“Be patient and attentive while traveling on the roadways this holiday season,” said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow. “People are eager to see friends and loved ones, but it’s important to get to your destination safely.”

The CHP will be keeping a watchful eye on the motoring public as they head out on their road trips during the Thanksgiving Maximum Enforcement Period (MEP), which begins Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 6:01 p.m. and continues through Sunday, Nov. 27 at 11:59 p.m.

This MEP coincides with the “Click It or Ticket” seat belt enforcement campaign which begins tomorrow in California.

“Our goal is to encourage motorists to make safe choices to prevent tragedies,” said Commissioner Farrow.

The CHP reminds all motorists to buckle up, observe the speed limit and not to drink and drive.

During the 2010 Thanksgiving weekend, 21 people were killed in collisions throughout California.

Among the five vehicle occupants killed in CHP jurisdiction, one person was not wearing a seat belt.

It’s also important to remember to designate a non-drinking driver before the celebration begins.

Last year during the Thanksgiving holiday, CHP made 1,546 arrests for driving under the influence, a nearly 6 percent increase from the same time the previous year.

“Whether it’s impaired or distracted driving, speeding because you’re in a hurry or you forget to buckle up, a careless decision made in an instant can hurt a family for a lifetime,” added Farrow.

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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – One of the three men accused of taking part in a June shooting that killed a child and wounded five others has reached a plea agreement with the District Attorney’s Office.

On Friday afternoon, during a hearing to determine trial dates for the three suspects in a fatal June 18 shooting – Kevin Ray Stone, 29, of Clearlake, and Paul William Braden, 21, and Orlando Joseph Lopez, 23 – District Attorney Don Anderson told Judge Stephen Hedstrom that a plea agreement had been reached with Stone.

All three of the men are charged with murder, mayhem, attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and numerous special allegations for the late-night shooting that killed 4-year-old Skyler Rapp, and wounded his mother, Desiree Kirby, her boyfriend, Ross Sparks and his brother, Andrew Sparks; and friends Ian Griffith and Joseph Armijo.

Anderson explained that he would be filing an amended complaint that would allow for Stone to plead to charges of conspiracy to commit a robbery, a special allegation of being armed at the time of the crime and being an accessory after the fact in a homicide.

During a preliminary hearing for the three men held last month, a video was presented of an interview with police in which Stone insisted he had known nothing about plans for a shooting at Kirby and Sparks’ home, and that he had only given Lopez and Braden a ride to the scene. Still other evidence suggested Stone may have taken a weapon with him to the scene.

Based on further investigation, Anderson concluded that Stone’s story checked out, thus the agreement for the pleas.

Hedstrom had been preparing to render a verdict on Anderson’s motion to join all three of the men’s cases in a single trial, as well as motions from the defense attorneys to sever the cases.

The judge was concerned about time constraints, as the trial was set to start on Dec. 7. However, attorneys Doug Rhoades and Stephen Carter – representing Braden and Lopez, respectively – indicated they would waive time constraints in order to give the court additional time to work though the motions.

Rhoades added that he did not want to start the trial on Dec. 7 with the prospect of having the proceedings interrupted by the holidays.

Hedstrom ruled that with all of the defendants in the case facing virtually the same allegations, “A joint trial is basically the rule and a separate trial is the exception.”

Based on the cases, “One trial as to all three in the court’s view would be appropriate,” he said.

While there may be one trial, because there is the possibility of the codefendants submitting testimony that could go against each other, there will be separate juries for each of the men on trial.

Anderson would tell Lake County News after the hearing that no one can remember the last time such a multijury trial was held in the county.

Hedstrom said he had considered how to deal with as many as 45 jurors for the three defendants.

“You can imagine the complications,” he said, with six opening statements and nine final arguments.

However, he said two juries – now the scenario due to Stone’s plea agreement – would be more manageable.

Hedstrom granted Anderson’s consolidation motion and ordered a joint trial for Braden and Lopez, with a jury for each man.

While Anderson and Stone’s attorney, Komnith Moth, were prepared to submit Stone’s plea agreement on Friday, because it was well past 5 p.m. and the documents required corrections, Hedstrom ordered them to come back on Monday, Nov. 21, at 10:30 a.m. in Department One in Lakeport in order to submit the plea.

He also set the trial for Braden and Lopez to being on Jan. 11 in a department yet to be determined.

Anderson said after court that having two juries in the case will save time and allow his office to present the case all at once rather than having to run separate, lengthy trials.

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 Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

Pablo Solorio Nunez, 22, of Mexico, was identified as the fatality in the incident, according to Capt. Kurt Smallcomb.

Nunez was shot by 22-year-old Covelo resident Joey Long early on Thursday morning after Long allegedly found Nunez and another man in his home, as Lake County News has reported.

Long shot Nunez with a .357-caliber handgun, according to Smallcomb. The other man fled in a white car described as a Chevy Cobalt-type sedan.

An autopsy conducted on Friday concluded that Nunez died as the result of a single gunshot wound to the chest, Smallcomb reported.

Authorities believe the two men broke into Long’s home to steal some of the 100 pounds of processed marijuana that was stored there.

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is encouraged to contact the Mendocino County Sheriffs Office at 707-467-9159. Callers can remain anonymous.

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The first Thanksgiving by artist Jean Leon Gerome Ferris. Courtesy of Library of Congress.

Hello, readers! This Thursday is Thanksgiving, and in honor of the holiday, I thought it would be fun to look back on a column I wrote last year at this time about the evolution of the Thanksgiving meal. I enjoyed digging up these facts and learned a lot when I researched it.

Several months after I wrote it, I discovered quite by chance that the column was picked up by a newspaper in Plymouth, Massachusetts, which means what you’re about to read has also been read by those who live near the site of the first Thanksgiving meal.

I’ve kept the recipe I offered last year, a colonial recipe for pumpkin pie, and have added another, my own pumpkin-apple soup. That way you’ll have recipes to open and close your Thanksgiving dinner, should you want to try them.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the column … and most of all, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

In four days, most of us will be celebrating the quintessential American holiday, Thanksgiving. Roasted turkey with stuffing, bowls of sweet and white potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pies will fill our tables.

While we consider this delicious fare traditional for the Thanksgiving feast, the truth is that what we serve on this day has evolved over time. What the Pilgrims and Indians ate in 1621 New England bears little resemblance to what we serve today.

In 1841, more than 200 years after what we now refer to as “the first Thanksgiving,” New England historian Alexander Young discovered a letter from Edward Winslow, one of the original colonists, mentioning the 1621 feast. It was Young that gave that feast the moniker mentioned above.

Winslow describes four hunters killing enough fowl to feed the camp for a week. While turkey was plentiful in North America – and eaten by the colonists and Wampanoag Indians – it’s speculated that the “fowl” mentioned in the letter consisted of seasonal waterfowl such as ducks and geese.

Turkey eventually became the fowl of choice on Thanksgiving menus, but not right away. A menu for a New England Thanksgiving dinner circa 1779 mentions roast turkey, but only as one of the meats offered at the meal, not as the star. Also listed are venison, pork, pigeon, and goose. In contrast, this year more than 240 million turkeys will have been raised as the mainstay of our Thanksgiving dinners.

What about the stuffing? Historians tell us that the practice of stuffing the cavities of fowl and other animals with mixtures of breads, spices, and other items is ancient. Romans and Arabs employed this cooking technique. The terms “stuffing” and “dressing” as they relate to cookery derive from Medieval European culinary practices.

The English settlers and Wampanoag did occasionally stuff birds and fish, but if stuffing was used, it likely consisted of herbs and onions, rather than bread.

Any cranberries served at the harvest celebration were likely only in Wampanoag dishes. They enjoyed them raw or sweetened with maple sugar. It would be 50 years before an Englishman mentioned boiling this New England berry with sugar for a “sauce to be eaten with … meat.” Since sugar was expensive in England in 1621, it’s quite possible that there was not any of this imported sweet in New Plymouth at that time.

Today turkey and cranberries are a much-loved food marriage.

The tradition of serving fruit with meat, particularly citrus fruit with fatty meat, goes back thousands of years, likely originating in the Middle East. Examples are found in many cultures and cuisines. The acid in the fruit cuts the fat in the meat. In the case of lean meats such as turkey and chicken, cranberries add flavor to what is generally considered a bland food.

Other classic meat and fruit combos include pork and applesauce, goose and cherry sauce, fish and lemon and duck l’orange.

It’s hard to imagine Thanksgiving without mashed potatoes, but the original feast didn’t include them. Potatoes, which originated in South America, had made their way across the Atlantic to Europe, but had not been generally adopted into the English diet.

The potato was virtually unknown there in the 17th century. At that point they were not included in the diet of the Wampanoag Indians, either (though they did eat other varieties of local tubers).

Today’s Thanksgiving meals typically include a version of a sweet potato (or yam) dish, but that wouldn’t have been included in the original harvest meal.

The sweet potato, which originated in the Caribbean, had also made its way to Europe, but was rare and available only to the wealthy.

King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain liked them and had them planted in their court gardens. Their nephew, King Henry VII of England, liked them as well, and considered them to be an aphrodisiac.

Yams are native to Africa and are often confused with sweet potatoes. Most sweet potato dishes – pies included – are just as successfully made with yams.

Like the white potato, neither yams nor sweet potatoes were part of the diet of the Wampanoag Indians or, for the most part, the English at the time of the first feast.

Have you ever wondered why marshmallows are so often paired with sweet potatoes on the Thanksgiving table?

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, marshmallows were very trendy. They were mass produced, plentiful, and very inexpensive, and were aggressively marketed by the companies that manufactured them.

The earliest recipes found pairing marshmallows and sweet potatoes date to the 1920s. There were typically casseroles where marshmallows were layered with the potatoes. To a lesser extent, they were also paired with candied yams.

Often signature dishes from the 1920s were very sweet, and some historians speculate that this is a reaction to Prohibition.

Pumpkin, native to the New World, was likely available as part of the harvest feast, but not in the form of pie. It may have been baked, possibly by placing it in the ashes of a dying fire, then mixed with animal fat, maple syrup, or honey, and made into a soup, a common way of using it by American Indians.

As for our beloved Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, recipes for stewed pumpkin tempered with sugar, spices, and cream wrapped in pastry have roots in Medieval times, when similar pies were made with squash and gourds.

Corn was part of the earliest Thanksgiving feast, though it was hard Indian corn, unlike the corn we know today.

American Indians were cooking with corn long before European settlers arrived, and the English colonists learned to grind it for use in breads, pancakes, porridge, and puddings as a substitute for the grains they were used to.

While we don’t know exactly what was served at the first Thanksgiving, historians can be pretty certain about it included at least some of the bounty available to them, such as cultivated parsnips, carrots, collards, turnips, parsley, spinach, cabbage, sage, thyme, onions and marjoram, as well as native cranberries, pumpkin, nuts, grapes, lobster, oysters and other seafood.

In the spirit of the colonial U.S., I’ll leave you with a modern interpretation of Abigail Adams’ Pumpkin Pie, courtesy of “The Thirteen Colonies Cookbook” by Mary Donovan, et al, as well as a more modern recipe, my own “Thanksgiving Pumpkin Soup with Apples and Sage.” Enjoy!

Abigail Adams' Pumpkin Pie

1 1/2 cups pumpkin

3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger root, grated

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup dark rum, or brandy

3 eggs, lightly beaten

Pecans

Whipped cream

10-inch pie shell, unbaked

Mix all ingredients together and our into the prepared pastry shell. Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake for 40 minutes more, or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Garnish with pecans and whipped cream flavored with rum or brandy.

Thanksgiving pumpkin soup with apples

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon butter (unsalted preferred)

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and diced

4 sweet, flavorful apples (such as Fuji), peeled, cored, and diced

2 large garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1 quart vegetable or chicken broth

1 large (29 ounce) can pure pumpkin

1 cup apple juice (unfiltered preferred)

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon nutmeg

½ cup half and half

Heat olive oil and melt butter in a Dutch oven or large stockpot.

Add onions and apples and cook over medium heat until tender and caramelized to a golden brown color, about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring to prevent burning.

Add garlic and cook a minute longer, stirring to prevent burning.

Add about a cup of broth to deglaze pot, stirring to pick up caramelized bits of apple and onion. Add the rest of the broth and the pumpkin and stir to combine.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring to prevent burning. Remove from heat.

Puree the soup in batches in a blender until smooth, being sure not to overfill blender. (Note: Be sure blender lid is sealed well and hold it tight with a towel when blending soup. Hot liquids in a blender can cause the lid to blow off.)

Return soup to pot over low heat to keep warm. Add apple juice, nutmeg, and salt and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary.

Just before serving, add half and half and stir to combine.

This makes over two quarts of soup, plenty for six to eight servings.

Recipe by Esther Oertel.

Esther Oertel, the “Veggie Girl,” is a culinary coach and educator and is passionate about local produce. Oertel gives private cooking lessons. She welcomes your questions and comments; e-mail her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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The nonprofit organization reported that it served 35,000 people in Northern California counties through 22 programs – including food distribution – last year, and has offices Santa Rosa, Napa and Middletown.

Questions about the program arose earlier this week when it was announced that, due to budget cuts, the regional director position at the Middletown office was eliminated. The job had been held by Hedy Montoya.

In the wake of that important layoff, there were concerns that the office at 21085 Bush St. in Middletown – where the office had moved earlier this year – might close.

However, on Friday, in response to questions from Lake County News, Catholic Charities Executive Director Chuck Fernandez issued an “unequivocal” statement that the organization has no intention of closing its Middletown office.

“We are not closing this office and did not intend to do so,” he said. “We will continue to distribute food in Kelseyville and Middletown with the help of volunteers.”

While affirming that the agency has had some layoffs due to budget constraints, he reinforced that the Rural Food Program will continue to collect, buy and distribute food to feed people in need in Lake County.

“The program has always operated primarily on volunteer energy and community donations,” Fernandez said. “We still need the charitable donations of time and funds from people in Lake who want to help their neighbors in need. They will still see our Rural Food truck come over the mountain with food resources twice each month to distribute in Kelseyville and Middletown.”

Catholic Charities’ Rural Food distributions take place from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at 21085 Bush St. in Middletown, on the third Wednesday of every month, and from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Glebe Hall at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Kelseyville, 4085 Main St., on the fourth Monday of every month. The November Kelseyville distribution will take place on Monday, Nov. 21, due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

For information about the program call Linda at 707-528-8712, Extension 103.

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LUCERNE, Calif. – Times may be tough, but amidst all of the dire news there are many positive things happening in the community, according to local leaders who spoke at a Thursday afternoon town hall.

District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing hosted the meeting, one of many such town halls she hosts annually.

Previous town halls have been held at the Lucerne Senior Center, but Thursday’s event was held at the Lucerne Hotel, purchased last year by the Lake County Redevelopment Agency.

About 75 people – more than had been expected – attended the meeting in the building’s dining room, overlooking the lake. After the hour-and-a-half-long meeting, Deputy Redevelopment Director Eric Seely led a number of community members on a tour of the building.

The building itself has become a symbol for community building and, in some cases, rebuilding.

A 1920s project that was completed on the cusp of the Great Depression, “the Castle” had passed through numerous hands and uses before its 2010 purchase.

Rushing told the group, “This building needed to be saved and it had one last shot.”

It also was a chance to save Lucerne, which was built around the hotel.

In addition to the hotel, there are many other projects under way in the Northshore town that are positive, community members heard Thursday.

“There’s so many things happening, and it's a real celebration of Lake County,” said Rushing, explaining that despite the difficult times, “There’s so much promise.”

Rushing pointed to the Konocti Regional Trails system, the food system that has developed in Lake County and the fact that the county is a net energy generator.

County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox updated the group on his activities, including responding to congressional redistricting plans, focusing on the county budget – which is structurally sound with no general fund debt – and the new county economic development and marketing plan.

Cox said he thinks he’ll be retiring before going through the next budget cycle, but noted that the Lucerne Hotel means a lot to him and he plans to be the county’s No. 1 volunteer after retirement.

He also pointed out that the county purchased the hotel building for cash.

Lake Transit Agency Manager Mark Wall was on hand to give an update on increases in ridership, new bus shelters and benches, proposed changes to routes and new fee increases that will go up in 2012.

Seely told the group that the future has been uncertain regarding redevelopment, with a California Supreme Court ruling expected in mid-January in a suit over new legislation that would eliminate agencies or require them to make payments to the state.

The county redevelopment agency is working on a partnership with Southern California-based Marymount College, which is looking at locating a campus at the Lucerne Hotel. Cox said that if the partnership is finalized, it’s anticipated that the educational facility would be open by 2013’s fall semester.

Cox said he was more optimistic than Seely that redevelopment would continue in some form, adding that he believes reforms are necessary.

“There are places where it does work,” he said of redevelopment.

Cox said he thinks the Lucerne Hotel is key to the town. “I’m very optimistic about Lucerne,” which he said has a lot of potential.

He added, “With or without redevelopment we'll make things happen.”

Rushing asked everyone how they felt about being a college town, and the room applauded.

“I think we can turn our economy around and everyone gets to benefit,” Rushing said.

The town hall also included updates on the new Mental Health administration building, with architecture resembling the Lucerne Hotel’s, being built on 13th Avenue. Forty staffers are expected to be located there once the building opens in January 2012.

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 Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

How can a world without air have an ionosphere? Somehow the Moon has done it.

Lunar researchers have been struggling with the mystery for years, and they may have finally found a solution.

But first, what is an ionosphere?

Every terrestrial planet with an atmosphere has one. High above the planet’s rocky surface where the atmosphere meets the vacuum of space, ultraviolet rays from the sun break apart atoms of air. This creates a layer of ionized gas – an “ionosphere.”

Here on Earth, the ionosphere has a big impact on communications and navigation.

For instance, it reflects radio waves, allowing shortwave radio operators to bounce transmissions over the horizon for long-range communications.

The ionosphere also bends and scatters signals from GPS satellites, sometimes causing your GPS tracker to misread your position.

The first convincing evidence for an ionosphere around the Moon came in the 1970s from the Soviet probes Luna 19 and 22.

Circling the Moon at close range, the orbiters sensed a layer of charged material extending a few tens of kilometers above the lunar surface containing as many as 1,000 electrons per cubic centimeter – a thousand times more than any theory could explain.

Radio astronomers also found hints of the lunar ionosphere when distant radio sources passed behind the Moon’s limb.

The idea of an “airless Moon” having an ionosphere didn't make much sense, but the evidence seemed compelling.

As a matter of fact, the Moon isn't quite as airless as most people think.

Small amounts of gas created by radioactive decay seep out of the lunar interior; meteoroids and the solar wind also blast atoms off the Moon's surface.

The resulting shroud of gas is so thin, however, that many researchers refuse to call it an atmosphere, preferring instead the term “exosphere.”

The density of the lunar exosphere is about a hundred million billion times less than that of air on Earth – not enough to support an ionosphere as dense as the ones the Luna probes sensed.

For 40 years, the Moon's ionosphere remained a mystery until Tim Stubbs of the Goddard Space Flight Center published a possible solution earlier this year.

The answer, he proposes, is moondust.

Stubbs – a 30-something scientist who wasn't even born when the Moon's ionosphere was discovered – read the accounts of Apollo 15 astronauts who reported seeing a strange glow over the Moon’s horizon. Many researchers believe the astronauts were seeing moondust.

The Moon is an extremely dusty place, naturally surrounded by a swarm of dust grains – think PigPen in Charlie Brown.

When these floating grains catch the light of the rising or setting sun, they create a glow along the horizon.

Stubbs and colleagues realized that floating dust could provide the answer. Ultraviolet rays from the sun hit the grains and ionize them.

According to their calculations, this process produces enough charge – positive grains surrounded by negative electrons – to create the observed ionosphere.

An ionosphere made of dust instead of gas is new to planetary science. No one knows how it will behave at different times of night and day or at different phases of the solar cycle, or how it might affect future radio communications and navigation on the Moon.

NASA's ARTEMIS probes, orbiting the Moon now, and the LADEE spacecraft, scheduled to launch in 2013 specifically for the purpose of studying the lunar exosphere, may yet reveal its habits.

Updates may be expected in less than 40 years.

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The Click It or Ticket seat belt enforcement campaign is running through Sunday, Nov. 27.

During this time, law enforcement throughout the state actively look for drivers and passengers who are unbuckled.

Getting in your car and putting on your seat belt should be second nature, whether you are a driver or a passenger, according to the CHP. Take a second of your time and always buckle up before heading out on the highway.

Click It or Ticket has a successful track record since its inception in 2005; the CHP reported that California’s seat belt usage rate has increased from a 90.4 percent in 2001 to a record-high, 96.02 percent in 2010.

This increase represents more than 1.25 million more vehicle occupants who buckle up, the CHP said.

“It’s encouraging to see seat belt usage is up and fatalities are at a record-low in California,” said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow. “Through this heightened statewide enforcement effort our goal is to further increase seat belt and child passenger safety seat use, and continue to save lives.”

According to the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, in 2009 there were 544 vehicle passengers killed who were not wearing a seat belt or using a child safety seat; more than 9,400 others were injured under similar circumstances.

Last year, CHP officers issued more than 155,000 citations to drivers and or passengers who failed to buckle up.

The minimum cost of an adult seat belt violation in California is $142, and up to $445 for not properly restraining a child under 16 years of age. If the parent is not in the car, the driver is issued the ticket.

“We would prefer not to write the ticket,” added Commissioner Farrow. “I’d like to see everyone make safe choices and eliminate preventable tragedies on our roadways.”

Click It or Ticket is a cooperative effort among the five traffic safety-related departments under the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency: CHP, Office of Traffic Safety, Department of Transportation, Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and the Department of Motor Vehicles.

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Josue Fabian Valencia, 21, of Lower Lake, and Clearlake residents Leopoldo Bravo of Clearlake, 18, and 19-year-old Ivan Rodriguez were arrested in the case, according to gt. Rodd Joseph.

Joseph reported that on Wednesday shortly after 12:30 p.m. Clearlake Police Department dispatch received a call about a possible pending fight at Redbud Park. The witness stated she had overheard two groups of people arguing at the Tower Mart in Lower Lake and during the argument, the groups agreed to meet at Redbud Park in the city of Clearlake to fight.

The witness described one of the groups as three Hispanic male adults in a black midsized car, Joseph said. The other group was described as a group of black males however, no vehicle description for this group was given to police dispatch.

Joseph said a Clearlake Police sergeant responded to Redbud Park within three minutes of the call, locating at the scene a black midsized car driving through the parking lot containing three Hispanic male adults. The sergeant recognized one of the vehicle occupants as a known and documented Clearlake Sureño gang member.

The sergeant followed the car onto Lakeshore Drive, where it quickly pulled into the gas station pumps at Notts Liquors at 14772 Lakeshore Drive. Joseph said the sergeant lost sight of the vehicle and occupants for less than a minute, and then observed the vehicle park in the rear of the lot near the self service car wash.

He said the sergeant watched the three occupants exit the vehicle and begin cleaning the inside of the car. The sergeant continued the observation for a few more minutes, not yet knowing whether the subjects were the ones reported to police.

While the officer watched the group, a witness approached him and advised that she had just seen the three occupants in possession of a shotgun while the vehicle was parked at the gas pumps a few minutes earlier, Joseph said.

When the group of subjects began to separate, the officer – who was by himself – engaged the three subjects with his handgun and held the three at gunpoint until other officers arrived to assist. Joseph said the three subjects were detained in handcuffs without further incident, and all were determined to be documented Sureño gang members with ties to the Angelino Heights Sureño criminal street gang.

A loaded 12-gauge shotgun was found to have been discarded in a trash can next to the gas pumps. Joseph said several 12-gauge shotgun rounds were located in and around the weapon, and additional rounds also were located in the parking lot of Howard’s Grotto. No weapons were found in the vehicle.

During the investigation it was determined that this group of Sureño gang members were involved in a confrontation with a group of black male subjects at the Lower Lake Tower Mart. Joseph said both groups made threats to each other and agreed to meet at Redbud Park to possibly engage in a gun battle.

While the three Sureños were driving to Redbud Park, the rear passenger loaded his 12-gauge shotgun, which was on his lap. Joseph said the suspects drove into the parking lot of Redbud Park with the intent to shoot the other suspects.

When the suspects spotted the lone police officer in the park, they fled in an attempt to discard the gun as the gun was still on the rear passenger’s lap, Joseph said. They dumped the gun into the trash can at Notts Liquors when they no longer saw the police officer behind them.

Joseph said they also threw several 12-gauge rounds into the parking lot of Howard’s Grotto in an attempt to conceal them from police. All three suspects were arrested for several weapon charges.

Text messages on one of the suspect’s cellular phones showed that other Sureño gang members were trying to get a hold of another firearm possibly located at one of the arrested Sureño gang member’s Lower Lake residence, Joseph said.

Clearlake police officers and detectives later searched the suspect’s Lower Lake home, however, no other firearms were located. Joseph said it is believed that this second firearm had been removed from the home prior to the search by police and is still outstanding.

Valencia, the vehicle’s driver, was charged with a misdemeanor count of driving without a license, and felony charges of possession of a firearm while a member of a criminal street gang, participating in a criminal street gang, possession of a firearm while attempting to commit a street gang crime, possession of a firearm while attempting to commit a felony, armed criminal action and conspiracy. He also is being held on a no-bail immigration hold.

Bravo was charged with felonies including possession of a firearm with a member of a criminal street gang, participating in a criminal street gang, possession of a firearm while attempting to commit a street gang crime, possession of a firearm while attempting to commit a felony, armed criminal action and conspiracy.

The rear passenger of the vehicle, Rodriguez, was charged with felony possession of a firearm while a member of a criminal street gang, participating in a criminal street gang, possession of a firearm while attempting to commit a street gang crime, possession of a firearm while attempting to commit a felony, armed criminal action and conspiracy, ineligible possession of a firearm and ineligible possession of ammunition.

Officers obtained bail increases for all three suspects totaling $250,000 each. Joseph said the black male subjects possibly involved in the altercation have not yet been identified.

Joseph said the Clearlake Police Department thanked the courageous witnesses who came forward with information which led to the arrest of these three violent gang members and contributed to the possible prevention of further violence in this case.

The Clearlake Police Department is working to rid the city of gang violence and continued gang violence will be sought and prosecuted, Joseph said.

Any person with information about this investigation, or any other crime occurring in the city of Clearlake is asked to contact the Clearlake Police Department at 707-994-8251. Callers may remain anonymous.

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Sutter Lakeside Hospital and Sutter Health have given a total of $10,000 to the Lakeport Free Kitchen and the Hunger Task Force of Lake County, Calif. Courtesy photo.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Sutter Lakeside Hospital and Sutter Health have donated $5,000 to the Lakeport Free Kitchen and $5,000 to the Hunger Task Force of Lake County.

The funds are a portion of a $250,000 donation by the Sutter Health network to 29 food banks throughout Northern California, which will help provide more than a million healthy meals to families in need.

Food banks say that monetary donations help maximize the amount of food available for the hungry – in many instances, a $1 donation can translate to over $5 worth of distributed food.

“Many of our patients and neighbors are still struggling to afford healthy, regular meals,” says Pat Fry, president and chief executive officer of Sutter Health. “We hope that by supporting our local food banks we can provide some comfort this holiday season.”

Fry added, “We recognize that health care extends beyond the walls of our care centers. Wellness begins in our communities with a healthy meal on the kitchen table.”

The Sutter Health network of care has donated $762,500 over the past three years to food banks in local communities.

The donations are provided on behalf of the health care network’s 48,000 employees, physicians, staff and volunteers as an extension of Sutter’s not-for-profit mission.

In addition to ongoing community commitments, last year, Sutter Health’s investment in care and services for the poor and underserved and benefits for the broader community amounted to $751 million.

In 2010 alone, Sutter Lakeside Hospital’s community benefit programs provided more than $8.1 million in charity care to patients and helped fund programs that address health access issues and overall health improvement in the broader community.

If you would like to make a donation or volunteer to help distribute food, please call Mel and Lynn Goos with the Lakeport Free Kitchen at 707-263-0993 or Lorrie Gray with the Hunger Task Force at 707-277-9227.

Sutter Lakeside Hospital is a community based, not-for-profit hospital serving the health care needs of Lake County residents and its surrounding communities. For more information visit www.sutterlakeside.org.

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The quake, measuring 3.0 in magnitude on the Richter scale, occurred at 2:59 a.m., according to the US Geological Survey.

It was centered three miles northwest of The Geysers, seven miles west of Cobb and nine miles east northeast of Cloverdale, at a depth of 1.7 miles, the survey reported.

The US Geological Survey received eight shake reports from seven zip codes – Clearlake Oaks, San Ramon, Oakland, Cloverdale and Redwood Valley, Campbell and Morgan Hill.

A 3.0-magnitude was most recently reported in the Cobb area on Nov. 8, two miles northeast of The Geysers, as Lake County News has reported.

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“The geothermal energy produced in California’s counties is not only good for our environment, it reduces our dependence on foreign oil and helps our economy by spurring green job creation,” said Thompson, who represents Lake County in the US House of Representatives.

“The best way to reduce the deficit is by creating jobs because more jobs means greater revenues and less need for government assistance,” he added. “If a community invests in developing geothermal energy they deserve to get their fair share in returns. I am strongly against cutting counties’ share of geothermal revenue because that means cutting jobs, crippling future green job growth, and stifling our economic recovery – all of which will only make our deficit larger.”

Members joining in the call to preserve geothermal energy revenue sharing include Representatives Mark Amodei (R-Carson City, NV), Lynn Woolsey (D-Petaluma), Shelley Berkley (D-Las Vegas), and Bob Filner (D-San Diego). The Representatives joined in the call to promote energy independence and preserve this vital source of revenue for the counties that produce geothermal energy.

“Geothermal energy is a crucial clean resource for creating jobs and securing our energy independence,” said Garamendi. “It is in our economic and national security interests to make our energy in America, which is why it’s critical for the federal government to continue cultivating an environment for geothermal development.”

Garamendi continued, “Communities that bear the burden of geothermal development deserve a fair share of its revenue. I strongly oppose any attempt to deprive these counties of funds for essential local services, including education and public safety.”

"Geothermal royalties are extremely important to Lake County and it is absolutely essential that the federal government continue allocating a portion of these revenues to counties in order to help mitigate the local impacts of geothermal development,” said Lake County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox.

“Congressman Thompson's leadership on this issue has been outstanding,” Cox continued. “He and Congressman Garamendi completely understand why it would be wrong to take these revenues away from counties. Their continuing efforts to protect our community's interests are very much appreciated.”

"Geothermal energy brings jobs and growth to Nevada with 20 plants in operation providing clean, reliable electrical capacity to the grid and significant additional capacity under development," said Congressman Amodei. "Given the important role of the counties in the development of this domestic energy source, it's only proper that they should share in the revenue of the federal receipts."

“These geothermal receipts provide an important source of income for Imperial County, in my district. By promoting geothermal development and investing in renewable energy, we can create jobs for Americans!” said Congressman Filner.

“Geothermal not only provides vital clean energy to power homes and businesses, it also creates good jobs in Nevada and I strongly support the continued expansion of this industry,” said Congresswoman Shelley Berkley. “At a time when counties in my home state are struggling to fund schools, public safety and other essential services for families, we must protect revenues from geothermal production that are now shared with local communities.”

She added, “Repealing the provision that provides these critical local dollars from geothermal royalties will only hurt county governments – whether in Nevada or other states – by limiting the resources they have available for economic development to create more jobs and to provide for the needs of those who call the towns and cities in these areas home.”

“Geothermal energy is exactly the kind of renewable resource we should be investing in to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and point the way toward a sustainable future,” Congresswoman Woolsey said. “I join my colleagues in urging the Super Committee to preserve these subsidies, which support green jobs and help localities continue delivering vital services.”

The letter can be seen below.

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111711 Members of Congress Geothermal Letter