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- Written by: Lake County News reports
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Winery Association, a nonprofit organization that serves over 50 Lake County vintners and associate members, is hosting the second annual Lake County wine tasting event in San Francisco.
On Saturday, Sept. 8, 20 Lake County wineries will leave the mountains north of Napa Valley and drop by San Francisco to participate in the “Wines With Altitude” event at The Winery SF on Treasure Island.
“The Lake County wine region is thrilled to partner with the ultimate urban winery of San Francisco, The Winery SF,” said Monica Rosenthal, executive director of the Lake County Winery Association. “The views at Treasure Island are breathtakingly amazing, and paired with the flavorful foods, olive oils and the compelling quality of 100-plus Lake County ‘high elevation' wines, the ‘Wines with Altitude’ event is one not to be missed, so come join us."
The Lake County Winegrape Commission is also partnering with the Lake County Winery Association to host the 'Wines with Altitude’ event at Treasure Island.
Winegrape growers produce high quality fruit that showcases Lake County’s intensity of place – climate, soils, sunlight. One hundred and seventy Lake County growers cultivate vines in an astounding array of soils, resulting in wines full of varietal fruit flavor and rich in terroir complexities.
Trade and media are invited to attend a private preview tasting from 11 a.m. to noon. The consumer portion of the tasting will last from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Participants will have the chance to taste over 100 high elevation wines from various wineries from the five American Viticultural Areas in Lake County, while enjoying Farm-to-Table fresh foods, music, food trucks, and local Lake County olive oils.
Participating wineries include Bullion Creek, Cougar's Leap, Glamazon Wines, Gregory Graham Wines, Langtry Estate, Laujor Estate Winery, Mt. Konocti Winery, Noggle Vineyards, Rosa d’Oro, Shannon Ridge Winery, Six Sigma Winery, Sol Rouge, Steele Wines, Thorn Hill Vineyards, Vigilance Winery and more.
To purchase tickets for this event, visit http://wineswithaltitude.eventbrite.com .
For more information, please contact Monica Rosenthal with the Lake County Winery Association at 707-355-2762.
To learn more about the Lake County Winery Association, visit www.lakecountywineries.org , www.lakecowineawards.org or call 707-355-2762.
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- Written by: Dr. Tony Phillips
An image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance orbiter captured the Curiosity rover still connected to its 51-foot-wide (almost 16 meter) parachute as it descended towards its landing site at Gale Crater on Sunday.
“If HiRISE took the image one second before or one second after, we prob
ably would be looking at an empty Martian landscape,” said Sarah Milkovich, HiRISE investigation scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. “When you consider that we have been working on this sequence since March and had to upload commands to the spacecraft about 72 hours prior to the image being taken, you begin to realize how challenging this picture was to obtain.”
The image was taken while MRO was 211 miles (340 kilometers) away from the parachuting rover. Curiosity and its rocket-propelled backpack, contained within the conical-shaped back shell, had yet to be deployed. At the time, Curiosity was about two miles (three kilometers) above the Martian surface.
“Guess you could consider us the closest thing to paparazzi on Mars,” said Milkovich. “We definitely caught NASA’s newest celebrity in the act.”
NASA also released a video of the descent on Monday.
Curiosity, NASA’s latest contribution to the Martian landscape, landed at 10:32 p.m. Aug. 5, PDT, (1:32 on Aug. 6, EDT) near the foot of a mountain three miles tall inside Gale Crater, 96 miles in diameter.
In other Curiosity news, one part of the rover team at the JPL continues to analyze the data from last night’s landing while another continues to prepare the one-ton mobile laboratory for its future explorations of Gale Crater.
One key assignment given to Curiosity for its first full day on Mars is to raise its high-gain antenna.
Using this antenna will increase the data rate at which the rover can communicate directly with Earth. The mission will use relays to orbiters as the primary method for sending data home, because that method is much more energy-efficient for the rover.
More images are coming. To find out what to expect, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20120803.html .
Dr. Tony Phillips works for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
A mission to Mars that has inspired millions of people the world over took its next big step on Sunday night when the Curiosity rover touched down on Mars.
The rover – launched in a spacecraft last Nov. 26 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida – landed at approximately 10:32 p.m. Sunday, the Mars Science Laboratory team reported.
Viewers around the world watched the team track the rover through its landing, dubbed the “seven minutes of terror.”
Several Lake County residents reported on Facebook that they watched NASA’s online stream of the team as it got the good news, with the blue-shirted team members breaking into cheers, hugs and high fives.
The one-ton, car-sized Curiosity is the most advanced rover ever built, and was made in the United State, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
The mission has cost an estimated $2.5 billion, which NASA officials said breaks down to about $7 for every U.S. citizen.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said the rover “will seek to answer age-old questions about whether life ever existed on Mars – or if the planet can sustain life in the future.”
President Barack Obama called the landing “an unprecedented feat of technology that will stand as a point of national pride far into the future. It proves that even the longest of odds are no match for our unique blend of ingenuity and determination.”
Obama added, “And tonight’s success reminds us that our preeminence – not just in space, but here on Earth – depends on continuing to invest wisely in the innovation, technology, and basic research that has always made our economy the envy of the world.”
Hanging by ropes from a rocket backpack, Curiosity touched down in Gale Crater, at the foot of the the three-mile-high Mount Sharp, the geological layers for which are the mission’s prime destination.
NASA said observations from orbit have identified clay and sulfate minerals in Mount Sharp’s lower layers, indicating a wet history.
Minutes after the landing, the jubilant Mars Science Laboratory team members began receiving the rover’s first views for Mars, shots taken from a fisheye camera showing the planet’s surface.
Adam Steltzner of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, leader of the team that developed the system for Curiosity – which he said was named for the “defining human attribute” – later told reporters that the rover appeared to have had an “extremely clean” landing.
Steltzner said he was “terribly humbled” by the experience of the rover’s landing, crediting the team he led with accomplishing the feat.
John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, project scientist for Curiosity, said more than 3,500 Jet Propulsion employees took part in the effort, which also included nine principal investigators and the work of seven additional countries – Germany, France, Spain, Russia, Denmark, Britain and Canada.
Grotzinger noted the mission’s importance in promoting the sciences for younger generations.
“There is no greater inspiration for middle school children that are going to math, science and engineering than a mission to Mars,” he said, adding that the number of hits on the mission’s Web site is “unparalleled.”
At a time when many may question the wisdom – and cost – of going into space, Grotzinger said the mission cost to every United States resident equals the cost to go to a movie. “That’s a movie I want to see.”
Curiosity is the third Mars rover, after Spirit and Curiosity. The latter continues to actively study the red planet eight years after its arrival, NASA reported.
During a nearly two-year prime mission, Curiosity will investigate whether the region ever offered conditions favorable for microbial life, NASA reported.
NASA officials said Curiosity carries 10 science instruments with a total mass 15 times as large as the science payloads on the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Some of the tools are the first of their kind on Mars, such as a laser-firing instrument for checking elemental composition of rocks from a distance.
Curiosity will use a drill and scoop at the end of its robotic arm to gather soil and powdered samples of rock interiors, then sieve and parcel out these samples into analytical laboratory instruments inside the rover, according to NASA.
But NASA officials said early Monday that they plan to take their time as they begin exploring Mars with the rover.
Grotzinger said they will spend a few weeks checking things out before taking a drive, and plan to spend several months using all the instruments. In a year or so they could be on the base of Mount Sharp.
“The mission’s about patience and checking things out carefully,” said Grotzinger.
Richard Cook, the mission’s deputy project manager, compared it to a family vacation and driving from California to Chicago, but instead of your family you have 400 scientists who want to stop and look at interesting things along the way.
Peter Theisinger, director of the Engineering and Science Directorate at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the mission’s project manager, said he didn’t think anyone would be shocked if it lasted twice the estimated two years.
“We’ve got a long mission ahead of us and because of that and the capabilities of this rover, we have the possibilities for just monumental science accomplishments,” he said.
He added, “We’re in no hurry.”
Curiosity is a “priceless national asset,” Theisinger said, “and we are not going to, pardon the French, screw it up.”
Theisinger said they will take their time in rolling out the mission. He guaranteed it will be done at a slow, deliberate, methodical pace, and asked people to be patient.
Stay tuned – NASA officials guaranteed new discoveries every day thanks to the mission. Later this week new, bigger color picture are expected from the rover once its mastcam is active.
Follow Curiosity’s journey at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ , on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MarsCuriosity or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MarsCuriosity .
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – There are many kittens and cats needing new homes at Lake County Animal Care and Control.
Kitten season is continuing, and homes which will ensure the little felines are cared for and loved are eagerly sought.
In addition, there are some very friendly adult cats that need a new chance at a home of their own.
Cats that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed and microchipped 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 there, hoping you'll choose them.
The following cats at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (other cats pictured on the animal control Web site that are not listed here are still “on hold”).
Adult gray tabby
This male gray tabby is 1 year old.
He weighs 7.4 pounds, has a long coat and has been neutered.
He’s in cat room kennel No. 11, ID 33504.
Male tabby kitten
This male brown tabby kitten is 10 weeks old.
He has a short coat and has not yet been neutered.
He’s in cat room kennel No. 23, ID No. 33506.
Female gray and white tabby
This female tabby is 2 years old.
She has a short gray and white coat, gold eyes and has not yet been spayed.
Find her in cat room kennel No. 46, ID No. 33740.
Male white and gray kitten
This male white and gray tabby kitten is 9 weeks old.
He has a short coat, blue eyes and has not yet been altered.
He’s in cat room kennel No. 49a, ID No. 33439.
Male white and gray kitten
This male white and gray tabby kitten is 9 weeks old.
Like his littermates, he has a short coat, blue eyes and has not yet been altered.
He’s in cat room kennel No. 49b, ID No. 33440.
Male white and gray kitten
This male white and gray tabby kitten is 9 weeks old and from the same litter as the above two kittens.
He also has a short coat, blue eyes and has not yet been altered.
He’s in cat room kennel No. 49c, ID No. 33441.
Domestic long hair mix
This female kitten is 4 months old.
She has a long black coat and green eyes. She has not yet been spayed.
She’s in cat room kennel No. 53, ID No. 33249.
Male white and orange tabby kitten
This male white and orange tabby kitten is 13 weeks old.
He has a short coat and blue eyes, and has not been neutered.
He’s in cat room kennel 63c, ID No. 33112.
Female white and orange tabby kitten
This female white and orange tabby kitten is 16 weeks old.
She’s got a short coat and green eyes, and has not yet been spayed.
Find her in cat room kennel 63d, ID No. 33135.
‘Sweetie Pie’
“Sweetie Pie” is a 15-week-old male domestic short hair mix.
He has gold eyes and brown tabby coloring.
He’s in cat room kennel No. 81, ID No. 33748.
Black and white domestic long hair
This domestic long hair mix kitten is 12 weeks old.
The kitten, whose gender has not been reported, has a black and white coat and gold eyes. It has not been altered.
Find the kitten in cat room kennel 95a, ID No. 33736.
Domestic long hair mix kitten
This female black and white domestic long hair mix kitten is 12 weeks old.
She has gold eyes and has not yet been altered.
She’s in cat room kennel 95b, ID No. 33737.
Male domestic long hair mix kitten
This male domestic long hair mix kitten is 12 weeks old.
He ha gold eyes and has not yet been altered.
He’s in cat room kennel 95c, ID No. 33738.
Calico kitten
This female calico kitten is 14 weeks old.
She has a short multicolored coat and gold eyes.
She’s in cat room kennel No. 97, ID No. 33871.
Adoptable cats also can be seen at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Cats_and_Kittens.htm or at www.petfinder.com .
Please note: Cats listed at the shelter's Web page that are said to be “on hold” are not yet cleared for adoption.
To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .
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, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 1 p.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