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LAKE COUNTY – An osprey in trouble recently got a helping hand.
Pacific Gas & Electric Troubleman Bill Landers received a call April 26 that an osprey was in trouble. The bird was tangled and dangling from the nest.
Landers called SpiritWild, Lake County's wildlife center, to assist. By the time everyone arrived, the tangled adult had freed itself, but SpiritWild Director Sandie Elliott requested a nest check to be sure no babies were injured in the flap and struggle that had occurred.
While the mother circled, swooped and screamed, Landers quickly checked the babies and removed some hazardous twine and other debris.
The nest contained two hatchlings and one egg still unhatched.
SpiritWild has had an osprey egg in an incubator for nearly a month that was retrieved from an endangered nest by PG&E. The egg was due to hatch during the week of April 26-30, and this was the perfect nest in which to place the egg.
Landers and Elliott met again later in the day and Landers placed the egg in the nest.
The baby that will hatch will have a much better chance for survival with an osprey upbringing rather than one done by humans with puppets.
This is another example of the remarkable job PG&E has done assisting these magnificent birds time and time again, through its policies and its conscientious employees.
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CLEARLAKE – Police arrested a Clearlake man Friday in connection with an early morning homicide.
Clearlake Police reported that they arrested 42-year-old handyman Andre Lafayette Stevens on murder charges after officers found him with a weapon and the victim identified him.
A statement from Clearlake Police Lt. Mike Hermann said that officers were dispatched to the 14100 block of Lakeshore Drive shortly after midnight on a report of a stabbing in progress.
Sgt. Tim Celli and Officer Tim Hobbs arrived on scene within moments, Hermann reported, to find Stevens still holding the knife with bloody hands.
Celli and Hobbs detained Stevens and found the victim nearby with multiple stab wounds, Hermann reported.
The victim, who police initially found conscious, identified Stevens as his attacker before dying of his injuries, according to Hermann's statement.
Several residents of the area told police they witnessed the incident, Hermann reported, because the victim had called for help.
Clearlake Police detectives arrived at the scene, Hermann reported, and Stevens later provided police with a statement on the incident. Hobbs arrested Stevens, who was transported to the Lake County Jail and booked for murder.
Hermann's statement said police have not yet released the victim's name pending notification of family.
Police say the investigation is ongoing with no further information available at this time.
Anyone with information in the case is asked to call the Clearlake Police Department's Detective Division, 994-8251.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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LAKE COUNTY – Foreclosure rates are growing across the country and California, and here in Lake County a new report shows that the number of people defaulting on their mortgages is increasing.
DataQuick Information Systems, a real estate information service, has reported that the number of default notices sent to California – and Lake County – homeowners last quarter increased to its highest level in almost 10 years.
That increase in foreclosures among the state's eight million homes and condos is attributed to flat appreciation, slow sales and riskier subprime loans, according to the report.
The report also noted that while foreclosure properties tugged property values down by almost 10 percent in some areas 10 years ago, the effect on today's market is negligible.
Foreclosure rates statewide jumped 148 percent in the first quarter of this year as compared with that period in March 2006, growing from 18,856 to 46,760.
Last quarter's default level was the highest since 47,912 Notices of Default (NoDs) were recorded statewide in second-quarter 1997, according to DataQuick.
Defaults peaked in first quarter 1996 at 61,541. An average of 33,847 NoDs have been filed quarterly since 1992, when DataQuick's NOD statistics begin.
Andrew LePage, a DataQuick spokesman, said in Lake County foreclosures in the first quarter of 2006 numbered 48, compared with 109 foreclosures in this year's first quarter, a 127-percent increase.
This year's first-quarter foreclosure rates are the highest recorded for the county since 1992, when DataQuick began tracking the information, said LePage.
The last big wave of foreclosure activity in the county appeared in the mid-1990s, he said.
Lake County's homeownership rate of 70.6 percent is higher than the state average of 56.9 percent, according to the US Census Bureau. The county's owner-occupied homes number 19,164, with the county's median home value listed at $255,300.
LePage noted Lake County's default rates have traditionally been “really low,” with a quarterly average of 41. In the third quarter of 2005, the county only had four foreclosures reported, he added.
He suggested that the growth in foreclosures likely correlates with a growing population.
LePage did not have a breakdown of foreclosures by the county's different communities.
The county's foreclosures appear to have started going up late last year, according to LePage. In the third quarter of 2006, foreclosures numbered 67, jumping to 102 the following quarter.
“When you have a slower market and not as much appreciation or no appreciation, that sets the state for rising foreclosure activity,” LePage explained.
In neighboring counties, the rates also have risen. Napa's foreclosures are up by 87 percent, and Sonoma's by 159 percent.
Risky loans a key
For people beginning to have financial problems who have little or no equity, those market characteristics make it much more difficult for them to pull out of a “financial tailspin” by refinancing, he said.
Home purchases statewide peaked in the summer of 2005, said LePage. Loans typically begin to go bad within the first year and a half, he said, and DataQuick's research shows that most of the loans that went into default last quarter were originated between April 2005 and May 2006.
Many risky subprime loans were being made at that time, said LePage. With foreclosure activity continuing to rise, he added, “It's probably telling us that some of the more creative financing and subprime financing is starting to fuel these numbers.”
On primary mortgages, homeowners were a median five months behind on their payments when the lender started the default process, DataQuick reported. The borrowers owed a median $10,784 on a median $331,200 mortgage.
Most homeowners emerge from the foreclosure process by bringing their payments current, refinancing, or selling the home and paying off what they owe. However, DataQuick's study found that about 40 percent of homeowners who found themselves in default last year actually lost their homes to foreclosure in the first quarter. A year ago it was nine percent.
Trustees deeds recorded, or the actual loss of a home to foreclosure, totaled 11,033 during the first quarter, up 81.5 percent from 6,078 for the previous quarter, and up 802.1 percent from 1,223 for last year's first quarter, according to DataQuick.
Foreclosure sales peaked at 15,418 in third-quarter 1996, and hit a low of 637 in the second quarter of 2005, DataQuick reported.
Lakeport attorney Steve Elias, a nationally recognized expert on bankruptcy who has written three books on the subject, said foreclosures and bankruptcy often go hand-in-hand.
Bankruptcy, Elias explained, slows down the foreclosure process, and in the case of Chapter 13 bankruptcy, it offers individuals the ability to repay overdue debts – along with current payments – over a five-year period.
He said he doesn't see many cases these days where people in bankruptcy actually lose their homes, with many managing to refinance or get extremely harsh “bridge loans.”
Bankruptcy, noted Elias, is a good way to let go of home rather than letting it be taken in foreclosure. That's because only the bankruptcy will show up on a credit report, not a foreclosure, he explained, which does less harm overall to one's future credit rating. Short sales, he added, can become a problem because the IRS counts them as taxable income.
Is the state at its foreclosure peak? “We don't think we're there yet,” said LePage, looking at the state as a whole, and noting that a peak would require conditions that would begin to seriously erode home values.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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WEST SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger joined the families of several fallen California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers Wednesday to honor and pay tribute to 210 officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice in their service to the state of California.
The governor joined Business, Transportation & Housing Agency Secretary Dale Bonner and CHP Commissioner Mike Brown in laying a wreath at the CHP Academy’s Memorial Fountain.
“I know the bravery and dedication to service these officers possess as everyday these men and women stand beside me, willing to risk their lives to protect me and my family,” said Schwarzenegger. “These officers set an example of courage and determination that all Californians can admire.”
Whether it’s pulling an impaired driver off the road, assisting a stranded motorist or protecting their fellow officers, CHP officers have a commitment to service.
“It takes a special person to do the job these men and women do, people are running away from danger as they walk into it,” said Secretary Bonner.
The CHP Academy Memorial Fountain bears plaques engraved with the names of each of the Department’s 210 officers killed in the line of duty since its formation 78 years ago. This year, Oakland area CHP Officer Brent Clearman’s name was added to the fountain.
Clearman, 33, an Iraq war veteran in the Marine Corps and sniper specialist, was investigating a collision on an onramp to I-880 in Oakland the night of August 5 when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver. The injured officer was taken to the hospital where he died the next morning. He is survived by his wife, Cathy.
“My heart goes out to the family and friends of these officers who made the ultimate sacrifice for keeping us safe,” said Commissioner Brown. “It’s an honor to serve with these men and women in uniform who are sworn to protect us everyday without any regard for their own lives.”
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LAKE PILLSBURY – A 3.1 earthquake occurred early Thursday, and was followed by several more quakes over the course of the morning.
The 3.1 quake, centered eight miles west northwest of Lake Pillsbury along an unnamed fault, was recorded at 7:40 a.m. at a depth of 4.1 miles, the US Geological Survey reported.
Within five minutes, a second quake in the same area occurred, measuring 2.6 in magnitude, according to the US Geological Survey.
Five more smaller earthquakes followed over the next three hours, ranging up to 2.4 in magnitude, the US Geological Survey reported. Two were centered in the same location as the first two quakes, two others were nine miles west northwest of the lake, and one was six miles north of the lake.
Over the past month, seismic activity has become a daily occurrence in the Lake Pillsbury area, according to US Geological Survey records.
Since the start of April there have been eight earthquakes measuring 3.0 in magnitude or above. The largest, a 4.8 magnitude quake, took place on April 18, as Lake County News previously reported.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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LAKE COUNTY – On Wednesday, Rep. Mike Thompson criticized President George W. Bush's Tuesday veto of an emergency spending bill for the Iraq war that included a timeline for withdrawing the troops.
Thompson's office issued a statement in which he said Bush's veto “signals his determination to keep this war going indefinitely.”
Bush's veto comes as a bill Thompson authored, which includes a similar call for a timed withdrawal, moves through Congress.
The veto also canceled emergency funds for rural areas like Lake County through an amendment to renew the county payments law, which funds counties based on historic timber receipts.
The U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health and Iraq Accountability Act, HR 1591, passed the House on a narrow 110 to 60 vote in March, as Lake County News previously reported. A Senate version of the bill also passed, before ultimately going to the president's desk this week, where it was vetoed.
The bill included increased funding for military and veterans' health care, allocations to improve the readiness of stateside troops and military housing allowances.
However, it also called for withdrawing US troops by Aug. 31, 2008.
Because of the timeline aspect, President Bush had said for months he would veto the bill, which Thompson and others in Congress knew early on.
Although this wasn't the bill he wanted, Thompson said in March he and others in Congress who were against emergency supplementals supported it, calling it “the most responsible bill we could have passed given the divisions in this very diverse Congress.”
Thompson's statement noted that even Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has said that a timeline such as was included in HR 1591 “communicates to the Iraqi government that this is not an open-ended commitment.”
“Our troops have done what we sent them to do,” Thompson stated. “It's now time for the Iraqis to bring peace to their country. We need to show the Iraqi government that we're serious about the benchmarks we've set for them. Just asking them to meet the benchmarks hasn't worked for four years. This bill sets a realistic timeline for making progress in Iraq."
Thompson also took issue with Bush's criticism of domestic emergency aid that was included in the bill, including money to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, aid to farmers who suffered agriculture disasters, and fund schools and roads.
Included in the Senate version of the bill was an amendment to restore funding to an updated version of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act, commonly known as the county payments law, according to the office of Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, one of the authors of the amendment and the original bill.
California's most recent allocation from the bill was $68 million, of which $1 million came to Lake County. That $1 million, in turn, was divided between the county's road department and area schools, with about $240,000 going to Upper Lake's high school and elementary school, according to the Lake County Office of Education.
Thompson said the bill isn't “pork,” but is meant to offer emergency aid. He added that Bush should put funding requests for the war through the annual budget process, where they belong.
“He has sought to hide the true costs of the war by continuing to use emergency supplemental funding bills, while criticizing the emergency domestic funding the supplemental should be used for,” Thompson said.
The bill also would have included help for those in Northern California affected by the decision to divert water for salmon, which not only resulted in killing salmon but taking away income from thousands of families, Thompson said.
Other funds would have helped fund the county's veterans facilities, including Walter Reed Hospital. Last week, Thompson said he visited the hospital, which he said he's done regularly since the war began. “I met a soldier who had traveled 300 miles for his 14th surgery because he couldn't get adequate care at his local veteran's hospital.”
The veto of HR 1591 doesn't bode well for a bill Thompson introduced earlier this year, HR 787, the Iraq War De-Escalation Act of 2007, which also includes a timeline for withdrawal.
In fact, Thompson's bill calls for the troops to be brought home by March 31, 2008, months earlier than HR 1591's provisions. Sen. Barack Obama's SB 433 is the companion to Thompson's bill.
Many of HR 787's provisions were included either directly or in modified form in HR 1591, said Anne Warden, Thompson's spokesperson.
Is Thompson concerned that if his bill passes Congress, it, too, will ultimately die on the president's desk?
No, said Warden.
“His bill is helping to continue the pressure on the president, and we're going to keep that pressure on until we have a plan for ending the war,” she said. “The party is in line with that thinking and Rep. Thompson is going to continue pushing his bill as meaningful plan for Iraq.”
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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