Chief Kevin Burke said the department received a report from a local doctor's office on June 3 that a 39-year-old woman had been sexually assaulted.

The incident, he said, is alleged to have happened on May 28.

The victim was in the guest room of a friend's house in Lakeport when a male suspect who she knows allegedly forced himself on her, according to Burke.

The investigation is continuing, said Burke. No arrest has been made.

He said the city's last reported rape was about six months ago. That case remains under investigation, but is expected to go to the District Attorney's Office soon, Burke reported.

It's hard to estimate how long a case takes to complete, said Burke, because each case is different. The crimes also require time-consuming forensics analysis to be conducted before the case is handed over for prosecution.

Sexual assaults by strangers aren't common in Lakeport, he said. “What we usually see here in Lakeport is that they [the victim and perpetrator] are acquainted with each other.”

Lee Perales of Lake Family Resource Center's Rape Crisis Center said there are many types of rape – from sexually assaulting a person lacking mental capacity to date rape and assaults on people who are incapacitated through a substance.

Regarding forcible rapes such as that currently under investigation in Lakeport, Perales said statistics gathered from law enforcement show that in 2007 Lakeport had one forcible rape case reported and Clearlake had nine. She did not yet have 2007 statistics for the unincorporated areas of the county.

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Gabrielle Rachel Varney, who turned 18 last month, was in Lake County Superior Court in Lakeport on charges in connection with the Thursday death of 17-year-old Heather Valdez.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff said he charged Varney with murder and a special allegation of use of a deadly weapon, a knife.

Attorney Stephen Carter, who took Varney's case on Monday, said his client entered no plea.

Instead, a plea entry is scheduled to take place on June 20 in Clearlake, which will give Carter a chance to study the case documents.

“We haven't received any police reports of any kind,” he said.

Lt. Mike Hermann of Clearlake Police said the agency's investigation into Valdez's death is complete at this point, with the entire report going to the District Attorney's Office Monday.

An autopsy completed on Valdez Monday found that the cause of death was a stab wound to the neck, said Hermann.

He said the wound is consistent with a folding pocket knife with a 4-inch blade which police recovered on Thursday, and which allegedly belonged to Varney.

Varney allegedly had the knife on her when she and Valdez became involved in a confrontation as they arrived home in Clearlake from Carlé High School around 2 p.m. Thursday, according to Hermann.

Hermann told Lake County News last week that police believe the girls had been in a feud for some time before Valdez's death.

The confrontation allegedly took place after the girls got off the bus near Austin Drive and Mullen Avenue, in the vicinity of their homes. Hermann said Varney told police that they hadn't argued on the bus but that Valdez had made some “innuendo statements” to her.

Varney allegedly told police she had the pocket knife in her purse and put it in her back pocket while still on the bus, Hermann said.

When Varney got off the bus, Valdez reportedly pushed her and then turned to walk away, said Hermann. Varney said she was talking to herself and Valdez turned around and came back toward her and began hitting her. At that point Varney allegedly already had the knife out of her pocket and had opened the blade.

“She denied intentionally stabbing her,” said Hermann, adding that Varney initially told police she didn't think she had stabbed Valdez at all.

After the confrontation, Varney reportedly went to Valdez's nearby home to get help, but no one answered when she knocked on the door, said Hermann.

She then made her way down the street, allegedly covered in blood. Hermann said two women spotted her, and thought she had been in a traffic accident. They invited her inside a residence, where she called police.

It was there that she allegedly left the knife on a coffee table, said Hermann, which is where police found it when they contacted her.

Hinchcliff said the case will be prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney John DeChaine.

Varney remained in Lake County Jail on Monday, with bail set at $500,000.

Carlé Principal Bill MacDougall has described both Valdez and Varney as talented artists who were a part of the tight-knit Carlé family.

Varney's arrest June 5 was the second time in a month a teen was arrested on a murder charge locally.

On May 9, authorities charged 18-year-old Erik Michael McPherson with murder for allegedly stabbing 40-year-old Nicolai Chukreeff to death on May 4. McPherson is due back in court this Friday, said Hinchcliff.

Hinchcliff said it's uncommon for Lake County to have such young murder suspects in its legal system.

While their cases are handled the same as if they were older, Hinchcliff said the District Attorney's Office can take their youth into consideration when looking at what kinds of sentences to seek.

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Association President Norman Taylor said Lake City Manager Jerry Gillham has offered the City Council the option of leaving vacant two police officer positions and laying off two others in order to balance the city’s budget.

The department currently has 14 sworn officer positions – including 12 officers, Chief Kevin Burke and Lt. Brad Rasmussen, said Taylor. There are currently two vacant positions.

That staffing level has been in effect since 1996, according to police records.

The association is urging the community to attend upcoming council meetings on the budget, including a 4 p.m. budget session on Tuesday, June 10, at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St., when Burke will present his proposed 2008-09 fiscal year budget. The city is supposed to vote on a full budget June 24.

City officials have said that they're looking at a budget shortfall of more than $1 million.

Gillham – who did not return a call seeking comment on Friday – discussed the possibility of laying off police officers in an April interview with Lake County News, the same month as a city budget session hinted that layoffs of city staff could take place.

Taylor said Gillham took a more direct approach with city staff in early May.

“He actually held a meeting with the city employees to give them a state of the city, so to speak,” said Taylor.

During that meeting, Gillham told staff that, because of budget shortfalls, police officers and positions within other departments would be cut.

“He's being very particular with his words to make it seem as if he's not proposing this – he's just saying these are options that are available to the council – but certainly that is an option he's bringing forward,” said Taylor.

Taylor, who has been with the Lakeport Police Department since 1992, said there has never before been a suggestion of layoffs during his time there.

Cutting four officers' positions, he said, would put the department at 1970s staffing levels.

Gillham's statements about layoffs come at a time when the city is growing both in size and in population. The city's proposal to annex an area along Parallel Drive recently was approved last month, and the city population had grown by more than 500 residents – or about 10 percent – according to Census data from 2000 to 2006.

Just the suggestion of layoffs, Taylro said, could make it very difficult for the department to recruit high-quality applicants going forward, because it will raise the issue of the agency's stability.

If staffing levels were cut, he said, it would hamper officers' ability to respond in emergency situations, and could raise the issue of officer safety. Even at current staffing levels, officers have backup available less than half the time.

Cuts also would affect the department's ability to be proactive in investigations, a factor which helped it quickly conclude the stabbing case which took place in Library Park in March 2007, Taylor said.

Burke said he is still working on his presentation for Tuesday.

“Coming up with a proposed budget has been a real challenge, knowing that the city is facing some stiff financial problems,” he said.

Burke said he's planning to recommend the council look at a balance between the staffing needed to protect the public and achieve some financial relief for the city during its financial crisis.

He is concerned about cutting current staffing, which he said is at an appropriate level for the department and the city.

But if the city were to take the drastic step of cutting four positions, Burke said the ramifications would be huge.

It would mean no school resource officer for the Lakeport Unified School District, no presence on the Lake County Narcotic Task Force and impacts on community services, with response times to emergencies likely to increase, he said.

He and Rasmussen would have to set aside their administrative duties and spend more time on patrol than they currently do, he added.

It also could mean that investigations are severely curtailed.

A task force currently is working on the Barbara LaForge murder case, he said. Taylor, a department detective, also is spending a lot of time on the investigation. However, if patrol spots need to be filled, those investigative duties – on old and new cases alike – will have less resources available to them.

Mayor Buzz Bruns said no decision will be made Tuesday, that the session is for the sake of information gathering.

Bruns said he personally doesn't want to cut police officers, and the council is examining its options. “We're just looking for any way to cut this deficit.”

The police association, he pointed out, recently came to the council for a raise, another budget strain.

Councilman Jim Irwin, who in council meetings has emphasized that he wants a balanced budget going forward, said he doesn't want the city to go into debt with no end in sight.

“All we know about the big picture is we're running about $1 million short, same as we were last year,” he said, although last year the Vista Point sale brought in about $1 million to help the city catch up.

“I'm definitely one of the ones who's pushing that we need to get sustainable levels of services going,” he said, adding that he doesn't yet know what a sustainable budget will mean for the city.

He's heard Gillham suggest cutting four police officers and two parks staff, said Irwin, but nothing has been crossed off of any city department budget yet.

However, he added, “I don't want to take anything off the table. I want to keep all options open.”

Irwin said he would cut other expenses first – such as training and travel – before resorting to police layoffs.

“I'd like to figure out a way for the city to make it but the numbers have to be there,” he said.

The budget won't start to take real shape until later this month, said Irwin, as the council crafts a final document for approval.

Supervisor Anthony Farrington, whose district includes Lakeport, said he and Supervisor Rob Brown met with Gillham previous to last week's joint meeting between the Board of Supervisors and council. At that time, Gillham mentioned the need to cut some services – such as its contract for county animal control services – in order to save police positions.

Farrington said he offered to help Gillham look at his budget numbers. “He never really got back to me on that.”

In order to address law enforcement concerns, Farrington said he also suggested opening a dialogue about consolidating services between Lakeport Police and the sheriff's office.

“To lose four officers because you're having budget problems, you have to look outside the box and look at all options before cutting those positions,” he said.

However, Gillham didn't respond to that suggestion, either, he said.

Ultimately, the City Council will have to decide the fate of the police department's staffing, said Burke. “I don't envy them that.”

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THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED.

CLEARLAKE – A 17-year-old girl was found stabbed to death Thursday afternoon, and police are reporting that the suspect in the case is another teenage girl.

The Clearlake Police Department reported that 18-year-old Gabrielle Rachel Varney of Clearlake was arrested in connection with the stabbing, which was reported at 2:06 p.m.

Police responded to Austin Drive near Mullen Avenue, where the stabbing reportedly took place, according to Lt. Mike Hermann of the Clearlake Police Department.

There, they found the 17-year-old victim, who already had died, Hermann said.

The victim's name is not being released because she is a minor, he added.

Hermann said police located Varney at a nearby residence, where she reportedly admitted to stabbing the victim during an altercation.

Police arrested Varney based on the findings of their investigation, said Hermann.

Her Lake County Jail booking sheet shows that Varney, a student, was arrested at 3:30 p.m. and booked at 9:30 p.m. Thursday. She remains in jail with no set bail amount.

Hermann said the investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Detective Sgt. Tom Clements, 994-8251.

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From left, Chief Kevin Burke, Lt. Brad Rasmussen, Sgt. Mark White of the Montgomery County Maryland Police Department, Det. Norm Taylor and Sgt. Jason Ferguson. Courtesy photo.

LAKEPORT – Lakeport Police personnel participated in annual commemorations for peace officers killed in the line of duty.

On May 12, Chief Kevin Burke, Lt. Brad Rasmussen, Sgt. Jason Ferguson and Det. Norm Taylor traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate in the National Peace Officers’ Memorial Day ceremonies, Rasmussen reported.

Lakeport Police also sent staff to participate in last year's event.

Rasmussen said the very generous contributions of local businesses including Bruno’s Shop Smart, Kathy Fowler Chevrolet-Pontiac, Perko's Café, Piedmont Lumber and the Lakeport Police Officers Association made the trip possible.

In 2007, 181 federal, state and local Law Enforcement Officers were killed in the line of duty, one of the highest fatality figures in recent history. These officers were honored during the National Peace Officers' Memorial Day services. For further information go to www.nleomf.com.

On Tuesday, May 13, the officers attended the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund’s 20th annual Candlelight Vigil at the National Law Enforcement Memorial.

Two days later, on May 15, staff attended the 27^th annual Peace Officers’ Memorial Day Services at the West Front of the United States Capitol. During the services Lakeport Police had the distinct honor

of working with the Montgomery County Maryland Police Department in escorting family members of fallen officers.

A proclamation by the president of the United States of America designates May 15, 2008 as Peace Officers’ Memorial Day and May 11 through May 17, 2008 as Police Week. For further information go to www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/05/20080509-5.html.

Additional information related to Peace Officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty or the National Police Week Memorial events can be obtained by going to the Officer Down Memorial Page, www.odmp.org, Fraternal Order of Police, www.grandlodgefop.org or Concerns of Police Survivors, www.nationalcops.org.

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Kip Rodda, assistant executive officer of Lake County Superior Court, reported that Presiding Judge Arthur Mann signed a court order on Wednesday authorizing the court to implement airport-type security screening at the Lakeport courthouse on N. Forbes St.

Beginning Wednesday, May 28, all individuals entering the courthouse will have their bags and briefcases screened by an X-ray machine, said Rodda.

Additionally, they will have to walk through a magnetometer to enter the facility, he said. For those unable to walk through the magnetometer there will be alternative screening methods.

The Board of Supervisors approved installing the equipment at the Lakeport courthouse on Feb. 19, as Lake County News has reported. The Superior Court began screenings at the Clearlake court last summer.

The cost to equip both facilities – including cameras and access systems/card readers – was about $242,000, according to Malcolm Franklin, senior emergency response and security manager for the state's Administrative Office of the Courts.

There also was a one-time setup cost of more than $38,000 for the screening equipment, according to an April report from Superior Court Executive Officer Mary Smith.

Those costs, as well as annual expenses of about $211,000 for security personnel and sheriff's staff, were funded by the court which, in turn, is funded by the state, according to previous statements by court officials.

A 2006 study had found Lake County's two court facilities to be among 94 facilities in 22 counties that did not have perimeter security, court officials reported. As a result, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger put aside money to help counties equip the unsecured facilities.

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