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- Written by: Lake County News reports
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Some of Lake County’s brightest students are in their final preparations for this year’s Academic Decathlon competition.
The main part of the competition will take place on Saturday, Feb. 2, at Upper Lake High School.
Academic decathletes will spend the morning testing in music, art, mathematics, language and literature, science, economics and social science.
They will then participate in a Super Quiz Bowl that is open to the public starting at 3:45 p.m., followed by the awards ceremony.
Upper Lake High’s team will be defending its long-running streak as county champions as the other high schools compete to represent the county at the state competition in March.
The Academic Decathlon’s speech and interview portions took place on Saturday, Jan. 12.
Community members came to Upper Lake High to judge more than 70 students, who were rated on their presentation skills, professional appearance and preparedness.
More than 40 volunteers served as judges and ended their day with a group luncheon of decathletes, judges and coaches.
Earlier that week, students participated in their first segment of testing by completing the required essay. This year’s essays will be judged by staff at Mendocino College and Marymount College.
All members of the community are welcome to attend the evening events free of charge.
For more information regarding the Academic Decathlon please contact Tammy Serpa at the Lake County Office of Education,
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Law enforcement officials have arrested three men on charges relating to the kidnapping of a woman that occurred in December, with one of the suspects having been convicted of a 1997 murder.
Charles Vasil Statler, 53, of Santa Rosa, and Clearlake Oaks residents 41-year-old James Daniel Austin and Ricky Lane McCullough, 58, were arrested on Tuesday as a result of a continuing investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit, according to Lt. Steve Brooks.
Brooks said that on Dec. 12 Lake County Sheriff’s patrol deputies contacted a victim who reported that she was kidnapped by three men in the Upper Lake area on Dec. 4.
He said the victim reported her vehicle had been blocked by the men, who were in a separate vehicle. The men exited their vehicle and contacted the victim, telling her not to run. One of the suspects pulled the victim from inside her vehicle and threatened to kill her.
The suspects placed the victim into their vehicle and drove to a remote property in the Upper Lake area, Brooks said. One of the suspects followed in the victim’s vehicle.
Brooks reported that the suspects showed the victim a hole in the ground. They said if she did not tell them what they wanted to know, they were going to put her in the hole. They also placed the woman’s fingers into a pair of pliers and threatened to cut her fingers off.
The three men accused the victim of stealing marijuana worth $150,000, Brooks said.
After approximately two hours of threatening the victim, the suspects put her back into their vehicle and drove her around various areas of Lake County. Brooks said the suspects threatened to gang rape the victim if she did not tell them what they wanted.
After approximately seven hours, the suspects took the victim to her home. Brooks said the men took a large amount of cash from the victim and left her at her home.
Detectives continued the investigation and were able to identify the suspects. Brooks said arrest warrants were obtained for all of the suspects and they were arrested on Tuesday.
Brooks said Statler was arrested at the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility, where he was currently in custody for an unrelated case as wall as a parole violation stemming from a murder conviction, which occurred in Lake County in 1997.
Court documents showed that Statler killed Raymond Churchill by hitting him in the forehead with a skillet.
Statler was booked on a warrant charging him with kidnapping, carjacking, false imprisonment, robbery, criminal threats, threatening a victim, burglary and conspiracy. Statler’s bail is currently set at $1,000,000, Brooks said.
Brooks said Austin was booked on a warrant charging him with kidnapping, carjacking, false imprisonment, robbery, theft from a person and conspiracy. Austin’s bail is currently set at $300,000.
McCullough was booked on a warrant charging him with kidnapping, carjacking, false imprisonment and conspiracy. McCullough’s bail is currently set at $300,000, Brooks said.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – A Middletown man was injured in a Tuesday evening crash on Highway 29 in Napa County.
Matthew Hollibaugh, 24, suffered major injuries when his pickup hit a bridge and overturned near Calistoga, according to the California Highway Patrol’s Napa office.
Hollibaugh was driving his 1989 Toyota pickup northbound on Highway 29 north of Palisades Road at 5:45 p.m. when the wreck occurred, the CHP said.
As Hollibaugh was traveling over a bridge, the CHP said he allowed his vehicle to drift to the right, where it hit the side of the bridge.
The CHP said Hollibaugh made it off the bridge but was unable to regain control of the pickup before it went off the east side of the road.
Hollibaugh crossed a creek and his pickup overturned, with the pickup hitting a stone pillar of a gate to a nearby residence, the CHP said.
As a result of the crash Hollibaugh was trapped in the pickup and had to be extricated by Cal Fire crews, according to the CHP report.
Highway 29 was closed for approximately an hour while Hollibaugh was extricated, the CHP said.
Reports from the scene indicated an air ambulance landed nearby to transport him to a regional trauma center.
The CHP said Hollibaugh was taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for treatment.
Alcohol does not appear to be a factor in the crash, the CHP said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – South Lake County Fire Protection District has received a grant to assist with data gathering and planning.
FM Global, an engineering-driven specialty insurer focused on commercial property protection, awarded the district $2,800, which will be used with pre-fire planning to efficiently collect and track data related to local community buildings.
The project has been in the works for more than a year. The district reported than the grant is a huge step forward toward the ultimate goal of having an Android-based tablet in all emergency response equipment.
The data gathered from these devices will assist firefighters in making safe and effective tactical decisions on fires, the district reported.
Because fire continues to be the leading cause of property damage worldwide, during the past 35 years FM Global has contributed millions of dollars in fire prevention grants to fire service organizations around the globe. Locally, the company has awarded grants to a number of California-based organizations.
“At FM Global, we strongly believe the majority of property damage is preventable, not inevitable,” said Michael Spaziani, manager of the fire prevention grant program. “Far too often, inadequate budgets prevent those organizations working to prevent fire from being as proactive as they would like to be. With additional financial support, grant recipients are actively helping to improve property risk in the communities they serve.”
Through its Fire Prevention Grant Program, FM Global awards grants quarterly to fire departments -- as well as national, state, regional, local and community organizations worldwide – that best demonstrate a need for funding, where dollars can have the most demonstrable impact on preventing fire, or mitigating the damage it can quickly cause.
To learn more about FM Global’s Fire Prevention Grant Program, or to apply for a grant, please visit www.fmglobal.com/grants .