CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A young Clearlake man was arrested this week for his involvement in an alleged hit-and-run collision with a bicyclist in Sonoma County, with his brother and friend also arrested for fleeing law enforcement.

Taylor Kudrna, 19, was arrested on Thursday after he turned himself in at the Clearlake Police Department, along with his brother, Seth Dandridge, 28, also of Clearlake, according to the California Highway Patrol's Santa Rosa Area office.

Their friend Clay Clarke, 33, also of Clearlake, was arrested the previous day, the CHP said.

On Wednesday, Kudrna, Dandridge and Clarke were riding their motorcycles northbound on Highway 101 through Santa Rosa at high speed when CHP Officer David Spencer attempted to make an enforcement stop, the CHP said.

The three men allegedly failed to yield to Spencer and exited the freeway at mark West Springs Road, according to the report.

Clarke, the lead rider, lost control of his motorcycle at the end of the off-ramp and hit the rear of another vehicle. The CHP said Clarke was immediately arrested.

Kudrna and Dandridge continued to flee eastbound on Mark West Springs Road, where the CHP said the men failed to stop for a red light at the Old Redwood Highway intersection.

The CHP said Kudrna collided with a bicyclist in the intersection and laid down his motorcycle. Kudrna then allegedly picked up the motorcycle and fled.

The bicyclist, 20-year-old Joel Aguayo of Windsor, suffered moderate injuries and was transported to a local hospital by ambulance, the CHP said.

The CHP's followup investigation led to Kudrna and Dandridge, who the next day turned themselves in.

The CHP said Kudrna was arrested on suspicion of causing a hit-and-run collision with injuries and evading arrest, and transported to the Sonoma County Jail, where he was booked.

Dandridge was cited for evading arrest and riding with a suspended license and released in Clearlake, the CHP said.

All three motorcycles were impounded by the CHP, the agency said.

Incidents of con artists targeting the elderly are increasing in numbers and severity in Lake County and throughout the state, and Lake County's district attorney is urging seniors to be on the alert.

Anderson said that in recent months several local seniors have been the victims of fraud and financial crimes by con artists, resulting in the loss of thousands of dollars.

Among the reasons seniors are targeted by con artists is that they have built substantial assets, are trusting and like to talk to people, they are easy to find at home, and they can be swayed by fear and fast talking, Anderson said.

Often times the scammers are criminals posing as legitimate businessmen, government officials or trusted people and companies, he explained.

Anderson said the following are just some of the most common scams that not only target the elderly but all consumers into giving up money property or valuable personal information:

– Prize or lottery frauds: The consumer will receive a call informing them they have won a prize or lottery, all they have to do is send money to pay for fees, taxes, shipping and handling or other charges. Of course the consumer has not won anything.

– Charitable donations: Con artists disguised as charities collecting donations or money when in actuality they have no connection to a legitimate charity.

– Friend or relative in distress: The caller or Internet con artist will contact you posing as a friend or relative that is stranded in another state or country. They ask for you to wire them money so they can get home. This is frequently used against seniors by the con artist, who poses as a grandchild.

– Counterfeit checks: The consumer would sell an item over the Internet and the buyer will send a fake or counterfeit cashier check for an amount over the purchase price. The con artist would then ask the consumer to send or wire the difference back to them.

– Medicare Scam: The caller will promise to help seniors enroll in a Medicare prescription drug plan that does not exist; all the senior has to do is pay them a fee for this service.

– Bereavement scam: The con artist will call a senior who has recently lost a spouse saying that the deceased spouse has a debt outstanding. The caller asks for a blank check or credit card to pay off the debt.

– Online dating or social networking: In this scam the con artist will contact you on the Internet and develop an Internet relationship. Once the relationship is developed he will ask you to send him money for various reasons, in the name of love.

– Facebook or Craigslist scams: Items are placed on Facebook or Craigslist for sale using big bold letters, such as free computers. However, after reading the fine print the item often costs a lot more than expected.

– Need your help scams: Here the caller poses as a police officer or bank officer asking for help investigating a possible fraud. They ask you to withdraw cash from your account or provide your banking information.

– Foreign government officer: In this Internet scam the con artist will report he is a former government official from another country and ask the target to deposit millions of dollars into their account. The con artist will ask the person to send money necessary to complete the transaction or ask for their banking information.

– Make money from your home: The advertisement will read that the consumer can make a lot of money from the comfort of their home. However, once into the scam it may cost the consumer a lot of money without any profit.

– Home improvement scams: Someone calls or knocks on your door offering to fix your roof, driveway or car, but never returns after receiving a deposit.

– House rental scams: The consumer will answer an ad for rental houses, often time seeing pictures of beautiful homes at low rent. The consumer will send them money for deposits or rent. However, either the house does not exist, is not for rent or the call is not the landlord.

These are some of the hundreds of scams being used on seniors and consumers on a daily basis, said Anderson.

“We urge seniors and consumers to never send or wire money to anyone unless you are sure of the source, especially if the money is to be wired to another country or state,” he said. “People should be extremely skeptical of anyone wanting personal or financial information from you. If the call or offer seems too good to be true, it probably is a scam.”

Anderson said he strongly suggests that people keep the line of communication open with their senior family members. “Have conversations with your parents and seniors about how they are managing their money and the calls they are receiving.”

He encouraged anyone with questions or concerns about these scams to call his office at 707-263-2251 and speak to an investigator.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Understanding and tracking Lake County's unique health needs is the focus of an assessment project that's now getting under way.

A group of local agencies and organizations are partnering for the update to the Lake County Health Needs Assessment.

The first assessment came out at the end of 2010. The first-of-its-kind study offered a glimpse into Lake County's public health challenges, and gave health officials and professionals a critical baseline for creating policy.

Now, as it comes time to update the document, Lake County Public Health Officer Dr. Karen Tait said a number of organizations have pooled their resources to make it a “bigger, better needs assessment.”

“It should be completed by later this year,” said Tait.

Among the participating organizations in the Lake County Health Collaborative are the county of Lake, Sutter Lakeside Hospital, St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake, Lake County Tribal Health, Mendocino Community Health Clinic and Lake Family Resource Center.

Tait said St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake helped kick off the effort and is in a leading role, handling practical aspects of the work including working with the consultant.

The new assessment, she said, will look very much like the previous one in format.

Consultant Barbara Aved of Barbara Aved Associates – who did the previous assessment and has done others around the state – was hired for the new project, which Tait said will offer continuity.

Thanks to having the 2010 baseline information, the new assessment, said Tait, will include some trending analysis to see how the county is doing with its critical health challenges.

She expects it will show some changes, although because the time frame is short they likely won't be major.

The assessment project is expected to cost about $40,000 to $50,000, Tait said. “It's kind of breathtaking, but there's a lot to it,” she said, explaining the amount of data collection and analysis involved.

Central to the process is a community health needs survey that county residents are invited to complete.

Tait said hard copies of the survey are being distributed to various public locations throughout the county.

The one page survey is printed on a sheet of yellow legal-sized paper, with the survey in English on one side, Spanish on the other, she said.

She said they will be collecting the completed surveys throughout the months of February and March.

The survey also can be found online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KeepingLakeCountyHealthy .

In addition to the survey, Tait said there will be several focus groups around the county hosted by the organizations collaborating on the assessment.

The focus groups, said Tait, give another dimension to the study, making sure the assessment isn't “just a dry review of data.”

Sutter Lakeside Hospital is inviting community members to a meeting on Thursday, Feb. 28, to hear about the assessment and offer input.

The gathering will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Lakeside Wellness Center, 5196 Hill Road East Lakeport.

Vera Crabtree of Sutter Lakeside said those who attend will be asked a number of targeted questions about health.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

2010 Lake County Health Needs Assessment by LakeCoNews

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – A dirt bike rider had to be flown to a regional trauma center on Thursday after he was injured in a crash on a forest trail.

An initial incident report from the California Highway Patrol said the crash occurred shortly after 1 p.m. in the area of Elk Mountain and Middle Creek roads.

It involved a 32-year-old male subject who was riding a dirt bike. The rider's name was not immediately available.

Northshore Fire Protection District firefighters responded, according to Fire Chief Jay Beristianos, who also was on scene.

Beristianos said the motorcycle rider was on Forest Trail No. 10 when he was injured.

A Forest Service employee transported the man on a quad motorcycle to Elk Mountain Road, where Northshore Fire picked him up, Beristianos said.

Beristianos said firefighters then took the man to Howard Mill Station, where an air ambulance met them.

The crash victim was flown to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with moderate injuries, Beristianos said. The CHP indicated that the mans' injuries may have included a punctured lung.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The spring-like weather that Lake County residents have enjoyed the past few days will continue through the weekend, but winter weather will return again early next week – so get outdoor fun and chores done this weekend.

According to forecasters, the high-pressure system that helped to warm temperatures around the county yesterday will continue again today, but will be slowly displaced by a cold weather system as we move through the weekend and into next week.

The National Weather Service in Sacramento predicts abundant sunshine today and throughout the weekend, with today's high temperatures topping out again near 70 degrees with a slight cooling trend as the weekend progresses.

Highs are forecast to stay in the upper 60s until the President's Day holiday on Monday with overnight lows near or above freezing.

As the new week begins, Western Weather Group Lake County forecasts that high clouds will begin to move into the county on Monday and a big change of weather will be here on Tuesday, with cold and wet weather on tap.

A cold trough is forecast to move in from the Gulf of Alaska on Tuesday, bringing with it a good chance for much-needed rain, along with much cooler daytime highs, which will only reach into the low 50s, according to Western Weather Group.

The rain should only last during the day on Tuesday, and if skies clear into the evening, Western Weather Group states there's a possibility of overnight lows dropping well below freezing.

Higher elevations may see a dusting of snow on Tuesday with much-cooler daytime highs throughout the week and overnight frost and cold temperatures predicted.

Email Terre Logsdon at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

NASA Television will provide commentary starting at 11 a.m. Pacific Time on Friday, Feb. 15, during the close, but safe, flyby of a small near-Earth asteroid named “2012 DA14.”

NASA places a high priority on tracking asteroids and protecting our home planet from them. This flyby will provide a unique opportunity for researchers to study a near-Earth object up close.

The half-hour broadcast from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., will incorporate real-time animation to show the location of the asteroid in relation to Earth, along with live or near real-time views of the asteroid from observatories in Australia, weather permitting.

At the time of its closest approach to Earth at approximately 11:25 a.m. Pacific Time, the asteroid will be about 17,150 miles (27,600 kilometers) above Earth's surface.

Measuring approximately 50 meters wide, 2012 DA14 is about half the size of a football field.

Since regular sky surveys began in the 1990s, astronomers have never seen an object this big come so close to our planet. The asteroid will actually pass closer to Earth than many manmade satellites.

The commentary will be available via NASA TV and streamed live online at http://www.nasa.gov/ntv and http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2 .

In addition to the commentary, near real-time imagery of the asteroid's flyby before and after closest approach, made available to NASA by astronomers in Australia and Europe, weather permitting, will be streamed beginning at about 9 a.m. Pacific Time and continuing through the afternoon at http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2 .

Also, a Ustream feed of the flyby from a telescope at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., will be streamed for three hours starting at 6 p.m. Pacific Time.

To view the feed and ask researchers questions about the flyby via Twitter, visit http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-msfc .

CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – A Clearlake Oaks man was injured Thursday when a fire broke out in his home.

Firefighters responded to the fire in the doublewide mobile home at about 11:30 a.m. Thursday, according to radio reports.

Northshore Fire Chief Jay Beristianos said the home was located on Henderson Drive, with the fire out by the time firefighters arrived thanks to neighbors using garden hoses to put it out.

He said the home's resident was cooking, left the room and came back to find something had caught fire on the stove.

The man tried to carry a pan outside and may have dropped something from the pan that caught a chair on fire, Beristianos said.

Beristianos said the man had burns on his hands and was taken to the hospital.

The home had moderate damage, mostly from smoke, Beristianos said.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A mortar found in a package at the UPS customer center in Lakeport was safely detonated early Thursday afternoon.

Employees at the UPS center, located at 1275 Craig Ave., discovered the device earlier in the day and contacted Lakeport Police, as Lake County News has reported.

The package containing the mortar was addressed to a Clearlake resident, according to Lakeport Police Lt. Jason Ferguson.

Ferguson said police secured the location in preparation for the Napa County bomb squad, which arrived shortly before 1:30 p.m.

The bomb squad put up a small bunker around the device – which an employee had moved to a nearby field – and used their own explosives to detonate it, according to Ferguson.

“The device was determined to be inert,” Ferguson said.

He said the investigation is ongoing as to the package's recipient and the individual shipping it.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-05) has been reappointed to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

“It is a high honor to once again be appointed to serve on the House Intelligence Committee,” said Thompson. “Strong, viable intelligence is the most effective way to keep America safe. I look forward to continuing my work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to strengthen our Intel community and make sure they have the resources they need to keep Americans safe.”

Rep. Thompson was first selected to serve on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in 2007.

The committee has jurisdiction over the intelligence community and intelligence-related activities by the CIA, DIA, NSA, and other agencies of the Department of Defense and the Departments of State, Justice and Treasury.

Thompson represents California’s Fifth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.

In December Thompson was appointed chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Baseball fans will get a chance to see the San Francisco Giants' World Series trophies up close later this month.

The trophies will visit Lakeport on Thursday, Feb. 28.

Terrace Middle School and the local Junior Giants are hosting the public viewing, which will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Marge Alakszay Center, 120 Lange St.

This will be the second public trophy tour held in the past three years and will feature both the 2012 and 2010 trophies, crafted by Tiffany & Co.

The Giants organization said the tour's focus is to share Major League Baseball’s Commissioner’s trophy with Giants fans in Junior Giants communities throughout Northern California.

“It was really important to our organization to create a trophy tour which allowed us to connect with our fans and the more than 20,000 kids who participate in our Junior Giants baseball program,” said Larry Baer, Giants president and chief operating officer.

Dan Camacho, commissioner for Lake County's Junior Giants, successfully applied to the Giants organization to have the trophies visit Lakeport.

The visit, he said, also will serve as a fundraiser for the local Junior Giants program.

The viewing is free to the public with a suggested donation of $2 per person to the Lake County Junior Giants League, according to a Giants statement. Bank of America will match contributions to the Junior Giants program, up to $10,000.

Camacho said fans with a cell phone or digital camera can have a picture taken with the trophies for free. In addition, a professional photographer with Giants Fan Photos will be available to take pictures which later can be purchased online.

During the event the Terrace Middle School Parent Teacher Organization will have a snack bar open and will conduct a raffle with baskets of Giants memorabilia as prizes.

Because the Marge Alakszay Center is located next to Clear Lake High School, Terrace Middle School and Lakeport Elementary, community members are advised that school gets out at 3:15 p.m. and buses depart at 3:30 p.m. It's requested that those planning to see the trophy not arrive before the buses leave with students for the day.

After leaving Lake County, the trophy tour will continue on through California and will end in Medford, Ore., on March 26. To find out about other stops on the tour visit http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/sf/fan_forum/trophy_tour.jsp .

Camacho said the Junior Giants have been in Lake County around 14 years. The group is overseen by the Sheriff's Activity League, and is based at Mountain Vista Middle School in Kelseyville.

About 100 children from all over the county take part, although Camacho said about 65 percent are from Kelseyville. They're trying to expand more into the Clearlake area.

The free, noncompetitive league starts at the end of June and runs for eight weeks, Camacho said.

Baseball is the hook, but Camacho said Junior Giants have many other offerings, including programs to support reading and ending violence.

Junior Giants is the flagship program of the Giants Community Fund, which the Giants organization reported serves more than 20,000 boys and girls in 80 underserved communities in Northern and Central California and Southern Oregon.

For more information about the Lake County Junior Giants League, call Camacho at 707-349-2484.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A new study released by the state finds that hundreds of communities around California – including three areas in Lake County – rely on contaminated groundwater sources for their drinking water supply.

The State Water Resources Control Board report, required by AB 2222, found that between 2002 and 2010, 680 community water systems – out of 3,037 – serving nearly 21 million residents, relied on a contaminated groundwater source affected by one or more of 31 “principal contaminants,” with arsenic and nitrate among the most commonly detected.

The report emphasized that those water systems are being subjected to “comprehensive treatment” in order to make the water sources safe. “Although many water suppliers draw from contaminated groundwater sources, most suppliers are able to treat the water or blend it with cleaner supplies before serving it to the public.”

The California Department of Public Health reported that more than 98 percent of Californians on public water supply are served safe drinking water.

“Groundwater contamination remains a challenge, requiring effort by community water systems to ensure their customers are delivered water that is safe to drink,” said State Water Board Executive Director Tom Howard. “This report offers substantive data on the types of contaminants and the extent of groundwater contamination, while offering several options to improve water quality to those residents who need it most.”

Most of the 680 community water systems are located in the Southern California Inland Empire, the east side of the San Joaquin Valley, the Salinas Valley, and the Santa Maria Valley, with Kern, Tulare and Madera counties having the most community water systems with those issues, according to water board officials.

However, the report lists three affected water systems in Lake County: Sunrise Shore Mutual Water Co. in Lower Lake, found with high levels of aluminum; Corinthian Bay Mutual Water Co., located outside of the Lakeport city limits, which has high nitrate levels; and Cal 20 Village in Upper Lake, where high methyl tertiary butyl ether levels were found.

Leah Walker, chief of CDPH’s Division of Drinking Water and Environmental Management, said the agency has regulatory oversight of all public water systems in Lake County. She said they have closely monitored these three water systems and worked with them to ensure the water they are delivering to their customers meets California drinking water standards.

She said CDPH regularly reviews water quality data from each system listed in the report and has conducted inspections of all three listed Lake County water systems.

Walker reported that Cal 20 Village has effective treatment for MTBE in the form of granular activated carbon filters.

The water system tested its finished water on a monthly basis during the eight-year time period covered by the report and no MTBE was detected in the finished water. “As such MTBE does not present a health issue in this public water system,” she said.

With Sunrise Shore Mutual Water Co., the system has naturally occurring aluminum in the water from its well. Over the years the water system has drilled several different wells to try and alleviate this issue, Walker said.

The system’s current well, well No. 3, was drilled in 2004. In 2008 the water system installed treatment to reduce iron and manganese in its source water. Walker said this treatment also has reduced the aluminum levels in the finished water.

Since December 2009, the water system has been monitoring its treated water for aluminum concentration on a monthly basis, and of the 32 samples recorded in CDPH's database, four have exceeded the aluminum level of milligram per liter, Walker said.

At the same time, the average values have not exceeded the drinking water standard and the water produced by Sunrise Shore does not present a health issue to its customers, she said.

Regarding Corinthian Bay Mutual Water Co., Walker said it was the system's well No. 1, a standby well, that surpassed the nitrate drinking level standard of 45 milligrams per liter, and therefore CDPH directed the water system to remove the well from service, according to Walker.

She said the water company did just that, then redrilled and installed a deeper seal. Since that time the well has produced water with no detectable nitrate.

The system’s other well has produced water with a very low level of nitrate. However, Walker said the drinking water delivered to customers from these wells does not exceed the drinking water standard and does not present a health issue to its customers.

Walker said CDPH continues to monitor the three water systems and will take additional action if values in the drinking water exceed the respective standards.

In releasing the report, the water board cited a US EPA estimate that California will need $40 billion during the next 20 years for infrastructure development and improvements to ensure the delivery of safe drinking water.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

State Water Board Contaminated Groundwater Report by LakeCoNews

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A Lower Lake High School sophomore won top honors in the annual Poetry Out Loud contest.

Taylor Klemin won the competition – sponsored for the fifth year by the Lake County Arts Council – which encourages youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and recitation. Sadie Sheldon, also a sophomore, was runner up.

This program encourages students to master public speaking skills, build self-confidence and learn about their literary heritage.

Michele Krueger, a poet-teacher with California Poets in the Schools, is facilitating the program’s fifth year in Lake County.

During the competition at Lower Lake High School on Friday, Feb. 8, students competed for the Lake County Poetry Out Loud championship and the opportunity to capture the crown and advance to the state finals next month in Sacramento, according to an arts council report.

In addition to Sheldon and Klemin, competitors included seniors Conner Babcock and Louisa Correa, junior Sylvia Manners, and sophomores Travis Martin and Cheyanne Cacy.

They recited poems by authors Edith Wharton, Kenneth Patchen, Countee Cullen and others.

Held in the Lower Lake library campus, two of Lori White's English honors classes took up the gauntlet to memorize iconic poems spanning several centuries in a very brief period.

Mindful of the judging criteria, these talented students honed their skills and electrified the audience with their powerful interpretations.

Klemin will join more than 50 other county champions in Sacramento March 24-25 for an exciting weekend of competition, with the winner progressing to the national finals in Washington, D.C.

After successful pilot programs in Washington, DC, and Chicago, Poetry Out Loud was launched in high schools nationwide in the spring of 2006 with tens of thousands of students participating.

Poetry Out Loud has grown every year, with more than 365,000 students competing in 2011-2012, and 50 counties participating in California's 2013 competition.

This program is made possible through the California Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation.