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KELSEYVILLE – Lake County Winery Association (LCWA) members welcomed the group's 2010 slate of directors this month when the association held its first board meeting of the new year.
Members of the LCWA Board of Directors are Kaj Ahlmann of Six Sigma Ranch & Winery, Gregory Graham of Gregory Graham Wines, Steve Tylicki of Steele Wines, Nick Buttitta of Ros d'Oro Vineyards, Adawn Wood of Shed Horn Cellars, Valerie Ramirez of Wildhurst Vineyards, Bonnie Sears of Snows Lake Vineyard, Mike Noggle of Noggle Vineyards and Chris Skarada of Tulip Hill Winery.
The directors were seated at the meeting Jan. 15 at Moore Family Winery, LCWA Executive Director Monica Rosenthal announced.
Rosenthal joined the new board in thanking three members for their service over the last year.
Loretta Byrne of Tulip Hill Winery, Sandy Tucker of Langtry Estate & Vineyards, and Cielo Fox of Brassfield decided not to seek election and extend their terms on the board, Rosenthal reported
However, the three will “continue their commitment to LCWA on various committees,” she said.
Byrne will chair the Wine Adventure Weekend Committee. Tucker is co-chair for the People’s Choice Wine Awards Committee and Fox will continue to serve as a member of the Events Committee.
Following the LCWA Board meeting, association members, community representatives and friends enjoyed a potluck party at the winery.
The event featured a barbecue by the Suenram Family’s Smokin S BBQ Co. along with Lake County wines provided by LCWA wineries and attendees, Rosenthal noted.
Acting LCWA Chair Kaj Ahlmann greeted guests and made a brief presentation about the association’s current projects and upcoming events.
As part of its goal to promote Lake County as a premier wine region, the LCWA is involved in a collaborative project with the Lake County Marketing & Economic Development Department to develop an in-county winery and tasting room directional signage system.
Ahlmann also told attendees to mark their calendars for this year’s Wine Adventure Weekend, scheduled for July 24-25, and the People’s Choice Wine Awards with the expert panel judging of competition entries taking place in August and the “people’s choice” tasting, judging and voting following in September.
Guests attending the gathering included Lake County Supervisor Jeff Smith and his wife Cathleen, Bill and Patti Brunetti, Chuck March of the Lake County Farm Bureau, Lake County News Editor Elizabeth Larson and her husband John Jensen, Lake County Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Melissa Fulton and her husband John, Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce Director Lori Peters and her husband Jim, and Lake County Winegrape Commission Secretary/Treasurer Buz Dereniuk and his wife Terri.
The Lake County Winery Association was founded in 2007 and works closely with the County of Lake, the Lake County Winegrape Commission, and other county businesses and organizations to increase tourism throughout Lake County.
For more information about the association, visit the LCWA website at www.lakecountywineries.org.
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LAKEPORT – The annual Year in Review for the local watershed groups is always a fun, informative evening, and this year’s event will be no exception.
Mark your calendar for Thursday, Jan. 28. The event will be held at the Scotts Valley Women’s Clubhouse, 2298 Hendricks Rd., in Lakeport.
The doors will open at 6 p.m., with the event beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Bring a potluck dish to share with your friends and neighbors, and be prepared to honor the volunteers who work to make your communities and watersheds a better place to live.
Greg Dills, district manager and watershed coordinator for the East Lake and West Lake Resource Conservation Districts, will show highlights of the work completed by the watershed groups in the Upper Cache Creek Watershed.
Dills also will present information about the county's resource conservation districts.
Friends and neighbors of volunteers from the Big Valley Watershed Council, Chi Council for the Clearlake Hitch, Lower Lake Watershed Council, Middle Creek CRMP, Nice Watershed Council and Scotts Creek Watershed Council are especially encouraged to attend.
A Volunteer of the Year Award will be presented to an outstanding member from each of these groups.
The West Lake Resource Conservation District also will present their annual “:Partner of the Year Award.”
The evening is one of celebration and congratulations for the work the watershed groups do throughout the year, and is being hosted by the Scotts Creek Watershed Council.
Each year the public is invited to attend the event to learn more about the contributions these ambitious volunteers make to their communities.
There's been a recent focus on illegal dumping activities, and various concerns are being expressed regarding the health of the watersheds in Lake County.
Be a part of what your community can do to help with these issues – join a watershed group. For more information about these organizations, please visit: www.lakecountyrcds.org .
For more information, contact Greg Dills, 707-263-4180, Extension 12, or Linda Juntunen, 707-263-4180, Extension 16.
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LAKE COUNTY – Another heavy day of rain on Monday continued pushing the level of Clear Lake up but also led to more rough highway conditions around the county.
Western Weather Group reported that on Monday more then 2 inches of rain fell near Kelseyville, more than 3 inches was reported in Scotts Valley, nearly 2.5 inches in Morgan Valley near Lower Lake and just over 4 inches were recorded in the Middletown area.
Early Tuesday morning, Clear Lake was at 3.76 feet Rumsey, according to the US Geological Survey (see their lake gauge here – http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ca/nwis/uv?11450000 ). The lake is full at 7.56 feet Rumsey.
US Geological Survey stream gauges around the rest of the county showed that area creeks got another big injection of water from the recent storms.
Those storms led to more downed trees. The California Highway Patrol reported that a fallen tree blocked Soda Bay Road near the Edgewater Resort and Highway 175 near Red Hills Road Monday morning, and also blocked a lane of Butts Canyon Road near Langtry Estate & Vineyard Monday evening.
More boulders also made their way onto area highways, including parts of Highway 175 that were affected throughout the day, according to the CHP. Lake County Public Works reported that a mudslide closed a portion of Big Canyon Road in Middletown, where crews were working late Monday afternoon to remove the debris.
Rock and mudslides also were reported on Highway 29 at the Coyote Grade and on Highway 20 Monday night, according to the CHP.
Public Works reported that Beryl Way in Clearlake Oaks, from Highway 20 to Lakeview Drive, remained closed to through traffic due to a retaining wall that collapsed last week.
On Monday, Scotts Valley Road from Laurel Dell Road to Highway 20 was closed due to flooding, as was Eickhoff Road in the Lakeport Area, Public Works reported.
The low water crossing at Bell Hill Road at Adobe Creek remains closed until further notice due to high water levels, as does the Dry Creek Cutoff near Middletown, the agency reported.
The storms brought more snow to the county's higher elevations. Public Works said Bartlett Springs Road was closed to all through traffic from mile post marker 5 to mile post marker 15 due to heavy snow.
Elk Mountain Road also is closed due to heavy snow, according to Public Works. The closure is between mile post markers 12 and 28.
Work to reopen Bartlett Springs Road and Elk Mountain Road is scheduled to continue Tuesday, Public Works said.
The latest road condition reports are available by going to the home page of the county of Lake's Web site, www.co.lake.ca.us and clicking on the “road conditions” link. Lake County Public Works also can be reached for road updates at 707-263-2341.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
Ryan Barrett and Viola Liu, both 31, were discovered on Forest Road M-10 near Elk Mountain Road on Saturday, as Lake County News has reported.
On Monday, Lake County News was able to catch up with a former Lake County resident who is credited with helping find them.
Ryan O'Keven grew up in Kelseyville, but left in 1999. Since then, the young man has lived in Folsom, where he works as a mortgage broker.
He was visiting his mother, who lives in Kelseyville, last weekend when he saw a Bay Area news broadcast Friday evening about Liu and Barrett having gone missing after leaving Jan. 16 on a camping trip.
O'Keven said he and his wife go backpacking in the Snow Mountain Wilderness area all the time, and he believed that Barrett and Liu may have been headed that way after gassing up in Upper Lake.
He also had driven that road numerous times, and said it's not a road to travel in winter.
O'Keven tried calling the Fremont Police Department Friday evening after the news broadcast, but he said the message on the tip line said they were only open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and would return the call the next business day – which was Monday. Although he left a message, he never heard back.
So using an Internet phone book, he tracked down Patricia Jenkins, Ryan Barrett's aunt. Jenkins' husband, Richard, was traveling to Lake County the following day to post flyers.
He said the family “didn't sound like they were getting help from anywhere,” so O'Keven shared with them his knowledge of the Upper Lake area.
The next day, he and his mother were running errands and decided to drive to Upper Lake to see the conditions. When they passed the Mendocino National Forest's Upper Lake Ranger Station, he spotted Richard Jenkins' car and gave him a call.
Jenkins then asked O'Keven to come along and help guide him and pilot Dave Everson of Redding-based Air Shasta Rotor & Wing, who Barrett's family had hired to help with the search, because search and rescue wasn't deployed. O'Kevin agreed and joined them and a cousin of Barrett's the four-person helicopter, which left Lampson Airport outside of Lakeport at around 3 p.m. Saturday.
Helping guide the group using a forest map, O'Keven said he believed the couple might have made it to the Summit Springs trailhead. If they hadn't gotten that far, they might have hiked down the hill to Bear Creek.
He suggested they fly to the Bear Creek Campground and follow Forest Road M-10 toward the ridge. As they flew over, he spotted a pile of firewood on a picnic table. Later, the couple would tell their rescuers that they had built the pile and put a note inside with information about their movements.
The searchers looked for signs of the couple's red Toyota Tacoma pickup, but didn't see it, said O'Keven.
There was a lot of snow on the ground, making it hard to follow the road, said O'Keven. Then, after about 15 minutes in the air, he spotted the couple's footprints and those of their three dogs.
He estimated they followed the footprints about four to five miles before they spotted the couple, who had started hiking back toward Upper Lake that day. In all, it took less than a half hour to find them.
O'Keven said Liu was “ecstatic” when the helicopter arrived to pick them up in the area of Elk Mountain Road and M-10. They left Jenkins, Barrett's cousin, two of the dogs and their backpacks behind while Everson flew the couple, one of their dogs and O'Keven back to the airport.
Although Everson was concerned about the dog, the tired animal fell asleep in the helicopter's backseat on the trip back to Lampson, O'Keven said.
When they arrived at the airport, a female deputy sheriff arrived to ask them some questions and close out the missing persons' file, according to O'Keven.
The couple told their rescuers that they had gotten up on the mountain when it was dark; they had gassed up around 5 p.m. in Upper Lake but weren't aware of the weather conditions in the area.
On the way a ranger had stopped to ask where they were headed, but didn't tell them about road closures. Along the way they crossed two creeks in their two-wheel-drive pickup.
Jenkins said the couple’s car battery died when they were at their initial camping location, which is why they couldn't get off of the mountain when the first storm hit. He said they searched the area for help but couldn’t find anyone. Finally, they removed the battery from the truck and warmed it in their tent. “This worked – they were able to get the truck started but by then the streams had swollen and they couldn’t get across,” Jenkins said.
On Monday, as they were attempting to ford a creek in the pickup, Barrett and Liu said the truck started floating downstream and they had to escape. They told O'Keven and their relatives that they had to break the windows to get out.
The truck floated down and lodged under some thick vegetation against an embankment, which explained why the searchers couldn't see it despite flying over the area several times, O'Keven said.
The couple had camping gear and spent a few days in their tent before they happened across a cabin on Wednesday. O'Keven said the cabin was located near M-10 on the east side of the Bear Creek crossing.
Barrett and Liu were able to keep warm by burning firewood in the cabin's potbellied stove, and they and their canine companions ate tomato sauce and popcorn over the coming several days, O'Keven said.
On that Saturday morning, the couple had left the cabin and started hiking. O'Keven said they related that they had set out camping on a previous occasion and were heading toward Stonyford but turned back.
O'Keven said he believed that if they hadn't been found, Barrett and Liu may have been able to hike out by Sunday, noting that they had experience and some equipment, although they were traveling through deep snow with no snowshoes.
Jenkins credited two Lake County residents – whose names he didn't have – who proactively contacted the family and offered information the Elk Mountain area and the Bear Creek Campground, which he said gave the family the confidence that hiring a helicopter was worthwhile. A Calistoga resident, Jens Vidkjer, also offered information for the search.
An experienced outdoorsman, O'Keven said a critical issue in this case was that the couple hadn't told anyone where they were headed.
“That was their sole issue,” he said. “They would have been found much more quickly if they had told someone where they were going.”
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
Joseph Christman, 24, was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and battery causing traumatic injury for allegedly assaulting his younger brother, Mathew, also of Fort Bragg, according to Capt. Kurt Smallcomb of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.
At 10:15 p.m. Saturday Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the Coast Hospital regarding a stabbing, Smallcomb said.
Deputies arrived at the hospital and learned the victim, Mathew Christman, had received two stab wounds to his lower abdomen, said Smallcomb. Medical personnel advised deputies that further medical attention would be provided to the victim due to his injuries.
Smallcomb said sheriff's deputies then contacted Fort Bragg Police officers who exchanged information regarding what they had been told by possible witnesses. During that exchange it was learned that the suspect in this case was Joseph Christman.
Deputies proceeded to the Christman residence where they contacted suspect Joseph Christman, Smallcomb said.
They learned that a physical altercation took place between the brothers at which time Joseph Christman allegedly stabbed his brother twice, resulting in moderate injuries, according to Smallcomb.
Joseph Christman was arrested and transported to the Mendocino County Jail where he was booked, with bail set at $30,000.
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Cheryl Larvie, 22, was arrested Jan. 22 for robbery during the incident that took place shortly before 10:30 p.m. Jan. 21, at the Calpella Express Mart on North State Street, according to Capt. Kurt Smallcomb of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.
Smallcomb said sheriff's deputies responded to a report of a possible robbery and contacted the victim, a 21-year-old male from Calpella.
The man told deputies that at 10 p.m. he left the Calpella Express Mart and proceeded to his vehicle, where Larvie allegedly confronted him and asked him for a ride, Smallcomb said.
When the man turned her down, she allegedly grabbed him by his sweat shirt and pulled it off of him, then started going through the contents of the sweatshirt, taking approximately $6 before throwing some pocket change at the victim, said Smallcomb.
Smallcomb said the victim retreated to his vehicle, got inside and started to drive away. At that point, Larvie allegedly grabbed the vehicle's wiper blades and broke them, then threw a soda can at the victim's vehicle, striking the car's passenger side.
After checking with other possible witnesses, deputies identified the suspect as Larvie, Smallcomb said.
Just after 4 a.m. the next day, deputies located and arrested Larvie in the Redwood Valley area, Smallcomb said.
Larvie initially was booked for public intoxication pending further investigation into the robbery. Smallcomb said that later in the day, after deputies concluded the followup investigation efforts, Larvie was booked into the Mendocino County Jail on the robbery charge, with bail set at $80,000.
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