Courtside
HIT: The Paul Braden-Orlando Lopez murder trial completed its first month of testimony Thursday.
MISS: Witnesses only testified on six days during March. Delays occurred because of a court holiday and a furlough, attorney and juror illnesses, and a judicial seminar. (Lake County trials are typically in session Wednesday through Friday).
Unemployment
HIT: The state reported Lake County”s preliminary unemployment rate in February was 2 percent lower than the previous year. The county also improved its statewide ranking, moving up to 42nd out of 58 California counties.
MISS: Lake County”s February rate was 16.5 percent, which was about 5 percent higher than the state rate and nearly double the national rate.
Right on track
HIT: The Board of Supervisors Tuesday voted to move forward a project idea to bring a bicycle motocross (BMX) track to the county park on State Street in Kelseyville. A predevelopment meeting could occur in the next few weeks.
Help for the hungry
HIT: Highlands Senior Service Center walkers raise $970 for the March for Meals event in Clearlake. Another march takes place today at 11 a.m. at the Lakeport Senior Activity Center.
MISS: Senior services programs remain under-funded throughout the state.
HIT: United Methodist churches in Lake County united with community partners to promote the Lake County CAN! countywide food drive and distribution. Donations will be packed from 1 to 4 p.m. today at Clearlake United Methodist Church. Volunteers are needed to sort, pack and deliver food donations to seven local food pantries.
Wheels on the bus
HIT: Reconfiguration of Konocti Unified School District bus routes expected to bring community together in caring for its children.
MISS: Reconfiguration necessary to assist in eliminating deficit spending in transportation.
Booksmart
HIT: Construction progresses on the new Middletown public library. Completion is expected by Thanksgiving and represents the culmination of a 10-year effort by county officials and supporters.
Sports Hits
– To Lower Lake softball pitchers Shelbie Harris, Amanda Graf and Sam Lambert for tossing a combined no-hitter against Elsie Allen High School of Santa Rosa.
– To Punisher Wrestling Club members Jonathan Fredrickson and Haley Kesterson for winning state titles in recent tournaments.
– To Lower Lake High School wrestling coach Ed Fuchs on his dedication to his sport, which includes working with middle school wrestlers in the Konocti Unified School District during his offseason.
– To Trett Bishop of Lakeport for submitting his excellent photographs to the Record-Bee on a regular basis. They are indeed works of art.
– To Clear Lake High School athletic director Milo Meyer for weathering the winter sports season from hell.
Sports Misses
– To Major League Baseball for scheduling its season opener between the Oakland A”s and the Seattle Mariners in Japan, first pitch 3:10 a.m. Pacific time.
– To Mother Nature for tossing what seems like a winter”s worth of rainfall into the first few weeks of the spring sports season, an athletic director”s nightmare.
