LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Some people have the wrong idea about hospice care. They think that hospice is only about dying and that hospice is the place you go when there’s nothing more to be done.

However, that’s not true. Hospice helps people with a life-limiting illness focus on living as fully as possible for as long as possible.

Hospice Services of Lake County is working to help people understand that hospice brings comfort, dignity, and peace to people facing a terminal illness.

Hospice provides support and care for the family, loved ones and caregivers, too.

Last year, 1.65 million dying Americans were cared for by hospice. Yet, there are some important facts about hospice that people don’t know. And this may be keeping people from getting the best care possible, when they need it most.

Here are some key facts.

Hospice is not a place – it’s high-quality care that focuses on comfort and quality of life.

Hospice is paid for by Medicare, Medicaid, and most insurance plans. Fear of costs should never prevent a person from accessing hospice care.

Hospice serves anyone with a life-limiting illness, regardless of age or type of illness.

Hospice pays for all prescriptions and medical supplies related to the life-limiting condition.

Hospice provides expert medical care as well as spiritual and emotional support to patients and families.

Research has shown that the majority of Americans would prefer to be at home at the end of life – hospice makes this possible for most people.

Hospice serves people living in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

Hospice patients and families can receive care for six months or longer.

A person may keep his or her referring physician involved while receiving hospice care.

Hospice offers grief and bereavement services to family members to help them adjust to the loss in their lives.

Research has shown people receiving hospice care can live longer than similar patients who do not opt for hospice.

If this information about hospice surprises you, take the time to find out more. The best time to learn about hospice is before you or someone in your family is facing a medical crisis.

For a confidential, no-cost informational consultation call 707-263-6222.

Christine Hutt is marketing coordinator for Hospice Services of Lake County, Calif.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – With more people filing their taxes online, fewer are mailing their returns through the U.S. Postal Service.

With the decrease in demand for postal services at tax time, most North West California Post Offices will be open normal hours on April 15.

This year, tax day or the last day to file your 2012 federal and state tax forms without requesting an extension is Monday, April 15.

All tax filers are urged to plan well in advance of April 15, or they risk missing the midnight deadline.

Waiting until the last minute is usually not a good idea. Rushing can cause mistakes and the most common errors Americans make are not including enough postage and not providing the correct IRS mailing address.

Other common mistakes according to the IRS: Social Security Numbers are wrong or left off, math errors and forgetting to attach forms and schedules, i.e., W-2s, 1099s, etc.

To help ensure a successful tax season for its customers the US Postal Service offers the following tax mailing tips:

• Apply proper postage and stamps, especially with extra forms/schedules. It costs 46 cents for the first ounce; 20 cents for each additional ounce. (One ounce is about four pages).
• If you use a non-IRS labeled envelope, make sure you print the proper IRS address.
• Print your return address in the upper-left-hand corner of your tax mail envelope.
• Customers who wish certification that their tax mail form is received by the IRS should mail it using Certified Mail Service/Return Receipt, which is available at your local Post Office.
• While encouraged to mail before April 15, if you do wait until late on Tax Day be sure to drop off your tax mail return at a Postal Service location that offers late tax mail pick-up.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Star Chapter 442 will hold its first spring chapter ride of this year on Saturday, April 13.

The group will meet at Hillside Honda, 460 S. Main St. in Lakeport at 9 a.m. Kickstands go up at 10 a.m.

They will take a ride over Cobb Mountain and down through Pope Valley, stopping for lunch in St. Helena.

After lunch they will travel back to Lake County over Mount St. Helena.

All motorcycles and new riders are welcome.

Visit the chapter on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Star-Chapter-442/146399068773126 .

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Flotilla 88 of Lake County, will meet the third Saturday in April instead of the usual fourth Saturday.  

The meeting will be held beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 20, at the Konocti Bay Sailing Club building, located at Braito's Marina at the end of the Buckingham Peninsula in Kelseyville.  

On the agenda will be the Flotilla's part in assisting at the Konocti Bay Sailing Club's Annual Regatta scheduled for April 27. Also, activities planned for National Safe Boating Week will be discussed.  

The meeting is open to anyone 17 years or older who would be interested in joining this active group.  

For additional information, call the flotilla's information line at 707-513-5122.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The city of Lakeport’s Marijuana Cultivation Ordinance Committee will meet on Wednesday, April 10.

The meeting will begin at 4 p.m. at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.

Agenda items include a review of the notes from the March 20 committee meeting, a review of the revised draft ordinance, next steps and scheduling of the next meeting.

The committee includes Lakeport residents and city staff. At the Lakeport City Council’s Feb. 5 meeting, it directed the group to produce a revised draft of a staff-produced document meant to govern medical marijuana grows within the city limits.

For more information contact Planning Services Manager Andrew Britton, telephone 707-263-5613, Extension 28, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Two "daybooks," the records of daily transactions in general stores in Middletown in 1886 and 1894, will be on display at the open house of Hidden Valley Lake's historic Stone House on Saturday, April 13.

Because the daybooks are so rare and so fragile, they are rarely available to the public.

The earliest is believed to show transactions recorded by Wirt and Baxter Young, eldest of the three sons of Charles M. Young, one of the founders of Middletown and builder/owner of the famed Lake County House hotel.

The Youngs owned a general store from the time of the town's founding in 1872 until about 1898.

The "newer" 1894 book records the sales and purchases of a store owned by Burmister & Lewis.

Few mentions of these two early pioneers have been unearthed as yet.

George Samuel Burmister, age 30, and Chester Orlando Lewis, 39, are listed in the 1866-1898 register of voters, both as native Californians and as clerks in Middletown.

Stone House, the oldest building in Lake County, will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 13. Non-HVL residents may enter Hidden Valley at the Hartmann Road gate.

Further information is available at 707-987-2349 or 707-987-7370.