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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The California Highway Patrol arrested Raju Thakorbhai Patel, 36, said CHP Officer Adam Garcia.
Patel was driving a 2007 Honda Civic eastbound on Highway 20 east of Verna Way close to Paradise Cove when the crash happened at about 3:05 a.m., according to Garcia.
Garcia said Haraoki Saito, 40, of Sacramento was driving westbound in a 2009 Volvo tractor trailer pulling a two-axle trailer when Patel reportedly sideswiped the semi.
Patel suffered minor injuries in the collision, said Garcia, while Saito was not reported to be injured.
Along with CHP, Lake County Sheriff's deputies, Caltrans, Cal Fire and Northshore Fire Protection District responded to the scene early Wednesday due to a diesel spill on the roadway.
Northshore Fire Battalion Chief Pat Brown, who was incident commander for the spill, said the collision caused a puncture in the semi's fuel tank, which released between 20 and 25 gallon of diesel.
He said the fuel covered about 200 feet of roadway across both lanes, which made it necessary to shut down the highway while the spill was cleaned up.
Brown said six Northshore Fire personnel with one engine, four Cal Fire firefighters and a Cal Fire engine, and Caltrans took care of the spilled fuel.
The firefighters grabbed their shovels and quickly went to work to contain the fuel. “It did not get into any of the creeks or off the road,” said Brown, which prevented him from having to call in Environmental Health.
Brown said the highway was reopened around 5:30 a.m.
CHP Officer Steven Tanguay arrested Patel at about 7:40 a.m., according to jail records.
Patel was booked on a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence, with bail set at $5,000, his booking sheet noted. He was released later Wednesday morning.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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- Details
- Written by: Lake County News reports
Joshua Terry, 30, was injured in the collision, which occurred at 6 p.m. on Highway 29 north of the Dry Creek Cutoff, reported California Highway Patrol Officer Adam Garcia.
Garcia said Terry was riding his 1991 Suzuki Sport motorcycle northbound on Highway 29. Traffic ahead of him came to a stop and he struck the rear of a 2003 Volkswagen Golf driven by 69-year-old Ivonne Robertson of Clearlake Oaks.
The collision caused Terry to be ejected from the motorcycle, which resulted in major, non-life-threatening injuries, Garcia said.
REACH helicopter transported Terry to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. Garcia said neither Robertson nor her passenger, Laver Robertson, was reported as being injured.
The collision is a reminder of the need to maintain a high visual horizon. Garcia said this means
keep your eyes up and looking down the road.
Many drivers focus on the road only five or eight seconds ahead, Garcia noted. Instead, drivers should look about 15 to 20 seconds ahead of the vehicle, farther if possible.
Garcia said this gives a driver time to recognize and avoid most potential hazards before they become a
problem.
He said you'll see lane restrictions or construction areas, traffic congestion, truck entrances, mishaps and other hazards.
Keeping your eyes focused far down the road – instead of just past the end of the hood – creates more
reaction time for hazards, according to Garcia.
Officer Efrain Cortez is investigating the incident, Garcia said.
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- Details
- Written by: Lake County News Reports
LOWER LAKE – On Tuesday, firefighters and Pacific Gas and Electric Co. employees remained at work on the scene of a fire that broke out the previous day.
The fire, located along Highway 29 near Manning Flat, was sparked mid-afternoon Monday, caused a highway closure and burned approximately 182 acres, as Lake County News has reported.
Downed power lines may have been a contributing factor, according to Cal Fire.
Along Highway 29, PG&E trucks were at work through the day, replacing more than a dozen power poles. Some of the poles were at the roadside, and some others were located in steeper terrain 50 to 100 feet east of the roadway.
The work required one-way traffic control in the area all day until about 4 p.m.
No homes were in danger, although DNA Quarry was nearby.
There, three Cal Fire hand crews spent the day working to put out hot spots and clean up the fire lines.
Many of the firefighters had worked into the night and were relieved about midnight, returning after about four hours of rest.
E-mail Harold LaBonte at
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- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Pat Shaver, the longest-serving member of the district board, confirmed Monday that she had tendered her resignation to district General Manager Darin McCosker earlier in the day.
However, Shaver would not offer a comment to Lake County News about her reasons for resigning.
The district's board held a public hearing on Saturday evening at the Eastlake Grange to receive public testimony about three proposed rate hike options – 39.4, 25 and 10 percent – one of which officials have said is necessary to help stabilize the district's shaky financial picture.
At that meeting the board was criticized for its handling of the meeting, which began with audience members asked to submit questions in writing rather than giving testimony and asking questions at the podium. Eventually, the board did welcome ratepayers to take the microphone.
Shaver was absent from the meeting and board Vice President Mike Anisman, angered by what he said was an abusive barrage from audience members, walked out a half hour into the meeting, which ran for more than two hours.
Community member Mike Benjamin – who had criticized the board for the way it conducted the meeting – then circulated two petitions to file a notice of intention to begin a recall effort on both Anisman and Shaver.
“There were so many people that wanted to sign that thing that I ran out of spaces for signatures,” Benjamin said Monday.
Benjamin said he actually took five petitions to the meeting – one for each board member, the others being President Helen Locke and directors Frank Toney and Harry Chase.
However, he said he felt both Toney and Chase conducted themselves properly at the meeting, so he chose not to pursue an effort to oust them.
Anisman had written a comment on Lake County News in which he indicated he planned to tender his resignation as well. However, he said Monday evening that he was still making up his mind about what action to take.
Benjamin said he was still prepared to pursue the notice to begin the recall against Anisman, saying his walking out of the meeting “was the absolute worst thing in the world he could have done.”
A former elected official himself in the Yuba County city of Wheatland, Benjamin said elected officials don't have the luxury of getting their feelings hurt. “This is business. It isn't personal.”
Over the last several months, Benjamin has been a fixture at board meetings, and board members also have called on his knowledge of the Brown Act and running public meetings.
He had warned Shaver at a June meeting that he thought she should be recalled.
Water board member Frank Toney had posed this question at Saturday's meeting: Who will step up and take the seats of the board members who leave?
Benjamin, who turns 62 in November, said he is willing to serve in order to get the district straightened out, but maintained he likes being retired and wasn't preparing to get back into public service. “All I'm trying to do is help.”
Board President Helen Locke said Monday that Shaver's seat on the board will be filled by appointment. The district will publish the opening, take applications and make a choice.
Locke, Toney and Anisman were elected to the board last November. All three told Lake County News in previous interviews that they had no idea about the district's financial condition until after they were seated on the board earlier this year.
The board is set to meet at 3 p.m. this Wednesday. Not on the agenda for that meeting is a discussion of passing a rate hike, which the board agreed to postpone, at raterpayers' request, until it held another community meeting fully explaining all three rate hike options.
On Wednesday the board will consider proposals for audit services to conduct two past due audits and a third that's coming due now.
Toney's suggestion to form a finance committee will be considered, and McCosker also will ask the board to allow him to appoint district bookkeeper Jana Saccato as board secretary, a job he has been holding down in addition to other duties.
Also at the request of ratepayers, the board on Wednesday will consider moving its public meetings from 3 p.m. on the third Wednesday of the month to 7 p.m. every third Thursday.
In the wake of Saturday's tense meeting, Locke said she had considered offering her own resignation.
In the end, however, she decided to stay and continue working on the district's issues.
“We've got to keep the place running,” she said. “I'll hang in there as long as I can.”
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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