LOWER LAKE, Calif. – A burning truck trailer is believed to have caused some small vegetation fires along Highway 29.
A small fire was reported near the Ellis Ranch outside of Lower Lake shortly before 2 p.m. Saturday.
Reports from the scene said firefighters quickly knocked down that blaze before finding some other roadside spots that had been on fire.
The fire was linked to semi truck with a burning trailer, which pulled over the corner of Highway 29. The driver was said to be unaware of the fire, according to radio reports.
One lane of traffic was blocked for a short time, the CHP reported.
Firefighters terminated the incident at 2:09 p.m., with the highway reopened, radio reports indicated.
SONOMA COUNTY, Calif. – State game wardens arrested three Northern California women on Jan. 27 on charges of buying and selling abalone harvested under the authority of a sport fishing license.
In California, it is illegal to buy or sell sport-caught abalone, or any other fish or wildlife, because it leads to the over-harvest of the resource.
There is no commercial abalone harvest from California’s coast.
“The arrests remove another threat to California’s precious abalone resource,” said Captain Bob Farrell of the Department of Fish and Game’s (DFG) Law Enforcement Division. “The illegal harvest and commercialization of our abalone resource can devastate the abalone population if left unchecked.”
In August 2011, wardens observed Nuanrat Musser, 44, of Cotati purchase sport-caught abalone at a Cotati massage parlor. Wardens maintained surveillance on the business and observed Musser make several more abalone purchases.
In September, wardens observed her as she resold the abalone contraband to Helen B. Macariola, 55, and Kritkaew McCulley, 65, both of Sacramento.
All three women were arrested and booked into Sonoma County Jail. The case was filed with the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office, where each defendant will face three poaching-related misdemeanor charges.
Honest anglers and members of the public can help wardens stop poaching by reporting poaching crimes to California Department of Fish and Game’s CalTIP line at 1-888-334-2258.
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Workers at Calpine’s geothermal plant at The Geysers have voted against becoming union members.
After a two-day secret ballot that ended Thursday night, the campaign to join the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245 failed.
Once the polls closed at 8 p.m., the ballots were counted at the Calpine Visitor Center in Middletown, a process that took about an hour.
The unofficial vote count was reported to be 124 against joining the union and 70 for joining. An additional 21 ballots were reportedly cast against unionizing but were challenged by the union and not included in the final tally.
Altogether, 215 of the 219 workers eligible to vote took part, according to the preliminary vote count.
“It was decisive,” said a disappointed Mike Farmer, an organizing committee member who had campaigned to join IBEW Local 1245.
The effort to hold the union election began last summer, and since then a campaign had been under way to convince the eligible Calpine employees to vote in favor of joining IBEW Local 1245.
The union even had arranged for workers to meet with Gov. Jerry Brown and former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich.
Campaign organizers accused Calpine – one of Lake County's largest employers – of trying to prevent a free and fair election by bringing in anti-union consultants.
At the same time, significant opposition came from within the ranks of the workers themselves.
Last month Tim Janke, a power plant operator at West Ford Flat, launched his own Web site – www.calpineunionfree.com – to oppose unionization, with a total of 76 employees signing their names on his Web site in support of keeping a union-free workplace.
Janke told Lake County News this week that he was concerned that the union would add another layer of bureaucracy and cost some Calpine workers as much as $40,000 a year in lost benefits and bonuses.
On his Web site Thursday night, Janke posted a video congratulating his fellow workers for the vote.
“This crap is finally over with,” he said.
However, he went on to question if anyone really won, arguing that the union's actions damaged Calpine's reputation. Janke also urged people to focus on getting back to work.
In the wake of the election, “For most people it’s going to go back to normal,” said Farmer.
However, he said the organizing committee plans to meet on Friday.
“We have to decide whether we want to pursue some of the improprieties we feel happened during the election campaign,” he said.
While Farmer said he is leaning toward leaving things as they are and moving on, he said the organizing committee has seven days to file an objection and challenge the results.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The new radio variety show “Lake County Live!” will mark its first performance this evening.
The free hour-long show will take place at the Soper-Reese Community Theater, 275 S. Main St., in Lakeport.
Seating will take place by 5:45 p.m., with the broadcast running from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The show will be broadcast live on KPFZ 88.1 FM and at its Web site, www.kpfz.org.
The first show will feature the a cappella quartet Earreverence, featuring Nick and Valerie Reid, Bill Bordisso and Carol Cole Lewis; Three Deep, a folk/bluegrass trio featuring Jill Shaul, Anna McAtee and Sarah Tichava; and Monday Thump, featuring April Knoll, Randy Johnsen, Janet Berrian, Jim Evans and Jon Hopkins.
Seating is limited. Tickets can be obtained at the theatre box office.
For more information, visit www.lakecountylive.com, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 707-245-9012.
COBB, Calif. – A few hours after it announced that it would contest the results of an election of Calpine workers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1245 said Friday it will let the results stand.
The months-long process to unionize 219 Calpine employees at The Geysers geothermal power plant culminated in a two-day election on Wednesday and Thursday at Calpine.
The final tally of votes, which were counted Thursday night, showed that 124 employees had voted no to joining the union, while 70 had voted yes.
An additional 21 challenged ballots were not counted in the final tally, the union reported.
IBEW has alleged that Calpine management attempted to prevent a free and fair election, and used anti-union consultants to persuade employees to vote against unionizing.
Calpine said in a statement released to Lake County News this week that it had worked directly with its employees to provide industry-leading compensation, benefits, equity, career progression and safety programs.
However, the company also said that it respected employees’ right to consider unionization as provided under the National Labor Relations Act “in a process which assures employees make an informed decision.”
This pickup was involved in a single-vehicle rollover collision on Highway 29 near Lower Lake, Calif., on Thursday, January 26, 2012. Photo by Lisa Sani.
LOWER LAKE, Calif. – A solo-vehicle collision on Highway 29 Thursday afternoon caused traffic snags for local drivers.
The California Highway Patrol reported that the incident involving a black pickup truck occurred at approximately 3:19 p.m.
The CHP said the crash blocked the northbound lane and that traffic in the area was backed up.
Mark your calendar. On Sunday, May 20, the sun is going to turn into a ring of fire. It's an annular solar eclipse – the first one in the USA in almost 18 years.
An annular eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly in front of the sun, but the lunar disk is not quite wide enough to cover the entire star. At maximum, the Moon forms a "black hole" in the center of the sun.
The “path of annularity” is a strip about 300 kilometers wide and thousands of kilometers long. It stretches from China and Japan, across the Pacific Ocean, to the middle of North America.
In the United States, the afternoon sun will become a luminous ring in places such as Medford, Ore.; Chico, Calif.; Reno, Nev.; St. George, Utah; Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Lubbock, Texas.
Outside of this relatively narrow zone, the eclipse will be partial. Observers almost everywhere west of the Mississippi will see a crescent-shaped sun as the Moon passes by off-center.
"I like to compare different types of eclipses on a scale of 1 to 10 as visual spectacles," says NASA's leading eclipse expert, Fred Espenak of the Goddard Space Flight Center. "If a partial eclipse is a 5 then an annular eclipse is a 9."
This event should not be confused with a total eclipse. In a total eclipse, the Moon covers the entire surface of the sun, bringing an eerie twilight to observers in the path of totality and revealing the sun’s ghostly corona.
"On that scale of 1 to 10," he adds, "a total eclipse is 'a million!' It's completely off the charts compared to any other astronomical event." The next total eclipse in the USA is in the year 2017.
Until then, May 20 of this year will have to do.
Annular eclipses have a special charm all their own.
During an annular eclipse, sunbeams turn into little rings of light. The best place to see this is on the sun-dappled ground beneath a leafy tree. Hundreds of circular shadows can be found there.
You can also make a handy solar projector by criss-crossing your fingers waffle-style. Rays of light beaming through the gaps will have the same shape as the eclipsed sun.
Be careful when looking directly at the eclipsed sun, cautions Espenak.
"The ring of sunlight during annularity is blindingly bright,” Espenak said. “Even though as much as 94 percent of the Sun's disk will be covered, you still need to use a solar filter or some type of projection technique. A No. 14 welder's glass is a good choice. There are also many commercially-available solar filters."
"One of the unique things about this eclipse for watchers in the USA is that the Sun will still be in deep partial eclipse at sunset, making for some great photographic opportunities," he continued. "In western Texas around Lubbock, the sun actually sets during the annular phase."
A swollen red sun with a black hole in the middle? Maybe 9 out of 10 isn’t so bad, after all.
COBB, Calif. – Representatives of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1245 say they will challenge the results of the election at Calpine’s geothermal plant at The Geysers.
The two-secret ballot took place on Wednesday and Thursday at Calpine.
Final tally of votes was 124 “no” votes and 70 “yes” votes, with 21 challenged ballots not counted in the final tally, as Lake County News has reported.
The union said the 21 challenged ballots were set aside based on claims that they were not eligible voters.
IBEW alleges that management’s decision to require employees to attend mandatory meetings with union busters from the firm The Alignment Group and to not allow union representatives on site compromised the workers’ right to a free and fair election.
Calpine Chief Executive Officer Jack Fusco also reportedly made several trips to the plant, as did other Calpine executives, who traveled from Texas during the union campaign.
The effort to unionize began last summer. IBEW said the Calpine workers were seeking union representation after a number of takeaways, including reducing sick leave and medical benefits. Those takeaways, the union alleged, coincided with skyrocketing pay for Calpine’s executives.
Workers sought representation to achieve a place at the bargaining table and to have a meaningful say in decisions that affect everything from compensation to safety and working conditions, according to a union statement.
At the same time, a strong opposition movement arose within the workers' ranks, with power plant operator Tim Janke operating a Web site, www.calpineunionfree.com, to advocate against the union.
Mike Farmer, a leading member of the 25 member organizing committee said that “fear won the day.”
“Even so, we proved that far more than a handful of our co-workers support the union,” he said.
Throughout the campaign, Calpine workers gained support from union members throughout the state. They rallied at the National Labor Relations Board office in San Francisco, the Calpine office in Sacramento and even met with Gov. Jerry Brown.
The effort also had the support of District 4 Supervisor Anthony Farrington, who wrote a letter to that effect to IBEW 1245 organizer Fred Ross on Dec. 20.
“I feel strongly that when both sides, management and membership, have a say in negotiating on policies and procedures that effect the working conditions, safety and benefits of the work force, it is to everyone (sic) advantage,” Farrington wrote. “As a result, the working relationship between the two is stronger and more productive.”
“These workers waged a courageous battle and against all odds and a stacked deck. They have worked too hard and for too long to go down without a fight,” said Ross. “We will continue to stand by them for the duration.”
COBB, Calif. – Two earthquakes measuring 3.0 and above were reported near The Geysers geothermal steamfield on Thursday.
The first quake, measuring 3.0 on the Richter Scale, occurred at 11:54 a.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Recorded at a depth of 2.5 miles, its epicenter was located two miles northwest of The Geysers, six miles west southwest of Cobb and eight miles west northwest of Anderson Springs, the survey reported.
By Thursday evening the U.S. Geological Survey had received a total of 10 shake reports from zip codes including Middletown, Burlingame, Calistoga, San Ramon, Cloverdale, Geyserville, Healdsburg, Citrus Heights and Sacramento.
The second quake, reported to have occurred at 9:21 p.m., measured 3.4 in magnitude according to an initial report from the U.S. Geological Survey.
As of Thursday night a seismologist hadn’t reviewed the report, which means the magnitude could be adjusted.
The quake occurred at a depth of 1.9 miles, and was centered one mile north northwest of The Geysers, five miles west southwest of Cobb and seven miles west northwest of Anderson Springs.
Shake reports were submitted to the U.S. Geological Survey from Calistoga, San Ramon, Walnut Creek, Cloverdale, Healdsburg and Paradise.
A 3.8-magnitude quake was reported Tuesday morning near Clearlake and Clearlake Oaks, as Lake County News has reported.
MENDOCINO COUNTY, Calif. – In a fait accompli, a Willits arsonist who admitted setting 19 fires last summer was sentenced Friday in Mendocino County Superior Court to 20 years in state prison.
Steven Gene Hensley, 36, was sentenced by Judge John Behnke in line with a stipulated plea agreement previously offered by District Attorney David Eyster, and accepted by Hensley and his appointed public defender.
Hensley’s sentence requires that he register for life as an arson offender when he is eventually released from prison, the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office reported.
Hensley additionally was ordered to pay restitution for fire damages and firefighting costs totaling $354,138, officials said.
Hensley in December entered guilty pleas to 19 separate counts of arson instead of going forward with a schedule January jury trial.
He admitted to setting fires in various locations in and around the Willits area starting on July 4, 2011, and continuing through Aug. 21, 2011.
Eyster has previously cited the role of Cal Fire Captains Shawn Zimmermaker and Craig Dudley for their work in the Hensley investigation.
“The defendant had no way out of this one and he realized it. We have Zimmermaker and Dudley to thank for this,” Eyster said at the time Hensley entered his guilty pleas.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The overnight discovery of a suspicious package believed to contain explosives led to the evacuation of a portion of a Clearlake apartment complex and a request for assistance from an out-of-county bomb squad.
The Clearlake Police Department confirmed to Lake County News early Friday morning that a suspicious package had been found at the Clearlake Commons apartment complex, located at 15160 Austin Drive.
Napa County’s bomb squad was called to the scene to handle the device, the department reported.
Part of the apartment complex was evacuated while the bomb squad was en route, and a temporary evacuation center was set up at the Highlands Senior Center on Bowers Avenue, according to the Clearlake Police Department.
Lake County News received information that the device was discovered in a dumpster following a phone threat, which also warned that the device might detonate soon.
Tara Eaton, a resident in the apartment complex, posted on Lake County News’ Facebook page that the whole lower section of apartments was being evacuated. The upper area of the complex where she lives was not required to evacuate.
James Thomas, a Lake Transit driver, said on Facebook that the transit agency sent four buses – including his – to the scene to help evacuate residents.
He said he transported people to the senior center, where more than 30 people were gathered.
Thomas said he was released from the evacuation at 2:30 a.m. At that time it was estimated that residents would not be allowed to return to their homes for several more hours.
However, shortly after 3:30 a.m. the Clearlake Police Department reported that the bomb squad had disposed of the device and the apartment complex residents who had been evacuated were being allowed to return to their homes.
At approximately 3:53 a.m. Lake County Fire Protection Chief Willie Sapeta reported over the radio that all of the evacuees had been returned home and firefighters were clearing the incident.
Further details about the incident were not immediately available early Friday morning.
MENDOCINO COUNTY, Calif. – The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a Tuesday murder in Redwood Valley.
Capt. Kurt Smallcomb said 30-year-old Jamal Andrews of Redwood Valley was shot to death, with 33-year-old Bill Norbury, also of Redwood Valley, arrested on suspicion of committing the murder.
Just before 10 p.m. Tuesday the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 telephone call regarding a shooting incident in the 1700 Block of Road B in Redwood Valley, Smallcomb said.
Sheriff’s deputies, along with Redwood Valley Fire and other medical personnel, responded to the location and found Andrews outside of his residence, dead from a gunshot wound, according to Smallcomb.
Smallcomb said deputies spoke with the victim's girlfriend and learned that a possible suspect had fled towards his residence on an ATV. They subsequently learned the suspect lived close to Andrews.
Deputies proceeded to the possible resident of the suspect, identified as Norbury, and contacted him regarding the shooting, Smallcomb said.
While at Norbury’s residence, deputies observed in plain sight items that appeared to link the suspect directly to the shooting incident, he said.
Smallcomb said Norbury was arrested and booked into the Mendocino County Jail on a murder charge.
An autopsy was conducted on Andrews on Thursday. Smallcomb said the exam showed that Andrews had two gunshot wounds – one in the head, one in the shoulder.
Mendocino County Sheriff’s detectives are requesting anyone with information regarding this investigation to call them at 707-467-9159. Callers can remain anonymous.
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