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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The quake occurred at 4:53 p.m., and was centered 15 miles north northwest of Borrego Springs and 30 miles south of Palm Springs, according to the US Geological Survey. It was recorded at a depth of 7.3 miles.
The 5.4 quake was immediately followed by a 3.6-magnitude quake six miles northwest of Anza and 15 miles southwest of Palm Springs, with the survey reporting that dozens more smaller aftershocks followed, including five quakes measuring between 3.0 and 3.3.
Throughout the afternoon and early evening the US Geological Survey received thousands of shake reports from more than 500 zip codes around California, Nevada and Arizona, with reports also coming from Mexico.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
Kathy Jones, 57, was found unharmed but thirsty shortly before 7:30 a.m. Tuesday after Lake County Sheriff's deputies and Cal Fire personnel launched a search for her, according to Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Bauman said that shortly before 5 a.m. Tuesday Jones' husband reported that she had not returned from a hike that she'd left to take the evening before.
Jones reportedly left her Maxwell home at about 5:30 p.m. Monday to go for a hike in the Wilbur Springs area of Lake County, near Highway 20 about two miles from the Colusa County line, but had failed to return, Bauman reported.
When deputies responded on Tuesday morning to the area where Jones was reported to have gone hiking, Bauman said they found her vehicle parked and unoccupied off of the highway in the area of the Lake/Colusa County line.
Bauman said one of the sheriff’s Search and Rescue coordinators, who happened to be working a regular patrol shift at the time, responded to the area and began coordinating other resources from Cal Fire to assist with the search for Jones.
Deputies teamed up with Cal Fire personnel to start a ground search of the area while a Cal Fire helicopter dispatched out of Boggs Forest began searching from the air, according to Bauman's reported.
At about 7:20 a.m. Jones was located by the Cal Fire helicopter in the wilderness. Bauman said she was was loaded into the helicopter and transported to a field command post in the Wilbur Hot Springs area where she met with deputies.
Bauman said Jones told deputies that she and her husband often hiked in the area together but she was unaccustomed to hiking in the dark.
On Monday evening she decided to do a solo hike so she drove to the area and parked her car off of the highway. Bauman said she reported hiking into the wilderness on a fire road but as darkness fell, she became disoriented and her cell phone battery died.
Jones was equipped with a flashlight and GPS device but as night came, she decided to bed down with a space blanket she had and wait for morning to proceed any further, Bauman said.
On Tuesday morning, Bauman said Jones started looking for access back to the highway and then when she heard the Cal Fire helicopter flying overhead in the area, she suspected they were looking for her and managed to flag the aircraft down.
Bauman said Jones was transported by ground back to her car on the highway and after ensuring her condition was satisfactory, she was released to return to her Maxwell home on her own.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
In Clearlake, holiday festivities took place on Saturday, with visitors and residents alike crowding into the city.
Clearlake Police Chief Allan McClain said the parade, daylong events and firework in the evening went smoothly.
“Everything was fairly quiet for us this weekend,” he said, adding, “We had a lot of people in town.”
Across the lake, Lakeport Police Chief Kevin Burke estimated that the crowd was slightly smaller this year, but still large for the city.
He said it was pretty “mellow,” with several police units on patrol during the Sunday events.
“We had one fight at the park itself fairly early on, resulting in one arrest,” he said, and there were a few loud parties here and there which had to be dispersed.
“We did have a lot of intoxicated people in town,” he said, but the good news was that police made contact with many designated drivers who were helping keep drunk drivers off the roads.
The big concern came when wiring problems delayed and then caused gaps in the city's annual fireworks display Sunday evening.
“We were getting a little concerned because people were starting to definitely get upset that the fireworks show wasn't starting,” he said.
Burke added that for the most part the crowd remained calm and didn't cause any problems.
However, he said the police department's phone was ringing off the hook with questions from people wanting to know what was up with the fireworks display.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The decades-old Lakeport fireworks display, which can be seen across the lake on the Northshore, got started late and then ran into problems Sunday night, according to Lake County Chamber Chief Executive Officer Melissa Fulton.
The show, which had been scheduled to start at around 9:30 p.m. following the daylong Lakeport celebration, got started late, Fulton said.
At around 10 p.m. the fireworks started to go off – set of from four chamber-owned barges purchased several years ago for that purpose – and continued for about 10 minutes, said Fulton.
“Then there was a long pause,” she said.
Pyro Spectaculars, which Fulton said has done Lakeport's fireworks for more than 20 years, continued trying to work out the problems. Eventually, the show continued, finally ending at about 10:40 p.m.
When company technician Howard Main got back to shore, Fulton said he took full responsibility, explaining that the wiring hadn't been done correctly.
This is the first time in 20 years that there has been any problem, Fulton said.
The company's technicians started setting up the framework to hold the shells on the chamber barges at about 7:30 a.m. Sunday, she said.
The process, she said, takes approximately eight hours to complete – with technicians working in the extreme heat – and is a difficult and dangerous operation.
Fulton reported that Main was extremely apologetic about the issues.
She said the chamber wanted to thank the community members, visitors and businesses who once again contributed to the display both through direct donations and the annual “Add A Dollar” campaign to pay for the display. As of the chamber's last report last week, it had raised $4,362 through a letter to members.
Fulton also thanked the city of Lakeport, which signed the contract for the display. She said the city deserved credit for helping to keep this American tradition alive and well locally.
“Notwithstanding the technical problems, the city, the chamber and everyone who contributed to the fundraising should be congratulated for their community support,” she said.
Fulton pointed out that many communities, some far larger than Lakeport, have canceled their fireworks displays due to budget issues.
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