Monday, March 31, 2008

Another Computer Glitch + Online News Source Worries

This time the glitch is mine. For several years now, I've used a program called "Mailwasher" to filter spam. It looks at your emails on the server before you download them to your computer. Well, yesterday something happened to my Mailwasher. It signaled me that I had some new emails, so I tried to open it. It had a fatal error and closed. I really hate it when a program dies like that... lol... Anyway, I restarted Mailwasher and it opened and showed me that I had a number of emails sitting on my ISP's server. And for some strange reason, Mailwasher was flagging them all as spam! So, I start clicking down the list and unchecked the little boxes flagging them as spam and then suddenly, Mailwasher decided it was time to "process mail" and it deleted all of the emails I had on the server! So, I probably have people/friends out there now who think I'm ignoring them because I didn't answer an email they sent... So.... If anyone who's reading this sent me an email sometime Saturday night or sometime Sunday, I'm not ignoring you... I had a glitch attack and didn't get your email! Grrrr!!!

Now for the worries about an online news source. One of the places I look for news about the Mario Lozano trial is the Mountain Democrat newspaper's website. Last night I spotted a line item on the website's front page that has me concerned. "Online Mountain Democrat to charge non-subscribers". The article says that the change will take place on April 2nd. And the Lozano trial will be starting tomorrow, April 1st. I'm not a subscriber of that newspaper. What would be the point? I don't live anywhere near Placerville! So does this mean that I'm not going to be able to see the articles that the editor said would be published in their paper because I'm not a "subscriber"? I guess all I can do is wait and see if I can get into any articles on Wednesday. Another "Grrrr!!!!".

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Mario Lozano Trial - Who's Who

As suggested by Sprocket in her comment, I'm going to try to put together a list of the significant players in the case.
  • Victim: Kathleen "Kacie" Barron
  • Defendant: Mario H. Lozano
  • Place: Placerville, El Dorado County, Superior Court Dept No. 2
  • Judge: Honorable Eddie T. Keller
  • Prosecution: Deputy District Attorney Dale R. Gomes
  • Defense: Deputy Public Defender Michael N. Atwell
I don't know yet who the witnesses will be, but will add them into this list once we know who will be testifying.

Kacie's family are attending the trial every day. I'll add their names into a list of sorts once I know who they all are. The only one I've met was her brother Pat Barron, and that was years ago at my brother's wedding. Her brother, Pat, her father, Lee Barron, her mother and her stepfather will be there every day. My brother (Chaplainlimeygene) will also be attending and he will also be posting his observations of the proceedings here on the blog.

Along with the information that my brother will post, I'll be pulling information from news sources when I can find them. I found an article this morning that I hadn't seen yet from March 27th at the following link:
Murder Suspect Caught Here Goes to Trial in Placerville.

This article is from a reporter from the area where Mario was found and arrested about 2 months after Kacie was murdered. The article also includes a photo of Mario that is very different from the one published last Monday in the Placerville paper. He's not quite as "scary looking".

Friday, March 28, 2008

Glitch Attack at The Courthouse

Guest Post from Chaplainlimeygene!

Wednesday morning I arrived at the Superior Courthouse for the Mario Lozano trial in Placerville. I arrived a little early and didn't see Pat, Kacie's brother, or any of Kacie's family yet. Pat, his Mom, Stepdad, and Dad are there each day. There are two court rooms upstairs with a hall area surrounding the staircase entrance with 6 or 7 chairs by the wall on each side. This morning there were already several people upstairs and most of the seats had been taken. I walked down to the main floor where there are a lot more chairs. I sat down on the east side of the staircase to watch the door for Pat or other family members. People kept coming in and I noticed a line forming outside bottle necked at the security checkpoint. Security is similar to the airports, you empty pockets and send bags and coats through X-ray and walk through the gateway. This is a small court house with only one X-ray and gateway. I could see up the stairs and there was only standing room already. There were several people on the floor I was on and people going down the stairs also. After a while I saw Pat come in and had to holler and wave over the crowd to get his attention. Pat went to check upstairs and didn't even get off the staircase. We managed to get 5 seats together on the main floor and watched the crowd continue to flow in. At one point Pat mentioned that the line stretched past the Public Works building, about a block long. I noticed people couldn't get on the upper floor and started to fill the staircase. I mentioned to Lee, Kacie's Dad, that if someone sneezed upstairs 3 or 4 people would probably be spilt down the stairs. I asked him who would give the Sheriffs a citation for over capacity, He thought a moment and responded The Fire Marshall. Oh yeah... that's right. Office personnel were scrambling and talking with the Sheriffs trying to find places for all these people. I overheard mention of a conference room downstairs and a response that it was already full. It was more crowded than Disneyland on a holiday weekend. Slowly, groups were leaving the building and eventually we were able to sit in the chairs upstairs in front of our courtroom. While we were still waiting to enter, I heard two sheriffs talking and one jokingly ask the other what he thought about the computer glitch that sent 400 prospective jurors to the courthouse on the same morning! This was in addition to the remainder of the first 100 summoned for Mario's trial and the families who came to court for atoption proceedures on the main floor. My hat's off to the El Dorado County Sheriffs Department for their quick handling and disbursement of the crowd. Man, if there was an accident it would have been a cut and dried lawsuit but the deputies handled things quickly and smoothly without incident. I wouldn't have thought that building could hold 500+ people but for a short time on Wednesday morning, we were sardines.

Whew, and big sigh. Gene.

Time for a giggle...

Humorous Pictures
see more crazy cat pics

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Mario Lozano Trial

I just got an email from the managing editor, Pat Lakey at the Mountain Democrat in answer to the one I sent yesterday to the publisher. The paper will be covering the trial "gavel to gavel" once the jury selection is complete. Mr. (Ms.?) Lakey said in the email that the paper will publish future stories on their website. The directions given to get to the stories is to click on "Local News" and then scroll down to find the stories.

Mr. Lakey also said that their court reporter is saying that the actual trial will start next Tuesday. According to my brother who is planning on attending the trial with Kacie's brother, Pat, the trial will proceed on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Mondays and Fridays are apparently for other court proceedings. So, the only thing to do now is wait for jury selection to be finished and then wait for articles in the paper or messages from my brother.

Update!
Be sure to read the comment on this post from my brother. Jury selection is done! Opening statements and testimony will start on Tuesday.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

I'm Frustrated!

I know that the trial for Mario Lozano is going on. The Mountain Democrat newspaper said so the other day. That is the "local" newspaper for the area where the murder of Kacie Barron took place. But they are not reporting anything beyond the initial announcement that I copied into the previous post the other day. What gives? Is the murder of a beautiful woman not worth the time of their editor and reporters? Do they think that no one would be interested in what is going on with the trial? I've written an email to the person listed as "publisher" on the paper's website asking why there is no news of the trial/case. I encourage anyone else interested in finding news about the trial/case to do the same. Just follow the link above and scroll down on the left hand side to the "About Us" section and click on the Staff Directory.

I'll update this when and if I get an answer from the publisher, Jim Webb.

1st Update:
Read the comment below from my brother. Apparently they are still in jury selection and hopefully will begin the opening statements tomorrow (Thursday).

Monday, March 24, 2008

Kacie Barron - News

My brother sent me a link to a news article in the Mountain Democrat this evening. As there is no copyright notice at the bottom of the page, I'm going to copy it here, including the picture of Lozano that was in the paper. Scary looking guy.

Trial set to start for alleged shotgun killer
By Eric Laughlin | Democrat staff writer | March 23, 2008 14:34

Jury selection is set to begin tomorrow in the murder trial of the man who allegedly killed his former girlfriend with a shotgun before going on the run as a fugitive for two months.

Mario H. Lozano, 59, has been in the custody of the El Dorado County sheriff since his August 2006 arrest in Mono County north of Bishop. He had reportedly been staying with a friend before Placerville detectives caught up with him there.

Lozano is accused of killing 40-year-old Kathleen Kacie Barron at her Anderson Way, Placerville, residence. The incident took place in July 2006, after Lozano had returned from his native Kauai to 'rekindle the relationship,' according to a police official.

Barron's body was found by her son in a travel trailer parked in her home's driveway. The incident was the only murder in the city in 2006.

Lozano's trial will be prosecuted by deputy district attorney Dale Gomes, an aggressive prosecutor known for successfully handling sexual assault and domestic violence cases. Lozano is represented by deputy public defender and former prosecutor Michael Atwell.

Jury selection could take two or three days before opening statements begin. The trial could last up to a month or more.

Several members of Barron's family have attended Lozano's pre-trial hearings and plan to be present during the trial.

'We intend to attend everything,' said brother Pat Barron. 'It's pretty painful, though, knowing that whatever happens, we're never going to see my sister again.'

Photo Caption: Democrat photo by Dan Burkhart SUSPECTED KILLER Mario Lozano appears in court Friday for a trial readiness hearing. The 59-year-old Hawaiian native has been charged with the shotgun slaying of his former girlfriend Kathleen Kacie Barron. His trial is set to begin this week.
~~
From the Mountain Democrat
~~

UPDATE: Ok, I've had to change the link for the article at the Mountain Democrat website. They've moved the page somewhere and you can't even get to it by using their so-called search engine on the site. I am glad that I copied the article here. And if by some weird chance someone from that newspaper finds this blog... Hey, There are people out here who want to know what is going on!!!!

Kacie Barron - Another Update

My brother left another comment on one of the earlier posts about Kacie. He keeps in contact with Kacie's brother, so is well informed on what is going on with the trial for her murderer, Mario Lozano. Jury selection is supposed to start tomorrow, the 25th of March. My brother will be going up there to attend the trial and will try to keep me informed about what is going on. If they complete the jury selection tomorrow, opening statements may be tomorrow or on Wednesday. I would be going up there for the trial as well, but the "commute" would be awful for me, not to mention expensive because of the price of fuel. (Ugh!!) I'll be there in spirit, though. For my brother and for Kacie's family.

Kacie's brother, Pat, has visited my blog and approves of the updates I've been doing. Thank you, Pat. :-) He has a website in progress for the "Ride For Hope" in Kacie's honor, and as soon as the website is a little further along, with information about this years ride and stuff, I'll link it here for anyone who is interested.

Friday, March 21, 2008

cant wurk 2day

I am loving the "lolcats" that keep popping up all over the net.... This one is precious!

Humorous Pictures
see more crazy cat pics

A Food Court Musical?

Ok, my usual surfing around this morning took me to a site that gave me a giggle. The website is called "Improv Everwhere" and they do some very "interesting" things in unexpected places. I saw a video by them the other day where they had a bunch of people (would you believe about 200 people?) freeze in place in Grand Central Station in New York City. The reactions (and non-reactions) of the rest of the crowds of people was pretty interesting to watch. When I saw that video, I didn't know (or didn't pay attention) that they have a website and stage these events all over the place. This morning, I stumbled upon another video by the same people and checked out their website. The video at the top of their "home" page is the one below. Just watch... And laugh. Be sure to watch the faces of the patrons of the food court in this mall.



Did you watch it? Now, imagine what your reaction to something like this would be. I think I know how I would react. lol, It would be pretty much like the folks sitting at the tables enjoying their snacks or lunches. Amazement... lol

This group also did an "event" in a Starbucks... Imagine being in a Starbucks and seeing people falling asleep. lol

Thursday, March 20, 2008

A Limerick and a Joke

My trucker friend is on the road again today, he sent a text message to me.... Containing this:

There once was a man named Frances,
That thought he could sing in dresses.
He paraded up and down,
The crowd had a frown.
'cept for one guy that he saw something had risen,
For he just remembered he was just sent to prison.
He cried and he whined, "Oh god why me?"
Because now he has to sit to pee.


And then a while later, he sent me another big text message:

You have an American, a Brit, and an Irishman sitting in a pub.
A fly lands in each of the beers. the American throws a fit and yells "Take the beer away, I dont want it."
The Brit looks at the fly and pulls it out then says "That's better."
The Irishman grabs the fly out of his beer by the wings and starts shaking it saying "Cough it up, cough it up!"

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

A Picnic in the Buttes...


Well, it took me long enough... I finally took the time to get the pictures off my camera from the lovely picnic in the Sutter Buttes that my daughter and I went to on Saturday on my cousin's ranch on the eastern side of the buttes. Our picnic table was a flat bed trailer that was pulled up to the picnic site by a tractor. We had a nice "bonfire" to roast hot dogs and marshmallows over. Unfortunately there weren't many wild flowers in bloom, but we had a lovely time anyway! It was fun to spend time with the family. We spent the whole afternoon up there... Until a huge black cloud settled over the Buttes, the wind came up and sent us scrambling to get everything gathered up while a shower pelted us with a few raindrops...

Earlier, though, my 4 year old grandson had a ball climbing rocks and exploring the area around the picnic site. He wasn't very cooperative about smiling for the camera though. He was more anxious to be off running across the rocky hillsides.
















Here's some of the few wildflowers that we found in bloom... Right at the base of the rock my grandson chose to "pose" on...













Here's the little man "helping" one of his cousins walk back up the hill to the picnic.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

A Barking Cat?

As I sit here at my computer this morning waiting for a batch of Hawaiian Baked Beans to finish cooking, (I'm going to a family picnic in the Sutter Buttes this afternoon!) I was looking around at things on Digg.com. One of the entries on there had to do with a video of a cat that thinks it's a dog. The video isn't a new one, it's been on youtube for about 2 years now, but this is the first time I've seen it. I love it! lol



The funny thing is, one of my two cats occasionally will make sounds similar to that.. Especially if they're sitting in the window sill and there's a hummingbird at the feeder just outside.. lol

Oh.. And in case anyone is interested in the Hawaiian Baked Bean recipe, here it is.. So easy to make and so yummy.. I've never brought home leftovers from a potluck when I take them.

1 31 oz. can of pork and beans
1 8 oz. can of crushed pineapple
1/2 cup sugar (white, brown, raw.. your choice)
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

Mix together in a baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for an hour or two. Basically, bake it until the juices are thick and gooey. I doubled it for the potluck picnic today... Baked it for about an hour and a half last night, then put it back in the oven this morning to finish it off before I put it in a thermal bag to take to the picnic. My kitchen smells delicious this morning! lol

Oh yeah, another thing. I'm taking my camera with me this afternoon, so hopefully I can get some nice shots of the buttes.. And I'm hoping that the wildflowers will be blooming up there... :-)

Friday, March 14, 2008

Jets Spook Goat Into Giving Birth


SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. -- Blue Angels jets practicing for this weekend's California Capital Airshow are credited with spooking a goat into giving birth this week, the animal's owner said Friday.

The newly arrived kids, dubbed Blue Angel 1 and Blue Angel 2, frolicked in James Sands' pasture just south of Jackson Highway on Friday afternoon.

read more | digg story

Just click on "read more" for the rest of the story.. Never knew that goats were such "nervous" moms... lol

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

The Waldo Ultimatum

His identity erased. His past stolen. His whereabouts unknown. Where is he?



I bought my girls the "Where's Waldo" books when they were kids. They've bought them for their own kids... And now? We have the movie! lol

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Murderer indicted as 'I-5 Strangler'

Roger Reece Kibbe, dubbed by authorities as the "I-5 Strangler," was arraigned Friday in San Joaquin County on six new counts of murder, including two Sacramento women. Kibbe was convicted in 1991 of strangling a 17-year-old West Sacramento prostitute and leaving her nude body at Echo Summit. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the 1987 slaying.

read more | digg story

There are a lot of stories about this guy available online. Just google his name, or the "I-5 Strangler" name he was given. One of the articles I read said that he would be eligible for parole in 2 years after serving time for that first conviction. It looks like law enforcement are going to ensure that he will stay in prison for the rest of his life. Also according to a few of the articles I read this morning, he is the primary suspect in a total of 20 murders...

Back when I first moved to Northern California in 1981, the murders and the bodies being found had everyone scared. Including me and my family. Even though we lived an hour or so North of where the disappearances happened, how could we be certain that the murderer wouldn't look North of Sacramento for new victims. We couldn't. When they convicted him in 1991, people breathed a sigh of relief knowing that he was where he needed to be. In prison. The thought that he was close to being eligible for parole is a scary. But this time, he is being charged with 6 murders. He will be eligible for the death penalty. If not the death penalty, he will get life without parole. This man is a serial killer. He can't be let out of prison to hunt victims again. Back then, he prowled the I-5 corridor South of Sacramento looking for victims. He found them. Too many of them. Some were women on their way somewhere and happened to break down alongside the highway. This murderer would stop, befriend them, assault and strangle them, then leave their bodies alongside a highway. They put him away for one murder, but they had evidence for others. Now they will use the evidence to make sure he never gets out of prison.

Bloodstains Found in Children's Care Home

Police investigating allegations of decades of abuse at a former children's home in the British Channel island of Jersey Friday found bloodstains in the building's cellar.

read more | digg story

I spotted the above article on the ABC News website this morning and submitted it to Digg, then blogged it from there. Unfortunately, Blogger seems to be having technical issues this morning, so I don't know if what I put on here will even show up! (The help site for Blogger says that they are working on the problem.. lol)

Another blogger has been following this case for the past few days. Sprocket and her team (Trials & Tribulations) have been posting some interesting articles about the case. If this case interests you, I urge you to follow the link to Sprocket's blog and read what they have posted there.

Friday, March 7, 2008

Redneck Mansion?

I was surfing around the internet this morning and visited Snopes.com. While clicking through pages, I found something to go along with the Redneck Yacht that I posted a picture of the other day. Would you believe, a Redneck Mansion? Or maybe a Redneck apartment complex?


Nope! It isn't a "mansion" and it isn't a "low rent apartment complex". It's an outdoor theater set. According to Snopes.com, it was built at the Theater het Amsterdam Bos for a production of the Anton Chekov play "Ivanov". See the picture below for a more "complete" view of the set with some of the audience visible.

Interesting set for a play, isn't it? lol



Thursday, March 6, 2008

Amazing RC Plane Flying....

This is a video of the winner of the Indoor Model airplane competition at Carvin in 2005. I've watched this video several times and amazed still at how this plane flying matches the music. The guy even makes the plane fly backwards!



I did a little looking around on the net and found a couple videos of the 2007 competition. Again, some amazing flying.


Carvin 2007 Musical Indoor Model Airplane Contest - For more of the funniest videos, click here


Carvin 2007 Musical Indoor Model Airplane Contest - Watch today’s top amazing videos here

And here's a video from the 2006 competition... Wow!


The guys who fly these things sure have a lot of talent... I'd love to watch a competition like the Carvin one someday... Pretty amazing stuff!

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Kacie Barron ~ Update

New Info Below
(I've noticed on the counter stats that google is sending people to this post when they search for Kacie Barron on google. Please note that the trial has begun for Mario Lozano and notes on the trial are being added daily by my brother and I. Just go to the top of the blog or click on one of the key words at the bottom of this post, or in the column on the right.)

My brother left a comment on my post about Kacie Barron and the Ride for Hope with an update on the status of the man who is in custody and awaiting trial for her murder, Mario Lozano. I had been looking for information about the status and had given him a call today. In the comment, he gave me the information I had been looking for. I am copying his comment to this post.

UPDATE ON MARIO'S TRIAL
I found this in the Feb 28 edition of the Mountian Democrat:
Lozano’s murder trial postponed to end of month.

The murder trial of Mario Lozano has been moved to March 25. Lozano is accused of fatally shooting ex-girlfriend Kathleen Kacie Barron with a shotgun on July 26, 2006.
Barron, 40, was murdered in her travel trailer on Anderson Way in Placerville. Her son found the body.

Lozano was picked up on the charge near Mammoth Lakes in August 2006 with the help of FBI tracking through e-mails. He pleaded not guilty in March last year.

The trial will be heard by Superior Court Judge Eddie T. Keller. Lozano is represented by Public Defender Mike Atwell.

The estimated six-day trial was previously scheduled to begin this week. It was postponed because Atwell is ill, a representative of the court said.


I was unable to find the article in the Mountain Democrat, maybe because I'm not a "subscriber" to the paper. But, I will update again if we find or hear of any additional information.

New Info: (Thank you, Gene!)
Here's a link to the article in the paper. It's a pdf file, and the article on Mario Lozano is about halfway down the page on the right.
Mountain Democrat, Feb. 28, 2008, page A3

Redneck Yacht?

Another piece of humor for this windy Sunday morning. I found this one while surfing through the entries on the Digg.com site. Interesting boat, wouldn't you say? lol

Funny Pictures

What were they thinking?

I stumbled onto this video this morning and had a good laugh at the usual blooper type film clips. I hadn't seen these on the TV.... My favorite is the shot of the old man standing there looking at the camera and suddenly a car goes sailing by and he slowly turns and watches it fly past. The poor woman who got her skirt caught in the car, too...

Whoever put the clips together made a good choice in music to put to the films.


By the way, I've been absent from my blog for the last few days because I managed to catch that latest "bug" that has been going around. ICK! Living alone and being sick kind of sucks. Picture it, you're not feeling good, moving around makes it kind of worse and you know you need to eat something and drink lots of fluids. Finding and fixing a meal was awful! I'm getting better now, thank goodness. All I need now is for the cough to go away.