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County Lines for March 27, 2008
Santa Maria
Autopsies done on shooting victims
Autopsies have been completed on all four men killed when a local man allegedly opened fire on them March 18 at a Santa Maria auto salvage yard.
Lee Leeds, 31, of Santa Maria is suspected of fatally shooting Robert Louis Leeds, 66, the suspect's father and the owner of Black Road Auto; employees Golden Eli “Dave” Duboise, 45, and Terry Edward Majan, 37; and customer Ricardo Cardenas Leal, 33. All the victims were from Santa Maria.
Sgt. Alex Tipolt of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department said the autopsies were finished late Tuesday and Wednesday.
Information on the autopsies' findings was unavailable.
Los Padres
Man killed in car crash identified
The man killed in a car crash Saturday off the side of Romero Canyon Road in Los Padres National Forest has been identified as Michael Lawrence Courtney, 24, of Carpinteria.
The name was released Wednesday by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department and the California Highway Patrol.
The crash occurred at 2:40 p.m. Saturday, about a mile north of East Camino Cielo, the CHP said.
Courtney was one of two occupants ejected from a late-model BMW sedan.
The car's other occupant, 19-year-old Vincent Ornelas of Carpinteria, suffered facial lacerations and complained of pain to his abdomen and neck.
A helicopter airlifted both victims to a U.S. Forest Service facility on San Marcos Pass, where they were transferred to an ambulance and taken to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
Courtney suffered a lacerated liver and was taken to emergency surgery, but succumbed to his injuries, the CHP reported.
Lompoc
Three-vehicle
collision on Hwy. 1
A three-vehicle collision at Highway 1 and Santa Lucia Canyon Road about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday sent two adults and an infant to Lompoc Hospital with minor injuries.
All three drivers lived in Lompoc or on Vandenberg Air Force Base, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Steve Fulmer.
According to the CHP report, driver Josh Holt was pulling onto Highway 1 when his Dodge Neon collided with the southbound pick-up truck of Robert Tronu III.
“The impact pushed the truck across the road, and it collided with a car traveling northbound on Highway 1,” Fulmer said.
The driver of the northbound car, Ieasha Burr, and an infant were transported, along with Tronu, to Lompoc Hospital, according to County Fire spokesman Capt. Eli Iskow.
All three cars sustained major damage and were towed away.
Lompoc
Car crashes through front of building
No one was injured Tuesday night when a vehicle crashed through the front of a building in the 100 block of West Pine Street in Lompoc.
Just after 8 p.m., police received reports about a vehicle that had crashed through the Artificial Kidney Center. Two employees were in the business at the time.
The vehicle hit a plate glass window, continued through the building through double doors and stopped about 50 feet inside in a storage area, police said.
Police said the driver, whose name they did not release, suffered a medical condition that caused the crash. No citations were issued but the driver is being referred to the Department of Motor Vehicles for re-examination.
Solvang
Liddi becomes city's new police chief
The city's new police chief is Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Lt. Mark Liddi.
Liddi succeeds Lt. Phil Willis, who has been re-assigned to the Sheriff's Department's training division. Willis had served as police chief for three years. Solvang contracts with the Sheriff's Department for law-enforcement services.
The Solvang police chief's assignment includes command of the Santa Ynez/Solvang sheriff's station.
A Buellton resident, Liddi has worked in the sheriff's forensics bureau for the past three years. He previously spent six years in the Santa Ynez Valley as a field supervisor, and other assignments have included patrol, special operations and major crimes detective.
SLO County
Mower exchange now under way
Registration is now open for San Luis Obispo County residents who want to participate in the 2008 “Mow Down Air Pollution” lawnmower exchange program.
County residents can register online or by phone to trade in their old gas-guzzling lawnmowers for new Neuton battery-powered electric lawnmowers at less than half the retail price, said a spokeswoman for the County Air Pollution Control District.
Through the program, the district will offer 615 residents the opportunity to purchase a 24-volt, cordless, rechargeable lawnmower, with a retail value of $399, for the reduced price of $160 in exchange for a working, gasoline-powered lawnmower.
Participants can make the exchange from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 31, at Nipomo High School. Preregistration is required, and proof of county residency must be supplied at the event. Cash, checks and major credit cards will be accepted.
To sign up and for more information, visit
www.c-5.org/
mower or call 781-1003. Phone registration is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday.
- From staff reports
People lined up outside La Purisima Catholic Church's parish hall Wednesday, waiting for the doors to open at 11:30 a.m. so they could donate $20.
That donation allowed them to select a hand-made bowl, which they could take home, and eat a soup-and-bread lunch at the fourth annual Lompoc Empty Bowls Luncheon to benefit the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County.
“Today has been a tremendous success,” said Kerry Aller, community relations manager for the Foodbank, who estimated that nearly 350 people attended this year.
During a brief speech of recognition and thanks, Executive Director Jim Mangis assured the crowd that the proceeds from the day's event would stay in the Lompoc Valley. Money raised will help provide food for Lompoc Foodbank member agencies such as Catholic Charities, Community Action Commission, Boys & Girls Club, Domestic Violence Solutions and Transitions Mental Health.
By noon, there was hardly a seat left though a steady stream of people continued to come in. The round tables cover in white cloths lent themselves to conversation as newcomers and returnees ate together.
Upon entering the hall, participants were led through a side room in which six tables were covered in bowls, vases, mugs and platters in colors that ranged from vibrant yellows, greens and blues to more earthen shades of gray, terra cotta and brown.
Once a bowl had been selected, it was time to queue up for some soup. On the menu were options such as Swiss potato, chicken tortilla, seafood chowder, tomato bisque, navy bean and vegetable, gazpacho and split pea.
Not only was the selection impressive, but the list of soup donors was too: La Botte, Catering by Lori Cordova, Mike Despres of the Lompoc Hospital, McConnell's, Saletti's, Sissy's Uptown Cafe, Sugar Magnolia's, Taco Roco and Tom's.
The selection of soups made choosing one difficult, but no matter - seconds, even thirds, were allowed.
And for those who chose a “bowl” not suited to supper, such as a vase or platter, Styrofoam bowls were available.
Water and bread were also provided, completing the meal.
While people ate and chatted, came and went, a cadre of volunteers moved about the room in their Foodbank aprons, selling raffle tickets for a colorful, bowl-themed quilt, or offering to clean and wrap the bowls so that participants could take their bowls with them when they left.
For Chuck and Barbara Arnold, attending the Lompoc Empty Bowls is an annual event.
“This is a wonderful event for the city, and I think it shows the spirit of the community with the restaurants that donate and the people who come,” Chuck said.
“And the soup is good, too,” Barbara said.
Another couple, Eileen Negus and Al Brewer, participate not only by coming to eat, but also by making and donating bowls. “I donated 24 bowls this year,” Brewer said.
“Empty Bowls got him started,” Negus said.
It was this event in 2006 and Empty Bowls Committee Member Alice Laufer's ceramics class that turned Brewer into a potter.
Committee members Alice Down and Trish Jordan explained that it was Joni Gray who suggested the Empty Bowls event for Lompoc after similar events had already been established in Santa Maria and Santa Barbara.
“Other communities do this event around the country,” Down added.
For Roger McConnell, a representative of signature sponsor Stillman Capital Group, the value of the Empty Bowls event was obvious immediately.
He became so impressed by the Foodbank's mission that he is now a member of its board of directors.
“They move 600,000 pounds of food and produce a month into the county. And it's not just the agencies that come to them, they go out and find needs to fill.”
Amanda Brooks can be reached at 737-1056 or
abrooks@santamariatimes.com.
March 27, 2008
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