NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Join Tuleyome for its annual fundraiser on March 21 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Odd Fellows Hall, 415 Second St., Davis.

This year's event will focus on celebrating public lands as 2014 is both the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, and the 150th anniversary of California's State Parks.

At this event, guests will enjoy heavy appetizers prepared by Inspiration Catering, along with beer, wine soft drinks and dessert.

The evening event will also include a silent auction, a few words from author and keynote speaker, Doug Scott, and a short awards presentation to announce Tuleyome's Donor of the Year, the Volunteer of the Year, and the Anne Schneider Lifetime Achievement Award.

Proceeds go directly to benefit Tuleyome's programs and efforts to protect extraordinary wild places in the region, get youth and families outdoors, and promote land stewardship through habitat restoration, invasive species eradication, abandoned mine remediation, and trail building and maintenance.

In the past, Tuleyome spearheaded the formal California State Wild and Scenic River designation for upper Cache Creek and worked with local Congressmen to designate Cedar Roughs/Cache Creek Wilderness Areas and additions to Snow Mountain Wilderness.

The nonprofit’s current major campaign is to permanently protect the Berryessa Snow Mountain region This includes 350,000 acres of federal public lands in Yolo, Lake, Napa, Mendocino and Solano counties in northern California.

For more information, or to purchase tickets for this event, please visit www.tuleyome.org .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The board of the Public, Education and Government – or PEG – cable access television station will meet at Wednesday, Feb. 12.

The meeting will take place beginning at 6 p.m. in Conference Room B at the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.

Under business, the board will approve the minutes from the meetings on Dec. 11 and Jan. 8, and also approve a letter of appreciation to Jo Bennett for her years of service on the PEG Board.

Board members also will discuss appointing an individual to fill Bennett's seat.

Other items on the agenda include consideration of the fiscal year 2014-15 budget for PEG TV, a presentation from Joyce Overton regarding collaboration with the Clearlake Youth Center, consideration of a policy and pilot program for enhanced underwriting, a staff report and consideration of revisions to the members manual.

Board members include Chair Ed Robey, Vice Chair Martin Scheel, Denise Loustalot and Vince Metzger.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Economic Development Advisory Committee, LEDAC, will meet on Wednesday, Feb. 12.

The meeting will take place from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. at Workforce Lake, 55 First St.

The meeting is open to the public.

Lakeport Mayor Kenny Parlet will give a presentation on the sign ordinance and assistance to local businesses and Mireya Turner will offer an update on the Unified Wine and Grape Symposium.

Lakeport City Manager Margaret Silveira will give an update on regional economic development and the Carnegie Library feasibility study.

There also will be committee member reports and updates on business outreach efforts.

The committee advocates for a strong and positive Lakeport business community and acts as a conduit between the city and the community for communicating the goals, activities and progress of Lakeport’s economic and business programs.

Committee members include Carol Cole-Lewis, Bill Eaton, Melissa Fulton, Christine Hutt, George Linn, Paula Pepper-Duggan, Wilda Shock, Taira St. John and Mireya Turner, with ex-officio members includes Lakeport City Manager Margaret Silveira and Planning Services Manager Andrew Britton.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Middletown Area Town Hall (MATH) group will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 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, the buy a brick program for Middletown Square Park, the dog park and Highway 29.

District 1 Supervisor Jim Comstock also will offer his annual “State of the County” report.

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.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – With Valentine’s Day festivities taking place next week, many customers will celebrate with helium-filled metallic balloons.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. urges customers to securely tie a weight to all metallic balloons containing helium to prevent them from floating away.

Metallic balloons that contact overhead power lines can disrupt electric service to an entire neighborhood, cause significant property damage and potentially result in serious injuries.
 
Last year, metallic balloons that drifted into PG&E power lines caused more than 300 outages, affecting electric service to nearly 165,000 homes and businesses throughout Northern and Central California.

Sometimes these outages interrupt electric service to important facilities such as hospitals, schools and traffic lights.
 
“There's always plenty of electricity in the air on Valentine’s Day, but we need your help to secure metallic balloons to make sure they stay close to your loved ones and away from power lines,” said Jason Regan PG&E’s director of Emergency Management and Response. “Mylar balloons can cause energized wires to fall to the ground posing a serious safety risk, so with Valentine’s Day and other celebrations it is important to take precautions if you are including them as part of your festivities.”
 
The number of power outages caused by metallic balloons in PG&E’s service area has more than doubled over the past decade. In order to significantly reduce this number and to help ensure that everyone can safely enjoy their Valentine’s Day, PG&E reminds customers to follow these important safety tips for metallic balloons:

“Look Up and Live!” Use caution and avoid celebrating with metallic balloons near overhead electric lines.

Make sure helium-filled metallic balloons are securely tied to a weight that is heavy enough to prevent them from floating away. Never remove the weight.

When possible, keep metallic balloons indoors. Never permit metallic balloons to be released outside, for everyone’s safety.

Do not bundle metallic balloons together.

Never attempt to retrieve any type of balloon, kite or toy that becomes caught in a power line. Leave it alone, and immediately call PG&E at 1-800-743-5000 to report the problem.

Never go near a power line that has fallen to the ground or is dangling in the air. Always assume downed electric lines are energized and extremely dangerous. Stay far away, keep others away and immediately call 911 to alert the police and fire departments.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – Janie Rezner's guest on “Women's Voices” on Monday, Feb. 17, will be women's rights advocate Joan Kuriansky.

The show will begin at 7 p.m. at 90.7 FM Philo, 88.1 FM Fort Bragg, 91.5 FM Willits and streaming online at www.kzyx.org . There will be time for call-ins.

Kuriansky has been an advocate on behalf of women’s rights throughout her career and has worked in the field of violence against women since 1978.

She has led several national and local non-government organizations and has consulted on an international level in Russia, the NIS, the European Union and Southeast Asia.

Kuriansky was the first president of My Sister’s Place in Washington DC, and served as the executive director of Women Against Abuse (WAA) in Philadelphia between 1981 and 1987.

Under her leadership, WAA successfully advocated for the first specialized civil and criminal courts in the country, created the first program for battered women in prison as well as directed a comprehensive service program including a legal center, emergency shelter, transitional housing program,  program for women charged with violence against their abusers and a multi-million public education and prevention campaign.

In 1995, she directed the first technical assistance office established by the US Justice Dept. to implement the landmark Violence Against Women Act in all 50 states and the territories.

Today, Kuriansky serves on various local, national and international boards including the Alliance for Girls, the Center on Women’s Policy Studies, the Caring Economy, Move the Mountain, the International Council of the New Israel Fund, the Center for National Securities Studies and the Income Security Committee of the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI), where she serves as a fellow.

She has received a number of awards for her work, including a Gloria Steinem award, named “A Woman of Vision” by the Ms. Foundation.