LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County's 2016 burn ban will be lifted as of 8 a.m. Monday, Nov. 14.

Lake County’s joint fire agencies and air quality management district’s open burning program has incorporated both fire safety and air quality management since 1987.

Burn permits are required for all outdoor burning in the Lake County Air Basin. Contact your local fire agency for a burn permit, or the Lake County Air Quality Management District to obtain a smoke management plan.

A smoke management plan is required for all burns over 20 acres in size, multi-day burns, standing vegetation burns, whole tree or vine removals over one acre, and other burns where significant smoke impacts may occur or sensitive receptors may be impacted.

A fee is required for all burn permits, payable at the time the permit is issued. burn permits (agricultural and residential) and smoke management plans are $25, while land development/lot clearing burn permits are $76. Only clean dry vegetation that was grown on the property may be burned.

Residential burn permits require a one-acre or larger lot, a burn location that is located at least 100 feet from all neighbors and at least 30 feet from any structure.

Lot clearing/land development burns require special permits available at your local fire agency. Burn only the amount of material that can be completely consumed during the allowed burning hours. Read your burn permit carefully and follow all the conditions.

Consider using the vegetative waste pickup provided with your waste collection services or composting as an alternative to burning leaves. Contact your local fire safe council for chipping information.

For residents of the South Lake County Fire Protection District, call 707-987-3089 or go to www.southlakefiresafecouncil.org . For all other areas in Lake County, call 707-262-7089 and leave a message.

Officials ask people to be considerate of their neighbors. A permit does not allow you to create health
problems for others and you can be liable for health care costs, fines and other costs resulting from your burning.

Certain estate planning subject matters seem not to get the attention they deserve and often go unaddressed. 

Let us discuss some overlooked areas that should be considered when drafting trusts, wills and powers of attorney.

“Digital Assets” is an all-encompassing term that includes online financial accounts, emails, blogs and other stored electronic data (such as data stored in a “cloud” server).

With more of people’s activities taking place online, over the Internet, the law is trying to catch up to the demands of the fast moving Digital Age.

In September, California enacted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Data Act, or “UFADDA”.

UFADDA is a multi-state approach to enacting uniform state legislation nationwide to allow fiduciaries (trustees, agents and executors) to obtain access and control over the management of a person’s digital assets and communications. Until now only federal legislation has addressed digital assets.

A person can authorize their trustee, agent, or executor of their estate (after they die) to have access and management over their digital assets and communications for the purpose of administering their estate. 

Given that that many people have documents that do not include any authorization, it may be beneficial for such persons to get up to date powers when they revise their estate planning.

Pets are valued companions who often don’t get their due when it comes time for estate planning.   

Planning for the care and placement of pets is authorized under existing law. Pet trusts and powers authorizing the owner’s resources to be used to pay for veterinary care and placement services when the owner is disabled or dies. 

Dependent adult children who either live at home and/or receive financial support also need special consideration.

Authorization for the trustee and power of attorney to continue to allow a child to live rent free in the parents’ home and to continue receiving financial support, in one form or another, should be considered when relevant.

Naming alternative death beneficiaries to inherit life insurance, annuities and retirement plans are often overlooked.

Even when the children are named as alternative beneficiaries to the surviving spouse consideration needs to be given to further alternatives in case a child predeceases the surviving spouse. 

Without planning unintended consequences such as the wrong beneficiary getting the deceased child’s share of a retirement plan or an otherwise unnecessary probate can result.

In long term marriages where each spouse leaves everything to the other spouse, it is often desirable to grant the surviving spouse the authority to change death beneficiaries on non probate assets that are community property assets. 

This can be done by each spouse using their wills to revoke their existing designated death beneficiary designations at death and also authorizing the surviving spouse to name new designated death beneficiaries for both halves of the community property assets.

For example, whole life insurance on the life of the surviving spouse that was purchased while both spouses were still alive with marital earnings is such a community property asset. 

Otherwise, the surviving spouse can only change who inherits their half of the nonprobate community property asset. 

Adequately addressing these and other important areas is a valid reason to review and, if necessary, update one’s existing estate planning documents. 

As a rule of thumb reviewing one’s estate planning every five years with a qualified attorney is a good practice.

Dennis A. Fordham, Attorney, is a State Bar-Certified Specialist in estate planning, probate and trust law. His office is at 870 S. Main St., Lakeport, Calif. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and 707-263-3235. His Web site is www.DennisFordhamLaw.com .

The moon is a familiar sight in our sky, brightening dark nights and reminding us of space exploration, past and present.

But the upcoming supermoon – on Monday, Nov. 14 – will be especially “super” because it’s the closest full moon to Earth since 1948. We won’t see another supermoon like this until 2034.

The moon’s orbit around Earth is slightly elliptical so sometimes it is closer and sometimes it’s farther away.

When the moon is full as it makes its closest pass to Earth it is known as a supermoon. At perigree – the point at which the moon is closest to Earth – the moon can be as much as 14 percent closer to Earth than at apogee, when the moon is farthest from our planet. The full moon appears that much larger in diameter and because it is larger shines 30 percent more moonlight onto the Earth.
 
The biggest and brightest moon for observers in the United States will be on Monday morning just before dawn.

On Monday, Nov. 14, the moon is at perigee at 3:22 a.m. Pacific Time and “opposite” the sun for the full moon at 5:52 a.m. Pacific Time (after moonset for most of the US).

If you’re not an early riser, no worries. “I’ve been telling people to go out at night on either Sunday or Monday night to see the supermoon,” said Noah Petro, deputy project scientist for NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission. “The difference in distance from one night to the next will be very subtle, so if it’s cloudy on Sunday, go out on Monday. Any time after sunset should be fine. Since the moon is full, it’ll rise at nearly the same time as sunset, so I’d suggest that you head outside after sunset, or once it’s dark and the moon is a bit higher in the sky. You don’t have to stay up all night to see it, unless you really want to!”

This is actually the second of three supermoons in a row, so if the clouds don’t cooperate for you this weekend, you will have another chance next month to see the last supermoon of 2016 on Dec. 14.

NASA scientists have studied the moon for decades. A better understanding of our moon helps scientists infer what is happening on other planets and objects in the solar system. “The moon is the Rosetta Stone by which we understand the rest of the solar system,” Petro said.

LRO has been mapping the moon’s surface and capturing high resolution images for more than seven years. Extensive mapping of the moon aids scientists in understanding our planet’s history, as well as that of planetary objects beyond the Earth-moon system.

“Because we have the Apollo samples, we can tie what we see from orbit to those surface samples and make inferences about what has happened to the moon throughout its lifetime,” Petro said. “The samples tell us how old certain lunar surfaces are, and based on the number of impact craters on those surfaces, we can estimate the ages of the rest of the moon. Furthermore, we can then apply those models to estimate the ages of surface on other planets in our solar system — all by studying the moon!”

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – A well-known Lake County Realtor has died after being attacked with a knife by her grandson at her daughter's Bay Area home.

Joan Lila Lininger, 85, of Lakeport, was mortally wounded in the Wednesday night incident and her 35-year-old grandson, Tyler Benjamin Haskell, later taken into custody, according to Livermore Police Department spokesman Officer Ryan Sanchez.

The Livermore Police Department reported that shortly after 7:30 p.m. Wednesday officers responded to the 5300 block of Hillflower Drive for a report of an assault with a deadly weapon.

Sanchez said the assault occurred at the home of Lininger's daughter, 62-year-old Karla Haskell.

When officers arrived at Karla Haskell's home, they found both her and her mother with stab wounds. Before their arrival, Tyler Haskell had fled the scene, police said.

Based on the preliminary investigation, police said Tyler Haskell stabbed his mother and grandmother with a kitchen knife. Lininger died but Karla Haskell had non-life threatening injuries.

Following a search of the area, police officers found Tyler Haskell approximately one mile away from his mother's home in the 1300 block of North Vasco Road and arrested him without incident shortly after 8 p.m., officials reported.

As for why Tyler Haskell attacked his mother and grandmother, Sanchez said the motive is unknown. However, police said Tyler Haskell suffers from various mental illnesses.

Haskell was arrested for first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon, and booked into the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin on Thursday morning. He is being held without bail, according to jail records.

Sanchez said Haskell has not yet been formally charged.

Due to the Veterans Day holiday, “He more than likely will not be charged until Monday,” Sanchez said.

Jail booking records showed that Haskell is due to be arraigned in court on Monday afternoon.

Lininger worked as a Realtor in Lake County for nearly 25 and had recently retired, according to Scott Knickmeyer, the association executive of the Lake County Association of Realtors.

“She was with City Center Realty and was well respected and well liked throughout the Lake County real estate community,” said Knickmeyer.

He added, “We are all shocked and saddened by this news. She will be greatly missed.”

Lininger was born in San Francisco and had lived in Lake County since 1970, according to her profile on the City Center Web site.

Before becoming a Realtor, Lininger had owned and operated Scotts Valley Nursery for 18 years with her husband, Bob. She received her real estate license in 1992 and she and her husband sold the nursery business in 1994.

Bob Lininger died on Oct. 3.

Joan Lininger is survived by four daughters, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

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.

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LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Registrar of Voters Office on Thursday issued an update on the number of ballots still to be counted during the monthlong official canvass.

Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley said the voting results issued earlier this week are preliminary, and the election results won't be certified and final until the remaining absentee and provisional ballots have been processed.

Regarding the number of ballots still to be counted, Fridley gave a preliminary total of 9,652 vote-by-mail ballots received by election day; 1,497 provisional ballots; and 719 vote-by-mail ballots that require further review for various reasons.

Provisional ballots may be entirely counted, partially counted or not counted. Fridley said that after the election has been certified, provisional voters may contact her office to find out if their vote was counted and if not, why it was not counted.

She said the breakdown of ballots remaining to be counted by the local jurisdictions will be reported as soon as staff can separate the ballots remaining to be counted by the 70 precincts, which includes 50 poll precincts and 20 mail ballot precincts.

Fridley's office could still receive more ballots by mail. She said that due to a change in California's election code that went into effect Jan. 1, the  deadline for elections officials to receive vote by mail
ballots returned by mail was changed.

That law requires that vote-by-mail ballots that are postmarked by the Postal Service on or before Election Day will be considered timely cast if they're received by the elections official no later than three days after election day, according to Fridley.

However, because the third day after the election is Friday – Veterans Day, which also is a state holiday – absentee ballots postmarked by Nov. 8 and received by Monday, Nov. 14, shall be considered received on time and may be counted, Fridley said.

Fridley said she must complete the ballot count within 28 days, or by Dec. 6.

Statewide, the California Secretary of State's Office said Thursday that 4,362,087 ballots remain to be counted.

That breaks down to 3,175,721 vote-by-mail ballots; 1,071,005 provisionals; and 115,361 “other” ballots, which includes ballots that are damaged and could not be machine read and need to be remade, and ballots diverted by optical scanners for further review, the state said.

Fridley said that for this election her office issued and received more absentees than ever before.

Based on the latest ballot counts, overall absentee voting in this election is estimated at 16,958 ballots, or 66 percent.

Comparisons with recent elections show how the absentee numbers have grown. Absentee ballots totaled 13,774 in November 2008 and 13,470 in November 2012, the last two presidential elections.

A preliminary calculation of the absentee and precinct ballots counted by election night plus the numbers Fridley issued Thursday of ballots still to be counted totals 25,352.

With 34,707 registered voters, an initial estimate of voter turnout is 73 percent, matching the turnout for the November 2008 presidential election.

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.