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CHICO, Calif. – In the wake of a fatal alcohol overdose by one of its students, on Thursday California State University, Chico said it would immediately suspend all social Greek letter organizations on campus until further notice.
Chico State President Paul Zingg made the announcement in a noon meeting with approximately 400 fraternity and sorority members in the Bell Memorial Union Auditorium on the CSU, Chico campus.
Earlier in the day, the Chico Police Department had reported that the death of 21-year-old Chico State student Mason Lee Sumnicht was believed to have resulted from alcohol poisoning.
Sumnicht, who reportedly had been pledging the Sigma Pi fraternity, had been celebrating his 21st birthday on the night of Nov. 3 at a number of downtown bars. Just before 1:30 a.m. Nov. 4 firefighters and police were dispatched to the 400 block of Hazel Street where they found him unresponsive, police said.
He was hospitalized and reported to be in stable and critical condition. On Thursday the Chico Police Department said it had been notified of his death.
Vice President for Student Affairs Drew Calandrella, who along with Zingg addressed the students at the Thursday meeting, said a number of serious incidents had taken place involving Greek chapters in 2012, including alcohol policy violations, allegations of hazing, alleged assaults and other violations of rules governing Greek life on campus.
While he said some of the fraternities and sororities were “exemplars,” the behavior of others reflected poorly on the entire Greek system and the University as a whole.
The university has approximately 1,200 students in 26 social Greek organizations. The university’s fall 2012 enrollment is 16,470 students.
CSU, Chico said it will communicate with fraternities and sororities at the beginning of the spring 2013 semester about new guidelines chapters must meet to be considered for reinstatement.
Until that time, campus fraternities and sororities may not hold any activities or events and must remove or cover up the Greek letters on their chapter houses.
On Thursday Zingg described in stark terms the dangers of binge drinking, out of control parties and treatment of chapter recruits that constitutes hazing. He said recent examples of these behaviors had tarnished the Greek system on campus and necessitated the suspension of all chapters.
“We need to re-set, review and think about our future together,” Zingg said. “The system has to rise or fall on the commitment of its members.”
Calandrella and Zingg used the analogy of the airline industry, where one serious aircraft problem means the fleet must be grounded until the problem is assessed.
Calandrella said he understood some students were upset about the decision. “I’m asking all of you to reflect on what you stand for,” he said, both as individuals and as organizations. “The question to ask is: Are you committed?”
Calandrella said Student Affairs staff had spoken fraternity and sorority leadership earlier this year warning them that serious violations occurring could bring changes for Greek chapters on campus.
Calandrella said he anticipated some top-flight chapters might not have difficulty meeting new strict guidelines for reinstatement. Regarding other chapters being reinstated, he said, “Some won’t come back – some won’t choose to come back.”
Zingg said he wants a Greek presence on campus, and told the students he was a 45-year member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.
“I follow them with pride,” he said. But fraternities and sororities must live up to their charters, which stand for scholarship, civility, brotherhood and other values that the University also shares.
“Like it or not, you are leaders on this campus,” he said.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol has announced that, for the first time in three years, it will accept applications from individuals interested in a career as a CHP officer.
The application period will take place in January.
“This is an opportunity to serve alongside some of California’s finest who provide the highest level of safety, service and security throughout the state,” said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow. “A career with a law enforcement agency like the CHP offers unlimited opportunities for someone who is looking for a challenge.”
Applications will be accepted online only during a three-day period from Thursday, Jan. 3, through Saturday, Jan. 5.
Those interested in applying, or seeking additional information, should visit www.chpcareers.com .
“Officers are needed throughout California,” added Commissioner Farrow. “Through this process, we are determined to find qualified men and women from diverse backgrounds who are committed to carrying out the CHP’s mission and making a difference in their communities.”
To be considered, candidates must be 20 to 35 years old, a U.S. citizen, have no felony convictions and be a high school graduate.
Each applicant will be required to complete a selection process including a written test, physical ability test, appraisal panel interview, background investigation, medical/vision evaluation and psychological evaluation.
The CHP’s recruitment Facebook page is www.facebook.com/chp.recruiting .
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Testimony in the double-murder trial of a former Maine resident continued on Wednesday, with an alleged accomplice and a forensic pathologist taking the stand.
Robby Alan Beasley, 32, is on trial for shooting to death Frank and Yvette Maddox of Augusta, Maine, along the side of Morgan Valley Road in January 2010.
The prosecution asserts that Beasley killed the couple because he believed they had stolen marijuana from him after he brought them west to work for him in his marijuana growing and trafficking business.
The day would see Beasley’s alleged accomplice in the case, 30-year-old Elijah Bae McKay, return to the stand.
McKay, not currently set for trial, is alleged to have loaned Beasley the 9 millimeter handgun that the prosecution says he used to shoot each of the Maddoxes twice in the head before dragging their bodies down a nearby embankment. McKay also is alleged to have helped Beasley get rid of clothing, his cell phone and move the Maddoxes’ pickup.
Also on the stand Wednesday was Dr. Thomas Gill, the forensic pathologist who performed autopsies on the severely decomposed bodies of the couple.
Before testimony started Wednesday morning, prosecutor Art Grothe, defense attorney Stephen Carter and Judge Andrew Blum went over evidentiary issues, in particular, Carter’s desire to exclude testimony about Beasley holding his finger to his lips in a gesture to McKay during their time in holding, as well as Beasley scratching on his cell wall that, among other things, McKay was a snitch.
Blum also excused one juror due to a death in the family but kept another who had concerns about a workplace hardship.
On the stand Wednesday, McKay said he had kept the 9 millimeter handgun he loaned Beasley under a shed in his marijuana garden.
He went to New York in late September 2009 for a fishing trip and had Beasley oversee his garden while he was gone, paying him with a pound of marijuana for the work.
The Maddoxes and four others were working in the garden, and a few days after he returned McKay said he fired the couple, who were bickering with other trimmers and demanding money for trimming they didn’t do.
He said the couple “didn't make a good impression right from the start” and had been hitting him up for downers.
Pathologist discusses findings in autopsies
There was an afternoon break in McKay’s testimony while Dr. Gill took the stand.
Gill explained finding nonfatal trauma on Frank Maddox’s body, specifically, a bullet wound to the upper part of his left thigh. While the wound on the front of the thigh was only a quarter of an inch in diameter, the exit wound on the back of the leg was about 5 inches by 5 inches.
The pathologist said that larger wound could have been a result of predation by scavenging animals or other decomposition.
The Maddoxes were shot on Jan. 22, 2010. They were found by two passersby on March 4 of that same year, with sheriff’s officials at the time reporting that the bodies were partially decomposed.
Gill said Frank Maddox had two gunshot wounds to the head. The first entered behind and below his right ear and exited near the top of his head, and the second entered through the thin, fan-shaped temporal bone behind the left eye and exited through the back of the head.
Brain tissue tends to break down and decompose early, so there was no brain tissue recovered from either of the bodies, said Gill, although he added there were fragments of the bullets’ lead cores.
Yvette Maddox’s skull was badly fragmented and Gill said he requested that forensic anthropologist Dr. Alison Galloway of University of California, Santa Cruz, examine the skull.
Galloway testified last week to receiving Yvette Maddox’s skull in a few dozen pieces from Lake County Sheriff’s evidence technicians and then piecing it back together, concluding that there had been two bullet wounds.
Grothe showed a limited number of autopsy photos and asked Gill for explanations. Included in the photos was one of Frank Maddox’s left forearm, showing a tattoo of his last name, as well as the wounds on his leg and skull, and views of Yvette Maddox’s skull, which was in fragments as a result of the gunshot wounds.
Under Carter’s cross-examination, Gill said he had no doubt that the husband and wife died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head.
Gill said he had formed an opinion as to their causes of death before sending Yvette Maddox’s skull to Galloway to get a second opinion based on her expertise putting back together skulls.
While Gill said he could not tell the time between the shots, he said from the time the Maddoxes were shot until their time of death would have been less than an hour.
More questions about alleged murder weapon
When McKay returned to the stand, Carter questioned him more about the 9 millimeter handgun implicated in the murders.
McKay said he had two 15-clip magazines and a holster with the handgun, which he said he and Beasley had practiced shooting in his marijuana garden.
Carter had McKay draw a picture of the handgun, which he said he last saw after October 2009. McKay said he had a Glock and a Ruger, both of which are now in law enforcement custody.
After Beasley allegedly shot the couple in early 2010, McKay said it was “too hot out here” to sell his marijuana in Lake County, so he had several pounds mailed to Atlanta, where a contact put him in touch with a man who escorted him around the city to sell the marijuana.
McKay would be arrested while he was in Atlanta. He said the escort actually had been an informant who stole from him three pounds of marijuana, valued at $3,200 a pound, and $12,000 in cash.
Also during his afternoon testimony, McKay recounted that the Maddoxes had stayed in a tent in his marijuana garden while working for him. He said he required trimmers to come and stay for a week at a time to avoid having a lot of traffic.
He said that several days after he fired them, he paid the Maddoxes $3,200 – $200 per pound for the 10 pounds they trimmed and $1,200 for working on topping while he was gone to New York.
McKay’s testimony will resume at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – California is home to more than 1.3 million licensed motorcyclists and some of the best riding weather year round.
Unfortunately, the state has also experienced an increase in the number of people killed in motorcycle-involved collisions.
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is preparing to address the problem with the help of a federal grant that will fund a yearlong, lifesaving effort.
“Motorcycle awareness is a priority for the California Highway Patrol and a key to saving lives on the roadway,” said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow. “Education combined with enforcement will help reinforce the concept that all motorists need to safely share the road.”
Each year hundreds of motorcyclists are killed in collisions and thousands are injured. According to preliminary data from the CHP’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, there has been nearly a 20 percent increase in the number of motorcyclists killed from 2010 to 2011.
The recent increase follows a two-year decline (2008-2010) in motorcycle-involved collisions.
To reverse the trend and reduce motorcycle-involved collisions resulting in injury or death, the CHP has begun an intensive public awareness campaign which will run through Sept. 30, 2013.
In addition to enforcement, the campaign includes an education component which will be achieved through public service announcements, social media, public outreach events, and motorcycle safety and road-sharing presentations throughout California.
“Without a continued focus on motorcycle safety education for all motorists, the number of motorcycle-involved collisions may continue to rise, especially as more Californians are turning to motorcycles as a means of transportation,” added Commissioner Farrow.
Funding for the California Motorcycle Safety Enforcement and Education II was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – A potent storm from the Pacific threatens to bring heavy rain, mountain snow and locally gusty wind to the Northwest and northern California early next week.
The rain could slow travel along the I-5 corridor from Seattle to Portland and Medford, Ore. San Francisco may also get damp for a time, causing some slower holiday travel, according to Accuweather.com.
Forecaster are predicting rain in Lake County this weekend and then chances of showers during Thanksgiving week.
On Wednesday, rain may linger across the Pacific Northwest coast, while snow pushes inland across the northern Rockies.
Dry and mild weather will be in place for the Southwest and much of the southern Plains Thanksgiving week. However, some showers may develop across portions of Texas into the lower Mississippi Valley early in the week.
At the same time, AccuWeather.com reports another nor’easter during Thanksgiving week will put holiday travel in jeopardy for other parts of the country.
A nor’easter may form over the western Atlantic by Sunday, sending rain and wind into parts of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast through at least the middle of the week.
“How close to the coast the storm tracks will determine how unsettled the weather gets in the I-95 corridor to the Appalachians,” AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.
There is potential that the nor’easter could strengthen and move farther inland into New England at midweek. In this scenario, there is some potential for a wintry mix or snow over the mountains of northern New England.
With next week being one of the heaviest travel times of the year, airline passengers from Boston to New York City may deal with delays due to rain, low clouds and wind. These delays could in turn cause ripple-effect problems.
Motorists might also meet slow travel in both wet weather closer to the coast and any slippery roads resulting wintry weather across the interior.
A separate weak storm system could bring some rain and snow showers to the Midwest on Wednesday.
Meghan Evans is a meteorologist with www.accuweather.com .
COBB, Calif. – A Cobb golf course is reopening under new ownership.
Formerly known as Rob Roy, the new Cobb Mountain Golf is now open and under the ownership of Phil and Marci Psalmonds of Lakeport.
The course closed a few months ago after its former owners lost the property to foreclosure, Phil Psalmonds said.
He told Lake County News that the course went up for foreclosure sale on Oct. 16.
On the following day, Psalmonds – who previously had attempted to purchase the property – was able to reach a purchase agreement with the private lender who had taken it in foreclosure.
Psalmonds said it’s a new adventure and he’s “pretty excited about it.”
A small business owner, Psalmonds has been in the athletic club business previously, and his brother and sister-in-law own Quail Run athletic club in Lakeport.
“My family has always been into sports,” he said.
The course is special to him for another reason – it’s where he learned to play golf.
“It’s a beautiful setting,” Psalmonds said.
The 34-acre golf course has a bar and restaurant. Psalmonds said he intends to run both the course and the bar; the bar is being remodeled and will make its new debut as a sports bar.
The course itself also requires some work, as some maintenance had been deferred on it. He hopes to lease out the restaurant to a separate operator.
On the golf side, the course is now open for business during daylight hours, seven days a week, weather permitting, Psalmonds said.
Psalmonds plans to run the course like an athletic club, with affordable memberships and the ability to pay on a monthly, rather than yearly, basis.
“We’re having a membership promotion starting this Saturday,” he said.
They will waive the $500 initiation fee for the first 100 memberships.
Monthly members will cost $50 for an individual, $70 for couples and $90 for a family; for those who sign up for automatic monthly payments, they can save $10 per month.
While it’s still open to the general public for now, Psalmonds envisions eventually that the course will be run as a private club.
Cobb Mountain Golf is located at 16451 Golf Road.
Visit the new Cobb Mountain Golf on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CobbMountainGolf .
Anyone interested in leasing out the restaurant is welcome to call Psalmonds at 707-349-0207.
Email Elizabeth Larson at