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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Glenn County officials have made two significant cocaine busts this month, both involving vehicles traveling along Interstate 5.
The cash value of the two busts totals about $3.9 million, according to Glenn Interagency Narcotics Task Force officials.
The two cases began with traffic stops, one on Aug. 1 and the second on Aug. 10.
In the first case, GLINTF in conjunction with the California Highway Patrol conducted an enforcement stop on a vehicle heading northbound on I-5 north of Orland for vehicle violations.
Agents searched the vehicle, located 30 kilograms of cocaine with an approximate street value of $3 million and arrested the driver, 27-year-old Los Angeles resident Andres Guzman, officials reported.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, which assisted in the investigation, subsequently took Guzman into custody on federal charges, placing him on a no bail hold, according to GLINTF.
In the second case on Aug. 10, the CHP stopped a vehicle traveling northbound on Interstate 5 north of Willows for vehicle violations, officials said.
CHP officers located a hidden compartment with a suspected controlled substance inside and requested GLINTF's assistance to continue the investigation.
When agents searched the vehicle they located 9 kilograms of cocaine in a hidden compartment with an approximate street value of $900,000, GLINTF reported.
The driver, Isidro Martinez-Olmos, 25, of Portland, Ore., and passenger Jose Hernandez-Ruiz, 36, of Vancouver, Wash., were both arrested and booked into the Glenn County Jail on charges of possession of a controlled substance for sale, transportation of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and having a false compartment.
Glenn County officials said bail for both Martinez-Olmos and Hernandez-Ruiz initially was set at $3,010,000, with no-bail immigration holds added.
Officials said the investigations are ongoing.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – County officials are continuing to investigate the case of a dog that was euthanized after it went swimming in Clear Lake and became ill.
The dog fell ill the day after swimming in an area thick with tules and with evidence of a blue-green algal bloom in the Konocti Bay area, according to a county report.
The dog later was euthanized, officials said.
After the dog's veterinarian notified the county of the case, Lake County Public Health and Lake County Water Resources arranged for special testing of clinical and water samples at the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory in Davis, according to the Wednesday report.
County health officials said test results of a single water sample obtained in the Konocti Bay area showed elevated levels of microcystins – toxins associated with certain types of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae).
These unusually elevated results may prove to be transient or highly localized, but Lake County officials said they are aggressively investigating a potential link to the recent severe illness in a dog.
The World Health Organization (WHO) adopts guidelines for risks of health effects from recreational exposure.
The county said the first round of tests conducted show elevated levels which fall within the WHO range for a high risk of adverse health effects.
While the test taken was a pin point sample in a large water body, the health risk associated with these high levels should be taken seriously, the county said.
Repeat testing will be done to confirm the consistency of the single sample result from Konocti Bay. Tests of clinical samples to more directly determine the cause of illness in the dog for algal toxins and amanitin – a type of mushroom toxin – are pending, officials said.
To date, the single elevated measurement is a rare occurrence, according to the county. Additional study and coordination with the scientific community is needed to more clearly define all aspects of risk associated with blue-green algae.
This case of dog illness and the associated elevation of cyanotoxins in a water sample is cause for renewed emphasis on precautions to take, according to health officials.
Measurements of cyanotoxins in Clear Lake over the past several years have been much lower, often so low as to be undetectable. However, officials recognize that there are factors that are not well understood that may prompt higher toxin production under certain circumstances that cannot always be predicted.
If a link between the recent dog death and cyanotoxins is ultimately demonstrated, it would be the first such laboratory documented case in Lake County, the report stated.
Although the continuing investigation has not proven a connection between the dog’s illness and cyanobacteria, local officials are urging the public to be aware of potential risks and take appropriate steps to stay safe. Dogs are more likely than people to ingest water while swimming and may have even greater exposure if retrieving toys that are submerged in affected water.
Those steps include:
- Avoiding contact with water in lakes, ponds and streams where there are visible signs of algal blooms, including surface foam, scum, or a pea soup appearance, particularly in quiet, protected areas where there is little current or wave action.
- If humans or pets make any direct contact with water showing signs of blue-green algae, skin and pets should be washed with fresh water. Pets should not be allowed to lick their coats clean of the algae.
- Never drink untreated lake or other surface water. Boiling water does not guarantee that it is safe to drink.
Public access areas of Clear Lake that show signs of blue-green algal accumulations are posted with health advisories intended to help residents and visitors make informed decisions. Even if an area is not posted, the public is urged to use caution if they can see signs of algal growth.
Lakefront property owners are encouraged to be familiar with health recommendations and to take precautions for themselves and their guests as appropriate.
Assistance with signage is available from Lake County Environmental Health, 707-263-1164.
For more information visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Environmental_Health/Blue-Green_Algae.htm or
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/healthinfo/environhealth/water/pages/bluegreenalgae.aspx .
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – It's been two weeks since Lake Transit workers went out on an indefinite strike, and so far the workers' union and the employer are showing no signs of coming to an agreement that might end the walkout.
Teamsters Local 665, which represents nearly three dozen Lake Transit Authority employees, announced the strike at the end of July, as Lake County News has reported.
The union and Paratransit Services, the Washington-based nonprofit that for six years has held the operating contract for Lake Transit, have deadlocked in negotiations for a new three-year contract.
Paratransit Services offered the workers a 2.2-percent wage increase, which the union's membership rejected before going out on strike.
Ralph Miranda, president of Teamsters Local 665, said the real hangup is the union's desire to have step increases – common in transit contracts elsewhere – restored for Lake Transit workers.
“They are not receptive to putting the steps back into the contract,” Miranda said of Paratransit Services.
Since the strike was called, negotiations have broken down. Before the strike there already was a scheduled meeting on Sept. 5 to discuss health care issues, but no new bargaining sessions have been scheduled, according to Miranda and Christie Scheffer, Paratransit Services' chief operating officer and executive vice president.
Miranda, in a letter to Paratransit Services announcing the strike late last month, informed the nonprofit that the union remained prepared to resume negotiations at any point.
Scheffer, however, told Lake County News that Paratransit Services has not been asked by the Teamsters or the federal mediator was become involved in negotiations to resume talks. She said Paratransit Services representatives spoke to the federal mediator several times last week.
Also last week, Lake Transit Authority announced that it was rolling out a plan Paratransit Services developed for restoring the transit services that have been curtailed since the strike began.
Some additional bus routes will be restored beginning this Friday, with additional services to resume later this month and all services expected to be available again after the beginning of September.
In order to fulfill the plan, Paratransit Services is moving forward with hiring permanent replacements and training them, Scheffer said.
“We are absolutely on track for service restoration. Training is going very well,” said Scheffer.
Miranda, however, calls the plans to restore service before the strike is over “impossible.”
He alleged that the newly hired drivers are not receiving proper training and that some of the new hires, as well as current workers, are quitting.
Miranda alleged that Paratransit Services is not seeking out the best individuals. “The focus is in filling a seat with a body.”
He said the union has filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board accusing Paratransit Services of violating the law by forcing new hires to resign from the union before they can go to work.
He said Paratransit Services' tactics have the appearance of union busting.
Scheffer, in turn, alleged that the union has used loud music, bullhorns, sirens and other tactics to harass drivers and the public. She said a semi truck with large speakers was being used for that purpose last week.
Miranda acknowledged that the semi was being used by the union during its strike and that when law enforcement was called they agreed to turn down the sound.
California Highway Patrol Officer Kory Reynolds said CHP officers have been called out several times regarding reports of traffic problems, specifically striking workers walking in the roadway. However he said they've not found anyone to be in violation.
The CHP also has fielded numerous calls and investigated allegations that Lake Transit has put in place unqualified drivers, Reynolds said.
“No complaints have been validated,” he said. “It's all unfounded.”
The union hosted two community meetings, one on Monday evening and one on Tuesday evening – in Lucerne and Lakeport, respectively – in an effort to speak with the community about the strike. Miranda said they had less than half a dozen community members attending each of the events.
“There is definitely community interest in getting the dispute resolved. That seems to be the key question, how are we going to fix things, how are we going to get our transit system back on track?” said Miranda
He said union members are planning to be out in force at the Wednesday morning Lake Transit Authority Board meeting, which will be held beginning at 9 a.m. at the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
Miranda has asked the board to consider restoring transit services with “qualified, experienced, certified, competent employees.”
He said the union is concerned that the Lake Transit Board is not informed, accusing them of making no efforts to call on the union and discuss the strike with them.
“We'll check our assumptions tomorrow,” Miranda said Tuesday evening.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Four local teenagers were arrested after they stole a pickup in the south county and later stole a second vehicle in Fairfield, leading police on a foot chase afterward.
Police officers arrested the four male juveniles – ranging in age from 13 to 16 – late last month after they burglarized an auto dealership and stole a vehicle, according to Lt. Greg Hurlbut of the Fairfield Police Department.
The suspects – whose names were not released because of their age – were identified as two juveniles from Hidden Valley Lake and two juveniles from Middletown, police said.
The vehicle stolen in Fairfield actually was the second taken by the boys, who also allegedly were in possession of three handguns, police reported.
According to a Fairfield Police report on the case, at 4 a.m. July 23 officers responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle and persons on foot near the rear of car dealerships in the 2500 block of Auto Mall Parkway.
Privately monitored video surveillance could see four males walking around the rear area of the dealerships, and police said two vehicles were associated with the males.
As officers arrived and began establishing a perimeter around the area, the four teen suspects drove away from one dealership in a brand new stolen Dodge Avenger, according to the report.
As police attempted to follow that stolen car, the suspects pulled into nearby Raleigh Court and began running into residential backyards, police said.
“We used a helicopter and K9 to locate them,” Hurlbut said.
Police established a perimeter around the neighborhood and a California Highway Patrol aircraft responded, quickly locating the four suspects hiding in different yards, according to the Fairfield Police Department.
Under the direction of the air support unit, a team of officers including K9 “Jack” searched the backyards for the suspects, locating and arresting all four. Jack apprehended three of the suspects.
Police said all four suspects sustained minor cuts and abrasions as a result of their flight on foot in the dark.
The investigation revealed the suspects – all runaways – traveled to Fairfield in a Dodge truck stolen from Lake County, police said.
Officer Kory Reynolds of the CHP's Clear Lake Area office told Lake County News that the 2003 Dodge Dakota pickup was reported stolen on July 21 from Hidden Valley Lake.
Fairfield Police said the teens smashed windows at two car dealerships and stole sodas and car keys.
They allegedly used the keys to identify and steal a new Dodge Avenger sedan which they subsequently abandoned when they saw police, according to the report.
Also located in the stolen pickup they drove to Fairfield were three .38 caliber revolvers. Hurlbut said police believe the guns were stolen.
The four juveniles were booked into juvenile hall on charges of auto theft, burglary and possession of stolen property, police said.
Hurlbut said Tuesday that the teens already have entered guilty pleas in the case.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – A barbecue was the source of a Tuesday evening fire that damaged a Kelseyville home.
The fire was first reported shortly before 7 p.m. in a modular home at 6160 Live Oak Drive.
Callers to Lake County Central Dispatch reported seeing flames and hearing explosions. The first fire units on scene found heavy black smoke coming from under the home's eaves and flames from two sides of the structure, according to radio traffic.
Kelseyville Fire Chief Mike Stone said the home's residents had started a barbecue in the backyard.
He said a woman who lives in the home smelled smoke, went out to the backyard and found the barbecue was putting off flames that were going up the side of the house.
All three of the home's residents – as well as their pets – were able to safely get out of the home, Stone said. No firefighters were injured.
It took about 20 to 30 minutes to control the fire, Stone said. “It was a pretty quick knockdown.”
Overhaul of the home took longer, as firefighters had to pull the ceiling out of about a third of the house. “It got into the attic space,” Stone said.
Stone said Lakeport Fire sent an engine, Cal Fire sent two engines and Kelseyville Fire had three engines and a squad at the incident, with Stone and Battalion Chief Joe Huggins also on scene.
He estimated the home was about 1,200 square feet and about 30 percent of that was damaged by the fire. Stone did not have a dollar estimate on the damage the fire did to the home.
The residents will be temporarily displaced, he said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Lake County Sheriff's officials are asking for the community's help in identifying the suspect in a weekend armed robbery attempt in Lower Lake.
Lt. Steve Brooks said deputies were dispatched to a robbery in progress at the KFC/Long John Silver's restaurant, located at 9750 Highway 53, at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 10.
Brooks said a restaurant employee called 911 reporting an unknown male suspect had entered the business brandishing a weapon.
The suspect contacted an employee in the kitchen area and demanded money. The employee refused to give the suspect any money and informed him that he was calling 911, Brooks said.
The suspect then fled the business and ran around the east side of the business. Brooks said the suspect got into a vehicle, possibly a dark blue or black older Ford Explorer and left in an unknown direction.
Brooks said the suspect was described as being a white male adult, approximately 5 feet 8 inches tall, with a thin build.
He was wearing a black bulky coat, Yankees baseball cap, shorts and tennis shoes. The employee was unable to provide any additional information concerning the suspect, Brooks said.
Deputies obtained a description of both the suspect and vehicle, Brooks said. They conducted an extensive search of the area but failed to locate the man or the Explorer.
Brooks said the investigation is ongoing and anyone who may have information regarding this case or the identity of the suspect is encouraged to contact the Lake County Sheriff’s Office at 707-263-2690.
