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The US Geological Survey reported that the temblor occurred at 4:17 a.m. two miles east of The Geysers, four miles southwest of Cobb and four miles west northwest of Anderson Springs.
The quake was recorded at a depth of 1.1 miles, the US Geological Survey reported.
Eleven other earthquakes were reported at The Geysers, Cobb and Anderson Springs during the rest of the day, ranging in magnitude from 1.2 to 2.6.
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On Oct. 15 and 16, members of the Region II Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) Task Force conducted a two-day enforcement operation in Lake County, according to Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
The focus of the operation was to conduct probation or parole searches and compliance checks on registered sex offenders and other felons convicted of domestic violence, child abuse, and drug related offenses, Bauman reported.
The task force consisted of six teams of five officers each from 13 different law enforcement agencies.
The two-day operation covered communities across the county and the check of approximately 110 locations resulted in a total of 21 felony arrests, three misdemeanor arrests and five new cases requiring further investigation.
The 24 arrests were based on charges relating mostly to parole or probation violations, possession of narcotics or illegal weapons, being under the influence of narcotics or alcohol, and outstanding warrants.
In some cases, the arrests for violations of probation or parole entailed illegal contact with minors, possession of pornography, possession of computers with internet access, and possession of alcohol or drugs.
Sheriff's Det. Mike Curran, the designated SAFE Task Force Agent for Lake County, said the operation was the most successful multi-agency effort he has coordinated in the 18 months the grant has existed in Lake County.
Bauman reported that the agencies participating in the two-day operation included the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Lake County District Attorney’s Office, Lakeport Police Department, Lake County Probation Department, Lake County Narcotics Task Force, California Highway Patrol; Clear Lake Area State Parks, Lake County Animal Care and Control, State Parole, Mendocino County Sheriff’s Department, Napa County Sheriff’s Department, Marin County Sheriff’s Department and the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department.
The SAFE Task Force is funded by a grant provided by the Law Enforcement Branch of the California Office of Emergency Services and administered through the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department.
SAFE Task Force operations are conducted periodically in Lake and other counties within Region II to enforce the compliance of sex registrants and other convicted felons on parole or probation.
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AmeriCorps members will collect canned and nonperishable food from people in front of local grocery stores from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Stores where collections will take place include Hardester's Markets in Middletown, Cobb and Hidden Valley Lake; Red and White Market in Clearlake Oaks; Riviera Foods in the Clear Lake Riviera; Sentry Market in Nice; Grocery Outlet, the Willow Tree Shopping Center and Bruno's Shop Smart in Lakeport; and John's Market in Kelseyville.
Lake County Hunger Task Force members will then pick up the food and take it to senior centers, food banks and food pantries, said task force member Lorrie Gray.
The food donations will be made available to local families at the Lake County Community Action Agency, Lakeport Food Cupboard, Lake County senior centers, Gleaners and the Middletown-based Catholic Charities.
The effort is made possible through a partnership between Lake County Hunger Task Force, Catholic Charities and Lake County AmeriCorps.
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CLEARLAKE – A local man has been arrested in connection with a Bay Area homicide.
Contra Costa County Sheriff's deputies and Clearlake Police on Monday night arrested Darian Nikia Munson, 31, of Clearlake.
Munson was being sought in connection with the fatal stabbing of 25-year-old Derrell Wood, said Jimmy Lee, spokesman for the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office.
The stabbing occurred shortly before 11:30 p.m. in Bay Point on Aug. 26, said Lee.
"What we understand is that there were a number of people gathered for an event after a funeral," said Lee.
Most of those gathered were friends and family; Lee said Wood and Munson don't appear to have been related but they knew each other.
At some point a confrontation occurred and it's alleged that Munson fatally stabbed Wood. Lee would not divulge the precise details of the crime, including how many times Wood was stabbed.
Lee said a $1 million arrest warrant was issued for Munson, who was considered armed and dangerous. Contra Costa County Sheriff's deputies searched the county for Munson but were unable to locate him.
Officials had initially though Munson was in the Pittsburg or Richmond areas, according to a press statement Lee issued on Oct. 17.
"The detectives continued to work the case and developed some information that he was in Lake County," said Lee.
Lt. Mike Hermann of the Clearlake Police Department said his department worked with Contra Costa deputies to search for Munson, beginning at his parents' Clearlake home.
After not finding him there, they moved on to check some other locations, eventually locating Munson at the Sunset Lodge on Lakeshore Drive at around 6 p.m. Munson was taken into custody without incident, Hermann said.
Hermann added that he knows of no previous contacts between Clearlake Police and Munson.
Munson, whose booking sheet lists him as a laborer, remained in the Lake County Jail on the $1 million warrant on Tuesday, according to jail records.
"We'll be looking to get him back here as soon as we can," said Lee.
Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office said Munson was scheduled to be transported to Contra Costa County on Wednesday.
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SOUTH LAKE COUNTY – On Tuesday afternoon officials shut down a portion of Highway 29 over Mount St. Helena for several hours due to a bus fire that in turn caused a small grass fire.
The California Highway Patrol reported that Caltrans closed Highway 29 at Tubbs Lane in Napa County and also on the Lake County side of Mount St. Helena due to the fire involving a tour bus, which first was reported at approximately 12:48 p.m.
Power lines also were reported to be down in the area, requiring the assistance of Pacific Gas and Electric to cut power to the lines before they caught fire.
Michael Selmi of Cal Fire's Incident Command Center in St. Helena said the tour bus caught nearby grass on fire, burning one and a half to two acres on each side of the highway. He said firefighters have contained the blaze.
No one on the bus was injured, Selmi reported.
Selmi said the highway was expected to be closed until about 5:30 p.m.
Cal Fire remained at work for several hours mopping up the fire area, he said. “We'll be on scene there for a while.”
Selmi said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
CHP reported that one-way traffic control was instituted at around 6:30 p.m., and the roadway was clear and fully reopened about an hour later.
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However, Dennis Mullins of the Employment Development Department's Labor Market Information Division's North Coast Region said that, looking at the county's employment trends, he believes rates should start to drop soon.
September's 10-percent rate was up 0.2 percent from August's 9.8 percent, noted Mullins, and 2.4 percent above the September 2007 rate of 7.6 percent.
At 10.0 percent, Lake ranked 49th among the state’s 58 counties, said Mullins.
Neighboring county rates included 8.8 percent for Colusa, 6.4 percent for Mendocino, 9.4 percent for Glenn, 6.9 percent for Yolo, 5.2 percent for Napa and 5.8 percent for Sonoma, according to Employment Development Department statistics.
Marin had the lowest rate in the State at 4.7 percent and Imperial County had the highest with 24.5 percent, Mullins said.
The comparable California and U.S. rates were 7.5 and 6.0 percent, respectively, he added.
The highest unemployment rate recorded in Lake County so far this year was 10.5 percent, which it reached in January, as Lake County News has reported. March and July both recorded 10.2-percent unemployment rates.
Mullins reported that year-over job growth in Lake County was led by trade, transportation and utilities, which added 80 jobs; followed by private educational and health services, 70 jobs; and government, 30 jobs.
At the same time, year-over job losses occurred in leisure and hospitality, which led decliners by dropping 90 jobs, followed by natural resources, mining and construction, declining 40, other services which lost 20, and 10 lost jobs each for information and financial activities, he said.
The farm, manufacturing, and professional and business services had no change over the past year, Mullins noted.
From August to September, statistics show that the county lost a total of 560 jobs in all industries, with 530 coming in the farming sector alone; that period coincided with the end of the local pear season. Other sectors such as retail; trade, transportation and utilities; and transportation, warehousing and utilities lost jobs during that time, Mullins reported.
One big jump was in local and state government jobs, with 200 of those added from August to September, statistics show.
Mullins said that rural counties this year appeared to have eclipsed the higher unemployment rates they suffered in late 2001 after the country was hit by an economic downturn.
In 2001, Lake County's average unemployment rate was 7.1 percent, which rose to 8.3 percent in 2002 and 9.2 percent in 2003, according to Employment Development Department numbers.
By 2004, the numbers started to drop as part of a natural cycle, Mullins said.
And, indeed, the 2004 average rate dropped to 9.1 percent, lower than the previous year despite recording an 11.3-percent unemployment rate in January of that year, a rate which it hadn't seen since 1998.
The average unemployment numbers show that 2005 and 2006 also were better, at 8 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively.
Then, in 2007, the numbers began to climb again, rising to 8.5 percent. If this year's numbers continue on their current trend, the 2008 average is likely to be higher.
But Mullins said it's important to balance the tough economic news with an understanding of the trend.
Looking back further, Mullins said the county went through a cycle of dropping employment and a sagging economy in the early 1990s, and it took about five years to move through that trend.
“We're in a similar type of cycle,” he said, adding that Lake County is only about a year into that trend.
While Lake County's unemployment rate is high, Mullins said it appears to be peaking, which means it should begin to decline over the next five years as part of another recovery cycle.
The very seasonal nature of Lake County's economy – with agriculture and tourism important factors – makes for more notable employment trends, with spring usually showing better employment rates, he said.
Mullins also pointed out that Lake County actually gained 10 jobs in September 2008 over the same month last year, reaching 15,320 private industry jobs. At the same time, Mendocino County's much larger employment pool lost 530 jobs, falling from 33,270 to 32,740, with manufacturing hardest hit. That same sector in Lake County was unchanged.
Adding jobs as Lake County did, Mullins added, is out of the ordinary for the state right now.
Also notable is that Lake County's civilian labor force grew by 820 over the past year, said Mullins, while Mendocino's only grew 290.
“Comparing Lake to Mendocino kind of gives you some perspective,” he said.
Across the state, the housing and financial sectors have been hardest hit when it comes to job loss, said Mullins.
He said that when the housing bubble burst in the last few years, the impact on housing and construction reverberated through the rest of the economy as jobs were lost and sales slowed.
Mullins added that California's counties are following state and national economic and employment trends.
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