Hollywood party houses; company fined for pot smell; illegal ceviche
- Updated
Odd and interesting news from around the West.
- Updated
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Scientists from the U.S. and Denmark are seeking to map out the plumbing system hidden inside the earth's crust that's responsible for the famous Old Faithful geyser and other hydrothermal features at Yellowstone National Park.
Throughout November the research team will conduct flights over the park using a giant, hoop-shaped electromagnetic system suspended from a helicopter. The device acts like an X-ray to determine where and how hot water flows beneath the surface.
The team also hopes to gain insights into the infrequent but sometimes massive hydrothermal explosions that occur in the park, said lead scientist Carol Finn with the U.S. Geological Survey.
One such explosion, or possibly multiple explosions, that occurred roughly 13,800 years ago left a crater that measures 1-1/2 miles (2.6 km) across beneath at the bottom of Yellowstone Lake. It's believed to be the largest such crater in the world.
Similar to the regular eruptions of Old Faithful, hydrothermal explosions occur when huge pockets of boiling water beneath the ground experience a sudden drop in pressure, causing the water to convert to steam and explode violently to the surface.
Similar work elsewhere in the U.S. has helped reveal hazards from volcanoes.
"Nobody knows anything about the flow paths" for the hot water that erupts from Yellowstone's geyser, Finn said. "Does it travel down and back up? Does it travel laterally?"
The electromagnetic system was developed in Denmark to map out groundwater supplies in Denmark. It's able to discern between water and rocks to a depth of about 1,500 feet beneath the surface.
In Yellowstone, a better understanding of the hydrothermal plumbing could help administrators plot out future development so tourists can enjoy the park's features without damaging them or being put into harm's way.
The study is a collaboration between the U.S.G.S., Yellowstone National Park, the University of Wyoming and Denmark's Aarhus University.
- Updated
SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. (AP) — Sierra Vista police have arrested a former Cochise County sheriff's deputy for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
Detectives had been investigating a murder-for-hire case involving a man who wanted to have someone kill another local man. Police are accusing former deputy Israel Burkholder of being the man behind the plot.
Burkholder was arrested Sunday and booked into the Cochise County jail. It wasn't immediately clear if he had an attorney.
The Sierra Vista Herald reports (http://bit.ly/2f9CD6u) the man that was the target of the plot was a local resident against whom the former deputy allegedly had a grudge.
Police say Burkholder hasn't worked in law enforcement for about a year. He resigned in 2015 following an incident in which he accepted prescription painkillers from another deputy, who also resigned.
___
Information from: Sierra Vista Herald, http://www.svherald.com
- Updated
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say a 1-year-old girl died after her father accidentally ran her over with his car at a north Sacramento home Saturday afternoon.
The Sacramento Bee reports (http://bit.ly/2fxLThE ) the girl was in the front yard playing with a 6-year-old sibling when her father arrived at the house and the child ran toward it as he pulled into the driveway.
Police say the girl was taken to a hospital, where she later died.
The Sacramento County Coroner's Office website identified Nataly Lopez as the victim.
Police said they don't anticipate an arrest will be made, calling it an accident.
Police said neither alcohol nor speed were not factors in the accident.
The case remains under investigation.
___
Information from: The Sacramento Bee, http://www.sacbee.com
- Updated
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — The smell from a Boulder marijuana grow facility has earned the facility's operator $14,000 in fines.
The Daily Camera reports (http://bit.ly/2fv9UcG ) that the Dandelion Grow earned its second odor violation this month, costing the grow $10,000 — more than any other single fine the city has administered since recreational marijuana was legalized in 2014.
Boulder spokeswoman Sarah Huntley says Dandelion was fined after it did not fix the smell problem despite a two-month-long city intervention where they tried to mitigate the odor. Huntley says the smell of pot from the facility frequently drifts to nearby homes.
Dandelion officials did not respond to requests for comment.
___
Information from: Daily Camera, http://www.dailycamera.com/
- Updated
KALISPELL, Mont. (AP) — The final person involved in a Flathead Valley poaching case has been sentenced for his role in the illegal shooting of 15 deer and a cow elk.
Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials say nine young men were prosecuted on charges that they hunted out of season, used artificial lights and wasted game animals. The sentences, which wrapped up on Nov. 1, included over $16,000 in fines and restitution and the loss of a total of 47 years of hunting, fishing and trapping privileges.
Agency spokesman John Fraley says most of those involved were high school students under the age of 18.
Most of the animals were killed in the Flathead Valley, although a trophy whitetail buck was killed in Liberty County.
FWP officials thanked the school resource officer at Flathead High School for his help with the investigation.
- Updated
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Officials say a San Francisco surgeon was arrested on suspicion of 99 felony crimes in connection with prescribing opioid narcotics.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/2eNL8Bc ) 49-year-old Christopher Owens, a UCSF surgeon who works at the university-affiliated Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Francisco, was arrested last Thursday.
The move comes after Owens was placed on "investigatory leave" in June and on unpaid leave in September, the newspaper reported.
UCSF terminated Owens' physician privileges last week and fired him from the faculty.
Owens was booked on suspicion of charges including the illegal sale or transfer of narcotics. His bail was set at $1.98 million. Details of the specific accusations against him were not immediately available.
City prosecutors have not filed formal charges. It was not immediately known if he has an attorney.
___
Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com
- Updated
STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) — A single mother of six from Stockton says she could go to jail for selling homemade ceviche.
Mariza Ruelas tells KTXL-TV (http://bit.ly/2fsr5cq ) that she was cited with a misdemeanor in a sting operation. She had participated in a Facebook group where members trade recipes and sometimes sell specialty dishes.
Prosecutors say the problem is that Ruelas doesn't have the proper business permits required of restaurants. She refused a plea deal with prosecutors and is headed to trial.
San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Kelly McDaniel says that people selling food must get health inspections to safeguard from making people sick. Prosecutors did not immediately respond to a request by The Associated Press seeking comment.
McDaniel says that people like Ruelas also undercut restaurant owners who go through the effort of obtaining the proper licenses.
___
Information from: KTXL-TV.
- Updated
MOUNTAIN GATE, Calif. (AP) — Police and dozens of volunteers fanned out over the weekend in search of a missing Northern California mother whose family believes she's been abducted.
Police say 34-year-old Sherri Papini has been missing since she went for a jog Wednesday afternoon in the tiny town of Mountain Gate in Shasta County.
The Redding Record Searchlight reports (http://bit.ly/2fUGdT5 ) the Shasta County Sheriff's Office is dedicating nearly all its investigators to the case as well as some Redding police detectives.
Police say they have received about 100 tips since Papini's disappearance.
Papini's family has said they believe she was abducted.
Officials say her husband, Keith Papini, reported her missing when he came home from work and found that she hadn't picked up their two children from daycare.
Her cell phone and headphones were found near where she was reported missing.
___
Information from: Record Searchlight, http://redding.com
- Updated
LOS ANGELES (AP) — So-called "party houses" in the Hollywood Hills that feature red carpets, security guards and even wild animals are getting bigger and noisier, and neighbors and city officials have had enough.
The City Council voted last week to draft an ordinance beefing up laws targeting houses where gatherings attract hundreds of people who often pay a cover charge for entrance, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday (http://lat.ms/2fvOITW).
One recent party featured a lion, the newspaper said.
Neighbors complain about noise and say the houses have essentially become nightclubs. They say congestion poses safety risks on the narrow, winding roads in upscale Hollywood Hills neighborhoods.
"Oftentimes you would see this terrible traffic where an emergency vehicle couldn't get through at all," said George Skarpelos, vice president of the Hollywood United Neighborhood Council.
Danny Fitzgerald, whose four mansions have been rented out for huge — and controversial — bashes, said he's changed his leases to now include strict rules: No amplified music outdoors. No parking. No posting to social media. Violators risk losing their security deposit.
"The problem LA has is clubs close too early," Fitzgerald told the Times. "The people still want to party. They still want to go out."
The new ordinance proposed by Councilman David Ryu would expand the definition of a nuisance, impose new fines, allow liens on problematic properties and temporarily prohibit the short-term rental of any property found to be in violation. The new law is expected to be written by early next year.
As for the lion, it appeared at one of the homes owned by Fitzgerald.
"He was in a cage. A circus cage. And he's a movie star," he said.
___
Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/
- Updated
DENVER (AP) — A surgery technician who pleaded guilty to taking fentanyl intended for patients at a suburban Denver was sentenced Monday tro more than six years in prison.
The theft of the powerful painkiller by Rocky Allen, a former Navy medic who is HIV positive, raised concerns that hundreds of patients may have been exposed to the disease through possibly contaminated needles.
Allen was fired in January from Swedish Medical Center after another worker saw Allen switch a fentanyl syringe for one containing saline.
Allen was also fired from a series of hospitals around the West after being suspected of stealing syringes and was court-martialed for stealing drugs while serving in Afghanistan in 2011. He said he suffered from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
He was sentenced to 78 months' prison.
- Updated
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prosecutors have charged a Southern California man with stabbing his 13-month-old daughter to death and then setting his family's apartment on fire.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced Monday that 48-year-old Noe Torres faces one count each of murder, assault on a child causing death and arson of an inhabited structure or property.
Authorities say Torres stabbed his daughter after a fight with the child's mother on Oct. 21. He then allegedly set their second-story North Hollywood apartment on fire, stabbed himself and jumped out of a window while partly covered in flames.
Torres faces a maximum sentence of 34 years to life in state prison if convicted. His bail has been set at more than $2 million.
- Updated
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — An advisory panel is recommending to New Mexico health officials that medical marijuana be considered as a tool in the fight against opioid abuse.
Some health professionals tell the Santa Fe New Mexican (http://bit.ly/2ftb8Ft) that expanding the list of conditions that qualify under the state's medical marijuana program could transform New Mexico's landscape of addiction.
The recommendation will need the approval of Health Secretary Lynn Gallagher.
The Medical Advisory Board also voted Friday to recommend that Alzheimer's disease be added as a qualifying condition, and that the Health Department raise the cap on the number of plants a grower can produce to ensure an adequate supply is available for the increase in patients.
Officials say the program has grown over the past year to nearly 33,000 patients.
___
Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, http://www.sfnewmexican.com
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Scientists from the U.S. and Denmark are seeking to map out the plumbing system hidden inside the earth's crust that's responsible for the famous Old Faithful geyser and other hydrothermal features at Yellowstone National Park.
Throughout November the research team will conduct flights over the park using a giant, hoop-shaped electromagnetic system suspended from a helicopter. The device acts like an X-ray to determine where and how hot water flows beneath the surface.
The team also hopes to gain insights into the infrequent but sometimes massive hydrothermal explosions that occur in the park, said lead scientist Carol Finn with the U.S. Geological Survey.
One such explosion, or possibly multiple explosions, that occurred roughly 13,800 years ago left a crater that measures 1-1/2 miles (2.6 km) across beneath at the bottom of Yellowstone Lake. It's believed to be the largest such crater in the world.
Similar to the regular eruptions of Old Faithful, hydrothermal explosions occur when huge pockets of boiling water beneath the ground experience a sudden drop in pressure, causing the water to convert to steam and explode violently to the surface.
Similar work elsewhere in the U.S. has helped reveal hazards from volcanoes.
"Nobody knows anything about the flow paths" for the hot water that erupts from Yellowstone's geyser, Finn said. "Does it travel down and back up? Does it travel laterally?"
The electromagnetic system was developed in Denmark to map out groundwater supplies in Denmark. It's able to discern between water and rocks to a depth of about 1,500 feet beneath the surface.
In Yellowstone, a better understanding of the hydrothermal plumbing could help administrators plot out future development so tourists can enjoy the park's features without damaging them or being put into harm's way.
The study is a collaboration between the U.S.G.S., Yellowstone National Park, the University of Wyoming and Denmark's Aarhus University.
SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. (AP) — Sierra Vista police have arrested a former Cochise County sheriff's deputy for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
Detectives had been investigating a murder-for-hire case involving a man who wanted to have someone kill another local man. Police are accusing former deputy Israel Burkholder of being the man behind the plot.
Burkholder was arrested Sunday and booked into the Cochise County jail. It wasn't immediately clear if he had an attorney.
The Sierra Vista Herald reports (http://bit.ly/2f9CD6u) the man that was the target of the plot was a local resident against whom the former deputy allegedly had a grudge.
Police say Burkholder hasn't worked in law enforcement for about a year. He resigned in 2015 following an incident in which he accepted prescription painkillers from another deputy, who also resigned.
___
Information from: Sierra Vista Herald, http://www.svherald.com
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say a 1-year-old girl died after her father accidentally ran her over with his car at a north Sacramento home Saturday afternoon.
The Sacramento Bee reports (http://bit.ly/2fxLThE ) the girl was in the front yard playing with a 6-year-old sibling when her father arrived at the house and the child ran toward it as he pulled into the driveway.
Police say the girl was taken to a hospital, where she later died.
The Sacramento County Coroner's Office website identified Nataly Lopez as the victim.
Police said they don't anticipate an arrest will be made, calling it an accident.
Police said neither alcohol nor speed were not factors in the accident.
The case remains under investigation.
___
Information from: The Sacramento Bee, http://www.sacbee.com
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — The smell from a Boulder marijuana grow facility has earned the facility's operator $14,000 in fines.
The Daily Camera reports (http://bit.ly/2fv9UcG ) that the Dandelion Grow earned its second odor violation this month, costing the grow $10,000 — more than any other single fine the city has administered since recreational marijuana was legalized in 2014.
Boulder spokeswoman Sarah Huntley says Dandelion was fined after it did not fix the smell problem despite a two-month-long city intervention where they tried to mitigate the odor. Huntley says the smell of pot from the facility frequently drifts to nearby homes.
Dandelion officials did not respond to requests for comment.
___
Information from: Daily Camera, http://www.dailycamera.com/
KALISPELL, Mont. (AP) — The final person involved in a Flathead Valley poaching case has been sentenced for his role in the illegal shooting of 15 deer and a cow elk.
Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials say nine young men were prosecuted on charges that they hunted out of season, used artificial lights and wasted game animals. The sentences, which wrapped up on Nov. 1, included over $16,000 in fines and restitution and the loss of a total of 47 years of hunting, fishing and trapping privileges.
Agency spokesman John Fraley says most of those involved were high school students under the age of 18.
Most of the animals were killed in the Flathead Valley, although a trophy whitetail buck was killed in Liberty County.
FWP officials thanked the school resource officer at Flathead High School for his help with the investigation.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Officials say a San Francisco surgeon was arrested on suspicion of 99 felony crimes in connection with prescribing opioid narcotics.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/2eNL8Bc ) 49-year-old Christopher Owens, a UCSF surgeon who works at the university-affiliated Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Francisco, was arrested last Thursday.
The move comes after Owens was placed on "investigatory leave" in June and on unpaid leave in September, the newspaper reported.
UCSF terminated Owens' physician privileges last week and fired him from the faculty.
Owens was booked on suspicion of charges including the illegal sale or transfer of narcotics. His bail was set at $1.98 million. Details of the specific accusations against him were not immediately available.
City prosecutors have not filed formal charges. It was not immediately known if he has an attorney.
___
Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com
STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) — A single mother of six from Stockton says she could go to jail for selling homemade ceviche.
Mariza Ruelas tells KTXL-TV (http://bit.ly/2fsr5cq ) that she was cited with a misdemeanor in a sting operation. She had participated in a Facebook group where members trade recipes and sometimes sell specialty dishes.
Prosecutors say the problem is that Ruelas doesn't have the proper business permits required of restaurants. She refused a plea deal with prosecutors and is headed to trial.
San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Kelly McDaniel says that people selling food must get health inspections to safeguard from making people sick. Prosecutors did not immediately respond to a request by The Associated Press seeking comment.
McDaniel says that people like Ruelas also undercut restaurant owners who go through the effort of obtaining the proper licenses.
___
Information from: KTXL-TV.
MOUNTAIN GATE, Calif. (AP) — Police and dozens of volunteers fanned out over the weekend in search of a missing Northern California mother whose family believes she's been abducted.
Police say 34-year-old Sherri Papini has been missing since she went for a jog Wednesday afternoon in the tiny town of Mountain Gate in Shasta County.
The Redding Record Searchlight reports (http://bit.ly/2fUGdT5 ) the Shasta County Sheriff's Office is dedicating nearly all its investigators to the case as well as some Redding police detectives.
Police say they have received about 100 tips since Papini's disappearance.
Papini's family has said they believe she was abducted.
Officials say her husband, Keith Papini, reported her missing when he came home from work and found that she hadn't picked up their two children from daycare.
Her cell phone and headphones were found near where she was reported missing.
___
Information from: Record Searchlight, http://redding.com
LOS ANGELES (AP) — So-called "party houses" in the Hollywood Hills that feature red carpets, security guards and even wild animals are getting bigger and noisier, and neighbors and city officials have had enough.
The City Council voted last week to draft an ordinance beefing up laws targeting houses where gatherings attract hundreds of people who often pay a cover charge for entrance, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday (http://lat.ms/2fvOITW).
One recent party featured a lion, the newspaper said.
Neighbors complain about noise and say the houses have essentially become nightclubs. They say congestion poses safety risks on the narrow, winding roads in upscale Hollywood Hills neighborhoods.
"Oftentimes you would see this terrible traffic where an emergency vehicle couldn't get through at all," said George Skarpelos, vice president of the Hollywood United Neighborhood Council.
Danny Fitzgerald, whose four mansions have been rented out for huge — and controversial — bashes, said he's changed his leases to now include strict rules: No amplified music outdoors. No parking. No posting to social media. Violators risk losing their security deposit.
"The problem LA has is clubs close too early," Fitzgerald told the Times. "The people still want to party. They still want to go out."
The new ordinance proposed by Councilman David Ryu would expand the definition of a nuisance, impose new fines, allow liens on problematic properties and temporarily prohibit the short-term rental of any property found to be in violation. The new law is expected to be written by early next year.
As for the lion, it appeared at one of the homes owned by Fitzgerald.
"He was in a cage. A circus cage. And he's a movie star," he said.
___
Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/
DENVER (AP) — A surgery technician who pleaded guilty to taking fentanyl intended for patients at a suburban Denver was sentenced Monday tro more than six years in prison.
The theft of the powerful painkiller by Rocky Allen, a former Navy medic who is HIV positive, raised concerns that hundreds of patients may have been exposed to the disease through possibly contaminated needles.
Allen was fired in January from Swedish Medical Center after another worker saw Allen switch a fentanyl syringe for one containing saline.
Allen was also fired from a series of hospitals around the West after being suspected of stealing syringes and was court-martialed for stealing drugs while serving in Afghanistan in 2011. He said he suffered from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
He was sentenced to 78 months' prison.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prosecutors have charged a Southern California man with stabbing his 13-month-old daughter to death and then setting his family's apartment on fire.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced Monday that 48-year-old Noe Torres faces one count each of murder, assault on a child causing death and arson of an inhabited structure or property.
Authorities say Torres stabbed his daughter after a fight with the child's mother on Oct. 21. He then allegedly set their second-story North Hollywood apartment on fire, stabbed himself and jumped out of a window while partly covered in flames.
Torres faces a maximum sentence of 34 years to life in state prison if convicted. His bail has been set at more than $2 million.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — An advisory panel is recommending to New Mexico health officials that medical marijuana be considered as a tool in the fight against opioid abuse.
Some health professionals tell the Santa Fe New Mexican (http://bit.ly/2ftb8Ft) that expanding the list of conditions that qualify under the state's medical marijuana program could transform New Mexico's landscape of addiction.
The recommendation will need the approval of Health Secretary Lynn Gallagher.
The Medical Advisory Board also voted Friday to recommend that Alzheimer's disease be added as a qualifying condition, and that the Health Department raise the cap on the number of plants a grower can produce to ensure an adequate supply is available for the increase in patients.
Officials say the program has grown over the past year to nearly 33,000 patients.
___
Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, http://www.sfnewmexican.com
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