CLEARLAKE, Calif. – An arrest warrant was issued on Friday for a Bay Area man accused of taking part in a Thanksgiving day home invasion robbery in Clearlake.
The warrant was issued for Reginald Jerome Patillo, 30, of Oakland, according to Sgt. Nick Bennett of the Clearlake Police Department.
Early on Thanksgiving day, Nov. 28, Clearlake Police responded to a report of a home invasion robbery at Lakeview Terrace Apartments, as Lake County News has reported.
Officers arrived to find a male and female who live in the apartment, as well as a male visitor from out of state, had been tied up and robbed by three suspects, two of whom the out-of-state visitor had met on the plane to San Francisco, as he was en route to Lake County, according to police.
The suspects – two males and a female – allegedly stole money, a shotgun, cell phones, a flat screen television, an Xbox and a large amount of processed marijuana, police said.
The investigation by Clearlake Police led to the Bay Area. Patillo was taken into custody and booked on a parole violation the day after the robbery thanks to a collaboration between Clearlake Police and the Berkeley Police Department.
Police said other suspects are being sought.
Based on the initial investigation, evidence and interviews, on Friday a Lake County Superior Court judge issued the arrest warrant for Patillo, with bail set at $1,170,000, Bennett said.
Bennett said the charges against Patillo include armed robbery, burglary, grand theft, terrorist threats, false imprisonment and felon with a firearm.
Anyone with information on this case is encouraged to contact Det. Travis Lenz at 707-994-8251, Extension 315.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Bay Area firm seeking to purchase and renovate Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa received the Lake County Planning Commission's unanimous approval of its plans at a Thursday morning meeting.
The commission approved a mitigated negative declaration, a major use permit and shoreline variance for Resort Equities LLC's renovation plans for the Kelseyville resort, once the county's top resort destination, which has been closed since November 2009.
Resort Equities President Grant Sedgwick spoke to the commission about the project and what he hopes it can do to improve Lake County's tourism and enhance its reputation.
“I'm very excited about it,” Sedgwick said of the resort renovation plan.
About 60 people were on hand for the two-hour meeting at the Lake County Courthouse.
During the course of the meeting, additional mitigations suggested for the project – having an American Indian monitor on site for any ground work, including demolition; requiring the resort to participate in the invasives mussel prevention program; and planting of tules to help filter runoff in an undeveloped shoreline area slated for new buildings – were added by staff.
“They're all reasonable,” Resort Equities President Grant Sedgwick said of the requests for the additional measures following the meeting.
Principal Planner Kevin Ingram, who along with Community Development Director Rick Coel has worked on processing Resort Equities' application, called it a “wonderful but complicated” project.
Ingram noted he's fielded about 50 calls or visits to his office from people interested in the plans for Konocti Harbor. “A vast majority of those have been positive.”
The plans call for demolishing 121 of the 261 existing lodging units, renovating another 150 units as well as the main lodge and pool areas, building a new 75-unit hotel building adjacent to the pool and 15 two-story fourplexes for another 60 units along a currently undeveloped area of shoreline near the amphitheater.
At full buildout, the 90-acre property – of which about 58 acres is developed – will have 164 timeshare or fractional ownership units, Ingram said, along with a new waterside bar and grill, greater shoreline pedestrian access, more parking, 275 boat slips (currently there are 100), five piers and docks will be repaired, there will be an expanded system of piers and docks, and the amphitheater will be renovated.
Coel said the plans call for extending docks and amenities out into the lake, with the proposal including allowing the new party deck near the main lodge to be 35 feet high, rather than the 20 feet limit.
In explaining the shoreline ordinance variance, Coel noted, “Staff feels strongly that the variance findings can be made because of the uniqueness of this site, the prominence of it and the lack of public access to this whole region of Clear Lake.”
Ingram said that in September when the project first came in, county staff organized a site visit with a number of local and state agencies, which he said was a great experience.
“It was a great amount of knowledge that came out of that. The applicant was receptive to it,” he said, with an updated project application from Resort Equities working in suggestions from the meeting.
Commissioner Olga Martin Steele asked about lake impacts, increased sediments and fish spawning areas.
Coel said the shoreline improvements will consist of utilizing existing pilings. “That significantly minimizes the impact to the lakebed,” he said, adding that the resort has been developed and used for lake access facilities for 40 to 50 years.
Steele wanted to know if fish spawned in the area. Coel said the county had received no information from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife or Department of Water Resources about whether there are spawning beds along Konocti Harbor's shoreline.
He said the water in that area is deeper, with spawning beds tending to be in shallow lake areas near tules. The dock structures provide shade that is beneficial to some species.
Explaining the project
Sedgwick said the plan includes job creation, positive economic impacts and entertainment.
He said that the project success and the county's are tied together. Lake County's tourism is suffering when compared to other areas and the resort is an important element in putting a rebuilding process in place.
Tourism in Lake County has only increased 55 percent since 1992, which Sedgwick said isn't even keeping up with inflation. Meanwhile, in neighboring counties such as Napa and Sonoma, tourism has increased more than 200 percent in that same timeframe.
“There is a bit of a perception problem about the lake itself and Lake County,” he said. “It isn't warranted.”
Sedgwick said he and business partner Richard Ragatz sent out an email survey to 17,000 people in a Konocti Harbor customer database. Out of those, they received 3,000 replies, which he called an “overwhelming” response.
Of those who had responded, more than 70 percent had stayed in the resort's lodging facilities, about 90 percent had attended a concert and 94 percent had an overall favorable experience, Sedgwick said.
Because of seasonality, it’s important to have varying types of ownership – including partial and timeshare – underpinning the real estate, Sedgwick said, explaining that the resort historically had occupancy of less than 40 percent.
Sedgwick said they could spend up to $90 million on the project's renovation plans. They don't yet have that amount raised, and are still in the process of working on financing. The planning commission's support, he added, would be important in the process.
“It's hard to summarize all the things I’m feeling about this project in just a couple of minutes,” he said.
Commission Chair Bob Malley said Konocti Harbor had always comprised four to five cylinders of the county's eight-cylinder economy, and he was glad to see someone stepping up to take it over.
Community speaks on project
Despite the large crowd, only a handful of people spoke on the project, mostly to ask questions and to request additional mitigations.
County staff also answered questions from some nearby residents who wondered if the additional undeveloped land is to have any building activity – there's no such proposal – and if lighting mitigations will be in place, with Malley noting that lighting rules have changed since the resort was open.
Archaeologist Dr. John Parker of the Lake County Historical Society said the resort was in a highly sensitive area and a registered archaeologist should work alongside an American Indian monitor to observe ground disturbing activities anywhere on the property.
Coel said there were no identified archaeological sites in the vicinity that required an entire archaeological study. He said 90 percent of the property has been surveyed but the undeveloped area along the shoreline where the fourplexes are proposed to be built hadn't been surveyed, so they added the monitor requirement.
Coel said they are trying to provide a level of protection, and from a business standpoint it makes a lot of sense to do an archaeological study before doing earthwork. “This project is on a constrained timeline and we really need to get this done.”
Jack Long, the county's economic development manager, read into the record the county's support for the project.
“Staff is pleased to see Resort Equities' commitment and dedication to the project,”Long said.
Konocti Harbor was a premier destination in the county, and its closure caused ripples across the county's economy, Long said. Its return would provide a boost to the economy and the plans include all of the elements the county believes would make it successful.
Victoria Brandon, on behalf of the Sierra Club Lake Group, said there needed to be included in the project conditions a requirement that the resort adheres to the county's invasive mussel prevention program. She also suggested a tule replanting project along the resort's lakeshore would attract wildlife.
She said she was delighted that Sedgwick recognizes the perception problem – not the reality problem – for Lake County, and said the renovated resort could be the kind of first class operation that helps address that perception.
Sarah Ryan, environmental director for Big Valley Rancheria, also urged the commission to keep a tribal monitor present for any ground disturbance in the entire project area. She also wanted language included in the project requirements relating to species of special concern such as the Clear Lake hitch, which is now being considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act.
During commission discussion, Steele said she liked adding additional mitigations such as the tule plantings, but Coel said that under the California Environmental Quality Act there need to be impacts identified in order to require mitigations.
Malley said that the nexus is that additional runoff will result once buildings are placed on the undeveloped shoreline area, and he suggested they add a provision for placing tule beds in the area to filter runoff.
Coel asked for a brief break so he and Ingram could come back with some modified language in the permit requirements.
The changes presented to the commission included requiring Resort Equities to enter into an agreement with Lake County Water Resources to become a participant in the invasive mussels prevention program prior to operating the resort.
The firm also must provide a tule planting plan to the Water Resources Department for review and approval prior to the issuance of the building permits for the fourplexes on the shoreline. The tules should be planted within six months of the completion of the units.
In addition, Resort Equities shall provide the county with an archaeological reconnaissance study that will include the areas of existing development where demolition is proposed.
Malley asked if Sedgwick was amenable, and Ingram said yes.
Commissioner Gil Schoux made the three separate motions to approve the mitigated negative declaration as amended, grant the use permit and find that the request for a variance from the shoreline ordinance met the requirements. All three motions were approved unanimously.
“Konocti, get moving,” said Malley, with the audience giving a round of applause to the vote.
After the meeting, Ingram told Lake County News that once a seven day period during which appeals can be filed is over, Resort Equities could come in and begin filing for building permits. But he didn't expect that would happen just yet.
Sedgwick told Lake County News that the sale is anticipated to close the first or second week of March 2014.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
COBB, Calif. – A 3.4-magnitude quake was recorded early Thursday morning near The Geysers geothermal steamfield.
The quake occurred at 2:57 a.m. at a depth of 1.7 miles, according to the US Geological Survey.
It was centered one mile northwest of The Geysers and 13 miles southwest of Clearlake, the survey reported.
Another 3.4-magnitude quake occurred near The Geysers on Nov. 14, the survey reported.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
While timeshares may help the timeshare owner to enjoy a certain amount of leisure each year, they are a headache for estate planning purposes.
Even though a deeded timeshare is an interest in real property, it is really more of a recurring luxury expense than it is an asset.
Let us consider some issues raised by timeshares: Ongoing maintenance and property tax expenses; hard to sell; sometimes undesired as an inheritance; and how they are transferred at death.
The owner, or the deceased owner’s estate, is liable for all timeshare maintenance fees and real property taxes. These continue after death and can pile up if unpaid; regardless of whether anyone uses the timeshare, your estate remains obligated to pay these expenses. A decedent’s estate will often wish to sell its timeshares.
Unfortunately, timeshares are very difficult to sell. Perhaps the best place to start is with the timeshare company itself.
Sometimes, for a large fee or commission, they can assist in selling an existing timeshare. Otherwise, other possible avenues are to lease the timeshare, cancel the timeshare, or sell the timeshare through a timeshare market.
Aside from leasing, the other options all involve losses. So essentially, the timeshare is more of a luxury expense than an asset.
Timeshares, if they are deeded (as opposed to leased) are real property interests. Accordingly, once the owner dies, just like owning real property, the laws of the state where the timeshare is located control. If title is held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship, then the surviving joint tenants file an affidavit of death of joint tenant to remove the deceased joint tenant’s name from title.
Alternatively, if title is held in the name of a trust, then the trust controls who inherits the timeshare without probate.
However, if title is held in the deceased owner’s name alone, then a probate may be triggered. This depends on the size of the decedent’s estate, whether the property is in the decedent’s state of residence, and the laws of the state.
In California, if the combined value of the timeshare and any other probate assets belonging to the decedent (excluding real property located outside California) are equal or exceed $150,000, a probate is required.
If the deceased California resident owns a timeshare outside California, it is possible that ancillary probate may be required under the laws of the other state in order to transfer the deeded timeshare – either according to the deceased owner’s will or the laws of intestacy of the state where the deeded property is situated.
To avoid triggering a probate in any state deeded timeshares, just like any other interests in real property, are often transferred into the owner’s living trust, prior to the owner’s death. A living trust can hold all of a person’s real property assets located anywhere in the United States, including timeshares.
Next, the death beneficiaries oftentimes do not even wish to inherit timeshares because of their expenses, including travel to reach their locations.
If, however, there is a willing beneficiary who has the time, money and desire to use the timeshare, then that person could inherit directly from the deceased owner’s trust provided that the timeshare has been transferred to the trustee.
Timeshares are just another reason to hold assets inside one’s living trust and get one’s affairs in order. This in turn will provide a peace of mind more conducive to fully enjoying all those wonderful vacations.
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 870 S. Main St., Lakeport, California. Fordham 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 .
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A vehicle stop conducted Wednesday morning resulted in the arrest of Clearlake man and the seizure of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
Brett Alan Miller, 48, was arrested following the stop, according to Lt. Steve Brooks of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday a patrol deputy was traveling westbound on Highway 20 in Lucerne when he noticed a vehicle traveling in front of him that was in violation of the California Vehicle Code. Brooks said the deputy conducted an enforcement stop in the area of Highway 20 and 7th Avenue in Lucerne.
The deputy asked the driver – identified as Miller – to see his driver’s license. Miller said it had been suspended. Brooks said Central Dispatch ran a records check of Miller and confirmed his driving privilege was in fact suspended.
A K9 unit arrived and assisted with the enforcement stop. Brooks said the K9 deputy deployed his partner to conduct an exterior sniff of the vehicle. As the canine approached the passenger side of the vehicle, she produced a positive alert, indicating there was the odor of a controlled substance present.
The deputy conducted a search of the vehicle and located a small metal container in the rear pouch of the right front passenger seat, according to Brooks.
He said the deputy opened the container and located a plastic bag containing a white crystalline substance he recognized to be methamphetamine.
In the same pouch next to the metal container, Brooks said the deputy also located a glass pipe which is commonly used to smoke methamphetamine.
Miller was arrested for the possession of a controlled substance, possession of controlled substance paraphernalia, and for driving while his license is suspended or revoked. He was transported to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility and booked.
The Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force can be reached through its anonymous tip line at 707-263-3663.
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Five high schools, eight youth oriented programs and three other nonprofit organizations will share the $90,000 raised this year from September's Lake County Wine Auction.
The funds were distributed Wednesday evening at the Saw Shop Gallery Bistro in Kelseyville.
This year, education was the emphasis.
“Our commitment to this critical area will ensure that Lake County grows as a strong and healthy community for the next generation,” said Kaj Ahlmann, president of the Lake County Wine Alliance.
The Wine Alliance, is a nonprofit organization of wineries, winegrape growers, vineyard owners, related businesses and community supporters and sponsor of the Wine Auction.
Since its founding in 2000, the Wine Alliance has raised $1,081,302 to foster the arts, benefit health services and otherwise support the Lake County community.
Applications are now being accepted for proceeds from the next year's auction, to be held on Sept. 20, 2014.
The 2013 Auction, the 14th, took place at the Cole Creek Equestrian Center in Kelseyville, a special venue which contributed not only to successful fundraising but also to the promotion of Lake County as not only a premier wine region but also a community of diverse agriculture.
This venue was so popular that the auction board has chosen it for the 2014 event as well.
The honorary chairs for the 2013's Wine Auction were John and Joanne VanEck, the owners of Cole Creek Equestrian. They were assisted by committee co-chairs Judy Luchsinger of Lakeport and Sharron Zoller of Kelseyville.
The event's success this year would not have been possible without the support of valued sponsors: Mendo Lake Credit Union, Calpine, Six Sigma Ranch, Beckstoffer Vineyards, Kathy Fowler Chevrolet, Bella Vista Farming, John C. Clarke, Shannon Ridge Winery, The Savings Bank of Mendocino, Umpqua Bank, Ceago Vineyard and Winery, Kelseyville Pharmacy, Brassfield Estate Vineyard & Winery and the Lake County Winegrape Commission.
The board of directors of the Lake County Wine Alliance wishes to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who made this year's success possible. Their support is deeply appreciated, not only by the alliance but by its beneficiaries as well.
The proceeds for 2013 were distributed as follows.
The Arts ($30,000)
$6,000, Lower Lake High School
$6,000, Kelseyville High School
$6,000, Upper Lake High School
$6,000, Clearlake High School
$6,000, Middletown High School
Health and community ($32,000)
$2,700, Clearlake Performing Arts youth programs
$1,000, Yuba College Culinary Club
$1,500, Friends of the Lake County Museum Student Outreach Program
$1,600, Lake County Literacy Task Force Imagination Library
$1,600, Lake County Boy Scouts Wreaths Across America
$1,500, MDSC Boy Scouts (Cut Scout Day Damp)
$1,600, LC Council of Church Women United Shoes and Socks Program
$3,500, Operation Tango Mike
$15,000, Lake County Office of Education Taylor Observatory
Just over a year since launch, NASA's Van Allen Probes mission continues to unravel longstanding mysteries of Earth's high-energy radiation belts that encircle our planet and pose hazards to orbiting satellites and astronauts.
Derived from measurements taken by a University of New Hampshire-led instrument on board the twin spacecraft, the latest discovery reveals that the high-energy particles populating the radiation belts can be accelerated to nearly the speed of light in conjunction with ultra-low frequency electromagnetic waves operating on a planetary scale.
This mode of action, as detailed in a paper recently published in the journal Nature Communications, is analogous to that of a cyclical particle accelerator like the Large Hadron Collider.
However, in this case, the Earth's vast magnetic field, or magnetosphere, which contains the Van Allen belts, revs up drifting electrons to ever-higher speeds as they circle the planet from west to east.
The recent finding comes on the heels of a related discovery – also made by the UNH-led Energetic Particle, Composition, and Thermal Plasma (ECT) instrument suite – showing similar particle acceleration but on a microscopic rather than a planetary scale.
“The acceleration we first reported operates on the scale size of an electron's gyromotion—it is a really local process, maybe only a few hundred meters in size,” noted Harlan Spence, director of the UNH Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, principal scientist for the ECT, and coauthor on the Nature Communications paper. “Now we're seeing this large-scale, global motion involving ultra low-frequency waves pulsing through Earth's magnetosphere and operating across vast distances up to hundreds of thousands of kilometers.”
And, Spence added, in all likelihood both processes are occurring simultaneously to accelerate particles to relativistic speeds.
Understanding the complex dynamics of the particle acceleration will help scientists make better predictions of space weather conditions and, thus, offer better protections to orbiting satellites crucial to modern-day society.
Having twin spacecraft making simultaneous measurements in different regions of nearby space is a key part of the mission as it allows the scientists to look at data separated in both space and time.
“With the Van Allen Probes, I like to think there's no place for these particles to hide because each spacecraft is spinning and 'glimpses' the entire sky with its detector 'eyes', so we're essentially getting a 360-degree view in terms of direction, position, energy, and time,” Spence said.
Added Ian Mann of the University of Alberta and first author of the Nature Communications paper, “People have considered that this acceleration process might be present but we haven't been able to see it clearly until the Van Allen Probes.”
What this provides is the ability to decipher actual changes in the surrounding region rather than encountering something that looks different but may simply be the result of a single-point measurement with a limited perspective.
With the discoveries, scientists are starting to unravel the different pieces of the puzzle for any particular particle event that changes the structure of the radiation belts.
Ultimately they hope to be able to understand the dynamics well enough to actually predict how, collectively, all these different conditions working in tandem make the belts either move in or out, inflate, deflate, change energy, or lose or gain particles.
Says Spence, “What we hope for are those serendipitous occasions when nature has accentuated one process above all others, which allows the spacecraft to really see what's going on. We want to know how the whole system causes one phenomenon or process to dominate or have a lesser influence compared to another one, and we're gaining a much deeper understanding of that.”
NORTH COAST, Calif. – A 3.7-magnitude earthquake hit near the Angwin area late Thursday.
The earthquake was recorded at 10:44 p.m. at a depth of 6.3 miles, according to the US Geological Survey.
It was located seven miles north northeast of Angwin and 22 miles southeast of Clearlake, the survey said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Veterans, their families and survivors receiving disability compensation and pension benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs will receive a 1.5 percent cost-of-living increase in their monthly payments beginning Jan. 1, 2014.
“We’re pleased there will be another cost-of-living increase for veterans, their families and their survivors,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “The increase expresses in a tangible way our nation’s gratitude for the sacrifices made by our service-disabled and wartime veterans.”
For the first time, payments will not be rounded down to the nearest dollar. Until this year, that was required by law.
Veterans and survivors will see additional cents included in their monthly compensation benefit payment.
For veterans without dependents, the new compensation rates will range from $130.94 monthly for a disability rated at 10 percent to $2,858.24 monthly for 100 percent.
The COLA increase also applies to disability and death pension recipients, survivors receiving dependency and indemnity compensation, disabled veterans receiving automobile and clothing allowances, and other benefits.
Under federal law, cost-of-living adjustments for VA’s compensation and pension must match those for Social Security benefits.
The last adjustment was in January 2013 when the Social Security benefits rate increased 1.7 percent.
In fiscal year 2013, VA provided over $59 billion in compensation benefits to nearly four million veterans and survivors, and over $5 billion in pension benefits to more than 515,000 veterans and survivors.
For veterans and separating servicemembers who plan to file an electronic disability claim, VA urges them to use the joint DoD/VA online portal, eBenefits. registered eBenefits users with a premium account can file a claim online, track the status, and access a variety of other benefits, including pension, education, health care, home loan eligibility, and vocational rehabilitation and employment programs.
For more information about VA benefits, visit www.benefits.va.gov or call 1-800-827-1000.
State Board of Equalization member George Runner has announced that the California Franchise Tax Board will follow the lead of the Internal Revenue Service and not impose a tax penalty on Californians who have sold their home via a short sale.
In a written response sent to Runner this week, Franchise Tax Board Chief Counsel Jozel Brunett stated, “Since California conforms to the relevant portions of the federal tax law governing the forgiveness of nonrecourse and recourse indebtedness, California would follow the federal treatment for the CCP section 580e transactions.”
“This is welcome news for Californians who have had to short sell their homes this year,” said Runner. “We learned last month they wouldn’t face a federal tax penalty. We now know they won’t face a state tax hit either.”
In a September letter to the Franchise Tax Board’s chief counsel, Runner requested a legal opinion as to the potential tax consequences for a California resident who completes a short sale under existing California law.
Initially, Franchise Tax Board staff indicated they would need guidance from the IRS before providing an answer.
That guidance arrived last month in an IRS letter to Senator Barbara Boxer regarding the expiration of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act.
The IRS opined that debt forgiveness involving nonrecourse loans held by California homeowners will not be viewed as taxable income.
“We are pleased with the recent clarifications issued by the IRS and the California Franchise Tax Board, which protect distressed homeowners from debt relief income tax associated with a short sale in California,” said California Association of Realtors President Kevin Brown. “Distressed California homeowners can now avoid foreclosure or bankruptcy and can opt for a short sale instead, without incurring federal and state tax liability, even after the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 expires at the end of this year.”
A legislative effort to extend tax protection for California short sales derailed this year. However, the Franchise Tax Board’s announcement that it will conform with the IRS ensures continued protection for taxpayers without the need for legislation.
Elected in November 2010, George Runner represents more than nine million Californians as a member of the State Board of Equalization. For more information, visit www.boe.ca.gov/Runner .
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Robinson Rancheria's tribal chair, who was facing trial for grand theft for allegedly embezzling more than $60,000 from another local tribe, has died.
Tracey Avila, 52, of Nice died following several months of declining health, according to her attorney, Justin Petersen of Ukiah.
Petersen said he was notified by Avila's family on Thursday morning of her death.
He did not know when she died or the exact cause of death, but confirmed she had a number of ongoing health concerns, including diabetes.
“She was recovering from a stroke but had a number of other medical issues, primarily kidney failure,” he said. “I think the combination of those issues just got the best of her.”
Avila was facing trial for having allegedly taken the money while working as Elem’s fiscal officer from February 2006 to September 2008.
Elem began the investigation before requesting federal assistance, with the investigation later assumed by the EPA Office of the Inspector General and U.S. Housing and Urban Development's Office of the Inspector General.
Avila was arrested for felony grand theft in September 2011.
Court proceedings in Avila's case had run into numerous delays.
Her preliminary hearing was rescheduled and delayed until October 2012, when Judge Andrew Blum ordered her to stand trial for the charge.
Trial dates also were repeatedly set and reset, with the defense requesting four continuances of the trial earlier this year, according to Deputy District Attorney Rachel Abelson, who was handling Avila's prosecution.
Avila was last in court Aug. 13, Abelson said. That same month, delays due to Avila's health problems began, and continued into October and November.
On Nov. 13 the District Attorney's Office was told Avila would be in a rehabilitation hospital until next spring, said Abelson.
Petersen said that last delay followed his receipt of a note from Avila's doctor saying that she would be in no condition to continue with the court proceedings until at least April of next year.
As a result, the case had been scheduled to return to court on March 11, 2014, for resetting of the trial date, Petersen said.
Despite the criminal case against her and her health issues, Avila had managed to remain tribal chair.
During her tenure as chair, Avila disputed a June 2008 tribal election that she lost to EJ Crandell, and maintained her seat after the election was thrown out.
Later that same year, she oversaw the disenrollment of dozens of members of the Quitiquit family, who had supported Crandell in the disputed election.
Under her leadership the tribal council also moved forward last year with evictions of several Quitiquit family members from homes on the rancheria. The evictees argued that they resided in homes they contracted to purchase through a federally funded, low-income housing program, not the tribe.
This past January, during another set of evictions, a fight broke out between tribal members and law enforcement who were on the rancheria on standby, with several tribal members arrested afterward.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The current weather forecast is predicting freezing temperatures over the next few days and Lake County Special Districts is reminding everyone to protect their water pipes from freezing.
A few precautionary steps may help avoid the messy and often expensive issue of frozen pipes.
The following tips are suggested.
Seal out cold air
Caulk around pipes where they enter the house and close all foundation vents. This will stop cold winter air from blowing into your house.
Open foundation vents are probably the greatest cause of frozen or split water pipes. You will not only protect your pipes, but you may also reduce your winter heating needs.
Be sure to remember to open the foundation vents again in the spring to prevent moisture damage and dry rot.
Protect outside pipes and faucets
For newer homes, the outside hose bibs are frost free, meaning that the shut off valve is actually located deep inside the insulated wall.
If you are not sure if the hose bib is frost free, when you turn it off and water continues to drain for a few seconds, this is a good indication that the hose bib is frost-free.
If you are not sure or if you do not have a frost-free hose bib, then you will need to wrap the hose bib with newspapers or rags covered with plastic, fiberglass or molded foam-insulating covers to wrap the faucet. Premade molded foam insulating covers are available at most plumbing and hardware stores.
Disconnect all outdoor hoses from the faucets
This allows water to drain from the connected pipes. When a hose is attached, one overnight freeze can cause the faucet or the pipes to crack.
Locate your water shutoff valve
Know where your main water shutoff valve is outside of your home.
Typically they are located near the water meter or where the water pipes enter the house from the outside.
It is very important to know where this valve is located because if a pipe bursts anywhere in the house – kitchen, bath, basement or crawl space – this valve will turn it off.
Insulate the pipes
Wrapping will protect pipes from freezing.
Check your house for pipes in unheated areas such as the crawl space, attic, garage or basement. Use insulating tape or molded pipe sleeves (available at most home improvement stores) and wrap it over the entire length of exposed pipe.
Foam pipe insulation is split down the middle and you just slip it over the pipes. You may need to cut the insulation to fit certain lengths.
Cover all valves, pipe-fittings, etc. with insulating tape or fiberglass insulation.
Unoccupied house?
When leaving the house for an extended time, or if you live in an older home, consider opening cabinet doors in the kitchen and bathrooms.
Water lines supplying the kitchen or bathrooms are frequently located next to outside walls. Any air leaks in the siding or insulation can cause these pipes to freeze. Leaving these cabinet doors open when the temperature is below freezing allows pipes behind the cabinets to get more heat.
You can also contact a local plumber to winterize your home if it will be vacant during the winter.
Frozen pipes are particularly hazardous in vacant homes because nobody is home to hear or notice water running from a broken pipe.
If your pipes freeze, thaw the lines safely. If you know where the lines are frozen, you can attempt to thaw them with a hair dryer set on low heat. Wave the dryer back and forth along the frozen area. Thawing won’t be fast, but it will be safe.
If you have any questions, call Special Districts at 707-263-0119.