FOLSOM LAKE WATER LEVELS TO HIT 5-YEAR LOWS: SACRAMENTO (AP) — Federal officials say drought conditions in Northern California could bring water levels in Folsom Lake and the American River to five-year lows.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which operates Folsom Dam, estimates that by the end of the year the lake will fall to a storage level of about one-fourth of total capacity.
The Sacramento Bee reports boat owners at Folsom Lake Marina face an August 3 deadline to vacate their berths because the floating docks will be resting on the lake bed by then.
In an average water year, boats don't have to be hauled out of slips at the marina until October.
A shrunken lake also means lighter flows in the American River, which provides water to Sacramento.
Spokeswoman Jessica Hess says the city does not anticipate any shortages this year.
SAILBOAT OWNER ARRESTED AFTER SF BAY CHASE: SAUSALITO (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard says a boater was arrested after making false distress calls and leading the Coast Guard on a slow-speed chase in San Francisco Bay.
Officer Mark Leahey says a Coast Guard crew that heard the false calls around 4 p.m. Sunday found the sailboat moored off Sausalito. It allegedly had no flags or markings.
Leahey says the boater, identified as John McCormick, refused to let the Coast Guard board the vessel and instead took off. The boat was eventually stopped off Ocean Beach.
Leahey says McCormick attacked one officer before he was arrested. He is being held without bail on suspicion of felony assault on a law enforcement officer.
Investigators were examining the boat.
MENDOCINO COUNTY CRASH KILLS ONE; BOY SCOUTS HURT: POTTER VALLEY (AP) — A man driving a van full of Boy Scouts died and five of his young passengers were injured in a five-vehicle crash in Mendocino County.
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports the driver's 14-year-old son suffered major injuries in the chain-reaction collisions Sunday on Highway 20 in Potter Valley.
Four other members of a Placer County Boy Scout troop were also hurt. The boy and his father were not identified.
The California Highway Patrol says the series of collisions started when the driver of a pickup failed to realize the vehicle in front of him was coming to a stop. The pickup hit the vehicle in front and was spun into oncoming traffic, where it crashed head-on into a Honda Odyssey carrying the Boy Scouts.
The drivers of two other vehicles were treated for minor injuries.
MORRO BAY OFFERS RENT DEAL FOR PUBLIC RESTROOM
MORRO BAY (AP) — Morro Bay has come up with a creative way to provide a public restroom without having to build a new one.
The San Luis Obispo Tribune reports (the Central Coast city is offering to subsidize the rent for a vacant building on Main Street if a business will move in.
In exchange, the business would make the building's existing Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant restroom available to everyone.
City Attorney Rob Schultz tells the newspaper this public-private partnership fits into Morro Bay's plan to revitalize downtown.
He says the city is open to suggestions for what could fill the 440-square-foot bright blue building and adjacent vacant land.
The city expects the business to clean and maintain the restroom and keep it stocked with supplies.
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