Samuel Douglas Murphy, 26, of Cobb, was the victim of the crash, according to Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office, which handled the coroner's case.

According to a California Highway Patrol report, the crash occurred just after 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 14.

Murphy was riding a Yamaha ATV alone and without a helmet, traveling northbound on Gifford Springs Road south of Tanya Terrace, at an undetermined high rate of speed, the CHP reported.

He was traveling uphill and drove straight through a right curve in the road. The CHP said Murphy went off the roadway and collided with a cluster of trees along the east shoulder.

Murphy sustained fatal injuries as a result of the collision and was pronounced dead at the scene, the CHP said.

The CHP report said alcohol is believed to have been a factor in the collision.

Officer Adam Garcia is investigating the incident.

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The quakes, all measuring 3.0-magnitude or above, happened throughout the day, according to the US Geological Survey.

The first, a 3.6-magnitude recorded at 1:25 a.m., occurred at a depth of 11.1 miles, with its center located four miles south southwest of Idyllwild and 15 miles southwest of Palm Springs, the US Geological Survey reported.

The survey received 53 responses from 59 zip codes by 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The second, a 3.0-magnitude temblor, occurred at 4:51 a.m. nine miles east northeast of San Jose City Hall at a depth of 6.4 miles, the survey reported.

By 1:30 a.m. Wednesday the survey had received 104 responses in 28 zip codes.

At 5:20 a.m., a 3.7-magnitude quake occurred five miles southwest of Petrolia and 37 miles south southwest of Eureka, according to US Geological Survey data.

That quake, recorded 10.9 miles deep, resulted in 36 shake reports from 22 zip codes by 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.

A 3.1-magnitude quake occurred at 12:05 p.m. at a depth of 3.7 miles eight miles south of Tres Pinos and 14 miles south southeast of Hollister, the US Geological Survey reported.

The survey received 10 shake reports from eight zip codes by 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.

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This Greenpeace-sponsored blimp will make an appearance in Lake County skies on Tuesday, June 14, and Wednesday, June 15, 2011. Courtesy photo.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A thermal airship will be conducting aerial operations over the Lake County area on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.

The four-seat blimp, sponsored by Greenpeace, will be inflated at Crazy Creek Gliderport in Middletown at about 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday, and will likely be back on the ground about 8:30.

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It may be broad daylight in Lake County, but you can see live action of a lunar eclipse online now. The final hour begins at 2 p.m. Pacific Time.

Veterans’ service organizations have lobbied for these benefits, but with the expectation that newly authorized programs would be fully funded.

Last year, even as the once-steady stream of extra dollars for the Department of Veterans Affairs slowed to a trickle, lawmakers continued to add new programs.

Veteran groups are getting nervous.

They worry that VA, burdened with new “unfunded mandates,” has no other choice but to launch these new programs and pay for them by dipping into dollars needed for other services veterans already rely on.

Recent bills enacted that weren’t fully paid for included the important caregiver law for families of the most seriously disabled veterans and expansion of female veterans’ health benefits, including single parent childcare services, at VA medical facilities.

Joseph Violante, legislative director for Disabled American Veterans, raised the touchy issue June 8 at a hearing of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee where lawmakers and lobbyists considered the merits of 35 new bills aimed at helping veterans.

Violante acknowledged that delegates to DAV’s own convention last August passed numerous resolutions in support of a lot of the bills now before the committee or even enacted into law late last year.

“However, as Congress considers authorizing new programs or enhancing or expanding current programs,” he warned, “it is essential that they do so in manner that does not have negative effects on existing programs and services. In today’s economic environment, VA cannot be all things to all veterans, and their families and survivors, without obtaining substantially more resources, which are dependable and stable.”

New committee chairman Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) opened the hearing by touting her bills to lower veterans’ unemployment (S 951), and expand assistance to homeless veterans through improved grants, per diem, health care and case management services (S 1148).

Ranking Republican, Sen. Richard Burr (N.C.), advocated for his bill (S. 277) to extend eligibility for VA hospital care, medical services and nursing home care to as many as 600,000 veterans and family members stationed at Camp Lejeune during years well water there was contaminated.

Another Burr bill (S 423) would incentivize veterans to help deal with the backlog of claims by allow VA to pay disability benefits retroactively, for up to one year before a claim is filed, if the submitted claim is deemed “fully developed” to allow a swift decision.

VA opposes the bill. VSOs had mixed reactions. Raymond Kelley with Veterans of Foreign War said VFW likes the concept but sees a few problems including possible legal liability for VSO service officers who help to develop veterans’ claims.

Burr was the only senator at the hearing to acknowledge the looming national debt crisis, noting that the bills under consideration “would collectively spend billions of dollars” even as the country faces “staggering deficits and debt and is on a fiscal path that is simply unsustainable.”

So the committee must weigh affordability in deciding what bills to approve during mark-up at the end of June. Burr added, however, that government auditors believe by ending “overlap” in federal programs current services could improve and still save taxpayers billions of dollars a year.

“I will not shy away from providing those who have served and sacrificed for our nation with the benefits and services they need and deserve,” Burr said. “But I also want to make sure we pay for these benefits and services by cutting other spending.”

Violante noted that Congress generously raised VA budgets in recent years and so far has spared VA of the deep deficit-driven cuts being planned for many other federal departments.

But he warned senators if they want to increase veterans services, they must give VA the “time and resources” to deliver them properly.

The committee should not “forget its responsibility to ensure that when it mandates a new service in law, or admits a new eligible population to VA rolls, that sufficient resources accompany that mandate.”

If money to pay for new services isn’t part of the deal, Violante said, it “will only force VA to slice their budget pie into smaller pieces.”

VA officials testified at the hearing that Murray’s Hiring Heroes Act would cost the department only $65 million over 10 years. And a popular bill from Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Me.), to protect the solemnity of veteran funerals anti-gay protestors, would cost taxpayers nothing at all.

But Burr’s bill to allow retroactive effective dates of disability awards for veterans whose claims are deemed fully developed when submitted would cost $762 million over ten years.

His bill to extend VA hospital care and health services to Marine Corps and Navy veterans and their families assigned to Lejeune from 1957 until 1987, and therefore possibly exposed to contaminated water, would cost $4 billion over the first decade.

Veterans groups sympathize with the goal that bill but largely oppose it, saying the Department of Defense’s TRICARE program, not the VA, should be responsible for follow up care and services.

Retired Marine Master Sergeant Jerry Ensminger testified that his daughter, Janey, born while the family was assigned to Camp Lejeune, died of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 1985 when nine years old.

He blames chemicals found later in the tap water there, including two known carcinogens, benzene and vinyl chloride. He said the Marine Corps and Navy Department knew about the contamination for several years but failed to act.

He referred other potential victims to a Web site, www.tftptf.com, for more details. Ensminger said more than 170,000 members of the Camp Lejeune community have registered with the Marine Corps as having been exposed to the water at Lejeune sometime during the 30 year period.

In opposing the bill, VA cited numerous concerns including the “underlying scientific evidence” behind claims of contamination exposure.

To comment, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., write to Military Update, P.O. Box 231111, Centreville, VA, 20120-1111 or visit: www.militaryupdate.com.

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Ronald Blesio, 34, of Nice, Calif., is believed to be the suspect responsible for stabbing two people at a gas station in Lakeport, Calif., early on Sunday, June 12, 2011. Lake County Jail photo.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Police said Sunday that a suspect in the early morning stabbings of two people remained at large while a vehicle he was believed to have driven from the scene was found abandoned later the same day.

Ronald James Blesio, 34, of Nice, was identified by the Lakeport Police Department as the suspect in the stabbings, which took place shortly before 1:30 a.m. Sunday at the Shell station at 975 S. Main St. in Lakeport, as Lake County News has reported.

Blesio allegedly drove a dark-colored 1990s model Toyota from the scene, according to police.

Police said Blesio is armed and dangerous, and being sought for two counts of attempted murder in connection with the incident.

Later on Sunday, the dark green Toyota – registered to an Upper Lake woman, according to radio reports – was found.

“We located the vehicle unoccupied in Lakeport and have confirmed it is the suspect vehicle from last night,” said Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen.

Rasmussen said the vehicle was impounded for evidence processing.

Blesio, however, remained at large on Sunday, Rasmussen said.

The two stabbing victims had been taken to Sutter Lakeside Hospital before one of them was airlifted to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, according to Lakeport Police Sgt. Jason Ferguson.

On Sunday afternoon, Ferguson said the victim at Sutter Lakeside Hospital had been released, while the other, who had been taken to Santa Rosa, had undergone surgery.

Blesio had been arrested by members of the Sheriff's Narcotics Task Force on May 6 after a vehicle stop in which he was found with 165 marijuana plants, processed marijuana and other cultivation-related items in his car, as Lake County News has reported.

At the time of his May 6 arrest, Blesio had a $40,000 warrant for his arrest for possession of marijuana for sales, possession of a dangerous weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to a sheriff's office report.

In January, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office had reported that a 34-year-old James Blesio of Nice had been stabbed in an altercation at Lake Mendocino, but it wasn't clear if the two men were the same person.

Ronald Blesio, who according to his most recent booking sheet works in construction, is described as a white male adult, 5 feet 11 inches tall, 190 pounds, with blue eyes and blond hair.

If Blesio is spotted don't confront him; call 911.

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This week State Controller John Chiang updated his Web site with the salary, pension benefits and other employee compensation for several hundred special districts including library, mosquito abatement, conservation, air quality and airport agencies covering the 2009 fiscal year.

The information can be found at www.sco.ca.gov/compensation_search.html.

In the wake of concerns about public employee salaries resulting from abuses discovered in the Southern California city of Bell, Chiang started the compensation reporting Web site last October.

Since then, Chiang's office has collected and posted wage information for more than 600,000 city and county employees.

He followed that by ordering special districts across the state to report the same information, and the first 1,925 districts were loaded between February and April of this year.

Compensation information for employees of special districts has been collected and posted on the Web site in four phases.

The fourth and final phase posted this week includes almost $457 million in payroll reported by 454 local agencies, according to Chiang's office.

Chiang's last update to his site took place on April 26, as Lake County News has reported.

The compensation reporting Web site covers elected officials as well as public employees, and includes minimum and maximum salary ranges; actual wages paid; the applicable retirement formula; any contributions by the employer to the employee’s share of pension costs; any contributions by the employer to the employee’s deferred compensation plan; and any employer payments for the employee’s health, vision and dental premium benefits.

There are 33 special districts in Lake County, 26 of which had submitted information by the last deadline.

Four districts – Flood Control Maintenance Area No. 17, Reclamation District No. 2070, Scotts Valley Water Conservation District and Villa Blue Resource Conservation District – have no data available, according to the report.

The newest information includes calendar year 2009 compensation reports for Lake County Vector Control, West Lake Resource Conservation District and East Lake Resource Conservation District.

Vector Control has a five-member board of directors whose members received between $300 and $600 in compensation for 2009, the data showed.

The 2009 data showed that there were 10 paid positions, nine of which were full-time. The lowest paid full-time position, a temporary vector control technician, received a salary totaling $23,267 .

The highest paid-position, the district manager job held by Dr. Jamesina Scott, received $118,081 in compensation that year, and $18,606 in health, dental and vision.

The West Lake Resource Conservation District has five unpaid board directors and 12 paid positions, ranging from a project coordinator paid $1,849 up to Watershed Coordinator and District Manager Greg Dills, who received $58,879 in salary and no benefits.

The East Lake Resource Conservation District also has five unpaid board members, as well as three paid staffers.

Dills – who also is watershed coordinator and district manager in his shared capacity with West Lake – was paid $1,619 for the year by East Lake, a secretary clerk received $5,100 in compensation and $1,790 in health, dental and vision, and a project coordinator was paid $32,286 with no benefits.

The Controller's Office reported that 80 percent of all special districts in the final phase followed the new reporting requirements.

Each noncomplying agency could face a penalty of $5,000. Postings are updated weekly with any new information received.

Still to come – Chiang anticipates loading similar compensation information for state employees later this month.

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 Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf , on Tumblr at http://lakeconews.tumblr.com/ and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

Gov. Jerry Brown's office reported Monday that he signed North Coast Assemblyman Wes Chesbro's bill, AB 1020, which ratifies the tribe's gaming compact.

Chesbro's office said that the legislation, an urgency bill, immediately makes the compact law.

“With the governor’s signature, the only remaining hurdle is to get final approval from the U.S. Department of the Interior, with which the Tribe has already worked out an agreement,” Chesbro said. “The jackpot will be two to three hundred construction jobs for Lake County residents while the casino is being built. When the casino opens, the tribe will create an estimated 145 permanent, full-time jobs with benefits.”

According to Chesbro's office, AB 1020 enjoyed wide bipartisan support in the Legislature with no opposition, passing off the Assembly Floor 69-0 on May 23 and off the Senate Floor 40-0 last week.

State Sen. Noreen Evans coauthored AB 1020 and presented the bill on the Senate floor.

The tribe's efforts to work cooperatively with Lake County has earned it high marks from local officials and from state officials such as Chesbro.

“I can’t say enough how pleased I am with the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake Tribal Council for the groundwork it laid to make this project happen,” Chesbro said.

He pointed to the tribe's entry into a memorandum of understanding with Lake County that ensures the county’s interests are protected throughout the tribe’s project.

The tribe also has a memorandum of understanding with Northshore Fire Protection District, providing much-needed funding for this rural fire district that is suffering from budget cuts.

Additionally, the tribe has set aside more than 55 acres of land to assist with the Middle Creek Flood Damage Reduction Project, paid for wastewater expansion and funded a half million dollars in road improvements to Highway 20.

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These colorful cherries are fresh from the Lake County Farmers' Finest market held in Kelseyville, Calif., each Saturday morning from May through October. Photo by Esther Oertel.

If “life is just a bowl of cherries” as the song implies, then we’re truly blessed.

The welcome sight of these bright, shiny fruits snuggled together in a bowl is almost guaranteed to lift one’s spirits.

Colorful, sweet and tasty, cherries are nearly universally loved. And they’re healthy to boot, all of which bode well for a positive life.

The cherry blossoms of spring lead to fruit in the early summer (the peak of season is late June), and local farmers’ markets have them available now, fresh from the tree.

There are two species of cherry, sweet and sour.

Sweet cherries are the ones we find most often in markets (whether farmers’ or otherwise). High in sugar content – from 10 to 20 percent – sweet cherries are perfect for eating out of hand.

The popularity of sweet cherries is reflected in the astounding amount of cultivated varieties, about 900 in all. Among the best known sweet cherries are the deep burgundy Bing and the yellow, rosy-cheeked Ranier.

Sour cherries, also known as pie cherries, are tart due to high acidity, but when mixed with sugar, this quality makes for a wonderful cobbler or pie. There are about 300 varieties of sour cherries.

Both sweet and sour cherries are descendants of the wild cherry, which had a native range that extended through most of Europe, Western Asia and parts of North Africa. They were consumed in these areas since prehistoric times, and cultivation dates back to 300 B.C.

Cherries are known as “super fruits” because of their high levels of cancer-fighting antioxidants. Tart cherries, in particular, have among the highest levels when compared to other fruits.

In addition, cherries have beta carotene (more than strawberries or blueberries), vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, iron, fiber and folate.

Cherries also contain melatonin, a substance which has been found to regulate the body’s sleep patterns in addition to preventing memory loss and delaying the aging process.

Emerging evidence links cherries to a variety of health benefits, from helping to ease the pain of arthritis and gout to reducing risk factors for diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers.

Bright, sweet cherries make a nice pairing on a platter for ripe cheeses such as brie or strongly-flavored goat cheese, and in recipes with mild ricotta cheese.

Cherries are wonderful with both the mild sweetness of white chocolate and the bittersweet taste of dark, either dipped whole or in recipes. Another sweet that works well with cherries is caramel.

Alcohols such as brandy, Gran Marnier and cognac complement cherries, as does kirsch (which in German means “cherry water”), a brandy made with cherries, most often served as an aperitif.

Nuts go well with cherries, too, such as almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios and walnuts. A favorite scone of mine is one with cherries (either fresh or dried), chocolate (either dark or white) and almonds. A heavenly combination!

A refreshing “black fruit salad” – perfect for summer – may be made by combining pitted fresh dark cherries, black grapes, blueberries and black currants with a bit of brown sugar and fresh lemon juice. Let the mixture sit for about two hours, tossing a few times.

Combine the fruit juices that settle on the bottom with sour cream for a topping and garnish with mint.

Cherries soaked in brandy (fantastic over vanilla ice cream or custard) make a nice gift and are easily made.

To do this, fill a container with firm whole cherries, either sweet or sour, add sugar (about one cup to every two pounds of cherries) and fill container to within an inch of the top with brandy. Allow cherries to macerate at room temperature a month or two, and then move to the fridge.

If tart cherries are used, use more sugar, about one and a half cups per two pounds of cherries.

A large portion of the U.S. cherry crop is grown in Michigan, and when a friend of mine returned from visiting her home state, I was presented with a gift of the largest, sweetest, most succulent dried cherries I’ve ever seen.

Other than tossing them in salads, including them in granola and using them in baking, dried cherries, especially the tart ones, may be combined with other fruits, ginger, spices, vinegar and sugar to make an especially pleasing chutney.

I made a cherry-red wine reduction with some of my dried cherry treasures, which I used over puff pastry that I stuffed with Gorgonzola cheese, spinach, walnuts and dried cherries. It can also accompany roasted chicken.

My recipe for the sauce is below, but first, a bit of history.

Below the words to “Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries” are written. It was recorded in 1931 at the height of the Depression, making it especially poignant. Songwriters Lew Brown and Ray Henderson used cherries as a metaphor for enjoyment of the fleeting happy moments of life.

Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries

Life is just a bowl of cherries.

Don't take it serious; it's too mysterious.

You work, you save, you worry so,

But you can't take your dough when you go, go, go.

So keep repeating it's the berries,

The strongest oak must fall,

The sweet things in life, to you were just loaned

So how can you lose what you've never owned?

Life is just a bowl of cherries,

So live and laugh at it all.

And along the way, don’t forget to stop and smell the cherries. (They’re a member of the rose family, after all.)

Red wine-cherry reduction

1 cup red wine, any variety (other than dessert wine)

½ cup unsweetened 100 percent cherry juice *

½ cup reserved water from rehydrating dried cherries *

¼ cup dried cherries (not rehydrated)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

*Or 1 cup cherry juice.

Use wine to deglaze skillet in which chicken was seared.

Add cherry juice (and water, if using) to pan, along with dried cherries.

Simmer steadily, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced by about half and coats a spoon.

Add butter and swirl pan or stir until melted.

Note: For vegetarian version, combine liquid in small saucepan rather than skillet and proceed as above.

Recipe by Esther Oertel.

Esther Oertel, the “Veggie Girl,” is a culinary coach and educator and is passionate about local produce. Oertel teaches culinary classes at Chic Le Chef in Hidden Valley Lake, Calif., and The Kitchen Gallery in Lakeport, Calif., and gives private cooking lessons. She welcomes your questions and comments; e-mail her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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The Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce will move into this location at 14773 Lakeshore Drive in Clearlake later this summer. Courtesy photo.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce will soon have a new home.

This summer the chamber is moving into a new location at 14773 Lakeshore Drive, on the corner of Lakeshore Drive and Golf Avenue, the city's old senior center building, according to Chamber President Michael Horner.

Horner said the chamber welcomes members and the public to join in a work day on Saturday, June 18, beginning at 10 a.m.

The chamber previously had been located in a city-owned building on Golf Avenue in Clearlake, but due to the building's deterioration the organization moved into a space in the Highlands Senior Center on Bowers Avenue.

Horner said the chamber is supporting the Highlands Senior Center and the senior community of Clearlake through volunteer service to upgrade and improve their buildings and grounds.

In a time of serious funding cuts to the senior center and senior programs, Horner said the chamber feels it is important to support the senior center by improving and preserving their assets. This effort will allow the senior center to generate income by leasing their original buildings.

Horner expressed the chamber's deep gratitude to the city of Clearlake for providing the temporary space over the last two years.

With the current fiscal challenges all local governments are facing, Horner said the chamber feels it is in the best interests of the community to move forward with a sustainable, self-supporting business model that is not reliant on taxpayer money.

He said committee Chairman Mike Boyle of Artisan Handiworks is already hard at work renovating the building for the chamber to occupy this summer.

“This is an exciting opportunity to build community, camaraderie and create a sense of ownership within our membership through a community driven project to revitalize Lakeshore Drive that is independent of taxpayer money,” Horner said.

Partnering with the Highlands Senior Center in this project, the chamber and the senior center will be beautifying a very high profile location on Lakeshore, he said.

When the chamber moves to its new location on the community's main street, Horner said the chamber can better serve members and patrons, and be more convenient to tourists, boaters and the business community.

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Victoria Stahlman of Lower Lake High School in Lower Lake, Calif., won the 2011 Old Time Bluegrass Festival Logo Contest with this illustration. Courtesy of the Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association.

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association (AMIA) is pleased to announce the winner of the 2011 Old Time Bluegrass Festival Logo Contest.

Victoria Stahlman of Lower Lake High School won the $100 prize with her entry.

Her submission will be used as the logo for the 2011 Old Time Bluegrass Festival.

AMIA wants to make sure everyone knows the festival is happening this year, on Saturday, September 10th.

“The Bluegrass Festival is our major fundraiser and a wonderful community event,” said AMIA Secretary Gae Henry.

While Anderson Marsh State Historic Park was included on a list of state parks proposed for closure earlier this spring, the AMIA said the show is going on.

“We are committed to exploring options for keeping Anderson Marsh State Historic Park open,” Henry said. “Now, more than ever, we need support to help us do whatever we can to keep Anderson Marsh accessible to our community and the public.”

The logo contest was open to all students attending any high school in Lake County, as well as Lake County ninth through 12 graders being home schooled, the group said.

“We like to involve and support as many Lake County students as possible,” said Bluegrass Festival Coordinator Henry Bornstein, “and with the help this year of the Children’s Museum of Art & Science, we were pleased to receive 18 submissions.”

Submissions were judged by the quality of the art work and the suitability for appearing on T-shirts, posters and other promotional materials.

All the original art work will be on display with other art at the “Art in the Barn” display during this year’s sixth annual Old Time Bluegrass Festival, to be held rain or shine from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10.

“Each student who submitted an entry has been sent a “recognition of artistic merit” and will also receive a gift certificate,” said Henry. “Also, to continue a tradition started in 2009, the 2011 submissions will be added to our postcard collection, listing the name and school of each artist. The collection will then contain all the submissions for the past three years and will be for sale at the Bluegrass Festival.”

Find more information about the Bluegrass Festival at www.andersonmarsh.org.

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The stabbings were reported at around 1:30 a.m., with the victims at the gas station at 975 S. Main St., according to radio reports.

A possible suspect was reported leaving the scene driving a blue or black 1990s model Toyota toward downtown, reports indicated.

Paramedics and police responded to the scene.

Additional information on the victims and the incident was not immediately available.

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