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- Written by: Lake County News reports
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Proactive enforcement efforts by Lake County Sheriff’s patrol deputies have resulted in two arrests, the seizure of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
On Tuesday, April 17, deputies arrested Ashley Nicole Saxon and Casey Rodgers, both 26 and Kelseyville residents, according to Sgt. Steve Brooks of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
On Tuesday at approximately 11:28 a.m. deputies conducted a search of Saxon and her Cypress Avenue residence, Brooks said.
Saxon allegedly had been released from custody with a search clause for a prior narcotics sales case, Brooks said. When deputies entered the residence they also contacted Rodgers.
While conducting a search of the residence deputies located a substantial amount of methamphetamine. Brooks said they also located digital scales, a glass pipe commonly used to smoke methamphetamine and packaging materials.
He said Saxon admitted that the aforementioned items belonged to her.
Saxon was arrested for possession of a controlled substance for sales, committing a felony while released on her own recognizance, possession of paraphernalia used for smoking a controlled substance and for being under the influence of a controlled substance, Brooks said.
Saxon was transported to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility and booked. She remains in custody on a no-bail hold, according to jail records.
Rodgers was arrested for having an outstanding warrant. He later was released from custody on his signed notice to appear in court.
The Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force is encouraged to call the anonymous tip line at 707-263-3663.
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- Written by: Dr. Tony Phillips
This weekend, NASA scientists, amateur astronomers and an astronaut on board the International Space Station will attempt the first-ever 3D photography of meteors from Earth and space.
“The annual Lyrid meteor shower peaks on April 21-22,” said Bill Cooke, the head of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. “We’re going to try to photograph some of these 'shooting stars' simultaneously from ground stations, from a research balloon in the stratosphere, and from the space station.”
Lyrid meteors come from Comet Thatcher. Every year in late April Earth passes through a stream of debris from the old comet, which has been bringing Lyrid meteors to our planet for at least 2,600 years.
Specks of Thatcher’s dust hit the top of atmosphere at 110,000 miles per hour and disintegrate in a flurry of meteors. Most years, the shower produces about 15 to 20 Lyrids per hour.
This is a good year to look for Lyrids because the Moon will be new when the shower peaks. Dark skies favor sightings both from Earth and from Earth orbit.
“Even though the Lyrids are not noted for spectacular rates, the combination of a New Moon and a very favorable viewing geometry from the International Space Station (ISS) presents a unique opportunity to simultaneously image shower meteors from above and below,” said Cooke.
ISS Flight Engineer Don Pettit will be operating the camera on the space station.
“Even though his equipment was designed for tasks other than meteor observing, Don is a skilled astrophotographer, and we have every confidence that he will maximize the chances of capturing a Lyrid from 400 km above Earth's surface,” Cooke said.
As the Space Station passes over North America multiple times on the night of April 21, a network of all-sky cameras – some operated by amateur astronomers and others by NASA – will be recording the shower.
In Bishop, Calif., a group of high school and middle school students will launch a helium balloon to the stratosphere. The payload floating some 40 kilometers above Earth’s surface will carry an experimental low-cost meteor camera and recorder developed by the Meteoroid Environment Office.
As astrophotographers know, catching a fleet meteor with a single camera takes some luck. Catching one meteor with multiple cameras, some of them on platforms moving as fast as 17,000 miles per hour, scattered from Earth to Earth orbit, sounds more like winning the lottery.
“Actually, we think the odds are fairly good,” said Cooke, who estimated a one in six chance of a simultaneous catch between the ISS and one of the wide-field ground cameras.
If the effort does produce 3D imagery of any Lyrids, Cooke plans to use the photos to test ideas and algorithms for processing date gathered by future space-based meteor observatories.
“We’re laying the groundwork for small satellites that might one day be used to monitor meteor showers from Earth orbit,” he explained.
Cooke encourages sky watchers everywhere be alert for meteors this Saturday night. Typical Lyrids are about as bright as the stars of the Big Dipper, so they’re good for beginners. And it's not unusual to see one or two fireballs when the shower peaks.
A good time to look is during the hours after midnight, when the shower’s radiant is rising toward its zenith.
Although the Lyrid meteor rate is usually capped at 20 per hour, better displays sometimes occur when Earth glides through an unusually dense clump of debris. In 1982, for instance, astronomers counted as many as 90 Lyrids per hour.
“Such an outburst would be great for our experiment,” said Cooke.
Amateur astronomers who wish to help monitor the 2012 Lyrids are encouraged to download the Meteor Counter for iPhones. The app records meteor counts and reports the data to NASA for possible analysis.
Also, Cooke and colleagues will be “staying up all night” on April 21 to chat with the general public about the shower. Tune in at http://www.nasa.gov/connect/chat/ .
Dr. Tony Phillips works for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A man who crashed his vehicle last weekend and who allegedly left the scene and his passenger – who died – has been rearrested in the case.
Danny Fields II, 27, of Clearlake was arrested for vehicular manslaughter, felony driving under the influence, felony hit and run resulting in death or injury and driving on a suspended license, according to Officer Kory Reynolds of the California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office.
The collision in which Fields was involved, which occurred early on the morning of Sunday, April 15, took the life of 31-year-old Jennifer Clark of Clearlake, as Lake County News has reported.
According to the investigation, Clark had been riding with Fields in his 1984 Chevrolet El Camino, headed southbound on Highway 29 just north of Lower Lake when the collision occurred, sometime between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. Sunday.
Fields’ vehicle went off the road and down an embankment, hitting a walnut tree, according to investigators.
He then allegedly left the scene, got a ride to the Lower Lake Tower Mart, and from there was transported by his parents to St. Helena Hospital Clearlake, which notified the CHP just before 9 a.m. that day that a collision had occurred.
The vehicle was discovered by sheriff’s deputies less than 20 minutes after the crash was reported, according to officials. Clark, still inside the vehicle, was pronounced dead at the scene.
CHP officers originally had arrested Fields for felony driving under the influence and felony hit and run causing death or injury, and had a blood sample taken. However, they had released him due to his injuries, Sgt. Rick Okazaki told Lake County News earlier this week.
Okazaki had said releasing Fields did not preclude the CHP from pursuing charges against him.
Reynolds said Fields, who sustained major injuries in the crash, was arrested on Thursday following his release from Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, where he had been transferred for treatment.
Fields was booked into the Lake County Jail with bail set at $210,000, Reynolds said.
Fields did not appear in online jail records Friday afternoon.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Communications workers rallied in Clearlake Thursday afternoon to bring attention to their struggle to reach a contract with AT&T.
Members of Communications Workers of America Local 9400 carried signs at the intersection of Old Highway 53 and Olympic Drive between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday, and organizer Shawn Heape said they will continue such demonstrations around the county every Thursday until they get a new, fair contract.
Those taking part were mostly local outside technicians who work on overhead and underground communications equipment for AT&T, said Frank Arce, senior vice president for Local 9400. There also were some AT&T workers from Concord and Santa Rosa who came for the event.
Union members have been working without a contract since April 7, when their last three-year contract expired, Arce said.
By working without a contract, said Arce, “that allows us to walk at any moment.”
Although the workers weren’t yet on strike on Thursday, Arce said there has been no progress made at the bargaining table, and a strike could take place any time.
AT&T said that four core wireline contracts for different regions of the United States – West, Midwest and East, plus Legacy T Core – expired on April 7, affecting 40,000 employees.
The company said the parties agreed to continue to negotiate. Employees are to work under the expired contract’s terms while the negotiations continue.
In the case of the West contract, which covers the workers rallying in Clearlake, it affects a total of 17,000 employees in California and Nevada, AT&T reported.
The company said the bargaining tables “are working on major issues like health care, attendance and pension.”
AT&T provided a health care proposal to the union on April 7, the union responded on April 13 and on Tuesday the company responded to the proposal. In a Wednesday report AT&T said proposal details will remain confidential.
Arce said union members are not asking for big gains; they just want to keep what they have and not have to roll back pay and benefits at a time when the company is thriving and its chief executive officer and board chair, Randall Stephenson, reportedly has a total compensation package of $22 million annually.
“Their answer is to cut our salaries and have us work harder,” said Arce.
Technicians already work long days, sometimes seven days a week, he said.
Some of the technicians who were rallying on Thursday afternoon described challenging working conditions and company actions that stripped them of seniority.
Matt Willis said he had worked for the company for a time before it laid him off for nearly seven months, rehiring him after he lost his seniority. He was required to go back through the probation process and now makes $10 less an hour than he did before.
Bryan Brentwood said he was told he had to take an $11 an hour pay cut and was forced to move across the state with his family in order to keep his job.
“We’re just in a tough spot, you know?” Brentwood said, holding a sign at the intersection’s edge.
Arce, a 28-year AT&T veteran, said he’s been on strike three times in his tenure with the company; eight years ago, for four days; for two weeks in 1989; and for two and a half weeks in 1983.
Customers could face some service losses if a strike occurs, said Arce. While new teams are waiting to be brought in to cover for striking workers, he said it takes two to three years to learn the technician jobs.
Arce said the union also is fighting against AT&T’s efforts to move jobs and services overseas.
“We want jobs here in California,” he said.
On Wednesday, North Coast Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey sent a letter to Stephenson at his Dallas office, urging AT&T to invest in its workers’ health and welfare.
She said AT&T workers in her district have expressed concern that their wages, health benefits and workplace considerations are being eroded. “I share these concerns.”
Woolsey added, “At a time when the American public believes increasingly that it is ignored by corporate interests and excluded from employers’ profits, it would be irresponsible to exact such substantial concessions from middle-class families,” and encouraged the company to “reach a just and expeditious resolution that respects its workers’ contributions.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at elarson@lakeconews .