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LOWER LAKE – A fire that burned 100 acres of grassland beginning Sunday afternoon has been contained.
Cal Fire officials reported that firefighting crews finished the process of mopping up after the blaze on Monday, when the fire was finally out.
The fire was located near the Noble Ranch subdivision off of Spruce Grove Road.
No structures were damaged and no injuries reported, according to Cal Fire's incident command center.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Cal Fire reported.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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LOWER LAKE – A fire that broke out Sunday afternoon along Spruce Grove Road quickly spread to 100 acres in the area's rugged terrain.
Cal Fire spokesperson Suzie Blankenship said the fire was reported at 3:32 p.m. along Spruce Grove Road near the Noble Ranch subdivision, south of Lower Lake and four miles northeast of Middletown.
Cal Fire, South Lake Fire Protection District, Lakeport Fire Protection District and Lake County Fire Protection District responded, said Blankenship. A total of 10 engines, two helicopters, two air tankers, an air attack, four fire handcrews, three dozers and one water tender fought the blaze.
The fire quickly moved from a flat area into steep terrain, said Blankenship, burning up grass and oak woodland and reaching 100 acres in size.
Firefighters on the ground and in the air struggled to control the spreading fires, which were several hundred yards apart yet close enough to impede the air strikes from both the helicopters and fixed wing tankers.
Dust devils raced across the flat lands, whipping up the wind and flames, and spreading the fire quickly over several more acres.
The tankers dropped retardant while the two helicopters scooped water from nearby ponds. The helicopters required refueling after flying for more than and hour and 45 minutes.
Several homes were threatened but Cal Fire reported that no structures were lost.
Blankenship reported Sunday evening that the fire was 50-percent contained.
Area residents at the scene reported hearing what they thought sounded like a power transformer exploding and reported seeing downed power lines. Witnesses also said fire was seen around the lines shortly thereafter.
However, Cal Fire's Blankenship said the fire's cause was still under investigation.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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LUCERNE – California Water Service (CWS), which owns the Lucerne water district as part of its Redwood Valley District, has filed an application with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for a 21.3 percent rate increase, to become effective on July 1, 2008 or later, and a 3.4-percent increase the following year.
In its announcement of the application, which covers several other districts, the company said that for the average residential customer using 7 Ccf (700 cubic feet), or 5,236 gallons, of water per month, the monthly water bill would be $14.31 (48 cents per day) higher the first year and $2.76 (9 cents per day) higher the following year.
The application is for review of CWS centralized services costs, which were last reviewed in 2004. The company said costs for centralized services provided to all districts have increased, including those for water quality testing, engineering, maintenance, information systems, accounting, and conservation
programming. After the CPUC reviews these costs, Cal Water will be allowed to allocate them proportionally to all districts.
The CPUC recently adopted a streamlined processing plan to review Cal Water’s entire operations starting in 2009. The current application is an interim request to transition to the new schedule.
Among increased costs the company hopes to cover with the new rates are: Increased allocated company benefits costs for health care, pension, and retiree health care,$25.5 million; increased other general expenses, $8.3 million, and increased allocated general payroll expense, $8.3 million.
Lucerne Community Water Organization (LCWO), which intervened in the company's last rate increase request, is reviewing the current application. At its monthly meeting Thursday, July 12, LCWO made no decision on whether to intervene in the current request. Scheduling decisions made on Thursday by an administrative law judge for the CPUC are not yet available. LCWO's next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, August 9, 7 p.m. at the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center,Country Club Drive at 10th Ave.
The company's proposed schedule would open settlement negotiations on December 26, 2007, with hearings before the CPUC in San Francisco from January 11 through 15, 2008.
In an apparent effort to avoid the kind of public outcry which occurred in Lucerne in 2005 when CWS announced its request for a 273-percent rate increase, the company is asking that some increases be deferred and recovered subsequently.
It requests “authority to institute a rate deferral with subsequent recovery for the Salinas and Visalia districts to avoid rate shock issues associated with requested large percentage increases. Applicant requests recovery of $4,856,600 deferred from rates in Salinas by instituting a $0.126 surcharge on all water sold for a period of sixty months. Applicant requests recovery of $8,078,600 deferred from rates in Visalia by instituting a $0.111 surcharge on all water sold (and an equivalent flat rate surcharge) for a period of sixty months.”
The rate increases proposed in other districts covered by this application are:
Chico District by $6,380,400 or 49.1 percent in July 2008, $1,651,100 or 8.5percent in July 2009, and by $1,651,100 or 7.9 percent in July 2010;
East Los Angeles District by $7,193,200 or 36.5 percent in July 2008, $2,034,800 or 7.6 percent in July 2009, and $2,034,800 or 7.0percent in July 2010;
Livermore District by $3,960,900 or 31.2 percent in July 2008, $942,200 or 5.6 percent in July 2009, and by $942,200 or 5.4 percent in July 2010;
Los Altos-Suburban District by $5,172,500 or 30.5 percent in July 2008, $1,189,100 or 5.4 percent in July 2009, and by $1,189,100 or 5.1 percent in July 2010;
Mid-Peninsula District by $5,435,100 or 23.7 percent in July 2008, $1,634,200 or 5.8 percent in July 2009, and by $1,634,200 or 5.5 percent in July 2010;
Salinas District by $5,119,700 or 29.8 percent in July 2008, $3,636,900 or 16.3 percent in July 2009, and by $2,271,300 or 8.7 percent in July 2010;
Stockton District by $7,474,600 or 29.0 percent in July 2008, $1,422,400 or 4.3 percent in July 2009, and by $1,422,400 or 4.1 percent in July 2010;
Visalia District by $3,651,907 or 28.4 percent in July 2008, $3,546,440 or 21.3 percent in July 2009, and by $3,620,482 or 17.6 percent in July 2010.
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LAKEPORT – A second suspect has been arrested in connection with a gang-motivated assault on a 14-year-old boy in Lakeport on July 4.
Lakeport Police Lt. Brad Rasmussen said investigators identified Ukiah resident Octavio Juan Sanchez, 20, as one of the subjects responsible for the assault, which took place as the 14-year-old and his brother walked along 11th Street.
Sanchez, Rasmussen reported, is a documented Norteno gang member with an extensive criminal history record, including prior arrests for assault with a deadly weapon, making threats, possession of a dangerous weapon and participating in a criminal street gang.
He's currently on parole with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for possessing drugs in a jail or prison, Rasmussen said.
Rasmussen explained that Lakeport Police sent their report on Sanchez to the District Attorney's Office on Wednesday. On Thursday, the District Attorney's Office filed a complaint on Sanchez that included charges for assault with a deadly weapon, battery with serious bodily injury, child abuse and criminal street gang enhancements.
The problem was, although police had Sanchez in their sites as a suspect, they were still trying to find him when the case was filed, said Rasmussen.
Then, just after midnight early Friday morning, the California Highway Patrol came across Sanchez after they found him during a traffic stop. He was acting strangely, said Rasmussen, so CHP arrested him for public intoxication and took him to the Lake County Jail on a parole hold.
“We don't know what he was doing in Kelseyville last night,” Rasmussen said on Friday.
Officer served the arrest warrant on Sanchez in the Lake County Jail Friday afternoon, according to Rasmussen.
Rasmussen said gang investigators from Ukiah helped Lakeport Police identify Sanchez. “We've also identified two other Norteno gang members as having been involved,” he added.
Police are still building their case against those individuals, he said, but he anticipates more arrests are in the works.
Sanchez and the other two Ukiah residents are members of the Aztec Cholos – or ATC – that are a Nortenos subgroup, said Rasmussen.
The three suspects have a connection to a 16-year-old male juvenile, also a documented Norteno gang member with an extensive arrest history, who was arrested not long after the incident for assault with a deadly weapon, said Rasmussen.
Although authorities don't know why these gang members were traveling back and forth to Lake County, Rasmussen said the gangs tend to be well organized, and are willing to travel to other areas to support each others' activities.
In past years, said Rasmussen, “We've seen examples of Surenos from Los Angeles coming to Lake County,” in order to visit friends and gang connections who had moved here.
The 16-year-old in custody is set to undergo a fitness hearing later this month, with the District Attorney's Office seeking to prosecute him as an adult, as Lake County News previously reported.
Rasmussen said police aren't sure just how many gang members they have in the Lakeport area, but added, “Some of our primary people are in custody.”
Meanwhile, on July 8, the 14-year-old assault victim died suddenly after having been involved in an automobile collision on July 6, just two days after the assault. Rasmussen said the boy's death doesn't change the facts of the case, and won't halt the prosecution continuing.
The investigation also is continuing, with Rasmussen, Det. Norm Taylor and Officers Jarvis Leishman or Destry Henderson working the case.
Police are seeking out additional witnesses to interview them about what they saw on July 4, Rasmussen said. Anyone with information should call Taylor, Leishman or Henderson at Lakeport Police, 263-5491.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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LAKE COUNTY – An emergency call that reported a potential hostage situation this week ended with arrests for marijuana cultivation.
A report from Lt. Cecil Brown of the Lake County Sheriff's Office explained that Ukiah resident Laurz Taylor Settera, 18, placed a 911 call on Wednesday at 8:35 a.m.
Laurz Settera reported that he and his father, Marcus Settera, 44, had been held in their home for four hours by two armed men, Brown reported. The young man also reported that the two men shot his father in leg, put his father in his father’s Jeep Grand Cherokee and drove him away from the home in Clearlake Oaks.
Brown reported that seven patrol deputy sheriffs began searching for Marcus Settera's vehicle, with one detective participating in the search from a helicopter.
Deputies contacted Laurz Settera, said Brown. They found him to be extremely excited, and difficult to understand. He had minor injuries, which he said he sustained while fleeing the residence.
The deputies went with Laurz Settera to the residence, where they found a significant marijuana growing operation inside the home. He told the deputies that he and his father lived in Ukiah and that they rented the home in Clearlake Oaks for the purpose of growing marijuana.
At 10:50 a.m. Wednesday, Sgt. James Beland and Deputy Thomas Andrews located the Jeep Grand Cherokee in Lucerne, Brown reported. They conducted a high risk stop of the Grand Cherokee, as they believed one or more suspects may be inside.
Deputies contacted Marcus Settera in the Grand Cherokee, according to Brown. He said that he had an appointment that morning, had been away from home for more than two hours, and hadn't been shot or abducted.
Settera added that he had not been confronted or held by armed men in his home, Brown reported.
Laurz Settera and Marcus Settera were arrested for cultivation of marijuana and possession of marijuana for sales. They were booked into the Lake County Jail, and have since posted bail.
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WASHINGTON – On Wednesday, members of both houses of Congress reached out to help National Guard and Reserve physicians maintain their practices during lengthy overseas deployments.
Members of Congress introduced legislation that would exempt physicians serving in the Armed Forces overseas from a Medicare law that currently places a 60-day restriction on the amount of time one physician can fill in for a colleague on a leave of absence.
This limit creates serious hardship for physicians in the National Guard and Reserves, who are absent from their practices for longer than 60 days when they are called for active duty.
The House version was introduced by Representatives and Vietnam combat veterans Mike Thompson (D-CA) and Sam Johnson (R-TX), who authored the temporary version of the bill (HR 2429), which in May passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 422-0.
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and U.S. Senate Republican Whip Trent Lott (R-MS) introduced the Senate version Wednesday.
"When our Reserve and Guard physicians are deployed, they don't just leave behind their families - they also leave their patients," said Thompson. "Doctors taking care of our troops overseas shouldn't have to worry that their patients aren't being cared for here at home. This bill will help thousands of physicians protect their patients and practices when they're called to serve."
"Every day members of the National Guard and Reserve are asked to put their jobs and their lives on hold to serve their country in harm's way overseas, and this includes thousands of doctors who save countless lives on the battlefield. The least Congress can do is ensure that, in leaving home, these brave men and women aren't also asked to sacrifice their medical practices," said Wyden. "I commend Congressman Thompson for his leadership and his commitment to passing this important legislation."
Medicare currently allows physicians to enter reciprocal billing arrangements, whereby replacement physicians can care for the absent physician's patients and bill Medicare accordingly.
However, these arrangements cannot last longer than a 60-day period. After 60 days, a second replacement must be found. Securing replacement physicians is an expensive and difficult process, especially for practices in remote and rural areas.
Physicians who cannot secure multiple replacements during their absence can either lose their patients to other doctors or their patients must go without care.
HR 2429 suspends the 60-day cap for physicians filling in for members of the National Guard and Reserves who are called for duty through the rest of the calendar year.
This bill has been endorsed by the American Medical Association and is supported by the Reserve Officers Association.
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