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- Written by: Lake County News reports
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said it has arrested a Hidden Valley Lake man for sexually assaulting an 18-year-old woman to whom he provided alcohol during a party at his home this summer.
Mark Greydon Tolson, 44, was arrested on Wednesday, Lt. Corey Paulich said.
On July 16, the female victim contacted the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and reported she had been sexually assaulted by Tolson, Paulich said.
Paulich said the victim reported that on July 15 Tolson provided alcohol to her and other adults under age 21 at his residence. The victim reported that later in the night she woke up to Tolson sexually assaulting her.
Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit detectives continued the investigation. On Wednesday, detectives served a search warrant at Tolson’s residence, Paulich said.
Tolson subsequently was arrested on charges of oral copulation and sexual battery and transported to the Lake County Jail, where he was booked on the charges. Paulich said Tolson later was released after posting bail.
The Sheriff’s Office asks anyone who may have further information regarding Tolson to please contact Det. Jeff Mora at 707-262-4224 or by email at
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
The August Complex was up to 970,930 acres and 55-percent containment on Friday night, officials reported.
The Forest Service said 583,201 acres of the complex is on the Mendocino National Forest.
Officials said 1,849 personnel remain assigned to the incident, which began on Aug. 17 due to lightning and is burning on the Mendocino, Six-Rivers and Shasta-Trinity National Forests.
The complex is threatening 2,200 structures and has destroyed 108 to date, the Forest Services said.
The Forest Service said substantial work was carried out on Thursday along the southwestern corner of the fire near Big Signal Peak to mop up and secure unburned fuel within the control line.
Fire personnel began assessing areas farther north along the southwestern edge in anticipation of moving and focusing resources in areas with more active fire. Crews pulled eight miles of hose from the interior of the fire, from exterior lines that are fully contained, and contingency or back-up lines, officials said.
Good progress was made along the eastern and southern edge by removing equipment and 60 percent of the hose that will be reallocated to higher priority locations, according to the Forest Service report.
The Forest Service said Friday that crews moved clockwise around the perimeter toward the western area of the fire to gain further information to plan for next steps.
Although resources were moving in that western vicinity, activity continued elsewhere as crews focused on repair of fire suppression activities including dozer and handlines, officials said.
Officials said firefighters will continue patrolling and backhauling of equipment and hose along the eastern and southern edge, where there is good containment.
The structure protection group will remove pumps, hose, and other fire apparatus from areas around Pillsbury Ranch and Rice Creek areas, the Forest Service said.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
Air Pollution Control Officer Doug Gearhart said that due to significant fire activity this week, all of Lake County is forecast to have “unhealthy for sensitive groups” to “unhealthy” air quality through Sunday as smoke settles into the area.
Gearhart said smoke from the Glass fire in Napa and Sonoma counties, the August Complex, and other fires burning in California and Oregon will continue to impact Lake County in the coming weeks.
Current conditions are degraded from the Glass fire and the regional wind pattern transporting smoke into the Lake County Air Basin, he said.
There is a potential for periods of improved air quality and overall improvement as wind patterns change, Gearhart said.
He said early forecast information indicated that a wind shift that started Friday night and continuing into Saturday may push the smoke from the Glass fire out the air basin, but increased activity in the August Complex fire may contribute smoke into the air basin due to the wind direction.
Up-to-date air quality conditions for Lake County can be found at PurpleAir.
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- Written by: Preston Dyches
What's up for October 2020? Not one, but two, full moons; Mars at opposition; and finding the Andromeda galaxy.
This month brings not just one, but two full moons, at the beginning and end of the month. The full moon that took place on Oct. 1 is called the harvest moon. The harvest moon is the name for the full moon that occurs closest to the September equinox. (One of two days per year when day and night are of equal length.)
Most years the harvest moon falls in September, but every few years it shifts over to October. The name traces back to both Native American and European traditions related, not surprisingly, to harvest time.
At the end of October, on the 31st, we'll enjoy a second full moon. When there are two full moons in a month, the second is often called a blue moon. (There's another, more traditional definition of a blue moon, but this is the most well known.) Note that this is the only two-full-moon month in 2020!
October is a great time for viewing Mars, as the planet is visible all night right now, and reaches its highest point in the sky around midnight. This period of excellent visibility coincides with the event known as opposition, which occurs about every two years, when Mars is directly on the opposite side of Earth from the Sun.
This is also around the time when Mars and Earth come closest together in their orbits, meaning the Red Planet is at its brightest in the sky, so don't miss it.
Spacecraft from several nations are currently on the way to Mars, including NASA's Mars 2020 mission, which is scheduled to land there in February.
Finally this month, it's a great time to try and spot the galaxy of Andromeda. Andromeda is also known as M31. It's a spiral galaxy similar in appearance to our own Milky Way, but slightly larger. Both contain hundreds of billions of stars, and (we think), trillions of planets.
Now we can't see the overall shape of the Milky Way, because we're inside it, so Andromeda gives us a sense of what our galaxy would look like if you could see it from afar.
Andromeda is faint, and best viewed with a telescope, but you can observe it with binoculars or even a cell phone with a good camera on it, even from light-polluted areas. And under very dark skies, it's just barely a naked-eye object. So although it might be a little challenging, it's worth it to see an entire galaxy with your own eyes!
To find the Andromeda galaxy, look to the northeast in the evening sky once it's truly dark. Find the sideways "W" that represents the throne of queen Cassiopeia. To the right of Cassiopeia lies the constellation Andromeda, which includes this string of bright stars.
Moving upward, hang a left at the second of these bright stars, and as you scan back over toward Cassiopeia, you'll notice a faint, fuzzy patch of light. That fuzzy patch is the Andromeda galaxy, located 2 million light-years away. If you manage it, congratulations! You've just gone intergalactic.
You can catch up on all of NASA's missions to explore the solar system and beyond at www.nasa.gov.
Preston Dyches works for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.