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Beginning in late November, businesses, Library Park and even schools have been damaged by graffiti or other vandalism, as Lake County News has reported.
In one case late last month, police reported that several windows at Terrace Middle School were shot out by a BB or pellet gun.
With the arrival of the new year, the focus appears to be switching from buildings to vehicles.
From Sunday through Tuesday the Lakeport Police Department took five reports involving vehicles that had been vandalized during nighttime hours, according to Sgt. Kevin Odom.
At this point the new cases do not appear to be related to previous instances of graffiti, “But we’re still investigating,” Odom said.
In the recent cases, Odom said the vandals primarily are using a large ink pen to write on cars in different locations around the city.
All of the earlier cases remain under investigation, Odom said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
Jose G. Madrid, 45, was the man found unresponsive just after 1 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 31, by Mendocino County Sheriff’s deputies dispatched to the scene of a physical fight, according to Capt. Kurt Smallcomb of the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office.
Glenn Hughes, 52, of Fort Bragg, allegedly was found standing over Hughes’ body. Eyewitnesses told deputies that they saw Hughes beating Madrid.
Hughes was arrested and booked into the Mendocino County Jail for murder, the sheriff’s office reported.
An autopsy on Madrid was scheduled for Monday, Smallcomb said. No results were announced.
Anyone who may have information in regards to this incident is urged to call Det. Dustin Lorenzo at 707-961-2692.
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Manual and electronic readings on Tuesday record the snowpack’s statewide water content at 19 percent of the Jan. 3 average. That is only 7 percent of the average April 1 measurement, when the snowpack is normally at its peak before the spring melt, according to the California Department of Water Resources.
Despite the dry conditions, water managers remain cautiously optimistic about this year’s water supply.
“Fortunately, we have most of winter ahead of us, and our reservoir storage is good,” said Department of Water Resources Director Mark Cowin.
Electronic readings indicate that water content in the northern mountains is 21 percent of normal for the date and 8 percent of the April 1 seasonal average; 13 percent of normal for the date and 5 percent of the April 1 average for the central Sierra; and the southern Sierra’s results are 26 percent of average for the date and 9 percent of the April 1 average.
Statewide, the snowpack water content is 19 percent of normal for today’s date and 7 percent of April 1, the agency reported.
The Department of Water Resources cooperating agencies conduct manual snow surveys around the first of the month from January to May. The manual surveys supplement and check the accuracy of real-time electronic readings from sensors up and down the state.
The agency’s initial estimate is that the State Water Project (SWP) will be able to deliver 60 percent of the slightly more than 4 million acre-feet of water requested by the 29 public agencies that supply more than 25 million Californians and nearly a million acres of irrigated farmland.
The 60 percent delivery estimate is largely based on the known quantify of carryover reservoir storage. Unknown is how much snow and rain the state will get the rest of this winter, the state said.
Calendar year 2011 illustrates how weather-driven water supply conditions can dramatically change. The initial 2011 estimate was that the SWP would be able to deliver 25 percent of the slightly more than 4 million acre-feet requested. As winter took hold and storms swept the state, a near-record snowpack and heavy rains resulted in deliveries of 80 percent of requests in 2011. The final allocation was 50 percent in 2010, 40 percent in 2009, 35 percent in 2008, and 60 percent in 2007.
The last 100 percent allocation – difficult to achieve even in wet years because of Delta pumping restrictions to protect threatened and endangered fish – was in 2006, officials reported.
Lake Oroville in Butte County, the SWP’s principal storage reservoir with a capacity of 3.5 million acre-feet, is still 72 percent full thanks to last winter’s heavy storms. That is 114 percent of average for the date.
Lake Shasta north of Redding, the federal Central Valley Project’s (CVP) largest reservoir with a capacity of 4.5 million acre-feet, is 68 percent full (106 percent of average).
San Luis Reservoir in Merced County, an important reservoir south of the Delta, is 95 percent full (137 percent of average for the date). San Luis, with a capacity of 2, 027,840 acre-feet, is an important source of water for both the SWP and the CVP when pumping from the Delta is restricted or interrupted.
An acre-foot is 325,851 gallons, enough to cover one acre to a depth of one foot.
Mountain snow that melts into reservoirs, streams and aquifers in the spring and summer provides approximately one-third of the water for California’s households, farms and industries.
Statewide snowpack water content readings are available at http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/snow/DLYSWEQ.
Electronic reservoir level readings may be found at http://cdec4gov.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/resapp/getResGraphsMain.action.
Historic readings from snowpack sensors are posted at these sites:
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/rpts1/DLYSWEQ
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/rpts_archived1/DLYSWEQ
Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .
LUCERNE, Calif. – The cause of an early Monday afternoon semi crash on Highway 20 in Lucerne that led to traffic detours and power outages is still under investigation.
Driver William Soito III, 56, of Sacramento was traveling to Eureka, driving westbound in a 2002 Sterling semi pulling a trailerload of corrugated steel, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The CHP report from Officer Kevin Domby said Soito entered a lefthand curve near Sixth Avenue and the trailer overturned to the right, resulting in the load of steel hitting the power pole and street sign at the intersection of Seventh Avenue and Highway 20.
The truck tractor and trailer both came to rest on their right sides, facing west, and partially blocking Highway 20’s westbound lane, Domby said.
Domby said the crash’s cause remains under investigation.
The crash resulted in major damage to the power pole, which Domby said led to an extended power outage in the immediate area.
Northshore Fire treated Soito at the scene for a minor cut to the top of his head, Domby reported.
Domby said Northshore Fire Protection District responded to the scene and set up a traffic detour with the assistance of a passing California Fish and Game warden.
Power in some areas was restored following the initial outage, although at about 1:15 p.m. Pacific Gas & Electric took the power offline from Seventh Avenue east to Bell Ray Avenue for several hours while the damaged pole was replaced by a PG&E crew from Ukiah. An AT&T crew also was on scene.
Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol were on scene throughout the day to assist with traffic control, due to a long-term closure of Highway 20. They kept traffic moving by routing vehicles around the crash site, moving them down Country Club Drive and back to the highway.
Northshore Fire Protection District personnel also were present throughout the day to help with managing the incident.
Deputy Chief Pat Brown was planning for potential issues due to the power outage, including arranging for enough backup oxygen for local residents.
When power outages occur, people who need to use oxygen tanks must rely on the fire department for assistance in getting replacement bottles, he said.
There were two people who needed backup oxygen, and Brown had arranged with Sutter Lakeside Hospital to bring in an additional supply if needed.
“We’ve got all of our backup supply out,” he said later in the evening, adding that Lakeport Fire also had given Northshore Fire some oxygen to keep them stocked up.
Following the crash, Soito’s little dog Eddie – a Chihuahua/Shih Tzu mix – had escaped from the truck and disappeared for several hours.
Northshore Fire Chief Jay Beristianos said fire staff spent about an hour looking for the little dog and notifying residents in the area that he was missing.
Later in the day, a woman who lives on Sixth Avenue came home and found the little dog outside of her house. She brought him down to the crash scene and dropped him off, receiving an ovation from the crowd who was gathered there.
The semi had to be moved in order for PG&E to replace the pole. Willits Towing responded with a large semi tow truck which it used to upright Soito’s truck shortly before 8 p.m.
Brown said forklifts and a flatbed truck were brought in to remove the metal construction materials.
Late Monday officials at the scene reported that the highway would remain closed through most of the night. PG&E was to bring in their own staff to conduct traffic control as work continued to repair and replace equipment.
There were reports from some community members of the power coming back on just after 9 p.m. PG&E said that all customers were expected to have their power restored by 2 a.m.
John Jensen contributed to this report.
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The incident was reported shortly before 6 p.m. at 3825 Manzanita Ave. in Nice.
The victim and his girlfriend were driving through the area when four subjects – a male and three females – allegedly yelled at them to leave because it was their “territory,” according to reports from the scene.
The man pulled over and confronted them, and was allegedly hit several times in the head with a metal baseball bat by the male in the group, the reports indicated.
The woman in the vehicle honked the horn and yelled at the suspects that she was calling police, and the group ran off, according to the radio reports.
Northshore Fire Deputy Chief Pat Brown said the man sustained serious head injuries.
Brown said Northshore Fire Protection District paramedics transported the man via ground ambulance to a landing zone at Sentry Market, where a REACH air ambulance picked him up.
The helicopter lifted off for Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital shortly before 6:30 p.m., radio reports stated.
Further information about the male victim was not available Monday night.
A man matching the physical description of the male suspect implicated in the beating was arrested in Nice for assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm shortly after 8 p.m. Monday, but jail officials would not confirm whether that arrest was for the assault involving the baseball bat.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
The fire was first reported just after 10 p.m. Friday, Dec. 30, at the Country Club Mobile Home Park, located at 3630 Country Club Drive in Lucerne, according to Northshore Fire Protection District.
Northshore Fire Chief Jay Beristianos said the fire was traced to the trailer's water heater closet.
He said half of the singlewide mobile home was destroyed by fire, while the other half was severely damaged by smoke.
The woman who owns the trailer will be able to salvage some of her personal possessions from it, Beristianos said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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