KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Lake County Sheriff’s deputies on Monday morning took a juvenile into custody after Kelseyville Unified School District officials received information that the student had made a threat against Mountain Vista Middle School.

Lt. Corey Paulich confirmed that deputies took a 13-year-old male into custody on Monday morning.

Kelseyville Unified Superintendent Dave McQueen said that early Monday the district received information that a student had mentioned to other students that he wanted to “shoot up” Mountain Vista Middle School.

With the potential active shooter threat coming just days after a fatal shooting at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita – which the district had spoken about in a Facebook post last week – McQueen said he took action out of an abundance of caution.

McQueen said that at that point nobody was on campus and that buses had just gone out.

He said the district immediately contacted the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, and he directed district school buses to a safe location and locked down all district schools. At the same time, the district posted updates on its Facebook page beginning shortly after 7 a.m.

Paulich said the district contacted the sheriff’s office about the threat at around 6:30 a.m. Monday.

Deputies were able to contact the student at about 7 a.m. at his home, Paulich said.

“He was just getting ready to get on the bus,” said Paulich.

“He was not armed,” Paulich added.

Paulich said deputies were able to determine that there were no other threats to the school, and transported the juvenile to the Probation Department for processing.

Shortly afterward, McQueen said the sheriff’s office informed the district that the juvenile of interest had been detained and the threat was nullified.

Shortly before 9 a.m., McQueen posted a brief report on the district's Facebook page.

“Once we knew the person who made the threat was in custody, we reopened schools and resumed bus service. In this day and age, we take every threat seriously. I’d rather overreact and keep everyone safe than assume a threat is idle talk from a student looking for attention. I appreciate the Sheriff’s deputies’ swift response and the KVUSD staff’s professionalism in handling the situation,” McQueen said in the Facebook post.

Later in the morning, McQueen told Lake County News that school was in session and things were back to normal on district campuses.

“I have to take everything seriously,” he said.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The future leadership of the Registrar of Voters Office will be a key topic for the Board of Supervisors this week.

The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 19, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.

The meeting can be watched live on Channel 8 and online at https://countyoflake.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx. Accompanying board documents, the agenda and archived board meeting videos also are available at that link.

In an untimed item, the board will consider what to do in the wake of Registrar of Voters Catherine McMullen’s resignation.

McMullen, who took over the job of the department at the end of June, tendered her resignation Nov. 7, as Lake County News has reported. Her last day on the job is Nov. 22.

“I am requesting an opportunity to discuss next steps with your Board, regarding how best to staff the election function,” County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson said in a brief memo to the board for the meeting.

In a related item, the board will hold a closed session discussion to hold interviews for an interim registrar and to make the interim appointment.

Earlier this year, Huchingson herself was appointed as interim registrar after then-interim Registrar of Voters Maria Valadez left to take a job in Mendocino County.

The full agenda follows.

CONSENT AGENDA

5.1: Adopt resolution pertaining to tax revenue exchange for annexation to Callayomi County Water District.

5.2: Consideration of side letter to the Lake County Sheriff’s Management Association Jan. 1, 2019 to Dec. 31, 2019, memorandum of understanding.

5.3: Approve the minutes of the Board of Supervisors meeting held June 5, 2019, Sept. 17, 2019, and Sept. 24, 2019.

5.4: Approve request for lateral step hiring of registered nurse, step five for Judith Krings.

5.5: (a) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to the Lake County Code Section 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of goods or services; and (b) approve the agreement between the county of Lake and Neuropsychological Associates of California - A Psychological Services Corporation for Psychological Services for Fiscal Year 2019-20 for a contract maximum of $30,000 and authorize the board chair to sign the agreement.

5.6: Approve Health Services request to appoint Dr. Gary Pace to serve on the Partnership HealthPlan Board of Commissioners and represent Lake County for a period of four years.

5.7: Approve resolution of the board of trustees of the Yuba Community College District ordering an election to authorize the issuance of general obligation bonds, establishing specifications of the election order, and requesting consolidation with other elections occurring March 3, 2020, pursuant to the district's Resolution No. 19-37.

5.8: Adopt a resolution authorizing the Public Services director to sign the notice of completion for work performed under agreement dated Jan. 15, 2019, for the Lower Lake Parks Maintenance Facility, Bid No 18-17.

5.9: Adopt resolution to apply for a grant with county matching funds in the amount of $30,000 for an outdoor fitness court at Kelseyville Community Park and Hammond Park as part of the 2020 National Fitness Campaign.

5.10: Approve Amendment No. 2 to facility space license agreement with T-Mobile West LLC.

5.11: Adopt a resolution authorizing the Public Works director to execute permits to conduct aeronautical activities at Lampson Field airport.

5.12: Adopt a resolution authorizing the Public Works director to sign the notice of completion for the Clark Drive Pavement Repair Project. Federal Project No. BRLS-5914(025); Bid No. 18-24.

5.13: Adopt resolution delegating the County Public Works director authority to enter into a cooperative work agreement with Caltrans to extend the deadline for lapsing funds on the Middle Creek Bridge Rehabilitation Project along Rancheria Road in Upper Lake.

5.14: Approve aeronautical activities permit at Lampson Field airport between the county of Lake and Steve's Aircraft for Fiscal Year 2019 / 2020, and authorize the chair to sign.

TIMED ITEMS

6.2, 9:20 a.m.: Public hearing, continued from the Nov. 5 meeting, consideration of a resolution amending the master fee schedule for departmental services rendered by the county.

6.3, 9:30 a.m.: a) Presentation of Mental Health Services Act annual updates for Fiscal Year 2017-2018 through Fiscal Year 2019-2020 and; b) consideration of a resolution approving the FY 2018-19 & FY 2019-20 annual updates to the Mental Health Services Act Three-Year Program and Expenditure Plan for Fiscal Year 2017-2018 through Fiscal Year 2019-2020.

UNTIMED ITEMS

7.2: Consideration of memorandum of understanding between the California Counties Foundation Inc., Mendocino County and Lake County to host a series of CSAC Institute Courses in Ukiah.

7.3: Discussion and consideration of next steps for the Registrar of Voters Office.

7.4: Consideration of proposed 2020 Board of Supervisors regular meeting calendar.

7.5: Discussion and consideration of the Community Assistance Visit Corrective Action Plan.

CLOSED SESSION

8.1: Public employee appointment pursuant to Gov. Code Section 54957(b)(1): (a) Interviews of interim registrar of voters (b) appointment of interim registrar of voters.

8.2: Conference with labor negotiator: (a) chief negotiator: M. Long; county negotiators: C. Huchingson and P. Samac; and (b) employee organizations: LCDDAA, LCDSA, LCCOA, LCEA, LCSEA and LCSMA.

8.3: Public employee evaluation title: County counsel.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – California’s unemployment hit a record low in October while low jobless rates were recorded in Lake County, across the North Coast and nationwide.

The California Employment Development Department’s latest report said that California’s unemployment rate fell to 3.9 percent, down from 4 percent in September and 4.1 percent in October 2018.

The report said the October jobless rate is the lowest in a data series going back to the 1970s.

In addition, the number of unemployed Californians is the lowest since 1989 despite large gains in statewide population since then, the report said.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that nationwide unemployment in October rose slightly from a record-low 3.5 percent in September to 3.6 in October. The October 2018 jobless rate nationwide was 3.8 percent.

The unemployment report also shows that Lake County is still enjoying a low jobless rate, coming in at 4.1 percent, its second-lowest rate over the past 29 years of record-keeping.

The number of Californians holding jobs in October was 18,676,800, an increase of 50,000 from September, but down 24,000 from the employment total in October of last year, according to the report.

The newest data showed that unemployed Californians numbered 765,300 in October, a decrease of 9,100 over the month and down by 33,400 compared with October of last year.

Total nonfarm jobs in California’s 11 major industries totaled 17,567,500 in October – a net gain of 23,600 jobs from September that followed a revised gain of 26,700 jobs in September, based on state numbers.

The report also said that total nonfarm jobs increased by 308,000 jobs, a 1.8-percent increase, from October 2018 to October 2019 compared to the U.S. annual gain of 2,093,000 jobs, a 1.4-percent increase.

The Employment Development Department said October’s 23,600 nonfarm payroll gain extended California’s current job expansion to an all-time record of 116 months.

Gains were widespread across a number of industry sectors with education and health services increasing by 6,500 jobs, led by growth in social assistance. Government (5,400) and financial activities (5,300) also showed large increases.

A good start to holiday hiring in retail helped propel a gain in the trade, transportation and utilities sector (4,700), according to the report.

The unemployment rate comes from a federal survey of 5,100 California households.

In related data that figures into the state’s unemployment rate, there were 260,709 people receiving Unemployment Insurance benefits during the survey week in October compared to 281,060 in September and 272,542 people in October 2018, based on the report.

Concurrently, 39,401 people filed new claims in October which was a month-over increase of 4,073 people, the report said.

Lake County records low unemployment rates in 2019

This year, Lake County has seen record low unemployment, based on state numbers.

In May, the county had a 4.2-percent jobless rate, which at that time was the lowest in 29 years, as Lake County News has reported.

Then, in September, the county registered its lowest rate on record – 3.7 percent – thanks to the ongoing harvest.

Historic date shows that Lake County has registered four of its lowest unemployment rates in the past three decades just this year: September, 3.7 percent; October, 4.1 percent; May, 4.2 percent; and August, 4.5 percent.

Accounting for much of this strength in employment numbers is the “total farm” category, which shows a 59.1 percent increase in jobs in October 2019 compared to the previous year.

The “total nonfarm” category is up 4.2 percent, with subcategories showing growth over the year including goods producing, 5.8 percent; total private, 5.5 percent; private service producing, 5.4 percent; and service planning, 4 percent.

State data showed that the civilian labor force in Lake County in October totaled 28,600 people, down from 28,820 in September and up over October 2018, when there were 27,650 people counted.

The unemployed count for October was 1,220 people, compared to 1,110 in September and 1,400 in October 2018, the report said.

Lake County’s October rate ranks it No. 36 of California’s 58 counties.

Neighboring county jobless rates and rankings are Colusa, 7.3 percent, No. 56; Glenn, 4.4 percent, No. 39; Mendocino, 3.1 percent, No. 18; Napa, 2.3 percent, No. 5; Sonoma, 2.3 percent, No. 5; and Yolo, 3.2 percent, No. 19, the report said.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council this week will discuss a resolution for an affordable housing project and an application for state grant funds.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 19, in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.

Community Development Director Kevin Ingram will take to the council a proposed resolution approving the Lakeport Family Associates LLC final parcel map and right-of-way dedications for the apartment complex located at 1255 Martin St.

The property contains the Martin Street affordable housing project, phase one of which includes 24 large family affordable apartment units that have been completed on parcel one. Ingram said land use entitlements for 48 additional large family affordable apartment units have been approved on parcel two.

Also on Tuesday, the council will consider adopting a resolution authorizing City Manager Margaret Silveira to submit a grant application to the California Department of Housing and Community Development Department for receipt of $162,000 in Senate Bill 2 Planning grants funds.

“SB 2 aims to provide funding and technical assistance to all local governments in California to help cities and counties prepare, adopt, and implement plans and process improvements that streamline housing approvals and accelerate housing production,” Ingram said in his report to the council.

On the consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are ordinances; minutes of the county and Clearlake and Lakeport City Councils’ joint special meeting of October 31, 2019, and the Lakeport City Council Nov. 5 special meeting, the Nov. 5 regular meeting and the special meeting of Nov. 12; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the Mendocino Complex fire; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the February 2019 storms; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency for the October 2019 public safety power shutoff; introduction of the proposed ordinance adding Chapter 15.28 Telecommunications Infrastructure Improvements to the Lakeport Municipal Code establishing a “Dig Once” policy for the City of Lakeport and set a public hearing for adoption of the ordinance on Dec. 3; and introduction of the proposed ordinance modifying Chapter 17.41 and amending Chapters 17.03, 17.04, 17.05, 17.06, 17.07, 17.08, 17.09, 17.10, 17.11, 17.12, 17.13, 17.14, 17.16, and 17.28 of the Lakeport Municipal Code to permit and regulate wireless facilities within the city of Lakeport.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

111919 Lakeport City Council Agenda Packet by LakeCoNews on Scribd

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has a new group of kittens and cats waiting for their new families.

The following cats and kittens at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption.

Male domestic short hair kitten

This male domestic short hair kitten has a brown tabby coat with white markings and green eyes.

He is in cat room kennel No. 39, ID No. 13198.

Male domestic short hair kitten

This male domestic short hair kitten has a buff and white coat.

He is in cat room kennel No. 88, ID No. 13244.

Male domestic short hair kitten

This male domestic short hair cat has a seal point and white coat.

He is in cat room kennel No. 96, ID No. 13248.

Maine Coon kitten

This Maine Coon kitten has a medium-length brown tabby coat.

He is in cat room kennel No. 112, ID No. 13242.

‘Baby Tabby’

“Baby Tabby” is a female brown tabby kitten.

She is in cat room kennel No. 115a, ID No. 12954.

‘Buster’

“Buster” is a male domestic long hair kitten with a black and white coat and green eyes.

He is in cat room kennel No. 115b, ID No. 13044.

‘Bones’

“Bones” is a male domestic long hair kitten with a gray tabby and white coat and green eyes.

He is in cat room kennel No. 115c, ID No. 13045.

Female domestic short hair kitten

This female domestic short hair kitten has an all-black coat and gold eyes.

She is in cat room kennel No. 141, ID No 13235.

Female domestic short hair

This female domestic short hair has a gray tabby coat and green eyes.

She is in cat room kennel No. 144, ID No. 13245.

Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.

Office hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm.

For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The story of autumn, that unhurried waning of the light and height of summer, is playing out now all around us.

The atmosphere of autumn may signify death and dying, with leaves falling from trees, creating the branches' bare-bones skeletal appearance of crooking their limbs akimbo.

The autumn season sometimes generates the human desire to hibernate on cold mornings.

Along with centering our attention on loss, we possess the ability to choose to focus instead on the abundance all around us.

I'm not suggesting that we forget major problems such as climate change or the devastating fires that occur year after year – that's just not in the realm of possibility.

The losses we all carry – those of losing loved ones – be they family members or friends, are, in and of themselves tremendous burdens to carry.

Holding a mentality of "Don't worry, be happy" is simply sheer denial, and I am not suggesting we disregard these realities, but instead, try to find room in our busy lives to create a focal point whenever possible toward an affirmative approach, no matter how minute.

As I watch the twirling foliage dancing down in front of me and take in the pops of Technicolor leaves piling up I wonder at the moments I've missed by being my preoccupied self.

The annual domino effect that the season has on trees is nothing short of miraculous. Sugars in the leaves which were produced during daylight and locked into the leaf-veins are now unable to budge, so they create the striking anthocyanin pigments we are annually amazed to witness.

Now traces of leaf-rot build up to enhance the senses, with a lingering tangy smell that tells us we are at the pinnacle of a season.

Another complimentary phenomenon also occurs right outside our doors. While the annual migration of hawks soaring south is waning, this free activity, that of looking to the skies, is still ours to enjoy.

Here in Lake County where we live on the Pacific Flyway, a major migratory route from Alaska to South America we are privy to not just raptors, but nearly all manner of avian species.

One species, the carrion-eating turkey vulture, gathered in numbers in south county recently.

During a lull in their feeding frenzy I took a closer look at what the vultures were consuming and was nearly knocked over by realizing it was the prize buck I had been sighting recently.

The buck's thick hindquarters had been devoured, suggesting a mountain lion had made a meal of it, then cached it prior to the gathering of vultures, flies and beetles who were now hard at work doing what they do.

I could have ranted and raved against nature at witnessing the loss of the majestic buck, but in adjusting my focal point to the reality of predator-and-prey, and all of the subsequent processes this natural event entails, I settled on my sense of wonder at all of the seen and unseen happenings in nature that occur daily with or without a witness.

Although not always to my liking, once I think about it, nature's ways with all of her beauty and ferociousness is nothing short of miraculous, and paying attention during the autumn season is something for which we can truly be grateful.

Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired educator, potter, freelance writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.”

 

If you have oak trees in your neighborhood, perhaps you’ve noticed that some years the ground is carpeted with their acorns, and some years there are hardly any. Biologists call this pattern, in which all the oak trees for miles around make either lots of acorns or almost none, “masting.”

In New England, naturalists have declared this fall a mast year for oaks: All the trees are making tons of acorns all at the same time.

Many other types of trees, from familiar North American species such as pines and hickories to the massive dipterocarps of Southeast Asian rainforests, show similar synchronization in seed production. But why and how do trees do it?

Benefits of synchronized seeds

Every seed contains a packet of energy-rich starch to feed the baby tree that lies dormant inside. This makes them a tasty prize for all sorts of animals, from beetles to squirrels to wild boar.

If trees coordinate their seed production, these seed-eating animals are likely to get full long before they eat all the seeds produced in a mast year, leaving the rest to sprout.

For trees like oaks that depend on having their seeds carried away from the parent tree and buried by animals like squirrels, a mast year has an extra benefit. When there are lots of nuts, squirrels bury more of them instead of eating them immediately, spreading oaks across the landscape.

Getting in sync

It’s still something of a mystery how trees synchronize their seed production to get these benefits, but several elements seem to be important.

First, producing a big crop of seeds takes a lot of energy. Trees make their food through photosynthesis: using energy from the Sun to turn carbon dioxide into sugars and starch. There’s only so many resources to go around, though. Once trees make a big batch of seeds, they may need to switch back to making new leaves and wood for a while, or take a year or two to replenish stored starches, before another mast.

But how do individual trees decide when that mast year should be? Weather conditions appear to be important, especially spring weather. If there’s a cold snap that freezes the flowers of the tree – and yes, oaks do have flowers, they’re just extremely small – then the tree can’t produce many seeds the following fall.

A drought during the summer could also kill developing seeds. Trees will often shut the pores in their leaves to save water, which also reduces their ability to take in carbon dioxide for photosynthesis.

Because all the trees within a local area are experiencing essentially the same weather, these environmental cues can help coordinate their seed production, acting like a reset button they’ve all pushed at the same time.

A third intriguing possibility that researchers are still investigating is that trees are “talking” to each other via chemical signals. Scientists know that when a plant is damaged by insects, it often releases chemicals into the air that signal to its other branches and to neighboring plants that they should turn on their defenses. Similar signals could potentially help trees coordinate seed production.

Investigation of tree-to-tree communication is still in its infancy, however. For instance, ecologists recently found that chemicals released from the roots of the leafy vegetable mizuna can affect the flowering time of neighboring plants. While this sort of communication is unlikely to account for the rough synchronization of seed production over dozens or even hundreds of miles, it could be important for syncing up a local area.

Masting’s effects ripple through the food web

Whatever the causes, masting has consequences that flow up and down the food chain.

For instance, rodent populations often boom in response to high seed production. This in turn results in more food for rodent-eating predators like hawks and foxes; lower nesting success for songbirds, if rodents eat their eggs; and potentially higher risk of transmission of diseases like hantavirus to people.

If the low seed year that follows causes the rodent population to collapse, the effects are reversed.

The seeds of masting trees have also historically been important for feeding human populations, either directly or as food for livestock. Acorns were a staple in the diet of Native Americans in California, with families carefully tending particular oaks and storing the nuts for winter. In Spain, the most prized form of ham still comes from pigs that roam through the oak forests, eating up to 20 pounds of acorns each day.

So the next time you take an autumn walk, check out the ground under your local oak tree – you might just see the evidence of this amazing process.

[ Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter. ]

Emily Moran, Assistant Professor of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Merced

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Community Care is hosting its 12th annual Lake County AIDS Walk fundraiser on Saturday, Nov. 23.

The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Clearlake Senior Center, 3245 Bowers Ave.

This year’s theme is “Health and Art.”

Come and enjoy an afternoon of health education, arts and crafts, raffles, silent auction, prizes and music by the Tattooed Cherries.

Community Car’s 12th Annual AIDS Walk benefits its HIV/AIDS Program and enables them to provide additional support to their clients throughout the year.

For more information about the organization, visit its website.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has more new dogs for adoption this week.

Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of boxer, Brussels Griffon, Kuvasz, Labrador Retriever, German Shepherd, Patterdale terrier/Fell terrier, pit bull, Rhodesian Ridgeback, shepherd and wirehaired terrier.

Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.

If you're looking for a new companion, visit the shelter. There are many great pets hoping you'll choose them.

The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control Web site not listed are still “on hold”).

Shepherd mix

This male shepherd mix has a long tan coat.

He is in kennel No.5, ID No. 13219.

‘Bella’

“Bella” is a female boxer with a short brown coat.

She is in kennel No. 14, ID No. 13256.

Male Rhodesian Ridgeback

This male Rhodesian Ridgeback has a short tan coat with black markings.

He is in kennel No. 19, ID No. 13210.

‘Athena’

“Athena” is a female boxer with a medium-length brown and white coat.

She is in kennel No. 20, ID No. 13213.

Female pit bull terrier

This female pit bull terrier has a short black and white coat.

She is in kennel No. 21, ID No. 13195.

Patterdale terrier/Fell terrier

This male Patteradle or Fell terrier has a short brown and white coat.

He is in kennel No. 23, ID No. 13194.

‘Tatum’

“Tatum” is a male pit bull terrier has a shot gray and white coat.

He is in kennel No. 24, ID No. 13172.

Male German Shepherd

This male German Shepherd has a long black and tan coat.

He has been neutered.

He’s in kennel No. 25, ID No. 13218.

‘Shakira’

“Shakira” is a female pit bull terrier with a short black and white coat.

She already has been spayed.

She is in kennel No. 26, ID No. 6930.

‘Scrappy’

“Scrappy” is a female wirehaired terrier with a coarse tan coat.

She is in kennel No. 27a, ID No. 13174.

‘Scruffy’

“Scruffy” is a female Brussels Griffon with a medium-length tan coat.

She is in kennel No. 27b, ID No. 13175.

Female Kuvasz

This female Kuvasz has a short black coat with white markings.

She is in kennel No. 33, ID No. 13212.

Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.

Office hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm.

For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

For the first time in the history of space exploration, scientists have measured the seasonal changes in the gases that fill the air directly above the surface of Gale Crater on Mars.

As a result, they noticed something baffling: oxygen, the gas many Earth creatures use to breathe, behaves in a way that so far scientists cannot explain through any known chemical processes.

Over the course of three Mars years (or nearly six Earth years) an instrument in the Sample Analysis at Mars, or SAM, portable chemistry lab inside the belly of NASA’s Curiosity rover inhaled the air of Gale Crater and analyzed its composition.

The results SAM spit out confirmed the makeup of the Martian atmosphere at the surface: 95% by volume of carbon dioxide (CO2), 2.6 percent molecular nitrogen (N2), 1.9 percent argon (Ar), 0.16 percent molecular oxygen (O2), and 0.06 percent carbon monoxide (CO). They also revealed how the molecules in the Martian air mix and circulate with the changes in air pressure throughout the year.

These changes are caused when CO2 gas freezes over the poles in the winter, thereby lowering the air pressure across the planet following redistribution of air to maintain pressure equilibrium. When CO2 evaporates in the spring and summer and mixes across Mars, it raises the air pressure.

Within this environment, scientists found that nitrogen and argon follow a predictable seasonal pattern, waxing and waning in concentration in Gale Crater throughout the year relative to how much CO2 is in the air. They expected oxygen to do the same. But it didn’t.

Instead, the amount of the gas in the air rose throughout spring and summer by as much as 30 percent, and then dropped back to levels predicted by known chemistry in fall. This pattern repeated each spring, though the amount of oxygen added to the atmosphere varied, implying that something was producing it and then taking it away.

“The first time we saw that, it was just mind boggling,” said Sushil Atreya, professor of climate and space sciences at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Atreya is a co-author of a paper on this topic published on November 12 in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.

As soon as scientists discovered the oxygen enigma, Mars experts set to work trying to explain it. They first double- and triple-checked the accuracy of the SAM instrument they used to measure the gases: the Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer. The instrument was fine. They considered the possibility that CO2 or water (H2O) molecules could have released oxygen when they broke apart in the atmosphere, leading to the short-lived rise. But it would take five times more water above Mars to produce the extra oxygen, and CO2 breaks up too slowly to generate it over such a short time.

What about the oxygen decrease? Could solar radiation have broken up oxygen molecules into two atoms that blew away into space? No, scientists concluded, since it would take at least 10 years for the oxygen to disappear through this process.

“We’re struggling to explain this,” said Melissa Trainer, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland who led this research. “The fact that the oxygen behavior isn’t perfectly repeatable every season makes us think that it’s not an issue that has to do with atmospheric dynamics. It has to be some chemical source and sink that we can’t yet account for.”

To scientists who study Mars, the oxygen story is curiously similar to that of methane. Methane is constantly in the air inside Gale Crater in such small quantities (0.00000004 percent on average) that it’s barely discernable even by the most sensitive instruments on Mars.

Still, it’s been measured by SAM’s Tunable Laser Spectrometer. The instrument revealed that while methane rises and falls seasonally, it increases in abundance by about 60 percent in summer months for inexplicable reasons. (In fact, methane also spikes randomly and dramatically. Scientists are trying to figure out why.)

With the new oxygen findings in hand, Trainer’s team is wondering if chemistry similar to what’s driving methane’s natural seasonal variations may also drive oxygen’s. At least occasionally, the two gases appear to fluctuate in tandem.

“We’re beginning to see this tantalizing correlation between methane and oxygen for a good part of the Mars year,” Atreya said. “I think there’s something to it. I just don’t have the answers yet. Nobody does.”



Oxygen and methane can be produced both biologically (from microbes, for instance) and abiotically (from chemistry related to water and rocks). Scientists are considering all options, although they don’t have any convincing evidence of biological activity on Mars.

Curiosity doesn't have instruments that can definitively say whether the source of the methane or oxygen on Mars is biological or geological. Scientists expect that non-biological explanations are more likely and are working diligently to fully understand them.

Trainer’s team considered Martian soil as a source of the extra springtime oxygen. After all, it’s known to be rich in the element, in the form of compounds such as hydrogen peroxide and perchlorates. One experiment on the Viking landers showed decades ago that heat and humidity could release oxygen from Martian soil.

But that experiment took place in conditions quite different from the Martian spring environment, and it doesn’t explain the oxygen drop, among other problems. Other possible explanations also don’t quite add up for now.

For example, high-energy radiation of the soil could produce extra O2 in the air, but it would take a million years to accumulate enough oxygen in the soil to account for the boost measured in only one spring, the researchers report in their paper.

“We have not been able to come up with one process yet that produces the amount of oxygen we need, but we think it has to be something in the surface soil that changes seasonally because there aren’t enough available oxygen atoms in the atmosphere to create the behavior we see,” said Timothy McConnochie, assistant research scientist at the University of Maryland in College Park and another co-author of the paper.

The only previous spacecraft with instruments capable of measuring the composition of the Martian air near the ground were NASA’s twin Viking landers, which arrived on the planet in 1976. The Viking experiments covered only a few Martian days, though, so they couldn’t reveal seasonal patterns of the different gases.

The new SAM measurements are the first to do so. The SAM team will continue to measure atmospheric gases so scientists can gather more detailed data throughout each season. In the meantime, Trainer and her team hope that other Mars experts will work to solve the oxygen mystery.

“This is the first time where we’re seeing this interesting behavior over multiple years. We don’t totally understand it,” Trainer said. “For me, this is an open call to all the smart people out there who are interested in this: See what you can come up with.”

Lonnie Shekhtman works for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Authorities are investigating what led to the death of a man who was serving time in the Lake County Jail.

Marvin Buckmaster, 66, of Fort Bragg was found unresponsive at about 3 a.m. Saturday morning, according to a report from Lt. Rich Ward of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Just before 3 a.m. jail personnel discovered Buckmaster unresponsive in his bed, which is located in a dormitory-style setting, Ward said.

Ward said jail staff was alerted by another inmate who found Buckmaster in a seated position at the end of his own bunk.

Emergency medical personnel were immediately notified and CPR was administered by staff on scene, according to Ward’s report.

EMS staff arrived and determined that Buckmaster was deceased, Ward said.

Buckmaster was in custody serving a conviction for drug related offenses and serving a 243-day sentence. Ward said Buckmaster was due to be released in late January 2020.

In accordance with established in-custody death protocol, Ward said investigators from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office as well as the Lake County District Attorney’s Office responded to the scene.

As of Saturday morning, foul play is not suspected, Ward said.

An investigation into the cause of death is ongoing, with Ward reporting that staff and inmates are being interviewed.

A cause of death will be determined at the conclusion of an autopsy, Ward said.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A man was killed Friday evening after being struck by a vehicle while walking along Highway 53 in Clearlake.

Firefighters and police were dispatched to the incident, which occurred on Highway 53 south of Lakeshore Drive, at 5:49 p.m., according to radio reports.

The California Highway Patrol was asked to assist with closing down the area around the crash scene, from 18th Avenue to Lakeshore Drive on Highway 53, while medical personnel were arriving at the scene, scanner reports indicated.

An air ambulance had initially been requested to respond but it was canceled shortly afterward, as police confirmed the pedestrian had died shortly before 6 p.m.

Police on Friday night did not release the name of the man, reported to be in his 60s, pending notification of his next of kin.

The Clearlake Police Department said that preliminary indications are that the pedestrian entered the travel lane and was struck by a vehicle.

The driver of the vehicle remained at the scene and was cooperative with the investigation, police said.

Traffic Officer Michael Perreault is the investigating officer. If you have information regarding the case, please call him at 707-994-8251, Extension 519.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.