KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The question of life outside planet Earth fascinates the entire human race. It is perhaps the most intriguing topic in all of astronomy.

This coming Saturday, Sept. 24, Lake County’s Taylor Observatory’s County's Window to the Universe Lecture series presents “The Diversity of Alien Worlds.”

The speaker is Professor Stephen Kane of the Department of Astronomy and Physics at San Francisco State University.

Professor Kane will explain the term “habitable zone” which is used to classify the probability that bodies in the universe could harbor alien life.

Kane is an internationally recognized expert in exoplanet discovery. He has personally identified several hundred exoplanets using novel techniques developed by him and by colleagues in this intriguing branch of astronomy.

In addition, Kane heads a group of 14 scientists searching for potential habitable zone planets using the Kepler Space Telescope: www.kepler.nasa.gov .

The Window to the Universe series is sponsored by Friends of the Taylor Observatory-Norton Planetarium and includes the lecture, a show in the Norton Planetarium and viewing through the observatory’s several telescopes.

The first planetarium show is at 7:30 p.m., followed by the lecture at 8 p.m. and a second planetarium show at 9 p.m., all for an admission price of $5. Lake County K-12 students are admitted with no charge. 

The observatory is at the end of Oak Hills Lane in Kelseyville.

For updates and further information check the Facebook page for Friends of Taylor Observatory or call 415-209-3084.

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Earth and Fire Pottery artist Gregg Lindsley will host a free one-hour class on how to make sauerkraut and other fermented foods on Saturday, Sept. 24.

The class will begin at 2 p.m. at the Lake County Wine Studio, 9505 Main St. in Upper Lake.

Lindsley will demonstrate the basics of making your own sauerkraut with a live-culture fermentation crock.

He also will discuss the process to make kimchee as well as other types of ferment and the health benefits of regularly using fermented foods.

For more information call Lake County Wine Studio at 707-275-8030.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – On Monday afternoon, the Lake County Public Works Department closed portions of Fairway Drive and Tenino Way in Kelseyville due to a water main breach.

Fairway Drive is closed to all but local traffic from Chippewa Trail to Tenino Way, Public Works reported.

In addition, Public Works said Tenino Way is closed from Highway 281 to Fairway Drive to all but residents living on that section of roadway.

The intersection of Fairway Drive at Tenino Way is closed to all traffic. Officials said that portion of the roadway is impassable.

One-way traffic control will be in place for local residents to get to and from their residences beyond Tenino Way and Fairway Drive, the agency said.

As of Monday afternoon, no estimate was available as to when the roadways would reopen.

Public Works can be reached at 707-263-2341.

California’s 2016 deer season continues with the opening of the D3-D5, D8-D10, X8 and X10 Zones on Sept. 24.

Drought and dangerous fire conditions persist in many areas of the state, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) urges hunters to be mindful of wildfires and forest closures that could affect the area where they plan to hunt.

CDFW does not refund tag fees due to wildfire closures.

CDFW does not close or open areas due to fires, but leaves that authority to incident commanders with CAL FIRE and the U.S. Forest Service.

Current information on forest closures can be found at the following links:

– CDFW: www.wildlife.ca.gov/hunting/area-alerts ;
– Cal Fire: www.fire.ca.gov/general/firemaps.php ;
– U.S. Forest Service: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/closures .

Hunters are encouraged to check these links frequently in order to obtain the most up-to-date information.

Nick Norwood's most recent book is Gravel and Hawk, published by Ohio University Press.

This poem has sorrow at the top and happiness at the bottom, which means there's a lot of living in between. It's from the quarterly journal Five Points. Norwood lives and teaches in Georgia.

Ronnie's

Dad dead, Mom—back in the bank, tellering—
started dressing in cute skirts and pants suits
she sewed herself from onionskin patterns
and bright-colored knits picked up at Cloth World.
Got her dark brunette hair cut in a shag.
And she and her single girlfriends from work
on a weekday night would leave me to "Love
American Style" or Mary Tyler Moore
and step out to hear the country house band
or now-and-then headliners like Ray Price
and Merle Haggard. Mom's blue Buick Wildcat
shoulder to shoulder with the other Detroit
behemoths in the dim lot around back.
Wind skittering trash along the street. Bass
notes thumping through the sheet-metal walls
and the full swinging sound suddenly blaring
when a couple came in or out the door.
I know because I'm there, now, in the lot,
crouched behind the fender of a Skylark
or Riviera, in the weird green glow
of the rooftop Ronnie's sign, not keeping tabs
on Mom, not watching out, just keeping time
with the band and sipping a Slurpee
while she dances through this two-year window
before getting re-hitched, settling back down.
Just twenty-seven, twenty-eight years old,
looking pretty, having the time of her life.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. They do not accept unsolicited submissions. Poem copyright ©2015 by Nick Norwood, “Ronnie's (Five Points, Vol. 17, no. 1, 2015). Poem reprinted by permission of Nick Norwood and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2016 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006.

On Sept. 14, the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service co-hosted a most interesting and engaging public meeting in Upper Lake, as the first of three important community conversations to discuss the management plan for the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. 

Attendance was so large most of the agency representatives remarked on it, but given the tremendous community support for the proper protection and management of these lands that was expressed during the campaign for permanent protection a large turnout probably should have surprised no one.

The format did not include a formal presentation. Instead, the plan was to give people from our community an opportunity to talk face to face with the folks from our federal agencies, and to examine an impressive array of maps, fact sheets, photographs and other resources, including such specialized items as a rainfall map of the national monument, and a map showing fire scars on the landscape.  

These conversations are powerful opportunities for the public to express what they value most in the management of this region. 

Public input – both oral and written – was requested continually, and agency staff displayed an obvious keen interest in what we had to say.

For those who were not able to attend, do try to get to one of the remaining meetings: Sept. 28 at the Winters Community Center, 201 Railroad Ave;  and Oct. 4 at the Holiday Inn Express, 545 N. Humboldt Ave in Willows. Both take place from from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

Victoria Brandon is chair of the Sierra Club Redwood Chapter. She lives in Lower Lake, Calif.

SACRAMENTO – The governor signed two bills strongly supported by the chairwoman of the California State Board of Equalization (BOE) Fiona Ma, CPA, to help victims of domestic violence and businesses devastated by natural disasters.
 
AB 1399 (Baker) will create a checkoff box on California personal income tax return forms which will allow Californian’s to donate to the newly created Domestic Violence Victims Fund.

Domestic violence shelters will be able to apply for a grant from the new fund, administered by the California Office of Emergency Services, to help provide much-needed assistance to victims.
 
According to the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), nearly one-third of all women murdered in the United States in recent years were murdered by a current or former intimate partner.

In 2010, 1,017 women, more than three a day, were killed by their intimate partners. A survivor's safety and well-being is most at risk during episodes of violence and when attempting to leave an abuser. Domestic violence shelters are a key part of safety planning to prepare ahead of time and be as protected as possible.
 
“Women and children who have endured physical, mental, and emotional abuse need our help putting their lives back on track. AB 1399 (Baker) will help keep the shelter doors open and provide a place where women and children can sleep soundly, without fear,” said Chairwoman Ma.
 
During her six year tenure in the Legislature, Chairwoman Ma served as Chair of the Domestic Violence Select Committee and witnessed how many California domestic violence shelters were forced to turn away women and children because of a lack of funding.

In 2013 NNEDV conducted a 24-hour survey of domestic violence programs across the nation and reported 66,581 adults and children had found refuge and assistance, while an additional 9,641 requests for services were unmet because of a lack of resources. Each one of those unmet requests is another lost opportunity to break the cycle of violence.

Now that Gov. Brown has signed AB 1399 (Baker), shelters will receive greatly needed financial resources.
 
Another bill signed by the governor, AB 1599 (Dodd) will allow the BOE to provide business owners in disaster areas more time to file returns and pay their BOE tax obligations.
 
“California business owners who have been severely impacted by natural disasters are focusing on the recovery of their business, which will affect their ability to file and pay their taxes,” said Chairwoman Ma.
 
“The Board of Equalization can now grant tax relief to countless businesses across the state that have been impacted by natural disasters. I’d like to thank Governor Jerry Brown for recognizing the urgency of this bill and acknowledging that California needs to do more to assist victims in the recovery process,” said Assemblyman Bill Dodd.