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Hughes, 23, is being tried for the deaths of Christian Foster and Rashad Williams, who were shot to death during an alleged robbery on Dec. 7, 2005, in Clearlake Park.
The man who actually shot them was Shannon Edmonds, from whose home they were allegedly running when the shooting took place.
Because Hughes was allegedly taking part in a crime that was likely to result in a lethal response, he is being held tried for the deaths of Foster and Williams.
Jury selection began in late October, and will resume Wednesday, said District Attorney Jon Hopkins.
The lengthy process began with prospective jurors filling out questionnaires during the first week of selection, and returning the following week for questioning by the prosecution and the defense, as Lake County News previously reported.
Hopkins estimated that the trial could begin Thursday. However, defense attorney Stuart Hanlon told Lake County News in a previous interview that if he's not pleased with the jury that's selected, he plans to ask again for a venue change for the trial.
Hanlon has made repeated attempts to have the trial moved out of Lake County. He has alleged that his client, who is black, cannot receive a fair trial in a community such as Lake County, which is overwhelmingly white in composition.
So far the attempts to have the trial moved have failed at the local and appellate levels, with the Supreme Court refusing to consider the case earlier this year.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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“Our message is simple … drive safe, drive sober and buckle up,” said Lt. Dane Hayward, Commander of the Clear Lake Area CHP office.
To emphasize safety on the roadways, the CHP has scheduled another Maximum Enforcement Period during the Thanksgiving holiday, according to CHP Officer Adam Garcia.
The official Thanksgiving holiday driving period begins Wednesday, Nov. 21 at 6 p.m. and continues through Sunday, Nov. 25. At the same time, the CHP will implement the Maximum Enforcement Period and put every available officer on the road.
Joining the thousands of CHP officers out on the road Thanksgiving week are millions of Californians, and crowded highways can often lead to frustrating moments at the wheel, CHP reported.
“Be prepared for traffic tie-ups, especially on the Wednesday before or the Sunday after Thanksgiving,” said Lt. Hayward.
In addition to busy roadways, inclement weather is another factor motorists may have to contend with. Rain, fog, wind and snow have been known to create not only frustrating, but hazardous conditions for drivers.
“Many crashes are caused by driving too fast for current conditions,” added Lt. Hayward.
Last year, during the Thanksgiving MEP, 42 people died in 4,768 collisions that occurred in California. More than half of the vehicle occupants killed were not wearing their seat belt.
Another sobering statistic: 1,670 people were arrested by CHP officers for driving under the influence last year over the Thanksgiving holiday; a nearly 10 percent increase from the same time period the previous year.
The Thanksgiving Maximum Enforcement Period also is an Operation CARE (Combined Accident Reduction Effort) holiday, Garcia reported.
Operation CARE is a joint program of the nation’s highway patrols that promotes safe driving on interstate highways during holiday periods, according to Garcia. CARE highways in California include Interstates 80, 40, 15 (San Bernardino to the Nevada border) and 5 (Bakersfield north to the Oregon line).
The Thanksgiving Maximum Enforcement Period will be one of the year's last. Garcia said every year CHP conducts the maximum enforcement operations on New Year's, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
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LAKE COUNTY – Foreclosure rates around California continue to reach record levels, with foreclosures also continuing to climb in Lake County. {sidebar id=28}
A report released late last month by DataQuick Information Systems of La Jolla said that mortgage lenders started formal foreclosure proceedings on a record number of California homeowners in 2007's third quarter quarter, which resulted from declining home prices, sluggish sales and subprime mortgage distress.
A total of 72,571 Notices of Default – a notice given to a borrower that if they do not make payments by a certain deadline their property will be foreclosed on – were filed during the July-to-September period, according to DataQuick. That's up 34.5 percent from 53,943 during the previous quarter, and up 166.6 percent from 27,218 in third-quarter 2006.
Because a residence may be financed with multiple loans, last quarter's 72,751 default notices were recorded on 68,746 different residences, DataQuick reported.
In Lake County, Notices of Default in the third quarter numbered 129, up 20 over the second quarter of this year and 92.5 percent higher than the third quarter of 2006, in which there were 67 Notices of Default.
“That would be a record,” said DataQuick spokesman Andrew LePage.
In Sonoma County, Notices of Default rose 224 percent from last year, with Trustee Deeds jumping more than 500 percent. For Napa County, Notices of Default were up 279 percent over last year, and Trustee Deeds were up 720 percent.
Statewide, recorded Trustees Deeds – which marks the actual loss of a home to foreclosure – totaled 24,209 during the third quarter, the highest number in DataQuick's statistics, which go back to 1988, LePage reported.
Last quarter was up 38.7 percent from 17,458 for the previous quarter, and up 604.8 percent from 3,435 for last year's third quarter, according to DataQuick. The peak of the prior foreclosure cycle was 15,418 in third-quarter 1996, while the low was 637 in the second quarter of 2005.
In Lake County, there were 53 Trustee Deeds in the third quarter, a 342-percent increase over the third quarter of 2006, in which there were 12 Trustee Deeds, said LePage. That's another record, as it's also up from the 48 Trustee Deeds in 2007's second quarter.
Since 1996, the average number of Trustee Deeds filed in a given quarter was 16, LePage said.
“As long as the Notice of Default number is increasing, you're likely to see an increase in the number of foreclosures,” LePage explained.
On primary mortgages statewide, homeowners were a median five months behind on their payments when the lender started the default process. The borrowers owed a median $10,914 on a median $344,000 mortgage.
"We know now, in emerging detail, that a lot of these loans shouldn't have been made,” said DataQuick President Marshall Prentice. “The issue is whether the real estate market and the economy will digest these over the next year or two, or if housing market distress will bring the economy to its knees. Right now, most California neighborhoods do not have much of a foreclosure problem. But where there is a problem, it's getting nasty.”
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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No board seats have changed hands due the revised counts, although percentages have changed and write-in candidates have been tallied.
BOARDS OF EDUCATION
Lake County Office of Education Governing Board
Trustee Area 4 (ONE vacancy) – 5 of 5 precincts completed
David Browing: 1,370 votes, 78.6 percent
Larry A Juchert: 369 votes, 21.2 percent
Write-in candidates(s): 3, 0.2 percent
Mendocino-Lake College District Governing Board
Trustee Area 3 (ONE vacancy) – 16 of 16 precincts completed
Joan M. Eriksen: 2,340 votes, 55.3 percent
Larry MacLeitch: 1,887 votes, 44.6 percent
Write-in candidates(s): 8, 0.2 percent
Trustee Area 7 (ONE vacancy) – 16 of 16 precincts completed
Jerry DeChaine: 2,301 votes, 53.6 percent
Gary Taylor: 1,971 votes, 45.9 percent
Write-in candidates(s): 18, 0.4 percent
Kelseyville Unified School District Governing Board (THREE vacancies) – 7 of 7 precincts completed
John R. DeChaine: 1,021 votes, 18.8 percent
Gary Olson: 788 votes, 14.5 percent
Chris Irwin: 743 votes, 13.6 percent
Andy Dobusch: 735 votes, 13.5 percent
Valerie A. Ramirez: 579 votes, 10.6 percent
Don Boyd: 552 votes, 10.1 percent
Philip Murphy: 522 votes, 9.6 percent
Mireya Gehring Turner: 503 votes, 9.2 percent
Write-in candidates(s): 2, 0.0 percent
Lakeport Unified School District Governing Board (THREE vacancies) – 7 of 7 precincts completed
Bob Weiss: 932 votes, 24.5 percent
Robyn K. Stevenson: 916 votes, 24.1 percent
Philip T. Kirby: 847 votes, 22.3 percent
Craig Kinser: 734 votes, 19.3 percent
Patricia Jonas Voulgaris: 364 votes, 9.6 percent
Write-in candidates(s): 4, 0.1 percent
Lucerne Elementary School District Governing Board (ONE vacancy) – 4 of 4 precincts completed
Kay Hancock: 297 votes, 64.6 percent
Bruce Higgins: 163 votes, 35.4 percent
Write-in candidates(s): 0, 0.0 percent
Upper Lake Union High School District Governing Board (TWO vacancies) – 8 of 8 precincts completed
Annie Barnes: 560 votes, 29.0 percent
Colleen Alexander: 489 votes, 25.3 percent
Gary L. Lewis: 344 votes, 17.8 percent
Dawn R. Binns: 311 votes, 16.1 percent
Howard Chavez: 225 votes, 11.6 percent
Write-in candidates(s): 4, 0.2 percent
COMMUNITY SERVICE DISTRICTS
Anderson Springs Community Services District (TWO vacancies) – 1 of 1 precinct completed
Beatrice A. Moulton: 46 votes, 46.5 percent
Penelope D. Falduto: 42 votes, 42.4 percent
Daniel L. Wood: 11 votes, 11.1 percent
Write-in candidates(s): 0, 0.0 percent
Clearlake Oaks County Water District (THREE vacancies) – 2 of 2 precincts completed
Helen G. Locke: 333 votes, 23.2 percent
Mike Anisman: 259 votes, 18.0 percent
Frank Toney: 256 votes, 17.8 percent
Bob White: 244 votes, 17.0 percent
June A. Greene, 185 votes, 12.9 percent
Glenn R. Rowe, 157 votes, 10.9 percent
Write-in candidates(s): 2, 0.1 percent
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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LAKEPORT – Veterans gathered at Hartley Cemetery in Lakeport for a special ceremony on Sunday.
Following the raising of the Avenue of Flags, the United Veterans Council Military Funeral Honors Team held a flag raising ceremony at the cemetery's Veterans Circle, an area created to eventually be the final resting place of indigent veterans.
Firing party commander Rich Feiro – also known as “our fearless leader” to the other veterans in the group – explained that each year the team honors a veteran during the raising of the colors.
This year, Harry Stivers, who retired from the Air Force, was honored and his flag was raised, then lowered to half mast along with the POW/MIA flag. Stivers' family was in attendance for the ceremony.
E-mail Terre Logsdon
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The CHP reported that 61-year-old Wayne Stafford of Redwood Valley died as a result of the Saturday collision, which took place at about 1:30 p.m. on Highway 20 west of Scotts Valley Road.
Stafford was driving his 1990 Harley Davidson motorcycle westbound on Highway 20 “in a reckless manner,” passing other vehicles at high speeds while passing over double yellow lines in a right curve, according to CHP.
The road surface was wet due to the day's rainy weather, and the CHP reported that Stafford lost control of his motorcycle while passing over the double yellow lines.
The CHP report said the motorcycle went down on its left side and ejected Stafford onto the pavement.
Thomas Brower, 51, of Ukiah was driving his 1995 Toyota eastbound at between 50 and 55 miles per hour, according to the CHP. He hit the brakes but was unable to avoid hitting both Stafford and his motorcycle as they slid into the eastbound lane.
Stafford was transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital where he died of his injuries, the CHP reported. Brower was physically uninjured.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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