County Road Superintendent Steve Stangland said Thursday that during a recent road inspection a county road crew discovered a hole had developed in the deck of the bridge on Witter Springs Road, crossing Dayle Creek.

The small, single-lane bridge is a wooden structure, and is at least 55 years old, Stangland said.

As a result of discovering the hole, Public Works closed Witter Springs Road to all traffic two miles north of Highway 20 at the bridge, effective immediately.

Traffic will be detoured on East Road to Bachelor Valley Road and back to Witter Springs Road in order to avoid the bridge area, Stangland reported.

He said signs have been posted at the intersection of Witter Springs and East roads to warn drivers.

“We're trying to do everything we can so nobody gets caught off guard,” he added.

Stangland said the road around the bridge will be closed for quite a while as the roads department considers its options: fixing the bridge or completely replacing it.

Right now they're pricing repairs and will weigh those estimates against full replacement, he explained.

Part of the decision also will rest on the looking at hydrology reports, said Stangland. “It may be that the structure is undersized just for the creek channel.”

The road closure remains in effect until further notice, Public Works reported.

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State Sen. Patricia Wiggins' eighth annual Women in the Wine Country dinner and fundraiser will take place from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 21, a the Kendall Jackson Wine Center in Fulton.

Victoria Brandon, chair of the Sierra Club Lake Group since January 2005, will receive the event's environmental award.

“Personal recognition from such an extraordinarily dedicated and able legislator as Pat Wiggins is immensely gratifying, but the honor actually belongs to the Sierra Club Lake Group, and to the other local conservationists committed to making our community the greenest place in California,” Brandon said.

Brandon's duties with the Sierra Club keep her busy around the county, from monitoring development to writing letters to politicians on environmental policy matters.

She worked to garner support for the Congressman Mike Thompson's Wilderness Bill and supported the Cache Creek Wild & Scenic campaign.

A Lake County resident since 1981, she also is a board member of Tuleyome, a volunteer advocacy-oriented nonprofit organization founded in 2002 that is dedicated to protecting the Putah-Cache bioregion, which includes Lake County.

Brandon's other activities include participating in the Cache Creek Watershed Forum, secretary of the Chi Council for the Clear Lake Hitch, membership in the Coalition for Responsible Agriculture and editor of the Lake County Peace Action newsletter.

Other honorees include: Arts – Hanya Popova Parker, Sonoma County artist; Health Care – Carol Mordhorst, Mendocino County Public Health director; Business – Jeannie Hamann, owner, Hamann Real Estate; Wine – Phyllis Zouzounis, owner and winemaker, Deux Amis Winery; Special Achievement – Elaine Honig, Creative Director, Honig Vineyard and Winery.

For more information about the event visit www.wiggins4senate.com/events.html.

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The California Highway Patrol's Ukiah office reported that Brittany Zastrow, 18, received minor injuries in a collision that happened just after noon.

Zastrow was driving her 1980 Honda Prelude 70 miles per hour southbound in lane No. 1 of Highway 101 when she drifted into the median, possibly because she fell asleep, according to the CHP.

She lost control of her vehicle and entered the northbound lane, where the front of her Honda struck the side of a 1994 Chevy Astro van driven by Robbie Ruddock, 41, of Ukiah, the CHP reported.

Zastrow's car continued down a dirt embankment, the CHP report explained, while Ruddock's vehicle came to rest on the right shoulder.

Both Zastrow and Ruddock were treated for minor injuries at Ukiah Valley Medical Center, according to the CHP.

The CHP reported that both Zastrow and Ruddock were wearing their seat belts when the accident took place.

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Supervisor Denise Rushing will host the event, which will take place from 10 a.m. to noon at the Odd Fellows Hall, 9480 Main St.

A similar event was held in Spring Valley in August, giving residents the chance to hear from the officials who will respond in times of disasters and emergencies.

Speakers on Saturday will include Kurt Herndon, Upper Lake Elementary superintendent; Rick Winer, Upper Lake Middle principal; Patrick Iaccino, Upper Lake High principal/superintendant; Chief Jim Robbins, Northshore Fire Protection District; Chris Rivera, Lake County Office of Emergency Services; Rachelle Henry, Upper Lake Water District; Betsy Cawn, Senior Support Services; Wolfgang Liebe, U.S. Forestry; and Pat Lynch, Upper Lake Flood Prevention.

Rushing also will speak about the Lake County Fire Plan.

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A report from Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff said a jury on Tuesday found Craig Alvin Lemke, 45, guilty of the home invasion robbery, which took place in February 2006.

Hinchcliff prosecuted Lemke, whose trial began Sept. 12 in Judge Stephen O. Hedstrom's Department 4 courtroom.

Lemke was defended by attorney Jason Webster. Webster did not return a call placed to his office Wednesday.

According to Hinchcliff's report, at just after 8 p.m. Feb. 12, 2006, Lemke and Joe Moncivaiz Jr. went to the home of the elderly couple, who Lemke had previously known and with whom he had work-related contacts.

The men parked their vehicle three-tenths of a mile down the road from the victim’s residence, which Hinchcliff said was located on Highway 29 just south of Lower Lake.

According to testimony at trial, Lemke and Moncivaiz checked the location of the couple inside the residence through uncovered windows after dark, then approached the front door, knocked on it, and told the male victim they had run out of gas. The male victim was 89 years old and the female victim 70 years old, Hinchcliff reported.

When the male victim opened the door, Lemke pushed him onto the floor and bound his hands and feet with electrical tape, according to Hinchcliff's report. When the female victim came out of her bedroom to investigate the noise, she was tied up with zip ties and electrical tape. Both Lemke and Moncivaiz were wearing coverings on their faces and gloves to avoid identification and leaving fingerprints. Lemke was wearing a Halloween skeleton mask.

After ransacking the residence for about 15 minutes, the men fled with several guns, a large amount of ammunition, $2,100 in cash and other items, Hinchcliff reported.

Once they reached Highway 29 in front of the residence, they realized they could not carry the stolen property down Highway 29 to their car for fear of being seen by passing cars, and stashed the stolen items, Hinchcliff said.

While they were making their way back to the car, the male victim freed himself and called 911. Hinchcliff explained that before Lemke and Moncivaiz could return to retrieve the stolen property they had stashed, they realized their car would not start and heard approaching sirens of Lake County Sheriff’s deputies.

They fled into the surrounding hills until deputies left the area two hours later, then called a friend for a ride and returned home, said Hinchcliff. Meanwhile, the stolen property was found by sheriff’s deputies and returned to the victims.

The jury deliberated for two hours before returning with guilty verdicts on all charges, including two counts of first degree robbery, first degree burglary, elder theft, two counts of false imprisonment of an elderly person and grand theft of firearms, Hinchcliff reported.

Lemke had prior felony convictions and prison sentences between 1986 and 1995 for possession of a sawed off shotgun, transportation of methamphetamine, robbery, burglary and threatening a witness, said Hinchcliff.

When he is sentenced on Oct. 25, Lemke could face a maximum of 76 years to life in prison, according to Hinchcliff.

Hinchcliff added that Lemke's accomplice, Moncivaiz, previously admitted his participation and pleaded guilty to first degree burglary.

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New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and Congressman Mike Thompson at the Sierra Club's annual dinner on Sept. 29. Both men were honored with awards at the event. Courtesy photo.

WASHINGTON – Last weekend, Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA) was presented with the Sierra Club’s Edgar Wayburn Award for passing legislation that permanently protects 273,000 acres of wilderness in Northern California.

The award is given annually in recognition of service to the environment by a person in government.

Thompson was joined by other Sierra Club award winners, including former Vice President Al Gore and author and New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman.

“Northern California’s commitment to protecting our rich natural resources should be an example for the entire country,” said Thompson. “I am pleased to receive this award, and I hope it helps further our efforts to protect our country’s wild spaces and threatened and endangered species.”

“Congressman Thompson’s environmental record has been exemplary throughout his career in public life, and that consistently high standard was raised to a new level in 2006, when the Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act became law,” said Sierra Club President Robbie Cox.

The award was presented to Thompson on Sept. 29 during the Sierra Club’s annual dinner in San Francisco.

During the ceremony, Gore was presented with the John Muir Award for his work to raise awareness of climate change and Friedman was presented with the David R. Brower Award for his stories pertaining to the environment.

Thompson’s award recognized his successful passage of the Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Act (H.R. 233) in the 109th Congress, designating 273,000 acres of federal lands in Lake, Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino and Napa counties as wilderness in perpetuity.

The bill also designates 21 miles of Scenic River and approximately 51,000 acres as a Recreation Management Area for off-highway vehicles and mountain bikes. It was signed into law in October 2006.

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The report – issued just after noon on Thursday – noted that, effective immediately, Witter Springs Road will be closed to all traffic two miles north of Highway 20 at the bridge due to bridge deck failure.

Traffic will be detoured on East Road to Bachelor Valley Road and back to Witter Springs Road in order to avoid the bridge area, according to the report. Signs are in place to alert drivers.

Public Works' report said the closure will remain in effect until further notice.

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The accident occurred at about 2:44 p.m. according to the California Highway Patrol's incident logs.

CHP Officer Adam Garcia said late Wednesday that the crash took place on Highway 29 in Middletown near the junction with Highway 175.

Garcia said a preliminary investigation indicated that the collision occurred whn a 2002 Ford Ranger traveling southbound on Highway 29 began to make a left turn directly in front of a 2007 Honda motorcycle, which the pickup's driver failed to notice approaching.

The motorcycle rider took evasive action, Garcia said, and laid the motorcycle down onto its side and slid under the Ford.

Garcia said the motorcycle rider was transported to Redbud Hospital by ambulance with minor injuries.

He said the names of the drivers involded were not available Wednesday afternoon.

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Matthew Zanoni, 22, was riding on a pontoon boat with friends in the area of Shag Rock off Buckingham Saturday shortly before 3 p.m. when officials say he either jumped or fell into the water and didn't surface. Shag Rock is a rocky outcropping that rises out of the lake; it is located east of Clear Lake State Park and close to the Narrows.

Lt. Cecil Brown of the Lake County Sheriff's Office said the North Shore Dive Team and Lake County Search and Rescue Dive Team continued their search throughout the day on Monday.

“They didn't do a recovery today,” Brown said.

Brown said the search effort also used sidescan sonar, a technology similar to that rescuers used to locate the body of Vacaville resident John Stockton, who went missing in the lake in May.

The sonar system, which Brown said can scan in all directions, was brought in by a private contractor.

Brown said divers held a debriefing Monday on the day's search, with plans to continue Tuesday. He said rescuers have been communicating with Zanoni's family as the search has continued.

Divers are very limited in how long they can stay in the water because of various factors, particularly the water conditions, Brown explained.

Brown said on Monday evening the dive teams were discussing how to proceed in Tuesday's search effort. He did not have information available on what outside agencies may be assisting the search.

Zanoni was in Lake County visiting BoardStock, according to a family friend who contacted Lake County News.

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Sheriff Rod Mitchell confirmed at 11 a.m. that the search for 22-year-old Matthew Richard Zanoni was being called off, based on the determination of search leader, Lt. Gary Basor.

An official statement written by Basor that was released later in the day said that, as of Wednesday morning, the search was “scaled down significantly,” but would continue with the assistance of the Lake County Sheriff's Department Search and Rescue Teams, as well as with the continued efforts of the Lake County Sheriff's Department Marine Service Patrol.

Zanoni is described as a white Caucasian male, 5 feet 10 inches tall and 145 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes, according to Basor. He was last seen wearing board shorts and white socks. Zanoni was not wearing as shirt.

Zanoni was a passenger on an 18-foot Tracker pontoon boat when he went into the water, Basor reported. The boat was stopped about 100 to 150 feet offshore from Shag Rock, located just west of Buckingham peninsula, and some of its passengers had gone swimming.

Witnesses told authorities that Zanoni had been drinking alcoholic prior to the accident and that he wasn't wearing a life vest when he went into the lake, according to Basor's report.

The Lake County Sheriff's Department Marine Patrol first responded to the Rattlesnake Island area, based on the initial reports, Basor reported. When they arrived and couldn't find the boat they made a followup call and found that the incident occurred near Shag Rock.

Basor said when the deputies arrived, witnesses reported that several attempts were made by those on the pontoon boat to locate Zanoni.

Minutes after arriving, deputies requested that the North Shore Dive Team assist the sheriff’s department in the rescue efforts, said Basor. Members of the North Shore Dive Team made several dives that afternoon.

Beginning Sunday and lasting through Tuesday at 5 p.m., members of the North Shore Dive Team, the Lake County Search and Rescue Dive Team, as well as divers from Napa, Sonoma and Marin counties continued searching for Zanoni, Basor reported.

Basor said Thomas Tessier of Santa Rosa-based Aqua-Tech Inc. also volunteered to help, bringing his highly sophisticated drop sonar equipment for the search effort. Tessier helped search for a drowning victim on the lake in May.

The team – which Basor said was composed of highly trained professionals – assisted in more than 100 drop search positions in the given search area, which covered over one million square feet within the waters of Clear Lake.

Each location identified as a potential location for Zanoni was checked and searched, said Basor, but recovery efforts were temporarily slowed when civilian vessels also searching for Zanoni entered the search area causing concern for the diver’s safety. The boats were directed to leave the immediate area.

Family taking its own measures

Jennifer and Laura Zanoni, Matt Zanoni's sisters, were angry that the search was called off.

They said officials told them that they needed to “let nature take its course,” with Matt Zanoni's body expected to surface in about two weeks due to decomposition.

The sisters also were concerned because they said witnesses on the boat reported there were fishermen in the area who saw Matt Zanoni go into the water, yet the fishermen left quickly after the accident and didn't stay around to give a statement to sheriff's deputies.

They insisted that alcohol couldn't have been a major factor, as they were told by witnesses that he only had a few beers before he disappeared over the boat's side.

Jennifer Zanoni said she began making calls at 8 a.m. Wednesday, asking various agencies around the state for help.

Basor's report, however, said he had been in contact, and had been contacted, by some of those other agencies, including the US Coast Guard, and all agreed that every immediate effort to recover Zanoni has been tried.

“There's only so much we can do,” Chief Deputy Russell Perdock of the Lake County Sheriffs' Office told Lake County News.

He said the sonar equipment volunteered by Aqua-Tec was better than that used by Sonoma County.

Perdock also asserted that the Zanonis had told the other agencies that it was a rescue operation, not a recovery, which it had technically been since Sunday.

The Zanoni family plans to hire their own divers, who are scheduled to begin searching for Matt Zanoni on Saturday.

“Right now we're just trying to focus on finding that body so we can have some closure,” said Laura Zanoni.

Jennifer Zanoni asked for anyone who saw the incident to call her at 480-4254.

Basor reported that the investigation into the incident's cause is continuing.

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Matthew Zanoni, 22, was on a pontoon boat with friends when he fell of jumped into Clear Lake at about 3 p.m. Saturday, as Lake County News previously reported.

Sgt. Dennis Ostini of the Lake County Sheriff’s Boat Patrol said divers resumed searching at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Jennifer Zanoni, 28, Matthew Zanoni’s older sister, said she was out on the water near the diving operations, which ceased for the day at about 5 p.m.

Ostini said the 360-degree sonar scanning equipment, provided by Aqua-Tec Inc. of Santa Rosa, picked up a form Tuesday that divers thought might be Zanoni. However, it turned out to be a log with a branch sticking out.

Eight divers were in the water Monday, said Ostini, with a few less divers at work Tuesday.

Jennifer Zanoni, whose family is in the county for the search, said she was unhappy with the county’s efforts to find her brother.

“They’re not doing all they can do,” she said.

Zanoni said she and Ostini met Tuesday morning, and that they disagreed over how the search should be handled.

“I was very respectful and very calm,” said Zanoni. “I didn’t go in to harass them.”

Zanoni accused the sheriff’s department of turning down help from outside agencies she has contacted, including San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.

Ostini said the sheriff’s department is not turning down help in the search, and said they may have San Mateo come in on the search.

They have, however, decided not to call in more resources at this time, a decision Ostini said was made by Lt. Gary Basor, who is in charge of the search effort.

That's largely because the search area is a relatively small one, Ostini said, with water depth averaging 28 to 29 feet deep, with a 6-foot layer of mud at the bottom. Putting more people in the water won't necessarily help, he added.

Piecing together what happened

Zanoni said she’s still not clear what happened on the pontoon boat her brother was riding on before he went into the lake.

She said her brother left their mother's home in Windsor at about noon on Saturday to attend BoardStock. He hadn't felt up to going, but went anyway, meeting up with a group that included friend Brian McKinney, a former Windsor resident now living in Sacramento, who brought his pontoon boat over for the weekend.

Zanoni said Brian McKinney, McKinney's brother and another young man named Nate were the only people he knew on the boat, which had six or seven passengers.

She said she carefully questioned McKinney Tuesday about what occurred when her brother disappeared.

The group was in the Shag Rock area, near Buckingham and the Narrows, east of Lakeport, when they stopped the boat and turned off the motor, about 100 to 150 yards offshore, Zanoni said.

A few of the young women went swimming off the boat, while Matt Zanoni stood at the front of the boat, with the boat's railing shut, Jennifer Zanoni said.

She said Brian McKinney told her that everything seemed OK and then suddenly Matt Zanoni was over the rail and head first into the water. “He didn't jump off,” his sister said.

Several of the boat's passengers went into the water to look for him while calls were placed to 911, Zanoni said. McKinney claimed to have made five 911 calls before help was sent out.

She reported that officials have told her they are “certain there is no foul play.”

Zanoni, however, questions how her brother ended up in the lake. “Something is just not right.”

Rescue divers again held a planning session Tuesday night to discuss operations Wednesday, Ostini said.

Zanoni, however, said Basor informed her Tuesday evening that there were no plans to continue the search.

Lake County News could not contact officials Tuesday night to confirm a change in search plans.

Zanoni said her father was appreciative of the sheriff's office effort, but Zanoni herself remained highly critical, calling them “uncooperative.”

She said she wants to bring her brother home. “We're here 'til we find him. My dad's not leaving.”

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On Sept. 13, 25-year-old Daniel Williamson was shot multiple times in an incident that occurred near the Mormon Church on Bay Street, as Lake County News previously reported.

Lt. Mike Hermann of the Clearlake Police Department said Monday that police have identified individuals who they believe were responsible for the assault on Williamson.

“It appears that he was accidentally shot,” said Hermann. “The shooting was intentional but we don't believe he was the initial target.”

Hermann said the incident may have been drug-related, not gang-related. That question arose because of Williamson's previous gang ties.

Hermann confirmed that Williamson was the target of an Aug. 28 countywide enforcement operation in which paroles with gang contacts were the targets of parole searches.

Williamson is still in the hospital, Hermann reported, recovering from the gunshot wounds he received.

“He was hit in the right side of his chest and also the right side of his head,” said Hermann.

The shot to Williamson's head, added Hermann, didn't penetrate his skull.

The chest wound appears to have damaged Williamson's spine, said Hermann. The result is that Williamson may be paralyzed from the waist down.

Hermann said the main suspect in the case is in custody on a parole violation.

He did not say if that suspect was John Franklin Smith, 20, a man who police contacted early in the investigation and arrested on a parole violation Sept. 14. Smith no longer is in custody in the Lake County Jail, although parole violation arrests often result in suspects being transported out of county.

Det. Martin Snyder is leading the investigation. Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Snyder or Officer Michael Ray at 994-8251.

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