LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Labs, shepherds, an Alaskan Malamute and a boxer named “Rosie” who urgently needs a new home are among the dogs waiting for homes this week at Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Canines offered for adoption this week include mixes of Alaskan Malamute, border collie, boxer, Catahoula Leopard Dog, Doberman Pinscher, foxhound, German Shepherd, Labrador Retriever and pit bull.

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.

In addition to the animals featured here, all adoptable animals in Lake County can be seen here: http://bit.ly/Z6xHMb .

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”).

Labrador Retriever mix

This female Labrador Retriever mix has a short black coat with white markings.

She will be available for adoption on June 2.

She's in kennel No. 2, ID No. 4969.

Labrador Retriever mix

This male Labrador Retriever mix has a short black coat with white markings.

He's in kennel No. 3, ID No. 4878.

Pit bull terrier mix

This male pit bull terrier mix has a short brown coat.

Shelter staff said he does not jump and is very friendly, walking well on a leash, showing no food aggression, and allowing handling of his mouth, ears, paws and tail with no problems. He also enjoys a good tummy rub.

He would do great in a home with no cats.

He's in kennel No. 4, ID No. 4850.

Female shepherd mix

This young female shepherd mix has a short brown coat with white markings.

She's in kennel No. 5, ID No. 4959.

'Bruh'

“Bruh” is a male pit bull terrier mix.

He's got a short black coat with white markings.

He's in kennel No. 6, ID No. 4893.

'Elsa'

“Elsa” is a female Catahoula Leopard Dog with a short, multicolored coat.

She's in kennel No. 7, ID No. 4996.

'Patches'

“Patches” is a female pit bull terrier mix with a short brown and white coat.

Shelter staff said Patches is great with both male and female dogs, and allows handling of her paws, ears, tail and body.

She is very people friendly and has a lower energy level, and shelter staff believes she would do great with children.

Patches is in kennel No. 9, ID No. 4817.

Yellow Labrador Retriever

This male Labrador Retriever mix has a short yellow coat.

He's in kennel No. 14a, ID No. 4925.

Pit bull mix

This female pit bull terrier mix has a short white coat with dark markings, including an eye patch like “Petey” from the Little Rascals.

She's in kennel No. 14b, ID No. 4926.

'Baby'

“Baby” is a female Labrador Retriever-pit bull mix.

She has a short, all-black coat.

Shelter staff said she is a sweet dog.

She's in kennel No. 15, ID No. 5005.

'Stump'

“Stump” is a male foxhound mix with a tricolor coat.

Shelter staff said he is very scared in the animal control environment, so he needs a home where he can feel safe and can start to thrive.

He's in kennel No. 19, ID No. 4935.

German Shepherd mix

This handsome male German Shepherd mix has a short black coat with white markings.

Shelter staff said he is very people friendly, high energy, and good with female dogs or submissive males. He allows handling of his paws, ears, tail and body with no problems.

He wants to jump and play, and shelter staff suggested he would do great with children after some training for his jumping.

He's in kennel No. 20, ID No. 4862.

Female shepherd mix

This cute female shepherd mix has a short tricolor coat.

Shelter staff said she has no food aggression, and allows handling of her ears, mouth, paws and tail without any problems.

She is a quick learner, would do fine with cats and is happy to greet everyone she meets.

She's in kennel No. 21, ID No. 4934.

'Mom'

“Mom” is a female Labrador Retriever-Doberman Pinscher mix.

She has a pretty black and tan coat, and a sweet personality.

She's in kennel No. 22, ID No. 4917.

Alaskan Malamute

This handsome male Alaskan Malamute has a gray and white coat.

Shelter staff said he will be available on May 31.

He's in kennel No. 23, ID No. 4991.

'Snowball'

“Snowball” is a handsome male German Shepherd mix with a short white coat.

He appears to have been abused in his previous home, and he will need a calm, patient and caring home where he can be made to feel safe and loved.

He's in kennel No. 24, ID No. 4947.

'Shadow'

“Shadow” is a male Labrador Retriever mix with a short black coat.

Shelter staff said he has a happy and loving personality.

He's in kennel No. 25, ID No. 4948.

'Koda'

“Koda” is a female Labrador Retriever-border collie mix.

Shelter staff said she would do best in a home with no livestock animals or cats.

She's in kennel No. 27, ID No. 4924.

'Rosie'

“Rosie” is a female boxer-pit bull mix listed as “urgent,” and needing a new home immediately.

She has a short brown brindle coat with white markings, a friendly personality, lots of energy and a playful attitude. She's good with other large dogs and loves children.

Her adoption fee will be less expensive due to already being spayed.

She's in kennel No. 32, ID No. 4670.

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, 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.

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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The fourth grade classes of Coyote Valley Elementary School were recent guests of the curator of the Lower Lake Historic Schoolhouse Museum, Antone Pierucci, assistant curator Whitney Petrey, and Pierucci's energetic staff.

Among the many interesting things we learned was that way before iPods delivered music to our ears, there was the Edison Home Phonograph.

The museum's machine is a circa 1906 version.

The museum document states, “Thomas Alva Edison invented the phonograph record machine in 1877. Recordings were on cylindrical tubes which rotated on a shaft and moved the cylinder along a rigid stylus. This machine was of limited use because of its short, 4-minute recording capability and general set-up of the player.”

After doing a little digging around on the Library of Congress' Web site, I found that the Edison Home Phonograph came into being due to some of his other inventions; namely the telephone and telegraph.

In a series of serendipitous events, Edison had been diligently toiling over a device that would transcribe the messages received from the telegraph machine he invented. His hypothesis was that telephone messages could be heard in a comparable way.  

First, he used a metal tube, wrapped in tin foil. Next he devised a way for his “diaphragm-and-needle units” to function as recording and playback devices. Sound vibrations created groves in the cylinders via the recording needle.

On the Web site, www.antiquephono.org it is stated that Edison's Home Phonograph was a definite boon to those in the mid-income range in the 19th and beginning 20th centuries. The machine was sturdy and reliable and hence, proved popular due to these features.

Thomas Edison hoped that the uses for his machine would go farther than mere music appreciation. He thought it was feasible in the future for his machine to be used for dictation, speaking books for the blind, speech lessons, teacher's lesson plans, musical toys and more!

Mr. Edison was truly ahead of his time.

Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is an educator, potter, 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.” She also writes for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Some Lake County children who love to write stand a good chance of getting published this fall.

Again this summer the Lake County Library will sponsor the popular Young Writers Workshop.

Open to Lake County children and teens from fifth grade through high school, this summer’s program has an exciting twist.

A culmination of the program will be the publication of an anthology of writings by the kids who participate in the sessions – a book to be made available to the public later in the year.

Published author and columnist Robin C. Harris will conduct the free weekly sessions to be held on Saturday mornings beginning June 4 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Lakeport branch of the Lake County Library. The library is located at 1425 N. High St.

“In my work as a substitute teacher in eight schools this year, I saw many examples of a passion for writing on the part of students of all ages – an interest we hope to nurture, and a talent that needs an outlet such as we hope to provide. I want these kids to get their stuff in print,” said Harris.

Harris is a dynamic and inspiring teacher whose energies may exceed the noise level normally associated with libraries.

“That’s OK, though,” he said. “The stereotype of the old-fashioned librarian with her hair in a bun and her finger to her lips is no longer with us. We want this to be fun, and fun it will be. They’re not gonna throw us out.”

After all, Harris is the appointed member of the Lake County Library Advisory Board, representing District 5.

Much of the participants’ work will be in the area of fiction – specifically short stories, but non-fiction and poetry will be covered as well. Parents will be invited to sit in on the sessions as spectators in an effort to ensure continuity for their kids from one week to the next.

“This is not an English class,” Harris said. “Our work this summer will be to get stuff on paper in whatever from it turns out to be. Kids who have sat through language arts classes all year don’t need more of the same. The polishing can come later.”

All writings will be critiqued, and students will be helped over the rough spots in an effort to make their work ready for publication.

Lake County students entering grades five through 12 will be welcome in the program. The free eight-session workshop will begin June 4 and continue through Aug. 6, with a day off on July 2.

Preregistration is strongly encouraged, as this will be a popular activity, and will be limited to the first 20 applicants. Each applicant should bring a three-ring binder, some paper and a pen or pencil.

For information, students and parents may contact Amy Patton at the library 707-263-8817 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The Lake County Library is on the Internet at http://library.lakecountyca.gov and Facebook at www.facebook.com/LakeCountyLibrary .

New NASA-funded research indicates that giant tsunamis played a fundamental role in forming Martian coastal terrain, removing much of the controversy that for decades shrouded the hypothesis that oceans existed early in Mars’ history.

“Imagine a huge wall of red water the size of a high-rise building moving towards you at the speed of a jetliner,” said J. Alexis P. Rodriguez, former NASA Postdoctoral Program fellow at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, and senior research scientist at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona. “That could be a fair way to picture it in your mind.”

It is now widely accepted by the Mars research community that approximately 3.4 billion years ago, an extremely cold and dry desert existed at the surface of Mars, while enormous subsurface aquifers overlain by ice-rich permafrost retained most of the water on the Red Planet.

Researchers think that, at that time in the planet’s history, several large aquifers catastrophically ruptured, carving large outflow channels and flooding Mars’ northern plains to form an ocean. However, an apparent lack of definite shoreline features made this uncertain.

This new research shows that the shorelines exist below the present surface and were modified and buried by two mega-tsunami events.

“We were surprised to find that the older and younger tsunami deposits look so different,” said Rodriguez. “The older tsunami washed ashore and deposited enormous volumes of debris, and evidence for the water hurtling back into the ocean is represented in widespread ‘backwash.’”

Following the formation of the ocean, and in the absence of widespread river systems that could have refilled it, its coastline receded to a lower elevation.

The research documents two mega-tsunami events – giant waves that may have formed as a result of impacts slamming into Mars’ ocean.

“We think that after the ocean shoreline receded to a lower elevation – which likely resulted during a period of extreme climatic cooling lasting several million years – the younger tsunami occurred with enormous waves freezing as it washed over the frozen Martian landscape. The waves froze rapidly, even before they had a chance to flow back into the ocean,” Rodriguez said.

A key implication of the study is that the tsunami deposits can be used to reconstruct the evolution of the Martian climate during the lifetime of the ocean, and the younger deposits likely contain ice remnants from the ancient ocean itself. From a bystander’s viewpoint, if Mars was also covered by red dust then, as it is today, the ocean might have looked red while the particles settled to the bottom.

“The tsunami deposits likely contain rocks and sediments from the ocean floor that were picked up and transported landward by the enormous waves,” said Virginia Gulick, senior research scientist at the SETI Institute and NASA Ames, and a co-author on the paper. “Tsunami deposits are similar to flood deposits except that they are moving in the reverse – landward – direction.”

The researchers believe the ocean floor might have provided habitable environments, if the ocean persisted long enough.

“On Earth, tsunami deposits contain a significant mud or fine-grained component; on Mars, this finer-grained component could have preserved physical or chemical evidence of past microbial activity, if it existed,” said Gulick. “If there were habitable environments, then biosignatures also could have been preserved in the large boulders visible in the older flow deposits.”

The research was conducted using visible and thermal images, combined with digital topography from Mars Odyssey, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), and the Mars Global Surveyor.

The research team was supported by the NASA Postdoctoral Program, NASA’s Planetary Geology and Geophysics Program, NASA’s MRO HiRISE and the NASA Astrobiology Institute. 

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Many traffic collisions in California end in death or injury as a result of individuals speeding or driving aggressively.

The California Highway Patrol's Clear Lake Area will deploy additional officers on Highway 20 in an effort to reduce the number of motorcycle incidents or collisions resulting from unsafe speed, following too closely, unsafe lane changes, improper turning, and other primary collision factor violations by motorcyclists and other drivers. 

The operation begins on Sunday, May 29.

To assist the CHP in this traffic safety effort, the Clear Lake Area has received a federally-funded grant titled, “Have a Good Ride II.” 

The CHP Clear Lake Area will deploy future motorcycle safety enforcement operations through September 30, 2016.

Statistical data from the CHP’s Clear Lake Area database showed that in the Clear Lake CHP Area boundary, from January 2015 through December 2015, there were 37 injury traffic collisions, and one fatal traffic collision involving motorcycles.

Of the 37 injury collisions, 11 involved driving under the influence, the agency said.   

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.