KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – A property that was the location of an early morning fire on Saturday had another fire occur there early Sunday morning.

Kelseyville firefighters were dispatched to the fire in the 2900 block of Bell Hill Road in Kelseyville just after 1:20 a.m. Sunday, according to radio reports.

Dispatch stated that it received reports from a person who lived in another structure on the property that he saw flames in the vacant structure.

A battalion chief arriving on the scene confirmed over the radio that the fire was in the same residence as Saturday’s fire.

The fire was reported to be contained at 1:32 a.m. and controlled at 1:45 a.m. Incoming resources that had been called to the scene were canceled, and the scene was cleared at around 3 a.m.

Additional information on the fire and its cause was not available early Sunday.

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KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – An early morning fire on Saturday damaged a structure near Kelseyville.

The fire was reported at about 2:30 a.m. Saturday on Bell Hill Road a quarter-mile south of Hummel Lane.

A person delivering newspapers reported the fire, according to radio reports.

Kelseyville Fire Protection District and Lakeport Fire Protection District responded, finding a structure fully engulfed in flames on their arrival, reports from the scene indicated.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. also was called to the scene.

Additional information about the type of structure and the fire’s cause was not immediately available.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." data-mce-href="mailto:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

Getting affairs in order is important to you and your loved ones at multiple levels.

First, a comprehensive, well drafted estate plan may afford you protection against an otherwise avoidable conservatorship of your own estate; against a costly and time consuming probate; and against financial abuse.

Second, a thoughtful estate plan can promote your legacy with your surviving loved ones when you are no longer there to assist them.

Third, your estate plan can also protect your loved ones’ inheritances against creditor actions by their own creditors; it can protect a beneficiary who receives needs based government benefits from becoming disqualified due to receiving their inheritance; and it can control and manage their inheritance so that it is not wasted or abused by them or others.

Let us consider this in more detail.

Incapacity planning

You owe it to yourself and your family to plan for and authorize who steps in to manage your affairs, personal care, and health care decisions, when you are unable to manage them for yourself due to a mental or physical incapacity.

A well drafted durable power of attorney for financial affairs and a separate property management and a durable power of attorney for personal care (not to be confused with an advance health care directive) can authorize your named agent(s) to exercise the rights of control and management over assets held in your name (and not in a trust), in the manner prescribed in the instrument, for your benefit and the benefit of your dependents. These instruments are different.

A power of attorney for financial affairs and property management is usually much broader and speaks to managing your financial accounts, assets (e.g., bank accounts, retirement plans, and brokerages), exercising legal rights (e.g., government benefits, contractual rights, and rights to sue), and fulfilling legal responsibilities (e.g., filing a tax return and paying support).

 It becomes effective either upon signing or upon your incapacity. It either ceases upon the principal’s death or at a date certain; and, it can always be revoked sooner by written revocation and notice by the principal to the named agent so long as the principal has capacity to revoke.

A separate power of attorney for personal care, however, specifically addresses your personal care, living arrangements, maintenance of personal property, and maintaining the residence.

A personal care directive allows your health care agents to make personal care arrangements (e.g., hire nurses). Either a financial account would be made available to the personal care agent or he would need the assistance of the financial agent (or the trustee) that controls the financial accounts).

Lastly, the advance health care directive authorizes your agent to make medical decisions affecting medical care. It also authorizes your agent to dispose of your body after you die, and to authorize an autopsy. Special health care instructions may be included.

Legacy planning

Discussed here are when a probate is needed, how assets are distributed, and how to protect your loved ones’ inheritances.

Estates with an appraised date of death value at or below $150,000 that would otherwise be subject to probate now qualify as small estates for summary administration procedures. No probate and or creditor notification is needed under summary administration. (See the “Settling Small Estates under $150,000” at www.DennisFordhamLaw.com/blog.)

Persons with larger estates can avoid probate by transferring their assets into a living trust. The trustee controls the assets both during life time and at death for the benefit of the settlor(s) and their loved ones, as relevant.

Trusts allow you to designate who is in charge of trust assets during your incapacity and how the trust benefits you and any dependents.

Not all assets are transferable to one’s trust. Retirement accounts, annuities and life insurances pass pursuant to designation of death beneficiary forms wherein you name your primary and alternative death beneficiaries.

The distribution scheme at death varies with the circumstances and goals. You may choose to make outright distributions of assets to those who are without creditor problems and who are not receiving needs based government benefits.

Otherwise, you may transfer certain inheritances into an irrevocable special needs trust those receiving (or expected to receive) needs based government benefits and into an irrevocable discretionary asset protection trust for those who would likely lose what they received due to improvidence or debt problems.

The trustee is given absolute discretion to make distributions to or for the benefit of the named beneficiary. In California such further trusts can last for up to 90 years.

If you treat your surviving heirs unequally, or disinherit an heir completely, then your estate planning must be drafted to withstand later scrutiny by a disgruntled/disinherited heir. This entails including appropriate disinheritance and no contest provision.

The drafting attorney will need to preserve documents that evidence your intentions. Sometimes a physician’s capacity determination showing that you had testamentary capacity is needed.

A handwritten letter by you stating your reasons and wishes may be helpful to show that you expressly intended the unequal results of your own accord. All of this requires the guidance of a qualified attorney.

Also, if you wish to leave something to a person not related by blood or marriage, especially a person who has provided care giver services (e.g., such as a friend who takes you to the doctor and prepares your meals), then a certificate of independent review may be necessary to support the validity of your estate planning gift.

Estate planning also involves adequate contingency planning for what happens to inheritances when the intended beneficiary does not inherit (due to death or disclaimer – refusal to receive).

Do you wish for the assets to go to a deceased beneficiary’s own surviving children? The same answer is not true for all persons.

Unintended consequences, including probates, happen when unforeseen events occur without adequate contingency planning.

Tax planning

Estate planning also involves tax considerations such as the estate and gift tax, income tax, and local real property taxes.

Presently, the estate and gift tax is only a concern for the very wealth because the first $5 million of a deceased individual, or of $10 million in the case of a married couple with effective estate tax planning, are exempt.

Uncertainty exists as to what happens come Jan. 1, 2013, when present law states that these amounts shall revert to $1 million to $2 million, respectively. Most likely, Congress will again enact last minute legislation preserving the existing generous exemptions.

Income tax considerations, however, concern everyone. Congress preserved the so-called “stepped up” basis that allows the assets of a deceased person to receive a new income tax basis equal to their appraised date of death value.

With appreciated assets, any unrealized gain accumulated over the decedent’s lifetime is eliminated. With depreciated assets, any unrealized loss is unfortunately lost. Thus, it may help your beneficiaries if you sell or gift depreciated assets while alive and hold-on to appreciating assets till death.

Income tax considerations are important in selecting your death beneficiaries on your tax deferred retirement assets. Typically, one wants to preserve the stretch out of required minimum distributions over your beneficiary’s lifetime in order to defer income taxes.

For this reason, trusts that continue in existence (after you death) for the purpose of administering assets over the years for your loved ones, are not usually named as designated death beneficiaries, except in extenuating circumstances (e.g., a special needs trust or a creditor protection trust) where the income tax considerations are less important than other non tax considerations.

Local real property tax rules favor one’s surviving spouse and surviving children and grandchildren from a deceased child. Gifts to them of real property are not subject to reassessment.

Sometimes it is better to leave real property assets only to those children who will hold on to the real property and not include other children who want to be cashed out.

Final considerations

Implementation of one’s estate plan usually entails the assistance of multiple professionals, including, at a minimum, a qualified attorney and a financial planner, and the cooperation of competent and trusted persons to act as one’s agent, trustee and executor. The qualifications of those you entrust are of great importance to the probable outcome.

Procrastination is frequently why people fail to get their affairs in order. It is simply too easy to delay, especially when thinking about one’s mortality. That said acting when one is free from compulsion is less risky and more pleasant than delaying until when it is absolutely necessary to act. Consider the peace of mind that you enjoy when you know that you and your family are protected.

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." data-mce-href="mailto:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.">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.

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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – It’s another week of interesting and varied canines available for adoption at the Lake County animal shelter.

Border collies, little terriers, bulldog mixes and other interesting and lively companions are hoping you’ll stop in and decide to take them home.

Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.

If you're looking for a new companion, visit the shelter. There are many great pets hoping you'll choose them.

The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control Web site not listed are still “on hold”).

American bulldog mix

This female American bulldog mix is 2 years old.

She has brown and brindle coloring, weighs 80 pounds and has been spayed.

She is in kennel No. 13, ID No. 31784.

“Scout”                 

“Scout” is a 1-year-old border collie mix.

He has the typical black and white border collie coloring, with a long coat. He has been neutered.

Find him in kennel No. 18, ID No. 31639.

“Ralph”

“Ralph” is a 15-week-old Labrador retriever mix.

He weighs 30 pounds and is not yet altered.

Find him in kennel No. 10, ID No. 31718.

“Dutchess”

Dutchess is a female flat-coated retriever mix.

She is 2 years old and has a short, black coat.

Shelter staff said she is great with other dogs and children, and would make a great family dog.

Find her in kennel No. 7, ID No. 31653.

Corgi mix

This 10-month-old female is a Corgi mix.

She has a short coat, tricolor markings and brown eyes.

Find her in kennel No. 5b, ID No. 31651.

Chihuahua mix

This 9-month-old male is a Chihuahua mix.

He has a short coat and brown eyes.

Find him in kennel No. 6, ID No. 31650.

Cairn terrier mix

This little lady is a Cairn terrier mix.

She is 6 years old, with a medium-length black coat, and weighs 13.6 pounds.

Find her in kennel No. 27, ID No. 31683.

Male shepherd mix

This 16-week-old male pup is a shepherd mix.

He is not yet neutered, and has black, tan and white coloring, with a long coat.

Find him in kennel No. 26, ID No. 31706.

Australian terrier mix

This 6-year-old male is an Australian terrier mix.

He has a deep gold-colored, medium-length coat.

He weighs approximately 9.4 pounds and is not yet altered.

Find him in kennel No. 25b, ID No. ID: 31668.

“Thunder”

“Thunder” is a 5-year-old male Pomeranian-Chihuahua mix.

He has a medium-length brown-gold coat.

Find him in kennel No. 25a, ID No. 31598.

Border collie mix puppies

These 9-week-old border collie mix puppies are all males.

They have short coats and black and white coloring.

The puppies can be found in kennel No. 15a-d, ID No. 31657.

Adoptable dogs also can be seen at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dogs_and_Puppies.htm or at www.petfinder.com.

Please note: Dogs listed at the shelter's Web page that are said to be “on hold” are not yet cleared for adoption.

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.

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.

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

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This week 10 Northern California representatives called on the House Committee on Natural Resources to oppose H.R. 1837, the so-called San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act.

As written, the legislation would divert additional water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta to South-of-Delta water users, running counter to established economic and environmental policies.

In a letter to the Committee on Natural Resources, U.S. Representatives Mike Thompson (CA-1), George Miller (CA-7), Doris Matsui (CA-5), Jerry McNerney (CA-11), John Garamendi (CA-10), Jackie Speier (CA-12), Mike Honda (CA-15), Lynn Woolsey (CA-6), Zoe Lofgren (CA-16) and Anna Eshoo (CA-14) wrote that the bill grossly dismisses the best available science, would cause job losses, repeals environmental protections, damages local tourism, hurts fishers and farmers, and should be rejected.

The lawmakers responded on Thursday as the legislation was being considered by the House Committee on Natural Resources.

“This legislation is nothing more than an attempt by well-funded south-of-Delta water contractors to steal water from the North with no regard for the fishers, farmers, families and businesses who depend on the Delta for their livelihoods” said Thompson. “This bill puts politics ahead of a half-century of established science, guts environmental protections and kills local jobs. It should be rejected, and solutions to California’s water challenges should be based on sound science so that our Delta communities, wildlife and environment are not harmed.”

"Last summer, we said that this bill would do serious damage to California’s water future. Republicans took their extreme bill behind closed doors for the rest of the year, tinkered with it, and emerged with an equally radical and damaging bill. Their bill undermines water policy throughout the west, including state policy, federal policy, and court approved settlements. Their bill takes years of collaboration and compromise and just blows it all up. Their bill is nothing more than a deliberate special interest attack by a small group of well funded water agencies, their lobbyists, and Republican members of Congress to undermine a sound, workable and equitable solution to our state’s serious water problems. Californians should recognize this bill for what it is and Congress should reject it,” said Miller.

“This bill is a brazen move by the water contractors and their allies who want to steal water from the Delta. The farmers, families, and business owners in our region rely upon a healthy Delta for their livelihoods. The bill before the committee today has been crafted without the input of stakeholders from the Delta and should not move forward. It would have a disastrous effect on the Delta communities and cause countless jobs to be lost. To steal from one community to benefit another is completely unacceptable,” said McNerney.

“H.R. 1837 is a shameless attempt to draw water from the farmers and urban areas of Northern California for the use of junior water right holders in the Central Valley,” said Matsui. “Further, the bill would preempt the state from passing any stricter laws needed to protect endangered and native species, and restrict California’s ability to pass tougher legislation to restore the San Joaquin River. This would dramatically undermine our state’s authority to monitor, allot, and safeguard its own natural resources, as well as set a dangerous precedent for government interference in the ability of states to protect local agricultural and environmental interests. At a time when we should be working together to solve California’s water problems through a balanced approach, H.R. 1837 is anything but balanced and will only create further discord.”

“H.R. 1837 would alter the entirety of California’s water laws,” said Garamendi, former Deputy Secretary of the Interior. “We have had only one day to understand its implications. This could be disastrous for California’s water interests. I strongly urge we step on the brakes before running roughshod over state law, threatening jobs, the environment, and our public health.”

The full text of the letter is below.

February 16, 2012

 
The Honorable Doc Hastings
Chairman
Committee on Natural Resources
 
The Honorable Tom McClintock
Chairman, Subcommittee on Water and Power
Committee on Natural Resources

The Honorable Edward J. Markey
Ranking Member
Committee on Natural Resources

The Honorable Grace Napolitano
Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Water and Power
Committee on Natural Resources

Dear Chairman Hastings, Ranking Member Markey, Chairman McClintock, and Ranking Member Napolitano:

We are writing today to express our strong opposition to Representative Nunes’s so-called San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act (H.R. 1837). As Northern Californians, we believe this legislation fundamentally runs counter to our established economic and environmental policies. These broadly supported policies were established to protect natural resources, promote conservation efforts, and foster economic development within the San Joaquin Valley region. This bill would repeal environmental protections and lead to catastrophic impacts to our valuable coastal resources, damage local businesses and tourism that rely on these resources, and could harm local farmers.

This bill grossly dismisses the best available science and further jeopardizes iconic salmon and steelhead that are the focal point of many California State regulations. We have seen what happens when science is ignored for the sake of politics – this became devastatingly clear during a Northern California salmon fish kill in 2002 and fishery disaster in 2006 that were a result of too little water being delivered to critical habitat. These disasters diminished a valued natural resource and harmed associated economies. H.R. 1837 sets the stage for a similar disaster in the Bay-Delta by reverting environmental protections back to 1994 levels, undermining the Endangered Species Act, and – equally important – countering the desires of community members, elected officials, and current State policies.

Aside from gutting environmental protections, H.R. 1837 does the exact opposite of what it claims: it kills local jobs. The diversion of water south of the Delta takes it from northern farmers who rely on this supply for successful harvests and livelihoods. Economic losses to the farming industry are added to those due to a decline in tourism and local business following the decline in the natural resources that support them.

The San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act is nothing more than an attempt by powerful water districts south of the Sacramento River Delta to abscond with water from the north. This was highlighted in the two hearings on the bill, during which the majority of the witnesses’ testimony indicated that it was seriously flawed. And yet, the Committee is voting on it with no further hearings, discussion, or collaboration.

For all of these reasons, we strongly urge your reconsideration of H.R. 1837.

Sincerely,

MIKE THOMPSON                                       GEORGE MILLER
Member of Congress                                     Member of Congress                                                                               

DORIS MATSUI                                          JERRY McNERNEY      
Member of Congress                                     Member of Congress

JOHN GARAMENDI                                      JACKIE SPEIER
Member of Congress                                     Member of Congress

MIKE HONDA
Member of Congress

LYNN WOOLSEY
Member of Congress                             

ZOE LOFGREN
Member of Congress                   

ANNA ESHOO
Member of Congress
 
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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A Hidden Valley Lake man has received a six-year prison sentence for the April 2011 sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl.

On Wednesday Frank Joseph Vivero, 21, was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Stephen O. Hedstrom to six years and eight months in state prison for sexual assault.

Vivero had pleaded guilty to one felony count of violating Penal Code section 261(a)(3), rape of a juvenile female, and one felony count of violating Penal Code section 261.5(c), statutory rape involving a second juvenile female, according to the Lake County District Attorney's Office.

According to investigation reports, on April 18, 2011, at approximately 5:20 p.m., sheriff’s deputies responded to the Coyote Valley Elementary School in Hidden Valley Lake on a report that several juveniles were drinking alcohol on school grounds.

As deputies arrived in the area it was further reported that a 14-year-old girl was lying unconscious near the rear of the school. Vivero was detained at the scene by deputies, officials reported.

Further investigation revealed that Vivero was previously acquainted with the unconscious girl. She had allegedly contacted him on the afternoon of April 18 and suggested that they hang out. She and a juvenile female friend obtained a 1.75 litre bottle of vodka and met Vivero at Coyote Valley Elementary School.

The three spent the rest of the afternoon consuming the vodka, according to the investigation. At one point Vivero began kissing one of the girls who was extremely intoxicated. Shortly afterwards Vivero began having sex with the intoxicated and unconscious juvenile, and at some point had sex with the other juvenile.

During a subsequent interview with a sheriff’s investigator, Vivero admitted to having intercourse with the two juveniles, officials reported.

Vivero was represented by David Markham. The case was prosecuted by Senior Deputy District Attorney Ed Borg from the Lake County District Attorney’s Office.

For the first half of this year's winter, the big news was warm temperatures and lack of snow. Ski resorts were covered in bare dirt, while January temperatures in southern California topped July highs.

Then, out of the blue, Europe got clobbered: Over the past two weeks, temperatures in Eastern Europe have nose-dived to -30 degrees Celsius (-22 degrees Fahrenheit).

Blizzards and the bone-chilling cold have resulted in the deaths of more than 550 people so far, with rooftop-high snow drifts trapping tens of thousands of villagers in their homes and cutting off access to entire towns. It has even snowed as far south as North Africa.

NASA climatologist Bill Patzert of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory explains what happened. “A couple of weeks ago, Mother Nature did an about face,” he said. “The tight polar vortex that had bottled up the cold arctic air in the beginning of winter suddenly weakened. Cold air swept out of Siberia and invaded Europe and the Far East.”

The “tight polar vortex” is caused by the arctic oscillation, a see-sawing pressure difference between the Arctic and lower latitudes. When the pressure difference is high, a whirlpool of air forms around the North Pole.

That’s what happened earlier this winter: the whirlpool was more forceful, corralling the cold air and keeping it nearer the pole.

Now the vortex is weakening. With “the Arctic Oscillation Index going negative,” as an expert or weather-nerd might put it, cold air escapes from that whirlpool and heads southward, resulting in the killing extremes now plaguing the other half of the planet.

However, even the breakdown of the vortex cannot completely account for the severity of the winter Europe is suddenly experiencing.

As strange as it sounds, some climatologists, among them Judah Cohen of Atmospheric and Environmental Research in Massachusetts, attribute the unusual cold to global warming.

Cohen contends that since sea ice is being melted by warmer temperatures in the Arctic, more moisture is available for the atmosphere to pick up – and drop as snow.

As a result, Siberian snow cover has increased, and this snow cover has a cooling effect which reaches East Asia and Europe.

“Cohen's research is cutting edge and could bring important improvements to forecasting climate and weather over North America and Europe,” said Patzert. “Cohen and others are on the threshold of understanding of how climate change affects the behavior of the Arctic Oscillation.”

Patzert added, however, that this winter is just one of many severe winters that have changed European history. “Looking back, Mother Nature has taken us on some very wild rides.”

He cited the winter of 1683/84, when the Thames River in England stayed frozen with a thick layer of ice for nearly two months, as an example.

“And let’s not forget the frigid winter of 1812, when Napoleon's Grande Armee was decimated by the extreme cold in Western Russia,” he said.

Patzert noted that European history would have been much different if Napoleon had had a good meteorologist on his staff and some NASA satellites to warn him about what he was marching into.

“And the turning point of World War II occurred in 1941, when Germany’s forces were nearly frozen in place,” he added.

There are many other examples, and climate change can't be blamed for all of them.

“There's always going to be some natural variability,” he said. “Every episode of high temperatures or extreme cold isn't climate change. Sometimes it's just weather!”

The weakening arctic oscillation could soon bring a return of winter to North America as well, although Patzert doesn't expect it to be as severe as what's happening on the other side of the Atlantic.

Is there any relief in sight for Europe?

“The good news is that this crippling cold snap arrived mid-winter,” he said. “With the vernal equinox less than six weeks away, this arctic oscillation episode will become muted – hopefully.”

Hang on till spring.

Dauna Coulter writes for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

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MENDOCINO COUNTY, Calif. – On Friday afternoon, after a careful review by Caltrans staff, District 1 Director Charlie Fielder signed the final environmental permit for the Willits bypass.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers provided the permit to Caltrans for review late Thursday, and it will now be returned to USACE for their final signature.

This $200 million project will relieve congestion, reduce delays and improve safety for traffic passing through Willits, eliminating the only stoplights on US 101 between San Francisco and Eureka, Caltrans reported.

Caltrans will be going before the California Transportation Commission on March 28-29 to ask
for the funding needed for construction.

“We are very pleased to be moving forward with this important project,” said Fielder. “Not only will we be constructing a bypass to help alleviate traffic congestion and delay on Route 101 through Willits, this project is also providing the opportunity for significant environmental restoration in the Little Lake Valley.”

Fielder thanked Caltrans' permitting and resource agencies, local agencies and the legislative representatives who supported this project.

“But most of all, I want to thank all the citizens and groups who provided their comments and support,” he said. “This project is better because of them.”

Besides the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the permitting and resource agencies included the National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish and Game and the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board.  

Local agencies included the city of Willits and Mayor Bruce Burton, Mendocino County Council of Governments and Executive Director Phil Dow, and Mendocino County Supervisor John Pinches.  

Legislative representatives included U.S. Congressman Mike Thompson and U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer.

Local groups included the Mendocino County Farm Bureau, Mendocino County Resource Conservation District and the Willits Environmental Center, which provided valuable feedback and were strong advocates for local sustainable agriculture.

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KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – An early Saturday morning fire destroyed a Kelseyville home.

Kelseyville Fire and Lakeport Fire personnel responded to the fire on Bell Hill Road shortly after 2:30 a.m. Saturday, as Lake County News has reported.

Lakeport Fire Chief Ken Wells, who was among those responding to the incident, said two engines and a water tender from Kelseyville and an engine from Lakeport – with a total of 14 firefighting personnel – arrived to fight the fire.

Wells said the residence’s occupants were not home when the fire broke out.

The fire was difficult to put out, and Wells said the single-story, single-family residence was a complete loss. He did not have an estimate of total damages.

No firefighters were injured, and Wells said five Chihuahuas that were in the home at the time were saved.

“We recovered them all, they were all safe and sound,” Wells said.

He said the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

Note to sky watchers: Put on your winter coats. What you’re about to read might make you feel an uncontrollable urge to dash outside.

The brightest planets in the solar system are lining up in the evening sky, and you can see the formation Saturday night.

Go out at sunset and look west. Venus and Jupiter pop out of the twilight even before the sky fades completely black. The two brilliant planets surrounded by evening blue is a beautiful sight.

Venus and Jupiter are converging Saturday night. In mid-February they are about 20 degrees apart. By the end of the month, the angle narrows to only 10 degrees – so close that you can hide them together behind your outstretched palm. Their combined beauty grows each night as the distance between them shrinks.

A special night to look is Saturday, Feb. 25, when the crescent Moon moves in to form a slender heavenly triangle with Venus, Jupiter and the Moon as vertices.

One night later, on Sunday, Feb. 26, it happens again. This arrangement will be visible all around the world, from city and countryside alike.

The Moon, Venus and Jupiter are the brightest objects in the night sky; together they can shine through urban lights, fog, and even some clouds.

After hopping from Venus to Jupiter in late February, the Moon exits stage left, but the show is far from over.

In March, Venus and Jupiter continue their relentless convergence until, on March 12 and 13, the duo lie only three degrees apart – a spectacular double beacon in the sunset sky. Now you’ll be able to hide them together behind a pair of outstretched fingertips.

There’s something mesmerizing about stars and planets bunched together in this way – and, no, you’re not imagining things when it happens to you. The phenomenon is based on the anatomy of the human eye.

“Your eye is a bit like a digital camera,” explained optometrist Dr. Stuart Hiroyasu of Bishop, Calif. “There's a lens in front to focus the light, and a photo-array behind the lens to capture the image. The photo-array in your eye is called the retina. It's made of rods and cones, the organic equivalent of electronic pixels.”

There’s a tiny patch of tissue near the center of the retina where cones are extra-densely packed. This is called “the fovea.”

“Whatever you see with the fovea, you see in high-definition,” Hiroyasu said.

The fovea is critical to reading, driving, watching television. The fovea has the brain's attention.

The field of view of the fovea is only about five degrees wide. Most nights in March, Venus and Jupiter will fit within that narrow cone. And when they do – presto! It’s spellbinding astronomy.

Standing outdoors, mesmerized by planets aligned in a late winter sunset, you might just forget how cold you feel. Bring a coat anyway …

Dr. Tony Phillips works for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

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Editor's note: It is important to make clear that Ronnie Campos Jr., mentioned in the following story as coach of the Clear Lake High School wrestling team, is not to be confused with his father, Ron Campos Sr., owner of Campos Casuals and coach of Upper Lake's wrestling team. Ron Campos Sr., a respected longtime wrestling coach, is not in any way involved with this story.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – A Kelseyville High School wrestler’s progress report is at the center of a controversy in which it’s alleged that the coach of a rival wrestling team took the document and used it to allege, falsely, that the student was ineligible to compete.

The incident in question surrounds the alleged theft of a weekly grade progress report for Kelseyville High School junior Adryan Segura from the school’s wrestling room last week.

Lake County News received permission from Segura and his mother, Lia Lionetti, to name him in this story.

Ronnie Campos Jr., Clear Lake High School’s wrestling coach, is alleged to have taken the document during a practice session on the evening of Thursday, Feb. 9.

The document incorrectly stated that Segura had a 1.8 grade point average, not his correct GPA of 2.0, and allegedly was circulated in an attempt to establish that Segura is not eligible to complete.

Campos told Lake County News on Thursday that he could not comment on the matter because he was under orders from Clear Lake High School not to do so.

“I definitely have a version of the story,” he said, adding, “I’m going to respect what I’ve been asked to do.”

Lakeport Unified School District Superintendent Erin Smith Hagberg said she could not comment on any personnel matter.

Rob Brown, Kelseyville High School’s wrestling coach, said he reported the document’s removal from the wrestling room to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

He said Deputy Cynthia Radoumis is investigating the matter and picked up the progress report – which reportedly was recovered from Campos by Clear Lake High School officials and returned to Kelseyville High – as evidence.

Lionetti said her rights and those of her son have been violated, especially when it comes to confidentiality. She’s filed a formal complaint with the Lakeport Unified School District and is considering taking legal action.

When she filed the complaint, she said Hagberg apologized to her, said Campos was on administrative leave and that the district had acted immediately to address the incident.

Lionetti said the document that allegedly was taken was a weekly progress report she consented to have the school give to her son’s coaches so they can keep up-to-date on his grades and make sure he remains eligible for competition.

She said Campos also has slandered her son, who wrestles in the 147-pound weight class, by telling people that the young man’s wrestling wins were attributable not to skill but to steroids.

“It’s very poor sportsmanship, it’s very unprofessional, with no integrity at all,” she said.

Lionetti also believes it was an attempt to keep her son – who has been competing as a wrestler since sixth grade – from wrestling in this weekend’s Coastal Mountain Conference League Finals, the prelude to the North Coast Section finals.

Brown and Kelseyville High School Principal Matt Cockerton both said they’ve been informed that the matter is set to be discussed at the Lakeport Unified School District’s next board of trustees meeting.

Cockerton said Kelseyville High has been in discussions with Clear Lake High officials regarding the alleged incident.

“We’re confident that they’ve taken care of whatever they need to take care of on their end,” Cockerton said, adding that the two schools have a good working relationship.

Brown said he also believes Clear Lake High will handle the matter properly. “Their integrity is too high to allow somebody like this to discredit them.”

Document allegedly taken, circulated

Brown first reported the matter via a lengthy e-mail to Cockerton on Friday, Feb. 10, after he received a call earlier in the day from Tom Powers, a Lakeport Unified School District board member and the parent of a Clear Lake High wrestler.

Brown said Powers asked him about Kelseyville High’s eligibility policy and then specifically asked about 17-year-old Segura.

At that point, Brown said he knew immediately what had happened, as a copy of Segura’s progress report – which stated incorrectly that his GPA was 1.8, not 2.0, based on a simple calculation error – was on a table in the wrestling room, where Campos had been the night before.

Brown said Powers confirmed to him that Campos had taken the document. By that time the progress report already had been distributed publicly, which Brown said he confirmed through a phone call to North Coast Sections Assistant Commissioner Bri Niemi.

Brown believes the alleged action by Campos was a “desperate attempt” to overturn a match between the two teams on Feb. 8 in which Kelseyville beat Clearlake 37-33 – they also beat Lower Lake 45-36 in the same match – and moved another step closer to the Coastal Mountain Conference League finals, scheduled for this weekend.

Brown said in more than 30 years of coaching he’s never witnessed such a violation of a student’s rights and dignity as he has in Segura’s case, and called Campos’ behavior “inexcusable.”

In his Feb. 10 e-mail to Cockerton Brown suggests that Campos should be terminated, banned from Kelseyville Unified property, that he should have to return to the district the item he allegedly took and write a formal apology to Segura.

Lionetti said Brown was the first person to contact her about the issue. By the time he had, the document already had been circulated publicly, including on the Internet.

She credited Brown with taking immediate action and working to defend her son in the face of the unfair and inaccurate accusations that arose following the Feb. 9 incident.

Student was always eligible under school policy

According to Segura’s progress report, released to Lake County News with the permission of Segura’s family, he has a 2.0 grade point average. Included among his grades is one F grade.

Cockerton told Lake County News that the school’s policy is that students may participate in sports if they have a 2.0 GPA or above.

Even with an F grade in one class, based on district guidelines Segura is eligible to compete, and Cockerton confirmed the winning wrestler is still on the Kelseyville High team.

That’s because the district does not have a “no F” policy, said Cockerton.

Previously the district had barred students with F grades from participating in sports, but Cockerton said the board of trustees changed the policy last summer.

That move was made in response to a situation in which a student athlete failed an AP course, but was doing well in other courses. Cockerton said the district didn’t want to penalize students who were succeeding in some areas but struggling in others.

As for who determines eligibility, “Coaches have nothing to do with it,” but rather receive an eligibility list from the athletic director who works with administration to make the final determinations, said Cockerton.

Cockerton said the school uses software to calculate the GPAs, but it has a glitch that affected not just Segura’s progress report but those of other students as well.

“When we ran eligibility, we had several athletes that came up below 2.0 that we had to recalculate for whatever reason,” said Cockerton. “That’s where this whole thing started.”

Cockerton added of Segura, “He had a 2.0 from the get-go.”

Brown had an ineligible wrestler a few years ago, and he brought the matter forward himself, Cockerton said, adding that the school proceeded with sanctions.

Cockerton said the North Coast Section is pretty specific about how to handle ineligible players. In the previous case, “We had to notify everybody,” and that would have been the case had ineligibility been an issue here, he said.

Lionetti said her son is doing fine in the wake of the recent controversy.

“He knows his coach would never let him wrestle without the grades,” said Lionetti, adding that Brown carefully monitors his wrestlers’ grades, even to the point of having a recent Saturday study session to make sure all of them were up-to-date on their homework.

She said she has received outstanding community support as the matter has unfolded.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .