CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Lake County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Task Force detectives arrested two Clearlake residents this week after findings drugs, paraphernalia and weapons at the home they shared.

Ricky Lawrence Bryan, 52, a truck driver, and 67-year-old Janie Lou Easterbrook, a rancher, both from Clearlake, were arrested following a warrant search on Wednesday, April 4, according to Sgt. John Gregore of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Gregore said Lake County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Task Force detectives secured a search warrant for the home and person of Bryan this past Tuesday. They served it at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and contacted Bryan as he was driving to his home.

Bryan had $3,360 in currency in his wallet and pockets. Gregore said narcotics detectives also found evidence related to drug sales in text messages on Bryan’s phone.

Narcotics detectives located glass pipes used to smoke methamphetamine, a small bag with suspected Oxycontin pills and a digital scale with suspected methamphetamine residue in Bryan’s bedroom, Gregore said.

The detectives also located a loaded stainless steel Smith and Wesson .357 revolver under the cushion of a chair in the room, according to Gregore.

He said the detectives found a small amount of suspected methamphetamine in a room belonging to Easterbrook.

In addition, approximately 5 ounces of suspected methamphetamine were found in the garage of the residence, Gregore said.

Gregore said Bryan’s currency and his burgundy Corvette were seized by narcotics detectives at the scene for possible asset forfeiture proceedings.

Bryan was arrested for possession of a controlled substance for sales, felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a narcotic controlled substance and felon in possession of ammunition. Gregore said the sheriff's Web site lists an incorrect subsection stating ammunition sales to a minor on Bryan's booking sheet.

Jail records showed Bryan remained in custody on Saturday on a no-bail hold.

Easterbrook was arrested for possession of a controlled substance for sale, with bail set at $25,000. She later posted bail and was released, according to jail records.

Bryan also was arrested by narcotics detectives at his home in February, as Lake County News has reported.

At the time of his February arrest, detectives found drugs, currency, a loaded .22 caliber pistol and paraphernalia, officials reported.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A motion for a mistrial based on allegations of prosecutorial misconduct and a hearing to admit recordings from the crime scene, along with the testimony of a sister and her brother, marked Thursday’s proceedings in the murder trials of two Clearlake Oaks men.

Paul William Braden, 22, and Orlando Joseph Lopez, 24, are on trial for the shooting death on June 18, 2011, of 4-year-old Skyler Rapp and the wounding of five others at a nighttime gathering at the Clearlake home where the child lived with his family.

The day would see Lopez’s defense attorney, Stephen Carter, moving for a mistrial, alleging that District Attorney Don Anderson had impugned his reputation, which he said constituted an ethical breach.

“Defense attorneys have a duty to object whenever they believe prosecutorial misconduct has been committed in front of a jury,” Carter told Lake County News.

By the time testimony began on Thursday morning – just after 10:30 a.m. – visiting Yolo County Judge Doris Shockley already had spent an hour hearing arguments over District Attorney Don Anderson's motion to admit recordings from the crime scene.

Carter and Braden’s attorney Doug Rhoades objected to admitting the recording on the basis of its actual evidentiary value, as well as its potential to prejudice the jury.

“Its prejudicial value is very, very high,” Rhoades said, noting it was “strictly an emotional tug.”

Carter added his own concerns about the use of the court’s time and needing jurors to be able to make unbiased, calm decisions.

Anderson said the tapes showed the chaos and confusion at the shooting scene, and it went to the ability of witnesses to perceive what was taking place in the situation.

He also commented that the defense attorneys were badgering witnesses, a remark that would become a bigger issue later. Carter objected immediately, saying he took umbrage at being called a “badgerer.”

Shockley compared the tapes to autopsy photos. Such photos are sometimes admitted in court, she explained, “but there are limits because the court recognizes that those photos have the kind of effect that can be prejudicial” in the sense that the emotional reaction to them can take over a person's perceptions.

“At this point I'm not going to allow it to be played,” Shockley said of the crime scene recording.

Before the jury was brought in, Rhoades – in response to statements by witness Andrew Sparks who testified last week to seeing moonlight – submitted a stipulation to the court that on the night of the shooting the moon had risen at 10:53 p.m., and was 92.2 percent full, with clear conditions. That time would have been just minutes after the shooting started.

Rhoades also brought to the court's attention a vehicle associated with Desiree Kirby that had been parked in front of the courthouse last week.

The vehicle had a large window sticker with a cartoon figure resembling Calvin from the “Calvin and Hobbes” comic strip urinating on the names “Stone, Braden and Lopez.” Stone refers to  Kevin Stone, who originally had been charged with murder but who since has reached a plea agreement to lesser charges with the District Attorney's Office.

Carter, who mentioned that witnesses in the case have been on Facebook sporting t-shirts with similar slogans, asked the judge if she could remind the jury to ignore such signs and placards. Shockley said she should be able to articulate such a reminder to jurors, but she wanted case authority from the attorneys on how to address the issue.

Witness recalls day of shooting

Twenty-year-old Amanda Gamble, Ross Sparks' first cousin, was the day's first witness.

She said she often spent time with Sparks and Kirby at their Lakeshore Drive home, helping care for Skyler and his baby sister.

Gamble's younger brother, Josh, had been in a fight with Dennis Fry and several subjects identified as members of the “Avenue Boyz” group about a week and a half before the shooting, an incident which Anderson has argued laid the groundwork for the fatal confrontation.

The Wednesday before the shooting – which occurred on a Saturday night – Amanda Gamble and Desiree Kirby were at the Clearlake Walmart to purchase a swamp cooler when Gamble spotted Fry and Leonardo Lopez, Orlando Lopez's younger brother, and pointed them out to Kirby.

Gamble said Kirby and the two men got into a five-minute shouting match before the men left and Walmart staff asked Kirby and Gamble to leave.

The night before the shooting, Gamble had stayed over at Sparks' and Kirby's home. On June 18, 2011, everyone got up late, around 11 a.m., went to have pizza and then attended a birthday party for a young cousin. On that afternoon at around 2:30 p.m. Sparks was texting and talking on his cell phone.

“He seemed kinda irritated,” she said of Sparks.

Later that evening about a dozen people came over to the couple's home, Gamble said. She bathed the children and dressed them for bed, went to Safeway to get ingredients for s'mores and they sat and roasted marshmallows.

Gamble was sitting in a chair near the barbecue, with Skyler standing nearby roasting marshmallows when the shooting started. She said she couldn't tell where the shots were coming from or who was shooting.

She said of Skyler, “He just stood there with a white face and stared at me,” and then a few seconds later he fell to the ground.

Over about a three-minute period there were six to seven shots, said Gamble. After Skyler fell, she ran toward a Camaro where her brother, Ian Griffith and Joey Armijo had been. She said her brother shoved her to the ground to keep her from being shot. She then got up and ran around behind the apartment, where she reached into her pocket, grabbed her cell phone and called 911.

When the shooting stopped, she went back into the apartment. Kirby was lying in the doorway, covered with blood. Griffith was on the floor holding his leg, and Armijo was leaning against the bed, sitting calmly and not moving. Gamble said she picked up Kirby's baby daughter and held her.

Skyler was lying outside. Gamble saw blood coming from behind the child's head and underneath his arms. He wasn't breathing, his lips were blue and his face was white.

Carter asked if Gamble believed Fry and Leonardo Lopez were Avenue Boyz. She said yes, noting she had seen them wearing the color red – said to be the group's color – on numerous occasions before the shooting. She said she hadn't seen any of them since the shooting last June.

Alleging misconduct

It was during Carter’s cross-examination of Gamble that Anderson raised an objection, stating that Carter was being “artful” in trying to get around a hearsay issue.

Carter immediately objected, accusing Anderson of prosecutorial misconduct for abusing a defense attorney and calling for a hearing outside of the hearing of the jury.

At that point, with just an hour of testimony having taken place, Shockley excused the jurors for an early lunch so she could hold a hearing on the matter.

Once the jury had been excused, Carter called for a mistrial based on Anderson's comments, alleging that the district attorney had attacked his integrity.

“This is not the first time that he has impugned my integrity today,” said Carter, referring back to Anderson's comments about the defense attorneys “badgering” witnesses.

Shockley asked the court reporter to get her a transcript of Anderson's comment and a hearing on the mistrial motion was set for 4 p.m. Thursday, April 12.

In the meantime, Shockley said the trial needed to move forward. “If we don't move along we're in danger of losing more jurors,” she said, explaining that several of the jurors have other commitments, and the court had told them the trial would end by the first week of May. A week already has been lost due to illness.

Shockley also told the attorneys she had noticed a propensity for “gratuitous comments.”

She added, “Gratuitous comments by any attorney are inappropriate. Keep that in mind.”

Shockley said it's also helpful to have a thick skin.

Testimony resumes briefly

Gamble finished her testimony after the lunch break, answering questions about Avenue Boyz members she knew and saying he didn’t recall anyone at the gathering at Sparks’ and Kirby’s home displaying anger that night.

While she was handing Skyler a marshmallow the gunfire started, and she said her finger was grazed by that first shot.

She was followed to the stand by her brother Josh Gamble, 17, who said he went to Sparks’ home on a daily basis. “It was always boring at my house and he always had a lot of stuff to do over at his.”

He said he hadn’t known Braden or Lopez, although his sister had once dated Lopez’s brother, Leonardo. It was Leonardo Lopez, according to Gamble, who hit him in the head with a lead pipe during a fight with Avenue Boyz members at an adult school graduation at Lower Lake High School about a week and a half before the shooting.

During the gathering on June 18, 2011, Gamble remembered Sparks yelling while on the phone.

He said he paused when the gunfire started.

After that, “I watched my 4-year-old cousin drop,” he said, choking up and wiping his eyes with a tissue handed to him by Anderson.

Anderson showed Gamble a picture of the fence that separated the yard where the gathering was taking place and a neighbor’s yard.

The fence was missing a board, and it was from there that Gamble said he saw a shadowy figure leaning halfway through the fence and firing. He said he saw one or two muzzle flashes.

Shockley dismissed the jurors for the day at around 3:15 p.m. With Friday being a court furlough day, testimony will resume on Wednesday, April 11.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – A Wednesday night fire damaged a home in the Keys area of Clearlake Oaks.

The home, located in the 13000 block of Flying Jib Court, was reported to be on fire shortly before 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to radio reports.

Northshore Fire Protection District responded, as did Lake County Fire Protection on mutual aid, Battalion Chief Steve Hart told Lake County News.

The fire was contained just before 9:45 p.m., with minimal damage to the nearby homes, according to radio reports.

Hart said the fire damaged about 50 percent of the Flying Jib Court home.

Neither the home’s residents nor any firefighters were injured, said Hart.

Hart had called for Red Cross to assist the residents, who were displaced from the home, but they said they didn’t need the group’s assistance.

The last firefighters reported clearing the scene after midnight Thursday morning.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – It's nonstop action for these two little female pups.

The girls, now about 12 weeks old, are border collie mixes.

They came to the shelter with their mom, Delilah.

Both of the girls have short coats; one is chocolate colored, the other is black. They are expected to be medium-sized dogs like their mom.

The puppies also have been spayed.

They are in kennel No. 25, ID No. 32045.

Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.

Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm .

To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .

For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.

KELSEYVILLE – Five Lake County students who are succeeding despite a variety of obstacles were honored recently by the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) Lake Charter.

The Every Student Succeeding honorees of 2012 are Jacob Blue of Clear Lake High School, Leticia Bowman of Carlé Continuation High School, Amber Marga of Upper Lake High School, Jordan Marquardt of Middletown Unified School District, and Neira Meciel-Jimenez of Natural High School.

ACSA Lake Charter President Korby Olson, superintendent of Middletown Unified School District, introduced the students and presented them with award certificates on the evening of March 29.

In addition, each student received a gift bag from the Mendo Lake Credit Union, sponsor of the Every Student Succeeding Program. ACSA annually recognizes students who are nominated for their achievements after facing barriers through their lives, Olson said.

Honorees, parents, friends, school superintendents, counselors, principals and instructors attended the presentation program at Kelseyville High School. Jacob Gill, a Middletown High School student, played acoustical guitar prior to the presentations and while attendees enjoyed dinner prepared by Michelle Malm, Kelseyville Unified School District’s director of food services.

School representatives who accompanied the students spoke of the teens’ accomplishments and abilities to overcome hardships.

Middletown High School Principal Bill Roderick told attendees that Jordan Marquardt has shown tremendous growth in communication with peers, staff and faculty since coming into the school district.

He plays basketball for Special Olympics and takes Karate. “He is a part of our culture on campus,” Roderick said while congratulating Marquardt.

Natural High School instructor Dave Hagberg praised Neira Meciel-Jimenez for initiating a turnaround in her attendance and academics.

Stating that the teen is a “pleasure to teach,” Hagberg said she “shines” as an aid in Irene Lopez’s Special Day Class at Lakeport Elementary School. “Neira has a remarkable ability to connect with the kids,” Hagberg added.

Amber Marga came to Upper Lake High as a junior last year, school Counselor Karen Riordan told the group. Prior to her move to Lake County from Oregon, Marga’s life had been somewhat unstable. “She has done very well” despite it, said Riordan, who noted that Marga now has a 3.67 grade point average and has been accepted at all three of the universities to which she has applied. “Amber is resilient, successful, and very determined,” said Riordan.

Verna Rogers, English and Careers class teacher at Carlé Continuation School, congratulated Leticia Bowman, “Leti” as she is known at school.

Describing her as a “hard worker and awesome student,” Rogers said Bowman has overcome many obstacles and “always has a smile on her face.”

Konocti Unified School District Superintendent Bill MacDougall said Bowman has been his “right-hand” at every community service event he has been involved in the last two years. “She is dedicated, tenacious, and charming – a true success,” said MacDougall.

Jacob Blue has “put himself on the right track” for completing his education, Clear Lake High School Principal Steve Gentry said.

Blue has received encouragement from his cross country coach, Peter Stanley, his teachers at Clear Lake High, and counselor Paul Larrea, who also attended the ceremony.

However, Blue deserves the credit for his success, said Gentry. He came to high school in Lakeport when he enrolled as a senior in August last year. He previously had attended several schools and said he had an “attitude adjustment” while going to Unicorn School in Mendocino County.

The “positive young man” now carries a 4.0 grade point average, is active as a recording technician for the concert band, and was on the school’s Academic Decathlon team.

For more information about ACSA’s Every Student Succeeding Program, contact Olson at the Middletown Unified School District office, 707-987-4100.

The program’s sponsor, Mendo Lake Credit Union, is a member-owned financial cooperative and has been serving members’ financial needs since 1959. It has branches in Fort Bragg, Ukiah, Lakeport and Clearlake.

Additional information is available on the credit union’s Web site, www.mlcu.org , or by calling 707-468-0161.

In 2010, traffic fatalities in California declined to their lowest level since 1944, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

From a peak of 5,504 in 1987, fatalities fell to 2,715 in 2010, the agency reported.

Caltrans is attributing part of the success in lowering the fatality rate to safety improvements it has implemented on highways statewide along with safety programs such as Slow for the Cone Zone and Safe Routes to Schools.

“We are committed to saving lives along the state’s highways and roads,” said acting Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty. “Safety is our top priority and an essential component of every one of our projects.”

A focal point of California’s highway safety efforts is the Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP), created in 2006 to address a broad range of important traffic safety issues.

Caltrans partnered with the California Highway Patrol, the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), the Department of Motor Vehicles, and other federal, state and local agencies to develop the plan.

In 2009, Caltrans received a National Roadway Safety Award from the U.S. Department of Transportation for its outstanding work on the SHSP.

Continuing its commitment to SHSP goals, in 2011 Caltrans awarded 80 safety improvement projects worth about $140 million – upgrades such as installing left turn lanes, improving traffic signal timing, realigning roads, and paving highways with permeable asphalt to absorb rain water to reduce crashes on slickened highways.

Last year, Caltrans awarded $66 million to cities, counties and regional agencies for 139 Safe Routes to School (SRTS) projects to improve safety for students in grades K-8 who walk and bicycle to and from school.

In addition to the federal SRTS program, the state Safe Routes to School Program funded 85 projects for $24 million in October 2010. Since 2000, the state and federal programs have awarded more than 1,200 projects for approximately $420 million.

Caltrans also made strides toward making highways and local streets safer through its Slow for the Cone Zone public awareness campaign launched in 1999. California work zone fatalities declined 63.4 percent from 1999 to 2010, compared to a drop of just 37.4 percent nationally.

In addition, Caltrans developed the Highway Safety Improvement Program Application and Evaluation Tool for Local Roadways that allowed local transportation agencies to set priorities for safety projects.

The application identifies projects that offer the greatest potential of reducing fatalities and injuries on California’s local roads. These projects will save lives and provide a projected $743 million in safety
benefits as a result of fewer vehicle crashes, injuries, and fatalities on local roads, according to the Caltrans Division of Local Assistance, which used the evaluation tool to project future savings.

Last year, Caltrans and its partners launched a campaign to educate the public about the importance of moving over a lane or slowing down for Caltrans, law enforcement, tow trucks and other emergency vehicles displaying flashing lights.

A 2011 traffic survey conducted after the campaign by the OTS found that 92.5 percent of drivers surveyed said they were aware of the Move Over law.

Nature’s Notebook needs you to get outside this spring, join many other observers across the nation, and help it reach its millionth observation of plant and animal life events.

People like you – gardeners, farmers, birders, hikers, anglers, joggers, or all-around nature enthusiasts – are already recording the recurring events they see in the lives of the plants and animals around them – such as when cherry trees or lilacs blossom, when robins build their nests, when salmon swim upstream to spawn, or when leaves turn colors in the fall.

And the millionth observation is imminent – as of the week of April 1-7, citizen-scientists around the country have already clocked in with the 900,000th observation of 16,000 individual plants and animals at 5,000 sites. Each entry represents important scientific information about an actual event in a specific plant or animal’s life.

“Hitting the one millionth observation will be quite exciting, because large sets of data ultimately result in better, more informed policy and management decisions about our environment,” said Jake Weltzin, executive director of the USA-National Phenology Network, which manages Nature’s Notebook. “Clean water and healthy wildlife are everyone’s goal, but scientists and land managers need your help to gather observations that we can’t do alone.”

Knowledge of when recurring life stages occur is referred to as phenology, and people have tracked phenology for centuries for the most practical of reasons: when to hunt and fish, when to plant and harvest crops, and when to navigate waterways.

Tracking phenology is just as critical today for the same reasons and for new ones too.

The data in Nature’s Notebook are helping researchers understand how plants and animals are responding to climate change and, in turn, how those responses are affecting people and ecological systems.

This information is already being used or will be used in ways that benefit society, including developing more accurate indicators of spring, forecasting the onset of allergy season or the chances of western wildfires, managing wildlife and invasive plants, and setting baselines for performance when restoring habitats.

Phenology and climate change

Changes in phenology are among the most sensitive biological indicators of global change.

Across the world, many springtime events are occurring earlier – and fall events happening later – than in the past. These changes are happening quickly for some species and more slowly, or not at all, for others, altering relationships and processes that have been stable for thousands of years.

Some wildlife – like caribou and butterflies – are becoming mismatched from their plant food resources, which are responding differently.

Migrations for some birds are changing too, as they can now overwinter instead of moving south for the winter, or as they fly north more quickly to keep pace with an advancing front of spring flowering.

Working farms and ranches need phenology information too: pollination by native insects contributes more than $3 billion in agricultural crops each year.

Climate-driven changes in the phenology of crops and native insects could change the effectiveness of insect pollination for the better or for the worse, and certainly complicates management decisions.

However, we know very little about how pollinator phenology is changing, which makes it difficult to predict how crops will be affected and how farmers might best adapt their management practices.

By collecting observations of insect phenology and crop phenology together, the USA-NPN is contributing to our understanding of the changes taking place and helping to ensure the viability of crops across the country.

In short, scientists need more and better information about the pace and pattern of nature – locally to nationally – to answer important scientific and societal questions, and to build the tools and models needed to help people understand and adapt to the changes.

Nature’s Notebook, by providing a place for people to enter, store, and share their observations, makes it possible for the general public to help researchers improve the understanding about how changes in phenology relate to changes in climate our environments.

And this is where you come in

“The more data the better,” said Weltzin who, as an ecologist, has contributed his share of observations to Nature’s Notebook by tracking flowering and fruiting of cactus near his Tucson home.

“By compiling observations from our participants, we’re starting to be able to piece together large-scale changes, like the early spring in 2010, which stretched from Missouri to Maine,” Weltzin said. “And, as you probably already know, 2012 is shaping up to be just as unusual … in most places, winter was weak, and spring is soon upon us, bringing not only early birds and beautiful flowers and a new batch of maple syrup, but also allergies and invasive plants and insect pests like mosquitoes.”

So if you are interested in becoming a citizen-scientist, there are four simple steps: learn about the plants and animals you can observe in your area, learn how to observe, sign up, and log in to Nature’s Notebook and record your observations. And maybe, just maybe, you will record the one millionth observation.

More importantly, Nature’s Notebook is an exciting way for you to experience plants or animals you see all the time in a brand new way.

Participating can help you:

• Advance your knowledge and more intimately connect with plants and animals in your area.
• Experience nature up close in a way few people have the opportunity to do.
• Organize and interpret your own observations of seasonal change using cutting-edge mapping tools.
• Contribute to a historic effort that benefits future generations.

By joining the program, you ultimately empower your hobby to benefit scientific discovery. To get started, check out the Nature’s Notebook Web site, http://www.usanpn.org/participate/observe .

The USA National Phenology Network is a partnership among governmental and nongovernmental science and resource management agencies and organizations, the academic community, and the public.

There are more ways to get involved – partner your organization with us, let us know about legacy phenology data sets, or even share a dataset you may have already collected.

For more information visit http://www.usanpn.org/ or contact Jake Weltzin at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Other USGS Citizen-Science programs

USGS citizen-science programs want you to be the scientist. The public helps collect data used by emergency responders, scientists, and resource managers.

Here are some other USGS citizen-science programs:

– Did You Feel It? After earthquakes or shaking events, “Did you Feel It?” (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/dyfi/ ) collects Web-based citizen responses to help provide rapid intensity assessments for earthquake science and response. The involvement of citizens is key because decisions made during and immediately after an earthquake can save lives and protect property. If you are a tweeter, consider using “Did You Tweet It?” to record what you are experiencing in real time. The USGS Twitter Earthquake Dispatch (@USGSted) application helps the USGS discern how severe an earthquake might be.

– Breeding Bird Survey: Since 1966, thousands of volunteers have contributed data used by the USGS’s North American Breeding Bird Survey, http://137.227.245.162/BBS/learning/ , to monitor populations of more than 400 bird species. This citizen-science program helps identify conservation priorities and inform sound management practices.

– North American Bird Phenology Program: Between 1880 and 1970, volunteers collected information about migratory birds across North America. Now, citizens worldwide are helping the North American Bird Phenology Program rescue and curate the data from this historical collection of six million bird migration card observations, illuminating migration patterns and population status of birds across the continent.

– Wildlife Health Event Reporter: The Wildlife Health Event Reporter (WHER), http://www.whmn.org/wher/ , enables anyone with an Internet connection to report sightings of sick or dead wildlife. The site www.healthmap.org has enhanced its mobile phone application “Outbreaks Near Me,” http://www.healthmap.org/outbreaksnearme/ . to accept and relay wildlife health reports to the WHER site. These tools can lead to the detection and containment of wildlife disease outbreaks that may pose a health risk to wildlife, domestic animals, or people.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – He's playful, young and eager to be your new best friend.

Estimated to be about 8 months old, this male blue heeler-border collie mix is a sweet and fun little dog.

He has a very soft black and tan coat, weighs just under 35 pounds and has been neutered.

One of his favorite activities is running and playing in the yard. Shelter staff said he really likes playing with other dogs.

Find him in kennel No. 7, ID No. 32009.

Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.

Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm .

To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .

For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Tall, dark and handsome, industrious, loves the outdoors.

That describes “Ike,” a 6-year-old male German Shepherd mix who is up for adoption at Lake County Animal Care and Control.

Ike is personable, gets along with other dogs and has lived around horses. He weighs about 79 pounds.

He plays a mean game of fetch – he even catches tennis balls in mid air – and shelter staff believes he would make a great family pet.

Find Ike in kennel No. 11, ID No. 32187.

Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.

Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm .

To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .

For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.

California law grants a surviving spouse special rights and obligations concerning the probate estate and personal debts of a deceased spouse.

These are governed by community property laws. The same rules apply to California registered domestic partners.

Community and quasi community property is divided equally at death, and separate property belongs to the owning spouse.

Assets acquired while married and living together are either community or quasi community property.

Any property acquired before marriage, or by gift or inheritance while married, is the separate property of that spouse.

Accordingly, a surviving spouse owns one-half of all the couple's community property and quasi community property. The decedent may thus bequeath his or her one-half of the community property, and all his or her separate property, as he or she pleases.

If the deceased spouse attempts to give all of a community property asset to someone other than the surviving spouse, the surviving spouse must elect between inheriting under the deceased spouse's will or trust and receive those gifts, or else enforce her community property rights.

When a deceased spouse dies intestate (i.e., without a will) owning an interest in community property assets not held in joint tenancy or trust, the surviving spouse owns the entire community property estate.

After 40 days, the surviving spouse has complete control, unless, in the case of real property, someone has filed a notice claiming an inheritance under the deceased spouse's will.

Probate is never required to transfer property from the deceased to the surviving spouse. The surviving spouse can use either the affidavit procedure for small estates or file a spousal property petition. Small estates are those appraised at under $150,000.

Affidavits may not be used for real property appraised over $50,000, even in small estates.

Sometimes, however, a surviving spouse will probate the entire community property and the decedent's separate property. This is because, generally, the surviving spouse is personally liable for all the debts of the deceased spouse, up the value of any community and separate property received without probate.

Through probate the surviving spouse can avoid personal liability and have the debts allocated. If any such assets are held in a trust, the trustee can transfer them to the executor. Community property in joint tenancy would presumably need to be transferred too.

In a probate, the surviving spouse can petition to have debts allocated between the spouses. They are typically allocated as if a divorce had occurred at date of death.

Generally, the community property answers for all the debts incurred during marriage. There are exceptions.

The deceased spouse's funeral expenses and expenses of last illness are allocated to the decedent's estate only, and not to the surviving spouse's one-half interest in the community property or separate property.

Debts from before marriage are allocable to the debtor spouse's separate property, and, any excess is allocated to the debtor spouse's one-half interest in the community property estate.

Upon petition in a probate the surviving spouse may receive a family maintenance allowance as necessary to maintain the surviving spouse and dependent children in their accustomed manner of living.

Upon petition, the court, at its discretion, may also grant a family homestead. A family homestead allows the surviving spouse, and any minor children, to live in a residence for a period of time as the court finds proper; sometimes the surviving spouse's remaining lifetime.

Interestingly, the foregoing spousal protections apply even if the deceased spouse's probate estate is all separate property, and even if it is all bequeathed to someone other than the surviving spouse.

Naturally in that case the court would unlikely grant the surviving spouse a lifetime homestead as the court considers the competing interests of the decedent's heirs and beneficiaries and the decedent's own testamentary bequests.

How the surviving spouse should best proceed is something to discuss with a qualified attorney based on the facts and circumstances.

Dennis A. Fordham, attorney (LL.M. tax studies), is a State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law. His office is at 55 First St., Lakeport, California. Dennis can be reached by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by phone at 707-263-3235. Visit his Web site at www.dennisfordhamlaw.com .

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – In a positive step toward keeping Anderson Marsh State Historic Park open, the Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association has received preliminary approval from the California Parks Department to take over the park's operation.

Anderson Marsh is one of 70 state parks slated for closure July 1. AMIA has been working for several months to negotiate an agreement with the state to operate the park, and is postponing its September bluegrass festival until 2013 to devote its energies to the negotiations.

The group reported Tuesday that it's excited about the development, which it called “a big step forward on the path” to keeping the park open.

AMIA reported that the next steps are to negotiate the actual contract terms and to get the final approval for the agreement from the state.

Under the terms of the proposed operating agreement, AMIA would operate the Anderson Marsh for the next three years.

The group said the hope is that by then the state will be able to figure out a way to properly fund the state parks so that these stop-gap nonprofit operating agreements no longer will be needed.

Under the proposed agreement, AMIA will continue to perform the tasks that it currently does, including opening the park gates during daylight hours on Saturday and Sunday, interpretive nature walks and ranch house tours led by AMIA volunteer docents, hosting senior and student field trips to the park and conducting other interpretive events led by AMIA volunteers.

In addition, AMIA will take over responsibility for maintaining the trail system for use by the public, for contracting for refuse, toilet and utility services and for performing grounds-keeping, housekeeping and maintenance as required. Plans also include offering kayak tours of Anderson Marsh.

The California Parks Department will continue to maintain authority and responsibility for the stewardship and management of natural, cultural and historic resources, including American Indian artifacts found at the park.

State Parks also will continue to be responsible for law enforcement at the park, with periodic patrols and response to calls for assistance as required.

AMIA is in the middle of its fundraising drive to raise the money necessary to operate the parks for the next three years. The group reported that many generous individuals and groups have donated to the cause, some of them also pledging to make the same donation for the second and third year of operations.

In addition to monetary support, AMIA needs volunteers to help with running the park, including trail clearing, maintenance and many other activities. They also need help with staffing tables and booths at various county events so they can get the word out about their efforts to keep Anderson Marsh open.

To help visit AMIA's Web site at www.andersonmarsh.org .

The California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) has completed its 2012 yearling bear release program by returning six orphaned cubs to the wild where they were born.

The cubs were found in various locations around the state in the summer months of 2011 and were rehabilitated at a licensed care facility in Lake Tahoe prior to being judged ready to return to the wild.

All six cubs – four males and two females – were in distress and weighed between 15 to 30 pounds when found.

Two brother cubs that were found by hikers in the Fresno area had lost their mother to the arrow of a poacher, while another cub was found bawling in a farmer’s pear tree in San Luis Obispo.

The others were victims of some other unfortunate circumstance.

“One of the most satisfying experiences I’ve had at DFG is to return a bear back into its environment and live the way natured intended it,” DFG Bear Program Coordinator Marc Kenyon said. “The bear rehabilitation program at Lake Tahoe is completely funded by generous donations and passionate volunteers. Our hope is that we can take learnings from facilities like this and keep bears from becoming public nuisances.”

To be eligible for rehabilitation, a cub must still be dependent upon its mother and not habituated. DFG works with the non-profit Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care (LTWC) organization – the only licensed bear program in California to rehabilitate qualified cubs.

At the facility, cubs learn how forage for real bear food such as berries, acorns, fish, grubs and insects. Human contact is kept to a minimum or is nonexistent.

When the yearling bears leave, each has tripled its size or more. Most weigh from 45 to 80 pounds, depending upon their body type and the condition they arrived in.

“Our hope is that these cubs will wake up to bountiful buffet of spring food and become productive members of California’s thriving bear population,” Kenyon said. "Regardless if it's six bears or 30,000, every bear in California is important."

Upon release, each cub is given a final health check up which includes taking hair and blood samples, and is fitted with a radio transmitter to track its movements for the next year.

Yearlings are placed in man-made dens with bedding used from the LTWC to give them some familiarity.

In most circumstances, DFG recommends that people leave wildlife alone, including removing attractants from their properties. If this is not an option, DFG should be contacted.

For more information, see www.dfg.ca.gov/keepmewild/ .