News

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County News has posted a video of the procession on Tuesday that brought home the body of Army Sgt. Richard Essex.

The video can be viewed above.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The 13th annual Lake County Wine Auction will be presented on Saturday, Sept. 15, at Brassfield Estate Winery in High Valley.

This major fundraising event benefits nonprofit arts, health services and community organizations in Lake County.

The sponsoring Lake County Wine Alliance has contributed $896,765 in proceeds to Lake County groups since its inception in 2000.

Jerry Brassfield, proprietor of Brassfield Estate Winery, will be the honorary chair for the 2012 Wine Auction.

He will be assisted by an all-volunteer committee, co-chaired by Judy Luchsinger of Lakeport and Sharron Zoller of Kelseyville.

Five senior centers, five high schools, three high school programs, and eight nonprofit organizations have been selected as beneficiaries of this year’s Lake County Wine Auction.

All proceeds from the event will benefit the selected beneficiaries. More than 40 organizations, agencies, and programs submitted their funding requests to the Wine Alliance, demonstrating the number of worthy programs in Lake County seeking financial assistance.

The recipient organizations will use their grants for these projects:

The Arts: The fine arts education programs at the five Lake County high schools (Clear Lake High, Kelseyville High, Lower Lake High, Middletown High, and Upper Lake High) will share the funds in this category.

Health: the Safe House for Homeless Youths serves youth 15-18 years of age from throughout Lake County; Hospice Services of Lake County provides physical, emotional and spiritual end-of-life support; and the five senior centers (Highlands, Live Oak, Lucerne Alpine, Lakeport, and Middletown) will support their nutrition programs for delivered meals to homebound seniors.

Community: Funds in this category will be shared by the Clear Lake Performing Arts to expand its Youth Music Education program; the Friends of the Lake County Museum to present its docent outreach program to all schools; Team DUI to purchase outreach and educational materials; Konocti Junior Tennis League to continue its operation of the annual Lake County open junior tournament; Operation Tango Mike for shipping fees and package contents for troops deployed to combat zones; and Habitat for Humanity of Lake County for its home repair program for low income residents.

An additional award will go to the three high schools with Future Farmers of America (FFA) programs (Upper Lake, Kelseyville, and Middletown) that develop leadership through agricultural education.

The elegant, black tie-encouraged affair will begin at 5 p.m. and end at 11 p.m.

The LC Diamonds will provide music for dancing.

Live auction excitement will be generated by auctioneers Shaun Hornby of Lakeport and Stephanie Green of Kelseyville. The combination of Hornby and Green resulted in heightened activity at the 2011 Wine Auction held in September at Ceago Vinegarden.

Local wineries, wine grape growers, restaurants, and other businesses and individuals are generous supporters through their donations to the live and silent auctions and to the food and beverages served at the gala affair.

Lake County and regional businesses provide support through sponsorships.

The charter of the Wine Alliance directs its efforts to foster the arts, benefit health services, and support the community, while promoting Lake County as a premier grape growing and fine wine region.

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.

Tickets are $150 per person and may be reserved at www.winealliance.org or by calling 866-279-WINE.

Sponsorship information is available from Marie Beery, 707-278-0129.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – As two wildland fires continued burning into the Mendocino National Forest on Tuesday, firing and mop up operations also were under way.

The North Pass Fires were sparked by lightning along Mendocino Pass Road, 10 miles northeast of Covelo, on Saturday, Aug. 18.

A Tuesday night report from the Cal Fire and US Forest Service unified command said the fires had burned 32,675 acres and were 35-percent contained.

On scene Tuesday were 1,648 fire personnel, 116 engines, 24 fire crews, two airtankers, 12 helicopters, 25 bulldozers and 29 water tenders, Cal Fire and the US Forest Service reported.

Fire crews began firing operations in the southeastern side of the fire, which continued through Monday night and early Tuesday morning, the report explained. Mopping up started on Monday along the western flank of the fire on Asa Bean Ridge.

Officials anticipate the fire will spread northeast toward Tantrum Glade (USFS Road M2), north toward Wrights Valley, Hole in the Ground and Hopkins Peak over the next 48 hours.

Evacuation orders remained in effect on Tuesday for dozens of residences east of Covelo. As of Tuesday, officials said the fires had destroyed four residences and seven outbuildings.

The fires have continued to spread north toward the Middle Fork of the Eel River, Hammerhorn Lake, Foster Glade and Asa Bean Ridge within the Yolla Bolly Middle Eel Wilderness, eastward toward Forest Road M2 and south toward Forest Highway 7.

Forest officials said a closure order is in effect for the northern two-thirds of the Covelo Ranger District.

Forest Service officials said that on Monday heat from a large smoke column rose into the air and merged into a cloud, which then developed into a large pyrocumulus cloud that was noticeable from miles around.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Kamala Harris announced on Tuesday that two bills that will help victims by making it more difficult for human traffickers to hide their assets have passed the legislature and have been sent to the governor’s desk.

Assembly Bill 2466, by Bob Blumenfield (D-San Fernando Valley), ensures that criminal defendants involved in human trafficking will not dispose of assets that would otherwise be provided as restitution to victims.

Senate Bill 1133, by Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), expands the list of assets that a human trafficker must forfeit and provides a formula for using those resources to help victims of human trafficking. Both bills passed unanimously with bipartisan support.

“Human trafficking is big business in California. It is a high profit criminal industry that is expanding rapidly across the globe, including here in California,” said Attorney General Harris. “This legislation will make sure those who perpetrate these crimes will not profit from them.”

Senate Bill 1133 ensures that those convicted of human trafficking crimes involving minors will not be able to keep the financial benefits reaped from their unlawful activity.

The bill expands the scope of property subject to forfeiture and provides a formula to redirect those resources to community groups that aid victims of human trafficking.

“Sex trafficking of minors is a horrendous crime that is driven by the prospect of lucrative profits,” said Senator Leno. “This legislation aims to deprive convicted criminals of the financial resources and assets that would allow them to continue luring young people into the sex trade. In turn, proceeds from those forfeitures would rightfully be used to help victims begin to repair their lives.”

Assembly Bill 2466 (Preservation of Assets for Victims of Human Trafficking), will help to ensure that more victims of human trafficking receive restitution. Under California law, victims are entitled to mandatory restitution; however there are no laws to help prevent human trafficking defendants from liquidating and hiding their assets before conviction.

Assembly Bill 2466 would allow a court to order the preservation of the assets and property by persons charged with human trafficking.

“Trafficking is slavery and we cannot have the perpetrators of this despicable crime gaming the system in California,” said Assemblymember Blumenfield. “We need all hands on deck to confront trafficking. By signing this bill, the governor can help reclaim justice for victims.”

Attorney General Harris is committed to the fight against this fast-growing crime that deprives persons of basic human rights. Harris co-sponsored the California Human Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2005, which made human trafficking a felony in California.

Attorney General Harris also has served on the California Alliance to Combat Trafficking and Slavery Task Force.

Human trafficking is estimated to be a $32 billion industry, the world’s third most profitable criminal enterprise behind drugs and arms trafficking.

Human trafficking involves the recruitment, smuggling, transporting, harboring, buying, or selling of a person for purposes of exploitation, prostitution, domestic servitude, sweatshop labor, migrant work, agricultural labor, peonage, bondage, or involuntary servitude.

While human trafficking often involves the smuggling of human beings across international borders, numerous Americans are trafficked around the United States ever year.

Human trafficking strips people, especially women and children, of their freedom and violates our nation’s promise that every person in the United States is guaranteed basic human rights.

For more information on the trafficking of human beings, go to www.oag.ca.gov/human-trafficking .

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The body of a young soldier who was raised in Lake County returned to his family and community on Tuesday in the final leg of a sad and solemn homecoming.

Sgt. Richard Essex’s body was flown on Tuesday morning from the East Coast to the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa.

There, family, close friends and an honor guard of members of the military, California Highway Patrol and Lakeport Police officers were gathered to escort him to Lake County.

Essex, 23, of Kelseyville was one of 11 people who died in a Black Hawk helicopter crash on Thursday, August 16, in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Essex was serving in the U.S. Army, and was assigned to A Company, 2nd Battalion, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, based at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. He was the Black Hawk’s door gunner on its final mission.

As the hearse carrying Essex’s body headed north on Highway 101, the passing procession was saluted by community members, law enforcement and firefighters.

Originally, Essex’s procession had been scheduled to come over Highway 175 on the Hopland Grade. However, the size of the procession – along with the hearse there were numerous private vehicles as well as those of local law enforcement agencies and dozens of Patriot Guard Riders on motorcycles – made it necessary to change routes.

Instead, the procession went on to Ukiah and then headed east on Highway 20, turning onto Highway 29 at Upper Lake.

While there was about an hour of delay in his arrival – originally the procession had been set to pass through Kelseyville at noon and Lakeport at 12:15 p.m. – community members stayed on the streets of Kelseyville and Lakeport, waiting for the chance to see him pass.

At his request, the procession went through his hometown, past Kelseyville High School, where he graduated in 2008.

Then it was on to Lakeport, where American flags had been set up by city workers all along Main Street. About 200 people lined the procession’s path in the block at Courthouse Square.

In the few breathless minutes that it took for the procession to pass, it seemed the only sound was the rumble of motorcycle engines and the vehicles following Essex’s hearse.

People of all ages lined the route, many of them holding American flags, watching the hearse pass without speaking. Some family members riding in the vehicles that followed the hearse waved to those who lined the route.

At Chapel of the Lakes Mortuary, with the pathway bounded by flags and salutes, Essex’s casket was taken from the hearse by an honor guard, with family gathering for a private service.

Essex’s family has invited the community to a public memorial service that will take place beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 1, on the football field at Kelseyville High School, 5480 Main St.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County has been paying tribute this month to a fallen local soldier, who was brought home on Tuesday.

Army Sgt. Richard Essex’s body was carried through Lake County in a dignified procession, as community members looked on.

He died in a Black Hawk helicopter crash in Afghanistan on Thursday, August 16.

Here are the community’s thoughts, pictures and video, shared on social media.