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- Written by: Lake County News reports
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has plans for the Thanksgiving holiday.
During a Thanksgiving break, the rover’s team will use Curiosity’s Mast Camera (Mastcam) from Point Lake to examine possible routes and targets to the east.
A priority is to choose a rock for the first use of the rover’s hammering drill, which will collect samples of powder from rock interiors.
Last week, Curiosity drove for the first time after spending several weeks in soil-scooping activities at one location.
On Friday, Nov. 16, the rover drove 6.2 feet to get within arm’s reach of a rock called “Rocknest 3.”
Then on Sunday, Nov. 18, the rover completed a touch-and-go inspection of a rock with the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) on its arm, and took two 10-minute APXS readings of data about the chemical elements in the rock.
Then Curiosity stowed its arm and drove 83 feet eastward toward Point Lake.
“We have done touches before, and we’ve done goes before, but this is our first ‘touch-and-go’ on the same day,” said Curiosity Mission Manager Michael Watkins of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. “It is a good sign that the rover team is getting comfortable with more complex operational planning, which will serve us well in the weeks ahead.”
Although Curiosity has departed the Rocknest patch of windblown sand and dust where it scooped up soil samples in recent weeks, the sample-handling mechanism on the rover’s arm is still holding some soil from the fifth and final scoop collected at Rocknest.
The rover is carrying this sample so it can be available for analysis by instruments within the rover if scientists choose that option in coming days.
More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ .
You can follow the mission on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity .
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Sometimes the simplest gestures of caring can have the biggest impacts.
That’s true of the “You Are Not Alone” – or YANA – Program offered by the Clearlake Police Department’s Volunteers in Police Services (VIPs).
YANA volunteers regularly place phone calls to seniors who live alone and who have limited family or community contacts.
Those enriching contacts also have given rise to thoughtful gestures and friendships amongst the volunteers and the seniors they serve.
Sgt. Nick Bennett said a senior who is about to turn 92 and has utilized the YANA program for approximately three years recently mentioned to a volunteer that she has been eating Cheerios since they were known as “Cheeri Oats.” That dates back to at least 1941.
Bennett said the Clearlake YANA volunteer contacted the General Mills Consumer Services Division, related the information about this dedication to their product and received a letter addressed to the senior citizen from General Mills and Cheerios Lifetime Champion Award recognizing her for “Continued loyalty and unfailing Cheerios usership.”
Also included in the package were coupons for future purchases of Cheerios, Bennett said.
Seniors can register for the YANA program by calling 707-994-8201, Extension 322. Leave your contact number and they will return your call.
If you are interested in becoming a VIP or YANA volunteer, call the above number and you will be contacted.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
NORTH COAST, Calif. – A serial bank robber was sentenced on Wednesday morning to 45 years to life in state prison.
Frederick Joseph Orlando, 55, formerly of Magalia in Butte County, received the life sentence in the Mendocino County Superior Court. In addition, he was fined $5,000, according to Mendocino County District Attorney Dave Eyster’s office.
On Aug. 23, Orlando and his son-in-law traveled to the Mendocino County coast to rob the Redwood Credit Union in Point Arena, Eyster’s office reported.
Orlando had previously researched banks in rural settings where he believed there would be little or no law enforcement and few customers to interfere with a robbery, and he believed Point Arena fit that description, according to the investigation.
Dressed all in black, Orlando burst into the bank, threatened tellers and credit union customers with a loaded handgun, herded the people into a back room, and then with stolen money in hand attempted a getaway in a car over unimproved Fish Rock Road, Eyster’s office reported.
Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputy Luis Espinoza responding from the east and California Highway Patrol officer Terry Solomon pursuing from the west blocked Orlando’s escape, took him into custody and recovered the stolen money.
According to Eyster, who prosecuted the case, Orlando had previously served more than 11 years in a federal penitentiary after being convicted in 1990 of four bank robberies in Southern California.
He has also served three prior state prison commitments, one for residential burglary and two for drug possession.
Orlando was charged and prosecuted under California’s Three Strikes laws because, according to DA Eyster, “this guy poses an extreme threat to public safety.”
In addressing the court during the sentencing hearing, Orlando apologized to the customers and employees of the credit union, and to his family for the embarrassment he has caused, especially to his grandchildren, and to the people of Mendocino County for the resources spent on prosecuting him.
But Orlando also noted that he did what he did because he felt wronged by prior financial dealings with unnamed banks.
After sentencing Orlando, Judge Behnke directly addressed the defendant and told him that no matter what Orlando’s feelings were towards banks in general, the judge said he was absolutely certain that the people, customers and credit union employees in Point Arena had never done Orlando wrong and to victimize them in this manner could never by justified, an admonishment which Orlando agreed with.
The co-defendant, Raymon Jesus Ojeda, 40, of Pico Rivera, also pleaded guilty to bank robbery and a gun allegation this past Monday.
Eyster had alleged that Ojeda acted as a lookout at the front door of the credit union and tried unsuccessfully to stop one customer from fleeing when that customer realized he was caught in the middle of an armed robbery.
Ojeda will appear for his sentencing on Dec. 28, and can receive a sentence of up to six years in state prison, according to Eyster.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
NORTH COAST, Calif. – A Rohnert Park man has been sentenced to a nine-year prison term for embezzling more than $1 million from his former employer.
John C. Sheehan, 43, received the sentence of nine years and four months for embezzling from Bibbero Systems Inc. of Petaluma, according to Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch.
“We’re pleased that this thief has been held accountable and will serve a just sentence in prison,” sad Ravitch. “We’re also mindful that no sentence can repair the violation of trust and lasting impact to this business, its owners and those community members who lost their jobs while Sheehan secretly bilked these funds to simply maintain his lavish lifestyle.”
Sheehan embezzled approximately $1,189,509 from Bibbero by creating a fake business vendor and submitting false invoices to the company, Ravitch said.
Those invoices were paid and deposited into a false business account linked to his personal account. He then transferred the funds from the false business account into his personal account, according to the investigation.
Ravitch said Sheehan spent thousands of dollars remodeling his Rohnert Park home, buying expensive cars, eating out and taking expensive vacations to Las Vegas and the Cayman Islands.
At the sentencing hearing, numerous employees of Bibbero Systems addressed the court and confronted their former colleague recounting the financial and emotional injuries he caused them and the company, according to Ravitch’s office.
Sheehan made a short statement of apology to the court, following the emotional statements of victim impact, Ravitch reported.
As part of his sentence, Ravitch said Sheehan was ordered to repay $1,189,509 to Bibbero Systems Inc. and to surrender one Mercedes Benz, as well as some cash he had tried to hide with a tenant and friend, and some televisions and computer equipment, which he had used embezzled funds to purchase.
Deputy District Attorney Amy Ariyoshi handled the prosecution. Petaluma Police Detective Paul Gilman was the lead investigator. District Attorney Investigator LaRae Archibald assisted in the investigation and prosecution of the case, according to Ravitch.
Ravitch said Det. Gilman and DA Investigator Archibald worked successfully to track down and recover the $55,000 in remaining stolen funds once the scheme was uncovered.