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REGIONAL: Sheriff's office releases photo of jewelry found with skeletal remains in park
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – The Glenn County Sheriff’s Office has released a photo of jewelry found last week near the skeletal remains of a female homicide victim in the hopes that the public can help identify the woman.
Last Friday, a Glenn County Public Works Department employee and a county inmate worker discovered the remains while doing cleanup at Ord Bend Park, located on the banks of the Sacramento River, as Lake County News has reported.
Sheriff Larry Jones said the bones were discovered over an embankment at the east end of the Ord Bend Park, near the river and east of the boat ramp.
Glenn County Sheriff’s deputies responding to the scene also discovered additional bones, and declared the area a crime scene, according to Jones.
Jones reported that a forensic anthropologist identified the remains as belonging to a Caucasian female between the ages of 35 and 45.
He said the case is being investigated as a homicide, with the remains of the woman – classified currently as a Jane Doe – believed to have been at the park several months.
On Tuesday Jones’ office released a photograph of jewelry that is believed to have been on the victim at the time she was placed at the location where her remains were found.
He said they found one anklet, one bracelet and one earring, and seven rings.
Some of the jewelry was still attached to remains; the majority were recovered during the processing of the scene, Jones said.
Anyone with pertinent information regarding the jewelry is asked to contact Det. Greg Felton or Det. Kelly Knight of the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit at 530-934-6431.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
Courts face more cuts; new calendar changes to move forward
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Superior Court is planning additional changes to its operations in the face of its latest budget cuts.
Like courts across the state, Lake County’s court is facing major budget shortfalls in light of hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to the judicial branch statewide.
With the 2012-13 state budget now approved, the court is anticipating a cut in the new fiscal year of about $515,000, or 12 percent.
Court Executive Officer Mary Smith said the court doesn’t yet have the final cut number; the $515,000 figure is an estimate at this point.
Since the 2010-11 fiscal year, the Lake County Superior Court’s budget has been reduced by 26 percent, according to a court report.
It’s a substantial amount for the small court, which had a total budget last year of about $3.6 million.
Smith said the court isn’t yet certain if the coming fiscal year could bring more cuts.
“It’s hard to say,” she said. “The word seems to be that this will be it. But I think anything goes at this point.”
In June, the court announced that – effective Aug. 6 – it was moving Judge Stephen Hedstrom and his Department 4 court from the Clearlake courthouse at 7000 A South Center Drive to the Lakeport on N. Forbes Street, as Lake County News has reported.
Smith said that move is going forward, with Judge Hedstrom’s Department 4 to take over what has been Department A on the fourth floor of the Lakeport courthouse.
During a public comment period on the changes, Smith estimated the court received about four or five comments.
There also are additional changes to court service on the horizon, including court closures and staff furloughs.
Smith said court officials are hopeful that they’ll avoid cutting positions in the new fiscal year.
As part of its plans to spare its 29 employees from layoffs, the court plans to close the court clerk’s office and all courtrooms for a total of 16 days during this new fiscal year, the court reported. All of the closure days will be unpaid furlough days for staff.
Beginning Oct. 1, all court clerk public counters and telephones will close at 1 p.m. daily. That’s a further reduction from the current daily closures at 2:30 p.m., which has been in effect since September 2009.
Proposed court closure days for the remainder of 2012 are Oct. 5; Nov. 2, 19, 20 and 21 (Nov. 22 and 23 are judicial holidays); Dec. 7, 24, 26, 27 and 28 (Dec. 25 is a judicial holiday). In 2013, closure days are Jan. 4, Feb. 1, March 1, April 5, May 3 and June 7.
There will be no staff available and no drop box service in Clearlake on the closure days; any emergency matters or filings must be handled in Lakeport. There will be minimal staff available at the Lakeport Courthouse to handle emergency matters only.
The court said a drop box will remain available for routine filings from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Lakeport.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Police make arrest in July 5 battery case
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A Lakeport man has been arrested in connection with an early morning assault that occurred in the city's downtown earlier this month.
Nicholas Edward Kirsch, 28, was arrested on Thursday for battery with serious injury, according to Sgt. Kevin Odom of the Lakeport Police Department.
Kirsch is alleged to have assaulted and injured 28-year-old Niles Eugene Biffle of Nice on Thursday, July 5, Odom said.
Odom said the incident occurred in the 200 block of N. Main Street in Lakeport.
Lakeport Police previously had reported that Biffle was found down on the street in the intersection of N. Main and Second streets with what appeared to be a serious head injury.
After conducting interviews and followup investigation, Lakeport Police detectives identified Kirsch as the suspect in this crime, Odom reported.
Odom said detectives submitted the investigation to the Lake County District Attorney’s Office and an arrest warrant was issued for Kirsch.
At about 9 a.m. Thursday Lakeport Police Department officers went to Kirsch’s residence on Sixth Street in Lakeport. He was taken into custody without incident, Odom said.
Kirsch, a student, was booked into the Lake County Jail, with bail set at $55,000, according to his booking record. He's set to appear in court for arraignment on Tuesday, July 31.
Jail records showed Kirsch remained in custody on Friday.
Biffle had been transported by air ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital following the incident.
Odom said Biffle has been released from the hospital and is recovering from his injuries.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
Four U.S. District Court judges in California dismiss marijuana dispensaries suits
Judges in each of the state’s four federal judicial districts have turned down suits filed on behalf of medical marijuana dispensaries in reaction to a federal crackdown on California’s marijuana industry.
Earlier this month, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California became the latest of the courts to turn down one of the cases.
In October and November 2011, lawsuits were filed in each of the four California federal judicial districts seeking to halt federal enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act against marijuana dispensaries on a variety of grounds, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The suits claimed that the federal government could not take any legal action against dispensaries because such action was a violation of the Ninth and Tenth Amendments, the Equal Protection Clause and the Commerce Clause.
Following separate proceedings in each district, four different district court judges have issued orders dismissing the cases.
“If there were persons who doubted that federal law clearly prohibits the cultivation and sale of marijuana, these decisions by four separate federal judges dismissing four lawsuits should put that doubt to rest,” said U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California Benjamin Wagner. “Our responsibility as U.S. Attorneys is to enforce the Controlled Substances Act.”
In the Eastern District of California, a lawsuit filed by the Sacramento Nonprofit Collective doing business as El Camino Wellness Center, a mutual benefit nonprofit collective, and Ryan Landers, an individual, was dismissed by U.S. District Court Judge Garland Burrell Jr. on Feb. 28.
In the Southern District of California, a lawsuit filed by Alternative Community Health Care Cooperative Inc. was dismissed without leave to amend on March 5 by U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw.
In the Central District of California, U.S. District Court Judge Dolly Gee dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Conejo Wellness Center Cooperative Inc. et al. on April 17.
Judge Gee dismissed the case without prejudice for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and denied the plaintiffs leave to file a second amended complaint.
In the Northern District of California, Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana et al. v. Holder – a lawsuit filed on behalf of three marijuana dispensaries, a landlord whose property was the site of one of the marijuana storefronts, and one marijuana dispensary customer – was dismissed on July 11 by U.S. District Court Judge Saundra Armstrong.
Judge Armstrong denied as moot the motion for a temporary restraining order and also denied the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction.
Earlier this week, marijuana advocacy groups California NORML and Americans for Safe Access organized a protest in Oakland against the federal crackdown during President Barack Obama’s visit.
The groups allege that the Obama administration has now closed more dispensaries than all of its predecessors combined, and expended millions to go after dispensaries compliant with state laws.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports