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The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office reported that Tammie Szupello, 31, was arrested for allegedly inflicting injury on her 34-year-old ex-husband, a Lakeport resident.
Just before 7 p.m. Thursday Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to 12090 Eel River Road in Potter Valley on a report of a domestic violence incident.
Deputies arrived at the Potter Valley area and contacted the victim, who reported he had been assaulted by Szupello after he arrived at her residence to drop off their children.
Prior to the victim leaving the location, he was contacted by Szupello and during a physical encounter she bit the victim on his arm, the sheriff's office reported.
The victim only received superficial injuries and medical services were not summoned.
Szupello was arrested for domestic violence and booked at the Mendocino County Jail, according to the sheriff's office.
Mendocino County Health Officer Dr. Marvin Trotter said Friday that a 25-year-old Mendocino County resident contracted the virus, and was showing a mild illness of influenza-like symptoms.
Trotter said the patient is recovering without any treatment of antiviral therapy.
Lake County's first H1N1 case was reported on June 29.
Dr. Karen Tait, Lake County's health officer, told Lake County News in an interview at that time that the new flu virus' unpredictable aspects include a propensity for spreading during the summer, at a time when the traditional flu usually doesn't appear.
The Centers for Disease Control said there have been 40,617 H1N1 cases in the United States and its territories, with 263 deaths.
California has had 3,161 cases – placing it third nationwide behind Wisconsin and Texas – and 52 deaths, placing second behind New York.
Trotter said the H1N1 influenza virus continues to cause mild illness and sometimes severe illness in persons worldwide. Symptoms include fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit), cough and/or sore throat, body aches, and diarrhea and/or vomiting.
Children and adults with underlying medical conditions such as respiratory, cardiac, HIV, cancer, chronic steroid use or women who are pregnant may be at higher risk to become ill and have severe illness, Trotter said.
Infected persons are assumed to be contagious the day before symptom onset and through seven days after onset of symptoms, according to health officials.
Trotter said if a person experiences any of these symptoms is it is recommended that they contact their doctor, stay home from work, school and social gatherings for approximately seven days.
He urged people to cover their cough, wash their hands with soap and water, use alcohol-based hand sanitizer when no hand washing source is available, get rest, reduce stress and eat healthy in order to reduce the risk of contracting the H1N1 flu this summer.
Cal Fire Battalion Chief Pete Muñoa said the fire was reported at 5:25 a.m. Friday on St. Helena Highway in the unincorporated area of Napa County.
Firefighters from Cal Fire, Napa County Fire, St. Helena City Fire and Calistoga Fire departments responded to the incident, Muñoa said.
Two people were at home at the time of the fire and safely evacuated prior to the fire departments' arrival. Muñoa said no injuries were reported.
The first firefighters on scene found the home to be fully engulfed, and went into a defensive attack in fighting the fire, according to Muñoa.
He said the fire destroyed the 2,500-square-foot residence and burned a small amount of vegetation.
The total damage estimated to the structure and contents is approximated at $700,000, Muñoa said.
Investigators from the Napa County Fire Marshal’s Office and Cal Fire believe the cause to be accidental but the fires still is under investigation, he added.
However, Hopkins said he'll still move forward in prosecuting a charge of felony boating under the influence charge causing great bodily injury against Bismarck Dinius, 41, who is facing trial later this month in connection to the April 29, 2006, boat crash that took the life of 51-year-old Willows resident Lynn Thornton.
Dinius' blood alcohol level allegedly was 0.12, according to a blood test result the prosecution will present. The legal limit is 0.08.
“I'm glad that he is moving to dismiss the manslaughter charge. That's the right thing to do,” said Victor Haltom, Dinius' attorney.
Haltom added, however, that the remaining charge still contends that Dinius caused Thornton's death.
Dinius was steering a sailboat belonging to Thornton's boyfriend, Mark Weber of Willows, on that April night when it was hit by a powerboat driven by Russell Perdock, an off-duty sheriff's chief deputy. Perdock was not charged in the case.
The District Attorney's Office charged Dinius with felony vehicular manslaughter with a boat and felony boating under the influence of alcohol.
Dinius also is facing two misdemeanor charges – driving with a blood alcohol level over 0.08 and driving while under the influence. Haltom said those two charges are “lesser included offenses” that appear in prosecutions where there are felony DUI charges.
“Mr. Dinius could only be convicted of those if the jury rejected the felony charges,” he explained.
Hopkins – who last month took over prosecuting the casing himself – said on Friday that next Tuesday he'll enter a motion before visiting Judge J. Michael Byrne to drop the vehicular manslaughter charge.
Jury selection has been under way over the last few weeks, with testimony expected to begin on July 28.
Dropping the manslaughter charge won't change the trial going forward, as the charges haven't yet been read to the jury, said Hopkins.
Haltom is concerned about the felony boating under the influence charge, which he said is essentially the same as manslaughter. Both carry lower and middle terms of 16 months and two years, respectively, while the boating under the influence charge carries a maximum prison term of three years, just one year less than felony manslaughter.
“There remains in this case an absurd and ridiculous and unsupportable felony charge against Mr. Dinius which is being presented to a jury by a man who has clearly not read and digested his own file in the case,” said Haltom.
On Friday, Hopkins issued an open letter explaining his decision in the case. To see the letter in its entirety, click here: District attorney offers open letter to community on sailboat case .
“I'm floored by this letter. I've never seen anything like it,” said Haltom. “We're in jury selection and he's throwing out a letter like this.”
He said he was struck by the hypocrisy of issuing the letter, just a few months after the District Attorney's Office sought a gag order on principals in the case. Byrne denied the motion.
Haltom said Hopkins' Friday letter is riddled with false and incorrect assertions. He further alleged it omits many pieces of important information, with Hopkins not addressing scientific evidence, talking to some witnesses in the case – such as Hans Peter Elmer, a retired law enforcement officer who alleges that he saw Perdock's boat traveling at a high rate of speed – or discussing Perdock's speed or any of the issues about his involvement.
Neither do Hopkins and Haltom agree that a previous driving under the influence conviction against Dinius can be introduced during this prosecution.
In his letter, Hopkins explained that he reviewed the findings of a civil lawsuit regarding Thornton's death. That was was settled before going to a jury; Haltom said the insurance for Dinius, Weber and Perdock paid out nearly $300,000 each, with Weber and Dinius each receiving five-figure settlements.
In civil cases, a jury determines comparative negligence and a percentage of fault, which isn't done in criminal cases, said Hopkins.
He told Lake County News on Friday that he's satisfied that the civil suit resolved the liability issue for Thornton's death.
“I wanted to make sure responsibility was taken, and it was,” he said, adding there's no need to pursue the criminal negligence aspect in the form of the manslaughter charge.
Last month, Hopkins personally took over prosecuting the case from Deputy District Attorney John Langan.
While he said he “can't really say anything” about his reasons for that move, he said he has taken a hands-on approach to investigating the collision.
“It really helps to be able to go out and see where people were, talk to them about what they saw and just get a more complete understanding of what was involved,” he said.
“We're finding things out as we go,” he added, explaining, “You never get the whole picture reading reports.”
Haltom has consistently pointed to Perdock's alleged culpability in the case, accusing him of driving his power boat as fast as 60 miles per hour and having access to evidence in the case – from the boats to his own blood samples to copies of 911 tape that had been reported missing. He's also brought forward witnesses who claim to have seen Perdock at Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa in the hours before the crash.
Dropping the manslaughter charge, Haltom suggested, could be an effort by Hopkins to reduce the evidence produced at trial about Perdock's culpability. “That ain't gonna fly,” Haltom said.
But, in addressing those accusations against Perdock, Hopkins said, “They don't have any proof of anything. They have a bunch of wild speculation.”
He said he's made it a point for his office to investigate those allegations seriously, “and I have to date found no evidence that supports any of those claims.”
Hopkins added, “I've turned over a lot of rocks and there's nothing underneath them.”
He did not indicate any charges would be filed against anyone else in relation to the case.
As testimony gets set to start later this month, Haltom said he intends to file a motion seeking a “jury view.”
He's asking Byrne to consider allowing the jury to be taken out on Clear Lake by pontoon boat at night so they can see a sailboat maneuvering “at various distances and under various lighting conditions.”
His motion notes that lights on other vessels and shore lights can be indistinguishable at night and “it is difficult for people to be made to understand this phenomenon unless they experience it firsthand.”
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
Late last month, the state Board of Equalization released a new report on the first quarter of 2009, which is the 12th consecutive three-month period in which Californians used less gasoline. The report also shows diesel use is down.
The Board of Equalization monitors gallons of gasoline and diesel sold through tax receipts paid by fuel distributors.
“For three full years now consumers have cut down on the amount of fuel they use. High gasoline prices, use of more efficient vehicles and the downturn in the economy are all likely contributors to this trend,” said Board of Equalization Chairwoman Betty T. Yee.
In the first quarter of 2009, Californians used 213 million gallons less than the first quarter of 2008, which is a decline of 5.6 percent, according to the Board of Equalization report.
In addition, the agency reported that, for all of 2008, California gas consumption compared to the previous year declined 4.1 percent, a much larger decrease than the 1.0 percent drop in 2007.
The report also compared gas consumption between March 2008 and March 2009. This March, Californians used 1.3 billion gallons, down 30.2 million gallons compared to the previous March.
The Board of Equalization noted that the average California gasoline price at the pump in March was $2.24 per gallon, a 38-percent decline from the average price the same month last year when it was $3.61. Gasoline sold at the lower price in March 2009 generated approximately $211 million in sales tax during that month, an estimated $137 million less than was generated in March 2008.
Diesel consumption also is down. The Board of Equalization's recent report noted that diesel use was down 11.6 percent in the first quarter of 2009 from the first quarter in 2008.
California diesel consumption decreased 8.3 percent in 2008, which the agency said reflects the impacts of the national recession that is associated with much less freight movement on California roads and highways.
Approximately 619 million gallons of diesel fuel were sold in California in the first quarter of this year, which the Board of Equalization reported is 80.9 million gallons less than the first quarter of 2008.
The year-over changes in diesel consumption in the state were less than those seen with gasoline. Diesel fuel sold in March 2009 declined 0.5 percent over March 2008; the total used was 240 million gallons, which is 1.3 million gallons below the previous March.
The Board of Equalization credited declines in diesel consumption – despite a steep decrease in prices – to the effects of the recession. In March, California diesel prices were $2.14 per gallon, down 47 percent compared to March 2008 when the average diesel price was $4.01 per gallon.
Local gas sales and impacts on travel
Doug Gearhart, Lake County’s pollution control officer, said the Lake County Air Quality Management District gathers information on retail gasoline sales as part of its annual permitting. That information, he noted, doesn’t include agricultural use.
From March 2008 through March 2009, there were 21.6 million gallons of gasoline sold in Lake County. The previous year, March 2007 to March 2008, there were 24 million gallons of gasoline sold locally, Gearhart said.
He said the 21.6 million mark is likely the base usage for Lake County residents.
“With all the summer wildfires our tourist traffic was very low,” he said.
Driving declines in rural areas like Lake are outpacing those seen in urban areas, according to a report by the federal Department of Transportation.
The agency noted that the United States is into its second year of a decline in mileage.
The agency reported that there were seven billion fewer miles traveled this past January than in the same month the previous year, or a 3.1-percent drop. The agency reported that this was the first “ back-to-back“ decline for January since 1981-1982.
That’s part of a much larger trend of declining mileage, which started in December of 2007, the same month, incidentally, as officials reported the US recession began.
From December 2007 through January 2009, there were 122 billion fewer vehicle miles traveled than the period of December 2006 through January 2008, the Department of Transportation reported.
More recent numbers for April show that travel on all roads and streets is estimated to be 249.5 billion vehicle miles, up by 0.6 percent, or 1.4 billion vehicle miles, over April 2008. However, cumulative travel miles for 2009 is expected to be down by 1.1 percent, or 10 billion vehicle miles. The year's cumulative estimate is 933.2 billion vehicle miles.
Cynthia Harris, a spokesperson for AAA of Northern California, said the trend of driving and traveling less has been going on for several years.
Harris said normally there is a 1-percent annual increase in the number of travelers. “For the last year there has been a decrease, and that’s the first time since 9/11,” she said.
The reasons, said Harris, are high gas prices and peoples’ uncertainty over the economy.
She said people are still traveling for holidays, but are going shorter distances. When they do travel, they tend to stay with friends and family or come back the same day. That means less time in hotels, and more people driving instead of flying.
In July 2008, gasoline peaked at nearly $5 a gallon, said Harris. Yet, even though gas prices have gone down, people didn’t return to their previous levels of travel.
She said it’s likely due to caution that people now have, knowing that gas prices can spike. Consumers are savvy, and have caught on to the volatility of gas prices, she said. “People are very leery of that.”
The result, she said, is that the entire spectrum of the travel industry has been affected.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
Charles “Eddy” Lepp, 57, of Upper Lake turned himself in on July 6 to federal authorities in Lompoc, according to his wife, Linda Lepp.
In May Lepp was sentenced to two concurrent 10-year terms after having been convicted in September of 2008 of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and cultivation of more than 1,000 marijuana plants, as Lake County News has reported.
A federal jury convicted Lepp of growing 24,784 marijuana plants on his 20-acre property in Upper Lake.
Lepp, who was indicted in 2004, has maintained his innocence. He has been a proponent of legalizing marijuana and is a Rastafarian minister who has alleged that authorities have violated his freedom of religion and his ministry.
He was the first person in California to be acquitted in a prosecution under 1996's Compassion Use Act, Proposition 215, which allowed patients to use medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation.
Linda Lepp said an appellate lawyer has been assigned to her husband's case, and the attorney has estimated that it will take two months to go through the materials and filing an appeal will take another six months. The case could be in court in June of 2010, Linda Lepp said.
Eddy Lepp is being held at the Federal Correctional Institution in Lompoc, which is a low security facility housing male inmates, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Now Linda Lepp and her husband's supporters are starting a push to get the attention of President Barack Obama.
“We have already sent over 7,000 letters to the president,” she said, but there's some concern that the messages were faxed to the wrong number, so they're starting over.
They're also responding to thousands of e-mail messages sent to Eddy Lepp's e-mail and working on his MySpace page, www.myspace.com/eddylepp , which Linda Lepp said has had 24,000 hits. They're also planning to post a Facebook page next week.
Linda Lepp said at some point in the future she'll be able to visit her husband. They married last September and then, in light of his conviction, Eddy Lepp had their marriage annulled. However, they remarried March 19.
She said she's received messages of support from all over the world. “It's pretty unreal, the support we're getting from well wishers.”
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at