LAKEPORT, Calif. — In 2007, the Lake County Land Trust developed its first “Land Conservation Priority Plan,” which outlined the most critical and endangered lands that the Land Trust felt it should focus on.
At the top of the list was crucial shoreline habitat on Clear Lake, from the Clear Lake State Park down to south Lakeport.
In 2021 the Land Trust purchased the 200-acre Wright Ranch, now the Wright Wetland Preserve.
In December of 2023, the Land Trust closed escrow on the purchase of the 86-acre Keithly Ranch property in south Lakeport, adjacent to the Wright Preserve.
This means the Lake County Land Trust has now protected almost 300 acres of near shore, upland wetlands and riparian land in the south Lakeport area.
Another 30-acre parcel at Holiday Cove in Big Valley is also part of the Big Valley Wetlands project.
Both the Keithly and Wright acquisitions have created a combined area that will protect 16% of Clear Lake wetlands.
The Keithly acquisition is of utmost importance because of the existence of Manning Creek, which runs through the property and empties into Clear Lake.
The creek is a major spawning creek for the threatened Clear Lake hitch. The Land Trust is working with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife on funding to reconnect the creek to its original delta.
Many generous supporters contributed funds for this acquisition, the full cost of which was $900,000.
In addition to the required $50,000 match that the Wildlife Conservation Board required, expenses for a land agent, appraisals, title report, lawyer fees, a required environmental review, and closing costs were needed to complete this purchase.
The Land Trust will develop a comanagement plan with the nearby Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians as this area is a significant part of their tribal homeland.
The Land Trust thanks everyone who has supported this project and worked so hard to see it completed.
Founded in 1993, the Lake County Land Trust is a nonprofit, charitable 501 (c) (3) organization funded mostly by local contributions.
The Land Trust was founded to protect and conserve the land and water resources of Lake County with important natural, scenic, cultural and historical value.
The Land Trust owns and operates the Rodman Preserve that features a small nature center and is open every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for visitors and hikers.
Other properties include Rabbit Hill Preserve in Middletown, the Melo Wetland Preserve in Big Valley, a chaparral preserve on Mt. Konocti and Monitor Island near Clearlake Park. The Land Trust also comanages the Boggs Lake Preserve with the Nature Conservancy.
This artist’s illustration depicts the findings of a new study about the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy called Sagittarius A* (abbreviated as Sgr A*).
this result found that Sgr A* is spinning so quickly that it is warping spacetime — that is, time and the three dimensions of space — so that it can look more like a football.
These results were made with NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the NSF’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, or VLA.
A team of researchers applied a new method that uses X-ray and radio data to determine how quickly Sgr A* is spinning based on how material is flowing towards and away from the black hole. They found Sgr A* is spinning with an angular velocity that is about 60% of the maximum possible value, and with an angular momentum of about 90% of the maximum possible value.
Black holes have two fundamental properties: their mass (how much they weigh) and their spin (how quickly they rotate). Determining either of these two values tells scientists a great deal about any black hole and how it behaves. In the past, astronomers made several other estimates of Sgr A*’s rotation speed using different techniques, with results ranging from Sgr A* not spinning at all to it spinning at almost the maximum rate.
The new study suggests that Sgr A* is, in fact, spinning very rapidly, which causes the spacetime around it to be squashed down. The illustration shows a cross-section of Sgr A* and material swirling around it in a disk. The black sphere in the center represents the so-called event horizon of the black hole, the point of no return from which nothing, not even light, can escape.
Looking at the spinning black hole from the side, as depicted in this illustration, the surrounding spacetime is shaped like a football. The faster the spin the flatter the football.
The yellow-orange material to either side represents gas swirling around Sgr A*. This material inevitably plunges towards the black hole and crosses the event horizon once it falls inside the football shape. The area inside the football shape but outside the event horizon is therefore depicted as a cavity. The blue blobs show jets firing away from the poles of the spinning black hole. Looking down on the black hole from the top, along the barrel of the jet, spacetime is a circular shape.
A black hole’s spin can act as an important source of energy. Spinning supermassive black holes produce collimated outflows such as jets when their spin energy is extracted, which requires that there is at least some matter in the vicinity of the black hole. Because of limited fuel around Sgr A*, this black hole has been relatively quiet in recent millennia with relatively weak jets. This work, however, shows that this could change if the amount of material in the vicinity of Sgr A* increases.
The supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way may be producing tiny particles, called neutrinos, that have virtually no mass and carry no electric charge. This Chandra image shows the region around the black hole, known as Sagittarius A*, in low, medium, and high-energy X-rays (red, green, and blue respectively.) Scientists have found a connection to outbursts generated by the black hole and seen by Chandra and other X-ray telescopes with the detection of high-energy neutrinos in an observatory under the South Pole.
To determine the spin of Sgr A*, the authors used an empirically based technique referred to as the “outflow method” that details the relationship between the spin of the black hole and its mass, the properties of the matter near the black hole, and the outflow properties. The collimated outflow produces the radio waves, while the disk of gas surrounding the black hole is responsible for the X-ray emission. Using this method, the researchers combined data from Chandra and the VLA with an independent estimate of the black hole’s mass from other telescopes to constrain the black hole’s spin.
The paper describing these results led by Ruth Daly (Penn State University) is published in the January 2024 issue of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and appears online at https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2024MNRAS.527..428D/abstract. The other authors are Biny Sebastian (University of Manitoba, Canada), Megan Donahue (Michigan State University), Christopher O’Dea (University of Manitoba), Daryl Haggard (McGill University) and Anan Lu (McGill University).
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
This artist’s illustration shows a cross-section of Sagittarius A*, pronounced as “SAJ-ee-TARE-ee-us A-star”, the supermassive black hole near the center of our Milky Way galaxy.
In the middle of the image, the spinning, circular black hole is presented from the side in black. The shape of the surrounding spacetime, pictured in shades of dark yellow, looks as though it has been squashed down, thus resembling the shape of an American football. The swirling gas that surrounds Sagittarius A* is presented on either side of the black hole, within a rectangular-shaped dotted line, indicating the representation is a cross-section view.
The background of the image contains a multitude of faint stars, peeking out from within brooding, dark red, indistinct clouds.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — With power still out in some parts of Lake County due to the heavy winter storms that peaked over the weekend, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services shared an update from Pacific Gas and Electric on the effort to restore power to customers.
“This week’s winter storm is now the largest single storm producing multiple customer outages in nearly 30 years, affecting more than 1.85 million customers. High gusts and strong sustained winds caused an incredible amount of damage across our service area, including breaking or toppling 946 poles, requiring us to restring or repair more than 2,839 spans of powerlines and damaging or destroying 485 crossarms and 378 transformers. Parts of Lake County were particularly hard hit,” PG&E said.
PG&E said it has approximately 600 crews on the ground continuing to restore customers throughout the day and night. When customers are restored in one area, they move them into areas where outages remain to speed up restoration there.
In Lake County, PG&E reported that on Friday afternoon it had approximately 539 customers without power due to the storms, including 398 in Cobb, 115 in Kelseyville, 20 in Loch Lomond and 10 in Upper Lake. Those customers were in areas where damage to the system required a more complex restoration as the damage was the most severe and involved the need to remove fallen trees.
By 10 p.m. Friday, that number had been reduced to about 100 customers.
Most of PG&E’s customers are expected to be restored by Saturday night, although a few of the most isolated customers may be without power into the weekend. The company said it provided all of its customers with estimated times of restoration.
PG&E said it’s aware of reports of customers seeing wires on the ground in some Lake County communities. Some of these wires may belong to other utilities, such as phone companies, and some of these may be PG&E wires which will be reinstalled to restore power to customers or will be removed by PG&E in the coming days.
“As a best practice, if you see a wire down in your community, assume it’s energized and stay away from it,” PG&E said.
The statement continued, “It’s important for customers to remember that the timing we provide is an estimate; in some cases, as repair work continues, we may discover additional damage or encounter access issues that change the timing. We want customers to know that we absolutely understand how frustrating it is to be without power, especially for multiple days. This storm was incredibly intense and our crews are out in force making these final repairs. We won’t stop until the last customer has their power restored.”
The Yurok Tribe and Wilton Rancheria are sponsoring the second annual Missing and Murdered Indigenous People, or MMIP, Summit and Day of Action on Monday, Feb. 12, and Tuesday, Feb. 13, in Sacramento.
“We are putting on these events to give a voice to the state’s missing and murdered Indigenous People and their families. For too long, we have suffered in silence as countless loved ones have been lost to the MMIP crisis,” said Joseph L. James, chairman of the Yurok Tribe.
“We have built much momentum since last year’s summit and day of action, but we know there is a long road ahead of us,” James said. “In California, Indigenous people continue to go missing and/or are murdered at higher rates than almost anywhere in the US. This is not acceptable. In addition to giving a voice to those who can no longer speak, we are putting on these events to ask lawmakers to stand with us and say, ‘no more, not on my watch.’”
“Although we have increased awareness and resources to combat the MMIP epidemic, we are seeing California trend the wrong way,” added Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-San Bernardino). “Our number of unresolved cases has gone up instead of down. We must continue to expand our efforts to prevent these cases from occurring and to do all we can to reverse the current trend. This gathering of decision makers, tribes and others is essential to determine needed action. I applaud the Yurok Tribe and Wilton Rancheria for sponsoring this initiative and never letting us forget the families and lives affected by the MMIP epidemic.”
At the MMIP Summit and Day of Action, tribal leaders from across California, along with state and federal legislators and leaders, including Assemblymember Ramos, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, as well as law enforcement and families contending with unsolved murder cases will advocate for solutions that target the crisis’s root causes.
“It is an honor for Wilton Rancheria to join with the Yurok Tribe to host this important event. We proudly stand with our brothers and sisters from across the state to not only bring awareness to the MMIP crisis but to demand action from our local and state leaders,” said Wilton Rancheria Chairman Jesus Tarango. “While progress has been made, there is so much work to do. Our hope is that these two days are an opportunity for our state elected officials to listen and learn from our people and they inspire funding and legislative action for tribally led initiatives to help bring an end to this epidemic.”
Compared to most states, Indigenous people are far less safe in California. In the U.S., California has the fifth highest number of MMIP cases, the vast majority of which involve young women and girls.
Even worse, a disproportionate number of the murders are unsolved, such as Nicole Smith’s case.
In the early morning on Nov. 19, 2017, Smith, a mother and member of the Manchester Band of the Pomo Indians, was sleeping at her sister’s home on the Mendocino coast when a drive-by shooter shot several times at the residence. One of the rounds hit Smith and she perished a few minutes later.
There were multiple young children in the home and Smith’s niece suffered a bullet wound too, but she recovered. The perpetrator has yet to face justice in this underreported case.
Smith, 32, left behind three young children, not to mention many relatives and friends.
The murders of Indigenous women, like Smith and many others, are seven times less likely to be solved. In California, more than 50% of the perpetrators of violence against Indigenous women are non-Indian, according to an in-depth study conducted by the Yurok Tribal Court.
Today, there are at least 20 MMIP cases recorded every year in Northern California, but the actual number is significantly higher. There are serious issues with the accuracy of data on cases involving missing and/or murdered Indigenous people.
Bonta is currently working with tribes to improve the quality of MMIP data. The attorney general is also speaking at the MMIP Summit.
The MMIP Summit starts at 8:30 a.m. Monday. The informative event will include multiple panel discussions, starting with commentary from MMIP survivors, families and advocates.
During the second panel, titled “Justice & Policy Issues: Challenges and Solutions to Address MMIP,” representatives from tribal and nontribal justice systems will report on successes and challenges they have faced in their efforts to arrest and prosecute those who commit violence against Indigenous people.
At noon, Attorney General Bonta will provide the keynote address, with an overview of MMIP in California.
“This event represents an opportunity to engage with one another, share knowledge about the MMIP crisis, and learn how we can be better partners in justice. We must stand together to tackle what is happening across jurisdictional lines, happening here and now in our own communities — the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples crisis must end,” said Bonta.
“The history of this state is intrinsically intertwined with the history of native peoples, people who have been here since time immemorial. That’s why I’m proud to implement efforts to support public safety on tribal lands — including studying challenges related to the reporting and identification of missing and murdered Native Americans, to work alongside California tribal governments, families, and advocates to develop new guidance about the MMIP crisis, and proud to meet with tribes and Native peoples across our state, to ensure their voice is heard at the California DOJ,” Bonta said.
The third panel, “Beyond Law Enforcement: Tribal Health, Housing, and Supporting Indian Families to Address MMIP” will include an analysis of housing and children’s policies that play a role in the MMIP crisis, such as the Indian Child Welfare Act. There will be question and answer periods throughout the day.
The summit will wrap up with tribal leaders’ roundtable with lawmakers.
The MMIP Day of Action will begin with a news briefing at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Tribal leaders, state legislators and MMIP survivors will participate in the briefing on the Capitol West Steps.
Tribal leaders will issue a call to improve the implementation of the Feather Alert bill. Since it was rolled out earlier this year, tribes have encountered major issues with the administration of the notification system for missing or at-risk Indigenous people.
For example, last summer, San Francisco Police denied a Feather Alert request for Yurok citizen Danelle Ipiña-Vigil. She was later found, but not before she experienced severe trauma that could have been avoided if she was located earlier.
Tribes will propose amendments to the bill to prevent similar situations from happening in the future. The press conference will be livestreamed here.
At 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sen. Padilla will kick off the Day of Action with an update on the federal government’s work on the MMIP crisis.
Tribes also will honor Sen. Padilla for his work to address MMIP at the federal level, including his successful efforts to get a federal study on Public Law 280, and his efforts to increase justice funding for tribes in PL-280 states.
Passed in 1953 without tribal consent, PL 280 gave criminal jurisdiction over tribal lands to several states, including California, but the bill did not provide funding for state law enforcement to cover a much larger geographic area.
An MMIP Walk will start at noon. There will be cultural demonstrations throughout the day, and again at 1:30 p.m. before the event concludes at 2 p.m.
The Yurok Tribe and Assemblymember Ramos sponsored the annual MMIP Day of Action in February of last year. The tribe led the first MMIP Summit in October of 2022.
These events catalyzed support for critical legislation, such as the Feather Alert bill and Assembly Bill 44, which granted tribal law enforcement and courts access to the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, or CLETS, a database containing criminal records, court orders and other vital information.
Tribes are currently advocating for a bill that would grant tribal police state peace officer status and the ability to enforce California’s criminal laws. A similar law was introduced last year, but peace officer status was removed from the bill’s language before it went to a vote.
Tribes are working hard to ensure that the new bill, AB 2138, becomes a law because it will help tribal police hold the perpetrators of MMIP cases accountable.
Tribes are also developing bills to address other critical facets of the crisis, including tribal housing legislation, and recently proposed AB 2108, which protects children missing from foster care.
The 2024 MMIP Summit and Day of Action are happening as the U.S. Congress reviews the Not Invisible Act Commission’s monumental “Not One More” report.
Spearheaded by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the report calls for a “decade of action and change” regarding MMIP.
The MMIP Summit is happening from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Feb. 12, at the SAFE Convention Center, 1401 K St., Sacramento.
The MMIP Day of Action will start at 8:30 a.m. the following day on the West Steps of the California State Capitol building.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A Lucerne man was killed in a solo vehicle wreck on Highway 20 Friday afternoon.
The California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office did not release the 56-year-old man’s name on Friday pending the notification of his family.
The crash occurred at 1:23 p.m. on Highway 20 near Upper Lake, the CHP said.
The CHP said the man was driving a 1996 Ford Ranger eastbound on Highway 20, just east of Upper Lake Lucerne Road, at an unknown speed when the pickup went off the south roadway edge, turned to the left and crossed all lanes of traffic.
The pickup continued off the north side of the roadway and overturned as it traveled down the north side embankment and landed on its roof, coming to rest in a ditch containing water, the CHP said.
The driver was not wearing a seat belt, according to the report.
First responders attempted to save his life and he was transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 2:41 p.m., the CHP said.
The CHP said it is unknown at this time if drugs or alcohol were contributing factors in the cause of this crash.
This collision is still under investigation by CHP Officer J. Lindsey.
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 since 1972, NASA is putting science experiments on the Moon in 2024. And thanks to new technologies and public-private partnerships, these projects will open up new realms of scientific possibility. As parts of several projects launching this year, teams of scientists, including myself, will conduct radio astronomy from the south pole and the far side of the Moon.
NASA’s commercial lunar payload services program, or CLPS, will use uncrewed landers to conduct NASA’s first science experiments from the Moon in over 50 years. The CLPS program differs from past space programs. Rather than NASA building the landers and operating the program, commercial companies will do so in a public-private partnership. NASA identified about a dozen companies to serve as vendors for landers that will go to the Moon.
NASA buys space on these landers for science payloads to fly to the Moon, and the companies design, build and insure the landers, as well as contract with rocket companies for the launches. Unlike in the past, NASA is one of the customers and not the sole driver.
CLPS launches
The first two CLPS payloads are scheduled to launch during the first two months of 2024. There’s the Astrobotics payload, which launched Jan. 8 before experiencing a fuel issue that cut its journey to the Moon short. Next, there’s the Intuitive Machines payload, with a launch scheduled for mid-February. NASA has also planned a few additional landings – about two or three per year – for each of the next few years.
I’m a radio astronomer and co-investigator on NASA’s ROLSES program, otherwise known as Radiowave Observations at the Lunar Surface of the photoElectron Sheath. ROLSES was built by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and is led by Natchimuthuk Gopalswamy.
The ROLSES instrument will launch with Intuitive Machines in February. Between ROLSES and another mission scheduled for the lunar far side in two years, LuSEE-Night, our teams will land NASA’s first two radio telescopes on the Moon by 2026.
Radio telescopes on the Moon
The Moon – particularly the far side of the Moon – is an ideal place to do radio astronomy and study signals from extraterrestrial objects such as the Sun and the Milky Way galaxy. On Earth, the ionosphere, which contains Earth’s magnetic field, distorts and absorbs radio signals below the FM band. These signals might get scrambled or may not even make it to the surface of the Earth.
On Earth, there are also TV signals, satellite broadcasts and defense radar systems making noise. To do higher sensitivity observations, you have to go into space, away from Earth.
The Moon is what scientists call tidally locked. One side of the Moon is always facing the Earth – the “man in the Moon” side – and the other side, the far side, always faces away from the Earth. The Moon has no ionosphere, and with about 2,000 miles of rock between the Earth and the far side of the Moon, there’s no interference. It’s radio quiet.
For our first mission with ROLSES, launching in February 2024, we will collect data about environmental conditions on the Moon near its south pole. On the Moon’s surface, solar wind directly strikes the lunar surface and creates a charged gas, called a plasma. Electrons lift off the negatively charged surface to form a highly ionized gas.
This doesn’t happen on Earth because the magnetic field deflects the solar wind. But there’s no global magnetic field on the Moon. With a low frequency radio telescope like ROLSES, we’ll be able to measure that plasma for the first time, which could help scientists figure out how to keep astronauts safe on the Moon.
When astronauts walk around on the surface of the Moon, they’ll pick up different charges. It’s like walking across the carpet with your socks on – when you reach for a doorknob, a spark can come out of your finger. The same kind of discharge happens on the Moon from the charged gas, but it’s potentially more harmful to astronauts.
Solar and exoplanet radio emissions
Our team is also going to use ROLSES to look at the Sun. The Sun’s surface releases shock waves that send out highly energetic particles and low radio frequency emissions. We’ll use the radio telescopes to measure these emissions and to see bursts of low-frequency radio waves from shock waves within the solar wind.
Magnetic fields are important for life because they shield the planet’s surface from the solar/stellar wind.
In the future, our team hopes to use specialized arrays of antennas on the far side of the Moon to observe nearby stellar systems that are known to have exoplanets. If we detect the same kind of radio emissions that come from Earth, this will tell us that the planet has a magnetic field. And we can measure the strength of the magnetic field to figure out whether it’s strong enough to shield life.
Cosmology on the Moon
The Lunar Surface Electromagnetic Experiment at Night, or LuSEE-Night, will fly in early 2026 to the far side of the Moon. LuSEE-Night marks scientists’ first attempt to do cosmology on the Moon.
LuSEE-Night is a novel collaboration between NASA and the Department of Energy. Data will be sent back to Earth using a communications satellite in lunar orbit, Lunar Pathfinder, which is funded by the European Space Agency.
Since the far side of the Moon is uniquely radio quiet, it’s the best place to do cosmological observations. During the two weeks of lunar night that happen every 14 days, there’s no emission coming from the Sun, and there’s no ionosphere.
We hope to study an unexplored part of the early universe called the dark ages. The dark ages refer to before and just after the formation of the very first stars and galaxies in the universe, which is beyond what the James Webb Space Telescope can study.
During the dark ages, the universe was less than 100 million years old – today the universe is 13.7 billion years old. The universe was full of hydrogen during the dark ages. That hydrogen radiates through the universe at low radio frequencies, and when new stars turn on, they ionize the hydrogen, producing a radio signature in the spectrum. Our team hopes to measure that signal and learn about how the earliest stars and galaxies in the universe formed.
There’s also a lot of potential new physics that we can study in this last unexplored cosmological epoch in the universe. We will investigate the nature of dark matter and early dark energy and test our fundamental models of physics and cosmology in an unexplored age.
That process is going to start in 2026 with the LuSEE-Night mission, which is both a fundamental physics experiment and a cosmology experiment.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County Animal Care and Control has many dogs and puppies in need of new homes.
Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of Alaskan husky, Australian cattle dog, Australian shepherd, border collie, boxer, bulldog, chihuahua, Doberman pinscher, English bulldog, German shepherd, hound, Labrador retriever, pit bull, Queensland heeler, shepherd and 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.
Those dogs and the others shown on this page at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption.
Call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278 or visit the shelter online for information on visiting or adopting.
The shelter is located at 4949 Helbush in 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.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County Office of Emergency Services, in coordination with the County Administrative Office, has submitted a request to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services for any and all support available to aid Lake County and its residents in recovery from the 2024 January and February winter storm.
In part, this request will open the door for state or federal assistance for residents who have extensive damage to their primary residence or business, county officials reported.
Renters, homeowners and business owners who sustained damage can continue to report damages for inclusion in any possible assistance that becomes available by visiting https://lakesheriff.com/1448/Response or calling the Community Development Department at 707-263-2221 during regular business hours.
Sheriff Howe declared the existence of a local emergency on Monday, Feb. 5, in response to the damage caused by the winter storms. The emergency proclamation was thereafter ratified by the Lake County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Feb. 6.
This latest round of storms is Lake County’s 14th disaster in the last six years.
During the event, approximately 40% of Lake County households lost power. Of those, about 5% remained without power four days after the peak of the storm. High winds fell trees into homes, across power lines and roads while excessive rains caused flooded roadways and homes. One fire district ran close to 100 calls for service in a ten-hour period.
The cities of Clearlake and Lakeport issued their own proclamations in response to the widespread damage and threat to their citizens. Schools county-wide closed and several schools experienced damage.
Staying prepared and safe travel
Lake County OES has pinned a post with important links to help you stay informed on their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/lakecountyoes.
Additional winter weather systems may impact the County before winter turns to spring and summer, residents are encouraged to stay prepared. Steps may include:
• Maintain at least a half tank of gas at all times; • Maintain drinking water, nonperishable food items and medications on hand; • Keep phones and other electronic devices charged; • Keep cash on hand, as electronic payment systems may go down; and, • Ensure drainage systems on your property are free of debris.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A certified letter from the State Water Resources Control Board that’s been arriving in the mailboxes of thousands of Lake County residents this month has caused concern and consternation, but officials with the water board and the Lake County Farm Bureau offered guidance on how to meet the requirements.
The letter, dated Jan. 31, is the result of a regulation the State Water Resources Control Board approved in December that allows it to ask for information from a large area around Lake County, said Jessica Bean, assistant deputy for drought and water rights modernization in the Water Board’s Division of Water Rights.
Bean said the Water Board’s quest for information traces back to the Board of Supervisors’ unanimous approval, a year ago this month, of the proclamation of a local emergency as a step toward trying to save the Clear Lake hitch, a native minnow, from potential extinction. The board voted on Tuesday to continue that emergency.
The Board of Supervisors’ action was followed by a direction issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom in March that the Water Board begin to evaluate instream flows, work with tribes and other water users on voluntary actions, and consider emergency regulations to protect the hitch.
As a result, Bean said the Water Board started digging into the available information to see how water use is impacting the hitch.
She said that, often, there is a connection between groundwater and streamflow. “The problem is, we just don’t know much about that in Clear Lake, what is happening,” and the state is trying to understand how it could impact flows, she said.
The Water Board hired an environmental consultant to do a groundwater and surface water study. “We need data to do that,” Bean said.
So in September, the Water Board released draft emergency regulations, which were open for public comment for 60 days, that focused on streams and headwaters across Clear Lake’s watershed, although Bean said the study area doesn’t include the entire watershed. That led to the information regulation accepted in December.
Bean said the letter requesting information has been sent to about 1,300 property owners representing 2,300 parcels in Lake County.
The letter states, “The Order is being sent to people who own or are responsible for properties located within the Big Valley Groundwater Basin; within approximately 1,000 feet of Rodman Slough, Middle Creek, Lyons Creek, Clover Creek, Tule Lake, Blue Lakes, Scotts Creek, Adobe Creek, Kelsey Creek, Cole Creek, Manning Creek, and/or McGaugh Slough; upstream of hitch spawning habitat that may have substantial surface water diversions; and/or in areas where groundwater may be connected to key hitch spawning habitat.”
The Water Board’s information regulation went into effect on Jan. 22 and will continue through Jan. 21, 2025, unless the board readopts it, Bean said. That means that the information gathering going on now is not expected to continue beyond next year.
She said it’s a tight timeline for information gathering, and that it is unlikely that there will be additional reporting requirements from water users in the impacted areas in 2024.
Many of the people who received the order may only have domestic water usage, not usage for agriculture. In that case, Bean said, those with domestic water for home or hobby ranching can complete a simple certification by Feb. 29.
Those who are doing large commercial agricultural irrigation will be required to do more, including measuring groundwater extraction and completing reports. They must also certify that they received the order and choose a reporting pathway — either directly to the Water Board or through the Lake County Farm Bureau — by Feb. 29.
Larger water users must then submit two more reports.
The first, due by March 31, must report on water diversions, extractions and use for the month of March. The second report, due Aug. 31, will cover usage through July 31.
Detailed guidance is available in the information order letter and online at the Water Board’s webpage set up for the hitch order.
Bean emphasized a key point: “We're not requiring people to use meters,” she said, noting that people have been very concerned about that.
Bean said they have so far received a lot of calls and emails from people asking questions — especially domestic water users.
“The main people that have been reaching out to us are folks unfamiliar with the hitch issue,” said Bean.
At the same time, earlier this week the Water Board was still developing its guidelines. The weekend storm caused internet outages that resulted in tech issues for the rollout of their online guidance, Bean said.
Lake County News received reports from those who had received letters that the informational phone number was going immediately to voicemail. Bean said that’s because they don’t have a phone bank and only a small team that’s working on the process.
Bean said they are responding to people as quickly as they can, working with them one-on-one when necessary. Anyone with questions is encouraged to call or email and leave specifics about their concerns along with their parcel number.
“If people can be a little patient with us and know that we are actively working on it even if you haven’t heard back from us,” Bean said.
She said they are happy to walk people through the process. “We respect and understand the fact that it is complex” and that people would need help, Bean said.
Farm Bureau offers guidance and support
At the Lake County Farm Bureau, which is a second reporting pathway, Executive Director Rebecca Harper said she’s been inundated with calls and emails from people who are upset about the order, which is vague in its wording.
She said she’s been contacted by many older people who don’t have computer access to fill out the information online.
“That’s been a good chunk of what I’m hearing,” said Harper.
Harper explained that it’s important for people to read the entire order. She said that there is a tendency to start freaking out when opening a certified letter from the state, and it’s key to be familiar with what is required.
Once they’ve read the entire order, she said people should seek help from the listed resources — either the Water Board or the Farm Bureau.
She emphasized that while domestic water users have exemptions, they still must complete the outlined steps, including certification.
When it comes to the reporting pathways, Harper said those who use the Lake County Farm Bureau — instead of going direction to the Water Board — are given privacy protection.
Call Harper at 707-263-0911 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to register for the Farm Bureau’s reporting pathway.
For additional help, an in-person compliance workshop will take place at 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 16, in Room 109 at the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St. in Lakeport.
The text of the information order is below.
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.
NOTICE OF INFORMATION ORDER AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CLEAR LAKE WATERSHED
This letter requires your immediate attention. You are receiving this letter because you own, occupy, or are responsible for the properties listed at the end of this letter. As such, you are required to comply with the enclosed Information Order (Order) from the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board or Board). The Order is being issued under the authority of the Emergency Information Order Regulations for the Clear Lake Watershed (Regulations). This letter explains why the Order is needed, when and how to comply with the Order, and where you can find more information.
Purpose of the Order
The purpose of the Order is to gather information from water users in the Clear Lake watershed to better understand how groundwater pumping and surface water diversions affect creek flows critical for the Clear Lake hitch (hitch). The hitch population, which is a threatened species under the California Endangered Species Act, has been declining for some time and recent droughts have further impacted the population. A primary threat to hitch survival is water availability in creeks where the hitch spawn and migrate. Degraded habitat, passage barriers, predation, competition with invasive species, and pollution also can affect the health of the species.
Whv You Are Receiving the Order
The Order is being sent to people who own or are responsible for properties located within the Big Valley Groundwater Basin; within approximately 1,000 feet of Rodman Slough, Middle Creek, Lyons Creek, Clover Creek, Tule Lake, Blue Lakes, Scotts Creek, Adobe Creek, Kelsey Creek, Cole Creek, Manning Creek, and/or McGaugh Slough; upstream of hitch spawning habitat that may have substantial surface water diversions; and/or in areas where groundwater may be connected to key hitch spawning habitat.
Where to Access Reporting Platforms and Resources
All information related to the Order is available on the State Water Board's Clear Lake Order webpage, which is located at waterboards.ca.gov/clearlakehitch/order. This webpage includes links to the Board's online reporting platform, guidance documents, and more. You can also access the webpage from the Board's main Clear Lake Hitch website at waterboards.ca.gov/clearlakehitch/order.
What You Need to Do
Recipients of the Order are required to complete the following activities:
(1) Certify receipt of the Order and confirm reporting pathway by February 29, 2024.
(2) Measure and record groundwater extractions by well from March 1, 2024 through July 31, 2024.
(3) Submit two reports that provide information related to diversion, extraction, and/or use of water relevant to the Board's Clear Lake hitch protection efforts: Report 1 is due by March 31, 2024. Report 2 is due by August 31, 2024. The information you must provide in each report and a list of items to gather before you report are available on the Clear Lake Order webpage.
Even if you are not currently pumping groundwater or diverting surface water, you must comply with the Order. If you fail to comply with the Order, you may be fined or subject to other enforcement action. This Order does not replace any other reporting requirements. Please continue to comply with all reporting requirements you may be subject to.
How to Comply
This section explains how to complete the required activities:
(1) How to Certify Receipt of the Order and Confirm Reporting Pathway
You must certify that you received the Order and confirm your reporting pathway through the State Water Board's online reporting platform. Reporting pathways are discussed below. The link to the Board's online reporting platform can be found on the Clear Lake Order webpage. The platform requires you enter the following access code: ClearLake.
(2) How to Measure Groundwater Extractions
You are required to measure and record weekly groundwater extractions by well from March 1, 2024, through July 31, 2024, using a method acceptable to the Board. You will provide these measurements in Report 2. For a list of acceptable measurement methods and templates for collecting measurements, please visit the Clear Lake Order Webpage.
(3) How to Report
There are two pathways for reporting. You can either directly report to the State Water Board or you can report through the Lake County Farm Bureau Education Corporation (LCFBEC) Alternative Compliance Pathway (Pathway).
• Pathway A: Directly report to the State Water Board
This is the default option for anyone who receives the Order. If you choose this option, you must submit your reports through the Board's online reporting platform. This is the same platform you will use to certify receipt of the Order and confirm your reporting pathway. However, the platform will open for Report 1 submissions no later than March 1, 2024, and Report 2 submissions no later than Aug. 1, 2024.
• Pathway B: Report through the LCFBEC Pathway
To report through the LCFBEC Pathway, you must register with the Lake County Farm Bureau (LCFB) by Feb. 29, 2024. Details are available on the Clear Lake Order webpage.
Once you register for the LCFBEC pathway, you will submit reports to the LCFB and the LCFB will submit report summaries and datasets to the Board. The LCFB will provide instructions on how to report after you register. You must call or email Rebecca Harper with the LCFB at (707) 263-0911 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to register for the LCFBEC Pathway.
Due dates are the same no matter which reporting pathway you choose.
How to Learn More and Ask Questions
We understand these are new requirements and you may have questions. The following resources are available to help:
• Clear Lake Hitch Website — waterboards.ca.gov/clearlakehitch Details on the Order, resources to help you comply, and information about other hitch activities are available on the State Water Board's Clear Lake Hitch website. You can access the Clear Lake Order webpage from this website.
• Compliance Workshop — Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, 11:00 am in Lakeport Ask questions and receive details on reporting pathways, deadlines, resources, and more at the in-person workshop (255 N. Forbes St., Room 109, Lakeport, CA 95453).
• Virtual Office Hours We will hold office hours to help you fill out reports. Dates and times will be posted on the State Water Board's Clear Lake Hitch website.
• Email Subscription List Receive key updates from our email subscription list. Sign-up information is available on the Board's Clear Lake Hitch website.
• Email or call us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 916-341-5355.
Human fear of sharks has deep roots. Written works and art from the ancient world contain references to sharks preying on sailors as early as the eighth century B.C.E.
Relayed back to land, stories about shark encounters have been embellished and amplified. Together with the fact that from time to time – very rarely – sharks bite humans, people have been primed for centuries to imagine terrifying situations at sea.
In 1974, Peter Benchley’s bestselling novel “Jaws” fanned this fear into a wildfire that spread around the world. The book sold more than 5 million copies in the U.S. within a year and was quickly followed by Steven Spielberg’s 1975 movie, which became the highest-grossing film in history at that time. Virtually all audiences embraced the idea, depicted vividly in the movie and its sequels, that sharks were malevolent, vindictive creatures that prowled coastal waters seeking to feed on unsuspecting bathers.
But “Jaws” also spawned widespread interest in better understanding sharks.
Previously, shark research had largely been the esoteric domain of a handful of academic specialists. Thanks to interest sparked by “Jaws,” we now know that there are many more kinds of sharks than scientists were aware of in 1974, and that sharks do more interesting things than researchers ever anticipated. Benchley himself became an avid spokesman for shark protection and marine conservation.
In my own 30-year career studying sharks and their close relatives, skates and rays, I’ve seen attitudes evolve and interest in understanding sharks expand enormously. Here’s how things have changed.
Swimming into the spotlight
Before the mid-1970s, much of what was known about sharks came via people who went to sea. In 1958, the U.S. Navy established the International Shark Attack File – the world’s only scientifically documented, comprehensive database of all known shark attacks – to reduce wartime risks to sailors stranded at sea when their ships sank.
Today the file is managed by the Florida Museum of Natural History and the American Elasmobranch Society, a professional organization for shark researchers. It works to inform the public about shark-human interactions and ways to reduce the risk of shark bites.
In 1962, Jack Casey, a pioneer of modern shark research, initiated the Cooperative Shark Tagging Program. This initiative, which is still running today, relied on Atlantic commercial fishermen to report and return tags they found on sharks, so that government scientists could calculate how far the sharks had moved after being tagged.
After “Jaws,” shark research quickly went mainstream. The American Elasmobranch Society was founded in 1982. Graduate students lined up to study shark behavior, and the number of published shark studies sharply increased.
Field research on sharks expanded in parallel with growing interest in extreme outdoor sports like surfing, parasailing and scuba diving. Electronic tags enabled researchers to monitor sharks’ movements in real time. DNA sequencing technologies provided cost-effective ways to determine how different species were related to one another, what they were eating and how populations were structured.
This interest also had a sensational side, embodied in the Discovery Channel’s launch in 1988 of Shark Week. This annual block of programming, ostensibly designed to educate the public about shark biology and counter negative publicity about sharks, was a commercial venture that exploited the tension between people’s deep-seated fear of sharks and their yearning to understand what made these animals tick.
Contrary to the long-held notion that sharks are mindless killers, they exhibit a wide range of traits and behavior. For example, the velvet belly lantern shark communicates through flashes of light from organs on the sides of its body. Female hammerhead sharks can clone perfect replicas of themselves without male sperm.
Sharks have the most sensitive electrical detectors thus far discovered in the natural world – networks of pores and nerves in their heads, known as ampullae of Lorenzini, after Italian scientist Stefano Lorenzini, who first described these features in the 17th century. Sharks use these networks to navigate in the open ocean, using Earth’s magnetic field for orientation.
Another intriguing discovery is that some shark species, including makos and blue sharks, segregate by both sex and size. Among these species, cohorts of males and females of different sizes are often found in distinct groups. This finding suggests that some sharks may have social hierarchies, like those seen in some primates and hoofed mammals.
Genetic studies have helped researchers explore questions such as why some sharks have heads shaped like hammers or shovels. They also show that sharks have the lowest mutation rate of any vertebrate animal. This is notable because mutations are the raw material for evolution: The higher the mutation rate, the better a species can adapt to environmental change.
However, sharks have been around for 400 million years and have been through some of the most extreme environmental changes on earth. It’s not known yet how they have persisted so successfully with such a low mutation rate.
The marquee species
White sharks, the focal species of “Jaws,” attract enormous public interest, although much about them is still unknown. They can live to age 70, and they routinely swim thousands of miles every year. Those in the Western North Atlantic tend to move north-south between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico; white sharks on the U.S. west coast move east-west between California and the Central Pacific.
We now know that juvenile white sharks feed almost exclusively on fishes and stingrays, and don’t start incorporating seals and other marine mammals into their diets until they are the equivalent of teenagers and have grown to about 12 feet long. Most confirmed white shark bites on humans seem to be by animals that are between 12 and 15 feet long. This supports the theory that almost all bites by white sharks on humans are cases of mistaken identity, where humans resemble the seals that sharks prey on.
Still in the water
Although “Jaws” had a widespread cultural impact, it didn’t keep surfers and bathers from enjoying the ocean.
Data from the International Shark Attack File on confirmed unprovoked bites by white sharks from the 1960s to the present day shows a continuous increase, although the number of incidents yearly is quite low. This pattern is consistent with growing numbers of people pursuing recreational activities at the coasts.
In other words, people are roughly 200,000 times more likely to drown than to die from a white shark bite. Indeed, surfers are more likely to die in a car crash on the way to the beach than they are to be bitten by a shark.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. — Following the heavy winter storms that hit last week, peaking on Sunday, the city of Clearlake has issued an emergency declaration.
City Manager Alan Flora, acting as the city’s director of emergency services, issued the declaration on Friday.
The declaration follows one for all of Lake County issued on Monday by Sheriff Rob Howe.
The city did not immediately respond to a question about estimates of damage to public infrastructure.
The Clearlake City Council is expected to ratify the declaration when it meets on Thursday.
The full proclamation follows.
PROCLAMATION BY THE CITY OF CLEARLAKE DIRECTOR OF EMERGENCY SERVICES DECLARING A LOCAL EMERGENCY FOR WINTER STORMS
WHEREAS, City of Clearlake Municipal Code Section 2-11.6 empowers the Director of Emergency Services (City Manager) to proclaim the existence or threatened existence of a local emergency when the city is affected or likely to be affected by a public calamity and the City Council is not in session; and
WHEREAS, Government Code Section 8550 et seq., including Section 8558(c), authorize the City Manager to proclaim a local emergency when the City is threatened by conditions of disaster or extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within the City that are likely to be beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of the City; and
WHEREAS, starting on February 2, 2024 a winter storm resulted in high winds and heavy rain; and
WHEREAS, these conditions have caused a loss of stability to trees and hillsides, including significant damage to property, infrastructure and public safety within the city limits; and
WHEREAS, the mobilization of local resources, ability to coordinate interagency response, accelerate procurement of vital supplies, use mutual aid, and allow for future reimbursement by the state and federal governments will be critical to successfully responding to the impacts of the winter storms; and
WHEREAS, the City Manager, as the City’s Director of Emergency Services, has the power to declare a local emergency as authorized by Government Code section 8630 and Clearlake Municipal Code section 2-11.6.
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS PROCLAIMED AND ORDERED by the City Manager of the City of Clearlake as follows:
A. A local emergency exists based on the existence of conditions of disaster or of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property, as detailed in the recitals set forth above.
B. The area within the City which is endangered and/or imperiled.
C. During the existence of this local emergency, the powers, functions, and duties of the emergency organization of this City shall be those prescribed by state law and by ordinances, resolutions, and orders of this City, including but not limited to the City of Clearlake Emergency Operations Plan.
D. The City Council shall review and ratify this proclamation within seven (7) days as required by state law, and if ratified, shall continue to exist until the City Council proclaims the termination of this local emergency. The City Council shall review the need for continuing the local emergency as required by state law until it terminates the local emergency, and shall terminate the local emergency at the earliest possible date that conditions warrant.
E. That a copy of this proclamation be forwarded to the Director of California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services requesting that the Director find it acceptable in accordance with State Law; that the Governor of California, pursuant to the Emergency Services Act, issue a proclamation declaring an emergency in the City of Clearlake; that the Governor waive regulations that may hinder response and recovery efforts; that recovery assistance be made available under the California Disaster Assistance Act; and that the State expedite access to State and Federal resources and any other appropriate federal disaster relief programs.
DATED: February 9, 2024
_______________________________________ Alan D. Flora Director of Emergency Services
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Lake County Association of Realtors’ latest report showed that median home prices rose in December, while overall sales were down slightly.
Over the month of December 2023, a total of 54 single family homes were sold through the multiple listing service, compared to 59 in November and 73 sold a year ago during the month of December 2022.
These include traditionally built “stick-built” houses as well as manufactured homes on land.
In 2023, the county offices were closed during the last two weeks of the year and there were home sales that were unable to close in December because the Recorder’s Office was not open. This may be part of the reason for the fewer number of sales in December.
There were six sales of mobile homes in parks in December, compared to four in November and five sold a year ago during the month of December 2022.
For bare land — lots and acreage — 16 were sold in December, compared to 25 closed land sales in November and the 15 sold during that time the previous year in December 2022.
There are 347 “stick built” and manufactured homes on the market right now. If the rate of sales stays the same at 54 homes sold per month, there are currently 6.4 months of inventory on the market at the moment. That means that if no new homes are brought to the market for sale, in 6.4 months, all of these homes would be sold and there would be no homes available for sale.
Less than 6 months of inventory is generally considered to be a “sellers’ market” while more than 6 months of inventory is often called a “buyers’ market.”
December’s data is substantially the same as November, when there was 6.6 months of inventory available.
Agents are currently reporting an uptick in requests for property tours in January, so perhaps the market will be picking up somewhat.
The total percentage of homes bought for all cash in December:
• 35%, compared to 41% for November and 34% for December 2022; • 37% were financed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac (“conventional loans”) compared to 29% for November and 44% for December 2022; • 20% were financed by FHA, compared to 17% in November and 10% in December 2022; • 1% were financed by the VA or CalVet, compared to 7% in November and 4% for December 2022; • 4% had other financing such as private loans, USDA, or seller financed notes, compared to 3% in November, and compared to 6% for December 2022.
None of the closed sales in December were reported as assumable loans that were assumed by the buyer.
The homes in December sold at an average of 94.6% of the asking price at the time the property went under contract, but an average of 88% when compared to the original asking price when the property first came on the market. This means that the asking home prices had been reduced from their original list prices on the homes that sold before they actually sold.
In November, homes also sold for 96% of the asking price at the time the property went under contract, and 89% of the original asking price.
In December 2022, homes were selling at 95% of the asking price at the time the property went under contract and at 88%when compared to the original asking price.
The median time on the market in December was 62 days, compared to 32 days in November and 54 days in December 2022.
The median sale price of a single family home in Lake County in December was $305,000, which is higher than the $269,000 median sale price for November but lower than the median sale price of $320,500 during December 2022.
This would indicate that last month, the higher priced homes were selling in greater numbers to bring the median sale price up compared to November 2023.
The median asking price of homes on the market right now is $360,000, which is about the same as November’s $357,000.
In December, 37% of homes sold had seller concessions for an average concession of $7,679; the rate of concessions is higher compared to November 2023’s numbers, when 31% of homes sold had seller concessions with an average concession of $11,286. In December 2022, 29% of homes sold had an average seller concession of $7,614.
In December 2023, average concessions were highest for FHA loans, with an average concession of $14,206.
VA loans had an average concession of $7,600; conventional loans had an average concession of $3,325.
The 19 cash sales had no seller concessions (rather, they show up this month as a lowered sale price instead of seller credits being given in escrow).