The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.

In proclamations to be presented at 10:20 a.m., the board will honor Deputy Gary Frace, Sgt. Andy Davidson and Sgt. Mike Curran.

The three men are credited with saving lives at the scene of a shooting last month.

On Saturday, Sept. 10, the men responded to Kelseyville home where Andrew Serrano is alleged to have shot Willy Turner and assaulted his estranged wife, Lesa Serrano, as Lake County News has reported.

According to reports on the incident, Frace arrived first, using bolt cutters to cut a lock on the driveway gate and finding Andrew Serrano, allegedly with gun in hand, dragging his wife toward his pickup.

Frace, along with Davidson and Curran – who arrived soon after – are being lauded with stopping the incident from escalating further.

At 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, the board will continue the hearings first held on Sept. 13 regarding the Lake County Correctional Officers Association's grievances over unilateral changes to sick leave police, shift swaps and eight-hour shifts, and the Lake County Sheriff Deputy Association's grievance regarding a unilateral change to sick leave policy.

In other business, the board will present a proclamation to retiring County Clerk/Auditor-Controller Pam Cochrane, whose successor – Cathy Saderlund – the board appointed last week at 9:55 a.m.

At 10 a.m., the board will consider the proposed acquisition of property at 21277 Calistoga St. in Middletown for a sheriff's office facility. That purchase price and terms are the topic of a closed session which will include the board, Sheriff Frank Rivero, County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox and Stacey Mattina of Konocti Realty, representing WestAmerica Bank.

At 10:25 a.m. the board will consider a second reading of an ordinance setting regulations for medical marijuana cultivation.

The board also will hold a closed session to discuss labor negotiations with the Lake County Employees Association, Lake County Deputy Sheriff's Association, Lake County Correctional Officer's Association and Lake County Deputy District Attorney's Association and the proposed purchase for a sheriff's substation in Middletown.

A separate closed session is scheduled to discuss Public Employee Disciplinary Appeal No.

EDA 2011-02.

The agenda follows.

TIMED ITEMS

9 a.m.: Approval of consent agenda, which includes items that are expected to be routine and noncontroversial, and will be acted upon by the board at one time without discussion; presentation of animals available for adoption at Lake County Animal Care and Control; consideration of items not appearing on the posted agenda, and contract change orders for current construction projects.

9:05 a.m.: Citizen's input. Any person may speak for three minutes about any subject of concern, provided that it is within the jurisdiction of the Board of Supervisors and is not already on the agenda. Prior to this time, speakers must fill out a slip giving name, address and subject (available in the clerk of the board’s office, first floor, courthouse).

9:10 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation designating Oct. 2-8 as National 4-H Week.

9:15 a.m.: Public hearing, (a) protest hearing for proposed increase of water charges and fees for County Service Area No. 16 - Paradise Valley; and (b) consideration of proposed ordinance amending the charges and fees for County Service Area No. 16 - Paradise Valley.

9:45 a.m.: Public hearing, consideration of proposed ordinance increasing construction charges and fees (connection and capacity expansion fees) for County Service Area No. 16 - Paradise Valley.

9:55 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation commending Pam Cochrane for her years of service to the county of Lake.

10 a.m.: Consideration of recommendation to pursue acquisition of property in Middletown for sheriff’s office; property location is 21277 Calistoga St., Middletown – APN 024-405-08.

10:20 a.m.: Presentation of proclamations commending Gary Frace, Andy Davidson and Mike Curran.

10:25 a.m.: Advanced from Oct. 4, consideration of proposed ordinance amending Chapter 21 of the Ordinance Code of the County of Lake adding Article 72A: Regulations for the Cultivation of Medical Marijuana (AM 11-03). Second reading.

10:30 a.m.: Continued from Sept. 13, grievance hearings for the following: (a) Lake County Correctional Officers Association (LCCOA) Level 4 grievance regarding unilateral change to sick leave policy; (b) Lake County Sheriff Deputy Association (LCDSA) Level 5 grievance regarding unilateral change to sick leave policy; (c) LCCOA Level 4 grievance regarding shift swaps; and (d) LCCOA Level 4 grievance regarding eight-hour shifts.

NONTIMED ITEMS

– Supervisors’ weekly calendar, travel and reports.

– Consideration of proposed resolution approving the application for grant funds for the California River Parkways Grant Program under the Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006 (Proposition 84).

– Consideration of proposed resolution accepting conveyance of real property located in Clearlake Oaks (property located at 12522 Pine St., Clearlake Oaks – APN 035-143-32 – Barbara Collins).

Consideration of proposed agreement between the county of Lake and E Center, for FY 2011-12 nutrition education services, in the amount of $150,000 (funding from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education Grant).

CONSENT AGENDA

– Approve minutes of the Board of Supervisors meeting held on Oct. 4, 2011.

– Adopt proclamations commending Gary Frace, Andy Davidson and Mike Curran.

– Adopt proclamation designating Oct. 2-8 as National 4-H Week.

– Adopt proclamation commending Pam Cochrane for her years of service to the county of Lake.

– Adopt resolution amending the Lake County Travel Policy.

– Adopt resolution amending Resolution No. 2011-125 to temporarily allocate an additional Legal Secretary II position in Budget Unit 2110 – District Attorney (due to employee on long-term leave).

– Approve the Lake County In Home Support Services Program Integrity and Fraud Prevention and Investigation Plan (secures grant funding for one fraud investigator), and authorized the chair to sign.

– (a) Approve Budget Transfer B-26, from Budget Unit 2704 Inventory Items, to Budget Unit 2704-OES Capital Assets, in the amount of $73,355; to purchase digital repeaters, analog base stations and digital base stations; (b) award bid for 6 digital repeaters to Advanced Communications in the amount of $42,696.24 (with possible adjustment of sales tax, depending on final installation sites); (c) award bid for seven base stations to Advanced Communications in the amount of $21,771.75; (d) award bid for three digital base stations to Advanced Communications in the amount of $8,687.25.

– Approve discharge of 417 delinquent Public Defender fees, totaling $51,051.04, deemed uncollectible by the Treasurer-Tax Collector in accordance with the Revenue & Tax Code Section 2611.1.

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 .

From left, Isaiah Rodgers, Ajai Rodgers and Leandro Guerrero were arrested in Lakeport, Calif., on Friday, October 7, 2011, for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman. Lake County Jail photos.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Three Lakeport men were arrested on Friday for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman.

Isaiah Reyhan Rodgers, 26; Ajai Raheam Rodgers, 22; and Leandro Ridgel Guerrero, 21, were booked into the Lake County Jail on felony charges of attempted rape, sexual battery, assault to commit rape and rape in concert with force or violence, according to a report from Sgt. Kevin Odom.

At 7 a.m. Friday a 24 year old female victim flagged down a Lake County Deputy Sheriff in the 1000 block of Armstrong Street and reported she was sexually assaulted, Odom said.

Odom reported that the woman told the deputy that the suspects were driving away in a vehicle, which she pointed out to the deputy.

The deputy conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle and detained the occupants while officers from the Lakeport Police Department contacted the victim, Odom said.

The investigation revealed the victim was at her residence in the 1000 block of Armstrong Street during the early morning hours socializing with the suspects, according to Odom. She told police she was acquainted with the suspects and had met them the past evening at a local bar.

Odom said she reported the suspects made sexual advances towards her. When she told them to stop, she reported she was held down by the three suspects and was sexually assaulted by at least one of

them.

An “infield show up” – an identification procedure in which an alleged victim is allowed to identify suspects in the field – was performed at the vehicle stopped by the deputy, and the three were arrested, Odom said.

The vehicle's fourth occupant was subsequently interviewed at the police department and released, according to Odom.

Odom said the investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Lakeport Police Department, 707-263-5491.

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The Court Facilities Working Group, which provides oversight of California's entire judicial branch facilities program, will meet on Wednesday, Oct. 19, and Thursday, Oct. 20, in the Malcolm M. Lucas Boardroom on the third floor of the Hiram W. Johnson State Building, 455 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco.

The Administrative Office of the Courts reported that the working group will discuss the future direction of the courthouse construction program and consider options for moving forward with the 41 courthouse projects planned with funding from Senate Bill 1407.

SB 1407 establishes a revenue stream – which includes court fines and penalties – to support courthouse construction.

However, the state “borrowed” around $310 million from the fund during approval of the new state budget, which has given rise to concerns about funding for the new courthouses.

Last month, when the state announced that it was moving forward with new plans for Lakeport's new courthouse – a 50,000-square-foot, $55 million facility set to be built at 675 Lakeport Blvd. – it indicated that it still wasn't clear how the issues with SB 1407 could affect the project.

“We recognize that significant funding reductions to the judicial branch will likely impact the branch’s courthouse construction program,” Administrative Presiding Justice Brad R. Hill of the Court of Appeal, Fifth Appellate District, who chairs the working group, said in a written statement.

Hill said the working group must act quickly to make recommendations to the Judicial Council.

“It’s an enormous job, and we need to gather as much input as possible in a short amount of time,” he said. “These projects have a significant impact not only in the 34 counties in which they would be located but statewide. We believe the public should have a voice on their future direction, whether they support or oppose a particular project or have other comments they wish the working group to hear.”

The working group has been directed to provide recommendations to the Judicial Council on the facilities projects as soon as possible after the October meeting, with the intent that the council could consider those recommendations by the end of the calendar year, the state reported.

Administrative Office of the Courts spokesperson Teresa Ruano said it's not yet clear if the working group will make a final decision about where the funding will go at the meeting.

She said the meeting later this month will be geared more toward receiving public comment.

“The courts actually had an opportunity to submit comments in writing ahead of the public,” Ruano said.

Ruano said that all 34 courts slated to get projects – including the Lake County Superior Court – submitted comments for the working group's consideration.

“The time that we have at the meeting we expect to give to members of the public,” said Ruano.

She said people are invited to come to the meeting or submit comments in writing ahead of time.

Lakeport Community Development/Redevelopment Director Richard Knoll, who along with other city officials has worked to keep the new courthouse in Lakeport, said Tuesday he anticipated the city would weigh in on the discussion.

The working group is opening up public comment on any aspect of the judicial branch facilities program.

Written comments are preferred. Comments may be e-mailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or mailed or delivered to Administrative Office of the Courts, Attn: Comments to Court Facilities Working Group, 455 Golden Gate Ave., 8th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94102.

Comments received by 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 18, will be distributed to working group members at the meeting. The same e-mail address and postal address will remain open to the public at any time to comment on the facilities program or the work of the working group.

In-person comments can be made during the first hour of the working group’s meeting in San Francisco on Oct. 19, from 10 a.m. to 11a.m., which will be reserved for public comment.

Speakers will be limited to three to five minutes, depending on the volume of requests, and scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis.

To reserve time to speak, send your request by e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. mail or deliver your request to Administrative Office of the Courts, at the address above.

As part of the request, include: the speaker’s name, occupation, and (if applicable) name of the entity that the speaker represents; the speaker’s email address, telephone number and mailing address; and the courthouse project to be commented on, or the nature of the speaker’s interest in the SB 1407 program.

Those wishing to comment may also sign up at the beginning of the meeting, but time for public comment will be limited and allocated based on the number of requests to speak. After the comment period ends, the meeting will be closed to the public.

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 .

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Three Clearlake Police officers who investigated a fatal June shooting took the stand during Friday's session of the preliminary hearing for the three men accused of the crime.

Tim Alvarado, Ryan Peterson and Tim Celli testified in the preliminary hearing of Kevin Ray Stone, 29, of Clearlake, and Paul William Braden, 21, and Orlando Joseph Lopez, 23, who are charged with murder, mayhem, several counts of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon, and numerous special allegations in connection with a June 18 shooting that killed a child and wounded several family members and friends.

Braden, Lopez and Stone are alleged to have driven to the Lakeshore Drive apartment of Ross Sparks and Desiree Kirby late on June 18, where the prosecution alleges they participated in a shooting that killed Kirby's 4-year-old son, Skyler Rapp, seriously wounded Kirby, and and left Sparks and his brother Andrew, and Ian Griffith and Joseph Armijo with gunshot wounds.

District Attorney Don Anderson is personally handling the case's prosecution, with attorneys Stephen Carter, Komnith Moth and Doug Rhoades representing Lopez, Stone and Braden, respectively.

Alvarado started off the day on the stand, finishing testimony regarding his work on the case and interviews with witnesses that he had begun offering on Thursday afternoon.

The day's second witness was Peterson, who testified to speaking with a UC Davis Medical Center doctor who had treated Kirby.

He said she sustained numerous gunshot wounds to her right arm and right leg, resulting in broken bones in her arm and a ruptured artery in her leg that the doctor said could eventually have required amputation had it not been treated.

Not long after he responded to the scene of the shooting, Peterson interviewed Sparks' and Kirby's neighbor, Curtis Eeds.

Witnesses and shooting victims who have testified in the hearing so far have placed the alleged shooters in Eeds' back yard, shooting over and through the fence that separated his home from the apartment where the couple lived with their two young children.

Peterson said Eeds had been detained by Officer Alan Collier and was in the back of Collier's patrol car when he first interviewed him.

Eeds, who witnesses said was at Sparks' residence briefly in the hours before the shooting, confirmed that to Peterson. While there he and another man who went by the nickname “Goofy” – who has been identified in court testimony as James Jordan – were standing together at the fence line. Eeds did not mention Goofy leaving Sparks' property with him.

Eeds told Peterson that at some point that evening he had left his home and went to a friend's residence on Lupoyoma, which is where he said he was when he heard five gunshots. After hearing the gunshots he saw a maroon vehicle – which he said resembled a 1980s Volkswagen Rabbit – speeding down Lupoyoma and away from the scene.

According to Peterson, Eeds said he ran back to his residence and saw Sparks on a cell phone screaming at someone, “You killed him,” referring to Skyler Rapp, who was lying dead on the ground. After that Eeds said he left and went back to the Lupoyoma residence.

Peterson said during testimony that he interviewed Leighann Painchaud, Stone's girlfriend, three times during the course of the investigation, the first time on June 19.

Painchaud would later be arrested for vehicle theft after she was found with Stone in a stolen vehicle in Santa Rosa about two weeks after the shooting, as Lake County News has reported.

On June 19 Peterson questioned her about a 1989 Nissan Axxess she had borrowed from her cousin, Crystal Painchaud, who had testified on Thursday to finding her vehicle crashed at the intersection of Lupoyoma and Koloko not long after the shooting. Crystal Painchaud stated that she had found an unexpended shotgun shell on the passenger seat.

Leighann Painchaud said she believed that she had borrowed the vehicle around 9:30 p.m. and driven around town with Stone – going to McDonald's and Walmart – before returning the vehicle and then going to a bar while Stone went elsewhere.

However, after telling that story to Peterson in the June 19 interview, she changed her story, he said.

“As I was speaking with her I advised her that her story wasn't matching things that we had discovered during the investigation,” he said.

Peterson said he asked her if she was willing to be honest, and she said she was, explaining that she had borrowed the vehicle and driven with Stone to an area on Boyles Avenue, where they picked up two subjects, who she described as a white male and a dark-skinned male, both wearing dark clothing.

Painchaud told Peterson that she went to her cousin's apartment in the same complex where she lived on Old Highway 53 to return her cousin's keys – minus the vehicle key. When she returned to the apartment she shared with Stone, he was leaving, with what appeared to be a rifle-type firearm under his jacket.

Later, she received a text from Stone that Peterson said was something along the lines of, “I love you and I'm sorry I can't be with you.”

While working patrol on June 23 Peterson received a call about loud music at Painchaud's apartment. By the time he arrived the music already had been turned down, but he asked if she would speak with him further, and she said yes.

During that interview, Painchaud's story changed again, Peterson said.

At that time, Painchaud told Peterson that she recognized the two male subjects she had picked up on the night of June 18 as Lopez and Braden, whose pictures she saw on the sheriff's Web site.

Peterson said police conducted a consensual search of Painchaud's apartment – during which he was not present – in which officers saw a 12-gauge semiautomatic Browning shotgun.

After securing a search warrant, police returned to the apartment and Peterson – who took part in that search – recovered the shotgun himself.

During the course of the investigation, Peterson also participated in arresting Braden on a state parole violation at the direction of Braden's parole officer.

During cross-examination, Stone's defense attorney, Komnith Moth, questioned Peterson closely on how he secured the crime scene after arriving there shortly before 11 p.m. June 18.

In particular, Moth questioned the decision to move the child's body from the scene. Peterson testified that he had the child's body placed in one of the ambulances, which he stood guard over while the rest of the shooting victims were tended.

However, Kirby needed to be transported to a helicopter landing zone, and due to a shortage of ambulances Peterson and the paramedics decided to transport her in the same ambulance that held her young son's body. “We had no other option.”

He said they covered the child's body with a blanket and placed it on a bench at the rear of the ambulance before loading Kirby.

During his questioning of Peterson – who is the Clearlake Police Department's gang expert – Carter asked him about the Avenue Boys, a gang whose members allegedly were involved in a June 9 fight with Josh Gamble, Sparks' cousin.

Peterson said he hasn't connected them to a larger gang, but they are claiming to be a Norteño subset, wearing red, the same color adopted by the Norteños.

Anderson objected to the questioning, and when Judge Stephen Hedstrom asked for arguments on the issue, Carter said it was extremely relevant, considering that the presentation of the case in chief began with Gamble's account of the fight with the Avenue Boys.

Anderson argued that there wasn't clear evidence that the Avenue Boys were connected to the case.

Hedstrom acknowledged, “There's a loose connection,” which already had been established in testimony. He allowed Carter to continue his line of questioning.

Peterson said he had been able to identify four Avenue Boys, whose graffiti is sometimes found near that of the Norteños.

The last to give testimony on Friday was Sgt. Tim Celli, who said he had interviewed Orlando Lopez's younger brother, Leonardo, three different times.

During interviews on June 19 and June 20 the younger Lopez initially told Celli that Braden and his older brother weren't with him at the home he shares on 16^th Avenue with girlfriend, Ashli Athas, their young son, and Athas' grandmother and sister.

But later Leonardo Lopez – like Athas – admitted to police that he had lied out of fear, and admitted his brother and Braden had been at the house that afternoon. They had left for about 40 minutes and when they came back Braden had a black pump action shotgun.

Leonardo Lopez said Braden sawed off the shotgun handle on the workbench of the home's garage and the butt was thrown away in a recycling bin. Later Orlando Lopez and Braden left in a vehicle with Stone.

Leonardo Lopez said his brother and Braden were in an argument on the phone with a female subject who Braden allegedly challenged to a fight.

While Stone was at the residence on June 18, he allegedly had an argument with Whitney Lopez, the sister of Orlando and Leonardo, according to Celli's testimony. During the hearing so far it was reported that Stone was dating Leighann Painchaud and at some point had dated Whitney Lopez, who was pregnant at the time of the shooting.

Celli said that it was related to him by Athas that Stone punched Whitney Lopez in the stomach during the June 18 argument, a statement that Moth objected to on hearsay grounds, pointing out that Athas stated in her Thursday testimony that she had not witnessed the fight but had been told about it by someone else. Hedstrom ordered the statement stricken.

Testimony in the case will continue at 8:15 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 13. It's estimated that the hearing will wrap up either late Oct. 13 or on Friday, Oct. 14.

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 .

Sheriff Mack is a dynamic speaker who gave his audience a riveting presentation with an emotional and factual interpretation regarding his beliefs of what peace officers should consider their oath of office means to them.

Along with citing the constitution, quoting sections of an individual's rights and what our forefathers considered federal versus states' rights, Mack went on to emphasize the importance of being prepared for emergency and/or disaster relief.

He suggested that citizens should have provisions to sustain themselves for a month or longer.

Mack believes a person’s right to defend themselves and their civil rights were violated by the Brady Handgun Bill. He fought that violation by taking his case to the Supreme Court and won.

He mentioned Judge John Roll – who recently died in the Tucson incident that injured Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford – as a key player in seeing that the case moved forward.

He cited Rosa Parks' effort to stand up for her rights as an individual and citizen of the United States.

The group was pleased to have Sheriff Mack visit Lake County and share his views.

John Phillip Hackamack, 55, of Clearlake was arrested just after 3 a.m. by Clearlake Police Officer Elvis Cook, according to Lake County Jail Records.

Clearlake Police Sgt. Tim Hobbs said officers responded to the area of Old Highway 53 and Cass Avenue at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday on a report of possible gunshots associated with a white Dodge pickup truck.

Hobbs said the police officer were unable to locate the vehicle upon their arrival in the area.

Then, at 2 a.m., Cook and Officer Dominic Ramirez were on patrol when then observed a white dodge pickup truck driving south on Old Highway 53 near Ballpark Avenue, Hobbs said.

He said the officers noticed the vehicle had two different mechanical violations and conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle.

When they contacted the driver, Hackamack, Cook and Ramirez noticed two rifles sitting on the front passenger seat partially covered by clothing, Hobbs said.

During further inspection it was discovered one rifle was a loaded .22 caliber semi automatic rifle with a silencer on the firearm, Hobbs said. The other firearm was a loaded .270 caliber bolt action rifle.

Hobbs said there were two additional silencers located in the vehicle, one of which fit on the .270 caliber rifle.

Cook arrested Hackamack for possession of a silencer and possession of a loaded firearm in a public place, Hobbs said.

Hackamack's Lake County Jail booking sheet showed that bail was set at $10,000. He later posted bail and was released.

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