enterprise THE DAVIS
SUNDAY, JULY 23, 2023
Jury convicts Eureka man of minors’ sexual assaults By Lauren Keene Enterprise staff writer
lake clarity and the possible links to a sudden decline in the Mysis shrimp population. Extensive algal blooms in the nearshore of the lake and new data on microplastics are also detailed. Other topics include new monitoring and modeling efforts, lowered nitrogen and phosphorus levels and research into the efficacy of no-wake zones.
change, which presents us the opportunity and the challenge to better understand the lake with more and smarter monitoring,” Schladow said. “Within 2022 we had more changes throughout the lake than we’ve experienced over decades.” The biggest change in the lake had to do with the rapid improvement in clarity from August through December,
WOODLAND — A three-week trial resulted in a Eureka man’s conviction on charges alleging he sexually assaulted three female minors at various times over a decade, according to the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday. John C. Augborne, 48, faces a life term at his Sept. 8 sentencing hearing before Yolo Superior Court Judge Samuel McAdam, who presided over the case. According to a District Attorney’s Office news release, prosecutors David Robbins and Stephanie Allen presented evidence that Augborne targeted the minors between 2011 and 2021 — assaulting one in a hospital setting and two of them at their homes, while other family members were nearby. The prosecutors also alleged that Augborne, who has a lengthy criminal history, served prison time for two unrelated prior “strike” convictions, making this a “three strikes” case. Two of the victims reported being assaulted prior to his prison time, and one after his parole in January 2020. Jurors convicted Augborne on July 14 of multiple counts including attempted rape, forcible oral
“The lake is in a state of rapid
See TAHOE, Page A5
See ASSAULTS, Page A5
Alison Toy/UC Davis TERC photo
Lake Tahoe during winter.
Annual Lake Tahoe report details changes By Emily C. Dooley Special to The Enterprise The Tahoe Environmental Research Center, or TERC, at UC Davis released its annual Tahoe: State of the Lake Report, describing the past year as one of rapid biological change. The 2023 report presents data collected during 2022 and puts it in context with historical records. It also serves as an important resource for restoration,
management and monitoring decisions. UC Davis researchers have been monitoring the seconddeepest lake in the United States continuously since 1968, and the report provides an update for nonscientists on a variety of factors affecting the health of Lake Tahoe.
Rapid changes The report details changes in
Mother turns to UCD to avoid a repeat of tragedy Special to The Enterprise SACRAMENTO — For Brianna and Spencer Thompson of Auburn, the excitement was overwhelming. Brianna’s pregnancy was a wonderfully normal experience. The couple was excited about their son’s arrival. “It was the cookie cutter, ideal pregnancy,” Brianna Thompson remembers. But at 33 weeks, Thompson noticed decreased movement in her belly. She sensed there was a problem. A visit to the hospital led to an emergency Csection where doctors discovered her son Finn had severe liver damage. “It all happened so fast, but at the same time, it was
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slow motion in my mind,” Thompson said. “I had no idea what was going on. It didn’t feel real.” Finn was transferred to several different hospitals for increasingly critical care, but died five days later. “It was traumatic,” Thompson said. “We were living a nightmare and had no answers.”
A one-in-a-million diagnosis Autopsy results revealed that Finn died of a rare disorder called neonatal hemochromatosis (NH). NH is caused by severe fetal liver disease associated with the accumulation of
WEATHER Today: Sunny and not quite as hot. High 98. Low 65.
excess iron in the mother’s liver and other organs, which is passed on to the developing baby. Severe cases of NH can result in stillbirth, while NH babies like Finn often face life-threatening complications such as liver failure. It is estimated that fewer than one in a million pregnancies worldwide results in neonatal hemochromatosis. “It was hard to process,” Thompson said. “He was a perfectly healthy baby until he wasn’t.” To complicate matters, NH cannot be detected during pregnancy, and when a person has an NH pregnancy, 90 percent of
See UCD, Page A7
Courtesy photo
Odette Thompson is a happy, healthy, growing girl who turned a year old on July 19.
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