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- Written by: Preston Dyches
What's up for April? Morning planets, a sunset arch and finding Leo the lion.
April 22 is Earth Day – an annual opportunity to collectively appreciate the wonder and beauty of our home planet. So it seems appropriate to feature an Earth-related sight you can see any time of the year when you have clear skies. It's a twilight phenomenon that you might have noticed just after sunset.
If you can pull your gaze away from the sunset in the west, and spin yourself around to face east, you'll often notice a band of pink- or orange-colored sky with a darker, bluish band beneath. These bands move upward over the minutes following sunset to form an arch across the sky that slowly fades as night sets in. The dark band is Earth's shadow rising. Above it, the rosy-hued band is known as the Belt of Venus.
We observe this sight for a short time after sunset when the sun is just below the horizon, but some of its light rays are still making their way through the atmosphere before nightfall. The redder, or longer wavelengths, of sunlight are able to travel the longest distance through the atmosphere. And at the point opposite to the sunset, this reddish light is scattered off the atmosphere and back toward your eyes.
The Belt of Venus is named not for the planet, but for the mythical goddess. Together with Earth's shadow, these sights form the "anti-twilight arch." This arch rises like a curtain on the night, slowly fading as Earth's shadow eventually fills the sky, allowing us to gaze outward into the stars.
You can see this sight in morning twilight as well, by looking in the direction opposite the rising sun – that is, toward the west. As the sky begins to lighten, Earth's shadow becomes noticeable with the Belt of Venus above it, and these bands slowly sink to the horizon as day breaks.
April is a great time to look for Leo, that is, the constellation Leo. Leo is the Latin word for "lion," and this well-known grouping of stars is named for a super-powered lion vanquished by the mythical hero Hercules. It's a pretty easy constellation to locate, because it sort of looks like a lion reclining in the sky, and has this recognizable curving shape, called the Sickle, that represents the lion's head.
In April, you can find Leo high overhead in the south in the first few hours after sunset. In addition to the sickle shape of the lion's head, look for the lion's heart – the brilliant bluish-white star Regulus, which is one of the brightest stars in the sky.
Astronomers think most stars have a family of planets orbiting them. And these two bright stars in Leo – named Algieba (which is actually a double star!) and Rasalas – each have a confirmed planet larger than Jupiter orbiting around them. So step out after dark in April to look for Leo, with its sickle-shaped lion's mane, and blazing bluish heart.
Preston Dyches works for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
At 11:22 a.m. Friday, the agency posted an update on its Facebook page saying that 14-year-old Ocean Smith was safely located.
He had gone missing on Thursday night after 10:30 p.m. after a dispute with family.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Clearlake Police Department said early Friday that it is trying to locate a missing at-risk 14-year-old boy.
The department is trying to find Ocean Smith.
At 10:30 p.m. Thursday, Ocean Smith was in a dispute with family at his residence located in the area of the 14500 block of Lakeshore Drive, police said.
After the dispute, police said Ocean left the residence in an unknown direction.
Ocean is described by family as having special needs and this behavior is out of character for him, police said.
Ocean is a black male juvenile, standing 6 feet tall and weighing 300 pounds, with black hair and hazel eyes. Police said he was last seen wearing a t-shirt and blue shorts.
If you see Ocean, please contact the Clearlake Police Department at 707-994-8251.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A long-disputed building project at Hidden Valley Lake received a unanimous vote from the Lake County Planning Commission on Thursday that will allow construction to move forward.
The Hidden Valley Lake Homeowners Association’s Hartmann Complex received a 4-0 vote approving a mitigated negative declaration and the granting of a major use permit during a discussion that ran less than 45 minutes on Thursday morning.
The discussion can be viewed in the video above, starting at the 2:08:20 mark.
The association plans to build the new 12,483 square foot Hartmann Complex at 19210 Hartmann Road, a short distance away from the 7,200 square foot building that currently houses the Greenview Restaurant and pro shop.
Once the new building is completed, it will house the restaurant and pro shop. The older building will then be demolished.
Planning documents said the new building will have expanded banquet facilities and a 3,180 square foot covered patio, with its proximity to the golfing facilities requiring new netting on driving range tees, the relocation of practice greens and repositioning of the first hole golf tees, more parking, a dedicated drop-off area and new sidewalk, curb and gutter.
Associate Planner Eric Porter said the county received a lot of feedback on the project in 2015 not long after it was initially proposed, and on Thursday morning received a petition with 28 property owners objecting to it, along with about 10 other letters raising concerns.
“My job is to look at it in terms of compliance with the code, the general plan and the area plan that applies,” Porter said, adding that’s what he did.
He reviewed the plan with the commission, and explained construction of the new building and demolition of the old one should take a total of four to six months.
An environmental review was conducted and Porter said the county didn’t receive any adverse comments from local or state agencies. The Middletown Rancheria expressed interest and has entered into a contractual agreement with the homeowners association, with the tribe notifying Porter of its support for the project proceeding.
“I couldn't find a reason to recommend anything but approval” of the mitigated negative declaration and use permit, Porter said.
Despite Porter’s stated expectation during the meeting of receiving a large amount of public comment, only four community members spoke about the project, in addition to Hidden Valley Lake Association General Manager Randy Murphy.
“The project is a long time coming. It’s been in the works over 10 years,” said Murphy.
He said there is a “small but vocal contingent” that has stalled it and delayed it through recalls and other actions. Murphy blamed those delays for costing the association several million more dollars to build the complex than it would have cost to build it five or six years ago.
Murphy said the current building was designed and built in the late 1960s when the community was much smaller. “The new project will be the crown jewel for our association.”
He said the demand for property in Hidden Valley Lake is higher than it’s been in years, and he asserted that new residents are very supportive of the project.
Commissioner Lance Williams asked how many people live in the community. Murphy said the most recent population estimate is between 6,000 and 6,500 residents. There are just under 3,300 lots, of which about 2,400 are developed.
Residents raise concerns
Hidden Valley Lake homeowner Elizabeth Montgomery told the commission she opposes the project, which she said the homeowners association can’t afford.
“We are struggling financially already,” and don’t have the $8 million to $10 million to build the complex, Montgomery said. She suggested the building could start and then not be completed.
“Urgent wildfire safety needs are being neglected in my neighborhood, they are being neglected in favor of this project,” said Montgomery, who also raised issues about the building being located in a flood zone, the need to consider climate change and inadequate stormwater drainage infrastructure.
Resident Lisa Kaplan told the commission that the community is “pretty much divided” over the project. She said that after 10 years – with a wildfire in the middle – people are exhausted due to the fight.
“When it comes to our pocketbooks, this is a real problem,” she said, adding, “All of our real public spaces are being neglected in favor of this building.”
Lakeport resident Bobby Dutcher said he’s served on boards and they never get 100-percent approval on issues. He suggested giving the association the benefit of the doubt and supporting the project, allowing the association to upgrade itself.
In response to objections raised during public comment, Murphy said none of the concerns about flooding or the homeowners association’s financial status are real. He said they’re ready to break ground as soon as they get the permit.
Commissioner John Hess, who lives in Hidden Valley Lake, asked if the current building is in the floodplain. Staff said it is.
He referred to a picture of the Greenview Restaurant parking lot in 2017 – which was included in public comment documents – that showed it flooded and asked how to avoid such a situation for the new facility.
Murphy said it was his understanding that the 2017 flooding was the result of a tree blocking a culvert under Hartmann Road. He said the final finished floor elevation for the existing building is a couple of feet above flood elevation and the new building will be 3 feet higher than the old one.
Hess asked about the parking lot. Murphy said the design has drainage improvements but he said “all bets are off” if the creek is blocked off due to a tree.
When Hess asked if that issue had been fixed with the tree, Murphy said the tree was removed but added it could happen again.
Williams, who said he’d also seen the flooded parking lot picture, understood there were to be mitigations, but Murphy said mitigations aren’t part of the project.
“To me, mitigating it would be improving the drainage,” Williams said.
Hess, noting he had lived through the 2017 flood and the 2015 Valley fire evacuation, said, “I don’t see a strong enough reason to oppose the entire major use permit.”
He said he’s well aware of a number of recall elections and the criticisms targeting the homeowners association board and management, as well as subsidies for the restaurant and golf shop.
However, “Those are not part of our purview,” Hess said, explaining that he wanted to make that distinction in his own mind and for the public.
Commissioner Christina Price said she appreciated Hess sharing that.
Community Development Deputy Director Toccarra Thomas told the commission that there are further mitigations that can go along with the parking lot and staff can work with the applicant on those. She said there are some cool innovations for dispersing water quickly.
In reading through the mitigations, Williams said the drainage is adequately sized for the proposed site runoff. “I don’t know if we can ask for it to go bigger.”
Price offered separate motions for the commission to approve the mitigated negative declaration and the major use permit, with the commission approving both motions 4-0. Commissioner Everardo Chavez Perez had to leave the meeting before the votes.
Commission Chair Batsulwin Brown said there is a seven calendar day appeal period.
Porter told Lake County News later on Thursday that if the project isn’t appealed, and he said that’s “a very big ‘if,’” it is eligible for its permit seven days following the appeal period.
Lake County News reached out to the leadership of one local group that has voiced opposition to the project, HVL Now, to ask if there are plans to appeal, but did not receive a response.
Email Elizabeth Larson at