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Last week Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Ronald Brown gave Kenneth Ryan Whipple, 34, the seven-year, four-month prison term, according to a Tuesday report from Mendocino County District Attorney Meredith Lintott's office.
Whipple was convicted of the charges on Aug. 18, after a two day trial.
A seven-woman, five-man jury found Kenneth Whipple guilty of assault with a deadly weapon and recklessly evading police officers. Both offenses were committed with a motor vehicle.
In a separate case Whipple entered a guilty plea to vehicle theft.
Deputy Alternate Defender Christina Briles prosecuted Whipple.
The charges arise out of a Feb. 21 incident where Whipple ran from Mendocino County Sheriff’s deputies at speeds up to 85 miles per hour in and around Covelo, according to the report.
At one point during the chase Round Valley Tribal Police Officer Carlos Rabano attempted to block the road and prevent Whipple from fleeing further. At that point, Whipple aimed the Dodge Durango he was driving directly at Rabano and then rammed Rabano’s police vehicle.
In the theft case Whipple walked up to a vehicle that had just been parked at the gas pumps at the Redwood Oil station in Covelo, got in, and drove it away while the owner was inside. The theft was captured on the gas station’s surveillance video.
Whipple drove at high speed and crashed into a pick-up parked at the Western Auto store and then fled on foot. Witnesses at the gas station and at Western Auto identified Whipple as the thief.
The seven-year, four-month sentence includes two years because Whipple has been to prison two other times, Lintott's office reported. He will not be eligible for parole until he has served at least 80 percent of the prison time.
Lintott emphasized that her office takes violent crime in Covelo seriously and those committing violent crimes will face vigorous prosecution.
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LAKE COUNTY – It was a very busy weekend for veterans, troops and patriots in Lake County.
On Saturday, Nov. 7, with only a few hours notice, information came through that a wounded soldier would be arriving home to recuperate.
Telephone calls and e-mail messages were quickly completed in an attempt to assemble a welcoming party for the wounded warrior.
Even with the short window of opportunity, Operation Tango Mike supporters, veterans and Patriot Guard Riders from Lake County gathered to form a flag line and properly welcome the young man.
Private Ricky Abraham was greeted by Patriot Guard Riders from the Bay Area at the Oakland Airport. Upon his arrival, he was welcomed by smiles, salutes and waving flags.
The young soldier was surprised and thought that was the welcome home he would receive. He joined his friends and family and began the trip to Lake County.
At approximately 4:15 p.m., PV2 Ricky Abraham arrived on Scotts Valley Road in Lakeport. He sat in the passenger seat of a vehicle driven by his mother-in-law Heidi Haskett. He was en route to the home where his wife Courtney anxiously awaited his arrival.
Much to Private Abraham’s amazement, he could see American flags waving in the wind in the distance along the roadway. As the vehicle drew nearer the crowd he realized it was his welcome home in Lake County. As the car slowly moved through the flag line, Abraham was greeted by cheers, salutes and waves from his supporters.
The soldier was visibly moved by the support and snapped a salute as he passed by. At the end of the flag line, a group of local Patriot Guard Riders took the lead and provided an escort to the final destination. There, Ricky Abraham shared his deep appreciation, shaking hands and hugging his supporters.
The truth is that everyone that was present shared in their gratitude for the soldier’s service and sacrifice. There was no need for him to thank anyone.
On Sunday morning, diners enjoyed a scrumptious pancake breakfast prepared by the chefs of the Kelseyville Lions Club. They were also treated to table service from the Military Funeral Honors Team of Lake County. The Lions Club sponsored the breakfast as a fundraising event for the team.
The bright crisp morning brought out a great number of folks. The event was a roaring success and will benefit the all-volunteer team that has now rendered honors at 614 veteran funerals in Lake County.
Sunday afternoon brought yet another special event as dozens of people assembled at the American Legion post in Kelseyville to celebrate the 234th Birthday of the United States Marine Corps.
Marines of all ages gathered to remember and celebrate. Their families, other veterans and civilians joined the party. Everyone joined in for a rousing rendition of the Marine Corps Hymn and every Marine present introduced himself and recounted his service to our country.
The eldest Marine in attendance was Bill Sperling, a World War II veteran, and the youngest was Pat Mick, a Gulf War veteran. However, 9-year-old Patrick Mick would quickly tell you that he is the youngest future Marine at the party. That may very well be true as his father Pat and Grandfather Larry (Vietnam veteran) both honorably served as United States Marines.
The official 2009 birthday message from the Marine Corps is, “To all those who have gone before, to those who wear the uniform today, and to the families that give us the strength to forge ahead – I wish you a heartfelt 234th birthday! Semper Fidelis! James T. Conway, General, U.S. Marine Corps, Commandant of the Marine Corps.”
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Special guests for the events include Rep. Mike Thompson and AssemblymanWesley Chesbro.
The Foreclosure Prevention and First-Time Homebuyer Workshops will be held from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds in Ukiah, and in Lakeport from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Lake County Fairgrounds.
Presentations will be offered in English and Spanish and refreshments will be provided.
“The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco is looking forward to helping consumers who are confronted with critical housing issues,” said Dwight Alexander, vice president, legislative and regulatory affairs, FHLBank San Francisco. “We know there are many families who need counseling on what to do when they fall behind on their mortgages. And at the other end of the spectrum, there are families who need advice on their first home purchase.”
Among the organizations also sponsoring the sessions are Mendo Lake Credit Union, Northern Circle Indian Housing Authority, Redwood Credit Union, Rural Communities Housing Development Corporation, Savings Bank of Mendocino County and The Bogner Group.
“My office has been working for the last year with local lenders, housing counselors, legal advocates and others to find ways to assist first time homebuyers and those who may be facing foreclosure,” said Rep. Thompson. “It’s crucial that families get good advice on how to deal with their housing problems. The upcoming community housing forum will help address the foreclosure crisis by helping people find information and get their questions answered by experts. It’s the sign of a strong community that so many people and organizations are willing to help out.”
Thompson offered special thanks to the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco and the Mendocino/Lake Housing Foreclosure Prevention Coalition for their leadership in pulling the home loan counseling sessions together.
Assemblyman Chesbro agreed, adding, “We are grateful to our community institutions for providing their time and resources to help others. We’re hoping that these counseling sessions will provide sound advice so that families can avoid losing their homes.”
Alexander said that, unfortunately, there are not enough experienced housing counselors in the area so the FHLBank San Francisco is working with community organizations and financial institutions to help fill the void with the workshops.
Officials noted that the Northern Circle Indian Housing Authority (NCIHA) is certified by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide counseling, but NCIHA only has one person who does foreclosure counseling part time for people from both Lake and Mendocino counties.
In addition, the Human Development Corporation has one person who is bilingual and works out of Lake County and recently begun offering assistance.
The demand for counseling is high because of the alarming number of foreclosures in the area.
In Mendocino County, which has a population of 86,221 and is 20.6 percent Latino, there are currently 539 homes in foreclosure. In 2007, there were only 70.
Foreclosures are also escalating in Lake County, where the population is 64,866 and is 15.7 percent Latino. There are currently 1,361 homes in foreclosure in Lake County. By contrast, there were only 288 in 2007.
“We realize that we have a community problem and next to no resources to address it,” said Ruth Valenzuela, one of the founders of the Mendocino/Lake Housing Foreclosure Prevention Coalition. “We began meeting with business leaders, lenders, and representatives of housing and government agencies, among others and began a brainstorming process that has yielded many cooperative solutions to portions of the problem but our main challenge remains. We don’t have enough HUD approved counselors to assist even a small percentage of the people in need and there is no funding to develop more.”
But the workshops will give local residents a chance to get the counseling they need. There will be panel presentations, workshops in Spanish and English and written materials. Admission, counseling and parking are free; families are welcome and there will be refreshments.
People seeking foreclosure prevention assistance from HUD-certified housing or legal services counselors must bring two current pay stubs, two most recent W-2 forms, four most recent monthly bank statements if they are self-employed, most recent mortgage statement, recent correspondence with the lender and a list of monthly expenses.
Those attending may register at: www.fhlbsf.com .
For assistance by phone with foreclosure issues Hope for Homeowners may be reached at 888-995-4673.
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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN UPDATED.
LAKE COUNTY – A recent report on foreclosures noted that the third quarter of 2009 recorded a 23-percent higher foreclosure rate nationwide than the same time a year before, reaching record levels, with even higher numbers posted locally.
The report, issued by RealyTrac, stated that foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 937,840 properties across the nation in the third quarter, a 5 percent increase from the previous quarter and an increase of nearly 23 percent from the third quarter of 2008.
That means that one in every 136 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the quarter — the highest quarterly foreclosure rate since RealtyTrac began issuing its report in the first quarter of 2005, the company reported.
In Lake County for the same time period, one in every 53 housing units had a foreclosure notice, ranking it No. 19 for foreclosures among the state's 58 counties, according to the report.
Approximately 666 Lake County properties had foreclosure filings on them in the third quarter of 2009, a 20-percent drop from the second quarter, when 835 properties had a foreclosure filing, RealtyTrac reported.
The report noted that Lake County's third quarter results, while better than the second quarter, had increased by 41-percent increase over the third quarter of 2008, when 470 properties had foreclosure filings on them.
RealtyTrac reported that, nationwide, foreclosure filings were reported on 343,638 properties in September, a 4 percent decrease from the previous month but a 29 percent increase from September 2008.
And despite the monthly decrease, September's numbers still constituted the third highest monthly total since the RealtyTrac report began in January 2005, following behind July and August of this year.
Nevada had the nation's highest foreclosure rate in the third quarter. One in 23 housing units had a foreclosure filing for a total of 47,925 Nevada properties.
In California, 250,054 properties received foreclosure filings during the quarter. RealtyTrac said California accounted for nearly 27 percent of the nation’s total.
The report explained that California's foreclosure activity decreased nearly 2 percent from the previous quarter due to a 10 percent drop in default notices.
However, scheduled auctions increased 4 percent from the previous quarter and properties taken back by banks increased 12 percent from the previous quarter, the company said.
Due to concerns about a new wave of foreclosures, late last month California Attorney General Jerry Brown called on 10 major banks and loan servicers to detail their plans to assist homeowners who are expecting dramatic monthly payment increases on pay option adjustable rate mortgages, as Lake County News has reported.
A free community workshop for foreclosure prevention and first-time homebuyers will be held at 1:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. Nov. 21 at the Lake County Fairgrounds, 401 Martin St. in Lakeport. Congressman Mike Thompson and Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro will attend, and presentations will be offered in both English and Spanish.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY – Lake County’s wine industry continues to expand with the addition of a new tasting room.
Reynaldo Robledo, owner of the successful Robledo Family Winery in Sonoma, will open his second facility, to be located in Lakeport, by Dec. 1.
“We are excited about the new opportunity for my family, and to be a part of the Lake County Wine community,” Robledo said in announcing his intentions of building the new tasting room, located in front of the vineyards they planted in 2000. “Lake County is a special place that can grow wonderful winegrapes and produce fantastic wines.”
Robledo’s accomplishments in the wine industry span four decades, and his story illustrates passion, commitment, and dedication to the art of winemaking.
Reynaldo Robledo Sr. came to the United States in 1968, traveling from the state of Michoacán, Mexico. He started work in the fields the very next day.
Robledo overcame his humble beginnings as an immigrant field worker to become one of the most successful vineyard consultants and winery owners in California's Wine Country.
Following his arrival in the states, Robledo spent nearly 30 years working in several vineyards and expanding his knowledge about this unique type of farming in Napa and Sonoma. His experience grew until he was eventually managing vineyards with hundreds of acres and many men.
In 1996 Robledo formed his own business, Robledo Vineyard Management, LLC.
As his skills in the vineyards continued to evolve, so did his affection for the product he was cultivating.
Over time the family purchased 14 vineyards, totaling approximately 200 acres, in Napa, Sonoma and Lake counties. Although the Robledos still sell most of the fruit from their three ranches to other wineries, they now produce their own brand wines.
Robledo now calls Lake County his home, and his ambition has been to open a winery in the Lakeport area.
He secured property on Soda Bay Road and has begun building his family’s second facility. He plans to have it up and running seven days a week by Dec. 1.
Robledo said he intends to employ five people to handle the tasting room business. Ongoing work will involve installation of a commercial kitchen, where visitors will be able to taste high quality Robledo Family wines paired with authentic Mexican cuisine.
Robledo anticipates success with his new Lake County tasting room, much like he has achieved with the Robledo Family’s 20,000 case producing winery in Sonoma.
He attributes that success to the sharing of his knowledge and passion with his children and grandchildren. “The same applies to my Lake County winery,” he said. “My family will be involved here as well, and we look forward to meeting our neighbors and making new friends.”
E-mail Rick Gunier at
The 220 to 215 vote on HR 3962, Affordable Health Care for America Act, was taken late Saturday evening, and fell largely along party lines, although 39 Democrats voted no and one Republican – Rep. Joseph Cao of Louisiana – voted yes, according to C-SPAN.
Responding to news of the vote, President Barack Obama maintained that the legislation is fully paid for and will reduce the nation's long-term federal deficit.
“Thanks to the hard work of the House, we are just two steps away from achieving health insurance reform in America,” he said. “Now the United States Senate must follow suit and pass its version of the legislation. I am absolutely confident it will, and I look forward to signing comprehensive health insurance reform into law by the end of the year.”
During the lengthy hearing Saturday Republicans argued that the bill would cost $1.3 trillion to affect a limited number of Americans, with higher taxes for almost everyone.
Earlier this month, the Republicans had attempted to introduced their own, 230-page health care plan, which they said would result in no job losses – as opposed to the 5.5 million jobs they asserted would be lost with HR 3962 – and would avoid $500 billion in Medicare cuts and prevent $729.5 billion in tax increases, according to a bill summary.
A summary of HR 3962 provided by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce states that HR 3962 would include sliding scale affordability credits, cap annual out-of-pocket spending, create the Health Insurance Exchange, expand Medicaid and improve Medicare by fixing the Part D drug program.
Employers will have the option of providing health insurance coverage for their workers or contributing funds on their behalf or else face a 2-percent penalty; businesses with payroll under $500,000 will be exempt from the employer responsibility requirement.
The Congressional Budget Office released figures estimating a projected net cost of $891 billion over 10 years for the proposed expansions in insurance coverage. HR 3962 is estimated to increase outlays by $672 billion and would increase revenues by $781 billion between 2010 and 2019.
The costs are expected to be partly offset by $167 billion in collections of penalties paid by individuals and employers.
Based on Congressional Budget Office estimates, the bill would result in a net reduction in federal budget deficits of $109 billion over the 2010-19 period, with slight reductions in the federal deficit in the decade after that. However, the office noted that the estimates “ are all subject to substantial uncertainty.”
The Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that HR 3962 will reduce the number of nonelderly people who are not insured by about 36 million, leaving about 18 million people – of which an estimated one third would be unauthorized immigrants – without insurance. The percentage of legal nonelderly residents covered by insurance is estimated to rise from 83 percent to 96 percent.
The Saturday debate over the bill in the House was long and passionate.
“It's not a Republican or a Democratic thing,” but a question of whether America is going to be a healthy nation, said Rep. Charles Rangel (D-New York).
But the aisle between the parties widened into a deep ideological divide over the bill.
Republicans questioning what they said where high costs, an 8-percent inflation rate and, as Rep. John Kline (R-Minnesota) phrased it, “a huge morass” of government bureaucracy contained in the nearly 2,000-page bill. Kline also worried about the “super bureaucrat” who would oversea the creation of these health care benefits.
They also argued against the bill, which they said was not a bipartisan effort.
Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), the House minority leader, said the country has been hit by a “difficult economic shock” over the last year. He said huge government spending efforts like the stimulus bill haven't helped, and said the government was on an “unsustainable” course.
Boehner suggested the health care bill would wreak havoc on the country, saddle citizens with huge debt loads, cost over $1.3 trillion and kill millions of US jobs.
“The American people want us to focus on getting our economy moving again,” said Boehner, who suggested nothing will diminish job prospects more than the bill.
At the same time, he said no attention was being paid to the giant government bureaucracy that will be built to accommodate the bill's mandates.
The American people, Boehner said, want two things from health care reform – lower costs and more choices, but he said HR 3962 accomplishes neither, and actually does the opposite on both counts.
Others raised concerns about the heavy penalties for those who don't follow the new insurance rules. Those who don't comply will be subject to violations of the Internal Revenue Service code which could result in prison and huge penalties.
Democrats said the bill was a historic step and a health care milestone
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said the legislation will make a big difference for many people. She said it will prevent women from being charged more for the same care as men and allow young people to stay on their parents' health insurance until age 27.
The bill, according to Pelosi, was the result of 100 congressional hearings and more than 3,000 town hall meetings nationwide, which she said made it a better bill than a previous health care effort,HR 3200. More than 300 groups have expressed support for the bill, said Pelosi – including the American Medical Association, AARP and the American Cancer Society.
Pelosi also remembered the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, who she said had called health care reform “the great unfinished business of our society,” with the country's character at stake.
North Coast Congressman Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) spoke in support of the bill, noting in his comments on the House floor that for too long too many Americans have not had access to quality, affordable health care.
He said the bill will remedy that, eliminate co-pays or deductibles for preventive care services, allow people to take their coverage with them, prevent denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions and prevent high medical bills bankrupting families. Thompson said the Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill will reduce the deficit by at least $30 billion over 10 years.
“Now, there’s still a lot more work to be done and we’re going to fix the doctor reimbursement issue to ensure the best access for our seniors in regard to getting health care,” Thompson said. “But today is an historic day for all Americans. It moves us one step closer to quality, affordable health care for all Americans.”
Among the federal agencies that would be responsible for implementing the bill, according to the Congressional Budget Office, are the IRS and Health and Human Services, with each requiring an estimated $5 billion to $10 billion over 10 years to implement the bill.
See Thompson's comments at www.youtube.com/CongressmanMThompson#p/a/u/0/GW23HDggKSc .
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
