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A train of covered wagons on the Santa Fe Trail. Photo source: University of Southern California Libraries and California Historical Society. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library; From the California Historical Society Collection at the University of Southern California

“Every man will fit himself for the trip with a horse, a good rifle and as much ammunition as the company may think necessary,” read the advertisement in the “Missouri Intelligencer” in the late summer of 1821. “Every man will furnish an equal part of the fitting out for trade, and receive an equal part of the product.”

A certain William Becknell placed the ad. An enigmatic figure whose past is still to this day buried deep in the Ozark Mountains where he lived, he was typical of the type of men who moved out west as part of the first migration following the Louisiana Purchase.

That purchase, in a single swipe of a pen, opened the vast heartlands of America to enterprising sojourners like Becknell.

We know he was born in Virginia, but lived his adult life in the Missouri country, having moved there with his wife sometime in 1810. He served as a Ranger for about a year during the War of 1812 and afterward settled in Boone’s Lick in central Missouri.

Like many who lived on the frontier in those days, Becknell sought his fortune where he could, becoming a salt trader and peddler in other goods, buying and selling what he could.

Also like many of his fellow frontiersmen, Becknell foundered terribly and racked up a significant debt – a debt he hoped to wipe clean with this latest trading venture of his.

In his advertisement, Becknell sought hardy men willing to travel with him southwestward, in the wilds of the southern Rockies, "for the purpose of trading for Horses and Mules and catching Wild Animals of every description.”

His real intention was more daring than a simple hunting trip. News travelled fast along the porous border of America and the Spanish territories in the southwest, an interaction between countries that the Spanish government, for one, had been relentlessly trying to control ever since the first Americans began nosing around New Mexico in 1806.

The news that reached William Becknell in 1821 was that Spanish authorities were too busy dealing with a rebellion within their Mexican territories to worry overly much about a trading caravan of Americans.

Seeing potential profits to be had, Becknell began organizing just such a caravan.

Only four men took him up on his offer to head west, but that was enough for Becknell, who was happy to get anywhere outside the clutches of the persistent debt collectors. In September 1821, he and his brave few set out towards Santa Fe.

After a difficult journey along the Arkansas River, which cut into southeastern Colorado, Becknell and his party turned south. Shortly after making it through the Raton Pass, the beleaguered travelers encountered a troop of 400 soldiers – not the sort of welcome they had hoped for.

Fortunately for them, these soldiers were now part of the new Mexican government, which had overthrown the Spanish.

They informed Becknell and his party that Santa Fe, which had been kept isolated by the Spanish, would now welcome their trade. Hurrying on, Becknell arrived in Santa Fe on Nov. 16, 1821, becoming the very first American to open up what would become known as the Santa Fe Trail – a thoroughfare that connected Missouri and the rest of America to the isolated southwest.

His daring paid off in a big way. His $300 in tradable goods, which he had hauled with him, sold for $6,000 in gold and silver coin. When he returned to Missouri in January of 1822 and paid off the entirety of his debt, other men took notice. It wasn’t long before regular caravans made their way to the golden country of Santa Fe.

Becknell himself would make three additional trips along the route he had blazed, serving as an official for the U.S. Congress during his final trip and marking off for the record the Santa Fe Trail.

He later retired with his family to the Texas territory and played a role in the Texas War for Independence that followed.

He died in 1856, having earned the title “the Father of the Santa Fe Trail.”

Antone Pierucci is curator of history at the Riverside County Park and Open Space District and a freelance writer whose work has been featured in such magazines as Archaeology and Wild West as well as regional California newspapers.
Santa Fe Trail wagon ruts in Palmyra Township, Douglas County, Kansas. Thousands of caravans following the trail of William Becknell made deep cuts into the prairie. Photo attribution: Bhall87 at English Wikipedia [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)].
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Marijuana, an AR-15 .223 caliber assault rifle, body armor and high-capacity pistol and rifle magazines were seized during the service of a search warrant in Clearlake, Calif., on Friday, November 2, 2018. Photo courtesy of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Several men were arrested last week during the service of a search warrant at a Clearlake property where an illegal marijuana grow was discovered.

On Friday, Nov. 2, Lake County Sheriff’s narcotics detectives served a search warrant at a residence located within the 3700 Block of Fillmore Ave. in Clearlake, according to Lt. Corey Paulich.

While making entry into the structure, Paulich said detectives contacted and detained six Hispanic male adults processing and trimming approximately 340 pounds of processed marijuana.

Paulich said the men were identified as Clearlake residents Edi Avila-Castaneda, 23; Alejandro Cortez-Cornejo, 24; Jose Trinidad Cruz-Solorio, 19; Edgar Garcia-Ramirez, 21; and Gilberto Ramirez-Pineda, 22; and Roberto Villasenor, 42 of Atwater.

Another man, Jesus Aleman-Sosa, 18, of Clearlake attempted to flee out of a bedroom window and was apprehended inside a marijuana hoop greenhouse in the backyard, Paulich said.

Detectives located a loaded AR-15 .223 caliber assault rifle in the only bedroom of the house along with body armor, a large quantity of high-capacity pistol and rifle magazines, Paulich said. Military clothing, equipment and firearm components, including two rifle suppressors, were also located.

Paulich said a sheriff’s office narcotics detection canine conducted a search of the residence and surrounding property, ultimately alerting to an area in the backyard near the two hoop style marijuana greenhouses.

He said then detectives then discovered a series of 4-inch PVC pipes buried vertically in the ground. Upon inspection of those pipes, detectives located approximately 4 pounds of crystal methamphetamine and half an ounce of black tar heroin.

The narcotics, along with a total of 238 growing marijuana plants and 340 pounds of processed marijuana, were seized from the property during the service of the warrant, Paulich said.

Paulich said all of the subjects were placed under arrest and booked at the Lake County Jail for violations of possession of controlled substance for sale, possession of narcotics for sale, possession of a controlled substance while armed, committing a felony while armed, cultivation of marijuana, and possession of marijuana for sale. All of them were later released after posting bail.
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What's up for November? Planets, asteroid Juno, comet 46P, and a morning meteor shower.

You can't miss bright Venus in the predawn sky. It appears next to Spica, Virgo's brilliantly white star, all month.

You can catch Saturn at sunset this month. On the 11th the crescent Moon is less than 2 degrees (or four Moon widths) away from the ringed planet.

For Northern Hemisphere observers, Jupiter is visible at sunset for the first week of November. But then it becomes lost to view on Nov. 26 as it reaches solar conjunction.

"Solar conjunction" is when the Sun is directly in between Earth and another planet. Next month Jupiter will reappear as a morning planet.

Mars has its own meetup with the Moon. It continues to be brightly visible in the evening sky. As it moves farther from Earth in its orbit, it will fade in magnitude and shrink in apparent size. Mars will be easy to see on Nov. 26, when NASA's Insight mission lander touches down on the Red Planet.

Asteroid 3 Juno, the third asteroid ever discovered, but only the 11th brightest, is visible in telescopes this month, shining at magnitude 7.5.

Comet 46P, also at magnitude 7.5, may brighten to naked eye visibility. Observers in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres should be able to see it.

Finally, the Leonid meteor shower peaks Nov. 17 as dust from comet 55P Tempel-Tuttle passes close to Earth. The Leonids are best seen after midnight your local time, once the Moon has set. You should also be able to see some Leonids on Nov. 18, 19 and 20. The maximum for any of these nights is only 10 Leonids per hour.

You can catch up on all of NASA's current-and future-missions at www.nasa.gov.

Jane Houston Jones works for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
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The physiography of Gale Crater shown in a HiRISE map. Image courtesy of the Geological Society of America.

The presence of water on Mars has been theorized for centuries. Early telescopes revealed ice caps, and early astronomers noted channels that were hypothesized to be natural rivers or creature-created canals.

Over the past two decades, rovers Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity have sent back invaluable data to scientists who are trying to interpret the planet’s surface and uncover evidence of past or present water.

Since its landing on the “Red Planet” in August of 2012, Curiosity Rover has traveled about 20 kilometers within Gale Crater. The rover has examined about 400 meters of sedimentary rock that exists in the crater, says Ezat Heydari of Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi – including rocks thought to be 3.7 to 4.1 billion years old (Noachian time).

Heydari and colleagues used these images of sedimentary rocks to interpret the geologic processes that occurred billions of years ago on Mars. He presented their findings on Sunday at the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Within those 400 meters of rock, the researchers identified four different units that represent different types of deposition, and Heydari says that “in my opinion, deposition of all of these packages involved water.”

One of those packages, called the Hummocky Plain Unit, is a conglomerate with grains up to 20 centimeters in size. The Curiosity images showed ridges in the Hummocky Plain Unit, filled with rounded cobbles and cross beds reaching 4 meters high – indications that deposition was done by moving water.

Geology within the landing ellipse of the Curiosity Rover. The Hummocky Plains Unit, the sedimentary rock unit that contains cross bedded conglomerate thought to be deposited in an outburst flood, is shown in sage green. Image courtesy of the Geological Society of America.


In addition, some of the images have height information that can create a topographic profile of the surface, revealing the profiles of the ridges. “These ridges are asymmetric,” says Heydari. “In other words, they were formed by one directional current.”

After seeing the images, Heydari says he immediately thought of the Channelized Scablands in Washington State. The Mars ridges are equally spaced, he says, adding that they are about twice the size of those in the Scablands. The ridges on Mars and Earth had similar characteristics, but it wasn’t until he saw the cross beds that Heydari concluded the Mars deposits were made by large-scale flooding.

Using comparisons to Earth rivers, Heydari notes that to create cross beds 4 meters high, the flowing water would have been about 10 to 20 meters deep. “That’s one of the reasons I say these deposits are related to floods, rather than a puny river,” he says.

Heydari says that the Noachian sedimentary rocks found in Gale Crater may have been deposited in a similar setting as Pleistocene Earth (about 2 million years to 12,000 years ago), with large-scale global ice and dramatic outburst floods.

“On both planets, one hemisphere was covered by ice – northern Hemisphere on Earth, versus the Southern Hemisphere in Mars – and the other hemisphere was warm,” says Heydari. He adds that this comparison is important because it shows that ancient Mars appears to be very similar to Pleistocene Earth, where liquid water is stable and able to support life.

Close up of a Mastcam image mosaic (Mcam02603) acquired on Sol 620. This conglomerate has grains up to 10 centimeters in diameter and some are well rounded. The grains also are part of a 2-meter-high cross bed. Image courtesy of the Geological Society of America.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The county of Lake reported that the presence of a US EPA severely restricted pesticide has been confirmed at additional sites in the Lower Lake area.

County officials first issued a report on the pesticide sampling last week.

During searches conducted by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office of cannabis grow sites on private property on Sept. 18 and 21, samples of an unknown substance were obtained that were confirmed on Oct. 31 as a US EPA severely restricted pesticide.

There are now six sites with confirmed presence of the pesticide, the county reported.

Results for two of the sites came back on Oct. 31, which was the basis for the county’s first report last week.

Results for the other four sites came back on Nov. 7. Five of the sites also had presence of additional chemical pesticides, the county reported.

Officials said the known sites are in the Lower Lake area: three are off of Morgan Valley Road; two are off of Rocky Creek Road the other is on Spruce Grove Road south of Lower Lake.

Warning signs to avoid the areas will be posted at the entrances to the affected properties, according to the county.

The pesticide confirmed is Carbofuran, which is an organophospahate, a harmful pesticide to the public and the environment. A bird on one site was confirmed dead due to organophosphate poisoning. These chemicals can cause reproductive harm, acute poisoning, and have possible long-term effects.

Seek medical treatment if you believe you have been in contact with these chemicals or are experiencing the following symptoms: blurred vision, pinpoint pupils, tearing, excessive respiratory secretions; salivation; sweating; abdominal cramps, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea; lightheadedness; chest tightness, epigastric pain, labored breathing; cyanosis; muscle twitching; incoordination; convulsions; unconsciousness; respiratory failure; skin irritation.

The county said it will continue to notify the public until the spill has been remediated.

If you have a shallow well in the area, consider filtering your water with a granular activated carbon filter and non-ionic polymeric resin filters. Individuals can Google NSF 42, 53, and 401 point-of-use or point-of-entry filters.

Contact the Lake County Health Department with questions at 707-263-1090. After hours, please dial 9 to be connected.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – With air quality seriously degraded due to smoke from the Camp fire in Butte County, on Thursday night two Lake County school districts announced their plans to be closed on Friday, another said it would be in session while others are waiting to make a decision on Friday morning.

Smoke from the Camp fire, which began early Thursday morning, started pouring into Lake County’s air basin and other parts of the North Coast later in the morning, turning the sky red and even resulting in some falling ash.

By Thursday night, the fire had reached 20,000 acres, had cut a destructive swath through the town of Paradise, and was headed toward both Chico and Magalia, according to radio reports. Reports on the numbers of possible deaths and structures destroyed so far haven’t been verified.

The Lake County Air Quality Management District had warned of worsening air quality conditions, and by Thursday evening air sensor readings reported on the PurpleAir Web site showed that Lake County had air quality readings in the “hazardous” range that were the worst in the state.

School district officials throughout the day Thursday reported monitoring air conditions.

In Kelseyville Unified, district officials said the poor air quality conditions led to them keeping students indoors on Thursday.

Similarly, Lakeport Unified Superintendent April Leiferman said that students were kept inside for their breaks and physical education activities, with Middletown Unified also reporting that children were being kept indoors.

Just before 9 p.m., both the Kelseyville and Lakeport districts reported that schools would be closed on Friday due to poor air quality still in the hazardous range. The Lake County Office of Education’s Hance Community School also is reported to be closing for Friday.

Middletown Unified said Thursday that it would cancel school on Friday if air quality remained unhealthy.

The district posted on its Facebook page a chart of air quality guidelines that showed that conditions in the “very unhealthy” and “hazardous” range trigger closures, while the “unhealthy” range is at district discretion.

As of early Friday, PurpleAir showed conditions in Middletown to be in the “unhealthy” range, with the Lakeport and Kelseyville areas showing “hazardous” readings.

Late Thursday night, Upper Lake Unified Superintendent Dr. Giovanni Annous said the district was “on high alert and monitoring the situation closely” but that schools will remain open with no outside activities due to the poor air quality, which PurpleAir showed to be in the hazardous range.

“Our classrooms are safe and equipped with A/C units that filter the air, providing a healthy and clean environment for our students. We intend to stay open as long as safety is not compromised in support of our parents, guardians and other stakeholders who are attending to the need of their loved ones and others who are affected by the local fires,” Annous said.

Konocti Unified had not announced a decision late Thursday, and is expected to notify parents early Friday of a closure if one is called for, but air quality results from the Clearlake and Lower Lake area were in the “moderate” range overnight.

Lucerne Elementary also had not indicated a potential closure as of Thursday night.

Additional closure notices, if warranted, will be reported early Friday.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, acting as the governor while Jerry Brown is out of state, on Thursday requested a presidential emergency declaration for direct federal assistance for not just the Camp fire but also the Hill and Woolsey fires in Ventura County, the Nurse Fire in Solano County and fires in several other counties, including Lassen and Mendocino.

“These statewide weather conditions are predicted to remain in California for several days,” said Acting Governor Newsom in the letter. “As such, these fires will continue to grow and pose further threat to the health and safety of residents throughout California.”

Newsom on Thursday also issued an emergency proclamation for Butte County due to the effects of the Camp Fire.

At the same time, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services activated the State Operations Center in Mather to its highest level and is coordinating with other local, state and federal emergency response officials to address emergency management needs.

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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NORTH COAST, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol is investigating a vehicle crash that claimed the life of the driver near Hopland on Friday evening.

The CHP’s Ukiah area office did not release the name or city of residence of the male driver pending notification of next of kin.

The CHP report said that at approximately 6:45 p.m. Friday its officers responded to the report of a solo vehicle crash on Old River Road near mile post marker 4.52 just north of Hopland.

During the initial investigation, officers determined that a 2016 Honda Accord driven by a male had been traveling north on Old River Road at an unknown speed when the car went off the west roadway edge and hit a tree, the CHP said.

The driver sustained fatal injuries and died at the scene, according to the report.

The report stated that the man was wearing a seat belt.

The CHP said the crash’s cause remains under investigation, and as of the time of the report late Friday night it was not known whether or alcohol or drugs had contributed to the fatal wreck.

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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California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, in a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and Chief of the U.S. Forest Service Vicki Christiansen, on Friday urged the secretary and the chief to reverse their decision allowing the U.S. Forest Service to offer California’s wild horses for sale without restriction.

California law prohibits the possession or sale of horses with the intent of using them for human consumption.

Additionally, federal law prohibits the Department of the Interior, which manages most of the country’s wild horses, from selling horses to be used in commercial products.

The Forest Service has traditionally followed the practice of the Department of the Interior and has historically respected California’s law. However, the Forest Service is now changing its policy, stating that some of the horses under its management may be put up for unconditional sale after 90 days.

“To slaughter for commercial consumption mustangs that have roamed California for over a century is not only atrocious, but unlawful,” said Attorney General Xavier Becerra. “These majestic animals captivate the imagination and symbolize the rugged independence of the American West. We urge the federal government to treat the Modoc National Forest and its wildlife with the respect that it is due by protecting these beautiful wild horses from the commercial slaughterhouse.”

In California, wild horses roam public lands throughout the state, including the Devil’s Garden Plateau Wild Horse Territory, an area of more than 250,000 acres in Modoc National Forest. Occasional roundups of wild horses are a typical part of wildlife and land management.

The Forest Service initiated the current wild horse roundup in October to reduce the horse populations in Modoc National Forest. In the roundup, the U.S. Forest Service will gather 1,000 protected wild horses.

Attorney General Becerra cautions in the letter that selling the horses to a buyer planning to use the animals for human consumption is a felony under California law with a potential penalty of up to three years in prison.

Under management by the Forest Service, the auction of protected horses will be offered in two phases: in the first phase of sales, the Forest Service will prioritize the adoption of wild horses by members of the public who are able to care for them, and will impose conditions to require buyers follow California law. However, after January 10, 2019, the Forest Service will offer the remaining horses for sale unconditionally, including without the conditions imposed by California law.

In the letter, the Attorney General warns Secretary Perdue that by reversing the department’s policy and allowing sales without restrictions, the Forest Service and buyers risk violating California law.

110918 Becerra letter to USDA regarding wild horse slaughter by LakeCoNews on Scribd

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LAKEPORT, Calif. – While preliminary election results were reported on Tuesday night, thousands of ballots still remain to be counted, the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office confirmed on Thursday.

Registrar Diane Fridley said that approximately 11,261 ballots – a mix of absentees and provisionals – received by her office are still to be processed, and more could still be on the way in the mail.

Fridley and her staff are now tallying those ballots as part of the 30-day official canvass period.

The breakdown of the 11,261 ballots still to be counted is as follows:

– Vote-by-mail, or absentee, ballots, received between Nov. 5 and Election Day, Nov 6: 2,526.
– Vote-by-mail ballots postmarked on or before Nov. 6 and received on Nov. 7: 314.
– Vote-by-mail ballots dropped off at the polls on Election Day: 3,379.
– Polls provisional ballots voted at the polls on Election Day: 3,392.
– Conditional voter registration provisional ballots voted at the Elections Office: 1,236.
– Vote-by-mail ballots that require further review for various reasons: 414.

There could be still more absentee ballots on their way to the Registrar of Voters Office that aren’t included in that tally.

That’s because Elections Code says that vote-by-mail ballots that are postmarked on or before Election Day shall be timely cast if the voter’s ballot is received by the voter’s elections official no later than three days after Election Day, in this case, Friday, Nov. 9, Fridley explained.

Fridley said said that “polls provisional ballots” are cast at the polling places on Election Day. Some of the reasons a voter is issued a Provisional Ballot:

– The voter’s name is listed on the Active Voter Roster List as a Vote-by-Mail Voter and the voter is unable to surrender his/her VBM ballot in order to be issued a polls ballot.
– The voter has moved within the county and did not re-register to vote at his/her new residence address.
– A voter is voting in the wrong voting precinct and not his/her assigned voting precinct.
– A first time voter who is required to provide ID, but is unable to do so.
– The voter’s eligibility to vote cannot be determined by the poll worker.

“Conditional voter registration provisional ballots” can only be issued to a person personally visiting the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office no later than the close of the polls (prior to 8 p.m.) on Election Day. These voters are Lake County residents who missed the regular voter registration deadline of Oct. 22 but they still have the option to vote in an election by conditionally registering to vote and casting a conditional provisional ballot, Fridley said.

Fridley said polls provisional ballots, conditional voter registration provisional ballots and vote-by-mail ballots requiring further review may be entirely counted, partially counted or not counted.

She said her office will issue a report with an updated total number of ballots to be counted as well as a breakdown of ballots to be counted by unincorporated county and district contests on the ballot as soon as the information is available.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Health and air quality officials in Lake and neighboring counties have issued new warnings about hazardous air conditions due to the deadly Camp fire burning in Butte County.

The Camp fire began early Thursday, and has since resulted in nine confirmed fatalities, the destruction of 6,453 residences and 260 commercial structures, and the burning of 90,000 acres in and around the towns of Paradise and Magalia.

Lake County Air Pollution Control Officer Doug Gearhart said that smoke from the Camp fire had caused conditions ranging from unhealthy to very unhealthy.

Conditions had cleared in some areas, resulting in the Lake County Quality Management District’s most recent forecast putting air quality conditions in the “unhealthy” range for most of the north county and “moderate” to “unhealthy for sensitive individuals” in the south county.

Though conditions are expected to improve, all residents should be prepared for smoke to settle into the area during the overnight hours until the fire is out, Gearhart said.

He said the overnight forecast indicates a potential for settling of smoke into the basin. In areas that become impacted by smoke “Moderate” to “Unhealthy” air quality may be experienced. Mostly clear conditions with periods of smoke impact are expected through the weekend. Slight variations in the wind direction can result in significant smoke impacts.

At the same time, the Web site PurpleAir showed conditions ranging from “warning” to “very unhealthy.”

Gearhart said conditions can change quickly from “good” to “unhealthy”, and this may be the pattern for the next few days. Localized areas may experience intermittent particulate levels in the “moderate” to “unhealthy” range. All areas of Lake County may be significantly impacted should meteorological conditions worsen.

Lake County Public Health Officer Dr. Erin Gustafson advises residents to be cautious in resuming normal outdoor activities when smoke is present in your area.

“Variable weather conditions and ongoing fire activity may result in localized areas of reduced air quality, which could still pose health risks to people with underlying health conditions. Since we can’t always predict when and where “pockets” of poor air quality may occur, it is prudent to be careful until conditions stabilize,” Gustafson said.

Smokey conditions can cause irritation of the eyes, nose and air passages, which can be hazardous in young children, the elderly, individuals with heart conditions or chronic lung disease such as asthma, bronchitis and other respiratory conditions.

Individuals with asthma, bronchitis, emphysema and other lung or heart diseases should carefully adhere to their medical treatment plans and maintain at least a five-day supply of prescribed medications. They should limit outdoor activity and unnecessary physical exertion. Air conditioning that recirculates indoor air should be used, when available. Drinking plenty of water to avoid drying of the airways is recommended, unless restricted for medical reasons.

Dust masks are not protective against the most harmful pollutants caused by wildfire smoke that drifts to nearby areas. They are useful in filtering out the ash and larger particles that are encountered in burn areas. Air purifying respirators, such as N-95 filtering face pieces, may be effective in reducing harmful particulate matter, but also increase the work of breathing, can lead to physiologic stress, and are not recommended as a general protective measure.

The “moderate” to “unhealthy” air quality forecast results from fine particulates in the smoke and the possibility of increased ground level ozone. These are generated when combustion products in the smoke combine with the high temperatures, sunlight, and humidity. Other chemical reactions reduce visibility by forming secondary particulates. Unhealthy air, regional haze, and particulate from this fire can be expected throughout the County until the fire is out.
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There are many and varied situations when a person needs someone else to sign for, and/or to represent, their interests.

These situations can arise because the person is a minor (under age 18), is physically or mentally incapacitated, is unavailable (e.g., incarcerated), or is subject to a conservatorship.

Persons under age 18 are unable to sign for and unable to represent their legal interests due to their minority, a legal disability. Minors need a parent – or a court appointed guardian -- to control and manage their health care and legal affairs.

A parent can only accept delivery of money or other property for a child in very limited circumstances that do not exceed $5,000. Otherwise a guardian of the minor’s estate, often a parent, needs to be appointed by the court to manage the minor’s assets.

A foster parent may only consent to ordinary medical and dental treatment for their foster child (e.g., immunizations, physical exams, and x-rays).

Alternatively, with advanced planning, assets – such as gifts and inheritances – can be held for the minor’s benefit if they are titled to a custodial account (under California’s Uniform Transfers to Minor’s Act) or to a trust.

A person who is physically unable to sign documents – but still understands the nature and effect of the document – can direct another person, called an Amanuensis, to sign the incapacitated person’s own name on the document in the incapacitated person’s presence.

Because the amanuensis is merely performing a ministerial task, at the will and the direction of the person whose name they sign, the amanuensis is not acting as an agent with delegated authority. The amanuensis should be a disinterested person, i.e., with nothing to gain or to lose.

For example, a paralyzed person with understanding can direct an amanuensis to sign the paralyzed person’s will in their presence. The amanuensis would sign the paralyzed person’s name, and not mark an “X.” The amanuensis should not be a beneficiary; otherwise a rebuttable presumption applies that any gift to amanuensis is invalid.

Preferably, however, if paralyzed person who can still scribble their signature they should sign their name – albeit totally illegibly – with their own hands or mouth to hold the pen.

An adult person who is not competent to sign a document or to control and manage their assets, finances and legal affairs usually requires an agent, acting under a duly executed power of attorney, or else a court appointed conservator.

The agent under the power of attorney can sign documents and can approve actions if they are within their delegated authority. A conservator likewise can sign documents and can approve actions within the scope of their court granted powers, or pursuant to a court order authorizing a particular transaction.

Only a conservator of the estate of an incapacitated person can sign a will on behalf of the conserved person. Doing so first requires a substituted judgment order approving the will to be signed.

An agent under a power of attorney, however, cannot sign a will. an agent can establish a trust or can either amend or revoke an existing trust, if such authority was delegated to the agent inside the incapacitated person’s durable power of attorney.

Furthermore, if an incapacitated person is married the incapacitated person’s spouse can control and manage the couple’s community property assets.

The spouse’s authority to manage community property assets overrides any delegated authority given to an agent to manage assets; the power of attorney still applies to the incapacitated person’s separate property assets.

Physical and mental incapacity can arise suddenly and unexpectedly. Delegating authority to an agent under a power of attorney and to an agent for health care decisions under an advance health care directive may avoid a court supervised conservatorship.

The potential benefits, not to mention peace of mind, makes having both a well drafted durable power of attorney and an advance health care directive prepared by a qualified attorney a wise investment.

Dennis A. Fordham, attorney, is a State Bar-Certified Specialist in estate planning, probate and trust law. His office is at 870 S. Main St., Lakeport, Calif. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and 707-263-3235. His Web site is www.DennisFordhamLaw.com.
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Clearlake Police Chief Andrew White (right) administers the oath to, from left, dispatcher Taylor Mackey and Officer Britanya Shores as council members look on during the Clearlake City Council meeting on Thursday, November 8, 2018, in Clearlake, Calif. Photo by City Manager Greg Folsom.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The city of Clearlake welcomed its newest police officer and dispatcher at Thursday night’s city council meeting.

During the meeting, Clearlake Police Chief Andrew White administered the oath to Officer Britanya Shores and dispatcher Taylor Mackey.

Officer Shores is a Clearlake native. Early on, she set her goal to becoming a law enforcement officer.

She was initially hired as a Community Services Officer with the Clearlake Police Department in 2017 and in the meantime attended the Basic Police Academy at the Santa Rosa Junior College Public Safety Training Center.

“Ms. Shores is a valuable member of this organization and we look forward to seeing her serve in her new capacity as police officer,” said Chief White.

After Shores took the oath, her mother pinned on her new badge.

Mackey was born in Santa Rosa and grew up in Middletown. She graduated from Middletown High School and was active in softball, soccer, baseball, volleyball and cheerleading.

After high school, Mackey took college courses and worked several jobs, including in a restaurant, as an instructional aid and a medical assistant.

“Taylor became interested in the career field of dispatching and did several sit-alongs with the Clearlake Police Department. We are excited to have Taylor join our dispatch team,” White said.

City Manager, Greg Folsom, added, “We continue to add quality personnel to our police department and we are pleased to have Officer Shores and Dispatcher Mackey join our Clearlake team.”

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