Vista Point Shopping Center, located at one of the entry points into Lakeport, is at the heart of a foreclosure action filed against the company that owns the building leases. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.

LAKEPORT – The company that has held the lease on the buildings at the Vista Point Shopping Center for three decades is facing foreclosure by the bank that holds its loan and eviction by the new owner of the property the center sits on.

Foreclosure proceedings were filed last November against Oakland-based Meridian Investments by Park National Bank, which holds the $1.9 million note on the Vista Point lease, according to court documents. Named as a co-defendant was Dianne Walters as the representative of the estate of her husband, Bill Walters, a Meridian partner who died last summer.

Last fall the city sold the nine-acre property underneath the 113,288-square-foot shopping center to developer Matt Riveras for $1,001,000, as Lake County News has reported.

Riveras said he filed a default against Meridian earlier this year seeking its eviction from the ground lease because of failure to perform and late payment.

Meridian has held the lease on the buildings since 1978, when it entered into a lease agreement with the City of Lakeport, according to the city's purchase contract with Riveras. With the ground purchase Riveras inherited that lease, !-- @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in which was scheduled to run for another 20 years.

As the city was preparing to finalize its sale to Riveras last October, Jeff Walters, Bill Walters' son who was representing Meridian, and Presidio Development Partners LLC of San Francisco asked the city to reconsider selling the land to Riveras and put a $1.2 million counter offer on the table.

By the time that offer was made in late October, Meridian had allegedly defaulted on an Oct. 1 loan payment, according to court documents. Meridian's filed response denies that it missed that or subsequent payments.

Jeff Walters, who Lake County News contacted about the situation, said he had no information about the foreclosure action.

Calls to Park National's attorneys were not returned. Meridian's attorney, Steve M. Morger, called the situation a “garden variety foreclosure,” and offered no further information on Meridian's reaction to the suit.

Donica was named by Park National Bank as a co-defendant in the judicial foreclosure in an amended complaint filed on Feb. 22.

Park National is seeking a number of findings from the court, including right to enter the property and collect rents or have a court-appointed receiver do so; a judgment for at least $1,914,103.02, which is the loan's principal through Nov. 20, in addition to accrued default interest; and whether Riveras' company, Donica LLC, can claim an event of default on the ground lease and commence its own repairs on the center.

A receiver has been appointed to manage the center, court documents show.

In the court documents, Park National said Riveras approached the bank to inform them that he planned to make $2 million in repairs to the property, which would be billed to Park National. The bank also accused Riveras of hatching a “scheme” to try to purchase Meridian's lease at a significantly lower price that its value.

Riveras said there was no scheme, merely an offer he made based on his experience in banking. He explained that most banks holding such notes usually have purchased them for pennies on the dollar.

Park National turned down his offer, Riveras said, saying they wanted in excess of $2 million.

Situation led to ground lease default action

Riveras said after he took possession of the center's land he asked Meridian to sign an Estoppel agreement, which new landlords often ask tenants to sign. It is meant to provide the new landlord with information on the tenant's situation; it also can be used to confirm lease requirements.

He said Meridian refused to sign it. Riveras said he also wasn't aware that, at that point, they had defaulted on the loan payment to the bank.

In addition, Meridian was late on its payment to him as the property owner, Riveras said, which jeopardized the company's ability to maintain their lease.

Riveras sent Meridian a letter asking for a response by Jan. 28 outlining their plans to remodel the center's buildings. He said they never responded, and about that time he was notified that the shopping center buildings had been placed in receivership.

Finally, Riveras filed a notice of default on the lease against Meridian based on the condition of the property.

He explained that the reason he is named in Park National Bank's suit is a simple one. “If my default were to beat their default I would get the property and they wouldn't get their money.”

The lease is supposed to go for a foreclosure sale at some point, and Riveras believes the bank will end up purchasing the lease rights.

“Nobody in their right mind would pay $2 million for this hornet's nest,” he said.

City Attorney Steve Brookes said the sale had been scheduled for last Friday but was postponed.

The effort to improve the center, Riveras added, continues to move forward.

Riveras said he met recently with Park National Bank to give them time to work out their issues separate from his.

He said he doesn't plan to let up on Meridian, with his civil action to evict the company moving forward.

“Right now my only interest is still the same,” he said. “I want to develop the property and make it a viable center again and with all of these people throwing lawsuits in the way it just postpones what I'm able to do with the property.”

Park National's suit said Donica – and its predecessor, the city – should have known of the center's condition. “ ... During all the years the property was in purported disrepair, Donica, through its predecessor never once raised an issue regarding the purported condition of the property,” Park National alleges.

The city did make such an effort, said Brookes. While the city hasn't done a complete inspection of the property, it did notify Meridian that certain improvements were required, said Brookes.

After the old Thrifty store's roof caved in Meridian took some steps to make the building safer, said Brookes.

City permit records also show that the company had taken out a permit to replace the roof but eventually voided it out. Meridian also fixed electrical concerns at the center after the city sent them a notice requiring it.

Riveras said when the city owned the property it should have put the lease into default based on the poor condition of the buildings. “In hindsight I bet they wish they would have.”

He added, “I'm coming in to do what the city should have done years ago, and that is either force Meridian to perform and redevelop the property and comply with their lease or get out and I'll do it.”

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School was out for spring break on March 21 when Tessa and Kristen Walker were stabbed near their Hidden Valley Lake home.

Ten-year-old Tessa died later that same day at Redbud Community Hospital. Her 14-year-old sister is home and recovering, the family reported.

The two girls and another sibling were all students in the Konocti Unified School District, where Assistant Superintendent Cliff Lantz said counselors are preparing to offer support to students, some of whom may be confronting the news of the little girl's death for the first time on Monday.

Lantz said the district has a crisis intervention team – composed of school counselors and psychologists – that mobilizes in situations such as this one

“Whenever there is any kind of disaster or anything like this, that team automatically gets called and activated,” he explained.

The last time Lantz said he was involved in the team's activation related to a shooting event about a year ago.

Staff at all district schools will be ready to respond if children have questions about this current situation, he said.

However, he added, “The focus will be Lower Lake Elementary, which is where the little girl attended.”

There, he said, the principal, counselor, psychologist and the little girl's teacher “are all aware of the situation and prepared to deal with it,” he said.

However, many of the counseling team's members have been away, so there will need to be some additional planning and discussion when school reopens Monday as they find out the children's reaction to the news, Lantz explained. The team will then decide if they'll need extra help.

If they do need assistance, the county's Mental Health Department is prepared to respond, said Director Kristy Kelly.

“We follow their lead,” she said. “We make ourselves available.”

Kelly said she has as many as 10 staff members who are trained as responders in tragic situations such as this one.

Dr. Terence Rooney, Mental Health's deputy director for clinical services, is in charge of contacting the schools to let them know the county is ready to offer assistance, which he has done in this case, Kelly explained.

“It's part of our essential services to offer psychological support in crisis,” she said.

The last time Mental Health offered its assistance was in response to the death of a faculty member at a local college, Kelly said. Kelly's staff held a debriefing for the school's faculty.

Mental Health also has a critical incident stress debriefing process, said Kelly, which offers support to emergency personnel in particularly stressful situations.

Lantz said it sometimes takes children a while to begin dealing with issues of death and grief. “When the event occurs everyone kind of talks about it on a very superficial level, and then in a few weeks really start thinking about it.”

Perhaps an even more important issue, he said, is helping Tessa Walker's siblings return to school and their studies when they're ready, while minimizing their trauma.

The critical question to answer, said Lantz, is this one: “How do you protect them yet maintain their involvement and integration in school?”

That, he added, is the most difficult piece of the puzzle.

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Lakeport Unified School District and Konocti Unified School District are among hundreds of school districts across the United States named in the 226-page report, released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service. Only five states – Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi and New Hampshire – didn't have schools included in the report.

Board members from both districts Lake County News contacted late Thursday were not comfortable offering comment on the situation at this time because they had little information on the new report.

Lake County News also was unable to contact district administrators late Thursday. Konocti Unified's office was reported this week to be closed due to spring break.

The beef in question – 143 million pounds of it – was produced by the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. in Chino between Feb. 1, 2006 and Feb 4. 2008, the USDA reported.

The report stated that not all school districts listed had any of the beef in their inventory when the recall began. Nor did the fact that a school district or “school food authority” was included on the list indicate that those schools, in fact, had received the recalled beef.

The report did not include information on quantities of beef school districts might have received.

The USDA reported that some of the recalled meat was part of the commodity beef the USDA supplies to the National School Lunch Program. In addition, the agency said that “schools may have purchased Hallmark/Westland beef commercially.”

USDA Food and Nutrition Service officials reported that, of the 143 million pounds of beef recalled, 50.3 million pounds were used for federal nutrition programs. Of that 50.3 million pounds, 19.6 million pounds were consumed and 15.2 million pounds were placed on hold, while several millions pounds more were being traced.

USDA reported that it notified all school districts to “hold and immediately discontinue use of any Hallmark/Westland commodity beef products in their inventory” on Jan. 30.

U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service reported on Feb. 5 that it had, the day before, suspended inspection at Hallmark/Westland “based on the establishment's clear violation of Federal regulations and the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.” The company's operations also were suspended.

On Feb. 17 the USDA notified states that beef the company supplied was being recalled due to “regulatory noncompliance,” the agency explained.

That's because the the slaughterhouse was found to be using “downer” cattle – cows unable to stand or walk due to injury or illness – for slaughter, according to a report from the Humane Society of the United States.

Such animals are not to be slaughtered for food, according to the USDA, because of concerns that they may have a higher risk for certain diseases – ranging from Salmonella to bovine spongiform encephalopathy, known more commonly as mad cow disease.

Making the situation worse was that the slaughterhouse's employees were found to be guilty of using extremely cruel practices, including using forklifts and electric prods in forcing the animals to slaughter, according to the Humane Society. An undercover investigator with the group gathered videotape evidence of Westland/Hallmark's practices, which the group then turned over to San Bernardino County prosecutors.

Any products included in the recall are no longer in use at the schools, USDA reported, explaining that the agency worked with states to “quickly provide replacement commodity product” from approved sources.

No reports of illness related to the recalled ground beef have been made, according to USDA. The agency also “has given assurance that the health risk of consuming the affected beef is negligible,” and remains confident in the supply of food in the National School Lunch Program.

Beyond the recall, the packing company has bigger problems. On Feb. 15, the San Bernardino County District Attorney filed felony animal cruelty charges against two employees the company had terminated, according to a statement that same day by Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer.

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Two local school districts – Konocti Unified and Lakeport Unified – were among districts in 45 states believed to have received some of the 143 million pounds of recalled beef, according to a USDA Food and Nutrition Service report released last week.

The beef in question came from the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. in Chino between Feb. 1, 2006 and Feb 4. 2008, as Lake County News has reported.

The slaughterhouse was shut down in early February after a Humane Society of the United States investigation helped uncover the company's slaughter of “downer” cattle – animals so sick they can no longer stand or walk – and cruel practices employed by laborers on the animals.

Erin Smith-Hagberg, superintendent of Lakeport Unified School District, told Lake County News that the USDA is very efficient with their recall notifications to school districts.

Smith-Hagberg said the district's cafeteria director received an e-mail from the USDA about the recall on Feb. 5.

Lakeport Unified did not receive any direct products that were on the recall list, according to Smith-Hagberg. However, a processing company that the district uses may have received some of the beef.

Smith-Hagberg said that, as a precaution, the district immediately disposed of the 10 cases of beef products that came from that particular processing company.

Lakeport Unified serves 1,200 lunches and 300 breakfasts each day through its food services, said Smith-Hagberg.

That compares with the nearly 2,000 lunches and 900 breakfasts served on school days at schools in the Konocti Unified School District, said Marla Peterson, director of Konocti Unified's Child Nutrition Program.

Peterson said Konocti Unified received 206 cases of processed beef products from Westlands/Hallmark. The district was notified of the issue with the meat on Feb. 15.

“We've never had a recall this huge,” said Peterson, who has worked with the district for 25 years.

Because the recall covered meat produced at the Chino slaughterhouse in a two-year period, Peterson said she's sure some of the beef was served in the district at some point.

The USDA, however, has reported that no illnesses have been reported because of the meat, which was recalled for regulatory noncompliance.

At the time of the recall, the cases of beef were still located in Konocti Unified's central freezer facility and hadn't yet been distributed to the various schools, said Peterson.

As soon as she was notified, Peterson said she called the schools' cooks to apprise them of the situation. They kept dishes using similar beef products off the menu “just to make sure,” she added.

“We had to destroy the 206 cases on our site,” she said, with that product valued at a little under $2,800.

The destruction process included making two trips to the landfill, where the USDA required that the beef had to be plowed into the ground, said Peterson. A landfill official and warehouseman also had to sign a USDA affidavit confirming that the meat had been destroyed.

Peterson said the district diverts the ground beef it receives as commodity to a processor, where the meat is made into products. The district's processor had another 11,000 pounds of the meat. She added that the processor is handling that meat's destruction.

The USDA said it will provide replacement commodities.

“We were pretty lucky,” she said.

Peterson said it's not uncommon to get recalls on some items produced by private companies, such as a recent green bean recall. She added that the California Department of Health sends out regular updates on food recall issues.

However, she said this was the first time a recall involved products distributed by the USDA.

Denise Moore of the California Department of Education's Food Distribution Program told Lake County News that, in all, state schools received 15.8 million pounds of recalled beef valued at $24 million.

Of that, it's estimated that 4.2 million pounds – or about 152,216 cases of beef – have been destroyed, with the remainder having been consumed, said Moore.

However, Moore said that only 78-percent of school districts have responded to requests the Department of Education has made for information about their beef supplies, so estimates of how much may have been consumed could change.

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Congressman Mike Thompson and wife, Jan, during his talk at the Saturday evening ravioli feed. Photo by John Jensen.

LAKEPORT – This weekend Congressman Mike Thompson once again donned his red apron and – in a nod to his Italian heritage – cooked up and served huge amounts of pasta to host one of the community's largest annual dinners.

The annual ravioli feed, hosted by Thompson and wife Jan at the Lake County Fairgrounds Saturday evening, drew hundreds of residents from around Lake County and across parties in a gathering that has continued to grow larger over the last few years, according to organizers.

Several local elected officials – including Supervisors Jeff Smith, Ed Robey and Denise Rushing, Clearlake Council member Joyce Overton, Assembly hopeful Wes Chesbro and former supervisor, Gary Lewis – joined Thompson to serve up dinner, while Public Nuisance provided the music.

Appreciation for wine was a theme of the evening. More than 20 local wineries poured their product, and Thompson's talk to the crowd touched on the region's growing reputation for wines.

“Lake County is there,” said Thompson. “They are top of the list.”

He added that local wine producers “make it very easy for me to promote a good product.”

Turning to matters in Congress, Thompson said the nation shouldn't put its children in debt. He pointed to bad policies adopted by the administration and the last Congress which continued bad fiscal policy.

For those reasons Thompson said the House of Representative has adopted “pay-go” rules, that, with some exceptions, require the house to only pass legislation that it can pay for. The Senate has yet to adopt those rules, he added, but they're necessary to improve fiscal responsibility and manage debt.

Thompson, a Vietnam veteran who was awarded a certificate of appreciation for his efforts on behalf of fellow vets from the local Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 951 before the dinner started, said this Congress has raised funding for the Veterans Administration to its highest levels ever.

That action was necessary, he said, because the growing veterans community has tremendous needs.

Thompson also touched on other issues, including Congress' passage of the most aggressive energy policy ever, increases in funding for education and the road ahead.

Millions of new voters are coming out to participate in the process of electing new leadership, said Thompson.

“People really want to change the direction of this country,” he said. “I'm looking forward to doing that with your help.”

He adding, “I'm glad that we're in this together.”

The Saturday event – with its relaxed, casual atmosphere – was likely a welcome respite for Thompson, who has been under scrutiny since last week in the wake of an Associated Press report that a trip he and two fellow Democrats in the House of Representatives took to Iraq in 2002 was secretly financed by Saddam Hussein's intelligence agency.

Thompson and his fellow lawmakers aren't being accused of any wrongdoing, especially since the trip was approved by the State Department.

The congressman took the trip so they could see for themselves the situation in the country prior to the US launching its war on Iraq.

Thompson ultimately voted against entry into the Iraq war.

His annual visit to Lake County also came at a time when he's in the midst of a campaign for reelection.

The field of candidates this year for Thompson's First Congressional District seat include Mitch Clogg, Democrat, Mendocino; Doug Pharr, Republican, Napa; Zane Starkewolf, Republican, Davis; and Carol Wolman, Green, Mendocino, according to the California Secretary of State's Office.

He said his challengers are accusing him of either being too far to the right or too far to the left.

“I'm right back where I've always been – in the middle, working with both sides,” he said, earning a round of applause.

Thompson said he's looking forward to continuing to work with his Lake County constituents for a long time to come.

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Hundreds of county residents filled the hall at the Lake County Fairgrounds Saturday. Photo by John Jensen.

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District Attorney Jon Hopkins went before Judge Sandra McLean in the case of Gerald Frank Stanley, 63, who was sentenced to death in 1984 for the murder of his wife, Cynthia Rogers Stanley.

On March 17 a federal judge – citing juror misconduct – threw out the competency trial that was held in late 1983 as part of Stanley's original prosecution after questions of his mental state were raised, as Lake County News has reported.

Hopkins asked Judge McLean for a hearing on the feasibility of retrospective competency proceedings; at the same time, he's planning to file a request for a change of venue in order to move the case back to Lake County. The trial was moved in 1983 because of pretrial publicity, he explained.

McLean granted Hopkins' request for a hearing on his motions, which is scheduled for 11 a.m. April 24 in Oroville, Hopkins said.

Stanley, based on a removal order filed by Hopkins, was transported from San Quentin State Prison's death row to the Butte County Jail in Oroville.

Hopkins said Stanley appeared in court Thursday, after having spent the morning fighting with jail nurses over his medications. Stanley has previously stated to this reporter that he suffers from a variety of health complaints, including heart issues.

Upset over the issues with his care at the jail, Stanley made demands to the court that he be transported back to San Quentin, said Hopkins.

When it came time to appoint a defense attorney for Stanley in these current proceedings, Stanley requested Mark Olive, according to Hopkins.

Olive, a Florida attorney who has specialized in defending death penalty cases for 30 years, has previously worked on Stanley's defense team, although Stanley has stated in the past that he did not want Olive and other federal defenders to act on his behalf.

Hopkins said Olive wasn't present at the Thursday hearing, although two federal defense attorneys were present. McLean appointed Chico attorney Dennis Hoptowit to represent Stanley.

While his mental competency has been questioned, Stanley's guilt in the murder was upheld in the recent ruling and in a California Supreme Court ruling, according to court documents.

In the original trial, Stanley was ruled competent and sentenced to the gas chamber. He has remained on death row since February of 1984.

If a retrospective competency hearing were held and Stanley was found incompetent at the time of his original trial's penalty phase, he would no longer face the death penalty and instead would serve out the remainder of his life behind bars without the possibility of parole, according to Hopkins.

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Bugsy the hampster is recovering and has a new home, while the juveniles who allegedly injured her are facing animal cruelty charges. Photo courtesy of Lake County Animal Care and Control.

LAKE COUNTY – A teacher's compassion and quick thinking helped save a small animal in a case of animal cruelty the likes of which local officials say they haven't before encountered.

Lake County Animal Care and Control and Clearlake Police reported that two girls have been arrested and are in Juvenile Hall, facing charges of intentional animal cruelty for putting a hamster in a microwave. Their names have not been released because of their age.

“I've never seen anything like this,” said Clearlake Police Officer Carl Miller, who worked with Animal Care and Control to investigate the case.

Nor had Animal Care and Control Officer Morgan Hermann, who said she hasn't encountered an animal cruelty case involving children in her five years with the agency.

Amazingly, the little hamster, a female named Bugsy, survived the ordeal, said Hermann.

Animal Care and Control received an anonymous call about the Bugsy's case last week, said Hermann, while the students in question – who attend schools in the Konocti Unified School District – were on spring break.

She said she called Miller, Konocti Unified's school resource officer since last September, who Hermann said conducted the entire investigation, which wrapped up Monday.

Miller said that the microwave incident occurred in December, and that it was widely known at the school where the girls attended.

One of the girls recently brought Bugsy back to school to give her back to her original owner, said Miller. That's when a teacher, who had heard about the situation, took custody of the hamster to protect it from further harm.

Miller said he considers the case a serious one.

Animal advocacy groups also consider such cases of special concern. A report by the Humane Society of the United States explains that children who are allowed to harm animals are more likely to be violent later in life.

After getting the call Hermann took Bugsy to Wasson Memorial Veterinary Clinic to be checked out.

Although Bugsy survived, she didn't come away from the experience unscathed, said Hermann.

Three of Bugsy's four tiny feet were burned off, leaving just one front foot, the left front, for her to eat with, said Hermann.

The wounds had healed since the incident occurred, and Bugsy is plump and getting around OK, said Hermann. “The hamster is doing very, very well.”

The two girls alleged to have injured Bugsy remain in Juvenile Hall, said Miller.

As for Bugsy, she was released by Wasson Memorial on Monday, said Hermann.

The little hamster will be going back to live with the woman who rescued her and had been taking good care of her since, said Hermann.

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Dean Gotham, president of the local Vietnam Veterans of America chapter, braved the gloomy Friday weather to sell clovers commemorating MIAs, POWs and victims of Agent Orange. Vietnam veterans locally also will mark the first Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day on Sunday, March 30. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.

LAKE COUNTY – It's been decades since Vietnam veterans made their way home from the war, only to meet – in the worst cases – outright abuse, or disapproval and lack of acceptance because they had been sent to fight in an unpopular war.

Now, however, thanks to the growing appreciation for their sacrifices, Vietnam veterans are poised to celebrate their first national day of remembrance.

On Sunday, the first “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day” in the United States will be commemorated.

It's been a long time in coming – 35 years, to be exact.

March 30 was chosen because it was on that date in 1973 that US Armed Forces completed withdrawal of combat troops from Vietnam.

US involvement in Vietnam began in an advisory capacity in 1961, with troops arriving in 1965, in an effort to prevent Communism spreading across the rest of Southeast Asia.

In all, more than 58,000 US Armed Forces members died in the war, with another 300,000 returning home wounded, according to federal records.

The “Welcome Home” day received federal approval last year. That followed years of lobbying by Whittier resident and Vietnam veteran José G. Ramos, who founded the Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day effort in 2000, according to www.whvvd.org.

On Feb. 16, 2007, California Congresswoman Linda T. Sanchez introduced House Resolution 189, “Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that a 'Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day' should be established,” according to congressional records. Sanchez was joined by 54 co-sponsors on the bill.

The bill passed on a 381-0 vote on June 25, 2007, according to House voting records. North Coast Congressman Mike Thompson, a Vietnam vet, was among those casting votes in favor of the resolution.

Next, on Aug. 1, 2007, California Sen. Barbara Boxer introduced the Senate version of the bill, Senate Resolution 289. The Senate passed the resolution unanimously on Nov. 8, 2007.

Both resolutions noted: “... Members of the United States Armed Forces who served bravely and faithfully for the United States during the Vietnam War were caught upon their return home in the crossfire of public debate about the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War ...”

On his Web site Ramos reported that the bill was sent to President George W. Bush, with the request that he sign it and make it a national holiday. The bill didn't receive the president's signature, despite efforts by Ramos and others to get him to do so.

Veterans honored locally

Local veterans are joining their fellow soldiers across the nation in marking the day by their own kinds of activism and outreach.

This year, there aren't any organized local events planned for the Vietnam veterans commemoration, said Dean Gotham, president of the county's Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 951.

Instead, groups like his are focusing on outreach to the community and education about veterans issues.

On Friday, Gotham braved the cold, rainy weather to stand outside Bruno's Shop Smart to offer clovers – orange for Agent Orange victims and black for POW/MIAs – as part of a fundraiser for the group.

“I'm shocked at how well it's going,” said Gotham.

He added that it's the first time the commemorative clovers – similar to the “Buddy Poppies” sold on Veterans Day and Memorial Day – have been offered locally, or possibly even in the state. “We may be breaking new ground.”

Agent Orange refers to the herbicide dumped on Vietnam in an effort to defoliate jungles. Use of the chemical – millions of gallons of it were dumped on the country – had huge impacts on soldiers and civilians, both American and Vietnamese, who were exposed to it. Numerous health issues, from dozens of forms of cancer to birth defects, have been attributed to it.

The black clovers Gotham handed out to donors were a reminder of the soldiers still missing and unaccounted for in Vietnam. The National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia reports there are 1,763 US soldiers who have never returned from the Vietnam War.

There are a total of 8,000 veterans in Lake County, said Gotham, based on information he's received from the county's Veterans Services Office. Of that number, Gotham estimated that “a good chunk” are Vietnam vets.

In addition to Bruno's, clovers also will be available for donation this weekend at Konocti Vista Casino, K-Mart, Sentry Market and Lakeport's Safeway, according to Gotham.

All the proceeds will benefit Chapter 951's outreach programs – everything from emergency financial and housing assistance, to providing help with benefits and rides to medical appointments.

For the last two Christmases, the chapter also has extended its efforts to include seniors at area convalescent homes in its “Seniors Not Forgotten” program, in addition to providing memorial scholarships, a Christmas Fund and sponsorship for Little League teams, the chapter reported.

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The US Geological Survey reported a 3.3 earthquake occurred at 2:04 p.m. It was centered two miles northeast of The Geysers, three miles west of Cobb and six miles west northwest of Anderson Springs.

The earthquake was so shallow that no depth was recorded, according to the USGS.

USGS reports noted that the quake was felt in Middletown, St. Helena and Santa Rosa.

In Cobb, resident Roger Kinney reported feeling the quake. He said the quake's shallowness made it seem like it was much larger.

Kinney also reported feeling three smaller quakes that occurred within minutes of the 3.3 temblor.

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The Lakeport Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the event, reported the following award winners.

• Man of the Year: Dave Fesmire.

• Woman of the Year: Ginny Craven.

• Large Business: Shannon Ridge Winery and Vineyard.

• Small Business: Kerrie's Quilting.

• Youth Advocate, Volunteer: Helen Finch.

• Youth Advocate, Professional: Adam Garcia.

• Male Student: Erik Jameson.

• Female Student: Krista Collins.

• Agriculture Award: Lake County Farm Bureau, California Women for Agriculture.

• Arts Award, Amateur: Shelby Posada.

• Arts Award, Professional: Ron Keas.

• Volunteer: William Barrows and Connie Miller.

• Marla Ruzicka Humanitarian Award: Susie Wiloth.

• Senior of the Year: Floyd Surber.

• Best Idea: Team DUI.

• Organizaiton, Nonprofit: Lakeside Dental Clinic.

• Organization, Volunteer: Sponsoring Survivorship.

• Lifetime Achievement, Male: Don Emerson.

• Lifetime Achievement, Couple: Robert and Nadine Strauss.

• Lifetime Achievement, Female: Joan Steele Holman.

• Local Hero: Javier Batres.

• New Business: Wild About Books.

• Environmental: Tom and Val Nixon.

• Spirit: Kacey Tallman.

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State Sen. Patricia Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa), who represents much of the North Coast in the 2nd Senate District, was a co-author of the original bill (AB 1475, by Assemblywoman Nell Soto) establishing Safe Routes to School funding in 1999. A number of communities in the 2nd District – which stretches from Solano County to Humboldt County – received funding in the latest cycle.

According to CalTrans, the Lakeport schools – Lakeport Elementary, Terrace Heights, Terrace Middle School and Clear Lake High School – received $499,860 in grant funding for a street improvement project, the total cost of which is $555,400.

Caltrans reported that the project will include constructing curb, gutter and sidewalk, and a retaining structure, and installing crosswalks, traffic signs and fences. Improvements will be completed along Hartley Street, from the intersection with 20^th Street to 428 feet south of the city limit.

Since the program’s inception, Caltrans has awarded $196 million for 709 Safe Routes to School projects. In 2007, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 57 (also authored by Nell Soto), extending Safe Routes to School funding indefinitely.

On its Web site, Caltrans describes Safe Routes to School as “an international movement that has taken hold in communities throughout the United States. The concept is to increase the number of children who walk or bicycle to school by funding projects that remove the barriers that currently prevent them from doing so. Those barriers include lack of infrastructure, unsafe infrastructure, lack of programs that promote walking and bicycling through education/encouragement programs aimed at children, parents, and the community.”

The highly competitive program (local school districts, boards, city councils and state agencies can request funding through yearly application cycles) has enabled communities to increase the safety of children walking or riding to school.

“Pedestrian accidents have been a leading cause of fatal injuries for school-aged children, including in school zones lacking crosswalks or sidewalks,” Wiggins said. “That is one of the many great things about this program: Funds can be used for crosswalks, pedestrian and bicycle pathways, bike lanes, sidewalks and a number of ‘traffic calming’ measures.

“By creating a more hospitable environment for children to walk or ride to school,” Wiggins added, “we are also helping to promote exercise, which is a necessary component of the effort to reduce the incidence of obesity in our young people.”

Thirty years ago, 60 percent of children living within a two-mile radius of a school walked or bicycled to school. Today, that number has dropped to less than 15 percent, according to information provided by Wiggins' office.

Roughly 25 percent commute by school bus, and well over half are driven to/from school in vehicles. And back then, 5 percent of children between the ages of 6 and 11 were considered to be overweight or obese, Wiggins office reported. Today, that number has climbed to 20 percent.

These statistics point to a rise in preventable childhood diseases, worsening air quality and congestion around schools, and missed opportunities for children to grow into self reliant, independent adults.

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Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. of the U.S. District Court for California's Eastern District made the ruling March 17 in the case of Gerald Frank Stanley, 63, whose appeal was made on his behalf by federal defenders.

Stanley was convicted of the Aug. 11, 1980 murder of his wife, Cynthia Rogers Stanley, in Nice, according to case records.

Damrell ordered proceedings to begin within 30 days of his ruling on whether or not a new competency hearing – nearly a quarter-century later – should be held.

District Attorney Jon Hopkins said he intends to appear in Butte County Superior Court – where Stanley's trial was moved due to pretrial publicity – on Thursday morning.

There, Hopkins will ask Judge Sandra McLean to set a hearing on the feasibility of holding a retrospective competency hearing in the case.

Stanley reportedly shot his wife with a sniper rifle while she was at her father's resort in Nice, according to Lake County News research into the case. Stanley then fled the scene, with authorities launching one of the largest manhunts in county history in an attempt to find him. Stanley later was arrested at his mother's Anderson home.

Robert Crone, then the Lake County District Attorney, prosecuted the case, which was reported to have cost the state $1 million, research of the case revealed. Crone and his prosecution team lived in Butte County for nearly a year while the trial was under way.

On Feb. 7, 1984, Stanley was sentenced to die in the gas chamber, according to State Department of Corrections documents. He has remained on San Quentin's death row since then.

Hopkins emphasized that Stanley's guilt is not in question, and he's not going to be released. In fact, Damrell upheld the finding of guilt in the Stanley case, as has the California Supreme Court, court records show.

“The guilt stands,” said Hopkins.

If the competency trial is held again and Stanley is ruled incompetent, he would no longer be subject to the death penalty and instead would be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, Hopkins said.

One of the factors cited in Damrell's ruling was juror misconduct in the trial's competency phase, court documents show.

At the beginning of the Stanley trial's penalty phase – in which jurors were to consider whether he was to receive the death sentence – doubts about Stanley's competency were raised, Hopkins explained.

That resulted in a three-month break in the proceedings while a competency trial took place, and Stanley was ruled mentally competent to stand trial, Hopkins said.

Later, however, it was found that one of the jurors in that trial allegedly was guilty of misconduct because she failed to state that she had been a violence victim, said Hopkins. That was a concern because it could have affected her ability to make an impartial decision.

Damrell's ruling also pointed to a statement by an expert witness in the case that Stanley was incompetent as of 1981, which contradicted that witness' previous testimony.

The issue now, said Hopkins, is a complicated one.

“We have to engage in the process of deciding his competency 25 years ago,” he said.

Such proceedings are not unheard of, said Hopkins, although they're rare. He pointed to other, similar cases in other federal circuit courts where retrospective competency hearings have been ordered. “There is some precedent.”

In addition to pursuing the request for a hearing on the feasibility of a retrospective hearing, Hopkins also asked to have Stanley brought from death row to the Butte County Jail in Oroville, a duty that fell to Butte County Sheriff Perry Reniff's office. Stanley is expected to remain in custody in Oroville during the proceedings.

Hopkins also plans to file a motion to have Stanley's case brought back to Lake County if it's decided to go through with a new competency trial.

Originally, the defense was granted a change of venue due to pretrial publicity. However, Hopkins believes he can successfully argue that enough time has passed that the case is no longer well known locally, and a competency proceeding could find an unbiased pool of jurors.

Stanley's federal appeal is not being carried out at his request, according to previous statements Stanley has made to this reporter.

Several years ago Stanley began trying to have the appeals process stopped with the help of Jack Leavitt, a Hayward-based attorney, according to interviews with both men.

Stanley stated that due to his failing health he was seeking an execution date and, if one was granted, he had offered to disclose the location of the body of Diana Lynn Ramel, a woman with whom he was romantically involved and who disappeared in February 1980. He has stated he did not kill her.

He did, however, murder his first wife, Kathleen Rhiley, in 1975 as she was taking their children to school in Concord, according to Lake County News research. Stanley served four and a half years for that crime.

At one point Stanley also was believed to have been involved in the murder of a young Redding woman, Sheryl Ranee Wright, who was last seen the day before Cynthia Rogers was shot, according to case research.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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