CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Lake County chapter of the NAACP will hold a general membership election on Saturday, Nov. 12.

The polls will open from noon to 4 p.m. at the Mendo Lake Credit Union building, located at 14866 Olympic Drive in the Burns Valley Shopping Center in Clearlake.

Members will need a form of identification.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Do you like to garden? Are you interested in helping other gardeners in Lake County?

Then consider applying to become a University of California Master Gardener. Master Gardeners are volunteer staff of the University of California who have been trained and certified to extend research-based horticultural information to the public.

The orientation meetings will take place at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, and 5 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 10, at the Lake County Agricultural Center, 883 Lakeport Blvd., Lakeport.

The meetings will provide an overview of the UCCE Master Gardener Program and what is expected of a UC Master Gardener volunteer.

The information will be presented by current UC Master Gardener volunteers and the Master Gardener Program Coordinator Gabriele O’Neill. The presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer period.

Please RSVP to one orientation date by calling 707-263-6838 or by e-mailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Please note: It's only necessary for you to attend one orientation, not both.

If you are unable to attend, please notify them so they can arrange an alternate date by calling the UCCE office at 707-263-6838 so they can arrange an alternative time for an orientation.

I am writing to convey my support for Monica Rosenthal as a candidate for District 1 supervisor.

For years, Monica has found ways to remain engaged in our community. During her time as planning commissioner, she asked hard questions and refused to cut corners. Monica spent countless hours researching zoning changes and proposed developments. She always came to the table educated about the topics being discussed.

During the aftermath of the devastating Valley fire, Monica once again showed her strength of character. She worked hard with local and state government to obtain resources and organize distribution to those in need. Monica was recognized as Lake County’s Woman of the Year for her involvement in the community before and following the fire.

Throughout the years, Monica has set an admirable standard of leadership that our community can respect. Hard work and determination is something that we can trust. Vote Monica for District 1 supervisor and the leadership we deserve.

Russell Rosenthal is the son of Monica and David Rosenthal. He lives in Santa Rosa, Calif.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Soroptimist International of Clear Lake will meet on Thursday, Nov. 10.

The group will hold a luncheon business meeting at 11:45 a.m. at Aromas Café at the Woodland Community College's Lake County Campus, 15880 Dam Road Extension in Clearlake.

The cost for lunch is $10 and can be paid at the door.

Agenda items include details on the recent murder mystery theater by Chair Ami Landrum.

Violet Richardson Award Chair Wanda Harris will report on the need for applications from young women ages 14 to 18 who are engaged in volunteer action within their communities or schools in order to make the community and world a better place. Projects include volunteer action fighting drugs, crime, violence or helping to clean up the environment. 

Chair Kathy Freeborn will report that openings are still available for Soroptimist Live Your Dream Awards for Women who serve as the primary wage earners for their families and need financial assistance to continue their education or receive training.

Deadline for both awards is Nov. 15. Both awards come with cash prizes. Contact Kathy Freeborn at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Wanda Harris or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for applications to the programs.

Soroptimist is an international organization for women who volunteer to work to improve the lives of women and girls in local communities and in the world.  

More than 80,000 Soroptimists in about 120 countries and territories contribute time and financial support to community based and international projects to benefit women and girls.

The group meets for lunch on the second and fourth Thursdays each month in Clearlake.

Membership is open to anyone with the desire to help women and girls locally, nationally and internationally. 

For more information about the luncheon or joining the group contact Membership Chair Wanda Harris at 707-225-5800 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or the group's president, Olga Martin Steele at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – St. Helena Family Health Center-Clearlake family medicine physician John Weeks, MD, was recognized with a 2016 Physician of the Year Mission Award by Adventist Health.

Dr. Weeks is one of 19 physicians to be honored from Adventist Health locations throughout California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington.

Dr. Weeks was nominated by St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake to receive the award because of his 37 years of dedication to a mission of providing exceptional care for five generations of Lake County residents.

When Dr. Weeks began practicing in Clearlake in 1979, the town was a physician shortage area. He was the only residency-trained family practice doctor in Lake County, the only physician providing obstetric care and one of only two physicians who provided pediatric or orthopedic services.

“John has served our community through thick and thin,” said Dr. Marc Shapiro, chief medical officer at St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake. “He has truly integrated with this community and always shown wisdom, grace and equanimity. Working with him is like working with family.”

Dr. Weeks is known for giving his full attention to each patient, learning about their lives and listening to their stories in the hope that taking time today will keep patients out of the hospital in the future.

“One of the principles of family practice is that the relationship is part of the treatment,” Weeks explains. “You may have the right treatment, but if you can’t explain things to your patients in a way they understand, you haven’t really done your job.”

Dr. Weeks has served as St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake’s chief of staff three times, providing an example of excellence in the art and science of medicine and service to others. He has also invested time in the next generation of physicians by training family practice residents.

“Dr. Weeks has been a change agent for our organization and is the consummate example of putting mission first,” said David Santos, president and chief executive officer of St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake. “He has a deep focus and vision for Lake County and is integral as we achieve goals within the Adventist Health mission.”

Weeks received the award at the Adventist Health Physician Leadership Symposium held in San Diego, Calif., Oct. 10 to 11.

Dr. Whie Oh, an interventional cardiologist, also received a Physician of the Year Mission Award at the symposium. Dr. Oh also sees patients at the St. Helena Family Health Center-Clearlake.

Save

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Public Services announced that the Historic Schoolhouse Museum in Lower Lake and the Courthouse Museum in Lakeport will be closed Friday, Nov. 11, in observance of the Veterans Day holiday.

The Lower Lake Museum and the Lakeport Museum will reopen on Saturday, Nov. 12.

Normal operating hours at the Historic Schoolhouse Museum  in Lower Lake are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday.

The Courthouse Museum in Lakeport is normally open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday, and Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.

If you have any questions regarding this subject, please call the Historic Schoolhouse Museum in Lower Lake at 707-995-3565 or the Historic Courthouse Museum in Lakeport at 707-263-4555.  For more information email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Emilie Buchwald was the co-publisher and founding editor of Milkweed Editions in Minneapolis going on forty years ago, and that press grew up to become one of the finest literary publishers in our country.

Today she edits children's books at Gryphon Press, which she also founded.

Here's a lovely remembrance from her new book, The Moment's Only Moment, from Nodin Press.

My Mother's Music

In the evenings of my childhood,
when I went to bed,
music washed into the cove of my room,
my door open to a slice of light.

I felt a melancholy I couldn't have named,
a longing for what I couldn't yet have said
or understood but still
knew was longing,
knew was sadness
untouched by time.

Sometimes
the music was a rippling stream
of clear water rushing
over a bed of river stones
caught in sunlight.

And many nights
I crept from bed
to watch her
swaying where she sat
overtaken by the tide,
her arms rowing the music
out of the piano.

American Life in Poetry does not accept unsolicited submissions. American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2016 by Emilie Buchwald, “My Mother's Music,” from The Moment's Only Moment, (Nodin Press, 2016). Poem reprinted by permission of Emilie Buchwald and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2016 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is holding a public meeting to solicit comments on proposed fishing closure alternatives for 5.5 miles of the Sacramento River above the Highway 44 Bridge in Redding to the Keswick Dam.

CDFW has determined a potential closure may be necessary to protect endangered winter-run Chinook salmon.

The meeting will be held Monday, Nov. 14, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Redding Public Library, 1100 Parkview Ave.

CDFW is proposing a suite of closure alternatives in this critical holding and spawning area to ensure added protection for the federal and state endangered winter-run Chinook, which face high risk of extinction.

Given the gravity of the current situation, it is imperative that each and every adult fish be given maximum protection.

Current regulations do not allow fishing for Chinook, but incidental catch by anglers who are targeting trout could occur.

This reach is the principal spawning area for winter-run Chinook, with an estimated 98 percent of 2014 and 2015 in-river spawning occurring in the 5.5 mile stretch under consideration for closure.

This section represents only 10 percent of the waters currently open to fishing upstream of the Red Bluff Diversion Dam.

In 2014 and 2015, approximately 95 percent of eggs and young winter-run Chinook were lost due to elevated river temperatures.

CDFW works with the California Fish and Game Commission to determine whether fishing restrictions in certain areas are necessary.

Persons with disabilities needing reasonable accommodation to participate in public meetings or other CDFW activities are invited to contact CDFW’s Accessibility Coordinator Melissa Carlin at 916-651-1214 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .