Lake County’s air has remained in the good classification with healthful air and blue skies for more than two weeks, Deputy Air Pollution Control Officer Doug Gearhart reported Wednesday.

Although hazy, the air quality is expected to be in the good to moderate range for the next couple days, said Gearhart, with the normal blue skies expected to return by Friday.

Gearhart said the Air Quality Index on Tuesday was 80; an AQI above 50 would be in the moderate range.

On Wednesday the the AQI was trending moderate, but improving. The AQI for particulate is expected to remain well below 101 where an unhealthy alert is given.

Some residual smoke is returning to the Lake County Air Basin from many uncontrolled fires burning in the north part of the state, Gearhart reported. Progress is being made on wildfires burning on federal land but much of the complexes are in rugged and remote areas.

Winds are expected to be variable from the west northwest Thursday, switching back to a more westerly pattern, ranging from southwest to northwest by Friday, according to Gearhart. The northerly winds are contributing to smoke intrusions in the Lake County Air Basin from these ongoing uncontained large wildfires.

Residual smoke can be expected to remain throughout areas of Northern California on occasion, including Lake County, though at a much reduced level, until the lightning Complex wildfires are contained, Gearhart said.

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Lake County’s residential curbside customers have been used to seeing three separate trucks collect garbage, recyclables and greenwaste. Just recently, some customers began calling to report that their garbage and recyclables are being dumped into the same garbage truck.

Jackie Armstrong of Waste Management explained that, what they can’t see, is that there’s a blade inside these new split-body trucks that the driver moves from one side to the other to keep the recycling separate from the garbage.

The garbage companies began looking at split-body trucks a couple of years ago when the state set new low emission standards requiring modification or replacement of older trucks in their fleets, Armstrong said. Last fall, spiraling fuel costs made the split-body trucks even more practical.

Another advantage of the split-body trucks is that there is one less truck on each route each week which reduces wear and tear on roadways, Armstrong reported.

The split-body trucks are in use on most, but not all, routes and the types of materials collected may vary from one route to the next, she added.

If you have questions about these new trucks of other waste management programs, please call the Recycling Hotline at 263-1980 or visit the county’s waste management Web site at www.recycling.co.lake.ca.us.

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The early Monday afternoon crash involved a vehicle being rear-ended. Photo by Harold LaBonte.

NICE – An early afternoon collision near Nice on Monday resulted in injuries and a temporary closure of Highway 20.

The two-vehicle collision, which was reported shortly before 12:30 p.m., involved a car rear-ending another, according to an initial California Highway Patrol report.

At least one person from each vehicle was transported to area hospitals, including one to Sutter Lakeside and another by REACH air ambulance to Santa Rosa.

Both directions of Highway 20 were closed for about an hour, CHP reported.

Traffic was backed up a half-mile in each direction, with westbound traffic diverted at Pyle Road and the Nice-Lucerne Cutoff.

CHP reported that the crash victims suffered minor injuries. No other information about the collision was available late Monday afternoon.

E-mail Harold LaBonte at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The crash closed down the highway and backed up traffic. Photo by Harold LaBonte.

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Lance Corporal Ivan Wilson will be honored in services planned this week. Courtesy photo.

CLEARLAKE – Services for a Clearlake Marine killed in Afghanistan late last month will be held this week.

Lance Corporal Ivan Wilson died July 21 in southern Afghanistan, as Lake County News has reported.

His mother, Denise Wilson, said funeral services for him will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. at Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Clearlake, to be followed by burial at Lower Lake Cemetery.

Jones and Lewis Mortuary in Lower Lake reported it will hold a closed casket visitation for Wilson on Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Wilson's body is being brought from Dover, Delaware on Thursday, according to his family.

A motorcade will move through Clearlake at about 3 p.m. on Thursday, said California Highway Patrol Officer Mike Humble.

Two CHP cruisers, six Patriot Guard motorcycle riders, family members and several Marine vehicles will take part in the procession, said Humble.

Clearlake Police Lt. Craig Clausen said a special public tribute area has been set up at Austin Park, at Lakeshore Boulevard and Olympic Drive.

The public is being asked to park at Haverty Field next to Austin Park, where they can gather to watch the procession as it slowly passes, Clausen said.

“We're trying to keep it safe,” he said.

Humble said some roads around Austin Park will be closed to accommodate the motorcade's movement.

For the Saturday funeral, Humble said CHP and Lake County Sheriff's deputies will conduct traffic control on Highway 53 to allow the motorcade through as it passes from the mortuary to the church and then, finally, to the cemetery. Five CHP units have been assigned to the event.

Clausen said Clearlake Police will handle traffic control within the city limits.

Humble said law enforcement planning for the motorcade and funeral has been taking place over the last two weeks, with a final briefing planned for Thursday morning.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Renato Hughes, 23, of San Francisco, was acquitted last Friday by an all-woman jury, who found he was not responsible for the deaths of friends Christian Foster, 22, and Rashad Williams, 21, on Dec. 7, 2005.

On Monday, Hughes' Martinez jury returned to complete deliberations on a charge of assault causing great bodily injury, said District Attorney Jon Hopkins.

The jury had apparently nearly decided last week to find Hughes guilty of the charge until one juror changed her mind overnight, said Hopkins. That juror remained unconvinced and so the jury was declared hung on the charge, 11-1.

Defense attorneys Stuart Hanlon and Sara Rief couldn't be reached for comment late Monday.

Hughes and his friends allegedly had broken into the Clearlake Park home of Shannon Edmonds to steal medical marijuana.

As a result, Hughes had been charged with the deaths of his friends under the provocative act – which allows people who allegedly participate in violent crimes that can result in a lethal response to be charged with murder for any deaths that occur – even though it was homeowner Shannon Edmonds who shot the two men. Edmonds has not been charged in the case.

Last week Hughes also was acquitted of robbery and attempted murder, as Lake County News has reported. He was, however, found guilty of burglary and assault for a firearm.

The trial – which began June 11 – was moved to Contra Costa County earlier this year following a decision by a judge last November to grant Hanlon's change of venue motion.

Hopkins said Hughes will return to Judge Barbara Zuniga's courtroom at 11 a.m. Sept. 9 for sentencing.

Hughes faces a maximum of eight years in prison, with the burglary counted as a strike, said Hopkins.

By the time he is sentenced, Hughes will have spent two years and nine months in jail, said Hopkins.

Based on the formula for time served, which takes the time actually spent in jail and adds 50 percent, Hughes will have credit for just over four years against his sentence, Hopkins said.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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California Highway Patrol Officer Adam Garcia said Kevin Wellmerling, 49, of Clearlake and two teenage girls from Cobb were injured in the two-car collision, which happened shortly after 1 p.m. Friday.

Garcia said a 17-year-old teen, whose name was not released, was driving a 2002 Chevy Suburban southbound on Highway 29 south of A Street near the Twin Lakes community when she lost control of her vehicle and crossed into the northbound lane.

There, she struck Wellmerling’s 1995 Pontiac Grand Am head-on, Garcia reported.

Garcia said it was initially claimed that the juvenile dropped a soda can at her feet and was attempting to retrieve it when the collision occurred.

A 16-year-old female passenger in the Suburban, whose name also was not released, had unbuckled her seatbelt to reach the soda when the collision occurred, he reported.

Garcia said the 17-year-old sustained major injuries and was taken to UC Davis Medical center by CalStar air ambulance.

Wellmerling was taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital by CalStar with major injuries and the 16 year-old-passenger was taken to Redbud Community Hospital with minor to moderate injuries by South Lake Fire Protection District's ambulance, Garcia reported.

Due to the collision the roadway was closed for at least an hour in both directions, according to reports from the scene.

Garcia said Officer Robert Hearn is investigating the collision.

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Sara Rief worked with Stuart Hanlon to defend 23-year-old Renato Hughes Jr., who was charged with the deaths of friends Rashad Williams and Christian Foster on Dec. 7, 2005, allegedly because the three were part of a violent break-in.

District Attorney Jon Hopkins alleged that the three men were part of a “crime team” whose violent actions during an attempt to steal medical marijuana from homeowner Shannon Edmonds resulted in death.

Even though it was Edmonds who pulled the trigger, Hughes' alleged participation in the break-in triggered prosecution under the provocative act theory for the deaths which, the theory holds, he allegedly helped cause.

Last Friday, Hughes was acquitted of the murder charges, as well as robbery and attempted murder, although he also was found guilty of burglary and assault with a firearm because the jury considered him to be aiding and abetting the crime. Another charge relating to assault causing great bodily injury resulted in a hung jury.

“We obviously are ecstatic at the outcome,” said Rief.

Hughes, she added, has been waiting a long time for the not guilty verdict.

Had be been convicted of the two homicides, Hughes was facing life without possibility of parole, said Rief.

District Attorney Jon Hopkins said Monday that Hughes was looking at about eight years in prison plus a strike for the burglary based on the convictions.

Sentencing in the case will take place on Sept. 9 in Martinez in Judge Barbara Zuniga's courtroom, where the trial was moved after a judge granted a change of venue motion.

Hughes already has served more than two and a half years in jail since being arrested following the deaths. If Zuniga gives him the maximum eight-year sentence he's only looking at a year and a half in prison at most, said Rief.

However, Rief noted that according to sentencing guidelines the judge would have to cite extraordinary circumstances to sentence Hughes to the maximum term.

Rief said Hughes is ready to appeal the two charges of which he was convicted.

Hopkins had said Monday that he considered the two guilty verdicts on the more minor charges a rejection by the jury of Hughes' claim that he wasn't involved in the crime.

To an extent, Rief agreed, although she said the jury “obviously thought his involvement was very minimal.”

In questioning jurors for about an hour Monday, Rief said they had some trouble with Hughes' comments on the stand, and found some of his answers somewhat evasive.

“The convictions do show that they did not believe the entirety of what he said,” she noted.

The jury, she said, did a very good job with a very confusing case. She said the provocative act law has been around since the mid 1960s, but there isn't a lot of case law on it. Nevertheless, the all-female jury worked diligently to move through the difficult trial.

“Listening to them, they were really careful in their deliberations,” she said.

She said Hopkins indicated to the jury on Monday that he did not think he would attempt to retry Hughes on the lesser charge. If convicted it would only mean another year and a half in prison, said Rief.

With Hughes' trial over, attention has been turning to Edmonds, who shot Williams and Foster as they ran from his home. Rief said the National Association for the Advance of Colored People is looking at ways to get a case filed against Edmonds.

Likewise, she and Hanlon have felt from the beginning that Edmonds should be considered for charges. She cited his chasing after the men and shooting Foster while he was on the ground, and said by doing so he was taking justice into his own hands.

“We do feel that the wrong person was charged in this case,” she said.

Seeing Edmonds charged in Lake County isn't likely, said Hopkins.

Hopkins said he and the defense had a tremendous disagreement about what the evidence showed with regard to Edmonds' actions and the shots fired.

Hopkins said the jury agreed with his interpretation of the physical evidence that the fatal shot to Christian Foster came while he was ducking down to go out a sliding glass door.

When Hopkins' predecessor, Gary Luck, was still district attorney, he carefully considered whether or not to charge Edmonds.

“His conclusion that I agree with is that we would not be able to get a unanimous jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Shannon Edmonds did not fear for his safety and the safety of his family,” said Hopkins.

He explained that just before the shootings occurred, Dale Lafferty, the then-17-year-old son of Edmonds' girlfriend Lori Tyler, had just been viciously beaten by a baseball bat, an act that left him with permanent brain damage. Seeing the teen so badly hurt caused Edmonds to “lose it,” Hopkins said.

Edmonds himself also had been hit in the face with a shotgun. “The shotgun was out in the dark with these guys, getting away,” said Hopkins, with Edmonds not knowing if they would attack again.

“Somebody tell me how I'm going to convince a jury to convict him,” said Hopkins.

While many people have tried to cast the case in terms of race, Hopkins said he's heard from many others who believe Edmonds was defending his home and family.

“It's a convenient way to try and avoid the real issue in the case,” Hopkins said.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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The incident happened at about 10:40 p.m. Sunday south of Doten Road near the Konocti Conservation Camp, the California Highway Patrol reported.

CHP Officer Adam Garcia said the 34-year-old woman, whose name was not released pending family notification, was walking northbound on the east shoulder adjacent to the northbound lane.

Eric Nelson, 50, of Kelseyville was driving a 2006 Kia SUV northbound towards Kelseyville when his vehicle struck the woman. Garcia said the woman suffered fatal injuries.

Garcia said Nelson and his passengers were not reported as being injured.

The cause of the collision is under investigation by Officer Randy Forslund, Garcia reported.

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David Garlow Deason, 68, of Clearlake was convicted in February 2006 of shooting to death his 48-year-old girlfriend Marie Parlet on Dec. 6, 2004.

However, last December the First Appellate District Court overturned Deason's conviction, ruling that the trial court in Lake County “erred in excluding evidence of his intoxication,” as Lake County News has reported.

“He's going to be retried,” said Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff.

The trial, said Hinchcliff, is set to begin Sept. 9.

Deason allegedly had a blood alcohol level of 0.27 on the night he is alleged to have shot Parlet. The couple, according to court documents, had a disagreement earlier in the day, after which Deason left and returned later that evening. At that point he is alleged to have shot Parlet once in the chest and once in the back from a distance of 18 inches.

Judge Richard Martin had ruled during the 2006 trial that no evidence could be presented about Deason's level of intoxication. That included turning down a request by defense attorney J. David Markham to call a toxicologist to the stand.

Markham had argued that the toxicologist could explain that Deason had consumed as many as 14 drinks to get to the level of intoxication he allegedly reached. Markham also asked that the jurors be instructed to consider the alcohol consumption in deliberations.

The appellate court disagreed with Martin's ruling, saying that Deason's level of intoxication was crucial to the issues of premeditation and deliberation, which are necessary elements in a first-degree murder conviction.

Hinchcliff said the instructions about considering Deason's alleged intoxication will be given when Deason is tried next. “Other than that, it will be the same trial.”

Deputy District Attorney John Langan, who previously prosecuted the case, will work on the next trial as well, said Hinchcliff.

Langan did not return calls seeking comment. Nor did Doug Rhoades, who will be representing Deasn in his retrial.

“Probably the biggest challenge is going to be getting all of the witnesses back in to testify,” said Hinchcliff.

Parlet's son, James Clarkson, of San Marcos, Texas, told Lake County News he was in disbelief when he first heard of the conviction being overturned. He wasn't notified – he found out about it inadvertently on the Internet after searching for press on the original case. That's when the story of the overturned conviction came up.

He called the reasons for the conviction a “loophole,” and said he was convinced of Deason's guilt in shooting his mother at point blank range.

Clarkson said his mother was a “genuinely nice person” whose life was ended before her time. She was a loving mother to him, his brother and sister; she also had five grandchildren whom she hadn't yet met. He's considering coming to California for the retrial.

After his conviction was overturned, Deason was brought back to Lake County this spring. He is being held in the Lake County Jail without bail on a charge of first-degree murder.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Delia Smith, 34, died after being hit at about 10:40 p.m. Sunday as she walked along Highway 29 south of Doten Road near the Konocti Conservation Camp, the California Highway Patrol reported.

CHP Officer Adam Garcia said that it appears that Smith stepped into the traffic lane just before she was hit by a Kia SUV driving northbound.

He said CHP is trying to determine if Smith's moving into the traffic lane was intentional. Garcia added that a toxicology report also is pending.

Officer Randy Forslund is investigating the incident, Garcia said.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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A man's body had been discovered Saturday morning on the Jago Bay community beach, as Lake County News reported Sunday.

Captain Jim Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office on Monday identified the man as 52-year-old Joel Christian Hansen.

The cause of Hansen's death, he added, does not appear to be due to foul play.

Bauman reported that sheriff's deputies and Lake County Fire Protection District rescue personnel were dispatched to the Jago Bay beach area, off of Anderson Road in Lower Lake, at about 11 a.m. Saturday on a reported drowning. Deputies responded from both land and water.

When deputies arrived at the scene, they were led to the beach where Hansen's body was lying at the water's edge. By that time, fire personnel had already arrived and determined Hansen to be deceased, Bauman said.

Bauman said Hansen’s fiancée, Stephanie Dressler of Orangedale, told deputies she and Hansen had gone to the beach the previous day at about 1 p.m.

When Dressler left the beach two hours later, she could not find Hansen but was not concerned as she assumed he had gone out on a boat with a friend, said Bauman. The following morning, she awoke and Hansen had still not returned to their summer home.

Dressler started asking friends and relatives in the area if they had seen Hansen but she soon learned she had apparently been the last one to see him alive the previous day, Bauman reported. They began looking for Hansen and when a relative went down to check the beach, she found Hansen face down in the water.

Hansen was pulled ashore by the relative and when others responded to her yells for help, the call to 911 was made, Bauman said.

A friend of Hansen’s from the east Bay Area told deputies that he and the Hansen family were longtime owners of the vacation homes along the Jago Bay beach. Bauman said the man told deputies that friends and family of the Hansens' were “partying heavily” the previous night.

Bauman said the man went on to tell deputies that in the morning, he heard friends and relatives calling for Hansen and a short time later, he heard Hansen’s cousin yelling for help from the beach. He responded to the beach and helped the cousin pull Hansen from the water.

Due to the obscure circumstances of Hansen’s death, sheriff’s detectives were called to the scene. Bauman said the exact cause of death is pending further investigation.

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The star chart for August 2008. Courtesy of John Zimmerman.

The Perseid Meteor Shower

This shower occurs in the morning of Aug. 12. The moon won’t set until 2 a.m. The moon will interfere with viewing. So it’s best to wait until after 2 a.m. before attempting to view.

Look to the east – that is where the shower will originate. A meteor shower occurs when the earth passes through the dust and debris left by a comet’s tail.

The Summer Triangle

Face south, and look directly overhead. You will see three very bright stars that form a triangle – this is called the “Summer Triangle.” Each star is in a different constellation.

The star furthest to west is Vega – it is in the constellation of Lyra the Harp (see the star chart). To the east is the bright star Deneb in the constellation of Cygnus the Swan.

To the south, the third star in the triangle is Altair in the constellation Aquila the eagle.

Deep Sky Objects

August skies have some beautiful objects that can be seen with a small to medium telescope. These objects are called deep sky objects.

One of these is the Swan Nebula – it’s a big cloud of dust and gas that looks a bit like a swan.

The Swan Nebula. Image courtesy of NASA.

Another is the Wild Duck Cluster – a group of stars that appear close together that resemble a flock of ducks in flight.

The Wild Duck Cluster. Image courtesy of Astroden.com.

And yet another is the Ring Nebula – it looks like a smoke ring in the sky!

The Ring Nebula. Image courtesy of NASA.

To learn more about Lake County Skies in August, and to observe these objects through a telescope, visit Taylor Observatory (www.taylorobservatory.org) on Saturday, Aug. 23 from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.

John Zimmerman has been an amateur astronomer for 50 years. He is a member of the Taylor Observatory staff, where, among his many duties, he helps create planetarium shows.

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