THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED WITH ADDITIONAL DETAILS ABOUT THE INCIDENTS.

CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – Two wildland fires were reported along Highway 20 east of Clearlake Oaks Sunday afternoon, causing a temporary highway shutdown order and resulting in evacuation orders for some nearby communities.

The fires, one near Walker Ridge and the second at the “Y,” the intersection of Highway 20 and Highway 53, were reported shortly before 4 p.m.

Shortly after 5 p.m., Cal Fire reported that the Walker Ridge fire had reached 35 acres and the “Y” fire was 75 acres.

Within a half hour, the “Y” fire was estimated to have hit 300 acres, with the potential to reach 1,000 acres by nightfall.

Northshore Fire, Cal Fire and Lake County Fire responded to the incidents, along with the California Highway Patrol and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. A full wildland response was being sent to the Walker Ridge area, along with air resources.

Significant air resources – including an order for six air tankers and five helicopters – also were being sent to the “Y” area at Highway 20 and 53, where the fire had jumped and was on both sides of the roadway. A Cal Fire strike team from Mendocino County was being requested to respond, according to radio reports.

Structures were reportedly threatened in both areas, with at least one on fire, and at Highway 20 and Highway 53 vehicles also were in the path of the fire, with officials trying to evacuate vehicles from the area.

Radio reports had indicated a woman may have been trapped in her car in the fire’s path, but Northshore Fire Chief Jay Beristianos said she was able to escape.

At around 5 p.m. evacuations were ordered for the Old Long Valley Road and New Long Valley Road areas, as well as Wilbur Hot Springs and some other nearby areas in Colusa County, according to radio reports.

The evacuations were completed by about 5:30 p.m.

A short time later, evacuations were under way in Spring Valley, where ash from the fire was reported to be falling, according to a post on Lake County News’ Facebook page. Lake County Animal Care and Control also was on the way to assist with removing animals, according to reports from the scene.

Beristianos said power lines were down in multiple areas but that was to be expected due to the fire.

Caltrans said shortly after 6 p.m. that there was no estimated time of reopening for the stretch of Highway 20 between Highway 16 and Highway 53 that's closed due to the fires. The agency said it planned to issue an update on road conditions in the area on Monday morning.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

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LAKEPORT, Calif. – Want a poodle mix? Or perhaps a hound, Labrador Retriever or pit bull?

You can find mixes of all of those breeds this week at Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Thanks to Lake County Animal Care and Control’s new veterinary clinic, many of the animals offered for adoption already are spayed or neutered and ready to go home with their new families.

Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.

If you're looking for a new companion, visit the shelter. There are many great pets hoping you'll choose them.

The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control Web site not listed are still “on hold”).

Male pit bull mix

This male pit bull mix is 3 years old.

He has a long brown and white coat, weighs 62 pounds and has not been neutered.

Shelter staff said he may have a case of mange.

Find him in kennel No. 3, ID No. 33777.

Male poodle mix

This male poodle mix is 2 years old.

He has a short white coat and weighs just under 9 pounds.

Find him in kennel No. 7, ID No. 33894.

'Coco'

“Coco” is an 11 month old female Labrador Retriever mix.

She has a short chocolate-colored coat, weighs 62 pounds and has been spayed.

She's in kennel No. 13, ID No. 33780.

‘Lucy’

“Lucy” is a 7-month-old female bluetick coonhound-treeing walker coonhound mix.

She has a short black and white coat and has not yet been spayed.

Find her in kennel No. 30, ID No. 32171.

Adoptable dogs also can be seen at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dogs_and_Puppies.htm or at www.petfinder.com .

Please note: Dogs listed at the shelter's Web page that are said to be “on hold” are not yet cleared for adoption.

To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .

Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.

Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm .

For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.

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

SPRING VALLEY, Calif. – A Spring Valley home was damaged by a late night fire on Friday.

The fire was reported at about 10 p.m. at 2632 Spring Valley Road, according to radio reports.

Northshore Fire and Cal Fire personnel arriving at the residence found smoke coming from the home, reports from the scene indicated.

Northshore Fire Chief Jay Beristianos said the fire was contained to a single room and its contents.

He estimated the residence had $25,000 in damage as a result of the damage.

Beristianos said the home formerly had been a marijuana grow house. One marijuana plant was found inside at the time of the fire.

The resident was displaced, but he wasn’t there at the time of the fire. “We never did see the tenant,” said Beristianos.

Reports from the scene indicated that both the sheriff’s office and Pacific Gas and Electric Co. responded to the incident. The fire meter later was reportedly pulled and the incident was cleared shortly before midnight.

Beristianos said the fire’s cause remains under investigation.

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LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Community members gathered in front of Anderson Marsh’s beloved ranch house on Saturday morning to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the state historic park.

There was music by local performers, a big celebratory cake and recollections of what it took to create and sustain the park.

Many of the people who originally struggled to create the park – as well as those who in recent years have fought the battle to keep it open in the face of proposed state closures – were on hand to recount its history.

The park encapsulates several different epochs of Lake County’s rich cultural landscape.

As archaeologist Dr. John Parker – who first had the “pipe dream” to create a park on the land – explained, the park has the highest archaeological site density of any area in California, except for maybe the coast.

In more recent times, it came to represent one of the earliest examples of white settlement in the area, with John Grigsby and his brother building the first part of the ranch house in 1855.

“Anderson Marsh is a special place,” said Park Sector Superintendent Bill Salata, who oversees both Anderson Marsh and Clear Lake State Park.

Salata noted, “Anderson Marsh holds 10,000 years of cultural change.”

He said his goal is to keep the park open and put more staff time into the grounds.

Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association President Roberta Lyons said at the time of the park’s formation, news headlines credited local people for making it happen.

She said people are continuing to make it happen now with efforts to keep the park open.

The association has been in negotiations from several months with the California Department of Parks and Recreation to operate the park, which had been among 70 state parks slated for closure July 1.

Despite the recent disclosure that millions of dollars had been found in a hidden state fund, Lyons said the work to keep the park open needs to continue.

Parker, in his keynote address, recalled his work at Anderson Marsh beginning 40 years ago, when in 1972 he was a 19-year-old freshman at Sonoma State University with a passion for archaeology.

Over the next 10 years he would lead the area’s significant archaeological studies, nominate it successfully for the National Register of Historic Places, and find and document more than 50 archaeological sites on its 1,000 acres.

Some of those sites are 8,000 to 10,000 years old, Parker said, and were the center for the Koi people.

The effort to create the park survived lawsuits over the land, failed purchase attempts, a proposal for a cement channel to divert Cache Creek, a project that proposed a 1,000-home subdivision and changes in county leadership.

Parker would write numerous letters, make trips to Sacramento to meet with lawmakers and sit through exhausting daylong state budget sessions. It proved a nail biting experience to the end.

When the Lake County Planning Commission held its meeting on the proposed subdivision general plan amendment – which, had it been granted, would have pushed the property prices beyond the funds set aside to purchase the park – about 140 people showed up to speak against the project, which eventually was withdrawn, he said.

Parker said 3,000 people came to the park’s grand opening.

“A lot of people made it happen,” said Parker.

“This is an amazing place,” he added.

Creating a state park was one small part of the ultimate effort, he said.

There are many more critical steps since then, Parker said, including keeping it open and running.

Henry Bornstein, Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association’s treasurer, told Lake County News that the work to keep the park open is still under way, as negotiations with the state continue.

“So far everyone is saying yes,” he said, but added the final approval hasn’t yet been granted.

Two days before the anniversary celebration, Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association submitted to the state the final version of its proposal to run the park, according to Bornstein.

“I’ve just been amazed by the support we’re getting,” Bornstein said.

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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A boat abandoned at a local boat repair business for more than four years will take on an important new role in Lake County’s efforts to protect local water bodies from the threat posed by invasive quagga and zebra mussels.

When the Lake County Department of Water Resources was offered a donation of an abandoned older model Bayliner pleasure boat, it presented an opportunity to use it as an important educational tool in Lake County’s Invasive Species Inspection Program.

On July 5, the boat was launched into the waters of Nevada’s Lake Mead, where invasive quagga mussels first were discovered in 2007, and it will remain in the infested waters for more than four months to ensure mussels at all life stages are present on the vessel.

The contaminated boat will then be removed from Lake Mead, allowed to dry, and covered with a protective spray coating that will hold the dead mussels onto the boat. This process ensures the mussels are dead and, thus, pose no subsequent risk.

Upon its return to Lake County, the contaminated boat will become an important hands-on tool to train mussel inspectors in Lake County as well as across Northern California.

“This boat will be an extremely useful tool in our training program,” said Lake County’s Water Resources Director Scott De Leon. “A boat infested with actual mussels will give screeners and inspectors a real-world understanding of exactly what they are looking for when they do an inspection.”

His department has worked collaboratively with the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG), Nevada Department of Wildlife, and California Department of Food and Agriculture, which operates the state’s Border Protection Stations, to ensure all proper permits are in place to facilitate the transport.

The department also is working with DFG to ensure the boat also is available for regional training courses for inspectors involved in other mussel inspection programs across Northern California.

Researchers at UNLV, who have been monitoring levels of invasive quagga mussels in Lake Mead, recently reported an estimated 1.5 trillion adult quagga mussels and 320 trillion baby quagga mussels are alive in Lake Mead, which is approximately 10 times the level in 2007 and evidence of the speed with which an infestation can spread.

Dreissenid mussels, which include the small quagga mussel and the even-smaller zebra mussel, are tiny invasive mussels that can be spread unknowingly from one water body to another on boats and equipment with devastating effects to lakes, boats, docks, water intake equipment, fisheries, and beaches.

Just a few simple steps can prevent the spread and keep Lake County waters mussel-free – clean, drain, and dry all boats and equipment after exiting any water body. Be sure to allow boats to remain dry on a trailer for one full week prior to launching into another water body.

For more information about preventing the spread, visit www.nomussels.com , call the Lake County Mussel Hotline at 707-263-2556, or contact the Lake County Department of Water Resources at 707-263-2344.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A fire was reported at a city grocery store early Saturday morning.

The fire was reported at about 2 a.m. behind Foods, Etc., located at 15290 Lakeshore Drive.

Lake County Fire Protection District responded to the incident, according to radio reports.

Officials on scene put out a call for a handcrew and an engine from Cal Fire to help with separating huge bales of compacted cardboard that were up against the structure and were burning.

Pacific Gas and Electric and a Foods, Etc. representative also were asked to respond to the incident, according to reports from the scene.

Shortly before 2:45 a.m. officials reported there was shaky containment on the fire, which was continuing to burn within the cardboard bales.

Additional information on the fire was not immediately available early Saturday.

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

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – For the second year in a row, the Redbud Audubon Society has set up a video camera on a small colony of nesting Western and Clark’s Grebes on Clear Lake.

The Webcam is broadcasting live video of grebes in courtship displays, building their floating nests on the water, and then patiently taking turns to sit on the nest while incubating their eggs.

A Google search for grebe Webcams suggests that this is the first time anywhere in the world that a Webcam has focused on a nesting grebe colony.

Redbud Audubon is conducting this public outreach as part of a four-year grant to educate recreational boaters, jet-skiers and water-skiers to avoid disturbing the grebe colonies during the summer breeding season.

Clear Lake has one of the largest number of breeding grebes in Northern California.

A day-long survey by local field biologists on July 24 around the 100-mile shoreline of Clear Lake counted 7,760 grebes and more than 1,800 nests in 13 colonies. This compares to 1,248 nests in 2011 and 1,322 in 2010.

To see the Webcam on a home computer or smartphone, visit the www.redbudaudubon.org Web site.

On the home page, click under the photo of a baby grebe riding on its parent’s back. It may take a few minutes for the video to load on the screen.

Generally, the video is transmitting about six hours a day, from roughly 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
 
If the video does not come up during these hours, try again later, as there can be lapses in the transmission.

Six separate but connected electronic devices are required to capture and transmit the live video, and glitches can and do happen.

Redbud Audubon also created an article with many photos explaining about grebes and this conservation project.

Entitled “Those Amazing ‘Dancing’ Grebes,” the link to this new page on the Redbud Web site is just below the Webcam screen.

Two other Audubon chapters in Northern California – Altacal Audubon in Chico and Plumas Audubon in the Sierras – also are conducting this grebe education project on their local grebe breeding lakes.

Audubon California, the state office of the National Audubon Society, coordinates the work of the three chapters.

The grant is funded by the Luckenbach Trustee Council, with mitigation funds paid by the oil companies responsible for oil spills off the California coast that killed many Western and Clark’s Grebes.

The public education outreach is aimed at reducing human disturbance to the nesting grebes, thus increasing their breeding success.

As part of the grant project, Redbud has purchased speed buoys that the Lake County Department of Water Resources places around the floating colonies to alert boaters to avoid those areas.

A new sign was placed on the bridge at the entrance to Rodman Slough again warning boaters to slow to 5 miles per hour.

Later this year Redbud Audubon will place at four shoreline parks around Clear Lake an attractive interpretive sign explaining grebe nesting and the need to protect the vulnerable colonies.

“This project is a very special one for Redbud Audubon Society, as the Western Grebe has been the chapter logo since 1974 when the chapter was incorporated,” explained President Marilyn Waits.

“Everyone in Lake County – residents and visitors alike – is fascinated with watching the grebes on Clear Lake,” Waits added. “The Audubon Society is proud to be able to carry out this major effort to protect their nests, eggs, and young chicks.”

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Visitors from across the United States – as well as some from across “the pond” in the United Kingdom and from throughout California – joined local wine enthusiasts in the eighth-annual Lake County Wine Adventure held Saturday, July 28, and Sunday, July 29, in the high-elevation terroir of Lake County.

“Wines with 'altitude' – I get it now!” exclaimed two event-goers from Rancho Cordova as they sampled the wines at Laujor Estate in the Red Hills AVA on the northeastern flank of the Mayacamas.

With expansive views of Mount Konocti, Clear Lake and to the Coastal Range mountains beyond, the visitors, who began their adventure at Laujor Estate, said they were excited to taste – and explore – more of what the Lake County Wine Adventure (LCWA) had to offer.

Only two hours from the San Francisco Bay Area and the Sacramento Valley, many wine tourists on the LCWA were stunned by the natural beauty of Lake County – the vast open spaces, mountain peaks surrounding the largest natural lake within California – and very appreciative of the quality wines available to sample at the welcoming tasting rooms and wineries.

“We just left a magnificent estate in the middle of nowhere,” said a group from Glen Ellen who had come from Brassfield Estate Winery and were now sampling at Noggle Vineyards & Winery, “and have arrived at what looks to be a winery in a garage! We love it!” they said with smiles and nods of agreement all-around. “It's like we're in on your secret; but we're telling on you!”

Several event-goers noted appreciatively that most of the wineries had excellent food and wine pairings.

“It really helps me buy a wine – and become a fan of that winery – when I can easily pair foods that I like with wines that I like, but I need some assistance. I'm not a chef or sommelier,” said a visitor from Oakland. “Some of the pairings today were out of this world – and most were paired with food and ingredients that I will actually use. I really enjoy that because I know I can do it too and absolutely 'wow' my friends back home!”

“This is brilliant!” said a visitor from the UK who was staying with family in San Francisco that had come up for the event. “Certainly not like wine tasting at home!”

“I've been to a former stage coach stop, a winery atop a mountain where all I could see were the vineyards and trees, one that grew their own olives and made olive oil and soaps, one on the lake shore that still smelled of lavender that had recently been harvested, and two that had outdoor clay ovens. And at every one – I've enjoyed great wine. We've tasted from almost 20 wineries in two days – they should make this a three-day event so we could get to them all!”

Hosted by the members of the Lake County Winery Association, with major sponsorship from Calpine Corporation and Twin Pine Casino & Hotel. Other sponsors included Robert A. Boccabella – Business Design Services, Dan Camache, The Ice Water Co., David Lucido – First American Title Co., Lake County AODS, Clearlake Police Department and the numerous local businesses that provided outstanding prizes for the 2012 Wine Adventure raffle.

“No, no – I'm going to win that prize,” was overheard time and again as the nearly 2,000 LCWA participants perused the extensive list of prizes available.

One local resident was explaining to visitors the merits of each of the prizes as they were cued up in line to buy their tickets for the event at the Lake County Wine Studio.

In this passport-style event, event-goers left their “passports” at their final destination to be entered into a drawing for numerous prizes that included a variety of Lake County “stay and play” packages valued at $500 or more each featuring overnight accommodations, dining, and a wide range of recreational activities to enjoy.

The grand prize, an “Instant Cellar” showcasing an assortment of wines from the participating Lake County Wine Adventure wineries, was much-talked about and is valued at $1,200.

Drawing for the prizes took place during the week of Aug. 6. Notification of winners was to follow shortly thereafter.

“What a fun event! I'm so happy to be in warm and sunny weather, in a beautiful place, tasting great wines with friendly and nice people. I'll be back,” said a resident of Mill Valley.

The 2012 LCWA event was chaired by Cheryl Lucido of Laujor Estate and co-chaired by Pam Prisco of Steele Wines.

It is hosted by the wineries of the Lake County Winery Association. Special thanks to Susan Feiler, proprietor of the Lake County Wine Studio for her assistance with the LCWA raffle.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The prosecution and defense presented their closing arguments on Friday in the trial of a Lakeport man accused of the fatal 2007 stabbing of a neighbor who he wrongly believed was a child molester.

Ivan Garcia Oliver, 34, has been on trial since last month for the Nov. 20, 2007, stabbing death of 67-year-old Michael Dodele.

Oliver is charged with first-degree murder, burglary, elder abuse and several special allegations for use of a weapon, crimes against an elder and using Megan's Law information in the commission of a crime.

Oliver is alleged to have stabbed Dodele more than 65 times at his trailer at Western Hills Mobile Home Park after finding out several days earlier that Dodele was listed on the Megan's Law sex offender registration Web site.

Dodele was not a convicted child molester, as Oliver believed, but was on the Web site for raping an adult female in Sonoma County in 1987.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff and defense attorney Stephen Carter would present very different portrayals of Oliver in their final statements to the jury.

Hinchcliff asserted that Oliver had “butchered” Dodele after spending days trying to wrangle a posse of neighbors to have him removed from the park.

Carter, as he had done throughout the trial, maintained that Oliver had acted in self-defense because he was attacked by Dodele. Oliver had said on the stand Wednesday that he had asked Dodele if he had touched his young son and Dodele attacked him with a knife, which he wrested away from him in a struggle that ended with Dodele's death.

In his two hours of closing arguments on Friday morning, Hinchcliff went over the evidence, explained the charges and legal principles behind them.

He said he had to make sure everything was covered. “A case like this is extremely serious,” he said. “Somebody died a very brutal death.”

He suggested that Oliver's motive was his incorrect belief that Dodele was a child molester, and explained that the homicide would only have been justifiable had Oliver been in imminent danger from an attack by Dodele. Hinchcliff dismissed Oliver’s story that Dodele had tried to stab him as a fabrication.

“When you stab somebody 65 times in vital areas, that's a specific intent to kill,” Hinchcliff said. “That's very clear.”

Hinchcliff also recalled Oliver's statement to detectives during a jail interview days after the stabbing about going to Dodele's with “murder on my mind.”

“That would be extremely strong evidence that there was deliberation and premeditation,” he said.

He called Oliver's version of going to Dodele's home to pick up painting equipment “a pretty far fetched scenario and absolutely unbelievable.”

Hinchcliff pointed out changes in Oliver's story about his concerns over Dodele – including accusations that Dodele had attempted to touch Oliver's then-4-year-old son.

Oliver also had made spontaneous statements to detectives indicating he had killed Dodele. He told detectives that he had “brought it to Dodele's attention” that touching his son was wrong. “Yeah, he brought it to his attention 65 times,” said Hinchcliff.

He said Oliver told detectives that the black knife used to kill Dodele was his. He said Oliver's girlfriend, Cathleen Ferran, also had told detectives that he had a black knife with a clip, although when she was on the stand she couldn't specifically identify the knife as his.

As to Dodele's criminal history, “I am in no way trying to defend what he did,” said Hinchcliff. “My business is prosecuting people like that.”

However, he said he didn't want Carter to use Dodele's history as a red herring to throw the jury off track.

Oliver didn't know Dodele's history, said Hinchcliff. “He knew nothing about that. He just thought he was a child molester.”

Hinchcliff alleged that Oliver stabbed Dodele with such force that it fractured a vertebra and several ribs. Dodele had defensive wounds on his arms.

With a 38-year age difference between them, Hinchcliff said it was extremely unlikely that Dodele would have attacked the younger man. Dodele had a folded pocket knife in his pocket with no blood on it, recovered from his clothing the day of his autopsy.

Oliver never told detectives it was self defense, said Hinchcliff. “Why? Because it never happened.”

Hinchcliff said the theme of the story was Oliver's hatred for sex offenders. “He acted as the judge, jury and executioner, and he literally butchered him. He was like a shark in a feeding frenzy.”

The law doesn't abide vigilantism, because innocent people get killed, said Hinchcliff. He said Oliver had other options that he didn't choose.

A deadly confrontation

Carter, in his closing arguments, disputed that his introduction of Dodele's criminal history was a red herring as Hinchcliff had suggested to the jury earlier in the day.

He said Dodele's four convictions for rape and two convictions for attempted rape in the 1970s and 1980s were important because Dodele had used a knife to intimidate and threaten his victims.

“The importance of Michael Dodele's prior sex offenses is not the suggestion that somehow he deserved to die because he was a multiply convicted rapist,” said Carter. “That's not the point. That would be a vigilantism argument, which is not what you're going to hear from me today.”

Oliver loved his son and was worried after a person in a car had stopped near the park and attempted to beckon his child to the vehicle before speeding off. A week before that, Oliver claimed his son had told him about being touched by an “old man.”

When Oliver took his concerns about the car incident to park manager Lacey Kou, she suggested they use the Megan's Law Web site to look up sex offenders in the area. Dodele came up on the listing, and Kou told Oliver that Dodele was a child molester.

Carter questioned why Dodele's address came up wrong on the Megan's Law Web site, and why he had applied for his rental agreement under the last name of Salta, his last name at birth, telling the park manager that his driver's license had burned up in a fire.

“There is a concealment going on here,” said Carter.

Carter said Oliver was suspicious of law enforcement, and that suspicion was justified due to their attitude toward him from the beginning, noting they didn't believe his story, had made up their minds that he was the suspect and tried to put words in his mouth.

When Oliver went to Dodele's trailer that day, it wasn't to attack him, said Carter, but to retrieve some painting equipment. He said Oliver didn't know he was walking into the home of a convicted rapist who had used a knife to threaten his victims.

It was Dodele who pulled the knife, Carter said. “The proof is not there that that is Ivan Oliver's knife.”

The fight happened “in the blink of an eye,” Carter said, quoting Oliver's description. “He did get the better of Mr. Dodele.”

He said Dodele's wounds were consistent with Oliver's description of having stabbed blindly while grappling with Dodele. “There was just a ton of swinging going on.”

And, afterwards, “Mr. Oliver does not do wise things,” said Carter, because Oliver didn't think anyone would believe him. So he attempted to clean up his blood from Dodele’s home using bleach.

If it was a well-planned attack, where was the exit plan, Carter asked. “The things he did were more panicked afterthoughts,” lacking the necessary deliberation ahead of time, he argued

Carter said Oliver was brave to have testified in the case. While Oliver hadn't trusted law enforcement, “Ivan puts his trust in you,” Carter told the jury.

Questioning credibility

In his rebuttal, Hinchcliff said the jury needed to consider Oliver's credibility.

Hinchcliff asserted that detectives had given him numerous opportunities to tell his story, and questioned if it made any sense that Oliver would have kept an alleged molestation of his young son to himself rather than telling his girlfriend or law enforcement.

The allegations that Dodele touched Oliver's son were “all made up,” said Hinchcliff. He pointed to Oliver's bizarre behavior in the days before Dodele's stabbing – including driving on the freeway at night with the vehicle's lights off and beating up a neighbor.

He challenged Carter's statement that Oliver was brave on the stand. “There's nothing brave about it. He's trying to save himself.”

As to allegations that investigators put words in Oliver's mouth, Hinchcliff urged the jury to go back and look at the interview transcripts, noting that detectives were only repeating things Oliver had said first.

In order to find Oliver guilty of anything less than first-degree murder, “You first have to agree that the story Mr. Oliver told you on the witness stand is true,” Hinchcliff said. “Most of the stuff that came out his mouth wasn't very honest.”

He said Oliver had tried to mislead law enforcement from the beginning, when Deputy Tom Andrews rolled up on the scene and Oliver directed him to the opposite end of the park.

Hinchcliff said it should be very clear that Oliver had formed the intent to kill, and he asked the jury to return a guilty verdict.

“I'm asking you not to compromise your verdict,” Hinchcliff said. “I'm asking you not to give him a break. I'm asking you not to feel sorry for him due to the criminal history of the person he killed.”

Hinchcliff asked the jury to do the right thing and find Oliver guilty of murder.

The jury was excused shortly after 3:30 p.m. Judge Arthur Mann directed the jury to return at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 16, at which time they will receive jury instructions and then begin deliberations.

Before releasing them, Mann reminded the jurors, “Don't make up your mind about the case.”

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Fresh-off-the-vine, locally grown tomatoes taste like heaven to me! Like Pavlov’s dogs, the pungent smell of tomato vines can make me salivate.
 
The midsummer heat brings long-awaited fulfillment of my craving for fresh tomato sandwiches, and there is nothing better with which to make them than the beautiful array of local, farm-grown tomatoes available this time of year.
 
My affection for vine-ripened tomatoes is so great that the term “heirloom tomato” may be one of my favorite culinary phrases.
 
I’m thinking of them now, nestled in farmers’ market stalls in all their colorful glory.

They’re calling my name: red, charmingly creviced Brandywines with their classic sweet taste; yellow firm-fleshed Persimmons; earthy, smoky Cherokee purples; Marvel stripes with their red and green striations, and oh-so-many more.

Together they make a rainbow of sweet, savory, subtle, intense tomato flavor.
 
I’ll never forget when my husband got inspired by a seed catalog and planted more than 40 varieties of tomatoes in our home garden. We seemed to have tomatoes in every conceivable color and shape that year, from an almost black Russian variety to tiny yellow ones the size of berries.
 
I’m thankful that our dehydrator endured all its use that summer and that our friends enjoyed their Christmas gifts of our dried tomato experiments.
 
Tomatoes, along with eggplants and squashes, are botanically classified as a fruit; however, for culinary purposes, they’re considered a vegetable since they don’t have the high sugar content of other fruits.
 
On an interesting, if unusual, side note, in 1893 the U.S. Supreme Court was asked to rule on whether tomatoes should be treated as vegetables or fruits. In that case regarding importation tariffs, the vegetable designation prevailed.
 
Typical supermarket tomatoes are no match for summer’s local crop. While the average American consumes almost 22 pounds of them each year (mostly in the form of ketchup and canned sauces), only ten per cent of us rate them as our favorite vegetable, largely due to the poor taste of those found in the produce departments of conventional markets.
 
Tomatoes are a fragile fruit, and do best when brought to the table from the vine in the shortest route possible.
 
Because supermarket tomatoes must endure shipping and cold storage, they’ve been bred for durability and a long shelf life, and that has done away with the complex mix of sugar, acid and chemicals that create good tomato flavor.
 
In addition, tomatoes that must be transported long distances are picked immature, before they’ve had the chance to develop their natural flavor, and are “ripened” later using ethylene gas, which gives them a red color.
 
When I buy a tomato from the supermarket in the off season, it’s the plum or cherry variety, which haven’t been as subject to the breeding that does away with flavor. In cooked dishes, canned Italian plum tomatoes often impart more flavor than fresh ones from the store.                                                               
 
Tomatoes are native to the western part of South America, including the Galapagos Islands, but were first cultivated in southern Mexico beginning in about 500 B.C.
 
They were brought to Europe by Spanish Conquistadores, and by the 16th century had spread throughout Europe.
 
They were not initially popular as a food, however, as they were thought to be poisonous. (While the leaves contain toxins common to members of the nightshade family, the fruit is –  thankfully! – quite edible.)
 
Tomatoes are an absolute powerhouse of nutrition. They’re full of lycopene, an antioxidant which has been shown to be protective against a growing list of cancers, as well as a benefit to cardiovascular health.
 
If you’re interested in getting a healthy dose of lycopene, studies have revealed that organic tomato products have three times the amount than their conventionally grown counterparts.
 
Tomatoes abound in vitamins A and C, a range of B vitamins, potassium and fiber. They’re also high in vitamin K, which is essential for maintaining bone health.
 
I’m convinced that tomatoes are one of the healthiest things one can eat, and farmers’ market stalls are full of them now!
 
And if you can find a locally-grown crop at your neighborhood market, buy them, even if just to say thanks to your grocer for supporting local agriculture.
 
And, speaking of eating, what about that tomato sandwich I mentioned? My favorite way to create one is to layer slices of heirloom tomatoes of varying colors on sourdough French bread and top it with fresh basil leaves, real mayonnaise and a bit of salt and freshly ground pepper.
 
Sometimes I make a basil aioli to replace the fresh leaves and mayo, and I’ve shared that recipe below.
 
Modern-day aioli is a spin on the traditional sauce of garlic and olive oil that originated in the Provence region of France.
 
Aioli is often looked upon as a flavored mayonnaise, but a true aioli must contain garlic. If the garlic clove is eliminated from my recipe below (which is an option for its preparation), it would more appropriately be called basil mayonnaise.
 
Also shared below is my recipe for one of my favorite summer meals, a cooling tomato-based soup called gazpacho, which hails from the southern region of Andalusia in Spain. Chocked full of fresh summer veggies, you may be able to find most of its ingredients in your garden or local farmers’ market.
 
While some gazpacho recipes call for blending the entire batch of veggies into a puree, I prefer to puree only half of them to maintain an interesting texture and satisfying crunch.
 
Enjoy! Researchers have found that eating gazpacho helps guard against depression, so it’s guaranteed to make you happy.
 
Gazpacho
 
3 large tomatoes, diced
1 cucumber, peeled and diced
2 bell peppers, chopped (combine red, green, yellow or other colors)
1 red onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cups tomato juice
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
Tabasco sauce and salt & pepper to taste
 
Combine vegetables in a large glass bowl.

Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Add half the mixture to a food processor and blend until smooth.

Combine puree with original mixture and chill for 4 hours before serving.

Garnish with diced avocado or cilantro, if desired.
 
Serves four.
 
Basil aioli
 
Combine one large egg, 1 clove crushed garlic, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in a food processor. Process for a few seconds until mixture is emulsified.

Keep the motor running as you drizzle in just under a cup of extra virgin olive oil. Add 1/3 cup roughly chopped fresh basil and pulse a bit until combined. Scrape the aioli into a container and refrigerate. Makes about 1-1/2 cups.

Esther Oertel, a freelance writer, cooking teacher, and speaker, is passionate about local produce and all foods in the vegetable kingdom. She welcomes your questions and comments and may be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – On Saturday afternoon cleanup was still under way behind Foods, Etc. after an early morning damaged the back of the structure.

The fire was first reported at around 2 a.m. Saturday behind the store, located at 15290 Lakeshore Drive, as Lake County News reported.

The store was open for business on Saturday, with the main part of the building undamaged.

Manager Trisha Lennon said the store’s bottle room, where supplies were kept, was burned.

She said the investigation into the cause is still in the early stages. “We really don’t know much.”

During the fire, Lake County Fire Protection District had asked Cal Fire to send in a handcrew to help pull apart large bales of compacted cardboard behind the store.

On Saturday, a crew was at work behind the store, removing piles of the burned cardboard.

In addition to the charred structure of the bottle room, parts of the main store building’s exterior were black from the fire. Some racks, shopping carts and other equipment also were damaged.

The fire also did serious damage to the corner of a building behind the store.

“Quite a bit of damage was done,” Lennon said.

Fire officials couldn’t be reached Saturday for additional details about the incident.

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

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The fields of candidates for fall city council races in Lakeport and Clearlake are starting to form.

The two city councils will each have three seats on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Clearlake City Clerk Melissa Swanson and Lakeport City Clerk Janel Chapman both reported on Friday that, because at least one incumbent in each of the races is not seeking reelection, the Friday deadline for filing was extended to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 15.

In Clearlake, Judy Thein and Curt Giambruno have said they will not run. In Lakeport, Roy Parmentier did not take out papers to seek reelection.

As of Friday, Swanson said five people had qualified for the November council race – incumbent Joyce Overton, business owners Denise Loustalot and Melinda Young, Bunnie Carter and Bruno Sabatier.

In Lakeport, Chapman said candidates who had qualified included incumbents Bob Rumfelt and Suzanne Lyons, businessman Kenny Parlet and former planning commissioner Marc Spillman.  

City residents still wanting to get a place on the ballot can contact Swanson at 707-995-8201, Extension 106, or Chapman at 707-263-5615, Extension 12, for the appropriate documents and information.

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