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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for Lake County and other areas of Northern California ahead of a storm that's expected to bring snow.

The agency said the advisory, which it issued over snow concerns, is in effect from 10 a.m. Sunday to 10 p.m. Tuesday.

Forecasters said snow is expected to result from the arrival a very cold airmass coupled with precipitation.

Light to moderate snow showers are expected in portions of Lake County along the Coastal Range, according to the advisory.

The forecast calls for the heaviest snow – from 6 to 18 inches – above 3,000 feet in elevation, while a few inches of snow is expected as low as 1,000 feet.

The specific Lake County forecast calls for snow to arrive in Lake County after 4 p.m. Sunday, and continuing through Tuesday night.

In the higher elevations along the Northshore, less than an inch of snow is forecast to fall on Sunday night, with the potential for up to 4 inches on Monday and another 4 to 7 inches on Tuesday.

In other areas of the county, including Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks, Lakeport, Lucerne, Kelseyville, Middletown and Upper Lake, snow levels are expected to be an inch or less on Monday.

Rain is forecast throughout Saturday for the entire county, with chances for more snow in the county's mountains on Thursday and Friday.

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.

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The year 2017 is beginning with fireworks.

No, not those fireworks …

We’re talking about a lightshow from shattered comet 2003 EH1.

According to the International Meteor Organization and other forecasters, Earth will pass through a stream of debris from the comet on Jan. 3, 2017, producing a shower of meteors known as the Quadrantids.

The Quadrantid meteor shower is one of the most intense annual meteor showers, typically producing meteors at a rate of more than 100 per hour from a point in the sky near the North Star, also known as the shower’s radiant.

The 2017 Quadrantids are expected to peak around 1400 UT – or around 6 am PST.  The timing favors western parts of North America and islands across the Pacific.

The peak of the Quadrantids is brief, typically lasting no more than an hour or so, and it does not always occur at the forecasted time. Observers everywhere are encouraged to be alert for meteors throughout the dark hours of Jan. 3.

“Extra motivation to go out and view the Quadrantids is provided by the shower's reputation for producing spectacular fireballs,” said Brian Day of NASA’s Ames Research Center. “Not only are these fireballs memorable visual events, but also they are of scientific interest. Anyone can participate in a citizen science effort by reporting his or her observations. ‘Fireballs in the Sky’ is a free app that makes this easy. It is made available by Curtin University in partnership with NASA.”

Although Quadrantids can be numerous, they are observed less than other well known meteor showers. One reason is weather. The shower peaks in early January when northern winter is in full swing. Storms and cold tend to keep observers inside.

Another reason is brevity. The shower doesn't last long, a few hours at most. Those willing to brave the elements while keeping their eyes on the skies could be rewarded with a spectacular show!

The source of the Quadrantid meteor shower was unknown until December 2003 when Peter Jenniskens of the NASA Ames Research Center found evidence that Quadrantid meteoroids come from 2003 EH1, an "asteroid" that is probably a piece of a comet that broke apart some 500 years ago.

Earth intersects the orbit of 2003 EH1 at a perpendicular angle, which means we quickly move through any debris. That's why the shower is so brief.

Quadrantid meteors take their name from an obsolete constellation, Quadrans Muralis, found in early 19th-century star atlases between Draco, Hercules and Bootes.

It was removed, along with a few other constellations, from crowded sky maps in 1922 when the International Astronomical Union adopted the modern list of 88 officially recognized constellations. Although the Quadrantids now fly out of the constellation Bootes, the meteors kept their old name.

Quadrantid meteors: they come from a shattered comet and an extinct constellation.

That sounds like they are worth a look.  Bundle up for chilly meteor viewing on Jan. 3. It’s a great way to start the New Year.

For more news about backyard astronomy, stay tuned to http://science.nasa.gov .

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charliemousebookcover

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Local business owner Shannon Gunier has completed her first children’s book, “The Story of Charlie Mousie.”

The book features 16 brightly colored illustrations of Charlie Mousie and all of his friends in the jungle that stresses, to children, the importance of a good attitude, how to get along with all types of personalities, and the importance of  helping others.

It is the first in a series of “Charlie Mousie” books that will be published over the next few months.

As the oldest of 6 girls, Gunier used to listen to her dad tell the stories to her younger sisters at bed time each night.

Before he passed away Gunier, with her father, committed the stories to paper and she promised him she would illustrate each one of them and get them published. 

“The Story of Charlie Mousie” makes an excellent gift and can be purchased on www.smile.Amazon.com as well as directly from the author (please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ).

Some of the proceeds from the book are being donated to World Wide Healing Hands, an organization started by local Lake County physician Dr. Paula Dhanda.

WWHH volunteers have saved thousands of women and babies by traveling to Third World Countries with skilled medical training, modern equipment and healing medicine.

Dr. Dhanda is well known for her many years of service to the citizens of Lake County and Shannon currently serves on her Board of Directors.

Designed for preschool children and beginning readers, “The Story of Charlie Mousie,” is a lovely story that is perfectly illustrated to keep young kids minds wandering with imagination and excitement.

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From the moment we enter the world, our lives are being planned.

Birthdays, holidays, coming-of-age celebrations, weddings, house hunting, becoming parents, college preparations, etc., consume our thoughts throughout the years.

Even planning for vacations takes up huge amounts of time. Our event preparations shouldn’t stop there.

How many of us really plan for what happens when we are coming to the end of our lives? Yes, people are becoming more involved in planning for retirement. Trusts are set up to provide for surviving loved ones.

We may even put together an advance directive, thinking this will take care of any questions that arise when we become ill.

Yet, often, it ends there. We don’t go the next step. We don’t tell our loved ones what we would like done when we become terminally ill. We don’t tell them what kind of funeral or service we want. We don’t pick a mortuary and make arrangements in advance. We simply don’t take our planning to the final step.

The hardest thing we have to do is acknowledge our mortality. Yes, we know that someday we’ll die; but we really don’t give much thought as to how that is going to happen. 

Hospice Services of Lake County is attempting to lift the taboo about addressing the issue of end-of-life conversations, in many cases creating a positive impact on the quality of life at late stages.

The organization has initiated the “My Life, My Way” campaign.

The campaign encourages community members to begin thinking about end-of-life decisions and to take steps such as having the conversation with health care providers and loved ones, completing advanced care planning documents, and determining how they would like to be memorialized and celebrated at the end of life.

A few months ago, Hospice Services of Lake County’s medical director came to me with an idea for a postcard that people could take to their doctors to let them know they would like hospice care in the event of conditions that would likely result in death within six months.

The “My Life, My Way” postcard was developed along with a business card carrying the same message.

The cards have been circulated and handed out at events for the past few months. They are available from Hospice Services of Lake County.

Working in hospice, I have seen the struggles that family, friends and others have when making the important decisions at the end of life for their loved ones. Hospice works with them to get the arrangements made.

However, think of how much more of that final time can be spent with loved ones. Instead of running around making funeral arrangements, we can spend time together reminiscing about the good times we shared. We can spend time mending fences with others. We can concentrate on making sure we are ending our lives our way.

So I ask each of you to think about how you would like to spend your last days of life. Write it down. Make a plan. Share it with your loved ones. Help them know what you want done. It’s your life. Live it your way.

Consider, too, the better quality of life that comes with such planning and with the services provided by Hospice.

You and your loved ones deserve the type of care and compassion that comes from Hospice Services of Lake County’s dedicated staff: managed pain, caregiver support, personal attention, spiritual support, emotional support and much more.

For more information, contact Hospice Services of Lake County by calling 707-263-6222, or visit www.lakecountyhospice.org .

Cindy Sobel, RN, MS, is director of Patient Care Services for Hospice Services of Lake County, Calif.

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WHY HIM? (Rated R)

The holiday spirit always lingers for a while right into the start of January. Some of the films capture the festive mood better than others. “Why Him?” might not be one of them.

In fact, the closest this James Franco film gets into the spirit of Christmas is when he discovers that his misguided attempt to have a tattoo of his girlfriend’s family on his back is actually a portrait image complete with the “Happy Holidays” greeting.

But then you’ve probably already seen this bit from the ubiquitous trailers that pretty much string the best comedic scenes into one incomprehensible package of random acts of lunacy and mayhem.

Franco’s Laird Mayhew is a socially awkward Silicon Valley tech billionaire who is on the opposite end of the spectrum, at least culturally, of his girlfriend’s Midwestern family.

Bryan Cranston’s Ned Fleming is the straight-laced owner of a printing company in Michigan that’s struggling to complete in the digital age.

At Ned’s birthday party, his daughter Stephanie (Zoey Deutch) joins the event via Skype to send well wishes to her dad from her Stanford dorm room.

The Flemings, including Ned’s wife Barb (Megan Mullally) and son Scotty (Griffin Gluck), and their party guests are surprised by the unexpected introduction of her new boyfriend in the buff in the background.

Distraught that his daughter has been hiding a boyfriend, Ned begrudgingly agrees to travel with the family to the West Coast in order to meet her first serious boyfriend during the Christmas holiday.

Ned is mostly shocked to find that Laird is not only about ten years older but is heavily tattooed and wildly inappropriate in his coarse, vulgar manner of casual conversation liberally sprinkled with profanity.

But much worse is to come when Ned faces the meltdown of his life when finding out that the wacky, unfiltered Laird wants to propose to his daughter Stephanie (Zoey Deutch) on Christmas day.

“Why Him?” turns, as you expect from watching the trailers, into a generational battle between Midwestern rectitude and stereotypical California oddball weirdness when Ned and Laird go mano a mano, at least metaphorically.

This cultural divide is understandable given that Ned treats his loyal employees like family, while Laird lives on a “smart home” estate where farm animals roam free and has an eccentric houseboy named Gustav who acts like Cato from the “Pink Panther” films.

Most of the other characters get lost in the shuffle, and in the end, “Why Him?” does have its moments of inspired lunacy, but the gratuitous nature of crude jokes begin to wear thin long before the film ends on an incompatible saccharine note.

TV Corner: 'The Mick' on FOX Network

The same production team that brought the long-running FX network comedy “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” to fruition performs similar functions for another primetime comedy, “The Mick,” on the parent network of FOX.

Not surprisingly, Kaitlin Olson, who held her own with the three guys running an Irish tavern in Philly, seems the perfect fit for the degenerate, two-bit hustler from Rhode Island who has spent her entire life shirking any semblance of dependability.

Olson’s Mackenzie, or Mickey to her friends, is introduced wandering through a supermarket, sampling packaged goods from chips and whipped cream to underarm shavers and talcum powder before dropping off a six-pack to a bum with a shopping cart.

Her so-called boyfriend Jimmy (Scott MacArthur), referred to by Mickey only as “my guy,” tags along on a road trip to the rarefied atmosphere of upscale Greenwich, Connecticut.

The occasion is for Mickey to unexpectedly drop in at a fancy lawn party hosted by her estranged sister at the mansion shared with her billionaire husband and three spoiled kids.

In a surprising turn of events, the FBI raids the high-society function to arrest the high profile couple for tax evasion, and Mickey suddenly becomes the unwilling guardian for the high-maintenance children who quickly assess that their aunt is not up to the task.

The oldest is 17-year-old Sabrina (Sofia Black D’Elia), a snooty brat who flaunts her sexuality with a hunky twentysomething carpenter who goes shirtless while working around the house.

Then, there’s the annoying middle child Chip (Thomas Barbusca), an arrogant, entitled 13-year-old nerd who does not know how to make friends at school, let alone to connect with girls even on a platonic level.

Third child Ben (Jack Stanton) is only 7-years-old but he seems keenly interested in whatever the adults are talking about. He also swipes Mickey’s birth control pills because he overhead that they were magical.

What Mickey, an unsuitable parental figure, is asked to do reminds one of a similar role once played by John Candy in a feature film, but unfortunately Mickey doesn’t quite have the same mix of empathy and humor required to make the central character anything more than predictable.

I could be wrong about this, but “The Mick” does not seem likely to have the longevity that was afforded to Kaitlin Olson’s previous TV comedy set in Philadelphia.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

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hansonsnowyegretNORTHERN CALIFORNIA – We actually have three different species of white egrets in the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument region: the great egret, the snowy egret and the cattle egret.

Although at a quick glance they may all look pretty much the same, they’re actually quite different from one another and a closer inspection will help you determine which is which.

The great egret (Ardea alba) is the largest of the three maxing out at about 3.5 pounds with an almost 6-foot wingspan. It has a yellow beak and black legs.

In the breeding season a patch on its face turns bright neon green and it gets long trailing feathers on its tail that it can lift straight up and fan out (like the tail of a peacock). It was these beautiful feathers that nearly brought this species to the brink of extinction in the United States in the late 1800s.

Thousands of the birds were destroyed so their feathers could be used in women’s hats. The National Audubon Society was actually founded in part to protect this species, and the Great Egret is still used as a symbol for that organization.

Male egrets choose “display areas” in colony-like nesting sites and begin the construction of the nests themselves before pairing up with a female to finish the nest and breed.

Great egrets eat a variety of fish, insects, reptiles and amphibians, crayfish, and even small birds and mammals. I once watched a great egret catch a large water vole in a rice field, then walk the rat over to a nearby pond to drown it before swallowing it whole.

The snowy egret (Egretta thula) is actually much smaller and more “svelte” that the great egret, weighing in at about 1 pound. Like great egrets, however, snowy egrets also nest in large colonies in tree-tops. Both males and females help to incubate the eggs, and sometimes pass sticks on to one another as they shift positions on the nest. These egrets are also known to cross breed with herons and other egrets producing hybrid species.

Like the great egrets, snowy egrets have bright white plumage, but their beaks are black and their feet are bright yellow. The snowy egret’s yellow feet (which turn brighter in the breeding season) are used in part to feel for prey hiding in the plants and silt in the water.

hansongreategret

During the breeding season the snowy’s face will blush pink, and it gets long curling tail feathers. In 1886 these curling plumes were valued at two times the price of gold, and like the great egret this species was almost wiped out before conservationists rushed in to protect it.

The snowy’s diet is similar to that of the great egret, and they use both a stab-and-grab technique for fishing, along with the less dignified let’s-scramble-after-everything technique during which they chase after prey with their wings outspread.

The cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) looks something like a great egret with a yellow beak and gray-black legs, but it’s much smaller and stockier.

Unlike the great and snowy egrets, the cattle egret doesn’t really require an aquatic environment. It prefers foraging in open fields and can often be found following after herds of cattle, eating whatever insects and other small creatures run or fly around in the cattle’s wake.

These egrets will also “chase fires,” flying toward plumes of smoke to capture the insects that are trying to escape the flames.

In the breeding season, cattle egrets get a buff-colored wash on their head and chest feathers which can sometimes make them look “dirty.”

Like the other egrets, they form large breeding colonies, but they’re also more social on a daily basis than the other egrets and will often feed in large groups with other cattle egrets.

So, there you have it, a short primer on the three kinds of white egrets in the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument region.

As you go camping and hiking, keep an eye out for them, and see if you can properly identify them.

Mary K. Hanson is a Certified California Naturalist, a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists, and author of the “Cool Stuff Along the American River” series of nature guides available online through www.Lulu.com . Tuleyome is a501(c)(3) nonprofit conservation organization based in Woodland, Calif. For more information, visit www.tuleyome.org .

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scavonefrozenleaves“People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy.” – Anton Chekhov

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – It's been a winter-wonderland Lake County-style recently, replete with frozen puddles, frost swirling on windshields and lacy, frost-embroidered leaves.

You don't have to look far to enjoy nature's art palate of fanciful design. Frost visits during damp, wintry conditions, when moisture freezes into branches and fractals – those mathematical symmetries.

Since winter has just recently begun, we may be fortunate to enjoy a variety of frost types,  including rime, hoar, window, black, and white frost to name but a few.

Nature did a great job of providing many plants and animals with the ability to withstand freezing temperatures. They instinctively “know” to prepare, hibernate or fly south.

A large variety of insects, like the mourning cloak butterfly has the ability to hibernate during the winter. Many other types of insects, along with spiders, survive the cold months as larva or eggs.

Now is the time of year to find the cold-resistant, red toyon berries growing, which provide wintering birds and deer with a bit of nourishment.

The toyon is a hardy, perennial shrub found in oak woodlands as well as chaparral habitats. Robins enjoy the berries, as do turkey, hermit thrush and cedar waxwings.

Since toyon berries are low in calories and protein they are not as hardy a fare as seeds for the animals, but they do have their place in the animals' winter survival food selection. Since these plants are drought-tolerant they make an excellent choice as an ornamental garden plant, too.

Plants have many ingenious methods of winter survival. Some plants die back to preserve themselves, and others use their circulatory vessels to keep frozen sap from “stopping up” their systems.

Here in Lake County we enjoy a temperate climate, so that most animals do not need to hibernate. Our black bears do not usually hibernate.

Some bats do hibernate here, however, finding comfy tree bark, under deck umbrellas or attics to spend the winters when their prey, insects, is hard to find.

Reptiles and amphibians hide out in winter in the safety of burrows, old logs, and sometimes in the bottoms of ponds throughout the winter.

The ingenuity and endurance of plant and animal survival never ceases to amaze.

Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also writes for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.

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notemanrocketscarLAKEPORT, Calif. – On Friday, Jan. 20, the Soper Reese Theatre Third Friday Live series features Bill Noteman and the Rockets.

The show starts at 7 p.m. The dance floor will be open.

In 1983 Bill Noteman, Larry Platz, David Neft and Dave Falco got together for an impromptu jam in an old movie theater in Lower Lake.

What emerged that night was Bill Noteman and the Rockets, a band that soon took over Lake, Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino counties with a unique high energy blend of Chicago blues and rock and roll known as West Coast Jump.

Today Noteman, harmonica virtuoso and entertaining front man, is skillfully supported by original members and local legends "Mojo" Larry Platz on guitar, David “Rockin 88’s" Neft on keyboards, bassist Dave “Fingers” Falco and new member, drummer Steve "The Shuffler" DuBois.

One critic recently described the group in this way: "Raw expressive vocals, searing harmonica, sizzling guitar, and cooking keys dipped in the sauce of a smoldering rhythm section. This is the original music and feeling of Bill Noteman and the Rockets."

Tickets are $15 for all seats and are available online at www.SoperReeseTheatre.com or at The Travel Center, 1265 S. Main, Lakeport, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Soper Reese Theatre is located at 275 S. Main St., Lakeport.

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123116snowforecastnew

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The National Weather Service's latest New Year's forecast holds the potential for both rain and snow for the first days of the new year.

Forecasters are expecting a 20-percent chance of rain in Lake County on Saturday, declining to 10 percent during the day on Sunday.

Cold air that's on the way to Northern California early in the first week of the new year may bring rain and snow showers beginning on Sunday night, based on the specific Lake County forecast.

Snow levels may drop to as low as 500 feet, and several inches of snow is expected in some northern parts of Lake County, the forecast said.

The National Weather Service also is forecasting rain and snow showers continuing into Monday morning, with rain also likely on Monday night.

The possibility of snow also is forecast for Tuesday morning before the weather clears and remains mostly clear and sunny for the rest of the week, based on the forecast.

From Saturday through Friday, temperatures are expected to range from daytime highs in the upper 50s to nighttime lows into the low 30s, the National Weather Service 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.

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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – As the new year arrives, Lake County Animal Care and Control's shelter is filled with dogs needing loving homes.

This new year's day dogs include mixes of American Bulldog, Australian Cattle Dog, beagle, border collie, Chihuahua, German Shepherd, golden retriever, husky, Labrador Retriever, Miniature Pinscher, pit bull, Shar Pei, shepherd and terrier.

Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.

If you're looking for a new companion, visit the shelter. There are many great pets hoping you'll choose them.

The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control Web site not listed are still “on hold”).

6696minpin

Miniature Pinscher

This female Miniature Pinscher has a short black and tan coat and a docked tail.

She's in kennel No. 2, ID No. 6696.

6703chihuahua

Male Chihuahua

This male Chihuahua mix has a short brown coat.

He's in kennel No. 3, ID No. 6701.

6732chihuahua

Male Chihuahua

This male Chihuahua has a short brown coat and has already been altered.

He's in kennel No. 6, ID No. 6732.

6517shepbeagle

Shepherd-beagle mix

This female shepherd-beagle mix has a short tricolor coat, and has been waiting a long time for a new home.

She's in kennel No. 9, ID No. 6517.

6505terriermix

Terrier-Shar Pei mix

This male terrier-Shar Pei mix has a short black coat with white markings and floppy ears.

He's in kennel No. 11, ID No. 6505.

6698husky

Female husky

This female husky has a medium-length red and white coat.

She's in kennel No. 15a, ID No. 6698.

6710cattledogheeler

Border collie-Australian Cattle Dog

This male Border collie-Australian Cattle Dog has a short black and white coat.

He already has been neutered.

He's in kennel No. 16, ID No. 6710.

6711goldshepherd

Golden retriever-shepherd

This young golden retriever-shepherd mix has a medium-length gold and black coat and floppy ears.

He's in kennel No. 17, ID No. 6711.

6671pitbullnew

Pit bull mix

This female pit bull mix has a short tan and white coat.

She's in kennel No. 18, ID. No. 6671.

6715gsdrusty

'Rusty'

“Rusty” is a senior male German Shepherd.

He has a long black and brown coat.

He's in kennel No. 19a, ID No. 6715.

6727beaglemix

Beagle mix

This female beagle mix has a short red coat.

She's in kennel No. 20, ID No. 6727.

6665pitbull

Male pit bull

This male pit bull has a short blue and white coat.

He has been sponsored and is available for free to an approved family.

He's in kennel No. 21, ID No. 6665.

6706labmix

Labrador Retriever-pit bull

This male Labrador Retriever-pit bull mix has a short blue and gray coat.

He's in kennel No. 24, ID No. 6706.

6629sharpeimix

'Max'

“Max” is a male Shar Pei-pit bull mix with a short black and white coat.

Shelter staff said he already has been neutered, and would do well in a home with no livestock.

He's in kennel No. 25, ID No. 6629.

6630shepherdnew

Male shepherd mix

This male shepherd mix has a short tan, black and white coat.

He's in kennel No. 26, ID No. 6630.

6684blacklab

Labrador Retriever mix

This male Labrador Retriever mix has a short black coat.

He's in kennel No. 27, ID No. 6684.

6705labmix

Yellow Labrador Retriever

This female yellow Labrador Retriever has a short coat.

She's in kennel No. 31, ID No. 6705.

6708americanbulldog

'Tina'

“Tina” is a female American Bulldog with a short white coat.

She's in kennel No. 32a, ID No. 6708.

6709dollyambulldog

'Dolly'

“Dolly” is a female American Bulldog with a short white coat.

She's in kennel No. 32b, ID No. 6709.

6707cattledog

Labrador Retriever-pit bull terrier

This male Labrador Retriever-pit bull terrier has a short black and white coat.

He's in kennel No. 34, ID No. 6707.

To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .

Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.

Office hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm .

For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.

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.

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billdoddportraitnew

SACRAMENTO – State Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa) has been named as chairman of the Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee by Senate President pro Tem Kevin de León.

Sen. Dodd assumed office representing California's Third Senate District – which includes all or portions of Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Yolo, Sacramento and Contra Costa counties – at the start of December.

Dodd previously served as the representative for the Fourth Assembly District, which includes Lake County. He has pledged to continue to help Lake County in his new role.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to chair the Committee on Banking and Financial Institutions. As chair, I will focus on building strong consumer protections, while ensuring the economic vitality of California,” said Sen. Dodd. “I would like to thank Sen. de León for appointing me to key committee assignments that represent crucial policy areas for our district and for our entire state."

Dodd's committee could help California serve as a counterpoint to inaction or rollbacks of consumer financial protections at the federal level.

Dodd already has shown leadership on banking and consumer protection issues, recently introducing a bill in response to the recent Wells Fargo fake account scandal.

His bill would help victims of fraud by eliminating the use of forced arbitration clauses in contracts that were fraudulently created. Such contracts prevent consumers from having their day in court to recover damages.

“It’s unacceptable for consumers to be blocked from our public courts to recover damages for fraud and identity theft. Allowing victims their day in court not only allows them to recover, it can prevent more victims by putting an end illegal business practices,” said Dodd. “With quick federal action on this issue unlikely, it’s critical that California lead the nation to prevent these abuses.”

The president pro tem of the Senate appoints senators to committees at the start of each two-year session.

Dodd also was appointed to serve as a member of the Senate committees on Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, Governmental Organization, and Business, Professions and Economic Development.

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dustingoffresume

Any of the 10,000 Baby Boomers retiring every day who are contemplating a second job in their retirement may want to reconsider, due to an unfamiliar network of federal and state taxes that can serve as significant work disincentives, advises a University of California, Berkeley, economist and professor of law and a team of fellow researchers.

In “Is Uncle Sam Inducing the Elderly to Retire?” a working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a team that includes Alan Auerbach, a UC Berkeley professor and director of the Robert D. Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance at UC Berkeley, suggests that prospective retirees can forget the Social Security Administration-provided benefit calculations that come in the mail.

“They’re completely meaningless,” said Auerbach.

He said they simply don’t factor in the implicit and explicit taxes that those ages 50 through 79 face from the offsets between income, age and benefits.

Auerbach said the research highlights a need for much more transparency in the nation’s retirement and fiscal systems.

The Social Security Administration could provide the information, he said, but likely needs a push to do so by “someone in government who thinks it’s important.” That someone, Auerbach suggested, could be in the presidential administration or in Congress.

Auerbach and his fellow researchers – Laurence Kotlifkoff, of Boston University and the Fiscal Analysis Center; Darryl Koehler, of Economic Security Planning Inc. and the Fiscal Analysis Center; and Manni Yu, of Boston University – did the math using data collected from older respondents to the Federal Reserve’s 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances and special software they developed.

The Fiscal Analyzer incorporates all major federal and state fiscal programs – such as federal corporate income tax, personal federal and state income taxes, state sales taxes, estate taxes, Social Security benefits, food stamps, disability benefits, Medicare and Medicaid benefits and premiums and Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes – and calculates remaining lifetime marginal net tax rates.

First, the good news

“We find that working longer, say an extra five years, can raise older workers’ sustainable living standards,” they report in their paper.

But the researchers report the impact is far smaller than suggested, in large part due to high net taxation of labor earnings. They also warn that many boomers now face or will face extremely high work disincentives arising from the hodgepodge and uncoordinated design of the nation’s fiscal system.

“Our findings show that older workers typically face high, very high or remarkably high marginal net taxation on their extra earnings,” they write, adding that work disincentives are highest for those at the bottom and top levels of resource distribution.

Don’t let the door hit you …

“Our findings suggest that Uncle Sam is, indeed, inducing the elderly to retire,” they conclude.

“Of particular concern is Medicaid and Social Security’s complex earnings test and clawback of disability benefits,” the researchers summarized. A clawback is the recovery of funds disbursed by a company, pension or government.

“But an open question is the extent to which the elderly correctly perceive these disincentives,” the report says. “Indeed … it’s hard to believe that policymakers, themselves, are cognizant of the level and spread of the work disincentives they are imposing on the elderly.”

The researchers found that the marginal net tax rate linked to a significant increase in retirement earnings, such as $20,000 a year from a part-time job, can for many elderly be “dramatically higher than that associated with earning a relatively small, say $1,000 a year, extra amount of money.”

For the lowest 20 percent of the population aged 50 to 79 with the lowest incomes, earning an extra $1,000 raises a household’s expected value of lifetime spending by just around $700, which translates into a 30 percent marginal net tax rate. Even an extra $10,000 of lifetime earnings means another roughly $6,000 in lifetime spending, and a 40 percent remaining lifetime net tax rate on those additional earnings.

Other financial tradeoffs or exchanges cited by the research team include:

• Medicare income limits, Social Security earnings test limits for those retiring before the current full retirement age of 66 and Social Security income tax thresholds.

• Increased premiums for Medicare Part B for retirees earning more money.

• Rising out-of-pocket healthcare costs through higher premiums, higher Medicare Part B co-payments and outpatient care not covered by Part B, as well as projected increases in prescription drug expenses.

• Implicit taxes linked to government benefits such as food stamps.

From bad to worse?

All this is set against a backdrop of an already grim financial picture for many baby boomers’ golden years. Only 67 percent of them have any retirement account, and many of those have very low balances. Forty percent of boomers have no retirement savings at all.

While Social Security was designed as a basic floor for retirees’ living standards, it actually provides at last 90 percent of more than a third of elderly households’ income. Nearly two-thirds of older households rely on Social Security for at least half of their income.

Meanwhile, prospects of increased Social Security benefits to help boomers are dim. Social Security already is 32.2 percent underfunded, according to current actuarial projections.

Kathleen Maclay writes for the UC Berkeley News Center.

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