Taryn Rose Re, 19, was arrested for reckless driving causing injury, according to a report from the California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake office.

Injured in the crash was 19-year-old Clearlake resident Jonesha Beasley, who the CHP said was riding with Re and suffered moderate injuries.

The collision occurred at 9:10 a.m. Thursday on Highway 20 at Paradise Cove east of Lucerne, according to the CHP.

The CHP said that Re was driving her 1998 Oldsmobile Intrigue eastbound on Highway 20 behind several vehicles when, while traveling through a righthand corner, she aggressively accelerated and used the right shoulder to pass vehicles ahead of her.

The report said Re lost control of her vehicle and spun across both lanes of Highway 20, with her Oldsmobile going off the north side of the road and traveling through a fence and overturning once, coming to rest on its wheels.

A Northshore Fire Protection District ambulance from the Clearlake Oaks station transported Beasley to Sutter Lakeside Hospital, where she was treated for moderate injuries, the CHP said.

After Re’s statement regarding the collision was obtained, witnesses were interviewed and the physical evidence at the scene was reviewed, Re was arrested, the CHP said.

Re’s booking sheet indicates she was arrested by CHP Officer Erich Paarsh, the crash’s investigating officer.

Her bail was set at $1,000. Jail records indicated she later posted bail and was released.

The CHP said Re is not suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Both Re and Beasley were wearing their seat belts, the CHP said.

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Jason Christopher Agustinovich, 36, of Lakeport, Calif., is facing several charges after allegedly leading law enforcement on a high speed chase while driving a stolen car, which he ended up crashing. Lake County Jail photo.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A Lakeport man who attempted to outrun law enforcement in a Tuesday night high speed chase is facing several felony charges, including car theft, evading officers and driving under the influence.

Jason Christopher Agustinovich, 36, was booked into the Lake County Jail early Wednesday morning, according to jail records.

Agustinovich led law enforcement on a high speed chase in which he was driving at around 120 miles per hour, according to radio reports Tuesday night.

However, the chase ended shortly before 11:30 p.m. after Agustinovich lost control of the vehicle – described as a 1995 Mitsubishi – and crashed at 3600 Hill Road at Park Way, in front of Lakeport Fire Protection District Station 52, as Lake County News has reported.

While radio traffic indicated that Agustinovich was first pursued by Lake County Sheriff’s deputies, the California Highway Patrol joined the chase, with Officer Dan Frederick taking Agustinovich into custody just before 11:45 p.m. Tuesday.

Agustinovich was booked on felony charges of vehicle theft, evading a peace officer and possessing stolen property, and misdemeanors of driving under the influence and driving while on a suspended license.

His bail was set at $35,000. Jail records indicated he later posted bail and was released.

Agustinovich’s booking records indicate he is due to appear in court on Thursday, Dec. 1.

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The advisory is in effect from 7 a.m. Wednesday to 6 p.m. Thursday.

Forecasters are predicting the storm – scheduled to hit Northern and Central California through Friday – will bring to Lake County northerly winds from 25 to 40 miles per hour, with gusts as high as 55 miles per hour.

Winds are predicted to start Wednesday morning, decreasing that night and then becoming windy again on Thursday.

Temperatures through the end of the week are expected to be in the 50s during the daytime, dropping into the 30s at night, the National Weather Service reported.

The high winds could cause difficulty for drivers, especially those driving high profile vehicles, and are raising concerns for the potential for falling trees, downed power poles and interrupted power service.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. is urging people to assume that any downed power is “live” or carrying electric current. Report downed power lines immediately by calling 911 and by calling PG&E at 1-800-PGE-5000.

PG&E also suggests keeping battery-operated radios with fresh batteries ready for updates on storm conditions and power outages, and battery-operated flashlights, cell phones or hard-wire, single-line telephones on hand in the event of outages.

If you have a generator, inform PG&E and do not use it unless it is installed safely and properly, the company advised.

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During its regular monthly meeting on Monday, Nov. 28, the 49th District Agricultural Association’s Board of Directors approved a modest budget for operation of the county fairgrounds and the annual Lake County Fair event in 2012, according to fair Chief Executive Officer Richard Persons.

With revenues projected at $558,000 and expenses projected at $550,443, the budget leaves little room for error, Persons reported.

By comparison, the 2011 budget included $723,400 in revenues and $675,455 in expenditures.

Funding for California’s 76 fairgrounds was eliminated entirely from the State’s 2011-12 budget, which impacts the fair’s 2012 budget.

Persons said the change in funding forced the District Agricultural Association to examine both its revenue and expense streams, and to make changes in both in order to close the budget gap.

The largest single change was the layoff of 50 percent of the fair’s full-time staff, resulting in an estimated savings of $71,580.

Other cuts included a $22,071 – or approximately 9 percent – cut in administration, which Persons said came largely in benefit reductions.

Smaller cuts occurred in other areas, however, the Lake County Fair event was largely spared, he said.

“The Lake County Fair is the largest revenue stream for the association, and in order to continue to present the great event that Lake County residents expect, we worked very hard to avoid impacting it financially,” Persons said.

Numerous changes also have taken place on the revenue side of the budget, many of them phased in during 2011, he said.

Fairgoers at the 2011 Lake County Fair saw higher ticket prices, vendors saw higher booth space rents, the association required higher concession fees and entry fees for fair contests increased slightly, Persons reported.

In addition, Persons said higher rents for tenants renting fairgrounds buildings began to be phased in during 2011.

“The rental fee increases have been very hard for the Board of Directors,” said Persons.

Persons explained that 65 percent of the tenants who utilize the fairgrounds are nonprofit organizations, and most of them are doing fundraising.

“Many of those groups see the rental fee paid for the fairground as a necessary evil, something to be kept to a minimum so that funds can be concentrated on their nonprofit mission,” he said. “But most of those nonprofits also understand that without the facilities they use at the fairgrounds, their fundraising events are not possible, and the increased rent on the fairgrounds will help keep the facility open and allow them to continue to have their events, and to continue to keep the vast majority of the funds they raise.

He added, “I'm hopeful that Lake County Fairgrounds will be able to continue to provide a community event venue long into the future. But it cannot do so unless the community understands that the funds to operate the facility must come from the community, and that means tenants must share a larger portion of the funds they raise with the venue.”

The 2012 budget also eliminates all funding for major capital improvement projects, Persons said. Spending on capital projects has normally been between $65,000 and $300,000 per year, but is projected at zero for 2012.

The state has historically provided 80 to 90 percent of major capital improvement funding, which in recent years have included new water mains, a new horse barn, street improvements, new restrooms in the livestock area, and restroom improvements throughout the rest of the facility, Person said.

“The board’s first priority this year was to come up with a plan and a budget that keeps the fairgrounds open and makes sure that the 2012 Lake County Fair happens,” Persons said. “The plan and budget are now in place. Over the next few months, the board will be looking at ways to deal with capital improvement needs. That will probably mean forming some kind of a non-profit foundation similar to a hospital foundation or an arts foundation.”

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Racing will continue at the Lakeport Speedway for years to come thanks to a newly signed contract that takes effect in 2012. Photo courtesy of the Lakeport Speedway.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lakeport Speedway and the 49th District Agricultural Association, which operates the Lake County Fairgrounds, have agreed to a new five-year contract, which will take effect in 2012.

The agreement was approved by the association’s board of directors at its Nov. 28 meeting. The previous agreement expired at the end of the 2011 racing season.

The new agreement calls for an earlier racing curfew in the years ahead and allows a later start date to the racing season, which has been hampered in recent years by weather problems.

At its inception in 1948, the racetrack was operated by Auto Racing Incorporated, a local group that later became the Northern California Racing Association, known as “NCRA.”

Lakeport Speedway has been operated by the NCRA, a nonprofit organization, since the mid nineteen sixties.

The track was paved in 1966, and has hosted a regular summer schedule of stock car races ever since.

State funding for the District Agricultural Association has been eliminated in 2012, and as a result the new agreement reflects increases in the rental fees the NCRA will pay on a nightly basis, as well as adding an annual financial guarantee.

In addition, NCRA will take on more responsibility for maintenance and upkeep of the track and surrounding areas of the fairgrounds, and will perform a series of capital improvements during each year of the agreement.

According to a 2009 economic impact study by the State’s Division of Fairs and Expositions, activities at the Lake County Fairgrounds, including the Lakeport Speedway operations, directly or indirectly created the equivalent of 75 full-time jobs and more than $10.9 million in local economic impact, including approximately $2.4 million in salaries and wages.

The fairgrounds also generates more than $102,000 in tax revenues like sales tax, local possessory interest tax for use of government property, and a variety of other licenses, fees and permits, many of them related to the racetrack.

The NCRA has struggled in recent years with the same economic forces that are impacting other businesses, but has taken steps to keep the speedway activities in action, including switching to less expensive types of race cars and adding fan attractions, such as the rolling demolition derbies known as “boat races.”

Both the District Agricultural Association and the NCRA recognize that the impacts on the community from racing activities are not only economic, and the new agreement requires changes to the speedway operation in order to mitigate some of those impacts.

While previous agreements required a minimum of 20 race days, the new agreement requires 16 days, a 20-percent reduction in the required number of racing days.

The new agreement also limits the start of any racing activities to noon, and phases in a curfew of 10 p.m. to take effect in 2013.

Previous agreements had no limits on when cars could began operating, and had a curfew of 11 p.m.

“While activities at the state-owned fairgrounds are not subject to the city of Lakeport’s sound curfew ordinance under the sovereign powers doctrine, both the association and the NCRA recognize that the city ordinance creates a community standard of reducing sound levels at 10 p.m., and the new agreement will phase in that curfew for the speedway as well,” said District Agricultural Association Chief Executive Officer Richard Persons.

“In 2012 the speedway operation will use 10:30 p.m. as a curfew, and in 2013 the standard for the speedway to meet will match the city’s ordinance,” said Persons. “We know many people enjoy the sounds of race cars, but that it gets old at the end of the night. This new curfew should help.”

The new agreement also reflects changes to the climate over the past decade, according to Persons.

Previous agreements allowed the racing schedule to begin on April 1 each year and ran through the middle of October, while the new agreement allows the season to start on April 15 and run through Oct. 31.

“The reality has been that the earlier dates have been running into weather problems over the last decade, while the fall has had great weather. This shift recognizes that reality,” said Persons.

The new agreement also is limited to auto racing activities, and allows the NCRA to contract with the association separately to promote other types of events on the fairgrounds.

Other events might include monster truck shows, car shows, demolition derbies, mud bogs, motorcycle events or rock crawling activities.

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The nonprofit group conducted Big Valley Rancheria’s Tribal General Election on Oct. 15, according to a Monday report.

Big Valley Tribal Administrator Mickey Burke said this week that the tribe is not yet ready to release the election’s results.

Bill Koehler, Lake County Mediations Board member and elections coordinator, worked with tribal administrators to map out and design an election process that would address the tribe’s specific election ordinance and ensure that the elections were conducted in a fair and impartial manner.

Lake County Mediations reported that it managed all aspects of the election, from designing and printing the ballots, notifying tribal members of the pending election, mailing absentee ballots, managing the on-site election process and tabulating the results.

Lake County Mediations also reported that it certified the election results to the tribal government and to the U.S. Government.

“The election process on the 15th went smoothly and quickly,” said Lake County Mediations President Mary Heare Amodio. “Tribal members were friendly and were pleased that the election was being conducted by a group that was not affiliated with any particular tribal viewpoint.”

Conducting elections for tribal governments, homeowner associations, professional or service associations, or mutual benefit corporations is one of many neutral services provided by Lake County Mediations.

Because elections can be contentious, having an independent third party manage and oversee the election process helps organizations minimize conflicts that may arise, the group said.

Neutral organizations, such as Lake County Mediations, are able to tailor each election process to address the needs of that specific organization.

The services provided are determined by each organization and can range from managing the entire election process, to providing limited services such as the tabulation of the ballots and certification of the election results.

Use of a neutral third-party to manage the voting process, helps an organization create transparency in its election process and insures that the organization has a fair election.

Lake County Mediations has provided election services for other organizations in Lake County, including the Riviera Homeowners Association in Kelseyville and provides mediation services in the community to help individuals and small businesses deal with and resolve conflicts.

Visit Lake County Mediations online at http://lakecountymediations.org.

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The incident occurred outside of Lakeport a little before 11:20 p.m., according to reports from the scene.

A male subject in a car described as a 1995 Mitsubishi was fleeing Lake County Sheriff’s deputies at about 120 miles per hour when he lost control and crashed, radio reports indicated.

Reports indicated that the suspect may have been pursued for vehicle theft.

The crash took place at 3600 Hill Road at Park Way, in front of Lakeport Fire Protection District Station 52, according to dispatch.

The Lakeport Fire Protection District was dispatched to the scene to offer medical care to the driver, who deputies took into custody, radio reports stated.

More information about the driver was not immediately available.

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The 23rd annual World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, coincides this year with the launch of a new global campaign theme, “Getting to Zero: Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related deaths.”

In Lake County, the Community Care HIV/AIDS Program – which organizes the annual AIDSWalk – will host the AIDS Celebration of Life Remembrance at 4 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, at Clearlake Oaks Community Methodist Church, located on The Plaza.

Part of the World AIDS Day message is that, while treatments are becoming better and leading to longer lives for patients, the need to take precautions to avoid transmission of the disease remains a key component in the effort to end the 30-year-old epidemic.

The Centers for Disease Control reported that there are an estimated 34 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, with two-thirds of those individuals living in developing countries.

The agency said nearly 1.2 million people in the United States are living with HIV infection, with approximately 50,000 Americans becoming infected with HIV each year.

Dr. Karen Mark, acting chief of the California Department of Public Health’s Office of AIDS, said HIV/AIDS remains a serious public health threat in California, with just over 121,000 of the state’s residents living with the diseases.

Public health officials are urging Californians to learn their HIV/AIDS status as a matter of routine health care.

Mark said testing is especially crucial to stopping transmission, as one in five people who have HIV/AIDS don’t know they’re infected.

In advance of World AIDS Day, on Wednesday the California Department of Public Health and the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development released a new report, “Trends in the Hospitalization of Persons Living with HIV Infection and AIDS in California, 1988 to 2008.”

The report shows that the number of Californians afflicted with the HIV and AIDS has grown. At the same time, however, it showed that acquiring HIV or AIDS is no longer the death sentence it once was.

The California Department of Public Health said there have been more than 152,000 AIDS cases reported in the state since the epidemic began in the 1980s, with more than 85,000 deaths resulting from the disease.

The number of new cases of HIV infection or AIDS reported annually in California increased steeply until 1992; however, when antiretroviral drug therapies were introduced, the numbers of new AIDS cases and deaths sharply declined, state officials reported.

Thanks to advances in antiretroviral “drug cocktails” patients now receive, those suffering from HIV/AIDS are living longer, healthier lives, according to Stephanie Clendenin, acting director of the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.

Those advances in medication have contributed to the significant hospital rate reduction, the Wednesday report shows.

Among the new report’s key findings is that the hospitalization rate per thousand persons living with HIV/AIDS peaked at 464 in 1992 before declining sharply following the introduction of the antiretroviral drugs, dropping to 221 by 2000 and 129 by 2008.

During the epidemic’s early years, approximately half of all hospitalizations involved opportunistic infection, but that number had dropped to about 20 percent by 2008.

In addition, by 2008, more than half of the hospitalizations for individuals living with HIV infection were for treatment of non-HIV or AIDS conditions.

Clendenin said another key finding is that the percentage of those who died during hospitalization also dropped, from 13 percent to 5 percent during the study years.

In reviewing hospitalization rates, Clendenin said rates have been consistently highest for blacks, with whites in second place until 1996, when Hispanics then moved into second place.

State public health officials acknowledged the challenges in tackling and eliminating health disparities associated with ethnic communities, which California Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ron Chapman said have become more apparent in recent years.

“I think we still have a long way to go in that work of eliminating health disparities,” Chapman said Wednesday.

Mark said Hispanics are more commonly dual diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, which is a result of late testing.

“That’s a missed opportunity” in terms of getting people into care, Mark said.

Late testing for Hispanics is believed to arise from a number of factors, from lesser health literacy, language issues and also the stigma that is still attached to the disease, Mark said.

As a result of better treatments, Clendenin said HIV/AIDS patients are living to an age where physicians are observing them developing age-related diseases just like the general population.

State statistics show that men account for the most cases, with total HIV/AIDS cases in men totaling nearly 183,000, compared to just over 20,000 for women.

Whites still account for the most HIV/AIDS cases, at 106,643, followed by Hispanics, 52,525, and blacks, 36,627, according to state reports.

Lake County sees new cases due to moving population

Lake County Public Health Officer Dr. Karen Tait agrees with state public health officials that the need for vigilance continues.

“It is good news that people who receive care for HIV infection can now live much longer and healthier lives,” she said. “At the same time, we cannot forget that HIV infection is a serious illness whose treatment does have side-effects, and that prevention of infection is a top priority.”

Tait said Lake County sees very few newly diagnosed HIV infections, generally zero to one annually.

According to the semiannual report of HIV/AIDS cases by county produced by the California Department of Public Health’s Office of AIDS, from April 2006 – when HIV reporting began – through this past June 30, Lake County had 19 total HIV cases, with one death, for a 5 percent death rate, just above the statewide average of 4 percent.

The report also showed that Lake County had 158 reported AIDS cases from March 1983 through June 30, of which 91 of the individuals were now deceased, for a 58 percent death rate. The statewide death rate averages 57 percent.

Tait said Lake County sees the same risk factor profiles that show up in the state statistics, with gay and bisexual men being the largest exposure category. State statistics show heterosexual contacts account for more reported cases of HIV and AIDS than intravenous drug users.

Perinatal exposure, which Tait said is virtually preventable through proper medical care, is a very small exposure group.

Tait said Lake County has seen an influx of patients living with HIV/AIDS, who she said are moving to the county because of economic factors, as well as clinic closures in neighboring counties – mainly in Sonoma, ranked no. 17 statewide for the cumulative number of HIV cases and No. 13 for the number of AIDS cases, according to recent state figures.

“People are coming here for treatment,” said Tait, pointing out that clinics such as the Lakeside Health Center in Lakeport, run by Mendocino Community Health Clinic, offer outpatient clinic resources for treatment of patient with HIV/AIDS.

Lake County News was unable to reach the clinic’s administration for comment on Wednesday.

Comparatively, Lake County has the 41th highest HIV cumulative caseload and the 40th highest AIDS caseload, based on the state’s semiannual report on cumulative HIV/AIDS cases by county.

“Our numbers remain really quite small,” Tait said.

Chapman told Lake County News on Wednesday that community health centers – such as Lakeside Health Center – play an absolutely critical role in caring for those who have HIV/AIDS.

Even with health care funding cuts, Chapman noted, “I have to say that with health care reform coming in 2014, I’m actually very optimistic about the role of community health centers.”

He said federal health care reform is providing more money for such clinics, which already are starting to see more funding for new centers and strengthening the infrastructures of existing clinics.

Tait said she wants to emphasize prevention messages as the best way to prevent HIV infection. Prevention also is the best way to tackle diseases such as Hepatitis C, commonly transmitted through intravenous drug use, and gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted infection that are acquired through unprotected sexual contact, Tait added.

The county has ongoing problems with gonorrhea and chlamydia infections, which indicates to Tait that the prevention message hasn’t reached all the people that it should.

While there is great emphasis placed on HIV prevention, Tait said Lake County does not receive funding for that activity.

“In the past we were able to provide screening tests for HIV, but that funding dried up, so now we refer people wanting to be screened to be tested through health providers using usual clinical laboratories, like any other medical test,” she said. “This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it may pose a barrier to testing for some high risk populations that aren't inclined to go to a medical clinic.”

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1988-2008 AIDS and HIV Hospitalization Trends Report

High winds along with low humidity are expected over much of the state over the next few days. Winds in some areas are expected to have gusts in excess of 60 miles per hour.

Lake County also is under a wind advisory through 6 p.m. Thursday, with northerly winds between 25 and 40 miles per hour expected, and gusts as high as 55 miles per hour. A high wind warning for elevations over 2,000 feet, where sustained speeds of 40 miles per hour or gusts of 58 miles per hour or more, could occur, the National Weather Service reported.

This week’s weather event will significantly increase the wildfire threat in wind prone areas including the Sierras, the East Bay Hills, the Central Coast and throughout Southern California, according to the forecast.

“The recent devastating wildland fire in Reno, Nevada is a reminder that fires can burn during the winter months even when temperatures are low,” said Chief Ken Pimlott, Cal Fire’s director. “With the strong winds forecasted the fire danger will increase in many areas and we will have extra firefighters on duty so that we can respond to any new wildfires that may ignite.”

Cal Fire, along with other fire agencies, has increased their preparedness by staffing additional state wildland fire engines, dozers, fire crews and aircraft.

These resources will be positioned throughout the state to allow for rapid response into communities and watershed areas that may be affected by a fast moving wildfire.

The increased staffing includes the county fire departments of Ventura, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Kern and Orange, with which Cal Fire contracts for fire protection of State Responsibility Areas.

Residents are encouraged to exercise extreme caution when in or near the wildland or open areas to prevent a fire.

Cal Fire said it is important that everyone monitor the weather and be on the lookout for fires. If fires occur in the area be prepared to follow all instructions of fire and law enforcement officials if an evacuation is ordered.

Winds of the forecasted velocity can cause conditions to change rapidly and the public is encouraged to review “Ready, Set, Go” procedures at www.ReadyForWildfire.org.

Each person and family should insure that they are “Set” for a potential emergency situation and prepared to activate the “Go” (evacuation) portion in a calm and safe manner.

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Fifty-five-year-old construction company owner James Gerace Jr. and 14-year-old Daniel Critser, a freshman at Kelseyville High School, died in the fire at a campground near Trinidad in Humboldt County early on the morning of Sunday, Nov. 20, as Lake County News has reported.

Gerace heroically helped his fiancée, Michelle Critser, and her 4-year-old son David get out through a window after the vehicle caught fire.

Before Gerace could evacuate Daniel and himself from the vehicle it exploded. Fire investigators reported finding Gerace’s remains slumped against a rear side window, cradling Daniel’s body in his lap.

Little David is in serious condition at Shriners Hospital for Children in Sacramento, where he is undergoing skin grafts and other treatments.

Family friends said rehabilitation may take months and his mother, Michelle Critser, needs to be at his side during that period, which will be a costly undertaking.

Friends and relatives have created the Critser-Gerace Memorial Fund to help defray expenses.

The fund was set up at WestAmerica Bank, 150 S. Main St. in Lakeport, however, any WestAmerica branch in Clearlake, Kelseyville, Middletown or Upper Lake also can accept contributions.

The account number for the donations account is 121140218-2352175851.

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