It is better to rely on one's trust when possible.

In the event of one’s incapacity or death, assets held in a living trust can be controlled much more reliably than assets outside of a trust.

Let us examine why it is better to rely primarily on one’s trust rather than to rely on on one’s power of attorney and will as the primary tools in one’s estate plan.

If you should become unable to manage your financial and property affairs a power of attorney does not afford you the same protections as a trust.

To begin with, many banks, insurance companies and title companies insist upon their own in-house power of attorney and are reluctant to accept an attorney drafted power of attorney or even a California statutory power of attorney.

That's unless the power of attorney specifically says that it applies to the financial accounts in question or the drafting attorney convinces them to accept the power.

Thus a generally worded power of attorney that provides general authority is often not readily accepted. Such reluctance is particularly frequent nowadays due to the prevalence of financial elder abuse.

As the owner in charge of the trust estate, a successor trustee, on the other hand, has more authority and power to manage the assets inside the trust.

A trustee can rely not only upon the authority granted in the trust but also the authority granted under California statute.

The trustee’s greater authority is particularly relevant when dealing with mortgages, lines of equity, insurance, related to trust owned real estate, and the sale of real property trust assets.

For anyone using their equity in their homes to balance their finances it is particularly reassuring to know that such financing can be managed by the trustee.

Moreover, a well-drafted trust typically provides more flexibility to the trustee than are provided to an agent in most powers of attorney.

A trust can authorize the trustee to use his or her own discretion when addressing unforeseen circumstances.

For example, consider a trustee who is authorized to allow family members to reside in a residence owned by the trust.

The trustee may have absolute discretion under the trust to allow such persons to reside there so long as such family members are getting along with each other and are respecting the residence.

Nevertheless, the power of attorney and the will are still each very much necessary.

A well-drafted power of attorney is indispensable to controlling retirement accounts, Social Security income and legal affairs as these are nontransferable to a trust.

A will is necessary to control who inherits any assets held in one's name – including vehicles and checking accounts – at time of death.
   
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 870 S. Main St., Lakeport, California. Fordham can be reached by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by phone at 707-263-3235. Visit his Web site at www.dennisfordhamlaw.com .

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – State Sen. Mike McGuire’s groundbreaking legislation creating an all-encompassing regulatory framework for the medical marijuana industry passed off the Senate floor Thursday morning with significant support.

“This critical legislation will finally provide Northern California and North Coast communities‎ – along with medical marijuana cultivators – the regulations and resources they need to address the impacts of this multi-billion dollar industry,” McGuire (D-Healdsburg) said. 

The majority of all marijuana grown in the United States comes from McGuire’s Northern California District, which includes Lake County.

Since the voters of California passed Prop 215 in 1996, Medical Marijuana cultivation and consumption has exploded, both here in the Golden State and around the country. 

Aside from local zoning regulations, this legal, multibillion-dollar industry is virtually unregulated in the state of California.

For two decades now, the state has allowed this industry to grow – for the most part, unchecked – and communities, the environment and the public’s health has been severely damaged or is at serious risk, McGuire reported.

McGuire’s bill, SB 643 – the Medical Marijuana Public Safety and Environmental Protection Act – provides a regulatory framework for the industry covering the issues of environmental protection and water regulations, law enforcement, licensing, public health related to edibles and product testing, to marketing, labeling, taxing, transporting, zoning, local control and re-sale. 

This bill is only focused on medical marijuana and does nothing to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.

“Voters passed Prop 215 nearly 20 years ago and the promised rules and regulations from the legislature were never implemented and our communities and environment are now paying the price. Our state’s forests are being sacrificed and rivers are literally running dry due to the state’s impotent approach to regulating marijuana. This is the year to take action and finally solve the problems that have been plaguing our communities for decades,” McGuire said.

Without regulation, illegal water diversions from rogue marijuana grows are devastating watersheds, and the added impact of the state’s historic drought means entire rivers and streams are being sucked dry. 

Rogue operators have cut down thousands of acres of Northern California forests illegally without regard for the environment, neighboring communities, downstream farms, or endangered species.

In addition, tens of thousands of pounds of pesticides, rodenticides and fertilizers have been dumped into watersheds that flow through Northern California communities. Rogue marijuana grows are the number one source of sediment and nutrient load in Northern California rivers.

On the North Coast, many of the medical marijuana growers are managing small family farm operations and are eager to comply with potential new regulations. SB 643 would provide a legal framework for those farmers who are working with McGuire on this important legislation.

SB 643 would create a statewide comprehensive regulatory program for medical marijuana, preserving local control of licenses and applications, and protecting the environment from illegal trespass grows that dump pesticides and illegally divert millions of gallons of water from rivers and streams.

SB 643 already passed the Senate Business and Professions Committee and the Senate Governance and Finance Committee and will now move to the Assembly.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A candlelight vigil for a young woman killed late last month in a drunk driving crash took place Wednesday evening at Library Park in Lakeport. 

Approximately 150 people attended the gathering to pay respects to Francesca Schetter, 19, who was killed in the solo vehicle wreck on May 22 near Lakeport.

The vigil also sought to raise awareness about drunk driving. 

Friends, family and acquaintances shared memories of Schetter and personal tales with the assembled crowd, and implored people not to drink and drive or ride with inebriated drivers.

Schetter was riding as the passenger in a 1997 Honda Civic driven by 21-year-old Lakeport resident Nicholas Ivicevich when the crash occurred, the CHP said.

Ivicevich was arrested at the scene on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol before he was flown to a regional trauma center. 

He has since been booked into the Lake County Jail, where he remains with bail set at $250,000, according to jail records.

At the site of the crash, Schetter's friends have set up a memorial with flowers, candles and other items.

A video of the vigil can be seen above.

Email John Jensen at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

In a new study, scientists have gathered all available NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope data on the four outer moons of Pluto to analyse the system in more depth than ever before.

The observations show that at least two of Pluto’s moons are not neatly rotating on their axes but are in chaotic rotation while orbiting around Pluto and its companion Charon.

The study also hints that one of the moons has a mysterious jet-black colouring. These surprising results appear in the June 4 issue of the journal Nature.

Almost every moon in the Solar System, including our Moon, rotates on its axis at the same speed as it orbits its parent body.

It is for this reason that we always see the same side of the Moon facing us on Earth. On Pluto, however, astronomers have now discovered that there are no hidden sides to its moons.

In a surprising new study, it has been found that two of Pluto’s moons, Nix and Hydra, are in a chaotic rotation. This means that an observer on Pluto would not see the same face of the moons from one night to the next.

For visitors on the moons themselves, things would get even more confusing, as every day would be a different length to the one that preceded it.

The other two moons studied, Kerberos and Styx, will likely be found to be chaotic too, pending further study.

“Prior to the Hubble observations, nobody appreciated the intricate dynamics of the Pluto system,” said Mark Showalter of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute in California, USA, main author of the study.

The chaotic motion of the moons is caused by the system’s two central bodies, Pluto and Charon.

“These two bodies whirl around each other rapidly, causing the gravitational forces that they exert on the small nearby moons to change constantly,” explained Doug Hamilton, co-author of the study. “Being subject to such varying gravitational forces makes the rotation of Pluto’s moons very unpredictable. The chaos in their rotation is further accentuated by the fact that these moons are not neat and round, but are actually shaped like rugby balls!”

The movement of the moons in the Pluto–Charon system offers valuable insights into how planets orbiting a double star might behave.

“We are learning that chaos may be a common trait of binary systems,” Hamilton continued. “It might even have consequences for life on planets orbiting binary stars.”

Clues to the Pluto system chaos first came when astronomers measured variations in the light reflected off of the two small moons.

Looking at images taken by Hubble between 2005 and 2012, the brightness was found to change unpredictably — instead of following a regular cycle — in a way that could only be explained by chaotic movement.

These images also showed that the moon Kerberos is charcoal-black in colour, a stark contrast to the bright white of the other moons.

It was predicted that pollution from dust blasted off the satellites by meteorite impacts would coat the moons, giving their surfaces a homogenous look, but why Kerberos is black is a mystery.

The chaotic rotation of the moons was not the only surprise that arose from the study; Hubble’s monitoring also revealed a connection between the orbits of the three moons Nix, Styx, and Hydra.

“Their motion is tied together in a way similar to that of three of Jupiter’s large moons,” noted Doug Hamilton of the University of Maryland, co-author of the study. “If you were sitting on Nix, you would see Styx go around Pluto twice every time Hydra goes around three times.”

The chaotic movements found in this fascinating system do not necessarily mean that it is on the brink of flying apart. More studies are needed to determine the long-term fate of the Pluto system.

The researchers agree that a combination of monitoring data from Hubble, a close-up look from NASA’s New Horizons space probe, which flies by the system in July 2015 [2], and, eventually, observations with the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope will help to settle some of the many mysteries of the Pluto–Charon system.

“Pluto will continue to surprise us when New Horizons flies past it in July,” Showalter said. “Our work with Hubble just gives us a foretaste of what’s in store.”

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol's Clear Lake Area office will offer its free “Start Smart” traffic safety class for newly licensed and teenage drivers and their parents/guardians in Middletown on Wednesday, June 24.

The class will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. at Middletown High School in room No. 7, located at 20932 Big Canyon Road.

The leading cause of death for Americans ages 15 to 20 is motor vehicle collisions, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The CHP's goal is to reduce the death rate among young drivers as the result of these collisions.

“The CHP is committed to mitigating traffic collisions involving young, inexperienced drivers, because they are preventable,” said Lt. Hector Paredes, commander of the Clear Lake Area office. “Start Smart is an excellent program that promotes safe driving for young new drivers.”

The Start Smart program is aimed at helping newly licensed and future licensed teenage drivers understand the critical responsibilities of driving and to understand that accidents happen, but collisions are 100 percent preventable.  

The program is designed to provide an interactive safe driving awareness class which will illustrate how poor choices behind the wheel of a car can affect the lives of numerous people.

Start Smart also focuses on responsibilities of newly licensed drivers, responsibilities of parents/guardians and, collision avoidance techniques.

Space is limited for this class. For more information or reservations, call Officer Kory Reynolds at the CHP office, 707-279-0103.  

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The Upper Lake Union Elementary School District Board voted unanimously on Wednesday night to approve a resolution to unify with the Upper Lake Union High School District.

The decision sets the stage for a separate vote by the high school district board next week and hearings that the Lake County Office of Education intends to hold later this month.

More than two dozen parents, teachers, high school board members and other community residents attended the 80-minute meeting, which took place in the Upper Lake Middle School cafeteria.

Much of the meeting involved parents raising concerns about the schools and asking questions about how various aspects of school operations would be impacted by the unification – from transportation to special education, insurance to parent teacher organizations, consistency in education to sports.

During public comment, Walt Christensen, a former district board member and a vocal critic of the unification proposal, told board members he was very opposed to the action.

He said costs are anticipated to rise in the first two years, and it's not certain if those costs will go down. There also are unknowns about future staffing and board membership.

“We don't know if this is going to help any of these kids,” he said, encouraging a no vote.

Parent Sara Sanchez told the board there were many reasons to unify the schools, and unknowns weren't a good enough reason not to do it.

The goal, she said, was to better the children and the schools. “I just hope that's where the decision is coming from.”

Another parent, Melanie Sneathen, also supported combining the two districts. “This unification would be so great for everybody here because it would make it a whole. It's sensible. It's a necessity.”

Upper Lake High School Principal/Superintendent Patrick Iaccino, who was in the audience with some of his board members, thanked the elementary district board. The two boards have met jointly over the last several months to discuss the unification.

“It's a tough decision,” Iaccino said, noting that they've spent a lot of time going through nine state-required criteria.

Michelle Villines, parent of a special education student, said she's watched numerous children leave the district, and asked the board to do what was right by the children.

She was concerned that special education wasn't receiving the attention it needs. “Special ed always seems to be on the bottom of the barrel here,” she said.

Originally, Villines said she opposed unification. Now, she said she is waiting to see what it might offer the special education program, which she said is not helping children or communicating with parents.

Valerie Duncan, who has taught in the Upper Lake Elementary District for 33 years and is a board member for the Upper Lake High district, said unification would open the door to articulate programs. Articulation and communication would be amazing to a K-12 program, she added.

Board President Mel O'Meara said the focus couldn't be just about cutting costs. The No. 1 concern, he said, was whether it was going to be better or students.

Board Member Don Meri, who acknowledged being on the board a long time, said this isn't the first time unification has come up, and he had concerns about what could happen.

Meri said there was nothing in the nine criteria that the two school boards reviewed that directly answered his concerns, so he went to the elementary school to talk to the teachers to get their feedback, which he said would inform his decision.

Upper Lake High School agriculture teacher Erica Boomer said there will be a lot of benefits from unification, from transportation to articulation between grades.

She called it a “no-brainer” and questioned why it hadn't happened years ago.

Upper Lake High School Athletic Director Sandy Coatney said that, from the athletic standpoint, unification will benefit students.

He said scheduling facilities will be easier, and coaches will now be able to move back and forth between schools, not having to undergo multiple rounds of fingerprinting and background checks, as they have to do now if they want to coach in both districts.

Board member Joanne Breton thanked parents for their involvement. Breton said that the unification isn't necessarily going to save money. “If unification takes place, it's going to be a slow process.”

However, she said she thought in the long run that it will strengthen special education and improve transportation, with the district now putting more money than ever into the former. She added that she was concerned that unification wasn't going to take place the way people think it will.

Frank Gudmundson, who has coached for 23 years in the local schools, emphasized a word he said he hadn't heard anybody else say: “consistency.”

“We need to come together as one. That's how we're going to get stronger,” he said.

Gudmundson continued, “This is one community. We need one unification, one district, to get things accomplished.”

He suggested more people will get involved if there is more consistency from kindergarten through 12th grade. 

“Consistency, folks. That's all I ask for in this unification,” he said.

Responding to comments from the board, Sanchez said, “Progress is progress. Any amount of progress right now is awesome.”

Sitting next to Sanchez was Marie Henry, who also urged the board forward.

“Anything worth doing is not going to be easy. It never is,” said Henry, who has two children – one of them in the Upper Lake district, with the other going to another district.

Henry said she also was looking for consistency as a parent, coach and volunteer. By having all schools in one district, “You're sending a message to all your students,” she said.

O'Meara took a roll call when asking for the vote, with all five board members – Breton, Meri, Diane Plante, Ron Raetz and O'Meara himself – voting to approve the resolution to unify, which drew a round of applause.

Iaccino told Lake County News that the Upper Lake Union High School Board will meet to consider its resolution to unify Wednesday, June 10.

If the process continues moving forward, unification would occur in the 2016-17 school year, according to school officials.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A jury must now decide the fate of a man accused of the September 2011 fatal shooting of an Upper Lake woman during an attempted robbery.

Deputy District Attorney John DeChaine and defense attorney David Markham spent the morning offering closing arguments in Judge Stephen Hedstrom's court in the lengthy trial of Daniel Loyd.

Loyd, 53, of Nice, has admitted to fatally shooting Cindy Yvette Quiett during an early morning robbery attempt on Sept. 13, 2011, claiming during testimony he gave on the stand during his defense last week that it was an accident.

The incident occurred in Lucerne, where the 48-year-old Quiett was with her boyfriend, Patrick “Joey” Ryden, to whom Loyd said he had fronted about $1,200 worth of methamphetamine to sell. 

When Ryden didn't pay him back, the prosecution said Loyd set up a $40 drug deal, borrowed a van and a .357 magnum pistol, drove to Lucerne and just after 3:30 a.m. that day confronted Ryden, sticking the loaded gun in his face and demanding drugs and money. 

When the two men struggled, the gun swung toward Quiett and fired, striking her in the stomach. She died a short time later.

Both sides have agreed that Loyd didn't intentionally shoot Quiett. 

“Based on the evidence, it was accidental. He didn't intend to kill her,” or anyone else for that matter, DeChaine said during his closing arguments.

However, the key place of departure between prosecution and defense is what penalty Loyd should face.

DeChaine argued to the jury that the fact that Quiett's death was an accident didn't change the fact that it was a crime – specifically, murder – since it happened during the commission of an attempted robbery.

He explained the legal standards to the jury in order to show that a person can be guilty of felony murder even if the act was unintentional, accidental or negligent. The person who dies, he said, doesn't have to be the intended victim.

When Loyd pulled up and confronted Ryden that morning, he said, “Give me your s***, Joey. Give me your s***,” according to DeChaine.

After the struggle and Quiett's shooting, Loyd jumped back in the van with his girlfriend, Angel Spring, and another woman who DeChaine argued did not know what Loyd was planning. 

Loyd had told the women he was going to buy drugs. After the shooting, Loyd let the second woman – a friend of Quiett's – out of the van at her request.

DeChaine said Loyd told sheriff's Det. John Drewrey that Ryden knew he was coming over that morning because Loyd had called to set up the drug buy, a fact Drewrey was able to independently confirm. 

Quiett died, DeChaine argued, because Loyd didn't want to pay $40 for a bag of methamphetamine. “Cindy is the one that paid the price.”

In brief closing remarks that lasted only about 20 minutes, Markham went over the jury's duties and how jurors must follow the law in making their decision.

Loyd, Markham said, “committed a lot of crimes that night” – robbery, assault with a firearm, being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

“I'm telling you, he committed these crimes. He committed the special allegations that went along with them,” said Markham.

“The only issue in this case,” Markham said, “is whether or not he committed murder.”

Markham said the jurors were not going to be happy with what Loyd did, or the fact that a convicted felon high on methamphetamine was running around the community committing robberies. 

Loyd had stated on the stand last week that at the time of the shooting, he had been up 10 days straight, using half a gram of meth a day.

However, Markham said Loyd's actions didn't rise to the level of murder, and based on his interpretation of the law, jurors needed to return a not guilty verdict on the murder charge.

In his response to Markham's arguments, DeChaine told the jury, “Don't buy what the defendant's selling.”

He said it was entirely reasonable to conclude that, when putting a gun in someone's face, it could go off and kill someone.

Loyd, DeChaine said, also was trying to keep witnesses from coming to court. “That's consciousness of guilt.”

During his time on the stand last week, Loyd had been cross-examined by DeChaine extensively about an April 21 letter he admitted to writing to a female friend who has been visiting him in jail.

In that letter, Loyd told the woman to tell a number of witnesses in the case about the felony murder rule, and to explain to them if they showed up in court that he was going to go to prison for life.

“His last avenue was his attempt to suppress the evidence,” DeChaine said.

DeChaine told Lake County News after the morning session that Loyd's letter didn't succeed in dissuading any of the witnesses from coming to court.

He told the jury, “The evidence is overwhelming against this man,” and he urged them not to fall for a “smokescreen” the defense was offering regarding the murder charge.

“The overwhelming evidence in this case is that Danny Loyd did commit that murder,” DeChaine concluded.

Hedstrom ordered the jury to reconvene Thursday afternoon for jury instructions in order to hand the case over to them to begin deliberations.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake Couty News, @LakeCoNews.

Californians overwhelmingly support election reforms proposed by Secretary of State Alex Padilla aimed at improving voter registration and voter turnout. 

The results from a statewide survey, released by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), found that 69 percent of California adults favor registering all eligible citizens to vote when they go to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The California New Motor Voter Act, AB 1461, proposes to do just that. 

The bill, sponsored by Secretary Padilla and jointly authored by Assemblymembers Lorena Gonzalez, Luis Alejo, and Kevin McCarty, was approved by the State Assembly this week.

The poll also found 70 percent of California adults favor sending every registered voter a vote-by-mail ballot. Currently, California citizens must request a vote-by-mail ballot when registering to vote.

Also, more than eight in 10 California adults say that low voter turnout is a problem, and 59 percent called it a big problem.

“The results are undeniable – Californians want their government to make voter registration and voting easier,” Padilla said. “We can and should seamlessly register millions of California citizens to vote.”

Approximately 6.6 million California citizens are eligible but not registered to vote.

“Working Californians lead busy lives. Thirty percent of citizens who don’t always vote say it’s because they are 'too busy' or have 'no time.' By making voting more convenient in California, we strengthen our democracy,” said Padilla.

Padilla recently traveled to Colorado to meet with election officials and see firsthand how reforms – including mailing every voter a ballot – have increased voter turnout and reduced costs of elections. Colorado is considered a national leader in election administration. 

Despite historically low turnout across the nation in 2014, Colorado had the third highest voter turnout in the nation.

Earlier this year Padilla announced his support for Oregon’s new voter registration law, calling it a good model for California.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – City officials are gearing up to host the 11th annual Clearlake Clean Up Day this weekend.

The event will take place from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, June 6.

Check-in will take place at Austin Park, 14077 Lakeshore Drive.

The city will provide bags and tools.

Community members are encouraged to form teams of trash pickers, clean their businesses and get rid of electronic waste.

City officials reported that last year's event had more than 100 volunteers and collected more than 70 cubic yards of waste, plus electronic items.

The turnout this year looks to be even better, according to Deputy City Clerk Adeline Brown, who estimated that between 200 and 250 people will participate on Saturday.

“Participation seems to get better every year,” she said.

The weather is supposed to be good, Brown said, and the city will provide plenty of water for the warm weather along with hot dogs and chips to all who participate.

To sign up or for more information call Brown at 707-994-8201, Extension 111.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE, Calif. – If Robert Irwin had his way, there would be roadside signs in and around Hidden Valley Lake that read “Don’t honk if you like sheep.”

Irwin, whose business is sheep, has discovered a great many Lake Countians appear not to appreciate his stock in trade, which – in the case of the Hidden Valley Lake Association – is bringing in sheep to graze on the weeds. 

A third generation sheep man, Irwin was forced to move his more than 400 sheep from an area just north of Hidden Valley Lake to a more secluded place because of problems with motorists.

One of them is the honking of horns.

There are people, Irwin said, “who seem to think that it’s a lot of fun honking and startling the sheep. I don’t know why they’re honking their horns; I don’t know that many people. 

“The people that I do know wouldn’t have honked like that.”

Irwin moved the sheep “because they finished the job in the Spruce Grove Road and Highway 29 parcel and went on to weed abate the Conestoga Trail, a 36-acre trail and park for our members,” said HVLA General Manager Cindy Spears.

“Unfortunately, some motorists thought it was a good idea, for whatever motivation, to honk their horns at grazing sheep,” she added. “As Irwin has mentioned, it’s never a good idea to startle livestock. Whether or not the honking precipitated some of the sheep to bolt through two fences is up for conjecture. 

“We do know, however, that the sheep are doing a great job at the Conestoga Trail and the association is excited about the environmentally sound and ‘green’ solution to keeping HVLA a Firewise Community,” Spears said.

A more serious issue has been the death of Irwin’s sheep.

Three of his purebred Cordells were run over and killed by motorists on nearby Highway 29 before Irwin and his aides were able to round up the rest of them, as Lake County News has reported.

Irwin does not name the place where his sheep will be residing until July 1 when the contract he has with the HVLA administration is up. It may be presumed it is somewhere close to the Conestoga Trail.

The move to a new location for the sheep occurred after Irwin and HVLA leadership met at the Highway 29 site on Monday morning.

“They’re out of sight, out of mind right now and I’d like to keep it that way,” Irwin said of his sheep.

The sheep that were killed constitute only one of the problems associated with the first time the HVLA administration has used them to keep the weeds at a lower – and therefore less-combustible – height.

What has grown up around the death of the sheep is speculation such as that Lake County News received in a message from an area resident, who raised the issue of either poor fencing or wrong fencing to contain the sheep.

Irwin, however, says everything he uses is “top of the line” equipment.

“The corral comes from New Zealand and is used exclusively for sheep. It’s the best one on the market. We use it to load sheep and doctor sheep,” he said, adding that his fencing comes from the Midwest.

On May 22 there were only two sheep reportedly killed by motorists, but Irwin said a third dead sheep was later found in the high grass along Highway 29. 

Irwin said the Lake County incident was the first he has encountered in which his animals were killed. 

“I’ve grazed along Highway 20, the 101 freeway and in downtown Ukiah and Hopland and never had my sheep run over,” he added. “Four sheep got out on Saturday and a bunch of bicyclists passing by helped us get them into the corral.”

No sheep have been injured at the corral, but a worker, said Irwin, rolled his ankle.

The belief that an individual or individuals opened the corral to let the sheep out – leading to their deaths – persists, according to HVLA spokesman Jim Freeman.

Irwin’s contract at HVLA is short-term, extending only to July 1.

“I would like it to be long-term if we can iron out some of the wrinkles,” said Irwin. “We’re trying to do something a little different and any time you get an idea you’re going to learn what you weren’t prepared for, but I’m surprised when people are honking their horns over sheep eating grass in an open area.” 

Email John Lindblom at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – A Lucerne man has been arrested for felony drunk driving and hit-and-run causing injury following a single-vehicle wreck on Wednesday that injured him and his four passengers, one of them seriously.

The California Highway Patrol's Clear Lake Area office reported that 28-year-old Christopher Zambrano was taken into custody Wednesday night, less than two hours after the wreck, which occurred at approximately 7:18 p.m. on Highway 29 south of Cruickshank Road in Kelseyville.

Zambrano was driving his 1995 Ford Explorer southbound on Highway 29 with four passengers, who the CHP identified as Troy Bailey, 22, of Clearlake; Adam Dixon, 21, of Lucerne; John Pommier, 22, of Upper Lake; and William McLeanstith, 22, of Lucerne.

For reasons that investigators have not yet determined, Zambrano – who was driving at an unknown speed – lost control of the Ford, which rolled at least once, coming to rest back on its wheels, the CHP said.

Pommier suffered major injuries, including head trauma. The CHP said it has not yet been determined if Pommier – who was not wearing a seat belt – was ejected during the rollover or if he jumped from the vehicle before the crash occurred.

After the crash, Zambrano fled the scene in his vehicle with his remaining three passengers, leaving Pommier behind, the CHP said.

Zambrano drove northbound on Highway 29, stopping just north of Live Oak Drive. There, after he stopped, the CHP said he and his passengers got into an argument.

The CHP said the three passengers subsequently fled on foot before law enforcement arrived. They were found later off of Live Oak Drive, near the CHP office.

Alcohol appeared to be a factor in the crash, which the CHP said led to Zambrano's arrest. He was booked into the Lake County Jail late Wednesday, with bail set at $50,000.

Additionally, Bailey was arrested for trespassing, public intoxication and resisting arrest, the CHP said.

Three of the vehicle's five occupants appeared to have been wearing seat belts, the CHP said. However, the CHP only identified Zambrano and McLeanstith as having worn their seat belts, with the agency so far unable to confirm if Bailey and Dixon had.

Zambrano had minor injuries, including lacerations to his head, arms and hands, the CHP said. Bailey had minor cuts, Dixon had cuts on his face arms and hands, and McLeanstith suffered arm and hand lacerations. They were treated at the scene.

CHP Officer Kory Reynolds said Pommier was transported to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital by REACH air ambulance for treatment of his injuries.

As of Thursday morning, Pommier was reported to be in stable condition, Reynolds said.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – A gender pay equity bill authored by Assemblyman Bill Dodd (D-Napa) was passed by the state Assembly on Wednesday with bipartisan support.

The legislation would require companies that contract with the state to have policies in place to help ensure gender pay equity and to provide data on employee income by gender and race to the state.

“We need to ensure people aren’t paid less for doing the same job simply because of their gender or the color of their skin. The advancement of gender pay equity has been overlooked for too long,” said Dodd. “This legislation takes a step towards closing the gender pay gap, and I will continue pushing for positive change.”

The gender pay gap amounts to hundreds of thousands of dollars over a lifetime, and in 2013, the pay gap between men and women averaged nearly $11,000 annually in lost income.

Full-time working women in the U.S. have continued to earn an average of just 77 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts over the last decade.

The disparity is even greater for women of color, and numerous studies have found a gap persists even when controlling for factors like education and career field.

“While the gender pay gap is a problem for women, it’s also a problem for our entire society. If we fail to bring change, working women and families will continue to be shortchanged,” Dodd said. “Hard-working Californians and future generations, including my granddaughters, need us to step up.”

While aggregate data on the gender pay gap is available, more nuanced data is needed in order to help the state appropriately target its efforts to reduce and eliminate the wage gap.

Last year, President Obama directed the U.S. Department of Labor to collect the gender and race pay data from federal contractors to fill in missing pieces.

AB 1354 seeks to do the same for California, while also requiring policies and procedures that will help contractors avoid unlawful pay disparities.

The bill, which is co-authored by several legislators, including Sen. Lois Wolk and Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, will now move on to the Senate.

Other legislation by Dodd that passed the Assembly this week includes a bill that would develop the state’s first statewide framework for low income water rate assistance, a bill that would evaluate ways to ensure seniors can better access critical state services, and a bill providing relief to communities impacted by last year’s South Napa earthquake.

Dodd represents the Fourth Assembly District, which includes all or portions of Yolo, Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Solano and Colusa counties. Visit his Web site at www.asm.ca.gov/dodd .