LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Sunday, July 10, at 2 p.m. at Rancho de la Fuente (in The Barn) there will be a lecture/slideshow presentation exploring the unique blend of races, languages and cultures – Spanish, African, Native American – that combined to make early California one of the most diverse societies in North America.
The lecture by Deb Baumann is titled “Californios: Born of Three Cultures.”
Baumann has lectured on this topic for 25 years. She has partnered with the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles, the Smithsonian Institute, and the Santa Ynez Historical Society in past Californio presentations.
"Most people know little or less about this period in our history," said Baumann, "and I guarantee there will be many surprises in this lecture. It was a fascinating time in California, a truly multi-racial society, in many ways more progressive than the society that came after, under US statehood."
Rancho de la Fuente is at 2290 Soda Bay Road south of Lakeport.
Admission is free to this event, but RSVPs are appreciated at 707-275-9234.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – A federal jury has convicted a Kelseyville man of charges including murder and robbery for the fatal January 2013 shooting of a store clerk.
On Tuesday, following three days of deliberation, a federal jury found Jonathan Antonio Mota, 34, guilty of the murder of Forrest Seagrave, 33, of Kelseyville.
The jury handed down guilty verdicts on charges of use/possession of a firearm in furtherance of the Hobbs Act robbery, use of the firearm resulting in murder, Hobbs Act robbery and felon in possession of a firearm, according to Abraham Simmons, spokesman for the US Attorney's Office Northern District of California.
United States statute explains that the Hobbs Act “prohibits actual or attempted robbery or extortion affecting interstate or foreign commerce.”
When he's sentenced, Mota could face a maximum of life imprisonment on the first two charges – use/possession of a firearm and and use of a firearm resulting in murder – as well as fines of up to $250,000, according to Simmons.
Simmons said that the use of a firearm resulting in murder charge has a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, unless the attorney general directs the U.S. Attorney's Office to seek the death penalty.
He said the attorney general has not directed the U.S. Attorney's Office to seek the death penalty in the Mota case.
Simmons said more details on the verdict and sentencing are expected to be released later on Tuesday.
Seagrave, a well-known and well-liked young man who had worked for several years at the Mt. Konocti Gas and Mart on Main Street in Kelseyville, was at work on the night of Jan. 18, 2013, when a masked, hooded and armed Mota entered the store to rob it.
During the robbery Mota shot Seagrave and then fled the scene. Seagrave was transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital where he died later that night.
Mota originally was arrested eight days after the shooting on unrelated charges, and the following month was arrested and then indicted by the federal government while in the Lake County Jail on federal weapons charges.
He was transferred to federal custody in April 2013, where he has remained ever since.
Federal prosecutors indicted Mota in June 2013 for Seagrave's murder as well as weapons charges.
Mot has represented himself in the case with standby counsel. There were lengthy delays in the proceedings, with the trial finally beginning at the start of June.
Opening arguments took place on June 7, with closing arguments and the beginning of jury deliberations taking place on June 28, according to court records.
Mota's criminal history prior to the Seagrave shooting included the December 2006 robbery of the Bank of the West in Clearlake. He later was involved in a standoff with a SWAT team attempting to arrest him in the case.
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.
The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has announced the availability of $2,180,870 for organic certification assistance to organic operations in California.
Funds from the National Organic Certification Cost Share Program (NOCCSP) are available through CDFA’s State Organic Program (SOP) to help more organic operations succeed and take advantage of economic opportunities in this growing market.
Cost share helps farmers and processors afford the expense of organic certification by refunding up to 75 percent or $750 of their certification fees.
Cost Share funds are available to any eligible organic operation in California that has received or renewed organic certification between Oct. 1, 2015, and Sept. 30, 2016.
The SOP administers the Cost Share program in California, and is responsible for reviewing and approving cost share applications.
The SOP then works with the State Controller’s Office to process funds for the issuance of reimbursement checks to the organic operations.
In addition, the SOP collaborates with accredited certifying agents to ensure that cost share resources are available to their clients and information is posted on their respective certifier websites.
The deadline for submitting Cost Share applications to CDFA is Oct. 31, 2016. Applications must be postmarked by this date.
The following are needed to complete a Cost Share application:
• A copy of an organic certification document. • Copies of all associated organic certification and inspection expense receipts. - Please contact a certifier if you do not have the above documents. • Completed and signed CDFA Cost Share Application. The applications can be mailed, emailed, or faxed to CDFA. • Completed Payee Data Record (STD. 204) form. (Name on this form must match the name on the Cost Share application).
To apply, go to the CDFA Web site, http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/is/i_&_c/organic.html and download the Cost Share application packet/documents. Send the completed, signed application to CDFA with all supporting documentation listed above.
Applications are approved on a “first received, first approved” basis. Incomplete applications will be returned and the application process will need to be started again.
Applications must be sent to CDFA. Do not send the application to your certifier. Mail applications to California Department of Food and Agriculture, State Organic Program, Cost Share Reimbursement, ATTN: Sharon Parsons, 1220 N St., Sacramento, CA 95814.
Please allow six to eight weeks for the completion of the Cost Share process. For additional information or assistance, please contact Sharon Parsons at 916-900-5202 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lakeport on Monday rounded out a three-day weekend of countywide celebrations to mark Independence Day.
The city's daylong celebration included a street fair, the popular Cardboard and Duct Tape Regatta and the nighttime fireworks display over Clear Lake.
Lakeport's celebration typically draws thousands of local residents and visitors alike who visit the downtown and the center of the celebration, Library Park.
Featured here are photographs of some of the day's highlights.
SACRAMENTO – Caltrans has released the California Transportation Plan (CTP) 2040, the State’s new long-range integrated approach toward transportation planning that is multimodal, sustainable and environmentally responsible.
The plan presents a set of supporting goals, policies and recommendations to chart a long-term vision to help guide transportation decisions and investments in the 21st century that meet our future multimodal mobility needs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“The California Transportation Plan 2040 sets the correct course for the state’s transportation future,” said Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty. “With a growing population that requires an integrated, effective transportation system, the Plan will improve transit options while fulfilling economic and environmental goals.”
The CTP 2040 takes a “whole system” approach toward the state’s transportation system that integrates statewide long-range modal plans and programs with the latest technology and tools to articulate the State’s broad vision for a single, seamless transportation system that complements regional transportation plans, sustainable communities strategies and land-use visions for greater mobility choices.
Preparation of the CTP 2040 included an extensive outreach campaign through an open and collaborative planning process with input and guidance from transportation partners representing various governmental agencies, tribal governments, and advocacy groups who participated on the CTP’s Policy Advisory and Technical Advisory Committees.
The plan also gathered input from a wide range of stakeholders, including the public, elected and appointed officials, and community-based organizations across the state.
Achieving the goals and polices of the CTP 2040 and transforming the transportation system from where California is now to where it needs to be in 2040 will take significant effort among transportation partners and stakeholders, as well as broad public support.
The CTP provides recommendations for how California can move toward its greenhouse gas reduction targets and achieve the vision for a fully integrated, multimodal, and sustainable transportation system that enhances California’s economy and livability.
LUCERNE, Calif. – The Northshore Community Center will host its Open Mic Lucerne event from 6 to 11 p.m. Saturday, July 16.
There is no charge for attending or performing.
Performers are on stage with house band FOGG starting the evening at 6 p.m. with classic, heavy metal rock and roll with original numbers and covers of your favorites. FOGG and other entertainers will wrap up the evening by 11 p.m. Assistance is available with amplification.
Band are urged to call 707-274-8779 for your reserved time or come and sign-up beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Don’t miss this chance to showcase your talent. Being in the audience is great fun and free too. Music, comedy, mime, readings, and any other activity that is family-oriented is appreciated.
Room also is available for dancing and relaxing.
A spaghetti feed also is offered with traditional and vegetarian full meals available for $5.
Bring the whole family. All proceeds benefit Northshore Community Center, a not-for-profit serving the Northshore's families and senior populations with on-site lunches, Meals on Wheels, personal advocacy, activities, food pantry and other services.
For more information about events, call Northshore Community Center at 707-274-8779 or stop by at 3985 Country Club Drive, Lucerne.
Priscilla Jeanne Koernig Aug. 8, 1933 – June 29, 2016
Born to Frederick Richard Koernig Jr. and Gertrude (Ross) Koernig in San Francisco, when Priscilla was 6 years old the family moved to San Mateo, Calif.
She graduated from San Mateo High School in 1951 and was a member of the Hillsdale Methodist Church in San Mateo.
She worked her entire career at Bank of America.
She loved animals and had many cats and dogs during her life. She also loved to travel abroad as well as in the states, especially to Hawaii to see Don Ho. She was a huge fan of Bing Crosby and at one time was a president of his fan club.
She was also a pianist and her parents bought a baby grand piano which sat in her living room until she moved to Clearlake, Calif.
She lived in her San Mateo family home until she moved to Brookdale Assisted Living Home in Clearlake to be by family. She brought her dog Daisy to live with her.
Priscilla is survived by her cousins, Mary (Cordell) Stiehr (Larry), Thomas Cordell (Linda), William Cordell and Frederick Cordell (Linda), many other cousins and many friends, Joyce and Brian, Fritzi, and Jesse and Marsha.
Priscilla will be interred at Skylawn Memorial Cemetery in San Mateo on Saturday, July 9, at noon.
In lieu of flowers donations can be made to your favorite animal shelter or Hospice Services of Lake County.
Arrangements under the care of Jones and Lewis CLMC Lower Lake, Calif.
When Jet Garner socializes with fellow combat veterans who are studying at the University of California, Berkeley, the conversation often turns to battlefield memories he’d rather forget.
But while whitewater rafting on the American River last summer, Garner and other members of the campus’s Cal Veterans Group were so busy having fun that the topic of their military past barely came up.
“It felt like we were really living in the moment,” says Garner, a veteran of two tours in Afghanistan who is majoring in political economy at UC Berkeley. “It really felt like we were moving on beyond our hang-ups.”
Garner, who has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is among two dozen UC Berkeley veterans whose psychological and physiological response to the awesomeness of big nature is being studied as part of a multi-year UC Berkeley research project.
Another group of UC Berkeley student veterans will go rafting this summer as part of the study, thanks to the ongoing support of the Sierra Club’s Inspiring Connections Outdoors program, which provides the guides and the rafting equipment, and GoPro, which provides the cameras.
Led by Craig Anderson, a Berkeley doctoral student in psychology, the study is focused on changes observed in war veterans and, separately, in more than 90 inner-city Bay Area middle and high school students during and after one-or two-day whitewater rafting trips along the North Fork American River near Sacramento.
Anderson launched the study in 2014 and hopes to raise enough funding to continue it and follow up with participants over months and even years.
At least 400,000 veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have been diagnosed with PTSD. Symptoms include high stress, anxiety and depression and can lead to domestic violence, self-harm and even suicide. Similarly, PTSD has been recorded in untold numbers of residents of inner-city neighborhoods where gun violence is a common occurrence.
A prescription to get out in nature
Preliminary results of the study suggest that nature-inspired curiosity can trigger positive feelings and ease symptoms of PTSD in the most wary and withdrawn personalities.
Just one week after their rafting trips, for example, veterans reported a 30 percent decrease in PTSD symptoms. And both veterans and teens who had reported feeling a greater sense of awe during their rafting excursion later noted they got on better with friends and family.
“If doctors were able to write prescriptions for people to get out in nature, it would be one of the most cost-effective health interventions available, and would change our relationship to the outdoors,” says Anderson, a New Mexico native who has been an avid outdoorsman since his Boy Scout days.
Moreover, measures of stress hormones, immune function and dopamine regulators before, during and after the rafting trips, showed positive physiological changes in the study’s participants.
Researchers tested participants for pro-inflammatory cytokines, proteins that tell the immune system to work harder. They also measured levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which is thought to contribute to everything from inflammation to anxiety and memory loss.
Stress hormones can be helpful
Surprisingly, they found that higher levels of cortisol were correlated with more positive emotions after the river rafting trip.
“It’s an adaptive hormone. When we sit in front of computers being stressed out, cortisol doesn’t help us,” Anderson says. “But when we’re out in nature and we need more energy to achieve something physically demanding, cortisol goes up in a good way.”
Study participants were tracked via surveys, journals and footage from GoPro cameras attached to their helmets. Hundreds of hours of footage were coded based on facial expressions, body language and interactions.
While their emotions ranged from fear to joy, it was curiosity that most strongly aroused their desire to step outside their comfort zone and learn more about the world around them, especially for those accustomed to acting tough around their peers.
“If you’re in a rough neighborhood, it doesn’t pay to be open,” Anderson says. “You have to keep up a façade because if someone challenges you, you have to fight them. Otherwise you’re a pushover.”
So Anderson was heartened when one teenager who had initially resisted river rafting later asked him, “How could something scary feel so good?”
As for the veterans, Anderson was encouraged to see one former member of the armed forces, who had avoided swimming since his stint on a Swift Boat in Vietnam, frolicking in the water after a rafting trip.
The adrenalin rush and camaraderie of navigating the rapids while trying to stay inside the inflatable raft has left Garner feeling optimistic.
“I hope it’s something that sticks with me and helps me in the future as I recover from my experiences in the military,” he says.
The whitewater rafting study is being conducted under the auspices of UC Berkeley psychologist Dacher Keltner as part of a broader look at the psychological and physiological impact of awe. A presentation of the study is on the agenda of an all-day Art & Science of Awe conference on June 4 hosted by Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center.
Yasmin Anwar writes for the UC Berkeley News Center.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has completed its annual survey of waterfowl breeding pairs. Biologists found that after a three-year decline in mallards and total duck species (meaning all species combined), both categories have increased this year.
The breeding population of mallards increased from 173,865 to 263,774 (an increase of 52 percent) and total ducks increased from 315,577 to 417,791 (an increase of 32 percent).
"The late, abundant spring rains were a real boost to the habitat this year," noted Melanie Weaver, a CDFW waterfowl biologist who participated in the survey. "We expect good production and a larger fall flight this year because of it."
CDFW biologists and warden pilots have conducted this annual survey using fixed-wing aircraft since 1948.
The population estimates are for the surveyed areas only, which include the majority of the suitable duck nesting habitat in the state.
Surveyed areas include wetland and agricultural areas in northeastern California, throughout the Central Valley, the Suisun Marsh and some coastal valleys.
The full Breeding Population Survey Report can be found at www.wildlife.ca.gov/conservation/birds/waterfowl .
The majority of California's wintering duck population originates from breeding areas surveyed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in Alaska and Canada.
Those survey results should be available in July. CDFW survey information, along with similar data from other Pacific Flyway states, is used by the USFWS and the Pacific Flyway Council when setting hunting regulations for the Pacific Flyway states, including California.
LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Firefighters quickly knocked down a brush fire that burned several acres early on Monday evening.
The Red fire, reported to be at 8860 Highway 29 on the lake side near Diener Drive, was first reported shortly before 5:30 p.m., according to radio reports.
Firefighters from Lake County Fire, Kelseyville Fire and Cal Fire responded. Units initially had trouble getting to the fire, which had to be accessed of of other nearby roads.
When they got on scene, they reported over the radio finding the fire burning in heavy brush.
Cal Fire sent a full wildland fire response, which radio reports indicated included air tankers.
Shortly before 6 p.m., incident command reported making good progress on the fire.
Then, just before 6:15 p.m., the fire was reported to be fully contained at about three to three and a half acres.
Cal Fire estimated at that point that local resources would be committed for up to six hours on mop up.
There was no immediate word on a possible cause for the fire.
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.
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LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lakeport on Monday rounded out a three-day weekend of countywide celebrations to mark Independence Day.
