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LAKEPORT – This weekend Congressman Mike Thompson once again donned his red apron and – in a nod to his Italian heritage – cooked up and served huge amounts of pasta to host one of the community's largest annual dinners.
The annual ravioli feed, hosted by Thompson and wife Jan at the Lake County Fairgrounds Saturday evening, drew hundreds of residents from around Lake County and across parties in a gathering that has continued to grow larger over the last few years, according to organizers.
Several local elected officials – including Supervisors Jeff Smith, Ed Robey and Denise Rushing, Clearlake Council member Joyce Overton, Assembly hopeful Wes Chesbro and former supervisor, Gary Lewis – joined Thompson to serve up dinner, while Public Nuisance provided the music.
Appreciation for wine was a theme of the evening. More than 20 local wineries poured their product, and Thompson's talk to the crowd touched on the region's growing reputation for wines.
“Lake County is there,” said Thompson. “They are top of the list.”
He added that local wine producers “make it very easy for me to promote a good product.”
Turning to matters in Congress, Thompson said the nation shouldn't put its children in debt. He pointed to bad policies adopted by the administration and the last Congress which continued bad fiscal policy.
For those reasons Thompson said the House of Representative has adopted “pay-go” rules, that, with some exceptions, require the house to only pass legislation that it can pay for. The Senate has yet to adopt those rules, he added, but they're necessary to improve fiscal responsibility and manage debt.
Thompson, a Vietnam veteran who was awarded a certificate of appreciation for his efforts on behalf of fellow vets from the local Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 951 before the dinner started, said this Congress has raised funding for the Veterans Administration to its highest levels ever.
That action was necessary, he said, because the growing veterans community has tremendous needs.
Thompson also touched on other issues, including Congress' passage of the most aggressive energy policy ever, increases in funding for education and the road ahead.
Millions of new voters are coming out to participate in the process of electing new leadership, said Thompson.
“People really want to change the direction of this country,” he said. “I'm looking forward to doing that with your help.”
He adding, “I'm glad that we're in this together.”
The Saturday event – with its relaxed, casual atmosphere – was likely a welcome respite for Thompson, who has been under scrutiny since last week in the wake of an Associated Press report that a trip he and two fellow Democrats in the House of Representatives took to Iraq in 2002 was secretly financed by Saddam Hussein's intelligence agency.
Thompson and his fellow lawmakers aren't being accused of any wrongdoing, especially since the trip was approved by the State Department.
The congressman took the trip so they could see for themselves the situation in the country prior to the US launching its war on Iraq.
Thompson ultimately voted against entry into the Iraq war.
His annual visit to Lake County also came at a time when he's in the midst of a campaign for reelection.
The field of candidates this year for Thompson's First Congressional District seat include Mitch Clogg, Democrat, Mendocino; Doug Pharr, Republican, Napa; Zane Starkewolf, Republican, Davis; and Carol Wolman, Green, Mendocino, according to the California Secretary of State's Office.
He said his challengers are accusing him of either being too far to the right or too far to the left.
“I'm right back where I've always been – in the middle, working with both sides,” he said, earning a round of applause.
Thompson said he's looking forward to continuing to work with his Lake County constituents for a long time to come.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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LAKE COUNTY – It's been decades since Vietnam veterans made their way home from the war, only to meet – in the worst cases – outright abuse, or disapproval and lack of acceptance because they had been sent to fight in an unpopular war.
Now, however, thanks to the growing appreciation for their sacrifices, Vietnam veterans are poised to celebrate their first national day of remembrance.
On Sunday, the first “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day” in the United States will be commemorated.
It's been a long time in coming – 35 years, to be exact.
March 30 was chosen because it was on that date in 1973 that US Armed Forces completed withdrawal of combat troops from Vietnam.
US involvement in Vietnam began in an advisory capacity in 1961, with troops arriving in 1965, in an effort to prevent Communism spreading across the rest of Southeast Asia.
In all, more than 58,000 US Armed Forces members died in the war, with another 300,000 returning home wounded, according to federal records.
The “Welcome Home” day received federal approval last year. That followed years of lobbying by Whittier resident and Vietnam veteran José G. Ramos, who founded the Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day effort in 2000, according to www.whvvd.org.
On Feb. 16, 2007, California Congresswoman Linda T. Sanchez introduced House Resolution 189, “Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that a 'Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day' should be established,” according to congressional records. Sanchez was joined by 54 co-sponsors on the bill.
The bill passed on a 381-0 vote on June 25, 2007, according to House voting records. North Coast Congressman Mike Thompson, a Vietnam vet, was among those casting votes in favor of the resolution.
Next, on Aug. 1, 2007, California Sen. Barbara Boxer introduced the Senate version of the bill, Senate Resolution 289. The Senate passed the resolution unanimously on Nov. 8, 2007.
Both resolutions noted: “... Members of the United States Armed Forces who served bravely and faithfully for the United States during the Vietnam War were caught upon their return home in the crossfire of public debate about the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War ...”
On his Web site Ramos reported that the bill was sent to President George W. Bush, with the request that he sign it and make it a national holiday. The bill didn't receive the president's signature, despite efforts by Ramos and others to get him to do so.
Veterans honored locally
Local veterans are joining their fellow soldiers across the nation in marking the day by their own kinds of activism and outreach.
This year, there aren't any organized local events planned for the Vietnam veterans commemoration, said Dean Gotham, president of the county's Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 951.
Instead, groups like his are focusing on outreach to the community and education about veterans issues.
On Friday, Gotham braved the cold, rainy weather to stand outside Bruno's Shop Smart to offer clovers – orange for Agent Orange victims and black for POW/MIAs – as part of a fundraiser for the group.
“I'm shocked at how well it's going,” said Gotham.
He added that it's the first time the commemorative clovers – similar to the “Buddy Poppies” sold on Veterans Day and Memorial Day – have been offered locally, or possibly even in the state. “We may be breaking new ground.”
Agent Orange refers to the herbicide dumped on Vietnam in an effort to defoliate jungles. Use of the chemical – millions of gallons of it were dumped on the country – had huge impacts on soldiers and civilians, both American and Vietnamese, who were exposed to it. Numerous health issues, from dozens of forms of cancer to birth defects, have been attributed to it.
The black clovers Gotham handed out to donors were a reminder of the soldiers still missing and unaccounted for in Vietnam. The National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia reports there are 1,763 US soldiers who have never returned from the Vietnam War.
There are a total of 8,000 veterans in Lake County, said Gotham, based on information he's received from the county's Veterans Services Office. Of that number, Gotham estimated that “a good chunk” are Vietnam vets.
In addition to Bruno's, clovers also will be available for donation this weekend at Konocti Vista Casino, K-Mart, Sentry Market and Lakeport's Safeway, according to Gotham.
All the proceeds will benefit Chapter 951's outreach programs – everything from emergency financial and housing assistance, to providing help with benefits and rides to medical appointments.
For the last two Christmases, the chapter also has extended its efforts to include seniors at area convalescent homes in its “Seniors Not Forgotten” program, in addition to providing memorial scholarships, a Christmas Fund and sponsorship for Little League teams, the chapter reported.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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State Sen. Patricia Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa), who represents much of the North Coast in the 2nd Senate District, was a co-author of the original bill (AB 1475, by Assemblywoman Nell Soto) establishing Safe Routes to School funding in 1999. A number of communities in the 2nd District – which stretches from Solano County to Humboldt County – received funding in the latest cycle.
According to CalTrans, the Lakeport schools – Lakeport Elementary, Terrace Heights, Terrace Middle School and Clear Lake High School – received $499,860 in grant funding for a street improvement project, the total cost of which is $555,400.
Caltrans reported that the project will include constructing curb, gutter and sidewalk, and a retaining structure, and installing crosswalks, traffic signs and fences. Improvements will be completed along Hartley Street, from the intersection with 20th Street to 428 feet south of the city limit.
Since the program’s inception, Caltrans has awarded $196 million for 709 Safe Routes to School projects. In 2007, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 57 (also authored by Nell Soto), extending Safe Routes to School funding indefinitely.
On its Web site, Caltrans describes Safe Routes to School as “an international movement that has taken hold in communities throughout the United States. The concept is to increase the number of children who walk or bicycle to school by funding projects that remove the barriers that currently prevent them from doing so. Those barriers include lack of infrastructure, unsafe infrastructure, lack of programs that promote walking and bicycling through education/encouragement programs aimed at children, parents, and the community.”
The highly competitive program (local school districts, boards, city councils and state agencies can request funding through yearly application cycles) has enabled communities to increase the safety of children walking or riding to school.
“Pedestrian accidents have been a leading cause of fatal injuries for school-aged children, including in school zones lacking crosswalks or sidewalks,” Wiggins said. “That is one of the many great things about this program: Funds can be used for crosswalks, pedestrian and bicycle pathways, bike lanes, sidewalks and a number of ‘traffic calming’ measures.
“By creating a more hospitable environment for children to walk or ride to school,” Wiggins added, “we are also helping to promote exercise, which is a necessary component of the effort to reduce the incidence of obesity in our young people.”
Thirty years ago, 60 percent of children living within a two-mile radius of a school walked or bicycled to school. Today, that number has dropped to less than 15 percent, according to information provided by Wiggins' office.
Roughly 25 percent commute by school bus, and well over half are driven to/from school in vehicles. And back then, 5 percent of children between the ages of 6 and 11 were considered to be overweight or obese, Wiggins office reported. Today, that number has climbed to 20 percent.
These statistics point to a rise in preventable childhood diseases, worsening air quality and congestion around schools, and missed opportunities for children to grow into self reliant, independent adults.
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Lakeport Unified School District and Konocti Unified School District are among hundreds of school districts across the United States named in the 226-page report, released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service. Only five states – Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi and New Hampshire – didn't have schools included in the report.
Board members from both districts Lake County News contacted late Thursday were not comfortable offering comment on the situation at this time because they had little information on the new report.
Lake County News also was unable to contact district administrators late Thursday. Konocti Unified's office was reported this week to be closed due to spring break.
The beef in question – 143 million pounds of it – was produced by the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. in Chino between Feb. 1, 2006 and Feb 4. 2008, the USDA reported.
The report stated that not all school districts listed had any of the beef in their inventory when the recall began. Nor did the fact that a school district or “school food authority” was included on the list indicate that those schools, in fact, had received the recalled beef.
The report did not include information on quantities of beef school districts might have received.
The USDA reported that some of the recalled meat was part of the commodity beef the USDA supplies to the National School Lunch Program. In addition, the agency said that “schools may have purchased Hallmark/Westland beef commercially.”
USDA Food and Nutrition Service officials reported that, of the 143 million pounds of beef recalled, 50.3 million pounds were used for federal nutrition programs. Of that 50.3 million pounds, 19.6 million pounds were consumed and 15.2 million pounds were placed on hold, while several millions pounds more were being traced.
USDA reported that it notified all school districts to “hold and immediately discontinue use of any Hallmark/Westland commodity beef products in their inventory” on Jan. 30.
U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service reported on Feb. 5 that it had, the day before, suspended inspection at Hallmark/Westland “based on the establishment's clear violation of Federal regulations and the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.” The company's operations also were suspended.
On Feb. 17 the USDA notified states that beef the company supplied was being recalled due to “regulatory noncompliance,” the agency explained.
That's because the the slaughterhouse was found to be using “downer” cattle – cows unable to stand or walk due to injury or illness – for slaughter, according to a report from the Humane Society of the United States.
Such animals are not to be slaughtered for food, according to the USDA, because of concerns that they may have a higher risk for certain diseases – ranging from Salmonella to bovine spongiform encephalopathy, known more commonly as mad cow disease.
Making the situation worse was that the slaughterhouse's employees were found to be guilty of using extremely cruel practices, including using forklifts and electric prods in forcing the animals to slaughter, according to the Humane Society. An undercover investigator with the group gathered videotape evidence of Westland/Hallmark's practices, which the group then turned over to San Bernardino County prosecutors.
Any products included in the recall are no longer in use at the schools, USDA reported, explaining that the agency worked with states to “quickly provide replacement commodity product” from approved sources.
No reports of illness related to the recalled ground beef have been made, according to USDA. The agency also “has given assurance that the health risk of consuming the affected beef is negligible,” and remains confident in the supply of food in the National School Lunch Program.
Beyond the recall, the packing company has bigger problems. On Feb. 15, the San Bernardino County District Attorney filed felony animal cruelty charges against two employees the company had terminated, according to a statement that same day by Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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District Attorney Jon Hopkins went before Judge Sandra McLean in the case of Gerald Frank Stanley, 63, who was sentenced to death in 1984 for the murder of his wife, Cynthia Rogers Stanley.
On March 17 a federal judge – citing juror misconduct – threw out the competency trial that was held in late 1983 as part of Stanley's original prosecution after questions of his mental state were raised, as Lake County News has reported.
Hopkins asked Judge McLean for a hearing on the feasibility of retrospective competency proceedings; at the same time, he's planning to file a request for a change of venue in order to move the case back to Lake County. The trial was moved in 1983 because of pretrial publicity, he explained.
McLean granted Hopkins' request for a hearing on his motions, which is scheduled for 11 a.m. April 24 in Oroville, Hopkins said.
Stanley, based on a removal order filed by Hopkins, was transported from San Quentin State Prison's death row to the Butte County Jail in Oroville.
Hopkins said Stanley appeared in court Thursday, after having spent the morning fighting with jail nurses over his medications. Stanley has previously stated to this reporter that he suffers from a variety of health complaints, including heart issues.
Upset over the issues with his care at the jail, Stanley made demands to the court that he be transported back to San Quentin, said Hopkins.
When it came time to appoint a defense attorney for Stanley in these current proceedings, Stanley requested Mark Olive, according to Hopkins.
Olive, a Florida attorney who has specialized in defending death penalty cases for 30 years, has previously worked on Stanley's defense team, although Stanley has stated in the past that he did not want Olive and other federal defenders to act on his behalf.
Hopkins said Olive wasn't present at the Thursday hearing, although two federal defense attorneys were present. McLean appointed Chico attorney Dennis Hoptowit to represent Stanley.
While his mental competency has been questioned, Stanley's guilt in the murder was upheld in the recent ruling and in a California Supreme Court ruling, according to court documents.
In the original trial, Stanley was ruled competent and sentenced to the gas chamber. He has remained on death row since February of 1984.
If a retrospective competency hearing were held and Stanley was found incompetent at the time of his original trial's penalty phase, he would no longer face the death penalty and instead would serve out the remainder of his life behind bars without the possibility of parole, according to Hopkins.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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The US Geological Survey reported a 3.3 earthquake occurred at 2:04 p.m. It was centered two miles northeast of The Geysers, three miles west of Cobb and six miles west northwest of Anderson Springs.
The earthquake was so shallow that no depth was recorded, according to the USGS.
USGS reports noted that the quake was felt in Middletown, St. Helena and Santa Rosa.
In Cobb, resident Roger Kinney reported feeling the quake. He said the quake's shallowness made it seem like it was much larger.
Kinney also reported feeling three smaller quakes that occurred within minutes of the 3.3 temblor.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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