What almost certainly will end, however, is an 11-year string of annual military pay increases that exceeded private sector wage growth by at least a half percentage point.

The House this summer had voted to make it 12 consecutive extra-size pay raises, by including a 1.9 percent military pay hike in its version of the 2011 defense bill, over opposition from military leaders and the White House.

The Senate bill embraces the 1.4 percent raise proposed by the Obama administration, which matches private sector wage growth, as measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Cost Index (ECI). But it also will be the military’s smallest pay raise since 1962.

Pay officials say blame the poor economy for dampening wage growth nationwide. Consumer prices too have been impacted, which is why military retirees, social security recipients and disabled veterans won’t see a January cost-of-living adjustment for the second consecutive year.

With Republican senators opposed to the defense bill’s provision to repeal the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell law, which bars gay military members from serving openly, prospects of passing a final defense bill remained in doubt.

If no defense authorization bill is passed by Jan. 1, existing federal pay law takes hold. It directs that, absent overriding congressional action, military pay is to increase each January based on changes in the ECI, in this case by 1.4 percent.

Even if Senate defense bill is approved, House-Senate conferees tasked to iron out differences for a final bill, are expected to acquiesce to the Senate and administration on the smaller military raise.

Congressional sources cite several factors including the two-year pay freeze planned for federal civilian employees, mounting worries over budget deficits and a jobless rate in the private sector still hovering near 10 percent.

High unemployment helps the services meet and even exceed recruiting and retention targets for quality personnel, despite a grinding pace of operations supporting two war theaters. It also persuades more members of Congress to heed criticism of outside budget analysts that lawmakers have allowed military personnel costs to climb too high.

“Reality has caught up to us,” said a House staff member who has seen support for the larger pay raise weaken.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) posted a statement earlier this month that a federal pay freeze should impact military personnel too, except for those fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq or elsewhere “serving in harm’s way.”

That’s a sharp turnaround. Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.), who next month steps down as chair of the House armed services subcommittee on military personnel, said last May that military people continue to deserve bigger pay raises because “the extraordinary high operations tempo has exacted a high penalty on our service members and their families.”

She took that stand, as did the subcommittee in a unanimous 14-0 vote, despite analysis from the Congressional Budget Office that, if housing allowance are counted, growth in military pay actually has surpassed private sector pay growth by 11 percent since 1982, the year the Reagan administration declared that “pay comparability” had been achieved.

Proponents of the larger raise argue that pay growth comparisons using only military basic pay show a gap of 2.4 percent remains. But the Obama administration, just as the Bush administration did, argues the pay gap is gone and that future across-the-board raises should only match changes in the ECI, not exceed that pay growth measure.

From 2002 through 2010, basic pay rose 42 percent and housing allowances 83 percent, compared to a 32 percent rise in private sector wages, Pentagon pay officials contend. If Congress still wants to boost military compensation, any extra dollars should go into special and incentive pays to fill shortages of critical skills.

Obama in late November called for a pay raise freeze for federal civilian employees this January and again in 2012, in sympathy with out-of-work Americans and as a first step toward getting soaring budget deficits under control.

The pay freeze will save more than $5 billion over two years, and more than $60 billion over 10 years, in part because holding down pay raises also dampens future retirement benefits.

The Office of Management, using the most recent ECI data, projects the size of the lost federal pay raise in January 2012 at about 1.6 percent.

“This freeze does not apply to the men and women of our armed forces who along with their families continue to bear enormous burdens with our nation at war,” the president said. He added, “The hard truth is that getting this deficit under control is going to require broad sacrifice, and that sacrifice must be shared by the employees of the federal government.”

A week later, Obama cut a deal with congressional Republican leaders to sustain for two years Bush-era tax cuts including for millionaires, lower payroll taxes in 2011 on most America workers and extend other tax breaks.

In a glaring contrast to the federal pay freeze, these initiatives would raise budget deficits over the next two years by $900 billion. But also, the president argued, they will spur the economy and create jobs.

John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, called it “unconscionable to attack the wages of federal working people while the millionaires and billionaires on Wall Street not only get their bailouts and astronomical bonuses; they also get their tax cuts.”

Reagan, in 1986, was the last president to impose a federal pay freeze President Clinton proposed a pay freeze for both civil servants and the military in 1994 but Congress refused to enact it.

To comment, send e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or write to Military Update, P.O. Box 231111, Centreville, VA, 20120-1111.

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Several Pacific frontal systems will bring rain and winds to Lake County and much of Northern California beginning Friday, with periods of moderate rains likely Friday night, according to the National Weather Service in Sacramento.

Forecasters predict rain accumulations of up to 5 inches through Sunday afternoon.

On Wednesday, forecasters stated that copious amounts of rainfall were in store for most of Northern California, including Lake County, and warned that the approaching storm systems were comparable to the systems that deluged northern Lake County in mid-December of 2005.

The December 2005 storms caused Scotts, Middle and Alley creeks to overflow, flooded downtown Upper Lake and required evacuations in Scotts Valley.

However, the National Weather Service in Sacramento stated on Thursday that confidence in current weather models are low and advise residents to monitor current conditions.

Snowfall accumulations of several feet are expected over the higher elevations, with varying amounts of snow above 3,500 feet according to predictions.

Computer models are currently suggesting moderate to heavy rain will occur late Monday into Wednesday with widespread flooding possible, but again, forecasters state that the storm track may change.

Rains are predicted throughout the day Friday, with heavy rains through Sunday, with daytime highs in the mid-40s and lows in the mid-30s, with the same pattern holding throughout next week.

For up-to-the-minute weather information, please visit the Lake County News homepage.

E-mail Terre Logsdon at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews , on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

Glenn Andrew Neasham, 50, of Kelseyville was taken into custody by a Lake County District Attorney's Office investigator Tuesday afternoon, according to court and jail records.

He later was released on $20,000 bail.

Neasham – known as “The Safe Money Guy” – is owner of Neasham Financial and Insurance Group and OxyboostH20!, based in Lakeport.

He is charged with felony theft from an elder that the District Attorney's Office alleges took place between Feb. 1 and Feb. 28, 2008.

The case, filed by Senior Deputy District Attorney Rachel Abelson, is based on an investigation largely carried out by the California Department of Insurance.

It alleges that Neasham “committed theft and embezzlement” against the property of the then-83-year-old female client, with the property valued at more than $950.

Neasham is also charged with two special allegations – that he “took, damaged or destroyed” property of more than $50,000 and that the theft totaled more than $100,000.

The investigation was triggered when, in February 2008, the Savings Bank of Mendocino County made a report because the alleged victim came in to take out $175,000 in order to purchase an annuity, according to case documents.

The California Department of Insurance received a report on the case in May 2008 and assigned an investigator who subsequently interviewed the alleged victim, her boyfriend – who has been named the annuity's beneficiary – and Neasham.

The report stated that Neasham at various times provided information and at other times reportedly yelled at the investigator and threatened to bring legal action for defamation.

The alleged victim's son told the investigator that his mother had Alzheimer's disease. The investigator noted in her report that the woman often seemed confused and also appeared to be under the control of the boyfriend, who case documents indicated had been a client of Neasham's for about 10 years.

Neasham told the investigator he was not aware of an Alzheimer's diagnosis, and maintained that he was working hard to get his client a good return on her money, as he said he had done for other clients.

In late June and early July of 2009, the investigator got copies of Neasham's newspaper ads guaranteeing 13.575 percent returns on first-year investments with his annuities.

When the investigator contacted Allianz Life Insurance Co., for which Neasham is authorized to sell insurance, the company informed her that it hadn't approved the ads.

At the time, Neasham also had a billboard outside of Lakeport advertising the 13.575 percent return.

The California Department of Insurance did not return a call by end of business Wednesday.

However, the agency's online license search showed Neasham's licenses to still be active, with both – one for accident and health and one for life insurance – set to expire next March.

The database cautions, however, that not all information is current, but it is not clear if licenses can be put on hold while prosecutions take place.

The state database shows no history of enforcement actions against Neasham, who is authorized to sell insurance for Guaranty Income Life Insurance, Lincoln National Life Insurance, London Pacific Life & Annuity, Transamerica Life Insurance, Equitrust Life Insurance, Aviva Life and Annuity and Allianz Life Insurance.

His booking document indicates he's set to appear in court Feb. 7.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews , on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

Reaching adulthood used to mean getting married and having children; today it means completing school, living independently and/or having a full-time job – but that’s increasingly difficult say researchers at the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP), who say the trend has resulted in more young adults than ever before who are still living with their parents.

“The transition to adulthood is becoming increasingly protracted and delayed,” says Vanessa Wight, PhD, a senior research associate at NCCP, a poverty think tank at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. “Children are living at home longer than they were 30 years ago.”

In 1970, according to a new NCCP report analyzing data from the U.S. Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement, March 2010, 47.3 percent of young adults aged 18 to 24 were living at home.

By 2009 52.8 percent were living at home. In 1970 less than 30 percent were enrolled in school; by 2008, the percentage had increased to 45.5 percent.

NCCP also found that:

• Young adults are also delaying marriage and childbearing. In 1970, the median age at first marriage was 20.8 for women and 23.2 for men. By 2009, median age had increased by about five years for both women and men to 25.9 and 28.1, respectively.

• The average age of mothers at first birth has increased from 21.4 years in 1970 to 25 years in 2006.

“Amidst the backdrop of these dramatic changes in school enrollment, marriage and childbearing, there is a growing number of young adults for whom the transition is considerably more difficult,” write the report’s authors.

“If one of the primary goals of a successful transition to adulthood is the ability to be self sufficient apart from parents, then a growing share of the young adult population … is not connected to any of the various activities that might lead to economic independence, such as being in school, working, or serving in the military,” the study's authors said.

Disconnection varies by age, race, ethnicity, and nativity say the researchers.

• Disconnection is highest among young adults aged 19 to 21.

• The rate of disconnection is highest among American Indian and Alaska Native young adults (28.8 percent).

• Black, Hispanic and other young adults also face a high likelihood of being disconnected relative to their white and Asian counterparts.

• Asian young adults have the lowest rate of being disconnected at 7.4 percent.

• The likelihood of being disconnected is higher among young adults who were born outside the U.S. (18.8 percent) compared with their native-born counterparts (14.4 percent).

Disconnected young adults, when compared with their connected counterparts, are more likely to experience a range of factors that only amplify their precarious economic standing.

They are more likely than connected young adults to be poor, to have a child and to be raising the child outside of a marital union, to be uninsured, and not surprisingly, to be receiving some kind of public assistance.

Since a large number of young adults who wind up disconnected are in school until at least the eleventh grade (the majority receives a high-school diploma), NCCP says high schools can play a role as important sites of intervention and recommends that states take steps to increase school-connectedness and mentorship programs along with providing school-based behavioral health screening and services.

Beyond high school, community colleges and other two-year institutions are positioned to provide educational development and employment training to young adults who might otherwise be barred from pursuing higher education due to academic under-preparation or financial and time constraints.

Another opportunity to improve access to and success in higher education, according to NCCP, is through significant reforms to the current financial aid system.

The study suggests that policymakers can improve the effectiveness of academic financial aid by increasing performance-based scholarships, reevaluating and reorganizing the grants, loans, and text credits programs, and simplifying their application processes to ensure that assistance reaches those students most in need.

The publication can be accessed free online at www.nccp.org/publications/pub_979.html.

The National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) is the nation’s leading public policy center dedicated to promoting the economic security, health and well-being of America’s low-income families and children. Part of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, NCCP uses research to inform policy and practice with the goal of ensuring positive outcomes for the next generation.

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On Thursday Capt. Kurt Smallcomb reported that in October the agency was contacted by federal and state agencies regarding information they had received in regards to a threat of a possible violent act to be committed against a deputy sheriff.

Mendocino County Sheriff's detectives shared information with the other agencies in an attempt to determine whether or not the threats were true, Smallcomb said.

On Dec. 8 Mendocino County detectives and agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation developed further information that corroborated a possible financial transaction had taken place in order to fulfill the threats, with a view toward achieving the deputy's death, he said.

Then on Thursday Smallcomb said Mendocino County Sheriff's personnel, with the assistance of agents and officers from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, State Parole, Mendocino County Probation, Willits and Ukiah Police, Multi Agency Gang Task Force and the Major Crimes Task Force conducted a series of probation and parole searches in an attempt to conduct or establish further leads into the listed violations.

Smallcomb said the Thursday action resulted in the search of 12 locations and contacts with numerous persons who were either on probation or parole. In addition, other people who had possible information into the criminal act were contacted.

Salvador Ramirez, 35, was arrested and booked into the Mendocino County Jail for improper entry by an alien, Smallcomb said.

In addition, Smallcomb said Jorge Martinez, 22, was booked into the Mendocino County Jail for a parole violation and sales of marijuana.

At another location a total of 75 pounds of processed marijuana was recovered, Smallcomb said.

Smallcomb said law enforcement is continuing the investigation and further arrests regarding threats and solicitation for commission of a violent act are expected.

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The Lake County Sheriff's Office reported that on Dec. 3 a deputy responded to a residence on Spring Valley Road regarding a residential burglary.

Numerous items were missing from the home including several high caliber rifles, ammunition, motorcycles, televisions and other entertainment accessories, according to the report.

Also stolen was a 1997 Range Rover Defender 90 four wheel drive vehicle, which the sheriff's office said has a body style similar to that of a Jeep Wrangler.

The stolen Range Rover was painted fire engine red with a roof rack and snorkel style air intake system, according to the sheriff's office. This vehicle is very rare and completely restored.

The owner's insurance company has agreed to pay a $1,000 reward for information leading to discovery of the vehicle or apprehension of the suspect or suspects.

The Spring Valley area has had other recent burglaries, officials reported.

On Nov. 23 deputies located a Harley Davidson motorcycle in the living room of a residence on Larches Way in Spring Valley.

The motorcycle was eventually identified as stolen from another residence in Spring Valley, and deputies seized the motorcycle pending notification of the owner.

Anyone with information regarding the stolen Range Rover is asked to contact Lake County Sheriff's Office Investigations Bureau at 707-262-4247.

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Linda Ann Mafrice, sentenced to state prison for a violation of probation stemming from two criminal cases filed in 2002, is a person of interest in the 2002 murder of Barbara LaForge, according to the Lakeport Police Department. Lake County Jail booking photo.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A woman who police said is a person of interest in the 2002 Barbara LaForge murder has been sentenced to state prison for failing to repay more than $44,000 in restitution and violating probation in two cases charged at around the time LaForge was shot to death.

Linda Ann Mafrice, 55, a massage therapist from Kelseyville, was transported to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation this week after Judge Andrew Blum sentenced her to four years and eight months in state prison earlier this month.

“She is a person of interest in the murder of Barbara LaForge,” Lakeport Police Det. Lou Riccardi, who was in court for Mafrice's sentencing, told Lake County News.

Riccardi's statement accounts for the first time the Lakeport Police Department has publicly identified a person of interest in the case since LaForge was found fatally shot in her downtown Lakeport frame shop on Oct. 8, 2002.

The 43-year-old LaForge was shot multiple times at close range with a .22 caliber weapon that has never been found.

LaForge's murder is the city's only unsolved homicide.

On Dec. 3, Judge Blum sentenced Mafrice to prison for theft from an elder, grand theft and forgery, charges which arose from two separate criminal filings.

On Aug. 3, 2002, the District Attorney's Office filed three counts against Mafrice – theft from an elder, theft by a forged or invalid access card and forgery.

Then on Oct. 9, 2002, the day after LaForge's murder, the District Attorney's Office filed a case against Mafrice alleging 90 counts, most of them forgery, along with grand theft, which were alleged to have taken place between February 2000 and Aug. 28, 2002, against the Royale Shores Homeowners Association. She was arrested two days later, court records show.

Most of the charges in that second case were dismissed via a Harvey waiver, meaning they could be considered in sentencing but would not be prosecuted.

Mafrice would eventually be sentenced to five years probation and 300 days in jail on the three remaining charges, which she was convicted of in July 2004. She also was sentenced to 200 hours of community service, which court records appear to indicate were never served.

Her sentencing then – as more recently – was delayed by reports of mental and physical health issues. At one point early in the case, she brought a forged doctor's note to court asking for her probation to be modified, according to District Attorney Jon Hopkins in a 2007 interview. A document in Mafrice's file showed her admitting the forgery to the court.

The terms of her probation specified that she was to pay back restitution totaling $113,116.07 to Royale Shores, with credit for $65,000 that she had already paid back. She also was to pay back the elderly woman she had defrauded $1,723.

But time went by, and the restitution to Royale Shores was not fully repaid, court documents showed.

Then, on Oct. 27, 2009, just weeks before her probation was set to expire, Judge Richard Martin issued a $50,000 bench warrant for her arrest for violation of probation because of the unpaid restitution.

Riccardi – a homicide detective from San Mateo County who moved to Lake County after his retirement – was brought in on a special assignment in 2009 to work on the LaForge case.

He said Mafrice is a person of interest because of her relationship with Dan Hamblin, LaForge's husband.

Mafrice and Hamblin were reportedly romantically involved before LaForge's October 2002 murder.

In a 2007 interview, retired Lakeport Police Chief Tom Engstrom told Lake County News that Mafrice was seen packing LaForge's possessions into garbage bags at LaForge's Piner Court home on the day of her 2002 funeral.

In the wake of the recent election, the LaForge investigation appears to have gained a new and important ally.

District Attorney-elect Don Anderson told Lake County News that he is very interested in the case, and plans to meet with Riccardi and Det. Destry Henderson, who also has been assigned to the investigation, to go over the case's details.

Riccardi said a $50,000 reward offered by the Governor's Office remains in place for anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest and conviction in the case.

The Lakeport Police Department, which is hosting a series of town halls, will devote a February gathering to giving the community an update on the LaForge homicide investigation.

Neighbor speaks about case

A former neighbor of Mafrice's at Royale Shores helped bring the embezzlement cases to the attention of police.

The woman, who asked not to be named due to concerns for her safety, said Mafrice lived in a unit at Royale Shores owned by a family member, and was the association's onsite property manager at the time when the forgeries and thefts took place.

The neighbor said her name and the name of another person had been forged on checks by Mafrice, who was alleged to have been taking large sums of money from the association for about a year before it was discovered.

Although Mafrice was not supposed to be handling money, “She found a way to get to it,” the neighbor said.

“She knew how to play everybody,” said the woman. “She was very good at what she did.”

The issue with the elderly victim in the other criminal case was happening at the same time, and the neighbor warned the woman's family about Mafrice, who had been caregiving for the woman. That led to the first filing in August 2002, with the larger case involving Royale Shores filed two months later.

The neighbor alleged that members of Mafrice's family were harassing the elderly woman at the center of the first case.

The neighbor said the homeowners association had money in the bank from a lawsuit it had won relating to building defects, and was preparing to use the money for repairs.

“We were in the throes of determining what we needed to do and what needed to be done first,” she said.

The money that Mafrice took was to have been used for a new roof, new decks and other repairs. The woman said the association has since managed to move forward with the repair work.

Mafrice moved from Royale Shores and in with Hamblin within about a week of the LaForge murder, the neighbor estimated.

“There were no secrets there,” the woman noted, explaining that Hamblin had been at the condominium a lot, and Mafrice had purchased him a motorcycle.

A lengthy court process

During the year following Mafrice's October 2009 arrest for violation of probation, she would be scheduled for five different hearings – including pleas and continuations.

In a hearing before Blum on Aug. 27, Mafrice admitted to a violation of her probation by not paying her restitution to Royale Shores in a timely manner. Blum told her she could face a maximum prison sentence of five years, four months for the violations.

At that time, Blum ordered Mafrice to pay the remainder of the restitution by Dec. 3.

Just a few months before, Hamblin – with whom Mafrice has lived since late 2002 – had been awarded $24,931.85 from Stonebridge Life Insurance Co. for a life insurance policy on LaForge, according to court documents.

When Mafrice appeared Dec. 3, her attorney, Stephen Carter, asked for a continuation until Jan. 24, saying that the funds would not be available until later in December.

In turn, Blum read from a Lake County Probation Department report, in which the probation officer stated that he didn't have any confidence that Mafrice intended to pay the remainder of the restitution, and that her request for another continuation was “just another ploy” to delay the proceedings.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Rachel Abelson opposed the continuation based on the Probation Department report, asking for Mafrice to be remanded into custody.

Carter said he didn't think remanding her was necessary as she was trying to make arrangements to pay the funds.

But Blum, pointing out that Mafrice had six years to make payment, said of her request for a continuance, “I'm disinclined to grant it.”

Mafrice's case was put on hold for several hours that day and finally recalled just after 2 p.m.

Blum read both the original probation report from September 2004 and the most recent report from this past November.

“My inclination is to follow the recommendation” of the probation department, which Blum said was for state prison.

Carter said Mafrice still maintained that the money would be available later in December. If probation was to be denied, then he asked for less prison sentences.

Abelson argued in turn, “She has done nothing but play games with the restitution.”

“Basically, her interest is herself,” Abelson added.

Abelson said she didn't think Mafrice's promise of paying more money in the future was realistic, and she asked for the original probation proposal of prison to be imposed.

Blum, finding Mafrice in violation of her probation, ruled, “Probation is permanently revoked,” noting that she has had ample time to comply and hasn't.

Pointing out that there were two separate cases with two separate victims, Blum went on to sentence Mafrice to four years for the first count of theft from an elder, as it was a crime committed in a way that suggested professionalism and planning.

The two other counts were to run consecutively, at two years each, with all but eight months of each term stayed.

The total time given was four years, eight months. By the time credits for previous time served and good behavior are calculated, it's estimated that Mafrice will spend about two years in state prison.

She must also repay $44,681.07 to Royale Shores, plus additional administrative fines, based on Blum's ruling.

After Blum passed sentence, Mafrice was handcuffed and transported to the Lake County Jail.

It's not yet clear where Mafrice will serve her time. There are three women's prison facilities in the state, two in Chowchilla and one in Corona, according to the California Department of Corrections.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews , on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

WASHINGTON, DC – On Thursday the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the availability of the final environmental impact statement (EIS) that evaluates the potential environmental effects of deregulating alfalfa genetically engineered (GE) to be resistant to the herbicide glyphosate, which is known commercially as Roundup.

This GE alfalfa is commonly referred to as Roundup Ready (RR) alfalfa.

“Our goal with the EIS, first and foremost, is to recognize and consider the many concerns that we have heard from all segments of agriculture,” said Secretary Tom Vilsack. “We are equally committed to finding solutions that support not only the developers and users of biotechnology products, but growers who rely on purity in the non-genetically engineered seed supply.”

Meanwhile, groups like the Center for Food Safety – which brought a lawsuit on the crop in 2007 that resulted in a ban of the crop until further analysis took place – urged a permanent ban on genetically modified alfalfa.

“The only option that will protect organic and conventional alfalfa growers and dairies is for the USDA to deny any approval of GE alfalfa,” said Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of the Center for Food Safety. “We are disappointed that the agency has not made this one of its preferred options but are encouraged that it remains an option being considered by the agency.”

In March 2010, more than 244,000 people submitted comments to the USDA critiquing the substance and conclusions of its draft EIS on GE Alfalfa. In addition, more than 300 public interest organizations, farmers, dairies, retailers and organic food producers from the U.S. and Canada delivered a strongly worded letter to USDA, calling upon it to deny approval of Monsanto’s genetically engineered, Roundup Ready alfalfa (GE alfalfa).

USDA considered three alternatives during the preparation of the final EIS: 1) to maintain the RR alfalfa's status as a regulated article; 2) to deregulate RR alfalfa; or 3) to deregulate RR alfalfa with geographic restrictions and isolation distances for the production of RR alfalfa.

USDA said it has thoroughly analyzed the potential environmental impacts of the proposed alternatives and has listed two preferred options: deregulation as one option and the other deregulation accompanied by a combination of isolation distances and geographic restrictions on the production of GE alfalfa seed and, in some locations, hay.

By listing both options as preferred, USDA has considered plant pest issues as well as broader environmental and economic issues related to the coexistence between genetically engineered, non-genetically engineered, and organic alfalfa production.

USDA maintained that biotechnology holds great promise for agriculture here in the United States, and around the world.

The agency's announcement stated, “There's absolutely no doubt of the safety of the many products USDA's regulatory system has approved.” The examination of these issues through the EIS process, however, highlighted some of the challenges USDA faces in the area of biotechnology regulation as it aims to meet the expectations of its diverse stakeholders.

“We have seen rapid adoption of biotechnology in agriculture, along with the rise of organic and non-genetically engineered sectors over the last several decades,” Vilsack said. “While the growth in all these areas is great for agriculture, it has also led, at times, to conflict or, at best, an uneasy coexistence between the different ways of growing crops. We need to address these challenges and develop a sensible path forward for strengthening coexistence of all segments of agriculture in our country. All are vital and a part of rural America's success. All should be able to thrive together.”

Vilsack said that USDA will use this opportunity to begin a conversation on how to move forward and find strategies for strengthening coexistence. “We will partner with all those who want to roll up their sleeves and work with us and each other to find common sense solutions to today's challenges. And we will do so openly and transparently.”

The agency said that it is important to note that the EIS is not a decision document. It is an analysis of the impacts of the various alternatives with regard to their potential environmental and related economic impacts.

The final EIS will be available for public review for at least 30 days before USDA will publish a record of decision on how it will proceed.

APHIS will be submitting the EIS to the Environmental Protection Agency for publication in the Federal Register, and USDA anticipates that EPA will publish a notice that the final EIS on RR alfalfa is available for public review in the Federal Register on December 23, 2010.

A copy of the EIS provided to EPA can be reviewed at www.aphis.usda.gov/biotechnology/downloads/alfalfa/gt_alfalfa%20_feis.pdf.

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MOFFETT Field, Calif. – NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., has entered into a five-year Non-Reimbursable Space Act Agreement with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) to use NASA technology and capabilities to help support the management and mitigation of wildfire disasters.

“The two entities have had an ad-hoc partnership for the last 25 years and this agreement formalizes our working relationship and allows the two agencies to explore new and exciting technology developments and capabilities that support the needs of the people of California,” said Vince Ambrosia, NASA Ames principal investigator and senior scientist of the collaborative effort.

“Cal Fire is proud to formalize its partnership with NASA,” said Chief Ken Pimlott, director of Cal Fire. “Under this agreement we will cooperatively explore the use and future transfer of advanced fire sensing technology. This in turn, will benefit the public we serve by helping CAL FIRE increase situational awareness and response efficiency.”

NASA has developed an innovative visible, infrared and thermal sensor called the NASA Autonomous Modular Scanner (AMS).

The scanner has operated on both NASA’s Ikhana Predator B Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and the manned NASA B200 King Air both operated by the Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, Calif.

The scanner provides real-time wildfire imaging data over large-scale disaster events in the western United States and particularly in California.

The innovations include performing all processing on-board the aircraft autonomously and relaying the information through a satellite communications system to disaster managers located anywhere in the world.

The system performed flawlessly during several major wildfire events in southern California in 2007 and during the lightning fires in Northern California in 2008.

Those missions were flown aboard the NASA Ikhana UAV. More recently, the team has focused on integration and operation of the sensor aboard the manned B200 King Air aircraft.

“The B200 has more rapid response capability than the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. The exciting element is that we have the ability to use different platforms as the mission requirements change,” Ambrosia said.

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California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner's office said Glenn Neasham, 50, was arrested Tuesday based on an investigation conducted by his agency.

“Insurance agents or brokers who steal from vulnerable seniors will not get away with their shameful tricks,” said Commissioner Poizner. “CDI investigators will continue working to track down any unscrupulous agent who preys on California's seniors.”

Neasham is charged with felony theft from an elder with two special allegations, the first for taking or damaging more than $50,000 in property and the second for a theft that is alleged to have totaled more than $100,000.

Lakeport attorney Mitchell Hauptman, who is representing Neasham, called the case “another one of the DA's famous flights of fantasy.”

Senior Deputy District Attorney said Neasham could face five years in prison if convicted, with four years for the first count, an additional year for the first special allegation and a limitation on probation if he were found guilty of the second special allegation.

The Lake County District Attorney's Office filed the case based on the state investigation, which began in 2008 after the California Department of Insurance received a report from the Savings Bank of Mendocino County.

Neasham, doing business as Glenn Neasham Insurance Agency, is alleged to have sold a $175,000 annuity to a then-83-year-old client on Feb. 6, 2008.

The Savings Bank of Mendocino County alerted local officials after the alleged victim and her elderly boyfriend came in to withdraw $175,000 from a certificate of deposit to purchase the annuity in February 2008, court records showed.

Abelson said banks are mandatory reporters in such cases, with the reports often going to Adult Protective Services, local law enforcement or other agencies.

Hauptman said that the court documents actually allege no wrongdoing, and the alleged victim neither suffered a loss nor filed a complaint.

The California Department of Insurance said the investigation determined that the alleged victim lacked the mental capacity to enter into this contract, and that the terms and conditions of the annuity contract were not in her best financial interest.

In the investigative reports the state investigator found that the woman who purchased the annuity appeared confused at times. The woman also was said to be under the control of her boyfriend, who was named as the beneficiary on the annuity rather than the woman's son, with whom she reportedly had a strained relationship.

The son of the alleged victim told the state investigator that his mother had Alzheimer's, but Neasham told the investigator he was not aware that the woman had any such condition.

“It is insulting to assume that just because she is old she lacks the capacity to manage her affairs,” Hauptman said.

No charges have been filed against the woman's boyfriend. Abelson said the investigation did not yield any findings of wrongdoing against the man, who had been a client of Neasham's for about 10 years at the time of the annuity's purchase, based on investigation documents.

Lake County News could not reach a California Department of Insurance spokesman by the end of Thursday to ask additional questions about the case.

Hauptman said in the nearly three years since the annuity was written, there has been no request for any change in its status, and it has actually shown a greater rate of return than the CD that was the previous financial arrangement.

In that time the woman has never requested any changes be made to the annuity, and she's making money, he said.

He said there is no evidence that Neasham received any particular benefit from the annuity sale, other than his normal commission on such a transaction.

Hauptman said that the state licenses agents to sell annuities, which have stringent requirements attached to them. He said the only thing that's suggested is that the woman purchasing the product didn't completely understand the product, which Hauptman said isn't a crime. “They're confusing products.”

The confusion the state investigator attributed to the woman who purchased the annuity “does not rise to justification for this frivolous criminal charge,” Hauptman said.

Hauptman said Neasham is set to make his first court appearance in the case in February.

The California Department of Insurance invites anyone who believes they may have been a victim of Neasham to call the agency at 707-751-2005.

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From left, Robby Beasley and Elijah McKay have been charged with murder and special allegations for the Jan. 22, 2010, murders of Yvette and Frank Maddox, whose bodies were found in early March near Lower Lake, Calif. Lake County Jail booking photos.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Two men have been charged in the January murders of a Maine couple in what could end up being a death penalty case.

On Wednesday morning, Robby Alan Beasley, 30, was arraigned before Judge Richard Martin in Lake County Superior Court's Lakeport branch.

Beasley, who is from Maine, and 28-year-old Elijah Bae McKay of Lower Lake are each charged with two counts of homicide for the Jan. 22 murders of Yvette Maddox, 40, and her husband Frank Maddox, 32.

McKay is due to be arraigned Thursday morning, officials reported.

The partially decomposed bodies of the Maddoxes were found at the bottom off an embankment off of Morgan Valley Road near Lower Lake on March 4 by a pair of Sonoma County men traveling through the area, as Lake County News has reported.

The sheriff's office said an autopsy revealed the two had both sustained gunshot wounds, as well as other unspecified injuries.

In addition to the murder charges, Beasley and McKay also face special allegations of committing multiple murders in the first or second degree, committing the offenses with the intent to inflict great bodily injury on the victims and using a 9 millimeter firearm in the killings.

Beasley is further alleged to have a prior serious or violent felony conviction. Court records show that in June 2007 he was convicted in Kennebec County, Maine, of criminal threatening with a firearm.

Beasley, who has been in custody since March 6, only nodded when Judge Martin asked if he understood the charges.

The judge told him he had to speak for the record, not just nod. Beasley answered with a barely audible “yes” when asked if he wanted the court to appoint an attorney.

Martin appointed attorney Stephen Carter to represent Beasley, who is scheduled to return to court Friday morning before Judge Andrew Blum.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Art Grothe asked Martin to hold Beasley without bail.

“As it's charged right now, it's a capital matter,” Grothe said as several Lake County Sheriff's detectives looked on from the gallery.

Martin agreed to the no bail request.

Grothe told Lake County News that, as the case is currently charged, if Beasley and McKay were to be convicted, they would face either life without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.

“The decision whether or not to seek the death penalty is normally made later in the case, after the preliminary hearing is conducted,” he said.

Grothe added, “I would expect that in this case the decision will be made by the incoming district attorney (Don Anderson) after he has had time to review the matter and meet with the prosecuting attorney, investigating officers and other relevant personnel.”

The case filing was the result of a nine-month investigation into the murders, according to Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Within days of the discovery of the bodies, detectives with the Lake County Sheriff’s Major Crime Unit learned that Beasley had apparently hired the Maddoxes to come to Lake County several months

prior to help him with a marijuana operation, Bauman said.

Bauman said the couple had been reported as missing about a month before the discovery of their bodies.

While still considered only a person of interest in the Maddox case at the time, Beasley was located near his home in Clearlake only two days after the bodies were found and arrested on an unrelated arrest warrant out of Maine, according to Bauman's report.

Investigators subsequently served search warrants on two homes Beasley was known to frequent, which Bauman said resulted in additional charges of marijuana cultivation.

According to a previous sheriff's office report, detectives learned that Beasley had reportedly convinced the Maddoxes to give him a ride to the Sacramento airport during the last week of January, which they agreed to do.

There also had been a report that Beasley had previously threatened one of them with a gun.

It was a week into the investigation when detectives identified McKay as another person of interest in the case, Bauman said. McKay was arrested for marijuana cultivation, possession for sales and weapons charges following a search warrant service on his home.

Bauman said McKay posted a $10,000 bond and was released the same day he was arrested.

With his marijuana case still pending in Lake County, detectives learned in October that McKay had apparently fled California and was believed to be in Atlanta, Bauman said.

Rob Brown, a local bail bondsman who also serves as a county supervisor, held McKay's bond. Brown surrendered the bond from March, traveled to Georgia to retrieve McKay and brought him back to Lake County.

Bauman said McKay has remained in the county jail since Oct. 19.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews , on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

This van narrowly missed going into Clear Lake near Lucerne, Calif., after its tire blew as it was being driven along Highway 20. Photo by Gary McAuley.

The crash occurred on Highway 20 just east of Lucerne shortly after 5 p.m., according to the California Highway Patrol.

The driver was heading eastbound when the right front tire on the white van blew, according to reports from the scene.

When the van left the pavement and hit the shoulder, the soft earth pulled it from the roadway and onto the rocks on the shoreline, about 8 feet below.

The CHP, Lake County Sheriff's Office and Northshore Fire Protection District responded to the scene.

At the scene the driver and lone passenger denied injury and remained on scene viewing the recovery of the vehicle by the tow company.

The crash caused the roadway to be shut down for a brief time.

Gary McAuley contributed to this report.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews , on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .