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CLEARLAKE OAKS – Cool weather and improving lake conditions drew some visitors to Clearlake Oaks this week.
Miguel Lanigan captured an egret and a blue heron in Beryl Bay on Friday.
The cool weather sank the algae in the area, he said, with the feathered visitors showing up afterward.
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The California Highway Patrol reported that the two-vehicle crash occurred on Highway 29 near the Napa County line just after 7:30 p.m.
One vehicle was off the side of the road, with traffic backing up, the CHP said. Animal Care and Control was summoned to help with a domestic pig.
The CHP requested one of its Santa Rosa units respond to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital to pick up a blood sample.
The roadway was reopened just before 9:30 p.m., the CHP said.
Additional details, including the names of those involved, was not available Friday night.
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Manuel Herrera, 30, of Nice, was arrested in the case Thursday and charged with felony hit and run resulting in death and misdemeanor driving on a suspended license, according to jail records, which indicated Herrera posted $10,000 bail and was released.
The name of the 73-year-old man who Herrera is alleged to have hit Thursday morning has not yet been released pending notification of family, the CHP said Friday.
A report from CHP Officer Nick Powell explained that the crash victim, who was in a wheelchair, had left Robinson Rancheria Resort & Casino shortly before 2:30 a.m. Thursday. The man was traveling northbound along Highway 20's westbound shoulder.
At approximately 3:05 a.m., Herrera left his residence in Nice driving a 1992 Honda Civic, Powell's report noted.
Herrera was reportedly traveling westbound on Highway 20 at a high rate of speed because he was running late to work, Powell reported.
At 3:10 a.m. the elderly man had reached the intersection of Highway 20 and Upper Lake-Lucerne Road (east), with Powell reporting that Herrera was approaching the location at between 70 and 80 miles per hour.
For reasons which Powell said are still under investigation, Herrera allowed his vehicle to drift onto the highway's north shoulder, and the vehicle's right front section hit the man in the wheelchair.
The impact's force sent the man in the wheelchair airborne, with him coming to rest on his stomach in some grass just north of the highway's paved shoulder, parallel to the roadway. Powell said debris from the collision was strewn along the shoulder leading up to the location of the man's body.
Later in the morning Thursday a Caltrans crew observed the debris and during cleanup operations located the man's body, Powell said.
He said evidence at the scene led investigators to release information about the type of vehicle involved to the media.
Powell said that, based on an anonymous tip, law enforcement located Herrera later Thursday.
Alcohol is not suspected as a cause for the collision, Powell said.
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KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Safety concerns due to a fallen wire caused a road closure on Friday morning in Kelseyville.
The wire fell down across Main Street in Kelseyville at the intersection with State Street shortly before 11 a.m.
At the same time, smoke was billowing from a nearby building, with a man using a fire extinguisher around the back of the structure.
Several community members stood in the street to warn drivers to detour around the area, as the wires were reported to be live.
Kelseyville Fire Protection District and Pacific Gas & Electric responded to the scene.
PG&E did not have additional details about the incident late Friday.
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CLEARLAKE PARK – A man who initially was believed to have drowned in an incident last weekend appears instead to have died of a heart attack.
Roger Alvin Machado, 73, was pronounced dead at St. Helena Hospital Clearlake Sunday night after doctors were unable to revive him, according to a report from Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Bauman said sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the scene at around 7:40 p.m. Sunday on the report of a possible drowning.
When deputies arrived, rescue personnel from Lake County Fire and Clearlake Police were already on scene, performing life saving protocols on Machado, Bauman said.
Lake County Fire continued their efforts to save Machado while transporting him to the Saint Helena Clearlake Hospital, Bauman said. However, despite having “very faint” signs of life on arrival there, emergency room staff were unable to resuscitate him and he was pronounced deceased.
Machado’s friend of 10 years, Joanne Simpson, and her daughter, Kathy Shrever, told deputies Machado and Shrever had gone down to the lake for a swim with Machado’s dog after having dinner, Bauman said.
Shrever said she watched Machado dive into the lake but he never surfaced, according to Bauman's report. After several minutes, Shrever saw Machado’s water shoes surface so she began screaming for help.
Bauman said several unidentified neighbors reportedly responded to the water and were eventually able to find Machado and pull him to shore.
An autopsy was performed on Machado Thursday morning at the Jones and Lewis Mortuary in Lower Lake and a preliminary cause of death indicates that he did not actually drown, but rather died of heart failure, according to Bauman. A final cause of death is pending the results of a toxicology screening.
Sheriff Rod Mitchell and his staff extended their condolences to Machado's loved ones and commended the citizens who acted swiftly and bravely in trying to save Machado’s life.
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KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Kelseyville Unified School District Board of Trustees will host its next special meeting to discuss district configuration plans for the 2011-12 school year on Tuesday, Sept. 14.
The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the Kelseyville High School Student Center, 5480 Main St.
District officials said they're faced with declining enrollments that are expected to continue until 2013-14, coupled with a continuing drop in revenue.
In order to assess how to best use the district's resources and its eight school sites, they're holding a series of community meetings to gather public input and begin the process of putting together proposals for the board to make a final decision in November.
The first meeting was held Aug. 10, as Lake County News reported.
Other special board meetings planned on configuration are set for Oct. 5 and Nov. 9, also at the high school student center.
For more information, call the Kelseyville Unified School District Office at 707-279-1511 or email
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