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DFG: Endangered steelhead bust on Garcia River illustrates need for protection
MENDOCINO COUNTY, Calif. – While conducting a warrant search for illegal marijuana Mendocino County law enforcement officials were surprised when they also found endangered wild steelhead and poached ducks.
On March 7, Department of Fish and Game (DFG) warden Don Powers seized 18 wild steelhead and 56 ducks from freezers in two locations while assisting the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Department in serving search warrants for illegal marijuana propagation.
The wild steelhead, 17 of which were spawning females, are believed to be from the Garcia River in Mendocino County, where they are protected and listed under the Endangered Species Act.
Formal charges will be brought against Kyle Edward Stornetta, 31, of Manchester for unlawful possession of the wild steelhead as well as unlawful possession of an overlimit of ducks.
Prosecutors are currently evaluating the case and deciding which additional state and federal regulations were violated, including marijuana violations.
“Enforcement efforts are critical to ensuring the threatened wild steelhead stocks are able to rebuild by returning and completing their spawning cycle on the Garcia River,” said DFG’s Chief of Enforcement Nancy Foley.
Wild steelhead along the Mendocino Coast were listed as threatened by the National Marine Fisheries Service in 2000 and it is unlawful to catch or possess them.
The federal listing spurred the investment of millions of dollars of public and private funds in the Garcia River and its watershed to fund restoration and conservation efforts including bank stabilization, upslope sediment reduction, the planting of thousands of small willow, silt reduction programs, road upgrading or decommissioning, and other improvement and forestry projects and practices.
Specific contributions have included more than $1 million in grants issued by DFG’s Fisheries Restoration Grants Program, an $18 million purchase of the Garcia Forest by the Conservation Fund of the Garcia River Forest to manage and restore its 23,780 acres, and a $3.5 million for a conservation easement purchased by the Nature Conservancy to conduct studies and monitor fish and wildlife populations within the forest.
Other investors include the County of Mendocino, the Mendocino Redwood Company and California Trout Unlimited.
The steelhead population is responding to these efforts and showing increasing signs of recovery. In 2009, DFG biologists estimated only 65 steelhead returned to spawn to the Garcia River, but in 2010 approximately 250 steelhead were tallied and in 2011 an estimated 770 steelhead spawned.
Even with these increasing numbers, the loss of 17 females is a significant blow to the Garcia River’s steelhead population.
“Those 17 females could have produced about 70,000 eggs to help restock the river,” said Doug Albin, a DFG fisheries biologist in Fort Bragg. “The Garcia River is gradually being nursed back to health by a number of groups pooling their conservation and restoration efforts, but those investments are negated when spawning females are illegally taken like this.”
Lakeport woman arrested for DUI following Wednesday morning crash
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A Lakeport woman sustained minor injuries and was arrested for driving under the influence Wednesday morning after her vehicle went off the road while traveling over the Hopland Grade.
Teena Rangel, 24, was injured in the crash, which occurred on Highway 175 over the Hopland Grade at about 5 a.m. Wednesday morning, according to Officer Kory Reynolds of the California Highway Patrol's Clear Lake Area office.
Reynolds said Rangel was driving her 2002 Mercury Sable westbound at an unknown speed when she failed to negotiate a right curve in the roadway.
Rangel's vehicle ran off the north shoulder and down a steep embankment, Reynolds said.
Rangel sustained minor injuries to her forehead, right ankle and left side rib cage, according to Reynolds.
Rangel later was arrested for driving under the influence at Sutter Lakeside Hospital, he said.
Traffic control was in effect for approximately 15 minutes when the vehicle was being recovered, according to Reynolds.
The collision is under investigation by Officer Steve Curtis.
Medical Board of California brings case against Upper Lake doctor over marijuana prescriptions
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The Medical Board of California and the California Attorney General’s Office are pursuing a case against a local doctor who allegedly violated professional codes while prescribing medical marijuana to three patients.
Dr. Milan Hopkins of Upper Lake is the subject of the complaint, filed March 30.
The Medical Board of California formally brought the complaint against Hopkins and the case has been forwarded to the Attorney General’s Office for handling.
In a statement to Lake County News Hopkins called the Medical Board of California’s accusations against his medical practice “baseless.”
“I am confident that the eventual outcome of this case will affirm that my procedures conform to the standard of medical care,” he said.
A hearing has not yet been held in the case, the Medical Board of California reported.
Hopkins is accused of violating Business and Professions Code sections, including three counts of gross negligence for allegedly prescribing marijuana use to three separate patients without the required exams, without making contact or coordinating with primary care physicians, ignoring potential health issues and not following up on health issues.
He also is accused of not properly diagnosing the patients and in one female patient’s case “searching for a reason for the medical marijuana recommendation to enable the patient to avoid legal issues with her recreational weekend marijuana use,” the charging document stated.
That woman – who paid $250 in cash for the appointment with Hopkins – was, in fact, an undercover investigator who visited Hopkins’ office in October 2010, according to the charging document.
The other two patients at the heart of the complaint were male subjects. The Medical Board’s filing showed that both male patients were 19 years old and had reportedly driven from the Los Angeles area to get medical marijuana recommendations from Hopkins in February 2011.
One of the men had a treating physician in Southern California and the other already had a medical marijuana recommendation which he didn’t disclose to Hopkins, the documents stated.
The fourth cause of discipline under the Business and Professions Code that is alleged against Hopkins is repeated acts of negligence for prescribing marijuana to all three patients while allegedly failing to follow up on certain health conditions, including a bleeding disorder that one of the young men had reported having, and for failing to contact other treating physicians.
Hopkins, a well-known medical marijuana supporter, has reportedly stated that 70 percent of his medical practice comes from medical marijuana evaluations, according to the filings.
Hopkins – who received his medical license in California in 1972 – has had complaints filed against him by the Medical Board of California going back to 1979, board documents showed.
In 1979, he was accused of gross negligence, incompetence and repeated acts of negligence for overprescribing controlled substances such as Quaaludes, Percodan, Dilaudid and other prescription drugs. His license was revoked but the revocation was stayed in favor of 10 years’ probation.
In 1998, he was again brought before the board. In that case, he was charged for issues stemming from a 1993 Lake County Sheriff's search warrant service in which investigators found 23 marijuana plants on property he owned on Elk Mountain Road, and additional marijuana as well as methamphetamine and psilocybin mushrooms in his Main Street home in Upper Lake.
Due to that case and Hopkins' treatment of a patient between 1991 and 1997 – in which he prescribed narcotic painkillers at the same time as the patient was getting them from another doctor – the board concluded he had violated Business and Professions Codes by breaking federal or state statute regarding controlled substances and also was again guilty of gross negligence, incompetence and repeated negligent acts. He received a five-year probation sentence that ended in February 2004.
Lake County court records showed that a felony case based on the 1993 drug seizure was filed against Hopkins.
Regarding the current case, Medical Board of California spokesman Dan Wood said Hopkins remains able to practice medicine.
As to the next steps, Wood said the Medical Board’s investigators and enforcement staff will meet with Hopkins to disclose all of the evidence they have against him.
At that point Hopkins could choose to give up and surrender his license, fight the allegations or come to an arrangement where he is subject to probation for a period of time, as has happened in Hopkins’ past cases, Wood said.
Wood said the maximum penalty the Medical Board of California can impose is revocation of Hopkins’ license to practice medicine.
While Wood said it wouldn’t be appropriate to guess what action the board might take, he added, “The Board does not take lightly cases that are repeats of variations of matters they have already dealt with for a particular physician.”
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Robbery, burglary investigations still under way
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Police are continuing to seek leads in a strong arm robbery from earlier this month as well as a commercial burglary to a downtown bar that occurred late in March.
The robbery, which took place on the evening of April 3, involved a 15-year-old who was punched, knocked down and had his wallet taken at the corner of North Main Street and Mariah Way, as Lake County News has reported.
Lakeport Police Sgt. Kevin Odom said Officer Gary Basor is investigating the robbery.
“We believe the victim's wallet was located in the 1600 block of N. Main St. and he is attempting to determine if it has any evidence,” Odom said in an email message.
Odom added that Basor also has met with the victim again in hopes of obtaining a more accurate clothing description to determine if that might generate some more leads.
Police had described the suspect as a medium dark skinned male, approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt or jacket – possibly with a red "P" on the front – faded blue jeans, and tan boots or shoes. He may have been associated with a small black compact car with black tinted windows.
Regarding a burglary to the Clearlake Club Bar on March 25, in which cash was taken, Odom said Officer Destry Henderson is leading that investigation.
He said no new leads have surfaced, but Henderson is attempting to identify the person in a surveillance photo police released to the community, which can be seen above.
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