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NORTH COAST, Calif. – A young Kelseyville man killed in a single-vehicle rollover near Ukiah early Saturday morning has been identified.
Andrew Sampson died from the injuries he received in the crash, according to the Sonoma County Coroner's Office.
Sampson was driving alone in a 1997 Honda Accord early Jan. 11 when he lost control of the vehicle on the eastbound Highway 20 onramp from northbound US 101, as Lake County News has reported.
The California Highway Patrol reported that Sampson went onto Highway 20's left shoulder and attempted to correct, losing control of the vehicle, which overturned and came to rest on its roof in a drainage ditch on Highway 20's south shoulder. Sampson was ejected from the vehicle.
He was transported to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, where he died, according to the Sonoma County Coroner's Office.
Alcohol may have been a contributing factor to the crash, which the CHP said remains under investigation.
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COBB, Calif. – A Tahoe City man sustained major injuries in a Tuesday evening vehicle rollover and was flown to an out-of-county trauma center.
David Mahoney, 47, was injured in the crash and later arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Kory Reynolds.
At 6:05 p.m. Tuesday Mahoney was driving his silver 2004 Toyota Tacoma westbound on Highway 175 east of Harrington Flat Road when he lost control of the pickup and struck an embankment, causing the Toyota to overturn, Reynolds said.
Reynolds said Mahoney was not wearing his seat belt and as a result was partially ejected from the vehicle.
Mahoney was flown to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital by a REACH air ambulance and was arrested for driving under the influence, Reynolds said.
Mahoney sustained major injuries in the collision, including a fractured skull and fractured vertebrae, Reynolds said.
The collision is still under investigation by CHP Officer Richard Jensen, according to Reynolds.
One of Lake County's members of the House of Representatives reported that a bill in Congress includes funds to strengthen the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5), chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, said the Fiscal Year 2014 omnibus appropriations bill, HR 3547, includes additional funds to help states improve data submissions to the system, also known as NICS.
The $58.5 million for NICS in this year's bill represents a $41.7 million increase in funding from FY 2013 levels, Thompson reported.
“Making sure our background checks system has up-to-date information is an important step towards making sure criminals, domestic abusers and the dangerously mentally ill can’t get their hands on guns. I applaud our appropriators for providing millions of dollars in new funding to help state’s get their most current and comprehensive data into the NICS system,” Thompson said.
“Now we need to finish the job by expanding comprehensive and enforceable background checks to all commercial firearm sales so these same prohibited purchasers can’t bypass the NICS system by going to a gun show or buying a gun online,” he added.
In February 2013, Thompson’s task force specifically recommended taking immediate action to ensure the NICS database was up-to-date. A full copy of the task force’s report, including principle six dealing with NICS, can be seen at http://www.scribd.com/doc/124384563/Gun-Violence-Prevention-Task-Force-Recommendations .
Additionally, Thompson and U.S. Rep. Pete King (R-NY) are co-authors of H.R. 1565, bipartisan legislation to expand the current background check system to all commercial gun sales. Joining them are original co-authors Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Pat Meehan (R-PA), Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) and Peter Defazio (D-OR).
The bipartisan King-Thompson legislation is identical to the bipartisan agreement on background checks struck by A-rated NRA Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Pat Toomey (R-PA).
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Assemblymember Mariko Yamada (D-Davis), Chair of the Assembly Aging and Long-Term Care Committee, has announced a joint oversight hearing with the Assembly Health Committee regarding the Department of Public Health's role in overseeing care for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable California residents.
The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 21, at 2 p.m. in Room 4202 of the State Capitol.
“Californians with complex and chronic conditions requiring 24-hour care are generally less able to speak for themselves and must reasonably rely on the State to protect them,” said Yamada. “Recent media reports of the California Department of Public Health dismissing thousands of pending cases of abuse, theft, and other misconduct is alarming.”
Allegations of lost consumer complaints, cursory investigations, and a backlog of suspected violence and misconduct cases in the Department of Public Health's Licensing and Certification program were most recently reported last fall.
This hearing will examine procedures for timely and effective complaint investigations, the current criteria for ensuring that the Department of Public Health has sufficient capacity to perform effective oversight, and the department’s management of its network of district offices.
Panelists include the Department of Public Health (DPH), resident advocates, industry representatives, and consumers.
Discussion will focus on the current consumer complaints processing system and the legislative and budget solutions to address investigations involving licensed long-term care facilities and their employees.
For more information, contact the Aging and Long-Term Care Committee at 916-319-3990.
Yamada represents all or parts of Colusa, Lake, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The results of the 2014 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition are in and Lake County is bringing home gold, silver and bronze.
Seventeen Lake County wineries were recognized for their high quality wines, winning more than 100 medals including three prestigious Best of Class awards.
Clay Shannon and his team won Best of Class for Vigilance Winery & Vineyards 2012 Chardonnay and 2011 Cimarron and Shannon Ridge 2012 Sauvignon Blanc.
In addition, numerous Lake County designate wines from other regions that were made with grapes grown in Lake County won awards.
A full listing of this year’s winners can be viewed at http://winejudging.com .
“People who try our wines recognize the quality and outstanding value that Lake County wines offer,” said Lake County Winery Association Director Terry Dereniuk said. “The results of this competition continue to demonstrate our quality and the recognition that Lake County is getting from wine industry professionals and as a wine region. Congratulations to all of our wineries who were recognized with awards in the 2014 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.”
The SF Chronicle wine competition is the largest competition of American wines. There were 5,825 entries from 1,500 wineries located in 25 states for the 2014 judging.
The judging panel was made up of 65 experienced judges from across the country representing all areas in the wine industry including experts in media, restaurant and hospitality, education, winemaking and retail outlets.
The public tasting event of this year’s award winning wines will be held at Fort Mason Center on Saturday, Feb. 15. Information about this event can be found at http://winejudging.com under “Public Tasting.”
LCWA works to promote the wines of Lake County’s high elevation region. Membership is open to wineries, winegrape growers, and individuals or businesses interested in promoting the Lake County wine industry.
For more information about upcoming events, sponsorship or membership opportunities, call 707-357-5237 or visit www.lakecountywineries.org .
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – A woman arrested last week for allegedly stealing $47,000 from the Middletown Youth Football League was in court on Tuesday for a bail hearing.
Following an extensive investigation, Lake County Sheriff's detectives arrested Carol Ann Outen, 38, at her Middletown home on Thursday, Jan. 9, for grand theft and fraudulent use of a check, as Lake County News has reported.
It's alleged that Outen took the funds from 2011 into early 2012 while she worked was the league's treasurer.
The sheriff's office received a report in May 2012 that Outen had failed to pay several league bills, spurring the investigation.
Outen was scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday to enter a plea in the case, which is being prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Rachel Abelson.
However, Outen's defense attorney, Stephen Carter, said plea entry was put over until Jan. 28.
“The prosecution had little of the discovery available to us and so we put it over so we could see the actual police reports involved in the case,” said Carter, noting there's a large amount of records that he needs to be able to review.
Instead, the Tuesday hearing turned to the matter of a PC 1275.1 hold that had been placed on Outen, who has remained in jail since her arrest last week. Her bail was set at $30,000.
Carter explained that such a hold prevents a person from potentially using feloniously obtained funds to pay for bail in order to be released from custody.
“We were able to show the prosecution the source of the funds,” said Carter, with both the defense and prosecution stipulating that Outen's bail was coming from a proper source.
As a result, Judge Andrew Blum agreed to release Outen's bail hold, which Carter said in effect meant she could post bail.
Outen, who Carter said has no criminal record, was released from custody later on Tuesday, according to jail custody records.
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