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Inspired by Cathy Thorburn-Wilson and the Keep California Beautiful Campaign, members of the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce, the Small Business Development Center, the city of Clearlake, and members of the community are getting together for the one day event to pick up trash, sweep sidewalks, pull small weeds, paint and wash down street signs.
Business owners in Clearlake are asked to take care of their businesses before the event.
On Sunday, April 25, our crew of volunteers will cover properties along Lakeshore and Olympic that still needs some work.
This is the third year that this program has been organized.
The groups supporting the event thank all who have helped in the past and encourage the community to volunteer.
For more information on how you can become more involved in your community, call the Clear Lake Chamber at 707-994-3600.
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The two-car, head-on collision outside of Nice last Friday took the life of Sandra K. Thomas, 65, of Noblesville, Ind., injured her husband, James, 64, as well as their daughter, Sarah Noguera, 33, of Ukiah, and Noguera's two young children and her husband, Adonis Noguera, 37, as Lake County News has reported.
Matt Thomas, James and Sandra Thomas' son and Sarah Noguera's brother, has flown out to California to take care of his family, which he said is doing OK and is on the mend. His sister, father and young nephew have all undergone surgeries to address their injuries.
Sarah Noguera was driving her parents to the Sacramento airport following a visit, according to family friends. The Thomases were scheduled to fly home to Indiana on Saturday.
Along the way, just outside of the town of Nice, Noguera's 2001 Ford Escape was hit by a Dodge Caravan driven by Maria Prado, 47, of Clearlake, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Prado's minivan had gone off the highway and up an embankment before veering back across the roadway and hitting Noguera's vehicle. The CHP is continuing to investigate the crash's cause, but a preliminary report indicated that alcohol and drugs do not appear to be factors.
James Thomas and Sarah Noguera both were flown by REACH Air Ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.
On Monday, hospital spokesperson Katy Hillenmeyer said James Thomas was in critical condition and Sarah Noguera was in serious condition.
Adonis Noguera and the Nogueras' 5-year-old daughter were treated at Sutter Lakeside Hospital for moderate injuries, while the couple's 4-year-old son was flown by Cal Star air ambulance to Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland for treatment of major injuries.
Friends and neighbors of the couple are mourning the death of Sandra Thomas, who they remembered as a kind, generous woman, a retired elementary school teacher who survived breast cancer and enjoyed traveling with her husband.
Velda Boenitz, who got the news of the crash over the weekend, called it “unreal.”
Randy Gerber has been a neighbor of the Thomases for many years, and attends the same church. He said the couple lived on a seven-acre property in Noblesville, with is about a half-hour drive north of Indianapolis.
Gerber said Sarah Noguera had relocated to Ukiah about a year ago. She's the general manager of Ukiah's Hampton Inn, while her husband is an accomplished ceramics artist.
Gerber said the Thomases were in California for a visit with their daughter. They had been looking forward to enjoying their retirement and traveling more.
Sandra Thomas was a retired second grade teacher who was learning about falconry from her husband, Gerber said.
“They'd do anything for you,” he said. “Everybody loves them.”
Gerber got the news about Sandra Thomas' death the morning after the crash. Right now, he said, friends and neighbors are pitching in to help the family however they can.
“She'll definitely be missed,” he said of his neighbor and friend.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
Economy Lumber Co., founded in 1935, has purchased the Oakland Piedmont store and lumberyard, which is about the size of a city block and has seven employees, said John Bacon Jr., Economy Lumber's president.
Bacon said he approached Piedmont about buying the store. “This is the one that was available.”
He said the deal became effective March 22 following about three weeks of negotiations.
“We're very excited about it,” Bacon said. “It will work great for us.”
The store was purchased for cash and other considerations, but Economy Lumber officials would not disclose a purchase price.
Piedmont Lumber has several Bay Area stores as well as a store in Lakeport, located at 2465 S. Main St.
“The official word is that Piedmont continues to explore all of its options,” Piedmont spokesman James Simmons told Lake County News on Monday.
Over the past month and a half Piedmont has been hit by several challenges, including judicial foreclosures on its properties – including the Lakeport store – a federal lawsuit over benefits for union-represented employees, a fire that destroyed its Walnut Creek store on March 13 and the closure of its Calpella truss plant on March 31, as Lake County News has reported.
The inventory at the Calpella facility was moved to the Lakeport store, which Simmons said previously will remain in operation.
The Walnut Creek store also had been considered for purchase. Bacon said he went out to look at that property on March 12, the day before it burned. “That ended the conversations.”
Bacon said the Oakland store is a great, well-run operation, and will bring the total number of Economy Lumber stores to four, including the company's seven-acre facility on Interstate 880.
He said the entire staff will be retained, and the only thing that will change is the store's name.
Bacon said it was a pleasure dealing with Piedmont owner Bill Myer and Ed Smith, the company's chief financial officer.
“They've done what they said they were going to do,” Bacon said. “It was an easy transition.”
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On Monday, as his trial was scheduled to get under way, Rick William Robison, 56, pleaded guilty to seven charges, according to a report from the office of Mendocino County District Attorney Meredith Lintott.
In Judge Rick Henderson's court Robison pleaded guilty to robbing Ukiah's Bank of America on March 24, 2009; a March 31, 2009, robbery at the Willits Chase Bank; an attempted robbery at Safeway in Willits on April 11, 2009; a robbery at the Hopland branch of the Savings Bank of Mendocino on May 20; and three burglaries in connection with the robberies of those banks.
The Mendocino County District Attorney's Office said that Robison also admitted all of the special allegations against him, including that he had suffered a prior strike for a bank robbery in Marin County in 2000; that he was charged with a "serious felony" with the prior "serious felony" conviction; and he had been to prison and not remained free from prison custody for a period of five years, based on going to prison for the Marin bank robbery as well as a felony reckless evading.
He's due in Mendocino County's Department A for judgment and sentencing on June 4.
The case against him was based on an extensive multi-agency investigation by the Ukiah Police Department, Mendocino County Sheriff's Office and Willits Police Department, officials reported.
In all but the Hopland robbery, the amount taken was under $2,000. Hopland, where Robison was apprehended, briefly netted him close to $6,000, according to the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office.
Robison was cooperative with law enforcement, providing statements to each agency. Detectives from both Sonoma and Napa counties came and questioned him about similar robberies in their jurisdictions.
Currently, Robison has a $100,000 warrant out of Napa County for a robbery from the Safeway there. After sentencing, he, most likely, will be taken to Napa to answer to those charges.
In carrying out the bank robberies Robison had a variety of things that he would use in order to disguise himself, according to the investigation.
Sometimes he had makeup and a cowboy's hat. Other times he would wear sunglasses and a baseball cap. Robison often wore boots that contained women's shoes that were cut in half, in order to make himself appear taller. He referred to these as "elevators."
When law enforcement was in pursuit, after the Savings Bank robbery, he was changing his clothes while he fled from the crime.
Though Robison never was armed, he would always use a demand note that stated he was. On one occasion, he referred to a friend that had a gun trained on the clerk. There was no such friend, but he allegedly caused fear in each of the teller's that he robbed.
Robison's plea constitutes three strikes, though it does not subject him to the state's Three Strike sentencing law, district attorney's officials reported. Those 25-to-life provisions would be available should Robison be convicted of any subsequent felony in the future.
Depending on some arguments to be made at sentencing, Robison's exposure in state prison is approximately 21 years, four months. He is not eligible for probation because he admitted his prior strike, the Marin robbery. His prison time will be served with only 15 percent credits, meaning that he will serve 85 percent of any sentence.
Prosecutor Steve Jackson handled the case, and public defender Linda Thompson represented Robison.
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Don Anderson, Jon Hopkins and Doug Rhoades will take part in the debate beginning at 7 p.m. at the Calpine Visitor Center, 15500 Central Park Road, Middletown.
The debate is expected to last an hour and a half.
The candidates previously debated in Lakeport on March 30. That debate is being rebroadcast on TV8 and also is available for viewing here: www.velocityvideoonline.com/video-040110-001.html .
The debates are sponsored by Lake County News, the Lake County Chamber of Commerce and Calpine.
McKenzie Paine of Velocity Video Online, www.velocityvideoonline.com, will record the Thursday debate for broadcast on TV8.
The public is invited to submit questions to Lake County News via e-mail,
Questions also may be submitted to the Lake County Chamber via e-mail at
The format used for the debates will put the same questions to all candidates, so as much as possible questions should be broadly applicable.
A small number of questions will be taken via note cards at the debates themselves.
Questions about the debates may be directed to debate moderator Elizabeth Larson, 707-274-9904, or at
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Capt. Kurt Smallcomb of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office reported that last Friday at 11 a.m. Mendocino County Sheriff's Dispatch Center received a 911 telephone call regarding vicious pit dogs chasing people in the area of Laughlin Way and North State Street in Redwood Valley.
Senior Animal Control Officer George Hodgson and Torsten Werner, a reserve officer with the agency, responded to the location and encountered two blue nose pit bulls behind the Blacklocks Building in Redwood Valley.
Smallcomb said the two dogs immediately attacked Hodgson and Werner. Werner was injured when he was bitten on the hands and in the groin area.
Hodgson had to use his service weapon and strike one of the pit bulls to prevent any further injury to either officers or the people in the area, Smallcomb said. The second dog was captured and taken to the Mendocino County Animal Shelter.
Werner was transported to Ukiah Valley Medical Center for dog bite injuries. He was treated at the hospital and eventually released, Smallcomb said.
Numerous neighbors in the area were frightened by the animals and were in fear of their safety, Smallcomb said. Several witnesses advised that if the officers had not responded they would have had to shoot the dogs.
Smallcomb said it was the first time in nine years that Hodgson had to use his authorized duty weapon to incapacitate a vicious dog.
He said Hodgson has been employed as a animal control officer for Mendocino County for the past nine years. He recently was brought in to conduct an investigation into a Lake County Animal Care and Control officer's horse neglect case, as Lake County News has reported.
Werner is a reserve animal control officer for the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office. Smallcomb said Werner has volunteered over 250 hours.
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