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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday announced the appointment of a former Lake County prosecutor to a judgeship in Merced County Superior Court.
David Moranda, 56, of Merced, has served as chief deputy district attorney and previously deputy district attorney for the Merced County District Attorney’s Office since 1993.
Prior to that, he served as a deputy district attorney for the Lake County District Attorney’s Office from 1987 to 1993, the Solano County District Attorney’s Office from 1985 to 1986 and the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office in 1981.
Moranda earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.
He fills the vacancy created by the conversion of a court commissioner position on Dec. 26, 2008.
Moranda is a Democrat.
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CLEARLAKE – A man currently on leave from his duties as a Clearlake Police officer was arrested earlier this week on charges of driving under the influence and possession of a firearm.
Michael William Hansen, 24, of Oroville was arrested Monday following a traffic stop on Highway 20, according to a report from the California Highway Patrol's Williams office.
Just before midnight on Monday the Colusa County Sheriff's Office notified Williams CHP officers of a possible drunk driver on Highway 20 west of King Road near Williams, the CHP reported.
CHP officers responded from Williams and arrived on scene to find a Colusa County Sheriff's deputy had stopped Hansen, who had been traveling westbound, because his vehicle didn't have a rear license plate light.
The CHP report said that, after making the stop, the deputy contacted Hansen and observed signs of alleged alcohol intoxication.
CHP officers subsequently conducted field sobriety tests on Hansen and arrested him for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol.
The sheriff's deputy who pulled Hansen over searched the vehicle and found several firearms and a small amount of marijuana, according to the report. Hansen had a prescription from his doctor for the marijuana.
Hansen was transported to the Colusa County Jail, where he was booked on charges of driving under the influence and possession of a firearm, the CHP reported.
Jail records indicated that Hansen was released on his own recognizance following his booking, and was not required to post bail.
Clearlake Police Chief Allan McClain said Hansen is a city employee, but “has no peace officer standing at this point.”
McClain, who said he was limited by what he could say because of personnel matters, said Hansen had been on leave for some time prior to the arrest on Monday.
Hansen, who has commuted to his Clearlake job from his home in Oroville, was involved in a fatal shooting last June, as Lake County News has reported.
He shot 63-year-old David Vestal to death after Vestal allegedly confronted Hansen and other police officers with a .410 shotgun. Police were responding to a report of a fight at York's Mobile Home Park.
A District Attorney's Office report issued in February concluded that Hansen's actions were justified.
In February, Vestal's daughter, Shavon, filed a $32 million lawsuit in federal court over the shooting. The suit names Hansen, McClain, the city of Clearlake and Clearlake Police.
Shavon Vestal's attorney, Don Anderson of Lakeport, said he hasn't yet received the district attorney's report on the shooting. The case alleges that David Vestal had no shotgun based on four independent witness statements, as well as statements from Shavon Vestal and her boyfriend.
Anderson said he understands a shotgun was recovered at the scene, “somewhere near” David Vestal's body.
He said he doesn't anticipate Hansen's arrest becoming an issue in the civil lawsuit, “but strange things happen so you never know.”
District Attorney Jon Hopkins confirmed officials found a shotgun at the scene.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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CLEARLAKE – A high-risk sex offender being sought by local officials appears to have fled to Nevada.
Stoney Martin Prior, 31, is being sought in Humboldt County, Nev., according to the county's sheriff's office, based in Winnemuca.
Authorities there received information that led them to believe that Prior may be in the McDermitt, Nev. Area – on the Nevada-Oregon border – after leaving California earlier this month.
Officials reported that a blue van that Prior may have left California in was located last week in McDermitt on the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation, home to the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe.
Prior was released from state prison on March 12 and returned to the south Lake County area, as Lake County News has reported.
The day after his release, he allegedly removed a GPS ankle bracelet being used to track his movements. Clearlake Police said he was on Main Street in Lower Lake when the bracelet was cut off.
A Clearlake citizen reported seeing Prior in a gold 1980s sedan on 40th and highway 53 in Clearlake on March 17, according to a police log entry from that date.
The California Attorney General's Megan's Law Web site reported that Prior was incarcerated for “assault with intent to commit rape, sodomy or oral copulation.”
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation was not able to furnish Lake County News with specifics about Prior's conviction or the terms of his release before the end of the day on Wednesday.
Prior is an American Indian, 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 150 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He has his name, “Prior,” tattooed on both his left and right arms.
Law enforcement urges anyone who sees Prior not to approach him.
Instead call 911 or, if it's not an immediate emergency, Humboldt County, Nev., Undersheriff Curtiss C. Kull at 775-623-6419 or Clearlake Police at 994-8251.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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RIPON – A major supplier of organic brown eggs for Northern California Safeway and Costco stores has voluntarily recalled their eggs because of salmonella concerns.
The den Dulk Poultry Farms of Ripon, which distributes eggs to Costco and Safeway in Northern California, south to Fresno and into western Nevada, is voluntarily recalling their organic brown eggs because the eggs have the potential to be contaminated with salmonella, according to a federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) statement.
The eggs were sold at 71 Safeway and Pack n’ Save stores as O Organic Grade A large brown eggs throughout Northern California and Western Nevada and packaged in 12-count cartons.
Expiration date and plant code can be found on the end of the carton: April 1 062, 35 P1776.
At Costco, the eggs were sold as Kirkland Organic brown rggs and are packaged in 18-count cartons. Expiration dates and plant code read as follows: April 1 062, 35 P1776; April 8 069, 35 P1776.
The FDA reported that no known illnesses have been reported in connection with these eggs.
The recall was initiated after it was determined that the eggs in question tested positive for salmonella during an internal investigation by den Dulk Poultry Farms, according to the FDA.
Den Dulk Poultry Farms has informed the FDA of its actions and is fully cooperating with the agency.
Consumers who have purchased or are the recipients of these eggs are urged to return them to Costco or Safeway for a full refund.
Questions may be directed to den Dulk Poultry Farms, 209-599-4269 or the Safeway Consumer Service Center, at 1-877-Safeway (723-3929). Hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (PDT).
Salmonella is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems, the FDA states.
Healthy persons infected with salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.
For more information about salmonella, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Web site at www.cdc.gov.
For information on purchasing eggs locally, visit Lake County Farmers' Finest at http://lakecountyfarmersfinest.org/direct.htm.
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Local educators hope that the money arrives in time to avert serious damage to educational programs.
The letter, dated March 17, addresses Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Secretary of Education Dr. Glen W. Thomas and State Superintendent of Schools Jack O'Connell.
“We write to express our concern about a reported misunderstanding regarding who should decide how local educational agencies spend State Fiscal Stabilization Funds allocated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,” said the letter, whose signatories included 26 members of Congress, among them North Coast Congressman Mike Thompson.
The members of Congress addressed the suggestion that the state has the ability to intercept stabilization fund dollars – which they emphasized it does not.
Officials reported that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed by President Barack Obama last month, includes a state stabilization fund to give states emergency relief.
That relief would help stave off teacher layoffs, as well as backfilling harmful cuts to education programs. In addition, funds would be available to repair and modernize schools, which would create jobs.
The legislation's structure gives states the funds, and then the states would allocate the money to school districts and colleges and universities.
The plan allocates over $5.9 billion in stabilization funding to California, officials reported.
Thompson's office is still compiling final number estimates for Lake County's schools.
Congress' intent, the letter stated, is that local educational agencies may determine how they will use stabilization funds. The money also is meant to be allocated from the state to school districts and higher education institutions as soon as possible.
“The purpose of the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund is to help stabilize local government budgets, to minimize or avoid harmful cuts to education programs and services, to keep teachers in the classroom, and to support modernization, renovation, and repair of school facilities,” the letter stated.“It is imperative that local educational agencies receive stimulus funds as soon as possible so they can appropriately adjust their budgets to address these challenges.”
The letter added that thousands of California's teachers will be laid off in the coming weeks without the infusion of stimulus funding, and they asked Schwarzenegger and education leaders to quickly resolve issues relating to the funding, which could be done with the technical assistance of the US Department of Education.
“Any delay in funding local educational agencies may have dire consequences for children and teachers in our great state,” the letter added.
Local education cuts go deep
On March 13, educators, parents and students gathered in downtown Lakeport on “Pink Friday” to send a message to Sacramento – that the level of cuts to education isn't acceptable. Pam Klier, president of Lakeport's California Teachers Association chapter, said the “deep, drastic cuts” facing schools will change how teachers are able to do their jobs.
Based on a poll of school districts, Lake County News estimates that 112.3 school employees – many of those teachers, but also including some administrators and classified staff – have received layoff notices so far this year. Many more classified staff may be laid off in the weeks ahead.
In the Lakeport Unified School District, 17 employees were given layoff notices – 13 classified and four certificated – earlier this month in an effort to meet a shortfall $800,000 resulting from both state cuts and lost revenue.
In the Konocti Unified School District, 53 teachers and eight administrators have received layoff notices, which amounts to a reported quarter of the district's teaching staff.
While the district has said that it expects to be able to hire many of those teachers and administrators back, it has the challenge of a $1.2 million budget cut in the coming fiscal year. The Konocti Unified board voted March 11 to close Oak Hill Middle School as a cost-saving measure.
Stimulus funding amounts still unclear
Countywide, Lake County Superintendent of Schools Dave Geck has estimated school districts will face a total of $5.7 million in cuts over the next 16 months.
So local districts are hoping the federal stimulus money will be able to offer them some relief.
Konocti Unified district officials said during a school board hearing on March 18 that the district is estimated to receive $880,000 in stimulus funds, but that still hasn't been confirmed.
Geck said it's still not clear just how much stimulus money could be coming to Lake County.
“We only have initial projections from the feds,” he said. “The amounts have not yet been confirmed by the state since the initial projections did not include charted schools and special school programs like our juvenile hall and community school programs.”
Geck said he expects that the state will identify the specific amounts sometime this week since the funds are going to be released by the end of the month by the federal Department of Education.
Whether the money actually will arrive in time to avert damage to programs is harder to answer, said Geck.
The stimulus funds won't be enough to cover all the cuts local schools are facing, but Geck said if the funds are released quickly and available to be used by school districts to help mitigate the budget cuts, some of the damage will be repaired.
He noted that some of the funds coming from the federal stimulus package are targeted for certain specific purposes, including Title I, which supports student achievement for children in low socio-economic brackets and supporting student achievement for students with identified disabilities. Geck added that some of the funds are more discretionary in nature.
In addition, budget cuts can be avoided if the six propositions to aid school funding, which will go before voters in a special May 19 election, pass and if the revenue projections that will be part of the governor's May budget revise are not as terrible as currently projected.
Declining enrollment challenges local districts
While stimulus money is looked at as help in current difficult times, all of the district superintendents point to consistently declining enrollments as a longterm issues for local schools.
In Kelseyville, Superintendent Boyce McClain said the district is facing a budget cut of just under $1 million in the coming fiscal year.
He has four teachers retiring, and three of those positions will not be replaced. That prevented the district from having to issue layoff notices by the March 15 deadline.
So far, the district has had no classified layoffs, but there may yet be some classified layoffs at the end of April, McClain said.
Middletown Unified Superintendent Korby Olson said his district was able to absorb the roughly $530,000 in mid-year budget cuts for 2008-09.
Still ahead in the 2009-10 fiscal year is an estimated cut of just over $1 million from the district's general fund, with 15.3 certificated positions slated to be cut, which includes some administrative slots.
“We haven't done classified yet,” he said. “We have a different deadline on those.”
Olson said the majority of the certificated cuts are a result of declining enrollment.
Over the last several years, enrollment losses have been fairly spread out. But then it began to accelerate last year, when the district lost 30 students. This year, they lost 65 more.
Olson believes a few things explain the lower enrollment. For one, there were a few years of low birthrates, and students in better birthrate years are coming into the school system. There also are many people leaving the county because of the lack of work opportunities.
At Upper Lake High, Superintendent and Principal Patrick Iaccino said they've laid off a total of 11 classified and certificated staff.
He hopes that, in the worst case scenario, they'll only end up losing a maximum of two teachers and three classified staff, since the district is being creative in handling planned retirements, which may allow them to bring back some staffers on at least a part-time basis.
Sue Milhaupt, Upper Lake High's business manager, said the district is looking at $511,000 in cuts – $236,000 for this fiscal year, and $275,000 in 2009-10.
Changes to rules for how to spend categorical funding will give districts more flexibility, Iaccino said, which means cuts in the coming year may not have to go as deep as previously anticipated.
However, the school's music program appears to be in danger of being cut. Iaccino said he didn't yet know the outlook for the music program, noting there are a lot of ifs in the budget process.
One thing is for sure, said Iaccino – the bigger issue is declining enrollment, which promises to hurt school budgets long after the current economic crisis.
The high school district stands to lose an estimated 100 students over the next five to six years, which Iaccino said amounts to more than $700,000 in lost income for the district on an annual basis.
Iaccino calls it one of the most difficult scenarios the district has ever faced.
If enrollment numbers don't improve, “this doesn't end for us,” he said.
Upper Lake Elementary School District also has been seeing declining enrollment for some time.
District Superintendent and Principal Kurt Herndon said they've lost an estimated 100 students in the past six or seven years. Losing that number of students equates to a loss of roughly $500,000 for the small district, which has a $4 million annual budget.
“We're so small just a few kids is quite an impact on us,” Herndon said, estimating that many young families were priced out of the housing market during its height and so they left the county.
The result is that the district has been trimming its budget for years, and gave out two layoff notices this year, one to a person in a one-year position and the second to a kindergarten teacher who they hope to have back if next year's kindergarten class fills up. They also have lost a custodian position through attrition, when the person retired last fall.
Herndon said they're doing their budget right now, so they're not sure of the amount of cuts they're facing.
Lucerne Elementary Principal and District Superintendent Mike Brown said his school is anticipating being down 10 students in the coming year. Currently the school's enrollment is about 260 students. Brown said enrollment has declined by about 10 students a year in the past several years.
Brown said the district has issued two layoff notices to teachers and will lay off four part-time classified employees, with hours to some other classified staff cut back. He said one teacher may be coming back.
At this point, Brown said the budget numbers can be confusing. For the remainder of this year, they're looking at $71,000 in cuts. Next year will see greater cuts, but those numbers aren't certain yet. The district has an annual budget of about $2.5 million.
When 85 to 90 percent of a school district's budget is salaries, there's no way to make deep cuts without cutting jobs, Brown said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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The collision occurred just before 11 a.m. on Highway 29 near Cruikshank Road.
California Highway Patrol Officer Steve Tanguay said Faye Jones, 58, of Clearlake was driving a 1994 Ford Crown Victoria southbound on Highway 29 when she lost control of the vehicle and began swerving.
Tanguay said Jones' vehicle slid sideways into the northbound lane, colliding with a 1990 Isuzu Trooper driven by 60-year-old Wayne Engle of Kelseyville.
Kelseyville Fire Protection District ambulance transported Engel to Sutter Lakeside Hospital for severe injuries. Tanguay did not have updated information on Engel's condition.
Jones and her 17-year-old female passenger also were transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital for complaints of pain, said Tanguay.
Tanguay said the cause of the crash has not yet been determined.
CHP Officer Dallas Richey is investigation the crash, Tanguay said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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