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DataQuick Information Systems, a La Jolla-based real estate information service, said lending institutions sent homeowners 81,550 default notices during the October-to-December period.
The company reported that was up by 12.4 percent from 72,571 the previous quarter, and up 114.6 percent from 37,994 for fourth-quarter 2006, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
Last quarter's number of defaults was the highest in DataQuick's statistics, which go back to 1992, and set records in 42 of the state's 58 counties.
In Lake County, “It was another record quarter,” DataQuick spokesman, Andrew LePage, told Lake County News.
Notices of default filed in Lake County in the fourth quarter of 2007 numbered 187, up 44 percent over the third quarter, in which 129 notices of default were filed, and an 83.3-percent increase over the 102 notices filed in the fourth quarter of 2006, said LePage.
In neighboring counties, there were similar climbs in notices of default in 2007's fourth quarter. Sonoma recorded a nearly 200-percent increase over 2006, Napa showed a 152.9 percent increase, Yolo 93.1 percent and Colusa 150 percent.
Trustees deeds recorded – or the actual loss of a home to foreclosure – totaled 31,676 statewide during the fourth quarter, which DataQuick said is the highest it's been since the company began tracking trustees deeds in 1988.
Last quarter's statewide total rose 30.8 percent from 24,209 in the previous quarter, and jumped 421.2 percent from 6,078 in fourth quarter 2006, DataQuick reported. In the last real estate cycle, trustees deeds peaked at 15,418 in third-quarter 1996. The all-time low was 637 in the second quarter of 2005.
Locally, trustees deeds filed last quarter in totaled 74, up 39.6 percent from the third quarter, when 53 trustee deeds were filed, and up a stunning 428.6 percent over the fourth quarter of 2006, when 14 such deeds were filed, LePage said.
Lake County's 428.6-percent jump from 2006 to 2007 is also one of the most dramatic rises statewide, according to DataQuick's numbers.
Both the notices of default and trustee deed numbers for Lake County in 2007's fourth quarter were at record levels for any quarter in the county since DataQuick has tracked the records, said LePage.
Marshall Prentice, DataQuick's president, said foreclosure activity is closely tied to a decline in home values. “With today's depreciation, an increasing number of homeowners find themselves owing more on a property than it's market value, setting the stage for default if there is mortgage payment shock, a job loss or the owner needs to move,” he said.
The median price paid for a California home peaked at $484,000 last March and declined to $402,000 by the end of 2007, although much of that decline was caused by significant shifts in the types of homes that were sold, according to DataQuick.
Most of the loans that went into default last quarter were originated between August 2005 and October 2006, DataQuick reported. The median age was 22 months, up from 15 a year earlier, indicating that the pool of at-risk home loans is getting larger.
On primary mortgages statewide, homeowners were a median five months behind on their payments when the lender started the default process, according to DataQuick. The borrowers owed a median $11,121 on a median $340,000 mortgage.
On lines of credit, homeowners were a median seven months behind on their payments. Borrowers owed a median $3,379 on a median $56,000 credit line. However, DataQuick reported the amount of the credit line that was actually in use cannot be determined from public records.
On a loan-by-loan basis, mortgages were least likely to go into default in San Francisco, Marin, and San Mateo counties, the company reported. The likelihood was highest in Merced, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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LUCERNE – A fire destroyed a Lucerne home early Monday evening.
Northshore Fire Protection District responded to the scene in the 4200 block of Foothill shortly before 5:45 p.m., shutting down a portion of Foothill to allow in three fire trucks, an ambulance, a generator truck and two smaller trucks.
No human occupants were inside the trailer, said Fire Chief Jim Robbins, adding that the home appeared to be inhabited and had a porch light on.
Robbins was first on scene, making his way up to the mobile, perched on a hillside above a garage.
As he initially made his way up to the home to secure the utilities, Robbins said he encountered another danger.
“There was some ammunition going off in there,” he said.
When firefighters arrived they found the house's living room area burning, Robbins said.
The fire did claim one casualty – a medium-sized black dog that was inside the home died as a result of the fire. Another pet, a snake in an aquarium, appeared to be OK.
Pacific Gas and Electric arrived on scene after 6:30 p.m. to secure the house's power supply.
The home's owners arrived at the scene after 7:30 p.m. The home was ruled uninhabitable and Red Cross was dispatched to help the home's residents secure emergency housing.
Robbins said they don't yet know what caused the fire.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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This coming June, the county will hold primary elections for supervisorial seats in Districts 1, 4 and 5, and the presidential election and final supervisorial elections will take place Nov. 4.
California Secretary of State Debra Bowen points out that 2008 is a unique presidential election year; it's the first time since 1952 that no incumbent president or vice president is running for the highest office in the nation.
Tuesday's presidential primary with be combined with state ballot measures including:
Proposition 91, which establishes a constitutional amendment to prohibit the state from retaining certain transportation funds in the state general fund;
Proposition 92, a constitutional amendment relating to the establishment of a system of independent public community college districts and board of governors
Proposition 93, which would create a constitutional amendment that reduces the time a person may serve in the state legislature from 14 to 12 years, and allows them to serve all of those years in one or both houses;
Propositions 94, 95, 96, and 97, which ratify new Indian gaming compacts with four large tribes, allowing them to have more gaming machines at their casinos and requiring them to make larger payments to the state.
Polls open at 7 a.m. and close 8 p.m. Tuesday.
In case you need some last-minute information on ballot measures, Bowen's office offers the Easy Voter Guide, which can be found at www.voterguide.sos.ca.gov.
If you have questions for the county Elections Office, call 263-2372.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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LAKE COUNTY – Many of us might be able to name the president of the Confederacy, but could you name the men in President Abraham Lincoln's cabinet, put Civil War battles in order or answer questions about General Robert E. Lee's battle strategies? {sidebar id=56}
Maybe not, but students from Upper Lake High, Lower Lake High School, Middletown High School and Clear Lake High School got together Saturday to do just that in the Lake County Academic Decathlon, hosted by the Clear Lake High School at the Marge Alakszay Center.
At the end of a day of brain-draining competition, Upper Lake High School's team of decathletes had claimed victory after losing last year to Lower Lake, which ended a long-running winning streak.
Lower Lake High standout Kate Lyons, one of the day's top medal winners with 11 (seven of them gold), competed for the third time Saturday in the Honor division.
“I enjoyed it a lot more this year,” said Lyons, now a senior and in her final year of competition. She said she believed the competition was more fun because of the topic and her familiarity with the competition.
Upper Lake's Robert Pyle was his team's lead medal winner, with 10 medals of which five were golds.
Pyle and his teammates scored 34,939 out of a possible 60,000 points to take the win. Lower Lake High School won silver with a score of 32,205.
With the overall theme of “The Civil War,” Lower Lake High took the gold medal on the Super Quiz competition which is based upon this theme.
Upper Lake Head Coach Christina Moore – assisted this year by teacher Lance Kraft – said the county competition has become increasingly tougher, with all of the schools putting out greater efforts. She recognized Lower Lake High School – last year's county winner – as a particularly strong competitor.
Coming off of Saturday's competition, Lower Lake's coach, Nancy Harby, said, “I just could not be any prouder of my kids.”
Harby echoed Moore's assessment of the high quality of Lake County's academic competition, which she said is a matter of pride for the whole county.
Those skills also have placed well at the state competition, said Harby. She pointed to Upper Lake's 2004 state win in Division 3, and her own team's fifth-place Division 3 last year, following Lower Lake's county win.
“We're right in there with the best of them,” said Harby.
Moore has a class of 15 students who study year-round for the Academic Decathlon competition. They began preparing for the Civil War-themed testing last May, as soon as the topic was announced, using specially prepared study guides and other materials.
Harby, a history teacher who has been coaching the Lower Lake team for eight years, also leads an elective Academic Decathlon preparation class of 12 students. “This is a group of very different kids who come together for this amazing experience.”
Watching the students rise to the competition's rigorous demands is “a wonder to behold,” said Harby.
Both she and Moore say they emphasize expanding their students' study skills in preparation for their college careers.
While it's fun to win, Moore said it's most important to see results like that of one former decathlete, who competed as a C student but who today is enrolled at Chico State, where she's an A student.
“That's why I kept doing it,” Moore said of continuing to coach, despite the fact that she had planned to step down last year.
Harby added that she emphasizes good sportsmanship and the concept of the worthy opponent. It's hard to come in second, she said, but she nevertheless leads her students in giving standing ovations to their opponents when they win. “We know how hard it is to get there.”
Local decathletes make an annual trip to San Joaquin Delta College for the Academic Decathlon Fine Arts Day, as Harby's and Moore's students did last fall. There, they hear lectures about the decathlon topic, see performances of literary pieces that relate to the topic they're studying and hear the Stockton Symphony Orchestra.
Lyons said meeting other teams at events and competitions has been a great experience. “All the kids who are involved tend to be really cool and just really nice people.”
Moore, who has been leading Upper Lake's team for 12 years, also had wanted to take her students to see a Civil War battle reconstruction this year. But the team's members – including athletes and members of student government – “were going in 10 different directions” and couldn't manage the trip.
Upper Lake's team will now move to the state competition, which takes place from March 7 through 10 at California State University, Sacramento.
At the state Academic Decathlon competition, each team member participates in 10 grueling events including mathematics, economics, music, art, language and literature and science.
In addition, the decathletes also will perform prepared and impromptu speeches, write an essay on a given topic and are interviewed by a panel of judges.
The final event, the Super Quiz, an academic relay, will be held at Cal State Sacramento's Memorial Auditorium before a cheering crowd.
Moore said her teaching method is to have students teach each other and learn how to study. She said the students already know the material, so now it's a matter of looking at the topic in new ways so they can compete at the more rigorous state level.
Although Moore is retiring as a teacher, she said on Saturday night the students were trying to talk her into teaching the Academic Decathlon class next year. She said her plans aren't yet firm.
Harby said she has a lot of admiration for Moore and the Upper Lake Academic Decathlon program. “They're just outstanding – great competitors.”
She also thanked Clear Lake's coach, Jim Rogers, for hosting this year's event.
Harby said she'll “absolutely” continue leading the Lower Lake team next year, and will begin working with her students now on the basics – literature, economics, etc. – to prepare.
“It feeds my soul,” she said.
Lake County competition final standings
Individual medals and team titles won at Lake County’s Saturday competition include:
Music
Gold: Robin Grayhorse, Upper Lake High School.
Silver: Kate Lyons, Lower Lake High School.
Bronze: Corey Smith, Upper Lake High School; Robert Pyle, Upper Lake High School; Kyle Coleman, Upper Lake High School.
Essay
Gold: Robert Pyle, Upper Lake High School.
Silver: Kayla Myrick, Lower Lake High School.
Bronze: Joshua Salazar, Lower Lake High School.
Arts
Gold: Emmalena Illia, Lower Lake High School.
Silver: Kate Lyons, Lower Lake High School.
Bronze: Robert Pyle, Upper Lake High School; Joe Riggs, Lower Lake High School.
Interview
Gold: Joshua Salazar, Lower Lake High School.
Silver: Aaron Turner, Middletown High School.
Bronze: Kate Lyons, Lower Lake High School.
Language and Literature
Gold: Kate Lyons, Lower Lake High School; Robin Grayhorse, Upper Lake High School; Robert Pyle, Upper Lake High School.
Silver: Kayla Myrick, Lower Lake High School.
Bronze: Jacob Sanders, Lower Lake High School.
Mathematics
Gold: Joseph Rebolledo, Middletown High School.
Silver: Elise Zolczyski, Middletown High School; Jeremy Hoskins, Middletown High School; Marisa Garcia, Upper Lake High School.
Bronze: Kyle Coleman, Upper Lake High School.
Economics
Gold: Kate Lyons, Lower Lake High School; Robin Grayhorse, Upper Lake High School.
Silver: Robert Pyle, Upper Lake High School.
Bronze: Joe Riggs, Lower Lake High School; William Oertel, Middletown High School.
Science
Gold: Kate Lyons, Lower Lake High School.
Silver: Robert Pyle, Upper Lake High School.
Bronze: Diego Bernardino, Clear Lake High School; Daniella Cazares, Upper Lake High School.
Speech/Impromptu
Gold: Kate Lyons, Lower Lake High School.
Silver: Kayla Myrick, Lower Lake High School.
Bronze: Kyana Emmott, Clear Lake High School.
Overall Varsity Category
Gold: Robert Pyle, Upper Lake High School.
Silver: Corey Smith, Upper Lake High School.
Bronze: Aaron Turner, Middletown High School.
Overall Scholastic Category
Gold: Robin Grayhorse, Upper Lake High School.
Silver: Joshua Salazar, Lower Lake High School.
Bronze: Kayla Myrick, Lower Lake High School.
Overall Honor Category
Gold: Kate Lyons, Lower Lake High School.
Silver: Marisa Garcia, Upper Lake High School.
Bronze: Kyle Coleman, Upper Lake High School.
Highest Scorer at Each School
Clear Lake High School: Gold, Garrett Schofield.
Lower Lake High School: Gold, Kate Lyons.
Middletown High School: Gold, Aaron Turner.
Upper Lake High School: Gold, Robert Pyle.
Super Quiz (written and relay portion combined)
Gold: Lower Lake High School.
Silver: Upper Lake High School.
Overall Winning Team
Gold: Upper Lake High School.
Silver: Lower Lake High School.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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The competition took place at Clear Lake High School's Marge Alakszay Center in Lakeport.
Competitors included Middletown High, Clear Lake High, Upper Lake High and Lower Lake High.
Academic Decathletes competed in several categories including English and literature, fine arts, mathematics, physical and biological sciences, and social science.
Upper Lake's team won first place, with Lower Lake High School – last year's winner – placing second, reported Robert Riggs, who attended the Saturday event.
Lake County Superintendent of Schools Dave Geck presided over the Saturday competition, Riggs reported.
The pivotal part of every Academic Decathlon competition is the Super Quiz. This year the Super Quiz focused on the Civil War, with Lake County Board of Education Vice President Dr. Mark Cooper reading the questions.
Lower Lake High won the Super Quiz, but Upper Lake led by enough of a margin to keep its hold on the gold.
In a snapshot of competition winners, Kate Lyons of Lower Lake won the gold medal in the Honors division (3.75 grade point average and above), Robin Grayhorse of Upper Lake won the gold medal in the Scholastic division (3.0 to 3.74 GPA) and Robert Pyle of Upper Lake won the gold medal in the Varsity division (2.99 GPA and below).
Upper Lake's win puts it on course to return to the state Academic Decathlon competition, scheduled for March 7 through 10 in Sacramento. The March competition will be held at three different venues: California State University, Sacramento; the Hyatt Regency; and Sacramento Memorial Auditorium.
Upper Lake High School had been Lake County's Academic Decathlon juggernaut for eight straight years until the 2007 win by Lower Lake High.
In 2004 Upper Lake High won the state Academic Decathlon Division 3 championship.
Team rosters for Saturday included:
Upper Lake High School ( Coach, Tina Moore)
Honor – Daniella Cazares, Kyle Coleman and Marisa Garcia;
Scholastic – Robin Grayhorse, Hannah Johnson and Jonathan Philpott;
Varsity – Robert Pyle, Corey Smith and Maria Mendoza;
Alternates – Stephanie Tregea, Belarmino Garcia, Laura Benavides, Lisa Benavides, Chae Carter, Luis Cazares and Thonyoon Chao.
Lower Lake High School (Coach, Nancy Harby)
Honor – Kate Lyons, Daniel Jackson and Emmalena Illia;
Scholastic – Kayla Myrick, Joe Riggs and Joshua Salazar;
Varsity – Chris Ingersoll, Jacob Sanders and Gerald Skinner;
Alternates – Ryan Wilson, Alexandra Huff, Sean Grant and Jeremy Montano.
Clear Lake High School (Coach, Jim Rogers)
Honor – Isabel Gregorio, Diego Bernardino and Matt Stegman;
Scholastic – Kathryn Frazell, Tiffany Frazell and Enrique Villanueva;
Varsity – Zane Butler, Robert Brown and Kyana Emmot;
Alternates – Garrett Schofield, Ally Hauptman and Kassandranne Richards.
Middletown High School (Coaches, Patty Jimenez and Jennifer Pyzer)
Honor – Elise Zolczynski, Joseph Rebolledo and Cynthia Pimentel;
Scholastic – Johnathan Bateman and William Oertel;
Varsity – Jeremy Hoskins, Aaron Turner and Daniel Renninger III.
A full report, with a complete list of winning students and teams, will follow early next week when the results are officially tallied by the Lake County Office of Education.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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‘Un-Mooned’? Is there such a word in our language? Probably not. But in Lake County Skies, the full Moon, visible during the evening of the 20th, will slowly disappear, and then reappear.
That will happen because there is a total eclipse of the Moon that evening. Our star chart shows where this will occur – notice that the Moon will be close to the planet Saturn.
Notice in the animation that the Moon does not completely disappear. When the eclipse is full, you can still see the Moon, although it is much dimmer than normal.
When will this happen? Here’s a diagram from NASA that shows the times when different events during the eclipse will occur.
What causes an eclipse? It happens when the earth is between the sun and moon, and the three objects line up to where the earth’s shadow is cast upon the lunar surface. The following diagram shows this.
If the Moon is completely within the earth’s shadow, it’s a total eclipse. But if it’s in only a portion of the earth’s shadow, it’s a partial eclipse.
An eclipse of the moon happens at least twice a year, but the next total eclipse won’t happen until 2010.
Speaking of the Moon, Native Americans had names for the full Moon in each month to help identify the seasons. Some of these names, from the Algonquin tribes in the eastern US, were: Full Wolf Moon (January), Full Snow Moon (February), Full Worm Moon (March) and Full Pink Moon (April).
Aside from the lunar eclipse being the star of February’s celestial show, the planets Mars and Saturn are visible, as shown on our star chart. The constellation of Leo the Lion is rising in the east, and Ursa Major (the Big Bear), which contains the Big Dipper, is again becoming visible.
For more information about astronomy and local astronomy-related events, visit the Taylor Observatory website at www.taylorobservatory.org.
On Feb. 9, starting at 8 p.m., the observatory will be open to the public. The topic for the evening is “From Stonehenge to Hubble,” a presentation that traces the history of astronomy.
John Zimmerman has been an amateur astronomer for 50 years. He is a member of the Taylor Observatory staff, where, among his many duties, he helps create planetarium shows.
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