LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – While no one in California – or in the nation – chose all six winning numbers to get the Powerball prize on Saturday, one ticket sold locally was among half a dozen statewide that did hit a sizable jackpot.

The California Lottery reported Saturday night that the winning numbers for the Powerball drawing were 16, 19, 32, 34, 57, with 13 as the Powerball number.

Lottery officials said there were no tickets sold in the state that included all six numbers needed to win the $949 million prize.

However, there were six tickets sold across the state that hit five of six numbers, including the Powerball number, according to California Lottery spokesman Russ Lopez.

Lopez confirmed to Lake County News that one of those winning tickets was sold at the Nice Market, located at 3794 Highway 20.

Of the other five tickets matching five of the six numbers, one was sold in the Bay Area, in Fremont, and another in the Central Valley, in Stockton; and the remaining three were sold in Southern California – Dana Point in Orange County and in San Bernardino County, Mountain Pass and Nipton, the latter being the No. 1 selling lottery site in the state, Lopez said.

Lopez said each of the six winners will receive approximately $779,264.

California does not tax lottery winnings, although they are subject to tax by the federal government, Lopez said.

With the California Lottery confirming that no Powerball winners were reported elsewhere in the nation in Saturday night's drawing, the jackpot now increases to $1.3 billion. The next drawing will take place on Wednesday night.

Over the last several years there have been other California Lottery winners in Lake County.

In September 2012, Clearlake Oaks resident Antonio Velasquez won $14 million in the SuperLotto Plus with a ticket he purchased at the Red and White Store in Clearlake Oaks.

A winning $500,000 ticket in the multistate Powerball drawing was sold at Rotten Robbie gas station in Lakeport in April 2013. Lottery officials did not report that winner's name, saying the individual wanted to remain anonymous.

Visit www.calottery.com for more information on the upcoming drawings.

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.

Quantum foam. It may sound like the name of a new craft beer, but it’s something even more amazing.

To “see” it, you have to dive down the rabbit hole of quantum mechanics – a branch of physics that describes how light and matter behave at atomic scales.

In this bizarre realm, matter can be in two places at once; electrons can behave as both particles and waves; and Schrödinger’s cat can be alive and dead at the same time. Or so the quantum theorists tell us.

Theirs is a world wildly different from Einstein’s. In his highly successful theory of general relativity, Einstein tells us that energy equals mass and mass warps space-time.

Remember the physics analogy of the trampoline with a bowling ball in the middle? Like that ball, which gently distorts the trampoline’s canvas, the sun warps the smooth “canvas” of space-time enough to make planets move in curved orbits.

A whole galaxy warps space-time much more. The more massive the body, the more warping. But if we could zoom in on the quantum realm, we wouldn’t see a smooth expanse of canvas gently distorted by massive bodies. We’d see quantum foam.

Quantum gravity models predict that space-time is a seething foam of tiny regions where minuscule new dimensions unfurl and then furl back in on themselves, spontaneously appearing and disappearing with inconceivable quickness.

These regions blink in and out of existence like the bubbles in the foam of a freshly poured beer. There is no such thing as empty space; there is only ‘quantum foam,’ everywhere. Such is space-time for a quantum physicist.

According to Eric Perlman of the Florida Institute of Technology, The “bubbles” in the quantum foam are quadrillions of times smaller than atomic nuclei and last for infinitesimal fractions of a second – or in “quantum-speak” – the size of a Planck Length for a Planck Time.

According to string theorists, this requires an additional six dimensions. Space-time itself is fluctuating in these regions.”

But this is all hear-say. We can’t see this quantum foam in all its weird glory. Researchers have to look for evidence of its effect to prove it’s there and determine its nature.

Perlman and his colleagues recently attempted to do so by using X-ray and gamma-ray observations of distant quasars by the Chandra X-ray Observatory, Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope, and the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System, or VERITAS.

“Because these bubbles are so small and last for such a short time, they can never be observed directly,” said Perlman. “But they would affect light in an interesting way.”

Each photon’s path would be slightly different as it maneuvered through the all-pervading myriads of tiny fluctuations frothing up space-time. And, as a result, the distance each photon travels would be different.

“Over the cosmological distances that the photons travel from these distant sources, the effects of the fluctuations the photons encounter will accumulate,” Perlman said. “The more they accumulate, the more out of phase the light will get. Creating an image from a collection of such photons would be like trying to distinguish what one person is saying in a huge crowd of people talking. So it would be physically impossible to get a clear picture.”

But the findings of Perlman and his team took a bit of the fizz out of the quantum foam.

“It seems space-time has to be smooth, at least at the level of 1000x time smaller than an atom, and space-time must be much less foamy than most models predict.”

“But,” he cautioned, “this investigation does not go as far down as the Planck Length. So there is still some hope for the tiniest of bubbles.”

For more news about quantum foam, and other mind-bending NASA research, stay tuned to http://science.nasa.gov .

A student-built experiment aboard NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission has been integrated onto the spacecraft.

The Regolith X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (REXIS) will determine elemental abundances on the surface of asteroid Bennu, complementing the mineral and chemical mapping capabilities provided by two other instruments on the spacecraft.

"The students worked incredibly hard to get to this point," said Mike Donnelly, OSIRIS-REx project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "It is quite an accomplishment to develop a flight instrument and have it integrated to a spacecraft that's headed to an asteroid."

REXIS will observe the solar X-rays and their interaction with the asteroid's surface material, or regolith. The surface responds to this incoming energy by glowing faintly, or fluorescing, by emitting X-rays.

These X-rays have an energy that is uniquely characteristic of the elements. REXIS is a telescope that images this X-ray fluorescence, allowing the production of maps of the different elements present on Bennu's surface.

REXIS brings together students and faculty from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University, both in Cambridge. After a competitive process REXIS was selected as a student collaboration experiment as part of OSIRIS-REx.

The instrument will involve more than 100 students throughout the mission. Students at Harvard and MIT will perform data analysis as part of their coursework.

"The REXIS instrument has already achieved its primary objective -- to train the next generation of scientists and engineers," said Dante Lauretta, principal investigator for OSIRIS-REx at the University of Arizona, Tucson. "This team should be proud of all they have accomplished. I look forward to seeing the REXIS data from Bennu and using it to learn more about the chemistry of the asteroid surface."

OSIRIS-REx will be the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid. After launch in September 2016, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will travel to the near-Earth asteroid Bennu and retrieve at least 60 grams (2.1 ounces) of surface material and return it to Earth for study.

Scientists expect that Bennu may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of the water and organic molecules that may have made their way to Earth. OSIRIS-REx's investigation will also inform future efforts to develop a mission to mitigate an asteroid impact on Earth, should one be required.

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, provides overall mission management, systems engineering and safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. Dante Lauretta is the mission's principal investigator at the University of Arizona. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver is building the spacecraft.

OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA's New Frontiers Program. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages New Frontiers for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The new year brings a sense of optimism, a chance to make a new start, a new beginning.

It is fitting that the stars and constellations of the first month of the new year, January, are among the most brilliant and beautiful.

Indeed, of the 20 brightest stars in the night sky, the first month of the new year has eight of them!

We begin with Orion the hunter. This magnificent constellation is easily recognized by the four bright stars that represent his shoulders and feet.

Betelgeuse, the ninth brightest star in the sky, represents Orion’s right shoulder. Rigel, the seventh brightest star, represents his left foot.

There are three stars in a line in the middle of Orion – they represent his belt.

Just below his belt is the Great Orion Nebula, one of the most rewarding objects to view through a telescope. This is a huge cloud of dust and gas where new stars are born.

To the east of Orion are Canis Major and Canis Minor. Those names are Latin for “big dog” and “little dog.” These are Orion’s hunting dogs.

Canis Major has the brightest star in the sky, Sirius. Sirius is sometimes called the “Dog Star,” for obvious reasons.

Canis Minor sports Procyon, the eighth brightest star.

Above the little dog lies Gemini the Twins. Two bright stars, Castor and Pollux, mark the head of each twin.

Above and to the west of Orion is Taurus the Bull. Aldebaran, a giant orange star represents the eye of the bull. It’s the 14th brightest star in the sky.

Finally, above Taurus is Auriga the Charioteer. Within Auriga lies Capella, the sixth brightest star.

John Zimmerman is a resident of Lake County, Calif., and has been an amateur astronomer for more than 50 years. For more information about astronomy and local resources, visit his Web site at www.lakecountyskies.com .

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Four Lake County wineries brought home best of class awards in the 2016 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.

Winners were 2013 Shooting Star Barbera, 2014 Gregory Graham Wedge Block Chardonnay, 2013 Smiling Dogs Ranch Eutenir Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon and 2010 Hawk and Horse Latigo red dessert wine.

“Lake County wineries have again been recognized for great wines! Congratulations to our four Best of Class winners,” said Lake County Winery Association Director Terry Dereniuk.

Local wineries have been anxiously awaiting the announcement of results.

Steele Wine’s Tasting Room Manager Raven Sprague said she had been checking the www.winejudging.com Web site all day.

Smiling Dogs Ranch owner Scott Simkover was more laid back about the results, but smiled broadly at the news that his 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon scored a big win.

“This is our second year entering wines in the competition. I am excited to have my wine recognized as Best of Class,” he said.

Two of the 67 judges this year were from Lake County.

Winemaker Eric Stine and Sommelier Stephanie Green spent three days swirling, sipping, spitting and judging.

“It was a phenomenal experience,” said Green. “The work involved of making difficult choices during the judging for us is a very hard task but each wine is judged individually on its own merit. Amazing! I'm proud to be a part of the American wine industry and Lake County.”
 
Results of the San Francisco Chronicle 2016 Wine Competition were posted late Friday afternoon on www.winejudging.com following the three days of judging of the record breaking 7,162 entries.

Billed as the largest wine competition in North America, awards from this event are coveted by the winners. Full results are available at www.winejudging.com .

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The SPCA of Clear Lake is closing its shelter this month and switching its focus to affordable spay and neuter programs.

The organization's board of directors made the decision after “exploring opportunities to better serve our community,” according to a statement the SPCA released on Thursday.

“We have identified that our number one goal is to reduce the number of unwanted animals in Lake County,” the statement said. “In order to achieve this goal with the limited amount of resources available to the organization, we have made the difficult decision to suspend our shelter operations effective Jan. 30, 2016, and focus our efforts on affordable spay and neuter programs.”

The board of directors said in the statement that it is looking into the possible implementation of a high volume, high quality, affordable spay/neuter clinic. “We believe this will be a great asset to our community.”

The SPCA said it has stopped accepting animal surrenders from the public, effective immediately, but will continue to adopt out animals in its shelter for a reduced fee. Adoption fees for animals at the SPCA are now $75 for dogs and $45 for cats.

Any animals remaining at SPCA after Jan. 30 will be transferred to other rescues or shelters. An organization representative said on the group's Facebook page that the goal is to make sure animals go to no-kill shelters.

The SPCA had offered animal control services to the city of Clearlake beginning in October 2013 at a cost of $20,000 annually.

The agreement was to have been terminated in the fall as the SPCA and the city struggled to agree on terms, including the amount of money the city was to reimburse the SPCA for its services.

To see animals awaiting adoption, visit the SPCA at 8025 Highway 29 in Kelseyville from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.

The SPCA will still hold its monthly vaccination clinic from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 16.

The organization, which relies heavily on community support, continues to seek donations to fund its operations. Tax-deductible donations can be sent to the SPCA at 8025 Highway 29, Kelseyville, CA 95451, made online at http://www.spcaofclearlake.com/donations or called in to 707-279-1400.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The art of quilting dates far back in time, throughout the world.

The Crusaders quilted in the 12th century, the Mongolians quilted floor coverings which archaeologists think date to around 200 AD, and there is evidence many other European, Egyptian and Russian quilts.

Meaning "stuffed sack" in Latin, quilts or the technique of quilting has been part of cultures of the world for millennia.

According to the book, "The Hawaiian Quilt - A Unique American Art Form" by Linda Boynton Arthur, the Hawaiian form of quilting reaches back prior to outside contact.

Hawaiians made use of kapa, or barkcloth. Kapa was felted using paper mulberry bark, then layered into quilts. Today there is a strong Hawaiian tradition of quilting throughout the islands.

Quilting in the United States became popular in the 18th century. Quilts then were constructed mainly by prosperous folks who had more time on their hands. Initially, these quilts were artistic creations that were proudly displayed.

Quilts, then, as now were used as a means to tell a story. Prior to 1830, when abolitionists were focusing on a way to put an end to slavery, fundraising with quilts helped the cause.

It is believed by some that special quilts were used to send messages. For example, a log cabin quilt could signify that the home over which it was hung was a “safe house.”

Here in Lake County we are fortunate to have “The Lake County Quilt Trail,” which incorporates history, art, agriculture and tourism throughout the county.

The project came about in 2009 due to the efforts of Marilyn Holdenried, founder/chairman of the Kelseyville Pear Festival.

On the Lake County California Quilt Trail Web site she states, “While attending the International Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN I was introduced to the Quilt Trail project concept. I was totally hooked! We needed this project in Lake County.”

Now, dozens and dozens of lovely painted quilt squares adorn barns and buildings all across Lake County.

The Stone House Historical Museum's quilt block design is “Oak Leaf Variation.” This painted piece of art was selected to pay tribute to a 200 year old oak tree which perished in the 1970s.

The Ely Stage Stop and Country Museum at 9921 Soda Bay Road in Kelseyville has its own distinctive quilt square, “Carpenter's Star.”

The museum's building was once located along Highway 29 at a historic stage stop. Soon a working blacksmith shop will be completed at the Soda Bay Road site.

At Clear Lake State Park in Kelseyville you will find the “State Park Bear Paw” quilt block, which represents our California state flag.

Be sure to see the Lake County Quilt Trail Web site and video, http://www.lakecountyquilttrail.com/quilt-trail-2/ , along with their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-Quilt-Trail/187014251326163 .

Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is an 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.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – Mendocino College has a full selection of community college classes set for the spring semester, beginning on Monday, Jan. 25.

“We’ve scheduled a diverse offering of classes in various formats throughout the week including many Saturday courses to meet different student needs in all of the communities we serve,” said Dean of Instruction Debra Polak.

Registration is happening online at www.mendocino.edu or by visiting any one of the four locations where Mendocino College offers coursework throughout the year.

The Ukiah Campus offers the largest list of course offerings. An extensive list of classes are also offered at the Mendocino College Lake Center and North County Center. The Mendocino College Coast Center also is offering many courses this spring, growing from Fall 2015.

Mendocino College offers classes designed to meet the needs of university transfer students and those interested in job skill improvement, personal enrichment and lifelong learning.

Classes offered every day of the week cover the traditional range of general education college degree topics.

“One of the items we find most important to students today is a vast array of choices for scheduling that meets their needs,” says Polak. “In working with our academic counselors, students can set a course schedule that allows them to meet other important family or employment commitments without missing the chance to attend college classes.”

Students interested in Mendocino College classes in all locations – including Willits, Lakeport and Fort Bragg – should consult the printed college schedule or listings on the college Web site for details. The printed schedule is available in multiple locations at each center.

For nearly all students, community college costs are very affordable. Mendocino College unit fees are just $46 per unit.

In addition, more than half the students who attend Mendocino College qualify for some form of financial aid. Many meet the guidelines that eliminate the unit fees and others receive grants to cover college costs.

Registering soon for the spring semester is advised to help guarantee placement, college officials reported.

Already enrolled students can register for classes using WebAdvisor, which can be found by visiting www.mendocino.edu .

New students can enroll online at www.mendocino.edu . For additional assistance, call the office of Admissions and Records at 707-468-3101.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – State Sen. Mike McGuire and Assemblyman Bill Dodd announced that the governor’s budget, released Thursday morning, includes millions of dollars to assist Lake County in the long recovery from the devastating Valley fire.

Since the start of the Valley fire – the third most destructive in state history – Dodd and McGuire have been active on the ground in Lake County working to ensure residents have the resources they need to recover and rebuild.

Specifically, the budget includes $1.3 million to cover lost property, sales and bed tax revenue for Lake County.

The Valley fire damaged or destroyed more than 1,900 structures including homes, apartment buildings and multiple businesses, resulting in more than $1 billion in damage and significant lost tax revenue for the county as well as other special districts.

The budget also includes $2.2 million for the South Lake County Fire Protection District, which is located in the heart of the Valley fire burn zone.

The fire district needed these funds to ensure the residents of the region continue to receive robust fire and emergency services throughout the year.

The state also has committed additional Cal Fire personnel in the Valley fire zone. These enhanced staffing levels – which have already been embedded in the district – will ensure residents have the emergency resources needed to respond to any El Niño-related storm impacts.

“Assemblymember Dodd and I have been working overtime with the Governor’s Office to ensure Lake County has the resources needed to recover, rebuild and thrive,” Sen. McGuire said. “These funds will be immediately put to work to ensure the county and emergency services don’t miss a beat serving local communities. We’re grateful for the partnership with Gov. Brown and appreciate his continued dedication to Lake County.”

McGuire and Dodd worked with the Governor’s Office and Lake County officials – for the last several months – to secure this budget allocation.

“When natural disasters strike, it’s critical the state of California helps impacted communities, and receiving these funds in Gov. Brown’s budget is a critical step towards recovery from the Valley fire,” Dodd said. “These funds will help residents receive critical services, especially fire protection and emergency services. Sen. McGuire has been a great partner in advocating for our communities, and we will continue fighting to get the residents of Lake County the help they need to recover and thrive.”

In addition to the $3.5 million allocated in the governor’s budget for Lake County property tax relief due to the Valley fire, schools in Lake County will receive property tax backfill funding from Proposition 98, which is the previously guaranteed source of funding to cover lost property tax revenues for school districts.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control's shelter this week is full dogs of all sizes and many breeds.

This week's adoptable dogs include mixes of Australian Shepherd, border collie, cattle dog, Chihuahua, Dalmatian, hound, husky, Labrador Retriever, Leonberger, pit bull, 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.

In addition to the animals featured here, all adoptable animals in Lake County can be seen here: http://bit.ly/Z6xHMb .

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”).

Chihuahua-terrier mix

This male Chihuahua-terrier mix has a short tan coat with white markings.

He's in kennel No. 3, ID No. 4272.

Chihuahua mix

This male Chihuahua mix has a short, light brown coat.

He's in kennel No. 4, ID No. 4268.

Labrador Retriever-Dalmatian mix

This male Labrador Retriever-Dalmatian has a short black coat with white markings.

He also has one blue eye and one brown eye.

Shelter staff said he has a low energy level and is good with other dogs.

He's in kennel No. 5, ID No. 4138.

Pit bull mix

This male pit bull mix has a short gray and white coat.

He's in kennel No. 7, ID No. 4255.

'Parkah'

“Parkah” is a male shepherd-retriever mix.

He's a handsome fellow with a short tan coat with white and black markings.

Shelter staff said he would do well in a home with no other male dogs, but he would get along with a submissive female close to his size. He does not do well with cats.

He's in kennel No. 8, ID No. 4220.

Border collie-husky mix

This female border collie-husky mix has a short gray and white coat.

Shelter staff said she has no issues with food aggression, and would be good with children ages 7 and above.

She's in kennel No. 9, ID No. 4217.

Cattle dog mix

This female cattle dog mix has a short white coat with black markings, and one brown and one blue eye.

Shelter staff said she has great manners, knows how to sit and lie down. She is a little hesitant about being indoors – she may only have been an outside dog – but is adapting well. She's good with other dogs. Based on her evaluation, she seems to like male dogs more than females.

“She will melt your heart in minutes,” shelter staff said.

She's in kennel No. 10, ID No. 4152.

'Cache'

“Cache” has had a rough year. He was rescued from the area of the Jerusalem fire this summer and adopted, but later returned because he didn't get along with a cat.

Shelter staff said he's a gentle, mellow giant that is part Leonberger. He's looking for a special person to give him a home for the rest of his life.

Cache is in kennel No. 11, ID No. 3101.

Shepherd mix

This male shepherd mix has a short tricolor coat.

Shelter staff said when he came into the shelter he already was neutered, so his adoption fee is reduced.

He's in kennel No. 13, ID No. 4267.

'Molly'

“Molly” is a female Labrador Retriever mix.

She has a short yellow coat.

She's in kennel No. 14, ID No. 4281.

'Mom'

“Mom” is a pit bull terrier mix with a short brown and white coat.

She's in kennel No. 15, ID No. 4242.

Pit bull mix

This female pit bull mix has a short gray coat with white markings.

Shelter staff said she is great with other dogs and is very people friendly, just wanting to sit in your lap. She has a low energy level and would do well in home with children.

She's in kennel No. 18, ID No. 3194.

Pit bull terrier

This female pit bull terrier mix has a short black coat with white markings.

Shelter staff said she was brought in as a stray and is hoping her family will come for her.

She is in kennel No. 19, ID No. 4213.

'Spencer'

“Spencer” is a male Labrador Retriever-pit bull mix.

He has a short black coat with white markings.

He's in kennel No. 22, ID No. 2382.

'Loki'

“Loki” is a male pit bull mix with a short gray coat with white markings.

He's in kennel No. 24, ID No. 4205.

Shepherd-Australian Shepherd mix

This male shepherd-Australian Shepherd mix has a black coat with tan and white markings.

Shelter staff said he is a handsome and sweet boy.

He's in kennel No. 31, ID No. 4197.

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.

Persons entrusted with the operations of a trust must be very carefully selected as trustees are not usually subject to court supervision (unlike executors in court supervised probates).

Trustees, special trustees and trust protectors are the persons entrusted with the proper implementation of a trust in a managerial or oversight capacity.

Anyone establishing a trust needs at least to be knowledgeable about who trustees are, what they do, and how to select them. This is because the trustee will have control over the trust assets and responsibility for its day-to-day operations. Sometimes, one may also need to know about special trustees and trust protectors.

Every trust must have at least one trustee. It is normally desirable and sufficient to just have one trustee in order to avoid trustee deadlock, and the accompanying extra costs and complexity associated with having multiple trustees (who must each sign-off jointly on decisions).

The trustee owns legal title to the trust assets in a so-called “fiduciary capacity.” That is, the trustee as owner safeguards, controls and invests the trust assets, files trust tax returns and pays taxes (if the trust is irrevocable).

Their ultimate role is to use and distribute trust assets pursuant to the trust’s own terms. They may have discretionary powers about payments to the beneficiaries. They are accountable to the beneficiaries for their actions and inactions.

A trustee can either be a non-professional person (e.g., family member or friend), or can be a professional trustee, such as a private fiduciary or a bank’s trust department.

If you select a nonprofessional person then you need to be especially sure that they are trustworthy, responsible, capable of working with the professionals they will need hire (attorney, tax preparer, real estate agent, appraisers, etc.), and, that they can communicate with the beneficiaries fairly and effectively.

Otherwise avoidable problems may arise when the trustee does not have the confidence and cooperation of the beneficiaries.

Professional trustees come in a wide variety, including private individuals who are trained and licensed to act as trustees, to trust management companies (including banks) of varying sizes.

Typically banks require liquid assets of over $500,000 (and sometimes over $1 million) before they will become involved and charge a percentage of the value of the trust estate for their investment and management services. Also, the trust departments of these banks will be located in major cities (not Lake County).

If a suitable nonprofessional trustee is unavailable then a private fiduciary should be considered and interviewed for suitability. That is: How do they charge? How available are they to the beneficiaries? What is their qualification? Who are their back-ups when they are away? Who do they use for investment advice? Are they well suited to work with the type of beneficiary in question?

A special trustee is someone who is entrusted with exclusive trust powers over a particular trust asset. The most common reason for a special trustee is when there is a professional practice (e.g., a doctor’s practice).

For example, a professional medical corporation that is owned by a trust can only be owned by a licensed physician.

So, while the surviving non-licensed spouse may be the trustee another person who has the required license would be the special trustee who winds-up the affairs of the practice, sells the practice assets and transfers the net cash proceeds into the name of the trustee.

Lastly, a trust protector is a “super trustee.” Unlike the trustee, he or she is not involved in the day to day management of the trust assets, but is empowered to oversee the trustee; to replace the trustee; and, sometimes, to petition the court to amend or reform the trust document.

Usually the trust protector is a trusted family member. Trust protectors are commonly seen in special needs trusts for disabled persons, and also in irrevocable discretionary trusts where the trustee (usually a professional) has complete discretion as to whether or not to distribute assets to the beneficiary.

The trust protector oversees that the trustee acts appropriately and, if not, can replace the trustee.

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 Website is www.DennisFordhamLaw.com .

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Special Olympics is beginning the 2016 sports program, with plans to bring back a favorite sport and introduce another to its lineup of events.

The action starts this Saturday, Jan. 9, from 10 a.m. to noon, when the basketball season gets under way at the Clear Lake High School Gym.

Basketball runs from January through March and ends with regional competition in Santa Rosa.

Beginning in April Special Olympics will offer track and field, along with bocce. Bocce is a new sport for Lake County and the organization said it's happy to have coaches committed to this sport.

Both track and field and bocce finish with Davis Summer Games in June.

After many years without coaching to support it, Special Olympics is bringing back softball this year, which will run from June through August. More details will be released closer to the season start.

Also in June Special Olympics will continue its golf program. The organization has a group of dedicated alternate shot coaches, and anyone with golf experience is welcome to join the coaching volunteers. The more coaches, the more athletes who can participate, and Special Olympics always is looking to grow our program.

In the fall of 2016 Special Olympics will once again offer soccer. As a second year sport for Lake County, the local Special Olympics athletes are now eligible to go to the soccer competition. Stay tuned for more details as they develop.

Special Olympics thanks its dedicated volunteers and welcomes any additional volunteers. Coaches are always needed, with all of the current sports needing additional coaches at this time.

If you have a talent in basketball, bocce, track and field, golf or soccer, please give Robert a call at 707-245-8425.

If you would like general information about the program, please call Cathy at 707-245-6116.