News

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Local favorite Ailura Fate won the Rock2 category at the Rising Stars Music Competition this past Saturday at the Redwood Empire Fair Grounds in Ukiah.

“We’re very pleased to have won the award and we thank our fans for getting us here. Our biggest thrill was getting to work with such hard-working, dedicated, and selfless people as the staff and sponsors of Rising Stars, the other great bands, and to give back to the community by helping Rising Stars help local charities” said Kevin Village-Stone.

Judging is based on point scores for stage presence, musical skill and audience interaction.

Ailura Fate also recently signed with KaseQTR Productions for international and domestic bookings and management ( www.kaseqtr.com ).

A tour schedule for 2014 is currently being booked as well as collaborations with other world-class performers who are also with KaseQTR.

Ailura Fate is the combined local talents of powerhouse vocalist Kayla Bell, multi-guitarist Lindy Day, and Native American Music Awards nominee Kevin Village Stone on bass, keyboards and Native flutes.

Bell, Day and Village-Stone are professional working musicians and frequently offer their services for events as part of their ongoing personal contribution to the community.

For more information visit www.AiluraFate.com .

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Every year in California firefighters respond to residential structure fires that take lives and cause millions of dollars in damage.

From Oct. 6-12, Cal Fire is teaming with the National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA) for Fire Prevention Week to educate Californians on the simple steps they can take to help protect their family from the most common cause of residential fires.

According to the latest research, unattended cooking is the leading cause of home fires. Two of every five home fires begin in the kitchen – more than any other place in the home. Cooking fires are also the leading cause of fire-related home injuries.

“Often when firefighters are called to a fire that started in the kitchen, the residents tell us that they only left the kitchen for a few minutes,” said State Fire Marshal Tonya Hoover, Cal Fire-Office of the State Marshal. “Sadly, that’s all it takes for a fire to start. We hope that Fire Prevention Week will enable us to reach folks in the community before they’ve suffered a damaging lesson and remember ‘Fire is Everyone’s Fight’.”

Cal Fire offers a few important cooking safety tips that will help keep your family safe:

• Have a 3-foot “kid free” zone around the stove.
• Stand by your pan and keep an eye on what you fry. If you leave the kitchen, turn the burner off.
• Turn pot handles toward the back of the stove. Then no one can bump them or pull them over.
• Have a fire extinguisher 10 feet from the stove on the exit side of the kitchen.
• Never pour water on a grease fire; turn the stove off and cover the pan with a lid, or close the oven door.
• Keep anything that can catch fire – potholders, oven mitts, wooden utensils, paper or plastic bags, food packaging, towels, or curtains – away from your stovetop.
• If your clothing should catch fire, immediately stop, drop, and roll to smother flames.
• Scalds and burn injuries are on the increase. The highest risks are the very young and the elderly.

For more fire safety tips, visit the Cal Fire Web site at www.fire.ca.gov.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – A Mendocino County jury on Monday morning returned a guilty verdict against a Fort Bragg man accused last December of beating to death a 5-month-old baby girl.

Wilson L. “Josh” Tubbs III, 39, faces a state prison term of 25 years to life. He is scheduled to be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 13 by trial Judge John Behnke in Mendocino County Superior Court.

Tubbs was convicted of the death of infant Emerald Herriot by a jury that deliberated last than two full days, according to the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office.

Tubbs showed no emotion Monday when the verdict was returned. Public Defender Linda Thompson, Tubbs’ attorney, patted him on the arm and said, “Hang in there.”

For Assistant District Attorney Paul Sequeira, the jury’s verdict Monday was a swift conclusion to a case that was prosecuted under state legislation specifically addressing deaths of children under eight years of age.

Sequeira said legislation enacted in the mid-1990s zeroed in on child abuse cases resulting in deaths.

“Before that they could be extremely difficult because prosecutors had to address issues of intent and implied malice associated with conventional murder cases,” said Sequeira.

Now, as in the Tubbs’ child-killing case, if prosecutors can prove that the physical abuse at the hands of the child’s caregiver led to great bodily injury and death, a conviction can result in the same sentencing standards as in conventional murder cases.

The Tubbs case is a near perfect example, said Sequeira.

Baby Emerald Herriot – a relative of the Tubbs family – had been in Tubbs and his family’s care for about a month when he brought her on Dec. 2 to the Mendocino Coast District Hospital. She was not breathing and had bruises all over her head and face.

According to the investigation, Tubbs claimed the baby had accidentally fallen from a changing table the night before. Tubbs testified in his own defense hat he delayed seeking medical care because the child didn’t appear seriously injured.

But earlier in a recorded interview with police investigators, Tubbs had said that the night before he slapped the side of the baby's head with an open palm and shook her so that her head twice whipped back and forth.

Tubbs’ taped admission came after he was told the fall he described couldn’t have resulted in two skull fractures, bruising all over the baby’s head and face and severe accumulation of blood between the skull and brain.

Tubbs took the witness during the trial to recant the story, contending that he lied to investigators because “I knew they were looking for a specific thing, and if they didn't get it from me that they were going to get it from somebody else, so I told them what they wanted.”

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Community members came out on Saturday morning to support Lake County residents who are fighting breast cancer.

The 18th annual Sponsoring Survivorship Walk Run took place in downtown Lakeport.

The group offers critical moral and financial support to cancer victims.

Visit the Sponsoring Survivorship Web site at www.sponsoringsurvivorship.com .

Video by John Jensen.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – It was a whirlwind of floppy ears and stubby legs on Saturday in Lakeport, as the dachshund derby returned for another year.

The wiener dog races were a highlight of the Oktoberfest celebration.

The determined field of dachshunds entertained a large crowd of folks who wanted to see the fast-paced action.

Video by John Jensen.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Lake Family Resource Center is raising awareness of domestic violence throughout the month of October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9, the center will host a candlelight vigil at Clearlake's Austin Park, 14077 Lakeshore Drive.

The vigil is held each year to raise awareness of domestic violence, recognize those who have made a difference in the fight against domestic violence, and remember those who are no longer with us because of domestic violence.

The public is encouraged to come out and hear guest speakers talk about domestic violence. Candles and refreshments will be provided.

Lake Family Resource Center is determined to focus awareness on the tragedy of domestic violence in the hope of ending it in Lake County. The center provides a multitude of services to build family stability and strength.

For more information call 707-279-0563.