KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – A young man who died after being shot during a late night robbery will be honored at a memorial service this weekend.

Forrest Seagrave, 33, died last Friday, Jan. 18, after being shot at Mt. Konocti Gas and Mart on Main Street in Kelseyville. He had worked at the gas station since 2006.

His memorial service will take place beginning at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 27, at Kelseyville High School – 5480 Main St. – where he was a student. The memorial will be held in the school's student center.

Hundreds attended a candlelight vigil for Seagrave at the gas station last Saturday.

Friends have remembered Seagrave as a caring and generous young man, whose consideration for others made the violence of his death just that much more shocking.

Detectives continue to follow every lead in the killing in an attempt to find the suspect, who fled into the night after the shooting.

A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the suspect's arrest and conviction.

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. – After a year of improvements in its employment picture, Lake County finished 2012 with joblessness ticking up slightly.

The Employment Development Department said Lake County’s preliminary December unemployment rate was 15.1 percent, up 0.5 percentage points from the revised November rate.

At the same time, Lake County’s unemployment in December was down compared to the 16 percent seen locally in December 2011, the agency reported.

Across California, unemployment was 9.8 percent in December, remaining unchanged from November, but showing improvement from the year-over comparison of 11.2 percent, the Employment Development Department reported.

The U.S. unemployment rate also was unchanged in December at 7.8 percent, down from 8.5 percent in December 2011, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The state’s report for December showed California’s nonfarm jobs totaled 14,398,800, a decrease of 17,500 jobs over the month.

The number of people unemployed in California was 1,805,000 – down by 1,000 over the month, and down by 255,000 compared with December of last year, the state said.

Lake County had 3,770 unemployed in December, compared to 3,620 in November. In December 2011, Lake County had 4,080 unemployed, according to state records.

Dennis Mullins of the Employment Development Department’s North Coast Region Labor Market Information Division said total Lake County wage and salary employment decreased 30 jobs between November and December as construction and tourism made seasonal job cutbacks.

He said Lake is down 180 jobs over the year, with seven industry sectors gaining or going unchanged and four declining.
 
Year-over job growth occurred in trade, transportation and utilities, up 10 jobs; private educational and health services, 10; and other services, 20, Mullins said.

Mullins said industry sectors with no change over the year were farm, manufacturing, information and financial activities.

Industry sectors with decline over the year included mining, logging and construction, -30; professional & business services, -10; leisure and hospitality, -100; and government, -70.

Lake County’s unemployment rate ranked it No. 50 among the state’s 58 counties. Unemployment rates and rankings for Lake’s neighboring counties include Colusa, 23.7 percent, No. 57; Glenn, 14.4 percent, No. 43; Mendocino, 9.5 percent, No. 20; Napa, 7.9 percent, No. 9; Sonoma, 7.7 percent, No. 8; Yolo, 11.7 percent, No. 32.

Looking at the state job picture

The Employment Development Department said there were 496,500 people receiving regular unemployment insurance benefits during the December survey week, compared with 391,870 in November and 536,442 in December 2011.

The agency said new claims for unemployment insurance were 51,545 in December 2012, compared with 39,879 in November and 80,276 in December 2011.

Regarding the job picture in various industry sectors, the state report said three categories – construction; information; and educational and health services – added jobs over the month, gaining 16,800 jobs. Educational and health services posted the largest increase over the month, adding 9,200 jobs.

Eight categories – mining and logging; manufacturing; trade, transportation and utilities; financial activities; professional and business services; leisure and hospitality; other services; and government –  reported job declines over the month, down 34,300 jobs, the state said. Trade, transportation and utilities posted the largest decrease over the month, down 11,200 jobs.

In a year-over-year comparison – December 2011 to December 201 – the state said nonfarm payroll employment in California increased by 225,900 jobs, up 1.6 percent.

Seven categories – construction; trade, transportation and utilities; information; financial activities; professional and business services; educational and health services; and leisure and hospitality – posted job gains over the year, adding 277,400 jobs, according to the report.

The agency said leisure and hospitality posted the largest gains on a numerical basis, adding 60,700 jobs, up 3.9 percent.

The Employment Development Department report said the information sector posted the largest gains on a percentage basis, up 4.7 percent, adding 21,100 jobs.

Four categories – mining and logging; manufacturing; other services; and government – posted job declines over the year, down 51,500 jobs, the state said.

Government posted the largest declines on a numerical basis, down by 31,500 jobs or a 1.3 percent decrease, while the report said the “other services” category posted the largest declines on a percentage basis, decreasing by 1.7 percent or 8,400 jobs.

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.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – A fire burning on Mt. Konocti since Tuesday morning has been contained, fire officials said Wednesday morning.

Cal Fire reported that the Becks fire had been contained at 296 acres as of 10:15 a.m. Wednesday.

The fire had first been reported at around 11 a.m. Tuesday in the 7900 block of Highway 29, east of Kelseyville.

It had started as a control burn at a vineyard, but escaped and headed up through steep terrain on the mountainside, according to the state and county firefighters that worked on.

Cal Fire patroled the fire through the night following a large early Tuesday evening flare up.

The fire had made it onto county park land, with county officials reporting some damage of a bathroom facility at Mt. Konocti County Park.

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.

The California Department of Water Resources will conduct this winter's second snow survey on Tuesday, Jan. 29.

The second snow survey each season is the first comprehensive look at the snowpack in which all snow courses active in the statewide network, approximately 250, are measured manually.

In comparison, just 15 to 20 courses typically are manually measured in the initial surveys. The manual surveys – conducted on or about the first of the month from January through May – supplement and check the accuracy of real-time electronic sensors up and down the state’s mountain ranges.

One focus of attention on Jan. 29 will be the manual survey conducted near Echo Summit. This combined with the information gathered from all the manual surveys and the electronic sensors will give a comprehensive picture of statewide snowpack conditions.

Electronic readings on Thursday indicated that water content in the statewide snowpack is 97 percent of normal for the date and 53 percent of the average April 1 reading, when the snowpack is normally at its peak before the spring melt.

The snowpack normally provides about a third of California’s water supply as it slowly melts into streams, reservoirs and aquifers in spring and early summer.  

Lake Oroville in Butte County, the State Water Project's principal storage reservoir, is at 113 percent of its average level for the date, 75 percent of its 3.5 million acre-foot capacity.  

Lake Shasta north of Redding, the federal Central Valley Project’s largest reservoir with a capacity of 4.5 million acre-feet, is at 112 percent of its normal storage level for the date, 75 percent of capacity.

However, San Luis Reservoir in Merced County, an important storage reservoir south of the Delta, is at only 77 percent of average for the date, 60 percent of its capacity of 2,027,840 acre-feet.

San Luis is a critically important source of water for both the State Water Project and Central Valley Project, the Department of Water Resources said.

An acre-foot is 325,851 gallons, enough to cover one acre to a depth of one foot.

Conditions between now and early spring will determine the amount of State Water Project water the Department of Water Resources will be able to deliver this calendar year.

The current estimate is that Department of Water Resources will be able to deliver 40 percent of the slightly more than 4 million acre-feet of water requested by the 29 public agencies that distribute State Water Project water to more than 25 million Californians and nearly a million acres of irrigated farmland.

The final State Water Project allocation for calendar year 2012 was 65 percent of requested deliveries. The initial delivery estimate for calendar year 2011 was only 25 percent of requested State Water Project water.

However, as winter took hold, a near-record snowpack and heavy rains resulted in deliveries of 80 percent of requests in 2011.

The final allocation was 50 percent in 2010, 40 percent in 2009, 35 percent in 2008, and 60 percent in 2007.

The last 100 percent allocation – difficult to achieve even in wet years because of pumping restrictions to protect Delta fish – was in 2006.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – After Wednesday’s rain in Lake County, meteorologists say there’s the potential for more rain through the weekend.

The National Weather Service said a slow moving low pressure system was responsible for bringing rain and mountain snow to interior Northern California on Wednesday, with more precipitation expected Thursday.

The low pressure system prompted forecasters to release a hazardous weather outlook for Lake County and some other Northern California areas.

Unsettled weather will continue through the weekend, with another, colder storm from the Gulf of Alaska to bring rain more rain as well as snow in the mountains, the National Weather Service said.

There are chances of showers through the middle of Thursday morning, when the weather is expected to clear and the sun to come out. Friday will be partly sunny, with chances of showers returning that evening and continuing through Sunday, according to the forecast.

Light winds also are expected, with daytime temperatures in the high 40s and low 50s, the forecast said.

The National Weather Service said the weather is expected to clear early next week, with Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday predicted to be partly sunny, with temperatures rising into the high 50s.

Nighttime temperatures for the next seven days are expected to be in the mid to high 30s, according to the forecast.

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.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – A wildland fire that firefighters had spent the better part of Tuesday trying to control had an evening flare up thanks to nighttime winds.

The Becks fire was first reported late Tuesday morning in the area of 7900 S. Highway 29 near Kelseyville, when a control burn on a vineyard escaped, as Lake County News has reported.

The fire headed up Mt. Konocti, necessitating a closure of Konocti Road and causing some facility damage in the boundaries of Mt. Konocti County Park, specifically to a new restroom facility, according to county officials.

Firefighters from around Lake County, with assistance from teams from Mendocino County and Cal Fire, worked on the fire, which was climbing through steep terrain.

By evening, Cal Fire reported that the fire was at 300 acres and 50 percent containment, an estimate that held through the night.

All local fire resources were released from the fire after 5 p.m., with Cal Fire remaining on scene, according to radio traffic.

Over the next hour, evening winds reported in the Kelseyville area appeared to have caused the fire to do a run up the mountain, with a number of witnesses reporting to Lake County News that they watched the fire's spectacular evening flare up. Witnesses also reported what appeared to be a spot fire that had broken out.

At around 6:30 p.m., radio reports indicated the fire was making an active run on the back side of the containment lines, and was flaring up in an orchard area on top of the mountain.

As the evening progressed, the fire situation improved and the blaze settled back down, with two Cal Fire engines able to manage the nighttime patrols of the mountain, radio reports indicated.

Firefighters were patrolling the area of the Fowler ranch, located on the mountain top next to the park, where some of the flare ups had been. Reports from the scene indicated firefighters also were patrolling up to Wright Peak.

Cal Fire said the fire is expected to be contained on Wednesday.

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.

U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Bob Casey (D-PA) on Wednesday introduced legislation to keep lawmakers from being paid during a default or shutdown of the federal government.

The “Government Shutdown and Default Prevention Act” would prevent members of Congress and the president of the United States from being paid retroactively after a government shutdown, and also would prevent them from being paid if the public debt limit is reached and the government defaults on its financial obligations.

“A default on our nation’s debt or a deliberate shutdown of our government would be a disaster for our economy and hurt millions of Americans,” Sen. Boxer said. “This legislation would send a simple message to members of Congress – if you take these actions that will severely harm the American people, you don’t deserve and won’t receive a paycheck.”

“This is common sense legislation that ensures that lawmakers are held accountable for a failure to act in the best interest of our economy and nation,” said Sen. Casey. “Playing roulette with the credit standing and functioning of the United States government is simply an unacceptable risk to the security of middle class Americans.”

Boxer and Casey introduced the same legislation in the 112th Congress, which passed the Senate in March 2011 by unanimous consent. However, the House refused to act on the measure.

Economists and business leaders have warned that a default would have catastrophic impacts on the global financial system and the U.S. economy, and a government shutdown would hurt millions of Americans by disrupting Social Security checks, benefits for veterans and paychecks for our troops.

In recent weeks, there have been concerns about the possibility of a default on the nation’s debt or a government shutdown, although lawmakers on Wednesday reached agreement on temporarily raising the debt ceiling through May.

Currently, members of Congress and the President are treated differently from millions of other federal employees because they are paid through mandatory spending required by law (2 U.S.C. 31 and 3 U.S.C 102) rather than through the annual appropriations process.

The Boxer-Casey bill would fix this inequity by saying that the president and members of Congress “shall not receive basic pay for any period in which there is more than a 24 hour lapse in appropriations for any Federal agency or department as a result of a failure to enact a regular appropriations bill or continuing resolution OR if the Federal Government is unable to make payments or meet obligations because the debt limit … has been reached.”

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A suspect wanted in connection to a December assault case that left a male juvenile seriously injured has been taken into custody.

Joshua Ray McLeod, 33, was arrested shortly before 8 a.m. Wednesday, according to Lt. Jason Ferguson of the Lakeport Police Department.

Ferguson said Lakeport Police officers, with the assistance of the Lake County Sheriff's Office, took McLeod into custody in the 3000 block of Hendricks Road.

McLeod was arrested on a felony warrant charging assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily injury, willful harm or injury to a child and battery causing serious bodily injury, Ferguson said.

Ferguson said McLeod's arrest stemmed from the assault of a male juvenile from Lakeport that occurred shortly before 11:30 p.m. Dec. 27 in the 600 Block of Armstrong Street.

During the course of the investigation, Lakeport Police officers learned that the male juvenile was assaulted, without provocation, by a white male adult while walking along the street with two friends, Ferguson said.

The juvenile victim initially was taken to Sutter Lakeside Hospital and then transferred to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital where it was determined he suffered serious bodily injury from the assault, according to Ferguson.

Through followup investigations, Ferguson said officers were able to identify McLeod as the suspect in the assault and obtained a warrant for his arrest.

McLeod was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Hill Road Jail where his bail was set at $90,000, Ferguson said.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – More than 100 Lake County wines captured top awards – including three Best of Class honors and three Double Gold awards – at this year’s San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, the Lake County Winery Association (LCWA) announced this week.

Vigilance Winery & Vineyards won Best of Class with its 2010 Red Hills Lake County Petite Sirah.

Additionally, Best of Class was awarded to Sol Rouge for its 2009 Lake County Cabernet Franc and to Writer’s Block (Steele Wines) for its 2010 Lake County Syrah.

Shed Horn Cellars received Double Gold for its 2009 Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon, Lavender Blue won Double Gold for its 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon and Chacewater Wine was honored with Double Gold for its 2010 Red Hills Lake County Malbec.

The annual San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition is touted as the “largest competition of American wines in the world.”

The 2013 results were posted following five days of tasting and evaluating more than 5,500 entries, according to the event’s Web site.

“Lake County wines and wineries truly stood out among the more than 5,500 entries at the SF Chronicle’s annual event,” said Monica Rosenthal, executive director of the Lake County Winery Association. “Our association members’ vintners can proudly say they are among the best when honored with multiple Best of Class, Double Gold, and Gold medals by the San Francisco competition’s professional judges.”

Lake county’s lead varietals, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc, showed well in this years sf chronicle wine competition.

However, numerous Lake County varietals garnered gold, silver and bronze medals including Chardonnay, Riesling, Cabernet Franc, Petite Sirah, Malbec, Merlot, Petite Verdot, Zinfandel and Tempranillo.

The Lake County wineries and varietals awarded gold medals were Cross Springs (2009 Cabernet Sauvignon), Dalliance (2010 Red Wine), Gregory Graham Wines (2009 Riesling), Guenoc (2012 Sauvignon Blanc, 2011 Sauvignon Blanc, and 2011 Petite Sirah), Shannon Ridge (2009 Petite Sirah), Shed Horn Cellars (2009 Napa Valley Petite Verdot and 2010 Zinfandel), Stymie (2009 Syrah), Shooting Star (2010 Barbera and 2010 Merlot), Steele Wines (2010 Cabernet Franc) and Vigilance (2011 Sauvignon Blanc).

Guenoc, Shed Horn Cellars, Gregory Graham and Cache Creek Vineyards all received silver medals for their 2011 Lake County chardonnay. Several Lake County wineries garnered gold and silver for their Lake County petite sirah in addition to the Best of Class awarded to Vigilance Winery & Vineyards.

Red Lava Vineyards and Six Sigma Ranch & Winery each took silver medals for their Lake County Tempranillo wines, 2010 and 2009 vintages.

Many Lake County wineries were multiple winners, the competition results show. These included Cache Creek Vineyards (two silvers), Chacewater Wine (two silver, two bronze and a double gold), Cross Springs (two silver and a gold), Gregory Graham (two gold, three silver and three bronze), Guenoc (three gold, four silver and two bronze), and Rosa d’Oro (two silver and a bronze).

Shannon Ridge took six silver and four bronze medals in addition to its gold medal. Additional Lake County multi-medal winners were Shed Horn Cellars (three silver and two golf in addition to its double gold), Six Sigma (two silver), Sol Rouge (two silver and its Best of Class), Writers Block (two silver, three bronze in addition to its Best of Class), Shooting Star (two silver, two bronze, and its two gold), Steele Wines (six silver, five bronze, and its gold), Vigilance (two bronze, a silver, and its gold and Best of Class), and Wildhurst Vineyards (two silver and three bronze).

“We congratulate our Lake County Winery Association members who had such a fine showing at the competition,” said Rosenthal.

She pointed out that many wineries that use Lake County grapes to produce their wines outside of Lake County were also winners at the competition.

Bell Winery’s 2011 Sauvignon Blanc, a gold medal winner, was produced from Lake County grapes, as was the gold medal winning 2008 Enkidu Lake County Petite Sirah.

Approximately 20 silver and bronze awards were given to varietals by out-of-county wineries using Lake County winegrapes.

Winning entries in each category of the San Francisco Chronicle competition can be found on the Web site, www.winejudging.com .

In addition, tickets for the public tasting portion of the event may be purchased online. The public’s opportunity to taste entries from the competition is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 16, from 2 p.m. To 5 p.m., at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. Tickets are $70 per person in advance and $85 per person at the door.

For more information about the Lake County Winery Association, visit the association’s Web site, www.lakecountywineries.org or contact Monica Rosenthal at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – A county supervisor is organizing a community town hall for early next month in order to discuss public safety in Kelseyville, where the community has been shaken due to a fatal shooting during an armed robbery.

Supervisor Rob Brown said he has scheduled the town hall for 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7, at the Kelseyville High School Student Center, 5480 Main St.

The call for the town hall comes less than a week after 33-year-old Forrest Seagrave was mortally wounded during a robbery at Mt. Konocti Gas and Mart – located across the street from the high school – where he had worked for several years.

Seagrave was shot late Friday, Jan. 18, after a confrontation with a masked suspect who, after shooting Seagrave, took a small amount of cash and fled the store.

Lake County Sheriff’s detectives continue to investigate Seagrave’s murder and search for the suspect, described as a male, approximately 5 feet 9 inches to 5 feet 11 inches tall, with a thin build. He wore a black hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans and gloves, and fled on foot.

Brown led the effort to raise the $10,000 reward now being offered for information leading to the suspect’s arrest and conviction.

While the town hall is meant to discuss recent events like Seagrave’s shooting, Brown said it’s meant to also address other public safety issues related to the Kelseyville community.

Over the last month the Kelseyville area has been the scene of other violent crimes, including the shooting in the face of a young Clearlake man during a fight in the Clear Lake Riviera.

No arrests have been reported in that case, and no information from officials has been forthcoming about a man who was stabbed numerous times earlier this month and then taken into town and left at Mt. Konocti Gas, as Lake County News has reported.

For the Feb. 7 meeting, Brown said he has invited representatives from the Lake County District Attorney’s Office, Lake County Sheriff’s Office, California Highway Patrol, Lake County Probation and State Parole.

While there are many things to discuss at the meeting, Brown said the bottom line is that the community must do everything possible to take back control of Kelseyville.

“I am committed to doing everything within my ability to make sure that Kelseyville is a safe place for us, our businesses and our families,” Brown said in an email he sent to community leaders announcing the town hall. “With your help we can make this happen and together we will take back our home.”

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.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – A Middletown man was flown to a regional trauma center on Tuesday afternoon after his Corvette crashed into a hillside.

David Clark, 49, suffered a possible fractured arm in the crash, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Kory Reynolds.

At 4:20 p.m. Tuesday Clark was driving his 1985 Corvette northbound on Highway 29 north of Spruce Grove Road South at an unknown high rate of speed, Reynolds reported.

Clark was passing a 2010 Ford Escape driven by Christina Peterson, 30, of Clearlake, when he attempted to negotiate a right curve and lost control, according to the CHP report.

The CHP said Clark's Corvette slid across the northbound No. 2 lane before striking an asphalt curb and uphill embankment.

Debris from the impact struck Peterson’s vehicle, causing minor damage to it, said Reynolds.  

Clark was flown by REACH to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital due to his injuries, Reynolds said.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Distracted driving is a serious safety concern for all drivers throughout California, especially teen drivers.

Eighty percent of vehicle crashes involve some kind of driver distraction. Talking on the cell phone or texting is the main source of driver distraction.

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is urging teenage drivers to stop texting, put away cell phones, and focus on driving.

In an effort save lives, CHP along with Impact Teen Drivers will be conducting a year-long teen distracted driving traffic safety campaign through September 2013.

“The California Office of Traffic Safety grant is an exciting opportunity for Impact Teen Drivers and the CHP to continue to be at the forefront of decreasing the number of collisions and deaths associated with distracted teen drivers,” said Kelly Browning, executive director of Impact Teen Drivers. “It will take a strong combination of education and enforcement to have a fundamental and sustained behavior shift toward driving distraction free.”

California drivers age 20 years or older were involved in nearly 22,000 collisions from Oct. 1, 2009, through Sept. 30, 2010, in which a distraction was documented as a factor in the cause of the crash.

As new drivers, teens are at an even greater risk of being involved in collisions due to distracted driving because of the peer pressures to stay immediately connected to their friends via text and cell phone.

Teenage distracted driving is one of the leading contributors to collisions and near collisions.

“The CHP is urging teen drivers to focus on driving. Eliminate the urge to text or call by putting away the distractions,” said Commissioner Joe Farrow. “Through education, enforcement, and the continued partnership between the CHP and Impact Teen Drivers, we can change this dangerous behavior.”

The 12-month, grant-funded Teen Distracted Drivers Education and Enforcement II campaign consists of an education component, as well as distracted driver enforcement operations to be conducted throughout the state.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.