News

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Public Works Department reported that work will take place on Bevins Street three nights this week.

The agency said Bevins Street between Lakeport Boulevard and Martin Street will be closed from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. on the nights of Sunday, Oct. 2; Monday, Oct. 3; and Tuesday, Oct. 4.

The road will be closed to all traffic due to road construction.

Public Works asked that motorists be prepared to use alternate routes and avoid the area, drive with caution and be aware of city workers.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Public Services announced that its office and the Eastlake Landfill will be closed on Monday, Oct. 10, in observance of the Columbus Day holiday.

The landfill and Public Services office will reopen Tuesday, Oct. 11.

Normal operating hours at the landfill are 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. The Public Services office is normally open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

If you have any questions regarding this subject or any of the solid waste issues in Lake County, please call 707-262-1618.

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (Rated PG-13)

There won’t be any point to dredging up the Yul Brynner version of “The Magnificent Seven” for comparison with Denzel Washington’s take on the lead character. First of all, their character names have been changed, maybe to protect the innocent or the guilty. Who knows?

Teamed up again with Washington, director Antoine Fuqua, as reported in the press notes, said he was excited about making a Western because as the result of what is happening in the world today you “need a special group of people to come together to fight tyranny.”

“The Magnificent Seven” is the story of seven outlaws, gunslingers, gamblers and bounty hunters who band together to fight tyranny that has gripped the small town of Rose Creek.

The truly evil Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard), the proverbial mustache-twirling villain, owns the nearby gold mine where every able-bodied man in Rose Creek seems to be an indentured servant to toil in dangerous conditions, with little remuneration to show for hard work.

Not satisfied with stealing the property of the God-fearing townsfolk, Bogue burns their church to the ground and then guns down one good man in cold blood who had the temerity to ask why he couldn’t leave everyone in peace.

The man’s widow, Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett), turns out to be the gutsy savior of the town by taking up a collection so she can hire a crew to fight back and reclaim their lives and stolen property.

The right man to put it together is Washington’s Sam Chisholm, dressed in all-black and riding a dark horse, who announces himself as the duly sworn warrant officer from Wichita, Kansas and a licensed peace officer in Arkansas, the Indian Territory and a bunch of other states.

His right-hand sidekick is Chris Pratt’s Josh Faraday, a card-shark gambler with a quick draw. He loves magic tricks involving cards, whiskey and women, and not necessarily in that order. He’s also got a good sense of humor (something that comes easy to Pratt).

All seven members recruited to save the town are distinct characters and personalities. This includes Ethan Hawke’s Confederate sharpshooter Goodnight Robicheaux, a tortured soul wandering the West ever since the end of the Civil War.

Byung-hun Lee’s expert knife thrower Billy Rocks is not only Goodnight’s right-hand associate but an invaluable fighter. Vincent D’Onofrio is even more interesting as the resourceful mountain man Jack Horne, who apparently hasn’t spent much time with the civilized world.

An outlaw on the run from bounty hunters, Mexican gunman Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) is given a second chance by Washington if he’ll do right by the town.

The last one recruited is the American Indian warrior Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier), a fierce one-man army who gives the rest of the crew a second chance only after Chisholm wisely shows respect for Comanche customs.

So there you have it. Seven very disparate men with different fighting skills show up in Rose Creek and teach the somewhat reluctant townsfolk how to prepare for an ultimate battle against Bogue’s army.

The first part of the battle is easy when the Seven dispatch a couple of dozen of Bogue’s local enforcers. But Chisholm knows that reinforcements in ever larger numbers are coming soon from Sacramento.

“The Magnificent Seven” does not disappoint in the action department. It’s like the Battle of the Alamo except there’s a better result but not without a lot of bloodshed. Fans of Westerns should find this remake a satisfying addition to the canon of the genre.

TV CORNER – 'LETHAL WEAPON' ON FOX

Welcome to the “TV Corner,” a new feature for this regular column. The idea is to take note primarily of new programming on network and cable television, without supplanting movie reviews.

On occasion a full column may be devoted to television, often because a new film was not readily available for review. Aside from previews, this space will look at new shows that have debuted, since we can’t cover the plethora of new shows that all start in the same month.

An intriguing new series of the FOX network is “Lethal Weapon,” which should come as no surprise to any fan of popular culture that it is based on the iconic film series starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover.

The most interesting character would Clayne Crawford in the role of Gibson’s unhinged detective Martin Riggs, while Damon Wayans holds up his end as Glover’s Roger Murtaugh, the sensible one without a death wish.

The first episode of “Lethal Weapon” establishes the tragic backstory for Riggs ending up in Los Angeles after serving in Texas law enforcement. It’s a sad tale that involves a horrific traffic accident, but explains Riggs’ melancholy, suicidal nature.

Some may question the need for the series, but the two main characters of Riggs and Murtaugh, truly polar opposites when paired up at LAPD, show great potential for developing an enjoyable wise-cracking buddy cop team.

“Lethal Weapon” is definitely worth a look or two because it has some stunning action (a cop chase in the middle of a Grand Prix) and plenty of good humor.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Beginning in October, the Lakeport Fire Protection District will join REACH Air Medical Services and CALSTAR in offering ground and air ambulance membership packages. 

The memberships will cover out-of-pocket expenses, which can be hundreds of dollars for ground transports and thousands of dollars for air transportation.

Lakeport Fire Protection District residents can opt to purchase either a ground, air or combined membership to cover the cost, ensuring that the member is covered 100 percent.

Ground memberships are $50 per year, air memberships are $55 per year and combined membership is $105 per year. The membership covers all persons living in a household.

Money raised by the ground ambulance memberships will be used to pay for operational expenses of the fire district’s ambulance service such as supplies and equipment. 

Membership forms will be mailed to all fire district residents in early October, and will be available on the fire district’s Web site at www.lakeportfire.com .

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Connie Jackson was born on Dec. 9, 1953, in Dewitt, Ark. She entered Heaven peacefully with her loving partner of over 30 years Ronda Beckett by her side on Sept. 28, 2016. She was surrounded with her family in life and left this world surrounded by those who loved her.

She is survived by her beloved daughters and sons-in-law, Amber Jackson and Kyle Williams, Aimee Jackson-Penn and James Penn, Anna Jackson and Joseph Rahmer, Danielle Jackson and Brian Dennison Jr., Iris Picton (daughter of her heart) and Patrick Picton; her numerous loving grandchildren, Dezaray, Joshua, Veronica, Brianna, David, Cyrus (Savanna), Alyssa, Halie, Cypriss, Clarissa, Christopher, Brittany, Katie, Joey, Christian, Christina, Alexzandrea, Anthony, Jacob, Kai, Trevyn, Bob, Molly, James, Kaleb, Missy, Ayden and Hayden; great-grandchildren, Steven, Mason, Trey, Jonnie, Aurora and Lilly; brothers and sisters, Daisy Fife, Barbara and Ducky Inong, Debbie Gurley, Robert Gurley, Mark and Kathy Gurley and Jessica Jackson; ex-husband and dear friend, Anthony Jackson; and many loved cousins, nieces, nephews and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents; sisters, Shirley Hyatt and Gwendolyn Loss; brothers, Dan Gurley and Ronnie Kay Gurley; her beloved daughter, Melissa Rahmer; and great-grandbaby, Aubree River Rose.

Those who knew Connie loved her because her gentleness and kindness was there for all to share.

Funeral services for this great woman will be held at Chapel of the Lakes Mortuary in Lakeport on Monday, Oct. 3.
 
Visitation will be held from 10 a.m. to noon with funeral service at noon and graveside committal service to follow at Upper Lake Cemetery.

Buffet and potluck at the Running Creek Conference Rooms to follow the burial. All are invited and encouraged to come join the celebration of life of this wonderfully loving woman we call Mom.

For further information please contact Chapel of the Lakes Mortuary at 707-263-0357 or 707-994-5611 or visit www.chapelofthelakes.com .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Marie Louise Anderson, 88, of Lakeport and formerly of Fort Bragg, Calif., passed away on Sept. 25, 2016, at St. Helena Hospital.

Born on Jan. 24, 1928, she was predeceased by her parents, Jim and Mary Masolini. She was a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother, a sister, and a friend to many. She will be deeply missed.

Marie attended school in Fort Bragg, where she excelled, and graduated salutatorian. Her father expected she’d marry an Italian, but a good-looking Dane showed up on her 18th birthday and heard Marie playing her accordion. He came back the next day with a locket as a birthday gift; she was in love and they soon married.

Marie was the secretary at the Fort Bragg Lutheran Church and worked for 14 years as secretary to the counselor at Fort Bragg Junior High. She loved cooking and was famous for great meals, especially her risotto and polenta.

She loved holidays and was never happier than when her home was full of friends and family. She loved traveling, especially when she and Don hooked up the Airstream and took off across country. She traveled the world with Don and on one eventful trip, he fulfilled a promise, taking her to the Raffles Hotel in Singapore.

She loved playing her organ and accordion, reading, musicals, shopping and Sunday Packer games. Marie often said that she couldn’t believe that a girl from Fort Bragg could be so lucky.

Survivors include the love of her life, her husband for almost 70 years, Don Anderson; her brother, Leno (Carolyn) Masolini; her children, Joe Anderson (Karen), Mike Anderson (Maribelle) and Donna Rose; her grandchildren, Melanie and Brian (Nikki) Rose, Misty (Donald) Daniels, Myles (Stacey) Anderson, Donnie (Ashley), Jesse, Caden and Drew Anderson. Marie was a loving Nona to 11 great-grandchildren, and she leaves behind numerous friends and relatives.

Friends are invited to celebrate the life of Marie with her family on Oct. 16 at the Lodge at Blue Lakes from 1 to 5 p.m.

The family requests donations in her memory to her favorite charities: American Cancer Society, Attn: Team MargaRelayVille, 1451 Guerneville Road # 220, Santa Rosa, CA, 95403 or the Timberwolf Stadium Fund, P.O. Box 2812, Fort Bragg, CA, 95437.

Arrangements by Chapel of the Lakes Mortuary 707-263-0357 or 707-994-5611, or visit www.chapelofthelakes.com .