More citations and public awareness seen in second Distracted Driving Month campaign

The California Highway Patrol and 265 local law enforcement agencies issued over 57,000 tickets in April to drivers who were using a hand-held cell phone or texting, according to a report from the California Office of Traffic Safety.

The agency said another 3,800 citations were handed out for other distracted driving violations in April.  This number is up from the 52,000 tickets issued in April of 2011.

The CHP and OTS praised the cooperation of hundreds of state and local agencies and the reaction of the public to the second annual “It’s Not Worth It!”enforcement and awareness campaign as part of the national Distracted Driving Awareness Month.

“Unfortunately, we’re seeing that the problem of cell phone use for talking and texting while driving is not going away anytime soon,” said OTS Director Christopher J. Murphy.  “There are those who understand the dangers and have curtailed their use, while others think the hazards apply to everyone else but them.  We can’t stop until we convince everyone that they are putting their own life and others around them at risk with this perilous behavior.”

Use of cells phones and texting while driving is a problem in Lake County, too.

“We do see it here and the officers do take appropriate action when they see it,” said Sgt. Dave Stark of the California Highway Patrol's Clear Lake Office.

Stark said local CHP officers in April wrote 38 citations for violations of Vehicle Code 23123(a), which states, “A person shall not drive a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone unless that telephone is specifically designed and configured to allow hands-free listening and talking, and is used in that manner while driving.”

Stark said local officers wrote another two citations for violations of Vehicle Code 23123.5(a), which states, “A person shall not drive a motor vehicle while using an electronic wireless communications device to write, send, or read a text-based communication.”

In addition to the enforcement efforts, the OTS continued the “It’s Not Worth It!” public awareness campaign with TV and radio commercials, the Caltrans changeable message signs over highways, DMV messaging in field offices, plus Internet, social media and other outreach.  

The “Don’t Be a Distracted Driving Zombie” theme this year emphasized how up to 37 percent of brain functioning needed for driving gets switched to cell phone talking, making the driver severely lacking in ability to safely drive.

Recently OTS released the results of their second statewide cell phone observational survey that showed more than 10 percent of drivers were talking or texting while driving, representing hundreds of thousands of drivers at any given time.  

Especially troubling are the cell phone use figures showing drivers 16-25 years of age talking or texting at a rate of 18 percent, up from 9 percent in 2011.

The “It’s Not Worth It!” campaign will continue with both enforcement and public awareness efforts.  The State’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan is developing tactics to combat distracted driving, such as formulating plans to increase the data and research available to more accurately understand and combat the problem.  

With the lives of hundreds of Californians at stake, the message will continue to be that any phone call or text message can wait until you reach a safe place to stop.

Following a few uncomplicated steps would go a long way in keeping you safe from distracted driving:

• Put your cell phone out of reach when you get in the car so you won’t be tempted to use it.
• Mention on your outgoing voice mail message that you can’t answer because you might be driving.
• Don’t call or text anyone when there is a good chance that they may be driving.
• If you must call or text, pull into a parking space.
• The ability to safely multi-task while driving is myth.
• Never eat, groom, program a GPS, check Facebook, run an app, read or otherwise allow your full attention to leave the task of safely driving.

Space News: Solar eclipse this weekend

Something strange is about to happen to the shadows beneath your feet.

On Sunday, May 20, the Moon will pass in front of the sun, transforming sunbeams across the Pacific side of Earth into fat crescents and thin rings of light.

It's an annular solar eclipse, in which the Moon will cover as much as 94 percent of the sun.

Hundreds of millions of people will be able to witness the event. The eclipse zone stretches from southeast Asia across the Pacific Ocean to western parts of North America.

In the United States, the eclipse begins around 5:30 pm Pacific Daylight Time. For the next two hours, a Moon-shaped portion of the sun will go into hiding. Greatest coverage occurs around 6:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time.

Because some of the sun is always exposed during the eclipse, ambient daylight won't seem much different than usual. Instead, the event will reveal itself in the shadows. Look on the ground beneath leafy trees  for crescent-shaped sunbeams and rings of light.

Near the center-line of the eclipse, observers will experience something special: the "ring of fire." As the Moon crosses the sun dead-center, a circular strip or annulus of sunlight will completely surround the dark lunar disk. Visually, the sun has a big black hole in the middle.

The "path of annularity" where this occurs is only about 200 miles wide, but it stretches almost halfway around the world passing many population centers en route: Tokyo, Japan; Medford, Oregon; Chico, Calif.; Reno, Nevada; Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Lubbock, Texas. In those locations the ring of fire phenomenon will be visible for as much as four and a half minutes.

"The ring of sunlight during annularity is blindingly bright," cautioned NASA's leading eclipse expert Fred Espenak of the Goddard Space Flight Center. "Even though most of the Sun's disk will be covered, you still need to use a solar filter or some type of projection technique. A #14 welder's glass is a good choice. There are also many commercially-available solar filters."

Many astronomy clubs will have solar-filtered telescopes set up for public viewing.

Through the eyepiece of such an instrument, you can see the mountainous lunar limb gliding by dark sunspots and fiery prominences. It's a beautiful sight.

Be absolutely sure, however, that any telescope you look through is properly filtered. Magnified sunlight can cause serious eye damage even during an eclipse.

A safe and fun way to observe the eclipse is to use your own body as a solar projector. For example, try criss-crossing your fingers waffle-style. Rays of light beaming through the gaps will have the same shape as the eclipsed sun.

Or just stand under that tree. The sight of a thousand ring-shaped sunbeams swaying back and forth on a grassy lawn or sidewalk is unforgettable.

Dr. Tony Phillips works for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Testimony continues in trial of men accused of child’s murder; new trial end date anticipated

LAKEPORT, Calif. – As the trial for two Clearlake Oaks men facing charges for a fatal 2011 shooting moved into a new week, the jury heard from six witnesses and the court set a new potential ending date for next month.

Paul William Braden, 22, and 24-year-old Orlando Joseph Lopez are on trial for the shooting on June 18, 2011, at the Lakeshore Drive home of Desiree Kirby and Ross Sparks that claimed the life of Kirby’s 4-year-old son Skyler Rapp, injured Kirby and Sparks, as well as three other family members and friends.

Visiting Yolo County Judge Doris Shockley, who is presiding over the trial, told jurors on Wednesday that, after consulting with the prosecution and defense, she was estimating testimony to be concluded by June 8.

That’s nearly a month after the original end date that Shockley had given jurors. The trial has seen numerous delays resulting from logistical issues with witnesses – some of whom did not show up on the right date – as well as motion hearings, including two mistrial motions so far.

On Wednesday, District Attorney Don Anderson called six witnesses, the most so far in a day of testimony.

They included Robert Bradley, who had visited the scene of the shooting shortly before it occurred; Leighann Painchaud, who was the girlfriend of Kevin Stone – a former codefendant in the case – at the time of the shooting; her cousin, Crystal Painchaud, in whose vehicle Stone allegedly drove Braden and Lopez to the scene; Clearlake Police Officer Andrew Jones, who responded to the shooting; Tyreshia Celestin-Willis, who had driven Crystal Painchaud to look for her car after Stone didn’t return it; and Clearlake Police Evidence Technician Victoria Estrella.

Bradley, who currently is in jail, came to court in handcuffs and a jail jumpsuit, and was accompanied by attorney Barry Melton.

Bradley goes by the nickname “Boxer,” and his brother, James Jordan, is known as “Goofy.” Both had been seen at Sparks’ and Kirby’s home that night, as well as at neighbor Curtis Eeds’ home.

According to his testimony, Bradley has an immunity agreement with the District Attorney’s Office.

He said he did not know Braden but had known Lopez for a few years, having dated Lopez’s cousin.

On the evening of the shooting Bradley said he stopped at Eeds’ home, visiting with his brother and with Eeds, before going next door to say hello to Crystal Pearls, a relative of Sparks. He said she was in the backyard, talking to someone on the phone.

“She handed me the phone and told me to talk to somebody,” he said.

When he took the phone, he recognized Lopez’s voice. He said Pearls had told him there was a problem. Bradley said he told Lopez not to bring those problems, Lopez agreed and Bradley handed the phone back to Pearls.

“That’s the whole conversation,” Bradley said, testifying that he was not there when the shooting occurred later that night.

Under cross-examination by Lopez’s attorney, Stephen Carter, Bradley admitted to being a gang member, a “Northerner.” He also said he knew Stone, who was not a member of his gang, and was acquainted with the “Avenue Boyz,” who also were not Northerners.

Leighann Painchaud, who started dating Stone in May 2011, testified that she and Stone were together on the day of the shooting.

After her children left to visit a relative, she estimated she and Stone smoked three to four bowls of methamphetamine, a drug she said she had been using heavily in the weeks before the incident.

She also admitted that her story has changed since her original interviews with police, during which she was high. “I wasn’t in a right state of mind,” she said, adding, “The whole situation was a shock to me, and scary.”

Painchaud, who now is sober, testified that at around 9:30 p.m. last June 18 she and Stone borrowed her cousin’s minivan to go to McDonald’s, Walmart and to do several drug deals around town in which Stone was the seller.

After running their errands, Stone directed her to an area along Boyles, where they stopped and picked up Lopez – who Painchaud had known for several years – and Braden, who she did not know. Both men were wearing hooded sweatshirts and dark clothing.

She drove back to her apartment, where Stone retrieved what Painchaud believed was a .22 rifle that he had kept there. She said she saw what she believed was the barrel sticking up under his sweatshirt.

Following the shooting, Stone told her what happened. “I was telling him he needed to turn himself in.”

The two later went to Santa Rosa in a vehicle that Painchaud borrowed from a neighbor but didn’t return. They were arrested in Santa Rosa, and Painchaud would be prosecuted for vehicle theft, getting out of jail last November.

Crystal Painchaud testified to her cousin borrowing the vehicle, and then texting to ask if Stone could keep the vehicle later that night for an errand.

Later, when Stone didn’t return the vehicle and after she had heard of the shooting, Crystal Painchaud called 911 to report her car missing.

She and Celestin-Willis then went looking for her vehicle, finding it blocks from the crime scene with a shotgun shell on the passenger seat. She encountered a man who said he saw three subjects get out of the vehicle and run up the street.

Under cross-examination she also admitted that she and Celestin-Willis used meth that night after they went to look for the car.

Jones testified to arriving at the shooting scene, where several people were flagging him down. About 15 to 20 people were at the scene, yelling and screaming.

“The whole scene was just very chaotic,” he said.

Jones said he saw Rapp lying in the driveway. He checked for a pulse and found none.

After going into the apartment and finding Kirby – as well as other shooting victims Joey Armijo and Ian Griffin – Jones went back outside to find that the crowd had doubled in size.

Later that night, Jones went to Crystal Painchaud’s home to interview her about her vehicle, which had become a key piece of evidence in the case.

Celestin-Willis told the court that Crystal Painchaud had asked her to help go find her vehicle.

When they did find it, she said Painchaud picked up the shotgun shell from the passenger's seat and showed it to her. Celestin-Willis told her to put the shell back and get back in her truck with her.

Estrella detailed collecting evidence from the shooting, including the little boy’s clothing.

She said she went to St. Helena Hospital Clearlake with an officer and collected the dark-colored sweat pants and a green, long-sleeved shirt, which were packaged and transported back to the police department.

Anderson showed pictures on a television screen of the clothing, as well as the child’s body on a stretcher.

Estrella also attended the child’s autopsy in Sacramento along with Officer Tim Alvarado.

During the autopsy, she collected six metal pellets taken from the boy’s body – including one that had been lodged in a rib and another from near an elbow – and also took into evidence blood, hair and organ samples collected by the pathologist.

Testimony will continue at 9 a.m. Thursday.

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