Joy Swartz (center), provider of the year, center-based, with honorable mentions Katrina Mansell and Katrina McDonnell. Courtesy photo.

The Lake County Child Care Planning Council held its second annual Early Childhood Educator of the Year Award Dinner on May 7 at Moore Family Winery, offering recognition and valuable award packages to 13 exceptional early childhood educators and three child care centers.

Lake County organizations, businesses and individuals offered significant support to make this event possible, according to Shelly Mascari, director of the Lake County Child Care Planning Council.

First 5 Lake, North Coast Opportunities, Yuba Community College and Department of Social Services were significant supporters, along with many others, she said.

Supervisors Denise Rushing, Jeff Smith, and Anthony Farrington attended the event, and presented awards to deserving providers, along with the Superintendent of Schools and other agency directors.

“It is encouraging to see our community’s organizations and leaders unite in recognition of the valuable contribution early childhood educators make throughout Lake County,” said Mascari.

Nearly 50 providers were nominated in recognition of commitment to excellence by their peers, community members and the families they serve.

Winners were selected based on a detailed interview and evaluation process that took into consideration education, commitment to their profession, answers to specific interview questions, and effectiveness in their role as educators.

Early childhood educators contribute significantly to communities, Mascari said. Quality early childhood education dramatically impacts high school graduation rates, keeps communities working, and helps Lake County develop productive, effective, happy citizens of the future.

“Many of these recognized educators have dedicated decades to their profession,” Mascari said. “Their education, in many cases, equals that of the K-12 educator, yet we were lacking a forum to recognize excellence in their field. The goal of this program is to do just that.”

Congratulations to the 2010 Early Childhood Educators of the Year:

Student Scholarship: Carley Rae Jones.

Firefly Award: Marcella Lopez, Early Head Start.

Appreciation of Service: Elaine Robinson, The Learning House.

Center of the Year: Lakeport Head Start; Honorable mentions – Meadowbrook Head Start, The Learning House, Early Head Start.

Advocate of the Year: Katrina Hickey, Lake County Office of Education.

Outstanding Special Needs Inclusion: Shirley Littleton, Early Connection Preschool, Lakeport.

Provider of the Year (Family Child Care): Liberty Perry, Perry Family Day Care; Honorable mentions – Racheal Breeze-Harmon, Breezy Days Child Care; Linda Hamner, Wild Kid Kingdom.

Provider of the Year (center-based): Joy Swartz, Upper Lake Head Start; Honorable mentions – Katrina McDonnell, Lakeport Head Start; Katrina Mansell, Early Connection Preschool, Lakeport.

Leading the Field Award: Gina Griffin, Lake County Office of Education.

Lifetime Achievement Award: Louise Garrison, Garrision Family Child Care.

Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf .

Harvey King, 66, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash near Lower Lake, according to the California Highway Patrol.

King was driving his 2003 Ford Taurus northbound on Highway 29, south of B Street at 55 miles per hour at 2:25 p.m. Thursday, with 52-year-old Patrick Bauman of Greenbrier, Tennessee, following directly behind King in a 1999 Jeep Cherokee, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Steve Tanguay.

Tanguay said that Larry Wolfe, 50, of Cobb, was driving a 1999 Ford F-450 truck southbound on Highway 29 south of B Street, also traveling at 55 miles per hour, when, for an unknown reason, King

allowed his vehicle to go to the left and cross over the painted solid double yellow lines, and entered the southbound lane of traffic directly in front of the Ford F-450.

The left front of the Ford Taurus collided with the left side of the Ford F-450, with the collision causing the left side tires of the F-450 to deflate, Tanguay said.

The F-450 began to rotate and overturn, according to the report. When the F-450 stopped, it came to rest back on its wheels, blocking both lanes of traffic.

Bauman witnessed the collision between the Taurus and the F-450, and attempted to avoid the collision by swerving to the right, losing control of the Jeep Cherokee, which went off of the roadway and struck a tree, Tanguay said.

King sustained fatal injuries as a result of this collision and was pronounced deceased at the scene by the Lake County Sheriff’s Coroner. Tanguay said Wolfe sustained minor injuries and was transported by ambulance to Saint Helena Clearlake Hospital. Bauman was uninjured and was able to drive the Jeep Cherokee away from the collision scene.

Agencies on scene were the California Highway Patrol, the Lake County Sheriff’s Department, Lake County Fire Protection District, Kelseyville Fire Department and Caltrans, the report noted.

CHP Officer Efrain Cortez is continuing the investigation into the collision, Tanguay said.

Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf .

LAKE COUNTY – If you have been lamenting, “I thought it was spring?” – be prepared to continue wondering as unseasonable wet, windy, cold and rainy weather returns Friday and lingers through the weekend.

Mostly cloudy skies with scattered showers and a daytime high near 56 degrees is forecast for much of Lake County Friday, with wind gusts as high as 20 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service in Sacramento.

The average high for Lakeport at this time of year is 78 degrees, which the county is forecast to fall far short of Friday and throughout all of next week.

The National Weather Service predicts the overnight lows to be at or near the record of 35 degrees, set in 1941, which means that area farmers and gardeners will need to continue monitoring for frost and freeze protection throughout the weekend.

A 20-percent chance of isolated showers continue through Saturday with partly cloudy skies, according to the National Weather Service, with daytime highs in the mid-50s and lows in the mid-30s.

However, Western Weather Group is warning that some areas of Lake County could drop in to the upper 20s on Saturday night – which could mean that some areas of the county may see snowfall overnight.

Skies are forecast to clear somewhat on Sunday, and continue clearing on Monday, with chances of rain returning on Tuesday through next week still accompanied by unseasonably cool temperatures, according to the National Weather Service.

Temperatures will remain near 60 degrees during the day with overnight lows in the 40s through Thursday, forecast models by the National Weather Service predict.

For up-to-the-minute weather information, please visit the Lake County News home page.

E-mail Terre Logsdon 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 and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf .

Veggie Girl Esther Oertel this week offers tips on cooking with beets. Courtesy photo.

I just love the rich, earthy sweetness of beets, so much so that the mere thought of the deep burgundy globes can make me salivate.

Whether red, golden or the chiogga variety boasting red and white rings, these colorful root vegetables contain powerful nutrient compounds that help protect against heart disease, birth defects and certain cancers, especially colon cancer.

Beet roots have stores of calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, carotene, B vitamins (including folate, important for pregnant women as it protects against birth defects) and vitamin C. Beet tops are even more nutritious.

The locally grown version of this late spring crop is available now. Sean Mooney of Full Moon Farms in Kelseyville presented his first-of-the-season beets at Saturday’s Steele Winery farmers’ market and he expects to harvest them through July.

While Mooney typically plants open pollinated crops on his organic farm, he was won over by the hybrid Red Ace variety for its sweet taste and longer growing season.

Like me, he loves his beets roasted and he often combines them with a medley of other roasted root vegetables such as carrots, onions and garlic.

Modern day beets are descended from the sea beet, a wild seaside vegetable that grew along the shores of the Mediterranean. Initially the leaves of cultivated beets were consumed and the root largely ignored.

Beets are related to Swiss chard and spinach and like its cousins, its greens are tasty and nutritious. Young tender beet greens may be used raw in salads; however, the older, tougher shoots should be cooked.

When cooking beets by any method (such as steaming, boiling or roasting), it’s important to leave the skins on to protect their flavor and color. These are easily removed afterward when loosened by the cooking process. Latex gloves are a handy way to protect your hands from red stains when handling them.

As mentioned, my favorite way to cook beets is to roast them. This method concentrates their flavor and combines their natural sweetness with the nutty, smoky, caramelized flavor that identifies roasted vegetables.

To roast beets, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Prepare the beets for roasting by cutting off the greens (leave about an inch of stem attached) and the thin, tapering root. Scrub them well with a vegetable brush under running water to remove loose soil.

Place prepared beets on a baking sheet and allow them to cook for about 90 minutes if large and proportionately less for smaller ones. A baking sheet is important as beets may ooze juices in your oven if placed directly on the oven rack.

Beets are done when they’re soft to the touch and the skin pulls easily away, indicating that the beets have shrunk away from their skins. You can also test with a fork to see if they’re tender all the way through.

Be sure to allow the beets to cool for at least 15 minutes before removing the skin.

Many people enjoy tossing sliced roasted beets in a skillet with a little butter, which gives them a lovely shine. Add orange juice (a wonderful flavor with beets) and allow it to reduce. Or, instead, you may add a bit of balsamic vinegar.

Roasted beets are delicious when combined in a salad with greens, toasted walnuts and goat cheese. A simple vinaigrette dressing, such as one with tarragon, is a good accompaniment.

The beet’s sweet, earthy flavor stands up well to strong greens such as the peppery arugula and marries well with herbs such as tarragon, dill, chervil and chives.

Simple greens are transformed when pieces of roasted beets are scattered over the top like jewels. When matched with bits of bright orange roasted butternut squash, the effect is stunning.

Not everyone appreciates their taste as I do and some have a strong aversion to their flavor. In fact, my own dear husband says they taste like dirt. I look at him quizzically whenever he says this as I can’t imagine identifying them that way.

My research for this article found that his opinion may have some merit. According to Jeff Cox, food critic, gardener and author, beets grown in organic soil (that which is rich in decaying organic matter, such as compost) develop a “clean, woodsy, forest-floor” flavor, as opposed to the “dirty taste” they can acquire from soil low in organic matter.

Because I love beets in almost any form, I can’t verify this, but it’s interesting food for thought nonetheless.

Beets are natural detoxifiers and so are popular with those who juice fresh fruits and vegetables. A reader, DC, shared this favorite recipe for a juicer: 1 bunch of celery, 1 bunch of carrots, 1 (or 2) beets, 1 bunch of kale, 1 (or 2) apples, ginger and garlic to taste. (My reader adds a lot to make it hot like salsa.)

If you’d like to share your own juice recipe, please email it to me and I’ll be happy to include it in the column when that veggie or fruit is covered.

The recipe I offer today is Russian beet soup, or borscht. The recipe is from the Glendi International Food Festival held each September in Santa Rosa.

Because colder weather and more rain are on the horizon, soup seems appropriate. However, borscht can also be served cold and enjoyed in the summer heat.

Borscht

This recipe makes about 2-1/2 quarts. Serve with a generous dollop of sour cream and snipped fresh dill.

¼ cup oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 quarts beef, chicken or vegetable stock

2 – 14 ounce cans diced tomatoes in juice

4 beets, grated

1 carrot, grated

1 white potato, grated

1 parsnip, grated

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

½ small cabbage, shredded

1 bunch fresh dill weed, chopped

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

Sour cream for garnish

In a large stock pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and celery and sauté until onions are translucent but not browned, about five minutes. Add garlic and sauté another minute, being careful not to burn it.

Add stock, tomatoes, beets, carrot, potato, parsnip, salt and pepper to pot. Bring to a boil, lower heat and cover. Simmer 30 minutes. Add cabbage and simmer another 10 minutes. Off heat, stir in dill weed (reserving a bit for garnish) and lemon juice.

Esther Oertel, the "Veggie Girl," is a personal chef and culinary coach and is passionate about local produce. Oertel owns The SageCoach Personal Chef Service and teaches culinary classes at Chic Le Chef in Hidden Valley Lake. She welcomes your questions and comments; e-mail her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf .

A breach of trust is a violation by a trustee of a duty that the trustee owes to a beneficiary. A breach occurs when the trustee acts in bad faith, such as committing an intentional wrongdoing; when the trustee acts negligently, as in not behaving according to the appropriate standard of care; or when the trustee knowingly breaches a duty even though done in good faith – for instance, deliberately disregarding the standard of care, although he/she has good intentions.

Now let’s examine the trustee’s duties.

Read the trust document most carefully because a trustee’s primary duty is to administer the trust strictly according to its terms, unless the terms are inconsistent with an overriding provision of law; and the trust document usually includes general and specific powers and duties. The trust may even alter the statutory duties provided under the Probate Code.

Even a reasonable misunderstanding of the trust that leads the trustee to act outside the scope of the powers granted is a breach of trust. A trustee, therefore, must diligently review and understand the trust document and seek appropriate court guidance if the terms of the trust are unclear.

Next, California Probate Code is another primary source of powers and duties. The Probate Code governs when the trust document is silent; that is, it provides the default rules. The Probate Code also supersedes the trust document on certain specific duties and powers, and controls even if the trust document provides a rule that is on point.

The most important “fiduciary duties” that a trustee owes to the beneficiaries are the duty of loyalty, the duty of care, the duty of impartiality and the duty not to delegate. Let’s examine them.

The duty of loyalty requires the trustee to consider and act in the best interests of the beneficiaries.

A breach of trust occurs when the trustee places his interest above those of the beneficiaries. This can occur when the trustee takes advantage of business or investment opportunities that belong to the trust; or deals with the trust on a personal level for the trustee’s own personal benefit, such as borrowing from the trust; or competes on a personal level against the trust’s business interests.

The duty of care requires the trustee to perform his/her duties in good faith and with reasonable prudence, discretion and intelligence; whether or not the trustee is compensated. Practically speaking, this means, for example, that the trustee must oversee and manage the trust assets and hire the necessary expertise to do so. This requirement can be altered by the terms of the trust itself.

The duty of impartiality requires the trustee to treat the beneficiaries fairly by respecting their rights as beneficiaries under the trust. The trustee cannot give one beneficiary better treatment than another beneficiary due to personal favoritism.

The duty not to delegate requires the trustee to be actively involved in the administration of the trust. A trustee should not delegate acts that a prudent person would consider so important and so much within his capacity as trustee that he/she must perform them personally.

In sum, trustees owe numerous fiduciary duties to the trust beneficiaries based on the trust itself and the California Probate Code. Failure by the trustee to perform any one of those duties will result in breach of trust.

Dennis A. Fordham, attorney (LL.M. tax studies), is a State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law. His office is at 55 1st St., Lakeport, California. Dennis can be reached by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by phone at 707-263-3235.

Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf .

Volunteers will gather at 8 a.m. at the vacant city-owned building across from the Clearlake Police Department to make minor repairs and do a major cosmetic facelift in order to transform this structure from an eyesore into an income-producing asset.

Paint, caulk, tape and other materials have all been donated by local businesses, and some tools will be available. Workers are asked to wear sturdy work clothes, shoes and gloves, and to bring their own tools (rakes, shovels, hammers, scrapers, paint brushes, etc.) if they have them.

Free cold water and a barbecue rib lunch will be offered to all participants.

The Lakeshore Drive business district has such great potential – let's start working together to make that potential a reality.

Event fliers are available at Girlfriends, 14510 Lakeshore, and other locations throughout Clearlake, and may be downloaded at www.lakelive.info/6.5.10flyer.pdf.

For more information call Tony at 707-295-6534 or Jeri at 707-295-6533.

Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf .

The 66-year-old crash victim, whose identity was not released late Thursday, was pronounced dead at the scene of the collision, which occurred at 2:25 p.m. near Lower Lake, according to California Highway Patrol Sgt. Scott Moorhouse, the scene incident commander.

Moorhouse said the crash victim was driving a 2003 Ford Taurus northbound on Highway 29 just south of B Street, south of Lower Lake.

He was being followed by 52-year-old Patrick Bauman in a Jeep Cherokee. Driving southbound in an F-450 AT&T utility truck with a cherry picker boom was 50-year-old Larry Wolfe. All three driver were traveling at around 55 miles per hour, Moorhouse said.

For an unknown reason, Moorhouse said the Taurus driver allowed his vehicle to cross over the solid double yellow lines into the southbound lane, which was directly in front of the AT&T truck.

“It happened so fast the driver of the AT&T truck had no time to react really,” with the Taurus and the utility truck hitting head on, Moorhouse said.

Bauman, who Moorhouse said witnessed the crash, swerved to the right to avoid colliding with the other two vehicles, lost control and hit a tree. He did not sustain any injuries, and Wolfe had minor injuries.

Moorhouse said the agencies that responded to the scene along with CHP included Lake County Fire Protection District, Kelseyville Fire Protection District, the Lake County Sheriff's Office and Caltrans.

He said the highway was blocked for one hour and 10 minutes, with one-way traffic control established for an hour after that.

Officer Efrain Cortez is the lead investigator on the collision, Moorhouse said.

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

Susan Gravier, 54, entered the guilty plea to felony embezzlement on Tuesday before Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Cindee Mayfield, according to a report from the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office.

Gravier allegedly embezzled the funds while employed as the director of the Willits Food Bank, the district attorney's office report.

She allegedly started stealing from the Willits Food Bank in January 2008, and continued until she was caught in April 2009 by other members in the organization, according to the prosecution, led by Matt Hubley.

As director of the Willits Food Bank, Gravier had access to credit and debit cards issued to the organization and would routinely gamble with the food bank’s money at local casinos, officials reported.

The district attorney's office said she faces a maximum of three years in prison and will have to reimburse the Willits Food Bank for all of the money she embezzled.

Officials reported that Gravier, defended by attorney Elizabeth Fowlds, is set to be sentenced on June 30.

Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf .

Members of the US Coast Guard's LORAN station near Middletown, Calif., strike the colors and lower the flag during the station's decommissioning ceremony on Friday, May 21, 2010. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.

MIDDLETOWN – As a rear admiral looked on, Middletown's US Coast Guard Long Range Navigation (LORAN) station was officially decommissioned at a Friday ceremony.

Shortly before 11 a.m., the order was given to strike the colors, with three of the station's staff taking down the US flag from the station's flag pole.

The flag was then folded and given to the station's officer in charge, Chief Petty Officer Scott Greenlaw, who in turn presented it to Rear Admiral Joseph Castillo.

As the flag was passed, Greenlaw declared the station decommissioned.

It was, as Castillo noted, the end of an era for the station, in service for 33 years.

“It's a time to be nostalgic, but it's not a time to be sad,” he said.

On Jan. 4, the Homeland Security Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2010 allowed for the system's termination after the Coast Guard commandant determined that is was no longer needed for maritime navigation and the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security ruled it wasn't needed as a backup for GPS, according to a government statement.

The nation's 24 LORAN stations have been an integral part of military navigation systems for 67 years. The LORAN system uses low frequency radio transmitters that help determine locations.

Castillo said LORAN usage peaked in the 1980s, but global positioning system (GPS) technology has made the LORAN-C system obsolete.

Tucked into the hills at the end of Grange Road, the Middletown station originally was an Army listening post in the 1950s before being taken over by the US Coast Guard in the early 1970s.

US Coast Guard Rear Admiral Joseph Castillo speaks during the decommissioning ceremony at the LORAN station in Middletown, Calif., on Friday, May 21, 2010. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.

In the late 1960s, before the Coast Guard settled in the station, American Indian activists inhabited the grounds for a time, said District 1 Supervisor Jim Comstock, who was on hand for the ceremony. Comstock, who was serving in the Navy in Vietnam at the time of the occupation, said his family owns the road that leads to the station, located next to his 1,700-acre ranch.

Castillo said the LORAN station's staff contributed to the effort of keeping people safe, ships afloat and planes in safe air, and that they should be proud of their efforts.

The closure illustrates a visible change to a new technology.

Castillo – commander of the 11^th Coast Guard District, which includes Middletown – likened the shift from the LORAN to GPS to the shift from sails to steam in ships, and wood to steel for ship construction.

“We knew this time was coming,” he said.

With the technology shift, the federal government moved to close down the system.

“The decision to cease transmission of the LORAN-C signal reflects the president’s pledge to eliminate unnecessary federal programs,” according to a US Department of Homeland Security statement.

The US Coast Guard terminated all LORAN-C signals on Feb. 4. Officials at Friday's ceremony said fives stations in the chain will continue operating temporarily due to agreements with Canada and the Russian Federation.

Chief Petty Officer Scott Greenlaw, left, and Rear Admiral Joseph Castillo read a commendation for the staff of the US Coast Guard Middletown, Calif., LORAN station staff during the station's decommissioning ceremony on Friday, May 21, 2010. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.

In January the Canadian Coast Guard issued an advisory in which it noted that its LORAN-C system works in tandem with that of the US, and so will no longer be operational once the US system shuts down. Canada will therefore decommission its own system, which is expected to take place by October.

Still to be determined is just what will happen to the LORAN stations, including Middletown.

Coast Guard officials reported that the LORAN closures represent $80 million in excess government property that will be transferred.

Castillo said that it will take awhile for the building to be fully decommissioned, and that the Governmental Services Administration is in charge of dispersing government-owned property.

County Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Cox said an agreement has been in the works between the county and the federal government for about 10 years involving transfer of some Middletown LORAN station property.

Cox said the county is supposed to receive title to “a large portion of the land” currently part of the station, but the details haven't entirely been spelled out.

He said the county doesn't have anything in the works on the building or the property immediately surrounding it.

A long history of service

The US Coast Guard said in a statement about the LORAN station closures that the system began its active participation in the LORAN system's development on May 25, 1942.

LORAN-A was implemented in 1943, and for the remainder of World War II, “LORAN-A was instrumental in the Allied success providing accurate all weather 24 hour radionavigation for air and sea forces,” the Coast Guard statement said.

There were more than 75,000 receivers and 2.5 million LORAN charts distributed by the end of the World War II. After the war the system was used mostly by civilian navigators, although the US Air Force used LORAN-A as late as the Vietnam War and it was in operation in North America until 1980, according to the US Coast Guard.

The LORAN system originally was developed to provide radionavigation service for U.S. coastal waters; when LORAN-C was introduced in 1957, it was expanded to include complete coverage of the continental U.S. as well as most of Alaska, Coast Guard officials reported.

Earlier this year, the federal government decided to close all 24 LORAN stations across the United States, including the one established in the early 1970s in Middletown, Calif. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.

The Coast Guard said other LORAN systems also were developed for various uses, including LORAN-B, an improved version of LORAN-A; LORAN-D, a modified version of LORAN-C that US Air Force bombers implemented for short range use; LORAN-F, for unmanned drone navigation; and ELORAN, a next generation system.

Castillo said Friday that by the late 1990s there were more than 500,000 LORAN users.

The Middletown LORAN station's remote location on 1,200 acres helps obscure its 625-foot-tall tower, anchored by a circle of high-tension wires. Nearby sits a 10,000-square-foot building where operations have been headquartered.

The station's staffing went to 21 members in 1990, but by 1997 it dropped to its current number of five, Castillo said.

Castillo's 11^th Coast Guard District encompasses 75-percent of the West Coast LORAN coverage, including Middletown and two Nevada stations – one in Fallon, one in Searchlight, near Las Vegas.

Greenlaw, a chief electronics technician, said Friday that when he arrived from Baltimore to take over duties as officer in charge in August 2007, he found a downtrodden staff with a station badly in need of repair and what looked like insurmountable problems.

Within just three months they began to turn things around, going on to receive numerous commendations for reliable service up until the station's decommissioning, he said.

In three years, Greenlaw said the station and its crew achieved the near impossible. He said they called him “The Whip” behind his back – but it was OK because he knew about it.

Castillo also recognized Greenlaw's work with the local US Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 8-8. Members of the flotilla were present for the event.

In preparing for the decommissioning, Greenlaw hosted the West Coast meeting for LORAN closures, Castillo said.

Now, Greenlaw and his fellow “Loranimals” have been reassigned to other duties around the United States and its territories.

Greenlaw is headed back to Baltimore, another crew member is headed to Alaska, two others to Guam and the fifth to Coast Guard Island in the Bay Area.

Castillo pointed out after Friday's ceremony that many LORAN stations are quite small, and not nearly as spacious as Middletown's. “They've got a pretty nice setup.”

Castillo, who in his career has seen technological changes, said the end of the LORAN stations is kind of sad, but it also signal big changes, which can be exciting.

“It kinda makes you wonder, what's going to come next?” Castillo said.

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

The US Coast Guard's LORAN station near Middletown, Calif., features a 625-foot-tall tower and a 10,000-square-foot building. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.

A view of Lake County from the top of Mt. Konocti taken by photographer Ron Keas of Lucerne, Calif., on Thursday, May 13, 2010.

LAKE COUNTY – Thursday marks a special day for Lake County – the 149^th anniversary of its founding.

On May 20, 1861, California's seventh governor, John Downey, approved the act organizing Lake County, which was formed from land taken from Mendocino, Napa and Colusa counties, according to the 1881 edition of the “History of Napa and Lake Counties.”

With Clear Lake – believed to be 2.5 million years old, which may make it North America's oldest lake – and Mt. Konocti at its center, Lake County has a land area of 1,327 square miles, according to county officials. It currently is estimated to have about 65,000 residents, according to the US Census Bureau.

On the first Monday in June 1861, the county held its first election to organize its county government, with Lakeport chosen as the county seat, the history explained.

A two-story, clapboard wooden courthouse was built in downtown Lakeport, which local historian Donna Howard said burned down – likely because of arson – in 1867 and was replaced with the building today known as the Courthouse Museum.

To put Lake County's founding in historical perspective, the county came into being in the same year as the Civil War broke out. Earlier in the year, the Confederate States began to form and Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as the 16^th president of the United States.

Also on May 20, 1861, North Carolina became the last state to secede from the United States, according to the online North Carolina Museum of History.

Lake County once had been known as the Hot Springs Township of Napa County. Howard thinks a new county may have been formed due to expediency and convenience.

If anyone had to conduct legal business, they had to go all the way to Napa which, in the 1800s, “was a long trip,” Howard pointed out.

Lake County's sesquicentennial will take place next year.

Lake County Deputy Administrative Officer Debra Sommerfield, who heads the county's marketing department, said the county is looking at organizing events to mark the 150^th anniversary next year.

Budgets currently are tight, but Sommerfield noted, “We definitely would like to do something in celebration.”

More details about Lake County's history can be found at www.lakecounty.com.

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