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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – Residents around the county reported feeling an early morning earthquake that was centered near Clearlake Oaks.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the 3.8-magnitude quake occurred at 4:11 a.m. at a depth of 1.9 miles.
It was centered four miles south southwest of Clearlake Oaks, four miles west northwest of Clearlake and six miles northwest of Lower Lake, the agency reported.
Several residents around the lake – from Clearlake Oaks to Kelseyville – reported feeling the quake, which was said to have lasted about five seconds.
By 9 a.m. the U.S. Geological Survey had received 233 shake reports from eight zip codes around Northern California, including Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks, Kelseyville, Lakeport, Lower Lake, Middletown, Hidden Valley Lake and Campbell. It also received a report from Sun Valley, Nev.
A 1.9-magnitude quake – originally reported as 2.0-magnitude temblor – was reported in the same spot at 4:29 a.m., according to U.S. Geological Record reports.
Regarding that second, smaller quake, a total of 19 shake reports were submitted from Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks, Kelseyville and Lower Lake, survey records showed.
Lake County is seismically active, although most of the earthquake action is reported on Cobb Mountain near The Geysers geothermal steamfield, where increased earthquake activity has been attributed to wastewater injection.
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LAKEPORT, Calif. – Work on a pipeline project that will extend water services to the site of the new Mendocino College Lake Center is expected to be completed later next month.
The project runs 5,800 feet along Parallel Drive – starting where the city water main ends near the AAA insurance building – and down to Highway 175, according to Lakeport City Engineer Scott Harter.
He said the contractor, Milpitas-based Preston Pipelines Inc. – the same company doing a nearly five-mile-long force main project for the Southeast Regional wastewater system in Clearlake – has moved quickly on the work, which should be completed at the end of February.
In the three weeks the company has worked on the pipeline, Preston Pipelines has put down 2,000 feet of the pipe, Harter said.
The company has 45 days to complete the work and gets credit for days it can’t work due to weather, such has been the case since late last week, when storms arrived, according to Harter.
Part of the project’s speed – which Harter said was running at about 700 feet of pipeline a day – is due to Preston Pipelines using a machine to crush excavation material. It then mixes that material with sand and water to create a cement slurry that is put back into the trench with the pipe.
That same process is being used for the Clearlake pipeline, and it prevents the contractor from having to wait for slurry to be trucked in, Harter said.
Harter said the new water main will provide city water services to the Mendocino College Lake Center, currently under construction on Parallel Drive, as well as several other properties added to the city’s limits during the last annexation.
He said the city and college are jointly funding the 14-inch water main extension, the total cost of which is $777,265.
Of that, the city and college are splitting $763,363, with the additional $13,902 to install water service hookups to about five other properties being covered by the city, Harter said.
The college could have just installed an 8-inch water pipe, but since the city is expanding water service to the area as part of its water master plan, Harter said it made sense to split the cost and invest in a larger, 14-inch pipe in order to serve the annexation area.
“That’s the philosophy between the split cost,” he said.
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On Monday Judge Andrew Blum set Wednesday, March 28, as the date that the trial will begin for Derik Dion Navarro, 39, of Kelseyville. The trial judge has not yet been assigned.
Navarro is facing 16 charges for allegedly having sex with a young teenage girl numerous times over the course of a year, beginning in May 2005 with she was 14 years old.
At the time when the alleged activities took place, Navarro was a Lake County Sheriff’s deputy. In early 2007, the agency received information about the allegations, which led to an investigation and, ultimately, resulted on Navarro’s termination in April 2007, with his arrest taking place a week later.
Because he had at one time represented Navarro in a matter related to his employment, District Attorney Don Anderson couldn’t prosecute the case due to a conflict of interest, and it was handed over to the California Attorney General’s Office.
In December, Senior Assistant Attorney General Dave Druliner and Navarro's attorney, Mitch Hauptman, reached a plea agreement in which Navarro pleaded guilty to one count of felony unlawful intercourse with a child under age 16, with the 15 other charges to be dismissed.
Navarro was expected to receive three months in jail and three years’ formal probation, with no requirement to register as a sex offender, when he was scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 9.
But despite the requests from the alleged victim and her family to accept the agreement to allow them closure, Judge Blum rejected the agreement, calling it “ridiculously lenient.”
The California Attorney General’s Office did not respond with a comment on the case on Monday.
Hauptman told Lake County News that he is exploring the possibility of a change of venue motion.
He has hired an expert who will conduct a community survey to see if a change of venue motion is warranted. Hauptman, who isn’t yet convinced that a change of venue is necessary, said he expects to see the survey completed within the next four to six weeks.
He said he’s considering the change of venue matter because of some unusual circumstances, not the least of which is the active role Sheriff Frank Rivero has taken in advocating against the plea agreement.
Rivero put out a statement last month denouncing the agreement, and sent Blum a letter – which was waiting on the judge’s desk on the morning of the scheduled sentencing – asking him to turn down the sentence bargain, according to Hauptman, who viewed the document.
Hauptman said he wasn’t saying what Rivero did was right or wrong, but it’s rare for sheriffs to get involved in cases, and Hauptman believes Rivero’s involvement has affected the perception of some community members regarding the case.
There had been an offer pending the case for some time, which Hauptman said Navarro had rejected.
However, he finally agreed to plead guilty to the charge as part of the December agreement. In doing so, Hauptman said Navarro made “the best decision he could to be around to protect his family.”
Hauptman also maintained that just because Navarro pleaded guilty to the charge, it does not mean he is guilty of it, and therefore people should withhold judgment.
Blum initially had to approve the agreement when the plea was entered, said Hauptman.
“There is a reason why there is a time lapse between approval and actual sentencing,” said Hauptman, noting that it gives judges the chance to further reflect and consider the case.
On Jan. 9, before he rejected the agreement, Blum called Hauptman and the parties into chambers to discuss the matter.
“It was pretty clear that he had some serious concerns at that point,” said Hauptman, adding he was “blindsided” by Blum’s decision to reject the agreement.
At the same time, Hauptman said he believes Blum had good motives in making his decision.
Having worked in Lake County for a long time, Hauptman believes he has the home court advantage in the case.
“However, the last six weeks generated an enormous amount of powerful press,” he said. “My perception is it’s a little more widely spoken about than most cases.”
Those issues of perception aren’t easily addressed in the jury selection process, he said, which is the reason that the change of venue is being considered.
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Maricruz Alvarez-Carrillo, 22, was found guilty last Friday at the end of a two-week trial in Ukiah. The jury deliberated a total of seven hours. Superior Court Judge Ann Moorman set sentencing of Alvarez-Carrillo for 1:30 p.m. Feb. 24.
District Attorney David Eyster on Monday called the jury’s conviction of Alvarez-Carrillo “a big win in a difficult gang-related case.”
Prosecutor Tim Stoen called 10 witnesses during the trial, including attack victims Alissa Colberg, age 18 at the time, and Richie Olstad, then 16. Colberg is scarred on her face and chest as a result of the ax blows, according to Stoen.
Witnesses testified that on Jan. 28, 2011, Alvarez-Carrillo was driving a vehicle in Fort Bragg when she and a boyfriend encountered members of a competing gang.
Colberg admitted she smashed in a back window of the Alvarez-Carrillo vehicle during a melee that followed. But she and other witnesses testified that Alvarez-Carrillo, by then armed with the ax, first chased Olstad and then turned her attack on Colberg who had come to her young friend’s aid.
Colberg ended up with serious gashes to her chest and face, and was rushed to Mendocino Coast District Hospital to be treated, according to the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutor Stoen said Fort Bragg Police Chief Scott Mayberry assisted in the prosecution of the case by personally reviewing hundreds of pages of documents.
Eyster said the public should know “how much we appreciate the terrific work Police Chief Mayberry and his officers did in this case.”
“The outcome is a major step towards eliminating gang threats in the community of Fort Bragg,” said Eyster.
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