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- Written by: Lake County News reports
KELSEYVILLE – On Friday Redbud Community Hospital held a ceremony to break ground on a new $1 million family health center that will replace the Kelsey Creek Clinic early next year.
Lake County Supervisor Rob Brown, Redbud Community Hospital Vice President of Operations Linda Gibson, Hospital Governing Board Member Cameron Reeves and St. Helena Hospital/Redbud Community Hospital President and Chief Executive Officer JoAline Olson and Kelseyville Creek Clinic physician Dr. David Betat donned hard hats and wielded shovels painted gold for the morning groundbreaking ceremony.
The Kelseyville Family Health Center will be located at 5290 State St., about two blocks north of the existing Kelsey Creek Clinic on Church Street, according to hospital spokesman Jeff Davis.
The Kelsey Creek Clinic has been housed in an outdated 1,800-square-feet building since the early 1990s.
The center will offer family medicine, podiatry, diabetic education and behavioral health services in a 2,900-square-foot building with seven patient exams rooms, a new patient education and consultation room, and easier street access with additional parking spaces.
Linda Gibson, Redbud’s senior vice president of operations, said in a written statement that the clinic “is a visible symbol of Redbud Community Hospital’s commitment and investment to make sure Lake County residents have access to superior medical care.”
Kelseyville is one of three community clinics Redbud operates in the county, with approximately 7,200 patients annually, according to Davis.
Clinics also are located in Clearlake and Middletown and Kelseyville. Davis said the three clinics combined had 76,000 patient visits in 2008.
The hospital also has a dental clinic that is located within the Redbud Family Health Center in Clearlake, Davis reported. Additionally, Redbud and St. Helena Hospital jointly operate the Hidden Valley Medical Services clinic, which opened in October 2007.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Gabrielle Rachel Varney, 18, appeared in Lake County Superior Court, according to her attorney, Stephen Carter.
“We entered her plea as not guilty,” Carter said.
Varney is charged with murder and a special allegation of using a deadly weapon – in this case a knife – in the death of 17-year-old Heather Valdez of Clearlake.
Valdez died June 5 after Varney allegedly stabbed her during a confrontation that happened when the teens got off the school bus near their homes, as Lake County News has reported. Both girls were juniors at Carlé Continuation High School.
The incident between the teenagers allegedly was the culmination of a months-long feud, Lt. Mike Hermann of Clearlake Police told Lake County News in a previous interview.
Hermann said Varney told police she hadn't intended to stab Valdez. Rather, she told police Valdez had started hitting her.
Varney allegedly had a folding pocket knife with a 4-inch blade that she had been carrying in her hand before the fight started, and which police later recovered at the home of a neighbor where she went to call for help.
An autopsy ruled that Valdez's death resulted from a stab wound to the neck, with the wound appearing consistent with the knife, Hermann said.
Carter said Varney will return to court July 18, at which time the date of her preliminary hearing will be set.
Varney remains in Lake County Jail, with bail set at $500,000, according to jail records.
For Carter, who began representing Varney a week and a half ago and is beginning his own in-depth study of the case, it's too early to know how long the case might take to get to trial.
If Varney is convicted, she'll face 25 years to life for the murder charge, said Carter, plus one year for the special allegation of using a deadly weapon.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Lt. Mike Hermann of the Clearlake Police Department said the collision involved a Hey, Taxi minivan and another vehicle on Highway 53 at the Olympic Drive turnoff.
He said the minivan, traveling northbound, was turning onto Olympic.
The van driver thought the car coming from the opposite direction was slowing, so the driver pulled out to make the turn, said Hermann.
However, the other car wasn't slowing for a turn and the two vehicles collided, he said.
There were complaints of pain from the vehicles' drivers and passengers but only minor injuries were reported, according to Hermann.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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Nicholas Gene Wood, 30, of Kelseyville was arrested by Lake County Sheriff's Det. Nicole Costanza just before 8:30 a.m. Thursday, according to Chief Deputy James Bauman, the sheriff's office spokesman.
News of the arrest came as a relief to Uriarte's family.
“Today was a very good day,” said his mother, Christine Diener.
Bauman said Wood was booked on felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon and assault resulting in great bodily injury for the May 16 stabbing of 21-year-old Loren Jason Uriarte, also of Kelseyville.
Judge Richard Martin signed the warrant for Wood's arrest, said Bauman. Once the arrest warrant was secured, Wood agreed to voluntarily meet sheriff’s detectives at the Lake County Jail on Thursday morning, where he was arrested and booked. His booking sheet reports he is a store manager.
Bauman said Wood was released from jail later in the day after posting a $25,000 bond.
On the night of the stabbing Uriarte and friends Darrin Sullivan and Josh Ponce had reportedly gone to downtown Kelseyville to pick up Sullivan's father, Dave, according to Diener. When they arrived, they encountered a fight in the street, during which Uriarte was stabbed.
Bauman said the “alcohol-related brawl” took place in front of the Saw Shop Gallery Bistro and involved numerous people – both male and female – many of whom reportedly had dinner at the restaurant earlier in the evening.
Wood's arrest, Bauman said, followed “a lengthy and challenging investigation.”
As Lake County News reported late last month, as many as 11 people were named in the initial investigative report, with four potential victims among them. An argument between some of the parties had apparently led to the fray.
Amidst the complexities of trying to unravel all of the witness statements, Bauman said investigators' primary focus was who stabbed Uriarte.
The young man and his friends went to his grandmother's home following the stabbing, and from there he was transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital, as Diener told Lake County News last month.
He underwent a four-hour surgery on the morning of May 16 so that doctors could repair the internal damage from the knife wound, which was located on the left side of his abdomen, a few inches from his belly button. During surgery doctors removed 6 inches from his small intestine, said Diener.
Uriarte, who was hospitalized for five days afterward, is on the mend, according to his mother. “He's recovering well.”
With the relief of an arrest also comes home of moving on, said Diener. “We're just trying to put this behind us now, really.”
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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