CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – Clearlake Oaks’ annual Catfish Derby wrapped up on Sunday, with this year’s event drawing more competitors than ever before and showcasing the talent of young competitors.

The Clearlake Oaks-Glenhaven Business Association hosts the derby, the largest catfish tournament west of the Mississippi.

The event drew another record turnout, with 895 adults and 137 children competition, according to Dennis Locke, a member of the organizing team.

Locke said 62 percent of the entries were from outside of Lake County, including visitors from all over California, as well as from Georgia, Florida, Illinois, Texas, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Hawaii and Oregon.

“Weather and lake conditions couldn’t have been better, with warm temperatures and calm winds throughout the derby,” said Locke. “Fishing was generally slower than usual, with only 97 fish weighed, half the number seen in most years.”

The adult division was won by 11-year-old Tanner Castillo from Sutter, with a fish weighing 28.81 pounds. Tanner was awarded $4,000 cash and received a trophy as the adult division winner, Locke said.

Locke said Tanner was fishing in the adult division, which children are allowed to do under the derby rules if they pay the adult division entry fee.

While it’s not unusual for children to be fishing in the adult division in the derby – Locke said they usually have four to five young competitors fishing with the adults each year – this is the first time a child has won a major prize.

Tanner’s father Derek, who placed 14th in the adult division, said that the prize money will be applied to Tanner’s college fund, according to Locke’s report.

In the two divisions for children, girls topped the fields.

The kids division for ages 11 to 15 years was won by Ivy Bain from Gerber, with a fish weighing 17.76 pounds. Locke said Ivy received a $100 cash prize and a fishing rod donated by Warrior Cat Rods.

The kids division for ages to 10 years was won by Kaia Calhoun from Kelseyville. Kaia received a $100 cash prize and a fishing from donated by Warrior Cat Rods, Locke said.

Locke said more than 60 volunteers led by derby chairperson Gail Jonas worked more than 700 hours during the four days of the derby.

The catfish derby is the major fundraiser for the Clearlake Oaks-Glenhaven Business Association.

All proceeds are put to work in the community in the form of donations, scholarships, grants and funding for the July 4th Maxine Sherman Memorial Annual Fireworks display.

For more information about the organization visit http://www.clearlakeoaks.org .

Full results are published below.

Adult division

1. Tanner Castillo, Sutter, May 21, 7:50 a.m., 28.81 pounds

2. Victor Rojas, Stockton, May 19, 11:02 p.m., 26.76 pounds.

3. Garin Brown, Sacramento, May 19, 1:33 p.m., 23.92 pounds.

4. Zack Becker, Rio Linda, May 20, 7:28 a.m., 23.76 pounds.

5. Keith Foy, Clearlake, May 20, 11:18 a.m., 23.44 pounds.

6. Steven Kohn, Sacramento, May 19, 4:41 p.m., 22.77 pounds.

7. Eric Mecum, Sacramento, May 20, 3:26 p.m., 22.62 pounds.

8. Steven Gordon, Gilroy, May 19, 7:34 p.m., 22.36 pounds.

9. Bryan van Lingon, Lucerne, May 21, 9:51 a.m., 21.87 pounds.

10. Jack Scott, Gerber, May 19, 4:57 p.m., 20.85 pounds.

11. Sergio Rodriquez, Merced, May 21, 6:38 a.m., 20.81 pounds.

12. Lance Collard, Lakeport, May 20, 9:28 a.m., 20.51 pounds.

13. Arlie Lane, Hood River, May 21, 7:36 a.m., 20.39 pounds.

14. Derek Castillo, Sutter, May 21, 7:58 a.m., 20.34 pounds.

15. Donald Manion, Laytonville, May 19, 3:49 p.m., 20.28 pounds.

16. Steve Huffacker, Camptonville, May 19, 5:32 p.m., 19.90 pounds.

17. Donald Hall Jr., San Jose, May 20, 9:10 p.m., 19.87 pounds.

18. Mikel Tome, Sacramento, May 19, 4:21 p.m., 19.85 pounds.

19. Ritchie O'Brien, Rocklin, May 20, 2:51 p.m., 19.66 pounds.

20. Ethan Hansard, Orangevale, May 21, 7:44 a.m., 19.63 pounds.

Children – Up to 10 years of age

1. Kaia Calhoun, Kelseyville, May 19, 7:36 p.m., 16.92 pounds.

2. Andre Zhdanov, Sacramento, May 21, 6:39 a.m., 15.82 pounds.

3. Corvin Beckett, Pollack Pines, May 20, 1:36 p.m., 15.31 pounds.

4. Wyatt Bain, Gerber, May 20, 2:47 p.m., 12.78 pounds.

5. Arturo Gudino, Clearlake, May 20, 9:50 p.m., 4.81 pounds.

Children – 11 to 15 years of age

1. Ivy Bain, Gerber, May 21, 11:38 a.m., 17.76 pounds.

2. Pierce Linville, Willits, May 21, 10:56 a.m., 17.08 pounds.

3. Justin Gentle, Kelseyville, May 21, 7:36 a.m., 16.62 pounds.

4. Cody Redmond, Browns Valley, May 19, 7:40 p.m., 15.23 pounds.

5. Maurtell Williams, Antioch, May 21, 10:41 a.m., 12.58 pounds.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – April home sales in Lake County in April showed gains in terms of volume and price, according to a new report.

The Lake County Association of Realtors, or LCAOR, reported that the median sales price and the number of sales in April exceeded the March sales numbers.

The April median sales price was $235,000, which is the highest monthly median sales price since November 2016 when LCAOR reported a median of $255,000.

The 81 sales reported in April was the highest number of monthly sales since August of 2016 when 100 sales were recorded.

The April median sales price was 11.9 percent higher than the March 2017 median price of $210,000, and the 81 sales in April was 14.1 percent higher than the 71 sales in March.

On a year-over-year basis, April 2017 sales were 28.6 percent higher than the 63 sales in April 2016, the report showed. The April median price was 3.3 percent higher than the April 2016 median of $227,500.

“After a relatively slow start to 2017 activity is on the upswing,” said LCAOR President Bobby Dutcher. “Preliminary numbers in May are looking strong and we expect a lot of activity in June when LCAOR will be holding our countywide Open House Extravaganza.”

The extravaganza will take place on June 10. Dutcher encouraged prospective buyers will want to check www.lcaor.com to see what houses will be featured on that day.

LCAOR said financing mixes remained relatively the same from March to April, with conventional and FHA loans being used in 53 percent of the transactions and cash only financing being used on 26 percent of the deals.

Inventory levels remained below normal at 4.7 months of inventory. The normal level is considered to be 6.0 months of inventory, LCAOR said.

The California Association of Realtors, or CAR, reported that statewide sales in April totaled 406,300, down 2.4 percent from March and down 1.6 percent from April 2016.

However, California’s median home price in April was $536,750, up 3.7 percent from March and up 5.4 percent from April 2016. The April median was the highest statewide median since August of 2007.

Mortgage rates have fallen since early this year. The 30-year, fixed-mortgage interest rate averaged 4.05 percent in April, down from 4.20 percent in March but up from 3.69 percent in April 2016, according to Freddie Mac, CAR said.

The five-year, adjustable-rate mortgage interest rates dipped in April to an average of 3.15 percent, from 3.21 percent in March but was up from 2.90 percent in April 2016, according to the CAR report.

LAKE COUNTY NUMBERS AT A GLANCE

April 2017

Median price: $235,000

Median days to sell: 57

Units sold: 81

March 2017

Median price: $210,000

Median days to sell: 57

Units sold: 71

April 2016

Median price: $227,500

Median days to sell: 60

Units sold: 63

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.

This week we consider key occurrences in the turbulent years leading up to the American Civil War.

May 21, 1856

It can be disheartening to watch what appears to be the complete, fiery tailspin of American Democracy replayed on news channels each day.

Of the three branches of our government, none catches the most ire from everyday Americans than the legislative. Our distrust of our legislature has almost become a stereotype, Congress itself the punchline to some sad joke about the dysfunctional nature of politics.

As sad as the gridlock in D.C. appears to us now, we can at least rest assured that we haven’t reached rock bottom quite yet. Let’s take some time today to remember that on this day in 1856, if we did not actually reach it, we came dangerously close to that bottom.

The decades leading up to the American Civil War read today like one long wailing cry of warning. Hindsight, they say, is 20/20 and from our clear-eyed perspective it’s difficult not to see each mistake made by politicians and radicals on both sides of the argument as inexorable stumbles towards the bloody conflict. That’s not to say that the war “had” to happen, just that given what led up to it, it’s no wonder that it did.

Although later it would become the foundation for the war, the “casus belli” for the victorious Union looking back on the conflict, slavery at the time was just one of many sore points between southern and northern politicians.

Both sides had their champions who, for the most part, fought with rhetoric and op-eds in newspapers rather than with fists and feet. As the war approached, however, that began to change.

Standing on the floor of the U.S. Senate on May 19, 1856, Sen. Charles Sumner harangued the pro-slavery politicians in what was admittedly one of the most brutal tongue-lashings given on either side of the argument.

In what today we remember as his “Crime Against Kansas” speech, Sen. Sumner lambasted his opponents for their illegal attempts to extend slavery to the territory of Kansas by sending wagons-full of southern settlers to the territory (among many other things).

Targeting two senators in particular – Stephen Douglas (future opponent to Lincoln in the 1860 Presidential race) and Andrew Butler – Sen. Sumner laid into them mercilessly. Butler was absent from the Senate and so he was spared some embarrassment, but Douglas sat nearby and received the full brunt of the five-hour long assault. You can read the speech in its entirety here.

In an age not far removed from the notions of courteous honor and chivalry, Sumner’s public words of criticism outraged the pro-slavery politicians. So much so, that one of them acted.

On this day in 1856, a kinsman of Butler, one Congressman Preston S. Brooks, approached Sumner on the floor of the Senate.

It was just days after his lecture and Sumner was attaching postage to copies of his “Crime Against Kansas” speech that he was going to send people when Congressman Brooks approached.

Without warning, Brooks slammed the heavy cane he was carrying against Sen. Sumner’s head. What followed was a cowardly beating of the unarmed Sumner.

Although he attempted to defend himself, the initial blow to the head had dazed Sen. Sumner.

After the minute-long assault, the triumphant Brooks walked unmolested from the Senate floor while his victim was carted out by friends.

Brooks survived a censure from the Senate, willingly resigned his post from the House and was promptly reelected by his adoring fans shortly thereafter. He later died at the young age of 37.

Meanwhile, after a long recovery, Sen. Sumner returned to the floor and served another 18 years in national politics.

Some have since pointed to this incident as a major shift in the argument over slavery. It is true, once something has broken, it can never be wholly mended – a line gets crossed that cannot be recrossed, at least not at the same place.

The assault on Sen. Sumner was certainly a breakdown of American politics, but no one can honestly say that it was an isolated incident.

In September of 1859, two prominent public figures in California went further than Brooks and Sumner over the argument against slavery.

Behind a barn near Lake Merced just outside the city limits of San Francisco two California politicians fought to the death.

The duel itself was instigated, at least on the surface, by insults hurled in the newspaper. David S. Terry, chief justice of the state Supreme Court and a fervent pro-slavery southerner, was no stranger to violence. Always a gentleman to speak his mind, it all started when Terry threw insults at the free-soil Democrats of the state, which were recorded by a journalist.

Terry then turned his venom to U.S. Senator from California David Broderick, a free-soil Democrat.

Terry insinuated that Broderick and his ilk took their orders from Frederick Douglas, the controversial escaped-slave-turned abolitionist. That proved too much for Broderick and he responded in kind, escalating the verbal repartee.

In response, Terry challenged Broderick to a duel. Broderick agreed. Unfortunately for him, that day in September did not go his way and the bullet he fired at Terry buried itself in the ground well short of its target. Terry landed a shot in Broderick’s lungs. Broderick died three days later.

The symbolism of the death of Broderick, an anti-slavery politician, at the hands of the pro-slavery Terry was not lost on those following politics in the state.

At Broderick’s funeral, Republican E.D. Baker, who eulogized the late senator, remarked: “What was his public crime? The answer is in his own words: ‘I die because I was opposed to a corrupt administration and the extension of slavery.’….his death was a political necessity, poorly veiled beneath the guise of a private quarrel.”

The breakdown that led to the war was like the slow fissuring of an iceberg. Those days in 1856 and 1859 were just two of many small pops and snaps felt by America as the nation slowly split in two.

For modern citizens, these incidences should represent the low bar – the worst of government. Rock bottom in American politics sounds like the dull thud of club against skull and the crack of dueling pistols echoing off a lake. Violence begets violence, as the saying goes.

Today our politicians may spend an inordinate amount of time in front of cameras, taking snipes at each other but at least Paul Ryan and Chuck Schumer aren’t beating each other with canes. Small comfort, I know, but we have to take what we can get.

Antone Pierucci is the former curator of the Lake County Museum in Lake County, Calif., and a freelance writer whose work has been featured in such magazines as Archaeology and Wild West as well as regional California newspapers.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Middletown Cemetery District will hold a Memorial Day service to honor veterans on Monday, May 29.

The ceremony will begin at 9 a.m. at the Mary Hardesty building, on the top of the hill on the cemetery grounds, at 16357 Butts Canyon Road. Parking will be provided.

In addition to the ceremony, a new veterans memorial site will be dedicated that day.

Commander Rich Feiro and Sgt. of the Guard Larry Mick from the Lake County Military Funeral Honors Team will begin the ceremonies and veteran Bill Vonn will do the church calling and playing of “Taps.”

Chaplin Woody Hughes will speak and the team will do the 21-gun salute. They will be ushered in by the Patriot Guard Riders.

District 1 Supervisor Moke Simon will be the guest speaker. Jim Comstock, the retired District 1 supervisor, will read the names of the veterans buried in the Middletown Cemetery, and Simon – who also is tribal chair of Middletown Rancheria – will read the names of tribal members who were veterans.

Middletown Cemetery District Vice Chairwoman Linda Diehl-Darms will act as mistress of ceremonies. The invocation and benediction will be given by Voris Brumfield, president of the Historical Society. David Neft will provide the sound and keyboard, accompanying vocalist Kathleen Escude.

The ceremonies will include colorful flowered wreaths, made by the floral design class from the Middletown High School, and presented in honor of veterans.  

The local 4-H is in charge of the flag ceremony. Girl Scout Troop 10676, with leader Jennifer Popovich, will help with wreath placement and programs, and will place the flags on the 203 Veteran’s graves. Brownies Troop 11314, led by Emily Kasmier, will assist.

The Lion’s Club also faithfully provides the chairs and helps with many set up items on this special day.

The community is invited to join in the festivities and enjoy refreshment afterward.