City administrator begins and ends her tenure
The City of Clearlake saw another year full of personnel changes in City Hall. Along with welcoming and releasing a new city administrator, the city also faced the retirement of several members of the Clearlake Police Department; new elects to the city council; and several changes to City Staff including legal representatives.
Following a rigorous recruitment process, the council hired Kathy Kivley as city administrator only to terminate her employment after nine months. Along with Kivley”s termination came the dismissal of Interim Community Development Director Angela Basch. Robert Van Nort, who served as interim city administrator prior to the hiring of Kivley, has returned for another interim stint with the city; on Dec. 14, the council appointed Irwin Kaplan to the position of interim community development director.
The retirement of Clearlake Police Chief Bob Chalk became official on Dec. 30 as did that of Captain Ron Larsen. Larry Todd has agreed to serve as interim chief. The council is scheduled for a closed session discussion for the appointment of a police chief consultant at 5 p.m. tonight, Wednesday, Jan. 3.
After serving as a council member for eight years, three of which were spent as mayor, Bob Malley bid farewell to his constituents. Peggy Smith also retired from her seat on the council. Chuck Leonard and Roy Simons were sworn into their seats on Dec. 14.
Michael Vivrette advanced from interim director of finance to permanent while Bob Galusha serves the interim position of city engineer.
The legal representation of Meyers, Nave, Riback, Silver and Wilson was replaced with that of Best, Best and Krieger.
The city accepted the resignation of Sharon Goode in January 2006. Goode had served the elected position of City Clerk as well as assistant city administrator. Her final day was Feb. 10 following nearly 24 years of service to the city, which had come under the direction of five different administrations and two temporary city administrators. Melissa Swanson has been elected to serve as City Clerk.
Academic decathlon team competes at state
An unexpected honor brought Lower Lake High School”s Academic Decathlon team to the state competition, which was held in March.
During the county-level preliminary, Lower Lake was narrowly bested by the Upper Lake Union High School team. Upper Lake has fielded county champions for a number of years and, in 2004, even went on to win state in its division. But Lower Lake has been equally consistent in being a close contender.
A vote by the board of directors for the California Academic Decathlon, to adopt a 55-team format, paved the way for Lower Lake”s appearance at the 2006 state competition. Three additional teams, two from Division II and one — Lower Lake — from Division III were invited to compete.
“We have a high level of academics in Lake County and they thought we could compete at the state level,” said Academic Decathlon coach Nancy Harby, who noted that Lower Lake has outscored some of the other teams that have earned first place in their primaries.
The size of a county”s population determines which of the divisions in which it competes. Lower Lake and Upper Lake high schools brought home 13 individual medals and placed 10th and fifth respectively.
Lower Lake team members competing at state included John Andre, Michelle Barber, Jared Focose, Greg Johnson, Jackson Kaiser, Rahsheka Keith, Kate Lyons, Alma Martinez and Jamie Walker, with alternates Evan Kanis, Bryce Lane and Christopher Somer.
Outrageous Waters waterpark sold to developer
A popular city attraction, the Outrageous Waters waterpark, was closed to the public this summer with its eventual fate uncertain.
Local owners Mike and Dorrie Walker were unable to buy out a partner, Livermore resident Greg Hawley, who had decided to free up his collateral. Developer Barry Johnson bought the property in June.
Since then, Lake County officials have been considering ways in which the park could be saved. District 4 Supervisor Anthony Farrington has advocated relocation of the water slides and Grand Prix race track, possibly to a location in Upper Lake. Johnson has indicated his willingness to donate the water slide equipment as long as it gets moved and is operational. Walker has estimated it would cost $100,000 to move the equipment.
Lake County Superior Court weighs charges for violent crimes
from staff reports
Acts of violence were an intrusive presence during the Year 2006, within the local community. Among cases on the books in Lake County Superior Court:
* Wilbur H. Cope is being charged with murder with the use of a firearm in the Sept. 10 shooting death of Kristin Lori Raviotta. Cope additionally faces three counts of attempted murder with the use of a firearm for the shooting of Terry Cain, Michele Cain and Sharon England. One of the counts includes an allegation for resulting in great bodily injury.
At the request of Cope”s attorney, Bruce Laning, Judge Richard Martin has suspended criminal proceedings until psychiatrist Douglas Rosoff can evaluate Cope”s competence to stand trial.
Terry Cain”s family is facing catastrophic costs for his medical care. His 37-day stay in the U.C. Davis Medical Center Intensive Care unit cost approximately $400,000 according to his sister, Francesca Mulas.
The Terry Cain Recovery Fund has been set up at Westamerica Bank. Anyone who would like to help the Cain family can make a donation at any Westamerica Bank in the county. Checks may also be mailed to the fund at P.O. Box 2080, Clearlake, CA 95422 or to Westamerica”s Clearlake branch, 15342 Lakeshore Drive.
* A San Francisco man, Renato Hughes Jr., is being charged with two counts of homicide in connection with a home invasion robbery. Two alleged suspects were killed and another person was seriously injured during the course of the incident.
At 4:25 a.m. Dec. 7, 2005, Clearlake Police Department officers were dispatched to the home of Shannon Edmonds in Clearlake Park following a report of shots being fired with a burglary in progress.
Arriving on the scene officers found one person lying dead in the street from apparent gunshot wounds, approximately 25 yards to the right of Edmonds” home. A second gunshot victim, who was transported to the hospital and later pronounced dead, was also located outside the residence within a sparsely wooded area to the left of the home, just off the road”s edge.
Police identified the two dead men — Rashad Williams, 21, of Pittsburg and Clearlake, and Christian Foster, 22, of San Francisco — as being among the robbery”s alleged perpetrators.
Edmonds” 17-year-old son had been beaten with a metal baseball bat and had to be life-flighted to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for treatment of traumatic injuries.
Hughes was taken into custody at 4:40 p.m. Dec. 7 after he was located inside a Clearlake Park residence. He was booked into the Lake County Jail on two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, one count of burglary and one count of home invasion robbery.
Hughes is being charged for the deaths of Williams and Foster under the “provocative act” law, which provides that a prosecutor can charge an individual with the murder of an alleged accomplice if, during the commission of a crime, their actions provoked a “lethal result” such as the accomplice being killed.
Hughes” attorney, Stewart Hanlon, has brought three motions before Judge Arthur Mann that have been continued to Jan. 16. One of the motions, according to Hanlon, is for a change of venue based upon the argument that Hughes, who is black, is being charged in a county with a population that is less than 2 percent African-American.
The second motion is to acquire complaints made by other citizens regarding one of the officers involved in the investigation. Hanlon declined to give the officer”s name pending a ruling by Judge Mann.
The third motion, according to Hanlon, is to get evidence from Mendocino County regarding prior cases in which Edmonds was allegedly arrested “for a variety of things related to marijuana sales and violence,” Hanlon said.
* After just two hours of deliberation, a jury returned a guilty verdict this June in the trial of Paul James Smiraglia. The jury found Smiraglia guilty of first-degree murder with a special allegation of torture in the 2002 killing of 43-year-old Deidre Coleman.
Coleman was originally reported missing in mid-2002. Her body was discovered July 23, 2003 off State Route 20 past the road that leads to Spring Valley.
Smiraglia was taken into custody in November 2004. At the time of his arrest, he was being held in custody by Reno, Nev. police.
Smiraglia was accused of killing Coleman in July 2002 at the Clearlake home of Sharmon Hawley. Prosecutor Richard Hinchcliff alleged that during an argument with Coleman, Smiraglia held her down and injected muriatic (or hydrochloric) acid into her ear in an attempt to kill her.
A forensic pathologist testified during the trial that muriatic acid used in that way could have caused intense physical pain, but would not necessarily have resulted in death.
When Smiraglia saw that the injection didn”t kill Coleman, he took a hammer and struck her in the head several times until she died. He then wrapped her body in garbage bags and a blue tarp, which he tied with rope, and placed her body inside a plastic toy box.
A few days later, according to Hawley”s testimony, he forced Hawley to drive with him out to a remote location along Cache Creek and State Route 20, where he dumped Coleman”s body.
The trial encompassed 10 days of testimony and included 28 witnesses. On June 29 Smiraglia was convicted of the allegations against him. In November Judge Arthur Mann sentenced Smiraglia to life in prison.
* In June 2006, the Lake County Sheriff”s Office investigated a possible murder/suicide. Crystal Kathline Springer was killed June 11, 2006.
Sheriff”s deputies arrived at Springer”s home at 1:15 p.m. to find her unresponsive and suffering from a head wound that was consistent with a gunshot. Medics arrived two minutes later but she was determined to be dead.
Springer”s husband, Raymond Springer had been seen leaving her Clearlake Oaks residence. At 1:40 p.m. the same day, Colusa County authorities received a report of a solo vehicle accident on State Route 20 just west of Williams. Raymond Springer was found dead in the vehicle with a wound that was consistent with a self-inflicted gunshot.
Crystal Springer had filed a restraining order against Raymond shortly before her death. The couple had been scheduled to return to court later in June.
* Seventeen-year-old Bruce Wells is on trial as an adult for the March 24 stabbing death of Clearlake resident Samuel Shull. In June 2006 he entered a not-guilty plea.
According to a Clearlake Police Department report, Wells had been at a party at the Shull residence. Shull”s widow, Linda Rines-Shull, has said that Wells was asked to leave their home because he was seemingly drunk and had begun acting belligerently. The teen did leave, only to return within a few minutes and begin throwing rocks at the house, according to Rines-Shull. Wells was arrested after an investigation indicated that he had fatally stabbed Shull with a knife. The weapon was recovered at the scene.
Look for additional Year in Review stories in this newspaper”s print edition
