How to resolve AdBlock issue? Lakeport Police Department seeks man believed responsible for Thursday assault
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Police Department is searching for a male subject who is alleged to have assaulted another man in Library Park on Thursday afternoon.
The agency reported that the assault occurred at 3:45 p.m.
Firefighters and police were dispatched to the area of the park's gazebo, where the male victim had been knocked unconscious and was bleeding from the head, according to radio reports.
Police said the responsible male subject fled on foot north along the lakeshore near the old Natural High School Property and Dutch Harbor.
He swam across Dutch Harbor then ran through the Mallard House property and was last seen on 10th Street near Renee’s Café at approximately 4 p.m., police reported.
Police described the man as being in his early 20s, with short dark hair and wearing a purple ball cap with a flat bill, blue shorts, no shirt and no shoes, and large green ear rings in each ear.
Witnesses told police that the male subject appeared to be trying to locate someone to give him a ride.
Anyone with information on the incident or suspects location is asked to call the Lakeport Police Department at 707-263-5491.
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Sheriff’s Office Explorers bring home three trophies; group competed with 36 other posts
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office Explorers brought home three trophies after competing against 36 law enforcement agencies in a three-day event.
On Thursday, March 27, law enforcement explorers and advisors from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Explorer Post traveled to Tulare County to compete in the Central Valley Explorer Competition, according to Lt. Steve Brooks.
Brooks said the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Explorer Post is comprised of men and women between the ages of 14 and 21.
He said the group trains in successfully handling law enforcement scenarios, serving the community and are involved in ride-a-longs with deputies. They also compete regionally against other explorers in realistic law enforcement scenarios, physical agility and written testing.
The Central Valley Law Enforcement Explorer Competition was held over three days at the Tulare County Fairgrounds and was hosted by the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office, Brooks said.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office Explorers competed against 36 other posts in 18 events. Brooks said the top five in each event received trophies.
Brooks said the Lake County Sheriff’s Office is proud to report that the team won first place in the “Hazardous Response” event. This event consisted of a two-person team responding to an unknown situation with several challenges.
The team had to determine the type of situation they were dealing with, the appropriate course of action and then implement the course of action they decided on, according to Brooks.
The team also earned second place in the five-person person tug-of-war along with a fourth place finish in the law enforcement written test, Brooks reported.
For additional information on the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Explorer Post and how to become on Explorer, please visit www.lakesheriff.com .
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Police arrest male juveniles for breaking windows at Lakeport Unified schools
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Police Department reported Friday that two male juveniles have been arrested on charges of felony vandalism and conspiracy for breaking several windows at the Lakeport Unified School District campus.
Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen said the two teenagers were arrested on Thursday morning.
At 5:50 a.m. Tuesday Lakeport Police officers were dispatched to the Lakeport Unified School District campus on Lange Street to investigate the report of a total of six windows being destroyed at Clear Lake High School, Terrace Middle School and the MAC building, Rasmussen said.
He said the damage totaled more than $1,200.
Rasmussen said his officers continued to investigate this case and, after interviewing numerous persons, developed information regarding the identity of two male Lakeport juveniles, ages 13 and 14, who were students in the district.
The investigation determined that the two teenage suspects preplanned their crime and then left their houses in the middle of the night to carry it out, Rasmussen said.
Both suspects were located at approximately 9:30 a.m. Thursday, arrested and booked into the Lake County Juvenile Hall on the felony vandalism and conspiracy charges, Rasmussen reported.
Rasmussen said the case was sent to the Lake County Probation Department for review regarding charges against the suspects.
“It is very unfortunate that these juveniles chose to destroy school property, costing the public unnecessary expense,” Rasmussen said.
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California Supreme Court upholds ruling on local medical marijuana cultivation bans
The California Supreme Court on Wednesday denied a petition and depublication request regarding an appellate court decision that upheld the right of local governments to completely ban medical marijuana cultivation by patients.
The court took the action in the case of Maral v. Live Oak, in which last November the Third District Court of Appeals upheld the city of Live Oak's complete ban on medical marijuana cultivation.
The Supreme Court's refusal to review the decision means it stands as a legal precedent under California law, according to Cal NORML, which sponsored the lawsuit seeking the petition and depublication.
The organization called the court's action “a disappointing setback” in a Wednesday statement.
Working on Cal NORML's behalf, in January, attorney Joe Elford – who in 2012 represented Don Merrill and several other plaintiffs who sued the county of Lake over its interim marijuana cultivation ordinance – petitioned the Supreme Court to depublish the Live Oak decision, arguing that such bans violate Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act, and SB 420.
SB 420's Medical Marijuana Program, or MMP, sets a statewide cultivation guideline of six mature or 12 immature plants and specifically authorizes local governments to establish higher – but not lower – guidelines.
“We are deeply disappointed by the court's decision,” said Cal NORML Director and Proposition 215 co-author Dale Gieringer. “They have effectively undermined Proposition 215's stated purpose 'to ensure that seriously ill Californians have the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes.'”
The court issued no explanation for its decision – considered usual practice for depublication petitions – which Cal NORML said effectively opens the legal door for further bans throughout the state.
Live Oak, which does not allow dispensaries, was the first government entity in California to completely ban all patient cultivation, Cal NORML reported.
According to court documents, the Live Oak City Council unanimously passed the ordinance in December 2011.
The Live Oak ordinance was challenged by individuals including James Maral, acting both as an individual and as a trustee of Live Oak Patients, Caregivers and Supporters Association.
Cal NORML said Maral suffers severe medical problems that he had been treating with medicine grown at home.
Maral argued that Proposition 215 and SB 420's Medical Marijuana Program granted him the right to cultivate medical marijuana, and that the ordinance was an “impermissible amendment” to the Compassionate Use Act, based on court documents.
But the appellate court, citing the Supreme Court's 2013 decision in City of Riverside v. Inland Empire Patients Health and Wellness Center Inc., found that the objectives of Proposition 215 and the MMP “were 'modest,' and those acts did not create a 'broad right' to access medical marijuana.”
“Rather than granting a blanket right to use marijuana for medical purposes, the CUA (Compassionate Use Act) only immunizes specific persons from criminal prosecution under two sections of the Health and Safety Code. Thus, the CUA grants only 'a limited immunity from prosecution,'” the court said.
Further, the CUA “creates only a limited defense to certain crimes, 'not a constitutional right to obtain marijuana,'” according to the Third Appellate Court decision.
That decision also found that the Compassionate Use Act and the MMP “do not preempt the authority of cities and counties to regulate, even prohibit, facilities that distribute medical marijuana.”
The appellate court said the reasoning of the Riverside case applies to the cultivation of medical marijuana as well as its distribution, as both are addressed in the Compassionate Use Act and the MMP, and accordingly the court concluded that those laws “do not preempt a city’s police power to prohibit the cultivation of all marijuana within that city.”
Other local governments, including Fresno county and city, have moved to ban personal use cultivation as well, Cal NORML said.
While Cal NORML said the Wednesday decision does not preclude the possibility of a future challenge to local cultivation bans in another appellate district, plaintiffs face difficult odds in light of the Supreme Court's ruling.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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MATH to host April 10 sheriff candidate forum
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Middletown Area Town Hall plans to host the candidates for Lake County sheriff in a special event next month.
MATH said the forum for candidates Bob Chalk, Brian Martin and incumbent Frank Rivero will take place beginning at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 10.
It will be held in the Middletown Community Center, located at 21256 Washington St.
Candidates will introduce themselves, state why voters should support their candidacy and field questions.
For additional information, contact MATH at
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