NORTH COAST, Calif. – Caltrans District 1 is announced that Brad Mettam has been named the new deputy district director of Planning and Local Assistance.

District 1, which is headquartered in Eureka, includes Lake, Del Norte, Humboldt and Mendocino counties and 2,400 lane miles of state highway.

“Brad Mettam will bring a strong sense of leadership to his new role in District 1,” said District 1 Director Charlie Fielder. “With his highly developed abilities in local partnerships and innovation, I am confident Brad will help District 1 move forward in building a safe and secure transportation future for the north coast.”

Mettam recently served Inyo and Mono counties in District 9, where he held the position of deputy district director, Planning and Modal Programs for the past eight years.

He has extensive experience and knowledge in the development and implementation of multi-modal transportation planning.  

While serving District 9, Mettam strengthened working relationships with the local community, state and local agencies, as well as with tribes.

He has 14 years of Caltrans experience in regional planning and project management. He also has served as assistant director, Legislative Affairs in Sacramento, where he gained useful insight and understanding into the organization and functions of California state government.  

Fielder also thanked Cheryl Willis, Mettam’s predecessor, upon her retirement. “Cheryl served District 1 with professionalism and brought an innovative approach to her 30 years of service for the State,” he said.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the discovery this week near Willits of what appear to be charred human remains.

Lt. Greg Van Patten said the sheriff’s office was notified shortly before 12:30 p.m. Thursday of a suspicious circumstance in a secluded area adjacent to Highway 162 near the 1.04 mile post marker.

Van Patten said the reporting person stated they were in the area when they noticed the remnants of burnt ground. Upon closer inspection the reporting person observed what appeared to be bones amongst the burnt ground.

Based upon the information, sheriff's detectives responded to the location and initiated an investigation, according to Van Patten.

Upon arrival the detectives located several badly charred bones, which investigators believe to be of human origin at this time, Van Patten said.

He said detectives will be enlisting the assistance of a forensic odontologist and forensic anthropologist in attempting to identify if the bones are human.

Anyone that has information that could assist with this investigation is urged to contact the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Tip-Line by calling 707-234-2100.

In special circumstances a beneficiary may want to transfer inheritance rights to another.

Let us examine when, why and how such transfers can take place.

Consider an heir to a deceased person's intestate estate (i.e., a person who died without a will).

Sometimes, an heir may want to transfer his/her inheritance rights to the following types of recipients: An “heir search” firm; the decedent's intended beneficiary; or to another family relative. Let's discuss.

When a person without a will or trust dies and not all of the decedent’s lawful heirs step forward, an heir search firm may step in. Using genealogical records, heir search firms find the missing heirs.

For example, take an unmarried decedent with no surviving descendants or siblings. An heir search firm may find and notify the nieces and nephews or even cousins, as relevant.

Naturally, the heir search firm requests the missing heirs assign a percentage of their inheritance rights to the heir firm. Assignments are legal if they satisfy certain standards.

Next, occasionally the heirs may wish to assign their rights to the decedent's intended beneficiary.

Take a decedent who, while alive, orally declared his intention to leave everything to his then girlfriend and companion of 10 years. Unfortunately for her, he never formalized his spoken intentions.

The heirs may – and I have seen this happen – choose to honor the decedent's spoken intentions. To do so they may “assign” her their inheritance rights; in which case she steps into their shoes.

Now consider a death beneficiary to a living trust. Can the beneficiary transfer his or her beneficial interest in the trust estate? It depends.

Sometimes the trust gives a beneficiary a “power of appointment” to transfer the inheritance to alternative beneficiaries of choice; this is to allow the intended beneficiary to pick alternative beneficiaries should he or she not survive to receive his/her full inheritance.

To exercise a power of appointment, the power holder must execute a testamentary instrument and therein specifically refer to the power of appointment being exercised.

Powers of appointment are either limited or general. Limited powers of appointment allow the power holder the right to transfer some or all of an inheritance to a narrow class of persons, typically the power holder’s siblings or children.

General powers of appointment, however, allow the power holder to transfer his inheritance rights to anyone, including his estate and his creditors.  

Without a power of appointment it is often impossible for the beneficiary to assign his/her inheritance because a trust will typically contain an “anti-alienation” clause. This clause prevents a death beneficiary from assigning his or her inheritance rights – prevents the beneficiary’s creditors from compelling the trustee to satisfy the beneficiary’s own debts directly from the trust (prior to distribution to the beneficiary).

Nevertheless, even with an anti-alienation clause, a trust beneficiary may sometimes still “disclaim” – renounce – his or her beneficial interest within a 9 month period after the settlor of the trust dies.

A properly executed disclaimer causes the disclaimed interest to pass as if the beneficiary had predeceased the settlor. Consequently an alternative beneficiary inherits the disclaimed property.

However, unlike with an assignment or exercise of a power of appointment, the disclaiming beneficiary may not direct who inherits; he or she can only step aside.

Before transferring an inheritance by executing an assignment, power of appointment, or disclaimer, as the case may be, one should consult with a qualified attorney.

Not only must the legal procedure be done correctly, but persons making such transfers need to understand the implications to themselves.

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 dennis@dennisfordhamlaw.com or by phone at 707-263-3235. Visit his Web site at www.dennisfordhamlaw.com .

On Friday Attorney General Kamala Harris convened a leadership group of the state’s district attorneys to collectively develop smart and practical recommendations to reduce gun violence through enforcement of existing laws and prevention efforts.

“Gun violence continues to be a distressing and persistent problem in the United States, but California is leading the nation in smart, common-sense gun policies designed to protect our communities,” said Attorney General Harris. “By working together, law enforcement and our state’s district attorneys can make a difference by improving enforcement and increasing prevention to help keep all Californians safe from gun violence.”

At the meeting, district attorneys discussed current programs that effectively reduce gun violence and how to better enforce current gun laws.

The leadership group will prepare a report of best practices that will serve as models for law enforcement in other communities to adopt and as models for potential legislative reform.

Attorney General Harris discussed the importance of the Armed Prohibited Persons System (APPS) which takes guns out of the hands of those prohibited from owning them.

“The APPS program is unique to California and it is simple common-sense that prohibited persons should not possess firearms in violation of the law,” Attorney General Harris said. “The Department of Justice will be increasing the number of agents conducting these smart and effective operations.”

Earlier this month, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law Senate Bill 140, which gives $24 million to the APPS program. With the funds, the Attorney General will hire 36 additional agents.

The Department of Justice will be able to increase enforcement operations statewide, including in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Fresno and Riverside.

California is the only state with a program like APPS, which identifies people who previously purchased one or more guns, but are later prohibited from owning them.

A person becomes prohibited if he or she is convicted of a felony or a violent misdemeanor, is placed under a domestic violence restraining order or is determined to be mentally unstable.

Over the last two years, DOJ agents have investigated nearly 4,000 people and seized nearly 4,000 weapons, including nearly 2,000 handguns and more than 300 assault weapons.

In the first four months of 2013, agents have collected 461 firearms and 23,080 rounds of ammunition statewide and collected 84 firearms and 9,482 rounds in the Los Angeles area.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Local law enforcement officials have eradicated a large scale marijuana grow discovered earlier this month in the Middletown area.

Lt. Steve Brooks said a routine Lake County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Task Force overflight mission that took place May 1 led to the grow’s discovery.

Brooks said detectives observed the grow site in an area commonly known as Black Oak, which is located in a remote area off of Butts Canyon Road near the Lake and Napa county line.

Last Friday, May 10, detectives walked into the site and discovered 46,284 marijuana plants, Brooks said.

The detectives said it appeared to be an illicit marijuana growing operation, funded by a Hispanic drug trafficking organization, according to Brooks.

As the detectives were conducting their investigation they noticed two Hispanic males fleeing the area on foot, Brooks said. After a brief search of the area, they were unable to locate the suspects.

During the investigation, detectives located and seized a cellular telephone as evidence. Brooks said a forensic examination of the telephone will be conducted in an attempt to identify the suspects.

The marijuana later was eradicated and destroyed, Brooks said.

The Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force can be contacted through its anonymous tip line at 707-263-3663.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Napa County Planning Commissioner Matt Pope has announced that he is joining the 2014 race for the California Assembly’s District 4 seat.

A Democrat, the 42-year-old Pope will seek the seat currently held by Mariko Yamada, who will be termed out next year.

District 4 includes Lake and Napa counties, and portions of Colusa, Sonoma, Solano and Yolo counties.

“I am running to keep communities safe, fix local schools, colleges and universities, improve our quality of life, and expand opportunity for working families,” Pope said.

He joins a growing field that includes Lake County Supervisor Anthony Farrington, Davis Mayor Joe Krovoza and Davis City Councilman Dan Wolk.

Pope has support from state Sen. Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa), for whom he serves as a district representative.

“Matt brings an unrivaled breadth of experience to voters,” Evans said. “He has worked in business, served our country and communities in the Navy and as a reserve police officer, and fought for working families as an organizer for two international unions. He understands the everyday issues people in Napa, Yolo, Sonoma, Lake, Solano and Colusa counties are facing and will be their biggest advocate in the Assembly.”

Pope is the former president of the Napa County Democrats and served for three years on the American Canyon Planning Commission. He is a former labor organizer for SEIU 24/7 and IFPTE Local 21.

“I believe I have the skills and experience necessary to serve this diverse district,” Pope said. “I want to fight for working families and their public school children. But I also know what it takes to balance environmental protection with the enormous importance of agriculture and tourism to our economy.”

In addition to Sen. Evans, Pope cited endorsements from Former Assembly Assistant Majority Floor Leader Michael Allen, Napa County Supervisor Keith Caldwell, American Canyon City Council member Kenneth Leary, Napa City Council member Scott Sedgley, Yountville Town Council member Marita Dorenbecher, Napa Valley College Board Trustee Dan Digardi and Napa County Planning Commissioner Heather Phillips.

Pope earned his bachelor of science in government from Jacksonville University before coming to work in the high-tech security industry in Silicon Valley.

He served as a U.S. Navy reserve and was called to duty for three weeks to provide logistic support at the Naval Air Station in Lemoore in the days after 9/11. He also served for five years as a reserve police officer in the City of Fremont.

Pope lives in American Canyon with his wife, Harlen.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – In response to an outpouring of community requests, local officials are offering suggestions on how to help the family of Mikaela Lynch, while area residents are planning vigils in memory of the little girl.

The 9-year-old San Francisco girl, who had autism, wandered from her family’s Harbor Drive vacation home on Mother’s Day.

After an exhaustive search involving agencies from around the state, her body was found in Cache Creek, not far from the home, on Wednesday morning.

The Clearlake Police Department, which had headed up the search for the girl, offered a series of suggestions on how the community can assist the Lynch family, who have asked that their privacy be respected in the wake of their daughter’s death.

The agency said it’s received numerous requests from members of the public who wish to make a donation in Mikaela’s memory.

While the agency itself cannot accept donations, it said that tax-deductible donations in honor of the child could be made through SF Polo in the Park, a program which Mikaela loved.

The James S. Brady Therapeutic Riding Program for children with autism and other special needs is the main beneficiary of Polo in the Park, Clearlake Police said.

The program provides children in the San Francisco Bay Area with horsemanship and horseback riding lessons as a physical or social therapy alternative.

Donations of stock, cash, goods and services are welcome. For more information visit http://sfpolointhepark.com/donate or call 415-221-9438.

Police also said that anyone wishing to send their condolences to the Lynch family may do so at the following mailing address: The Lynch family, General Delivery Post Office, Clearlake, CA 95422.

Candlelight vigils for the girl also are being organized.

One will be held beginning at 8 p.m. Saturday at Redbud Park, 14655 Lakeshore Drive in Clearlake. Members of the Lynch family are expected to be in attendance.

On Monday, the Success in Autism Support Group – in conjunction with First 5 Lake County and Easter Seals – is planning a candlelight vigil for Mikaela and her family at 6 p.m. at the Legacy School, 1950 Parallel Dr. in Lakeport.

Email Elizabeth Larson at elarson@lakeconews.com . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – The famed Clearlake Oaks-Glenhaven Catfish Derby is gearing up to begin its three-day run on Friday.

The derby will run from Friday through Sunday. Derby headquarters are located at the Northshore Fire Protection District’s Clearlake Oaks station, 12655 E. Highway 20.

The derby, held annually for more than 30 years, is the largest catfish tournament west of the Mississippi.

Each May hundreds of of eager fishermen and women visit Clear Lake for a chance to land the big one and win one of many prizes.

The tournament features separate divisions for adults and children; food and entertainment; a $4,000 prize cash for the largest fish caught in the adult division; an Apple iPad for the largest fish in the children's division; and more than $10,000 total in cash and merchandise prizes.

For derby entrants fishing from a boat, they must have a current quagga mussel inspection sticker to compete in this year's derby. For more information about quagga stickers, visit www.clearlakeoaks.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=156&Itemid=2 .

For general information about the tournament, visit www.clearlakeoaks.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28&Itemid=30 .

This story has been updated with new details, including the man’s name.

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – For decades, the man in the yellow boat fishing along docks in Jago Bay had become a familiar and welcome sight to residents.

But neighbors became concerned when they found his empty boat on Tuesday night, and a sheriff’s official confirmed that the man’s body was found on Wednesday.

A Thursday evening report from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office identified the man as 73-year-old John Henry Taberner of Richmond.

Sgt. Don McPherson of the Sheriff’s Marine Patrol said Taberner’s body was located by a visiting dive team thanks to a remotely operated underwater vehicle lent to the search by the San Francisco Police Department.

Mary and Norm Benson had seen Taberner fishing along their dock for years, going up under the dock on hot days or tying up to a nearby piling, where there is good fishing.

Although she had only spoken to him once, “We felt like we knew him,” Mary Benson said Thursday, adding that neighbors had reported seeing Taberner in the area regularly for 30 years.

On Tuesday evening, Norm Benson noticed the yellow and white fiberglass boat was down on their home’s beach, in amongst the willow trees, Mary Benson explained.

She said her husband went running down to the beach and found the boat idling in neutral, with no sign of the fisherman.

They placed a call to the sheriff’s office at around 7 p.m. Tuesday, she said.

McPherson said Taberner was last seen with his boat tied to a piling, fishing about 40 feet away from where the boat was found on the beach. The sheriff’s office report said Taberner was last seen at noon on Tuesday.

When the call about the missing fisherman came in on Tuesday evening, officials were in the midst of a search for missing 9-year-old Mikaela Lynch, McPherson said. That search would end Wednesday morning with the girl’s body found in Cache Creek.

On Tuesday night weather conditions were “just brutal” on Clear Lake, said McPherson. “The waves were really bad.”

He said they didn’t have a missing person’s report and didn’t know who was in the boat, so they made sure it wasn’t a navigational hazard and cleared the scene for the night.

McPherson said the sheriff’s office contacted the Clearlake Police Department, which checked the boat ramp at Redbud Park and found a vehicle registered to Taberner parked there.

Clearlake Police, in turn, contacted the Richmond Police Department, which sent officers to Taberner’s home. A neighbor told them that he was watching the house as Taberner had gone fishing on Clear Lake, McPherson said.

After the Mikaela Lynch search ended on Wednesday, officials found that Taberner’s vehicle was still parked at Redbud Park, at which time McPherson said he began to investigate further.

McPherson contacted the county’s Office of Emergency Services coordinators, who gave him another mission number in order to use the out-of-county search and rescue resources that were still on scene after the search for the child had concluded.

Search teams from Placer and El Dorado counties were put on the shore in Jago Bay in the case Taberner had gotten to shore. “We just covered our bases,” McPherson said.

The Sacramento Drowning and Accident Rescue Team – known as DART – sent divers and sonar equipment to the scene, and San Francisco Police sent their underwater search vehicle, which McPherson said was put in the water near where the boat had last been seen tied up.

He estimated they searched for about a half an hour before locating Taberner’s body. The sheriff’s office said the body was found just before 4 p.m. at a depth of 15 feet, about 10 feet from the piling where the boat was tied when it was last seen.

The water temperature in the area was 68 degrees, McPherson said.

McPherson said officials have been told Taberner may have had some medical conditions, and they have some hypotheses that he wouldn’t detail about what may have happened. He didn’t have any information on injuries the man may have sustained.

Conditions may have played a part. “The weather was rough,” he said.

McPherson added, “He was not wearing a life jacket.”

McPherson thanked the assisting agencies for their help, and said that without San Francisco Police’s underwater search vehicle, “We wouldn’t have found him that quick.”

Benson said she had liked seeing Taberner on his regular trips, noting that he had been part of their landscape on the lake.

“We’ll really miss him,” she said.

Email Elizabeth Larson at elarson@lakeconews.com . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – A Stockton man and his son escaped injury on Thursday morning after the semi truck in which they were traveling overturned on Highway 20.

The California Highway Patrol said the crash involving the 1997 Peterbilt tractor-trailer occurred at 5:50 a.m. west of Walker Ridge Road.

Truck driver Benito Guerrero, 45, was heading westbound in the semi, pulling a two-axle flatbed trailer loaded with PVC pipe, with his 11-year-old son as his passenger, the CHP said.

For reasons that investigators have yet to determine, as Guerrero was driving through a lefthand curve the trailer overturned. That, in turn, caused the tractor-trailer to overturn, according to the CHP.

The CHP said the overturned Peterbilt and its spilled load of PVC pipe blocked both lanes of Highway 20, closing the highway down for approximately four hours.

Both Guerrero and his son were wearing their seat belts, the CHP said.

Email Elizabeth Larson at elarson@lakeconews.com . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Erica Boomer, an agricultural education teacher and Future Farmers of America advisor at Upper Lake Union High School, has been selected as the 2013-14 Lake County Teacher of the Year.

Tim Gill, senior director of Educational Services at Lake County Office of Education, announced Boomer’s selection on Wednesday.

Boomer will represent Lake County in the upcoming California Teacher of the Year competition.

Each year the school districts in the county select one exemplary teacher as their District Teacher of the Year. A committee of community leaders then interviews these candidates.

The criteria for selection of the Lake County Teacher of the Year is based upon the state and national  requirements, which include professional development activities, commitment to the improvement of the educational system, personal attributes, creativity and ability to communicate ideas effectively, and professional skills in delivering curriculum and instruction to students.

This year’s selection committee members included Gill, along with Pamela Bordisso, Nyla Norris, Richard Smith and Wally Holbrook.

Boomer holds a degree from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where she majored in agricultural education with a minor in forestry and natural resources.  

For the past eight years she has been an instructor at Upper Lake High School, where she helped develop AESA, a California Partnership Academy, which is a hands-on interactive, academic approach to Alternative Energy and Sustainable Agriculture.

She started the ag program at Upper Lake Elementary School in 2005 and has successfully gained grant funds to establish the program.

“My students have found great success in the ag program,” she said. “Through my ROP Agricultural Mechanics class, students have had a part in building the school farm. They have learned construction principles while building the barn; they can build a fence, trench water lines, and weed-whack and rotor-till like champs!”

“Erica is more than just a teacher; she is the single reason why students succeed. Erica has that amazing ability to take her subject matter and make it come to life for her students,” said Patrick Iaccino, superintendent and principal of Upper Lake High.

Boomer best describes her passion for teaching. “Sometimes I wonder, ‘Why am I doing all of this?’ Then the bell rings and my students come in excited to see if the chicks have hatched yet, and I remember I am doing this because I love seeing the spark of interest in them. Agricultural education is more than growing food and fiber; it’s developing and nurturing a love for country life and respect for those around you.  I love Lake County and I love my job.”

The outstanding district teachers of the year for 2013-14 are Travis Lyons, Konocti Unified School District; Sharon Olson, Kelseyville Unified School District; Louise Owens, Middletown Unified School District; Hank Smith, Upper Lake Union Elementary School District; Tresa Thorley, Lakeport Unified School District; and Doreen Walstad, Lucerne Elementary School District.

Boomer and the district teachers of the year will be honored for their exceptional achievement at an event this fall.

For more information on the upcoming award ceremony, please contact Shelly Mascari at the Lake County Office of Education, smascari@lakecoe.org .

CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – A standoff in Clearlake Oaks ended late Wednesday night with a man who had held law enforcement at bay for several hours taken into custody.

The standoff was first reported shortly before 5 p.m. at a home on Fourth Street, between Schindler and Shaul streets, as Lake County News has reported.

Witnesses reported that it ended at approximately 10:43 p.m. after SWAT team members broke down the home’s door and also broke some windows to gain entrance.

The 52-year-old male suspect was taken out of the house in handcuffs, with law enforcement continuing to go through the house afterward, witnesses said.

Radio reports indicated the suspect was taken to the hospital for treatment of a gunshot wound to his left calf, which he reportedly received at about 5:30 p.m. He also was reported to be under the influence of alcohol.

The standoff began after the suspect allegedly shot a woman with a pellet gun.

The woman, Brenda Austin, said she had gone to the home to discuss a vehicle. She said the suspect became angry and he allegedly shot at her twice, hitting her with the second shot.

She showed Lake County News what appeared to be a pellet gun wound in her left hip.

After being injured, she said she left and called 911, and said she also left the alleged assailant a phone message saying she had called law enforcement.

When deputies arrived, scanner traffic indicated that the man had shot at them several times either with a pellet gun or a small caliber gun.

Jesse Langhorne, who lives on Schindler Street, said he heard someone yelling, “Drop the gun” repeatedly. Then he said he heard several loud gunshots from what he believed was a sheriff’s deputy.

Law enforcement agencies from around the county responded, among them the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, California Highway Patrol and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Staged out on Highway 20 near Shaul were Northshore Fire Protection District personnel.

Immediate neighbors of the home reported being told to leave their residences. CHP and sheriff’s staff continued to push residents and onlookers back, finally cordoning off portions of Shaul and Schindler and all of Fourth Street.

A negotiator called in to the man, trying to convince him to leave his home and come out. A second negotiator arrived later, and she also took turns trying to get the man to surrender.

It was reported at the scene that power and water had been cut to the home, with lights being set up outside of the home. SWAT team members appeared to be using strobe lights on the home’s exterior after dark.

As the night wore on, the temperature dropped and winds kicked up in the neighborhood, finally causing many neighbors who had clustered outside in groups watching the incident to return to their homes.

Neighbors said the man has lived in the area for some time, and that he may possibly have shared the home with roommates.

Email Elizabeth Larson at elarson@lakeconews.com . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.