News

Lt. Brad Rasmussen reported that Lakeport Police received a report on July 10 from a local woman who said she'd lost $8,300 after receiving an e-mail that offered her an in-home business opportunity.

According to Rasmussen, the suspects offered to send the victim checks with a request that she cash them and keep 10 percent of the funds for her service.

The woman cashed $8,300 in checks through her bank and forwarded the suspects $7,470 before discovering the checks were fraudulent, Rasmussen said.

Since the woman originally reported the crime, Rasmussen said the fraud suspects have attempted to obtain another $18,600 from her.

“This could be a very large scam,” Rasmussen said.

Rasmussen said the Lakeport Police Department has identified four possible suspects in the case from South Carolina and is currently working with an agency from that state in an effort to develop additional evidence.

“The IDs appear good at this time because some of the suspect names are well known to the agency in South Carolina where the checks came from,” Rasmussen said.

It's a fortunate development in the case. “Usually we are not able to get a good lead on a case like this, but with the possible suspect IDs we might be able to make a case here or turn it over to another agency,” said Rasmussen.

Rasmussen said in many such cases of Internet fraud, the suspects cannot be identified or are operating from outside the country, making it difficult for law enforcement to investigate.

He said police are asking citizens to be aware of Internet and telephone frauds scams and not accept or cash checks from unknown persons or give out personal information over the telephone.

“On cases like this we like to get the information out to the public to hopefully prevent others from becoming victims of these scams,” he said.

If you live in Lakeport and believe you've been a victim of a similar scam, call Lakeport Police at 263-5491.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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As of Saturday, the Soda Complex had burned 7,020 acres to the north and northwest of Lake Pillsbury, on the Mendocino National Forest's Upper Lake Ranger District.

Forest Service spokesman Brian LaMoure reported that late on Friday a firefighter was air evacuated at the end of the shift, complaining of chest pain. No further information on the firefighter's condition was available Saturday.

Containment on Saturday was at 78 percent, another slight rollback in progress for firefighters, according to LaMoure.

Two fires out of the original four in the complex, which began on June 21 due to lightning storms, continue to burn – the Mill Fire, at 1,600 acres, with estimated containment on July 16; and the Monkey Rock Fire, at 1,630 acres, with containment expected on July 14, LaMoure reported.

Also on Friday, the Mill Fire's northwest flank continued to spread, while resources patrolled the areas of the contained Big and Back fires, where LaMoure said smoke had been observed.

Officials urged caution for hunters in the forest, as archery season began on Saturday. Hunters are cautioned to be aware of road closures in the area and the presence of fire traffic.

Suppression costs for the Soda Complex so far are estimated at $6.8 million.

The Yolla Bolly Complex in the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness is now being managed as part of the Lime Complex. One of its largest fires, the Yellow, has burned more than 8,200 acres and has no estimate for containment. No other specifics on the complex were available late Saturday.

Mendocino County's lightning complex jumped to 85-percent containment at 53,200 acres burned, according to Cal Fire.

There are 2,102 firefighters continuing to work on the six remaining blazes in the complex, which originally had included a total of 127 fires, officials reported.

So far, there have been 42 injuries and one firefighter death in the Mendocino Lightning Complex, which Cal Fire reported has cost $33.1 million to fight.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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However, even for me, there are days when I’m feeling lazy and I don’t want to spend hours preparing dinner, and that’s when I fall back on the old standbys, like a casserole.

That’s when I reach for what we call at our house “Cream of Soup.” That’s right, those wonderful little cans of cream of ... mushroom, chicken, broccoli, asparagus, all the different varieties they make.

If I reach back into my cupboard and my hand rests on a Cream of Soup with broccoli, then I look in the freezer for some broccoli to add to it, maybe some cheddar cheese, some rice, a little milk and leftover chicken, toss it all into a casserole dish and poof! Dinner almost makes itself. And the great thing is that cream of soup is an item that you can keep in your pantry and forget about until that night where you just say “I don’t wanna cook!” Whoosh! Cream of Soup swoops in and saves the day.

I always get a giggle out of recipes that call for a certain type of cream of soup. Would adding cream of broccoli soup to a recipe that calls for cream of mushroom ruin it? No, of course not! It simply adds a new dimension to whatever dish you’re making.

So I don’t even ask for any specific type anymore. If you were looking on my grocery list, all you would see among the items is “Cream of soup.” Try it: if you find a recipe calling for a particular cream of soup, rebel a little, go out on a limb and use a different flavor and see if it doesn’t just add a little something more to the dish.

I normally don’t endorse any particular brand of mass-produced product because I have the fundamental belief that if you have a good product then I’ll use it, and if you have a good product and pay me, I’ll endorse it.

But this is one time that I will break that rule and say that I use Campbell’s soups for these needs, just because of their Labels For Education program. I have a manila envelope taped to the side of my refrigerator that I collect labels in, along with the associated box tops and wrappers from various other products. I gather them for a year and then turn them in to the local school. Even if you don’t have children in school, you should save these Labels For Education so we can improve our local schools. One snowflake doesn’t make an avalanche, but somehow it still happens, eh?

Cream of mushroom soup was created by Campbell’s in 1934 and came to be known as “Lutheran binder” because of its ability to bind casseroles and hot dishes together. Growing up in Minnesota, that Lutheran, Scandinavian, agricultural, ice fortress, we had a casserole (actually, in Minnesota they are called “hotdish,” one word) at least every week, if not several times a week. Cream of soup was something that families bought monthly by the case. Not only is the “hotdish” something that you eat at home regularly, but it is a staple at the church potluck.

If you would like to learn to speak with a fluent Minnesotan accent, just try your best to sound like Edie McClurg in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and answer every question with “Yah, sure you betcha!” and end every sentence with “Don’tcha know!” (Yes, “don’tcha” is also one word). You’ll sound like a native. Whip up a “cream of soup” hotdish and you’re in!

Put “Cream of soup” on your grocery list, and even if you don’t use it for months, on that one day you do pull it out, it will feel like gold.

Cream of soup hot dish (casserole)

4 ounce wide egg noodles

1 can cream of soup

2 Six ounce cans of tuna

½ cup milk

3 tablespoons grated cheese (Parmesan, Asiago or crumbled feta work well)

3 tablespoons onion, chopped

Black pepper

2 tablespoons melted butter

4 teaspoons bread crumbs (or Panko)

¼ teaspoon Herbs de Provence (Dried thyme or oregano may be substituted for the Herbs de Provence)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook noodles according to the package instructions and drain. It’s best if the noodles are slightly undercooked as they will soften more as they bake later. Set aside.

In a casserole, place drained tuna and break up the large pieces. Add soup, milk, grated cheese and chopped onion. Mix together. Season with black pepper to taste. Fold in cooked noodles and gently stir until combined.

In a small bowl, mix melted butter and bread crumbs. Crush the Herbs de Provence into fine pieces and mix into breadcrumb mixture. Sprinkle evenly over the tuna noodle casserole.

Put casserole into oven for 30 minutes or until crumb topping is golden brown. Serves four.

Ross A. Christensen is an award-winning gardener and gourmet cook. He is the author of "Sushi A to Z, The Ultimate Guide" and is currently working on a new book. He has been a public speaker for many years and enjoys being involved in the community.

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