Ezekial Flatten view of devastationLawsuit filed in 2017 ... · market that has steadily gotten...
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WINNER OF THE 2018 PULITZER PRIZE z SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2018 • SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA • PRESSDEMOCRAT.COM ‘CRAZY FOR YOU’ » Windsor grad scores lead in SF production. D1 PHIL BARBER » Amid disasters, sports can lend normalcy. C1 County home sales rebound as prices slide to 2018 low Sonoma County home sales rebounded in October, boosted by a spate of price reductions that pushed the median price to its lowest level of the year. The median price of $649,500 has fallen from its June peak of $700,000 and now is nearly un- changed from a year ago. The price decline in October from a year ago is rare for a housing market that has steadily gotten more expensive for more than six years. Meanwhile, the sales of 420 single-family homes last month represented a 27 percent advance from a dismal Septem- ber and the highest level in three years for October, according to The Press Democrat’s monthly housing report compiled by Pa- cific Union International senior vice president Rick Laws. Last month’s price reductions show homebuyers have gained negotiating power after years of sellers holding the advantage, regularly enjoying multiple of- fers and getting higher prices for their properties. “Buyers have leverage out there for the first time in three years,” said Adam Menconi, By ROBERT DIGITALE THE PRESS DEMOCRAT TURN TO HOMES » PAGE A2 ALVIN JORNADA / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Realtor Jeff Hill of Bertolone Realty pauses Tuesday in front of a home he is selling, which is about to go into escrow in Santa Rosa. SANTA ROSA High 66, Low 34 THE WEATHER, C8 Business E1 Classified E5 Crossword T7 Forum B9 Golis B1 Lotto A2 Movies D6 Nevius C1 Obituaries B4 Smith A3 Sonoma Life D1 Towns T1 REMEMBERING JONESTOWN: Survivors who have built new lives and struggled with grief reflect on their time at the Peoples Temple / B1 ©2018 The Press Democrat Lawsuit filed in 2017 RP pot case A Texas man who said he was pulled over on Highway 101 by unidentified officers who took his marijuana during a 2017 traffic stop near the Mendocino- Sonoma county line has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Rohnert Park, claiming one of its officers abused his authority by com- mitting theft, along with other crimes. The plaintiff, Ezekial Flatten, a former school district police officer from San Antonio, has accused Rohnert Park Officer Joseph Huffaker and the Hop- land Band of Pomo Indians’ then-police chief Steven Hobb of pulling him over and detain- ing him without legal justifica- tion on Dec. 5, 2017. “What they were doing on the side of the road when they robbed me, it was illegal,” said Flatten, who made his allega- tions public earlier this year, first in complaints to Mendoci- no County authorities and then in accounts shared with several media outlets. He contends he acquired the cannabis lawfully, with a medi- cal marijuana recommendation, from a Humboldt County farmer. Flatten, who goes by Zeke, spurred other Highway 101 mo- torists to step forward with al- legations of being wronged by Rohnert Park police when he be- gan speaking out about his case. His lawsuit names Huffaker and Hobb as the officers who took the 3 pounds of marijuana from his SUV. They did so in an illegal search without properly identifying themselves or docu- menting the stop, according to the 11-page complaint filed Fri- day in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. “It wasn’t just sloppy police work,” Flatten said in an inter- view Friday. “They had no patch- es, no nametags, no badges.” Huffaker, who remains a city employee, could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon. Hobb, who now works for the Clearlake Police Department, said he did not know about the lawsuit and denied any involve- ment in Flatten’s stop. “I’m not going to comment on that because you guys don’t Man says civil rights violated when officers seized marijuana By JULIE JOHNSON THE PRESS DEMOCRAT TURN TO LAWSUIT » PAGE A11 Ezekial Flatten PARADISE P resident Donald Trump toured the damage wrought by California’s deadliest wildfire Saturday, visiting the ruins of a mobile home park and pressing his argument that the state’s forests must be managed more aggressive- ly to prevent future disasters. With the death toll from the Camp fire rising, Trump met with Paradise Mayor Jody Jones and toured the charred wreckage of the Skyway Villa Mobile Home and RV Park. They passed a de- stroyed home where someone had hung an American flag and picked their way past a downed streetlamp and other debris. Bits of ash floated in the air, although neither the president nor anyone in his entourage wore masks. Trump later was briefed on details of the fire by Cal Fire officials at the agency’s incident command post in nearby Chico. “We’ve never seen anything like this,” Trump said. “It looks like total devastation.” Later in the day, Butte County Sheriff Kory Ho- nea announced that five more bodies were found Saturday, bringing the total number of dead to 76. He also released the name of a sixth victim who had been identified: Lolene Rios, 56, of Paradise. Another 1,276 people remain missing, although that list likely includes duplications and errors. EVAN VUCCI / ASSOCIATED PRESS GOVERNORS JOIN TRUMP: On a tour of the Camp fire zone in Paradise, President Donald Trump talks with Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom, left, as Gov. Jerry Brown listens. The visit came nearly a week after Trump infuriated state leaders and firefighters by blaming them for the damage, saying the state had let its forests become overgrown. Trump gets up-close view of devastation In Paradise, president pushes plan to thin forests; death toll at 76 By ALEXEI KOSEFF AND DALE KASLER SACRAMENTO BEE TURN TO DEVASTATION » PAGE A12 CAMP FIRE » VISIT TO BURN ZONE KENT NISHIMURA / LOS ANGELES TIMES FIRE DESTRUCTION: The Cypress Meadows Post-Acute skilled nursing facility in Paradise lies in ruins. As flames closed in, nursing home staff leaped into action H ow do you evacuate a nurs- ing home when the deadliest wildfire in California history is bearing down and there are 91 men and women to move to safety — patients in need of walkers or wheelchairs or con- fined to hospital beds, suffering from dementia, recovering from strokes? The fire is coming fast. Help is not. Staying at the Cypress Meadows Post-Acute center in Paradise is not an option. Sheltering in place means cer- tain death for the 30 or so staff members By MARIA L. LA GANGA LOS ANGELES TIMES TURN TO ACTION » PAGE A13 INSIDE Many of Malibu’s rehab centers destroyed in Woolsey fire / A7
Transcript of Ezekial Flatten view of devastationLawsuit filed in 2017 ... · market that has steadily gotten...
W I N N E R O F T H E 2 0 1 8 P U L I T Z E R P R I Z Ez
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2018 • SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA • PRESSDEMOCRAT.COM
‘CRAZY FOR YOU’ » Windsor grad scores lead in SF production. D1
PHIL BARBER » Amid disasters, sports can lend normalcy. C1
County home sales rebound as prices slide to 2018 low
Sonoma County home sales rebounded in October, boosted by a spate of price reductions that pushed the median price to its lowest level of the year.
The median price of $649,500 has fallen from its June peak of $700,000 and now is nearly un-changed from a year ago. The price decline in October from
a year ago is rare for a housing market that has steadily gotten more expensive for more than six years.
Meanwhile, the sales of 420 single-family homes last month represented a 27 percent advance from a dismal Septem-ber and the highest level in three years for October, according to The Press Democrat’s monthly housing report compiled by Pa-cific Union International senior
vice president Rick Laws.Last month’s price reductions
show homebuyers have gained negotiating power after years of sellers holding the advantage, regularly enjoying multiple of-fers and getting higher prices for their properties.
“Buyers have leverage out there for the first time in three years,” said Adam Menconi,
By ROBERT DIGITALETHE PRESS DEMOCRAT
TURN TO HOMES » PAGE A2
ALVIN JORNADA / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Realtor Jeff Hill of Bertolone Realty pauses Tuesday in front of a home he is selling, which is about to go into escrow in Santa Rosa.
SANTA ROSAHigh 66, Low 34THE WEATHER, C8
Business E1Classified E5Crossword T7
Forum B9Golis B1Lotto A2
Movies D6Nevius C1Obituaries B4
Smith A3Sonoma Life D1Towns T1
REMEMBERING JONESTOWN: Survivors who have built new lives and struggled with grief reflect on their time at the Peoples Temple / B1
©2018 The Press Democrat
Lawsuit filed in 2017 RP pot case
A Texas man who said he was pulled over on Highway 101 by unidentified officers who took his marijuana during a 2017 traffic stop near the Mendocino- Sonoma county line has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Rohnert Park, claiming one of its officers abused his authority by com-mitting theft, along with other crimes.
The plaintiff, Ezekial Flatten, a former school district police officer from San Antonio, has accused Rohnert Park Officer Joseph Huffaker and the Hop-land Band of Pomo Indians’ then-police chief Steven Hobb of pulling him over and detain-ing him without legal justifica-tion on Dec. 5, 2017.
“What they were doing on the side of the road when they robbed me, it was illegal,” said Flatten, who made his allega-tions public earlier this year, first in complaints to Mendoci-no County authorities and then in accounts shared with several media outlets.
He contends he acquired the cannabis lawfully, with a medi-cal marijuana recommendation, from a Humboldt County farmer.
Flatten, who goes by Zeke, spurred other Highway 101 mo-torists to step forward with al-legations of being wronged by Rohnert Park police when he be-gan speaking out about his case.
His lawsuit names Huffaker and Hobb as the officers who took the 3 pounds of marijuana from his SUV. They did so in an illegal search without properly identifying themselves or docu-menting the stop, according to the 11-page complaint filed Fri-day in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.
“It wasn’t just sloppy police work,” Flatten said in an inter-view Friday. “They had no patch-es, no nametags, no badges.”
Huffaker, who remains a city employee, could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.
Hobb, who now works for the Clearlake Police Department, said he did not know about the lawsuit and denied any involve-ment in Flatten’s stop.
“I’m not going to comment on that because you guys don’t
Man says civil rights violated when officers seized marijuanaBy JULIE JOHNSONTHE PRESS DEMOCRAT
TURN TO LAWSUIT » PAGE A11
Ezekial Flatten
PARADISE
President Donald Trump toured the damage wrought by California’s deadliest wildfire Saturday, visiting the ruins of a mobile
home park and pressing his argument that the state’s forests must be managed more aggressive-ly to prevent future disasters.
With the death toll from the Camp fire rising, Trump met with Paradise Mayor Jody Jones and
toured the charred wreckage of the Skyway Villa Mobile Home and RV Park. They passed a de-stroyed home where someone had hung an American flag and picked their way past a downed streetlamp and other debris.
Bits of ash floated in the air, although neither the president nor anyone in his entourage wore masks. Trump later was briefed on details of the fire by Cal Fire officials at the agency’s incident command post in nearby Chico.
“We’ve never seen anything like this,” Trump said. “It looks like total devastation.”
Later in the day, Butte County Sheriff Kory Ho-nea announced that five more bodies were found Saturday, bringing the total number of dead to 76. He also released the name of a sixth victim who had been identified: Lolene Rios, 56, of Paradise. Another 1,276 people remain missing, although that list likely includes duplications and errors.
EVAN VUCCI / ASSOCIATED PRESS
GOVERNORS JOIN TRUMP: On a tour of the Camp fire zone in Paradise, President Donald Trump talks with Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom, left, as Gov. Jerry Brown listens. The visit came nearly a week after Trump infuriated state leaders and firefighters by blaming them for the damage, saying the state had let its forests become overgrown.
Trump gets up-close view of devastation
In Paradise, president pushes plan to thin forests; death toll at 76By ALEXEI KOSEFF AND DALE KASLERSACRAMENTO BEE
TURN TO DEVASTATION » PAGE A12
CAMP FIRE » VISIT TO BURN ZONE
KENT NISHIMURA / LOS ANGELES TIMES
FIRE DESTRUCTION: The Cypress Meadows Post-Acute skilled nursing facility in Paradise lies in ruins.
As flames closed in, nursing home staff leaped into action
How do you evacuate a nurs-ing home when the deadliest wildfire in California history is
bearing down and there are 91 men and women to move to safety — patients in need of walkers or wheelchairs or con-
fined to hospital beds, suffering from dementia, recovering from strokes?
The fire is coming fast. Help is not.Staying at the Cypress Meadows
Post-Acute center in Paradise is not an option. Sheltering in place means cer-tain death for the 30 or so staff members
By MARIA L. LA GANGALOS ANGELES TIMES
TURN TO ACTION » PAGE A13
INSIDEMany of Malibu’s rehab centers destroyed in Woolsey fire / A7
