NASA's Kepler mission scientists have discovered a new planetary system that is home to the smallest planet yet found around a star similar to our sun.

The planets are located in a system called Kepler-37, about 210 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra.

The smallest planet, Kepler-37b, is slightly larger than our moon, measuring about one-third the size of Earth. It is smaller than Mercury, which made its detection a challenge.

The moon-size planet and its two companion planets were found by scientists with NASA's Kepler mission to find Earth-sized planets in or near the “habitable zone,” the region in a planetary system where liquid water might exist on the surface of an orbiting planet.

However, while the star in Kepler-37 may be similar to our sun, the system appears quite unlike the solar system in which we live.

Astronomers think Kepler-37b does not have an atmosphere and cannot support life as we know it. The tiny planet almost certainly is rocky in composition. Kepler-37c, the closer neighboring planet, is slightly smaller than Venus, measuring almost three-quarters the size of Earth. Kepler-37d, the farther planet, is twice the size of Earth.

The first exoplanets found to orbit a normal star were giants. As technologies have advanced, smaller and smaller planets have been found, and Kepler has shown even Earth-size exoplanets are common.

“Even Kepler can only detect such a tiny world around the brightest stars it observes,” said Jack Lissauer, a planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. “The fact we've discovered tiny Kepler-37b suggests such little planets are common, and more planetary wonders await as we continue to gather and analyze additional data.”

Kepler-37's host star belongs to the same class as our sun, although it is slightly cooler and smaller. All three planets orbit the star at less than the distance Mercury is to the sun, suggesting they are very hot, inhospitable worlds. Kepler-37b orbits every 13 days at less than one-third Mercury's distance from the sun.

The estimated surface temperature of this smoldering planet, at more than 800 degrees Fahrenheit (700 degrees Kelvin), would be hot enough to melt the zinc in a penny. Kepler-37c and Kepler-37d, orbit every 21 days and 40 days, respectively.

“We uncovered a planet smaller than any in our solar system orbiting one of the few stars that is both bright and quiet, where signal detection was possible,” said Thomas Barclay, Kepler scientist at the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute in Sonoma, Calif., and lead author of the new study published in the journal Nature. “This discovery shows close-in planets can be smaller, as well as much larger, than planets orbiting our sun.”

The research team used data from NASA's Kepler space telescope, which simultaneously and continuously measures the brightness of more than 150,000 stars every 30 minutes.

When a planet candidate transits, or passes, in front of the star from the spacecraft's vantage point, a percentage of light from the star is blocked. This causes a dip in the brightness of the starlight that reveals the transiting planet's size relative to its star.

The size of the star must be known in order to measure the planet's size accurately. To learn more about the properties of the star Kepler-37, scientists examined sound waves generated by the boiling motion beneath the surface of the star.

They probed the interior structure of Kepler-37's star just as geologists use seismic waves generated by earthquakes to probe the interior structure of Earth. The science is called asteroseismology.

The sound waves travel into the star and bring information back up to the surface. The waves cause oscillations that Kepler observes as a rapid flickering of the star's brightness. Like bells in a steeple, small stars ring at high tones while larger stars boom in lower tones.

The barely discernible, high-frequency oscillations in the brightness of small stars are the most difficult to measure. This is why most objects previously subjected to asteroseismic analysis are larger than the sun.

With the very high precision of the Kepler instrument, astronomers have reached a new milestone. The star Kepler-37, with a radius just three-quarters of the sun, now is the smallest bell in the asteroseismology steeple.

The radius of the star is known to 3 percent accuracy, which translates to exceptional accuracy in the planet's size.

For information about the Kepler Mission, visit the mission page at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/main/index.html .

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

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Lake County 4-H invites the community to attend the annual Presentation Day on Sunday, Feb. 24.

The event begins at 1:30 p.m. at Lower Lake Elementary School, 9240 Lake St.

Presentation Day is a 4-H public speaking event with both competitive and noncompetitive categories.  

There will be more than 20 presenters, and an impressive selection of demonstrations, educational displays, illustrated talks and public speaking presentations.  

The youth who participate in this event may advance to Sectional and State level 4-H public speaking competitions, and also qualify to apply to give their presentation at this year’s State Fair.

The 4-H Youth Development program is part of the University of California Cooperative Extension.  

For more information on the 4-H program contact U.C. Cooperative Extension, 883 Lakeport Blvd., Lakeport, telephone 707-263-6838.

LUCERNE, Calif. – A crash involving a pickup and a utility pole in Lucerne on Wednesday morning left parts of the town without power for the better part of the day.

The crash occurred just after 9 a.m. on Country Club Drive, between 13th and 14th avenues, according to the California Highway Patrol.

A woman driving a Dodge Ram pickup eastbound with several cats inside became distracted because the animals were fighting and crashed into the power pole, causing the pole to lean, the CHP said. The pickup also hit the fence that fronts the Lucerne Hotel, but there did not appear to be serious damage.

The woman, who officials said was living in the vehicle, was reported to have suffered minor head injuries. Animal Care and Control came and collected the cats.

Pacific Gas and Electric initially reported more than 3,000 customers were out of power due to the crash. By late morning, all but a few hundred customers had their power restored, the company said, with the rest restored shortly before 11 p.m.

John Jensen contributed to this report.

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.

U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson on Friday raised concerns regarding the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)'s announcement that local air traffic control towers could be shut down because of sequestration.

Towers at the Napa County Airport and the Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport could be closed as a result.

“These political games being played by the House Majority in Washington are costing real people their jobs here at home and unnecessarily putting people’s safety at risk,” said Thompson. “This needs to stop. If sequestration goes into effect we will see arbitrary, harsh, across-the-board budget cuts that Republicans, Democrats, economists and business leaders all say would send our economy into a tail spin and cause essential government services, like air traffic control, to close.”

Thompson said that, in California alone, sequestration would more than 225,000 jobs.

“Instead of this manufactured crisis, we need a balanced, bold plan that creates jobs, cuts spending, reforms our tax code so that everyone is paying their fair share and protects Social Security and Medicare. That’s what I am working for,” he said.

Both the Napa County Airport and the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport would be forced to furlough or release a number of employees if their respective air traffic control towers close, even temporarily.

All planes at both airports would be operating in uncontrolled airspace. Currently, almost all flights in and out of these airports is during controlled air times. Should these air towers close, the closest FAA air traffic control towers would be at the Sacramento International Airport and the Oakland International Airport, Thompson's office reported.

Sequestration is a result of the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction, or “supercommittee,” failing to reach a solution to cut government spending last year. Legislation was written that said if no compromise was reached by the supercommittee then $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts would take place over the next decade.

These cuts will come equally from defense and non-defense spending. It is estimated that sequestration would result in cuts totaling $85 billion in the remaining months of this fiscal year.

Thompson represents California’s Fifth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.

State Controller John Chiang has published new compensation figures for local officials across the state.

The update includes 2011 wage data from various local "special districts," including land reclamation, levee, hospital, water, police, fire, transit, transportation planning, and waste districts.

It's part of Chiang's Web site, www.publicpay.ca.gov , which offers maps, search functions and custom report-building tools.

The site also allows users to download raw data for their own research.

The latest update includes data from nearly 1,500 districts, covers approximately 99,500 positions and a total of $5.42 billion in wages.

The controller completed an overhaul of the public pay Web site in late 2012, adding additional search, browse and mapping functions.

Chiang also updated the wage figures for employees of the state of California and the California State University System, as well data for community college districts.

For the latest posting, 167 districts did not file in time, or filed incomplete records. The total compliance rate for today’s update was 89.8 percent.

Those visiting www.publicpay.ca.gov can:

• View compensation levels on map graphics, and search for compensation by region;
• Develop charts, trend-line and trend graphs;
• Quickly see lists of top earners at cities, counties, and other local governments;
• Generate side-by-side comparisons of local government payrolls;
• Create local agency summaries;
• Export custom reports or raw data from the site.

A series of video tutorials also are available to guide users through the new site's interface. The site currently includes compensation data for 1.5 million positions at cities, counties, higher education institutions, special districts and state departments.

Since the site's launch in 2010, it has registered more than 6.2 million page views online. It is the most comprehensive wage data site of any state in the nation.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The city of Lakeport is seeking residents interested in serving on a committee to craft guidelines governing medical marijuana grows.

On Feb. 5, the council held a hearing on a draft ordinance written by city staff that would have prohibited outdoor marijuana cultivation and required all marijuana growing to take place in outdoor accessory structures, as Lake County News has reported.

Following a public hearing on the proposal, the council decided that, rather than implementing the ordinance, it would send it back to a committee, whose membership was to be expanded to include community members.

The council decided that community members who sit on the committee should live in the Lakeport city limits.

Two city residents at that Feb. 5 meeting expressed immediate interest in serving and were added to the group.

However, at the council's meeting this past Tuesday, city Planning Services Manager Andrew Britton told the council that the city was still looking for people to sit on the marijuana cultivation committee.

Any city resident who is interested in being a committee member is invited to contact Britton at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St., telephone 707-263-5613, Extension 28, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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. – An accrediting body has placed Yuba College and its Clear Lake Campus on probation while school officials work to resolve shortcomings at the college and district level relating to planning, resource allocation and the assessment of student learning.

Last week the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges reaffirmed the college's accreditation but imposed the sanction of probation, according to district Chancellor Dr. Douglas Houston.

The accreditation commission offered 11 recommendations to Yuba College, covering areas such as institutional planning, student learning assessments, allocating resources to meet institutional priorities in an integrated planning fashion and professional development, Houston said.

“It is serious? Yes,” said Houston. However, he added, “I'm absolutely confident that we will resolve all of the shortcomings.”

Yuba College – which stretches across eight counties – is one of the oldest community colleges in the state, founded in 1927. The Clear Lake Campus is located off of Dam Road in Clearlake.

One of the key tasks for Houston, who took over the district's leadership in July of 2011, is to make sure the district addresses the issues raised with its accreditation, which it has held since 1952.

Accreditation is a voluntary, peer-review accountability process that periodically evaluates institutions based on standards of educational practice and effectiveness in order to make quality improvement in the interest of student success, the district reported.

And while it's voluntary, Houston said the district has no choice but to participate in order to ensure that, among other things, students who attend are eligible for federal student aid and that their units transfer to other educational institutions.

“It's a uniquely American process of accountability,” he said.

Houston emphasized that the probation sanction does not apply to the Woodland college campus.

The probation sanction came after the commission's accreditation visit last October and the commission's meeting in early January when it reviewed evaluation visits from several dozen two-year colleges throughout California, Hawaii and the Pacific Islands.

While the probation sanction was imposed, at the same time the commission commended the Yuba College faculty, staff and administrators for “the positive campus climate. The team perceived the college community to be thoughtful and very optimistic about the future of the college;” and for “the dedication and enthusiasm of its administration, faculty and staff toward the teaching and learning process, the students, and the institution.”

Campus officials said the commission also noted in its report, “Yuba College serves a wide geographic area, where many of its residents do not have convenient access to higher education opportunities; these are provided through the college’s off campus locations; the college is commended for these outreach efforts.”

The commission also commended the Yuba College library faculty and staff “while struggling with budgetary and relocation challenges to multiple off campus locations, they continue a heroic effort with success of offering services and innovation of much needed services to students; as well as all other members of the campus community;” and the Yuba College culinary arts program “for its service to the college community.”

Houston said the accreditation team’s recommendations had actually already been identified by the college’s administration, faculty and staff through a comprehensive self-evaluation process.

The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges did not respond to Lake County News' request for comment about the findings.

Budget, morale impact college's efforts

Houston, who previously worked with the Lassen Community College District to overcome a similar probation issue, said Yuba College is working to having the issues resolved by its fall deadline. “We're not going to take any chances with respect to this.”

Among the sanctions the accreditation body can take, warning is the least severe, followed by probation and then “show cause,” he said.

The probation sanction, Houston explained, is used when the accrediting body is concerned that an institution isn't taking its recommendations seriously.

In Yuba College's case, that's because the issues the college is working on now were first identified in a 2005 accreditation visit, Houston said.

The recent accreditation update process began with an 18-month self-evaluation by the college, with the commission then sending a team of educators to verify what the college's self-evaluation found, he said.

Yuba's self-evaluation acknowledged that it had not made complete progress on addressing its accreditation issues. “That's a red flag to the commission now,” Houston said.

Houston said many institutions in California have had such similar sanctions imposed on them in recent years.

“Many of us are struggling, particularly with the budget issues we've had for the last half a dozen years,” he said.

He added, “The budget has exacerbated our ability to respond to these kinds of requirements.”

Houston said the district also has dealt with morale issues, with the search process for his job focusing on finding an individual who would restore civility, harmony and collegiality. “At the very time we should have been building all of that, folks weren't working together well,” he said.

In the last year, said Houston, there has been “substantial cultural and climate change” in the district, with some new administrators, including acting dean Art Pimentel at the Clear Lake Campus, and a new president, vice president and vice chancellor.

Earlier this month Houston held a forum at the Clear Lake Campus, where he found morale high and students and staff optimistic.

“I know we're going to get this work done because the obstacles that stood in our way are actually behind us,” said Houston.

In a written statement, YCCD Trustee and Board Chair Brent Hastey said, “I’m really proud of how the administration, faculty and staff at our colleges have committed to working together to improve student success Yuba College and the Yuba Community College District is a very different institution that it was just a few years ago because of that new commitment to collaboration and yet is unchanged in its commitment to students and our communities.”

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.

Setting a new record, U.S. wine exports, 90 percent from California, reached $1.43 billion in winery revenues in 2012, up 2.6 percent compared to the previous year, a gain for the third consecutive year, according to a new report from the Wine Institute.

Volume shipments reached 424.6 million liters or 112.2 million cases.

“California wine exports continue to increase because of our quality, diversity and value, despite a highly competitive global market, significant trade barriers and a still recovering economy,” said Wine Institute President and Chief Executive Officer Robert P. (Bobby) Koch. “We've worked to create more opportunities to export our wines by supporting our government in opening markets with Free Trade Agreements and other negotiations.”

Of the top markets for California Wines, the European Union's 27-member countries are the largest accounting for $485 million, up 1.7 percent; followed by Canada, $434 million, up 14 percent; Hong Kong, $115 million, down 30 percent; Japan, $111 million, up 6 percent; China, $74 million, up 18 percent; Vietnam, $27 million, up 22 percent; Mexico, $20 million, up 4 percent; and South Korea, $16 million, up 26 percent.

“Our global campaign supporting our California wine exports communicates California as an aspirational place – its beautiful landscapes, iconic lifestyle, leadership in sustainability, and great wine and food. All of our marketing activities in 25 countries convey these messages to consumers and trade around the world,” said Wine Institute International Marketing Director Linsey Gallagher.

 “Additionally, we've expanded these messages to our new California Wines video campaign, Facebook and Twitter social media campaigns across the globe, and are in the process of completing translation of our consumer website, www.discovercaliforniawines.com , into eight languages,” said Gallagher. “We have also launched a full scale campaign in China to introduce California wines in that expanding wine market.”

“Wine Institute is collaborating with our U.S. government as well as the World Wine Trade Group, the EU and Pacific Rim governments to reduce trade barriers. In particular, the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation 'Wine Regulators Forum' are working to implement good regulatory practices that will protect consumers and facilitate trade in our Asia-Pacific markets,” said Wine Institute International Trade Policy Director Tom LaFaille.

Five of Wine Institute's 14 Regional Trade Directors reported on key markets as follows:

Canada

The Canadian consumer continues to embrace California wines, making it the fastest growing wine region in this country by volume and value according to Rick Slomka, Wine Institute Trade Director for Canada.

Much of the growth is coming from red blend brands which have strong appeal to the younger generation of wine consumers.

At the same time, Canadian consumers continue to show interest in California wines at higher price points with sales of premium wines reaching higher levels than ever before.

This momentum is expected to continue in 2013 with major retail promotions this spring in the three largest provincial markets of Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.

Continental European Union

“Germany remains a key market for California wines, with exports increasing 6 percent in value. Renewed interest from several large retailers that conducted California promotions last year contributed to that growth,” said Wine Institute European Trade Director Paul Molleman.

Another key market is Sweden, where the Systembolaget monopoly reported California wine sales of almost 17 million bottles, mostly red wine, up 14 percent from 2011, he added.

United Kingdom

“California wine exports grew by 2.8 percent in value while France, Italy, Spain, Australia, Chile and South Africa all lost ground in the UK on-trade market,” said Wine Institute UK Trade Director John McLaren.

With an uncertain economy, and against a background of governmental anti-alcohol abuse measures, the UK wine trade has suffered some setbacks, but California has done well to preserve its market share and take advantage of some new opportunities in the independent retail and restaurant sectors.

Japan

“U.S. Bulk wine exports to Japan have been growing as major Japanese importers are now importing popular-priced California wine brands in bulk and bottling in Japan. This reduces the burdensome import duty to a limited extent and makes inventory control easier,” said Wine Institute Japan Trade Director Ken-ichi Hori.

For bottled U.S. wine, Japan is now importing more premium priced California wines than in the past. Unlike other New World wine exporting countries, California wine is well represented in high-end restaurants because of our successful annual restaurant promotion, Hori said.

China and emerging markets

“Wine's prominence is growing throughout Asia as consumption remains buoyant and forecasts estimate continued growth. Hong Kong is California's third largest export market by value, although the value declined in 2012 compared to impressive growth the previous years following elimination of Hong Kong's 80 percent import duty,” said Eric Pope, Wine Institute's regional director, emerging markets.

China, a top priority growth market for our vintners, grew 18 percent to $74 million and remains the fifth largest export market by value, he said.

South Korea's growth increased to 26 percent, following the recent U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement. Exports to Mexico grew a second consecutive year with the value there nearly doubling since 2009, according to Pope.

Since 1985, Wine Institute has served as the administrator of the Market Access Program, an export promotion program managed by the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service.

More than 150 wineries participate in Wine Institute's California Wine Export Program and export to 125 countries.

The number of women aware that heart disease is the leading cause of death has nearly doubled in the last 15 years, but that knowledge still lags in minorities and younger women, according to a new study in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.

The study arrives as the importance of heart health is being emphasized during February, which is American Heart Month.

Researchers comparing women's views about heart disease in 1997 and today, found:

• In 2012, 56 percent of women identified heart disease as the leading cause of death compared with 30 percent in 1997.
• In 1997, women were more likely to cite cancer than heart disease as the leading killer (35 percent versus 30 percent); but in 2012, only 24 percent cited cancer.
• In 2012, 36 percent of black women and 34 percent of Hispanic women identified heart disease as the top killer — awareness levels that white women had in 1997 (33 percent).
• Women 25-34 years old had the lowest awareness rate of any age group at 44 percent.

The study showed barriers and motivators to engage in a heart healthy lifestyle are different for younger women, who also said their doctors were less likely to talk to them about heart disease.

“This is a missed opportunity,” said Lori Mosca, M.D, M.P.H., Ph.D., lead author of the study. “Habits established in younger women can have lifelong rewards. We need to speak to the new generation, and help them understand that living heart healthy is going to help them feel better, not just help them live longer. So often the message is focused on how many women are dying from heart disease, but we need to be talking about how women are going to live – and live healthier.”

In August-October 2012, researchers conducted online and telephone surveys with more than 1,200 women, 25 and older. They compared results from surveys taken in 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2009. The survey assessed women's lifestyle, awareness of the leading cause of death and warning signs of a heart attack, and what they would do if they experienced heart attack symptoms.

Among the women surveyed:

• 61 percent said the reason they would take preventive action was to feel better, compared to 45 percent who would be motivated to take preventive action in order to live longer.
• Racial and ethnic minorities reported higher levels of trust in their healthcare providers compared with whites, and were also more likely to act on the information provided dispelling the myth that mistrust of providers contributes to disparities.
• Self-reported depression was common (26 percent) among respondents and has been previously reported as a barrier to adherence to medical guidelines.
• Compared with older women, younger women were more likely to report not discussing heart disease risk with their doctors (6 percent among those 25-34 versus 33 percent for those 65 and older).

Mosca said efforts need to be age-appropriate and culturally sensitive to reach younger women and more minorities who are at high risk for heart disease.

“There are gaps between women's personal awareness and what they're doing in terms of preventive steps,” said Mosca, director of preventive cardiology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and professor of Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. “The American Heart Association has well-established, evidence-based guidelines about heart disease prevention, so we have to better align women's actions with what is evidence-based.”

The American Heart Association's Go Red For Women movement encourages women of all ages to know and reduce their risk for heart disease and provides tools to lead a heart healthy life.

The campaign, now entering its 10th year, offers a variety of ways to become actively involved in helping all women make healthier choices.

For more information visit www.goredforwomen.org/ .

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – At its meeting Wednesday night the Upper Lake Union School District Board voted to institute daylong kindergarten at the district's elementary school beginning in the 2013-14 school year.

The board voted 4-0 on the proposal put forward by district Superintendent Valerie Gardner. Board member Don Meri was absent.

The vote was one of several the board took Wednesday night to address budgeting challenges, among them, the elimination of the middle school principal and an art teacher position, as Lake County News has reported.

Instituting extended day kindergarten is anticipated to help address several challenges the school faces.

For one, it will help better manage student attendance.

Gardner explained that schools receive state funding based on school attendance. As an example of how important that attendance is, it was noted that a 1 percent attendance change can earn – or lose – the school about $26,000.

Student attendance in kindergarten has been of particular concern for school officials, as Gardner explained that kindergarten sees one of the highest absentee rates due to a lack of transportation.

That's because, for some parents, getting the children home when school ends midday creates challenges that in many cases lead them to simply keep children home, school officials explained.

They were seeing children missing 60 to 70 days of school annually, Gardner said.

Not only does that lose the school attendance-related funds, it resulted in many children arriving in first grade unprepared due to having missed so much school time, according to Gardner.

She said that in areas with high poverty rates, all-day kindergarten is a good way to address transportation, attendance and other issues that keep children from school.

One county school district, Konocti Unified, currently has extended-day kindergarten, Gardner said.

Shelly Mascari, director of the Child Care Planning Council, confirmed to Lake County News that Konocti Unified is the only district currently offering extended-day kindergarten.

“Other districts are discussing this option to meet the educational needs of students and families,” said Mascari, who added that she's a proponent of the full day kindergarten option.

Along with extended-day kindergarten, Upper Lake Elementary's programs will increase the number of children eligible for transitional kindergarten, which is for students who will turn 5 years old between Oct. 2 and Dec. 2.

Gardner said kindergarten roundup is coming up soon, and in the weeks ahead she will have more information available for the community to explain the new kindergarten offerings.

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.

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Faced with deficit spending and continuing Program Improvement status requirements, the Upper Lake Union Elementary School District Board on Wednesday night voted to make several staff cuts, including eliminating the Upper Lake Middle School principal's job.

Board members Joanne Breton, Mel O'Meara, Ron Raetz and Marilyn Pivniska listened to new district Superintendent Valerie Gardner's proposals, which included eliminating the middle school principal's job, a new business manager and a vacant staff position, and laying off a teacher who taught art to kindergarteners through eighth graders. Board member Don Meri was absent from the meeting.

Ultimately, the four board members approved Gardner's proposals, set to save approximately $74,198 annually across the district, which includes both Upper Lake Elementary, which is in Program Improvement status, and Upper Lake Middle School.

The board's decision meant that Tony Loumena, the middle school principal, will be laid off at year's end. The job cut was attributed to the need to save money, not school performance, which Loumena was credited with improving.

Gardner, who also is principal of Upper Lake Elementary, will take on additional duties to help cover the cuts, including absorbing Loumena's job and also taking on the special education director position, which she said is a job also held by other superintendents among the Northshore's small school districts.

While those cuts will move the schools in the right direction, Gardner told Lake County News following the meeting that phase two of her budget and restructuring plan is still to be presented, and its proposed cuts will be much larger.

On March 20 she will take to the board the second half of her proposal, focusing on cuts to classified staff, with Gardner explaining that she's trying to find another $200,000 in cuts to get the district out of deficit spending and help it meet performance standards.

Part of the plan includes hiring two new teachers to reduce class sizes to a ratio of one teacher to 20 students, she said.

Gardner, who took over as district superintendent last summer. emphasized to the board on Wednesday night that action needed to be taken quickly.

More than two dozen people came to the meeting to hear the proposals.

During public comment, middle school teacher Valerie Duncan, a 31-year veteran of the district, told the board that they were role models, and as a North Shore Teachers Association member she challenged board members to give up their health insurance, which would save an estimated $60,000 annually.

Later, she took another turn during public comment – this time wearing her teacher's hat – to point out how hard Upper Lake Middle School had worked to improve its test scores, only to face the loss of its principal, Loumena, whose leadership she credited with helping to bring about those improvements.

“We feel at the middle school that we are being punished,” she said, adding that she believed some of the decisions before the board that night were not in the best interest of students.

Classified employee Kelly Burns, who has worked at the middle school for 16 years, said she and her husband selected Upper Lake as the place where they wanted to live and raise their child based on the school.

She asked the board to think carefully about where to make the cuts. “It doesn't all rest on the shoulders of the classified.”

Deficit spending expected to increase

Gardner and district business manager Becky Jeffries laid out the restructuring and budget plan for the board and audience.

“This is the result of a very, very in-depth look at our finances and the situation that we're in,” said Gardner.

She said the district had several key issues to address. While fiscal solvency was “huge,” also critically important are enrollment, attendance, student achievement and Program Improvement status.

There also are the new Common Core State Standards – set to go into effect in the 2014-15 school year nationwide, with the exception of Alaska and Texas – which will put more emphasis on technology and thoroughly understanding subjects.

“We need to be putting money and time around how we're going to be doing that,” Gardner said of implementing the new requirements.

Jeffries explained that the district is in deficit spending, although the amounts were not available. Deficits of nearly $176,000 in 2013-14 and $90,000 for 2014-15 are anticipated.

She said the district is “robbing Peter to pay Paul to make ends meet,” with the district eating into its reserves and doing interfund borrowing, which must be paid back. The district also is anticipated to show negative cash balances this March through May, which will require more borrowing.

Gardner said the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, formed to help California school districts, has given the district assistance with its budget.

She said the team told district officials that had Proposition 30 not passed last fall, the district – which has annual revenues of about $3 million, with expenditures coming close to the same amount – would have had a deficit of $600,000.

“'You would be done,'” she recalled a Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team member telling her.

Compounding the district's fiscal crunch is a trend of declining enrollment, challenges relating to school attendance and student achievement, with more than half of the district's children performing below grade level, she said.

That's led Gardner to repeat a key phrase in explaining the need for new approaches: “If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.”

A new approach is critical, she said, because the district is in year three of its Program Improvement requirements.

One action the board took to address student attendance was to approve Gardner's proposal for implementing extended day kindergarten, as some children were missing up to a third of the school year due to transportation challenges for their family. When those children entered first grade, they tended to have problems with preparedness.

Raetz told the audience Wednesday night that the board has been faced with a number of challenges, and a lack of rules and policies. “This board has worked really hard for you guys.”

After meeting with the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team and finding out the dire consequences for not successfully passing out of Program Improvement – including having the school turned into a charter school and having the staff and teachers fired – he said he was terrified.

Holding up a fiscal plan the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team had given them, which had contributed to the actions the board had taken, Raetz said, “This is what you have to do.”

He added, “We're going to keep this school running and we're going to get our test scores up.”

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. – The abrupt return to winter weather played out Tuesday across all areas of Lake County, with intermittent rain, snow and sun.

Winter was ushered back in with a vengeance overnight, as skies cleared and temperatures dropped well below freezing in the early evening hours.

As Lake County News reported last week, the very cold storm dropping down from the Gulf of Alaska was forecast to hit Lake County and Northern California on Tuesday.

And it did just that, bringing snow flurries all the way down to lake level at times and leaving a good dusting of snow on Lake County's surrounding mountains.

With temperatures barely reaching into the 40s Tuesday and skies clearing in the early evening, overnight temperatures into this morning were predicted to be in the bone-chilling teens in isolated areas and well below freezing across the county.

Skies will be sunny Wednesday, although it will be cool, with high temperatures in the low 50s, according to Western Weather Group Lake County.

Another small system is expected to move across Northern California overnight, bringing partly cloudy skies, which may help keep overnight temperatures near freezing.

However, forecasters warned that if clouds do not develop, we may once again experience a hard freeze overnight.

Chances for rain are in the forecast Thursday through Saturday according to the National Weather Service in Sacramento, with slightly warmer temperatures.

Daytime highs for later in the week are predicted to be in the upper 50s and low 60s, with overnight temperatures near or above freezing.

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