A leatherback sea turtle. Photo courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

NOAA announced that the designation of additional critical habitat to provide protection for endangered leatherback sea turtles along the U.S. West Coast.

NOAA is designating 41,914 square miles of marine habitat in the Pacific Ocean off the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington.

This designation will not directly affect recreational fishing, boating and other private activities in critical habitat.

Critical habitat designations only affect federal projects that have the potential to adversely modify or destroy critical habitat. The designations also aid the recovery of endangered and threatened species by protecting habitat that the species rely on.

NOAA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service already have designated critical habitat for leatherback turtles along Sandy Point Beach at the western end of the island of St. Croix, U.S.V.I., and in adjacent Atlantic coastal waters.

NOAA is designating this additional critical habitat in the Pacific Ocean as a result of a petition to revise the existing critical habitat for leatherbacks to include important habitat off the U.S. West Coast.

Once an Endangered Species Act petition is received, NOAA Fisheries must evaluate the petition and scientific information provided to determine if the petitioned action is warranted. If it is, the agency must make a determination on how to move forward.

The newly designated critical habitat is made up of two sections of marine habitat where leatherbacks are known to travel great distances across the Pacific to feed on jellyfish.

The southern portion stretches along the California coast from Point Arena to Point Arguello east of the 3,000-meter depth contour, while the northern portion stretches from Cape Flattery, Wash. to Cape Blanco, Ore., east of the 2,000-meter depth contour.

The leatherback sea turtle, the largest marine turtle in the world, has been listed as endangered since 1970.

Leatherbacks have the largest range of any living reptile and occur throughout the oceans of the world. They feed primarily on jellyfish and lay their eggs on tropical and subtropical beaches.

Although very little is known about their lifespan, biologists estimate leatherbacks can live for 45 years or more.

Leatherbacks face many dangers both in the marine environment and on land, including bycatch in fishing gear, habitat destruction and the harvest of eggs and adults on nesting beaches.

Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

Comet C/2011 N3 fragments as it passes through the sun's atmosphere on July 6, 2011. Credit: Solar Dynamics Observatory/K. Schrijver et al.

A paper published in Friday's issue of Science raises an intriguing new possibility for astronomers: unearthing comet corpses in the solar wind.

The new research is based on dramatic images of a comet disintegrating in the sun's atmosphere last July.

Comet Lovejoy grabbed headlines in December 2011 when it plunged into the sun's atmosphere and emerged again relatively intact.

But it was not the first comet to graze the sun.

Last summer a smaller comet took the same trip with sharply different results. Comet C/2011 N3 (SOHO) was completely destroyed on July 6, 2011, when it swooped 100,000 kilometers above the stellar surface. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) recorded the disintegration.

"For the first time, we saw a comet move across the face of the sun and disappear," said Dean Pesnell, a co-author of the Science paper and Project Scientist for SDO at the Goddard Space Flight Center. "It was unprecedented."

In Jan. 20 issue of Science, the research team reported their analysis of the SDO images.

A key finding was the amount of material deposited into the sun's atmosphere.

"The comet dissolved into more than a million tons of electrically charged gas," said Pesnell. "We believe these vapors eventually mixed with the solar wind and blew back into the solar system."

Pesnell says it might be possible to detect such "comet corpses" as they waft past Earth.

Comets are rich in ice (frozen H2O), so when they dissolve in the hot solar atmosphere, the gaseous remains contain plenty of oxygen and hydrogen.

A solar wind stream containing extra oxygen could be a telltale sign of a disintegrated comet. Other elements abundant in comets would provide similar markers.

Comet corpses are probably plentiful. There's a busy family of comets known as "Kreutz sungrazers," thought to be fragments of a giant comet that broke apart hundreds of years ago.

Every day or so, SOHO sees one plunge into the sun and vanish. Each disintegration event creates a puff of comet vapor that might be detectable by spacecraft sampling the solar wind.

Why bother? Researchers are beginning to think of sungrazers as 'test particles' for studying the sun's atmosphere -- kind of like tossing rocks into a pond. A lot can be learned about the pond by studying the ripples.

Indeed, SDO observed some extraordinary interactions between the sun and the doomed comet.

As C/2011 N3 (SOHO) moved through the hot corona, cold gas lifted off the comet's nucleus and rapidly (within minutes) warmed to more than 500,000K, hot enough to shine brightly in SDO's extreme ultraviolet telescopes.

"The evaporating comet gas was glowing as brightly as the sun behind it," marveled Pesnell.

The gas was also rapidly ionized by a process called "charge exchange," which made the gas responsive to the sun's magnetic field.

Caught in the grip of magnetic loops which thread the solar corona, the comet's ionized tail wagged back and forth wildly in the moments before final disintegration.

Watching this kind of sun-comet interaction could reveal new things about the thermal and magnetic structure of the solar atmosphere.

Likewise, measuring how long it takes for "comet corpses" to reach Earth, and then sampling the gases when they arrive, could be very informative.

"Before SDO, no one dreamed we could observe a comet disintegrate inside the sun's atmosphere," said Pesnell, who confesses that even he was a skeptic. But now, "I'm a believer."

The original research described in this story may be found in the Jan. 20th edition of Science: Destruction of Sun-grazing comet C/2011 N3 (SOHO) by C. J. Schrijver, J. C. Brown, K. Battams, P. Saint-Hilaire, W. Liu, H. Hudson and W. D. Pesnell.

Dr. Tony Phillips works for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

The members have requested a meeting with the president to discuss policies that would reduce foreclosures and provide relief to homeowners.

“Our economy will continue to suffer and consumer confidence will never return if we do not help hard working families navigate through this housing nightmare,” said Thompson. “Nothing the Administration has tried is working and Californians are the ones suffering, living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to keep roofs over their heads. That is why we are calling on the President to meet with us so we can work together and fix this housing mess.”

“For over a year-and-a-half, we’ve corresponded with the President and met with Secretaries Donovan and Geithner and FHFA Acting Director DeMarco, urging swift and immediate action to help our constituents. There still seems to be no bold or effective action taken by the Administration. We have asked to meet with the President as soon as possible to discuss ways to advance meaningful relief and effective solutions for the housing market,” said Lofgren.

"The California Democratic Congressional Delegation has spent the last year meeting with one Administration official after another to present our legislative ideas, and the actions the Executive Branch can take to mitigate the foreclosure crisis", said Eshoo. "The time has come for the delegation to speak directly to the President on behalf of our constituents whose lives have been upended, and present to him our bold and workable proposals to address this crisis."

In California, more than 34 percent of homeowners with mortgages are considered “underwater” because they owe more on their homes than their homes are worth.

In a letter to President Obama, Thompson, Lofgren, Eshoo and other California Members of Congress wrote, “We have also offered several specific recommendations to reduce preventable foreclosures and provide relief to aggrieved homeowners, including a principal paydown plan to reduce negative home equity which is necessary as the remedy for the housing woes in America. Despite our efforts, we have concluded that efforts by both the government and the private sector have not addressed our nation’s foreclosure crisis with sufficient urgency. We therefore request a meeting with you at the earliest opportunity to discuss additional actions your Administration can take to tackle the foreclosure crisis that is hurting so many of our constituents and slowing our economic recovery.”

The full text of the letter is below.

Dear President Obama:

As Members of Congress from California, a center of the nation’s foreclosure catastrophe, we’ve written to you and your Administration regularly for a year-and-a-half, requesting more aggressive action to prevent foreclosures and resuscitate the ailing housing market.

We have repeatedly met with Secretaries Donovan and Geithner during this time and have presented numerous constituent cases to them demonstrating the questionable, possibly fraudulent, and irresponsible practices of the mortgage servicing industry. We have also offered several specific recommendations to reduce preventable foreclosures and provide relief to aggrieved homeowners, including a principal paydown plan to reduce negative home equity which is necessary as the remedy for the housing woes in America. Despite our efforts, we have concluded that efforts by both the government and the private sector have not addressed our nation’s foreclosure crisis with sufficient urgency. We therefore request a meeting with you at the earliest opportunity to discuss additional actions your Administration can take to tackle the foreclosure crisis that is hurting so many of our constituents and slowing our economic recovery.

As of the end of the third quarter in 2011, 10.7 million homeowners nationwide owed more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. In California alone, more than 34% of homeowners with mortgages faced negative equity or were very close to being underwater. These homeowners confront the highest risk of foreclosure, and could most benefit from meaningful mortgage principal reductions.

Though the Administration has adopted the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) as its signature housing initiative, the overwhelming feedback from our constituents is that HAMP has not helped them. We believe additional and more effective approaches are necessary. One idea we proposed in previous correspondence to you is a temporary reduction in the interest rates of certain homeowners who file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, so that the entirety of their monthly payments would be dedicated to paying down their principal balances for five years. We discussed this proposal with Secretaries Donovan and Geithner, and also with Ed DeMarco, the Acting Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, all of whom expressed an interest in the idea. However, we have yet to receive a decision from your Administration. Why not?

Our constituents and the health of our economy are dependent on swift and immediate action on ideas like this to prevent more foreclosures. We, as Members of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation, look forward to meeting with you so we can discuss ways to advance meaningful and effective solutions to address a foreclosure crisis that is ravaging communities and hurting families. We stand ready to work with you to help the people we serve.

Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nevada) said he would postpone the vote planned for next Tuesday of the Protect IP Act, or PIPA, which had been introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont).

The announcement came the same day as Congressman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said he would shelve his bill, HR 3261, the Stop Online Piracy, or SOPA.

Fight for the Future, which ran the largest organizing sites for the recent SOPA protests – www.sopastrike.com and www.americancensorship.org – welcomed the announcement on the bills, which it said were about Web censorship, which would have harmed innovation.

Fight for the Future Co-founder Holmes Wilson said that “any law that lets the copyright lobby block our websites, censor our search results, or cut off our PayPal accounts – without even going through a judge – will be soundly defeated.”

“The public has spoken in no uncertain terms. And the clear message to Washington is that you can’t let corporate lobbyists dictate Internet policy, you can’t tamper with the open architecture of the Internet, and you can’t craft any future legislation without giving the public a seat at the table,” said Craig Aaron, president and chief executive officer of the Free Press Action Fund.

Reid’s and Smith’s decisions were announced two days after an estimated 115,000 Web sites took part in a strike to protest the two bills, according to the advocacy group, Fight for the Future.

In addition, the group reported that 10,000,000 people signed petitions against the bills, and 3,000,000 people sent e-mails to protest them.

Fight for the Future Co-founder Tiffiniy Cheng accused the Motion Picture Association of America of trying to quietly force SOPA through Congress.

However, Cheng added, “when Internet users started paying attention, real democracy happened. This is a watershed moment in the fight against lobbyists’ influence on politics.”

SOPA and PIPA had received backing from the Motion Picture Association of America, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Sheriffs’ Association, International Union of Police Associations, the National Association of Manufacturers, the AFL-CIO, the National Songwriters Association and the National Center for Victims of Crime, and more than 100 other associations.

Supporters argued that billions of dollars are lost due to Internet piracy of copyrighted materials.

But opposition, which had grown significantly last fall – and included Internet giants Google, Facebook, Wikipedia and many others – argued the impacts could be much more serious, and could put a serious chill on innovation, business and investment.

Attention soon focused on the bill’s corporate supporters, with GoDaddy.com losing tens of thousands of Web domain registrations due to its early support of the bill. It later withdrew support.

Petitions on the bills sent to President Barack Obama resulted in his technology and cybersecurity staff posting a Jan. 14 statement that stressed that protecting intellectual property online must not come at the expense of an open and innovative Internet.

The White House analysis of some of the provisions in the legislation concluded that they posed “a real risk to cybersecurity and yet leave contraband goods and services accessible online.”

The statement continued, “While we are strongly committed to the vigorous enforcement of intellectual property rights, existing tools are not strong enough to root out the worst online pirates beyond our borders,” with the Obama Administration calling on all sides to work together to pass legislation “that provides prosecutors and rights holders new legal tools to combat online piracy originating beyond U.S. borders while staying true to the principles outlined above in this response.”

Reid said Friday that he was postponing the PIPA vote “in light of recent events.”

"There is no reason that the legitimate issues raised by many about this bill cannot be resolved,” he said in a statement released by his office.

“Counterfeiting and piracy cost the American economy billions of dollars and thousands of jobs each year, with the movie industry alone supporting over 2.2 million jobs,” Reid continued. “We must take action to stop these illegal practices. We live in a country where people rightfully expect to be fairly compensated for a day's work, whether that person is a miner in the high desert of Nevada, an independent band in New York City, or a union worker on the back lots of a California movie studio.”

Smith said the House Judiciary Committee will postpone consideration of SOPA “until there is wider agreement on a solution.”

He said he’d heard from SOPA’s critics and took their concerns seriously. “It is clear that we need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves that steal and sell American inventions and products.”

Smith said online piracy is a problem too big to ignore. “American intellectual property industries provide 19 million high-paying jobs and account for more than 60 percent of U.S. exports. The theft of America’s intellectual property costs the U.S. economy more than $100 billion annually and results in the loss of thousands of American jobs. Congress cannot stand by and do nothing while American innovators and job creators are under attack.”

On Wednesday, Pro Publica reported that there were 80 proponents of SOPA and PIPA in Congress, with 31 opponents, including Lake County’s representative in the House, Congressman Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena), as Lake County News has reported.

By Friday, that had flipped, with 61 opponents or co-sponsors, and 189 opponents or members of Congress who were leaning toward a “no” vote, Pro Publica reported at http://projects.propublica.org/sopa/.

California’s two senators, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, remained in the supporters’ column in Pro Publica’s latest report.

On Wednesday Thompson announced the introduction of the bipartisan Online Protection & Enforcement of Digital Trade (OPEN) Act, H.R. 3782, for which he is an original co-sponsor.

According to Thompson, the OPEN Act would enable holders of intellectual property to petition the International Trade Commissions to launch investigations into whether a foreign Web site’s only purpose is to engage in infringement of U.S. copyrights and trademarks.

A timeline of the SOPA protests can be found at http://sopastrike.com/timeline.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

The research, published in the Jan. 20 edition of the journal Global Change Biology, found that the impact of global warming could be similar across ecosystems, regardless of local environmental conditions and species.

The team, based at Queen Mary's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, went to Iceland to study a set of geothermally-heated streams.

The streams provided scientists with a unique environment to conduct their research; they were able to isolate the effects of temperature from other confounding variables found in nature.

Lead author, Queen Mary's Dr. Daniel Perkins, explained, "The streams in Iceland are all very similar, in terms of their physical and chemical environment, but maintain very different temperatures to each other all year round.

"This enabled us to explore how temperature, both past and present, affects the rate at which respiration responds to temperature in ecosystems,” Perkins said.

Perkins said that when the team exposed the organisms found in streams to a range of temperatures "the rate at which carbon was respired increased with temperature as expected, but surprisingly, rate of increase was consistent across streams which differed in average temperature by as much as 20°C.”

Co-author Dr. Gabriel Yvon-Durocher, also from Queen Mary, said, "Our findings demonstrate that the intrinsic temperature sensitivity of respiration is the same across a diverse range of organisms, adapted to markedly different temperatures. This result is important because it will help us build more accurate models to predict how rates of carbon dioxide emission from ecosystem will respond to the temperature increases forecast in the coming decades.”

Dr. Yvon-Durocher concludes, "Our results shed light on the temperature sensitivity of respiration over time scales of days to weeks, real differences between ecosystems may be apparent over longer time scales (e.g. years to decades), and progress in understanding these long-term responses will be key to predicting the future feedbacks between ecosystems and the climate."

Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

Charles Peter Lamb, 30, was arrested on Jan. 2 by Lakeport Police Officer Joe Eastham following an investigation in which the alleged victim, a local woman in her 20s, identified Lamb as the suspect, as Lake County News has reported.

Lamb is charged with one count of rape and one count of sodomy by force, according to Deputy District Attorney Ed Borg.

While Borg said he doesn’t like to discuss case details early on, he said this particular case falls into the category of a “date rape” because Lamb and the victim were previously acquainted.

Lamb was arraigned on Jan. 9, at which time his public defender, Barry Melton, entered not guilty pleas to both counts.

On Wednesday Lamb was in Lake County Superior Court Department 2 for a preliminary hearing, Borg said.

Judge Richard Martin found there was probable cause sufficient to order Lamb to stand trial on the charges, according to Borg.

Borg said Lamb is due to appear for arraignment before Judge Andrew Blum in Department 3 on Monday, Jan. 30.

Lamb remains in the Lake County Jail, with bail set at $100,000, according to jail records.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

The Employment Development Department’s Friday report said that Lake County’s unemployment rate went from 16.9 percent in November to 17.1 percent in December, but was down from the 18.3 percent mark in December 2010.

California’s unemployment rate decreased to 11.1 percent in December, down from 11.3 the previous month and 12.5 percent in December 2010, numbers the Employment Development Department said were based on a federal survey of 5,500 California households.

The number of people unemployed in California was 2,021,000 – down by 37,000 over the month, and down by 252,000 compared with December of last year, the Employment Development Department said.

In December, California had an increase of 10,700 nonfarm payroll jobs for a total gain of 240,300 jobs since the start of 2011, according to data released by the California Employment Development Department that is gathered from two separate surveys.

Nationwide, December’s unemployment was tallied at 8.5 percent, down form 8.7 percent in November and 9.4 percent in December 2010. The nation’s December unemployment rate is the lowest since February 2009, according to federal Bureau of Labor Statistics records.

Dennis Mullins of the Employment Development Department’s North Coast Region Labor Market Information Division in Eureka said that in spite of seeing a small increase in unemployment, Lake County’s statement ranking improved from 54th to 52nd among the state’s 58 counties.

Employment Development Department information showed that in December Lake County had a workforce composed of 23,710 people, with 4,060 of them out of work.

Mullins said that Lake County’s total wage and salary employment increased 10 jobs between November and December and declined 200 over the year.

The biggest job losses were seen in the government category, where cutbacks resulted in a decrease of 130 jobs, or about two-thirds of the overall decline, Mullins said.

Six job sectors gained over the year and five declined, according to Mullins.

He said year-over job growth occurred in farm, 20; manufacturing, 10; trade, transportation and utilities, 10; information, 10; professional and business services, 10; and other services, 10.

Declines were seen in industry sectors including mining, logging and construction, which lost 40 jobs; financial activities, 10; private educational and health services, 60; leisure and hospitality, 20; and government, 130, Mullins reported.

The Employment Development Department report showed that surrounding counties' employment figure were as follows: Colusa, 23.3 percent, No. 57; Glenn, 15.5, No. 52; Mendocino, 10.2 percent, No. 18; Napa, 9 percent, No. 10; Sonoma, 8.9 percent, No. 8; and Yolo, 13.2 percent, No. 32.

The lowest unemployment in the state was in Marin County, 6.5 percent, while data showed Imperial County had 26.8 percent unemployment in December.

In related data, the Employment Development Department reported that there were 536,442 people receiving regular unemployment insurance benefits during the December survey week, compared with 536,294 last month and 599,221 last year.

New claims for unemployment insurance were 80,276 in December 2011, compared with 74,082 in November and 87,289 in December of last year, the agency said.

California sees small job growth in December

Nonfarm jobs in California totaled 14,199,000 in December, an increase of 10,700 jobs over the month, and 24,700 since November, according to a survey of 42,000 California businesses that measures jobs in the economy, whichd is less variable statistically than the federal household survey.

The year-over-year change – December 2010 to December 2011 – shows an increase of 240,300 jobs, up 1.7 percent, the agency said.

According to the state report, the federal survey of households, done with a smaller sample than the survey of employers, showed an increase in the number of employed people.

It estimated that the number of Californians holding jobs in December was 16,198,000, an increase of 73,000 from November, and up 320,000 from the employment total in December of last year.

The report showed that five categories – construction; information; professional and business services; educational and health services; and government – added jobs over the month, gaining 23,900 jobs. Professional and business services posted the largest increase over the month, adding 13,400 jobs.

Six categories – mining and logging; manufacturing; trade, transportation and utilities; financial activities; leisure and hospitality; and other services – reported job declines over the month, down 13,200 jobs, the report showed. Trade, transportation and utilities posted the largest decrease over the month, down 4,200 jobs.

Eight categories – mining and logging; construction; trade, transportation and utilities; information; professional and business services; educational and health services; leisure and hospitality; and government – posted job gains over the year, adding 248,200 jobs, the Employment Development Department reported.

The Friday report also showed that professional and business services posted the largest gain on a numerical basis, adding 63,500 jobs, up 3 percent. Information posted the largest gain on a percentage basis, up by 5.3 percent, an increase of 23,300 jobs.

Three categories – manufacturing; financial activities; and other services – job declines over the year, down 7,900 jobs. Manufacturing posted the largest decline on both a numerical and percentage basis, down by 4,400 jobs, a decrease of 0.4 percent, the state said.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

From left, Jena Marks, her brother Daniel Walters, her mother Kari Marks, and her brother Jeff Marks. Jena and Kari Marks, along with Jena's boyfriend, Patrick Campbell, died in a vehicle crash on Saturday, January 14, 2012. Photo courtesy of Alexandra Ambrose.

The memorial service for Kari and Jena Marks, and Patrick Campbell will take place beginning at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 22, at the Middletown High School gymnasium, 20932 Big Canyon Road.

A reception will follow at the Middletown Lions Club, 15399 Central Park Road.

The family invites the community to attend both events.

In lieu of flowers, the families ask that donations be made to the memorial accounts set up in the Marks' and Campbell's names.

The Kari and Jena Marks Memorial Fund is at Wells Fargo Bank. Checks can be made to Kari Marks’ son, Daniel Walters, with the memorial fund name and account number, 8534215515, in the memo line. Funds will cover the services and reception, and a memorial for the two victims.

Campbell’s family also has set up a memorial fund in his name at Wells Fargo Bank in Sebastopol, phone 707-824-2620.

Hundreds of people are expected at the Sunday service.

“It’s going to be huge,” said Sacramento resident Alexandra Ambrose, a close friend of Jena Marks. The two attended Middletown High School together.

Kari Marks, 53, Jena Marks, 24, and the 27-year-old Campbell died in a crash last Saturday, Jan. 14, near Lower Lake, as Lake County News has reported.

Ambrose said the three were going to a birthday party along with Kari Marks’ longtime boyfriend, 50-year-old Michael Wright, when the crash occurred.

The California Highway Patrol said Wright was driving a BMW 740 northbound on Highway 29 south of Spruce Grove Road North shortly before 8 p.m. Jan. 14 when the vehicle started to skid sideways, putting it in the path of 53-year-old Clearlake resident Steven Beyer’s Ford SUV.

Wright, Steven Beyer and Beyer’s wife, 54-year-old Lezley Beyer, sustained major injuries and were flown by air ambulance to regional trauma centers.

“We don’t know what the cause may have been,” said Ambrose. “I hope we find out.”

This week the CHP indicated that investigators had reached no conclusions on what, ultimately, caused the deadly collision.

Ambrose said she was devastated when she found out about the crash, and is trying to cope with her friend’s death.

She said there has been a huge outpouring of support from community members and friends in the wake of the crash.

“I’ve gotten messages from people in high school who I haven’t spoken to in forever,” she said. “It’s kinda cool how a small community works.”

Daniel Walters posted a message on his Facebook page to thank the community for its support and positive thoughts.

Patrick Campbell and girlfriend Jena Marks. Photo courtesy of Alexandra Ambrose.

Ambrose noted that Jena and Kari Marks and Campbell “were greatly loved and cared for by so many people.”

She and Jena Marks met in the seventh grade and attended elementary and high school together.

Ambrose remembered her young friend as very studious, smart and funny. “Everyone in high school loved Jena,” she remembered.

After they graduated from Middletown High School in 2005, Ambrose lived for a few months with Jena and Kari Marks at their home.

She remembered Kari Marks painting a bedroom for her. “She was very motherly to me.”

Kari Marks was a very social, caring woman, Ambrose said.

“She was also kinda like the cool mom to hang out with,” a woman who was fun and enjoyed spending time with her daughter and her daughter’s friends, according to Ambrose.

Ambrose and Jena Marks later moved to Santa Rosa and lived together for about two years while attending school.

Ambrose attended Santa Rosa Junior College, later moving to Sacramento to finish college at Sacramento State.

She said Marks attended Sonoma State University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, with a concentration in accounting and a minor in economics.

But what Jena Marks had really wanted to do was attend Santa Rosa Junior College’s dental hygienist training program. She applied several times and, after persevering, had been admitted, Ambrose said.

“That meant the world to her,” said Ambrose.

Jena Marks and Campbell, who had been together about five years, had moved back to Hidden Valley Lake to live with her mother. Ambrose said Jena Marks commuted to Santa Rosa to pursue her dental hygienist coursework, and had just finished her first semester of study and was about to start her second.

Campbell was a 2003 Middletown High School graduate. He was a production manager at Olivier Napa Valley in St. Helena, and was studying to be an electrician, taking part in the apprentice program with the Electrician's Union IBEW Local 551. He had just landed his dream job, according to his obituary.

Campbell, who loved the outdoors, also had worked as a volunteer firefighter in St. Helena and Middletown, his obituary said.

His family’s tribute to him remembered him as a positive and happy person. “His infectious, fun-loving, uplifting attitude inspired others to be better.”

He loved to cook, and Ambrose remembered him being a better cook than his girlfriend. “He could cook up anything.”

She said the couple also had a well-loved cat, a Maine coon named Daisy, who now is being cared for by another close friend.

Ambrose said Kari Marks was excited to be a grandmother, with her son Daniel Walters and his wife, Jill, of Rohnert Park giving her a little granddaughter and a brand new baby grandson. Her son, Jeff Marks, had recently joined the Marines.

“Kari loved her family,” Ambrose said.

Ambrose, who is getting married this September, had asked Jena Marks to be her maid of honor.

The weekend before the crash, Jena Marks had visited Ambrose in Sacramento so they could go shop for the wedding dress and bridesmaids’ dresses.

“I was so grateful and so happy that she got a chance to be involved in that part,” Ambrose said.

Ambrose said she has to hold onto her memories of her friend as she moves ahead with her life.

There’s also the emotional process of planning for her wedding, without her friend by her side.

“She’ll be there in another way,” Ambrose said.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

From left, Jena Marks and her friend, Alexandra Ambrose. Photo courtesy of Alexandra Ambrose.

The National Weather Service had predicted a hard freeze on Wednesday.

County Road Superintendent Steve Stangland said his road crews are on the job at 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. every day to get ahead of commuter traffic and make sure arterial and major collector roads are clear.

Such was the case on Wednesday. With the hard freeze in the forecast, county sand trucks checked the Cobb area at 3 a.m. and again at 4:30 a.m., and reported there was no ice, with road temperatures at about 36 degrees Fahrenheit, Stangland said.

“They came down off the hill and went on the rest of their routes for the rest of that morning,” said Stangland.

And then, at around 6 a.m., the hard freeze hit, he said.

“It was just one of those freak things,” Stangland added.

Between 6 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. a number of crashes were reported in the Cobb area, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Greg Buchholz.

“You couldn’t move, even on foot, it was so icy,” Buchholz said.

Buchholz said there were at least three crashes on Bottle Rock Road, with one rollover and another vehicle sliding into that first crash, and still another vehicle high-centered on the road shoulder.

County road crews had to wait for CHP to clear the road in order to be able to put down more sand, which was difficult for CHP “because we couldn’t move, either,” said Buchholz.

A tow truck driver was able to remove all three vehicles so that officials could finish clearing and reopening the roadway, he said.

Buchholz said they then proceeded down Highway 175 to Wildcat Road, where Caltrans assisted with a road closure while another overturned vehicle was put back on its wheels. That road was then reopened at around 9:30 a.m.

Even at slow speeds, the icy conditions proved particularly difficult and dangerous, said Buchholz.

The good news: He had no reports of any injuries.

Stangland said Caltrans also was caught off guard by the freeze, with Highway 175 to Hopland experiencing issues Wednesday morning due to ice.

The CHP reported that a crash in front of Granite Construction on Highway 175 outside of Lakeport just before 7 a.m. blocked the roadway for more than an hour.

There were weather-related issues elsewhere, too: Shortly after 11 a.m. vehicles were reported off the road on Elk Mountain at Soda Creek, according to the CHP.

The National Weather Service is predicting no more hard freezes for the rest of the week, with the forecast instead calling for rain and daytime temperatures in the 40s, dipping into the mid to low 30s at night.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

David Wayne Christensen, 55, of Clearlake Oaks, Calif., and Kristen Cook Weiss, 22, of Lucerne, Calif., were arrested on drug-related charges on Thursday, January 19, 2012. Lake County Jail photos.

CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – A vehicle stop in Clearlake Oaks on Thursday yielded methamphetamine, a glass “meth” pipe, marijuana and two arrests.

Arrested were Clearlake Oaks resident David Wayne Christensen, 55, and Kristen Cook Weiss, 22, of Lucerne, according to Sgt. Steve Brooks.

Shortly after 8 p.m. Thursday a Lake County Sheriff’s deputy on patrol conducted a vehicle stop on Keys Boulevard near Sixth Street in Clearlake Oaks, Brooks said.

The deputy contacted the driver, who he identified as Christensen, and could immediately smell the odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle, Brooks said. Christensen pulled a baggie of marijuana from his pants pocket and showed it to the deputy.

Brooks said the deputy then contacted the passenger of the vehicle, who he identified as Weiss. The deputy learned that Weiss was on probation for being under the influence of a controlled substance.

During a probation search of the vehicle, a glass meth pipe was located along with a baggie containing methamphetamine. Brooks said neither Weiss nor Christensen claimed ownership of the pipe or methamphetamine.

Based on the deputy’s observations and Weiss’ admission, he determined she was under the influence of a controlled substance, Brooks said.

Both Christensen and Weiss were transported to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility, Brooks said.

Christensen was charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana, Brooks said.

He said Weiss was charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, being under the influence of a controlled substance and for violating the conditions of her probation.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office Task Force can be reached through its anonymous tip line at 707-263-3663.

Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

Jason James Russell, 29, of Clearlake, Calif., was arrested on Thursday, January 19, 2012, after he allegedly used Facebook and texts to contact a teenage girl and try to convince her to have sex with him. Lake County Jail photo.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – An undercover operation conducted by detectives with the Lake County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit has led to the arrest of a Clearlake man who is alleged to have sent texts and Facebook messages in an effort to solicit sex from a teenage girl.

Jason James Russell, 29, was arrested Thursday afternoon on felony charges of lewd act on a child under 16 years of age, contact a minor with the intent to commit a sex offense, arrange meeting with a minor to commit a sex offense, go to the arranged meeting to commit a sex offense, annoy or molest a child, solicit prostitution and probation violation.

Sgt. Steve Brooks said a concerned parent contacted the Lake County Sheriff’s Office after learning that Russell had contacted his 15-year-old daughter on Facebook.

Russell is alleged to have texted the minor, telling her that he wanted to have sex with her. She sent a text message to the suspect, informing him that she was only 15 years old and did not wish to have any contact with him. The suspect attempted to contact her again after she told him to stop, Brooks said.

Brooks said detectives launched an investigation and were able to monitor the text messages being sent from the suspect, who they identified as Russell.

On Thursday detectives conducted an undercover operation, Brooks said.

Posing as the female minor, detectives continued texting with the suspect and agreed to meet with Russell at Austin Park in Clearlake. Brooks said Russell allegedly intended to have sex with the minor and had offered to pay for the sexual services.

At 2:45 p.m. Thursday Russell arrived at Austin Park in Clearlake and was arrested after a short foot pursuit, Brooks said.

Russell provided a statement that he would look for underage females on Facebook, Brooks said. Using explicit language he would then sexually proposition them.

Russell admitted that he had propositioned several other female juveniles while using Facebook, according to Brooks.

Russell was booked at the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility on the charges, and is being held without bail due to a probation violation, according to jail records.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office encourages parents to monitor social networking sites their children frequent. Sexual predators often use these sites to target their victims.

Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

The advisory said a storm currently is moving through the Pacific Northwest, with the tail end coming through far Northern California.

Rain is expected Thursday, with up to 2 inches possible during the day, and on Friday, and also is likely on a daily basis through the weekend and into early next week, the agency reported.

Residents also are urged to be aware of the chance of gusting winds reaching speeds as high as 24 miles per hour from the southwest and south southwest, according to the weather forecast.

As for temperatures, daytime highs into next week are forecast to be in the 40s, and will dip into the low to mid 30s at night, the National Weather Service said.

The second storm is expected to move through interior Northern California on Thursday. Forecasters said rain should begin midday and continue through the evening.

That will be followed by another storm system – the strongest of the three – that will pass through the region from Friday evening to Saturday, bringing more rain, the National Weather Service said.

Travelers and those pursuing outdoor activities are urged to be prepared for the colder, cooler weather.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .