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An area resident contacted Lake County News Friday to say that she had received an e-mail telling her that she was entitled to a tax refund.
The e-mail directed her to respond in order to get the proper forms. She was concerned because she had not previously given the IRS her e-mail address.
She immediately contacted the IRS via its Web site at www.irs.gov.
The IRS responded by e-mail, telling her, “The IRS does not e-mail taxpayers requesting private confidential information. This is a scam. Do not respond to the e-mail. We also recommend that you contact the postmaster general.”
Using the names of government agencies as part of e-mail scams isn't new.
Earlier this year, the Federal Bureau of Investigations' Internet Crime Complaint Center reported on the use of fraudulent e-mails using the FBI's name and its director, Robert Mueller, on false lottery endorsement and inheritance notifications.
Another e-mail scam claimed to be from a U.S. military official requesting funds on behalf of U.S. troops overseas, according to the FBI.
A third spam e-mail scheme claimed to be from the Department of Justice, warning the recipients that they have been the subject of complaints filed with the DOJ. The e-mails even include an attachment that is supposed to be a copy of the complaints against the e-mail recipient.
The FBI reported that these spam e-mail messages are hoaxes and should be immediately deleted.
The agency also warned consumers to be wary of unsolicited e-mails that request them to take any information – even clicking on an attachment – because doing so could launch viruses, Trojan horse programs or other malicious software on their computers.
Anyone who has received such messages is urged to file a complaint online at the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, www.ic3.gov/. The site also offers tips on computer safety. More information on protecting yourself from Internet scams also can be found at www.fbi.gov/becrimesmart.htm.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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Granzella's Restaurant, located in Williams, caught on fire Thursday afternoon, according to Williams Fire Protection District Chief Jeff Gilbert.
Firefighters were dispatched at 3:21 p.m., said Gilbert.
At the time, there were 200 people – both patrons and employees – in the building, Gilbert said.
Mutual aid to battle the fire came from Glenn, Colusa, Yolo, Sutter and Yuba counties, said Gilbert. All told, there were 19 pieces of apparatus – including engines and command vehicles – and 96 firefighters.
The fire was contained by about 7 p.m. Thursday, Gilbert added.
The fire's precise cause isn't yet known, said Gilbert, but officials are focusing on the kitchen, where they believe the blaze started.
Two-thirds of the structure were completely destroyed, with the rest of the building – mostly its popular sports bar, which is a newer part of the building – damaged by smoke and water. Gilbert said the remainder of the building that was saved will have to be torn down.
Damages also are still being tallied, said Gilbert, with no dollar amount yet known. “It will end up being a total loss,” he said.
Much of the sports memorabilia from the sports bar was saved, said Gilbert.
That included the two stuffed polar bears, one above the bar – which had some minor smoke and water damage – and a second in a glass case, which Gilbert said was undamaged.
Everyone has been asking about the polar bears, Gilbert added.
As far as fires go, Gilbert said, “I've been here four year and I've never seen anything this big.”
Jim and Beverly Granzella opened the restaurant as an Italian deli in 1976, according to the company's Web site, www.granzellas.com.
The business eventually expanded into a restaurant, growing into a popular stop for travelers along Interstate 5 and Highway 20.
Lake County News was unable to reach a company representative for comment. However, Denise McCarty, daughter of Jim and Beverly Granzella and a co-owner in the restaurant, told the Sacramento Bee that the family intends to rebuild and continue the business.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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Thompson joined Reps. Michael Castle (R-DE), Norman D. Dicks (D-WA), Ron J. Kind (D-WI), Jim Saxton (R-NJ) and Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) in being recognized for their efforts to protect – and adequately fund – the refuge system.
The awards were presented at a Capitol Hill reception on Wednesday sponsored by CARE and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and marked the 10th anniversary of the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997.
The landmark legislation laid the framework for a system that today includes 548 refuges representing nearly 100 million acres of the most visually stunning and biologically diverse lands and waters in the U.S. With at least one refuge in every state, the system attracts some 40 million visitors each year.
Thompson was recognized for the hard work he has put into securing funding for refuges both inside and outside his district, and his strong backing of fully functional North Coast ecosystems that include the rivers and streams necessary to help sustain healthy fisheries.
“On behalf of the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge, the California Department of Fish and Game and all our partners in the San Pablo Bay, we want to thank Congressman Thompson for his support of funding year after year,” San Pablo’s Refuge Manager Christy Smith said. “We also are thankful for the $40 million bill included in Water Resources Development Act for San Pablo Bay Watershed restoration. The Congressman’s attention to land and conservation issues doesn’t go unnoticed.”
Thompson also was recognized for his demonstrated commitment to protecting these biologically diverse wild spots by helping to form the Congressional Wildlife Refuge Caucus and serving as one of its vice chairs.
"The National Wildlife Refuge system is a destination point for people to enjoy our nation’s diverse fish and wildlife and brings more than $700 million into local economies," Thompson said. "However, unless we address the System’s nearly $3 billion operations and maintenance backlog, we risk losing the cornerstone of our country’s public lands. I am very grateful for this award and look forward to working with CARE on this very important issue."
The National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act mandates a “wildlife first” conservation philosophy, and the system’s refuges are home to more than 700 bird species, 220 mammals, and 260 endangered or threatened species. While protecting wildlife is the primary mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System, the system offers a wide variety of recreational opportunities, including wildlife photography and observation, hunting and fishing, environmental education and interpretation. The system generates some $1.4 billion in annual revenues.
“The Refuge System faces a budget crisis of extraordinary proportions,” said Evan Hirsche, president of the National Wildlife Refuge Association and chair of the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement. “We're grateful to have Congressman Thompson leading the charge for a healthy and vital Refuge System. With his vision, our American wildlife heritage has a fighting chance.”
Working in partnership since 1995, CARE consists of 22 wildlife, sporting, conservation and scientific groups dedicated to educating Congress and the American public about the Refuge System. Recognizing the value of a healthy system for the wildlife and habitat refuges seek to protect, CARE works to represent the five million national constituents of its member organizations by securing strong investments in these remarkable lands and waters.
For more information about CARE visit www.refugenet.org/CARE/CareHome.html.
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LAKEPORT – On Oct. 10, 2002, Janeen Hawkins, Barbara LaForge's adopted sister who lives in Jacksonville, Fla., received a phone call from Nancy Enos, a friend of LaForge's from the Lakeport English Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. {sidebar id=14}
Enos gave her unimaginable news: That two days earlier, LaForge had been found fatally shot in her Main Street frame shop.
Hawkins got her family together, including sister Lisa Hatcher and mother Christine Jones, to share the news.
It was amazing to the family that LaForge – a woman who loved life, who had overcome so much in her 43 years, who was devoted to her family and friends and to her church – could have died in such a violent manner.
Hawkins said it took her a year to come to terms with the violence of her adopted sister's death. “You can't even grieve the loss until you get past the violence.”
On the night of the murder, Enos went to the crime scene, where then-Sgt. Brad Rasmussen of Lakeport Police delivered LaForge's whippet dog, Carmen, to her. The dog had been kept at the scene throughout the day. “She just leaped into my arms,” said Enos.
The trembling dog sat in the lap of Nancy Enos' husband, Norm, all the way to LaForge's house at 5232 Piner Court in Kelseyville. There, LaForge's husband, Dan Hamblin, and his family were gathered.
Enos said she reached out to comfort Hamblin, and later in the week brought over food for him.
LaForge – who loved to cook – had a weekend routine, said Enos, which included fixing food for the coming week. When Enos opened up the refrigerator, she found it fully stocked, with three casseroles LaForge had made after getting back from the Sacramento dog show over the weekend.
Hatcher said her family also tried to reach out to Hamblin, to offer support and comfort.
“From day one he would not talk to us,” she said.
Hawkins added that her mother and sisters all took turns calling Hamblin, never receiving calls back. She spoke to Hamblin's sister shortly after LaForge's murder, and had been told he was having a hard time.
LaForge's friend Genevieve Day, who left Scotts Valley for Klamath Falls, Ore., had sold LaForge Carmen, but retained a partial ownerships. She said she and LaForge were planning to attend a dog show together in Pleasanton later in October.
On Oct. 7, 2002, Day said she spoke to LaForge. “She was really upbeat and looking forward to getting to Pleasanton.”
A day or so after the murder, another friend of Day's from Lake County called to tell her the news. Day said she spoke with Dale Stoebe of Lakeport Police shortly after the murder to try to find out more about what happened.
A PAINFUL TRIP
Day said Hamblin had never liked Carmen, making LaForge keep the dog in a crate at night rather than letting her sleep on the bed with the couple. So when LaForge died, Day said she decided to try to get the dog back, since she and LaForge had reached an agreement in which Day retained part ownership of Carmen.
She said she called Hamblin to ask if he wanted her to come and take the dog. Day said Hamblin told her no, that it was one of the last things he had that still connected him to LaForge.
But Day said a few days later, Hamblin called her back, saying the dog was upset and that Day could come and get her.
LaForge's memorial service was held on Oct. 13, 2002, at the Lakeport English Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, according to her obituary.
Day said she made the trip down to pick up Carmen on the day of the memorial service so she also could attend.
Enos said Hamblin sat in a separate part of the hall, called the library, during the service. It's an area with a glass wall where the service is piped into the room, where mothers frequently take babies.
Day, Tommy Gilliam and Enos said Hamblin sobbed openly through the service. Gilliam and Day said they felt his tears were staged.
Later, after the service, Day met Hamblin at 5232 Piner Court, the home he had shared with LaForge, to pick up Carmen.
Day said she walked into the front of the home where Hamblin and his family were. She stood speaking with Hamblin when, from the back of the house, came Carmen, who Day said always was overjoyed to see her.
Day said Hamblin turned around toward the dog and Carmen flinched away, a reaction Day said she didn't know how to interpret, considering Hamblin never liked the dog.
Hamblin and Day went out into the garage to gather Carmen's things, including beds and toys, which Day offered to pay for; Hamblin, however, refused her offer.
As they talked for an estimated 20 minutes, Day said Hamblin began a strange confessional, telling her that he was with another woman, that he had not found LaForge sexually attractive and had wanted to be with someone else.
“It was like he had this load of guilt and he had to dump it,” said Day.
Stunned by the conversation, Day said she took the dog and left.
WAITING IN THE WINGS
Within weeks, possibly days, of LaForge's memorial service, life at 5232 Piner Court moved on.
On the day of the memorial, a woman was seen packing LaForge's clothes and belongings into black garbage bags, according to former Lakeport Police Chief Tom Engstrom.
That woman was 47-year-old Linda Ann Mafrice, that “someone else” the 41-year-old Hamblin had desired.
LaForge's family in Jacksonville said they were told that Mafrice moved in with Hamblin within a few weeks of LaForge's death.
Two months before the murder, in August of 2002, Mafrice was charged with 90 counts of forgery, theft from an elder adult and theft, according to court documents. The theft charge and 89 of the forgery charges were dismissed.
The charges stemmed from her theft of about $180,000 from residents at the Royal Shores condominiums. District Attorney Jon Hopkins, who personally prosecuted Mafrice, said she had done some bookkeeping at the complex, which gave her access to an elderly couple, who were the source of much of the stolen money.
Court documents show that a search of Mafrice's condominium at Royal Shores revealed copies of the couple's financial documents throughout her residence.
Mafrice eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 300 days in jail, which she finished serving in 2004 before being released on probation, court records show.
The court also ordered her to pay back restitution to totaling $113,116.07, with credit for $65,000 that she had already paid back. In addition, Mafrice was required to pay 10 percent in administrative costs, 10 percent per year to the victim and more than $1,000 in other fees and penalties.
“She has not paid full restitution at this point,” said Hopkins in an interview Oct. 5.
Court records from 2005 state that Mafrice suffers from serious unspecified health problems, besides mental health issues. She had taken a doctor's note to court asking for her probation – which she is still under – to be modified. Hopkins said she forged the doctor's note.
A SILENT HUSBAND
When it comes to important players in the drama that surrounds Barbara LaForge's death, few are as key as her husband, Dan Hamblin.
And few are as silent.
Unlike some family members of murder victims, Hamblin has never approached the local media to ask for help in finding his wife's murderer. Nor did he place an obituary for his wife in local newspapers. Instead, her Jacksonville family placed an obituary in the newspapers in that city.
When Lake County News approached him to request an interview for this investigation, his employer, Charlie Tanti of Henry Repairs, promised to pass on the request but said he doubted Hamblin would agree.
“He doesn't like to talk about it,” said Tanti.
And, indeed, he never contacted Lake County News in response to the request.
Nor has he worked with Lakeport Police to solve the murder, say police.
Tom Engstrom, Lakeport's former police chief, said he found Hamblin neither candid nor sincere during interviews following his wife's death.
Engstrom said he has given death notifications and seen people so distraught that he had to hold them in his arms. Yet, when, at the Lakeport Police station, police informed Hamblin of the murder on Oct. 8, 2002, Engstrom said he received the news matter-of-factly.
Current Lakeport Police Chief Kevin Burke said Hamblin has retained an attorney and refuses to speak with police any further about LaForge's murder.
Engstrom said Mafrice had been cooperative “to a certain extent” with the investigation, and agreed to speak to police. He said he wasn't able to form an opinion of her sincerity.
Eventually Mafrice retained an attorney and also quit talking to police, he said.
PICKING UP THE PIECES
Hatcher, Hawkins and their mother, Christine Jones, had requested pictures and mementos of LaForge's, but their requests of Hamblin were never acknowledged or honored.
Instead, LaForge's family also was told that a box of her belongings, with her name and date of death, was left in the driveway of a woman who she had attended church with at the Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall in Lakeport. A similar box with her religious books was left at the church itself.
Enos added that Hamblin gave her many of LaForge's belongings to pass on to other church members.
After police were done with the crime scene, Tommy Gilliam said he went into LaForge's frame shop to help clean it up.
He said there were small drug vials that rescuers had used to try to save LaForge littered across the floor.
Gilliam said from looking at the scene it appeared that his sister must have spun around as she was shot, leaving a trail of her blood on the wall.
He could see where her body had fallen into what he called a “nest” of matte board and glass, where she remained until she was found hours later, bleeding out on the floor.
“If they had found her sooner, she may have lived,” he said.
A terrified Gail Salituri, the artist whose gallery shared space with LaForge's framing shop, kept the shop shut for months because she felt frightened and unsafe in the building.
When she did reopen early the next year, she sealed off the back door through which LaForge had last entered the building.
In part six, Lakeport Police investigators share the latest developments in the case.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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The project, at the intersection of Highways 29 and 281 – known locally as Kit's Corner – went forward thanks to community efforts to convince Caltrans that it was needed.
Phil Frisbie Jr., a spokesman for Caltrans' District 1 – which includes Lake County – said this week that the agency hopes to wrap work on the project by the end of October.
If there are no weather delays in the coming weeks, Frisbie said the contractor, Steiny and Co. of Vallejo, will be able to finish up work.
That, said Frisbie, would allow Caltrans to stay on a tentative schedule of turning on the light on Oct. 24.
The contractor is expected to finish some paving and raising of light standard poles by week's end, said Frisbie.
Caltrans began work on the intersection signalization project in September, said Frisbie.
The signal project has only cost the county about $33,000, as Lake County News previously reported. The entire project originally was expected to costs about $500,000, but Steiny and Co.'s bid came in at just under $400,000.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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LAKEPORT – In the last years of her life, Barbara LaForge – who had survived a rough childhood, overcoming loneliness and abandonment – was able to achieve the American dream: she and husband Dan Hamblin bought their first home. {sidebar id=14}
“She was so thrilled,” said friend Nancy Enos, who met LaForge through their membership in the Lakeport English Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Enos visited the home at 5232 Piner Court often. She remembered walking through the house with LaForge, who was proud and excited to have her own home.
In one area of the yard Enos said LaForge had planned to plant a vegetable garden. Nearby was a small bridge that crossed Kelsey Creek. LaForge loved that the big garage had a work bench for her husband.
Enos said LaForge fell in love with a large screened-in porch and made it the master bedroom. LaForge's artistic skills were put to good use in the home, said Enos, who added that LaForge was having a great time with her new space.
While LaForge enjoyed her life and her own activities – especially music and art – she also was devoted to caring for others.
A main focus for her was her mother and stepfather, Donna and Tom Gilliam.
Stepbrother Tommy Gilliam said that his elderly father was living on a large property outside of Lakeport that became too much for him, so he and Donna purchased the house next door to LaForge and Hamblin on Piner Court.
Friends say LaForge took the couple meals every night, becoming their primary caregiver.
Gilliam said his stepsister was the love of his father's life.
CARMEN AND BARBARA
Enos, who had known LaForge for 12 years, said she also was like a daughter to her and her husband, Norm, who died last year.
LaForge, said Enos, was extremely creative and even happy-go-lucky despite her sad upbringing.
And she loved people. LaForge would make a point to come and watch football with Norm Enos, especially when LaForge's team, the Miami Dolphins, played.
“Boy, the two of them, they were noisy,” said Enos, remembering the two football fans cheering in her living room.
Enos said LaForge was a talented artist and singer, and a loyal wife.
“She had so many things she liked to do,” said Enos, adding that LaForge wanted to do so much more. “If she'd had enough time, she probably would have.”
Enos said LaForge was a devoted dog lover, who for years had a beautiful mixed breed, red-eyed dog named Kelly.
It was dogs that brought together LaForge and Genevieve Day, a former Lake County resident who now lives in Klamath Falls, Ore.
Day, who previously lived in Scotts Valley, went into LaForge's shop one day and mentioned that her purebred whippet was about to have puppies. LaForge would purchase one of the pups from her, and named her Carmen, an appropriate name since LaForge loved opera.
While she still lived in Lake County, Day said she saw LaForge and Carmen at least three times a week. When Carmen was 6 months old, LaForge started taking her to dog shows, said Day. “She very much enjoyed the dog showing.”
In the fall of 2001, Day moved to Klamath Falls. The following May, LaForge and Carmen made the rip to Oregon for a dog show, where Carmen won her first and only point on the show circuit.
“I'm glad she was able to do that,” said Day.
Enos said she received a call from LaForge announcing Carmen's win. “She was so thrilled,” said Enos, who said LaForge was very enthused about showing the dog, and planned to spend more time pursuing it.
Day said she and LaForge became good friends over the years. LaForge was a tremendously thoughtful person, giving Day several antique boxes for her collection. In return, Day said she gifted LaForge with spoons, which she enjoyed collecting.
TROUBLED TIMES
But LaForge's last years weren't free of trouble.
In the fall of 2001, LaForge received a death threat. It came via mail, in – of all things – a Christmas card.
Gail Salituri, who saw the card, said the Christmas greeting inside had been crossed out and someone had written in the card, “You will be dead in 2002.”
Lakeport Police Chief Kevin Burke said police have followed up on the threat, but did not disclose more, saying the threat is part of the protected information contained in the homicide investigation.
In addition to the card, Salituri said there other events that caused concerns.
"I recall Barbara had received disturbing telephone calls at the frame shop the same week she received the mailed death threat,” Salituri recalled. “The phone calls stopped when she installed caller ID.
"When I questioned Barbara about who was calling her, she said it was a female and she had no idea whose voice it was,” Salituri added.
Stepbrother Tommy Gilliam said he believed something was definitely amiss with LaForge during the last year of her life. He said he felt she was having a psychic breakdown. The frame shop appeared out of order, he said, with unused supplies and cardboard stacked everywhere.
Tommy Gilliam said both LaForge's biological mother, Donna Gilliam, and grandmother had psychological problems. “She was convinced it was happening to her, too.”
LaForge also had had a major confrontation with her younger sister, Leilani Prueitt, who lives in Kelseyville, said Gilliam.
At a family reunion on July 4, 2002, Tommy Gilliam said Barbara and Prueitt had a serious argument, in which Barbara LaForge told her sister to stay away from their stepfather, Tom Gilliam, because she didn't like the way Prueitt treated him.
Salituri said she also noticed a change in LaForge, but couldn't put her finger on just what was different.
Shortly before LaForge died, Enos said she sensed a change in her friend.
“I could tell she was upset for the week before her death,” said Enos.
Adopted sisters Lisa Hatcher and Janeen Hawkins agreed with the assessments of LaForge.
“You could tell things just weren't right in her life with her husband,” said Hawkins.
Hatcher said the last year of her sister's life, “there was something different,” although Hatcher believes it was not spiritual but emotional, and based on her husband's other relationships.
Stepbrother Tommy Gilliam said LaForge was doing a lot of online shopping in her last months, especially on eBay.
Hawkins concurred, saying her sister had run up some debt because of the shopping – a statement corroborated by a bill from Chase credit cards submitted to her estate that totaled just under $10,000.
For LaForge, shopping was a means of escape when she was depressed, Hawkins explained.
Hawkins surmises that her sister may have found out that her husband was having another affair.
After leaving LaForge in January 2001 for his first wife, Hamblin had returned to LaForge. But later he began a relationship with then-Lakeport resident Linda Mafrice, a fact that was generally known at the time, said family and friends, as well as retired Lakeport Police Chief Tom Engstrom.
Hawkins said that, according to Jehovah's Witnesses teachings, adultery is one of the few true grounds for divorce.
“The only reason she would have left him was for adultery,” Hawkins explained, noting that her sister was extremely trusting of Hamblin. “That's the one thing she would not have tolerated from him.”
Although LaForge and Prueitt had had a strained relationship in light of the July 2002 argument, they eventually worked out a deal, said stepbrother Tommy Gilliam.
Prueitt had reportedly borrowed money from their stepfather, Tom Gilliam. LaForge and Prueitt agreed that on the morning of Oct. 8, 2002, Prueitt would be at the frame shop to help do some clean up in order to pay back the money she owed to Tom Gilliam.
On that morning, as LaForge walked into her gallery for the last time, she likely was expecting her sister to join her that day.
Who was waiting for her in the gallery, however, remains the critical mystery.
In part five, friends and family receive the news of LaForge's death and struggle with its unsolved nature.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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