Wednesday, 09 October 2024

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The storms that began on Thursday, February 17, 2011, damaged power equipment, such as this downed pole located near Cobb Mountain Elementary School in Cobb, Calif. Photo by Jennifer McConlogue.





LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Pacific Gas & Electric company crews were continuing to work through the weekend to restore power to customers who have been without electricity since late last week due to the winter storms.


PG&E spokesman J.D. Guidi said late Saturday that 2,630 customers in Lower Lake, Cobb, Hidden Valley and Middletown still had no power.


Guidi said the majority of the customers waiting for power were in Middletown.


Most of the customers involved had not had power since about 7 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 17, Guidi said.


Accessing equipment due to terrain and snow remains an issue, Guidi said.


The company had mobilized crews to make repairs in Lake County, bringing them in from less impacted areas of the state.


“Crews will continue to work around the clock to restore power as quickly and safely as possible,” Guidi said.


He added, “At this time it looks like we expect a majority – if not all – to be restored by Sunday evening at the latest.”


The National Weather Service issued a hazardous weather outlook for Lake County on Sunday, warning of low temperatures in the days ahead, but no snow or rain until the middle of the week, when chances of showers return.


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 Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Friday ended with more snow, more road closures and more concerns about the weather to come as Lake County entered the weekend.


The National Weather Service on Friday evening said snow was likely to continue overnight, with the chances of snow showers decreasing on Saturday.


That overnight prediction proved accurate, as late in the evening snow was widely reported around the county – including in Upper Lake, Nice and parts of Lucerne, where sustained snowfall hadn't taken place previously.


On the other side of the county, in Cobb and Kelseyville, snow once again clogged roadways.


Shortly after 7 p.m. the California Highway Patrol reported several vehicles were spun out in the snow on the Glasgow Grade near Lower Lake on Highway 29.


At about the same time on Highway 175 over Cobb, just south of Harrington Flat Road, a big rig pulling a flatbed trailer with two telephone poles on it was stuck in the now, the CHP reported.


On the Glasgow Grade the snow was making the highway passable only for four-wheel drive vehicles or those with chains, according to the report.


While a tow company pulled vehicles out of the snow, Highway 29 between Lower Lake and Kelseyville was closed for several hours, finally reopening shortly before midnight, the report said.


Meanwhile, back on Highway 175 over Cobb near Harrington Flat, the CHP reported that power lines above the roadway were coming down and arcing over vehicles shortly before 1 a.m.


Pacific Gas & Electric – which has had crews out in full force over the last few days in order to repair damaged equipment and restore power to customers – planned to respond to the area before 2 a.m., according to the report.


Regarding other highway conditions, Caltrans reported that Highway 29 over Mount St. Helena was closed once again due to snow.


Highway 175 was closed from the junction of Highway 29 to five miles west of Middletown due to downed trees, Caltrans said.


The CHP reported early Saturday that all of South Highway 175 was under chain requirements.


For the most part, Friday was quieter for local first responders, who reported call volumes were down from the previous day.


Sgt. Tim Hobbs of the Clearlake Police Department said during his daytime shift on Thursday the department took 115 calls for service, of which he said 105 were related to weather, crashes and power lines being down.


“It was definitely busy,” he said.


CHP Officer Joe Wind said Friday, “It's calmed down greatly since yesterday,” noting that Thursday was “crazy,” with a call volume three to four times the normal amount.


He said all available personnel remained on the roads on Friday.


“Yesterday we had the snow, today we had the ice,” said Wind.


One of the positive benefits of the winter storms – Clear Lake's level jumped from 5.80 feet Rumsey – the special measure used to record its depth – to 6.73 feet Rumsey at about midnight Saturday, its highest level for February in five years, according to Lake County Water Resources records.


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 Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Thousands of Lake County residents remained without power on Friday as the result of a powerful winter storm that swept through the region the previous day.


Pacific Gas & Electric said Friday afternoon that it was continuing to work to restore power to customers in the south county, many of whom were reporting being without power for 36 hours or more.


At around 3 p.m. PG&E was reporting a total of 100 outages that was the cause of 9,700 customers in Hidden Valley Lake, Middletown, Clearlake, Lower Lake and Cobb still being without power, according to company spokesman Paul Moreno.


Shortly after 4 p.m. Moreno reported that the number of affected customers had been reduced to 8,000, with power restored to some areas of Clearlake, Lower Lake and Cobb within the previous hour.


The winter storm Thursday had done “significant” damage to power equipment in Lake County, PG&E had previously reported.


As of noon on Friday, PG&E had identified four failed transformers, 44 damaged utility poles and many wires down, Moreno said.


“We do have crews working on several circuits, including some of the large outage,” said Moreno.


Lake County Road Superintendent Steve Stangland said shortly before 4:30 p.m. Friday afternoon that downed power lines were the cause of several area road closures, including Anderson Springs at Highway 175, and Golf Road and roadways connected to it in Cobb, which are expected to be closed until Saturday morning.


Stangland said Big Canyon Road in Cobb is closed due to downed poles and power lines from Ettawa Springs Road to the Howard Resort at the top of the ridge, with no estimated time of opening. He said that a Cal Fire hand crew was working in the area to clear downed trees.


In addition, Bottle Rock Road is open to Sulphur Creek Road, where Stangland said PG&E was working on the downed pole and lines.


Stangland said it's estimated that the section from Sulphur Creek Road to Highway 175 will be closed for approximately four more days due to downed trees, power poles and power lines.


Moreno said crews were at work “at a number of sites” around Lake County, with more customers expected to have their power on Friday evening.


A major challenge for repair crews remained getting access to damaged equipment due to the weather and terrain, Moreno said.


Moreno said the company has contracted helicopters doing patrols to identify damaged equipment.


“We were able to fly helicopter patrols today throughout Lake County due to a break in the weather, and that has helped us make assessments so we could continue restoration,” he said.


Sgt. Tim Hobbs of the Clearlake Police Department said PG&E had three helicopters coming and going from a landing zone near the Lake County Fire Protection District on Olympic Drive.


“They've been going in and out of there since yesterday,” he said Friday afternoon.


Moreno said five additional crews, which have between two and four people each, arrived in Lake County on Friday to work on power equipment repairs.


“Dozens of additional line workers have been brought in to support local crews,” he said.


PG&E staff was taking advantage of daylight hours and working 16-hour shifts to get power restored, according to Moreno.


As for county road crews, their work was continuing, too, Stangland said.


On Friday afternoon road crews continued to work to clear the Gifford Springs area, which Stangland estimated would be open by 6 p.m. Friday.


However, he noted late Friday afternoon that snow was falling in Cobb.


He said snow had closed Elk Mountain Road inn Upper Lake from the Middle Creek Campground to Lake Pillsbury, and Bartlett Springs Road at MPM 6.0 also closed because of snowfall.


County road crews are scheduled to start clearing Bartlett Springs Road on Monday before moving on to Elk Mountain Road, Stangland said.

 

Caltrans reported Friday afternoon that Highway 175 from the junction of Highway 29 to five miles west of Middletown remained closed due to downed trees.


No travel restrictions were listed over Highway 29 – the route over Mount St. Helena had been reopened earlier in the day – and Highway 20 also was reported by Caltrans as open.


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 Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

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Each vanilla bean contains thousands of tiny seeds, shown here scraped from the pod in their black, paste-like form. Photo by Esther Oertel.




I’m dating myself here, but back in the 1980s a book was written by humorist Sandra Boynton for chocolate lovers called “Chocolate, the Consuming Passion.” (I, of course, devoured every word.)


The book extolled the virtues of chocolate (rightly so, I might add), but there was an overtone of discrimination against vanilla, as though those who prefer its flavor over chocolate are somehow lacking.


I must admit that I’ve been party to that kind of chocolate snobbery much of my life, but somewhere along the way my eyes were opened to vanilla’s vastly valuable qualities.


Not only does it stand alone as a marvelous flavor, it provides a back note to an amazing array of otherwise-flavored items, kind of like an unseen but important backstage helper.


Vanilla is the most widely used flavoring in pastries, confections and other desserts. What would chocolate brownies or banana bread be without its requisite shot of vanilla?


Unfortunately, the word “vanilla” is often used to describe things that are boring, ordinary or overly homogeneous.


When I plugged the word into my Internet search engine, for example, an article popped up that opined on whether a certain NASCAR driver was “too vanilla.” In that case, it meant boring, without much personality.


But vanilla is anything but. It’s exotic, sultry, enticing, subtle and sweet. It knows it doesn’t have to shout; instead, it persuades quietly. In a culinary context, it may be the most “come hither” scent aside from garlic.


And no wonder. It hails from the tropics deep within Mexico, where, I would imagine, the flora is dripping with mystery.


Vanilla beans are the seed pods of the pretty vanilla orchid, a tropical climbing vine that sports a delicate white or pale yellow flower.


These pods are painstakingly cultivated, a process that includes laboriously pollinating them by hand at a very specific time of day when blossoms appear on the vine for a short one-month flowering period.


Some vanilla blossoms last only a day, so farmers must be diligent about observing flowers in bloom.


Hand harvesting of the pods occurs four to six months after the fruit appears on the vine (some sources say it takes nine months for the pods to reach maturity), requiring much patience on the part of the farmers.


After harvest, the pods go through processes lasting another six months where they’re “killed,” “sweated,” slow-dried and “conditioned,” sort of like spa treatments for spice.


“Killing” the pods refers to the process of stopping the vegetative growth and initiating the enzymatic reactions responsible for vanilla’s aroma. There are a variety of methods used for this, the most popular being a hot water bath.


The pods are then wrapped in woolen blankets to “sweat” in the sun for at least an hour and up to ten days, allowing enzymes to catalyze the reactions begun during the “killing” process. This allows the pods to develop not only vanilla’s characteristic aroma, but its color and flavor, as well.


The pods are then slow-dried in the sun to prevent rotting. This curing process also locks the aroma in the pods.


Once slow-dried, “conditioning” (or fermenting) occurs over a period of months via storing the pods in closed boxes so the flavor develops.


The beans are then sorted by quality and graded by the length of the bean. The longer beans contain more vanillin, the main flavor component of the 171 aromatic compounds identified in vanilla beans.


Grade A beans are the longest and are considered gourmet or prime beans. They’re typically sold whole.


Grade B beans are also called “extract beans,” and, as implied, are used to make vanilla extract.


It is interesting to note that vanilla orchids growing wild in Mexico were pollinated by bees or hummingbirds capable of penetrating the tough membrane that separates the plant’s pistol and stamen.


Until the mid-19th century, Mexico was the largest producer of vanilla beans.


In 1819, French entrepreneurs shipped vanilla beans from Mexico to tropical islands in the Indian Ocean under their control (namely, Mauritius and Reunion). They hoped to cultivate vanilla there.


While vanilla orchids grew well in the new tropical locales, seed pods were not produced because the plants weren’t being pollinated. Importation of Mexican bees proved unsuccessful.


It wasn’t until 1841 when a 12-year-old former slave on the island of Reunion developed a method for hand pollination of the vanilla orchid that cultivation in places other than its native Mexico became successful.


This young vanilla bean husbandman, Edmond Albius, fertilized the plants using a bamboo skewer to lift the plant’s membrane and his thumb to smear the pollen. His method is still in use today, even in Mexico.


The hard work (not to mention investment of time) involved in harvesting vanilla makes it the most expensive spice next to saffron and cardamom.


Today most vanilla is cultivated in Madagascar. The vanilla produced there and in Mexico is considered superior to that produced in Indonesia or Tahiti, though Tahitian vanilla is beautifully aromatic and used in perfumes.


The dark brown, slender vanilla beans contain thousands of tiny black seeds which may be scraped, paste-like, from within the pod to flavor food.


The pod, with or without its seeds, may be used to flavor liquids and sauces. The longer it steeps in the liquid, the stronger the flavor. Use about one pod per pint of liquid if a strong vanilla flavor is desired.


One method is to bring the liquid to a boil, turn off the heat and add the bean(s) to steep for about an hour as the liquid cools.


I generally allow the bean(s) to simmer in the liquid. I use them when making syrup or flavoring a hot beverage, such as spiced cider.


Believe it or not, a whole bean may be used more than once if washed, dried and stored in an airtight container.

 

 

 

 

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Vanilla sugar may be made by storing one or more vanilla beans for several weeks with sugar in an air-tight container. These beans will need to be covered completely with sugar before storing. Photo by Esther Oertel.
 

 

 

 


An interesting way to store vanilla beans is in sugar. Use a jar with a tight-fitting lid and bury the beans so that no light hits them. After two or three weeks, the resulting sugar is vanilla-flavored and may be used in recipes or to flavor drinks. (It’s great in coffee, iced tea or hot cocoa.)


When selecting vanilla beans, choose plump ones, as they contain more seeds. The bean should be dark brown, almost black, and pliable enough to wrap around your finger without breaking.


If beans have hardened, they may be softened in the liquid of your recipe before use.


If you discover what looks like sugar crystals inside a bean pod, it means you’ve found pure vanillin crystals.


In the U.S., vanilla extract is more widely used than whole vanilla beans, though they’re gaining popularity. In Europe, whole beans are generally preferred.


Extract typically uses alcohol as a flavor carrier, though some are made using glycerin instead.


Vanilla powder is also available commercially, which is made from grinding vanilla beans.


Homemade vanilla extract is a treat, and I’ve heard professional chefs and home cooks alike remark about the difference it makes in their food. The vanilla extract procedures below are courtesy of About.com.


Enjoy, and remember, vanilla is anything but boring!


Homemade vanilla extract


To make your own vanilla extract, chop three or four vanilla beans into small pieces, being careful to retain all the seeds and crystals.


Put into a clean jar and cover with about a half cup of brandy liquor. Let steep for one to six months. Strain and use with or without the pieces as your recipe defines.


The mixture keeps indefinitely, and you can continuously add to it. If you find the brandy flavor too strong and have more time, use one split bean steeped in 3/4 cup of vodka, letting it stand at least six months.


Esther Oertel, the “Veggie Girl,” is a culinary coach and educator and is passionate about local produce. Oertel teaches culinary classes at Chic Le Chef in Hidden Valley Lake, Calif., and The Kitchen Gallery in Lakeport, Calif., and gives private cooking lessons. She welcomes your questions and comments; e-mail her 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 Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

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The California Highway Patrol reported that the crash near Upper Lake, Calif., on Friday, February 18, 2011, resulted in minor injuries. Photo by Gary McAuley.



 

LAKE, Calif. – A single-vehicle crash on Friday resulted in minor injuries.


The collision was reported just after 11:15 a.m. on Elk Mountain Road a quarter-mile north of the Mendocino National Forest Ranger Station, according to the California Highway Patrol.


A small Ford two-door car driven by a 19-year-old woman with a 20-year-old female passenger went off the road and into an orchard, with the passenger side of the car hitting a tree, according to reports from the scene.


California Highway Patrol Officer Joe Wind said a full report on the crash wasn't yet available, but said initial indications were that the crash was not weather-related, and that it appeared the driver may have been going too fast and lost control in a curve.


The CHP said the crash resulted in minor injuries. The names of those involved and specifics about their injuries was not immediately available.


Northshore Fire Protection District responded to the scene to give medical aid to the two young women.


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 Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

 

 

 

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A single-vehicle crash involving this small Ford and a tree occurred late on the morning of Friday, February 18, 2011, near Upper Lake, Calif. Photo by Gary McAuley.
 

 

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Snow remained on the hills above Clearlake Oaks on Thursday, February 17, 2011, following a snowstorm that occurred overnight and earlier in the day. Photo by Mike Hardy.

 

 

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Following a day of heavy snow and rain, power outages and dangerous road conditions, many area residents were waiting for power to be restored and weather forecasters predicted Lake County could have still more rain and snow to come.


Thursday's snow – much of it falling in the first half of the day – caused school closures in the Kelseyville, Konocti and Middletown school districts, shut down area roadways and contributed to falling tress that in turn knocked down utility lines and poles, as Lake County News has reported.


First responders – law enforcement from various agencies, firefighters and paramedics – spent an exhausting day running to what seemed liked endless calls – health-related assists, fires, crashes and emergencies caused by downed utility and power lines.


The California Highway Patrol's incident logs recorded well over 100 incidents for the day, many times the number of incidents seen on a regular basis, based on Lake County News' daily observations.


One of the major fallouts for Lake County's residents was the loss of power.


Pacific Gas & Electric reported early in the day that the storms knocked out power to a total of 16,000 county customers, a number which early in the afternoon had been reduced to about 12,600 customers, according to PG&E spokesperson Brandi Ehlers.


County Road Superintendent Steve Stangland said he received word that PG&E was moving 27 crews in the county to work on repairs.


Late Thursday, PG&E spokesperson Jana Morris said a company report on the storms highlighted that Lake County – like other foothill and mountain areas of the state – “has experienced a significant amount of damage due to the storm.”


Morris said PG&E crews were working through the night to continue repairs.


One of the issues that PG&E was encountering in Lake County and in the Sierra division was the combination of difficult terrain and snow, which was making it a challenge to access some equipment that required repair, Morris said.


In some cases, due to safety concerns, PG&E staff may have to wait until daylight to continue work, said Morris.


Shortly before midnight Thursday an estimated 3,800 customers in Clearlake remained without power, Morris said.


Other areas with continuing outages included Cobb, 1,650 customers; Hidden Valley Lake, 1500; Middletown, 1,000; Lower Lake, 800; Kelseyville, 350; Clearlake Park, 11; and Clearlake Oaks and Lakeport each had two.


Morris said about 250 additional customers in Cobb were expected to have power restored by midnight, and 350 more in Lower Lake by about 2 a.m. Friday.


One transformer on Winchester in Lower Lake that had been under repair Thursday evening blew up once it was reenergized, causing a fire concern, according to radio reports.


Power losses caused issues for the county's sanitation district on Thursday.


Jill Shaul with Lake County Special Districts said they were receiving calls from their alarm company regarding power failures and high water levels in the Southeast Regional Wastewater System, which serves Clearlake and Lower Lake.


Power failures had been reported at pump stations one, two, three, 15 and 17, Shaul said, but those failures hadn't resulted in any effluent discharges.


“We're holding our own,” she said.

 

 

 

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Snow fell down to the level of Clear Lake in Lake County, Calif., on Thursday, February 17, 2011. Photo by Brad Hagen.
 

 

 

 


The Lake County Sheriff's Office also encountered some communications problems Thursday.


Capt. James Bauman said he was the one to discover the problem with the agency's Siegler repeater, which is used for its primary law enforcement channel.


When he left the office and tried to call in, “Nobody was talking back to me.”


Some checking revealed the repeater wasn't functioning correctly, Bauman said.


Other agencies, including CHP and local fire districts, also rely on the repeater, although Bauman said they weren't having issues. “It's just our frequency that's having a problem.”


The agency moved all of its law enforcement traffic over to the Office of Emergency Services frequency. Bauman said the owner of the property where the repeater is located was standing ready to help them access it to make repairs.


Bauman couldn't say definitely that weather was the cause, but noted, it was the “most interesting weather day we've had in a long time.”


The National Weather Service said snow could fall to about 1,600 feet overnight and into Friday morning, although it's not expected to accumulate. Showers are expected to decrease throughout the weekend.


The Western Weather Group said the storm that hit Lake County Thursday was part of a storm system coming from the Gulf of Alaska.


Thursday night the weather broke and the skies cleared for a time, long enough for a bright full moon to be visible. The cold, clear conditions raised concern for nighttime ice.


Caltrans and county road crews plowed state highways and county roads throughout the day, trying to clear the way for drivers, many of whom found themselves stuck in the snow as they tried to make their ways to home, work or school Thursday.


Early Thursday evening, county Road Superintendent Steve Stangland said Butts Canyon Road, Soda Bay Road, and all roads in the Clear Lake Riviera and Riviera Heights areas had been reopened.


He said Bottle Rock Road was open to Sulphur Creek Road, where PG&E was working on downed pole and lines. Fallen power lines also had closed Point Lakeview at Bayless Cove near Lower Lake and Anderson Springs at Highway 175.


PG&E was making repairs on Siegler Canyon Road between Perini and Big Canyon Road. Stangland said Siegler Canyon was open with a detour on Perini Road, Stangland said.


Stangland said 12 plow vehicles were to work through the night to open roads in the Cobb Mountain and Middletown areas that were blocked by power lines. He said crews also would remove snow, rocks and downed trees on New Long Valley, Sulphur Bank, North and Lakeshore Boulevard.


On Thursday night, Caltrans reported that some restrictions still remained on state highways.


Highway 175 was closed from the junction of Highway 29 to fives miles west of Middletown due to downed trees.


Chains or snow tire requirements remained in force on two other stretches of Highway 175 – from 5.5 miles east of the junction of Highway 101 in Mendocino County to 1.8 miles west of the Lake/Mendocino County line over the Hopland Grade, and 7 miles west to four miles west of Middletown.


Highway 29 remained closed over Mount St. Helena from 5.5 miles north of Calistoga in Napa County to the junction of Highway 175 in Middletown because of the snowfall, according to Caltrans.


Caltrans said travel restrictions had been lifted on Highway 20.


Drivers can find the latest conditions online at the Caltrans Web site, www.dot.ca.gov/cgi-bin/roads.cgi, or by calling 800-427-7623.


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 Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

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Alvaro Valencia works on installing the latest quilt block in the Lake County Quilt Trail on Dennis West's barn in Clearlake Oaks, Calif., on Saturday, February 3, 2011. Photo by Tera DeVroede.



 

 


CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – A beautiful new addition to the fast-growing Lake County Quilt Trail now hangs on the barn at yet another historical location – this one in Clearlake Oaks adjacent to High Valley Vineyard.


The quilt block was installed on Mr. Dennis West’s barn on Saturday, Feb. 3.


West has lived on that homestead, which he inherited from family, for more than 25 years. It was originally part of Pluth Ranch, he said.


This quilt is the second to adorn the Northshore, according to Marilyn Holdenried, owner of Wildhurst Vineyards and major sponsor of the Kelseyville Pear Festival’s Lake County Quilt Trail. The other hangs high on the breathtaking property of Tulip Hill Winery in Nice.


The new quilt pattern resembles a basket of grapes, therefore this quilt block is appropriately named, “Grape Basket,” she said.


“The pattern and colors were chosen by the committee from the Clearlake Oaks-Glenhaven Business Association,” Holdenried said. “They wanted the purple for the fruit, grapes and the green frames for the leaves to match the greenery there around the valley. There are vineyards in the area and the committee wanted to reflect the surroundings.”

 

 

 

 

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Getting one’s affairs in order is not complete until all loose ends are tied-up.


Loose ends can otherwise unravel some part of one’s estate plan. Let’s take a look at some common problem areas.


Examine who are the legally designated primary and alternative beneficiaries to your retirement accounts.


Retirement plans are a sizable element of many people’s estates. At the participant’s death, retirement plans transfer without probate according to the participant’s designation of death beneficiary form.


You need to make sure that you designation of beneficiary form names both primary and alternative beneficiaries and is properly executed.


If the retirement plan includes marital earnings, then it is necessary to have your spouse countersign the beneficiary form to transfer 100 percent of the plan benefits.


Customized designation of alternative beneficiary instructions can and should usually be attached to the standard designation of beneficiary form. That way, you can both tailor your designation of alternative beneficiaries beyond what is allowed by the form and not be restricted to accept the boiler-plate contingency planning that the form otherwise imposes.


If your trust is named as beneficiary of a retirement plan then is the trust properly drafted? That is, after you die does your trust meet the IRS regulations to allow maximum income tax deferred growth (i.e., based on the individual beneficiaries’ own ages) with the trust as beneficiary?


Is naming the trust as the beneficiary of the retirement account necessary, or should you simply name the individual beneficiaries directly?


Typically the individual beneficiaries are named, and a carefully tailored trust is only named as beneficiary when necessary, such as in the case of protecting a special needs beneficiary eligibility to receive needs based government benefits or to protect the beneficiary’s inheritance assets from his/her own creditors.


Make sure that you have appropriately transferred title to all assets that should be in your living trust.


Assets held in your name outside of your living trust will otherwise be subject to probate (if the assets’ total gross value exceeds $100,000), unless the assets are non probate assets; such as assets owned in joint tenancy and financial assets that pass to designated beneficiaries.


People sometimes neglect to transfer title to all their real property (including out-of-state property) into their living trust.


Also, if a special needs trust to be established pursuant to your living trust, after you die, then it is doubly important that they be held in your trust.


Pets sometimes get over looked. Have you provided that your pets be taken care of when you are disabled and after you die?


Does your power of attorney authorize your agent to pay for the care and custody of your beloved pet during periods when you are sick and unable to take care of your affairs?


How does your trust or will provide for the care of your pet after you die? Does it ensure that only humane “no kill” shelters can receive your pet?


Have any of your beneficiaries’ circumstances materially changed? That is, does leaving their inheritance outright to them still make sense?


Is a special needs trust now needed to protect a special needs beneficiary’s continued receipt of needs based government benefits? Is a custodial account now necessary for an under aged (minor) beneficiary?


Tying up loose ends prevents unintended negative consequences.


Identifying any loose ends is why you should periodically have your estate plan reviewed.


A general rule of thumb is to examine your estate plan once every five years, and sooner if any changes occur that materially impact your existing plan.


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. or by phone at 707-263-3235.


Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews , on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

UKIAH, Calif. – Five former Mendocino College student-athletes are being inducted into the 2011 Mendocino College Athletic Hall of Fame.


The group will be honored at the sixth annual Mendocino College Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony and banquet, which will be held on Saturday, March 12, at 6 p.m. at Barra of Mendocino in Redwood Valley.


Included in the group are Brian Sallee, a Middletown High School graduate, and Lisa Falleri, who graduated from Kelseyville High School.


For tickets, please contact Anna Daugherty at 707-468-3255.


Bios of the five inductees follow.


 

 

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Brian Sallee. Courtesy photo.
 

 

 


Brian Sallee


Sallee played football at Mendocino College from 2002 to 2003, and was team captain in 2003.


During his time with the college he recorded 86 tackles and 36 assists, and in 2003 had 12.5 sacks.


He was an All Conference Selection in 2002 and 2003, and was named Defensive Lineman of the Year in 2003.


Sallee went on to accept an athletic scholarship at Duke University in North Carolina.

 

 

 

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Lisa Falleri. Courtesy photo.
 

 



Lisa Falleri


Falleri played volleyball and basketball for Mendocino College from 1991 to 1992.


She was named Team MVP in volleyball in 1991 and 1992, and Team MVP in basketball in 1992.


In 1991 and 1992 she was named a BVC All Conference Selection for volleyball, taking BVC All Conference honors in 1992 for basketball. In both 1991 and 1991 she was named to the BVC Academic All Conference.


Falleri later accepted an athletic scholarship at California State University, Chico.

 

 

TJ Bird


Bird graduated from Cloverdale High School and went on to play baseball for Mendocino College from 1999 to 2000.


Bird was team captain in 2000, the same year he became a BVC All Conference Selection.


In 2000 he was drafted by the Colorado Rockies.

 

 

 

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Ben Riley. Courtesy photo
 




Ben Riley


Riley, who graduated from Grace Davis High School in Modesto, was a basketball standout for Mendocino College from 1997 to 1998.


He was team captain in 1998, becoming the state's No. 1 scorer with a 27-point average. Riley would become the No. 2 all-time scorer in Mendocino College history.


Riley accepted athletic scholarship with the College of Idaho in Caldwell.

 

 

 

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Marc Selberg. Courtesy photo.
 

 



Marc Selberg


Selberg, a Cloverdale High School, played football from 1999 to 2000 for Mendocino College.


Selberg was an All Conference Selection in 1999 and 2000, and was named Offensive Lineman of the Year for 1999 and 2000.


He accepted a scholarship to Fort Valley State University in Fort Valley, Georgia.


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It's official: The sun is a sphere.


On Feb. 6, NASA's twin STEREO probes moved into position on opposite sides of the sun, and they are now beaming back uninterrupted images of the entire star – front and back.


“For the first time ever, we can watch solar activity in its full 3-dimensional glory,” said Angelos Vourlidas, a member of the STEREO science team at the Naval Research Lab in Washington, DC.


NASA released a “first light” 3D movie on, naturally, Super Bowl Sun-day.


“This is a big moment in solar physics,” said Vourlidas. “STEREO has revealed the sun as it really is – a sphere of hot plasma and intricately woven magnetic fields.”


Each STEREO probe photographs half of the star and beams the images to Earth. Researchers combine the two views to create a sphere.


These aren't just regular pictures, however. STEREO's telescopes are tuned to four wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet radiation selected to trace key aspects of solar activity such as flares, tsunamis and magnetic filaments. Nothing escapes their attention.


“With data like these, we can fly around the sun to see what's happening over the horizon – without ever leaving our desks,” said STEREO program scientist Lika Guhathakurta at NASA headquarters. “This could lead to significant advances in solar physics and space weather forecasting.”


Consider the following: In the past, an active sunspot could emerge on the far side of the sun completely hidden from Earth. Then, the sun's rotation could turn that region toward our planet, spitting flares and clouds of plasma, with little warning.


“Not anymore,” said Bill Murtagh, a senior forecaster at NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado. “Farside active regions can no longer take us by surprise. Thanks to STEREO, we know they're coming.”


NOAA is already using 3D STEREO models of CMEs (billion-ton clouds of plasma ejected by the sun) to improve space weather forecasts for airlines, power companies, satellite operators, and other customers. The full sun view should improve those forecasts even more.


The forecasting benefits aren't limited to Earth.

 

 

 

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An artist's concept of STEREO surrounding the sun. Courtesy of NASA.
 

 

 


“With this nice global model, we can now track solar storms heading toward other planets, too,” pointed. “This is important for NASA missions to Mercury, Mars, asteroids … you name it.”


NASA has been building toward this moment since Oct. 2006 when the STEREO probes left Earth, split up, and headed for positions on opposite sides of the sun (movie). Feb. 6, 2011, was the date of "opposition" – i.e., when STEREO-A and -B were 180 degrees apart, each looking down on a different hemisphere.


NASA's Earth-orbiting Solar Dynamics Observatory is also monitoring the sun 24/7.


Working together, the STEREO-SDO fleet should be able to image the entire globe for the next eight years.


The new view could reveal connections previously overlooked.


For instance, researchers have long suspected that solar activity can “go global,” with eruptions on opposite sides of the sun triggering and feeding off of one another. Now they can actually study the phenomenon.


The Great Eruption of August 2010 engulfed about two-thirds of the stellar surface with dozens of mutually interacting flares, shock waves, and reverberating filaments.


Much of the action was hidden from Earth, but plainly visible to the STEREO-SDO fleet.


“There are many fundamental puzzles underlying solar activity,” said Vourlidas. “By monitoring the whole sun, we can find the missing pieces.”


Researchers say these first-look images are just a hint of what's to come. Movies with higher resolution and more action will be released in the weeks ahead as more data are processed.


Stay tuned.


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


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SACRAMENTO – On Friday Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration directed all state agencies and departments to stop spending taxpayer dollars on free giveaway and gift items – such as key chains, coffee mugs and squeeze toys – as part of continuing efforts to cut costs and tackle the state’s budget gap.


“Not a cent of taxpayer money should be spent on flashlights, ashtrays or other unnecessary items, most of which likely end up in landfills,” said Brown. “Every taxpayer dollar we save by cutting waste is a dollar than can be used to pay for critical public safety and social services.”


A statewide review revealed that from 2007 to 2010 state agencies and departments spent a total of $7.5 million on items including key chains, squeeze toys, pens, hats, trinkets, shirts, cups and other gift items known colloquially as “S.W.A.G,” or “Stuff We All Get.”


These include promotional and marketing items across almost every agency in the state.


Friday’s ban follows Brown’s request earlier this week for the Bureau of State Audits and the Little Hoover Commission to each provide a list of “Top 10 Actions” California can take to cut government waste and increase efficiency.


The governor has also issued executive orders to freeze hiring across state government and cut state cell phones and the passenger vehicle fleet in half.


These actions are part of Brown’s efforts to save money this fiscal year and to cut $363 million in operational costs next fiscal year.


A breakdown of “S.W.A.G” expenditures from 2007 to 2010 is below.


S.W.A.G Expenditures 2007-10

 

Business, Transportation & Housing Agency: $5,088,037

State and Consumer Services Agency: $1,154,960

Health and Human Services Agency: $778,678

Department of Food & Agriculture: $175,530

Labor and Workforce Development Agency: $129,012

California Volunteers: $77,387

Environmental Protection Agency: $48,317

Emergency Management Agency: $41,810

Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation: $12,201

Department of Veterans Affairs: $4,968


Total: $7,510,900


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Computer Lab Aide Elaine Bishop (standing) offers assistance to student Rachel Szczepanski. Courtesy photo.





LAKEPORT, Calif. – Computer access is improving for Mendocino College students at the Lake Center thanks to a donation to the Mendocino College Foundation.


College and foundation staff recently announced that a $1,000 gift is enabling the college to employ aides for additional hours and keep the Lake Center’s computer lab open on Fridays.


“As funding for some of our student support services has declined in recent years, the donation has helped us to provide access to the computer technology that has become so essential for student success,” said Mark Rawitsch, dean of the college centers in Lakeport and Willits.


As a result of budget cuts, the center’s computer lab was closed on Fridays during the fall semester.


Students requested that the lab be open to them on Fridays, said Lake Center Operations Supervisor Arlene Peters.


College students may use the computers in the lab between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and now from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Fridays.


Although the computer lab is not open on Thursdays (closed due to classes scheduled in the lab), the Learning Lab at the Lake Center offers eight to 10 additional computers for student use.


The Learning Lab is open Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m.-8 p.m., and Fridays, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.


Rawitsch suggested the allocation as the best way to utilize the recent gift from Mary Lou and Wade Koeninger.


The funding allows the college to employ two computer lab aides and keep the lab open extra hours this semester, the dean said.


Elaine Bishop, a 16-year employee of the college, and her husband Trett are the individuals offering assistance to computer users in the lab.


“Since many of our local students do not have easy access to computers at home, we’re pleased to be able to increase our Lakeport computer lab hours for students this semester,” said Rawitsch.


Mendocino College Foundation Executive Director Katie Wojcieszak has assisted the Koeningers in their continuing efforts to help Mendocino College students, both present and future.


For more information about making donations to the foundation or about foundation scholarships and programs, call the foundation office at 707-467-1018 or visit the Web site at http://foundation.mendocino.edu.


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