progress was stopped and that residents of the area who had been urged to evacuate could return home.

Ciancio said the local fire districts were released from the Water incident throughout the afternoon.

He said shortly after 5 p.m. that two Northshore Fire water tenders remained on the scene along with Cal Fire for monitoring and mop up, a process expected to wrap up shortly.

Ciancio said the fire’s cause remains under investigation.

Shortly after noon, a fire was reported in the area of Larkspur Way and Emerald Drive in the Clear Lake Riviera, based on scanner reports.

Originally reported as a small vegetation fire that had impacted a structure, units on scene reported over the radio that they found that the structure wasn’t involved.

The fire was reported to have been contained just before 12:30 p.m., according to radio reports.

Reports from the scene estimated that the fire burned about a quarter-acre of grass.

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. – It’s been nearly 15 years since the Lake County Model Railroad Club ended its nomadic journey throughout the county and took up residence in the old National Guard Armory at the Lakeport Fairgrounds, turning a collection of portable tables into what is now a miniature empire of sights and sounds much to the delight of children of all ages.

“We began with an idea to build a railroad we could have fun with,” said Bill Cossey, a longtime member and club vice president. “What we have now is a look at California of 70 years ago when the railroad was still our Nation’s primary mode of transportation.”

The club was started more than 30 years ago by three men, meeting in whatever donated space they could find, according to the club’s brochure

“We didn’t have many rules in those days,” said Cossey. “The idea was to have fun.”

Model railroading or the “World’s Greatest Hobby,” as it’s touted by the Tennessee-based National Model Railroad Association, is shared by more than 250,000 Americans and at least a million hobbyists throughout the world.

The club models in HO scale or 1/87th actual size and has more than 800 feet of track which meanders through cities, farmland and mountains in its journey across the “state.”

They have also included a section devoted to the old narrow gage logging and mining trains that were once a part of our state’s history.

“There is a lot more involved in the hobby than setting up a circle of track and running trains,” said Cossey.

He said club members combine their talents to produce believable miniaturizations of railroad life in the 1950s and 1960s.

The hobby has even adopted digital technology that allows the railroad to operate as it did in real life, Cossey said.

“From lights in the buildings, sounds in the streets and the roar of the locomotive, computers play a huge roll in our hobby,” said Cossey. “We hope to one day have all sorts of special effects and animations controlled from a laptop computer.”

Although all the track work has been completed the layout is far from finished with member attention being focused upon scenery construction and maintenance.

“They say a model railroad is never finished but is in a constant state of improvement,” said Cossey. “We’ll finish a scene but then get a better idea and start over. But that’s what makes this hobby fun.”

Cossey said that the club welcomes new members of all ages – children under 14 need parental supervision – and they are a 100-percent NMRA club.

They will be open to visitors during the Lake County Fair which opens Thursday, Aug. 31, and continues through Sunday, Sept. 3.

The Lake County Model Railroad Club meets every Wednesday from 5 to 8 p.m., except holidays. Visitors are welcome anytime.

For more information contact Cossey at 707-274-8636 or Dave Fromer at 707-461-4025.

Dave Fromer lives in Hidden Valley Lake.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said several events are coming up over the next few weeks in honor of fallen Deputy Rob Rumfelt.

Sgt. Corey Paulich said there will be a candlelight vigil on Tuesday, Aug. 29, to remember Rumfelt, who died in the line of duty in Lakeport on Aug. 22.

Paulich said the vigil will be held at Library Park in Lakeport beginning at 8 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

Those attending may bring their own candle, utilize the light mechanism on their cell phone or a small flashlight. There will not be any candles available at the vigil, Paulich said.

Paulich said there also is a public viewing scheduled for noon to 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 1, at Chapel of the Lakes Mortuary, located at 1625 N. High St. in Lakeport.

The memorial service for Deputy Rumfelt will be held at Clear Lake High School’s Don Owens Stadium in Lakeport on Saturday, Sept. 9. Paulich said the service is scheduled to begin promptly at 10 a.m.

More details will be provided as the planning process progresses throughout the week, he said.

"A lake is the landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature. It is earth’s eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature." – Henry David Thoreau

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Clear Lake is set like a jewel in Lake County.

The Mayacamas Mountains are to the east, and Clear Lake, at nearly 70 square miles, is the largest natural lake wholly within California.

Believed to be the oldest lake in North America, Clear Lake is about a half million years old.

Clear Lake sprawls across the landscape diagonally, with two arms at the narrows pointing southeast.

Mount Konocti, a dormant volcano resting on the Pacific Ring of Fire, emerges on the shoreline across the narrows, rising to 4,305 feet.

Clear Lake and Mount Konocti, two distinct and indivisible landscape features of Lake County contain vast stores of mythology, history and exquisite beauty.

Here at Clear Lake there is something for everyone: fishing, boating, kayaking, bird-watching, hiking and scientific discoveries galore.

To quote the magazine of the California Academy of Sciences, "Dead lakes are clear ..."

Clear Lake, never truly clear, since it is shallow and eutrophic, was, however, once more clear than it is now. Clear Lake has an average depth of 27 feet.

Our lake's problems began back in the 1920s. Then, construction development, agriculture practices, along with dwindling wetlands and the removal of the once-prolific tule plants, were the causes of the lake's diminishing clarity over time.

These practices removed the natural filtration structures of the lake and allowed excess nutrients from farms, vineyards.

Once, there were close to 9,000 acres of wetlands adjoining the lake, then the wetlands were decreased to 2,000 acres.

Steps are being taken by groups such as the Lake County Land Trust to reclaim valuable wetlands, like Rodman Slough.

Ecology-minded farmers are using lake-friendly farming practices to aid in the lake's water quality as well.

After European settlers arrived around 1840, lands near the lake were cleared for farming. The farming practices of the time caused sediments to wash into the lake, allowing the nutrient level in the lake to rise.

The geologic basin into which Clear Lake sits, the Clear Lake basin, is an extensively studied basin – one of the most studied in the state of California.

Reports from the University of California at Davis show that the lake's unique filtering system controls how much mercury from old mines enters the food chain.

According to local archaeologist Dr. John Parker, in some 1930s geology publications, "It was indicated that that there was a landslide at the north end of Blue Lakes which blocked and backed up the Clear Lake outlet channel causing the shift to the Cache Creek outlet."

He continues, "Yes there is a landslide there ... however it is not old enough to have caused the shift in Clear Lake’s outflow. The US Geological Survey has determined that the landslide is several hundred years (or thousand years) more recent than the change in outflow (which occurred approximately 12,000 years ago). It is likely that Clear Lake flowed out the Blue Lake canyon to the Russian River several times during its 500,000 plus years lifetime. It is also likely that its outlet channel that direction flowed through the Scott’s Creek Canyon a few times (rather than Tule Lake). In addition to the current Cache Creek outlet (which also was probably used many times over the millennia), geologic evidence suggests that the lake flowed past Lower Lake down the canyon by Hidden Valley Lake and drained out Putah Creek a few times."

Greg Giusti recently delivered a lecture entitled, "What Do We Know About Clear Lake?" at the Clear Lake State Park Visitor Center as part of the Summer Speaker Series sponsored by Clear Lake State Park's Interpretive Association.

Giusti recently retired as Lake and Mendocino County director and advisor for forests and wildland ecology, and holds a master’s degree in ecology from San Francisco State University.

He is a specialist in forest management, wildlife management, vertebrate pest management, wetlands, watersheds, fisheries and freshwater ecology.

Giusti discussed the long association our lake has had with humans, spanning back thousands of years to include the Pomo and Miwok peoples, on up to the pioneers who lived around the lake, and finally, today's recreational uses of the lake by fishermen and other sports and nature enthusiasts.

UC Davis mud core samples from the lake prove that there were once forests much like Cobb Mountain's.

Then, when the ice sheets receded the area became oak-dominated. With the abundance of food, such as fish, grizzly bear, elk and deer, the lake has historically attracted people.

Another interesting facet of Giusti's talk included a NASA image which depicts the abundant phosphorus in the soils adjacent to our lake. This picture delineated where the hotspots for improving the lake are located.

To improve the lake's water quality we need to limit the loss of tule reeds and improve roads as the erosion of the roads harms our lake, and enforce shoreline and stormwater ordinances.

Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also formerly wrote for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has six dogs that are cleared to go to new homes as this week begins.

The dogs available this week include mixes of border collie, Chihuahua, German Shepherd, husky, Labrador Retriever, shepherd and terrier.

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”).

Male terrier mix

This young male terrier mix has a short brown and white coat.

He’s in kennel No. 3, ID No. 8369.

Male German Shepherd

This male German Shepherd has a medium-length black and brown coat.

He’s in kennel No. 10, ID No. 8298.

Male Chihuahua

This male Chihuahua mix has a short tan coat.

He’s in kennel No. 8355, ID No. 11.

‘Satchel’

“Satchel” is a male border collie and Labrador Retriever mix with a short black and white coat.

He already has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 12, ID No. 8275.

Female shepherd mix

This female shepherd mix has a short brindle coat.

She’s in kennel No. 19, ID No. 8315.

Male husky

This male husky has a long gray and white coat.

He’s in kennel No. 32, ID No. 8360.

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.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope will use its infrared capabilities to study the "ocean worlds" of Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus, adding to observations previously made by NASA's Galileo and Cassini orbiters.

The Webb telescope's observations could also help guide future missions to the icy moons.

Europa and Enceladus are on the Webb telescope's list of targets chosen by guaranteed time observers, scientists who helped develop the telescope and thus get to be among the first to use it to observe the universe.

One of the telescope's science goals is to study planets that could help shed light on the origins of life, but this does not just mean exoplanets; Webb will also help unravel the mysteries still held by objects in our own solar system (from Mars outward).

Geronimo Villanueva, a planetary scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is the lead scientist on the Webb telescope's observation of Europa and Enceladus.

His team is part of a larger effort to study our solar system with the telescope, spearheaded by astronomer Heidi Hammel, the executive vice president of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, or AURA. NASA selected Hammel as an interdisciplinary scientist for Webb in 2002.

Of particular interest to the scientists are the plumes of water that breach the surface of Enceladus and Europa, and that contain a mixture of water vapor and simple organic chemicals.

NASA's Cassini-Huygens and Galileo missions, and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, previously gathered evidence that these jets are the result of geologic processes heating large subsurface oceans.

"We chose these two moons because of their potential to exhibit chemical signatures of astrobiological interest," said Hammel.

Villanueva and his team plan to use Webb's near-infrared camera, or NIRCam, to take high-resolution imagery of Europa, which they will use to study its surface and to search for hot surface regions indicative of plume activity and active geologic processes.

Once they locate a plume, they will use Webb's near-infrared spectrograph, NIRSpec, and mid-infrared instrument, or MIRI, to spectroscopically analyze the plume's composition.

Webb telescope's observations might be particularly telling for the plumes on Europa, the composition of which largely remains a mystery.

"Are they made of water ice? Is hot water vapor being released? What is the temperature of the active regions and the emitted water?" questioned Villanueva. "Webb telescope's measurements will allow us to address these questions with unprecedented accuracy and precision."

For Enceladus, Villanueva explained that because that moon is nearly 10 times smaller than Europa as seen from the Webb telescope, high-resolution imagery of its surface will not be possible.

However, the telescope can still analyze the molecular composition of Enceladus' plumes and perform a broad analysis of its surface features.

Much of the moon's terrain has already been mapped by NASA's Cassini orbiter, which has spent about 13 years studying Saturn and its satellites.

Villanueva cautioned that while he and his team plan to use NIRSpec to search for organic signatures (such as methane, methanol, and ethane) in the plumes of both moons, there is no guarantee the team will be able to time the Webb telescope's observations to catch one of the intermittent emissions, nor that the emissions will have a significant organic composition.

"We only expect detections if the plumes are particularly active and if they are organic-rich," said Villanueva.

Evidence of life in the plumes could prove even more elusive. Villanueva explained that while chemical disequilibrium in the plumes (an unexpected abundance or scarcity of certain chemicals) could be a sign of the natural processes of microbial life, it could also be caused by natural geologic processes.

While the Webb telescope may be unable to concretely answer whether the subsurface oceans of the moons contain life, Villanueva said it will be able to pinpoint and better characterize active regions of the moons that could merit further study.

Future missions, such as NASA's Europa Clipper, the primary objective of which is to determine if Europa is habitable, could use Webb's data to hone in on prime locations for observation.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the scientific complement to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. It will be the most powerful space telescope ever built. Webb is an international project led by NASA with its partners, European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

For more information about the Webb telescope, visit: http://www.jwst.nasa.gov or http://www.nasa.gov/webb.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A domestic violence suspect who fought with deputies shortly before one of them died earlier this week has made an initial court appearance, with the district attorney indicating he’s holding off on manslaughter and other charges related to the death pending the deputy’s autopsy results.

Alex Michael Castillo, 21, of Nice was arraigned in Lake County Superior Court on Thursday morning, according to District Attorney Don Anderson.

Castillo was taken into custody on Tuesday night in Lakeport after he fought with Lake County Sheriff’s Deputy Rob Rumfelt and Deputy Nate Newton, who had responded to the 900 block of Boggs Lane to back up Lakeport Police Sgt. Joe Eastham on a report of several subjects fighting.

Anderson said Castillo had assaulted his wife and mother-in-law during the incident, and was leaving the area covered with blood that investigators believe may have been his wife’s.

A short time later, after the deputies arrested Castillo, Rumfelt was leaving in his Ford SUV patrol vehicle when he crashed into a tree on Hartley Street north of 20th Street. Rumfelt was declared dead at Sutter Lakeside Hospital later that night.

Anderson had told Lake County News earlier this week that he intended to charge Castillo with voluntary manslaughter in connection to Rumfelt’s death.

However, by the time of Castillo’s appearance before Judge Michael Lunas on Thursday, that charge hadn’t been filed, according to Anderson.

Instead, the charges against Castillo at that point in included domestic violence, two counts of resisting arrest, a number of probation violations and resisting an officer resulting in death, Anderson said.

On Thursday, the same day Castillo was in court, an autopsy was performed on Rumfelt’s body in Napa County, with a procession bringing him home later in the day, as Lake County News has reported.

While on Friday Anderson had some preliminary results from Rumfelt’s autopsy, he said his office would await the full results in order to make a final charging decision.

As such, Anderson told Lake County News on Friday that his office isn’t currently alleging that Castillo was the cause of Rumfelt’s death, and that he’s not going to pursue the charges of voluntary manslaughter or resisting an officer leading to death against Castillo – at least not yet.

Anderson said the key to the case is to determine the cause of death for the 50-year-old Rumfelt, a veteran law enforcement officer who had served in the US Marines and was an assistant football coach at Clear Lake High School.

“That’s really a mystery right now,” Anderson said of Rumfelt’s death, with the preliminary autopsy results not shedding enough light on the matter.

Anderson said it may take as long as two to three months to have some certainty about the cause.

He said of the autopsy, “Until we get that, I don’t want to have someone in custody for those charges.”

At that time, Anderson said he could decide to refile the charge of resisting arrest leading to death and also could add the manslaughter charge.

Castillo is due to return to court on Tuesday, at which point his newly appointed defense attorney, Andrea Sullivan, will make her first appearance in the case, Anderson said.

Anderson said his office is filing an amended complaint against Castillo that will be heard on Tuesday. In that complaint, the charge of resisting an officer resulting in death will be dropped, while a count of child endangerment will be added.

Witnesses had reported to Lake County News that Castillo had been seen leaving the area of the Tuesday night fight with a child, a detail that hadn’t been noted in initial law enforcement accounts of the incident.

Anderson on Friday confirmed to Lake County News that Castillo was taking his young child with him as he was attempting to leave when the deputies caught up to him.

He said Castillo wouldn’t put the child down as he began to fight with Rumfelt and Newton, which resulted in the child endangerment charge.

Castillo remains in the Lake County Jail with bail set at $1.5 million, which Anderson said is for violating his probation for a previous domestic violence conviction.

Many other aspects of the investigation are still actively under way, Anderson said.

Anderson said Rumfelt’s patrol vehicle – which sustained major front-end damage in the crash – remains in secure storage pending an examination.

He said he hasn’t yet decided whether the California Highway Patrol’s Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team will be asked to look at the vehicle or if it will be done by one of his investigators in-house.

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. – This coming week the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce and the city of Clearlake will host the second annual “State of the City presentation.

The event will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 30, at the Clearlake Community Center, located at 3245 Bowers Ave.

The program will begin with an open house offering the opportunity for community members to interact with and ask questions to the Clearlake Police Department, Code Enforcement, Public Works, Finance, Building Department, City Clerk, Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce and PEG TV, among others.

The formal presentation by the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce and the city of Clearlake will begin at 6 p.m.

Entries from the city’s photo contest will be on display, along with student art murals.

The student art mural project was a community service project co-sponsored by the Children’s Museum of Art and Science and the Art House Gallery.

Vice Mayor Bruno Sabatier attended a preview of the student art murals. “The art skills that our young artists revealed in these murals is beyond impressive,” he said.

Councilmember Joyce Overton was equally impressed with the photo contest entries. “These photos really show how beautiful Clearlake actually is,” Overton said.

“I’m excited to share all the positive things that are going on in Clearlake that people may not be aware of, like the mural project, the photo contest and all the other positive projects that are starting to change the way people look at Clearlake,” said City Manager, Greg Folsom.

Folsom offered special thanks to Stephanie Figueroa and Carolynn Jarrett for managing the student art mural project.

The public is invited to attend and is encouraged to come early in order to have time to interact with the different departments to find out what programs are being offered and to get questions answered.

Attendees also will have an opportunity to select their favorite photos to be displayed at city facilities.

There will be limited catering provided by Chatterbox Catering.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lake County's annual “Fiesta of the Horse” will again be the opening-night attraction at the Lake County Fair on Thursday, Aug. 31.

The show will begin at 7 p.m. at the grandstands.

"Fiesta of the Horse" has been an annual tradition at Rancho de la Fuente for six years, taking place the second Sunday in June.

Last year, an encore performance at the Lake County Fair's opening night was a big hit. A large audience came to enjoy and support the horse community.

Come see the beautiful talented horses of Lake County strut their stuff, as their proud owners, riders and drivers share their love and passion for all things equine.

Performers include exotic breeds of all sizes, drill teams and thrilling cowboy mounted shooting action.

Attendance at Fiesta of the Horse is included in fair admission.

Asteroid Florence, a large near-Earth asteroid, will pass safely by Earth on Sept. 1, 2017, at a distance of about 4.4 million miles (7.0 million kilometers, or about 18 Earth-Moon distances).

Florence is among the largest near-Earth asteroids that are several miles in size; measurements from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and NEOWISE mission indicate it’s about 2.7 miles, or 4.4 kilometers, in size.

“While many known asteroids have passed by closer to Earth than Florence will on September 1, all of those were estimated to be smaller,” said Paul Chodas, manager of NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. “Florence is the largest asteroid to pass by our planet this close since the NASA program to detect and track near-Earth asteroids began.”

This relatively close encounter provides an opportunity for scientists to study this asteroid up close.

Florence is expected to be an excellent target for ground-based radar observations. Radar imaging is planned at NASA's Goldstone Solar System Radar in California and at the National Science Foundation's Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.

The resulting radar images will show the real size of Florence and also could reveal surface details as small as about 30 feet, or 10 meters.

Asteroid Florence was discovered by Schelte "Bobby" Bus at Siding Spring Observatory in Australia in March 1981.

It is named in honor of Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), the founder of modern nursing. The 2017 encounter is the closest by this asteroid since 1890 and the closest it will ever be until after 2500.

Florence will brighten to ninth magnitude in late August and early September, when it will be visible in small telescopes for several nights as it moves through the constellations Piscis Austrinus, Capricornus, Aquarius and Delphinus.

Radar has been used to observe hundreds of asteroids. When these small, natural remnants of the formation of the solar system pass relatively close to Earth, deep space radar is a powerful technique for studying their sizes, shapes, rotation, surface features and roughness, and for more precise determination of their orbital path.

JPL manages and operates NASA's Deep Space Network, including the Goldstone Solar System Radar, and hosts the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies for NASA's Near-Earth Object Observations Program, an element of the Planetary Defense Coordination Office within the agency's Science Mission Directorate.

More information about asteroids and near-Earth objects can be found at https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov or https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch.

For more information about NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office, visit https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense.

For asteroid and comet news and updates, follow AsteroidWatch on Twitter www.twitter.com/AsteroidWatch.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A lifelong Lake County resident and Lake County Sheriff’s deputy who died in the line of duty on Tuesday has come home.

The body of 50-year-old Robert Rumfelt was transported via a procession of law enforcement agency vehicles from Napa County to Lake County on Thursday afternoon.

Under the stretch of a hot, late-summer sky, the procession wound its way along an 80-mile route from Napa County up Highway 29, headed for Lakeport.

The line of sheriff’s, police and California Highway Patrol vehicles took about five minutes to pass each of its key locations.

The procession passed slowly through Middletown, where along the side of the road were several Cal Fire engines and other units, with firefighters standing at attention and saluting.

The town’s sidewalks were lined with well-wishers, holding flags and signs. In a pasture along the highway near Middletown, there was even a little group on horseback, holding American flags.

From there, the line of vehicles passed Hidden Valley Lake, then arrived in Lower Lake, turning toward Kelseyville.

More community members were waiting along the route, including children with handmade signs expressing love and thanks, perfect strangers who didn’t know Rumfelt alongside people who had met him in his role as a deputy or – before that – as a Lakeport Police officer.

There also were high school football players not just from Clear Lake High – where Rumfelt was an assistant coach – but from Kelseyville, Lower Lake and Middletown along the route, as well as youth leagues, in honor of his time as a football coach.

On through Kelseyville they traveled, and then to Lakeport, where the procession drove the length of Main Street. Lakeport Public Works Director Doug Grider and his crew made sure that American flags dotted the route in honor of Rumfelt’s service not only in law enforcement but in the US Marines.

Two fire ladder trucks sat on either side of the street at Main and Third streets, an American flag draped between them for the hearse and its escort to pass under.

The procession, led by CHP motorcycles, then arrived on N. High Street, at Chapel of the Lakes Mortuary, shortly after 5:30 p.m.

There, dozens of deputy sheriffs and command personnel, as well as members of other agencies including the Lakeport Police Department, stood at attention between two lines of Clear Lake High School football players wearing their red jerseys.

When the hearse parked, and as they prepared to bring Rumfelt’s body out, the group paused in silence.

Then mortuary staff eased the big man’s body out of the vehicle, wrapped in an American flag.

Draped in stars, Rumfelt was carried inside, as Sheriff Brian Martin stood at the mortuary door, saluting.

Rumfelt’s family and close friends then entered. Family members in attendance included Rumfelt’s father, Bob, a former Lakeport mayor who himself served as a sheriff’s deputy for a time.

Outside, the Clear Lake High School football players silently deposited a little mountain of red roses on a table, then gathered together quietly for a prayer. Afterward, they hugged each other.

Nearby, a team of sheriff’s chaplains – Terry Cara, Pastor Mike Suski of Lakeport Christian Center and Pastor Steve Nesheim of Kelseyville Presbyterian Church – looked on. They and other members of the sheriff’s chaplains corp have played a key role in comforting the men and women in uniform in recent days.

By the time the procession arrived in Lakeport, it had been less than 48 hours since Rumfelt died in circumstances that are still the source of close investigation by the District Attorney’s Office.

Rumfelt and fellow Deputy Nate Newton had responded to the 900 block of Boggs Lane in Lakeport on Tuesday night to back up Lakeport Police Sgt. Joe Eastham on a call involving several people fighting.

Rumfelt and Newton would arrive on scene where 21-year-old Alex Michael Castillo of Nice was reported to have been assaulting his wife and her family members. He currently is on probation for domestic violence, according to District Attorney Don Anderson.

Castillo assaulted Rumfelt and Newton as they worked to apprehend him. After a Taser was used on Castillo, he was arrested.

A short time later, as Rumfelt was driving from the scene in his Ford SUV patrol vehicle, he crashed into a tree on Hartley Street north of 20th Street, officials said.

Anderson said it’s believed that a medical emergency – possibly a heart attack – led to Rumfelt having the crash.

In the meantime, Castillo has had a charge of voluntary manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon added to a host of other charges, including domestic violence, for the case.

Castillo is being held on $1.5 million bail, according to jail records.

Rumfelt’s body had been transported to Napa County for an autopsy, a key part of the investigation into the circumstances of his death. When his family decided to bring him home after the procedure was completed, his fellow members of law enforcement came together to organize the procession.

Lake County Sheriff’s Office staff remain busy with their normal duties but also are gearing up for Rumfelt’s memorial service, set for Saturday, Sept. 9, at Don Owens Stadium at Clear Lake High School in Lakeport.

They’ve already experienced such events. In April 2016, they bid farewell in a large public funeral to Deputy Jake Steely, who died of injuries he suffered while saving his son from the ocean after the boy fell into the water on the Mendocino Coast.

A line-of-duty death, however, hasn’t occurred for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office since May of 1981, when Sgt. Richard Helbush stopped to help a broken down car along Highway 29.

Helbush didn’t know that the two people he found with the car, Bill Cox and Annika Deasy, were on the run from a murder in Stockton.

Helbush was shot several times and died at the scene, with Cox and Deasy taking his vehicle and service weapon and fleeing the scene, only to be caught later following a gunfight with law enforcement officers that included then-Deputy Don Anderson, now Lake County’s district attorney.

The nature of Rumfelt’s death, having occurred in the line of duty, now places him in a small, dearly-held group of men for whom a memorial stands in Courthouse Square in downtown Lakeport.

In addition to Helbush, Rumfelt now joins the ranks of Sheriff George Kemp and Deputy William Hoyt, all of them having died while on duty.

Kemp was mortally wounded by burglary suspects near Lakeport in May 1910.

Hoyt was shot in the courthouse in October 1967 after three prisoners attacked another deputy and took his weapon. Hoyt, who was unarmed, was shot in the chest but managed to get a weapon from a nearby counter, shooting and wounding one of the prisoners, before he collapsed and died.

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