WASHINGTON, DC – NASA's EPOXI mission spacecraft successfully flew past comet Hartley 2 Thursday morning, and scientists say initial images from the flyby provide new information about the comet's volume and material spewing from its surface.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said images taken and other science collected should help reveal new insights into the origins of the solar system as scientists pore over them in the months and years to come.

“This mission represents one of NASA's most successful deep space exploration projects,” Bolden said.

Ed Weiler, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate at the agency's Headquarters in Washington, D.C., said of the flyby, “This was really an exploration moment, seeing something no one on Earth had ever seen before.”

EPOXI principal investigator Michael A'Hearn of the University of Maryland, College Park, said early observations of the comet show that, for the first time, scientists may be able to connect activity to individual features on the nucleus.

“We certainly have our hands full. The images are full of great cometary data, and that's what we hoped for,” A'Hearn said.

EPOXI is an extended mission that uses the already in-flight Deep Impact spacecraft. Its encounter phase with Hartley 2 began at 4 p.m. EDT on Nov. 3, when the spacecraft began to point its two imagers at the comet's nucleus. Imaging of the nucleus began one hour later.

The comet zoomed past the spacecraft at a relative speed of more than 27,000 miles per hour, NASA reported.

“The spacecraft has provided the most extensive observations of a comet in history,” said Weiler. “Scientists and engineers have successfully squeezed world class science from a re-purposed spacecraft at a fraction of the cost to taxpayers of a new science project.”

Images from the EPOXI mission reveal comet Hartley 2 to have 100 times less volume than comet Tempel 1, the first target of Deep Impact. More revelations about Hartley 2 are expected as analysis continues.

Initial estimates indicate the spacecraft was about 435 miles from the comet at the closest-approach point. That's almost the exact distance that was calculated by engineers in advance of the flyby.

“It is a testament to our team's skill that we nailed the flyby distance to a comet that likes to move around the sky so much,” said Tim Larson, EPOXI project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. “While it's great to see the images coming down, there is still work to be done. We have another three weeks of imaging during our outbound journey.”

Said Bolden, “EPOXI is a wonderful example of the strong collection of NASA science missions we have coming up in the next few years that will enable us to visit destinations across the solar system in new and exciting ways, look through new windows out across our vast cosmos, and expand our understanding of our own home planet. Our increased investment in science will continue to yield valuable dividends for the future.”

The name EPOXI is a combination of the names for the two extended mission components: the Extrasolar Planet Observations and Characterization (EPOCh), and the flyby of comet Hartley 2, called the Deep Impact Extended Investigation (DIXI).

The spacecraft has retained the name Deep Impact. In 2005, Deep Impact successfully released an impactor into the path of comet Tempel 1.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the EPOXI mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

The spacecraft was built for NASA by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colo.

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In Clearlake, Jeri Spittler and Joey Luiz were the top vote getters in a field of nine candidates. They were seeking the seats to be vacated next month by Clearlake Councilmen Chuck Leonard and Roy Simons.

Preliminary results released early Wednesday morning by the Lake County Registrar of Voters showed that Spittler led the field with 769 votes, or 19.9 percent, followed by Luiz with 642 votes or 16.6 percent.

Finishing out of the seats were Bill Perkins, 547 votes, 14.1 percent; Jim Scholz, 528 votes, 13.6 percent; Frank Taylor, 457 votes, 11.8 percent; Barbara Grier, 401 votes, 10.4 percent; Raymond Brady, 239 votes, 6.2 percent; Estella Creel, 201 votes, 5.2 percent; and Michael J. Walton, 87 votes, 2.2 percent.

City Clerk Melissa Swanson was returned with 100 percent of the vote, or 1,785 ballots cast for her. No person filed for the city treasurer spot.

In Lakeport, the seats currently held by Mayor Jim Irwin and Council Ron Bertsch were on the ballot, with Bertsch not seeking reelection.

Businesswoman Stacey Mattina led the field, with 433 votes or 20.7 percent of the vote.

She was followed by former Lakeport Police Chief Tom Engstrom, who received 380 votes, or 18.2 percent, despite having dropped out of the race several weeks ago, citing commitments to his church, as Lake County News has reported.

Finishing third was George Spurr, with 315 votes or 15.1 percent of the vote, followed by Irwin, 306 votes, 14.6 percent; Marc Spillman, a city planning commissioner, 304 votes, 14.5 percent; former Councilman Ted Mandrones, 225 votes, 10.8 percent; and P.J. Racine, 130 votes, 6.2 percent.

It's unclear at this point if Engstrom can simply decline to serve, clearing the way for Spurr to take the seat, or if an appointment or special election may have to follow.

In other election news, the Konocti Unified School District Board of Trustees saw two incumbents returned and a new member elected.

Anita Gordon won reelection with 24.8 percent of the vote, or 2,233 votes, followed by Bill Diener, with 2,131 votes, 23.7 percent, and incumbent Herb Gura, 1,638 votes, 18.2 percent. All three will serve four-year terms on the board.

The remainder of the field included Russell Kay Hunt, 1,100 votes, 12.2 percent; Lynda C. Davis-Robinson, 1,008 votes, 11.2 percent; and Philip J. Tuley, 891 votes, or 9.9 percent.

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The incident occurred just before 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 29, on Point Lakeview Road in Kelseyville, the CHP reported.

A dark gray – almost black – compact Volkswagen, model year ranging between 1999 and 2005, hit a vehicle driven by a woman who had her 10-year-old child with her, according to the report. The woman sustained minor injuries.

The CHP said that, during the crash, the Volkswagen's driver's side mirror was broken off and the vehicle may have sustained damage to other portions of the driver's side.

The driver of the Volkswagen fled the scene without rendering assistance, the CHP said.

Anyone with information as to the whereabouts of this vehicle, its driver or both should call CHP Officer Rob Hearn, 707-279-0103.

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If past budget requests are any guide, going back deep into the George W. Bush’s presidency, then higher TRICARE fees could be sought anew and perhaps now a more deficit-conscious Congress will be receptive.

But in phone interview, Taylor, who serves temporarily as the Defense Department’s top health official, mostly discussed higher priorities, for both him and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, including sustaining wartime medical support, improving wounded warrior care and coordinating better delivery of services across the $50 billion-a-year military health system.

Intentionally or not, Taylor’s list of top challenges, and impressive recent advances to help the wounded, made the prospect of unfreezing beneficiary fees for the first time since 1995 seem almost incidental.

The health system’s top priority, said Taylor, is ensuring that fighting forces have the medical teams on scene that they need – properly equipped, properly staffed and with the most advanced technology and procedures available anywhere. The result is surviving what was once unsurvivable.

A second priority is that warriors get the best possible care to recover from injuries, particularly lost limbs, traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder – the signature injuries of current wars.

For amputees, Taylor noted the extraordinary gains in prosthetics but also in the work of the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine and partners like Wake Forest University so that, perhaps within a decade or even five years, they “can actually build new fingers and new ears, new noses and new toes, new feet and, eventually, new legs.”

Meanwhile, field-level policies have been changed to better protect those exposed to bomb blasts, so all receive medical evaluations after an incident and are not returned to the fight with undetected injuries.

Research is advancing to find biomarkers to detect brain injury. DoD and VA continue to partner on psychological health issues, exploring alternative therapies and more effective clinical guidelines to PTSD.

Several thousand behavioral health specialists have been hired into the military direct care system and they partner routinely with civilian mental health experts.

Taylor, a retired three-star officer and former Air Force surgeon general, is deputy assistant secretary for force health protection and readiness.

But until Congress confirms Dr. Jonathan Woodson, Obama’s nominee to be assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, Taylor is performing those duties. So he is DoD’s top health official and Gates’ principal health advisor on health budget and policy including TRICARE.

On whether higher TRICARE fees are in the offing, Taylor said, “Every year for most of the years I’ve been around, the department has proposed changes to the benefit structure.”

Congress has blocked most attempts to raise out-of-pocket TRICARE costs, even for working-age retirees and their families. But some key lawmakers are signaling it may be time to allow at least modest fee hikes.

At a Sept. 28 armed services committee hearing, ranking Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona seemed to be setting the table, asking Deputy Defense Secretary Bill Lynn, “Isn’t the biggest cost escalation to DoD today in health care?”

Lynn conceded medical is the “largest account … growing at a substantial pace” and that in “the fiscal year 2012 budget I think we will be proposing to Congress some ideas about how to restrain health care costs.”

Pressed by McCain, Lynn agreed health costs are growing “dramatically,” in some recent years by 10 percent or higher.

That same day, at a breakfast meeting with reporters, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, called rising health care costs “unsustainable” and said, after 15 years, it’s time to raise TRICARE fees.

A few days later the Office of Personnel Management announced health insurance premiums paid by federal civilian workers and retirees will jump in 2011 an average of 7.2 percent. That could apply more political pressure on Congress to accept some sort of TRICARE fee increase.

What might be proposed for the fiscal 2012 budget is still “in department negotiations,” Taylor said. He said he doesn’t yet know what DoD will sign out, or what the White House will accept.

“It’s quite possible the budget won’t contain any benefit changes,” Taylor said. Or “in terms of the core enrollment benefit, it could be that it will contain some pharmacy benefit changes.”

Taylor noted that Gates is “very well on record that health care costs are eating us alive and we need to do something about it. There are only limited things you can do … You can decrease the total number of people that you have; you can change the benefit; you can change the use [of it] and, lastly, the actual technology or state of medicine.”

Looking at past proposals to raise health fees and co-payments, the most successful and accepted have sought to change patient behavior, he said, specifically the tiered co-payments adopted for the pharmacy benefit.

Patients pay higher co-pays today if they fill prescriptions in the TRICARE retail network where a 90-day supply costs TRICARE an average of $294. Lower co-pays are set for TRICARE’s mail order program, now called “home delivery.”

A 90-day supply of mail-order drugs costs TRICARE an average of $169, or 42 percent less than the neighborhood drug store.

Similarly, patients who use generic rather than brand name drugs see even lower co-payments.

The tiered structure for pharmacies changed behavior without “impeding the benefit,” Taylor said. “So we continue to explore those kinds of options.”

The new goal for TRICARE pharmacy plan is to more than double usage of home delivery so 500,000 prescriptions are filled by mail each week. The potential yearly savings would be $238 million, Taylor said.

To comment, send e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or write to Military Update, P.O. Box 231111, Centreville, VA, 20120-1111.

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Congressman Mike Thompson, 59, decisively won his seventh two-year term in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

“I feel both humbled and grateful,” Thompson told Lake County News just after 10 p.m. Tuesday, not long after he was declared the winner in a field that included Republic Loren Hanks, Green Party candidate Carol Wolman and Libertarian Mike Rodrigues.

With 89.1 percent of the precincts in the First Congressional District counted as of 2:45 a.m., Thompson had 92,591 votes, or 61.6 percent of the vote, compared to Hanks' 49,182 votes, accounting for 32.7 percent of the vote. Wolman took 5,138 votes, 3.4 percent, and Rodrigues received 3,600 votes, or 2.3 percent.

Hanks told supporters in Napa Tuesday night that they've seen “a powerful shift in public sentiment” with the toppling of the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives.

“This district kept its incumbent, and we wish Mike Thompson good health in the next Congress,” he said. “But the conservative constituents of the district have awakened and after tonight, we will retool and retrench.”

He said the race “race has been a good first step in a long campaign to return the country to a Constitutional foundation.”

Thompson said he's honored to be able to continue to serve the First Congressional District, where he said he's worked with residents on the issues that are important to them.

He said he is looking forward to getting back to work when Congress goes back into session on Nov. 15.

However, come January, when new members of Congress are sworn in, the House will be under new leadership, with the Republicans retaking the majority, whereas the Democrats retained their majority in the Senate.

As to one of the legislative targets of Republicans, “I don't think they can repeal health care,” said Thompson. “There are just too many good things people are already enjoying.”

Thompson said President Barack Obama also wouldn't sign such repeal legislation.

“Everybody knows that health care was not sustainable,” Thompson said. “It needed to be fixed.”

Thompson acknowledged that there has been a lot of criticism about the fix that Congress produced.

“The truth of the matter is, we have a health care path upon which we'll continue to move, continue to make sure that Californians and Americans have access to quality affordable health care,” Thompson said. “That's something we've been trying to do in this country for decades.”

The Republicans will now steer a lot of legislation, but no matter who is in the Speaker of the House's chair, Thompson said he's not concerned about working closely with his colleagues across the aisle, which is something he said he has always done and will continue to do.

“I've been in the minority more than I've been in the majority,” he said.

Looking ahead at the serious challenges still facing the country, Thompson said he hopes the new Republican majority will be “interested in working with everyone to do what's best for America.”

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Timothy Burger, 21, of Sacramento died after being shot in a fire fight in a home in Laytonville, according to a Monday report from Capt. Kurt Smallcomb of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.

The incident in which Burger died occurred at a residence on Steele Lane in Laytonville on Oct. 30, as Lake County News has reported.

Officials said the alleged home invasion was believed to have been linked to marijuana cultivation taking place at the residence.

Smallcomb said two other suspects in the case have been taken into custody.

A few hours after the incident on Oct. 30, two Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies, assisted by a Cal Fire officer, located 18-year-old Tyrone Bell and 19-year-old Christopher Shinn, both of Sacramento, walking south of Laytonville, Smallcomb said.

Detectives interviewed Bell and Shinn and subsequently arrested them, he said.

The men were booked into the Mendocino County Jail on charges of murder, conspiracy and robbery, with bail for each set at $250,000, according to Smallcomb.

An autopsy was scheduled to take place on Burger Monday. Smallcomb said the results would be released at a later date.

Also on Monday, Smallcomb reported that investigators were able to identify the suspect alleged to have shot a 19-year-old Laytonville man in an Oct. 28 confrontation that also was said to be connected to marijuana cultivation.

Leberado Lopez Ramirez, 35, a transient who is believed to have connections both to Oregon and Northern California, is alleged to have shot William Graves on Oct. 28 in or around the Bell Springs Road Area north of Laytonville, Smallcomb said.

Smallcomb said deputies learned that Graves and Ramirez – who were engaged in a marijuana operation – allegedly got into an altercation, with the result being that Graves was shot in the face.

On Oct. 29 detectives were able to identify Ramirez as the suspect who allegedly shot Graves, who Smallcomb said remains hospitalized.

Smallcomb said Ramirez still remains at large, and the investigation is continuing.

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The County of Lake Information Technology Department is seeking photographs for the digital portal to Lake County government – www.co.lake.ca.us – that will highlight the best of our environs.

High-resolution digital photos will be rotated each day as the backdrop on the county Web site, showcasing the various amenities of the area where we work, live, and recreate.

Photos must be digital, in a .JPG, .TIFF, or .PNG format, with dimensions of 1400 x 450 pixels or larger.

The person submitting the photo must have all rights to the photo, and sign a statement to that affect.

No financial compensation will be provided by the county of Lake for use of photo, but the photographer will be credited on the county of Lake Web site.

If you would like to submit a photo or have questions, send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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Noah Shinn, 39, of Laytonville was arrested on Tuesday by the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.

He was taken into custody for robbery, threats, conspiracy, murder, and cultivation and sales of marijuana, according to Capt. Kurt Smallcomb.

Shinn was arrested in connection with the Oct. 30 shooting death of 21-year-old Timothy Burger of Sacramento, one of several alleged suspects in a home invasion robbery linked to marijuana, officials reported.

Smallcomb said detectives were contacting witnesses in Sacramento on Tuesday when they located Noah Shinn, who also is the father of another suspect in the case, 19-year-old Sacramento resident Christopher Shinn. The younger Shinn was booked on Oct. 30 for the same charges as his father.

Noah Shinn's bail was set at $250,000, according to Smallcomb, the same amount that Christopher Shinn was booked on last week.

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At 4:42 a.m. Sunday Napa County, Calistoga and St. Helena City fire departments were dispatched to a fire in the 100 block of Petrified Forest Road in unincorporated Napa County, according to Pete Muñoa, Cal Fire battalion chief and Napa County fire marshal.

He said the 911 caller reported a fire with explosions in the backyard of a residence.

Fire department units arrived to find a well involved structure approximately 400 square feet in size, according to Muñoa.

Muñoa said a witness stated to fire personnel at scene that they believed the structure to be a drug lab.

This statement accompanied with the earlier report of explosions forced crews to take a defensive attack on the fire to limit their exposure to possible hazardous materials, he said.

Investigators from the Napa County Fire Marshal’s Office in conjunction with the Napa County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the blaze, Muñoa said.

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Lake County Registrar of Voters staff looks over ballots on the night of Tuesday, November 2, 2010, in Lakeport, Calif. Photo by Gary McAuley.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – On its busiest night of the year, the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office had a frustrating encounter with Murphy's Law.

Just a few hours past the 8 p.m. closing of the county's 53 precincts Tuesday night, two of the county's three voting machines jammed. Cleaning them didn't work, Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley reported on KPFZ Tuesday night.

Fridley said she said she and her staff were able to rely on a third machine from the department's store room in order to continue the count, which she said was going at about half speed.

In case it didn't work, she was prepared to borrow a machine from Sonoma County.

However, just after 1 a.m. Fridley's office released the preliminary results, with absentees and provisional ballots turned in on Tuesday yet to be counted during the 28-day election certification period.

The results tallied Tuesday night showed that, at least on the local level, voters chose challengers over incumbents, while Congressman Mike Thompson and state Assemblyman Wes Chesbro were returned to office, and Assembly member Noreen Evans won the state Senate seat currently held by Patricia Wiggins, who is retiring.

In the sheriff's race, Francisco Rivero received 8,102 votes or 53.9 percent of the vote, defeating 16-year incumbent Rod Mitchell, who had 6,919 votes, accounting for 46.1 percent of votes cast.

Sheriff Rod Mitchell and supporters gathered at Angelina's Bakery in Lakeport, Calif., to watch the returns online on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Photo by Gary McAuley.

Don Anderson is projected to be the new district attorney, taking 7,597 votes or 53.3 percent of the vote compared to his opponent Doug Rhoades, who received 6,663 votes, or 46.7 percent.

Lake County News was unable to reach Rivero by phone early Wednesday morning, but spoke with Mitchell at close to 1 a.m.

Mitchell said it was just after midnight, when 50 percent of the results had been tallied, that he sought out Rivero at the Lake County Courthouse.

At that point he informed Rivero that he could begin the transition for his new administration as sheriff after Thanksgiving.

Mitchell, noting that he loves Lake County, said, “I owe it to the citizens to make sure that I facilitate as smooth a transition as possible.”

County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox and County Counsel Anita Grant assist with the counting of ballots at the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office in Lakeport, Calif., on the night of Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Photo by Tera DeVroede.

He said he hasn't thought about what he will do next, once his term runs out at the end of the year.

“There's too much to do right now in terms of getting ready for a new administration,” he said.

Because of the lateness of results being finalized, Lake County News will follow up with the rest of the candidates in the lead races later Wednesday.

Overall, voter turnout reported thus far was at 48.8 percent, with precinct ballots cast totaling 8,132, or 25 percent, compared to 7,749 absentees ballots, or 23.8 percent of the vote, according to the voting data released by Fridley's office.

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District Attorney candidate Don Anderson shot baskets with his grandson at Quail Run Fitness Center in Lakeport, Calif., while he waited for the election returns to come in on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Anderson later found out he will be the county's new top prosecutor. Photo by Gary McAuley.

Activity at the Lake County Courthouse in Lakeport, Calif., went on into the early hours Wednesday after two of the county's voting machines broke down on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Photo by Gary McAuley.

The solo-vehicle collision was reported shortly before 4 p.m. in the 9200 block of Konocti Bay Road at Sequoia, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The rollover crash resulted in the driver being ejected from the vehicle, according to reports from the scene.

REACH air ambulance transported the crash victim to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, officials reported.

The CHP reported that it was seeking a blood draw from the driver in the crash.

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The study is the most extensive and sensitive planetary census of its kind. Astronomers used the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii for five years to search 166 sun-like stars near our solar system for planets of various sizes, ranging from three to 1,000 times the mass of Earth.

All of the planets in the study orbit close to their stars. The results show more small planets than large ones, indicating small planets are more prevalent in our Milky Way galaxy.

“We studied planets of many masses – like counting boulders, rocks and pebbles in a canyon – and found more rocks than boulders, and more pebbles than rocks. Our ground-based technology can't see the grains of sand, the Earth-size planets, but we can estimate their numbers,” said Andrew Howard of the University of California, Berkeley, lead author of the study.

“Earth-size planets in our galaxy are like grains of sand sprinkled on a beach – they are everywhere,” Howard said.

The study is in the Oct. 29 issue of the journal Science.

The research provides a tantalizing clue that potentially habitable planets also could be common. These hypothesized Earth-size worlds would orbit farther away from their stars, where conditions could be favorable for life. NASA's Kepler spacecraft also is surveying sun-like stars for planets and is expected to find the first true Earth-like planets in the next few years.

Howard and his planet-hunting team, which includes principal investigator Geoff Marcy, also of the University of California, Berkeley, looked for planets within 80-light-years of Earth, using the radial velocity, or “wobble,” technique.

They measured the numbers of planets falling into five groups, ranging from 1,000 times the mass of Earth, or about three times the mass of Jupiter, down to three times the mass of Earth.

The search was confined to planets orbiting close to their stars – within 0.25 astronomical units, or a quarter of the distance between our sun and Earth.

A distinct trend jumped out of the data: smaller planets outnumber larger ones. Only 1.6 percent of stars were found to host giant planets orbiting close in.

That includes the three highest-mass planet groups in the study, or planets comparable to Saturn and Jupiter.

About 6.5 percent of stars were found to have intermediate-mass planets, with 10 to 30 times the mass of Earth – planets the size of Neptune and Uranus. And 11.8 percent had the so-called “super-Earths,” weighing in at only three to 10 times the mass of Earth.

“During planet formation, small bodies similar to asteroids and comets stick together, eventually growing to Earth-size and beyond. Not all of the planets grow large enough to become giant planets like Saturn and Jupiter,” Howard said. “It's natural for lots of these building blocks, the small planets, to be left over in this process.”

The astronomers extrapolated from these survey data to estimate that 23 percent of sun-like stars in our galaxy host even smaller planets, the Earth-sized ones, orbiting in the hot zone close to a star.

“This is the statistical fruit of years of planet-hunting work,” said Marcy. “The data tell us that our galaxy, with its roughly 200 billion stars, has at least 46 billion Earth-size planets, and that's not counting Earth-size planets that orbit farther away from their stars in the habitable zone.”

The findings challenge a key prediction of some theories of planet formation. Models predict a planet “desert” in the hot-zone region close to stars, or a drop in the numbers of planets with masses less than 30 times that of Earth.

This desert was thought to arise because most planets form in the cool, outer region of solar systems, and only the giant planets were thought to migrate in significant numbers into the hot inner region. The new study finds a surplus of close-in, small planets where theories had predicted a scarcity.

“We are at the cusp of understanding the frequency of Earth-sized planets among planetary systems in the solar neighborhood,” said Mario R. Perez, Keck program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “This work is part of a key NASA science program and will stimulate new theories to explain the significance and impact of these findings.”

For information about exoplanets and NASA's planet-finding program, visit http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov .

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