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The accident victim's name has not yet been released by authorities.
CHP incident logs report that the solo vehicle accident occurred at 8:01 a.m. on Highway 29 at Diener Drive.
Officer Kevin Domby of the Clear Lake CHP Office reported that the woman was driving north on Highway 29 north of Diener Drive at an unknown speed when the accident occurred.
Domby said the woman's 1999 Oldsmobile traveled into the southbound lane, then back into the northbound lane before going off the road's north edge and striking a tree on the driver's side.
The woman was reported dead at the scene, but rescue crews revived her, said Domby. She was transported to UC Davis Medical Center, said Domby, where she was in critical condition.
No further details about the incident were available by the time of publication.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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"Today, Congress took an important step towards restoring openness and transparency in government," said Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and a co-sponsor of the bills.
"Over the past six years, the Bush administration has done everything it can to operate in secret, to avoid public scrutiny, and to limit congressional oversight. I am pleased that Congress is reversing this course by passing four critically important good government bills with strong bipartisan support," he added.
The bills passed and the votes were: H.R. 1309 (308-117) to strengthen FOIA and improve public access to government information; H.R. 1255 (333-93) to nullify an executive order limiting access to presidential records; H.R. 985 (331-94) granting improved protection to federal whistleblowers; and H.R. 1254 (390-34) to require the release of presidential library donor information.
– H.R. 1255, approved by a vote of 333-93, makes clear that presidential records belong to the American people, not the president who created them. The Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2007 will nullify a Bush executive order which gave former presidents – and their heirs – nearly unlimited authority to withhold or delay the release of their own records. If it becomes law, this legislation will ensure that a complete historical record is available to researchers.
– H.R. 1254, approved by a vote of 390-34, will require organizations that raise money for presidential libraries to disclose information about their donors. This will eliminate a major loophole that allows presidential supporters to secretly give millions in support of a president’s legacy while that president
– H.R. 1309, approved by a vote of 308-117, will strengthen the Freedom of Information Act and improve public access to government information. One key element of this legislation would restore the presumption of disclosure under FOIA that was eliminated by the Bush Administration in 2001.
– H.R. 985, approved by a vote of 331-94, offers improved protections to federal whistleblowers who report wrongdoing to authorities. Federal employees and contractors are privy to information that enables them to play an essential role in ensuring government accountability.
Lake County's Congressman Mike Thompson voted yes on all four of the laws.
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A sense of sadness permeates our little town. We knew what was coming, yet you keep thinking, "He's too good a man, husband, father, friend." There had to be a miracle somewhere amongst the reality that the end was approaching. The Best Neighbor Lucerne ever had left us on March 13. He put up a good fight but a Higher Power must have needed him more than us. Pinky Cantrell truly was a hero to the folks Northshore.
Pinky was always quick with a smile. But he was quicker to offer a helping hand when he saw a need that needed filling. There were plenty of "needs" in Lucerne. He volunteered at the fire house for 36 years. Any attempts at paying him for a service rendered quickly found its way into the donation jar. He served as Deputy Fire Chief, Assistant Fire Chief and was Captain of Rescue and EMT. He volunteered at the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center for many, many years, doing whatever job needed doing, especially helping with commodities day. All anyone had to do was ask.
Pinky and his wife Alyce were amongst the founders of the Citizens Patrol and Neighborhood Watch. I always felt safer when I'd look out and there they went, patrolling our streets, helping to keep us safe and sound. Pinky maintained his contacts with the Sheriff's Department, Caltrans and California Highway Patrol. His drive to serve never diminished.
His love of our mountains was manifested by physical labor. How many trees did he help plant in our National Forest? Who knows, we can't see the forest for the trees he planted, but you can go enjoy the Pinky Cantrell Grove in the Mendocino National Forest. He'd like that.
Even with his own troubles he always made sure to ask how you were doing with yours. When he asked, it wasn't just a polite question, he really wanted to know because he truly cared. When he went to the Lakeport Skilled Nursing Center in Lakeport for his final leg of this journey many of the staff there finally had a chance to repay the kindness and service they had received from him during the course of their lives. Pinky's family is so grateful for the wonderful care he received there, they did treat him like the family member he had become to them.
Alfred "Pinky" Dexter Cantrell got his start in this life on July 22, 1935 in Everton Missouri to Dollie L. Calloway Cantrell and John S. Cantrell. Siblings include John H. Cantrell of Ash Grove, MoO; Lloyd R. Cantrell, deceased; Marguerite Langsdon of Springfield, Mo; Lucille Hutchison of Lubbock, Texas, and Easter Lenger of Mt. Vernon, Mo.
Pinky graduated from Ash Grove High School in 1953. He served his nation as a Marine from 1953 to 1957, serving in the Korean War. He married Minnie Jean Ball Egbert in 1957 and daughter Brenda Lee was born in 1958. Pinky moved to Lucerne in 1968 and worked as a butcher at Lakeview Market for Art Burry. He married Alyce Thedorf in 1992, loving her and her children and grandchildren. He retired from Caltrans in 1997.
The Lucerne Fire House will hold a celebration of the wonderful life of our friend and neighbor in about a month, we will keep you posted. No tears allowed.
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UPPER LAKE – The US Army Corps of Engineers has removed the Middle Creek levee from its list of levees around the nation that the agency said had not been properly maintained.
In late January, the Corps released a list of 122 levees across the U.S. that it said could fail to protect against flood events due to maintenance issues.
The 11-mile Middle Creek levee system near Upper Lake made that original list, much to the frustration of local officials, who said
Tom Smythe, water resources engineer with the Water Resource Division of Lake County's Public Works Department, said Middle Creek's low rating resulted from a Corps inspection conducted in 2005.
Smythe said the county's levees are inspected twice annually by the state Department of Water Resources, and that the county has remained in compliance with the state's maintenance standards over the past decade.
The Army Corps' low rating listed issues that Smythe said had already been addressed, such as trees and vegetation along the levees, and gravel bars that have been removed.
The Corps' list also incorrectly reported that the 3.5-mile stretch of levees in the Middle Creek Reclamation District is maintained by the Department of Water Resources was maintained by the county, Smythe said.
Since that January list was released, levee districts around the state began requesting reinspections.
On Feb. 14, the Army Corps and Department of Water Resources took another look at the Middle Creek levee system, said Smythe.
The inspection went well, he said.
“The inspectors saw that the system was being maintained and the deficiencies noted in the previous inspection were being addressed,” he said. “Attitudes were positive at the end of the inspection.”
An updated list of levees issued by the Corps on Feb. 16 shows that Middle Creek and seven other levees around the state were removed from the list.
However, the county didn't receive an official notification of that fact, said Smythe, only finding out about it unofficially earlier this month.
Dave Killam, a spokesman for the Sacramento Army Corps office, said those levees were removed from the list after being reinspected based on information provided by the levee owners.
Killam said a new list of poorly maintained levees will be released sometime this spring.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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James Wade Roberts, 45, is facing murder charges for the death of Clearlake resident Ruth Donaldson, 63.
Roberts was in Judge Arthur Mann's court Monday to enter a plea, said District Attorney Jon Hopkins, who is prosecuting Roberts' case.
Hopkins said Roberts entered pleas of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder charge against him.
Roberts' defense attorney, Steve Carter, asked for a psychologist, who had previously been appointed to Roberts' case confidentially, to be reappointed as an expert consultant, said Hopkins.
Hopkins explained the Penal Code requires that two to three psychologists must be appointed to evaluate Roberts due to the insanity plea.
He said that Mann appointed two new psychologists to the case, and will continue the hearing March 19, when a third psychologist also will be appointed.
Clearlake Police found Donaldson's body in the Mullen Avenue home that she shared with Roberts on Oct. 15.
Roberts is being held in the Lake County Jail on $1 million bail.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ten years after Congress enacted the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments (E-FOIA), only one in five federal agencies actually complies with the law, according to a new survey released today during Sunshine Week by the National Security Archive.
Passed in 1996 and effective in 1997, E-FOIA ordered federal agencies to post key records online, provide citizens with detailed guidance on making information requests, and use new information technology to publish information proactively. The act's intent: Expand public access and reduce the burden of FOIA requests.
But most federal agencies do not follow the law, according to the National Security Archive's government-wide audit, "File Not Found," conducted with support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
The Knight Open Government Survey systematically reviewed agency Web sites to cover all 91 federal agencies that have Chief FOIA Officers and the additional 58 agency components each of which handles more than 500 FOIA requests a year.
Key findings are:
– Only one in five federal agencies (21 percent) posts on the Web all four categories of records that the law specifically requires;
– Only one in 16 agencies (6 percent) posts all ten elements of essential FOIA guidance;
– Only 36 percent of agencies provide the required indexes of records;
– Only 26 percent of agencies provide online forms for submitting FOIA requests;
– Many agency Web links are missing or just wrong - one FOIA fax number checked in the Knight Survey actually rang in the maternity ward of a military base hospital.
"Federal agencies are flunking the online test and keeping us in the dark," said Thomas Blanton, the Archive's director. "Some government sites just link to each other in an endless empty loop."
"Public access on the Web to government information is the only long-term solution to the backlogs and delays that undermine the FOIA today," said the Archive's general counsel, Meredith Fuchs. "This audit plus Congressional oversight should provide a wake-up call to the agencies."
Fuchs cited the Education Department and NASA as "E-Stars" with excellent FOIA Web sites, and the Air Force, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Veterans Affairs as among the dozen "E-Delinquents." Last week, the Archive faxed the top FOIA officer at each of the E-Delinquents with advance notice of the Survey and the critical findings specific to that agency.
"It's appropriate that this important news is being released during Sunshine Week, when millions of Americans will be able to see it," said Eric Newton, vice president of the journalism program at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. "People need to know when their government is not obeying its own laws."
Download the full report at www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB216/index.htm.
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