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"The overall safety of the motoring public is our primary concern," says CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow. “Not only will these new laws enhance a motorist’s safety, many of them are a step toward ridding the roadways of drunk drivers and the tragedy they cause.”
Below are the major changes to driving regulations and vehicle equipment.
Texting while driving (SB 28, Simitian). This new law makes it an infraction to write, send or read text-based communication on an electronic wireless communications device, such as a cell phone, while driving a motor vehicle. Previously this was only illegal for individuals under 18 years of age, but now has been expanded to all drivers.
Driving under the influence (DUI) zero tolerance (AB 1165, Maze). This new law prohibits a convicted DUI offender from operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol level (BAC) of .01 percent or greater while on probation for DUI. The law requires the driver to submit to a Preliminary Alcohol Screening (PAS) test, a portable breath test to determine the presence of alcohol. If the driver refuses, or if the driver submits and has a BAC of .01 or greater, a citation will be issued, the driver’s license will be taken and driving privileges will be suspended. In addition, the vehicle will be impounded.
Ignition interlock devices (IID) (SB 1190, Oropeza). This new law reduces the BAC from .20 percent to .15 percent or more at the time of arrest to trigger a requirement for the court to give heightened consideration for the installation of an IID for a first-time offender convicted of DUI of an alcoholic beverage.
Ignition interlock devices (SB 1388, Torlakson). Effective July 2009, this new law transfers authority for the administration of mandatory IID programs from the state courts to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). This law also authorizes the DMV to require any driver convicted of driving with a suspended license due to a prior conviction for DUI to install an IID in any vehicle that the offender owns or operates.
Alcohol-related reckless driving (AB 2802, Houston). This new law requires the court to order a person convicted of alcohol-related reckless driving to participate in a licensed DUI program for at least nine months, if that person has a prior conviction for alcohol-related reckless driving or DUI within ten years. Additionally, the court is required to revoke the person’s probation for the failure to enroll in, participate in, or complete a licensed DUI program.
Global positioning systems (GPS) (SB 1567, Oropeza). This new law allows a portable GPS device to be mounted in a 7-inch square in the lower corner of the windshield on the passenger side of the vehicle, or in a 5-inch square in the lower corner of the windshield on the driver’s side. These are the only two locations on a windshield where a GPS device can be mounted. The GPS device can only be used for navigational purposes while the motor vehicle is being operated, and it is required to be mounted outside of an airbag deployment zone.
Motorcycles (AB 2272, Fuentes). This new law changes the definition of a motorcycle by deleting the weight limitation and deleting the separate definition for electrically powered motorcycles. The law will now allow fully enclosed, three-wheeled vehicles to have access to high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes regardless of occupancy.
Clean air stickers: Misuse and penalties (SB 1720, Lowenthal). This new law makes it an infraction for anyone who forges, counterfeits, falsifies, passes, or attempts to pass, acquire possess, sell, or offer for sale a genuine or counterfeit “Clean Air Sticker.”
911 telephone system abuse (AB 1976, Benoit). This new law increases the penalties for any person who knowingly uses, or allows the use of, the 911 telephone system for any reason other than an emergency. Those who misuse, or allow the misuse of, the 911 telephone system are guilty of an infraction, and subject to either a written warning or a fine.
Special license plates (AB 190, Bass). This new law, when approved by local authorities, allows veterans whose vehicles display plates honoring Pearl Harbor Survivors, Legion of Valor recipients, former American Prisoners of War, Congressional Medal of Honor recipients, or Purple Heart recipients to park their vehicles that weigh not more than 6,000 pounds gross weight, without charge, in any metered parking space.
Studded pneumatic tires (AB 1971, Portantino). This new law allows the use of pneumatic tires with retractable metal-type studs, year round, as long as the studs are retracted between May 1 through October 31. However, the law prohibits a tire with retractable metal-type studs on a vehicle from being worn to a point that the metal-type studs protrude beyond the tire tread when retracted.
Spilling cargo loads (AB 2714, Keene). This new law eases restrictions on cargo loads of straw or hay to allow individual pieces that do not pose a threat to life or property, to escape from bales of straw or hay that are being transported by a vehicle upon a highway, so long as those bales are loaded and secured according to federal regulations.
Assault on highway workers (SB 1509, Lowenthal). This new law provides an increased penalty for assault and battery crimes committed against Caltrans highway workers who are engaged in the performance of their duties.
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LAKEPORT – One of the world's great Christmas stories will be offered in a special Saturday production at Lakeport's Soper-Reese Community Theater.
Charles Dickens' “A Christmas Carol” will be performed at the Soper-Reese and also broadcast live on Lake County Community Radio, 88.1 FM beginning at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 20.
The theater, located at 275 S. Main. St. in Lakeport, welcomes people to attend the performance for free.
The performance, based on Tony Palermo's radio adaptation of the story, will have a cast of 12 directed by Soper-Reese Artistic Director Bert Hutt. Before the production begins, the audience will be shown a demonstration on the sound effects' production and given background on radio dramas.
Dickens' story of redemption and love was published on Dec. 19, 1843, making it 165 years old this year.
“A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas” was written in only about two months, at the same time as he was working on his novel, “Martin Chuzzlewit.”
The 31-year-old Dickens sat down to write his “ghostly little book” in October of 1843 at his home at 9 Osnaburgh Terrace, London. By that time, he already was a well-known writer, thanks to “The Pickwick Papers,” “Oliver Twist,” “Nicholas Nickleby” and “The Old Curiosity Shop.”
But despite begin well-known, Dickens had financial pressures. He and his wife, Catherine Hogarth, already had four children with a fifth on the way.
A 1905 version compilation of Dickens' Christmas books, which included commentary by his son, Charles, said that the author was hoping to make a thousand pounds with the book, although it made several hundred pounds less, despite being a great literary success.
The first version of the book included 6,000 copies, was 166 pages in length and cost five shillings. It quickly sold out and was followed by second and third editions. It had sold 15,000 copies by the end of 1844.
Within a few months of the book's publication, it reportedly was the subject of stage adaptations.
Like “Oliver Twist” before it, “A Christmas Carol” brings into sharp focus Dickens' concerns about social injustice, a theme that would follow him throughout his life, thanks to his own childhood travails. His father was sent to the Marshalsea debtors' prison and Dickens, as a 12-year-old boy, had to go to work in a blacking factory to help his family make ends meet.
Dickens wrote to a friend about his first Christmas book, noting, “Its success is most prodigious.” His son also reported that Dickens received letters from readers describing how they kept the book “about their homes and hearths.”
He noted in another letter that he “wept, and laughed, and wept again, and excited himself in a most extraordinary manner in the composition.”
In all, Dickens would write five Christmas books, including “A Christmas Carol.” The other four were “Chimes,” “The Cricket on the Hearth,” “The Battle of Life” and “The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain.”
But it was “A Christmas Carol” that, for many, signaled a change in the way Christmas was celebrated in England and, later the rest of the world.
It was about that time that the holiday was getting a new emphasis. Just a few years before, in 1841, Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert set up the first Christmas tree at Windsor Castle, a custom the prince consort brought with him from his native Germany.
Dickens' main character in “A Christmas Carol,” Ebenezer Scrooge, undergoes not just a change in how he celebrates Christmas, but how he relates to others and, ultimately, how he sees himself in the world.
The book addresses the themes of basic human connection, the importance of relationships with others, the power of love and kindness, and the ability to redeem oneself and one's sense of hope.
Lord Jeffrey wrote to Dickens about the book, noting, “You should be happy yourself, for you may be sure you have done more good by this little publication, fostered more kind feelings, and prompted more positive acts of beneficence, than can be traced to all the pulpits and confessionals in Christendom since Christmas, 1842.”
“A Christmas Carol,” more than a century and a half later, still has much to tell us. And in these times when the haves and have nots seem as far apart as they were in the early days of Victorian England, Dickens' story of hope has a special relevance.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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Eric Vonrenegar, 59, was arrested Monday night at Robinson Rancheria Resort and Casino, according to Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Bauman said that the deputy assigned to the Northshore area responded to Robinson Rancheria's casino parking lot shortly before 9 p.m. on a report of an intoxicated subject attempting to leave in his vehicle.
When the deputy arrived he found Vonrenegar seated in his idling pickup truck in the parking lot of the casino, said Bauman.
After several attempts to get Vonrenegar to exit his truck, Bauman said he eventually complied and while he was being detained the deputy learned he was a convicted felon on active parole.
Bauman said the deputy conducted a search of Vonrenegar’s truck pursuant to the terms of his parole and in the glove box, he found two suspicious devices wrapped in tape. One of the devices had what appeared to be a fuse attached to it and on further inspection, the deputy determined both devices were packed with smokeless black powder and appeared to be home made explosive devices.
Vonrenegar told the deputy that the devices had been left in his truck by another subject months prior and that he had just been holding on to them until he could find the subject to return them, Bauman said.
Vonrenegar was not determined to be intoxicated as initially reported. However, he was arrested and later booked at the Lake County Jail for felony possession of a destructive device and felony violation of parole. Bauman said he is being held without bail pursuant to the violation of his parole.
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UPPER LAKE – A Ukiah man has been arrested for allegedly firing a handgun at a local man in what officials are calling a case of road rage.
Sukhbir Singh, 36, a gas station owner, was arrested Wednesday afternoon near Upper Lake, according to a report from Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Bauman said the California Highway Patrol received a wireless 911 call at about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday reporting that shots had been fired from a vehicle traveling westbound on Highway 20 in Clearlake Oaks.
No one was injured as a result of the incident, Bauman said.
Information about the suspect vehicle – described as a black Lexus sedan – was relayed to the Lake County Sheriff's Dispatch and sheriff's deputies responded to the area of the reported shooting, according to Bauman.
Singh's vehicle was located about 20 minutes later, spotted by Deputy Steve Herdt on Highway 20 in Upper Lake, Bauman said. Herdt stopped Singh's vehicle about a block east of Government Street and detained him without incident. Singh was alone in the car.
Bauman said the victim in the alleged shooting, 47-year-old Bruce Hutchins of Clearlake Oaks, was in the area and positively identified Singh as the shooter.
The alleged weapon, a .22 caliber revolver, was recovered during the car stop, said Bauman.
Radio reports from the scene indicated that Singh has several handguns registered to his name, ranging in size from .22 caliber up to .44. He also is reported to have a history of speeding tickets.
At the scene, Capt. Russell Perdock said Herdt was leading the investigation into the alleged shooting.
Singh was arrested and transported to the Lake County Jail, where he was booked on a felony charge of negligent discharge of a firearm and a misdemeanor charge of brandishing a firearm, with bail set at $11,000.
He was released from jail later in the evening and is due to appear in court on Friday, according to his booking information.
Bauman said more information on the case will be available on Thursday.
Correspondent Harold LaBonte contributed to this report.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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The Contractors State License Board (CSLB), in cooperation with the Lake County District Attorney’s Office, performed the undercover operation on Dec. 10.
Members of CSLB’s Statewide Investigative Fraud Unit posed as property owners and took bids on projects that included fencing, landscaping, roofing, painting and exterior trim, the agency reported.
When the suspects offered bids over $500, they were arrested and given a notice to appear for contracting without a license. The license board reported that California law requires a state contractor’s license for home improvement jobs that are valued at $500 or more in material and labor.
CSLB investigators issued 14 notices to appear, five administrative citations and two warning letters.
James Arthur Lee Jr., 36, of Lucerne received both a notice to appear and citation after he bid $9,000 for the labor portion of a fencing project. The license board reported that Lee is no stranger to CSLB or breaking the law – he has received two prior CSLB citations for unlicensed activity.
In addition to Lee, those arrested were Ronald Carl Peterson, 38, of Clearlake; Bruce Suter, 57, of Clearlake; Gary Benson, 57, of Hidden Valley; Ronald Trader, 48, of Cobb; Luis Rodriguez, 42, Kelseyville; Jerry Heidebrect, 51, of Lower Lake; Jack Paulin, 52, of Lakeport; Stephen Cova, 40, of Clearlake; Blair Kirkpatrick, 41, of Lakeport; Benjamin Perry, 48, of Lakeport; Rodney Miller, 52, of Lower Lake; Richard Jensen, 39, of Kelseyville; Herson Prmando Marroquin, 39, of Nice; Mei Hing Dye, 46, of Lakeport; Daniel Morgan Dye, 61, of Lakeport; Jack Conrad, 59, of Kelseyville; and David Wilhelm, 52, Lakeport.
Venus Stromberg, a CSLB information officer, said the number arrested during this sting – 14 – is an average number in any given sting around the state, with some netting as many as 30 at a time.
Those arrested last week are facing misdemeanor charges of contracting without a license when they appear in Lake County Superior Court on Feb. 9, 2009, said Stromberg. The charges carry a potential sentence of up to six months in jail and/or a $500 fine.
For repeat offenders, “the penalties just keep increasing,” she said, with higher fines and the potential for jail time.
Those operating without licenses in state or federally declared disaster zones can face felony charges, said Stromberg, who said that's the case for those arrested in a sting in a Southern California fire scene recently.
She said there are concerns about unlicensed contractor activity in Lake County but added, “It's a common problem, frankly, throughout the state.”
Unlicensed contractors tend to prey on the elderly, she said, and that's a concern for a place like Lake County, which has a large senior population.
The license board conducts a sting once a week somewhere within the state, said Stromberg, noting that there are field offices for the agency throughout the state.
A key to holding the stings is cooperation with local law enforcement, who often provide the impetus for the actions by calling CSLB to request their help, said Stromberg.
The CSLB reports that unlicensed operators are part of a multi-billion dollar underground economy that takes jobs away from legitimate contractors, and tax dollars from schools, roads and law enforcement. Illegal operators never carry workers’ compensation or liability insurance, and homeowners have little recourse if something goes wrong with an unlicensed operator.
Stromberg said she believes there is more sensitivity to the issue right now because everybody wants to get a deal in order to stretch their dollars. At the same time, legitimate contractors are not getting as much business because of the economic situation.
To qualify for a license, a contractor must verify four years of journey-level experience in the trade, pass both a trade and license law examination, and post a license bond. Stromberg said the license board works with unlicensed contractors in order to help them get their licenses.
Stromberg said the CSLB currently is watching two other cases involving unlicensed contractors in Lake County.
One involves the case of Ronald Paul Odbert, 71, of Nice.
Stromberg said Odbert was working on a trailer for a 63-year-old woman who is a cancer patient even though his contractor's license had been revoked in 2005.
His record shows an outstanding civil judgment, an outstanding contractor's bond payment and failure to meet worker's compensation requirements.
He is alleged to have diverted approximately $20,590 from the woman's project for his own personal use, said Stromberg.
Odbert also is alleged to have required an excessive down payment of $10,300 for a project he failed to complete, and also failed once again to maintain proper workers' compensation.
Stromberg said Odbert's case is going to court. He's due to appear in Lake County Superior Court on Jan. 16.
The second case involves 54-year-old Larry Brown of Lakeport, who the license board is investigating for allegedly defrauding at least three elderly victims in Lake County.
Brown, operating under the name “All Seasons Tree Service,” has allegedly taken large down payments or full payment for tree trimming, deck repair and fences and never returned to finish the work. There also are reports of him soliciting work in Sonoma County, according to the license board.
Late last month, the CSLB Statewide Investigative Fraud Team investigators delivered a case against Brown to local prosecutors that includes multiple felony charges of elder abuse, grand theft, diversion of funds, in addition to misdemeanor charges of contracting without a license and illegal advertising.
Brown has a long history of run-ins with local law enforcement authorities and a prison record, according to the license board. He also was on parole from a prior drug and theft conviction.
The CSLB and Lakeport Police believe there may be additional victims and are encouraging them to come forward. Anyone who has contracted with or has information about Larry Brown is asked to contact CSLB at 916-255-4602.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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The Board of Parole Hearings decided against giving parole to James Robert Isvich, 46, following a lifer hearing at California State Prison, Solano, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff.
Hinchcliff attended the hearing to argue against Isvich's release.
Isvich was convicted of the second-degree murder of his 56-year-old mother, Patricia Erickson, and sentenced by Superior Court Judge Robert L. Crone to 16 years to life on Jan. 14, 1991, said Hinchcliff.
Hinchcliff said Isvich's minimum eligible parole date was March 31, 2001. In April of 2000 Hinchcliff attended a parole to oppose Isvich's release.
According to investigation reports by the Clearlake Police Department, Ivsich was living with his mother at the time of her death at their residence on Alvita Avenue in the city of Clearlake.
Ivsich was abusing alcohol and had been verbally abusive and threatening toward his mother on previous occasions, according to witnesses.
When officers arrived at the Alvita Avenue residence on May 1, 1990, they found Erickson inside the residence with two stab wounds, one in her chest and one in her back, Hinchcliff said. Ivsich was sitting in a chair with a bloody fixed blade knife lying next to him. His blood alcohol level shortly after the incident was .32, four times the legal limit for driving.
Ivsich initially told investigators he did not remember what happened except that he was home with his mother when she suddenly fell over with a knife in her back, said Hinchcliff.
Subsequently, Isvich told investigators that he had left the house and when he returned home he gave his mother a hug and found a knife in her back, according to Hinchcliff.
Isvich reported changed his story again, telling investigators he came home and an unknown intruder ran out of the house past him and he found his mother with a knife in her, Hinchcliff said.
Hinchcliff noted that Ivsich’s next parole hearing will be in three years.
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