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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – An Upper Lake man who was arrested along with another suspect for a November homicide has had the charges against him in the case dismissed.
District Attorney Susan Krones said that charges were dropped on Wednesday against 35-year-old Michael Sean Shaffer.
Shaffer has been in custody since Nov. 23 – along with Daniel Wayne Ford, 49, of Lakeport – for the homicide discovered earlier that day of Nicky Dale Smith, 70, of Lucerne.
Smith’s body was found on the side of the road in the 4550 block of Scotts Valley Road in Lakeport, as Lake County News has reported.
Court filings indicate investigators believe Smith was killed on Nov. 22.
Shaffer and Ford were identified as the two suspects in the case and arrested on the night of Nov. 23.
However, Krones said on Wednesday that as a result of the ongoing investigation and additional witness statements, she decided not to pursue charges against Shaffer.
“There were followup statements that basically indicated that he wasn’t there or that he wasn’t involved,” she said.
While the murder case against Shaffer has been dropped, Krones said he’s remaining in custody due to a post release community supervision hold that is the result of previous, unrelated offenses.
Shaffer will be back in court on Jan. 7 for the handling of those separate legal issues, Krones said.
It was on that date that Shaffer had been set to return to court for entry of plea in the Smith murder.
Still scheduled to be in court Jan. 7 for plea entry is Ford, who Krones said remains in custody for the homicide.
Ford is charged with murder, with special allegations that the murder was committed during an attempted robbery, an attempted kidnapping and a carjacking; attempted robbery; kidnapping; carjacking, with special allegations of discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury and death, and personally using and firing a handgun; assault with a firearm, with a special allegation of using a handgun; assault with a deadly weapon, a flashlight; assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury, with a special allegation of inflicting great bodily injury on a person who was 70 years old; and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Ford is being held in the Lake County Jail without bail.
Forensics a key part of the investigation
In addition to Ford remaining a suspect, Krones said there may be another person who was involved in Smith’s killing.
“We still have that other individual that we’re still trying to determine the extent of his participation,” she said.
Beyond that other individual, “At this point, we don’t have any other suspects,” Krones said.
Another development in the case is that Krones said investigators have located Smith’s pickup.
The dark green Toyota Tundra pickup had gone missing on the day of Smith’s killing.
Lt. Corey Paulich of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said the truck was found in a remote location in the Scotts Valley/Eickhoff Road area on Dec. 9 as a result of a search deputies conducted.
“There are materials from the pickup that are being tested,” Krones said.
Krones said the case involves a lot of forensic evidence that is going to tell authorities more about what happened.
However, she said it takes time to get various samples of blood and other material tested, and the sheriff’s office is in the process of getting that testing work completed.
“We have to be confident that we can prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt to proceed,” Krones said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
The Clearlake City Council took action at its meeting Thursday while the Lakeport City Council met for the final time on Tuesday.
At its meeting, the Clearlake City Council voted unanimously to approve having Russell Cremer continue as mayor with Dirk Slooten to remain vice mayor for calendar year 2020.
Councilwoman Joyce Overton moved to keep the leadership the same, noting that the yearly changes sometimes get to her and that Cremer hadn’t had a full term as mayor.
Councilman Phil Harris seconded the motion. There was no public input and the council approved the motion 5-0.
Cremer thanked his fellow council members. “Hopefully we’ll make you proud going forward.”
The terms of service for the Clearlake mayor and vice mayor are for a 12-month period commencing Jan. 1.
“It has been an honor serving the community as mayor and I look forward to continuing leading the council’s vision for the city in 2020,” Cremer said in a followup statement.
“I look forward to working again in the upcoming year with Mayor Cremer and Vice Mayor Slooten and the rest of the council to build upon the successes of 2019 and make Clearlake’s 40th year of incorporation a year to remember,” said City Manager Alan Flora.
On Tuesday, the Lakeport City Council voted to install George Spurr as mayor for the new year.
Tim Barnes, the outgoing mayor, nominated Spurr, who was elected unanimously.
Spurr in turn nominated Kenny Parlet as mayor pro tem, a motion which also received a unanimous vote.
As Spurr and Barnes switched seats, Councilwoman Stacey Mattina told Barnes, “Thank you, you did a great job.”
Also on Tuesday, the Lakeport City Council approved appointments to several city committees and commissions, including the following:
– Lakeport Economic Development Advisory Committee (four-year terms): Pam Harpster, Andy Lucas and Laura Sammel.
– Parks and Recreation Committee: Jen Hanson, Ben Moore and Cindy Ustrud.
– Lakeport Planning Commission: Jeff Warrenburg.
– Lakeport Fire Protection District: Andy Lucas.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Wine Auction, the county's largest charity fundraiser, surged into uncharted territory this year, distributing a record $180,000 to local charities and organizations.
The funds were distributed on Dec. 10 at a festive holiday event held at the Buckingham Homes Association Clubhouse attended by this year’s beneficiaries, sponsors and members of the auction board and committees.
This year’s recipients include arts and FAA programs in the five county high schools, the Lake County Fire Districts, the food pantries serving Lakeport, Kelseyville, Lucerne and Middletown, the Middletown Arts Center, the Lake County Symphony Association, the Lower Lake Historical School House Museum, the Lake County Sheriff’s Activity League, Totes 4 Teens, Cub Scout Pack 7145, the Woodland Community College Culinary Program, Hospice of Lake County, the Lower Lake High School Culinary Program, Operation Tango Mike and the six Lake County senior centers.
This year’s distribution represents the total proceeds from the Lake County Wine Auction which was held on Sept. 21 at Chacewater Winery and Olive Mill.
The bidding got off to a strong start as $90,000 was committed during a kick off raise the paddle event.
As the main auction began, the spirit of generosity continued and carried on right though to the end, when John Clarke’s signature painting “Mermaid” brought in the highest bid of the evening. Dr. Megan Furniss paid $16,000 for the painting.
Reflecting on the results, Wine Auction president Kaj Ahlmann said: “This is a quantum leap for Lake County, it shows a strong commitment to move the County forward from all constituencies.”
“'I was overwhelmed by the generosity of those who attended the event,” said Beneficiary Chair Judy Luchsinger-Mann. “Everyone there recognized that the needs of our community are not going to be met without help from everyone.”
All of those who were involved in this year’s event are deeply grateful to Paul and Kellye Manuel, the owners of Chacewater, for being the event’s gracious hosts. It’s believed their centrally located facility contributed to attracting more than 350 people, who made this year’s Lake County Wine Auction such a success.
Organizers said they are proud to announce that Paul and Kellye Manuel have agreed to host next year’s event on September 19, 2020.
Another contributing factor to this year’s success was the support of sponsors. With Redwood Credit Union leading the way as “Presenting Sponsor,” sponsor support was able to cover all event costs so that money from our other streams can go directly to this year’s beneficiaries.
Other 2019 sponsors include Calpine at the Geysers, Bella Vista Farming, Beckstoffer Vineyards, Sysco Foods, Brassfield Estate Winery. Community First Credit Union, Six Sigma Vineyard & Winery, the Lake County Winegrape Commission, Sutter Lakeside Hospital, Tribal Health, Chacewater Vineyard, Winery & Olive Mill, John Clarke Artist, Adventist Health, TricorBraun Winepak, Shannon Ridge Vineyards, Servpro, Umpqua Bank, Boatique Winery, Sawshop Gallery Bistro, Pabst Blue Ribbon Construction, Savings Bank of Mendocino, Congressman Mike Thompson and The Travel Centers.
Formed in 2000, the Lake County Wine Auction is operated under the guidance of a six-member volunteer board of directors.
The organization is also dedicated to promoting Lake County as a premier wine grape growing region and to promoting the region’s celebrated wines.
Members of the Wine Alliance Board are Kaj Ahlmann, Lower Lake, president; Judy Luchsinger, Lakeport, vice president; Sharron Zoller, Kelseyville, secretary; Rob Roumiguiere, Kelseyville, treasurer; and Marie Beery, Kelseyville, and Bill Groody, Kelseyville, directors.
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Master Vigneron Academy recently graduated its eighth class, awarding nine students with the credential of Master Vigneron.
To date, 82 vineyard managers and supervisors have completed the year-long Spanish-language program, gaining insight into many aspects of the wine industry and bringing valuable skills back to their employers.
The Master Vigneron Academy is the first of its kind anywhere.
Created in 2012 by the Lake County Winegrape Commission, the Master Vigneron Academy remains ahead of the curve in recognizing that the key to quality winegrapes and sustainable practices is the professionalism of those in the vineyard.
Now an established and successful program, the Master Vigneron Academy has been cultivating a professional workforce for eight years, providing vineyard managers and supervisors in Lake County and other parts of the North Coast with knowledge and skills that would not otherwise be available to them. It serves the economic interests of families, the wine industry, and the greater Lake County community.
"The Lake County Winegrape Commission recognizes that what is often overlooked in sustainable farming is the human element," said Paul Zellman, the Lake County Winegrape Commission's Educational Programs Consultant. "The Master Vigneron credential program addresses training needs of vineyard managers and supervisors and represents an investment in a critical part of sustainable farming-people."
The concept originated with Randy Krag, former Lake County Winegrape Commission Research & Education Chair and former vineyard manager at Beckstoffer Vineyards, now retired.
"The Master Vigneron Academy connects our employees to a modern business environment. It creates a bond with the larger industry, and it gives them a perspective of their role in the larger purpose," said Krag.
The Academy offers a model for developing an industry-wide standard by which a supervisor's knowledge and achievement are formally recognized. Leaders in other winegrowing areas have expressed interest in establishing the Master Vigneron Academy in their regions.
More information about the Master Vigneron Academy is available on the Lake County Winegrape Commission's website.
Wine industry leaders who would like to learn more are encouraged to contact the Lake County Winegrape Commission at 707-279-2633.
The Winegrape Commission also recognizes the following winegrowers for their support of the Master Vigneron Academy.
Adobe Creek Packing
Amberview Vineyards
Beckstoffer Vineyards
Bella Vista Farming Company
Cache Creek Vineyards
Dorn Vineyards
JAC Ag Services
L & L Vineyards
Langtry Farms
Lyon Vineyards
Mauritson Farms
Michael Hat Farming
Nissen Vineyard Services
Noble Vineyard Management
Obsidian Ridge Vineyard
Oldham Vineyard
Red Hills Vineyard
Robinson Lake Vineyard
Rogers Vineyards
Shannon Ranches
Six Sigma Vineyards
Stokes Farming
Stonehouse Cellars
Sun Alpine Vineyards
Trinchero Family Estates
Christmas is coming, and gifting is at the forefront of many minds. The latest tech changes from year to year, as do the latest fashions. But the gift that never seems to go out of style? A book.
The publishing world is at its busiest in the months leading up to Christmas. In Iceland, there is even a name for this: jólabókaflóð (pronounced yo-la-bok-a-flot) or “Christmas book flood”. The term has also come to refer to the Icelandic custom of exchanging books on Christmas Eve. As a result, a substantial portion of annual hardcover sales are during this period and nearly 850 new titles were released in 2019’s Icelandic book flood alone.
The UK’s annual Christmas book flood begins on Super Thursday: when publishers release a barrage of new titles just in time for the Christmas shopping rush. Some of the heavy hitters among the 426 hardcovers released on October 3 included Philip Pullman’s The Secret Commonwealth, Jojo Moye’s The Giver of Stars, and MP Jess Phillips’ Truth to Power.
A long history of books as Christmas gifts
People were giving books as gifts even before words were ever put to paper. In one of his books of epigrams, the ancient Roman poet Martial recommended the works of famous Roman writers like “Ovid’s Metamorphoses on parchment” (animal skin) and “Livy (the Roman historian) in a single volume” (appearing in a scroll, on papyrus, or on parchment) as presents for the December festival of Saturnalia. Martial’s recommendations also included book-related items like “a book-case” and “a wooden book-covering”.
As Christmas grew more commercialised, the holiday became increasingly important for the book trade. In his Battle for Christmas, American history professor, Stephen Nissenbaum, argued that books were “on the cutting edge of a commercial Christmas, making up more than half of the earliest items advertised as Christmas gifts”, citing examples from the 18th century. By the Victorian era, periodicals were regularly featuring Christmas book reviews to promote book sales during the holidays.
One such article from a 1914 issue of the New York Times begins with the declaration that “the war is not the greatest thing in the world. It cannot destroy Christmas … The publishers are ready to help”. This article touts various “gift books” suitable for Christmas exchanges: “Sumptuous books, books in the making of which illustrator and printer and binder have exercise their art at its best.”
These 20th-century gift books follow from a tradition of sumptuous books given as holiday gifts. Medieval manuscripts, for example, were gifted for a range of religious, romantic, diplomatic, and festive reasons. A 2015 exhibition about medieval gift gifting at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, now archived online, further supports the understanding of manuscripts as gifts with personal and social value.
Books in today’s world
Writing about medieval manuscripts, Geert Claassens noted that a book – whether a medieval manuscript or a modern mass market paperback – always functions as both an object and a text. This observation is especially relevant in a world with e-books, which largely remove the “object” aspect of the book. However, a recent series of focus groups conducted by Laura Dietz at Anglia Ruskin University as part of a wider study about social perceptions of e-books has indicated that readers still prefer gifting and receiving print books over e-books. Maybe this is because it’s remarkably difficult to wrap an e-book and place it underneath the Christmas tree.
In a recent article for the international READ-IT project (Reading Europe Advanced Data Investigation Tool), media professor, Brigitte Ouvry-Vial, describes reading as “a social imaginary” that contributes to both personal and collective development. That is, reading has perceived benefits for both individuals and communities. However, she wrote:
The very motivation for non-prescribed reading has clearly shifted across time from an essentially knowledge-driven cognitive activity, to a broad information-driven cultural experience as well as a leisure activity.
This shift has also led to an association being made between being well-read or reading a lot with well-being, as books are more regularly valued according to the level of psychological uplift and self-healing they provide.
Books represent more than just knowledge; they’ve also taken on the role of highly personalised home decor. This is because books can say things about their owners. Likewise, the book you choose to give someone for Christmas can speak volumes about your relationship with that person. It’s not enough to just give someone a book and call it a day – it has to be the perfect choice.
Keeping the tradition alive
Books have a long history of being given as Christmas gifts, and there seems little chance of the trend going away. So why not take Martial’s recommendations and bestow upon your loved one “Ovid’s Metamorphoses on parchment”? Alternatively, and more realistically, consider a nice hardcover edition found through consulting members of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association or the Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association.
For more modern options, YouTube is teeming with video reviews of the latest releases, as well as of “bookish” gifts to give in lieu of or alongside a book. There are also a variety of monthly book subscription boxes. By giving a book or book-related item in 2019, you’ll be contributing to a long and lovely tradition.
Leah Henrickson, Doctoral Graduate, Loughborough University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
The board voted unanimously to hire Maria Valadez to fill the critical county role.
Valadez’s appointment as registrar of voters is effective April 1, following the March 2020 presidential primary election, the county reported.
In the meantime, the county reported that Valadez’s former boss, Diane Fridley – who retired as registrar last December – will continue to fill in on an interim basis.
The board hired Fridley to act a registrar temporarily following a closed session last week, as Lake County News has reported. Her interim appointment began Dec. 11.
“Over the past several weeks, we weighed a number of possibilities,” said Board Chair Tina Scott. “Once it became apparent Maria may be willing to return, she was clearly the best choice as long-term registrar of voters. Maria has demonstrated a willingness to rise to the considerable workload surrounding election cycles, and make sacrifices to ensure the work is done at a highly professional standard.”
After Fridley retired last year, Valadez – who worked for the county for nearly 30 years by that point – was appointed interim registrar but a permanent hire was put off for months because the board reportedly wanted to study how to fill the position on a long-term basis.
That was despite the fact that Valadez, who had worked with Fridley for decades and served as her deputy registrar, was expected to be Fridley’s successor.
Last fall, County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson had asked the board to consider changing the educational requirements for the registrar of voters in order to require a bachelor’s degree, rather than experience, and also had suggested it be wrapped into the Auditor-Controller/County Clerk’s Office.
Fridley had advised against those actions at the time and the board didn’t ultimately take them, but the situation didn’t become any easier for Valadez, who left in February to take a job in the Mendocino County elections office.
The departure of Valadez and the retirement of Fridley resulted in the Registrar of Voters Office losing nearly 70 years of experience, and it left no qualified staffers who could hold the top leadership roles.
After they left their official roles with the county, both Fridley and Valadez volunteered earlier this year to help the elections office during the Lakeport Fire Protection District’s fire tax election, at which time the county put to work its newly purchased voting equipment.
After Valadez left in February, the Board of Supervisors appointed Huchingson as interim registrar, and following two recruitments hired Catherine McMullen, who took over as registrar on June 24. She submitted her resignation on Nov. 7 and her last day was Dec. 2, following the certification of Northshore Fire’s Measure N fire tax.
In the weeks since, Huchingson had again proposed consolidating the Registrar of Voters Office with the Auditor-Controller/County Clerk’s Office, but the board directed that a recruitment take place for a new registrar and that the department remain a standalone.
That cleared the way for Valadez to return to head the county’s election office.
Despite her apparent previous opposition to Valadez, in a statement released by the county on Tuesday afternoon, Huchingson was quoted as saying of Valadez, “Certainly, no one could be more qualified to respond to the needs of Lake County’s eligible voters in the years to come.”
Huchingson said Valadez “has a unique understanding of the needs of Lake County’s diverse communities, and we are truly excited she has agreed to return to service with the County of Lake.”
“Lake County’s voters must have a high degree of confidence in local elections, and we are fortunate our existing staff is gaining experience and growing in their capacity,” Scott said. “Their efforts in the face of the many recent changes of leadership have been truly extraordinary. Adding a leader of Maria’s experience will accelerate their growth, and that is exciting for the future of elections in Lake County.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at