LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The Lake County Democratic Club will meet Saturday, March 15.

The meeting will take place beginning at 11 a.m. in the Russell Rustici Park Club House at Lower Lake Community Park, 16375 Second St.

Guest speakers will include Jeff Smith, who will discuss why he's running for another term on the Lake County Board of Supervisors, representing District 2.

Herb Gura, who is running to succeed District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing, also will speak about what happens after Rushing's term is over, and “moving Lake County forward rather than backward.”

Lake County Democratic Club meeting is open to the public and membership is open to all registered Democrats.

The Lake County Democratic Club is an officially chartered club of the Democratic Party of Lake County.

All club meetings are sponsored by the Democratic Party of Lake County.

Contact the Lake County Democratic Club at 707-533-4885, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or http://www.lakecountydemocrats.org .

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Middletown Area Town Hall (MATH) group will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 13.

The meeting will take place in the activity room at the Middletown Community Center, 21256 Washington St.

The public is invited to attend.

MATH will get updates on the 24 Hour Store's above-ground diesel storage tank, hold a discussion on a plastic bag ban in Lake County, discuss movies in the park and a water district proposal, and get the latest on the dog park.

MATH meetings are subject to videotaping. Meeting proceedings may be available for viewing on public access television and/or the Internet.

MATH – established by resolution of the Lake County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 12, 2006 – is a municipal advisory council serving the residents of Anderson Springs, Cobb, Coyote Valley (including Hidden Valley Lake), Long Valley and Middletown.

The group’s current board of directors include Chairman Fletcher Thornton, Vice Chair Claude Brown, Secretary Ken Gonzales, and members Tom Darms and Laura Helton.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Hospice Services of Lake County has established donation drop-off dates in several local communities.

Residents in the communities of Clear Lake Riviera, Kelseyville and Hidden Valley Lake can donate gently used clothing, household items, sports equipment, appliances in good working condition, furniture and miscellaneous items on the following days from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the parking lots at these locations:

• March 8, 2014 – Clear Lake Riviera Community Association, 9689 Soda Bay Road, Kelseyville (across from Riviera Foods);
• April 5, 2014 – Kelseyville Lumber, 3505 Merritt Road, Kelseyville;
• April 26, 2014 – Positive Living Center, 17568 Spruce Grove Exit, Hidden Valley (parallel to Highway 29 across from the Hidden Valley member only gate).

Hospice Services of Lake County will be present in the parking lot at each location to accept donations.

All donations are tax-deductible and receipts will be provided.  

Proceeds from the sales of donated items help pay for uninsured and underinsured patient care and community bereavement programs.

For more information call 707-263-6223.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake Planning Commission’s March 4 regular meeting has been canceled.

The commission’s next regular meeting is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 18, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – Sen. Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) has released her 2014 legislative package.

The package includes the following bills:

Senate Bill 199, Imitation Firearms. SB 199 aims to prevent the misidentification of imitation guns as lethal weapons to protect California’s residents. This legislation would require imitation firearms to have their entire exterior surface painted a bright color.

Senate Bill 1017, Oil Extraction Tax. SB 1017 is a renewed attempt of last year’s SB 241 to impose a severance tax of 9.5 percent on oil companies for the extraction of oil or gas from the earth or water within California's jurisdiction. The industry tax could generate self-sustaining and long-term revenues of approximately $154 billion or $2 billion dollars a year. Revenues would be distributed into an endowment for higher education (50%), parks (25%) and health and human service programs (25%) largely refunding cuts made to these programs during deficit years and creating thousands of new, good paying, middle-class jobs.

Senate Bill 996, Foster Youth Financial Literacy. SB 996 defines financial literacy as a component to be covered with foster youth participating in the Independent Living Plan. The intent of the bill is to ensure that youth across the state are receiving uniform information about financial literacy before they exit California’s foster care system.

Senate Bill 1003, Satellite Wagering/Horse Racing. SB 1003 proposes to increase the number of domestic races a fair or racing association can broadcast each day from 50 to 55.

Senate Bill 1193, Marijuana Storage & Destruction. SB 1193 conforms state law with federal law to allow large quantities of marijuana being held as evidence to be destroyed after samples are taken in order to save storage space in law enforcement facilities and protect the health of employees.

Senate Bill 1206, CalHR Clean Up. SB 1206 is a technical “clean-up” bill for the California Department of Human Resources following the Governor’s Reorganization of 2012.

Senate Bill 1428, Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) Land Use. SB 1428 would require the Department of General Services, prior to making any decisions on what to do with the land of the Sonoma Developmental Center, confer and cooperate with a list of local and state entities including but not limited to local government representatives, organizations representing the residents of the Center, and various environmental groups. The intent of this bill is to ensure that the residents and families of SDC, Sonoma County local government, and environmental groups are involved in the decision making process of SDC’s future land use.

Senate Bill 1344, Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) Framework. SB 1344 will serve as a vehicle for potential legislative mandates addressing the restructuring of the SDC following the Health and Human Services Agency Taskforce on the Future of Developmental Centers final report recommendations in conjunction with Agency, the SDC community and local government.

Senate Bill 1381, Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) Food Labeling. SB 1381 would require all food for human consumption that includes GMO’s to be labeled as including such.

Senate Bill 1445, Regional Center Tele-Health. SB 1445 will promote the use of tele-health services and support for persons with developmental disabilities that may be in the Individual Program Plan or the Individual Family Support Plan as specified in the Welfare & Institution Code 4512.

Senate Bill 1457, MediCal: Electronic TARS. SB 1457 would require all MediCal providers to submit Treatment Authorization Requests (TARS) and Service Authorization Requests electronically to the Department of Health Care Services.

Senate Resolution 17, Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety. SR 17 will encourage the State of California to promote bicycle and pedestrian safety instruction in schools and at home.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 88, MS Awareness Week. SCR 88 would declare March 3-9, 2014 as Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week in California.

Evans represents the Second Senatorial District, including all or portions of the counties of Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Marin (caretaker), Napa, Solano and Sonoma.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A rental scam that has been going on in different areas for years has come to Lake County, according to local Realtors.

Prospective tenants are at risk of being victimized by this scam and are being advised to take great care to confirm that they are dealing with the actual landlord or legitimate rental agency prior to paying any money.

“We have heard of this being a common scam in other areas, but recently there has been a rash of these happening here in Lake County,” according to Phil Smoley, broker of Country Air Property Management. “Prospective tenants need to familiarize themselves with the scam so they can avoid being one of its unwitting victims.”

The scam goes like this: A scammer finds a property, pretends to be the owner, lists it online, then communicates with the would-be renter and takes a cash for the deposit and first month’s rent.

The renter is left with nothing or ends up squatting on someone else's vacant property while paying "rent" to a fraudster, all unbeknownst to the property's real owner.

There are some common “red flags” to look for when negotiating a rental:

– They tell you to wire money or will take cash only. There’s never a good reason to wire money to pay a security deposit or first month’s rent, or vacation rental fee. That’s true even if they send you a contract first. Wiring money is the same as sending cash – once you send it, you have no way to get it back.

– They require a deposit or first month’s rent before you’ve signed a lease or even met. It’s never a good idea to send money to someone you’ve never met in person for a rental you haven’t seen. If you can’t visit the rental yourself, ask someone you trust to go and confirm that it’s for rent, and that it is what was advertised. In addition to setting up a meeting, do a search on the owner and listing. If you find the same ad listed under a different name, that’s a clue it may be a scam.

– They claim they’re out of the country. But they have a plan to get the keys into your hands. It might involve a lawyer or an “agent” working on their behalf. Some scammers even create fake keys. Don’t send money to them overseas. If you can’t meet in person, see the rental, or sign a lease before you pay, move on.

Scammers will often entice tenant prospects with great terms, low rent, or easy qualifying. But that could be another red flag, according to Smoley. “If it sounds too good to be true, it may not be true.”

An assessor record search can determine who the owner of record is. This can be done by calling the county assessor, or most any real estate office can look it up. If the names don't match, it could be a scam.

Once you conclude you are dealing with a scammer, to keep others from falling victim to them you should take additional action. Report it to your local law enforcement agency and to the FTC. Contact the Web site where the ad was posted, too.