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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LUCERNE, Calif. – Sheriff’s officials have confirmed that a body found in Lucerne on Tuesday afternoon is that of a young Northshore woman missing since late December.
Lt. Steve Brooks of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office confirmed early Wednesday evening that the body of 23-year-old Kimberly Marie Hazelwood of Nice was discovered on the shore of Clear Lake in Lucerne.
Brooks said that at approximately 2:10 p.m. Tuesday Lake County Sheriff’s Office patrol deputies responded to the 6000 block of E. Highway 20 in Lucerne for a report of a possible coroner’s case.
He said it was reported that a homeowner had located what appeared to be the body of a female along the shoreline of a public beach access area.
Northshore Fire personnel also responded to the location, along a narrow stretch of Highway 20 at the east end of Lucerne, to help recover Hazelwood’s body.
Brooks said a coroner’s investigation was conducted and the individual was positively as Hazelwood.
Hazelwood had disappeared from her aunt’s residence in the 10000 block of Rancheria Road near Upper Lake on the night of Sunday, Dec. 23.
Her family had told deputies that Hazelwood, who had been undergoing treatment for cancer, had been upset and appeared to have been depressed that night, according to a sheriff’s report.
Not long after she disappeared, a report had been made of a subject in the water in nearby Middle Creek, which empties into Clear Lake, as Lake County News has reported.
Since her Dec. 23 disappearance, local officials – as well as her family and friends – had conducted numerous searches with the help of local, regional and state agencies in and around the Upper Lake area where she was last seen.
Hazelwood’s family and friends also had used fliers and social media to try to find clues as to her whereabouts.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – In its final act, the 112th Congress – which has been criticized for partisanship and stalemates – reached an agreement to extend middle class tax cuts, cut the deficit and prevent the country from going over the edge of the “fiscal cliff.”
The House of Representatives on Tuesday night voted 257 to 167 to approve HR 8, meant to avert the fiscal cliff that has been threatening Americans for weeks.
Earlier on Tuesday, the U.S. Senate had passed its version of the bill 89-8.
Congressman Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena), who represents Lake County and is a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, was among those casting votes for the bill. He called the bill a “bipartisan agreement” to avert the fiscal cliff.
“This legislation is far from perfect but it’s better than the falling off the fiscal cliff,” Thompson said in a Tuesday night statement. “Doing nothing would have sent our economy into a tailspin and triggered another recession. Now that we have done what was needed to avoid the fiscal cliff, it’s time to focus on what should have been our priority all along: getting Americans back to work and getting our fiscal house in order.”
In addition to addressing immediate needs such as restoring federal unemployment benefit extensions that had been cut off last week – and which had affected 755 Lake County residents – the bill raises income tax on the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans, estimated to raise $620 billion in revenue.
The White House said it’s the first bipartisan agreement in 20 years to increase tax rates on the wealthy.
The bill also permanently extends payroll tax cuts to the middle class, which prevents 13.2 million Californians from getting a tax hike, the White House reported; fixes the Alternative Minimum Tax; continues for another five years the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which helps millions of students and their families meet higher education costs; and also continues the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit.
President Barack Obama, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, said Tuesday night that 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small businesses won’t see tax increases as a result of the bill, which he said will help reduce the deficit.
But the president said the government can’t simply cut its way to prosperity, noting that cutting spending has to go hand in hand with further reforms to the tax code.
The wealthiest corporations and individuals can’t be allowed to take advantage of the tax code’s loopholes, and the government also can’t keep cutting basic research and new technology and still expect the nation to succeed in the 21st century economy, Obama said.
“We’re going to have to continue to move forward in deficit reduction, but we have to do it in a balanced way, making sure that we are growing even as we get a handle on our spending,” he said.
The president also warned that he will not have another debate with Congress about paying bills that it has racked up from legislation it already has passed. “We can’t not pay bills that we’ve already incurred.”
Obama said if Congress refuses to give the federal government the ability to pay its bills on time, “the consequences for the entire global economy would be catastrophic,” and far worse than the impact of the fiscal cliff.
He said people remembered the last time that was threatened in 2011 – when the drama then centered on the debt ceiling. The nation’s entire recovery was put at risk in that deadlock: Obama said consumer confidence and business investment plunged, and economic growth dropped. “We can’t go down that path again.”
Obama said the sum of all the budget agreements he and Congress have reached shows there is a path forward, adding he wants to see agreements put forward in the new year with less drama and with less fear for Americans.
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LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lake County Superior Court is preparing for the arrival of its newest member on the bench as well as a celebration for its latest retiree.
Lakeport attorney Michael Lunas was elected in November as the court’s newest judge.
Lunas will take his oath of office in a ceremony in his Department 1 courtroom in Lakeport at 4 p.m. Monday, Jan. 7.
He is succeeding Judge David Herrick, who did not seek reelection last year and is retiring after 18 years as a judge.
Herrick will be feted with a retirement celebration to take place beginning at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, also in Department 1.
The community is invited to take part in both court celebrations.
The Lake County Courthouse is located at 255 N. Forbes St. in Lakeport.
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LAKEPORT, Calif. – If 2013 is the year when you plan on adding a horse to your family, three horses are available at Lake County Animal Care and Control.
The three were the last of a number adopted out over the past year, according to Director Bill Davidson.
The last half of 2012 was particularly bad when it came to the numbers of horses abandoned in the county, said Davidson.
“The ones we’ve gotten have required a considerable amount of medical attention,” he said.
However, thanks to the help of veterinarians giving Animal Care and Control discounts on care – including Dr. Michael Witt of Redwood Valley Equine, who works in Lake County one day a week – the horses were able to be tended and made ready for new homes. As a result, Davidson said they were able to place all of the horses that came in.
The three horses now available range in age from 4 years to the early 20s, he said.
Each of the horses is available for a $75 adoption fee once an application is approved and a home site visit is conducted by Animal Care and Control staff, according to Davidson.
There are two Appaloosas, a mare that Davidson estimated is 13 years old and a gelding, named Joe, who is between 20 and 23 years old, Davidson said.
Davidson said the two horses were abandoned by their owner on a rental property in the Middletown area because the owner couldn’t care for them.
Both Appaloosas have had some training, and Joe can be ridden. However, Davidson said Joe – who has leopard markings – had to have one of his eyes removed due to an old injury, so light duty or work with children likely would be more suitable. Joe is big and very gentle.
The mare, a red road, is green broke, and is halter broke and trailers easily, according to shelter staff.
Davidson said the third horse is a black 4-year-old Paso Fino mix gelding.
That horse and three others were brought in from the Middletown area. They had been running loose on several hundred acres in the Jerusalem Grade area, and had to be rounded up by helicopter after their owners were arrested in a drug bust, Davidson said. The three other horses have found homes.
Davidson said the black horse is particularly beautiful, and has been gelded, which improved the horse’s behavior. He is halter broke and loads in a trailer, but does not appear to have been trained to ride yet.
Joe’s identification number is 34718, the mare’s is 34719 and the younger gelding’s number is 34419.
For more information, call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278 or visit the horses at the shelter, 4949 Helbush, Lakeport.
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