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LAKE COUNTY – In an effort to make the roads safer during the Memorial Day weekend, the California Highway Patrol is increasing enforcement and planning a local checkpoint to look for drivers who may be drunk or high behind the wheel.
Memorial Day weekend traditionally marks the beginning of summer and the end of the school year, with people enjoying outdoor activities and events.
The holiday weekend also is a Maximum Enforcement Period for the CHP. All available officers will be on duty from 6 p.m. on Friday, May 25 through midnight on Monday, May 28, the CHP reported Thursday.
CHP, the State Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), Caltrans, Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) and local law enforcement agencies are asking that drivers plan ahead before heading out for fun – which includes having a designated driver, wearing your seat belt and not speeding.
“Once the barbecue is over, you still have to get home safely,” CHP Commissioner Mike Brown said in a statement.
Brown reported that 80-percent of CHP's officers statewide will be out looking for people driving while drunk or not complying with other rules of the road.
Locally, that will include one DUI checkpoint on May 26, according to Lt. Dane Hayward, the Clear Lake CHP office commander.
Hayward said the checkpoint will be staffed by CHP officers trained in detecting drivers who are impaired by drugs or alcohol.
CHP Drug Recognition Experts, certified by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, also will be on site to provide on the spot assessments of drivers suspected of drug use, according to Hayward. Officers will be equipped with state of the art hand-held breath devices which provide an accurate measure of blood alcohol concentrations of suspected drunk drivers.
Traffic permitting, said Hayward, all vehicles will be checked, and any driver suspected of DUI can expect to be arrested.
“Our objective is to send a clear message to those considering mixing alcohol and/or drugs with driving during summer vacation – the CHP will be keeping a watchful eye out for you,” he said.
Hayward said the checkpoints are an effective tool in reducing the high frequency of drunk driving on the roads during the holidays.
Officer Josh Dye of the Clearlake CHP office said DUI checkpoints are conducted at regular times throughout the year, such as Memorial Day.
Last year CHP officers statewide arrested 1,639 drivers for DUI during the Memorial Day weekend, the CHP reported. That is a 6.5-percent increase over the previous year.
Memorial Day DUI statistics for past years weren't available for Lake County. However, DUI remains a year-round problem in Lake County.
As Lake County News previously reported, there was an increase in DUI arrests in Lake County from 2005 to 2006, rising from 360 to a reported 411, or about a 14-percent increase, according to CHP records. However, from 2001 to 2005 there was a steady decline in local DUI arrests.
CHP works to reduce fatalities
Last Memorial Day weekend, 20 people were killed on roadways within CHP jurisdiction, statewide, Brown reported. While that number was down significantly from the previous year’s total of 33, Brown said, “We can still do better.”
As part of that effort to reduce fatalities, OTS is coordinating California law enforcement’s 2007 “Click It or Ticket” campaign.
“We have funded overtime to put extra police and CHP officers on the road to look for people not wearing their seat belt during this campaign,” said OTS Director Christopher J. Murphy.
Fifty percent of the people killed on the roadways during Memorial Day weekend were not wearing their seat belts, Murphy reported.
Caltrans Director Will Kempton said they're also joining the effort, and asking the public to help keep impaired drivers off the road.
Signs at Caltrans statewide network of public rest stops urge people to report drunk drivers by calling 9-1-1, Kempton reported. When calling to report someone suspected of driving under the influence, try to provide as much of the following information as possible: description of the vehicle, its location and direction of travel.
Because a lot of teens are driving at this time of year, extra ABC agents will be working over the weekend to prevent the sale of alcohol to underage or intoxicated people, said ABC Director Steve Hardy.
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KELSEYVILLE – Two drivers escaped major injuries Thursday after a truck carrying a load of Coca Cola collided with a small auto.
The accident was reported at about 6:27 a.m. on southbound Highway 29 more than two miles south of Highway 175/Cobb, according to the California Highway Patrol.
CHP Officer Josh Dye reported that the truck, which was driving southbound, was hit by a small Honda that was traveling north.
Clois Burns of Lakeport was driving the 2001 silver Honda four-door sedan when, for an unknown reason, she veered across the double yellow lines and into the southbound lane, Dye said.
Dennis Mcclelland of Willits, who was driving a 2003 International tractor trailer carrying the load of soda, attempted to swerve out of the way but Burns' car collided with the tractor trailer's left front.
The tractor trailer continued off of the road and collided with a large oak tree, Dye reported.
Burns was taken to the hospital and released later in the day, having suffered only lacerations and contusions, Dye said. Mcclelland was uninjured.
Both lanes of the road were partially blocked, with officials redirecting northbound traffic onto Red Hills Road while the road was cleared, according to the CHP incident logs. Dye said the road was reopened at 10:16 a.m.
Some diesel fuel was reported on the ground, and a gash was in the truck's tank. Dye said an environmental cleanup company was dispatched to the scene, but he didn't see any hazardous materials or soda spilled.
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ST. HELENA – A 3.3 magnitude earthquake hit five miles south of St. Helena on Thursday morning,
The earthquake was recorded at 9:01 a.m. at a depth of 6.2 miles, according to the US Geological Survey.
There were 100 reports of the quake to the US Geological Survey – from as far away as Tracy and San Francisco – from people who felt the quake.
However, the quake doesn't appear to have been noticed in the Middletown area, according to the US Geological Survey reports.
When contacted to see if they felt the quake, the offices of Realtor David Neft said they hadn't.
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LUCERNE – Four young National Guardsmen who are scheduled to ship out next week in preparation for a mission to Iraq were honored at an afternoon get-together Wednesday.
Spc. Bryon Martinez, 23, of Corning; Spc. Vincent Torres, 20, of Red Bluff; Spc. Mark Matthews, 22, of Santa Monica; and Sgt. David Hodgson of Red Bluff are members of the 160th Infantry Unit which will leave for Mississippi May 29.
From there, they'll be sent to Iraq, although Martinez said they're not sure when they'll ship out for their 12-month deployment.
Veterans and community members gathered at Firehouse Pizza, which Martinez opened in February. The business had barely gotten off the ground before Martinez found out he was slated for deployment to Iraq.
Martinez invited his three friends over for some pizza and beer, and when local veterans found out, they joined the group for a going away party.
The four soldiers just completed two months of training in Mississippi. Hodgson said they studied convoy security, explosive device identification and removal, and risk assessments.
“Right now our main mission is protecting convoys,” said Martinez.
When necessary, he said, they'll also do “route clearance,” which means getting rid of explosive devices planted along roadsides. Hodgson said they'll drive humvees to protect the convoys.
Vietnam veteran Dean Gotham, who came to wish the young men well, said in his day their assignment was called “rough rider” duty.
Torres, who joined the National Guard two years ago for adventure, money for school and because he “wanted a challenge,” said he volunteered to go to Iraq. “I'd rather go when I'm prepared than go when I'm not.”
Hodgson – who at age 20 has nearly four years of time in the Guard, the most of the group – also got into the Guard to help build a career.
Matthews has a wife and 5-month-old son and has been in the Guard two years. Joining the military, he said, “was something I always wanted to do since I was a kid.”
Martinez and his wife, Sabrina, welcomed a new son, Zakary, on May 19. They also have a 5-year-old son, Kameron.
Gotham said he gave the young men some advice to keep them safe.
First, keep an ear cocked on the distance, Gotham said. Stay low, don't stand around in groups.
And keep your mouth open; that helps avoid serious concussion in case a bomb goes off nearby, he advised.
Gotham said he learned that lesson the hard way, while laying in a trench in Vietnam. A bomb hit the lip of the trench, he said, and because his jaw was clenched shut, it made the effects of the concussion just that much worse. As a result, he lost the hearing in his left ear.
Since March, when Martinez left for training, his longtime friends, Thomas, Cisco and Andreas Bobadilla, have been running the pizza parlor.
Business has been good, said Martinez. The Bobadillas have agreed to continue managing the business while he's away.
Martinez said he and his fellow soldiers expect to be home by August 2008.
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