The Thursday night collision with a tree split Antoine Ellis' 1987 Camaro in half. Photo by Lakeport Fire Protection District.

LAKEPORT – Authorities have arrested a Lakeport man for a number of charges after he crashed his car Thursday evening.

California Highway Patrol Officer Josh Dye reported Friday that Antoine James Ellis, 39, crashed his 1987 Camaro at 6:54 p.m. Thursday on Soda Bay Road west of Stone Drive.

Dye said Ellis was intoxicated and driving eastbound on Soda Bay Road at a high rate of speed when the crash occurred.

Due to Ellis' high level of intoxication, he lost control of the car, which ran off the road and into an orchard, where it collided with a tree, Dye reported.

The impact of the collision, Dye added, split the Camaro in half.

Ellis was flown to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for treatment of his injuries, which were later found to be minor, said Dye.

CHP Officers Coddington and Wind to Santa Rosa, where they arrested Ellis on a felony parole violation and two misdemeanor charges of DUI and driving on a license that was suspended or revoked for reckless driving.

Ellis was booked into the Lake County Jail, where he remains on a no-bail hold for the parole violation.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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State Department of Fish and Game Warden Lynette Shimek told Lake County News that three bull tule elk – one massive bull, another large bull and one spike – as well as a doe deer were found shot at about 7 a.m. Saturday.

Hunters in the area witnessed the killings, said Shimek. Each of the animals were found approximately 50 yards apart on private property on the northeast side of Cache Creek.

Shimek said a total of five Fish and Game Wardens – including she and Loren Freeman from Lake County and several others from other areas – were at the site all day Saturday, along with four Lake County Sheriff's deputies, California Highway Patrol officers and the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office Henry 1 helicopter.

Cal Fire also responded, helping recover the bodies of the animals, said Shimek.

“They assisted Fish and Game in processing all of the meat so that none of it would go to waste,” she said, adding that the meat has been donated to charity.

In the case of the tule elk, Shimek said they belong to a protected herd. While there is hunting for the herd, only two tags are issued each year for a hunt in October.

Shimek said that, despite these recent killings, this year's hunt likely will continue. An incredible effort goes into organizing the annual tag drawings, she said, with thousands of people putting in for the hunting permits.

No arrests have been made so far, said Shimek, with the investigation expected to continue over the next several weeks.

“We have several suspects that are going to be questioned in the case,” she said.

Shimek expressed her gratitude to the agencies that assisted Fish and Game in responding to the site of Saturday's poaching and conducting the initial investigation.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Leading experts in all things sustainable, green and organic will be on hand Aug. 18 and 19 at the Solar Living Institute in Hopland to answer questions and give workshops with hands-on demonstrations.

In addition to the workshops, over 150 exhibitors will be showcasing the latest in energy and fuel-saving technology and products.

While you’re browsing the exhibits and attending workshops getting inspired about what you could incorporate into your life and home, you can sample tasty organic foods, beer and wine as well as listen to world-class music and entertainment.

District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing believes events like SolFest are important for Lake County residents to attend.

“We have a great deal of work to do to create a healthy relationship with this place in which we all live,” Rushing said. “That work starts with imagining what is possible.”

Rushing believes in sustainability so much that for the last year, Massey Burke, a Solar Living Institute instructor who specializes in natural building and permaculture education, has been leading workshops on Rushing’s organic walnut farm to construct a straw bale and cob cottage where some Lake County residents are learning what natural building is all about.

“At Solfest, we can learn and share: we learn what others are creating and share information and great ideas including ways to harness energy from the sun, natural building materials and methods, ways to restore damaged lands and waters, and ways we can sustain our own spirit and joy in the work ahead,” Rushing said.

Speakers and entertainers at this years’ event include world-renowned author Alice Walker, legendary songwriter and guitar wizard Bruce Cockburn, singer and songwriter Dar Williams and even the Big Tadoo Puppet Show that will ride into Hopland in their bus fueled by vegetable oil.

“One of the most exciting elements of SolFest is the opportunity to attend over 60 workshops related to almost every aspect of sustainability,” said Lindsay Dailey, workshop director for the Solar Living Institute. “From business opportunities in solar to green burials to international community-building.”

There are workshops on how to drought-proof your land, home wetland/gray water systems, natural building, the future of food, permaculture, pumping water with wind power and much more.

“There will be experts traveling from around the country to share their expertise in our six workshop tents,” Dailey said, “and we invite the local community to partake in this unique educational opportunity.”

For more information, visit the following sites.

Denise Rushing’s cottage in progress:

www.lakefuture.org/2007/08/solfest-and-natural-building.html

Schedule for SolFest:

www.solarliving.org/pdf/SolFest2007CompleteSchedule.pdf

Solar Living Institute:

www.solarliving.org/default.asp

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Winemaker Gerald Ployez, who lives at the winery with wife, Shirley, said the power went off in his home early Friday and alarms were triggered.

When he went to turn off the alarms, he said he saw the fire out the window, and Shirley quickly called 911.

Capt. Redhawk Pallesen of Cal Fire said that the fire was reported at 1:07 a.m.

Cal fire sent three engines, one dozer, two hand crews of 17 firefighters each and one battalion chief, said Pallesen.

Also responding was South Lake County Fire Protection District, he added.

Gerald Ployez said at one point that the fire was only 50 feet from the winery building.

“That was pretty close,” he said.

However, he and his wife weren't forced to evacuate as firefighters got control of the fire.

Pallesen said that all told, the fire burned about three acres of land,

Firefighters were still at the winery cleaning up the fire site until about 4 a.m., Ployez said.

The cause of the fire, said Palleson, appeared to be a bird that flew into a power line.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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LAKE COUNTY – On Aug. 3, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen decided to decertify and recertify – with additional security measures – the Hart InterCivic eSlate electronic voting machines used by Lake County and several other counties.

As Lake County News reported Tuesday, Bowen's decision requires Lake County Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley to work with Hart InterCivic in order to create a plan to address the security concerns Bowen said her review found.

State Chief Deputy Secretary of State Evan Goldberg told Lake County News that the review looked at electronic voting machines and optical scan systems.

State law requires Secretary of State Debra Bowen to review voting systems, and she may do so at any time, said Goldberg.

So, why review the systems when they already had been certified previously by the federal government and previous secretaries of state?

“They were put through a review process but the review process never included security,” said Goldberg – either on the state or federal levels.

Bowen initially wanted to include eight voting systems in the review, but those machines not being used in the 2008 election were allowed to opt out, and the time frame and resources available also limited the study's scope.

“That's why it wound up there were only three systems that were reviewed,” he said.

Bowen's effort included a team of researchers – called the “Red Team” – from the University of California, Davis. A 14-page overview report from the team's principle investigator, Matt Bishop, stated that the team's specific goal was to identify and document how the systems might be vulnerable to tampering or error that could result in critical election data being altered.

The team considered several questions, said Bishop, including what the systems are required to do, who might threaten the systems, the environment in which the systems are used. They did not, however, evaluate the likelihood of any attack being feasible, but only described the conditions a hacker would need to be successful.

The team was split into two teams, one of which – led by Robert P. Abbott and based at the Secretary of State's Sacramento office – looked at the Hart eSlate system, which Lake County uses, and the Diebold system.

The team found that the eSlate's mobile ballot box could be altered during an election, and that post-election safeguards to prevent data from a tampered mobile ballot box from being counted “can be easily bypassed.”

Lake County Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley last year purchased 50 Hart InterCivic eSlate voting machines, one for each of Lake County's polling places.

Fridley said the mobile ballot box is secured in a judge's booth controller unit by a serial-numbered, tamper-proof lock. The number is recorded when it's issued and is confirmed when it's returned to the Elections Office. Elections Office staff removes the lock when the votes are downloaded to be counted during the official canvass.

They also found they could remotely capture the audio from a voting session on an eSlate with audio enabled, which would violate the voter's privacy, the report stated. In addition, the machines could be forced to accept multiple bar codes which could lead to erroneous vote totals.

Fridley said she has e-mailed Hart and they are looking into the concerns about capturing audio.

Regarding the eSlate machines, Goldberg explained, “The Hart System was deemed to be less vulnerable to certain kinds of attacks than the Diebold or Sequoia system.”

Counties like Lake that use the Hart machines must meet several conditions to guarantee security, and must submit a plan to the state within 45 days of Bowen's decision.

Of the state's 58 counties, 37 have only one voting machine per polling location, as in Lake County's case, said Goldberg. It's the 21 other counties, some of which have multiple machines per polling place, that will face the most change.

Elections official concerned about study

Steve Weir, president of the California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials, told Lake County News that he's a healthy skeptic of electronic voting machines and that he welcomed a tough review of them.

But Weir said he was concerned with how Bowen conducted the review, beginning on March 22, when she gave county elections officials only six days to respond to the draft standards she proposed to use for the process.

Normally, according to state administrative code, such information needs to be in print for a month; Weir said that rule can be waived but only in extraordinary circumstances.

Goldberg responded that there is no legal requirement for the secretary to provide county elections officials a comment period, but that she did so anyway, although it was very short due to her “desire to get the review started as rapidly as possible.”

And, Goldberg added, Bowen didn't release her final criteria until May 9, which was because she had given elections officials more time to respond.

“She wanted to make the review process as open and transparent as possible,” said Goldberg. “I think she wishes the period could have been longer, and act it did turn out to be longer.”

Weir said Bowen again gave officials only days to respond when her initial reports on the review were released late in July. He said she released them on the afternoon of Friday, July 27, when hearings were scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday, July 30. On Aug. 3 she released her final decision, when he said actually had until Aug. 6 to do so under his interpretation of election code.

Three things about Bowen's study bother Weir. First, he said, she should have stated definitively that the machines included no “malicious code” and hadn't actually been tampered with in a real-world voting situation. Bowen could have settled that debate but didn't, said Weir.

Weir said he liked the idea of having the machines put through a tough test. “I like the idea of seeing my system tested against standards, and I mean really tested,” adding that he has a “healthy skepticism” of the voting machine vendors.

But his second issue with the process is that he said Bowen didn't have a protocol in place for the tests to penetrate the systems' defenses, which the National Institute of Standards and Testing had suggested was necessary.

He said the machines' defenses weren't tested, which he said was “patently unfair.”

His third concern is for the accessibility issue. By saying the machines had problems but were good enough to serve the disabled only “sent a terrible signal to the accessibility community” that they're separate and not really equal.

The need for voting accessibility, and Florida's voting issues during the 2000 election “landed us where we are today,” said Weir about electronic voting.

In the end, he said he believes Bowen simply ran out of time, with the California primary's deadline being moved up four months to February 2008.

At some point in the future, Bowen wants to review all systems, said Goldberg, although there's no time frame set up to do so at this point.

States including Ohio, Kentucky and New Jersey are now beginning similar voting machine reviews, said Goldberg. New Mexico and Florida already have banned the machines due to security concerns.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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LUCERNE – As concerns begin to mount about potential new rate increases for Lucerne's water system, two groups who focus on the town's water issues will host a community meeting this week.

Lucerne residents will meet Saturday, Aug. 18, to discuss the latest rate increase requested by California water service (CWS). The meeting will be at the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center, country club Drive at 10th Ave., at 12:30 p.m.

Lucerne Community Water Organization and LucerneFLOW sponsor the meeting. They offer a 50-percent rebate on breakfast at the senior center to those who attend the meeting. Breakfast is served from 8 a.m. to noon and costs $6. Both organizations will open nominations for new members of their boards of directors. Elections will be in September.

The current application from CWS affects several other of their water districts in California, including Chico, Salinas, East Los Angeles, Livermore, Los Altos, Mid-Peninsula, Stockton and Visalia, with requested increases ranging from 21.3 percent in Lucerne to 49 percent in Chico.

The company serves about 500,000 customers in California and has districts in New Mexico, Washington State and Hawaii.

The CPUC public advisor's office said this week that organizations or individuals which wish to intervene in the case must file a notice of intent within 30 days of the CPUC pre-hearing conference, which has not yet been scheduled.

The company said the current request is necessary because the California public utilities commission (CPUC) is attempting to streamline its process, and the next general rate increase will not be filed until July 1, 2009, with rates agreed on from that filing to be effective Jan. 1, 2011 or later.

The purpose of the current filing is to pass on to the rate payers centralized services costs in 2008 but delay the next general rate increase until January 1, 2011. Cal Water filed a General Rate Case for the Redwood Valley District's Lucerne system in August 2005, which resulted in a 121-percent rate increase that became effective in August 2006.

Because of discounts negotiated when attorney Steve Elias intervened before the CPUC on behalf of Lucerne, most ratepayers saw increases of about 65 percent. The company had asked for a 246-percent general increase.

Centralized services costs include payroll, benefits (including employee health care and pension costs), taxes, transportation/fuel, and facilities maintenance that are common to all operating areas.

In contrast, the General Rate Case review examines local costs specific to each district, such as local operation and maintenance expenses, plus a reasonable return to the company and its stockholders for the investments in infrastructure, including water treatment facilities, main replacements, wells, and storage tanks.

On Aug. 1, the San Jose corporation announced its second quarter 2007 financial results and declared its 251st consecutive quarterly dividend. The dividend per common share is $0.37, compared with $.31 per common share in the second quarter of 2006. Net income was reported at $7.7 million, up from $5.7 million for the second quarter of 2006.

Revenues increased by $14.7 million, or 18%, to $95.8 million, attributed to a $9.9 million increase in water sales to existing customers, a $4 million increase in rates, and $0.8 million in sales to new customers.

See the full release at http://ir.calwatergroup.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=108851&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1035455&highlight=.

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SOUTH LAKE COUNTY – Even though it's about seven months until the final cutoff date to file to run for District 1 Supervisor, the opening up of Ed Robey's seat has already attracted an impressive field of potential candidates.

The candidates so far include those with extensive public and community service experience, knowledge of local governments and familiarity with campaigns.

The four candidates who have confirmed with Lake County News their plans to run are Voris Brumfield, former District 1 Supervisor and currently the county's code enforcement manager; Don Dornbush, who ran against Robey in 2004; Susanne La Faver, who has been active in the community, including working on South Lake Fire's Measure B parcel tax and is the holder of an master's degree in public administration; and Robert “Bobby” MacIntyre, a South Lake County Fire Protection District board member and firefighter for the City of Santa Rosa.

Other names that have come up as possible candidates are attorney Robert Riggs of the law firm Katzoff and Riggs; Jim Comstock, president of the Middletown Unified School District board and owner of a local insurance company; Scott Fergusson, owner of Middletown's Fergusson Cutlery.

Riggs told Lake County News that although it's been suggested to him that he should run, he has made no commitment to do so. Multiple calls to both Comstock and Fergusson were not returned.

Lake County Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley said the first step for the candidates will be to file a form 501. “They have to file that before they accept contributions or spend any money for candidacy.”

Once that's complete, there isn't much else they can do until Dec. 28, when the period for filing petitions in lieu of filing fees opens, said Fridley.

Candidates also can pay a filing fee and collect signatures, said Fridley.

The fee is 1 percent of the salary of the office being sought. The supervisors currently earn $4,807.46 per month, according to county Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Cox. That works out to $57,689.52 annually, so the fee would be about $576.

The official nomination period for office seekers is Feb. 11 through March 7, 2008, said Fridley. If the incumbent doesn't file, and in this case Robey has said he will not, the nomination period will be extended to March 12.

Of the field of candidates thus far, three live in Hidden Valley Lake, which has been a decisive voter base in past elections and is likely to be a major factor in the 2008 supervisorial race as well.

All but one – Dornbush – said they decided to run after hearing Robey was retiring. Dornbush, who gave Robey a challenging 2004 campaign, said he had intended to run again regardless.

Meet the candidates

Voris Brumfield, 59, Middletown: Code Enforcement Manager, former supervisor

Brumfield, who came to Lake County in 1975, is no stranger to local politics. She served on the Middletown School Board from 1979 - 1984, and was a founder of the Anderson Springs Community Services District. She represented District 1 Supervisor from 1984 through 1992. She left the board, she said, for two and a half years to care for her ailing mother in Texas.

Brumfield holds a bachelor's degree in theater from the University of Denver, and has taught theater and dance at Yuba College's main campus and its satellite campus in Clearlake, and has been active with in local repertory theater and with the Lake County Arts Council. She assisted in writing the script for Middletown's Renaissance Pageant, wrote and presented a one-woman show based on the life of Alberta Williams King, Martin Luther King Jr.'s mother.

She has been active in community service programs and fund raising for non-profits, along with recent completion of the Lake county Sheriff's Office Citizens Academy.

When she recently became aware that Robey wasn't seeking reelection, Brumfield said she decided to run.

The reason: "I feel it's important that District 1 be represented by someone who has a clear voice and care for the community," she said, "as well as a willingness to listen and work effectively with others".

Major issues she sees for the south county are protection of our natural resources, growth and evolution of the area's communities. South County, she said, has evolved into a bedroom community for Sonoma County.

Seeing that the south county has sufficient services – including water – is another concern, she said.

A key to the south county's future, she explained, will be a final area plan, a new General Plan and an update zoning ordinance to address growth and services.

For just over a year Brumfield has been the county's Code Enforcement Division manager. That job, she said, has shown her the entire county in a new way, and highlighted which communities need extra help. She said she'll take that knowledge with her back to the board.

Her other work experience with the county includes time in the Public Services, Social Services and Marketing departments. She also has a total of seven years' experience as administrator for two nonprofit organization.

Brumfield hasn't filed her Form 501 yet, she said. She said she plans to focus on her job with Code Enforcement – a job she would have to leave due to a conflict if she were elected – before she begins to organize her campaign in earnest after Labor Day.

Susanne La Faver, 58, Hidden Valley Lake: teacher, business consultant

La Faver told Lake County News that she has already taken out the paperwork necessary to begin the process of running for supervisor. Fridley confirmed the La Faver submitted her Form 501 on Aug. 9.

She's also doing a lot of “homework” – which includes reading through county documents, such as a copy of the county budget, to familiarize herself with how the county works, and attending a lot of meetings.

La Faver and her husband, Lyle, came to Lake County six years ago because they wanted to live in a place where they could contribute, she said.

“I really love it here,” she added.

In 2002 she worked on the campaign for the Measure B for parcel tax to fund South Lake Fire Protection District. Recently, Lyle was appointed to the Local Area Formation Commission, in addition to his service on the Hidden Valley Lake Community Services District's water board.

She currently serves on the South Lake Fire Safe Council, the Lake County Volunteer Disaster Awareness and Response Team and the Hidden Valley Lake Safety and Security Committee.

Susanne La Faver holds a master's degree in public administration, with emphasis in administrative organization and management, from Golden Gate University, and a bachelor's degree in journalism, with distinction, with emphasis in public relations from San Diego State University.

She has taught management classes at Yuba College and consulted with small businesses around Lake County through the business development programs offered by Community Development Services. She's now teaching in Golden Gate University's online graduate business program.

She said she spent almost 25 years in the corporate world,with work that involved regulatory, legislative and community issues.

La Faver handled water, air quality and hazardous material issues for Pacific Gas and Electric Co.; groundwater and land use issues for Tri Valley Growers; established an issues management program for Kaiser Permanente and arranged a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. to announce emergency room legislation; and helped build business relationships with suppliers in Asia and Latin America for Levi Strauss & Co.

La Faver said her degree and experience helps her understand how government works and how public agencies function.

“I want to continue managing growth in a positive way, protecting our natural resources, especially water, and maintain a fiscally sound local government,” La Faver said.

La Faver's parents live in Sacramento, and her son and daughter-in-law reside in San Francisco.

Tomorrow, meet Don Dornbush and Bobby MacIntyre and learn about their reasons for running for District 1 Supervisor.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

“I know it affects us, but I don't know everything that affects us just yet,” said Lake County Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley.

Fridley said that Secretary of State Debra Bowen's Aug. 3 decision included Hart InterCivic's eSlate voting system, which Lake County uses.

Bowen withdrew approval for the Hart InterCivic system, then reissued a conditional approval, which will require additional security measures, according to Bowen's office.

The InterCivic system “will be required to comply with increased security and post-election auditing procedures,” a statement from Bowen's office explained.

Besides Lake, counties using eSlate include Humboldt, Orange, Madera, San Mateo, Sonoma and Yolo, according to the Secretary of State's office.

Bowen's office reported that direct recording electronic voting systems manufactured by Diebold and Sequoia also were decertified.

In the case of the InkaVote Plus system by Election Systems and Software, the company didn't submit information that would allow its system to be reviewed, according to the Secretary of State's office. That system was decertified and the company has since submitted the requested documents.

County purchases machines to meet federal law

The federal Help America Vote Act required counties to purchase the voting machines in an effort to comply with disability access requirements, said Fridley. The act requires at least one such machine at each polling place.

In accordance with that, in 2006 the county purchased 50 eSlate machines, one for each county polling place, at a cost of $567,910.67, said Fridley. That figure didn't include additional necessary equipment, such as a laptop computer.

Proposition 41 funds – in the amount of $321,390.02 – helped the county pay for the eSlate system, said Fridley. She is asking for reimbursement for the remainder of the costs from the Help America Vote Act, a lengthy and difficult process, she added.

She said she chose the eSlate system because she believed it was the most user-friendly.

Fridley said the electronic voting system was used for the first time in the June 2006 election.

In the system's most recent use in November, 53 votes were cast countywide using eSlate, said Fridley, out of 19,575 total votes cast. Fridley said out of 20 polling place sites, 11 machines were used and 9 weren't; not all of the machines were utilized in the November election.

Most of Lake County's votes were cast by absentee ballot, 10,316 to be exact, said Fridley.

With so many people switching to absentee voting, why the need for voting machines?

Fridley said not all states have allowed permanent absentee voting as California has.

System has paper backups

Lake County has a blended voting system, said Fridley, which includes not just the eSlate but the paper-based optical scan Mark-A-Vote, used since 1983.

Only Sonoma, Madera and Lake counties have that “blended system,” where the votes that are cast on the eSlates are actually duplicated on the Mark-A-Vote ballots, said Fridley.

Money had been available for Lake County to go to a completely electronic system, but Fridley said, “I'm glad we didn't,” in light of these recent problems and because of the fact that, if the county had needed to completely upgrade due to decertification, money might have been available for that effort.

Lake County uses a complicated auditing processing of checking eSlate paper receipts against the system's audit trail, Fridley said. A two-person auditing board then creates a Mark-A-Vote paper ballot record which is counted and tallied along with the official ballots. The backup will be the paper receipt off the eSlate along with the records from the mobile ballot box.

Some counties have an entirely electronic system, including audits and optical scans. “We do have issues but not as many as those counties that have the total package,” said Fridley.

Fridley said her office is working with Hart to come up with a plan to meet Bowen's requirements for security and auditing. She said many of the security requirements have been in place since the eSlates were used in June 2006.

An Aug. 4 statement from Hart InterCivic said Bowen's assessment was not a realistic risk assessment.

“Putting isolated technology in the hands of computer experts in order to engage in unrestricted, calculated, advanced and malicious attacks is highly improbably in a real-world election,” the Texas company's statement read.

Hart InterCivic said it will work to meet Bowen's requirements, and that it is continuing to improve the security and technology of its machines, which are used in thousands of jurisdictions across 11 states.

Fridley said she spoke with Hart representatives on Aug. 9, and said a working group composed of representatives from counties and cities that use the machines will meet to discuss the security procedures that Bowen is requiring.

Lake and Madera will actually be represented by an elections official from Sonoma County, said Fridley, because those three counties use the same blended voting system and have the same concerns.

Fridley said she doesn't foresee having to buy new machines. “As long as we meet the security issues we shouldn't have a problem.”

In June, Bowen announced she was forming a Post-Election Audit Standards Working Group to review security and reliability of the state's voting systems, and decide if post-election audit standards needed to be strengthened.

At the same time, Bowen launched a “top-to-bottom review” of voting systems currently certified for use in California elections, according to her office.

Bowen didn't specifically look at blended systems like Lake's, said Fridley.

Fridley also voiced her concern that the systems were tested in a lab, not a real-world scenario, and that Bowen's criteria for the review “was pretty broad and not very specific.”

Tomorrow, the state chief deputy secretary of state discusses the reasons the review was necessary; the president of the California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials explains his concerns about the review protocols.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Eric Hoffmann is battalion chief for fire prevention in the Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit, which also covers Solano, Colusa and Yolo counties.

Hoffmann investigates the causes of fires throughout the unit. He gave a report on the causes for the July fires.

– July 28: A fire that originated at the back of Robinson Rancheria's property burned 128 acres as it moved up into the hills and in the direction of Nice. A few small sheds were destroyed but no major structures were in danger, and no injuries were reported.

The blaze's cause, said Hoffmann, was children with matches.

Because of the circumstances, Cal Fire is putting together a package to bill the parents of the child responsible, although he said they haven't determined the specific child.

The fire required extensive use of aircraft, including four air tankers for the space of a few hours, and three helicopters throughout the fire's duration. Although the fire was contained that same day, firefighters remained on the scene until Monday to put out hot spots.

Hoffmann estimated the cost would be over $50,000. “We don't even have an estimate right now.”

Children playing with fire cause about 1 percent of the fires Cal Fire deals with every year, said Hoffmann. Locally, he added, the percentage of playing with fire cases is slightly higher.

Cal Fire's fire prevention specialists train on how to deal with juvenile fire setters, said Hoffmann. They have a special program geared toward children ages 6 through 11, which is intended to educate them about the dangers of fire and playing with matches.

Hoffmann said for more of those younger children, fire is an object of curiosity. By the time the children hit their early teens, their fascination with fire can cross the line into reckless fire starts.

The program has been successful, said Hoffmann; he said a veteran fire specialist reported she never had a child go through the program who was a repeat offender.

– July 16: A fire that ignited in the afternoon moved quickly through 100 acres of dry grassland near the Noble Ranch subdivision off of Spruce Grove Road between Lower Lake and Middletown. There were no structures damaged and no injuries.

The tentative cause of the fire was a plastic tarp that blew into a power pole. The tarp caused two lines on the pole to short, Hoffmann said.

The short caused one of the lines to break, Hoffmann explained, and when it hit the ground it ignited the grass.

– On July 14, a fire broke out along Highway 20 in Clearlake Oaks, burning between 15 and 20 acres.

That fire, said Hoffmann, was the only one of the three for which they were unable to find a cause.

Hoffmann said the biggest cause of wildland fires in the Cal Fire unit is a combination of equipment and vehicles, which account for about 30 percent of fires.

Among pieces of equipment, which alone account for a 25 percent of fires, the No. 1 culprit is the lawnmower, especially those heavier mowers made for irrigated lawns, now dry fields, said Hoffmann. Welding, cutting and grinding tools also have caused fires.

Vehicles account for about 12 percent on their own, said Hoffmann, with fires usually starting due to faulty exhaust systems that come in contact with vegetation. That was the case last summer, with fires along Highway 29 near Middletown attributed to a catalytic converter.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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The volunteers who are guiding the theater's renaissance are currently gearing up for a major upcoming fundraiser, the second annual Concert Under the Stars on Sept. 8 at Jim Fetzer's Ceago Vinegarden in Nice.

On Monday evening, a small reception was held in the theater lobby, which included a tour of the renovations, for local wineries who are supporting the theater effort. They were able to see improvements including the theater's new heating, ventilation and sprinkler systems.

Donna Peterson, a member of the Soper-Reese Fundraising Committee, said they have open houses for the public about every six weeks or so and invite them in to see the theater's progress.

Peterson, a lifelong Lake County resident, said she is impressed that so many newcomers to the ocunty have such passion about this theater, a place where so many locals went on their first dates many, many years ago.

John Ross, chairman of the Renovation Committee, helped give the tour Monday.

“I was a member of the Clear Lake Performing Arts and we needed a theater – that’s how I got involved,” he said.

Ross and a dedicated cadre of volunteers got the stalled project back off the ground and are beginning to see some progress.

Moving forward has been a matter of putting one step in front of the other, said Ross. But in a short time the group has made remarkable progress.

Construction is taking place in two phases, Ross said. When it's completed, the theater will seat about 380 people.

In addition to theater productions, Ross said they also will show movies that you wouldn't see in local theaters at the Soper-Reese in a digital format.

Mike Adams, a member of the theater's building committee, said the special places in the county – the gazebo in Lakeport, the streetlights in Kelseyville and Lakeport, and now the theater project – build upon one another.

Jim Fetzer of Ceago and Rick Gunier, marketing director of Shannon Ridge Winery, visited the theater to see the work on Monday.

Wineries including Brassfield Estates, Six Sigma, Ceago, Langtry Estate & Vineyards and Shannon Ridge are banding together to help get the theater open, said Ross.

“We need this theater in the community,” said Fetzer.

Gunier agreed. “It's a good project for our entire community.”

Fetzer has supported the effort through hosting the annual fundraiser. “Last year’s event was spectacular and we believe this year’s will be even better,” he said.

Ross said they have high hopes for the fundraiser, which will help them overcome their next big hurdle, which is meeting a challenge to the community from Jim Soper, who has been a major contributor to the effort over the years.

Nina Marino, chair of the theater's fundraising committee, explained the challenge: If the theater's supporters can raise $300,000 from the community, he will donate another $200,000 to the effort. Right now, the group is at the $214,000 mark.

Ross called the community's support to far “impressive,” and also reported that the county gave the theater a $30,000 grant. “That's quite a vote of confidence.”

But they still need those extra funds in order to pay for the theater renovation's second phase.

Ross and Marino both believe the Sept. 8 event at Ceago will get them close to their goal.

Tickets for the event are $100 per person. The evening will feature a gourmet dinner and plenty of great wines from Ceago, Brassfield, Six Sigma, Langtry and Shannon Ridge; and a piano concert under the stars.

And don't forget the music. There will be performances by a string quartet, a harpist and a brass ensemble, as well as offerings of Bolivian and Peruvian music on instruments including flutes, panpipes and guitar.

The event also will feature a silent auction with some special prizes, including lunch with Jim Fetzer at Ceago.

Fetzer credits Ross' leadership with gaining community support for the theater project.

“We’re working it together and we’re having so much fun,” he said.

Tickets are going quickly; to buy yours call Nina Marino, Soper-Reese Fundraising Committee chair, 279-4082.

E-mail Terre Logsdon at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Alterra resident Tyler Elsa said he looked across the street and saw smoke coming from a field behind residences on the north side of Alterra Saturday afternoon.

Neighborhood residents, still shaken up by a fire that broke out in the area on June 23, grabbed shovels and buckets of water to try to contain the fire.

Elsa said he called 911 to ask for more help as the fire started burning toward a woman's house. By that time he said the first firefighters already had arrived on scene.

Captain Rick Bergem of Lakeport Fire Protection District said Sunday that the fire call came in about 4:15 p.m. Saturday.

Lakeport sent two engines and a water tender to the fire, said Bergem. In addition, Kelseyville Fire and Northshore Fire's Upper Lake station sent one engine each, with the US Forest Service sending an engine and water tender. About 15 firefighters responded.

Bergem said several neighborhood residents were using garden hoses to keep the fire off the fences lining Alterra.

Alterra Drive's water system has low pressure, said Elsa, which made it difficult to use hoses on the fire.

Firefighters didn't have issues with the neighborhood's low water pressure thanks to the water tenders, said Bergem.

The fire burned a pumphouse, partially damaged the garage of a home on Wright Lane and scorched about two acres of grass in an adjacent field and got into some trees in an old walnut orchard in the area, Bergem said. No other structures were in immediate danger.

Firefighters were at the scene until 6:30 p.m. mopping up, said Bergem.

Elsa said his neighbors' fast action was responsible for stopping the fire from doing more damage. Even children were out working to stop the fire, said Elsa.

The fire's cause is still under investigation, although it appears to have started in the field next to the homes, said Bergem. The field had been mowed but some cut grass hadn't been removed.

The June 23 fire on Alterra was caused by a man who was mowing a lot in the heat of the day, sparking the fire, adjacent to the neighborhood of about 30 homes.

That fire caused several homes to be evacuated while 36 firefighters from Lakeport, Northshore, Kelseyville, Lake County Fire Protection, the Forest Service and Cal Fire fought the blaze with 10 engines and air tankers, according to a report from Lakeport Fire Chief Ken Wells.

The 4.5-acre blaze destroyed a barn, one family's playhouse, neighborhood fences and some junker vehicles, as Lake County News previously reported.

Local and state fire officials have reported that equipment such as mowers are a leading cause of fires during the summer fire season.

Bergem said the fire season for Lakeport Fire has been “pretty quiet,” with a lot of little incidents but no major fires so far.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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UPPER LAKE – Caltrans is negotiating with landowners along Highway 20 to purchase parcels the agency said it needs to complete a safety project to widen the highway, and it's possible that eminent domain could be used in the process.

Phil Frisbie Jr., Caltrans' spokesman for its operations in Lake and Mendocino counties, said Caltrans is planning a $9.4 million safety project to widen the two-lane highway, provide 8-foot shoulders, and upgrade culverts and public road approaches.

The project, which runs between Upper Lake and Nice, originally was scheduled to be constructed next summer, but had moved ahead rapidly enough that Caltrans expected to start work this summer, said Frisbie.

However, Caltrans originally needed to acquire 46 property parcels along the road's right-of-way to have the area needed to complete the improvements, said Frisbie.

Negotiations have put the project back on a 2008 construction schedule. “We are still hoping to have this go out to bid spring of 2008,” said Frisbie.

Now, they're down to three parcels and three landowners, Frisbie explained. “We hope that we will still be able to settle directly with them.”

However, the agency is preparing to file eminent domain proceedings should they be unable to resolve the negotiations, said Frisbie.

“The courts have not been involved at this point,” said Frisbie. “We are just proceeding with the paperwork.”

Because of the nature of the negotiations, Caltrans would not release the names of the property owners in question.

Supervisor Denise Rushing said she was called by two of those property owners who were concerned about how much of their property Caltrans intended to take.

One landowner, an older man, is losing a significant portion of his land, which is covered by heritage oak trees and located along a blind curve that Caltrans wants to eliminate, Rushing explained.

Rushing said she has spoken with Caltrans and they're negotiating with the man in order to settle the matter without resorting to eminent domain.

A woman who was set to lose a larger portion of her land also contacted Rushing and Assemblywoman Patty Berg's office, who sent a representative to sit in on the negotiations, Rushing said.

In the case of both property owners, said Rushing, “They felt the Caltrans offer was inadequate.”

The property owners also were concerned about the process being used to take their property, said Rushing.

Frisbie said Caltrans would rather settle amicably with the property owners, but will move forward with eminent domain if necessary.

“We are still fully working with the landowners, still hoping for a quick resolution,” he said.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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