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Areas of Cobb have been seeing light to moderate snowfall during the week, with the snow usually melting off fairly quickly, according to Cobb area resident Roger Kinney.
But on Friday the snow was spreading itself around the county.
Areas of the Northshore were coated white during a mid-afternoon snow flurry, with snow continuing into the evening.
In Kelseyville, snow was reported to be falling at about 6 p.m.
Snow shut down the Hopland Grade for about three hours early Friday evening, according to the California Highway Patrol. The roadway was reopened at about 7:15 p.m.
The Lake County Public Works Department reported Friday that chains are currently required on Bartlett Springs Road and on Elk Mountain Road.
CHP reported numerous collisions around the county and the North Coast on Friday due to the winter weather.
No serious injuries were reported in Lake County.
However, a collision involving a single car that went off Highway 128 east of Yorkville in Mendocino County early Friday afternoon claimed the lives of both people in the car, which hit an oak tree, according to a CHP report.
The car was traveling 55 miles per hours in rainy conditions when the car slid off the roadway, according to the CHP. No identifications were offered Friday for the Windsor residents who died in the crash.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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LAKEPORT – A three-vehicle collision in Lakeport late Friday morning sent one person to the hospital and resulted in traffic being diverted around the scene for an hour.
Shortly after 11 a.m. the crash at Forbes and 11th was reported. Within minutes paramedics, police and a handful of Lakeport city employees arrived on scene, the latter group taking up positions around the scene to offer traffic control.
Traffic was closed one block south and one block north of 11th Street, as well as one block east and west at Forbes. A large amount of debris from all three vehicles was scattered across the intersection at 11th and Forbes St.
A white Buick Regal was driving north on Forbes and witnesses said it didn't stop at a stop sign before entering the intersection and colliding with a gray mid-1970s Chevy pickup. The pickup then collided heat-on with a GMC pickup traveling west on 11th.
Both the Buick and the Chevy were heavily damaged.
The driver of the Chevy pickup sustained injuries and was transported to the hospital.
The driver of the Buick was examined at the scene by medical personnel and appeared shaken but not in need of immediate care.
E-mail Harold LaBonte at
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Beneficiaries of the $700 billion bailout package in the finance and automotive industries have spent a total of $114.2 million on lobbying in the past year and contributions toward the 2008 election, the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics has found.
The companies' political activities have, in part, yielded them $295.2 billion from the federal government's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), an extraordinary return of 258,449 percent.
"Even in the best economic times, you won't find an investment with a greater payoff than what these companies have been getting," said Sheila Krumholz, the Center's executive director. "Some of the companies and industries that have received payments may now consider their contributions and lobbying to be the smartest investments they've made in years."
While the Treasury Department, not Congress, doles out TARP funds to specific institutions, congressional lawmakers had to authorize that money in the first place, and lawmakers will determine in the future whether to release more funds to prop up the US economy.
During the bill-writing process, members of Congress were able to specify to some extent where the money should go, and they have lobbied regulators to urge them to inject funds into specific banks and financial institutions, including those in lawmakers' own districts.
"Taxpayers hope their money is being allocated entirely on the merits, but with Congress controlling how much money the Treasury gets to hand out, it will be impossible to completely exclude politics from this process," Krumholz said.
Some of the top recipients of contributions from companies receiving TARP money are the same members of Congress who chair committees charged with regulating the financial sector and overseeing the effectiveness of this unprecedented government program.
They include Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs (he received $854,200 from the companies in the 2008 election cycle, including money to his presidential campaign) and Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, chair of the Senate Finance Committee (he received $279,000).
In total, members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Senate Finance Committee and House Financial Services Committee received $5.2 million from TARP recipients in the 2007-2008 election cycle.
President Barack Obama collected at least $4.3 million from the companies and their employees for his presidential campaign, while Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), Obama's opponent in the presidential race, received $2.1 million.
The Center for Responsive Politics also provided Lake County News with specific information on the area's legislators, who received much smaller donation amounts.
In the 2008 election cycle, US Sen. Barbara Boxer received $7,300 from the TARP bailout companies. Boxer's counterpart in the Senate, Dianne Feinstein, doesn't appear to have received funds from the companies in the 2008 election cycle, but the center reported that Feinstein didn't do much fundraising for herself in 2008 because her next election isn't until 2012.
Congressman Mike Thompson, who represents several counties including Lake in the US House of Representatives, received $28,500 from the companies and their employees in the 2008 election cycle, according to the center's records.
Most of Thompson's contributions came from PACs, including those for Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Co., International Bank of Commerce, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, American Express, Morgan Stanley, FMR Corp. and Goldman Sachs, according to the center's records.
Thompson said his votes were predicated on helping get the country moving forward.
"I voted for the bailout legislation because we had to get our credit markets working again,” he said in an exclusive comment granted to Lake County News.
“I was outraged, like most Americans, at the greed and incompetence at many banking institutions that got us into this mess in the first place,” he said. “Unfortunately, our financial institutions were on the brink of collapse and hard working people in our district and across our country were caught up in a credit crunch that threatened home owners and small businesses. Even the State of California was unable to raise the funds to pay for health and safety programs."
He added, “It was clear to me that we had to act in order to begin to work our way out of this crisis – and we had to act quickly, even if the plan wasn't perfect, so that our entire financial system didn't collapse.
“Voting no on this bill would have been the easy vote, but given the unprecedented economic circumstances I had to make the hard vote in favor of this bill,” Thompson said. “I am glad that the Obama administration has already taken several steps to ensure this money is spent wisely and doesn't end up lining the pockets of bank executives.”
Some, not all, TARP recipients hired lobbyists
Of the more than 300 companies that have been aided by TARP, 25 paid lobbyists a total of $76.7 million to represent them on Capitol Hill in 2008.
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said recently that institutions collecting these funds won't be allowed to lobby the federal government going forward.
In the fourth Quarter of 2008, when Congress was crafting bailout legislation, these companies spent $17.8 million on lobbying – less than what they spent in the prior three quarters, probably because they were strapped for cash.
In total, 161 companies approved for TARP money gave $37.5 million to federal candidates, parties and committees in the 2007-2008 election cycle, with 57 percent of that going to Democrats (post-election data is not yet available).
The employees of these companies, rather than their political action committees, gave the bulk of that, at $26.1 million, or 70 percent.
These two groups of donors seem to have differed in their partisan allegiance – individual employees gave 61 percent of their donations to Democrats, while PACs were more evenly divided, giving 51 percent to Republicans.
Some of the companies to give the most in contributions, including Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, are also among the biggest donors of all time to U.S. politics.
The companies giving the most to fund lawmakers' campaigns and spending the most on lobbying efforts were also those that received the most TARP money to help them stay afloat. This includes General Motors, which spent $15 million between campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures and got $10.4 billion (more than all other companies), Bank of America (and the investment company it bought last year, Merrill Lynch), which spent $14.5 million to play politics and received $45 billion from the bailout bill; and American International Group (AIG), which spent $10.6 million and was paid out $40 billion.
Citigroup was also one of the largest spenders to see a big result: between lobbying expenditures and campaign contributions, the company spent $12.5 million and got $50 billion. For a complete list of TARP recipients that spent money on campaign contributions and lobbying, see the chart below.
"TARP needs to be far more transparent," Krumholz of CRP said. "Hundreds of billions of dollars have already been handed out with little more than a one-line announcement. What qualified these companies for the money they're getting? What disqualified other companies? What contact has there been between members of Congress and the Treasury? What contact have lobbyists had with Congress and Treasury? These are reasonable questions, and taxpayers deserve answers."
The finance, insurance and real estate sector, including all companies and trade groups (not just those that qualified for TARP funds), spent $453.5 million on lobbying in 2008, an 8.7 percent increase from the year before.
In the last quarter of 2008, the sector spent $106.9 million on its influence-peddling efforts. The securities and investment industry spent $20.5 million in the fourth quarter, insurance companies spent $36.7 million and real estate companies spent $16.5 million.
And although this was a decrease from the third for each of these industries, they had plenty of additional support. Trade associations in the finance, insurance and real estate sector spent $123 million on lobbying last year, more than they spent in each of the three years prior.
The Center for Responsive Politics' Web site, www.opensecrets.org, tracks both campaign contributions to federal lawmakers and lobbying expenditures by organization, industry and sector.
CRP calculated the numbers in this report by mashing up these databases with a list of TARP recipients accessed Feb. 2 from www.treasury.gov.
Post-election contribution data is not yet available but should be incorporated into www.opensecrets.org in the coming weeks.
For the table of TARP recipients that spent money on lobbying or were associated with campaign contributions, visit www.opensecrets.org/news/2009/02/tarp-recipients-paid-out-114-m.html.
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“This blatant and costly scam holds out hope to homeowners that their property taxes will be reduced if they pay hundreds of dollars to a middleman to have their property re-evaluated,” Attorney General Brown said. “In point of fact, homeowners can seek relief directly from their county assessor free of charge. Homeowners should be on high alert.”
Companies are sending deceptive mailers to homeowners offering help in reducing property tax assessments, if the homeowner pays the company hundreds of dollars in fees. The companies use official-sounding names such as “Tax Adjusters,” “Tax Readjustment” or “Tax Review” to make victims believe the company is a government agency.
Local homeowners began receiving the mailers last week, as Lake County News has reported.
Property tax reassessment is a free service provided by county tax assessors, Brown reported. If homeowners believe their property value has declined and they are paying too much in property taxes, the local tax assessor will review the property value for free for a possible downward assessment.
To avoid becoming a victim, homeowners should:
Never pay money for something they did not ask for.
Avoid a middleman – contact the local tax assessor’s office for property value reassessment.
The Lake County Assessor's Office can be reached at 263-2302. County Chief Deputy Assessor Jim Campbell urges county residents to call with questions or to request free reassessment services.
Homeowners who believe they are a victim of this scam should contact the Attorney General’s Office by either calling 1-800-952-5225 or by writing to P.O. Box 944255 Sacramento, CA 94244.
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The Board of Parole Hearings denied parole for convicted murderer Francisco Mendoza Castillo, 71, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff, who attended the lifer hearing at California State Prison-Corcoran's Substance Abuse Treatment Facility, where he argued against Castillo’s release.
Castillo was convicted of the second-degree murder of Jorge Suarez and the shooting of Francisco Parra and Ramiro Suarez, and sentenced to 26 years to life on March 2, 1990, according to Hinchcliff.
Superior Court Judge William J. Harpham sentenced Castillo, who originally was prosecuted by then-District Attorney Stephen O. Hedstrom. Castillo's minimum eligible parole date was July 8, 2005.
According to investigation reports by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, on Sept. 15, 1989, Francisco Castillo and his brother Jose Castillo attended a party at Mariani Vineyards where they worked with the three victims.
After the party, Jose Castillo got into an argument with one of the victims at 2955 Bell Hill Road in Kelseyville, where two of the victims lived.
Jose Castillo then left and returned a half hour later with Francisco Castillo and two firearms, a shotgun and a .38 caliber revolver.
According to witnesses Francisco Castillo, who had been drinking, shot Francisco Parra in the neck with the pistol, without provocation.
When Ramiro Suarez tried to calm Castillo down, Francisco Castillo shot him in the stomach, and after Suarez fell to the ground Francisco Castillo shot him in the leg.
Francisco Castillo then shot Jorge Suarez in the hand and chest. Jorge Suarez died at the scene.
When Francisco Castillo and his brother left the scene they drove their truck over the legs of Francisco Parra as he lay on the ground bleeding.
Francisco Parra and Ramiro Suarez survived the gunshot wounds. None of the three victims were armed at the time they were shot.
The Castillo brothers were caught when a game warden, Jim Branston, heard the gunshots and went to the scene to investigate. He pursued the fleeing pickup truck and called the sheriff’s office for assistance.
Francisco Castillo was in the United States illegally at the time of the shootings, and had been previously deported by the INS in 1981.
Francisco Castillo claimed at trial to not remember the shootings due to his drinking. At sentencing Judge Harpham stated that he did not believe Castillo, and noted that the shooting was quite accurate for someone who claimed to be so intoxicated they could not remember shooting three people.
Castillo continued to claim for 15 years in prison that he could not remember the shooting, then at an evaluation in 2005 he claimed he did remember the shooting and that the victims were beating him up and he shot all of them in self defense.
At the two-hour hearing Feb. 10, Hinchcliff asked the Board of Prison Hearings to deny Castillo's parole on the grounds that he still presented an unreasonable risk of danger to the public if released, and failed to exhibit any remorse or accept responsibility for his conduct.
The Board of Prison Hearings denied parole. Castillo’s next parole hearing will be in five years, Hinchcliff said.
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“With more than 30 years of service at CAL FIRE, Del Walters is the perfect person to head our state’s firefighting efforts,” Schwarzenegger said. “Playing a key role in combating the 2007 and 2008 firestorms, he has the experience and leadership capabilities to implement the highest standards of fire prevention and fire fighting while ensuring all Californians are protected. Under Del’s leadership, I am confident that the state will continue to be prepared to respond to the intense year-round fire seasons we now face.
“I also want to thank Ruben for his service to my administration and to the people of California. He is a dedicated public servant and gifted leader who has helped see our state through some of the worst wildfires we have ever seen in our state’s history. I wish Ruben the best in his future endeavors.”
Walters has served as the executive officer for Cal Fire since 2008. He began his career as a firefighter in 1971.
Prior to promoting to executive officer, he was the assistant region chief then staff chief of operations for the Northern Region. Prior to that, Walters was the deputy chief for the Shasta-Trinity Unit.
He previously worked for the Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit as the assistant chief of administration, battalion chief, vegetation management program coordinator forester I and fire captain. He has also served as a fire captain, fire apparatus engineer and firefighter for the San Benito-Monterey Unit. Walters has been a California State Peace Officer since 1986.
“I am honored to serve the people of California in this new role,” said Del Walters. “I look forward to working with the governor to continue our fire prevention and protection efforts while preparing Californians for the extraordinary fire seasons our state faces.”
Walters, 54, of Redding, received his bachelor of science degree in forest resource management from Humboldt State University.
This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $174,096. Walters is a Democrat.
As Cal Fire's director, Walters will oversee 5,500 full-time and seasonal employees. Cal Fire is dedicated to the fire protection and stewardship of more than 31 million acres of California's privately-owned wildlands. In addition, the department provides various emergency services in 36 of the State's 58 counties via contracts with local governments.
Cal Fire firefighters, fire engines, and aircraft respond to an average of more than 5,700 wildland fires each year. Those fires burn nearly 170,000 acres annually.
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