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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
According to a statement issued at 7 p.m., Sonoma County Sheriff's officials said they had taken a missing persons report on Lauren Rutz, 22.
A Sonoma State University student who occasionally resides in the Sebastopol area as well as Kelseyville, the sheriff's report stated that Rutz was traveling alone from San Francisco to the Kelseyville area when she disappeared.
She was last heard from Saturday at 2:45 a.m., the report noted, when she spoke to her mother via cell phone.
At the time of the call, cell phone records indicate Rutz may have been in the Windsor area, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office reported.
Rutz is a white female, 5' 4" tall and 140 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes, authorities reported. She was driving a silver 1997 Toyota RAV4, California License Plate No. 4XXF221.
Law enforcement agencies continue to search Rutz's possible routes of travel from the air and on the ground, in and around Sonoma County, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff's report. No foul play is suspected at this time.
Anyone with information is asked to call Sonoma County Sheriff's Department at (707) 565-2650.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
You would see the full moon being slowly eaten by some hideous, unseen creature – a very bad omen indeed! Will the earth be next? What will happen to us?
Our scientific knowledge back then, or lack thereof, gave rise to many frightening explanations for what will be seen.
Today, we have a better understanding of what causes the celestial event that will occur on Tuesday morning. It's an eclipse of the moon, and in Lake County we'll have a marvelous view of it – providing you're able to stay up late, or get up early, depending on your schedule.
The eclipse will begin around 1:20 a.m. It will be at maximum at 3:30 a.m., and will end around 6 a.m.
A lunar eclipse happens when the earth is between the sun and the moon, and the Earth's shadow is cast on the moon.
The diagram below shows how this happens.
Lunar eclipses occur several times a year. They can only be seen from specific parts of the Earth – this month's eclipse won't be visible from Europe, for example.
The next eclipse we'll be able to see will happen on Feb. 21, 2008. After that one, we'll have to wait until December 2010.
So, this month's eclipse may not happen at a convenient time, but it's an event well worth setting your alarm for or staying up to watch.
John Zimmerman has been an amateur astronomer for 50 years. He is a member of the Taylor Observatory staff, where, among his many duties, he helps create planetarium shows.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The governor also announced about $700 million in cuts to the budget, which he said was necessary to keep the budget balanced and build a “prudent reserve.”
North Coast Sen. Patricia Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa) said the budget was fiscally responsible; includes no new taxes, fees or special programs; has a $3.4 billion reserve; pays debt early and lowers the operating deficit.
“This budget, while not a great one, is a decent one, and it was the best one we could accomplish in 2007,” she said.
Wiggins said the budget maintains a cost of living increase for Supplementary Security Income and State Supplementary Payment recipients.
The state budget shows that expenditures for the Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment Program are $3.7 billion for 2007-08, up $118.7 million from the revised 2006 budget. That's due in part to an estimated increase in the average monthly caseload by 1.3 million recipients, a 1.8-percent increase over the 2006-07 projected level.
Schwarzenegger's 42 pages of revisions and budget cuts will affect many programs. One of the hardest hit state departments is Health and Human Services, which will suffer hundreds of millions in fiscal decreases.
Among the reductions are $34.6 million for the county grants portion of the Children's Outreach initiative in Medi-Cal and the Healthy Families Program, and $54.9 million for the Integrated Services for Homeless Adults with Serious Mental Illness Program.
Regarding the program for homeless, mentally ill adults, Schwarzenegger suggests that the program “can be restructured to meet the needs of each county’s homeless population using other county funding sources,” including federal funds.
Said Wiggins, “It is unfortunate that the governor chose to veto funding for things like funding for Medi-Cal and housing for mentally ill homeless people, from a budget which includes a $45 million tax break for people who own yachts.”
One item preserved in the budget was the Williamson Act, which gives farmers and ranchers a tax break for keeping farmland in production, and reimburses counties for lost tax revenue.
Schwarzenegger's May budget revision had targeted the $39 million planned for supporting the program this year, but the California Farm Bureau and other agriculturalists around the state kept up the pressure. Assemblyman Mike Villines (R-Fresno), the Republican Assembly leader, helped hammer out an agreement with Schwarzenegger to leave the Williamson Act funding in tax.
The new budget also includes $1.6 billion for In-Home Supportive Services, an amount that is up $97.1 million from last year. The budget summary explains that the average monthly caseload in this program is estimated to increase to 389,100 recipients, a 5.1-percent increase over the 2006-07 projected level.
The documents also state that, effective July 1, state participation in IHSS provider wages and health benefits increased from $11.10 per hour to $12.10 per hour, based on the projected growth of General Fund revenues.
The state's Military Department will receive $1.8 million and 22 positions to meet the increased demand for military funeral honors ceremonies around the state.
The increased funds will provide an additional 300 funeral honors per month which would include California National Guard members folding the United States flag and presenting it to the next of kin during the funeral ceremony. The California National Guard is required by federal law to serve as the primary provider of those services to veterans and their families who request funeral services with military honors, according to the budget summary.
The newly signed budget also includes $11.4 million General Fund and 26.4 positions to assist in implementing a statewide Veterans Home Information System, according to the budget report. That system will be based on the federal veterans health care information, and will be used to improve health care tracking and the care provided to veterans.
Wiggins said she is looking forward to getting started on next year's budget as soon as possible. She said she supports Senate Leader Don Perata’s call for a bipartisan budget revision panel to develop a multiyear plan in order to get budgets back on time.
“I agree with Sen. Perata that the state’s budget is ‘fatally broken’ because it is controlled by conflicting ballot-box mandates, dedicated funding streams and other constraints that limit what lawmakers can do,” Wiggins said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
A report from the Mendocino County Sheriff's Sgt. Derek Scott Thursday reported that deputies had arrested Jeremy R. Jeffers, 19, of Lakeport, in Ukiah on Monday night.
At 8:30 p.m. Monday, Scott reported that deputies were dispatched to Jeffers Pool and Spa at 123 Lake Mendocino Drive for a welfare check on Jeffers, who was reported to possibly be in possession of a firearm.
Deputy Andrew Whiteaker arrived at the scene, where he observed Jeffers' right arm inside the bed of a truck and an unidentified male relative standing to the rear of the truck, Scott reported. When Whiteaker asked about the firearm the relative told him that Jeffers had it in his hand.
Scott's report said Whiteaker then pulled out his firearm and immediately ordered Jeffers to put the gun down. Jeffers reportedly told Whiteaker to shoot him as he was going to jail.
Whiteaker then took out a Taser and used it to try to subdue Jeffers, but failed, Scott's eport stated.
Shortly afterward Sgt. Scott arrived at the scene and helped take Jeffers to the ground, where he was arrested.
Once Jeffers was subdued, his relative told Whiteaker that Jeffers had held him at gunpoint for about an hour prior to the authorities arriving, according to Scott's report.
While Jeffers had allegedly held the other man at gunpoint, he allegedly made criminal threats to the relative, causing him to believe that he would be killed if he tried to leave the scene.
Authorities transported Jeffers to the Mendocino County Jail on charges of robbery, terrorist threats, false imprisonment, resisting an officer and carrying a loaded firearm in a public place.
Lt. Rusty Noe of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office told Lake County News that Jeffers was in possession of an unspecified type of handgun. Noe had no information about previous contacts between Jeffers and law enforcement.
A Mendocino County Jail official confirmed that Jeffers remains in jail on $125,000 bail.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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