How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
News
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News Reports
KELSEYVILLE – A man shot and killed himself early Saturday morning during a traffic stop near Kelseyville.
Ryan Randall Williams, 28, of Kelseyville died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head at the scene of the stop, according to sheriff's Capt. Rob Howe.
Howe said that Sgt. Andy Davidson was traveling northbound on Highway 29 a mile south of Soda Bay Road at approximately 12:28 a.m. Saturday, July 25, when he recognized the vehicle traveling in front of him as possibly belonging to Williams.
Davidson confirmed through Central Dispatch that the vehicle was Williams’. Howe said Davidson knew that Williams was on parole and was wanted for a parole violation.
When Davidson activated his forward facing red light, attempting to stop Williams at the corner of Highway 29 and Soda Bay Road, Williams slowed, turned on his blinker and turned onto Soda Bay Road near Kit's Corner, according to Howe.
Then Davidson activated his siren and overhead emergency lights, and Howe said Williams slowed and pulled onto the shoulder of the road but did not come to a complete stop.
Williams started to accelerate and pull back onto the roadway. Howe said Davidson accelerated onto the roadway, past Williams and tried to block his vehicle. At that point Williams’ vehicle accelerated and hit the driver’s side rear bumper of Davidson’s patrol vehicle then traveled in the oncoming traffic lane.
Howe said Williams’ vehicle left the roadway and was traveling parallel to the patrol vehicle on the embankment on the opposite side of the road. Williams then swerved back down the embankment, across the oncoming lane and collided with the driver's side of Davidson’s patrol vehicle. Williams' vehicle then left the roadway and crashed into a heavily wooded area.
Following the crash, Williams was found in the vehicle with severe head trauma, and a loaded handgun with one expended cartridge was also found in the vehicle near Williams’ feet, Howe said.
Williams was extricated from the vehicle and prepared to be flown by REACH to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. Despite life saving efforts on scene, Howe said Williams died as a result of his injuries prior to being flown out.
The investigation revealed that Williams' head trauma was not caused by the vehicle collision, but by a single self-inflicted gunshot wound. Howe said it appeared that when Davidson attempted to stop Williams he decided to take his own life.
Editor's note: News agencies do not normally cover cases involving suicide unless, such as in this case, they involve an act that is committed in a public manner.
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Oakland resident Chinh Pham, 63, was the victim in the Saturday evening incident, according to sheriff's Capt. Rob Howe.
Howe said sheriff's deputies responded to Highland Springs Park in Kelseyville on a report of a drowning at approximately 6 p.m. Saturday, July 25.
When they arrived they were told that Pham had been swimming and then went under water and didn't resurface.
Lakeport Fire and the Northshore Dive Team also responded to the scene where, at approximately 6:13 p.m., dive team leader Capt. John Rodriguez found Pham.
Howe said Pham was found 45 feet off shore and approximately 15 feet under the water, tangled in weeds. Pham was pronounced dead at the scene.
Pham's wife told deputies they were in Lake County on vacation, and were with a group of friends and went to the park for recreation, said Howe.
He said Pham was swimming just offshore when he went under water and never resurfaced. Several people at the park dove into the water in an attempt to help the decedent but could not locate him.
The results of an autopsy showed that Pham's death actually was due to ischemic heart disease and not drowning.
The American Heart Association reported that ischemic heart disease – also called coronary artery disease – is a condition in which the arteries to the heart are narrowed, resulting in less blood and oxygen reaching the heart muscle. The result can be a heart attack.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Kenneth Allen Rogers, 51, who since has moved to Lake County, was convicted by a jury in Ukiah last Wednesday, according to his attorney, J. David Markham of Lakeport.
Markham, who was appointed by the court to represent Rogers after his previous attorney had to leave the case due to a conflict, said Rogers is facing 25 years to life on the conspiracy charge alone when he's sentenced in Ukiah at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 14.
Tim Stoen of the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office, who prosecuted the case, said Rogers could be looking at a life term.
Rogers was accused for conspiring with an employee, Richard Peacock, to kill Alan Simon, a political rival of Rogers', on June 17, 2005.
“It was a very dramatic case,” said Stoen.
Stoen said Rogers and Peacock hatched the plot due to a “cascading set of reasons.”
Rogers had chaired the water and fire board in Westport, a town of about 80 full-time residents north of Fort Bragg, where Rogers had lived since 1997, said Stoen.
Stoen said residents in the district claimed Rogers was harassing them, and a successful recall effort was launched, culminating in the Aug. 21, 2004, vote in which he was replaced by Simon.
“He took it hard,” said Stoen.
Then, in January of 2005, Rogers and Simon crossed paths again, when Rogers was fired as assistant fire chief, with Simon voting against him. Stoen said Rogers later won a lawsuit proving he had been wrongly terminated.
But Stoen alleged that Rogers' anger continued to grow. In May of 2005, a notary who visited Rogers said spittle was flying from his mouth at the mention of Simon.
Peacock – who Stoen called a “street thug” – was released from custody on March 26, 2005, after serving time for several felony charges including one involving a firearm.
The prosecution alleged that Rogers and Peacock conspired to kill Simon, with Stoen saying that Rogers had a “triple motive” – his recall, the firing and his belief that the recall had hurt his chances for higher political office in Sacramento. Stoen said Rogers, the chair of the Mendocino County Republican Central Committee, had claimed that the Republican Party was his “religion.”
Stoen alleged that Rogers and Peacock thought they had planned the perfect crime, with the shooting taking place on a Friday night.
Peacock went to Simon's home and fired nine shots into the front door. Stoen said Simon dove to the floor and was hit in the scalp and arm by the bullets.
Despite being injured, Simon was able to identify the suspect's distinctive vehicle – a Mazda Miata with a damaged front bumper.
The vehicle would be spotted later on the night of the shooting on Branscomb Road toward Laytonville. Stoen said as Peacock made his getaway, he turned into a remote area where Rogers owned property.
Peacock was arrested the next day and put on trial. He received 71 years to life because the shooting was his third strike, Stoen said.
After Peacock was convicted, the issue remained whether or not he acted alone. During Rogers' trial, Peacock was called to testify, but refused to turn on Rogers, which Stoen suggested was because Peacock didn't want a “snitch jacket” placed on him in prison.
Since Simon was shot, Rogers moved to Lake County, where he has property, said Stoen. Rogers went back and forth between Westport and Sacramento a lot, and so he also spent a lot of time in Lake County. “Clear Lake's been a central part of his life for some time,” Stoen said.
Markham said Rogers had been out on bail since his 2005 arrest, but was remanded into custody after the jury's verdict was delivered last week.
The conviction will be appealed, said Markham.
“I'm going to file a notice of appeal and that will simply get the process started,” he said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News Reports
It is an unprecedented alignment of the stars. Not wholly unlike the recent total solar eclipse or the appearance of Halley’s Comet.
The CyberSoulChildren who are alive and conscious on July 31, 2009, can be cognizant of the fact that not one, but two major Motown acts are appearing at the same time in and around Lake County, within 60 miles of each other. The Four Tops are appearing at Cache Creek Casino Resort. Smokey Robinson is appearing at Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa.
This is an insightful, culture altering occurrence, juxtaposed against the golden anniversary of the birth of Motown. As a chronicler of the evolution of rhythm and blues, the time has come for me to offer up and perhaps correct some Sound Of Young America (as Berry Gordy called it) history.
I remember striving to find some semblance of that Sound on the airwaves when I arrived on the shores of Lake County in 1997. There was a commercial station that used to air a promo once or twice an hour that stressed that they played the best in Motown. They’d then follow it with a Billy Preston track or an Aretha Franklin track, neither of whom was ever a Motown artist.
Sometimes of course, they would play a legitimate Motown artist, but they would err (no pun intended) enough to make the CyberSoulMan uncomfortable. So, for those of you who are perhaps carrying around those suppositions as fact, here is the CyberSoulMan version of some Motown history. Be forewarned that I can’t squeeze the whole soulful slate into 1,000 words.
Motown was created by Berry Gordy on Jan. 12, 1959. Originally it was called the Tamla Records but incorporated as Motown Record Corp. a little over a year later.
At first it was simply a record label, a vehicle to expose to the world the very unique tapestry of the artists involved in the Detroit Sound. The first group signed to the label was the group formerly known as The Matadors. This was the group that Smokey Robinson sang lead for and when they signed with Tamla, they became The Miracles.
Other early Tamla acts were Marv Johnson, Mable John and Mary Wells. The first certifiable Tamla hit was “Money” by Barrett Strong, which charted at No. 2 on Billboard's R&B hit list in 1959.
The first million-selling record for Motown was “Shop Around” by The Miracles. The first Billboard No. 1 pop hit for the corporation was “Please Mr. Postman” by the Marvelettes.
Berry Gordy amassed a stable of artists that also included Martha & The Vandellas, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Tammi Terrell, The Supremes, Gladys Knight & The Pips and The Jackson 5.
Somehow, it became ingrained in parts of the American psyche that Motown was an exclusively African-American company. Nothing could be further from the truth.
From virtually its inception forward, Motown has been integrated. It has had many artists and acts that were not African American. Among them, Chris Clarke, Rare Earth, Judas Priest, Dorsey Burnette, R. Dean Taylor, The Pretty Things, Stoney & Meatloaf, Shaun Murphy, Duke Jupiter, Teena Marie, Michael McDonald and the great Bobby Darrin, among others.
Some of you may recall the film “Standing In The Shadows Of Motown,” which documented the saga of The Funk Brothers, the extremely jazz savvy studio musicians who did all the instrumental tracks for Motown from 1959 to 1972. They, too, were an integrated band.
Motown also developed Motown Latino Records which focused on Spanish language Latin American music.
In addition, Motown employed songwriting/production teams that included Smokey Robinson, Holland/Dozier/Holland, Norman Whitfield and many others that reflected accurately this melting pot called America.
Clearly, Motown wasn’t all African-American in its scope. Similarly, all African-American music wasn’t Motown. To insinuate that Aretha Franklin music is Motown distorts history. Though Aretha grew up in Detroit she was never Motown. There is room enough in Detroit for more than one iconic style or genre.
Billy Preston and others incorrectly tagged by that aforementioned radio promo not withstanding, there are many distinctions within the canon of African-American music, some of them geographic, some stylistic, some differences subtle, some very overt. It helps to do the homework. There will only be a quiz on the above material if you choose to self administer it.
The last time Smokey Robinson appeared in Lake County, I believe, was in 2004 at Robinson Rancheria. I had not seen Smokey live since 1967 when he was still fronting the Miracles. Tammi Terrill opened that show at San Francisco’s Basin Street West and gave the Smokey a good run for his money.
I was pleasantly surprised when Smokey played Lake County last. Not only had he matured gracefully, but he was a better performer. And he was my favorite in 1967. For those of you who can’t make his upcoming show, KPFZ 88.1 FM will broadcast my 2004 interview with him on Saturday, Aug. 1, between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Duke Fakir is the only remaining founding member of the Four Tops. Obie Benson, Lawrence Payton and their great baritone lead singer Levi Stubbs have gone on to glory in Soul Heaven. Don’t let that hinder you from attending their show if you are so inclined. They have recruited former Temptation Theo Peoples and Lawrence Payton’s son Roquel to round out and continue their great sound.
For an awe-inspiring deeply emotional view of Levi Stubbs performing for the last time with his group (and the new replacements) go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1May52b1RQ . Have your hankies on the ready!
Keep prayin’, keep thinkin’ those kind thoughts.
*****
Upcoming cool events:
Sunday Brunch in the Garden, Blue Wing Saloon & Cafe, 9520 Main St., Upper Lake. Brunch served 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Chris Forshay featured on guitar and vocals, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Information: 707-275-2244 or www.bluewingsaloon.com .
Will Siegal & Friends, 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Blues Monday, July 27, Blue Wing Saloon & Cafe, 9520 Main St., Upper Lake. Information: 707-275-2244 or www.bluewingsaloon.com .
Open Mike Night, 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, July 30, Blue Wing Saloon & Cafe, 9520 Main St., Upper Lake. Information: 707-275-2244 or www.bluewingsaloon.com .
Rootstock, 6:30 p.m. Friday, July 31. Library Park, 200 Park St., Lakeport.
Smokey Robinson in concert, 7:15 p.m. Saturday, July 31. Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa. 8727 Soda Bay Road, Kelseyville. Information: 800-660-LAKE or www.konoctiharbor.com .
The Four Tops in Concert, 9 p.m. Saturday, July 31. Cache Creek Casino Resort, 14455 Highway 16, Brooks. Information: 888-77-CACHE or www.cachecreek.com .
T. Watts is a writer, radio host and music critic. Visit his Web site at www.teewatts.biz.