LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Eight local students who have been selected for a Lake County Farm Bureau scholarship will be honored at Celebration 2017: Annual Meeting and Love of the Land Dinner on June 29 th at the Cole Creek Equestrian Center.

The LCFB scholarship is awarded to students who are pursuing an agricultural field and is based on academic merit, extra-curricular activities and a demonstrated interest in agriculture.

These eight students are:

• Blair Brookes of Kelseyville, who is attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a major in agribusiness;

• Megan Franco of Upper Lake, who will pursue an agricultural degree at University of California, Davis;

• Hailey Finch of Kelseyville, who will study animal science at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo;

• Wyatt Jones of Middletown, who is an ag engineering major at Reedley College;

• Riley Goff of Kelseyville, who will study business at Sonoma State;

• Victor Cacho of Kelseyville, who will attend Sacramento State;

• Kyle Ellis of Lower Lake, who will attend Santa Rosa Junior College; and

• Carli Mendonca of Kelseyville, who will attend Butte Junior College in the fall.

These eight students will be awarded a total of $5750 in scholarship money.

The Lake County Farm Bureau provided $5,250 that was raised at Celebration 2016.

Broc and Sharron Zoller of The Pear Doctor in Kelseyville generously donated an additional $500 to the 2017 Scholarship Program.

The Lake County Farm Bureau raises money for its scholarship program during the annual meeting dessert auction which is now in its sixth year.

Scholarship recipients are honored at the annual meeting and usually assist in the dessert auction activities. LCFB also hosts a raffle which benefits scholarships and other youth programs.

Celebration 2017 will be on June 29 at 5:30 p.m. at the Cole Creek Equestrian Center in Kelseyville.

There will be a wine social hosted by the Lake County Winery Association and a delicious barbecue dinner provided by and benefiting the Kelseyville FFA program.

Dinner will be concluded with a brief meeting of the members, announcement of the scholarship winners and the dessert auction.

The annual meeting celebrates Lake County’s agricultural community and supports the next generation of farmers, ranchers and agricultural professionals.

If you are interested in purchasing tickets for Celebration 2017 please contact Executive Director Brenna Sullivan at 707-263-0911.

Tickets are $35 if purchased before June 22.

The Lake County Farm Bureau is Lake County’s largest farm organization, representing more than 500 farm families and individual members.

It strives to protect and promote farming throughout Lake County and to find solutions to challenges on the farm and throughout the rural community.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – After a successful debut last year, Shakespeare at the Lake will return with another summertime production, this time presenting “Much Ado about Nothing.”

Mendocino College faculty members and Director John Tomlinson – who led last summer’s staging of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” – said the next production will take place July 29 and 30, also in Library Park.

Mendocino College and the Lake County Theatre Co., with special sponsorship of the city of Lakeport, are excited to bring to the community this tale of love and betrayal, all with the beautiful scenic backdrop of Clear Lake and Mt. Konocti on the peaceful lawns of Library Park.

This is one of Shakespeare's most witty and fun plays, as Benedick and Beatrice battle each other and the audience wins.

Tomlinson is now issuing the call for actors, with all roles open.

Auditions will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 6, and Thursday, June 8, and 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 10, at the Mendocino College Lake Center, 2565 Parallel Drive in Lakeport.

Materials will be available at the time of audition and will consist of reading a short rendering from the play.

Actors will be required to enroll in Mendocino College Summer Course. Some scholarships will be available for cast members. College credit will be awarded upon successful completion of the course.

For more information call Tomlinson at 707-355-2211 or visit the Mendocino College Presents Shakespeare at the Lake Facebook page.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Chapter of California Women for Agriculture has opened applications for its 2017 AgVenture class.
 
AgVenture is an innovative concept in agricultural education designed for nonfarming community leaders who wish to understand the vital role that local agriculture plays in Lake County’s economy. 
 
Class members gain a broad knowledge about agriculture and more specifically about the heritage, culture, economy and business of Lake County agriculture. 
 
AgVenture sessions cover topics including labor, history, marketing, water and land use, agrotourism and sustainability.
 
The 2017 session will consist of four day-long seminars that are arranged around the harvest times of Lake County’s top agricultural products.
 
The 2017 sessions are scheduled for Aug. 11, Sept. 15, Oct. 13 and Nov. 3.
 
The first session focuses on the pear industry; the second session looks at the winegrape industry; the third concentrates on walnuts; and the last session spotlights olives and labor.
 
Participants will meet speakers from all aspects of the agricultural industry, participate in farm tours and sample products grown by farmers in Lake County.
 
The program is open to 12 participants annually. Past graduates of the AgVenture program include elected officials, educators, media staff, Realtors, county department staff and community leaders.
 
Applications to participate in this year’s program are due by June 1 and are available by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by download off the Lake County Chapter of California Women for Agriculture Web site at http://www.lakecountycwa.org/ .
 
Applications can be returned by mail to Lake County Chapter of California Women for Agriculture AgVenture, P.O. Box 279, Finley, CA 95435
 
The AgVenture program Steering Committee members are Annette Hopkins, Paula Bryant, Toni Scully, Diane Henderson, Terry Dereniuk, Debra Sommerfield and Brenna Sullivan. They are all members of the Lake County Chapter of the California Women for Agriculture.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The man who converted and operated the Oakland warehouse known as the “Ghost Ship” that burned in December 2016, claiming the lives of 36 people, was arrested in Lake County on Monday and made a court appearance later in the day.
 
Derick Ion Almena, 47, who founded the Ghost Ship collective and held a lease for the warehouse, was taken into custody on a felony $1 million arrest warrant at around 9 a.m. on Monday, according to Lake County Jail booking records.
 
Almena's booking sheet lists him as a set designer and stage builder, and gives his address as Upper Lake.
 
Sheriff Brian Martin told Lake County News that his agency picked up Almena as a courtesy on the Alameda County District Attorney's arrest warrant.
 
Martin confirmed that Almena has recently been staying in Lake County.
 
Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley announced on Monday morning that she had filed felony charges against Almena and another man, Max Harris – a Ghost Ship tenant arrested the same day in Southern California – for the deadly “Ghost Ship” fire on Dec. 2, 2016.
 
The warehouse had been an unpermitted living and work space subleased to many artists and also was a concert venue when it was destroyed in the fire, authorities said.
 
Both Almena and Harris are charged with 36 counts of of involuntary manslaughter – a count each for the 36 people who died in the fire, O'Malley's office said.
 
“We continue to mourn the loss of 36 young and vibrant men and women, 36 members of our community who should be with us today,” said O’Malley. “Defendants Almena and Harris knowingly created a fire trap with inadequate means of escape, filled it with human beings, and are now facing the consequences of their deadly actions.”
 
On Monday afternoon, Almena appeared in Lake County Superior Court before Judge Stephen Hedstrom.
 
Almena, who was brought into the courtroom shortly after 3 p.m. wearing a green and white jumpsuit, was seated in the jury box.
 
Sterling Thayer, a defense attorney with the county’s indigent defense contract, was on hand to advise him of his rights.
 
Hedstrom appeared in court about 40 minutes after Almena was first brought in, apologizing for the delay and explaining he had only just found out he would be handling the appearances of Almena and about four other inmates in the courtroom and had needed to review their files.
 
Taking Almena’s case first, Hedstrom explained that Almena had been taken into custody on an arrest warrant issued by the Alameda County Superior Court.
 
Hedstrom told Almena he was charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter, with his bail set at approximately $1,080,000 by an Alameda County judge.
 
During the brief court appearance, Hedstrom went on to explain to Almena that Alameda County authorities should have been notified of his arrest.
 
The law enforcement agency handling his case, Hedstrom added, has five days from the time of that notice of Almena’s arrest to come and take custody of him.
 
With Almena having no cases pending in Lake County, Hedstrom said there are no holds that would prevent him from being released back to Alameda County.
 
When Hedstrom asked Almena if he had any questions, Almena said no.
 
Once the matter concluded, bailiffs immediately took Almena from the courtroom.
 
O'Malley said her office launched the criminal investigation within hours of the fire, “and we have worked steadily for the past six months to ensure that those responsible for these deaths are brought to justice.”
 
Alameda County's investigative team consisted of two attorneys, three district attorney inspectors, and multiple victim-witness advocates, which conducted in excess of 75 individual witness interviews, executed more than 12 search warrants, reviewed more than 6,000 thousand pages of investigative reports, and examined and cataloged over 300 individual pieces of physical evidence.
 
O'Malley said her team – which worked with multiple other agencies, including the Oakland Fire Department, the Oakland Police Department, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms – met regularly to analyze the case.
 
She said that, to prosecute a manslaughter case based on criminal negligence, she must be satisfied “that any defendant acted with gross or reckless conduct akin to a disregard for human life, and that the deadly consequences of those actions were reasonably foreseeable,” according to her Monday statement.
 
O’Malley’s office concluded that the actions of Almena and Harris were reckless, creating a high risk of death, and were the proximate cause of the death of the 36 individuals trapped inside the warehouse when the fire started.
 
The case's declaration of probable cause stated that Almena and Harris acted knowingly and with disregard by allowing individuals to live in the warehouse while deceiving the police, fire department and owners about that fact; allowed large groups to assemble in the warehouse for musical events in the space and on the night of the fire they actually blocked one of two means of egress; conducted unpermitted and uninspected construction, including electrical work; and allowed the floor to ceiling storage of large quantities of highly flammable materials that created a deadly and dangerous space.
 
O'Malley said both men will be arraigned once they return to Alameda County.
 
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.

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LAKEPORT, Calif. – A Middletown man who was arrested for shooting his daughter to death made his first court appearance in the case on Friday.

Steven Russell Miller, 39, is charged with killing his daughter, 20-year-old Hannah Welch, on Tuesday night.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff said Miller was arraigned in Lake County Superior Court in Lakeport on Friday.

Hinchcliff has charged Miller with murder and use and discharge of a gun causing great bodily injury in the killing of his daughter, and brandishing a firearm at his mother, who was the witness and the reporting party in the case.

At the Friday arraignment, Hinchcliff said Miller’s bail was raised from the original $1 million to $2 million.

Andrea Sullivan, one of the partners in the firm that now heads up the county’s indigent defense contract, was assigned to represent Miller, Hinchcliff said.

Hinchcliff said Miller is scheduled to return to court on Tuesday, June 6, for appearance of counsel and entry of plea.

At this early stage in the case, investigators are still working to find out key aspects of the shooting, including the motive, Hinchcliff said.

The shooting occurred at a home in the 18000 block of Spyglass Road in Hidden Valley Lake where Miller was reported to live, according to Lt. Corey Paulich of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Paulich said sheriff’s deputies had responded to that address on three prior occasions – in 2007, 2008 and in 2009 – because of reported problems with Miller.

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.