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SAN BERNARDINO, Calif., Jan. 25 (UPI) — California prosecutors say they are seeking the death penalty against a man charged with starting a deadly 2003 wildfire.

Rickie Lee Fowler, 28, imprisoned for burglary since that year, was charged in October with murder and arson in connection with a firestorm that swept through San Bernardino County. Prosecutors now say they will seek the death penalty against Fowler, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

“A decision to seek the death penalty in a case is never an easy one. In fact, it’s the most difficult one we make as prosecutors,” San Bernardino District Attorney Michael Ramos said.

Six men died of heart attacks during the fire, five of which were deemed directly related to the stress of the 91,000-acre wildfire, which forced the evacuations of more than 30 communities and 80,000 people in the San Bernardino area.

Officials also say damage from the fire contributed to a Christmas Day 2003 mudslide that killed 14 people in a church camp.

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NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — A surfer has been killed on a day of big waves and fierce rip currents off Newport Beach.

The Orange County coroner says lifeguards pulled 38-year-old Gregory Gladstone from the water Saturday morning, and he was later declared dead at Hoag Memorial Hospital.

Supervising Deputy Coroner Larry Esslinger says the cause of death has yet to be determined, and an autopsy will be conducted Sunday.

Lifeguards and other surfers first spotted Gladstone’s upside-down surfboard, then saw him floating nearby soon after amid 6-to-10 foot waves, choppy conditions and rip currents.

Lifeguards put Gladstone on a patrol boat and took him to the pier, where Newport Beach firefighters and paramedics met them and took him to the hospital, where he was declared dead at 11 a.m.

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SurfPulse just received a report from the Shark Research Committee of a shark attack in Santa Cruz on Thurs., Nov. 5:

On November 5, 2009 Eric Geiselman was surfing at Lagunas, just north of Santa Cruz. The following report was posted on the websiteSuper Spectacular Adventures by Geiselman:

“I don’t even know how to describe it. Everything happened so quickly! I was surfing with my brother Evan and Taylor Brothers at this wave called Lagoonas. The waves were sh..ty and it was raining. I wasn’t even that motivated to go out. Evan and Taylor were in typical ‘grom’ mode and wanted to have a paddle. Jay Thompson and a couple other guys were out surfing too. Right before it was getting dark everyone went in except us. I was sitting out the back just waiting for a wave. I had my back towards the ocean looking straight towards the beach to line up when it happened. Out of nowhere I got attacked from underneath. My board broke instantly right underneath me from the crazy force and I pretty much fell through my board but somehow managed to keep the front end under me. I knew right away I was being attacked and sort of just went into panic mode. I actually kicked it to when I was scrambling to get away. I was screaming to my brother who was about 30 yards away from me. My leash was still attached to the back end of my board when I was scratching to get away but, I was too scared to even reach back and undo it! What was so crazy is we weren’t even that far off the beach. Luckily I made it in to the shore. My buddy Mike Lopez and Taylor’s brother Cavin filmed me scratching once they heard me screaming. All that you can see on footage. Somehow my board didn’t get a bite in it?? Luckily it hit me by my fins so I think that might have spooked it. It was definitely the scariest thing that has ever happen to me. It’s crazy because it felt like a really bad nightmare. So scary to know how helpless you are in the water when something like that goes down! Thank God that’s all that happened!”

Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.

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SIERRA COUNTY, Calif. — An elderly hunter from Oroville was apparently attacked and seriously mauled by a black bear in Sierra County, the state Department of Fish and Game said.
Mark Lucero of Fish and Game said someone shot the animal near Camptonville, causing the bear to come down from a tree and charge Orval Sanders, 83, of Oroville.

Lucero said the bear grabbed the Sanders while the man tried to protect himself. He suffered lacerations and his left wrist was broken from a bite.

After the bear attacked Sanders, he went after another hunter. That hunter shot the bear in the head and killed it.

Sanders was taken to Sutter Roseville Medical Center, where Fish and Game officials were interviewing him.

The six-person hunting party was using dogs at the time of the attack.

Fish and Game officials plan to retrieve the head the bear to test it for rabies. Officials said when there’s an interaction between a human and a wild animal, wardens investigate the case.

Bear hunting season begins in early October and lasts until the allotted number of bears is killed, Lucero said.

The hunting was legal, officials said.

Fish and Game said bear-hunting season is Sept. 26 through Nov. 1, or until the bear tags are used up. Officials said there are 1,700 issued for California, and 303 bears have been killed so far.

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This is kind of scary for me. I swim in these waters regularly. I still can’t believe it. This is something you only see in Shark Week!

Related links

• Shark Spotted off Sunset BeachPhotos
• Great White May Have Been Spotted Off Local Beach Video

LOS ANGELES — Shark sightings are up along Southern California’s coast and experts believe at least two great white sharks are lurking in the water near some of the area’s most popular beaches.

According to the Shark Research Committee, an organization dedicated to shark research based in Los Angeles, there have been more than 20 confirmed sightings of a shark breaching at Sunset Beach over the last five months.

The latest sighting took place on Saturday, October 3, 2009 when Randy Wright, who was kayaking 320 yards off the coast, spotted what appeared to be a great white shark jump completely out of the water.

Wright was able to capture several photographs of the incident.

Wright says he had been in the water for about an hour and a half and had spotted several dolphins in the area. But, it’s what happened next that caught his attention.

“I heard a large swooshing noise just east of my position in the direction of the Bel Air Bay Club. I grabbed my camera… I fired off four shots of something. I wasn’t sure — it was airborne and then splashing,” Wright wrote of his experience.

He was shocked when he saw what he caught with his camera.

The photographs show a great white shark, believed to be 8-10 feet long, in mid-air, experts say.

Another shark was spotted the day before in the same area by a local surfer.

Brian Moore says “I saw a fairly large shark breach completely out of the water and land on its back. It was grey with a white belly and 8-10 feet in length. It’s unclear if what Moore saw was the same shark that Wright saw, experts say.

Ralph Collier, who heads research for the Shark Research Committee, says experts believe at least two great white sharks are frequenting the waters off Sunset Beach.

One was tagged by shark experts. The shark spotted on Saturday and caught on camera was not tagged.

Similar sightings were reported in the waters along Will Rogers State Beach, San Onofre State Beach, Huntington Beach and Terramar Beach in Carlsbad as well as near Santa Cruz island near Santa Barbara.

Sightings were also reported in the waters along the Central Coast and Northern California as far north as Oregon.

Collier says there have only been three great white shark attacks in the waters off Southern California this year, none of them fatal. Humans “didn’t appear to be the intended target” of the sharks.

He says the number of shark sightings shows that these amazing creatures really “don’t want to attack humans.”

Collier says the number of sightings are up in the area, but more humans are also frequenting the area. He wants to raise awareness and says the report is not intended to frighten anyone.

The last fatal great white shark attack involved a swimmer who was killed on April 25, 2008 near Solana Beach.

Collier also says funding for shark research has dropped off due, in part, to the recession and he is asking for donations to help buy more tagging devices.

Anyone who would like to donate can go to shark research committee for more information.

Great white sharks are known to live in almost all coastal and offshore waters with the greatest concentrations off the southern coasts of Australia, South Africa, California and Mexico.

The great white is the world’s largest known predatory fish which preys on smaller fish, dolphins, seals and sea lions.

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SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. — Two confirmed great white sightings near Santa Cruz are causing a bit of excitement in the area after a witness captured one of the animals on video.

A great white seen very close to shore at Seacliff State Beach was caught on video by Ryan Dunlap of Capitola as it swam beneath the Seacliffe pier Thursday. His find was confirmed by with a shark researcher who viewed the footage.

Another, larger shark was spotted just to the south near Watsonville.

Sean Van Sommeran of the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation said he was surprised someone got pictures of what appears to be a juvenile shark, although he’s not surprised it was there.

“It’s common to see the sharks in the inshore environment, especially in the late summer, early winter, summer, fall,” said Van Sommeran. “[That's] the period when the big sharks are hitting the coast from open ocean.”

On Friday, Van Sommeran flew in a helicopter just to the south of Thursday’s sighting and he said it didn’t take long to spot a 16 foot-long adult female great white shark. He took pictures, too.

The only warning sign posted on Seacliff Beach Friday night was for the riptide.

People seemed to be taking the shark sightings in stride. Several beach-goers told KTVU they weren’t surprised by the news, and not concerned about the possibility of great whites lurking nearby.

“It’s nature,” said Iaesha Bonnit of Santa Cruz. “I guess they’re allowed to go wherever they want to.”

“I’m sure there’s always great whites out there or whatever,” said Ryan Kirckeberg of Aptos. “I mean you can die from riptide out there if you want to worry about it. I guess you can.”

Others were a little more concerned about the prospect of the massive sharks swimming close to shore.

“I don’t go into the water this time of year,” said Mindy Solis of Aptos. “Now that I know he’s out there swimming and having fun, I won’t let my child go in.”

Authorities are more concerned this weekend with keeping an eye on the thousands of people expected to gather on Seacliffe State Beach this weekend for a concert and fireworks show.

But some people said they will keep an eye on the waters also hoping to catch a sight that not that many people get to see.

“Sharks are latter day dinosaurs,” said Van Sommeran. “We don’t have dinosaurs around. Sharks kind of fill that gap in the pure imaginations of people…”

The experts advise like any wild animal, if you see a shark keep your distance and notify authorities.

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HAYFORK – A bowhunter was mauled Saturday by the 400-pound black bear he thought he’d killed.

Eric Huff, 35, of Hayfork had shot the bear with an arrow after spotting it while deer hunting on opening day of deer and bear season, said DeWayne Little, a state Department of Fish and Game warden. Huff had tags for both animals and a hunting license.

Having missed the bear’s heart, Little said Huff let the animal walk down a creek near Hayfork, hoping it would die from its wound.

Huff and some friends tracked the bear, found it and Huff shot at it twice more with arrows, Little said. He missed both shots and they followed the bear farther down the creek.

Huff again shot at the bear, this time hitting it with his last arrow at the base of the animal’s neck, Little said. The bear then pulled the arrow out with a paw and ran off. Huff and his friends again tracked the bear and found its big, cinnamon-colored body lying paws up on its back.

“They thought it was dead, but as they approached, it sprang up,” Little said.

The bear went after Huff, who jumped behind a bush, Little said. The bear went for Huff’s neck but sunk its teeth into his left bicep as he put his arm up to block the bite.

Huff pushed the weakened bear off him with his feet, Little said. While Huff was taken to Mercy Medical Center in Redding, DFG Warden Paul Cardova and one of his friends found the bear dead near where the attack occurred.

Little interviewed Huff at the hospital. He was released from the hospital Sunday. Little said the investigation into the attack is still ongoing.

The bear has been sent to a butcher shop to be processed into meat, but its head and paws have been kept as evidence, Little said.

DFG Lt. Scott Willems said the incident is a reminder that wounded animals can be dangerous. He said a similar bear mauling occurred in Igo three years ago.

William Pinole, then 61, shot a bear three times with a shotgun as it raided his chicken coop. The bear charged Pinole and clawed the man’s face and left arm and punctured his bladder with a bite to the abdomen. Pinole survived the attack.

“It’s the same type of situation, where the bear was shot but only wounded,” Willems said.

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On August 25, 2009 Bethany Edmund was swimming 250 – 300 feet from shore at Terramar Beach, Carlsbad. It was 4:30 PM and she had been in the water about 10 minutes. The sky was clear with estimated air and water temperatures of 80 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively. The water was 8 – 10 feet deep with visibility of 5 – 10 feet and a rocky reef-like bottom. Edmund reported the following;

“I was swimming in the surf line-up trying to take pictures with a new INTOVA 6.0 mega pixel underwater camera I purchased earlier in the day. I noticed a large, approximately 14 inches in length, Sea Bass jump in front of me. I tried to snap a picture with my camera. Two other swimmers were next to me and saw the same fish jump. About a minute after the fish, I felt a sharp pain in my right foot. Thinking I might have kicked the reef, I shrugged it off and continued taking photographs. About 30 seconds later I felt the same sharp pain and, this time, I began to swim away from the area. I thought I was over a reef and was kicking a sharp portion of it.

“About a minute later while I was swimming from the area I was hit on the upper right thigh and propelled about 1 foot out of the water. This is when I realized what was happening and began to body surf toward shore. The first wave I caught I felt something in the area of my calf pulling me back and down under water. I thought it might be one of the two swimmers near me, however when I surfaced they were about 10 feet from my location. I ignored what had just occurred and caught another wave to the beach. This time I felt the same sharp pain in my left calf, but this time I was dragged under water and shaken for 4 – 5 seconds. During this struggle I accidently kicked the shark and it released me. The shark was about 6 feet in length with a dark blue/black top and a white belly. I then proceeded to stand up and run out of the water. When I exited the water there was no obvious blood, just swollen areas where I had been hit.

“The next day I notified James Bilz, Supervisor II Lifeguard, Carlsbad and Encinitas lifeguards Captain Larry Giles and Paul Chapman Lieutenant at Moonlight Headquarters .”

‘Interspace Measurements’ and the configuration of the individual tooth punctures to the foot and calf is representative of a juvenile White Shark 5 – 6 feet in length. Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.

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A mother and her five year old daughter drowned at Montara State Beach late this afternoon, reports KTVU. Emergency crews responded at 4:20pm.

A San Mateo County Fire spokesman said a five-year-old girl was swept a few hundred yards out in a rip current that runs along the south end of the beach.

The girl’s mother was also overcome by the heavy surf trying to save the child. …

“We had a total of seven victims on the shore,” said Ari Delay of the Half Moon Bay Fire Department. “Five of them were not transported. Two were taken by helicopter to Stanford Medical Center, both with CPR in progress in route to the hospital.” …

“The family at some point was swept out on the south end of Montara State Beach. There’s a rip [current] that goes along the south end,” explained Delay. “It’s unknown the exact circumstances. It’s a precarious surf out here. The surf line is very dangerous.”

The daughter was found after a 30 minute search by the Harbormaster’s boat.

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A 12-year-old Northern California girl has died after swimming in the ocean near Pismo Beach.

Megan McDonough was vacationing with her family on June 19 when she and two friends got caught in a rip current just south of city limits, confirmed Lieutenant Robert Tolin, who is a supervising ranger at Oceano State Park.

Lieutenant Tolin said lifeguards rescued McDonough’s two friends, but had not realized there was a third drowning victim in the water.

A surfer found McDonough’s lifeless body and began to pull her to shore. A lifeguard who assisted the surfer began giving McDonough mouth-to-mouth in the water.

Tolin said rescuers then administered CPR on shore where McDonough started breathing again. She was taken to a local hospital and then flown to an Oakland hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries three days later.

The seventh grader was from the Brentwood area.