I stopped by the Kitchen Gallery in Lakeport to pick up some things and asked Lexie Firth if she could recommend someplace for lunch. Without hesitation she said Molly Brennan’s, just a few doors down, right there on Main Street. She continued to say that they had a fantastic shepherd’s pie, great fish and chips, and many different types of beer.

So I walked down the block and I was seated quickly and took note of the room. The early industrial look of the old Main Street buildings gives the appearance that Molly Brennan’s has been in business for over a century. It has a very Irish pub décor to it with natural brick walls, wood floors, and the almost stereo-typical UK beer advertisements.

The menu if full of the type of food you would expect from a pub-style restaurant. It’s a good-sized menu, not pages full of meaningless dishes trying to please everybody. On the menu was Guinness Irish stew (don’t think that didn’t tempt me), bangers and mash, salmon, burgers, even salads, appetizers, and soups. This is basic meat and potatoes cuisine; if you’re looking for truffles, foie gras and caviar you won’t find it here. My Anglophile wife could happily eat at Molly Brennan’s every meal for a month and never get bored.

I asked my waitress, Jessica, if Molly Brennan’s had either a signature dish or something that she recommended, and without hesitation she said the fish and chips. I love fish and chips so Jessica was already doing great.

The lunch crowd started to fill the room quickly and I was asked to move from my table to the bar to make room for the swelling population, and I’m OK with that. The move allowed me to more closely watch Jessica, the sole waitress on duty, as she swiftly but deftly managed to take care of every table without ignoring anyone. Normally a lone waitperson tends to get flustered under a lunchtime crush but not today. Jessica moved swiftly yet unhurriedly through the room as if she practiced moving around the room blindfolded in her spare time.

The other patrons at the bar were openly talking to each other even though they didn’t know each other. People were talking about their plans for the day, the depth of the lake and how Californians don’t know the meaning of the word cold like people from the Midwest do. As I sat there listening to everyone around me I started to realize that Molly Brennan’s isn’t a reasonable copy of an Irish pub, it was an authentic Irish pub! I’d bet that the only person who wouldn’t feel welcome there would be someone carrying a snake.

My food came in a reasonable amount of time and I was happy to see that it was a full plate of food. The fish was cooked just right and had a crunchy breading. The fish itself was moist and hot, and sat on top of a side of coleslaw that was a surprising discovery, it was one of the best coleslaws I’ve ever had. There seemed to be a hint of orange to it, which by itself will get me to come back just to try it again. The plate included a caper tartar sauce (I love capers so Jessica’s recommendation was spot on!).

Personally I think there are only two ways to make fish and chips: you either do a great job or you screw it up. There’s no middle ground, and no best ever, just great or bad. Molly Brennan’s did a great job. In addition to the caper tartar sauce, salt, fresh pepper (in a grinder), ketchup, and malt vinegar were all offered with the meal. I just can’t pass up malt vinegar with deep fried fish, can you?

The fries … oops sorry, chips, were lightly seasoned and obviously freshly made. For all of the people who don’t watch the BBC everyday, in the United Kingdom French fries are called “chips” and potato chips are called “crisps.” As the great Irishman Oscar Wilde said, “We have really everything in common with America nowadays except, of course, language.”

Molly Brennan’s has a beautiful Web site with all of the information about the restaurant that you could need. The Web site alone makes you feel like you’re in a pub. There’s a calendar of events, and the whole menu for you to browse at your own convenience, but I caution you, it’ll make you hungry!

They also have a Myspace page ... it’s probably best if you just browse for their page when you get to Myspace than for me to type out the link, so if you can’t get enough of the Irish pub community it’s a nice place to visit.

Molly Brennan’s hours of operation are Monday, Wednesdays and Thursday, 11a.m. to 11 p.m., and Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 11a.m. to 2 p.m. (closed Tuesdays).

Ross A. Christensen is an award-winning gardener and gourmet cook. He is the author of "Sushi A to Z, The Ultimate Guide" and is currently working on a new book. He has been a public speaker for many years and enjoys being involved in the community.

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Pictured from left to right, Elmo Mosby, Gloria Harris, Bessie Bell, Dolly Townsend, Rick Mayo, Aqeela El-Amin Bakheit and Daniel Coleman. Courtesy photo.

CLEARLAKE – The Clearlake branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) installed its new officers at its January meeting.

The group met on Jan. 10.

The oath of office was administered to the new officers by Daniel Coleman, former president of the Vallejo branch of the NAACP and longtime member of the Clearlake branch.

The newly sworn in administration consists of President Aqeela El-Amin Bakheit, Vice President Rick Mayo, Secretary Dolly Townsend and Treasurer Bessie Mayo. St. Elmo Mosby and Gloria Harris were elected to the executive board. The officials will serve two-year terms.

The mission of the NAACP is to ensure political, social and economic equality of rights of all persons and eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination. Any person in accord with the principles and policies of the Association may become a member with the consent of the board of directors.

The monthly meeting of the Clearlake branch of the NAACP is currently scheduled for the second Saturday of each month at 1 p.m. at the Clearlake Public library, located at 14785 Burns Valley Road.

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Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA) helped draft and voted in favor of the legislation, which passed the Committee by a vote of 24 to 13.

The bill includes several alternative energy tax provisions authored by Congressman Thompson. The legislation will now be combined with other components of the recovery package from other House Committees into H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for consideration by the full House of Representatives next week.

“We need to make sure that working families are getting help through these tough economic times,” said Congressman Thompson. “By providing tax relief and assistance with health care costs to working families, and making investments that will create green jobs, we’re going to make sure that all Americans will benefit from this recovery package. I will continue to work with my colleagues to make sure that this legislation effectively and efficiently delivers a boost to the economy, so that taxpayers get the most out of their investment in our country’s future.”

H.R. 598 would also provide tax incentives to businesses to help them expand their payrolls and make broad investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency programs.

“Investing in alternative energy is a smart thing to do,” said Thompson. “For example, the solar energy tax provisions I authored will make it easier for businesses and homeowners to have solar panels installed. This will create green jobs and at the same time reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Not only will this help us in the short term, it will also enhance the long-term security and sustainability of our economy.”

The package provides payment incentives to encourage the widespread adoption of Health Information Technology (HIT) to modernize American health care, cut red tape, eliminate redundant care and reduce health insurance premiums for millions.

At Thompson’s urging, the bill also allows telemedicine facilities to be eligible for grants. At the markup, Congressman Thompson spoke out against an amendment that would have hurt rural doctors’ ability to use HIT funding. The amendment was eventually defeated.

Thompson also worked closely with committee leadership to make sure that rural communities would be guaranteed their fair share of distressed area bonds. These bonds can be issued by cities and counties to help pay for infrastructure projects and job training programs. As a result of Congressman Thompson’s advocacy, rural areas with lower populations will not be penalized when funds are distributed by the states.

The larger package of recovery provisions that will be considered on the House floor next week include unprecedented accountability requirements.

Funds for projects would be distributed through existing formulas to programs with proven track records. How funds are spent, all announcements of contract and grant competitions and awards, and formula grant allocations would be posted on a special Web site created by the president.

This Web site will include explanations from governors, mayors or others making funding decisions personally certifying that the investment has been fully vetted and is an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars.

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T. Watts at the KPFZ microphone. Courtesy photo.

…build your penitentiaries

we build your schools

brainwash education

to make us the fool …

– Bob Marley, circa 1976

In the academic year 1968-69, I was a freshman at Willamette University in Salem, Ore. The school was founded in 1842 by Jason Lee and the Christian Pioneers. It is the oldest university west of the Mississippi.

Trust me, I was no Rhodes Scholar, but one day in freshman English class, I did excel. I had the dubious distinction of being the only African-American in the class. There were only 12 of us enrolled at the campus of, I believe, 1,200 students.

Our English professor was a kindly matron whose name I recall as Mrs. Bothun. On that fine day of CyberSoulMan excellence, Mrs. Bothun asked the class in general, in whom did Dr. Martin Luther King pattern his nonviolent civil rights movement strategy after.

I remember the stunned, what-on-earth-is-she-talking-about, blank stare from my classmates. Mind you these were the peerless, fearless, cream of the Pacific Northwest scholars. I was astonished that they didn’t know that Dr. King had studied Mahatma Gandhi. How could they not know of some semblance of the train of nonviolent thought?

In what may very well have been my only verbal response of the whole semester, I gave the correct answer. I may not have been able to talk much, but my little brain was rapidly spinning toward the precept of what Mr. Marley was singing about above.

*******

Just about this time last year, thanks to my association with www.theworldofblues.com, I was on the legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise somewhere in the eastern Caribbean. It was a blues-studded voyage. There was a slew of performing artists aboard including Charlie Musselwhite, Papa Mali, Michael Burks, Irma Thomas, Cyril Neville, Shemekia Copeland and the great Master, Taj Mahal. All in all, there was something like 70 artists on 19 different stages. You’ll have to trust me on this one. This is not a commercial.

We embarked from Fort Lauderdale and made ports of call in San Juan, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands and St. Kitts, West Indies. Taj Mahal’s family genealogy wove its way through St. Kitts in generations past. It was very interesting to see Taj come off the boat to headline the St. Croix Music Festival when we got there. I reported on it for www.soul-patrol.com. Excerpts from that coverage are reprinted with permission here.

Taj Mahal, the “Grand Marshall” of the cruise, afforded me an opportunity for an exclusive interview, most certainly African in its points of origin, yet globally universal in its content.

Approaching the halfway point in the weeklong cruise, the ship docked at the island of St. Croix. Taj came off the ship to headline the St. Croix Music Festival. He reached the stage at about 9:30 p.m. after a daylong lineup of great music. The crowd was jubilant and in the zone.

I noticed that during some up-tempo numbers, Taj's singing voice slips into what I perceived as kind of an “alter ego,” lower register voice that seemed to inject spurts of party down, dancing energy into the crowd. I asked Taj about that alter ego and he clarified my perception by saying, “That voice exists deeply in Africa. It's a spirit channeling voice. You find it in West Africa, Central and South.”

If you listen to the South African vocal group Mahiathina & The Mahotello Queens, they have a section with two different guys that sing real low. They're called Groaners. They channel the spirit voice of the ancestors. It's like the song says:

when you hear that spirit

movin' in your soul,

it's a message from an ancestor

who lived a long time ago

(ruled the world and all of its gold).

(The following is, transcribed to the best of my ability, the words and thoughts of African Elder Taj Mahal, Ethnomusicologist, Philosopher and Funky World Traveler and Musician …)

The Master's Dissertation

We've had to go through the experience of re-aligning ourselves after slavery disconnected us from the cultures in Africa; west, east, wherever people came from. We had no cohesive cultural situation short of redeveloping ourselves in this new land that we were brought to and enslaved in.

By the time the technology to record came around, of course the dominant culture first recorded everything that had Eurocentric ideas. Then they recorded black music. The technology recorded the information but someone outside the community decided what got recorded. They made the choice according to what they thought was the most commercially viable music and that's where a lot of confusion stems from.

This history is a bittersweet pill. Everybody has to take the position that they took. Number one was coming up with the information and giving it up. Two was getting the information and deciding it had commercial viability.

So, over the years, it was a hand-in-hand thing, but we, the ones generating the information were not necessarily conscious of it. It was always tied to the monetary factor that was not connected to culture. If you're lucky enough to visualize how music fits in our lives as a cultural aspect then you realize the necessity of getting busy and passing it on to the next generation.

You see, the music is connected. It's a common mistake that African Americans make when we say, “Well, I don't wanna hear that because that's taking me back, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.”

Brother, you can't get forward if you do know what's goin' on in the back. There's a wealth of information that's there in modern antiquity as well as ancient antiquity. Information that is empowering to you being in this world. You don't necessarily have to be, or feel outnumbered. You can feel you! You by yourself. Are you with? Are you without? Wherever you are, you’ve got to stand the ground that you're on.

My perspective is that artists like me have a huge audience that's under serviced. I'm talkin' bout Keb' Mo', Guy Davis, Corey Harris, Sparky Rucker, Jerry Ricks and Otis Taylor, among others.

Responsibilities of black artists

If you know that what you are doing as an artist is important, then you need to protect that work. It needs to be protected all the time. You can't allow yourself to get so far out there that there is no protection around what you are doing. You don't have to go back too far to understand how deep this is. All I have to do is say Fred Hampton or Sam Cooke and let it rest.

The real point of it is, not what you are against, but what you are for. In the end, it's what you are for. Oftentimes, because of the way we were raised in this environment, we tend to use the negative as the conversational point. We sit up and spit all day long about how this person is or ain't this or that. It goes back to that master/slave relationship. "If "Massa" would do right, kind of thing. Then, when "Massa" walk up on you and wanna know what you talkin' bout' we say, "Oh, nuthin' Massa. We ain't got nuthin' ta say roun' h'yar. Whus it lak? We sick today or sump'n?"

It's all a version of that mindset that we must grow out of. We have to move toward a more global way of doing things. We must face the fact that we are not going to be able to refit the pieces the way they were before they changed them. You gotta go from where it is now.

One of the reasons I take people off the cruise to St. Kitts, where my father's people are from, is that most Americans have very little idea beyond themselves about anyone around them. No common understanding about other peoples. The whole system was designed and conspired to keep people workers. You don't wanna be thinkin' too much. Now, there ain't no jobs so they don't care. You can starve! Go to jail. We'll let you work!

We need to get above all this craziness that they have layered in on our minds and become proactive. Information like The Secret and The Four Agreements is great in that respect. That is what I liked about the '60s. There was so much information around. So much they didn't want you to know. A lot of it only went through a couple of different printings and it was gone. Great stuff on alternative energy and alternative spiritual stuff. Yogi Bhajan, Baba Meir, they were all coming through. Of course it didn't come through on the commercial side of things. You have to have your antennae up. As the Rastas say, serious reasonings for you mind. That's what I appreciate.

The failure to support originators of the music

Everything is tied to the money scene. People are used to making decisions based on having or acquiring more money. When you do not have, you make a different decision the decision to go play for $125 at the casino as opposed to $35 at a juke joint, for example. What's a brother to do? One is the environment, the other your pocket being fat.

You really figure out the politics involved in what people are supposed to do. They are not going to work on what's right. It's going to be based on the politics. You see, the average guy can never afford to fail upwards. You see these other guys come in, lose several billion dollars, get ousted, beat down in the public's eye, then somehow in a couple of years, morph into the head of blah, blah, blah, inc. Wait a minute. You know that wouldn't happen in the community. You mess up, we don't forget it.

Ultimately, we must become responsible for creating the places that young people can study the history of and play the music. Until we do that we just have to put up with the way it changes.

Conservative estimates say that over $500 billion goes through the hand of African Americans yearly. That would make us somewhere between ninth and 13th as a country in terms of gross national product. Can you imagine the impact on Haiti and other Third World, Central and South American, South Pacific Island and African countries we could have if we actually controlled that? Anywhere we wanted to really. That's as opposed to still having to come out from under Massa's house. "Oh, Massa, you really gon' let me go to Africa? Oh, Lord have mercy, Massa."

Why do we have to have the table set for us? And I ain't mad at nobody. I'm just talkin' 'bout, well, here's the money. And we have all these people posturing, sitting around.

I'm sure the dominant culture looks down on us. We have all this money coming through and we don't even have national convention hall!

So our work is cut out for us. We sorely need a sound economic base if we are to begin to implement real change. We need to impress upon our youth the historical connection and impact it is having on what they/we are doing and not doing.

And what might be working for us spiritually is the fact that the one drop theory may yet come back and kick the dominant culture in the butt!

(End of Excerpt.)

When Taj Mahal makes his point above in the paragraph that starts with, we need to get above all the craziness … I believe he underscores the the pervasiveness of the brainwash education theory.

From my personal experience here in Lake County, working with students at two of the local high schools (that shall remain unnamed), I was appalled at the lack of discipline exhibited by students at one of the schools. In one classroom I visited, it was very sad to observe the obvious disconnect from learning by the students. Some of the educators appeared to be just doing time. We as parents and citizens have a huge amount of work to do. It is imperative that we come together and get busy.

Keep prayin’, keep thinkin’ those kind thoughts!

*******

Join me on Monday, Jan. 26, on KPFZ 88.1 FM for Blue Monday. At 8 a.m. I will be interviewing Teeny Tucker, nominee for best independent blues CD of 2008 by the Memphis Blues Foundation. This interview also will be streamed over the Internet on Tuesday, Feb. 3, at 3:00 p.m. on www.theworldofblues.com, In The Blues Spot.

Upcoming cool show: Morris Day & The Time at Cache Creek Casino; Saturday, Feb. 14, at 8 p.m.

T. Watts is a writer, radio host and music critic. Visit his Web site at www.teewatts.biz.

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From left, Gloria Flaherty, Kathy Fowler, and Gail and Sheri Salituri met Thursday at the Lake Family Resource Center in Lakeport to present money collected by Inspirations Gallery in 2008 as part of the Barbara LaForge Memorial Fund. Courtesy photo.

LAKEPORT – Lake Family Resource Center's effort to build a domestic violence shelter received another important donation Thursday.

Inspirations Gallery owner Gail Salituri and the gallery's director, Sheri Salituri, presented the center

with a check for $2,200.

This is the first of the LaForge Memorial Fund presentations this year.

The LaForge Memorial was created last year in memory of Gail Salituri's friend, Barbara LaForge, who was violently murdered in October of 2002.

“No woman should be a victim of any sort of abuse,” said Salituri, who gave her support for the effort to work to provide a safe place for abuse victims.

Salituri raffled original artwork, and held silent and live auctions of artwork she created and others donated at her gallery located at 165 N. Main St., Lakeport, to benefit the future home of the domestic violence shelter project.

The Lake County Arts Council joined in to support this cause by inviting Salituri to their Friday Night Flings, where artwork is raffled and sold periodically.

Salituri offered special thanks to local businesswoman Kathy Fowler, who also is a board member for the Lake Family Resource Center.

“Kathy Fowler is always there for me, and with me, during these events to support us in our quest to generate money for the center project,” said Salituri.

She added, “We are just a small business in Lake County, but we hope to serve as an example for reaching out and helping others, and hope our community will join in with us to assist this cause.”

Currently, “Red Hills Road in Fall,” an original oil measuring 24 by 30 inches, is being created for the upcoming Wine and Chocolate event's silent auction.

In addition to this new creation, “Red Hills Road II,” a 24-inch by 30-inch Giclee, will be offered at the event as a raffle item.

Salituri said her next scheduled event will be in March at the First Friday Night Fling at the Lake County Arts Council's Main Street Gallery.

A sneak peak of the new pieces will be on display this weekend in Inspiration Gallery's windows, 165 N. Main St.

For more information about the fund, call the gallery, 263-4366, or visit Salituri's Web site at www.inspirationsgallery.net/.

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Rowland Mosser, 64, of Lucerne, went before Judge Richard Martin along with his wife, Jayne Sleeper Mosser, 61.

The Mossers were arrested last April. Rowland Mosser was charged with four felony counts including embezzlement, grand theft by an employee, grand theft and keeping a false record of government funds, while his wife faces a single felony count of committing grand theft, as Lake County News has reported.

Rowland Mosser was the center's director from July 2002 to August 2005.

Deputy District Attorney Gary Luck is prosecuting the case, alleging that the theft and embezzlement activities occurred between Jan. 1, 2005, and Aug. 12, 2005.

Defense attorney Judy Conard represented Rowland Mosser, with Mitchell Hauptman defending Jayne Mosser.

The proceedings lasted close to three hours and were punctuated by frequent breaks as Luck and the two defense attorneys waded through the detail-heavy case.

Anticipating that the hearing would not be finished on Wednesday – and it wasn't – the Mossers waived their right to a continuous preliminary hearing.

On the stand for the entire time was Ron Larsen, a retired captain with Clearlake Police who was hired as an investigator by the District Attorney's Office in March 2007, specifically for the purpose of investigating the senior center's finances, which also had been the center of a grand jury investigation.

Larsen recounted interviewing witnesses – including former center board members and employees – who gave information on alleged financial irregularities.

Former center board member Marilyn Johnson spotted Mosser at a bank in mid-2005, where he allegedly had a $15,000 check made out to the center. Larsen recounted that Johnson stated that Mosser cashed the check, paid in cash the wages of several employees who were with him, and then left with the remainder of the money.

Larsen also interviewed Jim Swatts, who in 2005 was elected chair of senior center's board of directors. He and Mosser had a “strained” relationship, Larsen said, using Swatts' words.

Swatts told Larsen that he asked Mosser in August of 2005 to present a financial statement on the center during the open portion of a center board meeting, which Mosser refused to do. Mosser did, however, reportedly present it to the center board in closed session.

In the mean time, Swatts reportedly began to discover more about the center's financial situation, including levies on bank accounts and outstanding judgments against the center, and finding out that some food distributors would only take cash or provide no services at all because of money the center owed them, said Larsen.

At the August 2005 senior center board meeting, Mosser presented the financial report to the board in closed session, along with his typed resignation. Larsen said that Swatts directed the center secretary at that time to prepare a document stating that Mosser was on immediate leave and that he needed to turn in his keys to the building.

Defense raises numerous objections

As Larsen presented his findings under Luck's questioning, Conard and Hauptman did their best to trip up the prosecution, firing objection after objection at Luck's questions.

In all, at least 33 objections were lodged, faulting Luck for failing to provide foundation, asking leading questions or attempting to introduce hearsay. Martin sustained several of the objections.

The rapid fire of objections prompted Luck at one point to explain that he had had conversations with the defense about how he would be allowed to present his evidence at the preliminary hearing through Larsen's statements, rather than having to present voluminous documentary evidence.

With the defense appearing to disagree with how the hearing should go, Luck explained that if he had to begin going through the documents piece by piece – and there are an estimated 13,000 pieces of paper in the prosecution's case – a continuance would be needed to retrieve all the documents.

“The case is overwhelming as it relates to paper,” Luck said, adding that the investigation itself took a year and a half to go through all of the documents.

Luck said the need to introduce documents now also could extend the preliminary hearing by several days. “I was trying to do, in one day, work that will probably require three to four days,” he said, with multiple exhibits to be entered into evidence.

Martin directed Luck to present as much of his case as he could, since the judge had delayed four other cases that had been set for trial on Wednesday. “I want to use this day and get the most value out of it that I can,” Martin said, noting that the courts are struggling to keep up the their caseloads.

Continuing through his reports on various witness statements, Larsen recounted interviewing Lucerne resident William Ellis, a longtime center member and treasurer who was involved before, during and after Mosser's tenure.

Ellis told Larsen that he did financial reports for the center board of directors, compiling the reports by going through receipt books and bank statements. By early 2005, Ellis stated that he had trouble getting the information from Mosser, who would never get him the full information he requested.

In reviewing the documents in the case, Larsen said he went through “boxes and boxes” of documents and records at the center, reconciling checking accounts and bank statements, cashed checks and computer files from before, during and after Mosser's time as executive director.

When Mosser became executive director in 2002, the senior center had seven checking accounts, said Larsen. By early 2005, four of the accounts had been closed, with the remaining three accounts hit with court-ordered levies, which resulted in any money being put into those accounts being sized by creditors.

Larsen also stated that he had discovered a payment from center funds for the electricity bill at the Mossers' home on Sixth Avenue in Lucerne.

Investigator examines bank accounts

In order to access records on the Mossers' bank accounts over a period of several years, Larsen served a search warrant at Westamerica Bank's Upper Lake branch.

From March 2003 to August 2003, Larsen calculated about $167,600 in deposits in the form of checks with Jayne Mosser's name on them from the Emmett A. Larkin Co.

Based in San Francisco, the Emmett A. Larkin Co. provides “full service execution, clearing and custody services for other broker dealers and investment advisors,” according to the company's Web site.

Hauptman objected to the statements, asking their relevance. Luck replied that he was attempting to show that the Mossers had money coming in from investments.

“Within a two-year window, all that money was gone,” said Luck.

At the time the Mossers' checking account was closed in 2005, they had no source of income besides Rowland Mosser's income as the center's executive director, Luck explained.

“When their money disappears, that's when the Lucerne Senior Center's money disappears,” Luck alleged.

Luck said that the couple enjoyed a lifestyle that resulted in them spending the money down in a “very short period of time.”

In 2002, the Mossers had less than $10,000 in deposits in their checking account. That increased slightly after he went to work for the senior center. By 2003, the Larkin deposits begin, totaling more than $167,600.

Throughout 2004, there was just over $24,000 in deposits in the Mossers' account, said Larsen. By the time the account was closed in February of 2005, the account was overdrawn by $483.

Larsen used documents he found at the senior center – receipts and copies of checks – to calculate $28,538.75 in reimbursements the center paid to Jayne Mosser from January to August of 2005.

Former center employee Aura Thomas also spoke with Larsen, explaining how she paid the center's bills, did the payroll, kept records and handled cash during her time there from 2004 and 2005. Thomas compiled financial reports based on information Rowland Mosser provided.

According to Larsen, Thomas said Jayne Mosser was at the center a lot, and did a lot of shopping for the center, turning in the receipts for reimbursement.

Larsen outlined the center's debt in August of 2005, when Rowland Mosser left. He calculated more than $40,000 that was owed to major creditors, with many more smaller debts outstanding as well.

In contrast with the center's deteriorating financial condition, Larsen testified that a California Department of Aging official provided him with the amounts of money that the agency allocated to the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center over a period of several years.

The breakdown is as follows: 2002-03, $77,992; 2003-04, $81,431; 2004-05, $88,709; 2005-06, $38,888 for first half of the year, Larsen said.

He also testified that Brenda Pier, a certified public accountant who worked for the Lucerne center from 1998 through November 2004, said she eventually left her post because she was unable to get “accurate, up-to-date financial information” from Rowland Mosser.

Larsen said on Jan. 30, 2008, he served a search warrant at the Mossers' home on Sixth Avenue. He found no records there relating to the senior center or its bank accounts, or any other information relevant to the case.

Luck asked Larsen to go over deposit amounts into the senior center's accounts from 2002 to 2005.

Larsen's calculations suggested that the numbers changed dramatically. In 2002, the accounts had $66,164 in deposits, followed by $73,295 in 2003.

In 2004, the deposits began to drop, with the accounts showing $43,078 in deposits. By the following year, the deposits had fallen to $2,812.

Larsen said deposits began to climb again in late 2006, with $11,384 between August and the end of the year, and $11,942 in funds recorded in deposits from Jan. 1 through Aug. 31, 2007.

During Mosser's last few months at the center, he had organized a duck race fundraiser. Ellis told Larsen that Mosser had said he didn't have the more than $1,200 needed to pay a t-shirt maker for the shirts, which Ellis did as a donation to the center.

As Luck began attempting to enter documents into evidence, Hauptman and Conard objected, questioning how the documents were prepared. At least one of the four documents Luck addressed Wednesday appeared to have been hung up by those objections, while Martin overruled other objections.

After the several hours of complex testimony, the court recessed shortly after 3 p.m. The hearing will continue on Feb. 10, which will give Luck and Larsen an opportunity to prepare their documents in an effort to convince Martin to hold the Mossers for trial.

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

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Robert Wayne Wiley, 75, of Lakeport entered the plea on Jan. 9 as part of an agreement reached with the Lake County District Attorney's Office, said his attorney, J. David Markham.

The plea deal resulted in a second, identical charge being dropped against Wiley, who had been scheduled to go on trial Jan. 27, Markham said.

Originally, Wiley was arrested on one count but later was charged with four felony counts of possessing child pornography, Markham explained. “Then the judge reduced it to two counts after the preliminary hearing.”

Deputy District Attorney Ed Borg said the second count was dismissed under a Harvey waiver, which allows the judge to consider the additional charges in making a sentencing decision.

Wiley, who worked for many years representing juveniles in criminal and civil matters in Lake County Superior Court, was arrested in September of 2007 as the result of an investigation that first started several months earlier.

In February of 2007, a bailiff in Department A, where juvenile matters are handled, found a thumb drive – a small media device for holding computer files – in the jury box, as Lake County News has reported.

When the bailiff plugged it into a computer to see if he could find out who it belonged to, he allegedly found pornographic images of children and turned it over to the sheriff's office, who in turn passed it on to District Attorney's Office Investigator Craig Woodworth.

The children in the materials were not children Wiley either knew or represented, according to court documents.

Woodworth – assigned to the Northern California Computer Crimes Task Force, headquartered in Napa – examined the computer evidence, including the thumb drive and computers that were taken from Wiley's home and office, said Borg.

It wasn't until the summer of 2008 that Wiley as formally charged. Borg said the computer examinations took a long time, and resources for that work are stretched thin.

At the same time, a special master was brought in to help review what materials were appropriate to be included in the investigation. Borg explained in a previous interview that a special master is another attorney who examines materials before they're submitted to law enforcement in order to protect “work product,” or materials that could compromise attorney-client confidentiality,

All local judges recused themselves from the case, which was heard by retired Fresno County Superior Court Judge Harry N. Papadakis.

Borg said the probation report, which will make suggestions about sentencing, hasn't been completed.

Wiley worked in the county's juvenile court system, which is run the Lake County Probation Department. Because of a close working relationship he had with the probation department, the agency has recused itself from preparing the report. Borg said Mendocino County's probation department is preparing the report instead.

Markham said Wiley is due to be sentenced on Feb. 27.

The penal code offers three sentencing options – 16 months, two years or three years in state prison, said Borg.

However, since Wiley has no previous criminal record, he'll probably receive probation. “It's not a case where it's likely at all that he'll go to prison,” said Borg.

Wiley will be required to register under Megan's Law, Borg added.

There also will be repercussions with the California State Bar.

“We are required to notify the state bar when we have an attorney charged with a crime, and then we notify them when they've been convicted of a crime,” said District Attorney Jon Hopkins.

From there, the state bar will determine what kind of disciplinary action to take, Hopkins said.

At the time of his arrest, Wiley lost his contract with the Lake County Superior Court to represent juveniles in civil matters, and agreed to end his contract for dealing with juvenile criminal cases with Lake Legal Defense Services, which administers the county's public defender's contract.

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

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The new playground equipment that Justin Lazard donated to the city of Lakeport. Photo by Harold LaBonte.

NOTE: This article includes some explicit terms that may not be appropriate for children.

LAKEPORT – A New York man who recently made a gift to the city of Lakeport is facing trial this March for charges stemming from a July 2006 arrest.

Justin F. Lazard, 42, goes on trial March 3 for indecent exposure and annoying or molesting a child, according to Deputy District Attorney Ed Borg.

Lazard – an actor, writer and former model – recently gave a new set of playground equipment to the city, which was dedicated in a small ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, as Lake County News has reported.

The case against Lazard alleges that he was sitting on the metal railing that runs along the sidewalk at the lakeshore in Library Park, just north of the playground area, exposing himself and masturbating during the July 4, 2006, festivities.

Lazard's attorney, Paul Swanson, did not return a call seeking comment on the case.

Lt. Brad Rasmussen of the Lakeport Police Department said Lazard was arrested at about 6:18 p.m. July 4, 2006, after three officers on foot patrol encountered him. Lazard was allegedly sitting alone on the railing, with his genitals exposed.

Rasmussen said Lazard was told to stop but didn't, so the officers grabbed him. Lazard allegedly resisted arrest and began fighting the officers, so Rasmussen tasered him. That gave Lazard the dubious distinction of becoming the first person to be tasered by the police department's new tasers.

There was no evidence that Lazard was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, said Rasmussen, and he offered no explanation for his alleged behavior.

Rasmussen said that, following the taser incident, Lazard received a medical clearance from paramedics at Lakeport Fire Protection District, which is standard procedure after use of a taser on a subject.

Both charges currently against Lazard are misdemeanors, Borg said. The annoying/molesting charge would carry a one-year maximum sentence, while the longest sentence for the indecent exposure charge is six months.

“The most he's facing is one year in county jail,” said Borg. “It would be extremely unusual for him to get that.”

Since Lazard doesn't have much in the way of a criminal record beyond the 2006 charges, Borg said he's more likely to receive probation if he's convicted.

However, Borg added that conviction on the charges would require mandatory registration as a sexual offender in California and possibly New York, where Lazard now lives.

Borg said the playground equipment donation Lazard made to the city of Lakeport hasn't been brought up in relation to his criminal case.

However, it's proved to be a thorny issue for Lakeport officials, who at first didn't realize Lazard had been arrested on the indecent exposure charge by police in 2006.

Kevin Burke, interim city manager and police chief, said that Creative Playthings, the Framingham, Mass.-based manufacturer of the playground equipment, contacted city Public Works Director Doug Grider about the donation about six months ago.

“Our public works staff did not know who the individual was,” said Burke, adding that city staff also haven't had contact with Lazard.

However, it came to their attention sometime during the process of formally accepting the equipment that he was the source of the donation, said Burke.

“At that time it was discussed at length amongst city staff about whether or not we should accept the donation,” Burke said.

Ultimately city staff decided to accept the equipment – which came with no strings attached of any kind – because it would offer a substantial benefit to the children who use the park, he explained.

Burke said the city was aware of the potential public perception that it was an attempt by Lazard – who also is the heir to a banking fortune – to buy his way out of trouble.

However, coming from his police perspective, Burke suggested that many people accused of crimes do some kind of restitution.

Considering the sensitive nature of the the charges against Lazard, Burke said he is planning to have city public works staff remove the plaque on the equipment.

The plaque reads:

“This playground is dedicated to the children of Lakeport, CA,

Creating Childhood Memories

Donated by Justin Lazard, 2008.”

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

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Wildhurst Vineyards, Steele Wines, Shannon Ridge Winery and Shed Horn Cellars are among the producers receiving the Best of Class distinction for their wines, according to judging results posted recently.

More than 60 professional judges tasted over 4,700 wines earlier this month. The public will have an opportunity to sample the competing wines on February 28 in San Francisco.

“It’s not surprising to see that Lake County wines are among those chosen as the best by the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition judges,” said Shannon Gunier, executive director of the Lake County Winegrape Commission. “Our wineries are making some of the top vintages in the nation. California and the rest of the country is hearing about Lake County because of our wine.”

“Lake County made a very good showing at this competition,” Wildhurst winemaker Mark Burch agreed.

Wildhurst’s 2007 Reserve Chardonnay took Best of Class in the “Chardonnay: $14 to $19.99” category. Burch noted that Wildhurst also garnered awards for its 2007 Sauvignon Blanc (double gold), 2007 Home Ranch Zinfandel (Gold), and Merlot (silver) in their respective categories.

Both the Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc have been “very consistent” winners in competitions since 2006, according to Burch. The Chardonnay is produced from “outstanding stock” and is competing with cooler climate Chardonnays, he explained. Chardonnay from our region “is getting a lot of interest.” As for the Sauvignon Blanc, Burch looks to produce a 2008 with “more intensity” this year and continue the award-winning reputation.

Cabernet Sauvignon from Lake County took the top honors in two categories.

Shed Horn Cellars and Shannon Ridge Winery took Best of Class in the “$25 to $34.99” and “$15 to $24.99” divisions, respectively.

Both award winners can be credited to winemaker Mike Wood, according to Adawn Wood who, along with Mike, owns Shed Horn Cellars.

The Woods are “so excited” to have won, said Adawn, because the wine came from “a little winery” – 400 cases produced each year – which entered its first competition only last year.

At the Orange County Fair, Shed Horn received a gold for its 2007 Sauvignon Blanc and a silver for its 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon. Mike Wood, also the winemaker for Shannon Ridge, has 26 years of winemaking experience, said Adawn, but this year was Shed Horn’s first time competing in the San Francisco Chronicle’s contest.

Touted as the “largest competition of American wines in the world,” the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition features a record number of competitors from throughout the United States. This year’s Sweepstakes winners include four from California, one from New Mexico, and another from New York.

Other Lake County award winners include Ceago Vinegarden (gold, “Merlot up to $14.99,” and gold, “Syrah/Shiraz $15 to $24.99”), Langtry Estate (double gold, “Cabernet Sauvignon $5 to $44.99”), Writers Block (gold, “Petite Sirah”), Benziger Family Winery (gold, “Bordeaux Blends $45.00 and over”), Steele (gold, “Dry Rose” for its Cabernet Franc Rose), Brassfield Estates (gold, “Zinfandel $15.00 to $24.99”), and many silver and bronze winners.

For a complete list of winners, including additional Lake County winery and vintage winners, see the San Francisco Chronicle’s Wine Competition Web site, www.winejudging.com/medal_winners_2009/index.html.

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The quake was reported at 8:16 p.m., centered one mile north northwest from The Geysers and five miles west northwest of Cobb, according to the US Geological Survey.

The US Geological Survey reported that the quake was located one mile north

Late Thursday, six responses – two each from Kelseyville, Middletown and Camptonville, the latter located 175 miles away – reported feeling the quake.

The last earthquake measuring more than 3.0 on the Richter scale occurred on Jan. 4, when a 4.2-magnitude earthquake was recorded near The Geysers, as Lake County News has reported.

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

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Lynn Andre and Cindy Ustrud, members of Lakeport Parks and Recreation Committee, cut the ribbon on the new playground equipment on Wednesday afternoon. Photo by Harold LaBonte.

LAKEPORT – Children visiting Library Park have a new play structure to enjoy thanks to the donation of a generous visitor to the county.

On Wednesday afternoon, Cindy Ustrud and Lynn Andre, members of the Lakeport Parks and Recreation Committee, were joined by city public works and parks staff members as they cut the ribbon on the new playground equipment.

Justin Lazard, 42, a model, actor, writer, producer and banking fortune heir donated the equipment to the city for the playground, according to Andre.

Lazard, who recently visited the county, initiated the project in the latter half of 2008, Andre said.

The city, Andre explained, was contacted by Creative Playthings, a Framingham, Mass.-based playground equipment manufacturer, which informed them that the project had been arranged and paid for by Lazard several weeks before the announcement.

Creative Playthings then sent a representative to Lakeport to aid in design and site preparation. City staff worked with the manufacturer while the equipment was being manufactured in Massachusetts.

While Creative Playthings was fashioning the needed parts back east, public works foreman Craig Timm and lead man Bob Bartel, along with Matt Hartzog and Chris Johnson, removed the old park equipment and prepared the site to the companies specifications. Parks foreman Richard Lubecki and Andres Gonzalez also were in on the project.

The project came together in December when city employees and Creative Playthings staff worked side by side to assemble the new play structure, according to parks and recreation committee members.

Creative Playthings donated 50 percent of the money needed to put the finishing touches on the play site grounds, providing a safe and sanitary surface that should last for many years.

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

} A plaque commemorating Justin Lazard's gift to the city on the new playground equipment. Photo by Harold LaBonte.

The new equipment is located in Lakeport's Library Park. Photo by Harold LaBonte.

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