LUCERNE, Calif. – Lucerne Elementary School students had the chance to learn about government directly from Lake County’s state senator, Mike McGuire, during a special Wednesday visit.

McGuire made an appearance at an assembly that was held for the seventh and eighth grade students.

He spoke to the students about leadership and government, which supports the curriculum for the eighth grade students on the U.S. Constitution.

Sen. McGuire engaged students with questions about what changes they would make in our country to make it a better place.

At one point in the assembly, McGuire had students and staff up on their feet doing the sprinkler dance and having a great time. Even Principal/Superintendent Mike Brown and District 3 Supervisor-elect Eddie Crandell, also a parent of a student, got in on the action.

Students Tillie Grant and Cassidy McAuley presented Sen. McGuire with an Eagle lapel pin and named him an honorary "Lucerne Eagle.”

Staff said the event was a special treat for the students and made a huge impact on them.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – On Saturday, Dec. 1, the city of Clearlake and the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce sponsored the annual Christmas Parade along Lakeshore Drive and tree lighting ceremony at Austin Park.

There were a number of outstanding participants in the parade, but the judges chose the Lower Lake High School Marching Band as the first place winner, with Clearlake Bass Master in second and Action Sanitation in third.

“I would like to thank all the participants in this year’s parade,” said Clear Lake Chamber Manager Patrick Prather.

This year’s grand marshals for the parade were two students, Bianca Saldana and Jovanni Marcial.

Bianca was selected by Pomo School staff members and Jovanni was selected by other students at Burns Valley School. Both were chosen based on outstanding personal qualities that make them stand out as positive examples by students and staff alike.

City Manager Greg Folsom, added “This is one of my favorite events of the year. I love the participation of the community in braving the elements to participate in the festivities. The city of Clearlake has added more lights in Austin Park this year, as well as on City Hall.”

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. and First Lady Anne Gust Brown hosted the 87th annual Capitol Christmas Tree lighting ceremony Thursday evening on the West Steps of the State Capitol.

“During this very special and holy season, we remember our friends and our blessings but we also take into account those who have suffered losses, particularly those who have lost so many loved ones in the fires in California, our firefighters and the other first responders,” said Gov. Brown.

This year, the governor and first lady lit the Capitol Christmas tree with 7-year-old Kiran Dong of Valencia, who was born with Prader-Willi Syndrome and receives services from the North Los Angeles County Regional Center.

The tree is illuminated by approximately 10,000 ultra-low wattage LED lights and is decorated with more than 900 hand-crafted ornaments made by children and adults with developmental disabilities who receive services and support from the state’s developmental centers and 21 nonprofit regional centers.

This year’s tree is a 65-foot-tall white fir from the Latour Demonstration State Forest located near Redding in Shasta County, the seventh Capitol Christmas tree to come from a state forest managed by Cal Fire.

Kitty O’Neal of KFBK Radio emceed the ceremony, which included feature performances by the California Army National Guard’s DET 1, 40th Infantry Division Band, Brass Quintet, the Governor’s Own; students from the Oakland Military Institute and Oakland School for the Arts; Harley White Jr. Trio; and St. Paul’s Baptist Church Choir.

More information about Kiran Dong can be found here.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office is now using the WeTip program to fight crime in Mendocino County.

WeTip provides a hotline number which anyone can call if they have information about any crime or potentially hazardous condition in our communities, according to Lt. Greg Stefani.

Stefani said all callers to WeTip remain anonymous. The program also offers rewards of up to $1,000.00 for tips that ultimately result in a conviction.

If you have information that could help law enforcement agencies bring criminals to justice, please call WeTip at 1-800-732-7463.

Additionally, tips can be submitted online at http://www.wetip.com .

WeTip hotlines are answered by bilingual tip operators 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. All calls are anonymous, not just confidential. No one will ever know who made the call. The operator will then ask a series of questions, designed by law enforcement, to obtain the maximum amount of information about the reported crime.

After the information is taken, a code name and number are assigned to the informant. The caller always remains absolutely anonymous.

The WeTip operator will take the information and pass it on to appropriate law officers who then conduct their own investigation. Only calls made directly to WeTip will be eligible for reward.

If your information results in an arrest and conviction, you will be given up to $1,000 cash, depending upon the importance of the crime solved. Your identity will never be known to anyone.

The reward drop is made at a secret postal location, using the assigned code names and case numbers. No personal contact is ever made with the informant.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council this week gave the go-ahead to city staff to apply for a federal grant that would fund most of a revamped and reestablished police K-9 program and accepted a new protocol for seating Lake County Fire Protection District Board members.

On Tuesday, the council held a public hearing to consider adopting a resolution supporting an application to the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development Communities Facilities Loan and Grant Program for the Lakeport Police K-9 program.

Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen said his department wants to reestablish its police dog program, which has been inactive since its last dog, Max, retired in 2009.

In August, Rasmussen had gone to the council to ask for a council member to be appointed, at the appropriate time, to the board of directors of a newly forming nonprofit, “Friends of Lakeport PD,” which David Brown, owner of Susie Q’s Donuts in Lakeport, is founding to support the department’s K-9 program, as Lake County News has reported.

At about the same time as the Lakeport Police Department began working with Brown, they were contacted by a representative from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, who advised them about a new opportunity for funds for a police K-9 program.

“As you’re aware, we've been working on this for several months now,” Rasmussen said.

He said all the work has been done to submit the grant to the USDA. What remained to be done on Tuesday was to get the council's approval to direct the city manager to sign off on getting the final submission done.

Rasmussen said the department could receive about $68,500, which he said would be “a very good start” to getting the program under way. He said the funds can be used for any part of the program, including vehicles, which can be very expensive, as well as the costs of the dog and its training, and training and lodging for the handler.

“We do have plenty of time if it gets approved to make sure that our nonprofit is also able to provide some of the other needed funding for the program,” Rasmussen said.

Councilman George Spurr asked if Rasmussen was going to have an existing car retrofitted or if they would get a new one.

Rasmussen said the plan is to get a specially outfitted Chevy Tahoe for the K-9. The department has been in the process of getting new vehicles.

All told, Rasmussen said the grant funding would cover about 75 percent of the program, with the nonprofit to supply the rest.

“So we’re looking really good if this goes through,” said Councilman Kenny Parlet.

Spurr followed up by asking if the program has to be kept in existence for a specific number of years. Not necessarily, said Rasmussen, but the department couldn’t simply stop the program and sell the K-9.

He said he has up to five years to use the money. “I don't expect it to take that long.”

There was no public comment and Councilwoman Stacey Mattina moved the resolution, which the council approved unanimously.

New protocol for filling fire district board seats

The evening’s other main item of action was the consideration of a resolution to establish a protocol for appointing directors to the Lakeport Fire Protection District Board.

The document that City Attorney David Ruderman presented to the council mirrored a resolution accepted by the Board of Supervisors on Nov. 20.

Ruderman, County Counsel Anita Grant and the general counsel for the fire district had worked together to craft the protocol, which Ruderman said is meant to allow them to move forward in logical way to make sure the district has the representation it needs.

He explained that the fire district board is appointed, not elected, and that to become elected the fire district board would have to decide to make that change.

Absent that, he said the Fire Protection District Act – which formed the basis of the resolution – allows for appointment of board members from cities and counties based on proportionate share of population.

Looking at the current fire district population, Ruderman said there is a slight majority residing in the unincorporated county.

Ruderman said that, previously, in the agreement the city had with the district when it was annexed, the city council was to recommend two fire district board members and the county approved them.

He said that doesn’t quite jive with what the Fire Protection Board Act says, and so in the resolution that was specifically amended.

The result, said Ruderman, is that the city will have two appointees and the county will have three.

He said they also decided that the best way to move forward was to slightly stagger the seats, so the resolution has a provision that says two vacancies are coming up for 2019 and the rest in 2020.

So for the coming year, the county and the city would each have one appointment, and for 2020 the county will have two more appointments and the city one, Ruderman said.

The original agreement called for the county and city to appoint four of the board members and for those four to appoint the fifth. That’s changed now in the new protocol, but Ruderman said the board can always make recommendations.

He said fire district board appointees must live in the district. He said the city can appoint members who don’t live within city limits, but it also can limit itself to only appointing city residents.

If the 2020 Census or other data shows that the population apportionment has changed, the city and county can revisit how many members they would appoint, he said.

Ruderman noted that the supervisors had already approved a resolution that’s similar to the city’s, and that the fire district board is set to consider its own version of the resolution in the next week or so.

Spurr asked if anyone has shown interest in the seats yet. City Manager Margaret Silveira said at least two people have submitted applications. The application period is open through 5 p.m. Dec. 12.

John Whitehead, chair of the fire district board, said he had reviewed the draft resolution. “It all looked fine to me. I didn't see any issues with it.”

He said he would like to see a two-year stagger, with the next appointments in 2021, not 2020.

He said they have another vacancy, in addition to the seat that Gerry Mills retired from in September; Bill Whipple, the fire district board’s vice chair, has just turned in his resignation.

Ruderman said that it had been the county’s position that all of the fire board trustee seats were coming available in 2018. There had been interest from the fire district counsel in having two-year staggered terms, and the compromise was the one-year stagger. He said either was fine from his perspective.

“I would recommend that we be consistent with the county, because that’s the entire purpose of this,” said Ruderman, noting that a two-year stagger between the seats is “certainly rational.”

He said one option was for the council to adopt the resolution as is and then reopen it later. They also could amend the year for the next appointments, moving it from 2020 to 2021, but that would lead to a conflict with the county’s rules.

The other option, and the one the council ultimately accepted, was to adopt the resolution and direct Ruderman and Silveira to reopen the discussion about a two-year stagger with the county’s representatives.

“That makes more sense, keep it moving forward that way,” said Mattina.

Dan Kane, president of the Lakeport Professional Firefighters Association, thanked the council for it hard work on the resolution, saying he understands the challenges.

Kane asked if there be a protocol for an interview and testing process for prospective board members. Silveira said there will be an interview process.

Mayor Mireya Turner, who formerly worked in the Board of Supervisors office, said that based on her experience it’s best to have commissions and boards standardized and agreed with the two-year stagger, noting it’s better for the public.

Councilman Tim Barnes moved to approve the resolution, which Spurr seconded and the council approved 5-0.

The council also reached unanimous consensus to direct staff to look into extending appointments from 2020 to 2021 in order to have the two-year stagger.

Turner then offered a heartfelt thank you to the fire board members for their work.

In other business on Tuesday, Turner presented the Government Finance Officers Association Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting to Finance Director Nick Walker.

An introduction of new employees was rescheduled to the next meeting.

When the council emerged from closed session, Mayor Mireya Turner said the council voted 5-0 in closed session to extend for six months – or until July 1, 2019 – an agreement with Verizon Wireless that would lengthen the window in which the company could file suit over the denial of its appeal for a wireless tower.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

120418 Lakeport City Council agenda packet by LakeCoNews on Scribd

LAKEPORT, Calif. – As Lake County’s registrar of voters prepared to retire at month’s end, the Board of Supervisors has appointed her longtime deputy to fill the job on an interim basis.

The Board of Supervisors emerged from closed session on Tuesday to announce that it had appointed Maria Valadez as interim registrar of voters, upon the retirement of Registrar Diane Fridley.

Valadez’s appointment is effective on Dec. 29.

Fridley, whose retirement becomes official on Dec. 28, has worked for the Registrar of Voters Office since December 1977, serving as registrar since 2002, when the office became its own separate department.

During an October discussion, the Board of Supervisors considered how to fill the registrar’s job permanently going forward, with options including changing the job’s requirements and possibly consolidating it with another department, as it had been previously.

At that time, the supervisors directed staff to interview interim candidates while they decide what path to take moving forward.

Interviews and discussions about the job were conducted in closed sessions beginning last month, leading up to Valadez’s selection on Tuesday.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Lodging operators in Lake County are coming together to form a new assessment district solely devoted to marketing the county as one of Northern California’s newest tourist destinations for wine, recreation and natural beauty.

The new entity will be known as the Lake County Tourism Improvement District, or LCTID, and will join 105 other Tourism Improvement Districts – also known as TIDs – in California, and 172 nationwide, which provide dedicated funds for the promotion of the destination and expanding tourism efforts.

Lodging establishments in the unincorporated area of Lake County and the cities of Lakeport and Clearlake will pay an assessment of 1.5 percent of gross room rental revenues to fund the new district.

“Lake County is within a few hours drive from all the major cities in Northern California,” said Lake County Administrator Officer Carol J. Huchingson. “As a community we are making great strides to enhance our tourism offerings, recreational activities and festivals. We see great potential in growing Lake County as a tourist destination through the marketing efforts the LCTID will fund.”

A TID Board of Directors was appointed at an organizational meeting held at Twin Pines Casino on Nov. 20.

The LCTID by-laws require that the board be comprised of representatives of businesses paying the assessment, Indian gaming entities, other tourism related businesses and local government officials.

The new directors include the following individuals:

· Brian Fisher (Suite on Main, Kelseyville);
· Michelle Scully (County of Lake);
· Greg Folsom (City of Clearlake);
· Lynne Butcher (Tallman Hotel, Upper Lake);
· Jitu Ishwar (Anchorage Inn, Lakeport);
· Maryann Schmid (The Lodge at Blue Lakes, Upper Lake);
· Larry Galupe (Twin Pine Casino & Hotel, Middleton);
· Havi W. (Skylark Shores Resort, Lakeport);
· Arnna Egan (Saratoga Springs Retreat Center, Upper Lake).

More than 100 tourist destinations have formed tourism improvement districts in California.

As the newest TID in the state, LCTID is expected to have a budget of about $170,000 in the first year to supplement existing county funding for tourism promotion.

“The LCTID Board of Directors is a talented group of tourism professionals,” said Board Chair Larry Galupe. “As we join together to market Lake County as the next 'must visit destination' in California, all of our businesses and communities will benefit.”

The next meeting of the LCTID Board of Directors is scheduled to take place on Thursday, Dec. 13, upstairs in the Courthouse Museum.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council is planning a special meeting to discuss several items of business.

The council will meet at 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.

On the agenda is consideration of a contract for the OpenGov cloud software and services, at a cost of $160,000 over five years.

City Manager Greg Folsom said the software will help with budgeting and planning, performance management and strategic planning, and citizen engagement.

The council also will consider a letter of appreciation to Adventist Health.

Folsom’s report to the council on the proposed letter said that Adventist Health recently held its 50th anniversary and raised $100,000 that it intends to donate to the city for a children’s park.

In other business, the council will consider offering a letter in support of a proposal to the United States Department of Agriculture to relocate the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the Economic Research Service to Lake County.

On the consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – is consideration of continuation of a local emergency issued on Oct. 9, 2017, and ratified by council action Oct. 12, 2017.

After the open portion of the meeting the council will hold a closed session to discuss an evaluation of Folsom and property negotiations for 14130 Tuli Lane.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story contains graphic descriptions of sexual assault, human trafficking and related crimes.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Tuesday a Lakeport man was sentenced to prison for human trafficking as the result of a plea agreement he reached in October with the District Attorney’s Office, a deal that two of his victims objected to as far too lenient and asked the judge to reject.

Sam Lindsey Massette, 37, was sentenced to the upper term of 20 years for two counts of human trafficking for the purposes of prostitution and two counts of pimping women in prostitution, and ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

Judge Michael Lunas, who handed down the sentence, explained in court that, with credits and time served, Massette is expected to serve about nine years in prison.

In victim impact statements read in court, two of Massette’s victims objected to the plea agreement.

“I spit on this plea deal. My justice has been stolen,” wrote a young woman who also stated that the District Attorney’s Office had made her promises in the case that were broken.

Judge Lunas concluded he had little latitude in the matter and that it ultimately was up to the district attorney to decide how to prosecute a case.

Massette and his wife, 28-year-old Krystina Marie Pickersgill, were arrested on June 5 on allegations of selling teenage girls into prostitution in the Bay Area, as Lake County News has reported.

Investigation into the allegations began two months before the arrests after a young woman who had been one of the couple’s victims approached District Attorney Don Anderson following a production in Lakeport of the play “Jane Doe in Wonderland,” a play written for young adults that explains how victims are lured into human trafficking.

Following the couple’s arrests, more victims came forward and were added to the case, the District Attorney’s Office said.

Altogether, Massette and Pickersgill were charged with 10 counts the included human trafficking, pimping and pandering for their crimes against five young women, identified as Jane Does one through five in court records.

However, it was explained in court on Tuesday that the plea agreement involved four charges for only four of the victims.

The charging documents said Massette and Pickersgill posted Internet ads to solicit sex with the victims, transported them to San Francisco, kept them in hotel rooms where the prostitution activities were conducted and received the money individuals paid to have sex with the victims.

Massette also was alleged to have had a prior serious felony conviction for vehicular manslaughter as a result of an incident in San Francisco in February 2002 during which he ran over and killed 16-year-old Nicholas Artola in a Safeway parking lot during a gang fight.

In October, Pickersgill reached an agreement with Anderson in which she pleaded guilty to one count of human trafficking and will receive three years of probation, credit for the four months she served in the Lake County Jail after her arrest and strict mental health treatment. She faces up to 12 years in prison if she does not complete the terms of her probation.

Anderson said he believed that when Pickersgill met Massette she was on medication for mental health issues. He said Massette took her off of the medication and coerced her into prostitution. While Anderson believed Pickersgill initially was a victim, he said she later became “a willing participant.”

Pickersgill’s plea agreement resulted in a backlash of public opinion for Anderson, with community members calling it too lenient.

Anderson said Tuesday that Pickersgill is expected to be sentenced next week.

Victims describe crimes, criticize plea agreement

Leniency would again be a concern during Massette’s Tuesday afternoon sentencing, which ran about a half hour in Lunas’ courtroom. In addition to Anderson, the hearing was attended by his successor, District Attorney-elect Susan Krones.

A District Attorney’s Office staffer read three victim impact statements which explained in stark detail what the young women suffered, their response to Massette’s sentencing and fears of retaliation.

The first statement was from a young woman who was 16 when she first met Massette. She described a problematic home life. “Sam was aware of the hard time I was having,” she said, explaining that he used it to groom her for his plans.

He gave her drugs and alcohol and, after only two weeks of knowing her, he offered her a job in San Francisco. When she went with him to San Francisco, she said he took her to a friend's house, told her to take off her clothes and began taking pornographic pictures of her.

What followed was four months of Massette selling her as a prostitute on the weekends. She said both Massette and a friend also had sex with her.

Throughout this time, the young woman said Massette kept her high on methamphetamine and alcohol. She would be an addict for several years as a result. She said she felt dirty.

She asked for the court to give Massette the maximum punishment so he can’t get out of prison and commit the same crimes again.

The second letter came from a young woman who called herself “the last Jane Doe.”

“Half a year is all it took for Sam Massette to turn my life upside down,” she said, describing how Massette shared with her his desire to create a prostitution empire. He had violent tendencies and what she called a bipolar character.

Massette, who worked as a counselor – and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology he earned from Marymount California University in 2016 – “used his profession to get inside the minds and heart of his victims, including me,” she said.

She called Massette a “monster” who has never shown compassion or mercy. “He deserves nothing. Prison is too good for him.”

The young woman also said the punishment didn’t fit the crime. “How could this sentence ever been seen as just or fair?” she asked, noting he had even victimized his own wife.

“Sam Massette made me feel like an object,” she said, explaining that when he looked at women he only saw price tags on their heads.

Had he not been caught, he would have continued his crimes, she said, adding, “This parasite deserves no mercy, no compassion and no respect.”

The third letter was from a young woman who said she was 17 when Massette and another man transported her to a cheap hotel in San Francisco, where she was subjected to one night of prostitution before she told them her self respect was not for sale.

She said she didn't know if she would be killed for refusing. “Luckily, I was unharmed.”

Over the years, she said she told people about Massette but nothing was done. However, after his June arrest, she reached out to a District Attorney’s Office investigation about her experiences and those of another young woman. She said Massette targeted children.

She voiced betrayal and anger at the plea agreement. “I was given promises in return for my cooperation,” she said. “Those promises have been broken.”

She said the prosecution has physical evidence, four victims willing to testify and yet still only offered a deal with a total 20-year term. Most disgusting to her was that she said the plea was not presented to the victims.

The young woman recounted watching a 15-year-old child cry and beg Massette not to force her to have sex with more men due to pain. Massette, in response, laughed and told the girl, “You can be done when the phone stops ringing.”

She said she spit on the deal, that her justice had been stolen. “This is not justice for a repeat offender. This is not justice for a man who killed someone and joked about it,” she said in reference to the 2002 San Francisco vehicular manslaughter case in which Massette was convicted.

The woman said Massette is a career criminal who talked openly about his criminal lifestyle, and had sports cars and mink coats.

“Please do everything in your power to give justice to the victims,” she wrote.

Judge moves forward with sentencing despite concerns of victims

Massette, who has remained in custody since his June arrest, sat facing Judge Lunas from the courtroom’s jury box while wearing a black and white jumpsuit. He was seated alongside his attorney, Tom Quinn.

Following the reading of the victim impact statements, Quinn told the court that Massette did have remorse. Quinn cited a letter Massette had submitted to the court, and added that the victims had been in contact with Massette more than 10 years ago.

Anderson countered that Massette has been on a continuing course of conduct over the past 10 years.

Lunas said he had reviewed the case. “I take issue with the representation that Mr. Massette shows remorse.”

The judge cited Massette’s own words in the letter that was included in the probation report, in which Massette claimed no one forced anyone to work with him and his wife.

“That, to the court's mind, does not recognize accountability or remorse,” and certainly not any sympathy for the harm left in Massette’s and Pickersgill’s trail, Lunas said.

In that letter, a copy of which was obtained by Lake County News, Massette said that he had fallen on hard times and that his wife, who was working as a “webcam model” and a hairdresser, was supporting him.

Yet, in the next paragraph, he wrote that no one was forced to work with his wife, but that “they were attracted to us and the life style,” and made the choice to work with them.

He said human trafficking “is something far more involved and sinister,” and that he and his wife were not a criminal organization or gang. “I feel hurt and sorry, as well as my wife Krystina about any hurt, distress, we/I had caused for anyone that was overwhelmed, or misunderstood what we were doing.” He claimed they went to great lengths to tell the women what they were doing.

“We are a loving couple unlike what has been said in the papers,” he said, adding later, “The human trafficking charges were far over blown.”

Lunas said the issue for the court was whether the plea agreement be accepted, which it had been by another judge.

That led to the question before him, specifically – whether to follow through. “There are certainly reasons not to,” Judge Lunas acknowledged, citing the harm the victims had suffered and how Massette had targeted vulnerable girls.

Lunas said it would be problematic for him to second guess the District Attorney’s Office in evaluating strengths and weaknesses of a case, noting that it’s the district attorney’s job to set aside emotion and feelings and make a determination on how to try a case. “I have a reason to believe that has occurred in this case.”

While he understood the call for additional punishment for Massette, Lunas said he didn’t believe the court had that ability at this point, and trying to take that action would start the proceedings anew, which he wasn’t willing to do.

Lunas pointed out that the court at one point would have possibly had some discretion in making the counts run consecutive rather than concurrent, which could have added another 10 years to Massette’s sentence.

Quinn pointed out that Massette and Pickersgill had given up a few hundred thousand dollars’ worth of assets, among them them, several vehicles – including two newer Jaguars – and $14,000 in cash.

Anderson countered that two vehicles were returned to the bank and the others seized were not worth as much as originally thought.

Lunas then passed sentence, denying Massette probation and ordering him to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Massette also was ordered to pay a $6,000 restitution fine and several hundred dollars in court-related fines and fees.

At the same time, the remaining six counts in the complaint against Massette were dismissed by Lunas.

After the sentencing had concluded, Anderson told Lake County News he had met with some of the victims to tell them about the plea agreement.

While all of the charges against Massette could have resulted in a life sentence had he been convicted, Anderson said he didn’t think he could have won that case at trial.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Tuesday, District Attorney Don Anderson and members of his staff went before the Board of Supervisors to respond to allegations raised at a meeting last month about his use of county resources, including his vehicle and credit card, for personal uses.

The board had initially asked Anderson to respond to allegations raised by Supervisor Rob Brown at the meeting on Nov. 20, as Lake County News has reported.

Anderson said Tuesday that he had been in San Diego in the days before the Nov. 20 meeting and had gotten back on the afternoon of Nov. 19. He also said he had another appointment he didn’t want to change. He had told Lake County News last week that he didn’t return until the afternoon of Nov. 20.

Due to not being able to answer the questions raised by Brown, the board had voted on Nov. 20 to subject Anderson’s spending on training and travel to preapproval by County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson until Dec. 4 when he had another chance to appear. Had he not gone before the board on Tuesday, the spending limit could have been extended through the end of his term, which ends this month.

By the end of the discussion, the majority of the board didn’t support continuing the spending limits on Anderson.

Anderson’s successor, District Attorney-elect Susan Krones, was in the audience for the discussion.

For his Tuesday appearance before the board, Anderson provided a 117-page report for the board with spending details that his staff had compiled. He was accompanied to the meeting by his administrative coordinator Doris Lankford and Chief Investigator Bruce Smith. The introduction and summary of the report is below.

Anderson presents responses

In response to various allegations made at the last meeting Anderson said he hadn’t used his county credit card to gas up his daughters’ vehicles – that he would use his own credit card to do so while he was at gas stations using his county credit card for his county issued vehicles.

Anderson said that 2,087 gallons of gas have been used since his county car was bought in 2016, with mileage totaling 71,000 miles at an average 25 miles per gallon.

He said he’s taken on private cases for friends over the years. Anderson said state law allows him to do private cases, but he can’t do criminal cases, cases that go against county or eminent domain.

In eight years he said he’s only taken 28 days off for personal time and when he’s done private cases he’s combined trips out of county with county-related work, like a meeting with district attorneys in other counties in Napa County earlier this year regarding the Sulphur fire.

He acknowledged mixing “business with pleasure” when using the county car.

Regarding allegations about drinking and then driving his county vehicle, Anderson said, “That’s bull****.”

He said he saw Brown at Angel’s restaurant in Finley while he was there having dinner, and he accused Brown of having called the California Highway Patrol on him, which Brown later denied in the meeting. Anderson said he called CHP himself and an officer responded, giving him – at his request – a field sobriety test to provide he wasn’t inebriated.

Anderson also denied speaking with criminal defendants about their cases and said he had gone to a conference in San Diego last month to meet with four instructors with a company which is offering to provide free training on search warrants and police officer testimony in Lake County, as Anderson had told Lake County News last week.

Anderson said at one time he and Brown had been friendly and could talk. For one reason or another, “That’s gone south.”

Brown responds to Anderson’s explanations

Brown agreed the men had been friendly at one time and said it hadn’t been meant to get this far, but the situation had resulted from the failure to respond to Public Records Act requests.

He said he has an obligation to bring things forward when they are reported to the county counsel and the department. Over the years, he said he’d had 12 occasions where he had raised issues similar to this, and they didn’t all end this way.

Brown said he submitted a Public Records Act request to County Counsel Anita Grant on June 4. Grant in turn explained that he had submitted it to her and to the auditor-controller, and that she then went to Anderson’s staff to ask questions and get information.

While Anderson’s report said Brown’s efforts started when his son Steven Brown started running for district attorney earlier this year, Brown said he actually had started looking into the spending in May of 2017. He said he had tried to be careful to not do anything around the election in order to not make it political.

Brown denied Anderson’s accusation about contact his ex-wife for dirt on him, explaining that they exchanged Facebook messages at the time of the Tubbs fire, when Brown had contacted her to see how she was doing.

He also said he wasn’t mad about Anderson not firing a deputy district attorney who had made derogatory comments about his daughter-in-law. Brown had reported the issue to Anderson, along with a vandalism that individual had been involved with, and raised issue with that deputy district attorney possibly doing a favor for a friend who wasn’t prosecuted after being arrested by the CHP for felony evasion.

Brown wasn’t impressed with Anderson’s report or explanations, noting Anderson had investigated himself and found nothing. “So that’s the comfort we have in that.”

He presented a slide show showing Anderson’s vehicle parked at various bars and restaurants on specific dates to back up his assertions about Anderson drinking and driving. Brown also showed court documents and letters to the editor relating to Anderson’s doing private casework.

Brown then showed a Public Records Act request Anderson himself had filed with the county to get records of any communications between Brown and District Attorney’s Office employees, which he called “chilling” because he said it’s about retaliation. He said he would not comply with any such records request to give up employees trying to do the right thing.

Board members don’t agree to further action

Board Chair Jim Steele asked Anderson if he keeps regular office hours. Anderson said yes and no, that he tries to be there from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and he often works late and on weekends. He added that there’s actually no requirement that he ever actually show up for work.

Steele followed up by asking if Anderson had ever had a DUI or been pulled over for one. Anderson said no.

Huchingson said during the discussion that county policy is clear that county vehicles can’t be used for any private business.

Ultimately, the board as a whole didn’t support taking any further action. Both Tina Scott and Moke Simon said the board was the wrong venue to explore the concerns.

Brown made a motion to continue preapproving Anderson’s spending through the end of his term, which died for lack of a second.

Anderson said he wished there could be communications to avoid such a situation. Brown said he had asked the questions and been refused answers, which Anderson denied.

Steele said it was his decision to bring the matter forward in an effort to be transparent. Anderson said Steele did everything right, and that they needed to respond to the allegations.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

120418 Anderson Report to the BOS by LakeCoNews on Scribd

LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Tuesday Lakeport Police officers arrested a Lakeport woman for drunk driving, later finding out her blood alcohol level was five times the legal limit.

Angela Fife, 44, who has several previous DUIs on her record, was taken into custody early Tuesday evening, according to Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen.

Rasmussen said that at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday an off-duty Lakeport Police officer was driving a personal vehicle on Lakeshore Boulevard in the 2000 block when the officer saw a silver Chevrolet Impala driving south on Lakeshore Boulevard and noticed it was weaving and in the bicycle lane and on the roadway shoulder.

Rasmussen said the officer then saw the vehicle go into the opposite lane head on toward another vehicle.

Not being able to stop the Impala, the officer called in the vehicle and requested assistance for a drunk driver stop. While waiting for other LPD officers, Rasmussen said the off-duty officer continued to follow the Impala and make observations.

Rasmussen said the Impala continued to travel dangerously and in the area of South Main Street and Lupoyoma Avenue it went through a crosswalk with a pedestrian trying to cross.

On-duty officers were responding in an emergency manner in order to get into position to stop the Impala and were able to stop it in the 300 Block of Lakeport Boulevard, Rasmussen said.

The driver and sole occupant of the vehicle was identified as Fife, who officers determined was in fact intoxicated with a blood alcohol level of .40 percent. Rasmussen said that level is five times .08 percent, which is the limit where a person is presumed to be intoxicated while driving in California.

Because of her high blood alcohol content, Fife had to be taken to a local hospital for medical clearance before she could be booked into the jail, Rasmussen said.

After clearance, Fife was transported to the Lake County Jail and booked for driving under the influence, driving with .08 percent or more alcohol in the blood, driving with alcohol in the blood while on probation for driving under the influence of alcohol, driving with a driver's license suspended for a previous driving under the influence arrest, for having a third driving under the influence arrest within the past 10 years, for driving a vehicle not equipped with an ignition interlock device as previously ordered by a court to insure she did not drive while under the influence and for an outstanding warrant from Sonoma County for driving with a license suspended for driving under the influence, according to Rasmussen’s report.

“We appreciate our officers’ work to remove as many intoxicated drivers as we can from our roadways and are glad this driver was not able to hurt or kill someone,” Rasmussen said.

Rasmussen said that during the the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year season his agency tends to see increases in drunk driving.

As such, Rasmussen said the Lakeport Police Department will be increasing its efforts to arrest drunk drivers.

“We ask for the public’s assistance in being alert for drunk drivers and calling 911 to report them when observed,” he said.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – California State Senator Mike McGuire took the oath of office again on Monday in Sacramento, kicking off his second term as the North Coast’s senator as family members, friends and supporters looked on.

“Words alone cannot express our deep appreciation and gratitude. Working for and with the hard working folks of the North Coast has been the honor of my lifetime,” McGuire said. “We’re excited to get back to work protecting our coast from new offshore oil drilling, investing record amounts in our kids and public schools, making sure every Californian has access to health care, creating good jobs and building housing that is affordable to working families and seniors.”

Sen. McGuire was first elected to the State Senate to serve the North Coast, from Marin County to the Oregon border, in 2014. He was re-elected to a second four-year term in November by a margin of more than two to one.

California legislators were sworn into office on Monday during a ceremony at the State Capitol.