On Saturday night, March 10, Californians will be turning their clocks forward in observance of Daylight Saving Time.

When they do, Cal Fire is reminding them to replace the batteries in all smoke alarms. Firefighters are also urging residents to replace the batteries in the carbon monoxide alarms as well.

This minimal effort could mean the difference between life and death.

Already this year several fatalities have occurred in California which might have been prevented with working smoke alarms.

“Cal Fire has long advocated the ‘Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery’ campaign,” said Chief Ken Pimlott, director of Cal Fire. “A smoke alarm is one of the cheapest and most effective ways homeowners can provide year round fire protection for themselves and their families.”

Every year lives are lost in homes without smoke detectors or those homes with a non-functioning smoke detector.

In a study conducted by the National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA), nearly 96 percent of households report having at least one fire alarm.  

Yet the US Fire Administration reports residential fires make up nearly 83 percent of all civilian fire deaths.  The culprit is generally a disconnected or dead battery.

Save a life. Change your clocks; change your smoke alarm batteries.

Fire officials also remind residents that smoke alarms should be replaced at least every ten years and when residents buy a new one, purchase an alarm with 10-year batteries

“Smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms unquestionably help save lives, but they are nothing without working batteries inside of them,” said Chief Tonya Hoover, California’s state fire marshal. “Just a few minutes twice a year to change that battery can truly mean the difference between life and death."

For more information, visit the Cal Fire Web site at www.fire.ca.gov .

An Amber Alert has been issued for two children abducted from Willows in neighboring Glenn County this morning.

The California Highway Patrol reported that Leonard Dale Tuttle Jr., 30, is alleged to have taken two little girls, 2-year-old Randi Martinez and 5-year-old Vanessa Martinez, at about 9:30 a.m. Friday.

The children, both of whom are American Indian, are described as follows: Randi Martinez is 3 feet tall, 35 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair, and Vanessa Martinez is 4 feet tall and 70 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair.

Tuttle is as an American Indian male, is 6 feet, 7 inches tall, weighing 360 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.

He has a tattoo of lips on the left side of his neck and a feather and panther tattoo on his right arm.

Tuttle was last seen driving a 2002 white Mitsubishi Lancer, California license plate 5PIB347.

Anyone who sees the suspect should call 911 or the Willows Police Department at 530-934-3456.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A new wellness center serving the needs of the county's native peoples is opening this month.

The new Circle of Native Minds Wellness Center will celebrate its grand opening on Friday, March 16, starting at 11 a.m.

The center is located at 845 Bevins St. in Lakeport.

All tribal people are invited to tour and give their comments about the center.

Invited speakers are District 4 Supervisor Anthony Farrington, Lakeport Mayor Suzanne Lyons and county Mental Health Director Kristi Kelly.

One part of the center’s conference area has been transformed into the likeness of a traditional round house by Pomo artist Robert Quitiquit.

“It gives a person the feeling and the ambiance that this is a good place to be,” said Pomo elder Wilbur Augustine.

The center is funded by MHSA Proposition 63 through the Lake County Mental Health Department and will serve all American Indians in the county.

The center is supported by evidence suggesting the most successful treatment models for American Indians are those that are delivered within a cultural specific context.

“By healing themselves, they transform the lives of their families, friends and communities,” said elder Donna Gitchel.

The center proposes to hold weekly activities for all age groups on the different aspects of cultural healing: talking circles, traditional and contemporary art projects, native speakers, native film, the Pomo language and more.

The center will serve as a place for American Indians to connect and communicate with elders, treatment specialists/professionals and spiritual advisers.

Tribal outreach and engagement specialist Thomas Leon Brown has been working with individuals and families, including persons incarcerated or on probation, on a range of problems, the most common are alcohol and drugs.  

An “elders talking circle” consisting of native elders, some of whom are official volunteers with the County. Volunteers will oversee the center on a daily basis.

Among its partnerships are the Lake County Tribal Health Clinic, and a wide number of county programs and offices.

The center is equipped with four computers and a large screen television, and will serve as a clearinghouse of information, including national native newspapers, resource materials and children’s books.

The Circle of Native Minds Wellness Center will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The center can be reached at 707-263-4880, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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LAKEPORT, Calif. – An undercover operation by narcotics detectives that lasted more than a month led to the arrest in early February of a Lakeport man.

Noe Reyes Gutierrez, 41, was arrested on Feb. 3, according to a Friday report from Capt. Chris Macedo of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Macedo said that beginning in late December 2011, Lake County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Task Force detectives began working an undercover operation into possible sales of methamphetamine by Gutierrez, who was working as a landscaper.

On Dec. 29 Gutierrez traveled to Yuba City and sold an undercover detective approximately one ounce of methamphetamine for $1,300, Macedo reported.

On Jan. 27, Gutierrez again met with the undercover detective, this time in the Walmart parking lot in Clearlake, and sold the detective approximately one ounce of methamphetamine for $1,200, according to Macedo.

Then, on Feb. 2, detectives conducted surveillance on Gutierrez, who Macedo said arranged to meet with the undercover detective to sell two more ounces of methamphetamine.  

Gutierrez met with the undercover detective and stated that the two ounces of methamphetamine would be ready the following day, Macedo said.

Detectives with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Task Force obtained a warrant for Gutierrez’s arrest, as well as a search warrant authorizing a search of Gutierrez’s person, home and vehicles, according to Macedo.

On Feb. 3, Narcotics Task Force members contacted Gutierrez and arrested him for the warrant. Macedo said the detectives also served the search warrant and located ammunition, a small quantity of marijuana and a glass pipe commonly used for ingesting methamphetamine.  

Gutierrez remains in custody with $200,000 bail on several counts of violation of Health and Safety Code section 11379, transportation or sales of a controlled substance.

Anyone with information that can assist the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Task Force is encouraged to call the Narcotics Anonymous Tip Line at 707-263-3663. 

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A grant for a boat launch improvement project proposed by the city of Clearlake will go before a state commission next week.

The California Boating and Waterways Commission will meet on Wednesday, March 14, in San Diego to consider $1.49 million in boat launching facility grants.

The meeting is open to the public and will convene at 9 a.m. at the Marriott Hotel, 333 West Harbor Drive.

Items being considered by the commission include Clearlake's proposed Redbud boat launching facility upgrades.

The city is seeking a $945,000 grant to complete improvements to the Redbud boat launching facility.

The proposed project includes lengthening one existing boarding float, replacing two suspended boarding floats, incidental dredging required for dock installation, parking lot rehabilitation and lighting.

Also on the agenda is a $540,000 grant to the county of San Luis Obispo to repave and restripe access way and parking areas to the Santa Margarita Lake boat launching facilities, install a new fish cleaning station, and remove overhead electrical power lines across the lake and replace with a solar power system.

A detailed agenda of the meeting and information on the commission may be found at http://www.dbw.ca.gov/Commission/ .

Two solar flares that occurred earlier this week could disrupt some communications on Earth on Wednesday and also impact NASA spacecraft.

NASA models using data from the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) and the Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) have now provided more information about the two coronal mass ejections – or CMEs – associated with two solar flares that occurred on Tuesday.

The first of the coronal mass ejections is traveling faster than 1,300 miles per second; the second more than 1,100 miles per second.

NASA's models predict that the CMEs will impact both Earth and Mars, as well as pass by several NASA spacecraft – Messenger, Spitzer, and STEREO-B.

The models also predicted that the leading edge of the first CME would reach Earth at about 10:25 p.m. Pacific Time Wednesday or 1:25 a.m. Eastern Standard Time Thursday morning – plus or minus seven hours.

Such a CME could result in a severe geomagnetic storm, causing aurora at low latitudes, with possible disruption to high frequency radio communication, global positioning systems and power grids.

The sun erupted with one of the largest solar flares of this solar cycle on Tuesday at 4 p.m. Pacific Time. This flare was categorized as an X5.4, making it the second largest flare – after an X6.9 on Aug. 9, 2011 – since the sun’s activity segued into a period of relatively low activity called solar minimum in early 2007.

The current increase in the number of X-class flares is part of the sun’s normal 11-year solar cycle, during which activity on the sun ramps up to solar maximum, which is expected to peak in late 2013.

About an hour later, at 5:14 p.m. Pacific Time Tuesday, the same region let loose an X1.3 class flare. An X1 is 5 times smaller than an X5 flare.

These X-class flares erupted from an active region named AR 1429 that rotated into view on March 2. Prior to this, the region had already produced numerous M-class and one X-class flare.

The region continues to rotate across the front of the sun, so the Tuesday flare was more earthward facing than the previous ones. It triggered a temporary radio blackout on the sunlit side of Earth that interfered with radio navigation and short wave radio.

In association with these flares, the sun also expelled two significant CMEs, which are traveling faster than 600 miles a second and may arrive at Earth in the next few days.

In the meantime, the CME associated with the X-class flare from Sunday has dumped solar particles and magnetic fields into Earth’s atmosphere and distorted Earth's magnetic fields, causing a moderate geomagnetic storm, rated a G2 on a scale from G1 to G5.

Such storms happen when the magnetic fields around Earth rapidly change strength and shape.

A moderate storm usually causes aurora and may interfere with high frequency radio transmission near the poles.

This storm is already dwindling, but the Earth may experience another enhancement if the most recent CMEs are directed toward and impact Earth.

In addition, Tuesday night’s flares have sent solar particles into Earth’s atmosphere, producing a moderate solar energetic particle event, also called a solar radiation storm.

These particles have been detected by NASA’s SOHO and STEREO spacecraft, and NOAA’s GOES spacecraft.

At the time of writing, this storm is rated an S3 on a scale that goes up to S5. Such storms can interfere with high frequency radio communication.

Besides the August 2011 X-class flare, the last time the sun sent out flares of this magnitude was in 2006.

There was an X6.5 on Dec. 6, 2006, and an X9.0 on Dec. 5, 2006. Like the most recent events, those two flares erupted from the same region on the sun, which is a common occurrence.

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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – An investigation by the Lake County Sheriff's Narcotic Task Force led to a Clearlake man's arrest last month on several drug-related charges.

Ricky Lawrence Bryan, 52, a truck driver, was arrested on Feb. 15, according to a Friday report from Capt. Chris Macedo.

Macedo said that on that date the Lake County Sheriff’s Narcotic Task Force Detectives served a search warrant at Bryan’s Clearlake residence.

Narcotic detectives assisted by the Clearlake Police Department responded to the residence, Macedo said. When detectives announced their presence at his front door Bryan fled into his bedroom.

The front door of the residence was open, but a closed and locked security door briefly delayed detectives entering the residence, Macedo said.

Detectives forced entry into the residence and detained Bryan as he exited his bedroom. Also located inside the suspect’s bedroom was Ashley Jackson, who Macedo said was detained without incident.

While searching the residence detectives located a locked safe in Bryan’s bedroom. Macedo said detectives forced the safe open and located approximately one pound of crystal methamphetamine, $3,240 in US currency and a loaded .22 caliber pistol.  

Macedo said detectives also located a loaded a 9 millimeter pistol in a desk drawer in the suspect’s bedroom.  

While searching the suspect’s garage, five pounds of marijuana was located, and several glass pipes used to smoke methamphetamine were located throughout the residence, Macedo said.

Bryan was booked into the Lake County Jail early on the morning of Feb. 16 for possession of a controlled substance for sale, being a felon in possession of a firearm, being armed in commission of a felony, possession of ammunition by a felony and possession of marijuana for sale.

His bail was set at $25,000. Jail records show Bryan later posted bail and was released.

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), along with other state agencies, is conducting a survey of California residents’ travel behavior.

The California Household Travel survey will help transportation planners ensure improved access to jobs, air quality, and quality of life in each region of the state.

“We need to look ahead to a time when California will add millions of new residents and vehicles to our state transportation system,” said acting Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty. “Based on this research, we can make decisions that will lead to a better place to call home.”

The comprehensive survey is a partnership among Caltrans, the California Air Resources Board, the California Energy Commission, and local transportation planning agencies and is intended to inform decision-makers on ways to improve the travel options available to Californians.

Efforts are already under way to contact a random sample of households to participate, and after an initial household interview, respondents receive diaries and are asked trip-related questions including where and when they travel and how they get to and from their destinations.

Approximately 57,000 households around the state are expected to complete the survey. In addition, a small sample of households who choose to participate will be provided with a global positioning systems or on-board diagnostic devices to record their vehicle movements.

All Californians who are contacted are urged to participate. The survey will continue through February 2013.

For additional information, visit http://www.californiatravelsurvey.com/ .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Authorities are looking for a teenage male who ran away from Lake County Juvenile Hall Wednesday morning.

“The minor has not been located,” acting Chief Probation Officer Steve Buchholz told Lake County News Wednesday afternoon.

The 16-year-old male had been allowed certain privileges, including work duties, and was on garbage detail at the juvenile hall, located outside of Lakeport, Buchholz said

At around 8 a.m. the teen hopped over a fence and took off, according to Buchholz.

Buchholz said the Lake County Sheriff's Office assisted the Probation Department with the search.

After about an hour and a half, the search was called off, Buchholz said.

A pickup order has been placed on the teenager, and Buchholz said it's now up to law enforcement – including his staff and local agencies – to find him.

Due to confidentiality with juvenile inmates, the teenager's name and a physical description can't be released by probation officials to the public.

Buchholz said such escapes aren't a common occurrence at the juvenile detention facility.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com , on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

Two children abducted from Willows in Glenn County on Friday morning have been found safe.

A statewide Amber Alert had been issued early Friday afternoon for 2-year-old Randi Martinez and 5-year-old Vanessa Martinez, who allegedly had been abducted by Leonard Dale Tuttle Jr., 30, their mother's former boyfriend.

Officials reported shortly before 3 p.m. that Tuttle had been taken into custody and the children were safely recovered.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A complaint against the Lake County Jail has led to an inquiry by the state agency that enforces workplace safety regulations.

The California     Division of Occupational Safety and Health – more commonly known as Cal/OSHA – opened an inspection of the jail on Tuesday, according to Erika Monterroza, an agency spokesperson.

The jail, or the Hill Road Correctional Facility as it’s more formally known, is located on Hill Road outside of Lakeport. It’s operated under the auspices of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Monterroza said the inspection was initiated by a complaint.

Cal/OSHA has a process that allows employees to file complaints if they believe their employer is not complying with the law, according to its Web site, http://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/Contactus.html .

Monterroza said the agency keeps the names of complainants confidential to protect people from retaliation.

She said the agency also doesn’t discuss the specific details of ongoing investigations.

“It could be a very long process,” Monterroza explained.

Cal/OSHA has six months to complete its work on the case. Monterroza said such inquiries usually last three to four months.

Once the inspection is closed, there could be a finding that there were no violations of state occupational safety and health standards and regulations, or there could be a citation, Monterroza explained.

If there is a citation, the employer has the right to appeal, she said.

That appeals process also can be lengthy, according to Monterroza.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com , on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association (AMIA) reported that it is in the process of negotiating an operating agreement with the State Department of Parks and Recreation that will allow AMIA to keep the park open until state funding can be restored.

Last spring it was announced that Anderson Marsh State Historic Park was on the statewide parks “closure list.”  

Since that time, AMIA has been working with state parks personnel to create an agreement that will permit AMIA to take on responsibility for numerous aspects of park operations, allowing the park to stay open to the public and for special events.

“Finance is one of the issues the State has been looking at in order to finalize an operating agreement,” said AMIA President Roberta Lyons. “Our proposal has been submitted and now we’re focusing on our fundraising and membership drive, to demonstrate to the state that we can raise the necessary funds in order to responsibly operate the Park for at least three years.”

“The immediate response has been very gratifying,” said AMIA Treasurer Henry Bornstein. “AMIA has received an extremely generous commitment of $15,000 – $5,000 for each of the next three years – from park supporter Charlotte Griswold.”

“The Lake County Land Trust and The Redbud Audubon Society have also each generously pledged $3000 ($1000 for each of the next 3 years),” continued Bornstein. “AMIA is also grateful to the Clear Lake State Park Interpretive Association for their pledge of $1,500 – $500 for each of the next three years – and to the Children’s Museum of Art and Science, which has made a donation of $1,000 to support AMIA’s Park operations. Numerous individuals have also stepped forward to help, including volunteering to do trail maintenance,”

Clay Shannon and Gregory Graham have announced that their second annual Cattails & Tules event, scheduled to be held on Saturday, June 16, will benefit AMIA as well as Konocti Trails.

AMIA has announced that the Old Time Bluegrass Festival, an important fundraiser for the Park, will be next held in September 2013.

“The festival was postponed for this year because of the need to concentrate on developing a way to keep the Park open,” explained Lyons. “The festival will continue to be an important AMIA fundraiser when the festival resumes next year.”

“To raise all the money it needs, AMIA needs each individual who supports keeping the Park open to help by joining AMIA at an individual, family, business or supporter level.” said Gae Henry, AMIA secretary. “We must each act, doing what we can to protect this jewel of Lake County and keep it open to the public.”

For information about Anderson Marsh State Historic Park, AMIA and how you can help, go to www.andersonmarsh.org or contact AMIA at either This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 707-995-2658.

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