Many people from throughout the community are active supporters of Operation Tango Mike. At left, veteran Harry Graves is a faithful supporter. At right, Von McPherson prepares her husband's care package. Photos by Ginny Craven.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – When something that survives purely out of the goodness of peoples' hearts has lasted eight years, it should be celebrated.

On Thursday, March 17, Operation Tango Mike will commemorate eight years of troop support.

On the third Thursday of every month, volunteers gather at 6 p.m. at Umpqua Bank, 805 11th St. in Lakeport, to prepare care packages for deployed troops.

Items for the care packages and shipping costs are covered through donations and fundraising.

The effort began with a small donation receptacle at a local office in March 2003 and has grown immensely.

Today, 80 to 100 monthly care packages are shipped to troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and on deployed ships.

Military families are supported as well. Many volunteers who support Operation Tango Mike have volunteered their assistance with home repairs, transportation and more.

It is often difficult to maintain a household, hold down a job and raise a family when a loved one is deployed. A helping hand is a small act of kindness with a big impact.

Since there is no base or military installation in our area, folks who wish to support troops and their families gather via Operation Tango Mike.

Families are welcomed and are provided with emotional support, knowing that they and their loved ones are appreciated. Families make great sacrifices when troops deploy, often for a year at a time. Families serve, too.

“Forget politics, support our troops,” is a guideline that has helped ensure that all are welcomed and appreciated at Operation Tango Mike functions. The effort does not involve politics and is solely motivated to support our troops and their families.

Everyone is welcome to attend packing parties. If your schedule does not allow participation, there are still ways to contribute. Correspondence is needed for every care package. All that is needed is a bit of one's time to jot down a greeting or note of support for a soldier far from home.

Children help at the holiday packing parties, including Allison, right, who decorates her mom's care package at the Christmas packing party. Photos by Ginny Craven.

Drawings and colored pictures from children are also favorites. Often, these letters and pictures are hung in "hooches" (military housing) as reminders that folks at home are thinking of the troops.

The troops receiving care packages are truly grateful. Most say it doesn't really matter to them what they receive. They are simply thankful to receive something from home and their spirits are lifted in knowing they are not forgotten.

Their appreciation is evidenced by the hundreds of thank you messages that have been sent to Operation Tango Mike. Many of the notes are hung on the wall where they can be read at packing parties. Others, such as flags flown in honor of Operation Tango Mike, are proudly displayed on shelves at Umpqua Bank.

A recent message read, “Ginny-Thank you and Operation Tango Mike for supporting F Co 2/135 AVN (DUSTOFF) Medevac serving in Farah Afghanistan for the last year. You and your group's dedication and service to those who serve is a testament to the power of caring by Great American Citizens. We

salute you and your efforts. We will start coming home early next month. Thanks Again, SSG Keith Fricker.”

Another read, “I have a few days left in Iraq, then I'll be heading home! Thank you for everything you guys do. It really helps a lot. When do you guys normally pack boxes? When I'm home on leave next month I wanted to stop by. I'm not sure what my leave days are gonna be yet. Again thanks for

everything! Sgt Prior, Roy USMC.”

The public is invited and encouraged to help celebrate and commemorate eight years' of community effort and troop support.

On March 17, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., there will be an open house at Umpqua Bank. It will be a great opportunity to pay a visit and learn more about Operation Tango Mike, read letters from troops, see troop photos and get acquainted.

The regular monthly packing party will take place at 6 p.m. As holiday items are always shipped one month in advance to ensure timely delivery, the March care packages will be Easter boxes.

You are invited to bring along any special treats, candies or items you would like to include in care

packages.

For further information or to add your loved one to the care package recipient list, please call 707-349-2838, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or write to 5216 Piner Court, Kelseyville, CA 95451.

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From left, Jason Harlan and Donald Beets were arrested along with a 17-year-old juvenile by Lake County Sheriff's deputies on Saturday, March 12, 2011, after they allegedly were shooting firearms on a hill above Nice, Calif., with bullets striking a nearby house. Lake County Jail photos.

NICE, Calif. – Reports of shooting in the hills above Nice on Saturday evening have led to the arrests of two men and a juvenile.

Arrested were Donald Anthony Beets of Nice and Jason Donavon Harlan of Lucerne, both 18, and a 17-year-old juvenile from Nice whose name was not released because of his minor status.

On Saturday, March 12, at approximately 5 p.m., sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of shots being fired near East Butte Street, according to a report from Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Bauman said one of the callers residing on Sherman Street reported their home had been struck by one of the bullets.

When deputies arrived in the area, they were led to a dirt road leading into the hills where an expended shotgun shell had been found, Bauman said. While deputies were investigating, they heard more shots being fired nearby in the hills and began searching the area on foot.

As deputies were hiking towards the area where the shots were heard, they encountered a white Honda occupied by several young adults driving towards them, Bauman said. The occupants were detained and identified as Beets, Harlan and the juvenile.

Bauman said Beets was in possession of several unexpended shotgun rounds.

During the detention, deputies located a 9 millimeter handgun and a sawed off 12 gauge shotgun in the trunk of the car, Bauman said.

As a result of their investigation, Bauman said deputies determined all three suspects had been shooting the guns in dangerous proximity to nearby homes and all three were arrested.

Subsequent to the arrests, deputies contacted the residents of the home on Sherman Street. Bauman said the investigation revealed that one of the bullets fired from the handgun had penetrated the home near a sliding glass door and lodged into the living room. The home was occupied by two people at the time.

Beets and Harlan were booked at the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility, with bail for each set at $10,000. Bauman said the juvenile was booked at the Lake County Juvenile Hall.

All three were charged with discharging a firearm in a negligent manner, and Beets was also charged with felony possession of the sawed off shotgun, Bauman said.

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KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – On Tuesday the Kelseyville Unified School District will consider approving a second interim budget report that includes all of the cuts board members identified in meetings last week.

The public portion of the meeting will convene at 7 p.m. in the Kelseyville Unified School District Office board room, 4410 Konocti Road.

The full agenda and staff reports for the meeting can be downloaded at www.kusd.lake.k12.ca.us/District/#!/District/Events/130909-Board-Meeting.html .

The board will be asked to consider approving the district's second interim budget, which it's required to do by March 15, according to a report from District Chief Financial Officer Tiffany Kemp.

The district, which is drawing on its reserves, is not running on a balanced budget and has therefore been placed on qualified status by the state. That status requires oversight by the Lake County Office of Education, which has provided a financial expert to assist with creating a fiscal recovery plan, officials reported.

Kemp writes in her report to the board that a lack of revenue from the state “will most definitely impact education funding significantly.”

She goes on to add, “We are bracing for the deepest cuts yet, with a deficit factor of 19.608 percent and ongoing cuts of $330 per students.”

Kemp's update – which is the preface to the 104-page interim budget report – includes approximately $2,293,400 in cuts the board identified in its budget last week, as Lake County News has reported.

Those cuts include one-time savings of $247,000, $867,700 for 2011-12 and in the 2012-13 school year another $1,178,700, according to Kemp's report.

Other items on the agenda include the Kelseyville Unified Teachers Association initial proposal to Kelseyville Unified School District for negotiations 2011-12 including articles on class size and grievances, and a resolution authorizing borrowing funds for the coming fiscal year, as well as the issuance and sale of one or more series of tax and revenue anticipation notes.

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Mark your calendar: On March 19, a full moon of rare size and beauty will rise in the east at sunset.

It's a super “perigee moon” – the biggest in almost 20 years.

“The last full moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1983,” said Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory in Washington DC. “I'd say it's worth a look.”

Full moons vary in size because of the oval shape of the moon's orbit. It is an ellipse with one side (perigee) about 50,000 kilometers closer to Earth than the other (apogee): diagram.

Nearby perigee moons are about 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than lesser moons that occur on the apogee side of the moon's orbit.

“The full moon of March 19 occurs less than one hour away from perigee – a near-perfect coincidence that happens only 18 years or so,” added Chester.

Less-perfect perigee moons occur more often. In 2008, for instance, there was a full moon four hours from perigee. Many observers thought that one looked great, so the one-hour perigee moon of 2011 should be a real crowd pleaser.

A perigee full moon brings with it extra-high “perigean tides,” but this is nothing to worry about, according to NOAA.

In most places, lunar gravity at perigee pulls tide waters only a few centimeters (an inch or so) higher than usual.

Local geography can amplify the effect to about 15 centimeters (6 inches) – not exactly a great flood.

Indeed, contrary to some reports circulating the Internet, perigee moons do not trigger natural disasters.

The “super moon” of March 1983, for instance, passed without incident. And an almost-super moon in December 2008 also proved harmless.

OK, the moon is 14 percent bigger than usual, but can you really tell the difference? It's tricky. There are no rulers floating in the sky to measure lunar diameters. Hanging high overhead with no reference points to provide a sense of scale, one full moon can seem much like any other.

The best time to look is when the moon is near the horizon. That is when illusion mixes with reality to produce a truly stunning view.

For reasons not fully understood by astronomers or psychologists, low-hanging moons look unnaturally large when they beam through trees, buildings and other foreground objects.

On March 19, why not let the “moon illusion” amplify a full moon that's extra-big to begin with? The swollen orb rising in the east at sunset may seem so nearby, you can almost reach out and touch it.

Don't bother. Even a super perigee Moon is still 356,577 kilometers away. That is, it turns out, a distance of rare beauty.

Dr. Tony Phillips works for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – State and local health officials are monitoring the situation with Japan's damaged nuclear reactors and said they are not recommending taking health countermeasures at this time.

As a result of the recent nuclear power plant concerns in Japan resulting from last week’s earthquake and tsunami, Lake County Health Services has received numerous calls from the public.

Concerned over the potential for released radiation to cause contamination and exposure remotely, callers have specifically contemplated use of oral potassium iodide for its protective effects from radioactive iodine exposure, the agency reported.

However, health officials currently advise against taking these steps.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has stated that, at present, Japan’s nuclear emergency presents no danger to California.

California Department of Public Health’s radiological health branch has radioactivity monitoring systems in place for the air, water and food supply.

State public health officials reported that they are monitoring the situation closely in conjunction with state and federal partners, including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Energy, FEMA Region IX, and the California Emergency Management Agency.

California has a plan of response for radiological emergencies if one were to arise. Plans include the Nuclear Radiological Emergency Program and the National Response Framework.

Although California does stockpile emergency supplies, including potassium iodide (KI) tablets in regions around nuclear power plants, they are not recommended at this time, according to the office of Dr. Karen Tait, Lake County's health officer.

She said potassium iodide can pose health risks to certain people, such as those with allergies to iodine, shellfish, or who have thyroid problems. Dosages can vary and should be only taken as advised by a medical professional.

California has a plan for response to radiological emergencies called the Nuclear Emergency Response Plan (http://www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/environhealth/Documents/NERP/NERP.pdf). Tait reported that Lake County Health Services has public health emergency plans that coordinate with California Department of Public Health and include procedures for the distribution of “medical countermeasures” when needed.

Tait said the decision to use medical countermeasures is one that must balance risk and benefit. “As long as we are reassured that there is no danger from the radiation releases in Japan, we could do more harm than good by taking potassium iodide, especially in people who have risks for adverse effects.”

Lake County Health Services and other local agencies continue to monitor the situation and will provide updates as needed.

For more information about radiation emergencies, visit http://emergency.cdc.gov/radiation/?s_cid=ccu031411_004.

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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lakeport Police Department, Clearlake Police Department and Lake County Sheriff’s Office are extending thanks to local businesses and community organizations for their support and donations which funded this year’s local law enforcement agencies partnership with the National Child Safety Council’s (NCSC) children’s safety educational materials program.

The National Child Safety Council is a nonprofit organization whose mission is dedicated to the safety of children.

The NCSC provides more than 300 pieces of educational material about child safety, drug abuse prevention and missing children which are used by approximately 6000 public safety agencies in 40 states.

Examples of the educational books used locally for elementary through high school age children include drug abuse resistance education, school violence prevention, gang prevention, gun safety, internet safety, stranger danger, inappropriate touching, home safety and safe walker-safe rider tips.

For detailed information about the NCSC and it’s mission or materials go to www.nationalchildsafetycouncil.org.

Local law enforcement agencies use the materials to promote child safety and educate children in

our schools and throughout our communities.

A statement from the agencies noted, “We are proud to work in partnership with the NCSC, local businesses, community organizations and local school districts in protecting our youth.”

Interested local citizens, businesses, community or youth organizations or school staff may contact their local law enforcement agency for further information or to obtain copies of the educational materials.

The following local organization and business partners in this year’s local law enforcement and

NCSC program are listed below. The police and sheriff's office thanked and commended them for their outstanding support and dedication to their communities.

Lakeport: Early Lake Lions, Lakeport Kiwanis, Northlake Medical Pharmacy, Lannette R. Huffman DDS, Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Clearlake RediMix Inc., Alexander R. McGeoch DDS, Lake County Guns, Anchorage Inn Motel and Fastop Convenience Store.

Lower Lake: Epidendio Construction Inc., Lake County Gas.

Upper Lake: Pivniska Trucking LLC, Nor Cal Moto & Speed Equipment.

Middletown: Twin Pine Casino & Hotel, Noble’s Liquor.

Clearlake: Melissa Fanning-Certified Public Accountant, Bob Kraft’s Muffler and Brake, IGA Foods Etc., Tire Pros, Laguna Mexican Restaurant and LaRose Vac & Custom Framing.

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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol (CHP) knows Californians are preparing to celebrate that sure harbinger of spring – St. Patrick’s Day – and the agency is reminding all revelers to make sure they have a sober designated driver to make their trip home a safe one.

For those drivers who do not heed this advice, the CHP will be out in force looking for and arresting anyone under the influence and behind the wheel.

“We want people to enjoy themselves and have a good time, but safety on the roadways is everyone’s responsibility,” said CHP Lt. Mark Loveless, commander of the CHP Clear Lake Area Office. “If you are going to be drinking, make sure you have a designated driver, who will not be consuming alcohol, to get you home safely.”

Loveless added, “Every CHP officer and local law enforcement will be looking for impaired drivers on St. Patrick’s day, and every other day, too. This is about saving lives.”

The CHP also reminds motorists to report suspected drunk drivers by calling 911 so law enforcement can intervene and remove an intoxicated driver from the roadway before they injure or kill someone.

Callers should be prepared to provide dispatchers a description of the vehicle, its location and direction of travel.

The CHP will continue to emphasize DUI enforcement and education efforts, especially around holiday celebration times such as St. Patrick’s Day, Independence Day and Halloween.

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MENDOCINO COUNTY, Calif. – Authorities have released the name of a man wanted for a double homicide in Trinity County who later was killed in a Mendocino crash while fleeing law enforcement.

The suspect was identified as 32-year-old Tomas Pitagoras Gouverneur, who had addresses in San Francisco and in the state of Oregon, according to Capt. Kurt Smallcomb of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.

Gouverneur died as the result of a Monday evening crash with an oak tree while he was being pursued at high speeds on Highway 162 north of Willits by Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies, Willits Police and California Highway Patrol officers, according to Smallcomb.

He was alleged to have stabbed four people – two of them fatally – in an attack in Kettenpom, located in southern Trinity County, according to the Redding Record-Searchlight. No motive was reported.

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KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The second-annual Kelseyville Olive Festival, an event which focuses on the olive industry in Lake County, as well as other local agriculture, will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, March 20, at the Kelseyville Olive Mill located at 5625 Gaddy Lane in Kelseyville.

The festival will feature locally produced olives and olive oil, education and demonstrations, olive oil and olive recipe contests for amateurs and professionals alike, and a variety of other contests and activities for the whole family.

Vendors offering olive-related and other local products will be present the day of the event, offering samples, selling food, soaps, lotions, trinkets, and more, as well as providing educational materials about olives and our local industry.

There is no cost to attend the festival; samples and demonstrations are free of charge. Wine and beer tasting will be available for a fee.

Several related contests will be held up to and during the festival, including a poster contest, amateur recipe contest, olive pit spitting contest, and “people’s choice” contests, such as the professional recipe contest, open to professional chefs and caterers, the olive oil contest, and cured olives contest. For details, contact Livia Kurtz at 707-279-0483.

The Kelseyville Olive Festival is presented by Rosa d’Oro Vineyards and the Kelseyville Olive Mill & Wine Company. Both companies are located in Kelseyville and produce wine and olive oil.

Event proceeds from the silent auction, raffle, wine store sales, and wine and beer tasting will benefit the Lake Family Resource Center.

The Resource Center is a 501(c)3 non-profit agency in Kelseyville that provides several programs in Lake County, including the Healthy Families Program, Rape Crisis Center, 24/7 Community Crisis Line, Behavioral Health Services, Early Head Start, Lake County Tobacco Control Program, Domestic Violence Assistance and the Adolescent Family Life Program. For more information, call 707-279-0563.

For more information about Rosa d’Oro Vineyards, visit www.rosadorowine.com or call 707-279-0483.

For information about Kelseyville Wine Co. and Kelseyville Olive Mill, visit www.kelseyvillewinecompany.com or call 707-279-2995.

The Kelseyville Olive Mill is located at 5625 Gaddy Lane in Kelseyville. For more information about the Kelseyville Olive Festival, contact Livia Kurtz, Rosa d’Oro Vineyards, at 707-279-0483 or visit www.kelseyvilleolivefestival.com.

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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A man convicted of killing his wife in 1980 and whose competency at trial is now in question due to a federal court ruling is having his case transferred back to Lake County.

Gerald Stanley, 66, is set to appear at a hearing in Lake County next month to begin the process of a retroactive competency hearing, which a federal judge ruled is necessary due to juror misconduct.

Stanley was sentenced to death in February 1984 for the shooting death of his wife, Cynthia Rogers.

Lake County District Attorney Don Anderson was in Butte County for a Tuesday hearing to discuss the case.

Stanley's trial, which began in January 1983 and stretched over a year, was moved from Lake County to Butte County due to media coverage, according to case documents.

However, Butte County Superior Court Judge Gerald Hermansen has ruled that the case can return to the area of origin, and Stanley has been agreeable to the transfer.

Anderson said Stanley is set to appear at an April 18 hearing for the appointment of a new attorney and setting of further proceedings.

Stanley has asked to have a private attorney represent him or to be able to represent himself, said Anderson.

Once those matters are settled, Anderson said the court can begin the hearings to determine if Stanley was mentally competent at the time of his trial, and therefore eligible for the death penalty.

In August 1980 Stanley shot Rogers with a high-powered hunting rifle while she was at her father's resort in Nice.

The search for Stanley after the shooting would become one of the largest manhunts in the county's history, and was one in which Anderson – then a young sheriff's deputy – took part, Anderson said in a previous interview.

Previous to Rogers' killing, Stanley was convicted of the 1975 murder of his first wife, Kathleen Rhiley, who he killed while she was taking their children to school.

A third wife, Diana Lynn Ramel, went missing on Feb. 14, 1980, in Manton, located in a remote area of Tehama County.

For years Stanley has offered to give the location of Ramel's body to authorities in exchange for an execution date, although attempts to find her body have not been successful.

The case went back to Butte County after federal court Judge Frank C. Damrell ruled in March 2008 that a female juror who had been a domestic violence victim didn't disclose that prior to the jury ruling on Stanley's mental competence in the trial's death penalty phase.

While the competency issue is settled, Stanley's death sentence is on a stay, officials reported.

If the upcoming hearing process finds that he was competent at the time of the trial, the death sentence could be reinstated.

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State and local officials, including Lake County Water Resources Engineer Tom Smythe (second from left), next to county Water Resources Director Scott De Leon and California Department of Water Resources Incident Commander Mark List, look at an emptied secondary containment area near the breach in the Middle Creek levee between Nice and Upper Lake, Calif., on Monday, March 14, 2011. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Work to repair a breach in a levee in the Middle Creek area continued into Monday evening, with plans for crews to continue efforts to repair the damage on Tuesday morning.

The breach, first reported to Lake County Water Resources at around 9:30 a.m. Monday, resulted in numerous state and local agencies working throughout the day to stabilize the aging levee.

Converging on the site Monday were the Lake County Department of Water Resources, Office of Emergency Services, Lake County Sheriff's Office, Cal Fire, California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation hand crews from Konocti Conservation Camp, Lakeport and Northshore Fire districts, Supervisor Denise Rushing, Robinson Rancheria Tribal Police and California Department of Fish and Game.

Work continued until about 9 p.m. Monday, when Cal Fire and the Konocti Conservation Camp crews were finally released from the scene.

“At this point is looks stable,” said Mark List, incident commander for the California Department of Water Resources.

List said there were plans to leave someone on scene throughout the night to monitor the levee.

He said three hand crews are scheduled to return on Tuesday and continue shoring up the area.

An area around the mouths of two large pipes that extend from Rodman Slough through the levee and to a nearby pump station were sandbagged. Photo by Elizabeth Larson.

The National Weather Service in Sacramento extended a flash flood warning from 5 p.m. Monday until Tuesday morning. Flooding, however, was not expected.

Sheriff's Lt. Dave Perry, who also oversees the Office of Emergency Services, was on the scene throughout the day Monday, with Sheriff Frank Rivero joining him to survey the situation in the late afternoon.

Perry said there were 20 homes in the area, but only eight were under a voluntary evacuation that the Office of Emergency Services had suggested.

Rivero said the department was not enforcing mandatory evacuations as of Monday evening.

Lake County Water Resources Director Scott De Leon explained that the leak took the form of an underground channel had developed alongside the larger of the two pipes.

That channel had allowed water to begin pushing out of Clear Lake and into the nearby fields.

De Leon, Water Resources and the Office of Emergency Services managed the scene earlier in the day until the arrival of officials from the California Department of Water Resources, which maintains the levee, estimated to have been built in the 1950s.

During the late morning and early afternoon, De Leon and his staff – including Water Resources Engineer Tom Smythe – had worked at the scene, putting down sandbags along with local residents who volunteered to come out and assist the crews. Smythe also retrieved a pump to try to take pressure off the breach.

In all, De Leon said the county brought out about 3,000 sandbags and five yards of sand.

Near the levee is a pump station, with two large pipes that extend out from the station for about 30 yards before going under a road that runs parallel to the levee. The pipes then emerge on the other side of the levee berm and empty into Clear Lake.

The efforts Monday included creating a secondary containment area where the pump station pipes emerged from under the easement road that runs along the levee.

Shortly before 6:30 p.m., under the direction of California Department of Water Resources, a contractor began pumping concrete slurry into the leak, which allowed the secondary containment area to be emptied out.

The hand crews then dug into the easement road, using shovels and pickaxes, to locate where the leak had developed alongside the pipe, with more concrete slurry being injected into those holes. Nearby, other inmate crew members worked on building a new sandbag line out closer to the pump station.

At about 7:45 p.m., List began to dismiss the hand crews, which had worked steadily through the day.

Then he and other state Department of Water Resources staff spotted water beginning to force its way out of another hole on the easement road.

The crews had to be called back to begin putting down a new line of sandbags in order to deal with that new leak before finally being released just over an hour later.

The area where the breached levee is located is part of the Middle Creek Restoration Area, the goal of which is to return about 1,400 acres of reclaimed land to wetland.

The project – years in the making, and still many years and dollars from completion – is meant not only to improve the health of Clear Lake by reducing sediment and nutrient loading, but also get rid of the aging levees which are becoming increasingly unreliable.

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MENDOCINO COUNTY, Calif. – A suspect being sought in connection with a double homicide in Trinity County was killed Monday night in a vehicle crash in Mendocino County.

The man, whose name was not released pending notifications of family, was killed in a crash that occurred at around 7 p.m. Monday, according to a report from Mendocino Sheriff's Capt. Kurt Smallcomb.

At 6:20 p.m. Monday the Mendocino County Sheriffs Office received an agency assist “be on the look out” bulletin from Trinity County Sheriffs Department regarding a double homicide, Smallcomb said.

He said that the Trinity County Sheriff's Office advised they had an outstanding suspect – who they alleged was responsible for a double fatal stabbing – flee Trinity County at approximately 5 p.m. Sunday and a possible route of travel would be Mina Road en route to Highway 162 through Covelo.

Smallcomb said the suspect vehicle was described as a teal-colored, small four-door sedan with Oregon license plates. The suspect was described as a white male adult with a beard.

Deputies left the Willits area en route to Covelo via Highway 162. Smallcomb said that at approximately 6:45 p.m. deputies were driving on Highway 162 towards Covelo when, at approximately mile post marker 10, they parked their car so they could see the roadway and anyone traveling along its path.

Soon after parking along the road, they observed the suspect pass them and continue driving west on Highway 162, according to Smallcomb.

Deputies attempted to make a vehicle stop but Smallcomb said the suspect failed to yield and a pursuit was initiated.

Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies requested the assistance of Willits Police Department and the California Highway Patrol. Smallcomb said deputies followed the suspect at speeds ranging from 60 to 90 miles per hour.

The suspect then turned south onto Highway 101 towards Willits, with a single sheriff's unit continuing the pursuit, Smallcomb said.

Smallcomb said that at approximately mile marker 54 near Appliance Lane, which is north of Willits, the suspect lost control of his vehicle and struck a large oak tree.

Deputies responded to the wrecked vehicle along with medical personnel and observed the suspect had succumbed to injuries received from the accident, he said.

The California Highway Patrol conducted the accident investigation and Trinity County is continuing their investigation into the suspect driver's involvement with the double homicide in their county, according to Smallcomb.

He said a forensic autopsy will be conducted on the decedent later in the week, and authorities are attempting to locate the decedent's next of kin prior to releasing his name.

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