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NICE, Calif. – An Arizona man received minor injuries on Thursday and was arrested on weapons charges after he rolled his pickup in Nice.
Benjamin Arthur Stevens, 34, of Apache Junction, Ariz., received a small abrasion to his forehead in the crash, which occurred at about 12:40 p.m. Thursday on Highway 20, according to the California Highway Patrol's Clear Lake Area office.
The CHP report said that officers responded to a report of an overturned vehicle. When they arrived they determined that Stevens was the driver of the 1995 Toyota Tacoma.
As the pickup was being recovered, several weapons were observed in plain view, the CHP said.
Upon further investigation officer found several illegal firearms and 1,300 rounds of ammunition in the pickup, according to the CHP.
The CHP said the illegal weapons and ammunition were seized and Stevens was arrested.
He was booked into the Lake County Jail on three felony counts of possession of an assault weapon, with jail records indicating bail was set at $50,000.
Stevens remained in custody on Friday morning, with a court appearance set for Monday, March 18, according to his booking sheet.
The CHP said the case remains under investigation.
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KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The fourth-annual Kelseyville Olive Festival will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, April 21.
The event will be held at the Chacewater Winery & Olive Mill, located at 5625 Gaddy Lane in Kelseyville.
The event will showcase local products and their importance to the health of our community, while benefiting local nonprofit organizations.
Several related contests will be held up to and during the festival, including a poster contest, amateur recipe contest, olive pit spitting contest and people’s choice olive oil contest.
Entries are now being accepted for the Kelseyville Olive Festival Poster Contest. Poster themes should reflect Kelseyville and the olive industry.
Prizes will be awarded in three categories: under the age of 12, ages 12 to 18, and over 18.
In addition, a grand prize winning entry will be chosen to be used in 2014’s Kelseyville Olive Festival poster.
To be eligible, all entries must be submitted on paper with minimum dimension of 8.5 inches by 11 inches and no larger than 11 inches by 17 inches, and include the entrant’s name, age and phone number printed legibly on the back. All printable media will be accepted.
Please deliver entries to Rosa d’Oro Vineyards tasting room located at 3915 Main St. in Kelseyville or the Main Street Gallery located at 325 N. Main St. in Lakeport no later than 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 27.
Entries will be on display at the Main Street Gallery from April 1 through April 20 and again on display at the Festival on April 21.
All entries become the property of the Kelseyville Olive Festival for future publication and promotion. For additional information, please contact the Main Street Gallery at 707-263-1871.
The Amateur Recipe Contest is open to the public with one winner chosen and awarded a prize. To be eligible, recipes must contain at least a half cup of olives or olive oil and serve at 6 to 12 people. Entries must be ready to eat, in a disposable container, and be submitted with a legible copy of the recipe that includes the name of the dish, name of the entrant, and phone number or email.
All entries must be delivered to Rosa d'Oro Vineyards Tasting Room, 3915 Main St. in Kelseyville, between noon and 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 6. A private judging will begin at 2 p.m. All recipes become the property of the Kelseyville Olive Festival for future publication and promotion.
The olive pit spitting contest will be ongoing during the Kelseyville Olive Festival on April 21. Prizes will be awarded for distance and accuracy.
A people’s choice olive oil contest will also be held during the festival. Entries will be available for sampling at vendor booths throughout the event.
The public will sample olive oils and vote for their favorites on a ballot. Winners will be announced at 4 p.m. April 21 during the Kelseyville Olive Festival.
The festival will feature vendors offering olive-related and other local products, samples, food, and more, as well as providing educational materials about olives and our local industry.
Sponsorship opportunities are available. There is no cost to attend the festival; wine and beer tasting with a commemorative glass will be available for a $15 fee.
Event proceeds from the silent auction will benefit the California Women for Agriculture’s Lake County Chapter and their AgVenture and Scholarship Programs, the raffle benefits the Kelseyville Education Foundation, and the tasting sales benefit the Lake Family Resource Center. The Lake County Arts Council will also benefit from the event for their part in the poster contest.
The Chacewater Winery & Olive Mill is located at 5625 Gaddy Lane in Kelseyville, across from the Kelseyville Post Office.
For more information about the Kelseyville Olive Festival, contact Livia Kurtz, Rosa d’Oro Vineyards, at 707-279-0483 or visit www.kelseyvilleolivefestival.com .
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Local officials and organizations are partnering to update the Lake County Community Health Needs Assessment, and they’re asking county residents to give their input on the effort by month’s end.
The collaborative is hoping for a strong response to a survey of Lake County’s health care needs that’s being circulated around the community and also is online.
“The community survey is the best part of this needs assessment process. Hearing directly from people about their issues and priorities for being healthy makes our analysis much more real. We need to hear from everybody,” said Lake County Health Officer Dr. Karen Tait.
The brief survey, open until April 10, can be found online here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KeepingLakeCountyHealthy .
Since early February, a one-page survey printed on yellow paper, in English and Spanish, has been distributed in locations throughout the county, including the lobby of the courthouse in Lakeport, officials said. The paper survey will continue to be available through the end of March.
“Ultimately, we will give just about everybody an opportunity to answer that survey,” said health care consultant Barbara Aved.
The survey is part of the work currently under way to update the 2010 Community Health Needs Assessment.
Aved, who facilitated the process for completing the 2010 assessment and is involved in the current work, said it’s a comprehensive study of Lake County’s unique health needs and challenges.
Aved anticipates that the report will be ready by the end of September.
Tait’s office said information gathered from the surveys, focus groups and health data is compiled and analyzed to highlight areas where there is room for improvement in both prevention of illness and access to treatment.
Local hospitals, nongovernmental organizations, county departments and others will use the updated assessment in planning how to better serve the community, health officials reported.
“Why the group wants this information is for planning services and planning interventions,” Aved said.
It will provide important documentation to support grant applications, such as the $497,076 Community Transformation Grant recently awarded to St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake to promote health and prevent chronic disease, according to Tait’s office.
The online survey is being made available for a few weeks longer this time, Aved said. During the last assessment, they found that 63 percent of the responses in both English and Spanish came from the paper surveys.
Originally, the online survey was available both in Spanish and English. However, Aved said that for the 2010 assessment they received no responses in Spanish, so this year’s survey is only available in English.
One of the challenges, said Aved, is getting people out to participate in focus groups that are being hosted by various organizations around the county.
“It’s really hard to get into the crevices of a community,” Aved said.
She said those focus groups are important because they give the consumer perspective. It’s one thing to look up data, but it’s really important to talk to people, she said.
The goal is to talk to parents, seniors and other specially focused groups, she said.
For more information contact the Lake County Health Services Department at 707-263-1090.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County youth are lining up to join a new string music program offered by Clear Lake Performing Arts, made possible by a generous grant from the Lake County Wine Alliance.
When CLPA’s Youth Education program was issued a grant of $2,500 from the Lake County Wine Alliance to offer no-cost lessons to aspiring students, the high turnout was totally unexpected.
Susan Condit, teacher of the class, was amazed when more than 60 families from all around the Lake responded, wanting their children to participate in the program.
A second class and another teacher were added to help accommodate the many students. Currently about 40 students, kindergarten through high school, are enrolled and many more are still on the waiting list.
While initial efforts have been directed at playing the violin, CLPA is exploring expanding the program to include other stringed instruments.
For CLPA the effort is not entirely altruistic, since experience has shown that many students will graduate quickly into the Clear Lake Performing Arts Youth Orchestra.
Under Condit’s direction, the CLPA Youth Orchestra has won acclaim for its performances at concerts of the Lake County Symphony, also sponsored by CLPA.
John Parkinson, who serves as music director and conductor of the symphony, says it is crucial that these youth music groups prosper, since they will serve as “feeders” to his orchestra.
“It’s like anything else in life,” he said. “We must prepare for the new generation to take the seats in the orchestra now filled by their seniors, if our orchestra is to continue to exist for the pleasure of future audiences.”
Andi Skelton, concertmaster of the Symphony, fiddle teacher and founder of the popular Konocti Fiddle Club, noted that interest in string music programs is growing.
“Kids are finding out music can be just as much fun as playing video games,” she said. “We thank the Wine Alliance for making this pilot program possible, and hope we will be able to continue this successful endeavor.”
But with success has come problems. Interest in the program has far exceeded expectations, leading to a shortage of funding for more teachers and instruments.
People wishing to lend support to this popular program, either with donations or instruments, may contact Condit at
This quake has been upgraded from magnitude 4.0.
COBB, Calif. – The Cobb area had two moderate-sized earthquakes early Thursday, according to an update from the US Geological Survey.
A 4.5-magnitude earthquake occurred at 2:09 a.m. three miles west southwest of Cobb and 13 miles southwest of Clearlake at a depth of 1.2 miles, as Lake County News has reported.
The US Geological Survey said that, one minute later, a 4.0-magnitude quake that was centered three miles west of Cobb and 12 miles southwest of Clearlake – and measured at a depth of 2.2 miles – took place.
While some Lake County residents reported feeling two large quakes in quick succession, the US Geological Survey initially did not report the 4.0 quake until it released a preliminary report on it Thursday afternoon.
By 3 p.m. Thursday, there had been more than 100 aftershocks following those two larger quakes, according to US Geological Survey records.
Approximately 378 shake reports from 67 zip codes were submitted to the survey on the 4.5-magnitude quake. No shake reports appeared to have been submitted for the 4.0 quake; those reports may have been attributed to the initial quake.
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This quake was downgraded from a magnitude 4.6.
COBB, Calif. – A 4.5-magnitude earthquake shook the Cobb Mountain area early Thursday morning.
The quake occurred at 2:09 a.m., according to a preliminary report from the US Geological Survey.
The epicenter was located three miles west southwest of Cobb and 13 miles southwest of Clearlake at a depth of 1.2 miles, the survey reported.
By 3 a.m. the survey had received approximately 227 shake reports from 57 zip codes, including parts of Lake County and numerous Bay Area communities.
That large quake was followed three minutes later by a 2.9-magnitude aftershock centered three miles west of Cobb and 13 miles southwest of Clearlake, the survey reported.
Several area residents reported on Lake County News’ Facebook page that they felt the quake, with some of them having been awakened by it. Others stated it was the largest they’ve felt in the county.
Thursday morning’s quake is the largest in the county since a 4.5-magnitude quake was reported near The Geysers geothermal steamfield in May 2012, according to Lake County News records.
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