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Capt. Kurt Smallcomb of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office reported that Michael Anthony Hunter, 24, was found fatally wounded at a residence located at 2475 Mill Creek Road in Talmage just after 3 a.m. Wednesday.
The Mendocino County Sheriffs Dispatch Center received a 911 telephone call from a female caller regarding a physical disturbance at the location, Smallcomb said.
Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies, California Highway Patrol officers and emergency medical services proceeded to the residence and located a male gunshot victim on the living room floor.
Medical aide was started and the victim was subsequently transported to Ukiah Valley Medical Center where Hunter died of the gunshot wounds he received during the assault, according to Smallcomb.
Sheriff's detectives and Mendocino County District Attorney investigators are continuing the investigation, including talking to other victims and witnesses in establishing the suspect or suspects responsible for this incident, Smallcomb noted.
Anyone with information regarding Hunter's death is asked to telephone 707-467-9159. Callers can remain anonymous.
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The board of directors of the Lake County Wine Alliance distributed $57,200 to 18 nonprofit organizations, agencies and high schools from the proceeds of the 10th annual Lake County Wine Auction held in September.
Since it began a decade ago, the Wine Auction has been one of the county's premier fundraising events.
With this latest distribution of funds, the Lake County Wine Alliance has contributed $770,202 in proceeds from the Wine Auction since its initial event in 2000.
Proceeds include ticket sales, donations from sponsorships, live and silent auction income, and sales of special edition, fine art posters by acclaimed local artist John R. Clarke.
Gathering at the Saw Shop Gallery Bistro in Kelseyville, more than 50 representatives of the beneficiaries celebrated the opportunity to receive these funds that will augment budgets that have been severely impacted during the recent economic downturn.
Each category in the designated areas of support, the arts, health and community was allocated $17,500 to be shared amongst the recipients.
Recipients included the following:
Arts: The Allegro Scholarship Program received $2,500; $15,000 to the fine arts programs at the five Lake County high schools was shared with $3,000 each to Clear Lake, Kelseyville, Lower Lake, Middletown and Upper Lake high schools.
Health: Each recipient in this category received $2,500 – Lake County Hunger Task Force, St. Helena Hospital Clearlake mammography fund, and the five senior centers with Meals on Wheels programs – Highlands Senior Service Center, Lakeport Senior Activity Center, Live Oak Seniors, Lucerne Alpine Senior Center and Middletown Senior Center.
Community: The Stitch & Give Knitters were given $1,000; the Lake County Chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America received $5,000; People Services Inc. and the Senior Law Project Inc., each received $5,750.
Additional contributions at the Wine Auction raised $4,700 to benefit the Ely Stage Stop and Country Museum restoration project of the Lake County Historical Society.
Applications for funding from the 2010 Lake County Wine Auction, to be held on Saturday, Oct. 16, are available online at www.winealliance.org or from Judy Luchsinger, chair of the beneficiaries committee, at
Members of the Wine Alliance board are Margaret Walker-Stimmel, president; Marie Beery, vice president; Pamela Shine-Duncan, secretary; Rob Roumiguiere, treasurer; and Kaj Ahlmann, Judy Luchsinger, Wilda Shock, and Janet Thompson.
The charter of the Wine Alliance directs its efforts to foster the arts, benefit health services, and support the community, while promoting Lake County as a premier grape growing and fine wine region.
The Lake County Wine Alliance may be contacted by phone, 866-279-WINE, or by mail to P.O. Box 530, Kelseyville 95451.
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An arctic blast moved into Lake County on Sunday afternoon and dropped scattered snow flurries before quickly moving out, leaving much colder air in its wake. The National Weather Service in Sacramento said that cold weather will continue through Wednesday.
The agency also issued a freeze warning that will remain in effect until 9 a.m. Wednesday.
The National Weather Service predicted that Wednesday's high temperature will be near 40, with clouds moving in overnight. Lows are expected to drop back into the mid- to upper-20s, and another freeze warning is likely to be issued.
Chances of precipitation will increase on Thursday, with a 40-percent chance of rain and snow increasing to a 50 percent chance of rain overnight, with temperatures forecast to remain above freezing, the National Weather Service reported.
Rain should continue through Saturday, with daytime highs near 40 on Friday, and the mid-40s by Saturday, the forecast said.
Temperatures will slowly warm up with partial clearing on Sunday. Forecaster predict that rain will return and continue through Tuesday.
E-mail Terre Logsdon at
“The generosity of Lake County residents and businesses the past 13 years has been heartwarming,” said Thompson, who kicked off the drive on Monday.
The effort has provided thousands of children in the community with Christmas gifts, Thompson said.
He credited the ongoing success of the Toys for Kids Drive to hundreds of individuals and businesses who contribute toys, money, and time to wrap and distribute gifts.
This year, Toys for Kids is partnering with a number of local businesses and public agencies in the annual Christmas toy drive.
Partner groups include Lake Transit Authority, Lake Family Resource Center, Lake County Office of Education-Healthy Family and Healthy Start programs, Hidden Valley Lake Community Services District, Wal-Mart of Clearlake and Pacific Gas and Electric Co.
Toy donations may be dropped off at the following locations:
Clearlake: Best Western El Grande Inn, 15135 Lakeshore Drive;
Middletown and Hidden Valley Lake: Hidden Valley Lake Community Services District Office, 19400 Hartmann Road;
Lakeport: Lake County Office of Education, 1152 S. Main St.
Monetary donations can be sent to Toys for Kids, c/o Brad Onorato, P.O. Box 6742, Napa, CA 94581. Nonprofit tax identification numbers are: state of California ID No. 2456994, federal No. 30-0142588.
Toys for Kids is a 501c(3) nonprofit organization overseen by a board of directors composed of county residents.
Board members include Mel Aust and Tami Ipsen, Hidden Valley Lake; Anna Ocon, Clearlake; Peggy McCloud, Lakeport; Bob Minenna, Lower Lake; Margaret Walker-Stimmel, Kelseyville; Dorrie Walker, Lower Lake.
For more information call 707-695-4670.
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Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies arrested Jeremiah Daniel Heilig Monday afternoon, according to a report from sheriff's Capt. Kurt Smallcomb.
At about 4 p.m. Monday deputies and Willits Police officer responded to the area of Highway 101 and Holland's Lane, where Smallcomb said a motorist had reported that a man dressed in camouflage was standing in a roadside ditch pointing a handgun at passing motorists.
When the deputies arrived on the scene they saw Heilig alongside the highway, allegedly holding an object which appeared to be a handgun, Smallcomb said. Heilig allegedly refused to comply with deputies commands to remain still and leave his hands in view.
After a brief struggle Heilig was taken into custody, Smallcomb said.
Highway 101 was closed for several minutes until it was confirmed that the suspect did not possess an operational firearm. Smallcomb said the gun Heilig had pointed at passing motorists was found to be made of plastic.
Heilig appeared to be confused and offered no explanation for pointing the imitation firearm at motorists, according to Smallcomb's reported. Deputies also found allegedly found Heilig in possession of an illegal "shank" type stabbing device.
Smallcomb said Heilig was arrested for possession of a dirk or dagger, which is a felony, and also was also charged with violation of probation and resisting arrest, and brandishing an imitation firearm. He was transported to the Mendocino County Jail where he was booked on the charges.
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Judge Richard Martin ruled that 26-year-old John Wesley Dunn Jr. would be tried for a charge of rape while using alcohol to prevent resisting.
However, Martin found there wasn't sufficient evidence to warrant Dunn's prosecution on two other counts – kidnap with the intent to rape and assault with the intent to commit a crime.
The kidnap charge alone carried a maximum life sentence, said Dunn's defense attorney, Stephen Carter. The remaining charge carries a maximum eight-year prison sentence.
“I'm very optimistic about the way the case is progressing and we're very eager to get the case to jury trial,” Carter said Monday.
Dunn, who has no previous criminal history, was arrested in August for allegedly raping a 25-year-old female acquaintance who he had driven home following a night of dancing and drinking.
He had been held in the Lake County Jail for three weeks on $350,000 bail before a lengthy bail hearing during which Carter put on more than 15 witnesses who attested to Dunn's character. Judge Arthur Mann ordered Dunn released on his own recognizance at the end of the hearing, as Lake County News has reported.
Dunn's preliminary hearing began late Friday morning and ran the remainder of the day, forcing the court to reschedule for this Friday the preliminary hearing for Joshua Wandry and Deborah James in the beating, shooting and hogtying of Ronald Greiner in October. The need for rescheduling resulted from Carter representing both Dunn and Wandry.
The hearing continued for nearly two more hours Monday morning, with Carter and prosecutor Ed Borg arguing the points of the case before Martin's ruling.
On Friday, Borg had called sheriff's Det. Mike Curran, who interviewed the alleged victim.
The woman, who had been told by a doctor to reduce her alcohol consumption due to an ulcer, said she had a total of five drinks that night.
She went with family and friends to Twin Pine Casino, something they commonly did on Fridays, for drinks and dancing.
While she was there the woman saw Dunn, with whom she was acquainted. She told investigators he was interested in her romantically, but she wasn't interested as she dating someone else.
She told investigators that Dunn bought her and a friend some drinks, and she asked him to dance with her, which he did several times.
According to Curran's testimony, the young woman didn't remember leaving the casino or much else about the latter part of the evening – including the fact that she had trouble walking and had fallen down – only that she woke up the next morning and discovered that she was missing her underwear and had physical discomfort.
Sheriff's Det. John Drewrey, who worked the case with Curran, presented information from the sexual assault exam performed on the victim by a St. Helena Hospital Clearlake doctor.
The doctor observed multiple bruises over the woman's body, including her right thigh, groin, foot and ankle, with superficial scratches found sporadically over her body. The bruises were found to be consistent with the time frame of the events the woman gave investigators.
Drewrey said the doctor stated that he couldn't give a definitive answer about what caused the injuries, but that they were consistent with sexual assault.
The victim, using Drewrey's cell phone, made two “pretext” calls to Dunn to ask him about the evening.
During the first call, the woman asked Dunn if they had sex, which he confirmed that they did. In a second call, he said they had sex in his car after he pulled off the road while driving her home.
Drewrey also reported speaking with a friend of the alleged victim who said she was “falling down drunk” and had slurred speed at the end of the evening.
Dunn told Drewrey during an interview that the woman had come up to him at the bar, grabbed him by the shirt and asked him to drive her home. He asked if she was sure that she wanted to go, she said yes, and they left.
Surveillance video of the two – which Borg showed at the end of the day Friday – showed them walking out of the casino with their arms around each other. Dunn had told detectives that he was trying to help her walk, and at one point picked her up while helping her to his car.
Dunn told detectives that, on the drive home in his 1998 Ford Mustang, the young woman tried to get on top of him. He pulled over behind a former restaurant location and they had sex in the vehicle there.
Afterward, he took her back to her home, where her sister was babysitting the woman's young daughter, whose birthday it had been that night. The young woman vomited when the got to her house, and then Dunn helped put her on the couch before leaving.
Borg said Dunn is set for arraignment on the single charge on Jan. 19. 2010.
“It will not go to trial very soon,” Borg told Lake County News on Monday.
He estimated that, due to the number of cases currently on the court calendar, the case won't come to trial until April or May at the earliest.
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