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MENDOCINO COUNTY, Calif. – The cause of death for a Redwood Valley man who died in an October house fire has been ruled accidental.
The body of Courtney James Collins, 66, was found in his home in the 3800 block of Radical Ridge Road on the evening of Oct. 3, as Lake County News has reported.
The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office reported that it was dispatched to the burned home for a coroner’s case after Cal Fire found the remains.
A Sonoma County forensic odontologist later assisted in identifying the human remains as Collins through the use of dental comparisons.
On Wednesday, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office concluded the coroner's investigation into Collins’ death.
After review of the Cal Fire investigation report and the forensic autopsy report the coroner’s office classified Collins’ death as being accidental with the cause of death being fourth-degree thermal burns.
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Foley Family Wines announced Wednesday that it has completed the purchase of Langtry Estate and Vineyards and is now the majority owner of the iconic Guenoc Valley producer.
“Langtry and Guenoc are important additions to our portfolio,” said Bill Foley. “They bring high quality, acclaimed wines which have a presence in important national and regional accounts.”
“We are thrilled to further develop our partnership with Foley Family Wines,” said Easton Manson, president of Langtry Farms. “The Foley Family Wines team has the skills necessary to be able to continue to build our winery and brands.”
Foley said the Langtry winery property, including the historic Langtry House – once home to the “Jersey Lily,” English actress Lillie Langtry – will be important assets within the Foley Food and Wine Society.
Foley Family Wines previously had entered into an agency agreement in August, so the Foley Family Wines sales force is currently selling both the Guenoc and Langtry brands into wholesale.
The company said it will now manage all aspects of the winery, including direct to consumer sales and hospitality, operations and production.
The Langtry Estate is steward to 23,000 acres within both Napa and Lake counties.
With the establishment of the Guenoc Valley AVA on Dec. 21, 1981, Langtry became the first winery in the nation with its own appellation.
Under the Langtry and Guenoc brands, the winery currently crafts approximately 150,000 cases annually.
The winery offers four tiers of wines: Langtry Single Vineyard Wines (limited, estate, single-vineyard, luxury), Guenoc Lake County Wines (premium, single-AVA), Guenoc North Coast Victorian Claret (Bordeaux blend) and Guenoc California Selection Wines (value, broad distribution).
The winery has enjoyed significant critical success for its wines.
The Guenoc Petite Sirah ranks in the Top 5 in US sales within its price segment. The Guenoc California Selection Sauvignon Blanc is in the top 10 in US sales in its price segment.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A transit worker strike that had been set to take place next week has been called off in order for the two sides to sit down for mediation.
Teamsters Local 665 had called the strike for Dec. 3-5 against Paratransit Services, the Bremerton, Wash.-based nonprofit that has held the contract for Lake Transit Authority since 2007. Thirty-five Lake County employees are represented by the union.
However, on Tuesday, Teamsters Local 665 President Ralph Miranda said the union and Paratransit were going back to the negotiations table.
“We are suspending the strike pending a meeting with the company, with the presence of a federal mediator, prior to our strike action,” Miranda told Lake County News.
Christie Scheffer, Paratransit Services’ executive vice president and chief operating officer, confirmed that late Tuesday afternoon they received word from Local 665 that it had suspended the strike action. She said they were trying to coordinate a meeting with federal mediation services on Dec. 5.
In an email sent to county officials Tuesday night, Lake Transit General Manager Mark Wall called the development “great news for all involved, but particularly for Lake Transit passengers and those workers who contribute everyday to their safe and affordable transportation.”
Paratransit said the strike would have been illegal – and therefore unprotected – and the union was taking part in regressive bargaining.
At the same time, the union is filing an unfair labor practice complaint against Paratransit Services for unilaterally implementing changes in the health care program prior to negotiations being completed.
Scheffer maintained the changes were not significant and that the union was given adequate notice by letter, in addition to the changes having been discussed in early October bargaining sessions.
Local 665 and Paratransit Services have been negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement contract opener on wages, health and welfare issues.
However, after negotiations broke down following the union’s second rejection earlier this month of Paratransit’s best and final offer, the union informed Paratransit on Nov. 19 that it would strike, Scheffer said.
Scheffer said the Paratransit Services’ best and final offer was for a 2.6 percent wage increase, an offer she said was “incredibly fair.” However, with the union rejecting the best and final offer, it reverted to a .75 percent wage increase.
The union and Paratransit Services offered slightly differing versions of what workers were seeking.
Miranda said the union was seeking the equivalent of 3.5 percent wage increase, based on the consumer price index, along with a reinstatement of wage step increases and a return to the previous health care plan. “Stop gutting our medical benefits that we cannot afford anyway,” he said.
Scheffer said the wage step increases represent an average 4-percent wage increase a year plus a 3.1 percent consumer price index.
According to Scheffer, since the 2007-08 contract the employees will have received 19.05 percent increase in wages while Paratransit Services has received 11.77 percent in contract rate increases.
Paratransit Services and its employees had last reached agreement on a contract in September 2010 following a threat of a strike, as Lake County News has reported.
Miranda explained that in the 2010 contract both sides agreed to reopen the contract every year to revisit wages, health and welfare issues, as they were doing this year.
He said he had confidence that a federal mediator would be able to assist the union and Paratransit Services in finding a workable resolution.
Federal mediators, he added, “don’t have the same emotions as the parties at the table.”
In a Tuesday memo to Wall, Scheffer wrote, “We care about our employees and their families and hope we can resolve these matters quickly and in a manner which honors our values of respect and integrity and preserves our professional relationships with our employees.”
However, as they don’t know how mediation with go, Scheffer said Paratransit Services is continuing to prepare for the possibility of a strike, which includes running temporary recruitment ads, preparing to contact riders, providing information to employees and making a backup service plan.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Police arrested a Clearlake woman last week after she allegedly assaulted her roommate and her roommate’s children during a nighttime confrontation.
Monique Rushele Bird, 35, was arrested on Monday, Nov. 19, for burglary, terrorist threats and child endangerment, according to a Clearlake Police Department report.
The agency reported that its officers were dispatched to a residence in the 3900 block of Manchester Ave. just before 9:30 p.m. for a report of an intoxicated female causing a disturbance.
When officers arrived on scene they contacted 32-year-old Rebecca Bruster of Clearlake, who reported that her roommate, Bird, had assaulted her at their residence during a verbal argument, according to police.
Police said Bruster told officers that during the incident Bird had a 5-inch butcher knife in her hand while threatening her life.
Bruster said her two children were with her while Bird was threatening her and, at one point, assaulted them as well, police reported.
Bruster told police she fled the residence in fear with her two children and ran to a friend’s residence, which also is located on Manchester Avenue, according to the police report.
Police said Bird followed shortly after and contacted the tenant who would not allow her into the residence and locked the front door.
Bird then physically forced open the door, causing damage to the door frame, and enter the residence, where she continued to threaten Bruster’s life. Police said Bird struck the locked door to the bedroom where Bruster and her children were hiding.
Bird subsequently was arrested, police said.
Bird was booked into the Lake County Jail with bail set at $50,000. She remained in custody on Wednesday morning.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to call Officer Thompson at the Clearlake Police Department, 707-994-8251.
MENDOCINO COUNTY, Calif. – A Lake County man was arrested on drugs and weapons charges last week by Mendocino County officials.
Matthew Alan Labrash, 38, of Lakeport, was taken into custody following a vehicle stop on the evening of Friday, Nov. 23, according to Lt. Greg Van Patten of the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office.
Shortly before 8:45 p.m. Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies pulled Labrash over for an expired registration in the 100 block of Washington Avenue in Ukiah, Van Patten said.
When deputies contacted Labrash, Van Patten said they smelled the odor of marijuana inside the vehicle and discovered Labrash was on formal probation out of Sonoma County for possessing marijuana for sales.
Deputies searched the interior of the vehicle and located a methamphetamine pipe and approximately 2.5 pounds of processed marijuana, as well as drug packaging paraphernalia associated with the transportation and sale of marijuana, Van Patten said.
Van Patten said they located a metal pipe prepared as a billy club-type weapon and also found a spring operated folding knife on Labrash's person.
Labrash was arrested on felony charges of transportation and sale of marijuana, possession of a billy club and a probation violation, and misdemeanors of driving while unlicensed and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to his booking sheet.
Van Patten said Labrash was booked into the Mendocino County Jail without bail due to his probation status.
NICE, Calif. – One person was flown to a regional trauma center Tuesday afternoon following a two-vehicle collision on Highway 20 in Nice.
Firefighters were dispatched to the t-bone crash, which was reported to have taken place in front of 2580 E. Highway 20 near Hammond Avenue just before 4 p.m.
It involved a white four-door sedan and a white van, according to radio reports and the California Highway Patrol.
The eastbound lane of Highway 20 was blocked as firefighters worked to extricate one of the crash victims.
One person was reported to have suffered major to moderate injuries, and firefighters on scene requested an air ambulance.
REACH 6 responded to a landing zone near Sentry Market to pick up the patient, lifting off just before 4:30 p.m., reports from the scene indicated.
Northshore Fire Chief Jay Beristianos said one patient was transported by ground ambulance to Sutter Lakeside Hospital, while REACH 6 took the more seriously injured patient to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.
The CHP reported that both vehicles were to be towed.
Email Elizabeth Larson at