In order to enable homeowners seeking clean energy technologies in their homes to leverage a range of financing options, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) on Tuesday announced guidance that makes clear the circumstances under which it will insure mortgages on properties that include Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) assessments.

FHA will now approve purchase and refinance mortgage applications in states that treat PACE obligations as special assessments similar to property taxes. Read more about FHA’s new guidance.

FHA’s action is part of a larger Administration effort to expand access to clean energy technologies to every American family with the option to transition to solar energy and make improvements to their homes to cut their energy bills.
 
PACE is showing promise as an effective way to finance energy efficiency, renewable energy, water conservation, and other resilience upgrades to homes, including new heating and cooling systems, lighting improvements, solar panels, water pumps, and insulation.

PACE pays the costs for such enhancements and is repaid through an assessment added to the property’s tax bill.

State and local governments sponsor PACE financing to encourage energy efficiency, solar energy deployment, advance resilience, create jobs, promote economic development, and protect the environment.

A list of programs by state can be found here: http://www.pacenation.us/resources/all-programs/ .
 
“Today, we’re seizing the opportunity to shape a cleaner and more sustainable nation,” said Ed Golding, HUD Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing. “Using PACE, families will be able to make their homes more energy efficient and sustainable in the long run, while still keeping their costs affordable today. As PACE programs continue to develop across the nation, the positive impact on families, jobs, and the environment will only grow.”
 
FHA’s new guidance addresses PACE programs where the PACE obligation is treated like a property tax and does not allow the full obligation to have priority or ‘prime’ status over the FHA mortgage lien. By law, FHA cannot accept a first lien PACE structure (except for past due amounts as is the case for all tax assessments).  In accordance with existing guidance, lenders will be responsible for escrowing PACE payments as they would property taxes. In addition, purchasers of homes with existing PACE obligations will be responsible for any unpaid balance of the obligation.
 
The guidance protects FHA from risk in a variety of ways. Lenders must escrow payments for PACE assessment so FHA should never be at risk of losing collateral in a tax sale. FHA is also protected as its appraisal policy requires that appraisals take into account the PACE assessment and the value of the improvements.
 
The Department of Energy is updating its Best Practices Guidelines for Residential PACE Financing, which may be used by states and counties to align with their consumer protection goals.
 
To qualify for FHA insurance on mortgages for properties that include PACE assessments, lenders must determine that the following requirements have been met under the laws in the state where the property is located:

– The PACE obligation must be collected (escrowed) and secured by the creditor in the same manner as a special assessment against the property.

– The PACE obligation cannot accelerate – namely, the entire amount of the obligation cannot become due in the event of delinquency after endorsement of the FHA-insured mortgage. The property may be subject to an enforceable claim or lien that is superior to the FHA-insured mortgage but only for the delinquent portion of the PACE obligation.

– There are no terms or conditions that limit the transfer of the property to a new homeowner.

– The existence of a PACE obligation on a property is readily apparent to mortgagees, appraisers, borrowers and other parties to an FHA-insured mortgage transaction, and information on PACE obligations must be readily available for review in the public records where the property is located.

– In the event of the sale, including a foreclosure sale, of the property with outstanding PACE financing, the PACE assessment remains with the property. In cases of foreclosure, priority collection of delinquent payments for the PACE assessment may be waived or relinquished. Unless a payoff is negotiated, the buyer will assume the obligation and will be responsible for the payments on the outstanding PACE amount.

A new USC study debunks the popular belief that electronic cigarettes are merely a substitute for cigarettes among teens. Instead, the study suggests that some teens who never would have smoked cigarettes are now vaping.

E-cigarettes, which entered the U.S. market in 2007, vaporize liquids that may or may not contain nicotine. In 2011, about 1.5 percent of high schoolers had vaped in the past 30 days, according to the National Youth Tobacco Survey. Four years later, that number skyrocketed to 16 percent.

A USC study of 5,490 high school juniors and seniors shows tobacco use among teens in Southern California is on the rise.

In 2014, about 14 percent of 12th-graders said they had either smoked or vaped in the previous 30 days. A decade earlier – before e-cigarettes were sold in the United States – 9 percent of surveyed teens in this age group reported that they had smoked, said Jessica Barrington-Trimis, lead author and a postdoctoral scholar research associate in the Department of Preventive Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

“If teenagers who vape are using e-cigarettes instead of cigarettes, we would have expected to see the decline in smoking rates continue through 2014,” Barrington-Trimis said. “But what we've seen is a downward trend in cigarette use from 1995 to 2004 but no further decrease in cigarette smoking rates in 2014. The combined e-cigarette and cigarette use in 2014 far exceeded what we would have expected if teens were simply substituting cigarettes with e-cigarettes. The data suggest that at least some of the teens who are vaping would not have smoked cigarettes.”

The study, published on July 11 in the journal Pediatrics, followed five groups of high schoolers who graduated in 1995, 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2014. Researchers collected the history of tobacco use in an individually administered questionnaire.

Cigarette use is the largest preventable cause of death and disease in the United States. Cigarette smoking kills more than 480,000 Americans annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

“An important question in the rapidly evolving landscape of youth tobacco product use is whether e-cigarettes are replacing cigarettes,” said Rob McConnell, the study's senior author and professor of preventive medicine at Keck Medicine of USC. “However, use of e-cigarettes by youth who would not otherwise have smoked results in exposure to the hazards of inhaled vaporized liquids and flavorings in e-cigarettes and may result in exposure to nicotine that can damage the adolescent brain.”

USC is one of 14 U.S. research institutions that received National Institutes of Health funding to establish the Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science.

What the numbers suggest

The National Youth Tobacco Survey has reported a long-term decline in teen smoking rates followed by a leveling off between 2014 and 2015.

The USC study found that the number of 12th-graders in Southern California who had smoked in the past 30 days dropped from 19 percent in 1995 to about 9 percent in 2004 and then leveled off, with the rate of smoking just under 8 percent in 2014.

But when cigarettes and e-cigarettes were combined, some 14 percent of high school seniors in 2014 said they had smoked or vaped in the last 30 days.

“Because e-cigarettes are perceived as less harmful and less dangerous than combustible cigarettes, another concern is that teens may be introduced to nicotine use via e-cigarettes,” Barrington-Trimis said. “In California, where smoking rates are among the lowest in the country, the increase in vaping, possibly followed by increases in smoking, could erode the progress that has been made over the last several decades in tobacco control.”

A perilous experiment

In fact, older teens who experiment with electronic cigarettes are six times more likely to try regular cigarettes within about a year when compared to those who have never vaped, reported Barrington-Trimis and her USC colleagues in a study published last month in Pediatrics.

Although some e-liquid providers say their products do not contain nicotine, this industry has not been regulated until just recently.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced plans to regulate all tobacco products – including e-cigarettes, cigars and hookah tobacco – in May.

Last month, California became the second state, behind Hawaii, to raise the age of tobacco purchase – including e-cigarettes – from 18 to 21.

“E-cigarettes may be recruiting a new group of kids to tobacco use,” Barrington-Trimis said. “E-cigarettes may be safer than regular cigarettes for adults who are transitioning from smoking to vaping, but for youth who have never used any other tobacco products, nicotine experimentation could become nicotine addiction.”

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute and the Food and Drug Administration Center for Tobacco Products.

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Donovan Ryan passed away Thursday, July 14, 2016, in Lower Lake.

Graduated from Lower Lake High School, Donovan worked as a guard at several local casinos, was a chef helper at Yosemite National Park and worked as a truck driver.

He leaves many family and friends.

Arrangements under the care of Jones & Lewis Clear Lake Memorial Chapel.

Please share your loving memories of Donovan by signing his online guestbook at www.jonesandlewis.com and www.legacy.com .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Senior Activity Center is planning a fundraiser event featuring a prime rib dinner and melodrama on Saturday, July 23, and a matinée performance on Sunday, July 24.

Love, time travel and laughter fuel the melodrama, entitled “It’s About Time.” It was written by Carolyn Burke and is a fundraiser for the senior nutrition programs of the Lakeport and Kelseyville senior centers. 

Burke has directed many plays through the years and is excited to help fund the nutrition programs she has come to enjoy.

Living close to the Kelseyville Senior Center, along with many other seniors, she is grateful to have a fresh and balanced meal every day.

The programs are severely underfunded and are only possible by the generous donations and support of the community. 

Limited seating tickets are selling fast and are available at the Lakeport Senior Center and Meals on Wheels Thrift Store for $20 or $25 at the door for Saturday, when the performance begins at 5:30 p.m.

Saturday's performance will be accompanied by a choice prime rib three-course dinner.

Tickets for the Sunday performance, which begins at 2 p.m., are $10.

For more information call 707-263-4218.

The Lakeport Senior Activity Center is located at 527 Konocti Ave.

UKIAH, Calif. – For the past month, acclaimed playwright and performer Dan Hoyle has been in residence at Mendocino College working on his new play “Grow,” a dark comedy about cannabis, land and the American Dream.

The play will premiere at Mendocino College for one weekend only, running Aug. 4 through Aug. 6 in the college’s Center Theatre on the Ukiah Campus.

Hoyle's brand of journalistic theater has been hailed as "riveting, funny and poignant" (New York Times) and "hilarious, moving and very necessary" (Salon).

His acclaimed solo shows, all created and premiered at The Marsh Theater in his native San Francisco, have had more than 800 performance around the country and overseas, including Joe's Pub at the Public Theater, Culture Project, and Berkeley Repertory Theatre among many others.

According to college theater director and “Grow” producer Reid Edelman, “I am so excited to bring Dan Hoyle to Ukiah to work with our students. This project has been a tremendous opportunity for our students to participate in the creation of a new play in collaboration with a significant American theater artist.”
 
Hoyle describes his play as a dark comedy in the spirit of Fargo and the Coen brothers.

The cast includes 15 student performers, many of whom are participants in the college’s new Theatre Conservatory Cohort Group.

Set in an unspecified small rural town in the Emerald Triangle, the plot involves an eclectic collection of recognizable characters, all striving in their own way to navigate a changing world.

When asked if he has a specific point of view on the subject of marijuana, Hoyle responded, “Not really… mostly I am trying to capture the stories of people living in this particular place in a very interesting time, people influenced by this plant which has created enormous opportunity but not without some significant costs.”
 
The production features college Media & Communications professor Jody Gehrman in the role of Gina, a grizzled woman trying to turn a profit on an acre of land which belongs to her ex-husband Jim (played by college conservatory student Kevin Klay).

Themes of family emerge as their daughter Millie (played by college theatre student Lhasa Summers) is caught up in her parents’ antagonistic dynamic.

Meanwhile Millie’s boyfriend Kyle (played by theater student DonMike Chilberg) confronts the influx of Bay Area tech money into his native rural Northern California town.

College conservatory students Will Schlosser and Ricki Farah play Clark and Tiffany, two Bay Area investors who stir things up when they stumble off of their wine country tour into the play’s rural growing town.

Other actors in the play include Jimmy Page, Frank Braverman, Melany Katz, Theresa Etter, Patrice Phillips, Shadi Mahfoud, Liana Edington, Marcio Orozco and Vincent Collins-Smith.
 
The play is being produced by college theater director Reid Edelman and stage managed by conservatory student Ali Gully.

The production features scenery and lighting designed by college Theatre Technician David Wolf, and costumes by college Costume Instructor Kathy Dingman-Katz.

The play is recommended for mature audiences due to strong language, drug-related themes and some violence.
 
Performances will be for one weekend only: Thursday, Aug. 4, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, Aug. 5, at 8 p.m.; and Saturday, Aug. 6, at 8 p.m.

Tickets are available in advance at the Mendocino Book Co., the Mendocino College Bookstore and online at www.artsmendocino.org . Tickets may also be purchased at the door subject to availability.

Admission is $20 with a discounted rate of $15 for students, seniors and ASMC cardholders. The performance on Thursday, Aug. 4, is a special discount night, with all seats costing only $10.

For more information, call 707-468-3172 or go to http://www.mendocino.edu/the-arts/theatre .

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Sons In Retirement, or SIR, is opening its September bowling tournament to all.

Not only does this open the tournament to SIRs wives and significant others but it will also allow those who are not familiar with the SIR organization to participate and get to know some of SIR members.

The group's motto is “Making friends for life.”

This is one of the many fun activities sponsored by SIR and, yes, there will be prizes.

The tournament is scheduled for Sept. 17 at the Yokayo Bowl in Ukiah.

The cost is $25 per person.

Check in time is 9 a.m., with the start of the tournament scheduled for 10 a.m.

The alley will be full with 64 participants with four bowlers per lane. However, if enough additional bowlers express an interest, they will entertain a second group if the bowling alley can accommodate them.

If you are interested or have any questions, please call today to reserve a spot. Call the SIR Bowling coordinator, Gary Schurdell, at his home number, 707-263-2911, or at his cell number, 707-367-4713.

While you and I were busy dodging potholes in the Lakeport roads and praying that our homes and schools don’t burn down due to the city council’s abandonment of the city’s weed abatement program, the city council is now working on the latest chapter of its playbook entitled, “Insensitivity.”

The same city that carried out the early morning shotgun slaughter of the park geese five years ago, with no public input or apparent remorse for killing and wounding the geese that historically call Library Park home, has now set its sights on the downtown business district and its merchants.

During the height of Lakeport’s business and tourist season, the city council has launched a construction project that runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day, closing Main Street, creating dust, disrupting traffic, parking and foot traffic. The Record-Bee reports a 50-percent reduction in business due to the city’s poorly timed project.

This questionable project, which will narrow the street to the detriment of the traveling public, obviously should have been carried out, if at all, in spring or fall, not in the middle of the busiest season of the year.

When they rely on out-of-county consultants to tell them what to do, the city council has again lost track of their purpose to help Lakeport’s businesses and citizens.

While the city government goes about its four-day workweek with a generous paycheck, city businesses struggle to keep their doors open due to the city’s improvident and poorly timed spending that ignores impacts to its citizens.

The insensitivity of the city council and its staff to the businesses and lives of the citizens of Lakeport needs to end.

A city council election is coming up with nomination papers becoming available on July 18 and a deadline for filing on Aug. 12.

Rumor on the street is that city hall is quietly recruiting candidates with pliable minds that will continue to follow the city staff’s “Insensitivity Playbook” and frustrate the voters’ attempts for a more sensitive government. 

We need three new candidates that will be responsive to the feelings and needs of the city’s businesses and citizens, curtail spending on unnecessary projects and cut excessive utility rates.

Bob Bridges lives in Lakeport, Calif.