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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The quake, measuring 3.0 on the Richter scale, occurred at 1:25 p.m., according to the US Geological Survey.
The epicenter was located four miles northwest of The Geysers and eight miles west of Cobb, the US Geological Survey reported. The quake took place at a depth of 1.6 miles.
The US Geological Survey only received one report from someone who felt the quake in Petaluma.
The last time the county experienced earthquakes over 3.0 in magnitude was Dec. 1, when a 4.0 and 3.0 took place near The Geysers and Cobb.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
THIS STORY HAS BEEN CORRECTED REGARDING THE NAME OF ONE OF THE SEARCH AND RESCUE VEHICLES.
CACHE CREEK WILDERNESS – Emergency personnel from Lake and Sonoma counties teamed to rescue a Sacramento man Friday evening after he was injured while visiting the Cache Creek Wilderness Area.
Northshore Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Pat Brown, the incident commander for the rescue, reported that Northshore Fire District was dispatched at 3 p.m. Friday to a male subject with a broken leg.
The man was said to be four miles downstream from the Cache Creek Wilderness Area parking lot just off Highway 20, Brown said.
The reporting party had walked out the four miles and called on the emergency call box located on Highway 20, Brown explained. The report noted that the male victim had been in the water but was out and on the bank with an angular leg fracture.
Initial dispatch for Station 75 (Clearlake Oaks) was expanded to include Station 80 (Lucerne), Lake County Fire and Cal Fire, said Brown.
Northshore Fire District had one ambulance, two four-wheel-drive engines and an Urban Search and Rescue Vehicle – with total man power of 10, said Brown. Lake County provided a command vehicle with two personnel and Cal Fire provided one engine with a crew of three.
Once units were on scene and trying to locate the victim – 27-year-old Andrei Vihodet of Sacramento – rescue crews asked Brown to request the assistance of the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office rescue helicopter, Henry One.
Rescuers were especially concerned about the approaching darkness and dropping temperatures, Brown said.
Northshore and Lake County rescue personnel were able to drive to within a mile of the victim and started hiking in with rescue equipment, Brown said.
Henry One located Vihodet and landed nearby, said Brown. Vihodet was flown to the command post – the Cache Creek parking lot – to Medic 175 at 5:16 p.m. and transported to Redbud Hospital. Henry One returned to the victim’s location and transported a family member back to the parking lot.
Brown added that all safety equipment left the wilderness area at 6:40 p.m.
A combined effort from fire personnel and Sonoma County Sheriff's rescue helicopter made the rescue successful, said Brown.
Brown said Northshore Fire District would like to thank Sonoma County Sheriff's rescue helicopter, Henry One, for the great work and its availability to help Lake County for the rescue.
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- Details
- Written by: Thelma Dangel
KELSEYVILLE – A local school's program to introduce children to gardening is reaping benefits beyond produce – it's teaching children responsibility and the joy of growing one's own food.
Helen Finch's enthusiasm and talent for gardening are no secret, especially to those who have visited her annual Art in the Garden event.
In 2006, Finch volunteered to form the Kelseyville Kids Garden Club for fourth and fifth graders at Kelseyville Elementary School.
The number of students has grown from 30 to a crowd of 50 who come after school on Tuesday and Thursdays from 2 to 3 p.m. Children meet in a classroom to form teams and discuss the day's objectives and then it's off to the garden.
As a member of Trowel and Trellis Garden Club-Mendo-Lake District, California Garden Club Inc., I wanted to view their garden and it was time well spent.
Children's activities include digging, turning, amending and preparing the raised beds for seeds or seedlings that they have already grown in cell packs. Their tools are regular sizes. After their work they are taught to clean up before their gardening time is over for the day.
They weed, string, stake, fertilize, and finally harvest and enjoy their veggies and flowers.
Sometimes the children help to prepare a meal; other times, Helen and the parent/grandparent/neighbor volunteers prepare something for them to try.
For the children, cooking is very engaging; no one wants to be left out. While I was visiting, the girls set the tables and brought me a few flowers to enjoy.
Helen also has the children involved with the Free Kitchen Project at the Kelseyville Senior Center. Once during each season, the children are invited to harvest vegetables, prepare a meal and serve it to the people who come to dinner on the first Sunday of the month.
Helen is a very knowledgeable, patient gardener and teacher.
Many members of the community, Big Valley Lions in particular, have generously donated many of the items from the children's garden club wish list. Clear Lake Trowel and Trellis Garden Club has also been very supportive and made the school's club their Christmas project this year, providing most everything else on the list, including not one, but two much-needed picnic tables.
Some very thoughtful restauranteurs at Marcie's Brick Grill, Saw Shop Bistro and DJ's Pizza have provided the very important compostables that feed the garden.
There is a wonderful staff of other volunteers who spend as much time as they can at the garden or working behind the scenes. They include Margaret Eutenier, Pat Beedle, Teresa Marks, Andrea Anderson, Cindi Browzynski, Karen Long, Theresa Mather and Mary Bogle.
If you would like to share some of your time in the garden with Helen, she would love to hear from you. She can be reached at 707-279-9400.
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- Details
- Written by: Lake County News reports
The frog, made famous by Mark Twain's story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," is a California native once abundant from the Central Coast to the Sierra Nevada foothills, and also in Lake County.
The suit was one of 13 filed last week challenging the Bush administration's political interference in management of 55 endangered species and 8.7 million acres of public land.
Suits over six other species were filed in November. Earthjustice filed the California red-legged frog suit on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity.
At issue is an April 13, 2006, Endangered Species Act rule, adopted by the service, that revised the "critical habitat" for the California red-legged frog by reducing it from 4.1 million acres to approximately 450,000 acres.
The service agreed to revise the frog's critical habitat rule as a result of a closed-door settlement between industry and the service that was approved over the objections of a coalition of conservation groups.
The California red-legged frog's critical habitat rule is one of several dozen species decisions that may have been manipulated by former Interior Department Deputy Assistant Secretary Julie MacDonald, who resigned in disgrace in May.
Both the Inspector General and Government Accountability Office have ongoing investigations in political interference by MacDonald and others in Endangered Species Act decisions.
This isn't the first time the service has been challenged in court over the California red-legged frog and its critical habitat. Following a lawsuit filed by Earthjustice on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity and other groups in 1999, the service initially agreed to designate the subspecies' critical habitat, even though the agency was under a statutory duty to do so since the species was listed in 1996.
"The red-legged frog won't survive unless we protect its habitat" said Mike Senatore, senior counsel for the Center for Biological Diversity, "Julie MacDonald's interference is inexcusable. She is an endangered species death star."
"We're headed back to court not only to protect Mark Twain's celebrated jumping frog, but also to protect the scientific integrity of the Endangered Species Program," said Erin Tobin of Earthjustice. "The California red-legged frog, once common across the state, appears to have been the victim of politics. We urge the Department of the Interior to promptly revise the frog's critical habitat and fix the mess created by Julie MacDonald and possibly others."
Documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show that Julie MacDonald improperly influenced the scientific integrity of the frog's critical habitat rule in an attempt to reduce protections for the frog for the benefit of developers and other special-interest groups.
The service conceded on Nov. 23 that the frog's critical habitat "should be revised," but suggested it would only do so "as funding is made available."
The service decided to reconsider six other species listing and critical habitat decisions influenced by MacDonald, but conservation groups argue that the controversy extends well beyond Julie MacDonald and these seven species decisions.
The Center for Biological Diversity has pledged to file suit over 55 species whose protections were illegally overturned by MacDonald or other high-level officials.
Spurred by documents uncovered by the Center for Biological Diversity and other groups, lawmakers recently have called for a wider review of Julie MacDonald's decisions.
The General Accounting Office is currently looking into the process by which the service arrived at its decision to revise the seven species listing and critical habitat decisions.
At the request of Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the Inspector General agreed to reopen his investigation and broaden it to consider whether there was improper political interference with the science in 18 species decisions.
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