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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A routine license plate check conducted by a Lake County Sheriff’s patrol deputy has resulted in one arrest and the seizure of methamphetamine.
Genevieve Eileen Buendia, 38, of Clearlake was arrested following a subsequent vehicle stop, according to Lt. Steve Brooks.
Just before 11 p.m. Monday, a deputy noticed a vehicle traveling in front of him which exhibited an expired registration tab, Brooks said. Lake County Central Dispatch advised that the vehicle's registration had been expired since July 2008.
The occupants of the vehicle were able to park and exit the vehicle prior to the deputy conducting an enforcement stop, according to Brooks.
He said the deputy contacted Buendia, who explained she had just purchased the vehicle earlier in the evening. However, she was unable provide the deputy with the name of the person who had just sold her the vehicle.
Buendia provided the deputy with consent to search the interior of the vehicle, where he located 10 empty bindles/baggies commonly used in the packaging of methamphetamine, according to Brooks.
The deputy searched a cigarette pack belonging to Buendia and located a plastic bindle containing methamphetamine, Brooks said. The bindle was similar to the others located inside the vehicle.
Brooks said Buendia was arrested for possession of a controlled substance and transported to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility for booking.
During the booking process at the jail, correctional officers discovered Buendia was in possession of two additional bindles containing methamphetamine, Brooks said. Both of the additional bindles were of the same type as the empty bindles located in the vehicle.
Buendia was also charged with possession of a controlled substance for sale, transportation of a controlled substance and bringing a controlled substance in a jail, Brooks said.
The Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force can be reached through its anonymous tip line at 707-263-3663.
NORTH COAST, Calif. – The family of a Bay Area man who went missing late last month in the Mendocino National Forest is seeking the community's help in the effort to locate him.
Gene Penaflor, 72, was last seen at around 8 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24, in the Spruce Grove area, located north of Lake Pillsbury and Hull Mountain on the Mendocino County side of the forest.
Family members said Penaflor had gone deer hunting in the area, where he's been hunting for the last seven years, when he failed to meet his hunting partner for lunch.
Penaflor disappeared without a trace, and his hunting partner never heard the help signal they had established – three quick successive shots, according to family members.
Family said Penaflor was in good health and had no medical conditions.
A search and rescue effort involving nearly a dozen counties from around the region took place over four days, officials reported.
The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue Team led the effort, and was assisted by search and rescue teams and law enforcement from Lake, Solano, Glenn, Tehama, Marin, Contra Costa, Napa, San Mateo, Sonoma and Siskiyou counties, along with the Bay Area Mountain Rescue group.
A California Highway Patrol helicopter and search dogs and handlers with the California Rescue Dog Association also were employed in the effort, which was suspended due to weather concerns on Sunday, Sept. 29, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office reported.
By the time the search ended, there were no leads and no signs of Penaflor, whose son Jeremy described him as an avid hunter who has survival skills and is extremely knowledgeable about the wilderness.
Penaflor, who is Filipino, is described as having black hair and brown eyes, is 5 feet 2 inches tall, and weighs 133 pounds.
When he was last seen, he was wearing a camouflage jacket, jeans and a knit hat carrying a deer rifle, Mendocino County Sheriff's officials reported.
Anyone with information about Gene Penaflor should contact the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Department at 707-463-4411, or his son Jeremy Penaflor at 415-533-0000.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – A group of unhappy parents told the Upper Lake High School District Board on Wednesday night that they wanted bus service to be restored to areas that had been cut at the end of September.
As of Sept. 30, school bus route one – which serves both the elementary and high school districts – now only goes to Blue Lakes, where previously its coverage area also had included Elk Mountain Road, Witter Springs, Bachelor Valley, Rancheria Road, Pitney Lane, Clover Drive and White Rock Canyon and Blue Lakes, as Lake County News has reported.
While the loop through Bachelor Valley and other areas was cut, district officials said parents can take their children to Blue Lakes for pickup as an alternative.
However, a number of parents said the plan wasn't sufficient.
Parent Kevin Gross spoke to the board in an item agendized for a discussion but no action at the Wednesday evening meeting.
About 30 people attended, which Board member Claudine Pedroncelli would not later in the evening was a “very unusual” turnout for a typical board meeting.
Gross, whose 9-year-old son now is no longer picked up in the mornings or dropped off at his daycare, asked why parents weren't notified ahead of the action, which district officials said took effect.
Parent Tori Minton said she has three children who attend Upper Lake schools, and without the busing services she has to make three full round trips each day to drop them off and pick them up.
“I feel that it's a very big inconvenience, and we pay school taxes,” she said.
Other parents faulted the district for an “unacceptable” decision that they said left children walking home in areas like Rancheria Road, where there are no sidewalks or stop signs.
Upper Lake High School Superintendent/Principal Patrick Iaccino explained that the bus service cuts were necessary.
“We knew it was going to affect some people,” he said, adding that the goal was to keep the impacts to a minimum.
“Every one of these students matter to me,” he said. “Yes, we make decisions that affect students and there is no way around that.”
District officials explained at the Wednesday night meeting that the decision to scale back the busing services on route one was accepted by both the elementary and high school districts.
Iaccino and Valerie Gardner, the elementary superintendent, along with the districts' business managers and senior bus driver sat down with Don Boyd, Upper Lake High School District's assistant superintendent of student services, to discuss ways to reconfigure the route in September, based on ridership numbers from the first four weeks of school.
The Upper Lake High School District provides transportation services not just to its own students but to those in the elementary district, which owns two buses.
Parents questioned why they weren't involved in that decision. Iaccino replied that it was the kind of administrative decision he makes on a daily basis.
Two couples got up and left, saying that bringing their concerns to the board was a waste of time.
When one parent suggested the decision to change the bus services had been hastily made, Board member Valerie Duncan countered that the decision wasn't a quick one, with the district looking at busing for more than a year.
The proposal to reconfigure route one had come from Boyd, whose duties include the complicated business of the district's transportation services.
“I didn't make it personal, I didn't make it about families, I didn't make it about income,” said Boyd.
Instead, he had tried to come up with the best solution possible at the request of the superintendents of the high school and elementary school districts.
Iaccino said the decision has been a difficult one, with the district having lost a lot of funding and, with it, teaching jobs in recent years.
Minton asked the board if the decision was set in stone. “Yes” was the response.
Boyd explained the challenges with busing services at different times of the day.
In the morning, the buses essentially run two routes to pick everyone up, he said. In the afternoon, ridership is less due to children going to the after school program or taking part in sports.
However, he said the schools also get out at different times, and the buses often fill up at the elementary school, requiring them to run a route before going back to pick up middle school and high school students.
“The morning is not the biggest issue,” Boyd said.
He told parents that there is far more involved than they can imagine in the process of transporting their children to and from school.
Boyd said the decision was not made to hurt families or cause them inconvenience.
He said he has taken a lot of heat for the decision, which wasn't his to make. Rather, he had made the recommendation.
“You can throw me under the bus,” he said.
He also pointed out that this is the first year that the elementary district is doing full-day kindergarten, which has brought 60 new children into the mix. While he couldn't say if all of those children were riding the bus, it had an impact on services.
Ron Raetz, a member of the Upper Lake Union Elementary School District Board – who attended with fellow elementary board colleagues Joanne Breton and Marilyn Pivniska – accused the high school board of putting them in a bad position.
At one point an angry Raetz was gaveled during the meeting as he and Boyd went back and forth.
“Those buses have been going out there forever,” Raetz said. “We still need to get kids to school.”
Raetz said the elementary school board district should have been told of the decision.
Iaccino replied by suggesting that their superintendent, Gardner, should have shared the information with them.
Raetz asked if they were blaming his superintendent.
Boyd said it was Gardner who had asked for the changes. “As usual, Mr. Raetz, you got your facts wrong.”
Board member Rich Swaney said he and his colleagues were given the information about the decision but neither board voted on it. He said he believed the community members would come together and come up with a solution.
“Get me a bus and I'll drive it,” Minton said from the audience.
Later, long after the bus discussion ended and as the meeting was drawing to a close, board members reflected on the matter, regretting that it was causing any impact on families but maintaining the necessity.
Pedroncelli emphasized, “Creativity is a must,” and suggested carpools and other solutions could be used.
Swaney suggested that if the district's finances improve, they could add back services, including the scaled back bus routes.
However, he was concerned about the accusations that had been made against the district, pointing out that none of the concerned parents had taken with them any of the information provided by the district regarding ridership, which had been the basis for the action.
They agreed it was a tough decision, with Iaccino adding that making such decisions and dealing with any response is what he gets paid to do.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Meals On Wheels was the beneficiary of a recent dinner and dance fundraiser at Highlands Senior Service Center in Clearlake.
More than 200 guests contributed to raise $5,556.13 for the program through ticket sales and silent auction and raffle proceeds for the “Rockin' to the '50s” event, held Saturday, Sept. 21.
Meals On Wheels serves more than 100 homebound seniors in the Clearlake area Monday through Friday, also offering frozen meals for weekends and holidays. More than 40,000 meals are delivered annually, according to Highlands Senior Service Center Executive Director Linda Burton.
The community's support for the program is especially important because of a 20-percent federal funding cut, Burton said.
Volunteers for the program are always needed.
For more information call the Highlands Senior Service Center at 707-994-3051.
Email Denise Rockenstein at
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – A Kelseyville man who last Thursday allegedly led deputies on a high speed chase was arrested the following day and found to be in possession of 90 pounds of marijuana as well as ammunition.
Masud Michael Sekander, 29, was arrested for evading a peace officer, cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale and a felon in possession of ammunition, according to Lt. Steve Brooks of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
On the evening of Thursday, Oct. 3, a black Mercedes sedan traveling at speeds estimated to be more than 100 miles per hour passed two Lake County Sheriff’s detectives and a deputy sheriff and was pursued for approximately eight miles, Brooks said.
The pursuit started when the Mercedes sedan passed one of the detectives at Highway 53 and Dam Road in Clearlake. Brooks said the detective, who was driving an unmarked sheriff's detective vehicle, turned on his vehicle’s emergency lights and attempted to stop the speeding vehicle, but could not get it to stop and could not close the distance on it.
The speeding vehicle, at that point estimated to be driving more than 110 miles per hour, passed another detective in an unmarked sheriff's vehicle near Highway 29 and Highway 53 in Lower Lake, Brooks said.
Brooks said that detective turned on his vehicle’s emergency lights and attempted to stop the Mercedes sedan, but he was unable to close the distance.
The Mercedes passed a deputy sheriff driving a marked sheriff's patrol vehicle at more than 100 miles per hour. The deputy, with his emergency lights and siren activated, pursued the Mercedes sedan for approximately six miles, but lost sight of it on Point Lakeview Road and Konocti Vista Drive in Kelseyville, Brooks said.
A thorough search for the Mercedes was conducted, but the deputy and detectives were unable to locate it, according to Brooks.
On the afternoon of Friday, Oct. 4, a deputy received information that someone on Wheeler Drive in Kelseyville, had possibly been involved in a high speed pursuit with law enforcement the previous night, Brooks said.
He said the deputy made contact with Sekander at the residence. As the deputy spoke with Sekander, the deputy detected a very strong odor of marijuana emanating from within the residence.
Brooks said the deputy requested a sheriff's narcotic detectives respond to the scene. Narcotic detectives authored and served a search warrant at the residence and located approximately 86 pounds of unprocessed marijuana and three pounds of processed marijuana inside the house.
The black Mercedes sedan that was pursued the previous night was located in the garage. Handgun ammunition was found inside the Mercedes, Brooks said.
Sekander admitted to being the driver of the Mercedes during the pursuit. Brooks said Sekander was arrested and transported to the Hill Road Correctional Facility, where he was booked.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A Lakeport man was arrested on Wednesday after he was discovered to have a cache of weapons at his residence during a marijuana compliance check.
Nathaniel Fulton Hendrickson, 41, was placed under arrest for possession of a firearm and ammunition, which he is prohibited from possessing because he's a convicted felon, according to Lt. Jason Ferguson.
At 11 a.m. Wednesday Lakeport Police Officer Angie Bell responded to a residence in the 300 block of Crawford Street to conduct a marijuana compliance check where marijuana plants could be seen in the backyard, Ferguson said.
Bell located Hendrickson at the residence, and he admitted to having the marijuana garden, according to Ferguson.
During a walk through the garden Officer Bell inquired as to whether or not Hendrickson had any weapons in the residence. Ferguson said Hendrickson told Bell his father had a shotgun inside the home.
Bell asked Hendrickson if he was a convicted felon and he stated that he was. A records check on Hendrickson confirmed that he is a convicted felon. As a result, he's prohibited from possessing, being in custody of or control of any firearm, as well as possessing any type of ammunition, Ferguson said.
Ferguson said Officer Bell obtained consent from Hendrickson to enter the residence and, once inside, she obtained consent from Hendrickson's father, with whom he lives, to check for weapons.
Located inside the north bedroom was a loaded .357 magnum pistol, .22 caliber pistol, 12 gauge shotgun and three loaded .22 caliber rifles, along with numerous rounds of various caliber ammunition, Ferguson said.
Located in the south bedroom, which Hendrickson claimed was his, was a loaded 12 gauge shotgun and two nylon lanyards containing a total of 46 rounds of 12 gauge ammunition, according to Ferguson.
Based on Hendrickson being a convicted felon, he was placed under arrest for possession of a firearm and ammunition. He was transported to the Hill Road Jail where bail was set at $15,000, Ferguson said.
