Christine Loeber, executive director of the Pathway Home in Yountville. (FACEBOOK)

The Press Democrat's most-read online news stories of 2018

PRESS DEMOCRAT STAFF
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

It's been a long year, hasn't it?

From the heartbreaking devastation of the Mendocino Complex fire to the hopeful revival of a Clear Lake resort, 2018 was full of unforgettable North Coast happenings.

Here are the PressDemocrat.com's most-read news stories of the year:

By Julie Johnson, Martin Espinoza and Christi Warren, March 9, 2018

An Army veteran with a high-powered rifle returned to the Veterans Home of California in Yountville March 9, 2018, where he had recently been kicked out of a program for treatment of combat stress, and killed three mental health workers. Click here to read the full story.

Victims in the shooting at the Veterans Home of California, from left: Christine Loeber, executive director of The Pathway Home; Dr. Jennifer Golick, therapist at The Pathway Home; and Jennifer Gonzales, pschologist with the San Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs.
Victims in the shooting at the Veterans Home of California, from left: Christine Loeber, executive director of The Pathway Home; Dr. Jennifer Golick, therapist at The Pathway Home; and Jennifer Gonzales, pschologist with the San Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs.

The three women killed were Christine Loeber, 48, the executive director who lead th

e Pathway Home program at the Veterans Home of California; Jen Golick, 42, a staff therapist, and Jennifer Gonzales Shushereba, 32, a psychologist with the San Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.

More recently, a CHP investigation found that he had been working up to the bloodshed for at least several weeks.

First responders work at the scene of a multi-vehicle fire at Fountaingrove Parkway and Mendocino Avenue in Santa Rosa, on Monday, February 5, 2018. (BETH SCHLANKER/ The Press Democrat)
First responders work at the scene of a multi-vehicle fire at Fountaingrove Parkway and Mendocino Avenue in Santa Rosa, on Monday, February 5, 2018. (BETH SCHLANKER/ The Press Democrat)

By Randi Rossmann and Kevin Fixler, Feb. 5, 2018

Six people were injured when a dump truck carrying fire debris barreled through an intersection in Santa Rosa, at Fountaingrove Parkway and Mendocino Avenue. Dark plumes of smoke could be seen from all around as several cars caught on fire. Click here to read the full story.

One of the people injured was paralyzed, and an investigation later found that the driver committed a vehicle code violation for failing to maintain brakes in good working order.

Gold Ridge firefighters on a Sonoma County strike team check a group of buildings, as flames of the River Fire advance on an adjacent hillside, near Hopland, California, on Saturday, July 28, 2018. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)
Gold Ridge firefighters on a Sonoma County strike team check a group of buildings, as flames of the River Fire advance on an adjacent hillside, near Hopland, California, on Saturday, July 28, 2018. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)

By Julie Johnson, Martin Espinoza and Bill Swindell, July 28, 2018

Two fires erupted in Mendocino County in July, the River and Ranch fires, eventually collectively referred to as the Mendocino Complex fire. The Mendocino Complex fire remains the largest in California history, and it destroyed 280 structures including 157 residences, killed one firefighter and injured four others. Click here to read the full story.

Since then, much of the once-lush landscape is now bare and blackened.

High Valley Road above Clearlake Oaks dissects the Ranch fire burn scar of the Mendocino Complex in the Mendocino National Forest, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat) 2018
High Valley Road above Clearlake Oaks dissects the Ranch fire burn scar of the Mendocino Complex in the Mendocino National Forest, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat) 2018
Madison awaits his owners after the Camp fire in Butte County. (Facebook)
Madison awaits his owners after the Camp fire in Butte County. (Facebook)

By Katy Lieber, Dec. 7, 2018

A dog who was left behind as the deadly Camp fire swept through Butte County last month was found "protecting what was left of his former home" when his owners were finally allowed back onto their burned property. And he's a super good boy. Click here to read the full story.

A changed Sonoma County one year after the October 2017 fires

(Left) Damage to the Larkfield/Wikiup area caused by the Tubbs fire. Photo taken Oct. 10, 2017. (JOHN BURGESS/ PD) (Right) Larkfield almost a year later, in a photo taken Sept. 24, 2018. (KENT PORTER/ PD)
(Left) Damage to the Larkfield/Wikiup area caused by the Tubbs fire. Photo taken Oct. 10, 2017. (JOHN BURGESS/ PD) (Right) Larkfield almost a year later, in a photo taken Sept. 24, 2018. (KENT PORTER/ PD)

By Janet Balicki, Oct. 5, 2018

Nearly a year later, PD published this gallery showing how the rubble had been cleared and structures were beginning to pop up in devastated neighborhoods. Click here to see the gallery.

Petaluma police and fire crews respond to the scene of a fatal crash involving at least six vehicles on Lakeville Highway at the South McDowell Extension and Pine View Way in Petaluma Tuesday, April 24, 2018. (Beth Schlanker/ The Press Democrat)
Petaluma police and fire crews respond to the scene of a fatal crash involving at least six vehicles on Lakeville Highway at the South McDowell Extension and Pine View Way in Petaluma Tuesday, April 24, 2018. (Beth Schlanker/ The Press Democrat)

By Julie Johnson and Randi Rossman, April 24, 2018

Susan Williams
Susan Williams

A distinguished marine biologist from the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory was killed in a crash that injured three others along Lakeville Highway in Petaluma. Click here to read the full story.

A teen driver who caused the deadly chain-reaction crash had no driver's license at the time of the collision, police said.

The biologist, Susan Williams, served as a key adviser to California lawmakers working to protect coastal waters from oil and gas development. Read more about her here.

Staff members and patients were outside the Kaiser Permanente medical office building north of Santa Rosa on Old Redwood Highway on Wednesday, July 18, 2018, where a truck crash caused a reported explosion and fire, triggering an evacuation and the closure of nearby Highway 101. (BETH SCHLANKER/ PD)
Staff members and patients were outside the Kaiser Permanente medical office building north of Santa Rosa on Old Redwood Highway on Wednesday, July 18, 2018, where a truck crash caused a reported explosion and fire, triggering an evacuation and the closure of nearby Highway 101. (BETH SCHLANKER/ PD)

By J.D. Morris, Hannah Beausang, Nashelly Chavez and Martin Espinoza, July 18, 2018

Debris is scattered near a tanker truck carrying liquid oxygen at the Kaiser Permanente medical office building in Santa Rosa, Calif., Wednesday, July 18, 2018. (BETH SCHLANKER/ PD)
Debris is scattered near a tanker truck carrying liquid oxygen at the Kaiser Permanente medical office building in Santa Rosa, Calif., Wednesday, July 18, 2018. (BETH SCHLANKER/ PD)

An explosion involving a tanker truck delivering liquid oxygen outside a Kaiser Permanente medical office building prompted the evacuation of patients and employees at the campus north of Santa Rosa. Click here to read the full story.

"It sounded like the start of an earthquake,” one health worker said. “That's what I thought was happening. The windows shook ... it was just a big boom.”

The explosion is under review by the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health, better known as Cal/OSHA.

By Mary Callahan, Christi Warren and Randi Rossmann, March 28, 2018

A deadly crash on the rugged Mendocino Coast in March 2018 killed a family of eight, but it was made even more grueling when only three of the children's bodies were initially recovered. Click here to read the full story.

FILE - This March 20, 2016, file photo shows Hart family of Woodland, Wash., at a Bernie Sanders rally in Vancouver, Wash. (Tristan Fortsch/KATU News via AP, File)
FILE - This March 20, 2016, file photo shows Hart family of Woodland, Wash., at a Bernie Sanders rally in Vancouver, Wash. (Tristan Fortsch/KATU News via AP, File)

Investigators said preliminary evidence suggests Jennifer Hart intentionally drove her sport utility vehicle off a 100-foot cliff at a Highway 1 turnout near Westport, killing her family. Hart, 38, was legally drunk at the time of the crash. Lab results turned up evidence her wife and at least two of the three recovered children had ingested sedatives. None wore seat belts.

As the investigation goes on, troubling questions reverberate about the system that put their adoptions in motion and then failed the children repeatedly for years.

By Dan Taylor, June 24, 2018

Flames raced through eastern Lake County at the end of June 2018, forcing thousands to flee for their lives in the first major wildfire to erupt in the North Bay since the October 2017 firestorm. Click here to read the full story.

The fire, which kicked off this year's early fire season, ended up burning 22 structures in Lake County's Spring Valley. That fire claimed more than 15,000 acres.

Managing Director Russ Hamel looks out from the old Vista Cloud motel units which will be demolished and replaced with studio suites and boat storage near the marina at Konocti Harbor Resort on Thursday, March 29, 2018 in kelseyville, California . (BETH SCHLANKER/The Press Democrat)
Managing Director Russ Hamel looks out from the old Vista Cloud motel units which will be demolished and replaced with studio suites and boat storage near the marina at Konocti Harbor Resort on Thursday, March 29, 2018 in kelseyville, California . (BETH SCHLANKER/The Press Democrat)

By Guy Kovner, April 2, 2018

Konocti Harbor Resort, once a premier concert destination that featured big-name stars, has new owners who hope to restore the glory days of the venerable but timeworn property on the west shore of Clear Lake. Click here to read the full story.

The new owners paid about $5 million for the nearly 100-acre resort, closed since 2009, on the expansive lake sometimes called “the jewel of Lake County.”

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