In April of 2010, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) released its first images, an event known for any telescope as "first light."

Since then SDO has continually observed the ever-changing sun on quiet days and explosive ones: there have been more than 1000 solar outbursts since SDO sent back its first pictures of the sun, including flares, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and the release of energetic particles that can be flung to the farthest reaches of the solar system.

Here we describe some of the highlights of SDO science and observations during its second year.

SDO launched on February 11, 2010. It carried three instruments to support its mission to understand the complex magnetic motions inside the sun that can cause what's known as "active regions" to emerge on the surface.

These, in turn, lead to a slough of different kinds of eruptions: from giant magnetic loops to whirling tornados of solar material to the most intense of solar flares.

Ultimately research aided by these breakthrough observations may lead to advance warning of such activity, some of which can send radiation, particles, and magnetic fields toward Earth and sometimes damage technology in Earth's atmosphere.

The Atmospheric Imaging Assembly

The Atmospheric Imaging Assembly, or AIA, captures images every twelve seconds of the full disk of the sun in 10 different visible and ultraviolet wavelengths.

These pictures provide incredibly high resolution at an unprecedented time rate, making it possible to systematically track any given event through its entire evolution.

Over the last year, AIA has offered stunning images to the public of solar material dancing up into the sun's atmosphere, of intense bursts of light from X-class solar flares, and of active regions as they merge and grow.

The beauty of such images is just the tip of the iceberg, however. By looking at these pictures in different wavelengths – each wavelength corresponds to a swath of solar material at a different temperature – scientists can better map how these events fit in to the sun-Earth system as a whole, from initiation to their ultimate effects.

Scientists made strides over the course of the last year mapping out various aspects of the sun's constantly changing magnetic field. For one thing, AIA's ability to look at the full disk of sun showed magnetic couplings between solar flares and coronal mass ejections spaced at great distances around the sun, suggesting that one such eruption may initiate others even far away.

AIA also spotted long-hypothesized, but never before detected, magnetic field ripples in the sun's atmosphere called Alfvén waves.

Although Alfvén waves have been seen in many systems in the solar system, the research shows that the waves in the sun's atmosphere carry more energy than previously thought, and possibly enough to drive two solar phenomena whose causes remain points of debate: the intense heating of the corona to some 200 times hotter than the sun's surface and solar winds that blast up to 1.5 million miles per hour.

AIA also had another first in 2011: it observed a comet's last moments as it evaporated into nothing while flying too close to the sun. Comets often die this way, but have never before been seen up against the backdrop of the sun.

Watching the death throes offered the scientists a chance to measure the mass of the comet, something that cannot usually be determined from afar.

Before its final death throes, in the last 20 minutes of the SDO movie, the comet was about 100 million pounds and had a glowing tail some 10,000 miles long, while traveling about 400 miles per second.

Scientists are in the process of determining what about this comet's composition allowed it to be visible.

The Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment

The Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment (EVE) measures the total output of extreme ultraviolet light from the sun at any given time.

This provides most of the energy to heat Earth's thermosphere and to create the electrified portion of Earth's upper atmosphere called the ionosphere.

EVE also offers views of the sun in a range of light that has not been as consistently measured as x-ray radiation – the wavelength in which scientists often observe solar flares.

Analysis of EVE data from 200 solar flares showed that about one in six of the flares have a distinct "late phase flare" that could not be seen in the x-ray measurements, so had never before been fully observed.

This late phase flare appeared some minutes to hours later and pumps much more energy out into space than previously realized, which means earlier analyses may have been underestimating the amount of energy shooting into Earth's atmosphere by as much as 70 percent.

EVE's high sensitivity has also provided an unexpected bonus: it can record Doppler shifts in the light waves coming from erupting flares and hitting its sensors.

Such Doppler shifts are created when light is emitted from a moving object, so they can be used to provide new insight about the speed of the solar material as it is accelerated during the eruption.

The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager

The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) measures the strength and direction of the magnetic fields across the entire visible surface of the sun.

To do this from afar, the instrument relies on observing and interpreting the way light from the sun is affected as it travels through the fields along its journey to the HMI camera.

A phenomenon known as the Zeeman effect splits light into different wavelengths based on the magnetic field strength and polarizes light based on the magnetic field direction. HMI uses these observations to produce images known as vector magnetograms that show the strength and direction of the solar magnetic fields.

Producing magnetograms at HMI's high resolution required developing new computer processing techniques to interpret subtle details about the magnetic field – and these were ready for testing in early December 2011.

The HMI team's first release of vector magnetogram data was of one specific area of the sun, named Active Region 11158, which on Feb. 15, 2011 produced the first X-class flare of the current solar cycle.

These HMI observations watched the active region as it crossed the face of the sun from Feb. 12-16, 2011, and did something never before possible: show the energy building up in the twisting sunspots over several days before the solar flare eruption.

The magnetogram movies show the details of the flow near the swirling sunspots and a sudden change in the horizontal field at the time of the flare.

SDO is the first mission in a NASA science program called Living With a Star, the goal of which is to develop the scientific understanding necessary to address those aspects of the sun-Earth system that directly affect our lives and society.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. built, operates, and manages the SDO spacecraft for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, DC.

For more information about NASA's SDO spacecraft visit http://www.nasa.gov/sdo .

Karen C. Fox works for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Spring is a good time to add a new pet to your family, especially if you're looking for a fun companion to share the outdoors.

Just such a dog is Dynamite, a 5-year-old female German Shepherd.

She weighs 89 pounds, has been spayed, and has a short brown and black coat.

Dynamite is athletic, loves to play and is very friendly. She's believed to be a purebred, but did not come with papers.

She is in kennel No. 4, ID No. 32513.

Also featured today is a charming 2-year-old female tabby.

The domestic short hair mix is spayed, has gray tabby coloring and weighs 7 pounds.

She is friendly and sociable and would make a great pet.

She is in cat room kennel No. 16, ID No. 32431.

To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .

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, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 1 p.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. .

THIS STORY HAS BEEN UDPATED WITH ADDITIONAL DETAILS FROM THE CLEARLAKE POLICE DEPARTMENT.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Concerns about two suspicious packages led to an investigation at the Department of Veterans Affairs Clinic in Clearlake Thursday, with officials determining that the packages were harmless.

The clinic, located at 15145 Lakeshore Drive, was closed at noon on Thursday in response to the concerns, according to Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen.

The clinic was surrounded with crime scene tape, the building was evacuated and the area cleared, and the road was closed while the investigation took place Thursday afternoon, according to witnesses.

Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen said the clinic received the packages through the mail and clinic staff deemed them suspicious because one was making noise.

Clearlake Police, Lake County Fire Protection District and a federal law enforcement official – who was called to the scene due to the clinic being a federal building – responded to investigate, according to Clausen.

It eventually was determined that one of the packages contained a piece of equipment with low batteries and that it as not a danger, Clausen said.

Clausen said the “all clear” was given at around 3:20 p.m.

John Jensen contributed to this report.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

California law protects a surviving spouse when the deceased spouse’s last will or trust, executed prior to marriage, fails to provide for the surviving spouse.  

California’s policy is to protect a surviving spouse against accidental disinheritance under a testamentary instrument executed prior to marriage.

Generally speaking a surviving spouse who is omitted in the spouse’s will or trust from before the marriage is entitled to a statutory share of the deceased spouse’s estate.

Let us examine the general rule, when and how it applies, and exceptions when it does not apply.

California law provides that an omitted surviving spouse shall receive a share in the deceased spouse’s estate.

The share is computed as if the decedent had died intestate, i.e., without any will or trust.

The surviving spouse receives the following: (1) the deceased spouse’s one-half share of any community property; (2) the deceased spouse’s one-half interest in any quasi-community property; and (3) one-third to one-half of the deceased spouse’s separate property.

The surviving spouse may not receive more than one-half of the deceased spouse’s separate property.

The general rule may even apply when the will or trust, as relevant, names the person who would later marry the decedent as a beneficiary, unless the same document also expresses contemplation of later marrying the same beneficiary (this would show the decedent’s intentions towards his surviving spouse).

A general disinheritance clause does not overcome the general rule allowing the surviving spouse a statutory share.

The statutory share is computed based on the total value of the decedent’s probate estate and living trust.

Other nonprobate assets, outside the trust, are excluded. That said, however, gifts of such other assets to the surviving spouse will be considered as to whether the surviving spouse was provided for outside of the testamentary instrument.

The probate court will take assets to satisfy the share in a way that leaves as much of the decedent’s testamentary wishes intact as possible.  

Assets that are not specifically gifted are used first. The rest is taken proportionately from all the beneficiaries. Any specific gifts may be exempted if using them would defeat the decedent’s wishes.

There are three important exceptions when the surviving spouse will not receive a statutory share.   

First, if the decedent’s failure to provide for the spouse was intentional and apparent from the decedent’s testamentary instruments. That would apply if the instrument showed that the decedent contemplated marrying the person he or she would later marry. Then even a nominal gift to such person would prevent the general rule (i.e., no statutory share for the surviving spouse).

Also, if the instrument expressly excludes any future spouse from any inheritance, even if no one is specifically named, the general rule does not apply.

Second, if it can be shown that the decedent provided for the spouse by gifts outside of the testamentary instrument then such external provisions would prevent application of the general rule.

For example, if there were substantial lifetime gifts or other assets that passed automatically on death of the surviving spouse (such as joint tenancy assets or designated death beneficiary accounts) then, depending on circumstances, these may evidence intention by the decedent to provide otherwise in lieu of a gift under the instrument.

Third, the general rule does not apply if the surviving spouse signed a valid agreement waiving the right to a statutory share.

Anyone who is contemplating marriage or who is a surviving spouse of a decedent whose testamentary instrument was executed prior to marriage should seek qualified legal counsel regarding the application of these complex rules to their situation.

This shows the importance of keeping one’s estate plan up to date on the occurrence of major life events, such as marriage.

Dennis A. Fordham, attorney (LL.M. tax studies), is a State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law. His office is at 55 First St., Lakeport, California. Dennis can be reached by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by phone at 707-263-3235. Visit his Web site at www.dennisfordhamlaw.com .

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has released an update on the bovine spongiform encephalopathy – or mad cow disease – detection announced earlier this week.

On April 24, USDA confirmed the nation’s fourth case of BSE in an animal that was sampled for the disease at a rendering facility in central California.

This animal was never presented for slaughter for human consumption, so at no time presented a risk to the food supply, or to human health in the United States, the agency said.

As a result of USDA’s ongoing epidemiological investigation, more information about the history and age of the animal is now available.

The animal in question was 10 years and 7 months old and came from a dairy farm in Tulare County, Calif.

The animal was humanely euthanized after it developed lameness and became recumbent. The animal’s carcass will be destroyed.

The agency said it is important to reiterate that this animal was never presented for slaughter for human consumption, did not enter food supply channels and at no time presented any risk to human health.

USDA is continuing its epidemiological investigation and will provide additional information as it is available.

The positive animal was tested as part of targeted BSE surveillance at rendering facilities.

Samples were sent to the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory for testing and forwarded to the National Veterinary Services Laboratories on April 20h for confirmatory testing. APHIS announced the confirmed positive finding April 24.

The United States has a longstanding system of three interlocking safeguards against BSE that protects public and animal health in the United States, the most important of which is the removal of specified risk materials – or the parts of an animal that would contain BSE should an animal have the disease – from all animals presented for slaughter in the United States.

The second safeguard is a strong feed ban that protects cattle from the disease.

The third safeguard – which led to this detection – is the ongoing BSE surveillance program that allows USDA to detect the disease if it exists at very low levels in the U.S. cattle population and provides assurances to consumers and international trading partners that the interlocking system of safeguards in place to prevent BSE are working.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A line of questioning on Thursday morning has led to the potential for mistrial in the trial of two young Clearlake Oaks men for the shooting last summer that killed a child and wounded five others.

Orlando Joseph Lopez, 24, and Paul William Braden, 22, are on trial for the June 18, 2011, shooting in Clearlake that killed 4-year-old Skyler Rapp, wounded the child’s mother and her boyfriend, and three other family members and friends.

The trial, in which testimony began in late February, came to a halt during the morning session as District Attorney Don Anderson was questioning Sgt. Tim Celli of the Clearlake Police Department.

Anderson asked Celli to relate a statement Lopez had reportedly made to Celli claiming innocence but alleging that Braden was at the scene, incriminating his codefendant.

Braden's attorney, Doug Rhoades, objected, and Lopez's attorney, Stephen Carter, joined the objection.

Visiting Yolo County Judge Doris Shockley sustained the objections.

Shockley then excused the jury for the morning.

The attorneys, along with Braden and Lopez, returned after lunch for a hearing on what happens next.

The questioning appeared to violate pretrial agreements between the defense and prosecution, as well as case law evolving from People v. Aranda, a 1965 case that has given rise to protections for codefendants, and the 1968 case Bruton v. United States.

Based on case law, if two or more defendants are being charged and tried jointly in a case, statements by a codefendant to investigators or witnesses which place blame on the other codefendant are not allowed to be presented in court.

If such statements are presented, they must be redacted to remove prejudice to the codefendant. However, if there is no way to do that, then mistrial is the only other alternative.

As a result of the afternoon hearing, Rhoades and Carter are to submit their mistrial motions by Monday, April 30, with Anderson's response due Tuesday, May 1. Shockley scheduled a hearing on the mistrial motions for 9 a.m. Wednesday, May 2.

Shockley then called in the two juries, told them, “You may not be surprised” to hear issues have come up as they have done so in the past, and offering no other details excused them for the remainder of the week, ordering them to return at 10 a.m. Wednesday, May 2.

The attorneys in the case said they will be prepared to offer comment after the proceedings next week.

This is the second time that the possibility of mistrial has arisen in the proceedings.

On April 5, Carter had moved for mistrial, alleging that Anderson had abused him while making an objection.

The defense and prosecution later reached agreement to having an admonishment read to the jury ordering jurors to ignore extraneous comments by the attorneys during questioning.

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CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – A Friday afternoon crash involving a big rig sent a load of logs into Clear Lake.

The crash occurred at 1:35 p.m. Friday, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Kory Reynolds.

Richard Panopulos, 51, of Orland, was driving a 2002 Freightliner with a load of logs eastbound on Highway 20 near Hillside Lane in Clearlake Oaks when he attempted to negotiate a right curve in the roadway, Reynolds said.

As Panopulos was going through the curve his load shifted, causing the trailer to overturn, Reynolds said. As the trailer overturned the truck also overturned onto its right side.

Northshore Fire Battalion Chief Steve Hart was on the scene along with firefighters.

“The load of logs went into the lake,” Hart said.

Hart said there was a small hazmat as a result of the crash, with some oil, antifreeze and about two gallons of fuel spilled. The small spills were contained on the lakeshore, he said.

The California Department of Fish and Game also responded to the scene due to the hazmat situation, the CHP reported.

Panopulos suffered minor injuries and was released at the scene, according to Hart.

Reynolds said traffic control had been in place on Highway 20 while firefighters and officers worked at the scene.

Tow trucks uprighted the truck and removed it, and the scene was cleared by 6 p.m., with Highway 20 fully reopened, Hart said.

CHP Officer Nick Powell is investigating the collision, Reynolds said.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) will conduct this year’s fifth and final snow survey on May 1.

Manual surveys up and down the state will be combined with electronic readings from remote sensors to indicate the rate at which the mountain snowpack is melting into the state’s streams, reservoirs and aquifers.

The snowpack normally provides about a third of the water for California’s homes, industry and agriculture.

April 2 measurements showed that water content in the winter snowpack – often called California’s frozen reservoir – was only 55 percent of normal at the time of year when it historically is at its peak.  On Thursday it was 46 percent of normal.

Above average reservoir storage is the good news for water supply this year, the agency reported.

With Lake Oroville in Butte County – the State Water Project’s principal storage reservoir – 93 percent full (113 percent of normal for the date), DWR expects to be able to deliver a not unusually low 60 percent of the slightly more than 4 million acre-feet of SWP water requested.

DWR will collect manual snowpack water content readings over the next several days.

In the interim, real-time electronic readings indicate that snowpack water content is 76 percent of normal in the northern mountain ranges, 43 percent of normal in the central Sierra, and 26 percent of normal in the southern Sierra. The statewide reading is 46 percent.

Electronic snowpack readings are available on the Internet at http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/snow/DLYSWEQ .

Electronic reservoir level readings may be found at http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/resapp/getResGraphsMain.action .

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – A well-known Kelseyville photographer has captured top honors in a statewide competition for his photograph of two birds of prey vying for a fish.

Lyle Madeson was chosen as the grand prize winner in the year-long California Watchable Wildlife and Outdoor California Photo Contest.

Each month from March, 2011 through February, 2012, entries were judged on creativity, technical excellence, composition, overall impact and artistic merit by judges Bob Garrison, chair emeritus, California Watchable Wildlife Steering Committee; David Rosen, wildlife photographer; and Troy Swauger, editor of Outdoor California.

The Grand Prize Award was selected from the 12 monthly first place winners and presented by Chuck Bonham, director of the California Department of Fish and Game in a ceremony at the California  State Capitol on Monday, April 23.

Bonham selected Madeson’s image of an osprey and red-tailed hawk hooked onto the same fish in midair.

“What I especially like about this photograph is how it represents action, which is a real attribute of wildlife,” Bonham said in presenting the grand prize. “It also seemed reflective of the nature of wildlife, in that with all of the tribulations facing wildlife in our great state, our fish and animal resources are often caught in the middle of a rock and a hard place, or in this case, one raptor’s talon and another raptor’s talon.”

Madeson took the winning photograph at Clear Lake State Park.

“This photo was captured while photographing ospreys and eagles fishing for Clear Lake hitch that are heading for their spawning grounds on Kelsey Creek,” he said. “After photographing the catch of the fish, the osprey flew directly at me, and in half second, a red-tailed hawk made the second catch!”

Madeson’s Grand Prize Award, valued at $500, included a check for $200, Nikon binocular donated by Out of this World in Mendocino, and a membership and State Parks pass donated by California State Parks Foundation.

A People’s Choice Award also was selected by visitors to California Watchable Wildlife’s Facebook page.  

Cathy Cooper of Fairfield was chosen for her photograph of a green heron with a small fish, taken at Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area.

The award winners and first place photos are on display outside the Governor’s Office at the California State Capitol from April 23 through April 27, including Kelseyville resident Deanna Madeson’s image of grebes, which won first place in December 2011.

The contest was conducted by California Watchable Wildlife in cooperation with Outdoor California, a bimonthly publication of the California Department of Fish and Game, drawing almost 900 entries from 200 photographers.

The three monthly winning images were published in each issue of Outdoor California from May 2011 through March 2012.  

Photographers were given just two simple rules: Images must be taken at a California Watchable Wildlife viewing site or be of any native California species.

The 12 monthly first place winners were: March 2011, Lyle Madeson, Kelseyville; April 2011, Mike Warner, El Sobrante; May 2011, Jessica Weinberg, Palo Alto; June 2011, Thomas Roach, Lincoln; July 2011, Jay Gaskill, Groveland; August 2011, Thomas Roach, Lincoln; September 2011, Carole Haskell, Lincoln; October 2011, Matt Knoth, San Francisco; November 2011, Tory Kallman, San Francisco; December 2011, Deanna Madeson, Kelseyville; January 2012, Tim Torell, Sunvalley, Nevada; February 2012, Cathy Cooper, Fairfield.

Albums of all monthly winners and entries are available at www.facebook.com/CaWatchableWildlife .  

California attracts more wildlife viewers and associated expenditures than any other state in the nation.

California Watchable Wildlife’s interactive Web site provides maps and details about the statewide network of wildlife viewing sites, which are marked with the iconic brown binocular signs.

Sites have been evaluated for their wildlife viewing values, quality and diversity of habitats and visitor amenities to ensure that the state’s wildlife values are protected from overuse and that each site offers the highest quality viewing experience to visitors.

For 20 years, California Watchable Wildlife has celebrated the state's wildlife and diverse habitats by acknowledging and elevating the value of wildlife viewing to benefit individuals, families, communities, and industries while fostering awareness and support for conservation and protection of wildlife and habitats.

State and Federal agency partners include California Coastal Conservancy, California Department of Fish and Game, California Department of Transportation, California State Parks, Nature Conservancy of California, National Park Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and USDA Forest Service.

LUCERNE, Calif. – A Clearlake man who allegedly fled the scene of a Thursday evening crash in which his passenger was injured has been arrested.

Xavier Pina, 37, was arrested on felony charges of driving under the influence, hit and run causing injury and fleeing the scene of a collision, according to Officer Kory Reynolds of the California Highway Patrol's Clear Lake Area office.

At 6:50 p.m. Thursday Pina was driving his 2006 Chevrolet Colorado pickup eastbound on Highway 20 near Foothill Drive in Lucerne at an undetermined speed when, for unknown reasons, Pina lost control of his vehicle, which overturned, Reynolds said.

The vehicle came to rest on its side in the eastbound lane, blocking traffic, according to Reynolds.

Pina’s passenger, John Talavera, 55, of Lower Lake was located at the scene and was transported by REACH to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with major injuries including a fractured neck, major internal injuries and a severed right index finger, Reynolds said.

Reynolds said Pina fled the scene on foot and was located near the east end of Lucerne.

Pina was transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital and was treated for lacerations and a possible fractured left collar bone, Reynolds said.

Reynolds said Pina later was arrested and booked at the Lake County Jail. Jail records showed he was arrested at 2:20 a.m. Friday and booked just after 6 a.m.

Pina's bail has been set at $50,000, according to jail records.

At the crash scene one-way traffic control was in effect until approximately 11:40 p.m. Thursday, Reynolds said.

Northshore Fire Protection District and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the scene, Reynolds said.

The collision is still under investigation by Officer Steven Patrick. 

LUCERNE, Calif. – A vehicle crash in Lucerne Thursday evening resulted in one person being flown out to a regional trauma center and traffic being backed up along Highway 20.

The crash occurred just after 7 p.m. Thursday on Highway 20 about a quarter-mile west of Foothill Drive.

A single vehicle was reported to have rolled over, and was lying on its side, according to the California Highway Patrol. Witnesses at the scene said the vehicle was a pickup.

Initially, the crash blocked the eastbound lane of traffic, with radio reports indicating a short time later that the entire highway was blocked due to the crash.

Two people were out of the car when Northshore Fire Protection District firefighters arrived, with radio traffic indicating one of the subjects had suffered major injuries.

The REACH 6 air ambulance was called and arrived at about 7:25 p.m., landing at Lucerne Harbor Park, where a Northshore Fire ambulance had transported the patient, according to radio reports.

Ten minutes later, the helicopter lifted off, en route to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

It was reported that another subject may have been transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital by a private vehicle following the crash.

All firefighters had cleared the scene just after 8 p.m., according to radio reports.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County has once again received top rankings in an assessment of air quality in thousands of counties nationwide.

The American Lung Association on Wednesday released its annual State of the Air 2012 Report, which grades state and local area air quality on an A through F scale by comparing local ozone and small particulate concentrations with the federal air quality standards.

Lake County received an “A” grade for ozone, a “B” grade for short term particulate pollution and
is ranked the eighth cleanest county in the nation for annual particulate average concentrations – tying with Maui County in Hawaii for the ranking.

Of California's counties, Lake was the only one in the 2012 State of the Air report to place in the top 10 cleanest counties in the country for small-particulate levels. Shasta and San Benito counties were the only other counties in California to make the top 25.

The counties that ranked in the top 10 for year-round particle pollution levels included Santa Fe County, New Mexico, No. 1; Elbert County, Colo., and Laramie County, Wyo., tying for No. 2; Hancock County, Maine, and Essex County, New York, and Jackson County, South Dakota, tying for No. 4; Billings County, North Dakota, No. 5; Maui County, Hawaii, and Lake County, Calif., No. 8; and Teton County, Wyo, No. 10.

Santa Fe, N.M., ranked as the cleanest city in the nation.

Lake's overall rankings in the report have fluctuated over the past several years. In 2011, the county was ranked No. 6 nationwide, No. 10 in 2010 and in 2009 was No. 3.

The 2012 report's findings are based on three years of data, from 2008 to 2010.

As such, the impacts of the 2008 wildfires contributed to the dip in the county's rankings, according to the Lake County Air Quality Management District.

In the summer of 2008, thousands of lightning strikes lit fires around Northern California. Winds blew smoke from the lightning fires in Mendocino County into Lake County's air basin. The county's air also was impacted by the Soda Complex lightning fires in the Mendocino National Forest.

At the same time, the 14,500-acre Walker Fire broke out near Clearlake Oaks, with that fire's cause attributed to a vehicle hitting a rock.

Even with the wildfire impacts, Wednesday's report showed that Lake is one of only nine of California's 58 counties that did not have any days of ozone air pollution levels in the unhealthful range. Small particulate only exceeded the allowable limits during the 2008 wildfires.

The other eight California counties getting “A” grades for ozone levels were Glenn, Humboldt, Marin, Mendocino, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Siskiyou and Sonoma.

California counties receiving “A” grades for low levels of particle pollution – a mix of microscopic bits of ash, soot, diesel exhaust, chemicals, metals and aerosols – included Humboldt, Mendocino, Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz, Siskiyou and Sonoma.

Lake County Air Pollution Control Officer Doug Gearhart attributed the county's air quality accomplishments to strong local support – from the community at large, cooperation of local
agencies, local fire protection districts, Cal Fire, the local agricultural community and industry – for clean air measures.

That support, in turn, has made it possible for the county to comply with Federal Clean Air Standards and the more rigorous California standards for ozone and other air pollutants for the past 22 years, he said.

No other air district in California can match that record, Gearhart said.

Despite its clean air accomplishments, the American Lung Association report offered a reminder that Lake – like all counties – has special populations who are at particular risk for air pollution.

The report explained that those at greatest risk from air pollution include infants, children, older adults, anyone with lung diseases like asthma, people with heart disease or diabetes, people with low incomes and anyone who works or exercises outdoors.

Among Lake's nearly 65,000 residents, the association reported that there are 907 cases of pediatric asthma, 4,023 cases of adult asthma, 2,359 people with chronic bronchitis, 1,171 residents with emphysema, 19,103 people with cardiovascular disease and 5,491 cases with diabetes.

Children under age 18 number 13,672, there are 11,440 adults over age 65, and approximately 13,438 people live in poverty in Lake County, the report showed.

Overall, the State of the Air 2012 report showed that in America's most polluted cities air quality was at its cleanest since the organization’s annual report began 13 years ago.

“State of the Air shows that we’re making real and steady progress in cutting dangerous pollution from the air we breathe,” said Charles D. Connor, American Lung Association president and chief executive officer. “We owe this to the ongoing protection of the Clean Air Act. But despite these improvements, America’s air quality standards are woefully outdated, and unhealthy levels of air pollution still exist across the nation, putting the health of millions of Americans at stake.”

The report showed that more than 40 percent of people in the United States – or 127 million people – live in areas where air pollution continues to threaten their health.

Nearly four out of 10 people in the U.S. live in counties that received an F for air quality because of unhealthy levels of ozone air pollution, nearly 50 million Americans live in counties with too many unhealthy spikes in particle pollution levels,and nearly six million people live in areas with unhealthy year-round levels of particle pollution.

The study found that major improvements were seen in 18 of the 25 cities most polluted by ozone, including Los Angeles, which had the lowest smog levels since the report was first published in 2000.

A list of the nation’s most polluted cities follow. For more detailed air quality information, visit www.stateoftheair.org .

10 Most Ozone-Polluted

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, Calif.
Visalia-Porterville, Calif.
Bakersfield-Delano, Calif.
Fresno-Madera, Calif.
Hanford-Corcoran, Calif.
Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Yuba City, Calif.-Nev.
San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, Calif.
Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, Texas
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, Calif.
Merced, Calif.

10 Cities Most Polluted by Year-Round Particle Pollution

Bakersfield-Delano, Calif.
Hanford-Corcoran, Calif.
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, Calif.
Visalia-Porterville, Calif.
Fresno-Madera, Calif.
Pittsburgh-New Castle, Pa.
Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Ariz.
Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington, Ohio-Ky.-Ind.
Louisville-Jefferson County-Elizabethtown-Scottsburg, Ky.-Ind.
Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md.
St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, Mo.-Ill.

10 Cities Most Polluted by Short-Term Particle Pollution

Bakersfield-Delano, Calif.
Fresno-Madera, Calif.
Hanford-Corcoran, Calif.
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, Calif.
Modesto, Calif.
Pittsburgh-New Castle, Pa.
Salt Lake City-Ogden-Clearfield, UT
Logan, UT-ID
Fairbanks, Alaska
Merced, Calif.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

2012 American Lung Association State of the Air Report