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- Written by: Lake County News reports
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Kelseyville Unified School District Board of Trustees will host its next special meeting to discuss district configuration plans for the 2011-12 school year on Tuesday, Sept. 14.
The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the Kelseyville High School Student Center, 5480 Main St.
District officials said they're faced with declining enrollments that are expected to continue until 2013-14, coupled with a continuing drop in revenue.
In order to assess how to best use the district's resources and its eight school sites, they're holding a series of community meetings to gather public input and begin the process of putting together proposals for the board to make a final decision in November.
The first meeting was held Aug. 10, as Lake County News reported.
Other special board meetings planned on configuration are set for Oct. 5 and Nov. 9, also at the high school student center.
For more information, call the Kelseyville Unified School District Office at 707-279-1511 or email
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – A man who authorities believe struck and killed an elderly man in a wheelchair with his vehicle early Thursday morning has been arrested for felony hit and run.
Manuel Herrera, 30, was arrested in Nice Thursday afternoon, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Joe Wind.
Herrera's arrest followed an investigation that began when the crash victim's body was found around 9 a.m. Thursday along Highway 20 near Reclamation Road, not far from the Bloody Island historical marker, Wind said.
“Caltrans was out there this morning to do some road maintenance and Caltrans workers found him in the bushes,” he said.
The debris from the man's destroyed wheelchair was found adjacent to the shoulder. Wind said the man's body wasn't visible from the roadway, but had been thrown into the brush by the impact.
He said investigators are narrowing down the time frame for the crash, which they believe happened in the dark early morning hours Thursday.
An online CHP report from around 2:30 a.m. Thursday described a subject in a wheelchair who was traveling westbound from Robinson Rancheria. The person was said to be close to the highway's white fog line and couldn't be seen until close up.
Wind said they believe the crash victim was “well on the shoulder” of the westbound highway lane when he was hit.
“I don't know at this point in time what caused the suspect to drive onto the shoulder,” Wind said, adding that Herrera is alleged to have not stopped or rendered any kind of aid.
Wind said the investigation had been handled quietly during the day.
The CHP was reported to have taken aerial photos of the crash location, and Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office said that agency had investigators on scene.
Late in the morning, the CHP had put out a call for the community to be on the lookout for Herrera's vehicle, which they originally described as a 1993 to 1995 Honda Civic that had been repainted silver over a blue paint job and had damage to its right front section.
Investigators found the vehicle, which turned out to be a 1992 Honda Accord, in the Nice area and subsequently went to a residence, spoke with Herrera and arrested him, Wind said.
The CHP reported that Herrera was located at 3364 E. Highway 20, the location of the Cloverleaf Apartments in Nice. Sheriff's deputies and CHP deputies were on scene at the apartment complex late in the day Thursday.
Wind said the coroner has not yet been able to do a positive identification of the victim.
The roadway near where the collision occurred was finally cleared of law enforcement units shortly before 7:30 p.m., the CHP reported.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Thomas Lee Carter, 59, was released on a $200,000 appearance bond, according to US Attorney's Office spokesman Jack Gillund.
Gillund said Carter's release was secured by property at 1622 Hunter Point Road in Upper Lake.
Carter was arrested by Drug Enforcement Administration agents on Sept. 1 on allegations of possession with intent to distribute marijuana and violation of previous release terms, as Lake County News has reported.
He had been arrested on another count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and two counts of distributing or possessing with intent to distribute marijuana in August 2009 along with several co-defendants. Carter also was released last year on a $200,000 bond secured by the same Hunter Point Road property.
The government is alleging he is part of distributing marijuana in Lake County, as well as San Diego and Los Angeles.
According to a redacted complaint filed by the US Attorney's Office, DEA Special Agent Brandon Burkhart stated that two sources had come forward in June to accuse Carter of growing marijuana, which would have violated the terms of his release.
Burkhart was involved in the August 2009 arrests and, previous to that, had provided evidence against Upper Lake marijuana grower Eddy Lepp, now serving a federal prison term.
Both of the informants were said to be former employees of Carter, who also runs a construction company. One had left after a disagreement, the other after being treated unfairly, according to Burkhart's statement.
One of the informants claimed to have seen Carter grading an area in Upper Lake in June with no grading permit issued, with the informant stating that he believed Carter was clearing the land to grow marijuana. Burkhart's affidavit also included the allegations by informants that Carter was affiliated with illicit grows
In August a deputy sheriff and a county probation officer took part in an overflight of Upper Lake around Carter's various properties, and they recorded coordinates for several marijuana grow locations and observed marijuana plants growing on parcels near Carter's residence, the documents stated.
Burkhart reviewed the GPS coordinates and found they fell within the lines of Carter's properties. He also compared the photographs taken of the area to GPS locations and identified a garden with 85 to 100 plants. He later took part in an overflight himself and saw what he believed were the same marijuana plants.
He stated that he believed Carter was planning to distribute the plants and he requested Carter be arrested and that searches take place of five locations.
Federal public defenders Barry Portman and Geoffrey Hansen filed documents that challenged Burkhart's assertions, stating that Carter denied knowing marijuana was being grown on the property
They also pointed out that one of the informants was a convicted felon, which they said led to questions about his prior conviction status. The other informant has two prior convictions and currently grows marijuana, they stated.
During the Sept. 1 raid, 70 marijuana plants were found at 1545 Hunter Point Road, owned by Carter but leased to another individual and located three miles from his residence, where no plants were found, according to the defense motion.
At another Carter-owned property leased to a couple 29 plants were found, the attorneys stated. Carter, who denied knowing of that grow, was not charged for those plants.
Carter's attorneys also asserted that Carter had complied with his pretrial directives and has been regularly drug tested, with no dirty tests submitted. A pretrial services officer who visits Carter regularly “has found no evidence that Mr. Carter uses, possesses or sells marijuana,” the filing stated.
In a followup filing on Tuesday, the defense attorneys demanded to be able to cross-examine the informants as part of a hearing on whether or not to release Carter, who they said had a Sixth Amendment right to confront the witnesses against him.
Despite the government's arguments to keep Carter in custody, the hour-and-a-half-long hearing Wednesday morning resulted in his release. His wife, Jamie Ceridono, is ordered to sign onto the bond on Sept. 14, according to court documents.
Carter and co-defendants Brett Bassignani, Scott and Diana Feil, Steven Swanson and Mark Garcia are scheduled to return in January for continued proceedings in the case arising from the August 2009 arrests.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Cal Fire and Northshore Fire Protection District firefighters responded to a report of a blown transformer on Sulphur Bank Drive and Highway 20 just after 8:30 p.m. Saturday night, according to radio reports.
A small fire was triggered but quickly put out, and Pacific Gas and Electric was called in, officials reported from the scene.
PG&E spokesman Brandi Ehlers said the equipment failure led to a power outage that ran from 8:41 p.m. to 11:55 p.m. Friday.
She said approximately 4,009 customers in Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks, Clearlake Park and Lower Lake lost power.
Businesses in the area either closed early or tried to use candlelight, according to a report Lake County News received from a community member.
The outage also led to an issue for the Southeast Regional Wastewater Collection System in Clearlake, according to Special Districts Administrator Mark Dellinger.
Dellinger said the loss of power caused a backup on Lakeshore Drive in which two manholes discharged.
He said 70 gallons of sewage was discharged, and all of it was contained and removed.
No sewage flowed into Clear Lake, Dellinger said.
“We were directed by Lake County Environmental Health to disinfect and post the area affected by both manholes,” he said.
Dellinger said the health department later directed that the signs be removed, which took place on Tuesday.
Special Districts sent the spill notification to the state, as required, on Saturday, he said.
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