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LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Thanks to a newly awarded grant, the Donald and Sylvia McLaughlin Reserve near Lower Lake will see new improvements of its infrastructure and facilities.
On Tuesday, Sept. 13, the California Wildlife Conservation Board voted to approve a proposal from the University of California to fund $1,725,000 in facilities and infrastructure improvements at the McLaughlin Reserve, located at the junction of Lake, Napa, and Yolo counties.
The 7,000-acre reserve is one of five sites managed by UC Davis as part of the statewide UC Natural Reserve System, which is dedicated to supporting research, teaching, and public outreach related to California’s diverse natural ecosystems.
Funding for the project will come from the Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Fund of 2006 (Proposition 84), according to a Friday report from the reserve.
Matching funds for the entire project, valued at $3.5 million – including property acquisition, construction and long-term management – come from Homestake Mining Co. of California, the National Science Foundation and UC Davis.
The McLaughlin Reserve occupies the site of Homestake’s former McLaughlin mine, and existing facilities and infrastructure were originally constructed for mine use.
Grant funds will be used to rescale industrial infrastructure for academic use, increase the accommodations available to visiting researchers and students, develop new lab and teaching space in existing buildings, construct a greenhouse and shadehouse complex, construct an outdoor classroom and install native landscaping, increase the energy and resource use efficiency of existing facilities, and to construct a staff residence, which will allow for increased staff support for reserve users.
An environmental review of the project has been completed – the project is categorically exempt under the California Environmental Quality Act – and construction will begin immediately.
Project completion is anticipated by the end of 2015, officials reported.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – It's been a harrowing week for a Kelseyville man wounded in a Sept. 10 shooting, but following a Thursday surgery he's said to be on his way to recovery.
Willy Turner, 41, of Kelseyville, was shot in the chest during a confrontation last Saturday, as Lake County News has reported.
The man who shot Turner, 38-year-old Andrew James Serrano, is facing attempted murder and a host of other charges for the confrontation, during which he also is alleged to have seriously assaulted his estranged wife, Lesa Serrano.
Lesa Serrano and Turner had gone to the Big Valley Road home that she formerly had shared with Andrew Serrano to pick up some items. While they were there, Andrew Serrano arrived, allegedly confronted them and shot Turner once in the chest through a glass window, according to reports on the case.
Turner was flown by air ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, where he initially spent time in the intensive care unit for his wound, according to the “Pray for Willy Turner” Facebook page set up by his family.
The page, which can be found at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pray-for-Willy-Turner/274420952585517, has amassed more than 900 “likes” in the week it's been up.
People from Lake County and beyond have posted well wishes, prayers and encouragement for Turner, a well-liked father of three who was raised in Lake County and later served in the US Marines.
According to the postings by family members, doctors have spent a good part of the week stabilizing Turner and working to stop bleeding in his chest in order to safely proceed with surgery.
That surgery finally took place on Thursday, with doctors repairing damage to Turner's lung and removing the bullet, his family reported.
On Friday he was reported to be improving, eating a regular diet, had been taken off oxygen, was walking and in good spirits. Even before surgery, when his pain was greater, Turner's family reported that his sense of humor was still evident, with him telling jokes and stories.
Friends have been asked not to visit the hospital, but are welcome to post and send messages at the Facebook page.
His family has not stated when he will be released from the hospital, but Turner is expected to return home soon.
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LAKEPORT, Calif. – A man who is alleged to have shot and killed an Upper Lake woman earlier this week is facing numerous felony charges, including one that could make his prosecution a capital murder case.
Daniel Ray Loyd, 50, of Nice, was arraigned on Thursday for the murder of 48-year-old Cindy Yvette Quiett, who died after being shot in the stomach early on Tuesday, Sept. 13, as Lake County News has reported.
A memorial page for Quiett has been set up at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Memorial-Page-for-Cindy-Yvette-Arevalo-Drinnon-Quiette/257600590946958.
Loyd's defense attorney, Doug Rhoades, said Thursday that discovery and reports in the case were not available and so Loyd did not enter a plea at his arraignment.
Loyd is set to return to court on Monday, Sept. 26, at which time Rhoades anticipated a plea will be entered.
On Friday Deputy District Attorney John DeChaine, who is prosecuting the case, said Loyd is facing numerous felony charges.
He is charged with murder, a special allegation of using a gun, and a second special allegation alleging that Quiett's homicide occurred during the commission of a robbery, DeChaine said.
Under the California Penal Code, that special allegation of homicide during a robbery can result in life without the possibility of parole. It is also one of approximately 22 required conditions that can merit the death penalty upon conviction.
Some of the other conditions for capital murder include drive-by shootings, torture, gang affiliation, lying in wait, and killing of a law enforcement officer, political leader, judge or witness, according to the Penal Code.
DeChaine said he couldn't speculate on when a decision would be made about whether or not to seek the death penalty in Loyd's case.
“No decision would be made this early in the investigation,” DeChaine said.
In April, District Attorney Don Anderson and his staff decided not to pursue the death penalty for Robby Beasley and Elijah McKay, accused of the January 2010 double murder of former Maine residents Frank and Yvette Maddox, as Lake County News has reported.
The other counts Loyd is facing in the Quiett homicide case include robbery and a special allegation of use of a firearm; assault with a firearm, with a special allegation of personally using a firearm; allegations of being a felon in possession of a firearm and a felon carrying a loaded firearm in public; being a felon in possession of ammunition; a misdemeanor charge of brandishing a firearm; and special allegations that Loyd had two prior state prison terms, which attach to all of the main counts in the case, DeChaine said.
Lakeport resident Angel Dusty Spring, 35, was arrested at the same time as Loyd on Tuesday.
Spring is alleged to have called Quiett and her companion, Lucerne resident Patrick Ryden, to go with her to the casino early Tuesday, and also allegedly was with with Loyd when the shooting occurred, according to the sheriff's report.
Spring was arrested for violation of probation and being under the influence of a controlled substance.
Since her Tuesday arrest Spring has been released, according to jail records.
DeChaine said Spring has so far not been charged with any other counts in relation to the shooting.
“The whole matter remains under investigation,” DeChaine said.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A young woman who was raised in Lake County and whose life was cut short earlier this month in Hawaii will be remembered at a memorial service next week in Santa Cruz.
The memorial service for Celestial Summer Dove Cassman, 35, will be held at 3 p.m. at Lighthouse Point in Santa Cruz on Saturday, Sept. 24.
Her family is holding the service at the spot overlooking the ocean, which she loved.
Cassman was found murdered near Nakalele Point in Maui on Sept. 1, a day after she and her ex-boyfriend, Gerald W. Galaway Jr. arrived on the island, according to authorities.
Galaway attempted to escape from police by jumping off a 100-foot cliff into the ocean. He was later rescued and hospitalized, and last week was formally arrested and charged with her murder.
Hawaiian media reported that Galaway has entered a not guilty plea in the case.
Cassman, who graduated from Clear Lake High School in Lakeport in 1994, received a bachelor's degree from University of California, Santa Cruz, later going on to receive a law degree from UC Davis' law school.
A much-loved woman and a well-respected attorney, Cassman returned to Santa Cruz in 2007 to accept a job with the law firm Atchison, Barisone, Condotti and Kovacevich.
Cassman's family said she often could be seen pedaling her bicycle or riding her pink motor scooter to work, complete with high heels, business suit and a flower in her hair.
Working in the field of public law, she served as deputy city attorney for the coastal cities of Santa Cruz, Capitola and Half Moon Bay, according to her family.
Cassman's obituary can be found here: http://lakeconews.com/content/view/21451/938/.
A memorial Web page can be viewed at www.ilasting.com/celestialdovecassman.php .
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The sweep occurred on Wednesday, Sept. 14, and Thursday, Sept. 15, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Participating in the effort were the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Gang Task Force, Lake County Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force, a Lake County Probation officer, Lakeport Police’s gang officer and a Clearlake Gang officer in conjunction with 12 Homeland Security investigators, the sheriff's office reported.
Arrested were Evered Allan Billings, 39, of Clearlake, for a probation violation; Donald Ray Cervelli, 36, of Lucerne, for a bench warrant; Gregory Howard Penn, 51, of Lucerne, for an outside agency warrant; Joni Jo McCabe, 52, of Clearlake Oaks, for possession of a controlled substance, possession of controlled substance paraphernalia and use or under the influence of a controlled substance; Robert Eugene Bradley, 30, of Clearlake Park, on a bench warrant; Miguel Alvarez-Barajas, 35, of Clearlake, for an immigration violation; Joel Velazquez-Ornelas, 27, of Kelseyville, an immigration violation, specifically, reentry of a deported alien; and Luis Rodriguez-Lomeli, 27, false compartment in a vehicle and immigration violation.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office Gang Task Force or Narcotics Task Force can be contacted through the sheriff's office's anonymous tip line at 707-263-3663.
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Retired Alameda County Superior Court Judge William McKinstry – appointed to handle the case in the wake of the recusals of the entire Lake County Superior Court bench – handed down the decision Tuesday in the case filed by Sgt. Corey Paulich against the Lake County Sheriff's Office and the county of Lake.
County Counsel Anita Grant said her office received the decision from McKinstry on Thursday. Deputy County Counsel Lloyd Guintivano had represented the county in the case.
Paulich's attorney, Christopher Miller, said Thursday evening that he understood a decision had been issued but he had not yet seen it.
The suit, filed in July, alleged that Sheriff Frank Rivero personally had violated Paulich's rights under the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act.
Paulich alleged that the violations arose from several interrogations following a March high speed chase. Two deputies under Paulich's supervision had participated in the chase, which was initiated by Clearlake Police, as Lake County News has reported.
Paulich had sought $150,000 in civil damages for the six alleged violations and attorney's costs, as well as the setting aside of a disciplinary investigation and the letter of reprimand that Rivero was proposing to place in Paulich's file.
McKinstry heard arguments in the case on Monday, Sept. 9.
In his six-page decision, McKinstry said that under law there are some investigations and interrogations of peace officers that don't fall under the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act.
He cited portions of the act, including Government Code Section 3303(i), which states that it does not apply “to any interrogation of a public safety officer in the normal course of duty, counseling, instruction, or informal verbal admonishment by, or other routine or unplanned contact with, a supervisor or any other public safety officer ...”
“This entire matter, therefore, hinges on the nature of the conversations between Sheriff Rivero and Sergeant Paulich: Was it an interrogation that could lead to a punitive action – in which case the Sergeant should have been afforded the Act's procedural protections – or was it a routine interrogation in the normal course of duty, counseling, or informal verbal admonishment, such that no violation of his rights occurred?” McKinstry wrote.
Citing the county of Lake's and Rivero's declarations in the suit, McKinstry found that Rivero had the phone conversations and e-mail exchanges with Paulich in an effort to get more information on the high speed pursuit, which began over an expired vehicle registration.
McKinstry pointed out that there were discrepancies between the sheriff's watch commander logs' statement that the suspect vehicle, driven by Matthew Bronsert, crashed into the deputy's vehicle, and a statement by Clearlake Police Sgt. Tim Hobbs that the deputy forcibly stopped Bronsert's vehicle by ramming it.
The judge's analysis also stated that the watch commander log was Rivero's first notification of the chase. “The Sergeant had a duty to report serious incidents to him after they occurred,” McKinstry wrote.
On March 14, a day after the exchanges between Rivero and Paulich, Paulich was served with an internal affairs investigation, according to case documents.
“Petitioner attacks Sheriff Rivero's credibility, labeling his declaration as self-serving,” McKinstry wrote. “Petitioner argued that Sheriff Rivero lost control and was angry. The Court accepts Sheriff Rivero's explanation.”
McKinstry found that the nature of the conversations between Rivero and Paulich were those governed under Government Code Section 3303(i). “They occurred in the normal course of duty, counseling, and informal verbal admonishment, such that no violation of Sergeant Paulich's rights occurred.”
Further, McKinstry found that Rivero didn't act maliciously and that the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act – which governs labor-management relationships in counties and other local governments – was not violated.
While McKinstry also ruled that Paulich is to pay court costs and filing fees, Grant said that the county – as a government agency – doesn't pay those fees in the first place.
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