Though a doomed star exploded some 20,000 years ago, its tattered remnants continue racing into space at breakneck speeds — and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has caught the action.
The nebula, called the Cygnus Loop, forms a bubble-like shape that is about 120 light-years in diameter. The distance to its center is approximately 2,600 light-years. The entire nebula has a width of six full Moons as seen on the sky.
Astronomers used Hubble to zoom into a very small slice of the leading edge of this expanding supernova bubble, where the supernova blast wave plows into surrounding material in space.
Hubble images taken from 2001 to 2020 clearly demonstrate how the remnant's shock front has expanded over time, and they used the crisp images to clock its speed.
By analyzing the shock's location, astronomers found that the shock hasn't slowed down at all in the last 20 years, and is speeding into interstellar space at over half a million miles per hour – fast enough to travel from Earth to the Moon in less than half an hour.
While this seems incredibly fast, it's actually on the slow end for the speed of a supernova shock wave. Researchers were able to assemble a "movie" from Hubble images for a close-up look at how the tattered star is slamming into interstellar space.
"Hubble is the only way that we can actually watch what's happening at the edge of the bubble with such clarity," said Ravi Sankrit, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. "The Hubble images are spectacular when you look at them in detail. They're telling us about the density differences encountered by the supernova shocks as they propagate through space, and the turbulence in the regions behind these shocks."
A very close-up look at a nearly two-light-year-long section of the filaments of glowing hydrogen and ionized oxygen shows that they look like a wrinkled sheet seen from the side. "You're seeing ripples in the sheet that is being seen edge-on, so it looks like twisted ribbons of light," said William Blair of the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. "Those wiggles arise as the shock wave encounters more or less dense material in the interstellar medium." The time-lapse movie over nearly two decades shows the filaments moving against the background stars but keeping their shape.
"When we pointed Hubble at the Cygnus Loop we knew that this was the leading edge of a shock front, which we wanted to study. When we got the initial picture and saw this incredible, delicate ribbon of light, well, that was a bonus. We didn't know it was going to resolve that kind of structure," said Blair.
Blair explained that the shock is moving outward from the explosion site and then it starts to encounter the interstellar medium, the tenuous regions of gas and dust in interstellar space.
This is a very transitory phase in the expansion of the supernova bubble where invisible neutral hydrogen is heated to one million degrees Fahrenheit or more by the shock wave's passage.
The gas then begins to glow as electrons are excited to higher energy states and emit photons as they cascade back to low energy states. Further behind the shock front, ionized oxygen atoms begin to cool, emitting a characteristic glow shown in blue.
The Cygnus Loop was discovered in 1784 by William Herschel, using a simple 18-inch reflecting telescope. He could have never imagined that a little over two centuries later we'd have a telescope powerful enough to zoom in on a very tiny slice of the nebula for this spectacular view.
The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, in Washington, D.C.
Michael Wysession, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis
However, the extremes this year are sharper than anthropogenic global warming alone would be expected to cause. September temperatures were far above any previous September, and around 3.1 degrees Fahrenheit (1.75 degrees Celsius) above the preindustrial average, according to the European Union’s earth observation program.
July was Earth’s hottest month on record, also by a large margin, with average global temperatures more than half a degree Fahrenheit (a third of a degree Celsius) above the previous record, set just a few years earlier in 2019.
September 2023’s temperatures were far above past Septembers.CopernicusJuly 2023 was the hottest month on record and well above past Julys.Copernicus Climate Change Service
Human activities have been increasing temperatures at an average of about 0.2 F (0.1 C) per decade. But this year, three additional natural factors are also helping drive up global temperatures and fuel disasters: El Niño, solar fluctuations and a massive underwater volcanic eruption.
Unfortunately, these factors are combining in a way that is exacerbating global warming. Still worse, we can expect unusually high temperatures to continue, which means even more extreme weather in the near future.
An illustration by the author shows the typical relative impact on temperature rise driven by human activities compared with natural forces. El Niño/La Niña and solar energy cycles fluctuate. The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano’s underwater eruption exacerbated global warming.Michael Wysession
Essentially, the atmosphere borrows heat out of the Pacific, and global temperatures increase slightly. This happened in 2016, the time of the last strong El Niño. Global temperatures increased by about 0.25 F (0.14 C) on average, making 2016 the warmest year on record. A weak El Niño also occurred in 2019-2020, contributing to 2020 becoming the world’s second-warmest year.
El Niño’s opposite, La Niña, involves cooler-than-usual Pacific currents flowing westward, absorbing heat out of the atmosphere, which cools the globe. The world just came out of three straight years of La Niña, meaning we’re experiencing an even greater temperature swing.
Based on increasing Pacific sea surface temperatures in mid-2023, climate modeling now suggests a 90% chance that Earth is headed toward its first strong El Niño since 2016.
Combined with the steady human-induced warming, Earth may soon again be breaking its annual temperature records. June 2023 was the hottest in modern record. July saw global records for the hottest days and a large number of regional records, including an incomprehensible heat index of 152 F (67 C) in Iran.
Solar fluctuations
The Sun may seem to shine at a constant rate, but it is a seething, churning ball of plasma whose radiating energy changes over many different time scales.
The Sun is slowly heating up and in half a billion years will boil away Earth’s oceans. On human time scales, however, the Sun’s energy output varies only slightly, about 1 part in 1,000, over a repeating 11-year cycle. The peaks of this cycle are too small for us to notice at a daily level, but they affect Earth’s climate systems.
Rapid convection within the Sun both generates a strong magnetic field aligned with its spin axis and causes this field to fully flip and reverse every 11 years. This is what causes the 11-year cycle in emitted solar radiation.
Sunspot activity is considered a proxy for the Sun’s energy output. The last 11-year solar cycle was unusually weak. The current cycle isn’t yet at its maximum.NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center
Earth’s temperature increase during a solar maximum, compared with average solar output, is only about 0.09 F (0.05 C), roughly a third of a large El Niño. The opposite happens during a solar minimum. However, unlike the variable and unpredictable El Niño changes, the 11-year solar cycle is comparatively regular, consistent and predictable.
The last solar cycle hit its minimum in 2020, reducing the effect of the modest 2020 El Niño. The current solar cycle has already surpassed the peak of the relatively weak previous cycle (which was in 2014) and will peak in 2025, with the Sun’s energy output increasing until then.
A massive volcanic eruption
Volcanic eruptions can also significantly affect global climates. They usually do this by lowering global temperatures when erupted sulfate aerosols shield and block a portion of incoming sunlight – but not always.
The eruption released an unusually small amount of cooling sulfate aerosols but an enormous amount of water vapor. The molten magma exploded underwater, vaporizing a huge volume of ocean water that erupted like a geyser high into the atmosphere.
Water vapor is a powerful greenhouse gas, and the eruption may end up warming Earth’s surface by about 0.06 F (0.035 C), according to one estimate. Unlike the cooling sulfate aerosols, which are actually tiny droplets of sulfuric acid that fall out of the atmosphere within one to two years, water vapor is a gas that can stay in the atmosphere for many years. The warming impact of the Tonga volcano is expected to last for at least five years.
Underlying it all: Global warming
All of this comes on top of anthropogenic, or human-caused, global warming.
Humans have raised global average temperatures by about 2 F (1.1 C) since 1900 by releasing large volumes of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is up 50%, primarily from the combustion of fossil fuels in vehicles and power plants. The warming from greenhouse gases is actually greater than 2 F (1.1 C), but it has been masked by other human factors that have a cooling effect, such as air pollution.
If human impacts were the only factors, each successive year would set a new record as the hottest year ever, but that doesn’t happen. The year 2016 was the warmest in part because temperatures were boosted by the last large El Niño.
What does this mean for the future?
The next couple of years could be very rough.
If a strong El Niño develops over the coming months as forecasters expect, combined with the solar maximum and the effects of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption, Earth’s temperatures will likely continue to soar.
A heavy downpour flooded streets across the New York City region, shutting down subways, schools and businesses on Sept. 29, 2023.AP Photo/Jake Offenhartz
In January 2023, scientists wrote that Earth’s temperature had a greater than 50% chance of reaching 2.7 F (1.5 C) above preindustrial era temperatures by the year 2028, at least temporarily, increasing the risk of triggering climate tipping points with even greater human impacts. Because of the unfortunate timing of several parts of the climate system, it seems the odds are not in our favor.
This article, originally published July 27, 2023, has been updated with September’s record heat.
“Doggie.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. CLEARLAKE, Calif. — Clearlake Animal Control has more than a dozen new dogs in need of new homes.
The Clearlake Animal Control website lists 52 adoptable dogs.
This week’s new dogs include “Smiley,” a male pit bull mix with a gray coat.
“Doggie.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control. There also is “Doggie,” a male German shepherd mix with a tan coat.
The shelter is located at 6820 Old Highway 53. It’s open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
For more information, call the shelter at 707-762-6227, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., visit Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook or on the city’s website.
This week’s adoptable dogs are featured below.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Firefighters work to saw through the metal trailer in which dozens of cattle were trapped following a semi rollover on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023, east of Clearlake Oaks, California. Photo by Elizabeth Larson/Lake County News.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A big rig hauling a load of cattle overturned on Highway 20 on Friday afternoon east of Clearlake Oaks, resulting in a multiagency animal rescue operation that lasted into the evening.
The California Highway Patrol first reported the crash at 12:230 p.m. near mile post marker 38 and Cache Creek, east of Clearlake Oaks.
Early reports from the scene said the truck had initially been blocking the highway.
California Highway Patrol Sgt. Joel Skeen told Lake County News at the scene Friday evening that the big rig driver was traveling eastbound on Highway 20 pulling a double-decker livestock trailer with 79 head of cattle on board.
Skeen said it appeared that the driver took the turns in that stretch of highway too fast. As a result, the big rig and trailer — the latter of which was top-heavy — flipped over onto their side.
The driver was uninjured, Skeen said.
Skeen said the truck was traveling with its load of cattle from Fortuna en route to Tennessee.
He said some of the cows were killed in the crash, but most survived.
Firefighters and Lake County Animal Care and Control staff at the site of a semi rollover on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023, east of Clearlake Oaks, California, that trapped dozens of cows. Photo by Elizabeth Larson/Lake County News.
Firefighters used a saw to cut through the metal trailer and its compartments to free the animals.
By 5:30 p.m., about 30 to 40 of the cows had been removed from the trailer, Skeen said.
Lake County Animal Care and Control staff and firefighters used metal livestock corral panels to direct the cows into pickup-drawn trailers that took them from the scene.
In addition to the CHP and Animal Care and Control, agencies that were part of the rescue — which Skeen called “quite the operation” — included Cal Fire, Northshore Fire, Caltrans, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Lake County Fire and Lake County Environmental Health.
Skeen said at that time that it was expected to take another few hours to remove all of the animals before moving the damaged truck and trailer.
A veteran of the CHP, Skeen said the incident “is a new one for me.”
Shortly before 10 p.m., the CHP reported that both lanes of Highway 20 at the crash site were closed in order to remove the semi.
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.
Trailers were staged to transport cattle from the site of a semi rollover on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023, east of Clearlake Oaks, California. Photo by Elizabeth Larson/Lake County News.
Adam Burgasser, University of California, San Diego
Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
How do we know the age of the planets and stars? – Swara D., age 13, Thane, India
Measuring the ages of planets and stars helps scientists understand when they formed and how they change – and, in the case of planets, if life has had time to have evolved on them.
Unfortunately, age is hard to measure for objects in space.
Determining the age of a star or planet can be as hard as guessing the age of a person who looks exactly the same from childhood to retirement.
Sussing out a star’s age
Fortunately, stars change subtly in brightness and color over time. With very accurate measurements, astronomers can compare these measurements of a star to mathematical models that predict what happens to stars as they get older and estimate an age from there.
A star’s spin also generates a strong magnetic field and produces magnetic activity, such as stellar flares – powerful bursts of energy and light that occur on stars’ surfaces. A steady decline in magnetic activity from a star can also help estimate its age.
A more advanced method for determining the ages of stars is called asteroseismology, or star shaking. Astronomers study vibrations on the surfaces of stars caused by waves that travel through their interiors. Young stars have different vibrational patterns than old stars. By using this method, astronomers have estimated the Sun to be 4.58 billion years old.
Piecing together a planet’s age
In the solar system, radionuclides are the key to dating planets. These are special atoms that slowly release energy over a long period of time. As natural clocks, radionuclides help scientists determine the ages of all kinds of things, from rocks to bones and pottery.
Using this method, scientists have determined that the oldest known meteorite is 4.57 billion years old, almost identical to the Sun’s asteroseismology measurement of 4.58 billion years. The oldest known rocks on Earth have slightly younger ages of 4.40 billion years. Similarly, soil brought back from the Moon during the Apollo missions had radionuclide ages of up to 4.6 billion years.
Although studying radionuclides is a powerful method for measuring the ages of planets, it usually requires having a rock in hand. Typically, astronomers only have a picture of a planet to go by. Astronomers often determine the ages of rocky space objects like Mars or the Moon by counting their craters. Older surfaces have more craters than younger surfaces. However, erosion from water, wind, cosmic rays and lava flow from volcanoes can wipe away evidence of earlier impacts.
Aging techniques don’t work for giant planets like Jupiter that have deeply buried surfaces. However, astronomers can estimate their ages by counting craters on their moons or studying the distribution of certain classes of meteorites scattered by them, which are consistent with radionuclide and cratering methods for rocky planets.
We cannot yet directly measure the ages of planets outside our solar system with current technology.
How accurate are these estimates?
Our own solar system provides the best check for accuracy, since astronomers can compare the radionuclide ages of rocks on the Earth, Moon, or asteroids to the asteroseismology age of the Sun, and these match very well.
Stars in clusters like the Pleiades or Omega Centauri are believed to have all formed at roughly the same time, so age estimates for individual stars in these clusters should be the same. In some stars, astronomers can detect radionuclides like uranium – a heavy metal found in rocks and soil – in their atmospheres, which have been used to check the ages from other methods.
Astronomers believe planets are roughly the same age as their host stars, so improving methods to determine a star’s age helps determine a planet’s age as well. By studying subtle clues, it’s possible to make an educated guess of the age of an otherwise steadfast star.
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And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.
As the U.S. shifts away from fossil fuels to cleaner energy sources, thousands of coal, oil and gas workers will be looking for new jobs.
Many will have the skills to step into new jobs in the emerging clean energy industries, but the transition may not be as simple as it seems. New research published in the journal Nature Communications identifies a major barrier that is often overlooked in discussions of how to create a just transition for these workers: location.
Weanalyzed 14 years of fossil fuel employment and skills data and found that, while many fossil fuel workers could transfer their skills to green jobs, they historically have not relocated far when they changed jobs.
That suggests that it’s not enough to create green industry jobs. The jobs will have to be where the workers are, and most fossil fuel extraction workers are not in regions where green jobs are expected to grow.
Without careful planning and targeted policies, we estimate that only about 2% of fossil fuel workers involved in extraction are likely to transition to green jobs this decade. Fortunately, there are ways to help smooth the transition.
Many fossil fuel and green skills overlap
As of 2019, about 1.7 million people worked in jobs across the fossil fuels industry in the U.S., many of them in the regions from Texas and New Mexico to Montana and from Kentucky to Pennsylvania. As the country transitions from fossil fuel use to clean energy to protect the climate, many of those jobs will disappear.
Policymakers tend to focus on skills training when they talk about the importance of a just transition for these workers and their communities.
To see how fossil fuel workers’ skills might transfer to green jobs, we used occupation and skills data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to compare them. These profiles provide information about the required workplace skills for over 750 occupations, including earth drillers, underground mining machine operators and other extraction occupations.
Overall, we found that many fossil fuel workers involved in extraction already have similar skills to those required in green occupations, as previous studies also found. In fact, their skills tend to be more closely matched to green industries than most other industries.
Job-to-job flow data from the U.S. Census Bureau showed that these workers historically tend to transition to other sectors with similar skills requirements. Thus, fossil fuel workers should be able to fill emerging green jobs with only minimal reskilling.
However, the data also shows that these fossil fuel workers typically do not travel far to fill employment opportunities.
When we mapped the current locations of wind, solar, hydro and geothermal power plants using data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, we found that these sites had little overlap with fossil fuel workers.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ projections for where green jobs are likely to emerge by 2029 also showed little overlap with the locations of today’s fossil fuel workers.
These results were consistent across several green employment projections and different definitions of “fossil fuel” occupations. That’s alarming for the prospects of a just transition.
How policymakers can intervene
Broadly, our findings point to two potential strategies for policymakers.
First, policymakers can explore incentives and programs that help fossil fuel workers relocate. However, as our analysis reveals, these populations have not historically exhibited geographic mobility.
Alternatively, policymakers could design incentives for green industry employers to build in fossil fuel communities. This might not be so simple. Green energy production often depends on where the wind blows strongest, solar power production is most effective and geothermal power or hydropower is available.
We simulated the creation of new green industry employment in two different ways, one targeting fossil fuel communities and the other spread uniformly across the U.S. according to population. The targeted efforts led to significantly more transitions from fossil fuel to green jobs. For example, we found that creating 1 million location-targeted jobs produced more transitions than the creation of 5 million jobs that don’t take workers’ locations into account.
Another solution doesn’t involve green jobs at all. A similar analysis in our study of other existing U.S. sectors revealed that construction and manufacturing employment are already co-located with fossil fuel workers and would require only limited reskilling. Supporting manufacturing expansion in these areas could be a simpler solution that could limit the number of new employers needed to support a just transition.
There are other questions that worry fossil fuel workers, such as whether new jobs will pay as well and last beyond construction. More research is needed to assess effective policy interventions, but overall our study highlights the need for a comprehensive approach to a just transition that takes into account the unique challenges faced by fossil fuel workers in different regions.
By responding to these barriers, the U.S. can help ensure that the transition to a green economy is not only environmentally sustainable but also socially just.
Christopher Vetter in March 2023. Courtesy photo. LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the community’s help in locating an Upper Lake man who was last seen in August.
Christopher Vetter, 22, was last seen in Upper Lake in the early hours of Wednesday, Aug. 9, the sheriff’s office said Friday.
Vetter is described as a white male adult, standing 5 feet 9 inches tall. He weighs 120 pounds and has a thin build, with brown medium-length hair, brown eyes and unshaven facial hair.
Authorities said Vetter has a medical condition and doesn’t have his medication.
“It is unlike him to be away from home, without contacting his family, for so long,” the agency said.
The sheriff’s office said its deputies have been working closely with Vetter’s family to gather information as to his whereabouts and follow up on all available leads.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Sgt. Jeff Mora at 707-262-4000 or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Lakeport Planning Commission will consider possible changes to the municipal code that would allow retail cannabis businesses and events in the city.
The commission will meet at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
The council chambers will be open to the public for the meeting. Masks are highly encouraged where 6-foot distancing cannot be maintained.
To speak on an agenda item, access the meeting remotely here; the meeting ID is 814 1135 4347, pass code is 847985.
To join by phone, dial 1-669-444-9171; for one tap mobile, +16694449171,,81411354347#,,,,*847985#.
Comments can be submitted by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. To give the city clerk adequate time to print out comments for consideration at the meeting, please submit written comments before 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 11.
On the agenda is city staff’s request for the Planning Commission to consider making a recommendation to the City Council regarding whether to permit retail storefront cannabis businesses and/or temporary cannabis events in Lakeport.
Community Development Director Joey Hejnowicz’s report for the meeting recommends that the Planning Commission have a study session on retail storefront cannabis businesses and temporary cannabis events and provide discussion and input on the topics.
Hejnowicz said the Lakeport City Council passed Chapter 5.34 of the Lakeport Municipal Code in 2018. It regulates commercial cannabis activities in the city.
He said cannabis retailers with storefront sales are not included in Chapter 5.34. “Nearby jurisdictions including Clearlake, Ukiah, Willits, Ft. Bragg and the County of Lake all permit retail storefront cannabis sales to various degrees. Five years has passed since Chapter 5.34 was enacted and staff would like to provide City Council the opportunity to revisit the retail storefront cannabis business discussion understanding the Council’s views on the matter may have changed.”
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.
NORTH COAST, Calif. — Sonoma County authorities on Monday arrested a Lakeport man who they said was responsible for the beating death of a woman in Rohnert Park 40 years ago, an arrest made thanks to investigators’ continuing work on the case over the years and DNA analysis.
The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office arrested Alfredo Carretero Jr., 65 — an original person of interest in the case — for the June 1983 killing of Noelle Kinzie Russo.
Officials took Carretero into custody and booked him into the Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility for murder on Monday afternoon. He’s being held with no bail.
By Tuesday, the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office had filed a murder charge against Carretero.
He was arraigned before Judge Laura Passaglia on Wednesday morning and is scheduled to return to court for the entry of plea on Oct. 18.
A report issued by Sonoma County Sheriff’s Deputy Rob Dillon, the agency’s public information officer, explained that on June 27, 1983, deputies were dispatched to a report of a deceased, naked woman in the unincorporated area of Rohnert Park.
The woman, later identified as Russo, had been beaten to death, Dillon said.
Dillon said detectives with the Violent Crime Investigations, or VCI, Unit began an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Russo’s murder.
Deputies and detectives collected a significant amount of evidence during this investigation, and numerous interviews were conducted. Detectives developed certain persons of interest over the years, but no arrests were made, Dillon said.
However, Dillon said that, through the years, VCI detectives continued to work on Russo’s case.
Between 2010 and 2023 they submitted several items of evidence for DNA analysis to the Santa Clara County Crime Lab and the Serological Research Institute, Dillon reported.
Dillon said Carretero, who had been an original person of interest in Russo’s murder, was positively identified as a suspect based on DNA and other evidence.
As a result, VCI detectives obtained a warrant to arrest Carretero Jr. for Russo’s murder.
Dillon said Russo’s family has been notified of the arrest and would appreciate privacy.
Throughout this investigation, detectives worked closely with the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office, Dillon said.
“The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office and Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office are both dedicated to justice for murder victims, whether the case is new or old. The VCI Unit continues to investigate many cold cases and relentlessly pursue justice for the victims of violent crime,” Dillon’s report noted.
Over the years, Lake County law enforcement officials have had numerous contacts with Carretero.
Lauren Berlinn, public information office for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, told Lake County News that the agency had previous contacts with Carretero, the last of them being in 2009.
“He was arrested several times, primarily for drug-related charges,” Berlinn said.
Lake County Superior Court records show an Alfredo Carretero Jr. being convicted in 2003 of a felony assault case that resulted in prison time as well as a felony drug conviction in 2004, but Lake County News was unable to confirm by press time whether it was the same individual.
An Alfredo Carretero Jr. shown in Sonoma County Superior Court records going back to 1995 shows a conviction for receiving stolen property and possession of a controlled substance that resulted in a three-year state prison term and a February 2001 conviction for possession of a controlled substance that led to a nine-month sentence.
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 Lake County Probation Department, in collaboration with the Lake County Campus of Woodland Community College, hosted a Resilient Re-entry event designed to provide valuable resources and guidance to justice-involved individuals.
The event aimed to facilitate the reintegration of justice-involved individuals into society by offering a range of services, including record expungement, information about college education opportunities, and even free tattoo removal services.
Additionally, attendees had the valuable opportunity to learn from inspirational keynote speakers who have successfully transitioned from incarceration to leading fulfilling lives.
"Lake County Probation Department is dedicated to empowering justice-involved individuals with the resources they need to embark on transformative journeys," said Chief Probation Officer Wendy Mondfrans. "We are thankful for the participation of the inspirational speakers who shared their inspirational stories with us. This event underscores the profound, positive influence that access to resources can have on justice-involved individuals."
The speakers included Randall Cole, an accomplished author and substance abuse counselor; Caressa Smith, the dedicated manager of the Hope Center and a passionate advocate for second chances; Jennifer Nauert, a substance abuse disorder counselor holding a master's degree from Cal Poly Humboldt; and Elizabeth Quiroz, a distinguished author, co-founder of the Redemption House, and a master's candidate in Social Justice and Human Rights at Arizona State University.
John Hinely. Courtesy photo. NORTHERN CALIFORNIA — An attorney who has served in several Northern California counties, including Lake, has been appointed as a judge by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
John Hinely, of Colusa County, has been appointed to serve as a judge in the Sutter County Superior Court, Newsom’s office said Thursday.
Hinely has served as a commissioner for the Superior Courts of Colusa, Glenn, Plumas and Tehama counties since 2022.
He also has served as a defense attorney in Lake County.
He was an adjunct professor at Cal Northern School of Law from 2021 to 2023 and an attorney at the California Department of Housing and Community Development from 2020 to 2022.
Hinely served as a judge pro tem at the Colusa County Superior Court from 2019 to 2022 and was a sole practitioner from 2008 to 2020.
He earned a Juris Doctor degree from Cal Northern School of Law.
Hinely fills the vacancy of a new position created on July 1, 2022.
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. — Following the aftermath of deadly wildfires that destroyed Lahaina, the Konocti Fire Safe Council, or KFSC, is holding a special “Lessons from Lahaina” wildfire and evacuation preparedness event for residents of the Soda Bay corridor.
The event will focus on action steps each of us should take before a wildfire occurs to help save lives and homes.
Featured guest speakers for this interactive presentation are Cal Fire Battalion Chief Brian York and John Nowell, former Los Angeles Fire Department battalion chief and Soda Bay homeowner.
This event will be held Wednesday, Oct. 11, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Konocti Harbor Resort in Andy’s Tavern.
Admission is free.
“Lessons from Lahaina” is part of continued public outreach efforts by the Konocti Fire Safe Council in its efforts to educate and prepare residents along the Soda Bay Road corridor to be ready for wildfire.
This event is sponsored by Cal Fire, Konocti Harbor Resort and the Konocti Fire Safe Council.
The Konocti Fire Safe Council is a 501 c(3) nonprofit corporation that aims to increase wildfire resilience in the Soda Bay Road corridor in Lake County.
The group’s efforts are centered on preparation, mitigation, education and evacuation in the eight designated Zonehaven/Genesys districts that make up its service area.
For more information, contact the Konocti Fire Safe Council at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 707-279-2245.
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