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The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the board room at the Kelseyville Unified School District Office, 4410 Konocti Road.
Parents and community members are invited to the meeting to share their input on the site configuration proposals for the 2011-12 school year with the board.
The district reported that the meeting agenda calls for discussion only, with no action.
Previous meetings have taken place on Aug. 12, Sept. 14 and Oct. 5. A district configuration committee also has been exploring the scenarios.
For more information, contact the Kelseyville Unified School District Office at 707-279-1511 or email
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If smoke alarms in homes are more than 10 years old, Cal Fire recommends replacing them as well.
According to a recent survey among more than 1,000 adults commissioned by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), conducted over the phone in September 2010, Americans continue to have misunderstandings about smoke alarms, including how many they need in their homes and how often they should be tested and replaced.
Smoke alarms, when properly installed, give an early audible warning needed to safely escape from fire.
That’s critical because 85 percent of all fire deaths occur in the home, and the majority occur at night when most people are sleeping. Last year, NFPA documented 3,420 home fire deaths nationwide.
“By taking the time to replace the battery in your smoke alarm you help ensure that you have one of the best ways to alert your family should a fire occur,” said Chief Tonya Hoover, acting state fire marshal.
Cal Fire has the following tips on smoke alarms:
Test smoke alarms once a month.
Replace batteries in all smoke alarms twice a year.
Don’t “borrow” or remove batteries from smoke alarms even temporarily.
Regularly vacuum or dust smoke alarms to keep them working properly.
Replace smoke alarms every 10 years.
Don’t paint over smoke alarms.
Practice family fire drills so everyone knows what to do if the smoke alarm goes off.
Find more information visit the Cal Fire Web site at www.fire.ca.gov .
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This article discusses how veterans benefits complicate not only the receipt of SSI/Medi-Cal benefits but the drafting of the special needs trust to preserve such benefits should the veteran receive an inheritance or other windfall.
Receipt of VA compensation and pension benefits each reduce SSI benefits dollar for dollar; but SSI does not reduce such government VA benefits.
Accordingly, if SSI is relied upon as the basis for Medi-Cal eligibility then eliminating SSI benefits due to VA benefits may be counterproductive.
Veterans who receive Medi-Cal to pay for their long term care at a skilled nursing home can also receive any VA Pension benefits as income exempt from share of cost requirements, unless otherwise allocated to their stay-at-home spouse’s needs allowance.
Such VA pension money, therefore, increases Medi-Cal’s meager $30 a month spending allowance, i.e., money which the veteran does not have to spend on his or her nursing home care.
But, if the institutionalized veteran’s VA pension benefits are instead allocated to his or her stay-at-home spouse to meet her income needs allowance, then such VA benefits do count towards satisfying the spouse’s needs allowance.
A special needs trust that satisfy only SSI/Medi-Cal requirements will not suffice to preserve VA pension benefits because VA pension benefits are determined based on different criteria.
To qualify for VA pension benefits, a veteran must have served during wartime, be totally and permanently disabled have limited income, and meet a “net worth” test.
The “net worth” test examines whether the veteran’s income and non-exempt assets alone are sufficient to meet his or her basic needs.
Unfortunately, unlike federal SSI and Medi-Cal regulations, there are no federal rules regarding the VA treatment of trust assets.
It appears, however, that a discretionary special needs trust that further limits the trustee to the trust income to buy goods and services for the beneficiary would work to allow the veteran to continue receiving VA pension benefits in addition to SSI/Medi-Cal benefits.
Accordingly, if relevant, any family with a veteran should examine the connections between eligibility for the VA benefits and the SSI/Medi-Cal requirements.
If a special needs trust is being used, it must be drafted more carefully to preserve the VA pension.
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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KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Residents in the Buckingham community took their concerns about a marijuana growing operation to a sheriff's deputy, and the result was numerous arrests and huge seizures of marijuana on Wednesday.
Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office said a compliance check at an Eastlake Drive home made by members of the sheriff’s Marijuana Suppression Unit resulted in a total of 15 arrests for marijuana and other related charges.
Seized during the raid was 408 pounds of processed marijuana, 820 pounds of unprocessed marijuana plants, and numerous items of evidence of cultivation and sales of marijuana, said Bauman.
The suppression unit also recovered a 9 millimeter semi-automatic handgun that was reported stolen out of San Diego amongst back packs, tents and other camping debris at the address, he added.
Arrested were Bernardo Rivera Corona, 23, of Santa Rosa; Hormisdas Camacho Chino, 36, of Clearlake; Filiberto Camacho Lopez, 23, of Clearlake; Mario Alberto Flores, 29, of Santa Rosa; Humberto Luna Ortiz, 24, of Kelseyville; Marcellino Reyes Perez, 57, of Santa Rosa; Eduardo Mejia Alvarez, 46, of Kelseyville; Ariel Flores Santos, 40, of Santa Rosa; Aldo Figueroa Camacho, 25, of Santa Rosa; Carlos Nunez, 18, of Santa Rosa; Isaias Camacho Chino, 56, of Santa Rosa; Sabas Ramirez Medina, 41, of Santa Rosa; Jorge Lopez Vasquez, 20, of Lower Lake; and Elisandro Nunez Camacho, 18, of Santa Rosa.
They were booked into the Lake County Jail on felony charges of cultivating marijuana, commission of a felony while armed and receiving stolen property, Bauman said. Nine of the men also had immigration holds placed on them.
The homeowner, 60-year-old Benjamin Bizon, was booked on felony charges of cultivation and possession of marijuana for sales, Bauman said.
“The community of Buckingham is putting all drug dealers and pot growers on notice – it won't be in our neighborhood,” said resident Sieg Taylor, one of the community members who took action to notify authorities of what was taking place.
Bill Groody, president of the Buckingham Homes Association, said the issue of marijuana growing at the home had been known to the association's board for some time because of complaints from residents of the 500-home community.
For at least a couple of months, “There was a lot of anxiety building,” said Groody, who said people were reporting seeing individuals with weapons.
Groody also has received reports of as many as five other marijuana grows in and around Buckingham, including one in a large older walnut orchard, where Taylor said a community member was chased off by growers this summer when she was out looking for a missing cat.
The association board began gathering information and was planning to meet with its attorney to take action under its CC&Rs, and other community members had made code complaints. Groody said other community members, like Taylor, contacted the sheriff's office.
Deputy Frank Walsh offered to come to the association's regular monthly meeting on Oct. 26, where Groody said Walsh “got quite an earful” from concerned residents, which spurred further investigation.
Taylor said there were “more people at that meeting last week than there was in a long time.”
Bauman said the Marijuana Suppression Unit had previously detected a relatively small grow at the Eastlake Drive location during an over flight and already had the site listed as a pending compliance check.
Taylor said a neighbor called him when she saw action at the home, and Taylor said he called Walsh to report what was taking place. It wasn't long afterward that the Marijuana Suppression Unit moved to investigate the residence, he said.
Bauman said it was at 10:50 a.m. Wednesday that detectives went to the residence to check the grow for compliance.
After detecting an obvious odor of processed marijuana in the area and getting no answer at the door, detectives went to the back door of a garage where they had heard voices and were greeted by Hormisdas Camacho Chino, Bauman said.
Inside the garage, detectives located two more male adults – Bernardo Rivera Corona of Santa Rosa and Filiberto Camacho Lopez – who Bauman said were apparently in the process of packaging more than 200 pounds of processed marijuana, 52 pounds of which had already been packaged into one-pound bags.
While the three men in the garage were detained, detectives checked the grow they had previously identified from the air, located about 25 yards behind the residence, Bauman reported.
There, a total of 11 more male adults were found in the small grow in the process of cultivation and were immediately detained. Bauman said the grow consisted of about 30 standing plants, but appeared to have had about 50 plants originally.
Bauman said the unit called additional patrol resources to the scene to assist with arrests, while a search warrant was obtained for the premises.
As arrests were being made, Bizon, the homeowner, drove up and was detained. Bauman said Bizon had two medical marijuana cards but allegedly could not account for the excessive amount of processed marijuana found on the property.
Bauman said investigators believe the Eastlake Drive property was used to package processed marijuana from other gardens, since the small grow found on the property could not have produced the amount of marijuana recovered from the site.
“I have the highest praise for the sheriff's department, the way they moved quickly,” said Groody, who gave Walsh credit for doing an “extraordinary job.”
He suggested it was an example of community activism at its best, with a group of highly motivated citizens working with law enforcement. “I'm extremely proud of the community.”
After he heard that a stolen gun was found at the residence, Taylor said, “We need to stop this,” adding that he wants his community to be safe and to feel safe.
Groody said Walsh has offered to appear at another of the association's monthly meetings.
“He offered to brief the community on this raid and what went on, and also he's got a slide presentation that he's going to do,” said Groody.
Groody added, “I think the more people are aware of this, the better off the community is.”
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
LAKEPORT, Calif. – As the fall season is developing, so are the buds on the chrysanthemum plants that are being grown by many members of Clear Lake Trowel & Trellis Garden Club (CLTTGC) in preparation for the group's annual chrysanthemum show.
The show will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 12, at the Lakeport Yacht Club, next to the Fifth Street boat ramp in Lakeport. The event is free and open to the public.
The theme for this year’s show is “Memories & Mums,” with all floral arrangements to be created around this theme.
Refreshments of cookies and cider will be available for your enjoyment as you enjoy the show.
Growing mums is an all-year process. Charter member, Carol Kesey, has been sharing her plants and her knowledge of mums with members.
There are many varieties: incurve, reflex, decorative, pompom, single, semi-double, anemone, spoons, quill, spiders, brush and thistle, exotic or unclassified, gnomes, cascades, and garden cushion.
CLTTGC held judged chrysanthemum shows for many years. This is the third year members held a non-judged show – just for the pure joy of enjoying these beautiful flowers with all the varieties and share them with our community.
The flowers will be presented in the form of floral arrangements and also single stems.
Clear Lake Trowel & Trellis Garden Club meets at on the third Tuesday of the month at noon at Scotts Valley Women’s Clubhouse, 2298 Hendricks Road in Lakeport. Visit the group's Web site at www.clttgc.org.
CLTTGC is a member of Mendo-Lake District, California Garden Club Inc., Pacific Region and National Garden Clubs Inc.
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WASHINGTON, DC – NASA's EPOXI mission spacecraft successfully flew past comet Hartley 2 Thursday morning, and scientists say initial images from the flyby provide new information about the comet's volume and material spewing from its surface.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said images taken and other science collected should help reveal new insights into the origins of the solar system as scientists pore over them in the months and years to come.
“This mission represents one of NASA's most successful deep space exploration projects,” Bolden said.
Ed Weiler, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate at the agency's Headquarters in Washington, D.C., said of the flyby, “This was really an exploration moment, seeing something no one on Earth had ever seen before.”
EPOXI principal investigator Michael A'Hearn of the University of Maryland, College Park, said early observations of the comet show that, for the first time, scientists may be able to connect activity to individual features on the nucleus.
“We certainly have our hands full. The images are full of great cometary data, and that's what we hoped for,” A'Hearn said.
EPOXI is an extended mission that uses the already in-flight Deep Impact spacecraft. Its encounter phase with Hartley 2 began at 4 p.m. EDT on Nov. 3, when the spacecraft began to point its two imagers at the comet's nucleus. Imaging of the nucleus began one hour later.
The comet zoomed past the spacecraft at a relative speed of more than 27,000 miles per hour, NASA reported.
“The spacecraft has provided the most extensive observations of a comet in history,” said Weiler. “Scientists and engineers have successfully squeezed world class science from a re-purposed spacecraft at a fraction of the cost to taxpayers of a new science project.”
Images from the EPOXI mission reveal comet Hartley 2 to have 100 times less volume than comet Tempel 1, the first target of Deep Impact. More revelations about Hartley 2 are expected as analysis continues.
Initial estimates indicate the spacecraft was about 435 miles from the comet at the closest-approach point. That's almost the exact distance that was calculated by engineers in advance of the flyby.
“It is a testament to our team's skill that we nailed the flyby distance to a comet that likes to move around the sky so much,” said Tim Larson, EPOXI project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. “While it's great to see the images coming down, there is still work to be done. We have another three weeks of imaging during our outbound journey.”
Said Bolden, “EPOXI is a wonderful example of the strong collection of NASA science missions we have coming up in the next few years that will enable us to visit destinations across the solar system in new and exciting ways, look through new windows out across our vast cosmos, and expand our understanding of our own home planet. Our increased investment in science will continue to yield valuable dividends for the future.”
The name EPOXI is a combination of the names for the two extended mission components: the Extrasolar Planet Observations and Characterization (EPOCh), and the flyby of comet Hartley 2, called the Deep Impact Extended Investigation (DIXI).
The spacecraft has retained the name Deep Impact. In 2005, Deep Impact successfully released an impactor into the path of comet Tempel 1.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the EPOXI mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate.
The spacecraft was built for NASA by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colo.
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