LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County’s annual junior high and elementary school spellings took place this week, and two champion young spellers will represent Lake County at the state spelling bee in May.

The Lake County Junior High Spelling Bee for grades seventh and eighth was held at Upper Lake Middle School on Tuesday, March 12.

Mike Ray, an eighth grade student from Pomo School in Clearlake and Jason Gentle, a seventh grader from Mt. Vista Middle School in Kelseyville were the winners and will compete at the California State Junior High Spelling Championship in San Rafael on Saturday, May 11.

Eighth grader Kim English from Terrace School in Lakeport came in a close third, according to the Lake County Office of Education report.

Lake County “Super Spellers” who also participated in the competition include: Angelina Acosta, Burns Valley School; Melanie Blevins, Upper Lake Middle School; Evan Cromwell, Mt. Vista Middle School; Lauren Grubbs, Middletown Middle School; Mtoa Jones, East Lake School; Anisha Kalan, Lucerne Elementary; Sophia LaRose, Lower Lake Elementary; Takumi Mitchell, Terrace School; Julia Mooney, Upper Lake Middle School; and Kaily Spotswood, East Lake School.

Students who qualified to participate but were unable to attend the competition are: Catherine Oswalt, Lower Lake Elementary; Tyler Parrott, Middletown Middle School; Cyrus Pouladdezh, Pomo School; Angel Stith, Lucerne Elementary; and Stephani Utley, Burns Valley School.

A very special “thank you” goes to the staff at Upper Lake Middle School for hosting the spelling bee.

Thank you to Principal Jill Falconer and staff at Terrace School in Lakeport for hosting the Lake County Elementary Spelling Bee on Thursday, March 14.  

In a heated competition between Lake County elementary students in grades fourth through sixth, the top two champions were Alex Thompson, a fourth grader from Minnie Cannon Elementary in Middletown and Lily Gardner, also a fourth grader, from Cobb Mountain Elementary in Middletown.

Both Alex and Lily will compete in the 2013 California State Elementary School Spelling Championship on April 20, at the San Joaquin County Office of Education in Stockton. Fifth grader Kali Martinez from Upper Lake Elementary School came in a close third.

Spelling champs who also participated in the competition are: Logan Blackburn, Mt. Vista Middle School; Tiera Bright, Burns Valley School; Nicabec Casido, Terrace School; Tasiana Collins, Lower Lake Elementary; Alessandra Diaz, Coyote Valley Elementary; Collin Dierssen, Riviera Elementary; Baylee Dymer, Coyote Valley Elementary; Jordyn Fields, Terrace School; Madison Hicks-Brackett, Upper Lake Elementary; Anna Jordan, Lucerne Elementary; Jordan Locke, Minnie Cannon Elementary; Jared Meek, Burns Valley School; Breaunna Moret, East Lake School; Natalia Schofield, East Lake School; Diego Silva, Kelseyville Elementary; Nevaeh Solorio, Lucerne Elementary; Kieffer Tan, Cobb Mountain Elementary; Tristin Tapia, Pomo School; Tyler Tucker, Pomo School; Aaron Vargas, Riviera Elementary; Amelia Weller, Kelseyville Elementary; Andre Williams, Mt. Vista Middle School; and Ashlynn Wolkenhauer, Lower Lake Elementary.

Spelling Champions Mike Ray, Jason Gentle, Alex Thompson and Lily Gardner were each awarded a Spelling Bee medal and a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble.

The annual spelling competitions are coordinated by the Lake County Office of Education.

Master of ceremonies/spell master for both of the Spelling Bees was Stephanie Wayment, education specialist at Lake County Office of Education.  

The judges for the competition were Robin Totorica, Jan Bailey and Tim Gill, also from LCOE. 

For a comet, visiting the sun is risky business. Fierce solar heat vaporizes gases long frozen in the fragile nucleus, breaking up some comets and completely destroying others.

That’s why astronomers weren’t sure what would happen early this month when Comet Pan-STARRS, a first-time visitor to the inner solar system, dipped inside the orbit of Mercury.

On Sunday, March 10, NASA’s STEREO-B spacecraft watched as the comet made its closest approach to the sun only 28 million miles away. At that distance, the sun loomed three times wider and felt more than 10 times hotter than it does on Earth.

The comet survived.

Still intact, Comet Pan-STARRS is emerging from the Sun’s glare into the sunset skies of the northern hemisphere. Solar heating has caused the comet to glow brighter than a first magnitude star.

Bright twilight sharply reduces visibility, but it is still an easy target for binoculars and small telescopes one and two hours after sunset.

As of Friday, March 15, people are beginning to report that they can see the comet with the unaided eye.

Discovered in June 2011 by astronomers using the Pan-STARRS survey telescope atop the Haleakala volcano in Hawaii, the comet is paying its first visit to the inner solar system. It hails from the Oort cloud, a deep space reservoir of comets far beyond the orbit of Pluto.

Because Comet PanSTARRs is a newcomer, its potential brightness and ability to withstand solar heating was unknown.

Now we know.

“It is a gorgeous comet – one of the brightest in years,” said astronomer Matthew Knight of the Lowell Observatory.

Comet specialist Emmanuel Jehin of the European Southern Observatory has been monitoring Pan-STARRS using a remote-controlled telescope in Chile.

Based on his data, Knight concluded that “Comet Pan-STARRS seems to be producing quite a bit of dust compared to an average comet. This is very good for its visibility, because the extra dust is reflecting sunlight and making Pan-STARRS appear brighter than it would otherwise.”

The amount of dust and gas spewing from the comet implies a nucleus on the order of one kilometer in diameter – in other words, neither unusually large nor small. Size-wise, it is a fairly typical comet.

The comet’s tail is anything but typical. STEREO-B images processed by Karl Battams of the Naval Research Lab in Washington DC reveal many wild and ragged striations in the cloud of dust trailing behind Pan-STARRS.

“Wow!” said Battams. “The fine-structure is breathtaking. We think this is caused by some fairly complex interaction between the solar wind and the comet’s rotating nucleus. It’s going to take computer models to figure this one out.”

The comet is now receding from Earth. It will slowly dim as it heads back into deep space. Ironically, though, its visibility will improve for a while as it heads into darker skies away from the sun. In the last weeks of March it could become an easy naked-eye object.

Step outside after sunset, face west, and take a look.

Dr. Tony Phillips works for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Local officials and organizations are partnering to update the Lake County Community Health Needs Assessment, and they’re asking county residents to give their input on the effort by month’s end.

The collaborative is hoping for a strong response to a survey of Lake County’s health care needs that’s being circulated around the community and also is online.  

“The community survey is the best part of this needs assessment process. Hearing directly from people about their issues and priorities for being healthy makes our analysis much more real. We need to hear from everybody,” said Lake County Health Officer Dr. Karen Tait.

The brief survey, open until April 10, can be found online here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KeepingLakeCountyHealthy .

Since early February, a one-page survey printed on yellow paper, in English and Spanish, has been distributed in locations throughout the county, including the lobby of the courthouse in Lakeport, officials said. The paper survey will continue to be available through the end of March.

“Ultimately, we will give just about everybody an opportunity to answer that survey,” said health care consultant Barbara Aved.

The survey is part of the work currently under way to update the 2010 Community Health Needs Assessment.   

Aved, who facilitated the process for completing the 2010 assessment and is involved in the current work, said it’s a comprehensive study of Lake County’s unique health needs and challenges.

Aved anticipates that the report will be ready by the end of September.

Tait’s office said information gathered from the surveys, focus groups and health data is compiled and analyzed to highlight areas where there is room for improvement in both prevention of illness and access to treatment.  

Local hospitals, nongovernmental organizations, county departments and others will use the updated assessment in planning how to better serve the community, health officials reported.

“Why the group wants this information is for planning services and planning interventions,” Aved said.

It will provide important documentation to support grant applications, such as the $497,076 Community Transformation Grant recently awarded to St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake to promote health and prevent chronic disease, according to Tait’s office.

The online survey is being made available for a few weeks longer this time, Aved said. During the last assessment, they found that 63 percent of the responses in both English and Spanish came from the paper surveys.

Originally, the online survey was available both in Spanish and English. However, Aved said that for the 2010 assessment they received no responses in Spanish, so this year’s survey is only available in English.

One of the challenges, said Aved, is getting people out to participate in focus groups that are being hosted by various organizations around the county.

“It’s really hard to get into the crevices of a community,” Aved said.

She said those focus groups are important because they give the consumer perspective. It’s one thing to look up data, but it’s really important to talk to people, she said.

The goal is to talk to parents, seniors and other specially focused groups, she said.

For more information contact the Lake County Health Services Department at 707-263-1090.

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.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Barn raising activities at the Ely Stage Stop and Country Museum are in full swing.

Volunteers have ramped up their Saturday work as the weather continues to cooperate.

There have been reports of a curious “pink” barn on the site. That’s because the old barn wood had to have a special primer coat applied to both sides to provide extra protection for its new life at the museum. This week the final barn red color is starting to appear.

The Lake County Historical Society, operator of the museum, welcomes all interested volunteers to expedite the completion of this first barn.  

Once the exterior is completed, the barn interior can be populated with the Lake County Historical Society’s collection of artifacts and can also be used as an event destination.

Old wood is needed for siding on this and future barns that will be constructed at the stage stop.

If anyone has a barn or building to donate, Ely volunteers can help take it down in exchange for the wood. Remember that donations to the Ely Stage Stop are tax deductible.    

The museum is located at 9921 Soda Bay Road (Highway 281) in Kelseyville, near the Clear Lake Riviera.

Current hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.

Volunteers will assemble at the museum site at 9 a.m. on Saturdays for barn raising activities.

Contact number for questions about volunteer work, donations of old wood or docent applications is 707-263-4180, extension 102.

Visit the museum’s Web site at www.elystagestop.com .

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A continuing investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit has resulted in positively identifying the suspect allegedly responsible for two bank robberies in Middletown.

On Friday sheriff’s detectives obtained a felony arrest warrant in the amount of $750,000 for 23-year-old Joshua James Metoxen of Napa, according to Lt. Steve Brooks.

Brooks said Metoxen is the prime suspect in the Feb. 27 robbery of Westamerica Bank and the March 7 robbery at Tri Counties Bank, both in Middletown.

Through the efforts of the Lake County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit Metoxen also identified as the suspect in at least six unsolved bank robberies in Marin and San Mateo counties.

Sheriff Frank Rivero expressed his gratitude for the dogged investigation conducted by the detectives in the Major Crimes Unit.

The unit is headed up by Lt. Brian Kenner and Det. Sgt. Corey Paulich. “Without their efforts this case would have gone cold and the outside agency cases would have remained cold,” Rivero.

There is currently a multiagency manhunt underway for Metoxen, officials reported.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office requests the public’s assistance in locating Metoxen.

Anyone with information concerning his whereabouts is encouraged to call the Lake County Sheriff’s Office or 911.

Metoxen should be considered armed and extremely dangerous and should not be approached.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County youth are lining up to join a new string music program offered by Clear Lake Performing Arts, made possible by a generous grant from the Lake County Wine Alliance.

When CLPA’s Youth Education program was issued a grant of $2,500 from the Lake County Wine Alliance to offer no-cost lessons to aspiring students, the high turnout was totally unexpected.

Susan Condit, teacher of the class, was amazed when more than 60 families from all around the Lake responded, wanting their children to participate in the program.

A second class and another teacher were added to help accommodate the many students. Currently about 40 students, kindergarten through high school, are enrolled and many more are still on the waiting list.

While initial efforts have been directed at playing the violin, CLPA is exploring expanding the program to include other stringed instruments.

For CLPA the effort is not entirely altruistic, since experience has shown that many students will graduate quickly into the Clear Lake Performing Arts Youth Orchestra.

Under Condit’s direction, the CLPA Youth Orchestra has won acclaim for its performances at concerts of the Lake County Symphony, also sponsored by CLPA.

John Parkinson, who serves as music director and conductor of the symphony, says it is crucial that these youth music groups prosper, since they will serve as “feeders” to his orchestra.

“It’s like anything else in life,” he said. “We must prepare for the new generation to take the seats in the orchestra now filled by their seniors, if our orchestra is to continue to exist for the pleasure of future audiences.”

Andi Skelton, concertmaster of the Symphony, fiddle teacher and founder of the popular Konocti Fiddle Club, noted that interest in string music programs is growing.

“Kids are finding out music can be just as much fun as playing video games,” she said. “We thank the Wine Alliance for making this pilot program possible, and hope we will be able to continue this successful endeavor.”

But with success has come problems. Interest in the program has far exceeded expectations, leading to a shortage of funding for more teachers and instruments.

People wishing to lend support to this popular program, either with donations or instruments, may contact Condit at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or CLPA Youth Education Chairperson, Andi Skelton, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 707-279-4336.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – A Laytonville man was arrested this week for assaulting his pregnant girlfriend.

Donald Wiltsey, 25, was arrested for domestic violence on Thursday, according to a report from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office.

The agency reported that the victim in the case was a 24-year-old Clearlake woman, whose name was not released.

Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies were contacted by the Cahto Tribal Police Department regarding a domestic violence dispute that had occurred on Reservation Road.

Upon arrival deputies contacted the victim who stated that Wiltsey had punched her in the head. According to the victim she and Wiltsey had been living together for a number of years and they have a child in common.

The victim reported that she and Wiltsey got into an argument due to his illegal drug usage, according to the report.

During the argument Wiltsey got mad at the victim, who is six months pregnant, and punched her several times on the side of her head with a closed fist. Officials said the victim did not require medical attention due to her injuries.

Deputies contacted Wiltsey and placed him under arrest for inflicting corporal injury on a spouse, partner or co-habitant.

Wiltsey was transported to the Mendocino County jail where he was held on $25,000.00 bail, officials reported.

NICE, Calif. – An Arizona man received minor injuries on Thursday and was arrested on weapons charges after he rolled his pickup in Nice.

Benjamin Arthur Stevens, 34, of Apache Junction, Ariz., received a small abrasion to his forehead in the crash, which occurred at about 12:40 p.m. Thursday on Highway 20, according to the California Highway Patrol's Clear Lake Area office.

The CHP report said that officers responded to a report of an overturned vehicle. When they arrived they determined that Stevens was the driver of the 1995 Toyota Tacoma.

As the pickup was being recovered, several weapons were observed in plain view, the CHP said.

Upon further investigation officer found several illegal firearms and 1,300 rounds of ammunition in the pickup, according to the CHP.

The CHP said the illegal weapons and ammunition were seized and Stevens was arrested.

He was booked into the Lake County Jail on three felony counts of possession of an assault weapon, with jail records indicating bail was set at $50,000.

Stevens remained in custody on Friday morning, with a court appearance set for Monday, March 18, according to his booking sheet.

The CHP said the case remains under investigation.

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.

This quake has been upgraded from magnitude 4.0.

COBB, Calif. – The Cobb area had two moderate-sized earthquakes early Thursday, according to an update from the US Geological Survey.

A 4.5-magnitude earthquake occurred at 2:09 a.m. three miles west southwest of Cobb and 13 miles southwest of Clearlake at a depth of 1.2 miles, as Lake County News has reported.

The US Geological Survey said that, one minute later, a 4.0-magnitude quake that was centered three miles west of Cobb and 12 miles southwest of Clearlake – and measured at a depth of 2.2 miles – took place.

While some Lake County residents reported feeling two large quakes in quick succession, the US Geological Survey initially did not report the 4.0 quake until it released a preliminary report on it Thursday afternoon.

By 3 p.m. Thursday, there had been more than 100 aftershocks following those two larger quakes, according to US Geological Survey records.

Approximately 378 shake reports from 67 zip codes were submitted to the survey on the 4.5-magnitude quake. No shake reports appeared to have been submitted for the 4.0 quake; those reports may have been attributed to the initial quake.

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.

Not everyone who serves as a trustee expects or wants to be paid. But those who do want to get paid need to know up front whether or not they will be compensated for their work. They should also know how their compensation is determined.

Trusts may provide for no compensation, reasonable compensation, a fixed amount of compensation, or a formula to compute compensation.

Typically trusts allow “reasonable compensation”; if the trust is silent “reasonable compensation” is the statutory rule. Of course, a trustee may waive compensation.
    
What is reasonable compensation? What is reasonable is a facts and circumstances analysis that involves a variety of factors such as the following: the trustee’s qualifications and experience as relevant to trust administration; the time spent by the trustee in discharging his or her duties; the value of the trust; the complexity of the trust administration; and the good or bad outcome of the trust administration.

In order to substantiate a claim for reasonable trustee compensation a trustee should keep a detailed trustee log together with any underlying source documents.

The trustee log should be a chronological narrative specifically describing the activities, decisions, events and circumstances involved with the trustee’s discharge of his duties.

The narrative needs to include particular facts to tangibly show how the trustee solved problems and performed duties.

The log must also include the amount of time spent each day in these activities. All mileage and out-of-pocket expense reimbursement items need to recorded and proof of payment kept (e.g., travel receipts for meals, transportation, and lodging).

Typically, in the case of settling a deceased person’s trust estate, the trustee is paid at the conclusion of the trust administration when assets are distributed to the beneficiaries.

At that time an accounting is usually provided by the trustee to the trust beneficiaries. If the trust administration exceeds 12 months – such as with a protracted administration or with an on-going trust (e.g., a special needs trust or a support trust) – the trustee may receive compensation on an annual basis.

If the trustee is concerned that the beneficiaries might dispute the reasonableness of his compensation, or his actions as trustee, the trustee may petition the court to confirm the amount of the compensation.

This typically is done within a petition seeking court approval of the trustee’s acts, accounting, and compensation.

Recently the Sixth District Court of Appeals in the Thorpe v. Reese case denied a claim for trustee compensation requested by a court appointed temporary trustee.

It did so because the trust expressly disallowed trustee compensation. The appellate court ruled that the trust document controlled the issue of compensation.

The appellate court reasoned that when the trustee unconditionally accepted his appointment by the probate court he unconditionally accepted the existing terms of the trust.

If he wanted compensation he should have petitioned the court to reform the trust to allow for trustee compensation, or otherwise not have accepted his appointment.

While reforming the trust might seem reasonable, as a practical matter reforming a trust is an unpredictable and costly endeavor.

The ruling means that court appointed trustees in the Sixth District, at least, will be discouraged from accepting appointment to any trust that expressly disallows trustee compensation. Such trusts may have to be terminated for want of a trustee.

Allowing for reasonable compensation is a good practice. A trustee assumes significant responsibility with respect to safeguarding and managing the trust assets, making trust assets productive, dealing with creditor and tax claims, and responding to the concerns of beneficiaries.

All of which takes time away from his family, personal time and regular work. A trustee should not be expected to do this work without reasonable compensation.

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 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 .

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The fourth-annual Kelseyville Olive Festival will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, April 21.

The event will be held at the Chacewater Winery & Olive Mill, located at 5625 Gaddy Lane in Kelseyville.

The event will showcase local products and their importance to the health of our community, while benefiting local nonprofit organizations.

Several related contests will be held up to and during the festival, including a poster contest, amateur recipe contest, olive pit spitting contest and people’s choice olive oil contest.

Entries are now being accepted for the Kelseyville Olive Festival Poster Contest. Poster themes should reflect Kelseyville and the olive industry.

Prizes will be awarded in three categories: under the age of 12, ages 12 to 18, and over 18.

In addition, a grand prize winning entry will be chosen to be used in 2014’s Kelseyville Olive Festival poster.

To be eligible, all entries must be submitted on paper with minimum dimension of 8.5 inches by 11 inches and no larger than 11 inches by 17 inches, and include the entrant’s name, age and phone number printed legibly on the back. All printable media will be accepted.

Please deliver entries to Rosa d’Oro Vineyards tasting room located at 3915 Main St. in Kelseyville or the Main Street Gallery located at 325 N. Main St. in Lakeport no later than 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 27.

Entries will be on display at the Main Street Gallery from April 1 through April 20 and again on display at the Festival on April 21.

All entries become the property of the Kelseyville Olive Festival for future publication and promotion. For additional information, please contact the Main Street Gallery at 707-263-1871.

The Amateur Recipe Contest is open to the public with one winner chosen and awarded a prize. To be eligible, recipes must contain at least a half cup of olives or olive oil and serve at 6 to 12 people. Entries must be ready to eat, in a disposable container, and be submitted with a legible copy of the recipe that includes the name of the dish, name of the entrant, and phone number or email.

 All entries must be delivered to Rosa d'Oro Vineyards Tasting Room, 3915 Main St. in Kelseyville, between noon and 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 6. A private judging will begin at 2 p.m. All recipes become the property of the Kelseyville Olive Festival for future publication and promotion.

The olive pit spitting contest will be ongoing during the Kelseyville Olive Festival on April 21. Prizes will be awarded for distance and accuracy.

A people’s choice olive oil contest will also be held during the festival. Entries will be available for sampling at vendor booths throughout the event.

The public will sample olive oils and vote for their favorites on a ballot. Winners will be announced at 4 p.m. April 21 during the Kelseyville Olive Festival.

The festival will feature vendors offering olive-related and other local products, samples, food, and more, as well as providing educational materials about olives and our local industry.

Sponsorship opportunities are available. There is no cost to attend the festival; wine and beer tasting with a commemorative glass will be available for a $15 fee.

Event proceeds from the silent auction will benefit the California Women for Agriculture’s Lake County Chapter and their AgVenture and Scholarship Programs, the raffle benefits the Kelseyville Education Foundation, and the tasting sales benefit the Lake Family Resource Center. The Lake County Arts Council will also benefit from the event for their part in the poster contest.

The Chacewater Winery & Olive Mill is located at 5625 Gaddy Lane in Kelseyville, across from the Kelseyville Post Office.

For more information about the Kelseyville Olive Festival, contact Livia Kurtz, Rosa d’Oro Vineyards, at 707-279-0483 or visit www.kelseyvilleolivefestival.com .

This quake was downgraded from a magnitude 4.6.

COBB, Calif. – A 4.5-magnitude earthquake shook the Cobb Mountain area early Thursday morning.

The quake occurred at 2:09 a.m., according to a preliminary report from the US Geological Survey.

The epicenter was located three miles west southwest of Cobb and 13 miles southwest of Clearlake at a depth of 1.2 miles, the survey reported.

By 3 a.m. the survey had received approximately 227 shake reports from 57 zip codes, including parts of Lake County and numerous Bay Area communities.

That large quake was followed three minutes later by a 2.9-magnitude aftershock centered three miles west of Cobb and 13 miles southwest of Clearlake, the survey reported.

Several area residents reported on Lake County News’ Facebook page that they felt the quake, with some of them having been awakened by it. Others stated it was the largest they’ve felt in the county.

Thursday morning’s quake is the largest in the county since a 4.5-magnitude quake was reported near The Geysers geothermal steamfield in May 2012, according to Lake County News records.

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.