Jacobo Lopez Mejia was booked into the Lake County Jail on Tuesday, August 23, 2011, for several felony charges in connection with a fatal pickup rollover that killed two of his five passengers on Thursday, August 18, 2011, near Kelseyville, Calif. Lake County Jail photo.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Following his release from the hospital the driver in a fatal rollover last week that killed two men has been taken into custody on several felony charges including vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence.

Jacobo Lopez Mejia of Kelseyville was booked into the Lake County Jail on Tuesday, Aug. 23, the same day as he turned 24 years old, according to jail records.

He was arrested for felony gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, two counts of driving under the influence of alcohol causing bodily injury and a misdemeanor count of driving without a license, according to jail records.

His booking sheet indicated he is being held without bail due to a felony immigration hold.

Mejia was driving a 1999 F-150 Ford pickup truck on Merritt Road outside of Kelseyville at 11 p.m. Aug. 18 when he went off the road and lost control, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The pickup flipped over several times, ejecting four of Lopez’s five passengers and killing two of them, the CHP reported.

On Wednesday CHP Officer Kory Reynolds identified the two fatalities as Kelseyville residents Hector Perez, 34, and Florentino Leon-Flores, 42.

The remaining passengers who were injured but survived included Kelseyville residents Abelino Gomez, 28; Armondo Gomez, 33; and Juan Perez, 22, according to the CHP.

Lopez Mejia was placed under arrest early on the morning of Aug. 19 but was transported to UC Davis Medical Center for treatment of moderate injuries, the CHP said.

Reynolds said the CHP’s case has not yet been forwarded to the Lake County District Attorney’s Office.

“It’s still under investigation,” he said.

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The dedication will take place beginning at 10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 26, at the American Legion Hall, 14770 Austin Road, Clearlake.

Carl Webb, a member of the Clearlake Rotary Club – which spearheaded the effort to get the highway designation – said there will be speakers, a Boy Scouts color guard, and representatives from local government and veterans' organizations.

He said Assemblyman Wes Chesbro, who carried the state legislation to get the designation approved, also is invited, as is Congressman Mike Thompson.

Webb said he will do a brief presentation at the Friday event about how the idea to designate the highway in honor of local veterans came about.

He said he was on a fishing trip a few years ago, traveling through the redwoods, when he saw a sign for a Humboldt County Veterans Highway.

“I said, 'How come we don't have one?' And that's what started the whole thing,” he said.

It was, he added, “a long, slow process.”

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Cal Fire Mendocino Unit Chief Christopher P. Rowney said that Steven Gene Hensley, 36, was arrested shortly after noon on Monday, Aug. 22, without incident, for the suspected arsons.

Cal Fire will not release details of the investigation to protect the integrity of the upcoming criminal action.

However, Rowney said, “Fire investigators, Fire Captain Specialists Shawn Zimmermaker and Craig Dudley, have been working tirelessly to put an end to the property destruction and life threat of these intentionally set fires.”

Although this particular threat has been removed, Chief Rowney encourages all residents to continue to prepare their property for unwanted fires by creating 100 feet of defensible space around homes.

He reminds residents preparing for a wildfire starts with three simple steps: “Ready, Set, Go.”

Detailed information on “Ready, Set, Go” is available at www.fire.ca.gov or contact CAL FIRE Mendocino Unit Headquarters at 707-459-7414.

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Paul Anthony Neuman, 33, of Lakeport, was arrested by Lake County Sheriff's deputies in March on a $2 million Idaho warrant, as Lake County News has reported.

Neuman's arrest in Lake County came the same month as he was indicted by the grand jury in Ada County, Idaho, according to a report from the office of Ada County Prosecutor Greg H. Bower.

On Aug. 18, Neuman entered a guilty plea to one count of robbery and one count of rape before Judge Thomas Neville in Ada County Court, according to Bower.

Neuman admitted to entering the Herb Tree Store in Meridian, Idaho, on Dec. 10, 2010. Wearing a mask, Neuman allegedly produced a gun and then robbed and raped the female store clerk just as the store was closing, according to Bower.

Bower said that immediately after the rape and robbery the female victim reported the crimes to police but was unable to provide a physical description of the assailant because of the mask and dark clothing.

DNA from the sexual assault kit was recovered and placed in the nationwide CODIS databank. Bower's report said that in January of this year, the state of Idaho received notice that a match to the DNA had been obtained out of California.

Meridian law enforcement was able to identify Neuman as the source of the DNA CODIS identification. Bower said law enforcement officials took a DNA sample from Neuman and verified that the DNA from the sexual assault was his.

After Neuman pleaded guilty to the robbery and rape charges last week, the prosecution dismissed the remaining charges in the case, according to Bower.

Bower said Neuman will be sentenced Oct. 17.

According to Idaho statute, both rape and armed robbery are punishable by life in prison at the discretion of the judge.

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According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there are 26,000 school bus related collisions per year and more than 9,500 children that are injured nationally.

Additionally, 23,000 children are injured and 250 killed every year walking or cycling to school.

As the school year begins, there is an increase in traffic in around schools which can cause a tragic event. This is something the CHP is trying to prevent.

“We still receive several complaints a week which involve drivers not stopping for school buses. This is not acceptable. We need to ensure the safety of our children and that responsibility falls on everyone. If a school bus has its red lights activated, both directions of traffic must stop,” Clear Lake CHP Area Commander Lt. Greg Baarts said.

The CHP also reminds drivers to be aware of the school zone speed limits.

“When the school year starts, motorists need to remember to reduce their speed in school zones. The school zone speed limit is 25 miles per hour. Awareness of students utilizing crosswalks is also extremely important. All of us have a responsibility to pay attention to our surroundings and not allow ourselves to be distracted while we drive,” Baarts said.

Here a few traffic safety rules for drivers and tips you can share with children to keep them safe when you can’t be with them.

For drivers:

• Pedestrians always have the right of way.

• In the absence of traffic signals, drivers must always slow down or stop for pedestrians in marked and unmarked crosswalks.

• At stop signs and when a school crossing guard is displaying an official stop sign or flag, drivers must come to a complete stop.

To share with your children:

• First and foremost, set a good example by always following the traffic safety rules yourself. Children learn by example.

• Cross in the crosswalks at the corner, not in the middle of the block. Never cross from between parked cars. Never cross an intersection diagonally.

• Children should look to see that drivers are aware of them. Making eye contact with a driver is a good way to know whether a driver is aware that someone is about to cross the road.

• Cross quickly – do not linger or play in the street.

• Always wear a helmet when riding a bicycle, skateboard, or scooter.

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“The law strikes an appropriate, constitutional balance between federal and state authority over the health care system,” Attorney General Harris said. “It establishes federal standards, backed by federal funding, to expand access to affordable coverage while conferring considerable latitude on states to design systems that work best for their citizens.”

Harris, joined by nine other attorneys general, asserted in the brief that the federal health care law bolsters, rather than usurps, state authority to address problems in the national health care economy that the states cannot solve effectively on their own.

According to the brief, the health care law solves a national problem in a way that gives greater power to states by building on a successful model of cooperative federalism.

Further, the brief states that the framework established by the law “empowers states to create enduring solutions to those problems, and to do so with federal support.”

The attorneys general also argue that the minimum coverage provision is a constitutional and integral element of Congress's interstate solution to the health care crisis.

California was joined in this brief along with Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Vermont and the District of Columbia.

In July, the same group of attorneys general filed a friend-of-the court brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia urging that court to affirm the constitutionality of the federal health care reform law.

Attorney General Harris also filed similar briefs in April in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, in March in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and in January in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

The Eighth Circuit case is Kinder v. Geithner, No. 11-1973, United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

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Another 74,000 veterans have claims pending, and will only need to show VA that they set foot in Vietnam and have one of the diseases added last year to the list of Agent Orange “presumptive” conditions.

Though these payments comfort veterans and their families, they have upset some Republican senators who argue they are “unfair” to fellow veterans and taxpayers, and drive up VA compensation claims at a time when budgets are tightening and needs are expanding for new veterans.

These senators argue the Agent Orange Act of 1991 is flawed, providing too much authority to the VA secretary and allowing compensation awards based on a mere “association” between a disease and herbicide exposure rather than evidence that exposure “caused” the ailments.

“We are transferring a half million dollars to veterans under this decision by Secretary Shinseki for people who weigh 350 pounds, smoke three packs of cigarettes a day, and have hypercholesterolemia because they will not take their medicine,” Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) complained to colleagues during floor debate on his recent amendment to tighten the law.

“We are saying the reason they have heart disease is because at some point in time they were in Vietnam” and their disease meets the law’s criteria of being “associated” with herbicide exposure.

Coburn in late July sought to change the law to block more conditions from being added to VA’s list of presumptive diseases for exposure to Agent Orange unless medical science can show a “causal” effect and veterans can prove they were exposed to the herbicide.

Coburn’s amendment to the Military Construction and Veterans’ Affairs Appropriations Act of 2012 was tabled on a motion from Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.). The vote was 69-to-30 with 29 Republicans supporting Coburn.

Though he lost this vote, Coburn will continue to try to narrow the Agent Orange law and trim back authority of the VA secretary for expanding the list of presumptive diseases, said his press aide, Becky Bernhardt.

Coburn’s amendment would not have impacted the current list of presumptive diseases, including conditions added last year. That wasn’t clear from his rhetoric during floor debate.

Coburn noted that in 2006 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) found no positive association between exposure to Agent Orange and heart disease.

By 2008 it had found a positive association “but absolutely no causation. There is a big difference… On that basis, the secretary committed this country to make payments to people for disabilities not associated with their service.” With a limited budget going forward, if we are paying for disabilities that are not associated with service, that means we are going to have less money available for those veterans who do have a disability.”

Arizona Sen. John McCain, ranking Republican on the armed services committee, endorsed Coburn’s amendment.

McCain had co-sponsored the Agent Orange Act of 1991 believing the herbicide had harmed the health of many thousands of veterans.

But the VA secretary “has now expanded the eligibility to the point where it is beyond any scientific evidence that compensation would be required,” McCain said.

He noted that heart disease “is the leading cause of death in America today and has been so for decades.” Yet any Vietnam vet with the disease now can be awarded compensation at a potential cost to VA of up to $42 billion by 2020 “without what appears to be a direct connection to Agent Orange.”

There are too many legitimate needs “for veterans of wars to come” to allow this “open-ended expenditure of taxpayers' dollars.”

Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), a Vietnam veteran like McCain, voted with fellow Democrats to table the amendment.

But Webb, who serves on the veterans’ affairs committee, later released a statement saying he agreed with Coburn that the 1991 law’s “associative” link between illnesses and exposure to Agent Orange “is too vague” and the law “gives too much discretion to the secretary of veterans affairs.”

“This discretionary power has been increasingly widened over time, impacting hundreds of thousands of veterans and tens billions of taxpayer dollars,” Webb said. “Legislation enacted 20 years ago under the assumption that it would be applied to a very narrow set of illnesses now allows presumptive service-connection for such age-related maladies as Type II diabetes and chronic heart disease.”

He asked VA Committee Chairman Murray to hold a hearing to consider legislation to reform the 1991 law.

Murray expressed no support for such a hearing in her motion to kill the amendment, arguing that Coburn made “a compelling case for saving money” but gave no evidence Agent Orange did not cause the conditions faced by these veterans...They have been dying for 40 years or more. We should not ask them to wait longer.”

Veterans’ groups vigorously attacked the amendment.

“Congress, in part, settled on this mechanism because it was nearly impossible for Vietnam veterans to prove that their exposure to Agent Orange caused their health conditions,” said John Rowan, National President of Vietnam Veterans of America. Coburn’s change “would essentially mean that benefits due to Agent Orange exposure would be out of reach” on additional diseases.

Tim Tetz, legislative director for the American Legion, said the law remains “fair and non-political. We think that’s the model for environmental exposures as we go forward … We applauded it then and we continue to applaud it today for creating an objective, scientific-based standard” which recognizes very poor record-keeping on herbicide exposure during the war.

To comment, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., write to Military Update, P.O. Box 231111, Centreville, VA, 20120-1111 or visit: www.militaryupdate.com.

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Geophysicist Craig Hartline led a presentation on an enhanced geothermal systems projects at the Calpine geothermal steamfield in Cobb, Calif., on Thursday, August 18, 2011. Photo by Sheila Pell.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The name of a project now under way at The Geysers geothermal steamfield may not roll off the tongue, but Calpine geologists hope that it will prove to be something to shout about.

If successful, Calpine believes the “Enhanced Geothermal System Demonstration Project” will both increase energy production and provide a model for other areas, although it has raised concerns for some community members about the potential for increased earthquake activity.

In a public update at the Cartwright Geothermal Visitors Center in Middletown on Thursday, Aug. 18, geophysicist Craig Hartline and principal investigator Mark Walters presented a slide show and discussed the technology that will be tested in the northwest portion of The Geysers.

The project is a collaborative effort between scientists and engineers from Calpine Corp., Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Department of Energy, which is co-funding it.

The work involves the creation of an engineered reservoir and injection of cold, treated wastewater into deep rock where temperatures reach 500 to 750 degrees Fahrenheit.

Calpine's goal is to demonstrate the ability to stimulate hot rocks by monitoring their response to water injection.

The desired result: increased fluid flow for producing electrical energy. That is, enough power from a single well to serve 6,000 more homes.

Calpine's demonstration area is 6.5 miles from Cobb and nine miles from Anderson Springs. According to Hartline, the project is situated in the northwest section of The Geysers because the southeast field lacks sufficient temperature contrast.

The company also considered the distance from Cobb and Anderson Springs, where residents have protested expansion of plant operations due to concern about earthquakes.

“One reason this area was picked was due to its location relative to communities,” Hartline said.

A 4,800-foot injection pipeline for the project was completed last December. Next month, the first water injection “step tests” will begin, according to the presentation.

There are two ways to move rock: through heat or pressure. In this case, tiny fractures created in rock will come from thermal effects – heat– rather than pressure.

According to Hartline, the tests will be “well below fracture pressure” and are designed to avoid potentially damaging hydraulic fracturing.

“We want a cloud of fractures,” Walters said – not a single fracture. And that means low pressure. “High pressure would not create a cloud of fractures.”

Walters said they are searching for “the sweet spot,” or optimal rate of injection that will generate the most steam at the surface. They now believe it’s about 500 gallons of water per minute, but the plan is to start small and gradually increase the amount to find the most efficient rate.

“We want 500 gallons per day, per well,” Walters said.

No new water will be added for the project, according to Walters.

Hartline said a major goal, vital to sustain operations, is to put water back to recharge the reservoir. Calpine hopes to “approach 100 percent fluid replacement for sustainable electrical production,” according to the slideshow.

At the end of the talk, Hartline and Walters took questions from the audience.

One attendee asked that if testing is successful, will it include the entire field?

“No,” Walters replied. “We’re trying to prove the concept.”

Another attendee asked about naturally occurring earthquakes versus those triggered by plant operations.

Hartline said that the region is naturally seismic, but since The Geysers began operation in 1960, the number of earthquakes has been increasing and is attributed to the injection of fluids.

“We know the bulk of seismicity at The Geysers is induced,” Hartline said.

He stressed that they are mostly microquakes, however and that there are no known large faults in the work area.

“Anything below 3.0 is considered a microearthquake,” Hartline said.

In regard to earthquakes induced by injection, “the important thing is that they’re not all the same magnitude,” he added.

But the promise of geothermal has also sparked concerns about earthquakes as new drilling technology develops.

In 2009, AltaRock Energy had undertaken an “engineered” geothermal system drilling project in an old Northern California Power Agency geothermal well above Anderson Springs The goal was to fracture bedrock in order to inject water.

That project later was suspended after scrutiny from the national press and the company's announcement that it had “encountered a number of physical difficulties” in drilling the well, as Lake County News has reported.

Calpine told Lake County News in late 2009 that its project – which is “enhanced,” not “engineered” – would not be the same.

Currently, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is conducting studies to understand how injection triggers seismicity.

There are 31 seismic monitoring stations at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, with several added in advance of injection at The Geysers.

“No potential damage” is expected to occur from the injection in either Cobb or Anderson Springs, but in both locations, strong motion stations are installed, according to the presentation.

Hartline told the audience about a public voice mail hotline for reporting earthquakes (877-4-GEYSER).

In response to calls they’ve received on the hotline, they are doing “some investigation,” he said.

They also are working on improved 3D modeling that will help detect fault and fracture surfaces.

The Geysers steamfield supplies about 25 percent of the state’s renewable energy and 40 percent of U.S. geothermal power, according to Calpine.

“This field is an incredible resource,” Hartline said. “We’re trying to make sure it’s managed into the future.”

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Joyce Sue Adams, 67, of Clearlake, Calif., was arrested on drug charges by Lake County Narcotic Task Force detectives on Friday, August 19, 2011. Lake County Jail photo.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A Clearlake woman was arrested last week following the discovery of drugs and paraphernalia at her home.

On Friday, Aug. 19, Lake County Narcotic Task Force detectives served a search warrant at the residence of Joyce Sue Adams, 67, according to Michelle Gonzalez, the sheriff's public information office.

When they arrived at Adams' home narcotic detectives contacted and detained Adams without incident, Gonzalez said.

After securing the residence, narcotic detectives located a digital gram scale, packaging material and a quantity of methamphetamine in a dresser drawer in the living room, according to Gonzalez.

During the search of the master bedroom a safe was located. Gonzalez said the safe was later opened and detectives found items associated with the sale of controlled substances, including additional packing materials, and calibration scale weights.

Also located in the bedroom was a second digital gram scale, and a prescription medication bottle without a label. Gonzalez said the bottle contained Diazepam tablets for which Adams did not have a prescription.

Approximately one-quarter ounce of methamphetamine was located on the ground next to where Adams had been detained, Gonzalez said. Detectives seized $421 from Adams pending asset forfeiture proceedings.

Adams was arrested and transported to the Hill Road Correctional Facility where she was booked for possession of a controlled substance for sale, and possession of a controlled substance, Diazepam, according to Gonzalez.

At the jail, narcotics detectives requested and received a bail enhancement, and Adams’ bail was set at $100,000, Gonzalez said.

The bail enhancement request was based on the previous Narcotics Task Force arrest of Adams on July 15 for possession of a controlled substance for sale, and possession of marijuana for sale, according to Gonzalez.

She remained in custody early Thursday, according to jail records.

The Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force can be contacted through its anonymous tip line at 707-263-3663.

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LAKEPORT, Calif. – A local man was sentenced to three years in state prison on Monday for stealing hundreds of dollars from his brother-in-law and replacing the money with counterfeit bills.

Robert Lawrence Deppe, 57, of Upper Lake was sentenced in the case by Judge Andrew Blum on Monday morning.

Deppe's attorney, J. David Markham, did not return a call seeking comment.

“We gave him a pretty big break,” Deputy District Attorney John Langan said of Deppe.

Langan said Deppe could have faced life in prison because he was a three strikes candidate, with two previous felony first-degree burglary convictions that occurred about 20 years ago.

The report on the case explained that Deppe turned himself in at the Lake County Jail on Feb. 9 after an investigation began into allegations that he took money from his brother-in-law – who lived with Deppe and his wife, Lisa – as well as taking money from Lisa Deppe herself.

Robert Deppe was alleged to have taken from his brother-in-law eight $100 bills and five $20 bills and replaced them with fake bills. He also allegedly took two $100 bills from his wife's purse, also putting fake bills in their place, according to the initial sheriff's report.

The District Attorney's Office later charged Deppe with forgery and felony petty theft, as Lake County News has reported.

It was about that same time that Deppe, the former post commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2015, was accused of having falsified a Vietnam service record, leading to him leaving the post.

Langan said the fact that Deppe used counterfeit bills to cover the thefts showed premeditation.

Rather than facing a potential life sentence, Deppe received the three-year prison sentence, said Langan.

“We gave him a tremendous break,” Langan said.

He noted, “This was kind of an unusual offer on my part.”

Langan said Deppe made a complete confession to the thefts.

Lisa Deppe – who paid her brother back the stolen money – asked for leniency, and it was Langan's understanding that she also was speaking for her brother-in-law, but found out later that the brother-in-law wasn't asking for Robert Deppe to be given a break.

“It was my mistake,” said Langan.

He said he invited Deppe's brother-in-law to come and make a statement to the court and lodge a complaint about the process if he had one. However, when the man addressed the court Monday, he said he was fine with the outcome. He also stated that he loved his sister but was tired of dealing with Deppe.

“I guess it's an ongoing problem,” said Langan.

Because of the previous convictions Judge Blum turned down probation, said Langan.

Deppe was immediately taken into custody and transported to the Lake County Jail, said Langan. From there he will be transported to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

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Police located 62-year-old Marcia L. Wilson of Clearlake, Calif., in Lakeport, Calif., on Sunday, August 21, 2011, a day after she walked away from a health club in the city. Courtesy photo.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The search for a Clearlake woman who went missing on Saturday in Lakeport had a positive conclusion on Sunday evening, thanks to some sharp-eyed community members.

Lakeport Police officers found Marcia L. Wilson, 62, wandering in a field in the 1400 block of Martin Street shortly after 8:30 p.m. Sunday, according to Sgt. Jason Ferguson.

Ferguson credited calls from the community – which followed a police alert that had gone out Sunday afternoon – for helping lead police to Wilson's location.

She had voluntarily walked away from Quail Run Fitness Center the previous afternoon after going to the health club with her son, Blake Perry, Ferguson said.

Wilson, who is unfamiliar with the Lakeport area, later left the club without notifying Perry, according to Ferguson.

Ferguson said Wilson was found in possession of a Safeway grocery bag, a bottle of water and extra clothing. She told police she planned on spending the night in the field.

As a precautionary measure, Wilson was evaluated by paramedics and found to be in good health before she was released to family members, Ferguson said.

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