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Fifty-nine-year-old Laurel Ann Bell – also known as Lori Ann Bell – of Nice will spend 240 days in jail, must serve five years of formal probation and 100 hours of community service, and be required to pay nearly $4,900 in restitution to the fire district, where she was an employee.
“We're glad that justice was done and now she's going to have to pay for it,” said Northshore Fire Protection District Chief Jim Robbins.
Judge Arthur Mann passed sentence on Bell on Jan. 19 for one charge of embezzlement by a public officer. That same day that she pleaded no contest to the charge.
She also had faced 19 other charges that included embezzlement, grand theft and forging or filing false documents, for which she was not tried or sentenced.
Prosecutor Rachel Abelson and Bell's defense attorney, Komnith Moth, did not respond to requests for comment.
Bell had worked for the Nice Community Services District and, after the fire districts in Upper Lake, Nice, Lucerne and Clearlake Oaks consolidated into the Northshore Fire Protection District, she was brought over to work as an office assistant at the Lucerne fire station, said Robbins.
Bell, whose profession was listed as accountant, previously had worked for the Lake County Auditor's Office for 14 years, according to court documents.
The prosecution alleged that she took funds from Northshore Fire between Feb. 22 and June 7, 2007.
Investigative documents said that the funds she took included $500 from 25 burn permits, as well as funds from the sale of an older ambulance.
District officials realized something was wrong when, on June 11, 2007, a $300 deposit wasn't made, according to investigative records.
When the district began investigating, they found that Bell had started making deposits, which she wasn't supposed to do, said Robbins.
After they discovered the questionable activity, Robbins and his staff went through their records to make sure they weren't wrong about their concerns. They discovered other irregularities, including $2,000 the district received from the sale of an older ambulance that also wasn't deposited, Robbins said.
“In 37 years I can't even tell you a dime that was missing out of this place, so that made me just sick,” said Robbins.
He added that Bell wasn't working at the Lucerne fire station for very long before they discovered what was going on.
Court records stated that she was terminated a short time after the missing funds were discovered.
During an interview with a District Attorney's Office investigator, Bell said she liked to gamble at Robinson Rancheria. By that time, she was unemployed; her husband also was on disability.
The District Attorney's Office filed the case against Bell on Nov. 21, 2007, and she was arrested the next day, according to court records. Her preliminary hearing was held in February 2009.
Mann ordered Bell to surrender herself at the Lake County Jail at 9 a.m. Feb. 10, when she is due to start serving her jail sentence.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
James Anderson, 42, of Brookings, Ore., was arrested for grand theft and possession of stolen property, according to a report from Capt. Kurt Smallcomb of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.
On Wednesday at approximately 2:40 p.m. deputies were investigating a domestic disturbance behind the Hopland Farms market, located at 13501 S. Highway 101, Smallcomb said.
While the deputies were investigating the alleged domestic incident, Anderson allegedly entered a sheriff's patrol vehicle and stole a deputy's gear bag, according to the report.
Smallcomb said a witness at the location contacted the deputies and informed them of the theft and said that Anderson had fled in a vehicle heading east on Highway 175.
Deputies caught up to Anderson and conducted an investigation stop. Smallcomb said the stolen gear bag was in the passenger seat with Anderson, and he was arrested for grand theft and possession of stolen property.
It was later discovered that Anderson is a convicted felon and forbidden by law to posses ammunition, Smallcomb said. The gear bag he stole contained ammunition and he was also charged with a felon in possession of ammunition.
Anderson was incarcerated at the Mendocino County Jail on the listed charges with bail set at $50,000.
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LAKE COUNTY – More than a month after a former Lake County resident was stabbed to death, investigators are offering few clues about the crime, arrests are yet to be made and a mother says her family is waiting for justice.
Heather Danielle Anderson, 24, formerly of Nice, was fatally stabbed at the Colville Indian Reservation near Omak, Wash., on Dec. 17, as Lake County News has reported.
The one-month anniversary of the young woman's death that just passed was very hard on her family, according to her mother, Diana Anderson of Paradise, who said she misses her daughter more every day.
Heather Anderson, a member of the Robinson Rancheria Band of Pomo, had gone to Washington late last year to assist a friend with moving to the Colville Indian Reservation, Diana Anderson said.
In the early morning hours of Dec. 17, Heather Anderson was stabbed once in the left clavicle, which severed her jugular vein, her mother said.
Diana Anderson said her daughter's death certificate noted that the young woman would have died quickly from the wound.
Additionally, the autopsy noted no defensive wounds on the young woman. Diana Anderson believes her daughter would have fought if she had been able to do so, and that she may have been held down.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation took over the case from Colville Tribal Police shortly after Anderson was killed.
Last month, FBI Agent Frank Harrill told Lake County News that the investigation into Anderson's death could be “a relatively lengthy process.”
Several calls to the FBI's Spokane office for an update on the case were not returned.
Diana Anderson said she spoke with an FBI agent last week who told her that evidence was still being processed at laboratories in Washington, DC.
When she headed north to Washington in November, Heather Anderson was still recovering from a June auto collision that nearly took her life and left her with serious injuries, both physically and mentally. However, her family said she was working hard to get back to being independent.
Diana Anderson has been searching for clues in her daughter's death, and points to some strange facts in the case.
Although Heather Anderson's autopsy said her death occurred at about 1:30 a.m. Dec. 17. It was nearly three hours later that two male subjects – not the friend with whom she was staying – took her to the hospital. She was pronounced dead at 4:22 a.m.
Heather Anderson's friend at the Colville reservation, “Shannon,” has denied any involvement, although the previous day she was reportedly seen at the home of another woman said to have been involved in the fatal altercation, Diana Anderson said.
When Diana Anderson asked to have her daughter's belongings sent home, she said Shannon told her she burned everything, claiming it was tribal tradition. Diana Anderson, who is American Indian along with the rest of her family, questioned that.
“There's something off the wall right there,” she said, explaining that it was up to her family and tribe to decide what traditions to follow for her daughter, not a person from another tribe like Shannon.
She said her daughter called her two days before she was murdered and said she needed to tell her something, but couldn't discuss it over the phone. Then just before her death, Heather Anderson called to ask for a plane ticket home.
Diana Anderson thinks her daughter saw or heard something that may have made her a target. In the days before she died, some of her possessions also were stolen, and she had just received some money from her mother for travel and purchasing Christmas presents for friends in Washington.
The Anderson family currently is working to get assistance from the FBI's Victim Witness division and looking into other avenues of getting help on the case.
“Will we get the complete story?” Diana Anderson asked. “I don't know.”
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
Sanitary sewers have limited capacities and are not designed to dispose of storm water (i.e., rainwater) from your property. The rapid increases of flow into the sewer system caused excessive “flooding” thus creating spills.
Significant amounts of ratepayer funds were expended to pump sewage from manholes in order to minimize the spills. During the period from Jan. 19 to 25, more than 500,000 gallons were disposed of via pumper trucks.
These efforts were conducted to protect public health and to reduce regulatory fines. However, we will need the help of our customers to succeed in reducing spills.
Spills are caused by clogged pipes and/or too much flow. Everyone needs to keep unwanted items out of sewer pipes such as grease, trash, rainwater and tree roots.
Rainwater referred to as “inflow” enters the system from sources such as yard and patio drains, roof gutter downspouts, uncapped cleanouts, pond or pool overflow drains, footing drains, cross-connections with storm drains.
Although these inflow connections may help alleviate yard flooding and puddles, they have significant impacts to the sewer system, the sewer rates, and public health.
Broken house sewer laterals also cause excessive rainwater to enter the sewer system.
What can you do to prevent and reduce inflow?
– Inspect the rain gutters on your house to see if the downspout connects to a sewer line. Such connections are illegal (a violation of the Lake County Sewer Use Ordinance). If the gutter downspouts are connected to the sewer line, have them disconnected – the large amount of water from the roof can cause a sewage spill. The rainwater needs to be directed onto your lawn and/or to the storm drain system.
– Look for and check your sewer cleanout. The cleanout is usually a small pipe, about 4-inches in diameter, outside your house that is used to access the sewer lateral for cleaning. You will normally find it near the house (where the sewer lateral comes out) and/or near the property line (where the sewer lateral connects to the main sewer line). Make sure the cap to the cleanout pipe is not missing and has not been damaged (such as by a lawn mower). Replace missing caps so that rainwater cannot get into the sewer line.
– Check to see that outdoor patio, deck or yard drains are not connected to the sewer. Also, be sure that pool or pond overflow drains are not connected to the sewer. These connections are not allowed by the Lake County Sewer Use Ordinance. You may want to call your plumber to assist you in checking your connection.
You also can call Lake County Special Districts at 707-263-0119 for assistance.
We urge you to voluntarily take steps to find and correct any potential problems on your property.
Mark Dellinger is administrator for Lake County Special Districts.
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A Sonoma County Sheriff's deputy dispatched to the 18000 block of Fort Ross Road shortly before 3 p.m. Tuesday found Erica Shane, 34, of Glen Ellen, lying in the creek and was unable to revive her.
She later was pronounced dead, according to a report from Lt. Chris Spallino.
Spallino reported that the deputy had responded to the area on the report of an unoccupied Silver Subaru Forester parked in the roadway.
The deputy learned that the car had been parked at the location for several hours, so he began searching the area for the driver of the vehicle. Spallino said the deputy followed a path that led up a steep hillside next to a rapid creek.
Approximately 200 yards up the creek, the deputy found Shane submerged in the water. Spallino said the deputy pulled Shane from the creek and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Fort Ross Fire Department personnel who arrived on scene pronounced Shane dead.
An autopsy was scheduled to take place Wednesday, Spallino said. Shane's death is being investigated by the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office Violent Crimes Unit and the Sonoma County Coroner's Unit.
Detectives are asking anyone who may have had contact with the victim on Jan. 26, or who may have seen anything suspicious in the area of the 18000 block of Fort Ross Road, Cazadero, to contact Detective James Naugle at 707-565-2185.
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But getting behind the wheel proves deadly for many young drivers.
The leading cause of death for US residents between the ages of 15 to 20 is motor vehicle collisions. That's just one of the sad statistics reported by the California Highway Patrol.
Lake County’s CHP office in Kelseyville is dedicated to reducing the amount of teen deaths and injuries that occur as a result of traffic collisions, said Officer Steven Tanguay.
As part of that mission, the CHP office on Live Oak Drive at Highway 29 in Kelseyville is hosting a free, two-hour driving safety class at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4.
Tanguay reported that in Lake County in 2008 there were 111 collisions involving drivers between the ages of 15 and 20. Out of those 111 incidents, young drivers were at fault in 88 of them.
With those statistics in mind, Tanguay and Officer Adam Garcia, both public affairs officers for the CHP's Kelseyville office, decided to see if Lake County’s parents with teenage children might be interested in taking advantage of the Start Smart program.
Start Smart was started by CHP Monterey in 2002, he said. The program is funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Tanguay also said that between 2005 and 2007 there were 1093 start Smart Classes in California, reaching 13,594 teenagers and 9,279 parents.
“It is designed to reduce the number of teenage deaths," said Tanguay. “This class is a test to see if we should do monthly classes.”
Tanguay recommended that participants in the Start Smart class be parents with one or more teenage children since the program is designed to work with them both.
So far, four adults are bringing five teenagers. One woman already enrolled in the upcoming class is bringing her daughter along with her daughter’s boyfriend, he said.
“This program is for 15- to 19-year-olds,” he said. “We have not yet had any programs specifically for teenage drivers that I know of. The class will cover parental responsibilities, defensive driving and collision avoidance techniques, like appropriate space cushions.”
Tanguay added that if this first class is a success, another one would be offered as soon as two weeks later.
Nationally, about 5,000 teens will die in automobile crashes, according to the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, or SWITRS, database. About 10 percent of those deaths are in California alone.
Lake County has seen a number of fatal crashes involving teenagers in recent years.
A crash in the Mendocino National Forest last August saw a 17-year-old Santa Rosa girl die, with a 16-year-old girl injured. A 20-year-old Sunnyvale resident, Nathan Winter, was driving, as Lake County News has reported.
In February 2006, local resident Nicole Ogulin lost control of her ATV on Bartlett Springs Road and crashed, rolling down an embankment. The crash ejected her and her teenage female passenger, who did not survive.
Officer Kevin Domby, who is working on the Ogulin case, said that a jury found her guilty of DUI late last year. Ogulin will be sentenced next month.
Tanguay has spoken with Lake County Probation about the possibility of using this class to educate teenage violators stopped for some sort of moving violation, like speeding.
As part of his duties to educate young people, Tanguay visits county schools to talk with students about drinking and driving.
He said he was just over at Lower Lake Elementary School talking to preteens about the dangers of drinking and driving along with Team DUI, another organization dedicated to educating kids about alcohol abuse.
“We want to get to them young,” said Tanguay. “We want kids to think about their choices and the consequences those choices might have.”
To find out more about the Start Smart program, call Tanguay at 707-279-0103.
E-mail Tera deVroede at