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John Arthur McKenzie, 57, has been living in Upper Lake but officials from Virginia have been looking for him for years, according to Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
McKenzie was paroled in 1979 after serving time in prison for exploding a railroad bridge in Massachusetts, Bauman said.
Bauman reported that deputies arrested McKenzie early Monday morning on Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa.
Deputies responded to the resort on a report of a man annoying a 13-year-old girl and her aunt, according to Bauman. Upon their arrival, deputies found Konocti Harbor security officers had a man detained, who had identified himself as 57-year-old Jeffrey Arthur Woodward of Upper Lake.
Bauman said the girl and her aunt told deputies that they were standing near the fountain in front of the lodge when the man approached them and initiated a conversation, asking them where they were from. The two walked away from the man but then he approached them again, asking them where the bathrooms were.
The woman and her niece directed the man to the bathrooms and a short time later, he again approached them and allegedly started asking them if they wanted to “fool around,” Bauman said.
McKenzie was told by the woman to cease his advances and to get away from them but he persisted, asking the girl her age, insisting that she had to be 18 when she told him she was not, and continually asking the two if they wanted to “fool around.” Bauman said when the two walked away from the man to find a security guard, he followed them and was subsequently detained by security.
Bauman said deputies found McKenzie to be intoxicated and belligerent when they attempted to question him. He denied annoying the two female, and when he attempted to walk away from the deputies, he was placed under arrest.
Deputies transported him to the Lake County Jail where he was booked for misdemeanor charges of public intoxication and annoying or molesting a child under 18 years of age, Bauman said.
It was during the booking process that jail staff became suspicious of the man, who Bauman said was evasive in providing information to booking officers and hesitant to look at the camera for his booking photo.
When his fingerprints were submitted electronically to the Department of Justice, that agency notified the jail there was no record for Jeffrey Arthur Woodward, which made correctional staff increasingly suspicious about the identity he was providing, according to Bauman.
It was a short time later that the jail received another notification confirming the staff's suspicions: Bauman said the Federal Bureau of Investigation database matched the man's prints with those of another subject who was wanted for a federal parole violation.
Bauman reported that, as a result of extensive followup with the FBI and the US Marshal’s Office, jail staff were able to confirm the man's actual name was John Arthur McKenzie and that he in fact had been a federal parolee at large for nearly 30 years out of the state of Virginia.
McKenzie had been convicted and sentenced to six years imprisonment for federal offenses relating to the explosion of a railroad bridge in Massachusetts in 1972, Bauman said.
In 1979, McKenzie was paroled but eight months later a warrant was issued for his arrest due to an alleged parole violation, said Bauman. McKenzie has apparently been on the run and evading authorities ever since.
Bauman said McKenzie is currently being held without bail until he is either extradited by the US Marshal’s Service or a disposition is reached by the Lake County Superior Court on his local charges.
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Last Thursday, the center's bank accounts were drained by a $7,000 levy from the State Franchise Tax Board's Industrial Health and Safety Collections department for back wages to former employees, as Lake County News reported Tuesday.
However, as of midnight Wednesday morning, the funds were returned, said center Executive Director Lee Tyree.
It's a big relief for the center, which found itself unable to cover Meals on Wheels expenses or payroll after the levy hit, Tyree said.
So, what caused the State Franchise Tax Board to change its mind?
For one, the center was getting a lot of help from its friends.
The situation had rallied community members as well as local, state and federal officials – including Supervisor Denise Rushing, Congressman Mike Thompson's district representative Brad Onorato and Assembly member Patty Berg's office – who were doing what they could to intervene on the center's behalf.
Then, on Tuesday morning, Tyree said she received an anonymous phone call from an individual who told her they had seen the article on the center's situation published that day on Lake County News.
She was then instructed about who to call at the State Franchise Tax Board in order to get help in getting the money back. The caller told her that the board can't take funds used for payroll in a case such as this.
Following the caller's instructions, she made a connection with an individual at the tax board who said the money would be returned at midnight Wednesday.
In addition, the board agreed to give the center 30 days to prove it doesn't owe the back wages to the former employees, Tyree said. If it can't prove the wages aren't owed, the center can arrange a payment plan rather than having to pay out a large lump sum.
Tyree on Wednesday was relieved and overjoyed that the funds had been returned. She called the anonymous caller “an angel.”
John Barrett, spokesman for the State Franchise Tax Board, said he couldn't disclose details about the collection action against the center or the levy refund.
Dean Fryer, deputy director of communications for the California Department of Industrial Relations – which also encompasses the state's labor commission – said when employers have judgments against them for delinquent debt such as unpaid wages, the State Franchise Tax Board becomes the collection agency. That's in addition to the board's regular state tax collection duties.
“We have several items in for collections against the senior center,” said Fryer, but those items don't include delinquent taxes.
Altogether, he said the state believes the center owes more than $13,000 for unpaid wages, unreimbursed business expenses, interest and penalties.
The individuals making the claims are four former senior center employees, according to copies of judgment documents Fryer released to Lake County News.
The documents show the labor commissioner held a Feb. 2, 2006 hearing on the claims, which Tyree said were awarded in June of that year.
However, Tyree – who came on as the center's executive director in January – said he only recently had found out about them, and had no warning that the state had intended to collect in the manner it initially did.
Those making claims include Rowland Mosser, the center's former executive director, who was forced out by the center board in August 2005, and three employees who he hired and left the center shortly after he did.
Mosser also is being prosecuted on several charges, including embezzlement and grand theft, in connection with a large sum – as much as $200,000, in one former center official's estimation – that is alleged to have disappeared during his tenure as executive director.
The claims, which total $13,618.29, include:
– Rowland Mosser, $5,193.92 ($2,420, wages; $133.92, interest; $2,640, additional wages accrued as a penalty);
– Sarah E. Weber, $5,360.28 ($1,190.31, wages; $857.60, reimbursable business expenses; $72.37, interest; $1,620, additional wages accrued as a penalty; $1,620, additional wages accrued as a penalty for issuance of nonsufficient funds payroll checks);
– Marie Craig, $2,437.32 ($482.40, wages; $126.72, reimbursable business expenses; $28.20, interest; $1,800, additional wages accrued as a penalty);
– Omega D. Patterson Fox, $626.77 ($599.04, reimbursable business expenses; $27.72, interest).
Last year, the center sold its thrift shop building to the county for $150,000, which allowed it to pay off $33,000 in unpaid taxes to the Internal Revenue Service which Mosser – who served with the center from January of 2002 to August of 2005 – hadn't paid, center officials reported.
Barrett said the center is current on all of its taxes to the state.
However, he discovered in going through the center's files this week that Mosser had failed to file the center's 2004 statement of officers for its board of directors, which every corporation – nonprofit or for profit – is require to file with the state, he said.
That resulted in the center having its corporation status suspended with the California Secretary of State, according to state records.
Barrett said there will be a small fine for that – the nonprofit fine is $50 – but it's easy to resolve.
Tyree said she's been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support for the center.
“This community has really rallied together here,” she said.
Since last Friday, the center has received $1,900 in donations. That kept in motion the center's Meals on Wheels program, which serves thousands of meals to seniors all the way from the Northshore to Blue Lakes and Elk Mountain, Tyree said.
She added that the center was grateful to Thompson, Berg and Rushing, who had stepped up and offered help during the center's crisis.
The center is still facing numerous challenges as it tries to get on an even footing. For information on how to help – whether making a donation of money or time – call the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center at 274-8779.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The envelope, please.
And the winner is Bernie Butcher of the Tallman Hotel/Blue Wing Saloon and Café.
With Butcher’s second annual Blue Wing Blues Festival, Big Blues have hit Upper Lake one more time. As the legendary star of Wednesday night’s opening show, Charlie Musselwhite, would say, “I ain’t lyin’.”
First things first. Even the opening act on Wednesday night are stars. The great Kathi McDonald with Rich Kirch and David Hayes sport resumes that boast tenure with some of the greatest names in music.
At the tender age of 19 McDonald became the first white woman to be an Ikette. In a post show interview McDonald spoke highly of both Ike and Tina Turner. She actually lived with the Turners and was a witness to the many talents of them both.
McDonald has also worked with Big Brother and The Holding Company, Joe Cocker, Leon Russell, The Rolling Stones and many others. She has appeared on more than 150 albums. Her own first solo project, “Insane Asylum,” is a collector’s item.
Guitar man Rich Kirch was born in Chicago and learned that style of blues first hand. He became a member of the Jimmy Dawkins Band which secured him a regular spot on the Chicago Blues scene. He has played in Musselwhite’s band and spent 13 years with John Lee Hooker. Visit Kirch at his Web site, www.richkirch.com. 'Nuff said..
David Hayes has played bass for Terry and The Pirates, Van Morrison, Southside Johnny and The Ashbury Jukes, Jesse Colin Young and many others. For more information on his music visit www.davidhayesmusic.com.
McDonald, Kirch and Hayes played a dynamic set of tunes to open the show, covering the likes of Sonny Boy Williamson, Peter Frampton, Muddy Waters, Freddie King and others. McDonald’s three-and-a-half-octave voice was in fine form and the band’s set was very explosive. They set the stage for local favorites Twice As Good.
Father and son team Rich and Paul Stewart notched up the energy immediately upon taking the stage. They opened their set with their theme song, “2XG,” and followed it with T-Bone Walker’s “T-Bone Shuffle.” Paul lost his porkpie hat while cavorting through the crowd but didn’t miss a lick. The band, featuring Bruce Hodge on drums and Chris Hoke on bass, burned through “Bad Case Of Love,” “Don’t Treat Me Right,” “Shake Your Money Maker,” “Going To Mississippi” and “Shame, Shame, Shame,” among others.
The legendary Charlie Musselwhite joined Twice As Good onstage for the last hour of their set.
Musselwhite, Mississippi born and blues bred, has recorded more than 25 albums and is an elder statesman of the genre. He introduced the crowd to a form of Brazilian blues that he learned on a recent trip there.
The stage marriage of Twice As Good and Musselwhite is seemingly one cast in Blues Heaven. The dance floor was frantic with Lake County dancers and one observer was heard to declare, “Hell, Musselwhite oughta just take Twice As Good on the road with him.”
Sounds like a plan to me.
T. Watts writes on arts and culture for Lake County News, and hosts his own music program on KPFZ 88.1 FM. He's covering the blues festival this week in Upper Lake.
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At the end of the day Wednesday the US Geological Survey's gage height in feet placed Clear Lake's depth at 3.20 feet above Zero Rumsey, the lake's natural low water level, which is 1318.256 feet above mean sea level, according to the Lake County Department of Water Resources.
Wednesday's level for the 63-square-mile lake surpassed that of the same date last year, when it measured 2.78 feet above Rumsey. The 3.20 foot measurement Wednesday also is slightly above the lake's annual average height of about 3.00 feet above Rumsey, recorded between 1979 and 2006.
The Solano Decree, first handed down in 1978 and modified in 1995, determines how much water Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District – which owns the water rights to Clear Lake – can take out of the lake based on water levels on May 1, Water Resources reported.
If the lake is full – or 7.56 feet Rumsey – on May 1 Yolo Flood can take its full allotment, according to Water Resources. If the lake is below 3.22 feet Rumsey, no water can be taken.
Water Resources reported that on May 1 the lake was at 6.67 feet Rumsey, following 8,352 acre feet of water being removed from the lake in April, which reduced the lake's level by 0.09 feet Rumsey.
The slightly better water levels this year meant that Yolo Flood was able to take 119,960 acre feet – 80 percent of their annual allocation – out of the lake for irrigation this year, Water Resources reported.
An acre foot of water is 326,000 gallons – the amount of water it takes to cover an acre of land with one foot of water, according to Water Resources.
That means that, this year, Yolo Flood took more than 39 billion gallons of water from Clear Lake. Had the lake been full, they could have taken an allocation of nearly 49 billion gallons.
In 2007, the May 1 measurement was 5.82 feet Rumsey, which meant Yolo Flood only received a 57-percent allocation, which was just over 85,000 acre feet – or nearly 28 billion gallons of water, as Lake County News has reported.
Due to surface evaporation, Clear Lake's levels can drop anywhere from 3 to 6.5 feet in a summer, according to Water Resources.
Lake levels had started off very strong earlier this year thanks to early season rains and runoff from snow in the mountains, with Clear Lake hitting its fullest point – 7.11 feet Rumsey – on March 21, as opposed to its highest level for 2007, 6.13 feet Rumsey.
The area's creeks are running at below average, according to the US Geological Survey. While Kelsey Creek and Cache Creek at Lower Lake show lower-than-normal gage heights and less water discharge, both Putah Creek near Guenoc and Cache Creek near Hough Springs recorded zero discharge.
Although the lake's depth isn't record-breaking, it's in a better position than some other lakes and reservoirs in Northern California.
Indian Valley Reservoir, also owned by Yolo Flood in Lake County, had 37,296 acre feet of storage on Wednesday, down more than 69,000 acre feet from this time last year, according to Yolo Flood measurements.
Late last month, the state Department of Water Resources reported that levels were dropping in Lake Oroville to the point where the agency was going to have to use extensions for the lake's boat launch ramps, which were on dry ground.
That lake is at 49 percent of average for this time of year and is only 62 feet above its historical low point, reached in September of 1977, the state Department of Water Resources reported.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson