LAKEPORT, Calif. – Three men who were arrested in the Valley fire area have reached plea agreements with the District Attorney's Office, with their attorneys asserting that they were not there to commit crimes but to return to their rented property.

Dyami Gene Connell, 23; Michael James Jimenez, 28; and 24-year-old David Michael Cesari were arrested on Sept. 17 near Hidden Valley Lake, as Lake County News has reported.

The three men were set for preliminary hearing on Dec. 2. However, District Attorney Don Anderson said all three entered pleas based on agreements with his office.

Anderson said Connell and Jimenez each pleaded to being in a restricted area. Both of the men, for whom this was their first offense, received 45 days in jail.

Cesari pleaded guilty to felony possession of a concealed .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol and could face a maximum of three years in prison. Anderson said Cesari's case has been referred to the Lake County Probation Department for a sentencing recommendation.

Cesari, who has no serious priors to speak of, is due to be sentenced Jan. 25, Anderson said.

Authorities had alleged the men were looting, and that they were found with a number of items in their vehicle that looked like burglary tools, including a mask, gloves, flashlights, binoculars and knives.

However, “We couldn't prove they were looting,” Anderson said, who suggested the sheriff's office had done “too good of a job” and caught them before they did anything.

Quite the opposite, said Santa Rosa attorney Chris Andrian, who represented Connell, and Jimenez's attorney Angela Carter, who oversees the county's public defender contract.

While the three men had been reported to have Bay Area addresses – Connell and Jimenez from Brisbane and Cesari from San Francisco – Andrian and Carter said Cesari and Connell had been renting a property in the area since December 2013 and were in the evacuation zone along with Jimenez while trying to return to the property to protect it. The landlord even vouched for them.

“They shouldn't have entered the evacuation zone, but they weren't the burglars they were presumed to be,” said Andrian.

As for the items found in the vehicle that appeared incriminating, Carter – who herself had to evacuate from her south county home during the Valley fire – said a lot of people had odd things in their vehicles as they fled the fire area.

On the day of the preliminary hearing, the rental agreement was presented to Anderson. He said it weighed into the resulting plea agreement quite a bit.

Both Andrian and Carter said the three men had been pilloried over their arrests – with Carter noting that they were made the poster boys for Valley fire looting cases, with fliers with their pictures posted in Middletown – yet none had been charged with looting in the first place.

Andrian noted that his daughter had called him to ask if he knew about the arrests of the men after hearing the allegations of the looting in the media.

“It's not something these guys should have done,” said Andrian, adding that it was hard for him to defend them going into an evacuation area. “They were stupid.”

Yet, their poor choice of entering the evacuation zone wasn't the same thing as being burglars, according to their attorneys.

Carter said her client will be able to do work service in lieu of actual jail time.

Anderson said this was the last of the cases stemming from arrests during the Valley fire.

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. – Lake County has been approved to receive $883,110 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a culvert project that will reduce localized flooding and debris flow at selected sites burned by the Valley fire, which began Sept. 12.

FEMA covers 75 percent of the eligible costs with the county paying the remaining 25 percent, for a projected total cost of $1.1 million.

The project includes installing 55 culverts in areas where burn scars prevent rainwater absorption. Engineers found debris and flood flow potential is up to 1.7 times the normal amount, which presents an expected inundation of existing drainage facilities.

This grant is the first from a pilot program called Fire Management Assistance Grant Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (FMAG-HMGP).

FMAG grants can reimburse 75 percent of the costs of firefighting operations to state, tribal and local governments. Eligible costs include funding for personnel, materials and equipment.

The FMAG-HMGP grant provides funding to reduce the flood risk after FMAG declarations. A critical requirement for this funding is having an approved county and state hazard mitigation plan.

FMAG-HMGP Pilot funds are available to states, territories and federally recognized tribes that received an FMAG declaration in the time frame covered by the Department of Homeland Security 2015 Appropriations Act, March 4 through Dec. 11.

FEMA encourages the use of the FMAG-HMGP funds for mitigation of burn-impacted areas to reduce the increased risk for wildfire, flood or erosion post event.

However, the FMAG-HMGP Pilot is available for the mitigation of any hazard in the FMAG declared area.

The Valley fire burn area is drained by a number of waterways including Big Canyon Creek, Putah Creek, Dry Creek, Crazy Creek, Kelsey Creek and Seigler Canyon Creek.

The residential communities within and downstream of those creeks are serviced by a network of roads and highways. Numerous culverts, many of them inadequate, drain this area.

This project is expected to be completed 22 months following the award by Cal OES.

COBB, Calif. – The community is invited to visit the “Winter Wonderland in Lake County” opening on Friday, Dec. 18, at Black Rock Golf Course in Cobb.

The Winter Wonderland will feature ice skating outdoors, and is free to all.

The skating rink will be open through Jan. 3.

Hours are noon to 8 p.m. weekdays, noon to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and noon to 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. It will be closed on Christmas Day.

Rental skates are provided. Fifty skaters are allowed on the rink at one time, and there may be a wait.

Skate time is limited to 45 minutes. Visitors can get back in line and skate again. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Santa also will visit from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 19, and Sunday, Dec. 20; and 4 to 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 21, and Tuesday, Dec. 22.

The Winter Wonderland is sponsored by the Cobb Community Investment Committee and funded by Calpine at The Geysers.

Visit Winter Wonderland on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/events/904722832930223/ or call 707-987-4270.

Black Rock Golf Course is located at 16451 Golf Road.

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Authorities placed Lower Lake schools in temporary lockdown on Thursday morning on the report of a student with a firearm, with a male student later taken into custody off school grounds with a BB gun in his possession.

Lake County Sheriff's deputies and Clearlake Police officers responded to the report, which first came in at 8:15 a.m. Thursday, the two agencies said in separate reports.

Officer Bobi Oakley, the Clearlake Police Department school resource officer, received a cellular phone call from an employee of the Konocti Education Center telling her that they had received second-hand information that a male juvenile on bus No. 6 was in possession of a firearm, according to a report from Sgt. Travis Lenz.

Lenz said the only description of the subject provided at that time was that he was a white male, wearing a red hat and having red facial hair.

The school employee was unaware at that time what school the subject went to after exiting the school bus, but believed it to be Lower Lake High School, Lenz said.

Clearlake Police officers responded with lights and sirens to Lower Lake High School at that time, while maintaining contact with members of the schools in the area to obtain additional information, according to Lenz.
 
While responding, Officer Oakley received a cellular phone call from an employee at Carlé Continuation High School in Lower Lake, Lenz said, advising they had a male subject who fit the description on the school grounds in one of the classrooms.
 
Clearlake Police Department dispatch contacted the Lake County Sheriff's Office at that time and requested their response to assist in this investigation, Lenz said.

Once officers arrived at Carlé High School, they responded to the classroom of the juvenile that matched the description. Lenz said sheriff's deputies arrived on scene and assisted the Clearlake Police with safely removing all the children from the classroom.

Once all the children were in a safe location, officers removed the juvenile subject who matched description and, after speaking with him, Lenz said it was determined he was not the responsible subject.

Within seconds of determining that he was not the subject, Officer Oakley received information from an employee of the Lower Lake High school which aided in the identification of the correct individual. Lenz said it was determined that the student had exited the school bus and was possibly walking to Ray's Food Place in Clearlake.
 
Clearlake Police officers and sheriff's deputies stood by at all the schools in the area while additional units from the Clearlake Police Department responded to the area of Ray's Food Place to attempt to locate the student, Lenz said. In addition, all schools in the area of Lower Lake were put on lockdown for precautionary reasons.

While checking the area of Ray's Food Place, Lenz said he located the juvenile seated at the store's bus stop and detained him.

The subject was identified as a 17-year-old Clearlake resident. Lenz said the juvenile was found in possession of a carbon dioxide-powered BB gun pistol, which upon first glance could be easily confused with a real firearm.

Lenz said the student was placed under arrest at that time and later turned over to the custody of Lake County Juvenile Probation on charges of possession of a BB gun on school grounds and possession of an instrument which has the capabilities of projecting a metallic instrument.

Authorities said the lockdown was raised at approximately 9:10 a.m.
 
The Clearlake Police Department thanked the Lake County Sheriff's Office for its assistance in this investigation.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – This week a federal jury convicted a former Lake County couple of conspiracy to defraud the United States, with the husband – who has a 1987 conviction for bank fraud in a savings and loan scandal – additionally convicted of one count of tax evasion.

Jay Scott Soderling and Jessica Lynn Soderling, who now live in Santa Rosa but previously lived in Hidden Valley Lake, were convicted Tuesday after a five-day jury trial before United States District Judge Honorable Vince Chhabria, according to Acting United States Attorney Brian J. Stretch and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Acting Special Agent in Charge Andrew Toth.

Assistant United States Attorneys Michael G. Pitman and Jose A. Olivera are prosecuting the case, with the prosecution the result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation.

Court records show the Soderlings are set to be sentenced on April 5 in San Francisco.

The US Attorney's Office said the maximum penalty for the conspiracy conviction is five years in prison and a fine of $250,000, while the count of tax evasion carries the same maximum time in prison and fine.

Jay Soderling was arrested in September 2011 while he was still living in Lake County, as Lake County News has reported.

Officials said the evidence at trial showed that the defendants were both involved in efforts to conceal assets from the IRS to avoid payment of Jay Soderling’s tax liabilities.

Specifically, during 2004 and 2005, Jay Soderling evaded payment of his tax liabilities by hiding money and assets belonging to him in the name of a corporation, prosecutors said.

Subsequently, in 2008 and 2009, after the IRS discovered Jay Soderling was keeping his personal assets in the corporation, he and his wife worked together to further conceal assets by, among other things, moving money from the corporation’s account into a bank account opened for this purpose in Jessica Soderling’s name, the US Attorney's Office said.

Jay Soderling originally was indicted on Aug. 9, 2011, for a single count of tax evasion, with a superseding indictment later filed adding the conspiracy charge against the couple. 

In finding Jay and Jessica Soderling guilty of conspiracy, the jury concluded that the evidence demonstrated the defendants obstructed the lawful functions of the IRS by deceitful or dishonest means as charged in the indictment.  

In addition, the evidence produced at trial demonstrated that Jay Soderling willfully evaded payment of taxes he owed to the United States.  

According to papers filed with the court, beginning in July 2004, the IRS began attempting to collect Jay Soderling’s tax liabilities. He admitted owing the IRS approximately $90,000, but he made written and oral statements to IRS employees misrepresenting his ability to pay the debt. 

Among other things, Jay Soderling told the IRS he had no significant assets, that he had negligible income, and that he did not expect his financial situation to change. In reality, he knew that he was well on his way to receiving an enormous financial windfall from several real-estate transactions.  

The government also demonstrated Jay Soderling failed to disclose his use of corporate funds to purchase a Dodge Viper, a new boat and other personal items.

Soderling has a criminal record that extends back nearly three decades. In 1987 he and his brother Leif pleaded guilty to bank fraud for stealing millions of dollars from depositors in their roles as directors and officers at the Golden Pacific Savings & Loan in Santa Rosa.

The brothers would serve eight months in prison and be ordered to pay $6 million in restitution to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which they failed to do, going on a $500,000 spending spree while they were on probation. 

That resulted in a judge sending them back to prison for six years each. Jay Soderling later would be sent back to prison again for a separate probation violation.

The Soderling brothers, neither of whom had contractor's license, worked for several years in construction in Lake County, leaving behind large bills with local vendors.

Jay Soderling destroyed oak woodlands on an 850-acre property that he owned for a time surrounding Borax Lake, which neighbors claimed he had tried to drain. That land was foreclosed on in 2009 by a Sonoma County developer from whom Jay Soderling had borrowed money.

California Attorney General Kamala has announced the arrest of Alex Morales III, 54, an employee of the California Department of Transportation, or Caltrans, on bribery charges.

Morales allegedly received bribes in the form of money and a vehicle in return for ensuring that Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) contracts were awarded to the person or company providing the bribe.

“Accepting bribes in exchange for awarding public contracts is illegal and corrupt, and violates the public’s trust in government,” said Attorney General Harris. “My office will continue to hold this individual – and others like him – accountable for their crimes.”

Morales is an ADA statewide coordinator for Caltrans, a role which involves making Caltrans systems, including bridges and public walkways, ADA compliant.

According to the felony complaint, he accepted numerous bribes totaling at least $100,000 over the course of approximately four years.

The bribes were presented in monthly cash payments ranging from $1,800 to $12,000, and also through a bribe in the form of a new white Ford sports utility vehicle.

The arrest came after a nine-month-long investigation by the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Investigation, Special Investigation Team.

Special agents served four search warrants leading up to the arrests, including some at state office buildings.

All agencies involved, including Caltrans, fully cooperated with the Attorney General’s Office investigation.

“We have a set of values that drive Caltrans and this behavior is not consistent with those values,” said Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty. “If an employee goes outside of those values, they don’t have a place in this department.”

California Attorney General's Office - Morales complaint.pdf

The State Water Resources Control Board adopted a resolution on Tuesday authorizing the allocation of $5 million in funds to help California residents on private wells and small water systems who are facing water emergencies.

The funds, which will be administered by nonprofit organizations, will help individuals that have an immediate drought-related water shortage or outage.

The $5 million will fund interim and permanent solutions such as new wells, well rehabilitation, and consolidation into new or existing public water systems.

The funding will expand and augment the existing grant and low-interest loan program nonprofit organizations are currently offering through a U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded program.

Nonprofit organizations must prioritize funds to serve disadvantaged individuals or communities with an annual median household income less than 80 percent of the statewide median income, but may provide assistance to other communities as well.

On Nov. 13, Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr.’s Executive Order directed the State Water Board to use up to $5 million of the $15 million appropriated from the Cleanup and Abatement Account for drought-related drinking water emergencies to assist those on private wells and small water systems. 

California has been dealing with the effects of an unprecedented drought. To learn about all the actions the state has taken to manage our water system and cope with the impacts of the drought, visit www.Drought.CA.Gov .

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The board of Upper Lake's newly consolidated school district held its first meeting on Tuesday night, choosing the board leadership, the district name and discussing hiring a superintendent.

The State Board of Education gave its approval last month to election waivers needed to finalize the unification of the Upper Lake Union Elementary School District and the Upper Lake Union High School District, as Lake County News reported.

That gave Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg the go-ahead to appoint the new unified district's board.

He selected Don Meri, Mel O'Meara and Diane Plante from the elementary district board and Keith Austin and Claudine Pedroncelli from the high school district board.

Falkenberg helped lead the Tuesday night meeting, held over the course of three hours in the Upper Lake High School library.

After Falkenberg administered the oath of office, key items of business the five-member board decided included acceptance of bylaws and the decision to name the new district the “Upper Lake Unified School District.”

The board members then elected O'Meara as board president and Plante as clerk, and determined during the meeting that they would be meeting twice a month initially, on the second and fourth Tuesdays, in the Upper Lake High library.

Another key item was the discussion about selecting a superintendent.

During the meeting, Falkenberg presented four options, which he likened to lanes on a highway, for the superintendent selection process.

Those four options included:

– Lane one: Work with the current administrative staff. Upper Lake High School Principal/Superintendent Patrick Iaccino has expressed interest in the position.
– Lane two: Hire or appoint a short-term, temporary superintendent, such as a retiree.
– Lane three: Hire a consultant to act as the superintendent on an interim basis.
– Lane four: Hire Falkenberg to do double-duty in his job and as the district superintendent until a permanent hire is made.

The board also spent a portion of the meeting in closed session to discuss the superintendent hiring issue.

When board members emerged from behind closed doors just before 9 p.m., Falkenberg said there was no reportable action taken.

However, he said the board did decide to form a subcommittee to decide the next steps in the superintendent selection process.

That subcommittee will include O'Meara, Plante and Falkenberg.

Regarding the closed session decision to form a subcommittee, Falkenberg told Lake County News after the meeting that he thinks board members want to spend more time exploring the next steps.

“Nothing was eliminated from consideration,” he said.

Falkenberg said the board members want to conduct due diligence on the very critical decision of choosing the new superintendent, adding that, at this point, he doesn’t think the board is ready to commit to a permanent superintendent candidate.

The board will meet again at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 22.

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.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – This year’s annual Lake County Symphony Christmas concert will feature vocal presentations by six gifted local singers, along with the dozens of audience members who traditionally join in singing along with favorite Christmas songs.

The concert takes place on Sunday, Dec. 20, at 3 p.m. at Lakeport’s Soper Reese Theatre, 275 S. Main St.

John Parkinson, music director and conductor of the orchestra, has chosen holiday music ranging from the familiar to the exotic for the 65-member group.

As is the usual practice the program opens with the two dozen members of the Lake County Symphony Association Youth Orchestra, led by Sue Condit.

They will play “December Fanfare” written by Andrew Dabczynski with recognizable seasonal themes such as “Holly and the Ivy” and “Joy to the World” woven through its rhythmic drive.  Their second piece is “Carol of the Bells,” a traditional carol set in a contemporary rock style by composer Michael Hopkins. It also features the theme from “We Three Kings.”

Parkinson opens the main concert with “A Christmas Festival,” written in 1950 by Leroy Anderson, followed by a trio of Christmas favorites – “It’s a Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” “Have Yourself a Merry, Little Christmas” and “Winter Wonderland.”

“Mary’s Boy Child” was written by noted black American composer, choral director and actor Jester Hairston in 1956 and recorded by, among others, Harry Bellefonte.

Hairston tailored the familiar story of the birth of Christ in the style of black spirituals, and Parkinson’s arrangement holds true to this pattern. He went on to appear in more than 50 movies, before his death in 2,000, but “Mary’s Boy Child” is recognized as his most lasting contribution to the arts.

Following on the program is three more up-tempo numbers, “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers,” “Frosty the Snowman” and “March of the Toys” from the musical “Babes in Toyland.”

Following intermission, with complimentary cookies and juice provided by members of the Lake County Symphony Association – the nonprofit group that funds the symphony – the local vocalists strut their stuff.

Shelly Mascari sings a medley of “Let it Snow,” “Christmas Time is Here” and “Santa Clause is Coming to Town.” Cory Cunningham then takes the stage to sing “White Christmas” followed by Lorraine Gatton with Mel Torme’s “The Christmas Song,” after which the audience is invited to lend their talents to singing Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride.”

The perennial holiday favorite,  Handel’s “Messiah,” features solo leads by tenor Nick Reid on “Every Valley Should be Exalted,” bass Roger Smith with “But Who May Abide the Day of His Coming” and soprano Beth Rutiger wraps it up with “Rejoice Greatly oh Daughter of Zion.”

As a grand finale the singers and audience will join in singing the “Hallelujah Chorus” from “The Messiah.”

Admission to the Christmas concert is $25 per ticket for the general public and $20 per ticket for Lake County Symphony Association members.

Volunteer recruiters will be on hand, and those purchasing memberships can have the discounts applied to the day’s performance.

Tickets may be purchased online at www.soperreesetheatre.com , by phone at 707-263-0577 or at the box office, 275 S. Main St., Lakeport, on Fridays from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

There also is a full-dress rehearsal at 11 a.m. to which youths under 18 are admitted free, while others pay just $5.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – A bridge replacement project on Soda Bay Road is nearing completion, according to the director of Lake County Public Works.

While there is weather in the forecast that could hamper the long-running project's final days of work, Public Works Director Scott De Leon said it's hoped that the Cole Creek bridge could be open by next week.

De Leon said rain is expected at week's end, and the contractor is hoping to pave on Wednesday or Thursday.

“We are strongly encouraging them to move the schedule up and get paving done before it rains,” De Leon said.

Once striping and the bridge approach rail are finished, the project should be done. De Leon said it's possible the road could be opened up as soon as Monday.

“I'm going to be pushing on them to work on Saturday and get it open,” De Leon said.

Contractor J.F. Shea from Redding has been working on the bridge replacement project since the summer. De Leon said the contractor began work on June 22 and on July 7 the county began the detour around the project.

Since that time, the stretch of Soda Bay Road from Clark Drive to Sacramento Perch Drive has been closed while work continues, according to Public Works.

De Leon said the project cost to date is $1,280,681, with funding coming from three sources – the Federal Highway Bridge Program, State Transportation Improvement Program and local funds.

The previous bridge, said De Leon, was “beyond old.”

“It was a timber bridge that had been modified,” he said, adding that it was “structurally deficient and functionally obsolete.”

As a result of its condition, it qualified for the funds from the federal bridge replacement program, he said.

The project hit a series of delays after the county signed the contract with the designer around 15 years ago, several years before De Leon came on board with the county.

Environmental and archaeological issues caused delays, and required a large amount of study and review, he said.

Once the construction phase started, De Leon said there was a big delay this summer because of issues arising regarding the bridge's steel piling design.

That design had called for driving the pilings 45 feet deep to get a certain load rating. However, there were problems getting the pilings that deep, with only a fraction of them reaching the load rating required. De Leon said that required the project to be stopped and new design work to be completed.

A power line that runs along the project site also required the county to coordinate with Pacific Gas and Electric to have the line shut off to allow for work to take place, De Leon said.

He said scheduling that took time because it needed to happen during the late summer, while PG&E was dealing with the wildland fires in the south county.

Besides the Cole Creek bridge project, the rest of Lake County Public Works' projects are pretty much wrapped up for the year, De Leon said, including bridges on Ackley and Highland Springs roads.

He said some other work will continue through the winter related to Valley fire repairs, including removal of damaged trees in the county right of way, the first phase of which will remove 3,500 trees; sign replacement; and a bridge approach rail replacement.

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. – In its final meeting of 2015, the Middletown Area Town Hall gathered nominations for a board election to be held in January.       

The brief meeting, which lasted just over a half hour, took place on Thursday evening at the Middletown Senior Center.

Vice Chair Claude Brown led the meeting in the absence of Board Chair Fletcher Thornton.

At the start of the meeting, Brown introduced new Board Secretary Margaret Greenley, who is succeeding Ken Gonzales, whose term is up.

“I'm excited to do this. I've never done anything like this before,” she said.

Greenley added that she hopes to help make Middletown strong again, noting that – even in the wake of the Valley fire – it's still a great place to live.

One of the evening's main items of business was nominations for the MATH Board for 2016.

The board has five seats, three of which will be up for election at the start of the new year.

Board member Mike Tabacchi said there are two seats open representing Middletown proper – his and Gonzales' – that expire next month, and one at-large seat, currently held by Brown, that covers areas including Anderson Springs, Cobb and Hidden Valley Lake.

Tabacchi indicated he was not seeking another term on the board.

Brown suggested that anyone interested in being on the board needed to be ready to serve.

“This is not a Thursday night get-together social club,” Brown said, explaining that the group has relevance within the county and community, and facilitates discussions of issues of concern to area residents.

He said it's a two-year commitment, and anyone wanting to be a board member shouldn't come with preconceived ideas but with an open mind in order to pass on to the county leadership the community's views on the issues.

Nominees included Nate Duff, John Hess and Gregg Van Oss. Brown also added his name for consideration for reelection, and Linda Diehl-Darms asked to be added to the ballot.

At January's meeting, each of the nominees will give a presentation about themselves, with the election to be held afterward, Brown said.

Brown said how the south county comes back from the Valley fire will be a big agenda item for 2016.

A presentation by Phoenix Rising, which had been anticipated to take place at the Thursday meeting, has been rescheduled to January.

MATH also briefly held a discussion on replacing the damaged “Welcome to Middletown” signs, and will bring the matter back for further consideration next month after a representative contacts the Middletown Rotary, who is believed to have originally been responsible for the signs.

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.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Memorial Grove at the Westside Community Park took one more step toward completion last week with the installation of the mosaic artwork and signage.

The tile mosaic featuring an oak tree surrounded by the names of the 12 individuals being remembered is affixed to the south side of the Jane Barnes Field sign.

The work was commissioned by the Westside Community Park Committee and paid for by donations from individuals in memory of their loved ones.

This beautiful work was created by local artist, Chris King, following input from members of the committee.

Donors to the Memorial Grove are the Keeling-Barnes Family Foundation; Leanne and Jim Harvey in memory of Helen Barbara Harvey; Nancy and Cliff Ruzicka in memory of Marla Ruzicka; Gary and Linda Cambria in memory of Tony and Sophie Cambria; Jim and Alice Holmes in memory of George and Doris Knevelbaard and Jim and Billie Holmes; Linda S. Everson in memory of J.L. and C.E. Shinn; Jack and Rebecca Southwick in memory of William Bennett and Ruth Jantz; Susie LaPointe in memory of Jack W. Humphrey; the Thorn family with the inscription “Always in our Hearts”; Carole and Alexander McGeoch in memory of Ruth Jolin; and Jim and Carol Dvorak in honor of James Dvorak Sr.

In January, 12 oak trees will be planted in the area adjacent to the mosaic.

The grove will be completed with the placement of a concrete bench donated by the Clear Lake Trowel & Trellis Club.

According to Dennis Rollins, chairperson of the Westside Community Park Committee, the Memorial Grove was envisioned by the committee with a threefold purpose: to add additional landscaping, to bring local art into the park and to provide a place where loved ones could be remembered.

The concept was unveiled at Grillin’ on the Green, the Committee’s annual summer fundraising event, with a display featuring the artist’s rendition of the proposed mosaic and an example of the oak trees to be planted.

“The 12 trees and recognition tiles sold out very quickly,” Rollins said. “If more space had been available we would have created a larger grove.”

Information on the park’s development can be obtained from the committee’s Web site, www.westsidecommunitypark.org .