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- Written by: Lake County News reports
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A veteran Lake County Sheriff’s deputy has made an important move up in the agency’s ranks.
The sheriff’s office said this week that Deputy Walter White has been promoted to the rank of sergeant.
Lt. Corey Paulich said White is believed to be the first Black deputy to reach the rank of sergeant or above on the patrol side. “We have had at least one on our correctional side.”
The sheriff’s office has 11 sergeants, Paulich said.
Sgt. White is a lifelong Lake County resident and graduate of Lower Lake High School.
He began his law enforcement career with the sheriff’s office as a Correctional Officer in 2006. He was promoted to deputy trainee and graduated from the Santa Rosa Police Academy in 2009.
White completed his field training program and began working as a solo deputy serving the citizens of Lake County in 2010.
During his career he has served as an explorer advisor, peer support member, field training officer, off-highway vehicle enforcement team and crisis response perimeter team.
During White’s promotion ceremony, Sheriff Brian Martin noted, “Sgt. White is a leader in the sheriff’s office and our community.”
Thompson convenes AAPI roundtable to hear from community about recent Anti-Asian sentiment, violence
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- Written by: LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – On Friday, Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) convened a roundtable with Asian American and Pacific Islander leaders from across the Fifth Congressional District to discuss the rise in anti-Asian rhetoric and violence both in the region and across our nation.
He pledged to take their solutions and suggestions to Congress and continue the conversation in order to keep the local AAPI community safe from such hateful racism.
“Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in our community and our nation have been subjected to terrible bigotry and violence in recent months,” Thompson said. “It’s unacceptable and we must take steps to end this hate and bigotry. Today I was honored to hear from AAPI community leaders and deeply thankful to those who shared their stories. Our community must do better than this. Know I am committed to taking the solutions and stories we heard today back to Congress, so we can work to end this and keep our community safe.”
Thompson is a coauthor of several bills to address the rise in anti-Asian hate and violence, including The COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which directs the Attorney General to conduct a Department of Justice review of hate crimes motivated by COVID-19 and issue guidance for law enforcement to address this issue.
He also cosponsored the Hate Crimes Commission Act, which would establish a bipartisan commission to study the rise in hate crimes.
Thompson also coauthored a resolution condemning anti-Asian sentiment and calling on law enforcement to investigate these hate crimes.
Thompson represents California’s Fifth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
Starting April 1, individuals aged 50 and over will be eligible to make an appointment, and individuals 16 and over will be eligible to make an appointment to be vaccinated starting on April 15.
“With vaccine supply increasing and by expanding eligibility to more Californians, the light at the end of the tunnel continues to get brighter,” said Gov. Newsom. “We remain focused on equity as we extend vaccine eligibility to those older than 50 starting April 1, and those older than 16 starting April 15. This is possible thanks to the leadership of the Biden-Harris Administration and the countless public health officials across the state who have stepped up to get shots into arms.”
Based on the current estimates, California expects to be allocated approximately 2.5 million first and second doses per week in the first half of April, and more than 3 million doses in the second half of April. California currently receives about 1.8 million doses per week.
These estimates may be adjusted as time goes on. The state has the capacity to administer more than 3 million vaccines per week, and is building the capacity to administer 4 million vaccines weekly by the end of April.
“We are even closer to putting this pandemic behind us with today’s announcement and with vaccine supplies expected to increase dramatically in the months ahead," said California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly. "However, we are not there yet. It will take time to vaccinate all eligible Californians. During this time, we must not let our guard down. It is important that we remain vigilant, continue to wear masks and follow public health guidance."
In addition to increased allocations of vaccines to providers serving the hardest hit communities, the state has embarked on a series of initiatives to vaccinate those populations that have faced the highest rates of COVID infections before vaccines become available to the entire 16+ population.
These efforts include:
– Provider funding for programs to reach and vaccinate communities facing the biggest health disparities;
– Working with organized labor to reach essential workers;
– Partnering with agricultural organizations and community-based organizations to vaccinate agricultural workers;
– Allowing providers to target by ZIP code via My Turn with single-use codes (scheduled to launch at the end of March);
– Supporting a subset of community-based organizations currently partnering with the state on COVID-19 education to provide direct vaccination appointment assistance;
– Prioritizing currently eligible populations and allowing providers the discretion to vaccinate those who live in high-impact areas (County Healthy Places Index Quartiles 1 and 2), including families.
Even with expanded vaccine supplies, it is expected to take several months for willing Californians to be vaccinated. Based on public information shared by vaccine manufacturers and the federal government, California expects to receive several million vaccine doses per week starting sometime in April.
Along with the expanded eligibility and to align with upcoming federal guidance, California will update its vaccine allocation methodology.
This will transition over four weeks, beginning with the March 22 allocation (delivered to providers the following week), from one based on the distribution of the 65+ population, workers in the agriculture and food, education and child care, and emergency services sectors to one based on the distribution of the 16+ population across California.
This will be done in conjunction with completion of the shift to the state directly allocating vaccines to providers. The state will continue to double the amount of vaccine allocated to the lowest Healthy Places Index (HPI) quartile as announced on March 4.
Forty percent of COVID-19 cases and deaths have occurred in the lowest quartile of the HPI, developed by the Public Health Alliance of Southern California, which provides overall scores and data that predict life expectancy and compares community conditions that shape health across the state.
The rate of infections for households making less than $40,000 per year (5.7) is 84 percent higher than that of households with an income of $120,000 or more (3.1). At the same time, California’s wealthiest populations have received 50 percent more vaccinations when compared to the rate of our most vulnerable populations. This approach recognizes that the pandemic did not affect California communities equally and that the state is committed to doing better.
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- Written by: DENNIS FORDHAM
Estate planning often involves various asset types, such as, real property, tangible personal property, bank accounts, retirement accounts and life insurance.
How each asset type is managed during incapacity and transferred at death to beneficiaries also varies.
Real property, tangible personal property, and bank accounts can be transferred to a trust for lifetime management (in the event of incapacity) and distribution at death outside probate.
California law, under certain circumstances, permits assets omitted from a living trust to be transferred into the trust upon court petition.
Using a so-called, “Heggstad petition” assets titled in a decedent’s name may be retitled to the decedent’s trust.
This requires evidence that the settlor (who created the trust) had intended to transfer the omitted assets to the trust. Evidence can be in the form of a pour over will (leaving all assets in the decedent’s individual name to the trust), an assignment of assets to the trust, and the decedent’s declaration to hold assets in trust.
Next, a will speaks only at death and says who inherits the decedent’s probate assets. In California, probate is required when a deceased resident has an estate whose probate assets have a combined gross value over $166,250 (2020). Thus, people use a living trust to hold title to their real and tangible personal property.
The will, however, does not speak to “non-probate” assets, such as assets in a trust, joint tenancy assets (e.g., financial accounts and real property) that pass to the surviving joint tenant(s), and assets with designated death beneficiaries (e.g., bank accounts, brokerage accounts, retirement accounts and life insurance) that pass to the surviving beneficiaries.
Whether such assets should pass to the surviving joint tenant or designated death beneficiary, however, can be challenged. That is, if there is clear and convincing evidence showing a contrary intention by the decedent.
Such evidence needs to be specific and credible. A will itself can provide clear and convincing evidence that the decedent’s prior designation of a death beneficiary was no longer the person whom the decedent intended to inherit the account.
The fact that a decedent’s estate planning documents (e.g., wills and trusts) can be used to overturn designated death beneficiary forms raises concern. A person may intentionally leave certain financial accounts and real properties outside his living trust or will to different beneficiaries.
Estate planning documents may speak in general terms when discussing the allocation of assets whereas designated death beneficiary forms are very specific.
For example, a wife may name her second husband as death beneficiary on her transfer on death, or TOD, brokerage account but leave other assets in her living trust to her children.
The wife’s living trust may be accompanied by a general assignment assigning all her financial accounts (including brokerages) to her living trust.
That assignment, if executed after she named the husband as the TOD death beneficiary, might be offered by the children as arguable proof that she intended the TOD brokerage account to pass to her children under the trust.
Next, another way that complications may arise is with powers of attorney and joint tenancy bank accounts or when a principal either has more than one power of attorney, has more than one agent under the same power of attorney, or has an agent who is not the same as the joint tenant on a bank account.
Problems may arise if the agents and/or joint tenant(s), as relevant, do not act together in agreement to control the same assets or affairs.
The foregoing general discussion shows the importance of having a knowledgeable estate planning attorney who understands and can address such issues so that they do not later create problems.
Dennis A. Fordham, attorney, is a State Bar-Certified Specialist in estate planning, probate and trust law. His office is at 870 S. Main St., Lakeport, Calif. He can be reached at