Sheriff’s office identifies victim of fatal bike crash

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Authorities have identified the Middletown man killed on Monday after his bicycle collided with a vehicle.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said Matthew David Marx, 73, was the victim in the crash.

The California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office said Marx was riding his bicycle on Dry Creek Cutoff Road, approaching Highway 175, when the crash occurred at around 5 p.m. Monday.

The CHP’s report said Marx rode into the path of a 2019 Ford F-350 dually truck, towing a 2018 Carson utility trailer, driven by Richard Whalin, 60, of Yuba City.

Whalin swerved but couldn’t avoid hitting Marx, the CHP said.

Marx sustained major injuries and died at the scene, despite the efforts of South Lake County Fire Protection District firefighters, according to the report.

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.

Community First Credit Union and Vocality Community Credit Union announce intent to merge

NORTH COAST, Calif. — On Wednesday, Community First Credit Union and Vocality Community Credit Union announced their intent to merge.

The two credit units said the merger will combine their strength, “optimize operational efficiencies, maximize value for members, be the employer of choice for its employees, and enhance community impact.”

Pending approval from the National Credit Union Administration, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, and VCCU’s membership, the combined $965 million cooperative is projected to serve over 70,000 members through a network of 12 branches.

The merger, expected to be completed in 2025, has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors and leadership teams of both Community First Credit Union, or CFCU, and Vocality Community Credit Union, or VCCU.

Community First Credit Union was founded by local teachers in 1959 and today serves more than 60,000 local member-owners throughout the North Bay of California in Sonoma, Lake, Marin, Mendocino and Napa counties. It has $819 million in assets and has provided over $4 billion in local home and car loans since its inception.

Community First in its current form emerged from a merger with Mendo Lake Credit Union and Community First Credit Union which was completed in July 2017.

Vocality Community Credit Union was founded in 1980 by residents of Humboldt County and later expanded to serve over 9000 members from five counties including Humboldt, Trinity, Mendocino, Lake and Sonoma counties.

Following the anticipated merger approval, CFCU and VCCU will continue to operate independently until the completion of the system integration process.

The newly combined organization will operate under the Community First Credit Union charter and name. Scott Johnson, president and chief executive officer of Community First, will continue as the combined credit union’s president and CEO.

Pat Neighbors, president and CEO of VCCU, will serve as chief strategy officer of the combined credit union.

“With this merger, we’re bringing together our strengths to build a more robust financial partner for our members and local communities,” said Johnson. “Our shared vision is to provide an exceptional digital banking experience, greater convenience and the innovative products and services our members expect. This merger is all about investing in our members’ futures, ensuring that we’re positioned to meet their needs today and tomorrow.”

“This collaboration with Community First Credit Union presents an incredible opportunity to expand the financial possibilities for our members,” said Neighbors. “Together, we’re combining decades of expertise and a mutual commitment to delivering the highest standards of service, access, and financial support. We’re thrilled to come together to create something exceptional for our members, employees, and local communities.”

Early results show tight race in District 1 supervisorial contest

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The early results in the race for the District 1 supervisorial seat once again show a tight race that isn’t expected to be decided until final results are certified next month.

As of 4 a.m. Wednesday, the count released by the Lake County Registrar of Voters showed the race between District 1 Planning Commissioner John Hess and rancher Helen Owen as being separated by a narrow margin.

Owen was shown as leading with 722 votes, or 54.45%, to Hess’ 604 votes, or 45.55%.

At that point, all 12 precincts had been counted but many more ballots are yet to be tallied.

The two also had a tight race in March. Hess held a two-vote lead over Owen in a five-candidate field in the initial March primary tally. However, with the final count in April, Owen took the lead. She received 1,185 votes, or 39.06%, followed by Hess, with 1,006 votes or 33.16%.

“That’s exactly what I’ve expected,” said Hess in the phone call with Lake County News soon after the first early results were announced on election night.

“I just think it’s too early to do much interpreting, with only 13% of that vote in,” said Hess of the ballots that had been counted at that point.

The best insight he had, Hess said, was that he's “cautiously optimistic.”

On Election Day, Hess said he waved signs on Highway 29 and Hartmann Road, and made a lot of phone calls with people, “urging them to vote.”

Then he went to an election party with some candidates running for other races such as the Clearlake and Lakeport city councils. Hess said the party was held at Clearlake Mayor David Claffey’s home, who’s also in a re-election campaign.

Hess headed home at about 10 p.m. “I’ll be checking repeatedly,” he said of the election results that were expected to be updated throughout the night on the county’s website.

For Owen, who is temporarily nine votes behind, “I’m glad the campaign’s over.” It also feels like a replay of the primary election earlier this year.

“In March, I was down and then the week before it was finalized, I jumped up,” she said. “I have a lot of hope that we make it in and that we can get some stuff done.”

Owen said she spent most of the day at the roundabout at Highway 29 and Hartmann road with her team, waving signs, dancing with music played from her phone, for four hours in the morning and another four hours in the afternoon.

Owen couldn’t remember what time she left there, but “those street lights were on, so it was dark,” she said. After that she and her team celebrated the campaign in a watch party at the Lion’s Club.

“We ran a good campaign with a lot less money and I’m pretty proud that we were able to accomplish what we accomplished with a fraction of money,” she said.

This result is preliminary and is subject to change with more information released from the county’s Registrar of Voters. No new updates have been made on the race by 3 a.m.

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