LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Traffic collisions are the No. 1 killer of teenagers in America.

Nationally about 5,000 teens will die in automobile crashes. About 10 percent of those deaths are in California alone.

In California in 2009, there were 61,029 collisions involving teenage drivers statewide, 346 resulted in fatalities.

The Clear Lake Area California Highway Patrol will offer a free Start Smart traffic safety class for teenage drivers and their parents.

The class will run approximately two hours and will be offered on Monday, March 5, at 6 p.m. at the CHP office, Highway 29 and Live Oak in Kelseyville.

The program aims to help future and newly-licensed teenage drivers learn the responsibilities that accompany the privilege of being a licensed driver.

It is an educational tool for parents and teens to reduce the number of teen injuries and deaths resulting from traffic collisions.

The program provides information on defensive driving, state traffic laws, dynamics of traffic collisions, tips on avoiding collisions and DUI awareness.

Space is limited for this class.

For more information or reservations, call Officer Kory Reynolds at the CHP office, 707-279-0103.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Chief Dave White on Friday announced a partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) to improve water quality, wildlife habitat and soil productivity.

The partnership brings together $10 million of NRCS funding with an additional $10 million or more in private funds through NFWF to increase technical assistance in priority areas.

“We are excited about this partnership,” White said. “This effort is an innovative approach for stretching the public dollar further, engaging the private sector to tackle shared priorities, and employing local conservation professionals to help wildlife and sustain agriculture.”

NFWF is managing the Conservation Partners effort as competitive grants to increase 'boots on the ground' in priority areas.

Non-federal specialists such as biologists, ecologists, foresters and rangeland specialists will work with NRCS field offices to provide technical assistance to participating farmers, ranchers and other landowners and managers.

“Together, we will develop land management plans and projects that maximize benefits for fish and wildlife species,” said NFWF executive director and CEO Jeff Trandahl. “Conservation professionals will assist landowners with wildlife-centered conservation planning and funding options.”

The first of several funding opportunities for the Conservation Partners grants is underway and pre-proposals are due by March 13, 2012. Grant awards to selected proposals will range from $50,000 to $250,000.

Priority for funding will be directed to proposals that target species and ecosystems of shared interest between NFWF and NRCS. Some of the funds for the effort are targeted to provide technical assistance on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land.

This first funding round prioritizes the Northeast Forests, Upper Mississippi River Basin, Gulf Coast and Prairie Pothole regions.

A second round of funding is scheduled for this spring to focus on the Lesser Prairie Chicken, the Bay Delta and other priority habitat areas.

The Conservation Partners effort is also helping to accelerate conservation initiatives in the Chesapeake Bay, the Great Lakes and Long Leaf Pine habitats.

Eligible applicants include nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, tribal governments, and state or local units of governments. Individuals, federal agencies and for-profit firms are not eligible for NFWF Conservation Partners grants.

For more information about the grants you can join a webinar on Feb. 23, or visit NFWF's Web site, http://www.nfwf.org, for sign-up details.

All applications must be submitted online through the Easygrants system, http://69.50.104.21/easygrants_web_nfwf.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – If you've wanted to eat more seasonal, locally grown organic produce, beans, grains, flour and more, the Lake County Community Co-op has now made that easier by offering delivery right to your door – at home or work.

In addition to vegetables, fruits, nuts, olive oils, and more produced by farmers in Lake County, the Lake County Community Co-op (LCCC) also offers organically-grown items not produced here (or no longer in season) from nearby regions and beyond, which can be picked up weekly at a designated “drop-point” located throughout the county, or now, delivered to your door including homes and businesses.

LCCC also is a drop-point for Azure Standards, a natural and organic food distributor based in Oregon.

For a nominal processing fee, members can order through Azure Standard and pick up their order in Clearlake, at their regular drop point on a once a month basis, or have it delivered.

To take advantage of this personal delivery service, you must be a member of the LCCC and pay an additional $5 delivery charge. Deliveries can only be made within a two-mile radius of the current delivery route, which includes drop-points in Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks, Nice, Upper Lake, Lakeport, Clear Lake Riviera, Cobb, Hidden Valley Lake, Lower Lake and Middletown.

Feasibility of delivery to specific locations will be determined by the driver, as some locations within the radius might be too challenging to keep to the delivery schedule). For more information on drop points, visit www.lakeco-op.org.

In addition to personal deliveries, the LCCC also now offers an “order by telephone” service, allowing members to by-pass the facilitated online ordering system, FOODS.

The “order by telephone” service is available to members who have funds deposited on account Sunday 9 a.m. to Monday 9 p.m. by calling 707-513-5226.

To order online using FOODS, orders can be placed from Sunday 12:01 a.m. to Tuesday 12:30 p.m. at www.lakeco-op.org/shop.

Membership in the Lake County Community Co-op affords the member ownership of the Co-op, one vote, access to the Buying Club, and contributes to the seasonal Friday Night Farmers' Market, community gardens, and the Lake County Community Co-op Presents... educational series.

Annual membership dues are $24 per year. Payment increments of a minimum of $2 per month are afforded for those in need. For more information or assistance, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE, Calif. – The Hidden Valley Lake Community Services District will hold a regular meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 21.

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at 19400 Hartmann Road, Hidden Valley Lake.

Under new business, the board will discuss property liens; approval of the annual financial report ending June 30, 2011; salary survey results; a joint meeting with HVLA regarding review of the lake water use agreement; discussion and possible approval for directors to attend the ACWA Conference May 8-11 and the SDRMA/CSDA Special Leadership Academy March 27, April 25and 26, and May 15; discussion and possible approval to designate two district representatives to

attend the Watereuse Luncheon on March 26.

The board also will nominate a representative to run in the Local Area Formation Commission election; discuss participation in Calpine’s Earth Day Event and sponsoring the Lake County Milers’ Spring Has Sprung event; and discuss and possibly approve a representative to the Lake County Area Office of Emergency Services.

The public will be given the opportunity to comment on an agenda item before the governing board acts on that item.

For more information contact the district office at 707-987-9201.

The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) has revised its proposed regulations governing suction dredge mining in California under the Fish and Game Code.

The revised version is now available for review at www.dfg.ca.gov/suctiondredge, and DFG will be accepting public comment on the new draft through 5 p.m. on Monday, March 5, 2012.

Written comments can be submitted by e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or by regular mail to:

Mark Stopher, Senior Policy Advisor

California Department of Fish and Game

601 Locust Street

Redding, CA 96001

DFG regulates suction dredge mining throughout California pursuant to Fish and Game Code section 5653, et seq. Existing law prohibits DFG from issuing suction dredge permits, and suction dredging is currently prohibited until June 30, 2016.

On Feb. 28, 2011, DFG released proposed regulations and a related Environmental Impact Report for public review. The original public review period ran from February 2011 through May 10, 2011, and DFG has worked ever since to review comments and related information submitted by the public. DFG subsequently determined that revisions to the earlier proposed regulations were appropriate.

Compared to the previously proposed regulations, the revised regulations provide for more efficient permit management and account for further evaluation of species distributions and life histories. They also include further actions to ensure that authorized suction dredging is not deleterious to fish.

Printed copies of the revised regulations are also available for public review at the following DFG offices:

• 601 Locust St., Redding

• 1701 Nimbus Road, Suite A, Rancho Cordova

• 1807 13th Street, Suite 104, Office of Communications, Sacramento

• 7329 Silverado Trail, Napa

• 1234 E. Shaw Avenue, Fresno

• 3883 Ruffin Road, San Diego

• 4665 Lampson Avenue, Suite J, Los Alamitos

• 3602 Inland Empire Blvd., Suite C-220, Ontario

• 20 Lower Ragsdale Drive, Suite 100, Monterey

The original version of the proposed regulations is still available on the DFG website, along with the revised version now under public review.

CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – The Live Oak Senior Center has received a very generous check in the amount of $1,150 from the District Attorney's Office.

District Attorney Don Anderson presented the check to Live Oak Senior Center Board Treasurer Margaret Medeiros and Pat Grabham, the center's executive director.

The donation is from a new program, created by Anderson, called “An Alternative to Community Service.”