2014 in review: Protest, drought, quake rattled Sonoma County, North Coast
The earth moved on the North Coast in 2014.
Feet pounded the ground in protest, the balance of political power shifted and an August earthquake south of Napa struck terror in the darkness.
The year's biggest stories were the decision not to bring criminal charges against a Sonoma County sheriff's deputy who shot and killed a 13-year-old boy, and the acquittal of Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carrillo on a charge of attempted peeking.
A magnitude-6.0 earthquake that struck in the early morning of Aug. 24 south of Napa once again jolted the region awake to the realities of living in California. A fourth year of withering drought through spring and summer dominated headlines, before being supplanted in December by the most significant rainstorms in years. Those storms filled reservoirs and farm ponds and pushed the Russian River above flood stage in Guerneville for the first time since 2006.
Beyond the drought, there was a seismic shift in local agriculture, punctuated by a massive beef recall after federal agents raided Rancho Feeding in Petaluma and uncovered what authorities said was a pattern of deceitful behavior, including swapping out the heads of slaughtered cows with eye cancer.
But 2014 also was a year when Sonoma County's health care system changed significantly, with Palm Drive Hospital closing and Sutter Hospital opening a new facility on Highway 101. Sonoma Clean Power expanded its reach as the county's economy continued to hum along.
A stroke of President Barack Obama's pen in 2014 could boost the economy along the Mendocino Coast. The president in March took executive action to fold the stunning Stornetta Public Lands into the California Coastal National Monument.
Decision in Lopez death
In July, Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch's decision to not bring charges against a sheriff's deputy who shot and killed 13-year-old Andy Lopez in 2013 sparked another wave of protest around the county.
Ravitch concluded that Deputy Erick Gelhaus' use of lethal force was a 'reasonable response' to what the deputy encountered, which was Lopez walking on a sidewalk on Moorland Avenue in southwest Santa Rosa carrying an airsoft rifle designed to look like an AK-47 assault rifle.
Gelhaus, a 24-year Sonoma County deputy and Iraq War veteran, told Santa Rosa police investigating the shooting that he thought the teen was carrying a real assault rifle when he ordered the boy to drop the gun. Lopez did not drop the gun and instead began to turn, the barrel of the airsoft gun rising as he pivoted, according to police. The deputy fired eight rounds, striking him seven times.
'The evidence establishes that while in the lawful performance of his duties, Deputy Gelhaus was faced with a highly unpredictable and rapidly evolving situation,' Ravitch said in drawing her conclusions. 'Given his training and experience, he believed honestly and reasonably that he was faced with a do-or-die dilemma.'
The decision outraged Lopez supporters and activists, many of whom took to the streets in subsequent days to make known their anger and frustration. A July 13 protest drew about 200 people to Old Courthouse Square in Santa Rosa and also resulted in a brief blockade on Highway 101 near Third Street after a smaller group marched up the onramp and onto the road.
On the anniversary of Lopez's death, Oct. 22, mourners gathered at the Moorland Avenue lot near where the teen was shot to remember the boy. Sonoma County is acquiring two properties on Moorland and Horizon Way to possibly transform them into a large urban park.
Carrillo acquitted
In April, Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carrillo's acquittal on a charge of attempted peeking generated a firestorm of controversy. It also led to an extraordinary Board of Supervisors meeting on May 6, when his colleagues on the board demanded that he step down.
Carrillo was arrested by Santa Rosa police on July 13, 2012, wearing just his socks and underwear, after a neighbor, identified only as Jane Doe, twice reported a man outside her apartment around 3:40 a.m.
At trial, Carrillo said he had been dropped off at home by his girlfriend and noticed a light on in the woman's kitchen. He said he went over to share beers with her in the hopes of having sex. He told police at the scene that he could not remember her name.
'You lurked, you trespassed, you tore (a window screen) and you terrorized a young woman,' Supervisor Shirlee Zane said to Carrillo at the May 6 meeting. She said he couldn't lead 'if people don't believe you have character and integrity.'
Carrillo, however, called his predawn behavior that led to his arrest 'a foolish and unfortunate act,' while suggesting that politics and 'people with axes to grind' were behind calls for him to leave office. He vowed to stay on while addressing what he said is an addiction to alcohol.
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