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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
Several Pacific frontal systems will bring rain and winds to Lake County and much of Northern California beginning Friday, with periods of moderate rains likely Friday night, according to the National Weather Service in Sacramento.
Forecasters predict rain accumulations of up to 5 inches through Sunday afternoon.
On Wednesday, forecasters stated that copious amounts of rainfall were in store for most of Northern California, including Lake County, and warned that the approaching storm systems were comparable to the systems that deluged northern Lake County in mid-December of 2005.
The December 2005 storms caused Scotts, Middle and Alley creeks to overflow, flooded downtown Upper Lake and required evacuations in Scotts Valley.
However, the National Weather Service in Sacramento stated on Thursday that confidence in current weather models are low and advise residents to monitor current conditions.
Snowfall accumulations of several feet are expected over the higher elevations, with varying amounts of snow above 3,500 feet according to predictions.
Computer models are currently suggesting moderate to heavy rain will occur late Monday into Wednesday with widespread flooding possible, but again, forecasters state that the storm track may change.
Rains are predicted throughout the day Friday, with heavy rains through Sunday, with daytime highs in the mid-40s and lows in the mid-30s, with the same pattern holding throughout next week.
For up-to-the-minute weather information, please visit the Lake County News homepage.
E-mail Terre Logsdon at
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
On Thursday Capt. Kurt Smallcomb reported that in October the agency was contacted by federal and state agencies regarding information they had received in regards to a threat of a possible violent act to be committed against a deputy sheriff.
Mendocino County Sheriff's detectives shared information with the other agencies in an attempt to determine whether or not the threats were true, Smallcomb said.
On Dec. 8 Mendocino County detectives and agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation developed further information that corroborated a possible financial transaction had taken place in order to fulfill the threats, with a view toward achieving the deputy's death, he said.
Then on Thursday Smallcomb said Mendocino County Sheriff's personnel, with the assistance of agents and officers from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, State Parole, Mendocino County Probation, Willits and Ukiah Police, Multi Agency Gang Task Force and the Major Crimes Task Force conducted a series of probation and parole searches in an attempt to conduct or establish further leads into the listed violations.
Smallcomb said the Thursday action resulted in the search of 12 locations and contacts with numerous persons who were either on probation or parole. In addition, other people who had possible information into the criminal act were contacted.
Salvador Ramirez, 35, was arrested and booked into the Mendocino County Jail for improper entry by an alien, Smallcomb said.
In addition, Smallcomb said Jorge Martinez, 22, was booked into the Mendocino County Jail for a parole violation and sales of marijuana.
At another location a total of 75 pounds of processed marijuana was recovered, Smallcomb said.
Smallcomb said law enforcement is continuing the investigation and further arrests regarding threats and solicitation for commission of a violent act are expected.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
WASHINGTON, DC – On Thursday the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the availability of the final environmental impact statement (EIS) that evaluates the potential environmental effects of deregulating alfalfa genetically engineered (GE) to be resistant to the herbicide glyphosate, which is known commercially as Roundup.
This GE alfalfa is commonly referred to as Roundup Ready (RR) alfalfa.
“Our goal with the EIS, first and foremost, is to recognize and consider the many concerns that we have heard from all segments of agriculture,” said Secretary Tom Vilsack. “We are equally committed to finding solutions that support not only the developers and users of biotechnology products, but growers who rely on purity in the non-genetically engineered seed supply.”
Meanwhile, groups like the Center for Food Safety – which brought a lawsuit on the crop in 2007 that resulted in a ban of the crop until further analysis took place – urged a permanent ban on genetically modified alfalfa.
“The only option that will protect organic and conventional alfalfa growers and dairies is for the USDA to deny any approval of GE alfalfa,” said Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of the Center for Food Safety. “We are disappointed that the agency has not made this one of its preferred options but are encouraged that it remains an option being considered by the agency.”
In March 2010, more than 244,000 people submitted comments to the USDA critiquing the substance and conclusions of its draft EIS on GE Alfalfa. In addition, more than 300 public interest organizations, farmers, dairies, retailers and organic food producers from the U.S. and Canada delivered a strongly worded letter to USDA, calling upon it to deny approval of Monsanto’s genetically engineered, Roundup Ready alfalfa (GE alfalfa).
USDA considered three alternatives during the preparation of the final EIS: 1) to maintain the RR alfalfa's status as a regulated article; 2) to deregulate RR alfalfa; or 3) to deregulate RR alfalfa with geographic restrictions and isolation distances for the production of RR alfalfa.
USDA said it has thoroughly analyzed the potential environmental impacts of the proposed alternatives and has listed two preferred options: deregulation as one option and the other deregulation accompanied by a combination of isolation distances and geographic restrictions on the production of GE alfalfa seed and, in some locations, hay.
By listing both options as preferred, USDA has considered plant pest issues as well as broader environmental and economic issues related to the coexistence between genetically engineered, non-genetically engineered, and organic alfalfa production.
USDA maintained that biotechnology holds great promise for agriculture here in the United States, and around the world.
The agency's announcement stated, “There's absolutely no doubt of the safety of the many products USDA's regulatory system has approved.” The examination of these issues through the EIS process, however, highlighted some of the challenges USDA faces in the area of biotechnology regulation as it aims to meet the expectations of its diverse stakeholders.
“We have seen rapid adoption of biotechnology in agriculture, along with the rise of organic and non-genetically engineered sectors over the last several decades,” Vilsack said. “While the growth in all these areas is great for agriculture, it has also led, at times, to conflict or, at best, an uneasy coexistence between the different ways of growing crops. We need to address these challenges and develop a sensible path forward for strengthening coexistence of all segments of agriculture in our country. All are vital and a part of rural America's success. All should be able to thrive together.”
Vilsack said that USDA will use this opportunity to begin a conversation on how to move forward and find strategies for strengthening coexistence. “We will partner with all those who want to roll up their sleeves and work with us and each other to find common sense solutions to today's challenges. And we will do so openly and transparently.”
The agency said that it is important to note that the EIS is not a decision document. It is an analysis of the impacts of the various alternatives with regard to their potential environmental and related economic impacts.
The final EIS will be available for public review for at least 30 days before USDA will publish a record of decision on how it will proceed.
APHIS will be submitting the EIS to the Environmental Protection Agency for publication in the Federal Register, and USDA anticipates that EPA will publish a notice that the final EIS on RR alfalfa is available for public review in the Federal Register on December 23, 2010.
A copy of the EIS provided to EPA can be reviewed at www.aphis.usda.gov/biotechnology/downloads/alfalfa/gt_alfalfa%20_feis.pdf.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Two men have been charged in the January murders of a Maine couple in what could end up being a death penalty case.
On Wednesday morning, Robby Alan Beasley, 30, was arraigned before Judge Richard Martin in Lake County Superior Court's Lakeport branch.
Beasley, who is from Maine, and 28-year-old Elijah Bae McKay of Lower Lake are each charged with two counts of homicide for the Jan. 22 murders of Yvette Maddox, 40, and her husband Frank Maddox, 32.
McKay is due to be arraigned Thursday morning, officials reported.
The partially decomposed bodies of the Maddoxes were found at the bottom off an embankment off of Morgan Valley Road near Lower Lake on March 4 by a pair of Sonoma County men traveling through the area, as Lake County News has reported.
The sheriff's office said an autopsy revealed the two had both sustained gunshot wounds, as well as other unspecified injuries.
In addition to the murder charges, Beasley and McKay also face special allegations of committing multiple murders in the first or second degree, committing the offenses with the intent to inflict great bodily injury on the victims and using a 9 millimeter firearm in the killings.
Beasley is further alleged to have a prior serious or violent felony conviction. Court records show that in June 2007 he was convicted in Kennebec County, Maine, of criminal threatening with a firearm.
Beasley, who has been in custody since March 6, only nodded when Judge Martin asked if he understood the charges.
The judge told him he had to speak for the record, not just nod. Beasley answered with a barely audible “yes” when asked if he wanted the court to appoint an attorney.
Martin appointed attorney Stephen Carter to represent Beasley, who is scheduled to return to court Friday morning before Judge Andrew Blum.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Art Grothe asked Martin to hold Beasley without bail.
“As it's charged right now, it's a capital matter,” Grothe said as several Lake County Sheriff's detectives looked on from the gallery.
Martin agreed to the no bail request.
Grothe told Lake County News that, as the case is currently charged, if Beasley and McKay were to be convicted, they would face either life without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.
“The decision whether or not to seek the death penalty is normally made later in the case, after the preliminary hearing is conducted,” he said.
Grothe added, “I would expect that in this case the decision will be made by the incoming district attorney (Don Anderson) after he has had time to review the matter and meet with the prosecuting attorney, investigating officers and other relevant personnel.”
The case filing was the result of a nine-month investigation into the murders, according to Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Within days of the discovery of the bodies, detectives with the Lake County Sheriff’s Major Crime Unit learned that Beasley had apparently hired the Maddoxes to come to Lake County several months
prior to help him with a marijuana operation, Bauman said.
Bauman said the couple had been reported as missing about a month before the discovery of their bodies.
While still considered only a person of interest in the Maddox case at the time, Beasley was located near his home in Clearlake only two days after the bodies were found and arrested on an unrelated arrest warrant out of Maine, according to Bauman's report.
Investigators subsequently served search warrants on two homes Beasley was known to frequent, which Bauman said resulted in additional charges of marijuana cultivation.
According to a previous sheriff's office report, detectives learned that Beasley had reportedly convinced the Maddoxes to give him a ride to the Sacramento airport during the last week of January, which they agreed to do.
There also had been a report that Beasley had previously threatened one of them with a gun.
It was a week into the investigation when detectives identified McKay as another person of interest in the case, Bauman said. McKay was arrested for marijuana cultivation, possession for sales and weapons charges following a search warrant service on his home.
Bauman said McKay posted a $10,000 bond and was released the same day he was arrested.
With his marijuana case still pending in Lake County, detectives learned in October that McKay had apparently fled California and was believed to be in Atlanta, Bauman said.
Rob Brown, a local bail bondsman who also serves as a county supervisor, held McKay's bond. Brown surrendered the bond from March, traveled to Georgia to retrieve McKay and brought him back to Lake County.
Bauman said McKay has remained in the county jail since Oct. 19.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at