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May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, and the California Highway aPatrol (CHP) along with its traffic safety partners are reminding all motorists to safely share the road; it may save a life
Following several years of increases, in 2009, the most recent year for which finalized data from the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS) is available, the number of people killed and injured in motorcycle-involved collisions dropped.
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That year in California, 396 people died and 11,488 were injured as a result of a crash involving a motorcycle.
“The drop in overall number of collisions is encouraging, but there is more work to be done,” said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow. “All motorists are reminded to be extra alert when on the road to help keep everyone safe.”
One of the main reasons motorcyclists are killed in crashes is because the motorcycle itself provides virtually no protection in a crash.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, approximately 80 percent of reported motorcycle crashes result in injury or death; a comparable figure for automobiles is about 20 percent.
“Motorcyclists are much more vulnerable than passenger vehicle drivers,” said Robert Gladden, Vice President of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. “In addition to wearing the proper safety gear, especially a helmet that is certified by its manufacturer to meet DOT specifications, riders are encouraged to enroll in a training course.”
The CHP strongly encourages all riders to sign up for the California Motorcyclist Safety Program (CMSP) before beginning to ride.
CMSP offers the Basic RiderCourse for beginning motorcyclists and Basic RiderCourses 2 for riders who are interested in improving their skills.
CMSP expects to train 65,000 motorcyclists per year and operates more than 120 training sites throughout California. To find a location nearest you, go to www.ca-msp.org/.
Committed to developing and promoting traffic safety campaigns that help save lives, the CHP uses educational campaigns as an avenue to reach the public with its motorcycle safety message. These campaigns are made possible by grants from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS).
“Increased awareness by everyone on the road will result in greater safety,” said OTS Director Christopher J. Murphy. “Through the continued efforts of law enforcement, traffic safety organizations on every level and the public, we can extend this downward trend in collisions statewide.”
Helping the CHP spread the word about motorcycle safety awareness to the motoring public is the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). During may, caltrans is set to display an important message, statewide on the agency's changeable message signs: Share the road, look twice for motorcyclists.
“Exercising common sense and courtesy on the road will go a long way in this traffic safety endeavor," said Commissioner Farrow.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County's Red Cross is now a partner with two other counties' chapters, which officials say is drawing on synergy between the groups to accomplish the mission of assisting those in need.
Lake County's Red Cross chapter formally merged with the Red Cross of Sonoma and Mendocino counties last summer, according to Ellen Maremont Silver, the Sonoma Red Cross' director of marketing and communications.
For the five years before that, Lake County had been combined with the Yolo Red Cross after the local independent chapter was closed. Yolo has since been merged into the Capital Region Chapter, officials said.
Tim Miller, chief executive officer of the Red Cross Chapter of Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake Counties, said they are excited to team up.
“The Red Cross nationally had been reorganizing,” said Miller, noting that the combination of the Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake County chapters made sense.
The three-county chapter has its main office in Santa Rosa, with offices in Ukiah and one in Lakeport, at the Lakeport Senior Center, 527 Konocti Ave.
Locally, the Red Cross reported that its primary activities include disaster response, cardiopulmonary resuscitation classes and service to the Armed Forces.
There's also its ongoing mission of raising funds for areas hit by natural disasters, including Haiti and Japan.
A month after the devastating 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11, the American Red Cross reported that its donations for that disasters had reached $103 million
Just in the Lake, Sonoma and Mendocino area, Silver estimates the total will be around $137,000; volunteers are currently counting the donations. That amount doesn't include donations made directly to the American Red Cross or Japanese Red Cross, officials said.
On Friday, Plank picked up a donation from East Lake Elementary School, which raised an estimated $600 in a penny drive the children held for Japan, as Lake County News has reported.
Silver said the vast amount of work done for the Red Cross is accomplished by volunteers.
Miller said the three-county area has about 650 volunteers, most of them prepared to offer disaster services, but some also acting as administrative volunteers. They work both in the Red Cross' office and their homes.
One of Lake County's well-known Red Cross volunteers is Pam Plank, who in 2001 went to New York City to assist in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. She's often on the scene of local incidents, notably leading the effort to set up a shelter in Clearlake Oaks when the 2008 Walker Fire broke out.
Plank helps oversee Lake County's Red Cross volunteers.
“I have a cadre of about 65 people,” she said, with about 10 of those being volunteers who can be called on at any time.
While in the past Red Cross volunteers were called out in major disasters, a new change is in effect as of this year, with more regular trainings and gatherings taking place, Plank said.
Plank said she plans to hold disaster planning meetings for current and prospective disaster volunteers the third Monday of every month so volunteers can be ready for any eventuality. The meetings are held at the Lakeport Senior Center, 527 Konocti Ave.
Silver said Red Cross does many “table drills” with volunteers. Essentially, those are planning exercises to go through how a disaster might be approached.
“They are amazingly effective,” Silver said, noting that it's amazing how the “heart gets pumping” when talking about how to react in such situations. “These are not insignificant practices.”
Miller said that, in addition to the organization's mission of preparation and response, it also offers critical support to families of members of the armed forces.
The Red Cross assists military families by offering referrals to key social services, as well as a military comfort kit and stress management tools. Those services to military families are carried out solely by volunteers, Miller said.
When military families are hit with an emergency situation, the Red Cross also is able to act as official communicator with the military in an effort to get family members sent home when necessary.
“It's a very powerful service,” said Silver.
Plank personally saw this service in action. She was at Camp Pendleton when her grandson was born, and she was able to use Red Cross channels to contact her son's command in Iraq to inform him of the birth of his son.
Miller said that, on the disaster services end of the organization's operations, they respond to between 70 to 100 local incidents annually across the three counties. Many of those are home fires, where the Red Cross offers temporary housing assistance.
In such cases, the Red Cross also offers trained emotional support, as Silver pointed out that losing one's home is very traumatic.
Besides home fires, “There are a whole host of other things that can happen” – from earthquakes and floods to chemical spills, added Silver.
Silver said the Red Cross has open recruitment for volunteers, but it's during disasters that volunteers come to them.
Miller said that as long as the Lake County community supports the Red Cross, “it will be a safer community to lie in.”
Those wanting to donate to the Red Cross can do so at www.arcsm.org, www.redcross.org, can mail donations to the American Red Cross, 5297 Aero Drive, Santa Rosa, CA 95403, or can do so by phone at 707-577-7627.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County's annual burn ban, which addresses fire hazards and air quality, begins Sunday, May 1.
The burn restriction applies to all areas in Lake County. All burn permits expire on April 30.
An annual burn ban was first implemented in 1986 in response to weather conditions that often create extreme fire danger and poor air quality.
For many years a managed approach which incorporates fire and air agency concerns has been implemented and improved upon, according to the Lake County Air Quality Management District.
The ban as implemented allows a quick fire agency response to all fires observed from May 1 onward, as they are all assumed to be uncontrolled fires unless specifically authorized by an exemption for time and place.
County air quality officials credited the program with being a the primary reason for Lake County's superior and healthful air quality.
The air quality management ban also helps prevent smoke impacts to the general public and large planned outdoor events by unrestricted vegetative waste burns.
The burn ban includes all open waste burning, though exceptions are possible for agricultural operations, essential control burns and public safety burns.
To obtain an agricultural exemption, first contact your local fire protection agency so that your burn site can be inspected and evaluated for fire safety.
Only after the fire agency has inspected the burn site and notified the Lake County Air Quality Management District that the proposed burn is fire safe, should community members contact district to establish economic necessity and obtain a written exemption permit.
Anyone responsible for open burning without a valid written exemption permit may be subject to a citation, fines and the cost of the agency response to extinguish the fire.
Burn restrictions will remain in effect until Cal Fire declares an end to fire season.
The public is asked to observe the ban and, in doing so, to help reduce the danger and losses caused by uncontrolled fires, and protect the county's designation as the only air basin in the state to meet all ambient air quality standards.
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Looking for an adventure? Get up in the wee hours of the morning May 6 and head out into the country, far from the city lights. You won't be alone. The birds will be up and singing about the coming dawn, and, of course, about the eta Aquarid meteor shower.
The eta Aquarids are best viewed from the southern hemisphere, but there's something special about them no matter where you live: “Each eta Aquarid meteoroid is a piece of Halley's Comet doing a kamikaze death dive into the atmosphere,” explained NASA astronomer Bill Cooke. “Many people have never seen this famous comet, but on the morning of May 6th they can watch bits of it leave fiery trails across the sky.”
A messenger from the dawn of the universe, Halley's Comet orbits the sun once every 76 years. Each time it swings by the sun, intense solar heat vaporizes about 6 meters of ice and rock from the nucleus.
The debris particles, about the size of sand grains, spread along the comet's orbit, filling it with tiny meteoroids.
“Although Halley's Comet is deep in the outer solar system at the moment and won't return to Earth until 2061, it treats us to a meteor shower twice a year as our planet passes by the debris cloud,” said Cooke. “In May we have the eta Aquarids, and in October the Orionids.”
And there is something especially significant about the 2011 eta Aquarids.
“This is your one chance this year to see meteors blaze across the sky without glaring moonlight dimming them.”
A thin crescent moon will vacate the sky in the early evening, leaving a dark canvas for the display. Early risers are in luck, as the best viewing is an hour or two before dawn. Lie down where you can see as wide an expanse of sky as possible to catch more meteors with your peripheral vision. Look up into the darkness and relax.
The radiant for the eta Aquarids is in the constellation Aquarius: diagram. But you don't need to look toward the radiant to see the meteors.
“Meteors can appear in any part of the sky,” said Cooke. “In fact their trails will tend to point back toward the radiant, so if you look that way the meteor may appear somewhat stubby. They'll appear much longer going by you than coming at you.”
You won't need binoculars or a telescope to observe eta Aquarid meteors. The naked eye's field of view is usually best for seeing meteors, which frequently streak more than 45 degrees across the sky.
“Eta Aquarids are fast, moving at 66 km/s (148,000 mph!), and often trace long paths across the sky, sometimes leaving glowing, persistent trains. In the northern hemisphere, depending on your latitude [the closer to the equator the better], you should see from 10 to 40 meteors just before dawn,” said Cooke.
Remember to pack a reclining chair or an old blanket to lie on, and a thermos of hot coffee would be nice. After all, you'll be up mighty early.
The spring night air may be damp and chill, so bring along another blanket – or better yet, a big furry dog, both for warmth and company. Golden Retrievers work nicely.
It's sure to be a memorable experience. A night breeze caressing your cheek, the aroma of hot coffee in the predawn air, a gently rising chorus of birdsong accompanying your own personal light show – and your greatest admirer by your side. It just doesn't get any better.
On May 5, NASA meteor experts will host an afternoon live Web chat from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Central time and an “up all night” chat from 10 p.m. on May 5 to 4 a.m. on the May6 (Central time).
Get ready to help NASA watch the skies. Join live the Web discussion about this shower – spawned by Halley's Comet – and all things meteoric. Details here: www.nasa.gov/connect/chat/aquarids2011.html.
Dauna Coulter works for the National Aeronautics Space Administration.
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Retitling assets, like stock and bonds, from one’s name into one’s living trust is necessary to avoiding an unnecessary probate of such assets if held outside of the trust.
Sometimes people fail to transfer some or all of their intended trust assets into their trust. A general assignment of assets to one’s living trust provides an important safeguard.
Let’s examine what a general assignment is and how it helps to fund one’s trust and avoid a probate.
A general assignment of assets transfers ownership on a wide variety of assets as the name implies.
An all-encompassing general assignment is regularly used by estate planners to transfer all types of financial assets (excluding tax deferred retirement accounts) and personal property (such as the contents of one’s home) into the trust. It is a half-step towards actually re-titling the securities and the financial accounts into the name of the trustee.
Nevertheless, the settlor should still proceed to contact the banks, brokerages, and stock transfer agents (as relevant) to formally transfer legal title into the name of the trustee.
But, in the event that the formal legal title is not transferred prior to death, the general assignment can be used to obtain a court order to transfer legal title into the trust.
In Kucker v. Kucker, (2011), 192 CA 4th, 90, the Court of Appeal reversed a trial court decision wherein the trial court disallowed a petition to transfer stocks into a trust based on a general assignment of all assets by the settlor to the trustee.
The Court of Appeal agreed with the petitioner that a general assignment of all or substantially all of the settlor’s assets into one’s trust does cause the stocks to be owned by the trustee. An otherwise unnecessary probate was thus avoided thanks to a general assignment by the settlor.
Similarly, a declaration of trust by a settlor to hold certain assets listed on a schedule of pledged assets attached to a trust document can likewise be used to accomplish the same result.
Most attorneys use a schedule of initial trust assets and a general assignment to reinforce one-another.
Moreover, unlike the general assignment, the schedule of trust assets will also include the real estate – together with a full legal description -- for the same reason.
That is, if a trust transfer deed is not properly executed prior to the settlor’s death, then the schedule of initial trust assets to a declaration of trust can be used to petition the court to transfer legal title into the trust without a probate.
While the general assignment and the declaration of trust are important safeguards against the failure to formally transfer title to trust assets while the settlor is still alive and competent, such safeguards are just safeguards.
The better course of action is to see that one’s real estate, stocks and bonds, and financial accounts (and other trust assets) are properly titled in the name of the trustee of one’s trust.
After all, filing a court petition entails further expenses and delay in the administration of the trust that can be avoided.
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
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The report, based on information the association collects from more than 90 Realtor associations and multiple listing services statewide, showed that closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 514,090 units in March.
That amounted to a 3.1-percent month-over-month sales increase, and 1.5-percent over March 2010, the report showed. The association said those numbers aligned with its expectations.
“For the first time in many months, we are seeing a genuine improvement in the overall economy, especially with respect to jobs,” said association President Beth L. Peerce. “However, while interest rates and current home prices are favorable, uncertainty about whether the economy has stabilized, concerns about inflation, and an unresolved state budget have created hesitation among buyers.”
The statewide median price of an existing, single-family detached home sold in California increased 5.4 percent in March compared with February to $286,010, but declined 4.9 percent compared with March 2010’s median price of $300,900.
The decline from the March 2010 numbers can be attributed partly to an increase in distressed sales in recent months, and to last year’s federal home buyer tax credit, which pushed both sales and home prices higher, according to California Association of Realtors Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young.
In Lake County, the report showed that the median home price was $94,170 in March, down from $123,330 in February, a decrease of 23.6 percent, which also constituted the biggest month-over-month value drop in the state for March.
Home prices have dropped 39.2 percent since March 2010, when the median home prices was $155,000, based on the statistics. That 39.2-percent drop also was the largest year-over-year change among the state's counties.
The next county closest in home price was Siskiyou, with a February median home price of $112,500, the report stated.
Marin County had the highest median price statewide, $826,700, a 30.7-percent increase over February's median home price of $632,580 and 4.6 percent above the $790,620 median price reported in March 2010.
Tehama had the highest month-over-month increase, 50 percent, with the February median home price of $83,330 jumping to $125,000.
Lake's unsold inventory index, which calculates how many months it would take to deplete the supply of home son the market, was 7.7 percent in March, down from 8.4 in February but up from 6.9 in March 2010.
Some good news – homes were selling faster in Lake County in March. The median time on the market was 83.9 days, down from 112.8 days in February and also down from 94.3 days in March 2010.
In other findings, the report also showed that the Unsold Inventory Index for existing, single-family detached homes was 5.3 months in March, down from 7.3 months in February 2011, but up compared with March 2010’s 4.8-month supply.
The index indicates the number of months needed to deplete the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate.
Thirty-year fixed-mortgage interest rates averaged 4.84 percent during March 2011, compared with 4.97 percent in March 2010, according to Freddie Mac. Adjustable-mortgage interest rates averaged 3.22 percent in March 2011, compared with 4.20 percent in March 2010.
The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home was 56.7 days in March 2011, compared with 37 days for the same period a year ago, the association reported.
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