News
LUCERNE – Lucerne's aging water system sprang another leak over the Fourth of July holiday.
Residents noticed a huge main break at 15th Avenue and Country Club on Wednesday afternoon.
Lenny Matthews said her home was without water for at least a half hour. She called Cal Water's toll-free number to report the emergency but was told no emergency crews were available to respond.
She then drove down to Cal Water's Lucerne office on Highway 20, which was closed. From there she went to the Northshore Fire Protection District main office in Lucerne, where Chief Jim Robbins had already made calls to Cal Water about the pipe break.
Robbins had better luck than Matthews, with crews from Cal Water and Epidendio Construction on scene late Wednesday afternoon to repair the break.
The crews had to dig a trench about 5 feet deep in the dirt alongside Country Club to get down to the broken pipe.
Matthews said her water was back on later in the afternoon.
Cal Water customers began receiving letters this week from the company, thanking them for conservation efforts so far this spring.
However, the letter informed customers that that continued conservation was needed to prevent water outages, especially over the Fourth of July and Labor Day holidays.
Among the company's suggestions to save water: stop outdoor irrigation and fix leaking pipes.
There's no word yet on the amount of water lost in the Lucerne water break.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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LAKEPORT – Officials have reported that an inquest into the death of a Nice man has found he was the victim of a homicide.
Paul “Joe” Womachka, 39, of Nice was found in his submerged Hey Taxi minivan in the Konocti Vista Casino marina last Friday afternoon. He'd been reported missing two days earlier when he didn't return from an early morning taxi run to Robinson Rancheria Bingo & Casino.
Lake County Sheriff Rod Mitchell confirmed earlier this week that his office was investigating Womachka's death as a homicide, even before the results of Tuesday's autopsy were made public.
Lt. Cecil Brown, the sheriff's office press officer, said earlier Tuesday that three sheriff's detectives were to be present for the autopsy in order to report back immediately on the findings.
Late Tuesday, an official sheriff's office statement on the autopsy results that was to be released to all area media was, inexplicably, not made available to Lake County News or posted on the sheriff's Web site for public viewing.
As of Wednesday night, Lake County News had still not seen the release, and the sheriff's office was unable to explain the oversight.
However, Mitchell was contacted Wednesday morning, and he confirmed the homicide conclusion.
“We are confirming the manner of death as homicide but we are not yet releasing the cause of death,” Mitchell said.
“We are better able to prioritize investigative leads when those leads contain information consistent with what we know but have not yet made public,” he said.
“We are actively working many different leads and seeking out additional sources of information,” Mitchell added.
The man Womachka was called to give a ride to early Wednesday, Morgan Matthew Jack, 30, is in the Lake County Jail on a parole violation. He was arrested June 29 by Det. Corey Paulich, one of the sheriff's office's key homicide investigators, just hours after Womachka's body was found.
One of many questions in the case is why Womachka took Jack to Lakeport in the first place.
The sheriff's office reported this week that Womachka had been called to give Jack a ride to his home at Big Valley Rancheria in Lakeport from Robinson Rancheria.
However, on his booking sheet, Jack's home is listed as Nice. When asked about this discrepancy, Brown said the Nice address would have come from information Jack gave to officials at the jail during his booking.
Jack remains in jail on a no-bail parole hold. Officials said he has been interviewed as part of the homicide investigation.
Brown said Jack was known to sheriff's officials, having spent time in the jail on and off over the last few years.
Mitchell urged anyone with information to call the sheriff's office at 262-4200 and ask to speak to Det. Corey Paulich or Det. Brian Kenner.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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