SANTA ROSA, Calif. – In response to the overwhelming amount of needed support, the American Red Cross continues to provide aid, supplies and comfort to the disaster victims of Hurricane Sandy.
The local Red Cross sent 31 volunteers to the East Coast, where they are helping to feed and shelter the thousands of people displaced by the hurricane. More local volunteers are ready to go and expected to deploy in the next four weeks.
On Thursday night, more than 2,600 people occupied 38 Red Cross shelters across New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
On Nov. 10 and 11, the Red Cross will be teaming up with Goodwill during the donation drive, “From Sonoma With Love.” The fundraiser will take place at Coddingtown Mall from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Red Cross volunteers will be accepting cash donations; Goodwill will be accepting slightly used household items and clothing, and donating to the Red Cross the value of the items.
Other ways to provide financial donations to the Red Cross relief efforts include:
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Middletown High School’s girls soccer team has been consistently very good for several years, and this year they’ve risen to the nearly perfect.
With North Coast Section playoff wins in Middletown this week by scores of 5-0 over Saint Helena and 3-1 over Cloverdale, their record stands at 20 wins, no losses and one tie.
Their next and final test is the North Coast Section Division III Championship game against Sonoma Academy this Saturday at 1 p.m. at Clear Lake High School in Lakeport.
Last year’s team lost a heartbreaking 1-0 double overtime game to Saint Helena in the semifinals of this tournament.
But this past Wednesday night, they cleared that hurdle with their convincing 3-1 win over Cloverdale.
After that semifinal victory, coach Lee Hoage commented: “We started off a little slow, but we persisted. They have that sweeper that plays way back … so the idea was to stretch the ball wide, kind of move the defense around and then send some crosses in … we got our first goal coming in from the side there.”
That first goal was scored by freshman Ashlyn Welton 30 minutes into the first half.
“It was a deflection off Kaleigh’s (Alves) head and I was there for the finish,” she explained. “We just all wanted to do it, to let everyone know Middletown sports is more than football.”
That first goal looked like it might be the only one of the game until a flurry of action in the game’s last ten minutes made the final 3-1.
First, senior Kelly Wilkinson scored on a breakaway to put Middleton ahead 2-0, then Madison Stewart slipped a penalty kick past Middletown junior goalkeep Cheyenne Emerson to give Cloverdale hope at 2-1, and finally Hannah Diaz was able to drive a 40-yard direct kick past Cloverdale keeper Bailey Creager, making the score 3-1.
Asked how his team was able to hold Cloverdale scoreless for the games first 75 minutes, coach Hoage said, “We just knew a couple of their key players, 24 (Madison Stewart), and number 9 (Perla Anguiano). We had some of our fastest players on her (Stewart) in the second half just to try to keep her from putting the ball in.”
Middletown defeated their rival for the championship, Sonoma Academy, 6-1 back in September.
Looking ahead to Saturday’s rematch, coach Hoage said: “They’ll be disciplined. It’s going to be a different contest than the first match, that’s for sure. That was early ... It’s going to be a battle.”
Cloverdale coach Steve Stewart was gracious after his team’s defeat.
“Middletown’s a championship team and they capitalized on our mistakes,” Stewart said. “They had a breakaway and they scored; we had a breakaway and their goalie stops it. We gave it all we had and they were just the better team today, so, I’m rootin’ for them.”
LUCERNE, Calif. – A 52-year-old Hopland man was injured early Thursday morning when his semi truck overturned on Highway 20.
Bobby Fackrell was injured in the wreck, which occurred at 4:25 a.m. on Highway 20 east of Rosemont Avenue in Lucerne, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Fackrell was driving a 2000 Freightliner truck tractor towing a flat bed trailer loaded with drilling equipment at an unsafe speed, attempting to negotiate a moderate right curve in the roadway, the CHP said.
Due to Fackrell's unsafe speed, the Freightliner overturned onto its left side and struck two vehicles that were legally parked on the north side of Highway 20, according to the CHP.
The truck came to rest on its left side, partially blocking the westbound lane of Highway 20, the CHP said.
Fackrell received moderate injuries. The CHP said he was transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital for treatment.
The CHP said alcohol or drugs do not appear to be a factor in this collision.
The roadway was closed for approximately 30 minutes until one way traffic control was established, the CHP said.
NASA has found a cure for a common phobia – the fear of asking “stupid” questions.
It’s not a pill. No therapy is required. The cure is a rubber chicken.
That’s right, school kids and even their teachers can find themselves tongue-tied when they come face to face with an astronaut or astrophysicist. This interferes with NASA’s mission to reach out, inspire and educate.
“But nobody’s afraid to talk to a rubber chicken,” said Romeo Durscher of Stanford University, executive secretary for a fowl NASA ambassador named “Camilla” who’s taking classrooms by storm.
Outfitted in her own personal spacesuit, Camilla travels far and wide to meet with kids at schools, science centers and even sci-fi conventions. She helps break the ice for astronauts and other space-celebrities when they meet the general public.
“Camilla is the perfect NASA spokes-chicken!” said astronaut Clayton Anderson. “I am one of her biggest fans. Always a big hit with the kids, she makes science, engineering, technology and math seem appealing, not threatening, to youth of all ages.”
Camilla is willing to go almost anywhere for science.
Earlier this year she flew to the edge of space to investigate a solar radiation storm.
A group of high school students in Bishop, Calif., attached radiation sensors to Camilla and sent her into the storm clinging to the payload of a helium balloon.
She flew so high – 124,000 feet on one flight – that the daytime sky turned as black as space. Later, Camilla parachuted back to Earth where the kids continue to study the data she gathered.
“We had so much fun working with Camilla on this experiment,” said Rachel Molina, a senior at Bishop Union High School and a member of the launch team. “She is one cool chick.”
One of Camilla’s prime missions is to inspire girls to enter the sciences, and it seems to be succeeding.
Molina plans to major in physics when she goes to college next year. “Should I ask Camilla for a letter of recommendation?” she wondered.
More than 20,000 people follow Camilla on Facebook, Twitter and Google+, where every adventure is an opportunity for science education.
“During one visit to Johnson Space Center, Clayton Anderson showed her the space toilet trainer,” Durscher recalled. “Camilla insisted on trying it out. She ended up getting sucked into the hose – and stuck in the toilet. Luckily, we were able to free her. And we used the incident to teach how space toilets work.”
On Nov. 14, Camilla will be in Australia to observe a total eclipse of the sun. At the end of totality, she’s going to run “the Solar Eclipse Marathon,” a 26.2-mile race that begins when the first ray of sunlight lances over the edge of the retreating Moon.
As far as anyone knows, this is the first time a rubber chicken has run such a race.
Camilla’s travel budget is very small, so certain measures are necessary for reasons of economy. For instance, on airplane flights Camilla travels in the overhead compartment.
“I ask her to keep quiet,” said Durscher, “but every now and then she lets out a disgruntled squawk. I just sit there like I don’t hear anything.”
Ultimately, Durscher would like Camilla to join the crew of the International Space Station. In particular, he’s angling for a berth on Soyuz Expedition 40/41. If this happens, astronaut chats from orbit with school kids and reporters might never be the same.
With a space-suited chicken floating in the background, “no one will ever be afraid to ask a ‘stupid’ question again.”
Educators are encouraged to follow Camilla on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.
Dr. Tony Phillips and Dauna Coulter work for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
NICE, Calif. – A Thursday night crash near the Rodman Slough sent one person to a local hospital with major injuries.
The solo vehicle crash occurred shortly before 10:30 p.m. on the Nice-Lucerne Cutoff, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The vehicle, which officials did not describe, slid off the roadway and hit a tree, the CHP said.
One person suffered major injuries, and reports from the scene indicated that incident command wanted an air ambulance to respond to transport the patient. However, REACH and CalStar reported that their air ambulances were unavailable due to weather.
Northshore Fire responded with extrication equipment and requested assistance from Lakeport Fire, which sent a rescue unit, according to radio traffic.
The cutoff was closed for about 20 minutes as firefighters extricated the patient from the vehicle, the CHP said.
Radio reports indicated the patient was transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital and the incident command was terminated at approximately 11:18 p.m.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Three people were hurt early Thursday morning when the vehicle they were riding in went off Highway 20 and down an embankment, with the driver later being arrested.
Ukiah residents Leona Maria Delapena, 29; Jason Steele, 21; and a 17-year-old female, whose name was not released, were injured in the single-vehicle wreck, which occurred at 1:40 a.m. Thursday on Highway 20 west of Witter Springs Road, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Delapena was driving eastbound in her 2008 Honda Accord when, for reasons still under investigation, she went off the south shoulder of the highway and hit a tree, the CHP reported.
The CHP report said Delapena and Steele both suffered moderate injuries while the teen had major injuries.
Alcohol appears to have been a factor in the crash, the agency said. Delapena was placed under arrest.
The teenage girl was flown by CalStar to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, Delapena was transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital and Steele went to Ukiah Valley Medical Center for treatment, the CHP said.
All three were wearing their seat belts at the time of the crash, according to the CHP.
The CHP said the crash remains under investigation.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A young Kelseyville man has died after being injured in a Thursday night crash on the Nice-Lucerne Cutoff.
The name of the 21-year-old man who died as a result of the crash was not immediately available early Friday afternoon from the California Highway Patrol.
The CHP said the man was driving a 2000 Hyundai Elantra southbound on the Nice-Lucerne Cutoff west of the Rodman Slough at 10:20 p.m. Thursday.
For reasons still under investigation, he lost control of the vehicle and hit a tree, sustaining major injuries, the CHP said.
Reports from the scene Thursday night had indicated that air ambulances were not available to transport him out of county due to the inclement weather, and so he was transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital, as Lake County News has reported.
The CHP said the young man died of his injuries at Sutter Lakeside Hospital.
He was wearing his seat belt at the time of the crash, and the CHP said alcohol does not appear to be a factor in the crash.
The crash remains under investigation, the CHP said.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Testimony in the trial of a former Maine resident accused of shooting to death a couple from his home state got under way this week.
Robby Alan Beasley, 32, is on trial for the murders of Frank and Yvette Maddox.
He’s charged with two counts of murder, and special allegations of committing multiple murders in the first or second degree, committing the offenses with the intent to inflict great bodily injury on the victims and using a 9 millimeter firearm.
Beasley is accused of shooting the Maddoxes to death alongside Morgan Valley Road in January 2010.
He had hired them to work in his marijuana trafficking business, and allegedly believed they had stolen marijuana from him.
Opening arguments and testimony in Beasley’s trial, which is taking place in Judge Andrew Blum’s courtroom, began on Wednesday. The trial is expected to continue into next month.
So far testimony has come from the man who found the bodies as well as Beasley’s alleged accomplice, Elijah Bae McKay, 30, who also is facing murder charges but whose trial has not yet been scheduled.
McKay, also from Maine, originally had invited Beasley to move to Clearlake to grow and sell marijuana. He testified in Beasley’s 2011 preliminary hearing.
McKay’s testimony Wednesday led to a mistrial motion by Beasley’s defense attorney, Stephen Carter, but Blum is waiting for more information before making a ruling.
Prosecutor Art Grothe presented witnesses on Thursday including Christopher Hernandez. He spoke about cell phone evidence in the case, including texts allegedly sent by Beasley to Yvette Maddox in the hours before the murders.
Forensic anthropologist discusses skull
Key testimony came on Thursday from Alison Galloway, a forensic anthropologist, author and professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
She said she examines skeletal remains of individuals, considers their biological profiles and looks for evidence of trauma and the interval since the time of death.
In the spring of 2010 the Lake County Sheriff’s Office asked Galloway to examine Yvette Maddox’s cranium and mandible. Three sheriff’s staffers took the skull to Galloway.
Galloway was asked to analyze the skull for trauma. When she got the skull, it was already “relatively skeletonized” and in dozens of pieces. She cleaned it, put the skull back together and then looked for the primary focus of the impacts that caused the skull’s fracturing.
Grothe showed exhibits of the cranium and mandible on a projector, and Galloway explained the various views of the remains and the injuries the photos showed.
She pointed out that on the left side of the skull there was evidence of at least two entry points. When something hits a skull from the outside, it causes a larger fracture on the inside, Galloway explained. “That’s how we know what something is an entrance wound.”
Galloway said she hadn’t been able to completely reconstruct the left side of the skull because of the extent of fracturing from the bullet wounds.
During cross-examination, Carter asked if it was possible that there hadn’t been a second bullet wound but that the skull had been damaged some other way. Galloway said the fractures were through very dense bone and not likely to have resulted from evidence mishandling.
She said she was fully confident that one of the injuries, closer to the temple, was consistent with a gunshot. The second wound also was consistent with a high energy impact that would have occurred from a gunshot injury.
Testimony will continue at 9 a.m. Friday, when McKay will return to the stand.
Elona Porter, an evidence technician with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, also is scheduled to testify on Friday.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – A single-vehicle crash resulted in injuries early Thursday morning.
The crash was reported shortly before 2 a.m. on Highway 20 between Witter Springs Road and Bachelor Valley Road near Upper Lake, according to radio reports.
The vehicle, described as a Honda Accord, had gone off the road and about 100 feet down an embankment, according to initial California Highway Patrol reports.
Reports from the scene indicated an injured woman crawled up to the highway and flagged down a FedEx truck.
The woman – who was having chest and stomach pains, as well as difficulty breathing – reported that two other unresponsive people were in the vehicle, the CHP said.
Northshore Fire personnel arriving at the scene reported finding a second person, but said they could not account for a third.
A CalStar air ambulance was requested and set down at a landing zone at the Pivniska Ranch at Bachelor Valley Road and Highway 20 just before 2:40 a.m., radio reports stated.
Additional ground ambulances also came from Northshore Fire and Lakeport Fire, according to radio traffic.
Firefighters did another ground search but could not locate the third subject who was reported to have been in the vehicle, scanner reports said.
CHP reports indicated that the third person may have fled the scene.
One ground ambulance from Northshore Fire reported it was transporting one patient to Sutter Lakeside Hospital.
CalStar lifted off just before 2:50 a.m. en route to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with the second patient.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
COBB, Calif. – A Napa man was the victim of a Tuesday afternoon motorcycle crash on Cobb.
Matthew McDonald, 42, was injured in the incident, which occurred on Highway 175 east of Arroyo Vista Road just after 4 p.m. Tuesday, as Lake County News has reported.
The California Highway Patrol said McDonald was driving his 2008 Harley Davidson motorcycle eastbound when, due to his alcohol impairment, he failed to negotiate a corner in the road.
McDonald and the motorcycle overturned on the roadway, with McDonald sustaining moderate injuries, the CHP said.
The CHP said McDonald was transported via REACH air ambulance to Queen of the Valley Hospital in Napa County.
CHP Officer Mark Crutcher is investigating the crash.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The drastic change of weather that rolled into Lake County on Thursday – bringing with it much colder temperatures, rain and mixed snow – will remain in place Friday.
Forecasters state that today’s high temperatures will top-out in the upper-40s again and the chance for rain mixed with snow stays in the forecast.
Overnight lows will once again dip down near freezing as showers taper off.
Skies will be mostly clear for the weekend, but temperatures will remain unseasonably cool with daytime highs near 50 and overnight lows in the low- to mid- 30s both Saturday and Sunday.
Rain returns to the forecast on Monday night and continues through Wednesday.
Email Terre Logsdon at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
NICE, Calif. – A man who was found breaking into a Nice home last Friday is facing prosecution for felony burglary as well as drug charges.
Jerome David Jones, 25, of Nice was arrested on the afternoon of Nov. 2, according to jail and case records.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff said he is charging Jones with felony first-degree burglary of an inhabited residence, which carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison if Jones is convicted.
In addition, case records show that Jones is charged with misdemeanors including possession of burglary tools, being under the influence of methamphetamine and possessing drug paraphernalia.
At about 7 a.m. Nov. 2 a resident of Nice found Jones in his home trying to steal several items, Hinchcliff said.
The alleged victim gave a description of Jones to sheriff’s Deputy Mauricio Barreto. Hinchcliff said later that day the burglary victim saw Jones and again notified the sheriff’s office.
Barreto, who was familiar with Jones, was able to track him down and arrest him early that afternoon, Hinchcliff said.
Jones was arraigned on Tuesday, at which time his bail was set at $50,000 and Doug Rhoades was appointed his defense attorney. Hinchcliff said Jones’ next court appearance will take place Nov. 14.
Jail records showed that Jones, who works in construction, remained in custody on Thursday.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.