Sunday, 10 November 2024

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A consensus is building among current and former military leaders and defense industry executives that rising military personnel costs threaten the viability of the all-volunteer force.


In July, two separate advisory groups reached the same general conclusions regarding what needs to be done to sustain the force. In the nearer term, they say, one step that must be taken is to make military retirees pay more out of pocket for their health care benefit.


“Unless retirees contribute more for their TRICARE insurance, medical costs will not be brought under control and the national defense they served, and for which they fought and sacrificed, will be harmed,” says the final report of the Quadrennial Defense Review Independent Panel.


The panel is co-chaired by former Defense Secretary William J. Perry from the Clinton administration and Stephen J. Hadley who was national security advisor through President George W. Bush’s second term.


Longer term, and for the future force, panelists say, work must begin on designing new retirement, compensation and promotion systems to replace inefficient and rigid systems adopted after World War II. The situation is so critical that the Hadley-Perry panel asks Congress to establish a new National Commission on Military Personnel to lead the reform effort.


Arnold Punaro, a defense industry executive and retired Marine Corps Reserve major general, chairs a task force for the Defense Business Board that will deliver its final report to Defense Secretary Robert Gates in October.


Task force “initial observations” for cutting defense costs through best business practices, briefed to the board July 22, reinforces the notion that personnel accounts must be brought under control by modernizing retirement, pay, health benefits and the “up-or-out” promotion systems.


Both studies deal with a far wider range of initiatives to restructure forces and streamline organizations. The Hadley-Perry report can be read online at www.usip.org/files/qdr/qdrreport.pdf and task force observations are at http://dbb.defense.gov/meetings.html.


What both conclude on the need to control health costs and modernize compensation systems, Punaro said, is consistent with findings of the 10th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation and the 2006 Defense Advisory Commission on Military Compensation. But now, with Defense Secretary Gates’ leadership and a new awareness among military leaders to the burden of mounting personnel costs, there’s a fresh groundswell for change, he said.


“I’ve heard a four-star military leader comment that DoD is turning into a benefits company that will occasionally kill a terrorist,” Punaro said in a phone interview Tuesday. The remark plays off a popular critique of General Motors before its recent bail out, that union contracts had transformed it into a health care company that occasionally built a car.


Both the business board task force and the Hadley-Perry panel agree that the current force must be protected from the changes to retirement, pay or promotion policies needed to create a more efficient future force.


“Updating military compensation and redesigning some benefits does not necessitate cuts in pay or benefits for current service members,” said the Hadley-Perry report.


“These are areas where any adjustment you make will take decades to change,” Punaro said. “With something like military retirement, you are not going to break faith with people who joined expecting a certain benefit, even though only 20 percent stay long enough to earn a retirement.”


But rapid expansion of military entitlements has become part of “the nation’s mandatory spending problems,” the task force found. Among “significant unsustainable trends” that the task force listed is paying military retirees and their families “for 60 years after they have served only 20.”


Another task force slide give details of how military entitlements have expanded “rapidly” over the last decade with Congress passing TRICARE for Life, a more robust pharmacy benefit, concurrent receipt for disabled retirees, extra-size active duty pay raises, an improved survivor benefit plan, sharp growth in housing allowances, a bigger death gratuity and more.


Punaro declined to criticize any specific initiative. But, he said, “nobody ever sat down and said, ‘What’s the cumulative effect of all this?’ ”


The effect, says the Hadley-Perry report, is personnel costs “have grown drastically on a per capita basis.”


As the economy recovers and the job market rebounds, Punaro said, the cost of sustaining the military will accelerate even more.


Punaro, who served as staff director of the Senate Armed Services Committee for eight years, noted that much of the recent entitlement growth has helped only retirees and their families, a population that now outnumbers the active duty community.


“TRICARE for Life, the largest new benefit ever passed, was not subject to any kind of serious review or debate, as best as I can tell. Is that the way to pass something like that? And, okay, just because you passed it, does it have to be in existence for 100 years? Bob Gates makes a pretty compelling argument that ‘health care costs are eating us alive’.”


Punaro criticized military associations that, he said, push continually for benefits with little heed to more pressing defense priorities. Military leaders and lawmakers this decade have been complicit, he suggested.


“It doesn’t’ take a profile in courage to stand up and be for every benefit that anybody has ever dreamed up. That’s easy. It takes a lot of courage to be responsible….It looks to some of us that we’ve changed the slogan ‘Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition’ to ‘Praise the Lord and pass the benefit.’ I remember working with military associations when their number one goal was a strong national defense, not more benefits.”


Tom Philpott writes a weekly column on military issues. To comment, send e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or write to Military Update, P.O. Box 231111, Centreville, VA, 20120-1111.


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MENDOCINO COUNTY – Another confrontation between law enforcement and illegal pot growers turned deadly this week when a man guarding a cultivation operation in Mendocino County was shot dead during a confrontation with a sheriff's deputy and a firefight took place between deputies and other suspects.


The incidents occurred during a series of pot eradications carried out early Wednesday morning in the 3000 block of Branscomb Road of Laytonville, according to Capt. Kurt Smallcomb of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.


The name of the dead man was not released.


Smallcomb said the Mendocino County Sheriffs Office Marijuana Eradication Unit, along with patrol deputies and detectives, was assisted by the Major Crimes Task Force, Mendocino County Special Weapons and Tactics Team, Mendocino County Probation, Homeland Security, Drug Enforcement Agents, Alcohol,Tobacco and Fireams agents and Forest Service agents in serving a search warrant at the Branscomb Road address just west of Laytonville.


The search warrant was for a large marijuana cultivation operation involving armed guards and ex-felons, he said.


On arrival law enforcement conducted several residential searches on the large parcel of property. Smallcomb said several marijuana plants were seized along with firearms and other narcotic paraphernalia.


At the residential site deputies arrested several suspects, Smallcomb said.


They included Laytonville residents 52-year-old Gerald Stephenson, arrested for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and cultivation and sales of marijuana; David Higgs, 50, arrested for possession of a controlled substance, possession of an assault rifle and tampering with a firearm serial number; and 41-year-old Kelly Dutra, arrested for cultivation and sales of marijuana. Also arrested was 22-year-old transient Delfino Contreras on an immigration violation.


Smallcomb said the suspects were transported and booked into the Mendocino County Jail.


Law enforcement then proceeded to two large marijuana grows which were identified as part of the same investigation, he said.


At the upper site officers encountered numerous armed suspects tending to the garden. A total of 426 growing marijuana plants were located and eradicated at this location. Smallcomb said several firearms and ammunition were further recovered.


It was at that location that the officer-involved shooting took place. Smallcomb said the Mendocino County District Attorney along with the California Department of Justice are investigating the incident.


Law enforcement also was investigating a lower site at approximately the same time as the upper site when the firefight ensued, Smallcomb said.


There was no evidence located which revealed anyone was shot or injured during the armed encounter, which Smallcomb said the Mendocino County District Attorney and the California Department of Justice are investigating.


At the site of the gun battle a total of 1980 marijuana plants were eradicated and a firearm and ammunition were recovered, Smallcomb said.


Smallcomb said the investigation is continuing.


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From left, Robinson Rancheria Chief of Police David Mendoza, Tribal Chairperson Tracey Avila and District Attorney Jon Hopkins. Courtesy photo.





ROBINSON RANCHERIA, Calif. – An agreement to allow Robinson Rancheria's federally commissioned law enforcement officers to direct file cases with the Lake County District Attorney's Office has been finalized.


On Aug. 12, District Attorney Jon Hopkins approved an intergovernmental agreement between the Lake County District Attorney’s Office and the Robinson Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians that Robinson Rancheria Police Chief Dave Mendoza said was nearly a year in the making.


The agreement will allow the District Attorney's Office to prosecute suspects based on the investigations submitted and testimony of the Robinson Rancheria’s federally commissioned law enforcement officers, Mendoza said.


“This is a very significant step forward for law enforcement, not only on the Robinson Rancheria, but throughout Lake County,” said Mendoza.


It's the first agreement of its kind in Lake County, he said.


“As a result of this agreement, those who are arrested by federally commissioned police officers for breaking the law on the reservation will be prosecuted the same way as any other offender in Lake County and the victims of those crimes will be provided the same representation,” Mendoza added.


Mendoza told Lake County News in an interview earlier this month that Robinson Rancheria's officers were issued special law enforcement commissions by the secretary of the Department of the Interior in April 2009, one of only eight such agencies in California.


That makes them federal law enforcement officials who Mendoza said retain their federal status both on and off of the reservation. They can therefore enforce federal law and, in some cases, state law.


Mendoza said the agreement will allow Robinson Rancheria's federally commissioned police officers to submit their investigations directly with the District Attorney’s Office, which will handle the police reports in the same manner as reports filed by the other law enforcement agencies in Lake County.


If the District Attorney decides to prosecute the suspect, the Robinson Rancheria’s federal law enforcement officers will be available to testify in the cases, Mendoza said.


Hopkins said the agreement was the “next logical step” in the work he's been doing with Lake County tribal communities since being elected district attorney in 2006.


“It is important to have tribal members trust the resources outside their community and to work together to make sure all victims of crime are protected and benefit from a stronger public safety effort,” he said. “All law enforcement should be able to be focused on keeping people and property safe.”


By agreeing to prosecute meritorious cases filed by the Robinson’s federal police officers for crimes committed on the Robinson Rancheria, Hopkins said, “We have effectively expanded the number of police officers protecting the people of Lake County. That’s good for everyone.”


Mendoza said the new arrangement with the Lake County District Attorney’s Office falls right in line with the recent agreement made with the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, where Federal Magistrate Nandor J. Vadas holds federal court on the Hopland Reservation for the five federal agencies who work in Lake and Mendocino County.


That arrangement was accomplished by working mutually with Hopland Chief of Police Brett Rhodes and is supported by the United States Attorney’s Office and the United States Marshal’s Office, according to Mendoza.


Hopland Rancheria's officers also are federally commissioned, according to Rhodes, whose agency holds a similar direct filing agreement with the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office.


Mendoza complimented Hopkins for working with the Robinson Rancheria on its law enforcement program.


“We have had the full support of Mr. Hopkins and his staff from day one and his input and direction has played a vital role in the success and development of the Robinson Rancheria’s Police Department,” said Mendoza, adding that Hopkins' work was “foreword thinking and timely.”


Mendoza said the agreement forecasts the future goals and policies being set by the federal government with the passage last month of the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010.


In the current difficult economic times it is important to build upon the community's resources in order to continue to provide quality public safety services to the citizens of Lake County,” he said.


Hopkins' approval of the agreement has added another valuable law enforcement agency to the community, said Chief Mendoza.


With Robinson's federal law enforcement officers now able to conduct their investigations, arrest criminals and submit their cases directly to the prosecuting agency of the county, “That makes people on and off the reservation more secure,” Mendoza said.


Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The fifth-annual Old Time Bluegrass Festival will be held at Anderson Marsh State Historic Park in Lower Lake on Saturday, Sept. 11.


The festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., rain (under cover) or shine; gates open at 9:30 a.m.

 

This annual event brings together local and regional musicians for performances on two stages, as well as a full schedule of musician workshops led by pros Jim Williams, Andy Skelton, Don Coffin, and others throughout the day on such topics as banjo, fiddle, and flat-picking techniques for guitar.


Attendees are encouraged to bring their instruments for workshops and informal jam sessions behind the ranch house.

 

The Old Time Bluegrass Festival will feature demonstrations and vendors selling old-time handmade crafts, Art-in-the-Barn, beer and wine gardens with Lake County wines, food, children’s activities, and workshops that make this event fun for the entire family.

 

Entertainment during the festival will be provided by John Reischman & The Jaybirds, Bill Evans & Megan Lynch, Pat Ickes & Bound To Ride, the Anderson Family Band, Fur Dixon & Steve Werner, and Rita Hoskins.

 

Local favorites include the Konocti Fiddlers, the Clear Lake Clickers, the Cobb Stompers, Darrin Smith, and 3 Deep. Period attire is welcomed.


Sponsored by the Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association, the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce and the Children's Museum of Art and Sciences, the event is a benefit for local educational programs and, this year, emergency first responder.

 

At the gate, tickets are $20; $15 in advance and available online. Children 12 and under are free and must be accompanied by an adult.


To get advance tickets online, go to www.andersonmarsh.org and follow the bluegrass link to purchase tickets.


If ordering advance tickets by mail, be sure to include your mailing address and phone number and send your check made out to AMIA to PO Box 672, Lower Lake, CA 95457.


There is an additional $3 service charge (per total order) if tickets are purchased on-line or by mail.


Advanced tickets can be purchased from one of the following businesses or organizations: in Clearlake at Marie’s Lakeshore Feed, Bob’s Vacuum and Highlands Senior Center; in Lower Lake at 2 Goomba’s Deli; in Middletown at Earth Goods (formerly Moontide); in Lucerne at Lakeview Supermarket & Deli; in Lakeport at Strings & Things, The Band Box, Watershed Books and the Lakeport Senior Center; in Ukiah at Dig! Music; in Sebastopol at People’s Music; and in Santa Rosa at The Last Record Store.


Seniors (age 60 and older) can get 20 percent off ($12 for each ticket) if purchasing advance tickets from either the Lakeport Senior Center, Lakeport, the Highlands Senior Center, Clearlake or from the Lakeview Supermarket & Deli in Lucerne.


For more information about the bluegrass festival visit www.andersonmarsh.org, call 707- 995-2658 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..


Anderson Marsh State Historic Park is located at 8853 Highway 53, Lower Lake, telephone 707-995-2658.


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SACRAMENTO – State health officials are urging consumers not to eat certain Wright County Eggs due to a recently reported Salmonella outbreak.


Dr. Mark Horton, director of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), issued the warning this week because of concerns that Wright County Eggs may be contaminated with Salmonella, a dangerous bacteria that may cause serious health problems.


Wright County Eggs are produced in Iowa and packaged under numerous brand names: Lucerne, Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralph's, Boomsma's, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms and Kemps.


Eggs are packed in varying sizes of cartons (six-egg cartons, dozen egg cartons, 18-egg cartons). The eggs were processed by plants with identification numbers 1026, 1413 and 1946. Plant identification codes can be found stamped on the end of the egg carton. The plant number is preceded with the letter “P” and followed by a three-digit number.


The recall applies to numbers 136 to 225. For example: P-1946 223 would be a carton subject to the recall. The Julian production dates in question, 136-225, convert to May 16 – Aug. 13 calendar dates.


Symptoms of Salmonella infection include fever, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea which may be bloody. Most infected people recover within a week; however, some may develop complications that require hospitalization.


Infants, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems are at highest risk for more severe illness.


Since May of this year there has been a nationwide increase in the number of infections due to a strain of Salmonella Enteritidis. Outbreak investigations in several states, including California, have found that some of these illnesses were likely related to eating eggs or foods containing eggs prepared by restaurants or caterers who obtained shell eggs from Wright County Eggs.


This particular strain, defined by a matching DNA pattern, is the most common Salmonella strain in the United States, and a common source may not explain all of the illnesses.


To prevent illness, consumers are advised to cook eggs thoroughly before eating to destroy any Salmonella or other bacteria. People who develop symptoms of Salmonella infection after consuming Wright County Eggs should consult their health care provider.


Eggs affected by this recall were distributed to food wholesalers, distribution centers and foodservice companies in California, Illinois, Missouri, Colorado, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.


Wright County Eggs has initiated a voluntary recall. Consumers who believe they may have purchased these shell eggs should return them to the store where they were purchased for a refund. This recall is of shell eggs only. Other egg products produced by Wright County Eggs are not affected.


Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf.

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Lake County Sheriff's deputies arrested Roger Bart Gordon, 46, on Thursday, August 19, 2010, after he allegedly made statements about putting feces on his hands and touching produce at the Safeway in Lakeport, Calif. Lake County Jail booking photo.





LUCERNE, Calif. – A Lucerne man has been arrested after allegedly claiming that he contaminated food in the produce section at the Lakeport Safeway this week.


Roger Bart Gordon, 46, was arrested at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in Lucerne for making malicious statements of mingling a harmful substance with food or drink, which is a felony, according to Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.


At the time of his arrest, Gordon also was found to be in possession of a nonprescribed controlled substance, another felony charge. Bauman said Gordon was booked on both charges at the Lake County Jail, where he remained in custody with bail set at $10,000.


Specifically, Gordon had made statements that he had intentionally put fecal matter on produce items at the store, Bauman said.


The Lakeport Safeway closed its produce session temporarily after it received a report about Gordon's allegations, corporate spokesperson Susan Houghton told Lake County News on Wednesday.


She said the company took any threats seriously, and accordingly the section was shut down for part of Wednesday for cleaning and replacement of food products.


Bauman said that the issues that led to Gordon's arrest began on Tuesday morning, when sheriff's deputies responded to the Lucerne Community Clinic on Highway 20 where Gordon allegedly was creating a disturbance.


Deputies contacted Gordon at the scene and told him not to return to the clinic, but later that afternoon he returned anyway, which Bauman said resulted in the deputies going back to the clinic and transporting Gordon to Sutter Lakeside Hospital for a mental health evaluation.


Bauman said the hospital subsequently discharged Gordon who, while at the hospital, told staff he was having irrational thoughts. Those thought included considering going to the Lakeport Safeway with feces on his hands and touching the produce.


Sheriff's deputies contacted the Lakeport Safeway management on Wednesday morning about Gordon. Bauman said that while the investigation didn't positively conclude that the produce had been contaminated, Safeway still purged and sanitized the produce section as a precaution.


The Sheriff’s Department reminded all consumers to be mindful of any food product that comes into contact with others. Fresh food products in particular, should always by thoroughly cleaned before consumption.


Bauman confirmed to Lake County News that the sheriff's office has had several previous contacts with Gordon.


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 and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf.

ELK, Calif. – The body of an Oakland woman who had been reported missing was found Tuesday floating in the Pacific Ocean off the Mendocino Coast.


A Coast Guard Helicopter crew retrieved the body of 64-year-old Cynthia Wyman from the waters off of Elk late Tuesday morning, according to a report from Capt. Kurt Smallcomb of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.


Smallcomb said that Wyman had arrived at a friend's residence on Monday afternoon and said she was going to the beach. She later was reported missing and the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office began an investigation.


Although Smallcomb's report indicated that the incident was a suspected “self-inflicted drowning,” he also stated that the investigation into Wyman's death is continuing.


Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf.

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CLARIFIED REGARDING THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ARREST CHARGES AND THE PROSECUTORIAL PROCESS.


KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The case against a Kelseyville man arrested last month after shooting a man who came onto his property has been dropped, according to the county's chief deputy district attorney.


Nickolas Leone, 48, was arrested on July 10 for felony discharging a firearm in a negligent manner for shooting John Allen Kniss, 32, of Kelseyville, as Lake County News has reported.


Leone later was investigated for an additional count of felony assault with a firearm, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff.


The sheriff's office reported that the confrontation allegedly resulted after Kniss – who had been making threats over a woman Leone was seeing who previously had dated Kniss – drove onto Leone's property at a high rate of speed and tried to force his way through a gate.


Leone got his shotgun, told Kniss to leave and fired a warning shot, which Kniss ignored. He then shot Kniss in the arm and shoulder at a distance of 80 to 100 feet before Kniss fled the property, according to the original report.


Kniss was picked up about a week later on a misdemeanor bench warrant for battery on a spouse, false imprisonment and vandalism. At that time he still had several pellet wounds in the left arm, shoulder and chest from the incident, and admitted to authorities that the incident had occurred, officials said.


However, after reviewing the case, Hinchcliff decided that he would not formally charge Leone in the case.


He said Thursday that the evidence showed that Kniss had made threats earlier in the day. “There was a prior history of violent or potentially violent conduct” between Kniss and his ex-girlfriend, who had more recently been dating Leone.


Ultimately, Hinchcliff decided he would not be able to convince a jury that Leone wasn't acting in reasonable self-defense.


“I'm not necessary saying that he acted in reasonable self-defense,” Hinchcliff was quick to add.


“The decision I made is based solely on the facts of this case and is in no way meant to imply that if someone comes on your property you can shoot at them,” he emphasized.


Hinchcliff said a felony case is pending against Kniss for felony evasion, driving under the influence and using force or violence against peace officers from an incident earlier this year.


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 and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A woman accused of embezzling from her employer has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor grand theft in a deal that will require her to serve jail time, do community service and make restitution.


Michelle Lynn Davis, 25, reached the plea agreement with the Lake County District Attorney's Office late last month, according to Deputy District Attorney Rachel Abelson.


On July 21 she made the plea, with Judge Stephen Hedstrom sentencing her to three years probation, 45 days in jail, 360 hours of work and community service, a restitution fine of $100 and an agreement to repay her former employer, Shannon Ranches Inc., $50,000 in restitution, Abelson said.


Davis' attorney, Kristine Burk of Sebastopol, did not return a phone call seeking comment.


Davis was arrested in January 2008 and originally charged with felony embezzlement and a special allegation for having allegedly taken more than $150,000 from the Clearlake Oaks-based Shannon Ranches, a vineyard management company where she had worked for five years, as Lake County News has reported.


Clay Shannon, who owns Shannon Ranches along with wife Margarita, said Wednesday that the amount Davis took was more like $240,000.


Abelson said the case against Davis alleged that between March 14, 2006, and Dec. 14, 2007, Davis had taken funds from the company.


Davis allegedly was using a company-issued credit card for shopping, vacations for herself and her boyfriend to Disneyland as well as out-of-country trips, and had also issued herself extra checks, Abelson said.


Abelson, who is familiar with forensic accounting and handles many of the embezzlement cases prosecuted through the District Attorney's Office, said Davis was smart at hiding the funds she allegedly was taking.


Eventually, however, the fact that money was missing came to light. “When their bills weren't getting paid, that's when it kind of came to a head,” Abelson said.


Abelson said a trial had been under way in the spring. “I was almost done with my evidence, we just had one more witness,” she said.


But that last witness, Margarita Shannon, became ill and Abelson said a mistrial resulted.


A new trial was set to start July 20 but the Shannons and their attorney, Peter Windrem, asked that the case be pleaded out as a misdemeanor so they wouldn't have to participate in a trial, Abelson said. They also came to an agreement with Davis and her attorney on the $50,000 restitution.


Clay Shannon said he's glad the matter is over with and behind he and his family, but added that Davis “got off easy.”


He said he was upset that the case took so long to come to a close.


However, Shannon said, “Margarita and I just have too many great things going on” in their business and here in the county.


“Times are tough in this economy and we have no time to spend goofing around in trial,” he said.


Abelson said Judge Hedstrom wants Davis monitored, and has scheduled a hearing for Dec. 13 to determine her restitution payments and keep track of her situation.


The hearing was set at that time to give Davis the opportunity to serve her 45 days in jail. Abelson said Davis is eligible to sign up for electronic home monitoring.


If Davis doesn't repay all of her restitution during her probation period, Abelson said a civil judgment can be issued for what's still owed.


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 and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf.

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Booking photo of Laura Michelle Gallegos, age 38, of Redding, Calif. Photo courtesy of the Glenn County Sheriff's Office.





GLENN COUNTY, Calif. – A Redding woman turned herself in to Glenn County officials on Tuesday following an investigation that resulted in her being charged with numerous counts relating to a sexual relationship she had with a teenager and exchanges of sexually explicit text messages with another juvenile male.


Laura Michelle Gallegos, 38, was booked into the Glenn County Jail in Willows on a warrant charging two counts of exhibiting lewd material to a minor, three counts of contacting a minor to commit lewd acts, two counts of arranging meetings with a minor to commit lewd acts, one count of oral copulation, and two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor with a three year, or more, age difference. Bail was set at $110,000.


She is alleged to have become sexually involved with a 17-year-old male and to have taken part in “sexting” with a 15-year-old male, according to a report from Glenn County Sheriff Larry Jones.


Jones' agency received a call from an Orland-area mother on April 11, with the woman reporting that she believed her 15-year-old son was receiving explicit text messages from an adult female and wished to speak with a deputy.


Deputy Jon Owens was dispatched to speak with the 34-year-old mother, who related her son was on the Orland High School wrestling team and they had just returned home from a tournament in Reno.


While at the tournament, the mother had the opportunity to view her son’s cell phone with a saved contact listed as “GF” with a phone number. Jone said that, by chance, a friend – a mother of another wrestler seated next to the reporting mother – had received a text message from the same number.


The number belonged to the mother of one of the wrestlers, Laura Gallegos. Jones said the 15-year-old's mother stated she knew Gallegos as a teacher’s aide at Shasta High School in Redding.


When she questioned her son he said he met Gallegos while at a wrestling event, and admitted they had been “sexting” each other, Jones reported.


At that time, a second possible victim, a 17-year-old from Orland who also was a member of the wrestling team, also was identified. A preliminary report was taken and the case was turned over to Detective Greg Felton of the Sheriff’s Major Crimes unit.


Authorities obtained search warrants for the cell phones alleged to be involved and conducted interviews, with Felton making trips to Redding, Jones said. At Shasta High School Felton was informed by the administration that Laura Gallegos had resigned from her position as a teacher’s aide. Copies of emails were obtained and retained as evidence.


The 17-year-old male of Orland High School admitted meeting Gallegos for the first time in Red Bluff at lunch time on or around March 11, and missing the last two periods of school. Sexual acts were completed inside a vehicle, Jones said.


School records at Orland showed the victim with two unexcused absences for the periods after lunch on that date, Jone said The victim also related the suspect had performed a sex act on him while seated in the stands at the wrestling finals in Bakersfield. He also admitted to an additional meeting for sex in Corning.

 

The Tehama County District Attorney’s Office was contacted and it was agreed Glenn County would assume jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed in Tehama County, Jones said.


Upon completion of the investigation, the case was submitted to the Glenn County District Attorney’s Office and a complaint was issued, with Glenn County Superior Court Judge Peter Twede signing the arrest warrant.


After being booked into the jail on Tuesday Gallegos immediately posted bond and is to appear in the Orland branch of the Glenn County Superior Court on Sept. 21.


Jones commended what he called Det. Felton's “exemplary investigative work” on a complicated case that required much diligence and attention to detail.


Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf.

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