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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Beginning Monday, March 11, the Lake County Community Development Department is reducing the amount of time that planners will be available for public inquires at the counter or over the phone.
Planners will be available to the public between the hours of 10 a.m. and noon and 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.
All other Community Development Department functions, including Building Division and Code Enforcement activities, will remain available to the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The reduction in availability of Planning Division staff to the public is being initiated in order to integrate part of the Code Enforcement program work into the Planning Division, and also to allow the existing staff to be able to expedite projects that will contribute to job creation and economic development.
Availability will be regularly evaluated based on staffing resources and increasing demand for services.
The department is located on the third floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
For additional information please visit www.co.lake.ca.us/cdd or contact the Lake County Community Development Department at 707-263-2221.
It’s among the most ancient of questions: What are the origins of life on Earth?
A new experiment simulating conditions in deep space reveals that the complex building blocks of life could have been created on icy interplanetary dust and then carried to Earth, jump-starting life.
Chemists from the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Hawaii, Manoa, showed that conditions in space are capable of creating complex dipeptides – linked pairs of amino acids – that are essential building blocks shared by all living things.
The discovery opens the door to the possibility that these molecules were brought to Earth aboard a comet or possibly meteorites, catalyzing the formation of proteins (polypeptides), enzymes and even more complex molecules, such as sugars, that are necessary for life.
“It is fascinating to consider that the most basic biochemical building blocks that led to life on Earth may well have had an extraterrestrial origin,” said UC Berkeley chemist Richard Mathies, coauthor of a paper published online last week and scheduled for the March 10 print issue of The Astrophysical Journal.
While scientists have discovered basic organic molecules, such as amino acids, in numerous meteorites that have fallen to Earth, they have been unable to find the more complex molecular structures that are prerequisites for our planet’s biology.
As a result, scientists have always assumed that the really complicated chemistry of life must have originated in Earth’s early oceans.
In an ultra-high vacuum chamber chilled to 10 degrees above absolute zero (10 Kelvin), Seol Kim and Ralf Kaiser of the Hawaiian team simulated an icy snowball in space including carbon dioxide, ammonia and various hydrocarbons such as methane, ethane and propane.
When zapped with high-energy electrons to simulate the cosmic rays in space, the chemicals reacted to form complex, organic compounds, specifically dipeptides, essential to life.
At UC Berkeley, Mathies and Amanda Stockton then analyzed the organic residues through the Mars Organic Analyzer, an instrument that Mathies designed for ultrasensitive detection and identification of small organic molecules in the solar system.
The analysis revealed the presence of complex molecules – nine different amino acids and at least two dipeptides – capable of catalyzing biological evolution on earth.
The research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the Mathies Royalty Fund at UC Berkeley.
Robert Sanders writes for the University of California, Berkeley News Center.
Most people are aware of general conservatorships. These take away the conservatee’s (conserved person’s) power to make decisions affecting their assets, finances and/or health care and living arrangements.
A general conservatorship protects those unable to make such decisions, or to protect someone who is generally unable to resist fraud or undue influence.
For example, a person suffering from severe dementia who cannot take care of everyday living needs might need to be conserved.
A limited conservatorship, however, applies only to developmentally disabled persons. People who in many ways may be able to take care of themselves, but who in other ways need assistance, “to promote and protect [their] well-being … .”
Normally the parents (or siblings) petition to become the limited conservator. Parents typically want to continue to make decisions affecting their child’s health care, living arrangements and education even after their child becomes an adult.
Where no one steps forward, the regional center may itself be appointed as the limited conservator. In an emergency, if a conservatorship were not in place, the director of the local regional center has the authority to make health care and living arrangement decisions for their developmentally disabled client.
What does “developmentally disabled” mean? “Developmental disability means a disability that originates before an individual attains 18 years of age, continues, or can be expected to continue, indefinitely, and constitutes a substantial handicap for the individual.”
It specifically includes intellectual disability, autism, cerebral paulsy, and epilepsy which occurred before age 18.
Also included are handicaps which either are similar to intellectual disability or are similarly treated. However, mental disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety etc.) and handicaps which are solely physical in nature (e.g., brain trauma) are excluded.
Developmentally disabled persons, who are diagnosed prior to age 18, qualify for assistance at their community’s regional center.
Regional centers are non-profit community organizations which contract with public and private service providers.
Collectively these services and supports are supposed to be, “sufficiently complete to meet the needs and choices of each person with developmental disabilities, regardless of age or degree of disability, and at each stage of life and to support their integration into the mainstream life of the community.”
Similarly, a limited conservatorship serves to assist, “the development of maximum self-reliance and independence of the [developmentally disabled] individual.” Thus, unlike a general conservatorship where the conservatee loses substantially all rights, the limited conservatee retains, “all legal and civil rights except those which by court order have been designated as legal disabilities and have been specifically granted to the limited conservator.”
Thus, only those rights affected by the developmentally disabled person’s own particular inabilities are transferred to the conservator.
Identifying those areas where a limited conservatorship is appropriate becomes the focus of the court proceedings.
Generally speaking, the local regional center is involved with every petition. The regional center assesses the specific areas, nature, and degree of the person’s disability and reports its assessment to the court. The court is not bound by the assessment, but usually gives it great deference.
The powers which may, as necessary, be transferred to the limited conservator fall into seven categories: (1) determining where the conservatee resides; (2) accessing confidential records; (3) consenting or refusing permission to marry; (4) entering into contracts on behalf of the conservatee; (5) making medical decisions; (6) controlling the persons social and sexual relationships; and (7) making decisions regarding education.
A limited conservatorship can only take effect once the person turns age 18. Accordingly, it is desirable to petition the court around 3 months prior to the person’s 18th birthday. That way the conservatorship can take effect once the person turns 18.
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
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office has issued a report on a Middletown bank robbery on Thursday, and officials believe the same suspect was responsible for robbing another bank in the town last week as well as targeting North Bay banks.
Sheriff’s deputies responded to Tri Counties Bank, located at 21097 Calistoga Road, shortly after 4:30 p.m. Thursday on the report of a robbery, according to sheriff’s Lt. Steve Brooks.
Brooks said bank employees reported that a male subject walked into the bank and asked the teller to make change for a $10 bill. When the teller turned to make change the suspect handed a note to the teller that demanded the teller give him all of the large bills.
There was no mention of a firearm by the suspect, nor was one displayed, Brooks said.
The suspect obtained an undisclosed amount of money from the teller and then walked out of the bank. Brooks said the suspect was last seen getting into a gold- or champagne-colored four door sedan and driving toward Highway 175.
The suspect was described by bank employees as being a white male adult, heavy set, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and black framed glasses with clear lenses, according to Brooks.
Brooks said numerous sheriff’s deputies, detectives and crime scene investigators responded to the scene. They conducted an extensive search of the area but did not locate the suspect.
Based on the investigation so far, Brooks said it’s believed that the Tri Counties robbery suspect is the same man who entered the same bank on Thursday, Feb. 27, to obtain change for a $100 bill before robbing the nearby Westamerica Bank less than an hour later.
During the Westamerica Bank robbery, the suspect also asked the teller to make change for a $100 bill before giving the teller a note demanding money and indicating that he had a firearm, although Brooks said no firearm was seen at that time either.
Brooks said detectives were able to obtain additional photographs of the suspect as well as the vehicle he was driving on Feb. 27.
The same suspect also is believed to have been responsible for several bank robberies around the North Bay area, according to Brooks.
Brook said the investigation is ongoing and anyone who may have information regarding this case is encouraged to contact the Lake County Sheriff’s Office at 707-263-2690.
COBB, Calif. – A 3.3-magnitude quake was reported in the Cobb area late Thursday night.
In a preliminary report the US Geological Survey said the quake occurred at 11:59 p.m.
It was centered four miles south of Cobb, 14 miles south southwest of Clearlake and 12 miles northeast of Healdsburg, and was recorded at a depth of 1.2 miles, the survey said.
Initial shake report were submitted to the US Geological Survey from residents in Middletown, Calistoga and Healdsburg.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Just as trees across the state are beginning to blossom for spring, California’s Arbor Week is highlighting the importance trees have on communities and their residents.
On Thursday, Gov. Edmund G. Brown proclaimed the start of California Arbor Week, and to kick off the celebration, officials from Cal Fire and California ReLeaf, an organization working to preserve, protect and enhance California’s urban forests, announced the winners of the statewide Arbor Week poster contest.
“Arbor Week is a time when we encourage tree planting in our neighborhoods and teach our children the value trees have on life,” said Chief Ken Pimlott, Cal Fire director. “We were so excited to see so many school children show their understanding of the value of trees through their creative artwork.”
Students from across California in grades third, fourth and fifth were asked to create original artwork based on the theme “The Trees in my Community Are an Urban Forest.” More than 800 posters were summited.
This year’s poster contest winners were third grader Priscilla Shi from La Rosa Elementary School in Temple City; fourth grader Maria Estrada from Jackson Elementary School in Jackson; and fifth grader Cady Ngo from Live Oak Park Elementary School in Temple City.
One of the third grade entries was so unique and artful that a new award category was added – the Imagination Award.
Bella Lynch, a third grader at West Side School in Healdsburg was given the special recognition award to recognize the talent and creativity of this young artist.
During an event unveiling this year’s Arbor Week Poster contest winners at the California State Capitol, Pimlott, who also acts as the state’s forester, stressed why Arbor Week is so significant, “Trees are an essential part of California’s climate and are vital to improving air quality and conserving water, and we must take every step possible to protect our state’s valuable natural resources.”
“Trees make California’s cities and towns great. It’s that simple,” said Joe Liszewski, executive director for California ReLeaf, the organization spearheading California Arbor Week activities. “Everyone can do their part to plant and care for trees ensuring that they are a resource long into the future.”
California Arbor Week runs March 7-14 every year. To view this year’s Arbor Week poster contest winners as well as photos from the Thursday event visit www.fire.ca.gov .
For more on Arbor Week visit www.arborweek.org .