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- Written by: Lake County News reports
In a statement issued following Petraeus' testimony before Congress, Thompson called the general's report “just a thinly guised veil of President Bush’s routine excuses for continuing war. While his intentions may be good, the general only confirms my belief that redeployment should begin immediately.”
Thompson, a Vietnam veteran, has been a vocal critic of the war since before it began.
“After nearly five years in Iraq, it is abundantly clear that the Iraqi government will not take responsibility for securing its country as long as our troops are doing it for them,” Thompson said. “Just this January, President Bush said that with the support of 30,000 more U.S. troops, the Iraqi government planned to secure their county by this November.”
Thompson cited a General Accounting Office report released just last week that finds that the Iraqi government is nowhere close to controlling their country. “Even worse, another recent report on the Iraqi security forces found that the Iraqi police force and the agency that oversees it are overrun with corruption and sectarianism,” he said.
Thompson quoted Bush who stated in January that if the Iraqi government didn't make progress, it would lose the support of the American people.
“I believe the American people have lost faith in the Iraqi government and in President Bush’s failed strategies,” Thompson continued. “For our own safety and that of the Iraqi people, we need a new direction in Iraq – one that puts our resources into finding a diplomatic strategy for quelling the violence in Iraq and rooting out terrorism both in Iraq and around the globe.
“We are far beyond envisioning our troops home, as General Petraeus has implied,” said Thompson. “The American people want to see all of their troops home as soon as possible, period.”
In order to begin that new direction, Thompson recently introduced HR 3071, which calls for redeployment of troops out of Iraq to begin immediately, while simultaneously requiring the president to work with the United Nations to implement a region-wide strategy for containing Iraq’s civil war.
On Jan. 31 Thompson introduced another bill in Congress – HR 787, the Iraq War De-Escalation Act of 2007, which also was meant to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq.
HR787 was the House companion to SB 433, introduced by Sen. Barack Obama. It set a troop deployment deadline of March 31, 2008.
The bill has remained in committee since March, when the House Foreign Affairs Committee held hearings on HR 787.
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
LAKEPORT – No injuries resulted from a collision Monday involving a school bus and a Camaro.
Just before 3:30 p.m. the California Highway Patrol reported the collision had taken place on Giselman at Lakeshore Boulevard.
CHP Officer Adam Garcia said the bus, driven by Lakeport Unified School District driver Glenn Courtney, was on Giselman preparing to make a wide right turn onto Lakeshore Boulevard.
The Camaro's driver, who didn't think the bus was turning right, began to make a right turn on the inside of the bus, said Garcia. The bus clipped the car as both vehicles made a right turn onto Lakeshore Boulevard.
Garcia said no one claimed to be injured at the scene.
The accident's main casualty was Courtney's perfect driving record.
Earlier this year Courtney was honored with a state award for having driven a school bus for more than 30 years and more than 400,000 miles with no accident, as Lake County News previously reported.
CHP Officer Dallas Richey is investigating the accident, said Garcia, which is a requirement in school bus accidents when children are on board.
E-mail Harold LaBonte at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Justin Scott Vibbert, 28, of Nice was killed when his motorcycle went off Highway 20 and landed in some rocks down an embankment near Kono Tayee, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Adam Garcia.
CHP received a call reporting the crash at about 8:30 a.m., Garcia reported.
As Lake County News previously reported, CHP's investigation has so far shown that Vibbert, who was riding at a high rate of speed westbound along Highway 20, lost control while going through a curve.
Vibbert, a glass artist originally from the Midwest, had contact with the CHP over the July 4 weekend. Sheriff's logs show that he had been arrested on two felony drug possession charges and was booked into the Lake County Jail on July 5.
Garcia said the collision investigation, led by CHP Officer Brian Engle, is continuing.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The Department of Labor filed the lawsuit in November 2004 against Local 38 of the United Association of Plumbers, Pipefitters and Journeymen, whose Convalescent Trust Fund, Lakeside Haven, has owned Konocti Harbor since 1959.
Labor Secretary Elaine Chao alleged that Local 38 had used pension funds “imprudently” by investing millions in the operation of Konocti Harbor.
James P. Baker of the San Francisco-based Jones Day law firm was the lead attorney for Local 38 in the suit.
“Everybody is happy to have this dispute resolved and it was resolved amicably,” said Baker.
He added, “My clients didn't admit they did anything wrong and I don't think they did anything wrong.”
Baker said the underlying lawsuit was specifically related to whether or not the union should have invested in Konocti Harbor.
“That's going to prove out to be a pretty good deal,” said Baker.
As part of the settlement, Local 38 agreed to appoint WhiteStar Advisors LLC as an independent fiduciary to oversee the resort's sale, said Baker.
WhiteStar, he said, “had been working for us for over two years by the time of the settlement” on the resort sale. “We were already doing the right thing.”
Baker said Local 38 decided to sell the resort in the last few years.
“The thrill was gone from being in lawsuits with the Department of Labor,” which Baker said have been ongoing since 1979.
Baker said the Department of Labor has investigated Local 38 five times about the same question – whether or not Konocti Harbor was a good investment for the pension funds.
It was in everyone's best interest to settle the case, said Baker, adding that the union felt it had a number of good defenses.
Baker joined Local 38 not long before this current lawsuit was filed, he said.
Lawrence Mazzola Sr., son of labor leader Joe Mazzola, remains the union's business manager, but will resign as a pension fund trustee by year's end as a condition of the settlement, as will most of the other trustees, said Baker.
Lawrence Mazzola Jr. and another trustee are the only two being allowed to stay on as trustees, which was “one of the big bones of contention,” said Baker. The two men must undergo fiduciary training in order to continue in their trustee capacity, according to the settlement terms.
If and when Konocti Harbor sells, Baker said Local 38 will still have a presence in the county. “They're going to keep about 10 acres on the lake for a kids camp and recreation area,” he said.
Labor Department describes its role
Wayne Berry, one of the Department of Labor attorneys on the case, said he and colleagues Peter Doland and Megan Guenther took over for a retiring attorney who had originally been assigned the lawsuit.
Berry said the Department of Labor had sued Joe Mazzola and many of the other pension fund trustees in the early 1970s not long after the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) was established. That law is meant to oversee how retirement plans are managed.
That original lawsuit, said Berry, was for loan-type transactions, and was not directly related to Konocti Harbor.
In that case, he said, Local 38 hired a doctor to do a feasibility study for a spa at Konocti Harbor. The union borrowed against the resort to get a loan to pay for the study.
It came out at trial that the doctor had no ability to do a feasibility study of how worthwhile it would be to add a spa to the resort, said Berry.
The 2004 lawsuit settled recently didn't involve loans but undocumented, unsecured transfers of cash from Local 38's pension fund to its Lakeside Haven Convalescent Trust Fund, which owns Konocti Harbor.
Berry said there have only been the two lawsuits between the Department of Labor and Local 38 relating to pension plans, although the government has investigated the union on other occasions.
The 1970s lawsuit went on for some time, said Berry. “After we won at trial they appealed at the Ninth Circuit.”
The case eventually went to the Supreme Court, where Local 38 lost the case, Berry said.
Fund was suffering annual losses
Berry said Local 38 needed to show that its investment in Konocti Harbor followed ERISA's rules for prudent use of pension plan money.
The Convalescent Trust Fund's operations, including Konocti Harbor, usually lost about half a million dollars a year, said Berry. Department of Labor spokesperson Gloria Della added that the Convalescent Trust Fund itself was not an ERISA fund.
The lawsuit alleged Local 38 had transferred $36 million from the pension funds to the Convalescent Fund for Konocti Harbor's operations and improvement.
Guenther said the Department of Labor's investigation found that between 1994 and 2004 the union had transferred a total of $54 million to the Convalescent Trust Fund.
“One of the big problems in this case is it's so hard to track that stuff down because there were no records,” Berry said.
While Local 38 has hired WhiteStar to sell the property, Berry pointed out, “The consent order itself does not have any language that says the resort must be sold.”
The Department of Labor doesn't have the power to make that demand, he said.
However, he added, “Part of the recovery that the ERISA plan is going to get is the proceeds of the sale,” which is the only asset the union has to make up the money.
Local 38 also will be reimbursed for a $4 million loan it made to the Convalescent Trust Fund in 2000, when the Convalescent Trust Fund was hit with a foreclosure action on a loan for which Konocti Harbor was the security, Berry explained.
Berry said numerous appraisals of the resort were completed for the lawsuit, with the main one used for the trial in the $11 million to $13 million range.
Court documents show that Page Mill Properties of Palo Alto is a possible buyer for the property. The possible purchase price, the documents report, is $25 million.
Berry said he felt the case moved through the courts in a normal, even quick manner. The more than $500,000 Local 38 was required to pay the government was a civil penalty established by statute, he said.
Della said that, as a general rule, the Department of Labor doesn't point to any one source for the basis of an investigation like this one. Rather, she said, cases are derived from a variety of sources, including informal and random looks at ERISA funds and concerns from people who administer the plans.
However, in the Local 38 suit, the case was referred to the Department of Labor by the Internal Revenue Service. Court documents Della referenced show that the IRS began an audit of Local 38's pension plan in November 1999, when it referred the plan for investigation of possible fiduciary breaches.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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