Racing at COMMERCE Lakeport Wednesday Taking the Next Step Speedway ...................................Page 3 .............Page 6 May 28, 2008 INSIDE Mendocino County’s World briefly The Ukiah local newspaper ........Page 14 Thursday: Partly sunny; H 71º L 47º Friday: Sunny 7 58551 69301 0 to partly cloudy H 77º L 49º 50 cents tax included DAILY JOURNAL ukiahdailyjournal.com 14 pages, Volume 150 Number 49 email: [email protected] Ukiah man in jail after alleged attempted rape The Daily Journal On Saturday night, Deputies from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office responded to Richy Road in Ukiah to contact the victim of an alleged attempted rape. Deputies contacted the unnamed victim, 55, who advised that her next door neighbor, Russell Sawyer, 48, of Ukiah, had entered her home in the early evening hours without permis- sion. According to a press release from MCSO, Sawyer grabbed the victim and attempted to sexually assault her. The victim attempted escape via the front door, however, Sawyer pulled the victim further into the residence against her will. After approximately two minutes of struggling with Sawyer she managed to get free and fled the area in her vehicle. Sawyer was contacted by Mendocino County Sheriff's Deputies at his residence where he was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping to commit rape, assault with intent to commit bur- glary and false imprisonment. He was incarcerated at the Mendocino County jail without bail. Impaired Driver’s Rob Burgess/The Daily Journal Bertie Pearcy, of Cloverdale, pauses to chat in front of one of the Harley Davidsons belonging to mem- bers of the Ukiah chapter of the Christian Motorcyclists Association Saturday morning behind Jensen’s Restaurant. The Ukiah chapter often plays host to members from surrounding counties. Task Force cleans up in Potter Valley Heaven’s own biker gang The Daily Journal at the Mendocino County Jail The California Highway in Ukiah, according to a state- By ROB BURGESS Patrol in cooperation with the ment issued by the CHP. The Daily Journal Mendocino County Sheriff’s In all, two drivers were It was Saturday morning, and a Department implemented an arrested on suspicion of dri- group of bikers had taken over the back Impaired Driver’s Task Force ving under the influence, two room of Jensen’s Restaurant. on Saturday in the Potter drivers were cited for seat belt Their leather vest-clad leader, seated Valley area. violations and an additional at a long, rectangular table along the The purpose of the IDTF pair were cited for correctable back wall, nodded at a the gentlemen at violations. a nearby table who had just risen from was to detect and apprehend drivers who are suspected to The IDTF was an operation his seat. that is scheduled to be imple- “It’s devotion time,” said Michael be under the influence of alco- hol or drugs. Officers from mented throughout the year in Carpenter, the group’s president, as he various locations within the yielded the floor to Rich Rilea, chap- each agency worked as part of county. In order to have the lain. a team to conduct saturation greatest impact, these opera- Rilea thumbed through the leather- patrol in the Potter Valley tions will coincide with spe- bound Bible in front of him while those area. The officers aggressive- cial events and holidays seated nearby bowed their heads. ly patrolled the Potter Valley which have a high likelihood “Our awesome Lord relates to us area seeking out those drivers of alcohol consumption and because he’s been in our shoes,” he who were driving while increased incidents of driving said. “He in turn invites us to come into impaired. under the influence. his presence.” In addition, those drivers Any questions concerning One look around the room at the tat- who were apprehended had this operation may be directed tooed arms folded in prayer and any their vehicles towed and each to Cpt. Ray Madrigal of the passerby would quickly gather that this driver was taken for booking CHP Ukiah area at 467-4040. is not your ordinary motorcycle gang. The Ukiah chapter of the Christian Motorcyclists Association, the New Life Riders #333, makes a habit of Cool weather trend scheduling a monthly ride every fourth Saturday of the month starting at Jensen’s Truck Stop. “All bikers are welcome,” said continues in Ukiah Carpenter. “It’s important to us to be By ZACK SAMPSEL non-denominational. You don’t have to The Daily Journal be a Christian or join our group.” With help from a slow-moving, upper-level low pressure The Hatfield, Ark.-based ministry system that has remained over the county for almost a week, was started in 1975 and currently cool temperatures have become the status quo with little change boasts 1,002 chapters in more than 25 in sight. countries. “We had an upper-level, low pressure system that sat over “Our purpose is to change the world the county for a while,” said Meteorologist Becca Mazur with one heart at a time,” said Carpenter. the National Weather Service in Eureka. “This was a very large Ellis Hill, a member of the New Life system and contributed to a lot of the severe weather occurring Riders for over five years, said an to the east.” important part of the group’s work is to Mazur said the powerful system began to weaken and break make their presence known at events into smaller pieces, which lead to the cloudy and overcast days Christians aren’t usually associated At top, Charlie Sparks, vice-president of the Ukiah chapter of the throughout Memorial Day Weekend and the early part of the with. Christian Motorcyclists Association, bows his head in prayer during week. “My relatives are Hell’s Angels,” he the group’s monthly meeting Saturday morning at Jensen’s At night, temperatures in the higher elevations of Mendocino said. “We want to help the other per- Restaurant. Directly above, Michael Carpenter, president of the County have dipped into the lower-40s and high-30s, but son. We don’t do drugs. We don’t use Ukiah chapter of the Christian Motorcyclists Association, right, Mazur said the NWS hadn’t received any complaints of frost. alcohol.” yields the floor to another member during the group’s monthly But the daytime highs aren’t much warmer, either. Mazur Carpenter said advancing their mes- meeting Saturday morning at Jensen’s Restaurant. said NWS forecast models show temperatures hovering in the sage at more hard-edged biker events is lower-70s throughout the week -- still below the 78-degree countries, assistance with the Jesus life and I can attest to the power of average. Going into the weekend, temperatures are expected to essential to their mission. Film Project, which distributes the film prayer,” he said. “I had a life-threaten- “The Angels put out the word to climb to the mid-70s, but Mazur said it wouldn’t be until after “Jesus,” and even a once-per-week ing surgery a few years ago and before the weekend that the temperatures would return to normal. respect our CMA colors,” he said. “We prison ministry. that I really didn’t want to talk about run their main gate. In return we have a “It looks like we’ll maintain these moderate temps through “We do Bible study at Parlin Forks my faith. That’s when I started trying to the weekend, but maybe at the beginning of next week we’ll booth that we set out that provides free (Conservation Camp,)” said Chastain. get right with the Lord. That’s when the coffee and water after a week of start to see a warm up,” Mazur said. “But not a huge warmup - “It’s weekly and it’s non-denomina- CMA showed up and they had a booth - just lower 70s and 80s.” debauchery. There are atheists and tional. You can’t preach your flavor of right next to us. Life experiences can agnostics there that come up to us who As May winds down, Mazur said average temperatures and church in prison.” lead you to a certain understanding.” dry days are expected throughout next month. realize they need to make a change.” Carpenter said his involvement with For more information on the group, In addition to monthly rides and the group has enriched his spiritual life “It looks like for June we’re going to remain around the Carpenter can be reached by phone at average with temperatures and slightly below average on the ministering to hung over Hell’s Angels, in a way he hadn’t experienced previ- 621-2100 or by e-mail at carpenter_md the group also participates in other ously. precipitation.” @netzero.net. According to AccuWeather, Inc. there has been 28.4 inches forms of outreach including providing “I’ve probably prayed more in the Rob Burgess can be reached at motorcycles to ministers in third-world last five years than I have in my entire of rain this year, which is 14.4 inches below the yearly average [email protected]. and six inches more than last season. Zack Sampsel can be reached at [email protected]. 2 – WEDNESDAY, MAY 28, 2008 DAILY DIGEST Editor: Richard Rosier, 468-3520 The Ukiah Daily Journal [email protected] FUNERAL NOTICES [\ death by her brothers efforts of his sons bered for her roll of dish or dessert. for her devotion to Bobby and Virgil Clark. In and friends that were grandma through the gen- Call Peggy VanAntwerp family and friends and her honor of Juanita involved. erations of friends 485-0258, home phone.