The report, based on information the association collects from more than 90 Realtor associations and multiple listing services statewide, showed that closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 514,090 units in March.

That amounted to a 3.1-percent month-over-month sales increase, and 1.5-percent over March 2010, the report showed. The association said those numbers aligned with its expectations.

“For the first time in many months, we are seeing a genuine improvement in the overall economy, especially with respect to jobs,” said association President Beth L. Peerce. “However, while interest rates and current home prices are favorable, uncertainty about whether the economy has stabilized, concerns about inflation, and an unresolved state budget have created hesitation among buyers.”

The statewide median price of an existing, single-family detached home sold in California increased 5.4 percent in March compared with February to $286,010, but declined 4.9 percent compared with March 2010’s median price of $300,900.

The decline from the March 2010 numbers can be attributed partly to an increase in distressed sales in recent months, and to last year’s federal home buyer tax credit, which pushed both sales and home prices higher, according to California Association of Realtors Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young.

In Lake County, the report showed that the median home price was $94,170 in March, down from $123,330 in February, a decrease of 23.6 percent, which also constituted the biggest month-over-month value drop in the state for March.

Home prices have dropped 39.2 percent since March 2010, when the median home prices was $155,000, based on the statistics. That 39.2-percent drop also was the largest year-over-year change among the state's counties.

The next county closest in home price was Siskiyou, with a February median home price of $112,500, the report stated.

Marin County had the highest median price statewide, $826,700, a 30.7-percent increase over February's median home price of $632,580 and 4.6 percent above the $790,620 median price reported in March 2010.

Tehama had the highest month-over-month increase, 50 percent, with the February median home price of $83,330 jumping to $125,000.

Lake's unsold inventory index, which calculates how many months it would take to deplete the supply of home son the market, was 7.7 percent in March, down from 8.4 in February but up from 6.9 in March 2010.

Some good news – homes were selling faster in Lake County in March. The median time on the market was 83.9 days, down from 112.8 days in February and also down from 94.3 days in March 2010.

In other findings, the report also showed that the Unsold Inventory Index for existing, single-family detached homes was 5.3 months in March, down from 7.3 months in February 2011, but up compared with March 2010’s 4.8-month supply.

The index indicates the number of months needed to deplete the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate.

Thirty-year fixed-mortgage interest rates averaged 4.84 percent during March 2011, compared with 4.97 percent in March 2010, according to Freddie Mac. Adjustable-mortgage interest rates averaged 3.22 percent in March 2011, compared with 4.20 percent in March 2010.

The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home was 56.7 days in March 2011, compared with 37 days for the same period a year ago, the association reported.

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Rod Hilliard, a Lake County Code Enforcement officer, was arrested on Wednesday, April 27, 2011, for willful cruelty to a child. Lake County Jail photo.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – An investigation into a report of suspected child abuse by sheriff’s deputies Wednesday afternoon resulted in the arrest of a Lake County Code Enforcement officer.

Rod Ian Hilliard, 37, was booked into the Hill Road Correctional Facility for felony willful cruelty to a child, with bail set at $25,000, according to Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Shortly after noon on Wednesday, April 27, deputies responded to Kelseyville High School when school staff reported a 17-year-old female student had been injured from an incident that occurred at her home the previous night, Bauman said.

When deputies arrived, they confirmed that the student had in fact sustained significant bruising on her leg and arm, according to Bauman's report.

Further investigation by deputies revealed that on Tuesday afternoon Hilliard, the alleged victim’s father, arrived at their Kelseyville home to find a male friend of the victim’s at the house. Bauman said the friend was told to leave and Hilliard returned to work.

Later that night after Hilliard had returned home from work, he allegedly broke the victim’s cell phone and other items before retrieving a belt from his room and striking the victim several times as punishment for having the boy at the house, Bauman said.

Hilliard was contacted Wednesday afternoon and asked to respond to the school. Bauman said that shortly after Hilliard arrived at the school he was arrested.

Bauman said Lake County Child Protective Services responded to the school to take custody of the alleged victim, and also retrieved the girl's 7-year-old brother from a day care facility.

Hilliard remained in custody at the jail Wednesday night, according to jail records.

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One of the bills, SB 819 by Sen. Mark Leno of San Francisco, would dedicate funding to a unique California program that confiscates firearms from people legally barred from possessing them, including convicted felons and persons determined to be mentally unstable.

The state Department of Justice, Bureau of Firearms estimates there are 18,615 armed prohibited persons possessing 34,708 handguns and 1,579 assault weapons in the state.

The second bill, SB 315 by Sen. Roderick Wright of Inglewood, would make products containing pseudoephedrine – a key ingredient in the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine – available only by prescription.

“Transnational gangs are the top emerging public safety threat to the people of California,” Harris said. “These bills will help law enforcement take guns and drugs out of the hands of gang members. This is a key step in moving toward a smart on gang crime policy.”

Sen. Leno's legislation would revise the penal code to expand the use of existing regulatory fees collected by gun dealers throughout the state to allow the state Department of Justice to confiscate unlawful firearms. The bill would not increase these fees.

Already, agents from the Justice Department's Bureau of Firearms work extensively with local police and sheriffs to repossess thousands of weapons from people who shouldn't possess them, Harris' office said.

Since California in 2007 began its unique program – called “APPS” for Armed Prohibited Persons System – to identify these people and collect their weapons, more than 7,500 guns have been confiscated, an amount that officials said would fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool, according to the state.

In a sweep begun last month, officials said agents with the Bureau of Firearms, along with local police and sheriffs, seized more than 1,100 guns, 150,000 rounds of ammunition and two grenades.

Last year, state agents and Fresno police took away 73 guns, including 17 unregistered assault weapons and a silencer fashioned out of a soda bottle, from a Fresno man recently released from a mental health facility who said he was preparing for Armageddon, Harris' office reported.

Coordinated law enforcement sweeps such as the current one could quickly reduce the backlog of APPS cases, but the sweeps cost money, and there is no likelihood of new tax money, officials said.

The additional funding made available under Leno's bill will allow the state to tackle the APPS backlog, provide continuing funding for the program, and make Californians safer, according to the Attorney General's Office.

California is at the center of the methamphetamine epidemic. It ranks first in the amount of illegal meth produced. It has more “super labs” capable of making more than 10 pounds of meth in a single day than all the other 49 states combined, the Attorney General's Office reported.

Labs in California and Mexico operated by international drug cartels supply about 80 percent of the meth consumed in the United States, the state said.

Harris' office said Wright's bill would make a significant impact on the meth epidemic ravaging California – and the meth labs based in this state feeding the nation's addiction.

After Oregon passed legislation in 2006 requiring a prescription to purchase pseudoephedrine, the number of meth labs there dropped from 400 to 12, the state said.

For legitimate consumers, making pseudoephedrine available only by prescription is no great loss, according to Harris' office. The drug is an active ingredient in only 14 products, and there are at least 136 other over-the-counter products that treat cold and allergy symptoms.

Harris' office called both bills are “common-sense solutions in an age of severe budget crisis,” and maintained that neither bill costs taxpayers anything additional and each would save money by eliminating the commission of future crimes.

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LOWER LAKE, Calif. – A local school has been named among the top schools in the North Coast region and a finalist in the annual Governor's Fitness Challenge, which works to encourage young people to be more physically active.

Lower Lake Elementary School is in the competition to win a fitness center if it comes out ahead in the challenge, which runs through the end of May.

As of Tuesday, April 26, the school was leading the North Coast region with 83,946 active days recorded, officials said. An active day is one in which a student is active for at least 30 minutes.

The school's next closest competitor in its region was Harvest Middle in Napa, which had 59,480 active days.

Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports Chairman Jake Steinfeld said the council will award three $100,000 Live Positively Fitness Centers to California schools that participate in the 2011 Governor’s Fitness Challenge, and make a special effort to promote physical activity for students during the month of May – California’s Fitness Month.

“When it comes to fitness, I’m a big believer in giving schools the tools,” he said. “We started the Governor’s Challenge this year offering three fitness centers as our grand prizes. Now, thanks to Coca-Cola’s Live Positively Initiative, we’re able to double that to 6.”

Steinfeld thanked the company for stepping up “at a time when our state government is being forced to slash budgets.”

He said he hopes the new fitness centers will be an incentive for all California children to be active during the month of May, a month in which most schools implement state mandated academic testing.

“When kids are active they feel better about themselves, they have more confidence and they do better in school,” Steinfeld said. “That’s a big reason why we started the Governor’s Challenge, because academics and fitness go hand in hand.”

One Northern, Central, and Southern California school will each be selected to receive a Live Positively Fitness Center award.

Officials said winning schools will be selected from a group of finalists based on participation in the 2011 Governor’s Challenge and based on essays describing what each school has done to help its students “live positively” by promoting physical activity during the month of May.

California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, a longtime proponent of physical activity, was the leader in establishing May as California Fitness Month when he was in the California State Assembly and the California State Senate.

Torlakson said he is taking on a leadership role with the Governor’s Fitness Challenge because of the proven benefits of physical activity.

“Research shows that physically active students are in better health, have greater confidence and self-esteem and perform better academically,” said Torlakson. “I encourage all California students to take the Governor’s Fitness Challenge and engage in an active, healthy lifestyle.”

The other top 10 Northern California schools ranked by region include the following.

Bay Area: FAME Public Charter, Fremont, 134,061 active days; Ruskin Elementary, San Jose, 132,419 active days; Sunset Ridge Elementary, Pacifica, 132,419 active days; Holbrook Elementary, Concord, 82,757 active days.

Gold Country: Waterford Middle, Waterford, 77,986 active days; Osborn Elementary, Turlock, 75,980 active days; Great Valley Academy, Modesto, active days 74,486; and Tuolumne Elementary, Modesto, 69,485 active days.

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The 29-year-old male inmate, whose name was not released, attempted suicide on April 21 at the Mendocino County Jail, according to Capt. Timothy Pearce of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.

Pearce said the man was found not breathing and without a pulse by a corrections deputy who starting life saving measures and summoned the fire department, who were able to detect a pulse upon arrival.

The inmate was transported to Ukiah Valley Medical Center and later to St. Helena Hospital, Pearce said.

On Monday sheriff's officials received information that the man had died, according to Pearce.

He said an autopsy has been scheduled by the Napa County Coroner Division for Wednesday.

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Employees and courthouse visitors were evacuated following the receipt of a threat that a bomb would go off in the building at around 10:30 a.m., according to Sheriff Frank Rivero.

Rivero said the threat was phoned in to the County Counsel's Office.

He said the caller said to “leave the marijuana people alone.”

At 10 a.m. the Lake County Planning Commission had been scheduled to hold a hearing on a medical marijuana dispensaries ordinance.

A perimeter was set up around the building with Lakeport Public Works barricading off the streets, according to Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen.

Rivero said a bomb sniffing dog from the Department of Defense was sent in to help clear the building.

No explosives were found and the building was reopened to employees and the public at around 1 p.m., officials reported.

The sheriff's office reported that the investigation into the incident is continuing.

A full story will follow later tonight.

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The US Geological Survey said the quake occurred at 10:43 a.m.

Its epicenter was located one mile north northwest of The Geysers geothermal steamfield, five miles west southwest of Cobb and seven miles west northwest of Anderson Springs, the survey reported.

Survey data showed the quake was recorded at a depth of 2.2 miles.

The US Geological Survey received a dozen shake reports, including reports from Kelseyville, Lakeport and Middletown, several from areas of Sonoma County such as Cloverdale and Santa Rosa, and one from San Francisco.

A 3.4-magnitude quake occurred two miles north northeast of The Geysers on April 23, as Lake County News has reported.

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Barton Farris West, 57, received the sentence from Judge Andrew Blum in the Lakeport division of Lake County Superior Court.

West's attorney, Komnith Moth, did not return messages seeking comment.

West was charged with second-degree murder and a previous strike for the crash, which occurred on Sept. 15, 2009, and later claimed the life of 84-year-old Nice resident Jack Bernard Green, according to Deputy District Attorney John Langan.

Langan said West, who was on probation for a previous DUI charge at the time of the collision, had been drinking a half-gallon of vodka since the night before the crash, and had a blood alcohol level of more than two and a half times the legal limit of 0.08 when the incident occurred.

People tried to stop him from driving to his DUI class but, Langan said, “He ignored their warnings.”

By ignoring those who tried to stop him from driving, West's case demonstrated the “implied malice” needed to charge second-degree murder, Langan said.

The original report from the California Highway Patrol stated that the crash occurred shortly before 1 p.m. on the Nice-Lucerne Cutoff near the Rodman Slough.

It was triggered when West's 1985 Toyota Tercel, which was heading westbound, crossed the double-yellow lines and hit two vehicles traveling the opposite direction.

West's Tercel hit the left side of a 2000 Dodge Caravan driven by Salvador Velazquez of Nice before hitting the left front of Green's 2003 Ford Focus.

All three men were transported to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for treatment, with West arrested afterward, the CHP report said.

Langan said Green would never be released from the hospital. His family would have him transported to Reno for treatment, where he eventually succumbed to his injuries later in 2009.

When the District Attorney's Office received the report on the cause of Green's death, which was attributed to the injuries he sustained in the crash, Langan said they amended the charges filed against West to allege murder because of his “severe prior criminal history.”

Langan said that included two prior DUI convictions, one of which West was on probation for at the time of the crash; an out-of-state bank robbery conviction for which West did time in the Fort Leavenworth federal penitentiary; a criminal threats case in Oklahoma; and a felony escape charge, also in another state.

He said the District Attorney's Office was able to present enough evidence on the bank robbery charge to present it as a previous strike in the case.

Langan said he reached a plea agreement with West and his attorney.

In exchange for West pleading guilty to murder and sparing Green's family from a trial, Langan agreed to allege the bank robbery strike under a lesser penal code section that would only add another five years to West's sentence.

Altogether the agreement shaved 10 years off the prison time West could have faced and allowed him to be eligible for parole 10 years earlier, Langan said.

Still, by the time West will be eligible for parole, he'll be very elderly, Langan pointed out. He added that he doesn't believe West ever will be paroled due to his record.

During Monday's sentencing, Green's three adult children shared victim impact statements, Langan said. They also showed pictures of Green to the court and West.

West didn't speak during the sentencing hearing, Langan said. However, West had offered a written statement to the court.

Langan, paraphrasing the one-sentence statement, said West claimed not to remember anything that happened at the time of the crash because he blacked out.

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The 2011 report, which includes lists of the nation's most polluted metropolitan areas, was released Wednesday.

For several years Lake County has been ranked a top clean air county, and this year it was ranked No. 6 for cleanest counties based on year-round particle pollution.

Of the 25 counties on that list, the only California counties listed were Lake and San Benito.

The No. 6 ranking was an improvement over the No. 10 ranking the county received in the 2010 report. It 2009 Lake County was ranked No. 3 nationwide.

The report showed that Lake County received an “A” for having no high ozone days from 2007 to 2009, but received a “B” grade for having two high particle pollution days, also in the 2007 to 2009 time frame.

That latter grade was likely influenced by the Walker Fire and other regional forest fires in 2008 which caused several local air quality warnings during the summer months.

In California, in addition to Lake County, those receiving “A” grades overall were Humboldt, Marin, Mendocino, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Siskiyou and Sonoma.

The report found that the majority of American cities most-polluted by ozone (smog) or year-round particle pollution (soot) have improved, showing continued progress in the cleanup of deadly toxics, thanks to the Clean Air Act.

Though progress has been made, the American Lung Association said some members of Congress are working to weaken the Clean Air Act and public health protection it provides.

The Lung Association's annual air quality report, available at www.stateoftheair.org, reveals that just over half the nation – 154.5 million people – live in areas with levels of ozone and/or particle pollution that are often dangerous to breathe.

State of the Air 2011 finds the Clean Air Act is working. All metro areas in the list of the 25 cities most polluted by ozone showed improvement over the previous report, and 15 of those cities experienced the best year yet. All but two of the 25 cities most polluted with year-round particle pollution improved over last year's report.

However, only 11 cities among those most polluted by short-term spikes in particle pollution experienced improvement.

“State of the Air tells us that the progress the nation has made cleaning up coal-fired power plants, diesel emissions and other pollution sources has drastically cut dangerous pollution from the air we breathe,” said Charles D. Connor, American Lung Association president and chief executive officer. “We owe our cleaner air to the Clean Air Act. We have proof that cleaning up pollution results in healthier air to breathe. That's why we cannot stop now. Half of our nation is still breathing dangerously polluted air. Everyone must be protected from air pollution.”

The State of the Air 2011 report grades cities and counties based, in part, on the color-coded Air Quality Index developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help alert the public to daily unhealthy air conditions.

The 12th annual release of the Lung Association's report uses the most recent EPA data collected from 2007 through 2009 from official monitors for ozone and particle pollution, the two most widespread types of air pollution.

Counties are graded for ozone, year-round particle pollution and short-term particle pollution levels. The report also uses EPA's calculations for year-round particle levels.

The report identified Honolulu, Hawaii and Santa Fe-Espanola, N.M. as the cleanest cities – the only two cities in the nation that were among the cleanest for year-round particle pollution and also had no days when ozone and daily particle pollution levels reached unhealthy ranges.

The report also found that one in five Americans breathe dangerous levels of deadly particle air pollution.

Nearly 60 million Americans (19.8 percent) live in counties with too many unhealthy spikes in particle pollution levels, and 18 million people live with unhealthy year-round levels of particle pollution.

Particle levels can spike dangerously for hours to weeks on end (short-term) or remain at unhealthy levels on average every day (year-round).

“Particle pollution kills,” said Norman H. Edelman, M.D., American Lung Association chief medical officer. “When you breathe these microscopic particles, you are inhaling a noxious mix of chemicals, metals, acid aerosols, ash and soot that is emitted from smokestacks, tailpipes, and other sources. It is as toxic as it sounds and can lead to early death, asthma exacerbations, heart attacks, strokes and emergency room visits in substantial numbers. Science clearly has proven that we need to protect the health of the public from the dangers of particle pollution.”

Only 10 counties received an “F” for year-round particle pollution, a reflection of progress made under the Clean Air Act. Bakersfield, Calif. tops both lists of cities most-polluted by short-term and annual particle pollution. Bakersfield and Hanford, Calif. were the only two cities where year-round particle levels worsened over the previous report.

State of the Air 2011 finds that nearly half the people in the U.S. (48.2 percent) live in counties that received an “F” for air quality due to unhealthy ozone levels.

Ozone (smog) is the most widespread air pollutant, created by the reaction of sunlight on emissions from vehicles, power plants and other sources.

When ozone is inhaled, it irritates the lungs. It can cause immediate health problems and continue days later. Ozone can cause wheezing, coughing, asthma attacks and even premature death.

Lists of the most polluted cities follow.

Nation's most polluted cities

Most ozone-polluted cities

1. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, Calif.

2. Bakersfield-Delano, Calif.

3. Visalia-Porterville, Calif.

4. Fresno-Madera, Calif.

5. Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Yuba City, Calif.-Nev.

6. Hanford-Corcoran, Calif.

7. San Diego-Carlsbad-San arcos, Calif.

8. Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, Texas

9. Merced, Calif.

10. Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury, N.C.-S.C.

Cities most polluted by short-term particle pollution

1. Bakersfield-Delano, Calif.

2. Fresno-Madera, Calif.

3. Pittsburgh-New Castle, Pa.

4. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, Calif.

5. Salt Lake City-Ogden-Clearfield, Utah

6. Provo-Orem, Utah

7. Visalia-Porterville, Calif.

8. Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, Ala.

9. Hanford-Corcoran, Calif.

9. Logan, Utah-Idaho

9. Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Yuba City, Calif.-Nev.

Cities most polluted by year-round particle pollution

1. Bakersfield-Delano, Calif.

2. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, Calif.

2. Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Ariz.

2. Visalia-Porterville, Calif.

5. Hanford-Corcoran, Calif.

6. Fresno-Madera, Calif.

7. Pittsburgh-New Castle, Pa.

8. Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, Ala.

9. Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington, Ohio-Ky.-Ind.

10. Louisville-Jefferson County-Elizabethtown-Scottsburg, Ky.-Ind.

10. Modesto, Calif.

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The latest executive order comes one week after the governor ordered state agencies and departments to recover millions of dollars in uncollected salary and travel advances.

“Our fiscal challenges demand that we take a much closer look at how taxpayer dollars are being spent within state government,” Brown said in a statement released by his office. “Now is not the time to attend conferences, travel to meetings or take out-of-state field trips and this executive order puts an end to it.”

Under the governor’s executive order, no travel is permitted – either in-state or out-of-state – unless it is mission-critical or there is no cost to the state.

All in-state mission-critical travel must be approved by agency secretaries or department directors who do not report to an agency secretary and all out-of-state travel must be approved by the governor’s office.

Permitted travel must be directly related to enforcement responsibilities, audits, revenue collection or other duties required by statute, contract or executive directive, according to the order.

Travel to attend conferences, networking opportunities, professional development courses, continuing education classes, meetings that can be conducted by video or teleconference or other non-essential events will not be permitted or paid for by the state, Brown's office reported.

All agencies and departments must submit out-of-state travel requests for the next fiscal year directly to the governor’s office by May 6.

In the past, agencies and departments have been allowed to switch previously approved trips with new trips during the fiscal year. The governor’s executive order ends this practice.

Out-of-state travel requests must also document the purpose of the trip and why it is mission-critical, the destination and length of the trip, the projected cost and source of funding, the number of travelers and the role of each individual, the benefit to the state, the impact if the trip is denied, whether the goal of the trip can be met in a less costly manner and whether a traveler’s absence will interfere with regularly assigned duties, the governor's office reported.

Brown's office said the latest executive order is part of his efforts to save money this fiscal year and to cut millions in operational costs next fiscal year.

Since taking office, Brown has cut spending in his own office by 25 percent and ordered state agencies and departments to recover millions of dollars in uncollected salary and travel advances; wtop spending taxpayer dollars on free giveaway and gift items; cut state cell phones and the passenger vehicle fleet in half; and freeze hiring across state government.

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David Costa, 56, suffered major injuries in the collision, which occurred at around 8:45 p.m., according to California Highway Patrol Office Joe Wind.

Wind said Costa was riding his 2006 Yamaha V Star motorcycle eastbound on Highway 20 near Howard Avenue when he was rear-ended by a 1994 Ford Ranger driven by 22-year-old Bruce Scott of Lucerne.

The circumstances that led to Scott rear-ending Costa still aren't clear, said Wind.

Costa was flown via REACH air ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for treatment of major injuries, including a broken left leg, Wind said.

He said Scott was not cited for the crash.

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