Jacqueline Shepherd, 28, of Lakeport, Calif., was arrested on Saturday, May 7, 2011, after she allegedly attempted to kidnap a 6-year-old boy from Lakeport's Library Park. Lake County Jail photo.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Police took a Lakeport woman into custody Saturday afternoon after she allegedly attempted to abduct a young boy from the Library Park playground.
Jacqueline Michele Shepherd, a 28-year-old student, was arrested by Officer Norm Taylor at about 1:15 p.m. Saturday, according to Lake County Jail records.
A report from Sgt. Jason Ferguson of the Lakeport Police Department said officers responded to a reported kidnapping at the park and, during the investigation, learned that Shepherd had allegedly been hanging around the children's playground where several children were playing.
He said Shepherd allegedly was observed acting suspicious and watching the children before befriending the 6-year-old.
Shepherd began pushing the child on a swing before she is alleged to have taken physical custody of the child and removed him from the playground area, Ferguson said.
Ferguson said the child's cousin reportedly confronted Shepherd, who released the boy and walked away from the area.
Some witnesses reported on Lake County News' Facebook page that the child's mother also confronted Shepherd and punched her.
Ferguson said police found Shepherd in Bigg's 155 Diner, located across the street from the park, and placed her under arrest.
He said she was booked into the Lake County Jail, with bail set at $50,000, although jail records indicated the bail amount was $30,000.
Jail records showed that Shepherd remained in custody Saturday night.
This handgun was seized from a vehicle in which the four suspects were alleged to be driving along the Hopland Grade on Thursday, May 5, 2011. Photo courtesy of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The investigation of a suspicious vehicle parked in a remote area off of Highway 175 near the Mendocino County line Thursday morning has resulted in one arrest for marijuana and weapons charges, and a five-hour multiagency operation to search for two additional suspects.
Arrested was 41-year-old Malaquias Parras Ramirez of Santa Rosa, according to Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
On May 5 at approximately 8:30 a.m. a detective sergeant with the Lake County Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force was traveling out of county on Highway 175 when he saw a suspicious vehicle parked in a turnout approximately a mile and a half from the Mendocino County line, Bauman said.
The vehicle, a Black Toyota Camry, was occupied by two men dressed in camouflage clothing and a third man dressed in camouflage clothing was standing near the car urinating, according to Bauman.
Bauman explained that when the detective sergeant stopped to contact the men, the man standing outside of the car immediately ran and fled into the brush on foot.
He said the detective sergeant drew his duty weapon and ordered the other two men in the car to raise their hands but the driver suddenly exited the car and also fled on foot into the brush in the same direction as the other. The third man seated in the back of the car, identified as Ramirez, was detained at gunpoint and the detective sergeant requested emergency assistance on his radio.
Multiple units from the sheriff’s office and the California Highway Patrol (CHP) responded to the area to assist the detective sergeant, Bauman said. As the first backup units arrived at the scene Ramirez was taken into custody.
Sheriff’s deputies began posting themselves along the highway to try to contain the two outstanding suspects. Bauman said a search of the Toyota revealed several potted marijuana plants and a loaded handgun drawn from its holster, lying on the floorboard where Ramirez had been sitting.
Additional resources were requested to respond, including a CHP helicopter, a law enforcement K-9 team from the U.S. Forest Service, and agents from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Bauman said.
Officials seized these marijuana growing supplies during the investigation on Thursday, May 5, 2011. Photo courtesy of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Once additional resources arrived, a ground team that included the U.S. Forest Service K-9 began tracking the mountainous area the two suspects fled into. Bauman said the K-9 led the team into a large gorge where they located a “drop site” where illegal marijuana growers had left numerous spools of drip line, bags of fittings, fertilizer and other supplies used for marijuana cultivation.
The team continued to follow fresh tracks beyond the drop site but after tracking the suspects for nearly one mile, the K-9 began to lose their scent and trail, Bauman said.
At approximately 10:30 a.m., a CHP helicopter out of Redding arrived in the area to assist with the search of the suspects. Bauman said attempts to locate and apprehend the two outstanding suspects lasted until approximately 12:00 p.m., at which time the operation was suspended. The ground team had tracked the suspects into such rugged terrain that they had to be extracted by the CHP helicopter.
Ramirez was transported to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility where he was booked on charges of cultivating marijuana, transportation of marijuana, being armed in the commission of a felony and possession of a loaded firearm in public, Bauman said. He remains in the custody of the sheriff without bail due to an immigration hold.
Bauman said the Lake County Sheriff’s Office intends to seek federal prosecution of Ramirez, which could potentially result in a sentence of 10 years in federal prison for the crimes with which he is charged.
It is believed that Ramirez and the other two suspects were interrupted by the detective sergeant while they were engaged in setting up a major illegal marijuana cultivation operation, Bauman said.
He said much of the mountainous area surrounding Highway 175 that is managed by the BLM has been host to such operations in past years.
Bauman said the investigation Thursday occurred in roughly the same area as a similar incident in August 2008 when a CHP officer spotted a suspect walking into the woods after a van dropped him off on the Hopland Grade.
In that 2008 case, three Manteca men would be arrested for marijuana-related charges following a response by federal and local law enforcement, as Lake County News has reported.
Bauman said the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, BLM and the U.S. Forest Service are continuing their investigation into this and other suspected cultivation operations as “Operation Full Court Press” nears.
He said “Operation Full Court Press” is a multicounty, multiagency operation to eradicate illicit marijuana grows on federal lands.
Malaquias Parras Ramirez, 41, of Santa Rosa, Calif., was arrested on Thursday, May 5, 2011, after multiple local, state and federal law enforcement agencies responded to a report of several suspects fleeing a sheriff's sergeant on the Hopland Grade. Lake County Jail photo.
MENDOCINO COUNTY, Calif. – A two-day gang sweep this week in Mendocino County yielded several arrests.
The operation was organized by the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office at the request of the Homeland Security Investigations division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, according to a report from Capt. Kurt Smallcomb.
Smallcomb said the goal of the sweep was to contact persons who were members or associated with criminal street gangs. The majority of persons identified in the operations plan for the sweep were on active Mendocino County Probation or had active federal apprehension warrants.
The law enforcement agencies that participated in the sweep were the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office, Homeland Security Investigations division, Mendocino County Probation, Willits Police Department and the Fort Bragg Police Department, Smallcomb said.
He said that on Tuesday, May 3, the sweep was conducted in the unincorporated areas of the Ukiah Valley and within the city of Ukiah.
Arrested were Refugio Ortega Vasquez, 36, of Ukiah, on charges of violation of probation and felon in possession of ammunition, as well as an immigration detainer; Pascual Garcia-Felix, 33, of Ukiah, held on an immigration detainer; juvenile male, 16, of Ukiah, on charges of violation of probation, according to Smallcomb.
On Wednesday, May 4, the sweep moved to the unincorporated areas of Anderson Valley, Fort Bragg and within the City of Fort Bragg, Smallcomb said.
He said that the arrestees in that portion of the sweep included Antonio Rafael Martinez, 46, of Fort Bragg on an immigration detainer; Juan Martinez-Losano, 36, of Fort Bragg, held on an immigration detainer as a result of a federal apprehension warrant; Jose Felix Angel-Villa, 21, of Fort Bragg, held on an immigration detainer; Sergio Ricardo Reyes, 19, from Fort Bragg, held on an immigration detainer as a result of a federal apprehension warrant; Alejandro Grijalba, 20, from Fort Bragg, on charges of violation of probation.
During the contacts, an indoor marijuana growing operation was located at a residence in the 33000 block of Mill Creek Drive in Fort Bragg. Smallcomb said an occupant of the residence was unable to provide sufficient documentation to show the marijuana was being grown legally. Statements and evidence collected also showed the marijuana was being grown for financial gain.
As a result, 201 growing marijuana plants and approximately 5 pounds of processed marijuana were seized. Smallcomb said no arrests were made in connection with the incident and reports will be forwarded to the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office for review of possible charges.
Storm clouds approach Huntsville, Alabama, on Wednesday, April 27, 2011. Photo credit: Nancy Vreuls of NASA/MSFC.
Editor's note:On Wednesday, April 27, Science@NASA writer Dauna Coulter found herself near ground zero as a super-outbreak of tornadoes ripped through north Alabama. This is the story about the science of the event she wrote and submitted from within the disaster zone.
April 27: Tornado sirens wailed all day long. They'd sound off and then wind down for a little while, only to start up again a few minutes later as forecasters spotted yet another hook echo on their radars and adrenaline-revved storm spotters confirmed the twisters that dropped from seething skies one after another.
We lined our bathroom closet with blankets and pillows for my grandson. My husband kept going outside to look at the sky. If an atmosphere can become sentient, the one out there was a malevolent, living thing. This was not your usual storm. Even our golden retriever was pacing the floor.
In the late afternoon, we lost power. We scrambled to find our radio, batteries, flashlights, candles and matches, as tornadoes continued to train across the area. The wind finally died down around 10 p.m.
April 28: The power was still out when I woke up the morning after the storm. I made coffee on our camp stove in the back yard and sat in a lawn chair to listen to the radio. The news was worse than I'd expected. As the sun rose to begin an apologetically brilliant, clear day, I said a silent prayer for those who had lost their lives in the storms. They were, and still are, on my mind and in my heart. (More than a week later, all the missing have yet to be accounted for.)
I couldn't check on family or friends by cell phone until that evening, and even then phone service was spotty, as it would be for two more days. The people I finally reached said they'd been trying to call me. Science@NASA editor Tony Phillips was among them. When we finally talked, he made sure I was OK and then said something that blew my mind: “I want you to write a story about this.”
With no lights, no computer, spotty cell phone coverage?
“OK,” I answered, and then began figuring out how to do it.
April 29: The next morning I located a friend who lived near the Tennessee border, 30 miles away, and had power and Internet. The route to her house led through one of the “war zones.” There was nothing left intact.
What had caused a storm of this magnitude?
Tornado tracks color-coded by intensity. The most powerful EF-5 tornado, which passed by Dauna Coulter's location in Huntsville, Alabama, is denoted in violet. Credit: National Weather Service.
I emailed prospective interviewees at NASA and the National Weather Service, hoping they'd have Internet service – and some answers. I urged my contacts to call me as I had no computer access anywhere in Huntsville and was headed back there.
By mid-afternoon, no one had called back, so it was time to try another tack.
I drove to the National Space Science and Technology Center, a leading-edge severe weather research center housing investigators from NASA and the University of Alabama as well as the National Weather Service's Forecast Office in Huntsville.
Ironically, the historic line of tornadoes had torn through the skies right above the center on April 27, causing it to be briefly evacuated except for key weather personnel.
I was glad to see a few cars in the parking lot and hear the hum of a generator. Using my badge to enter the building, I made my way through semi-dark hallways to the Weather Service Office. There I found Larry Burgett of their Public Service Unit along with forecaster Jennifer Lee. Both of them were part of a large team that had worked from 3:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. central time, nonstop, the day of the storm to track the event and alert the public.
“It was a day unlike any other,” said Burgett. “We've never issued so many warnings in rapid succession. And we've never had so many damage reports in one day.”
The field survey team examining the damage in north Alabama reported one twister as an EF-5, a ranking reserved for the most violent and destructive tornadoes. It had peak winds of 210 miles per hour, was 1.25 miles wide in spots and stayed on the ground for 132 miles.
“Not only was there a tremendous outbreak of tornadoes – but many of them ripped along the ground for a long time,” said Lee. “It's very unusual for that many funnels to stay down that long.”
Burgett described some unbelievable sights: “Some homes were hit not once but twice – by one tornado on the heels of another. That's unheard of. Maybe in a rare case you'll hear of a home being hit twice over several years, but not in the same day. And everywhere a tornado touched down – there was major damage.”
I drove home, digesting and mourning all I'd learned that day, yet no one had explained to me how this century-class catastrophe had happened. How did this storm brew enough energy to transform itself into such a monstrous tornado-machine?
Later, NASA meteorologist Walt Petersen and UA-Huntsville meteorologist Tim Coleman called me with some facts.
“A deep cold batch of air in the central US seeped toward the southeast behind a cold front that trailed a ground-level low pressure system,” explained Petersen. “Moist air from the Gulf of Mexico streamed in toward the lower-pressure area like water heading for an open drain. Above that moist air, we had very strong winds with lots of wind shear. That means that the wind turned and sped up with height, causing the updrafts in the storm to corkscrew as they ascended into the turning wind. Collectively, those ingredients turned deadly, causing storms to form and intensify, and at the same time rotate because of the wind shear.”
Coleman added: “This kind of set up in the atmosphere is extremely rare. We have a number in meteorology called the EHI (Energy Helicity Index) that indicates the likelihood of tornadoes developing. With an EHI over 2 you can expect some tornadoes. Over 5 and you can expect some significant tornadoes. The EHI predicted by computer models the day before this event was 10, and that prediction was correct.”
Coleman admits that he was frightened by what he'd seen developing. And as part of a storm survey team sorting through the rubble the day after the mega-storm, he found that his fears had been realized.
“Brick homes were blown apart,” he said. “Even above-ground walls of their basements were gone, and there were mountains of debris – including concrete blocks and large pieces of lumber – on basement floors. Some of these tornadoes were almost unsurvivable. Only in a well-built storm shelter would you make it through.”
April 30: As time allowed over the next few days, I worked on this story outside under a shade tree in daytime and inside by candlelight at night. Though I stayed busy the rest of the time heating water to wash dishes, waiting in long lines to buy ice and gas from the few stores with generators, and checking on my elderly parents, life had, in a sense, slowed and quieted. No televisions blaring, no air conditioners humming, no weed eaters buzzing. (The extra gas was needed in cars.) Even the dogs were unusually silent. I've never slept better.
In any other circumstances, you'd think we were all enjoying an extended holiday. People were out all over town walking to the store, biking, visiting with one another. And they kept their good spirits and sense of humor through it all. One neighbor posted a sign that said, “Will trade warm beer for fire wood.”
In the evenings, our neighbors brought the contents of their defunct refrigerators and freezers over to share, and we cooked out on grills and the camp stove. Communities all over town had similar gatherings.
My 86-year-old father, who cares and cooks for my semi-invalid mother, reported each day on what their neighbors had brought them for supper. “We've been eating better than we ever did with my cooking!”" he said.
At night the city was so dark, it was like living in a different century. I rode my bike under the stars. Replacing the gaudy glare of incandescent lights, a soft glow of candlelight issued from the windows of neighbors' homes.
Some families gathered around backyard fires. And with not even a moon in view, I saw stars I'd never seen before. There above me was the whole Milky Way!
May 2: It's been a bittersweet week.
I was sitting in the back yard last night as a wave of cheering and yelling started in the distance and seemed to roll toward me. It grew louder and louder, closer and closer, building to this crescendo: my son leaning out the back door and shouting, “We have power!”
People were cheering as the lights came on swiftly, street by street, across the neighborhood.
“Let there be light!” (That was me, joining the sound wave.)
I'll remember these experiences for a long, long time: Slow, halting drives through the city with no street lights working, waiting in long lines for a ration of ice or gas or to buy a few hotdogs for the grill, curfews, taking ice cold showers, fumbling around in the darkness for my toothbrush, stubbing my toes in dim rooms … and thinking of those who were not as fortunate.
Dauna Coulter works for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
From left, Damon Shepherd and Travis Vaughn were arrested in Lakeport, Calif., after they were allegedly involved in a road rage incident. Lake County Jail photos.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Two Lake County men were arrested following a road rage incident Wednesday that culminated in a fight in the parking lot of a local fast food restaurant.
Damon Joe Shepherd, 29, of Lakeport and Travis Wayne Vaughn, 28, of Nice were taken into custody early Wednesday evening, according to the Lakeport Police Department.
A report from Sgt. Jason Ferguson explained that the incident began on the Nice-Lucerne Cutoff where Shepherd is alleged to have cut in front of Vaughn, nearly causing an accident.
Ferguson said that, as both drivers entered Highway 29 in the Hill Road area it was alleged that Vaughn then cut Shepherd off.
He said Shepherd followed Vaughn to the Taco Bell, located on Parallel Drive in Lakeport, and they allegedly got into a verbal confrontation in the parking lot.
Acting Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen said police received a call about the confrontation at Taco Bell at approximately 4:42 p.m.
“A Lake County Probation officer called in the incident at Taco Bell,” Rasmussen said.
Rasmussen said the probation officer saw Shepherd allegedly brandishing two knives in a threatening manner toward Vaughn before police arrived.
Lakeport Police sent two units to the scene, Rasmussen said.
After officers determined both Shepherd and Vaughn were intoxicated – each were given field sobriety tests – both men were arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol, Ferguson said.
Shepherd was additionally charged with brandishing a weapon in a threatening manner and possession of a dangerous weapon, Ferguson said. Rasmussen added that Lakeport Police had prior contacts with Shepherd.
Ferguson said both men were taken to the Hill Road Jail where they were booked.
Shepherd's bail was set at $10,000, and he remained in custody Thursday night, according to jail records. Vaughn posted his bail, set at $1,740, and was released.
From left, Dr. Jim Riggs, Dr. Ron Erickson and Dr. Douglas Houston are the finalists in the search for a new chancellor for the Yuba Community College District, based in Marysville, Calif. Courtesy photos.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Yuba Community College District is getting close to choosing a new chancellor, and it will introduce the three top candidates in a series of upcoming meetings.
In January, Dr. Nicki Harrington, the district's chancellor since 2002, announced she would retire effective June 30, as Lake County News has reported.
Since then, college officials say they've undertaken an extensive nationwide search to find Harrington's successor.
The new chancellor will lead a district that covers 4,200 square miles across eight Northern California counties.
The three finalists for the job include Dr. Ron Erickson, Dr. Douglas Houston and Dr. Jim Riggs.
Erickson, who holds a PhD from the University of Minnesota, is president of Ohio's Hocking College and former vice president of academic affairs and institutional planning at Dakota County Technical College in Minnesota.
Houston is superintendent/president at the Lassen Community College District, based in Susanville, Calif., and formerly vice president for human and information services at the Butte-Glenn Community College District in Oroville, Calif. He received his doctorate in educational leadership from Pepperdine University.
Riggs serves as a professor in community college education and is interim doctoral program director at California State University, Stanislaus in Turlock. He previously was president of Columbia College in Sonora, Calif. He holds a doctorate in higher education leadership and curriculum from the University of Southern California.
The three men will participate in public forums at each of the district's colleges.
The district invites administration, faculty, staff, students and the general public to the events, which will feature a brief introduction of each candidate followed by a question and answer session.
District officials said those who attend the forums will be given comment forums. The completed comment forms will be collected and given to the Yuba Community College District Board of Trustees for review.
The public forums schedule is as follows.
Monday, May 9: Dr. Ron Erickson
9 a.m. to 9:50 a.m., Clear Lake Campus forum, Room 800B, 15880 Dam Road Ext., Clearlake.
11:15 a.m. to 12:05 p.m., Yuba College forum, Yuba College Theater, 2088 N. Beale Road, Marysville.
3 p.m. to 3:50 p.m., Woodland Community College forum, Room 852, 2300 E. Gibson Road, Woodland.
Monday, May 9: Dr. Douglas Houston
10 a.m. to 10:50 a.m., Clear Lake Campus forum, Room 800B.
11 a.m. to 11:50 p.m., Woodland Community College forum, Room 852.
4 p.m. to 4:50 p.m., Yuba College forum, Yuba College Theater.
Tuesday, May 10: Dr. Jim Riggs
10 a.m. to 10:50 a.m., Clear Lake Campus forum, Room 800B.
1:30 p.m. to 2:20 p.m., Woodland Community College forum, Room 852.
4 p.m. to 4:50 p.m., Yuba College forum, Room 201.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Winery Association has announced that the 2011 Lake County Wine Competition will take place on July 28.
This third annual competition exclusively showcases wines that specifically state a Lake County AVA on the label.
The competition will commence at Brassfield Estate Winery in Clearlake Oaks, where a prestigious panel of wine experts from across the country will blind-taste and judge more than 300 wines to select the top finalists in each category.
Ray Johnson, director Sonoma State University’s Wine Business Institute, assistant director of the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, and author of numerous articles and his blog TasteWine will preside as director for the professional judging.
Participating wineries are asked to submit their entries by the July 15 deadline.
Entry forms will be sent out early in the month of May – look to receive your competition packet soon.
All Lake County wines made in and outside the county using at least 75 percent Lake County grapes are encouraged to enter.
Following the professional judging, the People’s Choice Wine Competition, a consumer tasting event will be held at Langtry Estate & Vineyards in Middletown, on Nov. 5, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., where the “people” will taste and vote for their choice among the judges’ top picks.
Winners of the People’s Choice Wine Awards will be announced at the conclusion of the event. For more information go to the association's Web site.
Formed in 2007, the Lake County Winery Association is a nonprofit organization of vintners and associate members.
Partnering with several other organizations, the association strives to promote the county’s unique and distinct rural attributes.
Several wine events are scheduled throughout 2011: the Lake County Wine Adventure on July 30 and 31; the Lake County Wine Auction on Sept. 17 at Ceago; the Steele Wines Harvest Faire on Oct. 8 and 9; and the People’s Choice Wine Awards tasting on Nov. 5.
James Abriel, 19, has been missing from Santa Rosa, Calif., since late April 2011. Courtesy photo.
NORTH COAST, Calif. – The family of a Sonoma State University student missing since last month is asking for help in locating him.
James Abriel, 19, a freshman at Sonoma State, was last known to be in Rohnert Park on April 22 and in Santa Rosa on April 24, according to his family.
His parents, Bill and Vangie Abriel, said he is 6 feet 1 inches tall and 180 pounds, with dark blond hair and blue eyes.
He is driving a white four-door 1999 Toyota Camry, with California license plate 4GYG766.
Abriel's family said he is an accomplished musician and a member of several ensembles at Sonoma State, including the string orchestra. He recently performed a musical composition he had written in a recital in the Green Music Center.
The teen earned a 4.0 grade point average in his fall 2010 semester, is an avid hiker and loves the outdoors, according to his family.
“We are so grateful to the Sonoma State administration and students for all their help in trying to locate James,” Bill and Vangie Abriel said. “Please continue to search for him and to let us know if you think of any places we could look. And please keep James and us in your prayers.”
If you see James Abriel or have any information about his whereabouts, please contact the Sonoma State Police Department at 707-664-3403, or the Walnut Creek Police Department at 925-943-5844.
California, unlike Texas and Florida, is not generous when it comes to debtor protections.
But the “homestead exemption” and the “homestead declaration” are two important protections every homeowner should know about.
These exemptions protect a portion of a homeowner’s equity against unsecured creditors who obtain judgment liens against the home.
These exemptions apply regardless of whether the principal residence is owned outright or in a living trust.
Let’s examine how these protections work and how much equity can be protected.
The homestead exemption applies automatically to a person’s or a family’s principal residence in California.
You can only have one principal residence. The homestead exemption protects a certain amount of equity against judicial foreclosures by judgment creditors.
Equity is the amount by which the value of your principal residence exceeds the combined value of all secured loans (typically mortgages and equity lines of credit). The homestead exemption does not apply to voluntary sales.
To apply, the declaration of homestead requires the homeowner to file a sworn and notarized declaration of homestead form with the county where the principal residence is situated.
Once filed, the declared homestead protects the same amount of equity as the homestead exemption, but this time with respect to voluntary sale of the principal residence.
The date when the declaration of homestead is filed is very important. The declaration does not pertain to judgment liens filed with the county prior to the declaration. So filing one’s declaration early when no judgment liens are imminent is prudent.
Moreover, if the homeowner buys a new home within six months, the homeowner can record a new declaration of homestead. Any equity from the sale of the first home that is used to buy the second home is also protected.
Now, how much equity is protected varies greatly depending on the homeowner(s)’s circumstances. A single homeowner generally is entitled to only $50,000, unless he or she qualifies for the $125,000 exemption.
A family unit generally is entitled to $75,000. A family unit includes a married couple, a single parent, or a dependent person and his caregiver.
The $125,000 (highest) exemption applies to homeowners who are 65 years of age and older, disabled persons, and persons between 55 and 65 years of age if their annual income does not exceed $15,000 (or $20,000 if married), but only in respect of nonvoluntary sales.
Let’s see how the homestead exemption works by example.
Consider John and Mary Smith, a hypothetical married couple who own a home.
The home is worth $300,000, and has a mortgage with an unpaid balance of $200,000; the Smiths have $100,000 of equity.
The Smiths owe $80,000 to a judgment creditor who has filed a judgment lien against their home. They qualify for the $75,000 homestead exemption amount, as they are not 65 or older and are not disabled. Thus, $25,000 of their $100,000 equity is exposed to judgment creditors.
The judgment creditor would be entitled to proceed with an auction sale. If the residence sold for $300,000, the $200,000 secured mortgage would be paid first, and the Smith’s would receive their $75,000 exemption amount. Lastly, the judgment creditor would receive the excess (up to his $80,000 lien).
Lastly, while the homestead exemption usually protects a conventional single-family home, it can also protect a temporary or mobile home such as a trailer, a mobile home or a boat.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA) and Congressman Wally Herger (R-CA) on Thursday led the writing of a bipartisan letter to President Obama urging him to provide federal disaster assistance for California communities battered by the recent March storms.
Between March 15 and 27, a series of storms swept across Northern California, causing significant damage in 17 counties statewide, including Del Norte, Humboldt and Mendocino counties on the North Coast.
The letter stated that damages are estimated to be more than $44.5 million statewide.
“The March storms brought a lot of devastation to communities across California,” Thompson said. “Heavy rain, snow, wind, and flooding battered local homes and infrastructure, causing significant and costly damage. I urge the President to quickly approve federal disaster assistance for our state to help give local communities the resources they need to get back on their feet.”
In total, 25 California Delegation Members who represent communities affected by the March storms signed on to Congressman Thompson’s letter, including: Wally Herger (R-CA), Lois Capps (D-CA), Sam Farr (D-CA), Laura Richardson (D-CA), Dan Lungren (D-CA), Jeff Denham (R-CA), David Dreier (R-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), George Miller (D-CA), Jerry McNerney (D-CA), Dennis Cardoza (D-CA), Jerry Lewis (R-CA), Linda Sánchez (D-CA), John Garamendi (D-CA), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Mike Honda (D-CA), Brian Bilbray (D-CA), Gary Miller (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Bob Filner (D-CA), Susan Davis (D-CA), and Pete Stark (D-CA).
“Many of us have had the opportunity to view the damage in our districts first-hand, and it is clear that a major disaster declaration is critical to helping our state recover from these devastating storms,” the letter stated.
An artist's concept of GP-B measuring the curved spacetime around Earth. Image by James Overduin, Pancho Eekels and Bob Kahn.
Einstein was right again.
There is a space-time vortex around Earth, and its shape precisely matches the predictions of Einstein's theory of gravity.
Researchers confirmed these points at a press conference on Wednesday at NASA headquarters where they announced the long-awaited results of Gravity Probe B (GP-B).
“The space-time around Earth appears to be distorted just as general relativity predicts,” said Stanford University physicist Francis Everitt, principal investigator of the Gravity Probe B mission.
“This is an epic result,” added Clifford Will of Washington University in St. Louis.
An expert in Einstein's theories, Will chairs an independent panel of the National Research Council set up by NASA in 1998 to monitor and review the results of Gravity Probe B.
“One day,” he predicted, “this will be written up in textbooks as one of the classic experiments in the history of physics.”
Time and space, according to Einstein's theories of relativity, are woven together, forming a four-dimensional fabric called “space-time.”
The mass of Earth dimples this fabric, much like a heavy person sitting in the middle of a trampoline.
Gravity, says Einstein, is simply the motion of objects following the curvaceous lines of the dimple.
If Earth were stationary, that would be the end of the story. But Earth is not stationary. Our planet spins, and the spin should twist the dimple, slightly, pulling it around into a four-dimensional swirl. This is what GP-B went to space in 2004 to check.
The idea behind the experiment is simple:
Put a spinning gyroscope into orbit around the Earth, with the spin axis pointed toward some distant star as a fixed reference point. Free from external forces, the gyroscope's axis should continue pointing at the star – forever.
But if space is twisted, the direction of the gyroscope's axis should drift over time. By noting this change in direction relative to the star, the twists of space-time could be measured.
In practice, the experiment is tremendously difficult.
The four gyroscopes in GP-B are the most perfect spheres ever made by humans. These ping pong-sized balls of fused quartz and silicon are 1.5 inches across and never vary from a perfect sphere by more than 40 atomic layers. If the gyroscopes weren't so spherical, their spin axes would wobble even without the effects of relativity.
According to calculations, the twisted space-time around Earth should cause the axes of the gyros to drift merely 0.041 arcseconds over a year.
An arcsecond is 1/3600th of a degree. To measure this angle reasonably well, GP-B needed a fantastic precision of 0.0005 arcseconds. It's like measuring the thickness of a sheet of paper held edge-on 100 miles away.
“GP-B researchers had to invent whole new technologies to make this possible,” noted Will.
They developed a “drag free” satellite that could brush against the outer layers of Earth's atmosphere without disturbing the gyros.
They figured out how to keep Earth's magnetic field from penetrating the spacecraft. And they created a device to measure the spin of a gyro – without touching the gyro.
Pulling off the experiment was an exceptional challenge. But after a year of data-taking and nearly five years of analysis, the GP-B scientists appear to have done it.
“We measured a geodetic precession of 6.600 plus or minus 0.017 arcseconds and a frame dragging effect of 0.039 plus or minus 0.007 arcseconds,” said Everitt.
For readers who are not experts in relativity: Geodetic precession is the amount of wobble caused by the static mass of the Earth (the dimple in spacetime) and the frame dragging effect is the amount of wobble caused by the spin of the Earth (the twist in spacetime). Both values are in precise accord with Einstein's predictions.
“In the opinion of the committee that I chair, this effort was truly heroic. We were just blown away,” said Will.
One of the super-spherical gyroscopes of Gravity Probe B. Courtesy of NASA.
The results of Gravity Probe B give physicists renewed confidence that the strange predictions of Einstein's theory are indeed correct, and that these predictions may be applied elsewhere. The type of spacetime vortex that exists around Earth is duplicated and magnified elsewhere in the cosmos--around massive neutron stars, black holes, and active galactic nuclei.
“If you tried to spin a gyroscope in the severely twisted space-time around a black hole,” said Will, “it wouldn't just gently precess by a fraction of a degree. It would wobble crazily and possibly even flip over.”
In binary black hole systems – that is, where one black hole orbits another black hole – the black holes themselves are spinning and thus behave like gyroscopes. Imagine a system of orbiting, spinning, wobbling, flipping black holes! That's the sort of thing general relativity predicts and which GP-B tells us can really be true.
The scientific legacy of GP-B isn't limited to general relativity. The project also touched the lives of hundreds of young scientists:
“Because it was based at a university many students were able to work on the project,” said Everitt. “More than 86 PhD theses at Stanford plus 14 more at other Universities were granted to students working on GP-B. Several hundred undergraduates and 55 high-school students also participated, including astronaut Sally Ride and eventual Nobel Laureate Eric Cornell.”
NASA funding for Gravity Probe B began in the fall of 1963. That means Everitt and some colleagues have been planning, promoting, building, operating, and analyzing data from the experiment for more than 47 years – truly, an epic effort.
What's next?
Everitt recalls some advice given to him by his thesis advisor and Nobel Laureate Patrick M.S. Blackett: “If you can't think of what physics to do next, invent some new technology, and it will lead to new physics.”
“Well,” said Everitt, “we invented 13 new technologies for Gravity Probe B. Who knows where they will take us?”
This epic might just be getting started, after all …
Dr. Tony Phillips works for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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