When someone you love dies, grief alone can feel overwhelming. But, for many families, grief is only the beginning. Besides mourning, they are suddenly thrust into a legal and financial maze filled with court papers, deadlines, frozen accounts and unanswered...
Features
Features
Ask the realtor: How U.S. action in Venezuela could hit mortgage rates and home prices
Whether you agree with it or not, the U.S. military action in Venezuela that multiple major outlets report resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro on Dec. 31, 2025, is the kind of geopolitical shock that tends to show up in real estate through the side...
Those Were The Days: Deep Creek Cutoff cuts off Green Valley
By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY Historian The dedication of the Rim of the World Drive in the San Bernardino Mountains in 1915 opened mountain access by motorized auto traffic on compacted dirt roads. The eastern end of the road had formerly been the Metcalf and...
Estate Planning: How much should a family trustee be paid in California?
Serving as a family trustee is often described as an “honor” but, in reality, it is also a demanding legal job. A trustee is responsible for managing trust assets, following the instructions in the trust document, communicating with beneficiaries, keeping detailed...
Mountain Musings with Uncle Mott: Time
Now that the holidays have passed us by, it’s time to climb into my Time Machine and transport myself into the future. Don’t worry, I’ll be back again someday. Perhaps we’ll all meet again someday. Let’s see now, how do I strap myself in? I sure wouldn’t want to go...
Ask the realtor: Full circle — The trivet that brought home back home
As 2025 came to a close, I was thinking about last year’s New Year’s column, when I wrote about a simple plaque that hung in my grandparents’ home and how its message became part of my understanding of what “home” truly means. I described how, as a child, I’d walk...







