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LUCERNE – State and local officials are taking a close look at the finances of the Lucerne Senior Center, after center board members asked for help in accounting for funds they say came up missing nearly two years ago.
Jim Swatts, the center's executive board president, and J.J. Jackson, the center executive director, both agree that they have been unable to account for between $150,000 and $175,000 in funds from the center prior to taking over leadership of the center in the summer of 2005.
Sheriff Rod Mitchell confirmed this week that an investigation into the center's finances had recently been “revived,” thanks to interest from the Lake County Grand Jury.
Mitchell explained that the center investigation had been opened last year, but that his staff had been unable to continue because homicide and burglary cases had taken precedence, and investigating personnel changed.
The Grand Jury came to Mitchell and asked about what information he had in the investigation, and eventually opened up their own, Mitchell said.
“They're having someone with accounting experience look at it,” he explained.
“It's really the right way to approach a white collar crime-type investigation,” Mitchell added.
Mitchell said his staffers don't have the skills of forensic analysis specific to accounting investigations.
So he and the Grand Jury are collaborating on the investigation. “I'm lending money to help pay for the staffers,” he said.
Mitchell said he's grateful for the Grand Jury's efforts, because “it may provide the resolution that this case needs.”
The District Attorney's Office also is getting involved, said Mitchell. He and DA Jon Hopkins are networking to move the case forward, and Hopkins is lending extra investigators from his department to the effort.
Mitchell would not comment on whether or not the investigation was looking at any specific individuals.
Hopkins confirmed involvement in the case, and said he and Mitchell have discussed working together to finish the investigation.
As to the case's particulars, Hopkins said he could not comment. “I don't want it (the investigation) to run into any problems getting finished,” he said.
Documents in the care of Swatts showed numerous financial oddities, including many checks in large amounts – some has high as $6,000 – written from the center to the center, which then were cashed with no accounting of where the money went.
There are also dozens of checks to then-senior center employees which bounced, and resulted in those employees suing the center through the state Labor Division's Department of Industrial Relations. Swatts and Jackson said the state has ruled the center must pay $9,000 in back wages to four staffers, along with a $3,000 fine.
At times, the center's financial needs were so serious that center board members and private individuals wrote large checks to cover the center's bills. One individual wrote a $7,200 check to cover the center's Pacific Gas & Electric bill.
Documents showed that state Employment Development Department quarterly wage reports in 2004 weren't filed, medical premiums for employees weren't paid and the Lucerne center was borrowing thousands of dollars from the Lakeport Senior Center for purposes including keeping its Meals on Wheels program going.
Swatts and Jackson say there are many missing documents missing, which makes it impossible ever to conduct an official audit of the years before 2005.
They have slowly found more documents that showed the center's tenuous financial situation. Swatts said he and another senior center staff member have delivered two boxes of materials to Deputy Attorney General Jeff Ogata in the California Department of Justice.
Calls to Ogata's office were not returned. Gareth Lacey, spokesman for the California DOJ, said he could not confirm or deny if the agency's charitable trusts division received a complaint about the Lucerne Senior Center.
Neither Hopkins or Mitchell said they had yet had any contact with DOJ in the case.
Through a lot of hard work, senior center officials have managed to put the center on a better track. Jackson estimates that the center's overall debt is now at about $120,000.
The center and the county are working on an agreement in which the county would buy the center's thrift shop building for $150,000 and lease it back to the center for $1 a month. That, said Swatts, would help the center pay its debts and re-roof the main building.
Lake County News will continue to follow the case and publish updates as soon as they are available.
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LAKE COUNTY – The U.S. Attorney General Office's said a drug trafficking investigation that took several years and covered the North Bay area – including Lake County – has resulted in eight indictments and several more arrests.
Eight Santa Rosa residents were indicted Feb. 6 as part of the investigation, Operation Emerald Web, which investigated methamphetamine and other drug trafficking, said U.S. Attorney Kevin V. Ryan.
The charges against the defendants include conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and pseudoephedrine, distribution of methamphetamine, and maintaining a place for manufacturing, storing and distributing marijuana.
The indictment was unsealed Feb. 14 after the individuals were arrested by federal and state law enforcement officers.
Those indicted Feb. 6 were Domingo Tamayo Jr., 27; Javier Tamayo Jr., 31; Julio Palominos, 19; Jose Campos, 54; Richard Moreno, 28; Cristobol Tamayo, 18; Edward Souza, 49; and Carolina Palomares, 55.
Luke Macauley, a spokesman for the US Attorney's Office, said the Lake County Sheriff's Office assisted with arrests in the case and are involved with the ongoing investigation.
“As for impact on drug trafficking in Lake County, I can say that it has disrupted drug trafficking in the area,” said Macauley. “We’ve had large amounts of seizures that illustrate that disruption.”
Sheriff Rod Mitchell confirmed Friday at LCSO and the Lake County Narcotic Task Force were involved in Emerald Web.
Methamphetamine trafficking such as that investigated in Operation Emerald Web has had a severe impact on Lake County.
Laura Solis, administrator of Lake County's Alcohol and Other Drug Services (AODS) department and her treatment coordinator, Mark Messerer, said that methamphetamine is the No. 1 drug of choice among people who come to seek treatment at AODS.
Meth is the No. 1 drug in every county in the state, except two, San Francisco and Marin counties, said Messerer.
Ryan said the arrests are the latest action in an ongoing, multi-agency Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation, one of the largest ever directed against narcotics trafficking in the North Bay.
In the past two years, the investigation resulted in numerous searches that yielded seizures including more than $600,000 in US currency; 35 pounds of methamphetamine; 4 pounds of pseudoephedrine; 3 pounds of cocaine; 5,000 Pounds of Marijuana; nearly 20,000 live marijuana plants; and at least 50 firearms, including at least 5 assault rifles.
The DEA estimates the street value of the seized drugs to be over $5 million.
The investigation, begun in late 2004, was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Federal Bureau of Investigation, along with substantial assistance from LCSO; the Sonoma County Narcotics Task Force; the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department; the Mendocino County Sheriff's Department; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement; the Santa Rosa Police Department; the Petaluma Police Department; the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation; and the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office.
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LAKE COUNTY – A Clearlake man found guilty in Sonoma County of second degree murder had his conviction overturned in the state's First Appellate District Court.
Lance Ernest Laumann, 52, won the decision on Feb. 16, according to court documents, after the judges ruled his conviction was based on an improper legal theory.
Laumann was convicted in 1999 of several charges, chief among them second degree murder for the death of his girlfriend, Sandra “May” Lyndall, who died while Laumann was attempting to escape from police.
He also was convicted of vehicular manslaughter, evasion of a police officer, being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and several drug offenses.
In April 1999, Sonoma County officials found a loaded sawed-off rifle and the components of a methamphetamine laboratory in a car linked to Laumann.
The next month, during an early morning traffic stop, Laumann sped away from police. He led them on a high-speed chase reaching speeds of 70 to 80 miles per hour before crashing his car.
Lyndall, who was riding in the car with him, was ejected from the vehicle during the collision and later died.
Court documents say that the second-degree felony murder conviction against Laumann was predicated on his attempt to evade police, which prosecutors claimed caused him to drive in a “willful and wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property while fleeing from the police,” according to Vehicle Code Section 2800.2.
Laumann was sentenced to 30 years to life – 15 years to life for second degree murder and 15 years for the other offenses. He has been serving time in San Quentin State Prison.
Since his conviction, Laumann had repeatedly made appeals at the appellate and state Supreme Court levels. Among his arguments was that Vehicle Code Section 2800.2 was not an inherently dangerous felony under the felony murder rule, and thus could not be a predicate felony for second degree felony murder, according to court documents.
Both the appellate and Supreme Court upheld his conviction. Then, in January 2005, in reviewing another case, the Supreme Court concluded that section 2800.2 can't serve as the basis for a valid theory of second degree felony murder.
In November 2006, Laumann filed another appeal based on the January 2005 ruling. That appeal resulted in the Feb. 16 ruling.
In addition to finding that Laumann's murder conviction was based on an invalid theory, the court ruled that the jury in Laumann's trial was not instructed on the elements of implied malice necessary for a second degree murder conviction.
The court ruled that Laumann's case be remanded to the trial court in Sonoma County for further proceedings, which could include retrial under a valid murder theory or resentencing.
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The school's efforts were recognized this week by the state, when State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell named the school one of 13 Model Continuation High Schools for 2007.
It's the third time the school has received the honor, which recognizes schools for outstanding programs designed to help at-risk students.
The school's previous wins came in 2002 and 1995.
"These 13 schools provide promising practices that other continuation high schools may emulate to help students with diverse needs complete their high school education," said O’Connell. "These schools were selected because of their exemplary programs that are designed to close the achievement gap, keep kids in school so they can graduate, and adequately prepare them for careers or college.”
Continuation high schools such as Carle serve students aged 16 years or older who are at risk of not graduating from high school.
The state reported that more than 69,000 California high school students attended 521 continuation high schools in 2005-06, the latest data available.
Ninety-five students were enrolled at Carle during the 2005-06 school year, according to CDE statistics; there are 3,200 students in the entire Konocti Unified School District.
Carle's dedicated faculty and staff, led by Principal William MacDougall, have been recognized locally for their efforts as well.
The school's Web site reports that Carle has received six-year accreditations from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges in 1992, 1998 and 2004, as well as Exemplary Program Recognition Awards from the California Continuation Education Association for its Career Pathway Program in 1999 and its Treating the Influence classroom program in 2004.
Carle also offers its students the chance to participate in real-world business projects, such as Pegasus Promotional Products, which markets, designs and manufactures personalized products; and the video production business Pegasus Productions, which creates public service announcements and videotapes special events such as concerts at Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa, according to the school's Web site.
Among its noted staff are husband and wife teaching team Alan and Angie Siegel both have received Lake County Teacher of the Year honors, in 2005 and 2006 respectively.
Alan Siegel – who teaches history, civics and economics – went on to be named one of five California Teachers of the Year for 2005.
In 2006, the school staff won a Stars of Lake County Award in the “youth advocate, professional” category.
The school even had its own cat, Jack, who showed up on the school's doorstep several years ago, sick, injured and hungry. Science teacher Tom Essex's son, Scott, who happens to be a vet, fixed Jack up, and he became a fixture in the school's office, where he liked to lounge on Secretary Barbara Dye's desk.
“Jack found his way here all on his own, and it was just meant to be,” said Dye.
For the school, Jack became a symbol of what love and nurturing can do. The school's Web site said of Jack: “Jack-the-Cat reminds us of our students in many ways. He arrived in sad shape, but with a little time and nurturing, he has blossomed into a fine and happy cat.”
Jack died last May 15, but still remains on the school's site. “We haven't had the heart to take him off,” said Dye.
They've been offered plenty of new cats, but haven't taken one, she said. “We figure some day another cat will wander in if it's meant to be.”
Continuation education isn't a new idea. The California Department of Education’s (CDE) Continuation Education program has been an option for students since 1919.
The program emphasizes career technical education, uses exemplary instructional strategies, offers students guidance, counseling services, and more flexible school schedules to meet their needs.
The Model Continuation High School Recognition Program is a partnership of the CDE and the California Continuation Education Association that identifies and recognizes outstanding programs and creates a resource list of quality programs for school visitations. Fourteen schools applied for the recognition.
Applicants must be accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, demonstrate exemplary program effectiveness, school management, curriculum, instructional strategies, assessment and evaluation, education climate, and guidance and counseling, CDE reported.
Parents, students and community members were required to submit narrative statements supporting their respective schools, according to CDE. A review team visited the schools and recommended 13 for model school status.
The selected schools retain their title for three years and must submit an annual assurance of compliance with model school guidelines in order to maintain the designation.
Carle and the 12 other schools join 61 previously designated Model Continuation High Schools.
Visit Carle High School online at www.carle.lake.k12.ca.us/.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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