“Thanks to the generous contributions of so many donors, people in Haiti are receiving immediate relief and resources, as well as the necessary support and training to help them recover and rebuild,” said Gail McGovern, president and CEO of the American Red Cross. “Red Cross efforts saved lives and improved the quality of life for Haitians with emergency shelter, food, water, latrines, medical treatment and other supplies.”

“People in Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake Counties, as well as those across the country, responded quickly to help Haiti. These donations have made a real difference in the lives of Haitians,” said Tim Miller, CEO of the local Red Cross chapter.

“Residents in our counties donated more than $292,000,” said Miller. “Children at more than 20 schools, donation cans in nearly 100 locations, more than 20 local fundraising events, and more than 1300 individual donors and business all contributed to the relief effort. We are grateful for such an outpouring of support.”

The one-year report on Red Cross relief and recovery efforts in Haiti can be found at www.redcross.org/haiti.

Since the earthquake on January 12, 2010, the American Red Cross and the global Red Cross network have provided:

• Medical care for nearly 217,000 patients.

• Cash grants and loans to help 220,000 people.

• Latrines for 265,000 people.

• Daily drinking water for more than 317,000 people.

• Emergency shelter materials for more than 860,000 people.

• Vaccinations for nearly 1 million people.

• Food for 1.3 million people for one month.

Since the earthquake struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, the American Red Cross has raised approximately $479 million for the Haiti relief and recovery efforts, including more than $32 million from the record-setting text donation program.

At the one-year anniversary of the earthquake, the Red Cross expects to have spent and signed agreements to spend $245 million, which is more than half of what has been raised.

Specifically, 30 percent of the money will have been spent on emergency shelter and basic homes; 26 percent on food and emergency services; 15 percent on providing clean water and sanitation; 13 percent on health and disease prevention programs; 10 percent on livelihoods and host family assistance; and 6 percent on disaster preparedness activities.

The remainder of the money will go to longer-term recovery over the next several years, with spending plans likely to evolve to respond to changing needs.

In addition to responding to the earthquake and its aftermath, the Red Cross worked to provide help following the cholera outbreak last fall. The American Red Cross has spent more than $4.5 million and plans to spend at least another $10 million to fight the spread of cholera.

One of the big challenges facing the Red Cross and other nonprofit organizations is finding land to get people out of camps and into transitional homes.

It has been difficult for the Haitian government to determine exactly who owns the land where these homes would be built. Much of the available land is covered with tons of rubble that must be removed, and there is not enough heavy equipment in Haiti to do this quickly.

In addition, the government, which would take a lead role on much of the land ownership and rubble removal, was severely affected by the earthquake.

Overall, the American Red Cross expects to spend about $100 million of the remaining funds on construction of permanent homes and community development projects. These efforts, which will unfold over the next few years, will depend on several outside factors including the availability of appropriate land and the coordination of infrastructure, livelihoods and community centers.

“The Red Cross will continue to spend the money entrusted to us by the American people in the most responsible way possible to help Haiti and its people,” McGovern said.

Visit the Red Cross online at www.redcross.org. American Red Cross, Sonoma & Mendocino Counties (which includes Lake County) can be found at www.arcsm.org .

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A firefighter douses a toy hauler trailer that caught fire near Clearlake Oaks, Calif., on Saturday, January 8, 2011. Photo by Steve Hart.

CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – Firefighters from the Northshore and Clearlake responded to a morning fire that destroyed a recreational trailer.

Northshore Fire Battalion Chief Steve Hart said firefighters arrived on scene after 9 a.m. at the intersection of Walker Ridge Road and Indian Valley Reservoir Road to find a 38-foot “toy hauler” – used to transport ATVs – on fire.

Two men had traveled from Fairfield with their quad runners and were off riding when “for some unknown reason the trailer caught fight,” Hart said.

The two men and some other witnesses reported it, although Hart said the reporting was complicated by bad cell service in the area.

Hart said Northshore Fire responded with two engines, Cal Fire sent an engine, a helicopter and a fire chief, and Lake County Fire Protection District in Clearlake responded with a water tender.

It took about 15 minutes to knock the fire down, but more than an hour to mop up, with firefighters leaving the scene at 11:30 a.m., Hart said.

Hart said the trailer's owner suffered some superficial burns to his face when the relief valve on the propane tank purged.

“He refused treatment at the scene,” said Hart.

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 .

Firefighters inspect the remains of a burned toy hauler trailer that burned Saturday, January 8, 2011, near Clearlake Oaks, Calif. Photo by Steve Hart.

Kevin Ray Stone, 28, was taken into custody following a brief foot pursuit with Clearlake Police officers, according to a report from Field Training Officer Michael Carpenter.

Shortly after midnight Friday morning Sgt. Rodd Joseph and Officer Andrew Jones

were performing a patrol check of the Clearlake Apartments, located at 7145 Old Highway 53, when they observed a male – later identified as Stone – acting suspiciously, Carpenter said.

When officers approached Stone, he began to walk away from them. Carpenter said the officers ordered Stone to stop, and he disobeyed them and instead ran away.

Carpenter said a foot pursuit ensued and Joseph caught Stone at the apartment complex's playground.

Officers discovered a loaded handgun in the area where Stone was caught. Carpenter said they believe Stone tossed the firearm while attempting to flee from the officers.

Stone is currently on probation and prohibited from owning a firearm, Carpenter said.

Stone was booked into the Lake County Jail on misdemeanors including two counts of violation of a court order and misdemeanor obstructing a police officer; and felonies that included carrying a loaded firearm in public, being a prohibited person possessing a firearm, carrying a concealed weapon and being a prohibited person possessing ammunition, according to jail records.

His total bail was set at $10,000, jail records indicated.

He remained in the Lake County Jail late Friday.

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The new Republican chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee says its time to learn where a lot of those dollars went and to provide better oversight of how VA budgets are shaped and spent.

Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), interviewed before the 112th Congress convened, said his predecessor as chairman, Democrat Bob Filner of California, was inclined to address veterans’ needs with more dollars.

Miller said he will be “more focused on helping to increase resources through efficiencies.”

“This is a huge government agency and there is a mindset within the agency that is hard to change,” Miller said. “But I think we need to focus not only on delivery of services but the cost at which those services are being delivered to the veteran.”

“You know,” he added, “the Department of Veterans Affairs really has grown immune to oversight from Congress. And I hope to reinvigorate the process.”

Like Filner, the 51-year-old Miller is not a veteran. He was a real estate broker and former deputy sheriff before entering politics in Florida.

In fall of 2001, after Joe Scarborough, now a TV personality, resigned his House seat, Miller won a special election to fill it and has represented Florida’s 1st Congressional District in Congress ever since.

It is home to Eglin Air Force Base, Pensacola Naval Air Station and many veterans, which helps explain why Miller has chosen to serve on both the veterans’ affairs and the armed services committees.

He was picked by leadership to chair the VA committee after former ranking member Steve Buyer of Indiana said he would retire, and the next most senior Republican, Cliff Stearns of Florida, tried but failed to gain chairmanship of the energy and commerce committee in the new Congress.

Miller listed closer oversight of VA’s $125 billion budget as his top priority along with, as always, improving delivery of services to veterans.

“The [Veterans] Benefits Administration is woefully behind with a backlog on benefit claims,” he said. “The only way we’re going to be able to solve that is good, strong oversight of the cooperative effort of both VBA and the [VA’s] Office of Information and Technology.”

Some veterans’ service organizations agree that tighter supervision might be timely. One executive at a major VSO pointed to a VA inspector general report last year that found $6.3 million appropriated by Congress to fund traumatic brain injury research had diverted to priorities.

“This could be just one of a multitude of issues considered under the greater oversight role” Miller promises, he said.

Miller referred to “a culture in some areas of the VA system that has got to be brought up into the 21st century.”

For example, he noted lapses in sterilization at the St. Louis VA hospital revealed last year and other incidents involving possible spread of infection.

But the notification process, said Miller, was “done in a very cold, callous way. Folks need to understand we are dealing with human beings who served their country and deserve dignity and respect.”

One issue Miller raised in our interview, as something he wants to expand, worries vet advocates. He wants to allow more veterans to get health care from private-sector doctors and hospitals, at VA’s expense, in situations where VA facilities are inconvenient to use.

In northwest Florida, he said, veterans still must travel to VA facilities in Biloxi, Miss., New Orleans and on to Birmingham, Ala., for care that they could be receiving locally at private hospitals.

“We need to find a way to allow for expansion of veterans use of local medical facilities instead of requiring them to drive great distances … It’s something that Congress has worked on for a number of years but we still don’t have a handle on it,” Miller said. VA should expand fee-for-service exceptions beyond “rural communities.”

That raises alarms for veterans’ groups. They view such a move as a first step toward weakening the VA health care system. They also see it as a threat to VA continuity of care, particular for veterans with multiple health issues, all of which now get tracked and treated by a single system.

But Miller said he worries about older veterans or those with critical health issues having to travel too many miles to get the care the need.

Veterans in his district who need heart surgery, he said, “are required to leave the panhandle of Florida, and there are great cardiac physicians in our community.”

Localizing care would be “a benefit for the doctor to have the patients” near and “for the patients to have their physicians as close as possible, not only for the surgery but in the recovery.”

VA has run some pilot programs, Miller said.

“But I think we need to look at expanding it so that the veteran can receive the care as close to home as possible.”

Vet groups worry that sending more vets to private hospitals and doctors for care will make lawmakers reluctant to fund new VA medical centers and hospitals in areas of rising veteran populations if those areas also have plenty of private physicians and hospital beds.

“So rather than build a $300 million VA hospital,” said one worried advocate, “Congress could easily say ‘Hey, let’s just kind of farm them out to the local community.’ Does that give them the care they deserve through the VA, which is the best care in the world? Does that give the VA system the pool of veterans from which to learn and provide better care? Does that give the VA system the care from which to practice new techniques? No.”

To comment, send e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or write to Military Update, P.O. Box 231111, Centreville, VA, 20120-1111.

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Cinnamon in stick form is pictured with many of the other spices that go well with it. Going clockwise from cinnamon are star anise, nutmeg, cloves, fennel, ginger and cardamom. A vanilla bean rests on the edge of the plate. Photo by Esther Oertel.

Cinnamon – a warming, sweet and exotic spice – is especially appreciated by me during these cold winter months. Its aroma wafting through the house, whether from warm spiced cider, mulled wine or an enticing item in the oven, is especially comforting this time of year.

Cinnamon may be most often thought of as an ingredient for sweet baked treats, but it’s equally as wonderful when it lends its flavor to savory dishes. It’s one of the world’s oldest spices and holds a place of honor in many cuisines.

In Nigeria it’s used to spice yams, in Mexico it flavors mole sauce, in India it’s used in the spice blend garam masala, China’s five spice powder contains it, Greek lamb is flavored with it, the English toss it in rice pudding and in Morocco chicken is cooked with it.

And that’s just a partial list. It’s arguably the most popular spice in the world.

Cinnamon is sold in both powdered and stick form, also known as quills. These pleasantly pungent tubes are made from the inner bark of a tropical evergreen tree. The bark is harvested during the rainy season when pliable, and then dried into curls.

Flakes left over from this process are called featherings and are used to make powdered cinnamon or distilled for extract. Cinnamon trees can yield productive bark for about 45 years.

Cinnamon is native to Ceylon, but is now grown in tropical climates throughout the world, including Java, Borneo, Guyana, the West Indies and South America. Depending on which botanist you speak to, there are between 50 and 250 varieties of the tree.

Cinnamon sold in the U.S. is actually cassia, a relative of true – or Ceylon – cinnamon. Cassia has a stronger, more pungent flavor, while Ceylon cinnamon is subtle and more delicate. For this reason, many favor true cinnamon over cassia.

Other forms of cinnamon include Indonesian cinnamon and Vietnamese (or Saigon) cinnamon.

Cinnamon may be abundant now, but in past centuries it was rare and highly prized. The quest for cinnamon was a major factor in the European exploration of the world. Portuguese sailors braved the trip around the horn of Africa, and – most famously – Columbus sailed to the west.

Because of cinnamon, Ceylon was overtaken and controlled by the Portuguese in the 15th century. By the 17th century, the Dutch had wrested away Portuguese control of Ceylon, and in the following century, the British took it away from the Dutch.

Today cinnamon is cultivated in many tropical areas of the world, leading to a generous supply and making it affordable for most people.

Cinnamon’s history, however, goes back much further than European trade wars.

It was mentioned in Chinese writings as early as 2800 B.C. The Chinese used it medicinally as a treatment for colds, flu and digestive problems.

Cinnamon was an important medicinal spice in other ancient cultures. It was mentioned in the writings of the first century Roman naturalist and philosopher, Pliny the Elder, the Greek physician, Dioscorides, also of the first century, and Theophrastus, a student of Plato and Aristotle who lived in the fourth century.

According to Hebrew Scriptures, Moses used it as an ingredient in his anointing oils. The ancient Egyptians used it to embalm mummies and the ancient Romans burned it during funerals.

Cinnamon has anti-microbial properties, so it has often been used as a meat preservative through history. This property is but one of many benefits cinnamon has been shown to have on our health.

Studies have shown consumption of cinnamon aids in lowering LDL cholesterol, helps regulate blood sugar, relieves arthritis pain, boosts memory, and even helps reduce the proliferation of certain cancer cells.

Like the ancient Chinese, many swear by cinnamon’s effectiveness in combating a cold and use a teaspoon in tea for this purpose.

I love pairing cinnamon with a variety of fruits, including apples, pears, bananas and blueberries. It’s fantastic on winter squashes (including popular pumpkin and butternut) and with yams or sweet potatoes.

I add cinnamon to French toast and pancake batter, sprinkle it on my coffee, spice walnuts or pecans with it, stuff it into apples for baking, and throw the sticks into simmering cider on the stove or into poaching sauce for pears.

I also love to experiment with the ways it’s used in Moroccan, Greek, Indian or Mexican cooking.

Today’s recipe is for a rustic pear tart with a warm spice sauce that I created for a class on cooking with seasonal foods. Cinnamon and pears complement each other well; however, the warm spice sauce can be used in a variety of other ways, including as a sweetener in a warm cup of tea. Enjoy!

Rustic pear tart with walnuts and warm syrup

For crust:

¾ cup all purpose flour

¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour

3 tablespoons sugar

½ teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 large egg yolk

1 tablespoon water

For filling:

3 large ripe pears, peeled, cored, thinly sliced

½ coarsely chopped walnuts

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

For syrup:

1 cup water

1cup sugar

1 cinnamon stick

4 whole cloves

Prepare crust by blending flour, sugar and salt in food processor until combined. Add butter, using on/off turns, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add egg yolk and water, using on/off turns, until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball and flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 40 minutes and up to two days.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Roll out dough between two sheets of parchment paper to 12-inch round. Remove top sheet of parchment and transfer dough, with bottom parchment, to rimmed baking sheet.

Place filling ingredients in large bowl and toss to combine. Spoon pear mixture into center of dough, leaving a 1 ½ inch border. Using parchment as aid, fold up outer edge of dough over edge of filling.

Bake until pears are tender, about 20 minutes. Reduce oven to 325 degrees F and cook an additional 20 minutes, or until pears are tender and juices are bubbling. Allow tart to cool.

Meanwhile, make syrup by simmering ingredients in small saucepan until reduced to about ½ cup and mixture thickens to a syrupy consistency. Typically this takes about 10 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick and cloves from syrup once it begins to thicken.

To serve, cut tart into wedges and drizzle with syrup. If desired, serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Recipe by Esther Oertel / Crust recipe courtesy of www.epicurious.com.

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..

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On Friday the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percentage point to 9.4 percent in December, and nonfarm payroll employment increased by 103,000.

Employment rose in leisure and hospitality and in health care but was little changed in other major industries, the agency reported.

The Friday report showed that the number of unemployed persons decreased by 556,000 to 14.5 million in December, and the unemployment rate dropped to 9.4 percent. Over the year, these measures were down from 15.2 million and 9.9 percent, respectively.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (9.4 percent) and whites (8.5 percent) declined in December.

The unemployment rates for adult women (8.1 percent), teenagers (25.4 percent), blacks (15.8 percent), and Hispanics (13.0 percent) showed little change. The jobless rate for Asians was 7.2 percent, not

seasonally adjusted.

In December, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs dropped by 548,000 to 8.9 million. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little

changed at 6.4 million and accounted for 44.3 percent of the unemployed.

The civilian labor force participation rate edged down in December to 64.3 percent, and the employment-population ratio was essentially unchanged at 58.3 percent.

The number of persons employed part-time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was essentially unchanged in December at 8.9 million. These individuals were working part-time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.

About 2.6 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force in December, little different than a year earlier. These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. The report said they were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the four weeks preceding the survey.

Among the marginally attached, there were 1.3 million discouraged workers in December, an increase of 389,000 from December 2009, the report explained.

The bureau said discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them.

The remaining 1.3 million persons marginally attached to the labor force had not searched for work in the four weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities.

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 103,000 in December. Employment rose in leisure and hospitality and in health care but changed little in other major industries.

Since December 2009, total payroll employment has increased by 1.1 million, or an average of

94,000 per month.

Employment in leisure and hospitality increased by 47,000 in December. Within the industry, job gains continued in food services and drinking places (+25,000). Since a recent low in December 2009, the food services industry has added 188,000 jobs.

In December, health care employment continued to expand, with a gain of 36,000. Over the month, job gains continued in ambulatory services (+21,000), hospitals (+8,000), and nursing and residential care facilities (+7,000).

Within professional and business services, employment in temporary help services continued to trend up in December (+16,000) and has risen by 495,000 since a recent low in September 2009.

Employment in retail trade changed little in December (+12,000). A job gain in motor vehicle and parts dealers (+8,000) offset a loss in health and personal care stores (-8,000). Employment in most other

service-providing industries changed little over the month.

In the goods-producing sector, mining employment continued to trend up in December, reflecting a job gain in support activities for mining (+5,000).

Manufacturing employment changed little over the month (+10,000). Following job growth earlier in 2010, employment has been relatively flat, on net, since May. Construction employment also was little changed overall in December (-16,000). Within construction, there were job losses in heavy and civil engineering (-13,000) and in residential building (-6,000).

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls held at 34.3 hours in December. The manufacturing workweek for all employees declined by 0.1 hour to 40.2 hours, while factory overtime remained at 3.1 hours.

The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour to 33.6 hours.

In December, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 3 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $22.78, the report showed.

Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 1.8 percent. In December, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 2 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $19.21.

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for October was revised from +172,000 to +210,000, and the change for November was revised from +39,000 to +71,000.

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Blake Scroggins of Sutter lifts Charlie Coburn of Upper Lake on his way to a third-period pin to win the 160-pound championship match during the 25th annual Middletown Invitational Wrestling Tournament held in Middletown, Calif., on Friday, January 7, and Saturday, January 8, 2011. Photo by Ed Oswalt.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – With hundreds of matches against dozens of wrestlers in 16 weight classes already in the books, it came down to the final contest of the entire two-day tournament before the Sutter Union Huskies (Sutter, Calif.) eked out the Upper Lake Cougars, 228-225, to take overall team first place in the 25th annual Middletown Invitational Wrestling Tournament held this weekend.

More than 300 raucous spectators packed the steamy Mustang gymnasium to watch 18 schools – including all five Lake county wrestling teams – compete head to head on three simultaneously-running tournament mats all day Friday and Saturday.

“We come here to win this tournament – that’s the bottom line,” fifth-year Cougars coach Ron Campos said of his runner-up wrestlers. “Our goal was to get five guys in the finals, and we got seven – a couple of the kids just stepped up.”

In a nail-biting thriller that was by far the closest match of the tournament finals, Upper Lake’s Ward Beecher secured a one-point escape with just one second left in regulation play to tie Lower Lake’s No. 1 seed Brandon Painchaud at 3-all.

Nick Davison of Upper Lake (above) approaches a pin of Max Campana of Cardinal Newman in the finals of the 140-pound division. Photo by Ed Oswalt.

After neither wrestler prevailed in either the sudden victory period nor the two subsequent tiebreaker periods, Beecher decisively scored a reverse in the final ultimate tiebreaker period to get the 5-3 win for the Cougars and help his team secure the overall runner-up tournament ranking.

Upper Lake had seven wrestlers in the finals – the most of any team in the tournament – and won three of those matches.

“Upper Lake is the top team in the county, in my opinion,” Middletown tournament director Troy Brierly said about the Cougars.

Upper Lake also took the 140-pound weight class, when No. 1 seed Nick Davison pinned Cardinal Newman’s Max Campana in the second period of their finals match.

In the girls' brackets, Upper Lake’s Emily Knispel pinned No. 1 seed Kim Agenbrood (Willits) in the second period to win the 125-145 weight class, and, after leading 2-0 going into the final period, Middletown’s Mary Mann lost to St. Helena’s Jessica Ardizzone 6-2 to finish second in the 108-pound weight class.

Emily Knispel of Upper Lake wins the girls' 125-145 pound division with this pin of Kim Agenbrood of Willits. Photo by Ed Oswalt.

Brierly spoke about the increasing popularity of wrestling for females, citing its new status as an Olympic sport and indicating “girls' participation in this sport has increased tenfold” since then.

According to Brierly, at least five of the 18 teams participating this year in the Middletown Invitational brought girls to compete in two girls-only weight brackets.

“And to be quite honest, I think in 10 years you’re going to see most schools with all-girl teams,” Brierly continued, citing area schools like Ukiah, San Leandro and Hayward that already field all-girl teams.

Among other Lake County school participants, the Clear Lake Cardinals – who finished third overall in tournament team competition with 149 points – competed in three final matches Saturday in Middletown and came away winning two.

Clear Lake No. 1 seed Matt Lockwood pinned Fort Bragg’s Jacob Richards in the first period to win the 171-pound weight class, and Mike Reynolds beat Middletown junior Paul Rogers – the only unseeded wrestler in the tournament to make it to the finals – 4-2 to take home first place in the 189-pound bracket for the Cardinals.

“He’s got a good heart,” Brierly said about the lone Middletown male wrestler to make it to the tournament finals, and noted he beat the bracket’s No. 1 and No. 4 seeds to get there.

Jeffrey Ponce of Kelseyville (wearing orange and black) pinned Jose Arreguin of Willits to take the championship in the 112-pound division. Photo by Ed Oswalt.

Jeffrey Ponce was the only Kelseyville Knight to compete in the finals, and pinned Jose Arreguin (Willits) in the second period of their match to win first place in the 112-pound weight class.

In addition to winning the overall team first place award, Sutter Union took home first place in four weight classes – more than any other team in the tournament – and won two other tournament awards.

“Our kids are doing well,” Sutter Union coach Ryan Reynolds said of his team prior to the start of the finals round. “We’ve got a great group of kids who are hard workers, so it’s awesome to see them be successful; you can’t ask for anything more.”

Sutter’s Justin Gildenmeister shut out Clear Lake’s Robby Hammers 8-0 in the 152-pound weight class final and won the tournament’s heavyweight MVP award, Blake Scroggins pinned Upper Lake’s Charlie Coburn in the third period to take the 160-pound bracket, No. 1 seed Alex Ryan pinned Kelseyville’s Jordan Brown in the first period to win the 215-pound class and Bryce Melani took home the tournament’s “fastest pin” award – nine seconds – and beat Lower Lake’s Cody Torres to win the 275-pound weight class.

Standouts for the Windsor Jaguars included Perez Perez, who beat Upper Lake’s Tony Lopez 13-5 to take first place in the 103-pound weight class, and Andres Torres, who won the lightweight tournament MVP award after pinning Upper Lake’s Travis Coleman in the first period of their final match to take first place in the 119-pound weight class.

In other finals, Ty Stevenson (McKinleyville) dominated Hunter Minton (Sutter Union) 15-0 to win by technical fall in the 125-pound bracket, Esparto’s Steven Juchneiwicz pinned Sutter Union’s Chris Steele at the start of their second period finals match to take the 145-pound bracket and Rio Nance (Willits) took the 130-pound weight class by shutting out Upper Lake’s Robert Simondi 6-0.

Santa Rosa’s Cardinal Newman Cardinals won the tournament’s sportsmanship award.

Saturday’s finals matches were preceded by a dedication ceremony for Middletown’s longtime wrestling coach Dennis Jensen, who started the Middletown wrestling team back in 1982. Starting next year, the tournament will be known as the Dennis Jensen Invitational.

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Middletown High wresting team founder Dennis Jensen (center, with microphone) is surrounded by former Middletown wrestlers and coaches in a ceremony renaming the Mustang Invitational wresting tournament in his honor. Photo by Ed Oswalt.

What's that behind Titan? It's another of Saturn's moons: Tethys. The robotic Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn captured the heavily cratered Tethys slipping behind Saturn's atmosphere-shrouded Titan late last year. The largest crater on Tethys, Odysseus, is easily visible on the distant moon. Titan shows not only its thick and opaque orange lower atmosphere, but also an unusual upper layer of blue-tinted haze. Tethys, at about 2 million kilometers distant, was twice as far from Cassini as was Titan when the above image was taken. In 2004, Cassini released the Hyugens probe which landed on Titan and provided humanity's first views of the surface of the Solar System's only known lake-bearing moon. Photo taken on Jan. 27, 2010. Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, ISS, JPL, ESA and NASA.

“… we are children equally of the earth and the sky.” – Carl Sagan

In sci-fi movies, the first stirrings of life happen in a gooey pool of primordial ooze. But new research suggests the action started instead in the stormy skies above.

The idea sprang from research led by University of Arizona's Sarah Hörst. Her team recreated, in the lab, chemical reactions transpiring above Saturn's largest moon, Titan.

“We're finding that the kind of chemistry an atmosphere can do has intriguing implications for life on Earth and elsewhere in the solar system,” said Hörst. “Titan's skies might do some interesting chemistry – manufacture the building blocks of life.”

Hörst and her colleagues mixed up a brew of molecules (carbon monoxide(1), molecular nitrogen and methane) found in Titan's atmosphere. Then they zapped the concoction with radio waves – a proxy for the sun's radiation.

What happened next didn't make the scientists shout “it's alive!” but it was intriguing. A rich array of complex molecules emerged, including amino acids and nucleotides.

“Our experiment is the first proof that you can make the precursors for life up in an atmosphere, without any liquid water. This means life's building blocks could form in the air and then rain down from the skies!”

Titan is unique in our solar system. Dotted with lakes and dunes and shrouded in a thick atmosphere of nitrogen and methane, it's a frozen time capsule of early Earth. While the liquid on Titan's surface is methane instead of water, it's the only body in the solar system other than Earth with liquid on its surface.

“We didn't start out to prove we could make 'life' in Titan's skies,” explained Hörst. “We were trying to solve a mystery. The Cassini spacecraft detected large molecules in Titan's atmosphere, and we wanted to find out what they could be.”

In hopes of obtaining clues to the mystery molecules, Hörst used computer codes to search the lab results for matches to known molecular formulas. She decided, on a whim, to look for nucleotides and amino acids.

“When I pressed the enter key, I expected a big 'nope, not there.'”

She left for a break, and got a big surprise upon returning.

“The computer was printing out such long lists I thought I must have made a mistake!”

But there was no mistake.

“We had about 5,000 molecules containing the right stuff: carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen. We knew we had the elements for organic molecules, but we couldn't tell how they were arranged. It's kind of like Legos – the more there are, the more possible structures can be made. And they can be put together in many different ways.”

Among the structures identified in the lab experiment so far are five nucleotides found in DNA and RNA, and two amino acids. But she says there could be more amino acids in the mix.

How could Titan's atmosphere generate them?

A window into Titan

“California is facing a huge deficit and it is necessary to find savings throughout all of government We all have to make cuts and I’m starting with my own office,” said Brown.

As part of the $7 million in cuts, Brown's office reported that is administration is returning 84 percent – or $650,000 – of the $770,000 allocated in the 2010 budget for his transition to the state treasury. His administration spent $120,000 on the transition.

The governor also is cutting spending in his office by 25 percent – $4.5 million – in the budget that will go the Legislature on Monday.

His budget also eliminates funding for the Office of the Secretary of Education. This will save the state $1.9 million.

To achieve the 25 percent savings in his own office, Brown is making cuts that include cutting his Washington, DC office staff and press and communications staff; eliminating the position of cabinet secretary and all deputy cabinet secretaries; eliminating the Office of the First Lady; closing the governor’s field offices in San Diego, Fresno and Riverside; and eliminating the Office of the American Reinvestment and the Recovery Act Inspector General six months ahead of schedule.

The 2010 Budget Act included a total of $18 million for the Governor’s Office. After the 25 percent reduction, the total Governor’s Office budget in 2011 will be $13.4 million.

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Caltrans had reported plans for International Surfacing Systems of West Sacramento to complete the pavement repairs on Highway 29 from the Lake/Napa County line to Hidden Valley Road. But the plans were first rained out late last month, then winter temperatures ended the work last week.

Caltrans spokesman Phil Frisbie the plan was to grind down to the main asphalt layer on a 1,000-foot stretch of highway.

“That's an area where the previous asphalt, the open grade asphalt, had been deteriorating,” leaving ruts in the area of tire tracks, Frisbie said.

“Unfortunately the chip seal doesn't fill in very much on those ruts” and they were just covered over, Frisbie said.

The idea with the proposed grinding was to make the ride smoother for drivers in advance of the spring repaving project that Caltrans has promised will take place in response to south county residents' complaints about the large, 1/2-inch aggregate chip seal and its impact on their cars.

Area residents also have argued that the road is no longer safe, as Lake County News has reported.

“I think it's an economic recovery act for the tire shops, because it does wear out your tires faster, there's no doubt about that,” said District 1 Supervisor Jim Comstock, who has been a critic of the work.

Originally, International Surfacing Systems was scheduled to conduct the repairs on Dec. 28 and 29.

However, Frisbie said the repairs were rained out then. They were then rescheduled to Jan. 4 and 5.

But that didn't work out either, with Frisbie reporting that the grinding had been suspended because the temperature had dropped too low to use a “fog seal” to seal the pavement after the grinding.

“Not sealing the pavement would allow gravel on the surface to work loose this winter and create more of a problem for drivers,” he said.

With the temperature not likely to go up before the spring, when the repaving is supposed to take place, Frisbie said all work has been suspended in the area for the time being.

International Surfacing Systems received a total of $2.1 million for the chip seal projects, which took place on 12 miles of Highway 29 from the Lake/Napa County lines to the Coyote Creek Bridge and 8.5 miles on Highway 175 from Cobb to Middletown.

The company would have received additional funds for the repair work, but won't now since the grinding project was canceled, Frisbie said.

In an October meeting with south county residents hosted by Comstock, Caltrans District 1 Director Charlie Fielder had guaranteed that the 20 miles of highway would be repaved.

Frisbie confirmed that the repaving project has funds committed to it from savings on other work.

“Most projects are coming in well under estimates due to competition among the contractors, and these leftover funds are funding additional projects statewide,” he said.

The California Transportation Commission will formally allocate the funds at its meeting on March 23 and 24, Frisbie added.

Comstock said residents of his district still aren't happy with the road work, although they're getting used to it.

He said he found Fielder “upfront,” adding, “he listened and he admitted that there was a problem. And he was the first one who did. Nobody else would.”

Although the grinding didn't happen, the highway was striped, Comstock said. The lack of striping had been another concern for drivers, who were having trouble seeing the lanes on the highway, according to statements at the October meeting.

International Surfacing Systems also is in discussions with the Lake County Air Quality Management District over settling a case involving fines the district assessed against the company for allegedly failing to get the proper air quality permits when conducting the chip seal project, as Lake County News has reported.

Air Pollution Control Officer Doug Gearhart previously estimated that the company's potential liability ranged between $825,000 and $2,475,000 for 33 alleged violations.

Gearhart said last week that he was waiting for the company to respond any day to the settlement agreement, which would allow total fines of less than 10 percent of the total liability.

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The plan calls for massive pollution reductions for the California portion of the river, including a 57 percent reduction in phosphorus, 32 percent in nitrogen and 16 percent in carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand (CBOD).

The plan also calls for annual reductions in the river's reservoirs of more than 120,000 pounds of nitrogen, and 22,000 pounds of phosphorus.

The Klamath River, a federally protected “Wild and Scenic River,” flows 255 miles southwest from Oregon through northern California, and empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Klamath River drains an extensive watershed covering over 12,600 square miles, and has been called the "Everglades of the West.”

The Klamath River and its tributaries support the highest diversity of anadromous fishes of any river in California, including salmon, cutthroat trout, steelhead and sturgeon.

Upstream in Oregon, the river hosts the state's most robust population of redband and bull trout. In 2002, a massive die-off of more than 33,000 salmon brought national attention to this area.

The tribes that live along the Klamath rely on the river for subsistence, transportation and ceremony, as they have for thousands of years. These tribes include the Yurok, Hoopa Valley, Karuk, Quartz Valley and Resighini Rancheria on the lower stretches of the river (California), and the Modoc and Klamath in the upper basin (Oregon.)

Under the Clean Water Act, states and authorized tribes are required to develop a list of waters that do not meet water quality standards.

For these “impaired” waters, jurisdictions must calculate the maximum amount of pollutants allowed to enter them so they can meet water quality standards into the future. These pollution limits are called Total Maximum Daily Loads or TMDLs.

The entire Klamath River is listed as “impaired.” In 1992, the California State Water Quality Control Board (Water Board) proposed that the Klamath River be listed for temperature, organic enrichment/low dissolved oxygen, and nutrients, requiring the development of TMDL limits and implementation plans.

The Water Board subsequently added sediment and microcystin (an algal toxin) to this list for parts of the Klamath. The Klamath River’s aquatic habitat degradation is due to organic enrichment/low dissolved oxygen, excessively warm water temperatures and algae blooms associated with high nutrient loads, water impoundments, and agricultural diversions.

Algal blooms can release toxins, posing moderate to significant health risks. Harmful results range from skin rashes and fevers, to livestock poisoning and liver toxicity.

Since 2004, levels of cyanobacteria and microcystin toxins at several locations on the lower Klamath have exceeded World Health Organization standards.

TMDLs for several water bodies in the Klamath Basin – the Trinity River, Scott River, Shasta River, Lost River, and the Klamath Straits Drain – are also being implemented to address impairments due to excessive pollution.

Reductions vary for each reach of the Klamath River, with the most significant reductions required from Stateline through the Klamath Hydroelectric Project reservoirs.

“This historic Klamath River plan charts the path to restoring one of our nation’s largest, most scenic and biologically important watersheds,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s regional administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “By establishing clear benchmarks and accountability this plan will ensure that Klamath River can thrive long into the future.”

This plan reflects a multi-year collaborative effort to develop pollutant limits for the full Klamath River. A partnership between EPA, California’s North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality began in 2003.

California’s plan received extensive public review and was approved by both the Regional Board and the State Water Board prior to EPA’s approval.

The companion plan for the upper reaches of Klamath River in Oregon was released by Oregon DEQ on Dec. 21, 2010; EPA’s Pacific Northwest region is expected to act on Oregon’s plan in January 2011.

“The Klamath particularly is a troubled river system, and once supported the third largest salmon runs in the nation. Implementation of these Klamath Mainstem TMDLs will go a long way toward helping restore those key salmon runs, and the jobs those salmon once supported,” said Glen Spain of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations.

“It is truly good news that the current round of water quality planning for the Klamath River is complete,” said Catherine Kuhlman, Executive Officer of the North Coast Regional Board. “Now, it’s time for action to reduce water pollution and restore the river in order to enhance the myriad of beneficial uses of the river.”

The state’s plan identifies actions to improve water quality to restore salmon and other fisheries in the River, protect Native American cultural uses and enhance general recreational uses of the Klamath River.

Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality, the Regional Board, U.S. EPA and many other partners are developing a watershed-wide tracking program to increase the pace and reduce the cost of improving Klamath Basin water quality to support all water-related uses in the Basin.

The plan also addresses water quality impacts of the Klamath Hydroelectric Project, establishes a policy to protect thermal refuges (cooler areas in the river that provide critical habitat for fish during high temperatures), and addresses nonpoint sources of pollution such as roads and agriculture.

This action is the culmination of 13 years of state and federal efforts to develop TMDLs for 17 North Coast water bodies. The Klamath River in California is the last of those water bodies in the North Coast covered by a 1997 legal settlement under which EPA and/or the state was to develop TMDLs.

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Previously, uncompensated agents were not liable unless the loss resulted from the attorney-in-fact's bad faith, intentional wrongdoing or gross negligence. That immunity allowed some uncompensated agents to act irresponsibly to the detriment of the principal.

Although an agent appointed under a power of attorney still does not have an affirmative duty to act (unlike a trustee), whenever such agent chooses to act under the power of attorney then the agent must do so prudently and responsibly under the circumstances known to the agent.

Even agents who act without compensation and breach this duty may now be held liable by a court for any loss or depreciation in value of the principal's property resulting from the breach of duty, with interest; for any profit made by the attorney-in-fact through the breach of duty, with interest; or for any profit that would have accrued to the principal if the loss of profit is the result of the breach of duty.

Consider, for example, a son who manages (without pay) his parents’ brokerage account as their agent for financial affairs.

As agent the son makes investment decisions and buys and sells securities using his parents’ money.

Now when the son as agent makes these investments, he is held to a similar standard of care as a trustee responsible for trust investments.

Thus, if the son acts negligently – such as making unsound investments without reliance on an qualified investments advisor – he can be held liable in the ways described above; such as for any loss resulting from a breach of this duty.

How would the negligent agent ever be held liable?

A court proceeding initiated by a petition to impose the liabilities (penalties) would have to be filed. That petition could be filed by the principal, by a subsequent agent or by a subsequent conservator for the estate of the principal.

The court would then hear the facts and circumstances related to the agent’s actions and would then decide whether or not to impose the penalties.

The court has discretion to excuse the negligent attorney-in-fact in whole or in part from liability if the attorney-in-fact acted reasonably and in good faith under the circumstances as known to the attorney-in-fact, if the court finds that it would be fair and just to do so.

Clearly, the purpose of the law is to protect the principal (the parents in my example above) from an unreasonably negligent agent by holding the agent accountable.

An agent is, therefore, well advised to seek relevant professional help to properly undertake any endeavor on behalf of the principal.

Accordingly, if the agent is signing the principal’s tax return, the agent should hire a qualified tax preparer to prepare the tax return.

If is selling real property, the agent should hire a qualified real estate agent to assist in the sale. If the agent is managing investments, the agent should hire a qualified financial advisor.

And, lastly, if when any legal issues arise, the agent should consult a licensed attorney for advice.

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.

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