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The Lake County Arts Council and Main Street Gallery, at 325 N. Main Street in Lakeport, is hosting the reception ceremony on Friday, March 12, to celebrate the creativity of the community.
Seven films were entered and each will be given its own reward, said Cheri Holden, creator of the festival and owner of Watershed Books.
“There were a wide variety of participants,” said Holden. “All of the films are worthy of an award. We had participants from age 13 to age 70, both amateurs and professionals.”
The festivities begin at 7 p.m. and will most likely last until about 9 p.m., she reported.
In addition to the films entered into the contest, several others also will be shown that are related to Clear Lake, Holden said.
“I’m keeping the films secret until the premiere, so I can’t give you any idea of what they are like,” said Holden.
The criteria for the entries was that the star of the movie be Clear Lake itself, that it be appropriate for all ages and be between two and four minutes in length, as Lake County News has reported.
To attend the award ceremony – complete with snacks and drinks - guests must RSVP.
Call or visit Watershed Books, which is located at 305 N. Main St. in Lakeport, 707-263-5787, or email Holden at
So far, almost 30 people have confirmed that they will attend, so space is running out, Holden said.
E-mail Tera deVroede at
Sonoma County Judge Kenneth Gnoss sentenced Sean Patrick Mooney, 22, to spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of his grandfather, Robert Deming, on May 20, 2008, according to Sonoma County District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua.
“Justice was finally served today for a senseless act upon a vulnerable victim, 78-year-old Robert Deming,” Passalacqua said in a written statement. “The jury agreed that the defendant executed his grandfather as he sat at rest in a rocking chair for the selfish expectation of financial gain.”
On July 24, 2009, a Sonoma County jury convicted Mooney of first degree murder with a special circumstance of committing murder for financial gain, use of a firearm, elder abuse charges and receiving stolen property, the 12-gauge shotgun that was used in the murder.
The evidence revealed that Mooney had shot his grandfather in the back of the head, at near contact, as Deming sat peacefully in his rocking chair at his Sonoma home.
Shortly following the jury’s verdict, Mooney hired new counsel to present a motion for new trial, claiming among other things that his trial counsel was ineffective at trial and there was insufficient evidence to support the jury’s verdict.
After several days in evidentiary hearing in February, Gnoss denied the motion for new trial and set the case for sentencing.
In addition to his sentence of life without the possibility of parole, Mooney also must serve two years for possessing a stolen shotgun and another 25 years to life for using a firearm during the murder.
Deputy District Attorneys Traci Carrillo and Rosanne Darling led the prosecution of the case. Detective Chris Vivian from the Sonoma County’s Sheriff’s Office led the investigation. District Attorney Investigator Les Vanderpool also assisted during the trial and subsequent court hearings.
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The California Employment Development Department's (EDD) latest report looked at statewide unemployment numbers. Reports on Lake and the other 57 counties in California is due out Wednesday.
The EDD reported that non-farm payroll jobs increased by 32,500 in January, with eight of 11 industry sectors showing gains, according to data from two separate surveys.
California's January unemployment rate was 12.5 percent, following an annual revision of monthly employment estimates.
In December, the state’s unemployment rate was a revised 12.3 percent, and in January 2009, the unemployment rate was 9.7 percent. The unemployment rate is derived from a federal survey of 5,500 California households.
The U.S. unemployment rate decreased in January, to 9.7 percent.
Nonfarm jobs in California totaled 13,842,100 in January, an increase of 32,500 over the month, according to a survey of businesses that is larger and less variable statistically. The survey of 42,000 California businesses measures jobs in the economy.
The year-over-year change (January 2009 to January 2010) shows a decrease of 701,700 jobs – down 4.8 percent.
The federal survey of households, done with a smaller sample than the survey of employers, shows a decrease in the number of employed people. It estimates the number of Californians holding jobs in January was 15,850,000, a decrease of 18,000 from December, and down 735,000 from the employment total in January of last year.
The number of people unemployed in California was 2,266,000 – up by 32,000 over the month, and up by 488,000 compared with January of last year.
EDD’s report on payroll employment (wage and salary jobs) in the nonfarm industries of California totaled 13,842,100 in January, a net gain of 32,500 jobs since the December survey. This followed a loss of 41,200 jobs (as revised) in December.
Eight categories (mining and logging; construction; manufacturing; trade, transportation and utilities; educational and health services; leisure and hospitality; other services; and government) added jobs over the month, gaining 45,900 jobs.
Construction posted the largest increase over the month, adding 16,200 jobs.
Three categories (information; financial activities; and professional and business services) reported job declines this month, down 13,400 jobs. Information posted the largest decline over the month, down
by 12,100 jobs.
In a year-over-year comparison (January 2009 to January 2010), nonfarm payroll employment in California decreased by 701,700 jobs (down 4.8 percent).
One industry division, educational and health services, posted job gains over the year, adding 12,400 jobs (a 0.7 percent increase).
Ten categories (mining and logging; construction; manufacturing; trade, transportation and utilities; information; financial activities; professional and business services; leisure and hospitality; other services; and government) posted job declines over the year, down 714,100 jobs.
Trade, transportation and utilities employment showed the largest decline on a numerical basis, down by 148,900 jobs (a decline of 5.5 percent).
Construction posted the largest decline on a percentage basis, down by 18.0 percent (a decrease of 128,700 jobs).
In related data, the EDD reported that there were 717,070 people receiving regular unemployment insurance benefits during the January survey week. This compares with 792,764 last month and 717,525 last year.
At the same time, new claims for unemployment insurance were 92,738 in January 2010, compared with 80,873 in December and 75,514 in January of last year.
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Norman White, 29, was taken into custody by Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies late Friday not long after the alleged attack, according to Capt. Kurt Smallcomb.
Smallcomb said deputies responded to the 31000 block of Simpson Lane in Fort Bragg shortly after 10:30 p.m. Saturday on the report of an assault and battery.
When they arrived on scene the deputies spoke to 51-year-old Dan Goekler, owner and operator of a local taxi cab company, who said two unknown males had assaulted and battered him after he picked them up, Smallcomb said.
Goekler told deputies that he had picked up the two subjects from a party on Mitchell Creek Drive, and as he was driving them into the city one of the men – later identified as White – struck him in the head with both hands simultaneously, according to Smallcomb.
After the attack began Goekler stopped and got out of the vehicle and pulled White out, at which point White and the other suspect attacked and physically assaulted Goekler repeatedly with their hands and feet while Goekler was on the ground, Smallcomb said. White allegedly kicked Goekler in the head repeatedly.
Smallcomb said Goekler sustained serious bodily injury as a result of the assault.
Deputies searched the area and located White concealed in the brush near the location of the assault. Smallcomb said Goekler identified White as one of the two suspects who had physically assaulted him and White was arrested.
Deputies continued to search the area but were unable to locate the second suspect, Smallcomb said. That suspect has not yet been positively identified.
White was transported to the Mendocino County Jail where he was booked on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and assault and battery, with bail set at $30,000.00, Smallcomb said.
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LAKEPORT – The Lake County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit has identified a person of interest in the suspicious deaths of a man and woman whose bodies were discovered outside of Lower Lake last Thursday, officials reported Monday.
Robby Alan Beasley, 29, of Maine was taken into custody on Saturday on an out-of-state warrant, according to Capt. James Bauman.
Beasley is being investigated in connection with the suspicious deaths of Frank Maddox, 32, and Yvette Maddox, 40, both of Maine, whose bodies were found along Morgan Valley Road last week, Bauman said.
Autopsies for the couple are scheduled for Wednesday morning at the Napa County Coroner’s Office to determine the cause and manner of their deaths, according to Bauman.
Two Sonoma County men traveling through Lake County on Morgan Valley Road had discovered the two bodies when they stopped on the side of the road for a break about six miles east of Lower Lake on the afternoon of March 4, as Lake County News has reported.
The two men reported their discovery from the Lower Lake Fire Station and then led deputies to the scene where the bodies of the couple were found at the bottom of an embankment, according to Bauman's report.
Bauman said the bodies appeared to have been there for several weeks. Sheriff’s detectives processed the scene and investigated leads into the identities of the bodies and the manner of their deaths, non-stop, from Thursday afternoon into the weekend.
Subsequently, the bodies were identified as the Maddoxes, who had apparently been staying in Clearlake for several months, Bauman said.
He explained that Yvette Maddox was reported as a missing person to the Lake County Sheriff’s Department by a relative from Maine on Jan. 28. Frank Maddox also had been reported as a missing person to the Clearlake Police Department on Feb. 11.
Bauman said the investigation into the couple’s activities prior to their being reported as missing led to Beasley, who reportedly hired the Maddoxes and brought them to Lake County to help him with a marijuana operation.
Detectives also learned that some time during the last week of January, Beasley had reportedly convinced the Maddoxes to give him a ride to the Sacramento airport, Bauman said. The couple was said to have agreed, despite unverified information that Beasley had previously threatened one of them with a gun.
While determining Beasley’s whereabouts during the weekend, detectives learned he had an outstanding arrest warrant from the state of Maine for a probation violation relating to criminal threats and assault charges, Bauman said.
Detectives conducted surveillance all day Saturday on two locations where Beasley was known to reside – one in Clearlake and the other in Lower Lake. Bauman said that at about 7 p.m. Saturday Beasley was observed leaving the Clearlake residence in a vehicle, and was stopped and arrested for the warrant without incident.
As Beasley was being arrested, two search warrants were secured for both locations and executed that night, Bauman said. When the search warrants were executed, a large marijuana grow consisting of 96 plants was located at the Lower Lake location and about $5,000 in currency was seized at the Clearlake location. Beasley also had a large amount of currency on him at the time of his arrest.
Beasley was booked at the Lake County Jail for the no-bail fugitive warrant out of Maine and remains a person of interest in the couple's deaths pending further investigation, Bauman said.
A vehicle belonging to Frank Maddox is unaccounted for and is believed to possibly be linked with the two deaths. Bauman said that the vehicle is described as a 1982 Toyota pickup truck, either tan, beige or pale yellow in color, with a black camper shell.
Anyone with information on the possible whereabouts of that truck is asked to immediately contact the Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit at 707-262-4200.
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The most recent reports from Irvine-based RealtyTrac show that in January foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 315,716 U.S. properties, a decrease of nearly 10 percent from the previous month but still 15 percent above the level reported in January 2009.
RealtyTrac reported that one in every 409 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing in January.
In Lake County, total foreclosure filings in January numbered 303, up 55 percent from the 195 filings reported in December 2009 and up 124 percent from the 135 filings in January 2009, the company reported.
The county's foreclosure statistics for the fourth quarter of 2009 show 476 total filings, down slightly from the third quarter of 2009, when 666 such filings were made, records show. The fourth quarter of 2008 had 393 total foreclosure filings in Lake County.
Nationwide, the January foreclosure numbers are holding to a similar pattern from a year ago, according to James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, who noted a double-digit percentage jump in December foreclosure activity followed by a 10 percent drop in January.
“If history repeats itself we will see a surge in the numbers over the next few months as lenders foreclose on delinquent loans where neither the existing loan modification programs or the new short sale and deed-in-lieu of foreclosure alternatives works,” he said in a written statement.
RealtyTrac reported that REOs, or bank foreclosures, were down 5 percent nationwide in January from the previous month, although they were 31 percent higher than January 2009 numbers.
REOs in Lake County numbered 101 in January, 83 in December 2009 and 39 in January 2009, based on RealtyTrace statistics.
January default notices were down 12 percent nationwide from the previous month but still up 4 percent from January 2009, and scheduled foreclosure auctions were down 11 percent from the previous month but still up 15 percent from January 2009.
Lake County's January default notices totaled 107, compared to 47 in December, and 69 in January 2009, the company reported.
The county's number of notices of trustee sales rose to 95 in January, up from 65 the previous month. They numbered 27 in January 2009.
Across California, in January foreclosure activity decreased by double-digit percentages from December, the company reported.
California, Florida and Arizona posted the three highest state totals in terms of properties receiving foreclosure filings in January. RealtyTrac's report showed that together those three states accounted for more than 44 percent of the national total.
Six California cities registered foreclosure rates among the top 10 cities nationwide, according to the report: Modesto, No. 3; Stockton, No. 4; Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, No. 5; Merced, No. 6; Vallejo-Fairfield, No. 7; and Bakersfield, No. 8.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at