How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
Officials issue alert for Mendocino County woman who failed to return children, made threats
NORTH COAST, Calif. – Mendocino County authorities issued an alert Friday night for a missing Redwood Valley woman who allegedly failed to return her children to their father and subsequently threatened violence against them.
Kyleen Ann Cornell, 39, is being sought by authorities.
Cornell failed to return her four children per the custody agreement on Thursday afternoon, according to the report.
Since then, Cornell has reportedly stated that she has no intention of returning the children to their father and allegedly has made threats of physical violence against the children, according to the alert.
Authorities believe that Cornell, who is bipolar, has not taken her medication.
The children are Leona Marie Cornell, age 4, described as a white female with blonde hair and blue eyes; McIntyre A. Cornell, 8, a white male with brown hair and blue eyes; Inanna E. Peters, 12, a Hispanic female with black hair and brown eyes; and Sydney M. Peters, 16, a white male, 5 feet 11 inches tall, 155 pounds, with brown hair and green eyes.
Cornell is described as a white female adult, 5 feet 8 inches tall, 145 pounds, with brown hair and green eyes.
Her vehicle is a green 2000 Honda Odyssey, with the license plate 4LKE167.
Anyone with information on Cornell is asked to call the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office at 707-463-4086.
Major injury crash near Clearlake Oaks sends vehicle into lake
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A crash Thursday afternoon saw a vehicle go into Clearlake, with one person being lifeflighted to a regional trauma center.
The afternoon crash was reported on Highway 20 near Island Drive, according to the California Highway Patrol. Full details of what occurred were not immediately available.
CHP, Northshore Fire, the Lake County Sheriff's Office and California Fish and Game responded to the scene.
CHP Officer Brian Engle said one person was flown by air ambulance out of the area.
A juvenile also was involved but not injured, according to the CHP.
The Northshore Dive Team used newly acquired air bags to lift the vehicle, which was then towed to shore by a boat from the Lake County Sheriff's Office's Marine Patrol.
The incident was cleared shortly before 5:30 p.m., according to radio reports.
Sutter Lakeside to close two clinics in latest expense reduction measures
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Sutter Lakeside Hospital’s administration has decided to close two clinics as part of continued efforts to improve the hospital’s financial picture.
The hospital’s Upper Lake Community Health Clinic, a longtime fixture that’s located on the grounds of Upper Lake High School, is slated to be closed, along with the hospital’s clinic that offers chronic pain management, Chief Administrative Officer Siri Nelson told Lake County News Wednesday.
The Upper Lake clinic – which serves about 2,400 patients annually and has three full-time employees – loses more than $200,000 annually, Nelson said.
Nelson said Sutter Lakeside plans to move the clinic’s services to its Family Medical Center at the main hospital campus on Hill Road East outside of Lakeport.
The services will be offered at the Family Medical Center beginning May 31, with expanded hours and more providers to be added to accommodate the new patients previously served by the clinic in Upper Lake, Nelson said.
The goal is to transfer the Upper Lake clinic’s staff to the medical center, but that is still being worked out, said Nelson.
Sutter Lakeside is considering making its mobile health unit available in Upper Lake one day a week as an alternative for some patients. Nelson said the details of that proposal need to be worked out with the school district.
The pain clinic, staffed by Dr. Vernetta Johnson, also is being closed, with a targeted closure date of June 30, Nelson said. It serves approximately 650 patients annually.
Nelson reported that despite efforts to rework services there, the clinic continues to lose more than $1 million annually.
She said Sutter Lakeside is working with local doctors to find alternative treatment options for the patients who use the clinic’s services.
The other action announced this week is that the outpatient draw center is being moved from its current location on the campus to inside the hospital itself, which Nelson said is a more convenient location that should also help streamline the blood draw process. The draw station will be moved as of Monday, April 23.
The clinic closures announced this week are the latest measures taken by Sutter Lakeside to deal with reduced revenue and an increase in medical care to uninsured or underinsured patients.
Sutter Lakeside – part of the nonprofit Sutter Health network – last month announced that it would be laying off 10 percent of its staff. Nelson said the hospital has about 300 full-time positions.
A report Nelson issued to staff in March said Sutter Lakeside was on track to lose more than $10 million this year if the staff cuts weren’t made, as Lake County News has reported.
Nelson’s Wednesday progress report update said virtually all the employees slated for layoff have been notified, with the notifications expected to be completed this week.
She said she could not yet give a specific number about how many employees would be cut due to the need to work out the details with the unions that represent hospital staff.
“It’s a long and, unfortunately, laborious process,” she said.
Nelson said she doesn’t anticipate more cost cutting measures taking place soon.
“At this point we’re hoping that this will be enough to turn our financial situation around,” Nelson said.
Sutter Lakeside is continuing to work on other efficiencies, with the clinic closures part of the overall plan, she said. It’s hoped that the combination of actions will turn things around for the hospital.
“The big unknown, really, is the overall economy in Lake County and where that’s going to go,” Nelson said.
Over the past month community members have raised concerns that the hospital might close.
Nelson said there is no indication from Sutter Health that closing Sutter Lakeside is being considered, with that option “absolutely not on the radar at all.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Committee approves Chesbro bill to protect public, forests from illicit drug operations
SACRAMENTO – The Assembly Public Safety Committee on Wednesday gave unanimous, bipartisan support to a bill by Assemblymember Wesley Chesbro (D-North Coast) to crack down on offenders who pollute the environment and endanger the public by growing or manufacturing illegal drugs on forest lands.
“This bill is not about the legal production or use of medical marijuana under California law,” Chesbro told the committee. “This bill is about protecting those who work in the woods and those who hike, hunt or fish on public and private forest lands from the increasing violence from illegal drug operations. It is also about protecting these lands from pollution and diversion of waterways.”
Madeline Melo testified in favor of the bill and talked about her late husband Jere’s work and the tragic end of his life as well as the overall impact illegal drug production has had on the region.
Melo’s husband, Fort Bragg City Councilman Jere Melo, was inspecting forest land near the Noyo River for illegal marijuana grows when he was killed last Aug. 27.
The suspect in Melo’s murder, Aaron Bassler, also was believed responsible for killing Mendocino Land Trust conservationist Matthew Coleman two weeks earlier near Westport.
AB 2284 would increase the penalties for those violating the law by growing marijuana, operating a meth lab or any other illicit drug manufacturing on forest lands.
Under a very limited scope, the bill also would allow law enforcement to pull over and question drivers transporting irrigation piping onto or through resource lands.
AB 2284’s focus is on public lands and large scale industrial timber lands, not on homeowners or small property owners.
“Last year during ‘Operation Full Court Press’ more than 50,000 pounds of garbage was removed from national forest lands from illegal marijuana grows,” said Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman, who testified in support of AB 2284 at Wednesday’s hearing. “This bill will hopefully prevent these materials from being brought onto public lands.”
