LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Animal Care and Control has another big group of mostly big dogs – primarily from the working breeds – needing homes this week.

Dogs available this week include mixes of American Staffordshire Terrier, basset hound, beagle, Great Dane, Great Pyrenees, Labrador Retriever, pit bull, shepherd and terrier.

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 (additional dogs on the animal control Web site not listed are still “on hold”).

Pit bull terrier mix

This male pit bull terrier mix has a short gray and white coat.

He's in kennel No. 2, ID No. 5170.

Great Pyrenees mix

This male Great Pyrenees mix has a long white coat.

He is in kennel No. 3, ID No. 5263.

'Princess'

“Princess” is a pit bull terrier mix.

She has a brindle coat with white markings, and already has been spayed.

Princess is in kennel No. 4, ID No. 5361.

Pit bull terrier mix

This female pit bull terrier mix has a short black and white coat.

She's in kennel No. 5, ID No. 5378.

'Kush'

“Kush” is a female adult pit bull terrier mix.

She has a short tan coat and already is spayed.

She's in kennel No. 6, ID No. 5249.

Beagle-basset hound mix

This male beagle-basset hound mix has a short tricolor coat.

He's in kennel No. 10, ID No. 5337.

Pit bull terrier mix

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

He's in kennel No. 12, ID No. 5342.

Shepherd mix

This male shepherd mix has a short tan and black coat. He already is altered.

He's in kennel No. 13, ID No. 5299.

American Staffordshire Terrier

This male American Staffordshire Terrier has a short black and white coat and has already been neutered.

He's in kennel No. 14, ID No. 5194.

'Zenna'

“Zenna” is a female pit bull terrier mix with a short blue and white coat.

She's in kennel No. 20, ID No. 5261.

'Yohna'

“Yohna” is a male pit bull terrier mix with a short tan and white coat.

He's in kennel No. 22, ID No. 5303.

'Storm'

“Storm” is a female pit bull terrier mix with a brown and white coat.

She's in kennel No. 24, ID No. 5363.

'Cooper'

“Cooper” is a male shepherd mix with a black and tan coat and white markings.

He's in kennel No. 25, ID No. 5377.

Great Dane-Labrador Retriever mix

This male Great Dane-Labrador Retriever mix has a short black coat with white markings.

He's in kennel No. 26, ID No. 5104.

Pit bull terrier mix

This male pit bull terrier mix has a short black and white coat.

He's in kennel No. 27, ID No. 5350.

Pit bull terrier mix

This male pit bull terrier mix is in urgent need of a new home. He's been available for adoption since May 11.

He has a short brown coat.

Shelter staff said he does not jump and is very friendly, walking well on a leash, showing no food aggression, and allowing handling of his mouth, ears, paws and tail with no problems. He also enjoys a good tummy rub.

He would do great in a home with no cats.

Shelter staff said he is great with other dogs and would do wonderful with children.

He's in kennel No. 28, ID No. 4850.

Pit bull terrier mix

This female pit bull terrier mix has a short blue and white coat.

She's in kennel No. 29, ID No. 5349.

'Sammy'

'Sammy' is a female pit bull terrier mix.

She has a short brown coat with white markings.

She's in kennel No. 30, ID No. 5214.

Labrador Retriever mix

This male Labrador Retriever mix has short black coat.

He's in kennel No. 31, ID No. 5344.

Labrador Retriever mix

This male Labrador Retriever-shepherd mix has a short all-black coat.

He's in kennel No. 32, ID No. 5158.

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, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 11 a.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.

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.

Save

Save

“I'm obsessed with insects, particularly insect flight. I think the evolution of insect flight is perhaps one of the most important events in the history of life. Without insects, there'd be no flowering plants. Without flowering plants, there would be no clever, fruit-eating primates giving TED Talks.” – Michael Dickinson, UC Berkeley professor and MacArthur Genius Fellow

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – All that you have to do is peer into a clump of grass, a pond, beneath the sand or under a log to become a watchman of our diminutive neighbors, the insects.

It would take a lifetime to become well-acquainted with the habits of any one of them.

Some, like UC Berkeley Professor Michael Dickinson or naturalist Edwin Way Teale have, indeed, devoted much of their lives to bug study.

Teale created his own insect garden to study the little critters, and found that for almost every invention we humans lay claim to, an insect has already “invented” it.

For example, a needle used by a nurse or seamstress is nothing compared to the proboscis of the mosquito.

Other comparisons are found in the protective armor of a beetle, the use of paper can be found in the construction of a paper wasp's home which he builds using plant fibers and his saliva, the ball and socket was once innovative to humans, but was located in the head of an ant or bee to connect its antenna for eons.

The original potters were the mud daubers, insects who construct their homes of mud.

Although, technically, spiders belong to the arachnid family, and are not insects, they, along with insects comprise the biggest animal group on our planet.

Once, I was giving a lesson on weather in my fourth grade class. I gave each student a cricket in a paper bag and we told the air temperature by counting the chirps before we let them go. These little creatures were found to be nature's thermometers by Amos Dolbear around 1897.

The colorful boxelder bugs, just over half an inch long, with dark orange or red wing markings, appeared as if out of nowhere in large numbers recently, mating and sunning themselves before flying off.

Apparently they dine on shrubs and also lay their eggs there, with boxelder trees being their favorite sites for this pursuit.

Caterpillars are especially interesting insects to observe, with their furry thorax and abdomens propelled about by six legs, with short “prolegs” protruding from their small bodies.

Watching the lives of miniature beings is strange and fascinating all at once. Their mysterious lives play out for all to see each and every day.

For more information visit the Entomological Society of America, http://www.entsoc.org/home .

Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also writes for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Mendocino College Lake Center and Lake County Theatre Co. production's of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is now in rehearsal.

The play will be performed in Library Park in Lakeport, on Saturday, July 30 and Sunday, July 31. Entry to the event is free. Reserved seating for both shows will become available soon.

Actors have been practicing their roles in the play, one of Shakespeare’s most popular.
 
Director John Tomlinson, has selected the cast from Lake County’s most prominent and popular actors.

According to Tomlinson, “These are fine actors that will give memorable performances. They are taking to Shakespeare.”
 
As this farcical mixup of lovers opens, Theseus (Charles Berry), Duke of Athens, is preparing for his marriage to Hippolyta (Sharri Moore), queen of the Amazons.

Egeus (Mel O’Meara), an Athenian nobleman, marches into Theseus’ court with his daughter, Hermia (Helen McMahon), and her two suitors, Demetrius (Christopher Griffith) and Lysander (Zachery Kimbell-Auth).

Egeus commands Hermia to marry Demetrius, who actually loves her. But Hermia is in love with Lysander and refuses to comply. Egeus determines to put her in a nunnery or kill her if she does not follow his decision.

Hermia and Lysander plot to elope and tell their plan to Hermia’s friend Helena (Hayley Martin). Helena is in love with Demetrius, so does not want him to marry Hermia.

Helena tells Demetrius of the planned escape, and he strides into the woods intending to break up the rendezvous, followed by the doting Helena.

Will this tangled mess be resolved by a band of fairies and a group of would be thespians that inhabit these strange lands? Much wild merriment follows.
 
The production is sponsored by Friends of Mendocino College, Education Leadership Solutions LLC, Lakeport Main Street Association, Rotary Club of Lakeport, Strong Financial Network, Judy Conard and the Smith Family Trust. Many other sponsors have made contributions to the artistic effort.

To become a sponsor, call C. Richard Smith at 707-533-9230.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Mark your calendar – the Lake County Weed Management Area is hosting its 13th annual “Invasive Weeds Tour” on Thursday, July 28.

The tour is free and the public is welcome and encouraged to attend.

The third week of July is California’s annual “Invasive Weed Awareness Week.” This statewide program is designed to educate citizens about the undesirable effects and impacts of non-native invasive weeds.

Participants will gather at the Anderson Marsh ranch house at 9 a.m., take a leisurely guided walk of about two miles to see the amazingly diverse array of invasive plants that flourish in the park and the effects of control mechanisms such as control burns, and return to the house for lunch and discussion of aquatic invasive weeds under the trees.

Although the event is completely free and all members of the public are invited, reservations are required. Please RSVP with the Lake County Agriculture Department at 707-263-0217 by July 25.

The tour is sponsored by Lake County Department of Agriculture, the Lake County Department of Water Resources and the Lake County Resource Conservation District.

The end-of-tour lunch is free but donations to help offset the cost of lunch and refreshments will be greatly appreciated and cheerfully accepted.

After an extensive review process and passing a major development milestone, NASA is ready to proceed with final design and construction of its next Mars rover, currently targeted to launch in the summer of 2020 and arrive on the Red Planet in February 2021.

The Mars 2020 rover will investigate a region of Mars where the ancient environment may have been favorable for microbial life, probing the Martian rocks for evidence of past life.

Throughout its investigation, it will collect samples of soil and rock and cache them on the surface for potential return to Earth by a future mission.

“The Mars 2020 rover is the first step in a potential multi-mission campaign to return carefully selected and sealed samples of Martian rocks and soil to Earth,” said Geoffrey Yoder, acting associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “This mission marks a significant milestone in NASA’s Journey to Mars – to determine whether life has ever existed on Mars, and to advance our goal of sending humans to the Red Planet.”

To reduce risk and provide cost savings, the 2020 rover will look much like its six-wheeled, one-ton predecessor, Curiosity, but with an array of new science instruments and enhancements to explore Mars as never before.

For example, the rover will conduct the first investigation into the usability and availability of Martian resources, including oxygen, in preparation for human missions.

Mars 2020 will carry an entirely new subsystem to collect and prepare Martian rocks and soil samples that includes a coring drill on its arm and a rack of sample tubes.

About 30 of these sample tubes will be deposited at select locations for return on a potential future sample-retrieval mission. In laboratories on Earth, specimens from Mars could be analyzed for evidence of past life on Mars and possible health hazards for future human missions.

Two science instruments mounted on the rover’s robotic arm will be used to search for signs of past life and determine where to collect samples by analyzing the chemical, mineral, physical and organic characteristics of Martian rocks.

On the rover’s mast, two science instruments will provide high-resolution imaging and three types of spectroscopy for characterizing rocks and soil from a distance, also helping to determine which rock targets to explore up close.

A suite of sensors on the mast and deck will monitor weather conditions and the dust environment, and a ground-penetrating radar will assess sub-surface geologic structure.

The Mars 2020 rover will use the same sky crane landing system as Curiosity, but will have the ability to land in more challenging terrain with two enhancements, making more rugged sites eligible as safe landing candidates.

“By adding what’s known as range trigger, we can specify where we want the parachute to open, not just at what velocity we want it to open,” said Allen Chen, Mars 2020 entry, descent and landing lead at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. “That shrinks our landing area by nearly half.”

Terrain-relative navigation on the new rover will use onboard analysis of downward-looking images taken during descent, matching them to a map that indicates zones designated unsafe for landing.

“As it is descending, the spacecraft can tell whether it is headed for one of the unsafe zones and divert to safe ground nearby,” said Chen. “With this capability, we can now consider landing areas with unsafe zones that previously would have disqualified the whole area. Also, we can land closer to a specific science destination, for less driving after landing.”

There will be a suite of cameras and a microphone that will capture the never-before-seen or heard imagery and sounds of the entry, descent and landing sequence. Information from the descent cameras and microphone will provide valuable data to assist in planning future Mars landings, and make for thrilling video.

“Nobody has ever seen what a parachute looks like as it is opening in the Martian atmosphere,” said JPL's David Gruel, assistant flight system manager for the Mars 2020 mission. “So this will provide valuable engineering information.”

Microphones have flown on previous missions to Mars, including NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander in 2008, but never have actually been used on the surface of the Red Planet.

“This will be a great opportunity for the public to hear the sounds of Mars for the first time, and it could also provide useful engineering information,” said Mars 2020 Deputy Project Manager Matt Wallace of JPL.

Once a mission receives preliminary approval, it must go through four rigorous technical and programmatic reviews – known as Key Decision Points (KDP) – to proceed through the phases of development prior to launch.

Phase A involves concept and requirements definition, Phase B is preliminary design and technology development, Phase C is final design and fabrication, and Phase D is system assembly, testing, and launch. Mars 2020 has just passed its KDP-C milestone.

“Since Mars 2020 is leveraging the design and some spare hardware from Curiosity, a significant amount of the mission's heritage components have already been built during Phases A and B,” said George Tahu, Mars 2020 program executive at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “With the KDP to enter Phase C completed, the project is proceeding with final design and construction of the new systems, as well as the rest of the heritage elements for the mission.”

The Mars 2020 mission is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program. Driven by scientific discovery, the program currently includes two active rovers and three NASA spacecraft orbiting Mars. NASA also plans to launch a stationary Mars lander in 2018, InSight, to study the deep interior of Mars.

JPL manages the Mars 2020 project and the Mars Exploration Program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more information about Mars 2020, visit http://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020 .