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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Clearlake Police arrested a Hidden Valley Lake man Wednesday night after he allegedly discharged a firearm and was found to be in possession of drugs and another weapon.
Jeremy John Stanton, 35, was arrested just after 11 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 14, according to a report from Clearlake Police Sgt. Rodd Joseph.
Shortly after 9:30 p.m. Wednesday Clearlake Police officers were dispatched to the 14300 block of Memory Lane in Clearlake on a report of subjects arguing and gunshots heard, Joseph said.
When officers arrived on scene less than a minute after the call a male subject later identified as Stanton came out of the brush and spoke with officers, Joseph said.
Stanton made delusional statements to the investigating officers about someone shooting at him. Joseph said Stanton allegedly was displaying symptoms of being under the influence of a central nervous system stimulant.
Stanton allegedly admitted to officers being an intravenous drug user. Joseph said a double-barreled 12 gauge shotgun was found on the ground in close proximity to where officers had contacted Stanton. Stanton’s vehicle also was found parked in the parking lot.
During a search of the vehicle, a small quantity of methamphetamine was located along with
several unexpended shotgun rounds, numerous used hypodermic syringes and an illegal knife, Joseph said.
Witnesses interviewed told officers that Stanton was the only person in the parking lot and no other persons were seen, Joseph said.
Based on the investigation, Joseph said it was determined that the shotgun found belonged to Stanton as did the illegal knife, methamphetamine and syringes.
Police believe Stanton – who was alleged to be under the influence of a controlled substance – removed the shotgun from the trunk of his car and fired the shotgun in a negligent and reckless manner. No injured persons were located and no property damage was found as a result of the discharge of the shotgun, Joseph said.
Joseph said Stanton was arrested and charged with several felony counts, including possession of a controlled substance, illegal possession of hypodermic syringes, possession of an illegal weapon, negligent discharge of a firearm and possession of a controlled substance while armed with a firearm.
Stanton later was booked into the Lake County Jail, with bail set at $30,000. Jail records indicated that Stanton remained in custody on Thursday evening.
The Clearlake Police Department thanked the persons who came forward to not only call 911 about the criminal activity, but also who remained on scene and spoke with the investigating officers once Stanton was safely in custody.
Anyone with additional information about this incident or any other crime occurring in the city of Clearlake is asked to contact the police department at 707-994-8251. Callers may remain anonymous.
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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Police have arrested a suspect in a residential burglary.
Ronald Ralph Shields, 59, of Clearlake was arrested on the afternoon of Tuesday, Sept. 13, according to a report from the Clearlake Police Department.
At 3:30 p.m. that day Clearlake Police officers were dispatched to the 13900 block of Lakeshore Drive for a report of an in progress burglary, the agency reported.
Police said the reporting party directed officers to a vacation residence where it was believed the suspect was located. Officers discovered a broken window and other evidence which corroborated the witnesses statements.
While searching the property a male subject, later identified as Shields, was located near the residence. The police report said evidence linked Shields to the crime and he was detained.
During the investigation it was discovered that Shields allegedly was on active parole out of Shasta County for driving under the influence, police reported.
Ronald Shields was charged with felony burglary and a felony parole violation. He later was booked into the Lake County jail, with a no-bail hold placed on him due to the alleged violation of parole, according to jail records.
The Clearlake Police Department thanked all the witnesses involved in apprehending Shields.
Any citizens who witness any type of suspicious activities are encouraged to contact the Clearlake Police Department at 707-994-8251.
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The commission voted 3-0 to close the fishery in the entirety of Sonoma County. Commissioners Daniel Richards and Richard Rogers were not in attendance.
This action was taken in the wake of confirmed reports of dead red abalone and other invertebrates on beaches and inside coves along the coast in these areas, the Department of Fish and Game reported.
Data continue to be collected that shows an abalone die-off along the Sonoma coast beginning Aug. 27. According to Department of Fish and Game biologists, these abalone deaths coincided with a local red tide bloom and calm ocean conditions.
Although the exact reasons for the abalone deaths are not known, invertebrate die-offs have occurred in the past along the Northern California coast due to lack of oxygen and/or poisoning when similar weather and bloom conditions existed but not at the magnitude of this event, according to a Department of Fish and Game report.
The agency is assessing the impact of the situation and provided the commission with information at Thursday’s meeting.
Reports of dead abalone and a variety of invertebrates have come from Bodega Bay, Russian Gulch, Fort Ross, Timber Cove and Salt Point State Park in Sonoma County and as far north as Anchor Bay in Mendocino County, the agency said.
Other Department of Fish and Game biologists and game wardens have collected abalone, mussels and water samples since the beginning and are continuing to document reports from the public.
The public is encouraged to report the location, number and date of dead or dying abalone to Ian Taniguchi at 562-342-7182 or by e-mail at
The exact implementation date of the emergency closure will be determined by the regulatory process and is expected soon. Information will be available at the commission’s Web site at www.fgc.ca.gov.
Divers are encouraged to avoid diving in the affected areas, according to Fish and Game.
Abalone fishermen are advised to contact a physician immediately if they feel sick, and to report symptoms to the local county health department (www.sonoma-county.org/health/about/publichealth.asp).
The latest red tide updates from the California Department of Public Health are posted online at www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/Pages/DDWEM.aspx.
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On Thursday a citizens' group filed a petition for writ of mandate or prohibition in the California Supreme Court, challenging the Citizens’ Redistricting Commission’s recently adopted new state Senate district maps.
The lawsuit is being supported by Fairness & Accountability in Redistricting (FAIR), the group currently circulating referendum petitions against the Senate plan.
It is the first lawsuit filed challenging the maps produced by the redistricting commission, according to the group's Thursday statement.
“It is very important that these legal questions go before the court now, so they can examine the full scope of constitutional issues and be prepared to draw new maps once we finish gathering signatures on the referendum,” said FAIR consultant Dave Gilliard.
The petition alleges the Senate maps violated four provisions of the California Constitution.
Specifically, the group alleges that 11 of the new Senate districts as drawn by the commission violate compactness, contiguity and respect for geographic integrity of counties and communities of interest.
FAIR alleges that the maps fail to assure Latino residents of Monterey and Santa Clara County of effective representation by a single senator from areas that have a history of electing Latino Assembly members.
The group further claims that the maps dilute Latino voting interests in the western San Fernando Valley portion of Los Angeles County in violation of the Federal Voting Rights Act.
The suit also alleges that seven districts unnecessarily split two major counties – San Bernardino and Sacramento counties – giving each county parts of six different districts but no district wholly within either county.
FAIR believes the split of the two counties is worse than the pre-Baker v Carr Senate plan in which each county had at least one senator. The federal courts held the 1960s plan unconstitutional for lacking population equality.
San Bernardino and Sacramento counties could be assured of a senator under the old plan, but they cannot under the commission’s new plan, according to FAIR.
The California Supreme Court also is being asked to convene special masters now to advise the court on the constitutional claims and to be ready to draw interim boundaries for Senate districts upon likely qualification of the referendum.
The filing also suggests to the court several alternative methods of drawing new Senate boundaries for the 2012 elections.
The Sacramento law firm of Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk LLP is representing FAIR. Expert testimony will be offered in the case by Dr. T. Anthony Quinn, PhD, a well- known expert on California redistricting.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – An investigation initiated more than two years ago and carried out by federal officials has led to the arrest of Robinson Rancheria's tribal chair on a charge of felony grand theft for allegedly stealing tens of thousands of dollars from another Lake County tribe.
Tracey Isabelle Avila, 50, of Nice was arrested on a felony bench warrant on Friday, Sept. 9, according to jail records. She posted bail, set at $20,000, and was released later that same day.
Avila is alleged to have taken more than $60,000 from Elem Indian Colony of Clearlake Oaks between February 2006 and September 2008, during which time she worked as the tribe's fiscal officer and also was Robinson's tribal chair, according to Deputy District Attorney Rachel Abelson, who is prosecuting the case.
Abelson said Avila is due to appear in for arraignment in Lake County Superior Court's Clearlake division before Judge Stephen Hedstrom on Oct. 31.
According to the case file, the Berkeley firm Karshmer & Associates, Elem Colony's general legal counsel, sent a letter dated June 1, 2009, to Laura Yoshii, acting regional director for the US Environmental Protection Agency's Pacific Southwest Region 9, requesting an investigation into the alleged embezzlement.
The letter, written by attorney Sarah Dutschke, said that after Avila's termination as bookkeeper the tribe uncovered evidence which they alleged showed that during her 30 months of employment Avila had taken funds from the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act grant as well as from grants the tribe had received from the US EPA and US House and Urban Development.
Elem's own investigation led to the conclusion that Avila had allegedly taken the funds through three principal methods – increasing her hourly pay rate without authorization, giving herself unapproved pay advances and signing several of her family members up for health care coverage but not having the required premiums deducted from her paycheck, Dutschke's letter stated.
On June 15, 2009, the US EPA's Grants Management Office opened the investigation, which later was taken over by special agents with the EPA Office of the Inspector General and HUD's Office of the Inspector General, the documents state.
A review of Avila's pay records conducted as part of the investigation revealed that Avila is alleged to have given herself just over $44,000 in unauthorized pay raises, as well as more than $16,000 in additional paychecks and annual leave.
During the same time a check for more than $14,000 was stolen from the tribe and cashed by a Hispanic male suspect in the Chico area, where Avila is reported to have family, according to case file.
According to the investigation, Elem alleged that Avila hired auditors from Robinson Rancheria to conduct an audit of Elem's financial records. The audit reportedly came back clean.
Avila's work records showed she was frequently late or ill, and rarely worked entire weeks, yet still drew full wages, the report said.
The special agents interviewed Avila on June 9, 2010, at Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula.
During the interview Avila said that Elem's system for receiving the grant funds was a “mess,” and that others were writing checks on tribal accounts without her knowledge. She said that she eventually quit her job after becoming increasingly frustrated with the situation.
Avila also told the agents that she paid back the pay advances, insisted that the tribal council had authorized her pay raises and accused another tribal leader of taking the missing funds.
Elem tribal members the agents interviewed stated that Avila had threatened to implicate others if she got in trouble, and that over time her work hours dropped from eight hours a day to four. She also allegedly got a better car and started wearing more expensive clothes.
Abelson said Avila could face a maximum of three years in state prison if convicted. Due to the state's realignment, Avila's time could be served in the county jail, which is where prisoners convicted of certain felonies will be housed.
Court records show that Avila has previous convictions for assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm in 2000 and driving on a suspended license.
Over the last several years she's been at the center of a disenrollment controversy at Robinson Rancheria, where dozens of members of the Quitiquit family and others who opposed Avila as tribal chair were removed from the tribe's membership rolls, as Lake County News has reported.
In 2008 Avila lost the election for tribal chair to Eddie Crandell and followed up by having members of her family on the tribe's election committee invalidate the election.
She has managed to hold onto the tribal chair seat through postponing or delay elections, but in July Bureau of Indian Affairs Central California Agency Superintendent Troy Burdick sent Avila a letter notifying her that she must go forward with holding a new tribal election.
The agency has received a request for a secretarial election – a special federal election overseen by the BIA to revise a tribe's constitution – to ensure a fair election process, Burdick's letter said.
While the tribal citizens business committee and legal counsel had assured the BIA that they would respond with information about how they were ensuring a fair election process, Burdick said BIA had not received the information.
In addition Burdick pointed out that several committee members were on expired terms.
“In order to maintain a government-to-government relationship with the Tribe, the Agency is responsible to ensure we are working with duly elected Tribal officials that were property voted into office in accordance with tribal law,” Burdick wrote. “Failure to hold tribal elections can be viewed as failure to accord Tribal members due process and equal protection as mandated by the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968.”
Burdick went on to state that the BIA is concerned that the tribe may be violating the Indian Civil Rights Act by not holding tribal elections.
Those elections still have not taken place. Tribal members have reported that they have been unable to get the required candidacy papers from Avila and that the election has once again been delayed.
This week, in the wake of her embezzlement arrest, there also were calls for Avila to step down from her position as tribal chair, which she has reportedly refused to do.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
The walk and gathering will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Austin Park, 14077 Lakeshore Drive.
The first walk starts at 10:30 a.m.
Andy Rossoff, Without A Net and gospel artist Phil McAlpin with the Clearlake Oaks Community
Methodist Choir will perform live music at the event.
Special speakers will be District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing and Dr. Marshal Kubota.
The day also will include raffles and silent auctions, homemade pulled pork sandwiches and free health screenings.
Come join Community Care HIV/AIDS Program & community partners Moran's Pharmacy, St Helena Hospital Clearlake, Sutter Lakeside Hospital, Lake Family Resource, Sierra Club, Clearlake Mayor Overton & City Council members, Clearlake Oaks-Glenhaven Business Association, Stonewall Democratic Club and other concerned community service providers.
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