The crash occurred at 7:58 p.m. on Highway 29 south of Spruce Grove Road North, according to a report from CHP Sgt. Dave Stark.

Stark identified those who lost their lives as 53-year-old Kari Marks of Hidden Valley Lake; her 24-year-old daughter, Jena Marks, also of Hidden Valley Lake; and Jena Marks’ boyfriend, Patrick Campbell, 27, of Santa Rosa.

Kari Marks, Jena Marks and Campbell were riding in a 2001 BMW 740 with Kari Marks’ boyfriend, 50-year-old Michael Wright of Hidden Valley Lake, who was driving northbound on Highway 29 south of Spruce Grove Road North at an unknown speed, according to the report.

Driving southbound in a 2008 Ford Taurus X SUV was 53-year-old Steven Beyer of Clearlake, who also was traveling at an unknown speed, Stark reported. Riding with Beyer was his wife, 54-year-old Lezley Beyer.

Stark’s report said that Wright – for reasons that are still under investigation – lost control of his BMW and started to skid sideways into the oncoming lane of traffic, with the right side of his vehicle hitting the front end of the Beyers’ SUV.

After the collision, Wright’s car came to rest on the west dirt embankment, while the Beyers’ SUV was in the southbound lane, Stark said.

Kari and Jena Marks, and Campbell all were pronounced dead at the scene, according to Stark.

Stark’s report said Wright and the Beyers all suffered major injuries.

Wright sustained pelvic and chest trauma, Steven Beyer had fractures and contusions and Lezley Beyer also had fractures along with head trauma, the report stated.

A landing zone was set up nearby on Spruce Grove Road North so three air ambulances were able to come and pick up the Beyers and Wright after the crash, as Lake County News has reported.

Stark said all three of the surviving crash victims were taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for treatment.

All six of the individuals involved in the crash were wearing safety belts, Stark reported.

He said alcohol is not considered to be a factor, and the investigation is continuing.

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 .

Comets are icy and fragile. They spend most of their time orbiting through the dark outskirts of the solar system safe from destructive rays of intense sunlight. The deepest cold is their natural habitat.

Last November amateur astronomer Terry Lovejoy discovered a different kind of comet.

The icy fuzzball he spotted in the sky over his backyard observatory in Australia was heading almost directly for the sun.

On Dec. 16, less than three weeks after he found it, Comet Lovejoy would swoop through the sun’s atmosphere only 120,000 kilometers above the stellar surface.

Astronomers soon realized a startling fact: Comet Lovejoy likes it hot.

"Terry found a sungrazer," said Karl Battams of the Naval Research Lab in Washington DC. "We figured its nucleus was about as wide as two football fields – the biggest such comet in nearly 40 years.”

Sungrazing comets aren't a new thing. In fact, the orbiting Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) watches one fall toward the sun and evaporate every few days.

These frequent kamikaze comets, known as “Kreutz sungrazers,” are thought to be splinters of a giant comet that broke apart hundreds of years ago.

Typically they measure about 10 meters across, small, fragile, and easily vaporized by solar heat.

Based on its orbit, Comet Lovejoy was surely a member of the same family – except it was 200 meters wide instead of the usual 10.

Astronomers were eager to see such a whopper disintegrate. Even with its extra girth, there was little doubt that it would be destroyed.

When Dec. 16 came, however, "Comet Lovejoy shocked us all," said Battams. "It survived, and even flourished.”

Images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory showed the comet vaporizing furiously as it entered the sun's atmosphere – apparently on the verge of obliteration – yet Comet Lovejoy was still intact when it emerged on the other side.

The comet had lost its tail during the fiery transit – a temporary setback. Within hours, the tail grew back, bigger and brighter than before.

"It's fair to say we were dumbfounded," said Matthew Knight of the Lowell Observatory and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab. "Comet Lovejoy must have been bigger than we thought, perhaps as much as 500 meters wide."

That would make it the biggest sungrazer since Comet Ikeya-Seka almost 40 years ago.

With a tail that stretched halfway across the sky, Ikeya-Seki was actually visible in broad daylight after it passed through the sun's atmosphere in October 1965.

In Japan, where observers spotted the over-heated comet only half a degree from the sun, it was described as 10 times brighter than the Full Moon.

Comet Lovejoy wasn't that bright, but it was still amazing.

Only a few days after it left the sun, the comet showed up in the morning skies of the southern hemisphere.

Observers in Australia, South America, South Africa and New Zealand likened it to a search light beaming up from the east before dawn.

The tail lined up parallel to the Milky Way and, for a few days, made it seem that we lived in a double-decker galaxy.

Astronauts on the International Space Station also witnessed the comet.

ISS Commander Dan Burbank, who has seen his share of wonders, even once flying directly through the Northern Lights onboard the space shuttle, declared Comet Lovejoy “the most amazing thing I have ever seen in space.”

An armada of spacecraft including SOHO, the Solar Dynamics Observatory, NASA's twin STEREO probes, Japan’s Hinode spacecraft, and Europe's Proba2 microsatellite recorded the historic event.

"We've collected a mountain of data," said Knight. "But there are some things we're still having trouble explaining."

For instance, what made Lovejoy's tail wiggle so wildly when it entered the solar corona? Perhaps it was in the grip of the sun's powerful magnetic field.

What caused Lovejoy to lose its tail inside the sun's atmosphere—and then regain it later? “This is one of the biggest mysteries to me,” said Battams.

And then there is the ultimate existential puzzle: How did Comet Lovejoy survive at all?

As January unfolds, the “Comet that liked it Hot” is returning to the outer solar system, still intact, leaving many mysteries behind.

“It’ll be back in about 600 years,” said Knight. “Maybe we will have figured them out by then.”

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

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The National Weather Service in Sacramento issued a special weather statement Friday afternoon for areas of Northern California, including Lake County, explaining that extended forecast charts showed the possibility that rain and even snow could result from a change in the current dry weather pattern.

The agency said that a low pressure system coming from the Gulf of Alaska that's expected to pass over Northern California’s mountains Sunday and Monday will bring a light amount of precipitation.

That first system is forecast to be followed by a heavier weather pattern expected to bring rainstorms to interior Northern California next Wednesday through Friday, as well as snow to higher elevations, the National Weather Service reported.

While the signs of impending rain are promising, the National Weather Service warned that there is still the possibility that the second storm could pass by Northern California.

The forecast for Lake County during this three-day weekend calls for mostly sunny conditions during the daytime, with some nighttime cloud cover.

Chances of rain are predicted to begin next Wednesday, Jan. 18, with rain likely on Thursday, Jan. 19, and Friday, Jan. 20, according to the forecast. Temperatures are expected to be in the high 50s.

The Farmers Almanac is predicting wet weather for California Jan. 16-19 and again the last week of this month, with rain also expected in the middle and later parts of February.

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 .

Three people died and three others were injured in a head-on collision involving two vehicles outside of Lower Lake, Calif., on Saturday, January 14, 2012. Photo by Gary McAuley.

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – A Saturday evening head-on crash south of Lower Lake claimed three lives and sent three other people to area hospitals.

The collision between a late model SUV and an older model passenger car was reported at 8 p.m. on Highway 29 between Spruce Grove Road and C Street, according to the California Highway Patrol.

CHP, Lake County Fire, South Lake County Fire, Northshore Fire and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office were among the responding agencies, according to radio reports.

Reports from the scene indicated that CHP officers and firefighters arriving at the crash site found the car pushed up a nearby embankment and the SUV sitting in the middle of the roadway.

Three of the four people in the car had died by the time firefighters arrived, with the driver seriously injured, according to reports. The two people in the SUV also had been injured in the crash.

The car’s driver and the SUV’s occupants all reportedly had to be extricated from the badly damaged vehicles.

Radio reports indicated all three survivors were flown to out-of-county to trauma centers.

A landing zone was set up on Spruce Grove Road North. Two REACH air ambulances and one from CalStar landed there, transporting two of the victims to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and the third to Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa. Radio reports indicated the last of the helicopters lifted off shortly before 9:30 p.m.

The highway remained blocked for nearly three and a half hours as rescue personnel worked at the scene, CHP officers investigated the cause and two companies removed the totaled vehicles, the CHP reported.

Incident command at the scene was terminated at 11:17 p.m., with the roadway reopened minutes later, according to radio traffic.

The CHP investigation continued into the night. A full report on the circumstances of the crash with the names of the deceased and injured had not yet been released by 4 a.m.

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 .

California Highway Patrol officers conduct an investigation at the scene of a fatal crash near Lower Lake, Calif., on Saturday, January 14, 2012. Photo by Gary McAuley.

Firefighters wait to begin extrication of three crash victims at the scene of a head-on collision near Lower Lake, Calif., on Saturday, January 14, 2012. Photo by Gary McAuley.

The Gulfstream IV-SP is a high altitude, high speed, twin turbofan jet aircraft acquired by NOAA in 1996. Photo courtesy of NOAA.

A highly specialized NOAA jet typically used to study hurricanes will fly over the north Pacific Ocean during the next two months gathering data that will enhance winter storm forecasts for the entire North American continent.

From its temporary base at U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point in Honolulu, NOAA’s high-altitude, twin-engine Gulfstream IV-SP aircraft will deploy special sensors to collect information where the jet stream and moisture from the ocean interact and breed potentially powerful winter storms that impact North America several days later.

Data on wind speed and direction, pressure, temperature and humidity from the sensors will be monitored and quality checked by meteorologists aboard the aircraft.

NOAA then will use the information to predict the location and intensity of high winds, destructive surf conditions, severe weather and flooding rainfall caused by winter storms.

“These atmospheric observations, combined with satellite and other data, have proven to significantly enhance four-to-seven day winter weather forecasts” said Capt. Barry Choy, chief science officer for the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), part of NOAA’s National Weather Service. “Improved forecasts mean longer warning lead times for the public, emergency managers, air carriers, utility companies and others to prepare for significant winter storms, protect lives and property and minimize economic impacts.”

The mission will take the Gulfstream IV north, east and west of Hawaii, and occasionally as far as Alaska. Data gathered in the upper atmosphere by the NOAA aircraft, which flies at 45,000 feet, will be supplemented by data collected at lower altitudes by a U.S. Air Force Reserve weather reconnaissance plane. The flight tracks for both aircraft will be developed by NCEP.

“Together, these flights will help forecasters paint a detailed three-dimensional picture of weather systems over Pacific regions where more accurate information is needed for computer weather forecast models,” said Jack R. Parrish, flight director and meteorologist with NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations.

Based at the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center, located at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., the Gulfstream IV is part of the NOAA fleet of aircraft and ships operated, managed and maintained by the NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations.

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Lake County farmer, Sky Hoyt, grows a number of types of garlic on his Kelseyville, Calif. farm. This silver rose variety was a one of three types for sale at his booth during a 2011 Lake County Farmers' Finest market. Photo by Esther Oertel.

When the scent of garlic is wafting in the air, I become entranced and am tempted to follow it cartoon-like, on tiptoe, arms extended, nose following the blessed aroma trail.

Garlic is such a popular flavor that a society of its lovers exists: the Order of the Stinking Rose. The celebration of garlic is definitely a cause I can support.

This pungent plant is native to central Asia and likely made its way to points west though trading caravans on the ancient Silk Road.

Its cultivation dates back over 6,000 years, making it one of the earliest farmed vegetables.

It was known to the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans and has long been a staple in the cooking of the Mediterranean region. It’s beloved throughout the rest of Europe, as well as in Asia and Africa.

The ancient Egyptians considered garlic divine and swore their oaths on it. The slaves that built their pyramids ate it to bring strength to their task, and bulbs of garlic were found in King Tutankhamen’s tomb.

Roman soldiers believed it gave them victory in battle because it was the herb of Mars, their god of war.

Greek poet Homer’s Odysseus utilized garlic to keep a sorceress from turning him into a pig.

It was long considered a charm against evil throughout Europe, as evidenced in legends of vampires.

In addition to a belief in its magical powers, garlic has been used medicinally throughout the ages in a diverse array of cultures.

Among the cures attributed to garlic are a cough syrup made with it, a tea for relief of sore throat, a tincture for lowering blood pressure, smelling salts against hysteria, and an oil for soothing infected ears.

The truth is that modern science has found garlic to be a powerful boon to our health because of its flavor component, allicin.

It thins the blood, is important in preventing heart attack and stroke, dissolves blood clots, raises the level of HDL (good) cholesterol while lowering level of LDL (bad) cholesterol, lowers triglycerides (fats in the blood), lowers blood pressure, and protects against colon cancer.

In addition, it kills bacteria and fungus (especially yeast), as well as internal parasites.

That’s quite a list! It’s good to know that while we’re enjoying garlic’s amazing flavor, it’s providing a number of benefits to our bodies.

One way to increase (and protect) garlic’s health-enhancing properties is to allow it to rest after chopping. Let it sit a few minutes before changing its temperature through heat or its pH via things such as lemon juice or vinegar.

This enables the allinase enzymes to increase their work on our behalf. Studies show their effectiveness decreases when not allowed to sit a bit.

For maximum flavor and nutritional benefits, use garlic in its fresh form, as opposed to that which has been processed and packaged. While convenient, dried, bottled, and pre-peeled garlic don’t bring the same assets to the table or the body.

Garlic’s flavor is so pleasantly strong that it holds its own as a single seasoning in dishes.

Try adding a generous amount of chopped garlic to about a quarter inch of hot olive oil in a pan. Cook, stirring often, until garlic is golden and chewy, but not burned.

Toss this garlic-oil mixture with freshly cooked pasta, add salt and pepper to taste, and be prepared to be in culinary heaven. It’s delicious!

For those who aren’t complete purists, add a handful of chopped fresh parsley for color.

Scorched garlic is absolutely nasty, so it’s important to guard against burning when cooking with garlic. For that reason, I normally add garlic toward the end of the cooking process to dishes that are fried or sautéed.

The more garlic is crushed, the more allicin is released and the stronger it becomes. Garlic that’s squeezed through a press is far more pungent that cloves which are coarsely chopped.

In the same way, raw garlic is more robust than garlic that’s been mellowed by cooking.

Garlic may be pulled from the ground before bulbs have developed and used in cooking like leeks. Such young garlic is known as "green garlic," such as these from the Kelseyville, Calif. farm of Sky Hoyt. Photo by Esther Oertel.

When shopping for garlic, look for bulbs that are plump with unbroken skin. Avoid those which are soft, shriveled, moldy, or sprouting green shoots.

Fresh garlic is best stored in an uncovered (or loosely covered) container in a dark, cool place away from heat or sunlight. This helps protect its flavor and freshness. It’s unnecessary to refrigerate garlic.

Garlic is a component in many wonderful condiments, such as the aioli (a mayonnaise-like sauce) made with it in southern France, and Italian gremolata, a mixture of parsley, garlic, and lemon zest that’s served over osso buco, a veal dish.

When oven-roasted until tender, garlic mellows and makes a beautiful spread or companion for vegetables. Its texture becomes almost buttery.

Roasting garlic is a simple process which yields delicious results. I chop the tips off whole bulbs, brush the exposed garlic with olive oil, and turn them upside down in an ovenproof dish.

Cover with a lid or aluminum file and roast them in a moderate oven, about 375 degrees F, as a hot oven may make the garlic bitter. Check after about 30 minutes; if the cloves are soft, the garlic is done. If not, uncover the garlic and give it another five to ten minutes in the oven.

Sonoma County restaurant critic and food writer, Jeff Cox, once proposed a dish he called “garlic smooshed potatoes” on “Your Organic Garden,” a television show he hosted in the 1990s.

Mashed potatoes are prepared as usual, but with the addition of one roasted garlic bulb per potato. (That’s one whole head – not clove – of garlic per potato.) The creamy contents of each head were squeezed into the pot of drained potatoes and mashed with them.

Being a garlic lover, I tried it almost immediately, making it the next time I cooked dinner. It was delicious and not quite as garlicky as one might expect. The roasted garlic added a rich, nutty flavor to the dish.

Today’s recipe is for my homemade garlic croûtons. These are wonderful for serving over your favorite salad (I especially like them with Caesar salad), floating on soup or crushed for bread crumbs. If you’re not careful, you may end up munching on them like peanuts or potato chips.

Make a big batch and freeze them in small zipper-sealed bags so you have croûtons on hand whenever they’re needed.

And before I go, what of the bad breath that imbibing garlic causes? Or the smell on one’s skin that an evening of frenzied garlic consumption creates?

Some say that nibbling on parsley, eating a strawberry, or chewing on flavorful seeds like cardamom or fenugreek will help keep one’s breath sweet.

As to the garlic odor that seeps through the pores, a long in a hot tub is said to help evaporate the garlic oils.

Whether or not these remedies are efficacious, don’t let it stop you from enjoying the flavor of the stinking rose.

Esther’s homemade garlic croûtons

1 loaf soft French bread, cut into cubes

¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

6 garlic cloves, peeled

½ teaspoon salt (kosher salt preferred)

¼ teaspoon coarsely ground pepper

4 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Put the French bread cubes into a large bowl and set aside.

Measure the olive oil into a small bowl or large measuring cup.

Using a garlic press, squeeze the garlic cloves into the oil. Add the salt, pepper, and parsley.

Stir the olive oil mixture with a fork until ingredients are well blended, then pour evenly over the bread cubes in the bowl.

Using two large spoons, toss the bread cubes in the olive oil until all are coated. (The green specks of parsley should be well distributed.)

Spread the coated bread cubes on a baking sheet and place on the middle rack of the oven.

Give them a stir after five minutes, then let them cook until golden brown but not hard, about five minutes longer.

Note that all ovens are different and the timing for each will vary. I find that 10 minute in my oven makes a perfect croûton: crunchy, but not too hard. They’ll get a big harder as they cool.

Recipe by Esther Oertel.

Esther Oertel, a freelance writer, cooking teacher, and speaker, is passionate about local produce and all foods in the vegetable kingdom. She welcomes your questions and comments and may be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Rows of garlic are grown in raised tubs on the Kelseyville, Calif. farm of Sky Hoyt. Photo by Esther Oertel.

It's estimated that these projects, which underwent rigorous environmental review, will generate thousands of construction jobs and power local economies. If all of these projects were built today, California would have enough renewable power to meet the state’s 33 percent goal, the Governor's Office reported.

The agreement broadens the state and federal partnership to formally include transmission projects and bring in new partners, including the California Independent System Operator, the California Public Utilities Commission and the California State Lands Commission.

The agreement also renews a mutual commitment to landscape level planning efforts. The partnership, launched in 2009, works through a senior-level Renewable Energy Policy Group (REPG) to expedite review and processing of proposed projects.

“Now that our successful partnership has demonstrated that advancing renewable energy projects in California can be done, and can done in the right way, it is essential to ensure that transmission facilities to get this power to market are also part of the equation,” said Secretary Salazar.

He added, “As part of today’s agreement, which will expand our partnership on renewable energy, Interior and California will identify needed transmission projects to track, troubleshoot and shepherd. What’s happening in California is nothing short of a revolution – clean energy is creating jobs, powering our economies, and making believers out skeptics.”

“California has made tremendous progress in permitting renewable projects, and now we need to make sure the transmission lines that deliver this clean energy are built as quickly as possible,” said Governor Brown. “Putting these construction projects on a fast track will put people back to work and keep California a leader in renewable energy.”

The secretary and governor signed the memorandum of understanding on renewable energy at a solar project being built by Recurrent Energy in Elk Grove, a Sacramento metropolitan area community.

One of North America’s largest solar development companies, Recurrent Energy’s three Sacramento-area projects have generated more than 220 jobs during construction.

Earlier on Friday, Salazar, Interior Deputy Secretary David J. Hayes and the governor discussed critical California water issues, reflecting their commitment to advancing the Bay Delta Conservation Plan and to taking action that will improve the health of the San Francisco Bay Delta ecosystem and the reliability of California’s water supply.

The REPG shepherded the renewable energy projects through a complex set of environmental reviews in time for appropriate proposals to take advantage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants, federal loan guarantees and production and investment tax credits. In 2012, the Policy Group will focus on the seven renewable energy and transmission projects in California on lands administered by Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM), BLM’s “priority projects” (www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/energy/renewable_energy/2012_priority_projects.html) also will focus on additional projects on private lands, including five solar, one wind, and one geothermal.

Nationwide, Salazar has approved 27 commercial-scale renewable energy projects on public lands, or the transmission associated with them, since 2009, including 16 solar projects, four wind farms and seven geothermal facilities. Together these projects represent more than 6,500 megawatts, 12,500 jobs and when built, will power about 2.3 million homes.

The Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan is another major component of Interior’s and California's renewable energy planning efforts. When completed, it is expected to further these objectives and provide binding, long-term endangered species permit assurances, while facilitating the review and approval of renewable energy projects in the Mojave and Colorado deserts in California.

The expanded partnership supports state and federal goals.

In April 2011, Governor Brown signed Senate Bill No. 2X which increased California’s renewable energy portfolio standard to 33 percent of all retail electricity sales by 2020.

The Obama Administration has encouraged the expanded use of renewable energy and launched initiatives to spur the development of these resources on U.S. public lands, most of which are managed by the Department of the Interior – which manages one-fifth of the land in the United States – and most of it in the West, including California.

Salazar’s Secretarial Order 3285A1, one of his first directives as Secretary, established a policy encouraging the production, development, and delivery of renewable energy as one of the department’s highest priorities and directed Interior agencies to work collaboratively with other federal agencies, states, tribes, local communities and private landowners to encourage the timely and responsible development of renewable energy and associated transmission, while protecting and enhancing the nation’s water, wildlife, cultural and other natural resources.

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"Though state governments and private actors have taken important and innovative steps to expand access to health care and to restrain the growth of health care costs, no remedy can be fully effective without action on a national level. The Commerce Clause empowers Congress to take such action, and Congress properly employed that power in addressing the nation's healthcare crisis through the reforms enacted in the Affordable Care Act," the amicus brief states.

In August 2011, a divided United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's minimum coverage provision, which requires that individuals maintain adequate health insurance, is unconstitutional.

The United States government appealed that decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, which will hear oral arguments in the matter in March 2012.

Attorney General Harris, joined by 12 other attorneys general, argued in a brief filed Friday in the U.S. Supreme Court that the Constitution gives Congress broad powers to regulate interstate commerce, including individual conduct that substantially affects interstate commerce.

The failure of millions of Americans to purchase health insurance has a substantial negative impact on interstate commerce, as well as state economies and budgets, Harris’ office reported.

In 2009, the health care economy accounted for 17.6 percent of the nation's gross domestic product, Harris’ office reported. In 2008, the cost of uncompensated health care – health care provided to those who lacked insurance or some other ability pay – was $43 billion nationally.

As a result, providers shift a significant portion of those costs onto insurance companies and other payers. Each American family, on average, pays $1,000 more than necessary in health insurance premiums as a result of the shifting of those costs, Harris reported.

"Health care is one of the fastest growing expenditures in the federal budget, California's state budget, and the budgets of families across America," Attorney General Harris said. "Federal health care reform is not only essential to improving access to quality health care in California, it also is central to the long-term health of our economy, as well as state and local budgets."

Proponents of the health care reform law will reduce the need to shift the cost of uncompensated care of the uninsured or underinsured and will reduce the expenses absorbed by the states and by individuals with health insurance. They also hold that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is an indispensable aid to the states in their own efforts to tackle the health care problems their residents face.

Other states joining California in this brief are Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Vermont. The brief also is joined by the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands.

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011312 Attorneys General Amicus Brief on Health Care Reform

There are a number of mixed breed adults, as well as two litters of puppies.

Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.

If you're looking for a new companion, visit the shelter. There are many great pets hoping you'll choose them.

The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption.

Matombo wants to be picked for a new home. He's located in kennel No. 17, ID No. 31231. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Matombo

Matombo is a 10-month-old male pit bull terrier mix.

He weighs 62 pounds and is not neutered.

Matombo is located in kennel No. 17, ID No. 31231.

This black female shepherd mix is located in kennel No. 10, ID No. 31393. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Female shepherd mix

This black female shepherd mix is 3 years old.

She has brown eyes, a long coat and weighs just under 48 pounds.

She is located in kennel No. 10, ID No. 31393.

This 7-year-old male St. Bernard-springer spaniel mix is in kennel No. 13, ID No. 31453. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

St. Bernard mix

This 7-year-old male is a St. Bernard-springer spaniel mix.

He has a long, black and white spotted coat. He is unaltered.

Find him in kennel No. 13, ID No. 31453.

These five female boxer-pointer mix puppies are in kennel No. 18a, ID No. 31496. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Boxer-pointer puppies

These five little female puppies are 11-week-old boxer-pointer mixes.

The pups are tan and white, with brown eyes. They have short coats.

They are in kennel No. 18a, ID No. 31496.

This male pit bull terrier mix is in kennel No. 19, ID No. 31466. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Brindle pit bull mix

This male pit bull terrier mix has brown brindle coloring and a short coat.

An estimate of his age was not given. He is not yet neutered.

He's in kennel No. 19, ID No. 31466.

This female Jack Russell Terrier-beagle mix is in kennel No. 23, ID No. 31495. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Jack Russell-beagle mix

This female Jack Russell Terrier-beagle mix is 3 years old.

She has a short, white and tan coat and floppy ears. She is not yet spayed.

She's in kennel No. 23, ID No. 31495.

These 7-week-old dachshund mix puppies are in kennel No. 3, ID No. 31446. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Dachshund mix puppies

These little pups are 7-week-old dachshund mixes.

The litter includes three males and five females.

They have long coats, mostly black in color but with some white markings, and floppy ears.

Find the puppies in kennel No. 3, ID No. 31446.

This female shepherd mix is in kennel No. 5, ID No. 31429. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Female shepherd mix

This female shepherd mix is 4 years old.

She has black and tan coloring, brown eyes and a short coat.

Find her in kennel No. 5, ID No. 31429.

This female pit bull terrier mix is in kennel No. 6a, ID No. 31471. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Female pit bull mix

This female pit bull terrier mix is 3 years old.

She has black and white coloring and a short coat, with brown eyes.

Find her in kennel No. 6a, ID No. 31471.

This female pit bull terrier mix is in kennel No. 6b, ID No. 31472. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Female pit bull terrier mix

This 3-year-old female is a pit bull terrier mix.

She has black and white coloring, a short coat and a long tail, plus floppy ears and brown eyes.

Find her in kennel No. 6b, ID No. 31472.

Adoptable dogs also can be seen at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dogs_and_Puppies.htm or at www.petfinder.com.

Please note: Dogs listed at the shelter's Web page that are said to be “on hold” are not yet cleared for adoption.

To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm.

Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.

Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm.

For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.

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Christopher Adam Sanders, 31, of Clearlake, Calif., was sentenced on Friday, January 13, 2012, to a 41-year prison sentence for molesting his young stepdaughter. Lake County Jail photo.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A Clearlake man convicted last year of molesting his stepdaughter continuously over a three-year period was sentenced on Friday to 41 years in state prison.

Christopher Adam Sanders, 31, received the sentence from Judge Stephen Hedstrom in Lake County Superior Court’s Clearlake division on Friday afternoon.

Sanders was convicted by a jury in May 2011 of five felonies – a count of committing a lewd act with a child, two counts of lewd act with a child by duress, and one count each of continuous sexual abuse of a child and statutory rape.

The abuse started when the girl was 11 years old in 2005 and continued for three years, ending in December 2008, according to the investigation. Sanders was arrested in January 2009 following a Clearlake Police investigation.

Prosecutor Ed Borg said a nurse testified at trial about physical evidence that was consistent with the victim’s report of abuse.

Borg said Sanders must serve 85 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole. According to the probation report submitted for the case, that will make Sanders approximately 69 years old when he becomes eligible for release.

When and if Sanders is released, he will have to register as a sex offender, Borg said.

Sanders’ attorney, Mitch Hauptman of Lakeport, did not respond to a request seeking comment on the sentencing.

Sanders originally had been scheduled for sentencing last July, but the process encountered numerous delays after Sanders dismissed attorney Chris Andrian of Santa Rosa, who had represented him at trial.

Borg said that at one point he was in discussions with Andrian for a plea agreement that would have had Sanders admitting to the two counts of committing a lewd act with a child by duress, with the rest of the charges dropped. That would have resulted in a sentence of between six and 16 years.

However, a final deal wasn’t reached, Sanders was convicted at trial, Andrian was dismissed and Sanders hired Hauptman to explore seeking a new trial. Late last year, however, Hauptman concluded that he would not pursue that new trial option.

Part of the case’s tragedy, said Borg, was the strains that it put on the girl’s relationship with her mother. For a time, she lived with a guardian as a result.

Borg credited the Clearlake Police Department and then-Officer Tim Hobbs – who has since been promoted to sergeant – for doing “an outstanding job” on the investigation that formed the case’s foundation.

Within 12 hours of receiving the victim’s initial report in January 2009, the Clearlake Police Department had completed the investigation and had Sanders in custody, Borg said.

The victim was not present at the Friday sentencing but had submitted a victim impact statement to the court that was included in the probation report, Borg said. The girl’s mother and her guardian also submitted victim impact statements.

In sentencing Sanders, Hedstrom chose the upper sentencing terms for each of the counts, finding that the factors of aggravation – the girl’s age, Sanders’ position of trust and the crime’s sophistication and planning – significantly outweighed the mitigating factor of Sanders having no previous criminal convictions, Borg said.

Borg said not having previous convictions is not unusual in offense cases, where defendants often are having their first brush with the law.

Also weighing in the decision was the duration and frequency of the offense, with the young victim – 17 at the time at the time of trial – taking the stand and testifying that the offenses happened multiple times per week over the three-year period, Borg said.

While Sanders had taken responsibility for the abuse and expressed remorse, Hedstrom gave those factors less weight because they came after Sanders was convicted, according to Borg.

Hedstrom, who presided over the trial, talked about the young victim at the sentencing. He noted that she was very courageous and strong during the trial, and Borg said he agreed with that assessment.

“This was extremely difficult for her, to get up and confront him and talk about the things that he had done to her,” said Borg, adding it was “a great example of courage.”

He said the young victim reported the abuse after she spoke with a friend who had reported being raped.

The friend, a 13-year-old girl, had reportedly been raped by 18-year-old Austin Duncan on Jan. 1, 2009, in an incident in Lucerne, as Lake County News has reported.

Once the girls convinced each other to report what had happened to them, the cases moved quickly. Sanders would be arrested Jan. 5, 2009, with Duncan arrested the following day, according to jail records.

Borg also prosecuted Duncan, who reached an agreement to plead no contest to one count of committing lewd and lascivious acts on a child under the age of 14, with the remaining charges – another lewd and lascivious count, two counts of forcible rape and one count of forcible sexual penetration – dismissed.

Duncan later attempted to withdraw that plea and was sentenced to six years in prison by Judge Richard Martin on Sept. 27, 2010. The First Appellate District Court upheld the sentence last August.

The cases, said Borg, should offer hope to victims.

“They can come forward and we will take them seriously,” he 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 .

“Our commercial personnel have the training, equipment, and capability of locating items that may threaten the safety of public safety,” said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow. “This equipment and training is essential in accomplishing our mission of providing safety, service and security.”

The items were detected during a routine commercial vehicle inspection and ultimately determined to be constructed from contaminated metal containing Cobalt-60.

The CHP notified the California Department of Health Services, which lead to a nationwide product recall.

The CHP has the largest commercial vehicle inspection program in the nation, conducting more than 600,000 inspections annually.

The department operates 51 Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Facilities in 37 locations throughout the state, plus 73 mini-sites. Sixteen of these facilities are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“Through an ongoing effort, the CHP strives to improve commercial motor vehicle safety on California’s highway transportation system through enforcement, training, education, and new technologies,” said Farrow.

Although highway safety is the primary purpose of commercial vehicle inspections, the CHP’s inspection program commonly results in locating narcotics, illegal contraband and other potential hazards.

The commercial enforcement program is just one facet of a more comprehensive homeland security effort by the CHP.

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 .