The U.S. Postal Service’s new Love Skywriting Forever stamp image was replicated  by a skywriting pilot linked to iconic aviator Charles Lindbergh at at the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino.

This new stamp is a cheerful and romantic continuation of the U.S. Postal Service’s Love stamp series.

The Love Skywriting stamp will add a romantic touch to letters and cards, not only on Valentine’s Day, but all year round.

The stamp art depicts the word “Love” written in white cursive script against a blue sky with wispy clouds and the edges of the letters just beginning to blur.

Underlining the word is a decorative swirl of smoke that emphasizes the message. A small, stylized plane, dwarfed by the giant letters, completes the end of the swirl, with smoke trailing from its tail.

Regulations for California's popular red abalone sport fishery have changed in 2017.

Due to concerns about the declining population, the season will be shortened and the take limit reduced.
 
The 2017 season will be shortened by two months, with the traditional opening date of April 1 now delayed until May 1. The fishery will also close a month earlier than usual, on Oct. 31.
 
The annual (calendar year) limit is changing from 18 abalone to 12. As in the past, no more than nine abalone may be taken south of the boundary between Sonoma and Mendocino counties.
 
The red abalone catch is being reduced because surveys conducted by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) found that red abalone populations in deeper waters are on the decline due to unfavorable environmental conditions.

Over the past three years, growth of kelp – a major food source for abalone – has declined significantly.

Dramatic increases in purple sea urchin populations have further reduced the food available for abalone. Details can be found at https://cdfwmarine.wordpress.com/2016/03/30/perfect-storm-decimates-kelp/ .
 
Other regulations relative to abalone remain unchanged. Fishing for abalone will be allowed from 8 a.m. to one half-hour after sunset in waters north of San Francisco Bay. People may travel to fishing locations before 8 a.m. but may not actively search for or take any abalone before that time. The daily bag and possession limit remains at three.

Parts of Fort Ross State Historical Park remain closed to the take of abalone. A map of the closed area can be found online at http://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=42101&inline=true .
 
Northern California's recreational red abalone fishery is enjoyed by tens of thousands of divers along the Sonoma and Mendocino coast.

A recent CDFW study estimated that approximately 31,000 abalone divers derived between $24 million and $44 million per year of recreational value from the fishery.

The value of this fishery declined nearly $12 million after stricter regulations were imposed in 2014 following a harmful algal bloom that killed thousands of abalone in Sonoma County.

Information about the study can be found at http://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=136510 .
 
The changes to the abalone regulations were approved by the Fish and Game Commission at their Dec. 7 meeting, under emergency rulemaking provisions that allow fast-tracking of the approval process when there is an urgent need for regulatory change.

FORT BRAGG, Calif. – Tucked away on the edge of town in Fort Bragg, the wood shop at the College of the Redwoods Fine Woodworking Program has been humming with the sounds of this year’s cohort of talented and ambitious students. 

Applying several months of exemplary instruction at the hands of a dedicated staff, the 23 makers-in-training are hard at work on the goal of sharing their creations at the Annual Mid-Winter Fine Furniture Exhibition, on view from Jan. 14 to 22 at the Town Hall, 363 Main St.

During the reception, from 5 to 8 p.m. Jan. 20, you will have the opportunity to meet the artisans responsible for these beautiful pieces of form and function. 

Founded over 35 years ago by master cabinetmaker James Krenov, the Fine Woodworking Program at the College of the Redwoods is world-renowned and synonymous with quality in the craft of fine furniture.

Students come from near and far with diverse backgrounds and experience to learn not only tools and techniques, but also to gain respect for the craft and a reverence for wood in which they work.

Under the expert guidance of instructors Laura Mays, Jim Budlong, Greg Smith, Ejler Hjorth-Westh and shop specialist Todd Sorenson, each themselves graduates, students learn the basic tenets of the Krenov method while being encouraged to seek and design their own paths.

The work resulting from this immersion for six days a week over nine months is truly impressive in its beauty and attention to detail.

The Fine Woodworking Program at the College of the Redwoods is both regarded internationally and cherished locally.

From July 2017 the program will be transferred to the auspices of Mendocino College.

Join them in celebrating this year’s group of dedicated artisans and their commendable achievements.

Motorists may get some sticker shock in 2017 and will shell out $52 billion more over the course of the year compared to 2016 as the national yearly average rises to $2.49 per gallon, according to GasBuddy’s 2017 Fuel Price Outlook.

Aside from gasoline prices that are forecast to be higher than 2016, highlights include:

• $355 billion will be spent on gasoline in the U.S. over the course of the year, $52 billion more than last year. That’s a considerable jump given that motorists saved $39 billion on gasoline in 2016 versus 2015.

• The seasonal switch from ‘winter-blend’ to ‘summer-blend’ as mandated by EPA and the Clean Air Act will bring a spike at the pump later this winter and spring, with the national average gas price rising between 35-60 cents between mid-February and a peak, likely to occur in May.

• $3 a gallon gasoline will be seen in at least the nation’s largest cities: Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Seattle, with a strong possibility of such prices also appearing in a majority of the nation’s twenty largest metros.

“The list of factors being mixed into the yearly forecast has never been larger. This year will see a new administration take over, perhaps the most oil-friendly in some time, and with so many unknowns in regards to policy changes, we’ll be keeping a keen eye on such along with taxation changes. But forecasting fuel prices, especially this year, remains a challenging balance of science and art,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.

Additional components that have the potential to weigh on retail gasoline prices include federal and/or state tax changes, Middle East volatility, currency fluctuations, refinery maintenance and/or unscheduled outages, weather events, and shipping / transportation snafus.

“In recent years the 'price at the pump' continues to garner more media attention serving as an economic barometer on Main Street that stirs opinions from a broad swath of consumers from coast to coast,” said Gregg Laskoski, senior petroleum analyst. “Forecasting the direction of that 'barometer', the potential trouble-spots and how the trends are likely to translate into dollars and cents affords us the opportunity to share insights that help everyone save money, even when prices are climbing.”

For more information visit www.gasbuddy.com .

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lalene Jo Hayes was born on Sept. 7, 1938, and went home to be with the Lord Jan. 7, 2017.

She was a great blessing and much loved. Her passion in life was serving the Lord and her family.   We will see her again one day, but until then we will miss her everyday.

She is predeceased by her mother, Dortha (Gentry) Santos; daughter, Dana Walker and nephew, Mike Boggs.

She is survived by her husband of 58 years, Glenn Hayes; daughter, Lanette Fields (Cliff); sister, Shirley Boggs; niece, Kristin Gilsdorf (Mike); great-nephews, Justin, Jonathan and Joshua Gilsdorf; grandchildren, ChrisFields (Erin), Brandi Noonkester, Josh Fields (Angela), Jeremy Walker; and great-grandchildren, Samantha and Jordyn Fields and Parker and Dylan Noonkester.

Visitation will be held at First Baptist Church on Gaddy Lane in Kelseyville on Saturday, Jan. 14, from 9 to 11 a.m., with a funeral service at 11 a.m.

Arrangements by Chapel of the Lakes Mortuary at 707-263-0357 or 707-994-5611, or visit www.chapelofthelakes.com .

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Local advocates are urging the Bureau of Land Management to continue its strong tradition of conservation in Northwest California as they draft a blueprint for the future management of public lands in the region.

The BLM Field Offices in Arcata and Redding are currently revising a guiding plan that will determine how they care for public lands for the next decade or more.

This effort will address approximately 396,000 acres of public lands that BLM stewards in Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Trinity, Siskiyou, Shasta, Tehama, and Butte Counties.

The BLM will gather input on this process at a series of upcoming public meetings throughout the region.

“We encourage our community to get involved in this important public process,” said Ryan Henson, senior policy director for CalWild. “Many issues will be addressed, including protecting sources of clean water and important habitats for wildlife, planning for recreational opportunities, and conserving cultural and historic sites important to Native American tribes. If you care about public lands in this region, come make your voice heard.”

These public meetings include the following (please note that all meetings will be held from 5 to 7 p.m.):

• Weaverville: Tuesday, Jan. 10, Veterans Memorial Hall, 103 Memorial Drive.

• Eureka: Wednesday, Jan. 11, Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center, 921 Waterfront Drive.

• Garberville: Thursday, Jan. 12, Mateel Community Center, 54 Rusk Lane, Redway.

• Willits: Tuesday, Jan. 17, Willits City Hall Community Center, 111 Commercial St.

• Chico: Wednesday, Jan. 18, Oxford Suites, 2035 Business Lane.

• Yreka: Thursday, Jan. 19, Miner's Inn, 122 E Miner St.

In this region, the BLM manages public lands from the North Coast to the Central Valley and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

These lands include isolated redwood groves, oak woodlands, rivers and streams, and are home to bald eagles, marbled murrelet, western snowy plover, salmon and steelhead, and sandhill cranes.

“Our public lands are a beacon of hope for our future – if we take care of them, they will take care of us,” said Shiloe Braxton, district manager for Trinity County Resource Conservation District. “We urge BLM to continue working with the public to build strong partnerships with the public, like the one we formed together to turn 13,000 acres of federal land into the Weaverville Community Forest. The more we work together to build and strengthen these special places, the more we strengthen the fabric of our community.”

These lands offer the opportunity to experience the wild solitudes of California. For example, the Lacks Creek area of Humboldt County offers remote trails for hikers and cyclists within an hour’s drive of Arcata and Eureka, while the Clear Creek Greenway in Shasta County effectively functions as a city park for the communities of Anderson and Redding, with thousands of people enjoying its trails every year.

Recreation is not the only value of these lands. Mendocino County’s English Ridge is made up of forested slopes covered with ancient Douglas firs and some the greatest diversity of oak trees in the state – nearly a dozen species in total.

In northwest Trinity County, the North Fork Trinity Watershed holds a deep connection to Gold Rush history with the ghost town of Helena located nearby. The watershed is home to bald eagles, osprey, river otters, beavers, and migratory birds.

Wilderness areas included in this planning effort include Elkhorn Ridge, South Fork Eel River, Yolla Bolly Middle Eel, Ishi and Yuki Wilderness Areas. 

These public lands provide important habitat corridors and are among the most untouched in the region. The surrounding areas have suffered a long history of logging, mining, road construction and other development activities.

“Protecting and conserving public lands is critical for threatened species like salmon that depend on cool water refugia and functioning watersheds,” said Dana Stolzman, executive director of the Salmonid Restoration Federation. “Management plans must take into account that public lands provide lasting resources and unimpaired habitat for species that are at risk of extinction within our lifetimes.”

All of these BLM lands are managed according to documents known as Resource Management Plans, or RMPs. The Arcata and Redding Field Offices’ current RMPs are more than 20 years old and must be updated.

The BLM is calling this revision process the “Northwest California Integrated Resource Management Plan” or NCIP.  A draft management plan will be created taking into account the input provided at the public meetings and submitted comments.

Under BLM’s local leadership, communities in Northwest California have benefitted from many successful efforts to protect public lands and manage sustainable recreation. Local advocates hope this legacy will continue for decades to come and that this tradition of conservation will be reflected in the BLM’s updated blueprint.

To learn more about the NCIP or to get information on how to submit public comment, visit BLM’s Land Use Planning Register.

Jessie Louise (Black) Ford
May 26, 1929 – Jan. 5, 2017

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Jessie was born in Pasadena, but spent many years in Redwood Valley and Hopland raising a family with her beloved husband of 62 years, Hank. In 2000 they moved to Upper Lake.

She is predeceased by Hank and sons Wayne and Charles, and leaves behind children, John, Steve, Wyatt, Aaron, Rebecca, Cynthia and Melanie; 17 grandchildren; 33 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandson.

A graveside funeral service will be held at Russian River Cemetery in Ukiah on Thursday, Jan. 12, at 1 p.m.

Arrangements by Chapel of the Lakes Mortuary at 707-263-0357 or 707-994-5611, or visit www.chapelofthelakes.com .

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Members of Soroptimist International of Clear Lake, or SICL, were busy over the holidays with many projects to support women and girls.

They made 88 blankets and supplied 21 sleeping bags for “Totes for Teens,” and held an ugly sweater event for the teen moms at the Nest in Lakeport a long-term residential program for homeless pregnant and parenting youth ages 18 to 21.

The group also raised money at the president's appeal luncheon to donate to the women of Nepal, and presented funds to enable three students whose homes were lost in the Clayton fire to attend and participate in a choir trip to Disneyland to work with the Disney director, choreographer and conductor. The funds for the choir trip were made possible with the help of donations for fire victims from a sister club, Soroptimist International of Calistoga.
 
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 of each month in Clearlake.

The group will next gather for a luncheon business meeting on Thursday, Jan. 12. The group meets at 11:45 a.m. at Howard's Grotto in Clearlake. The cost for lunch is $13 and can be paid at the door.

Membership is open to anyone (male of female) with the desire to help women and girls locally, nationally and internationally.

For more information about joining the group or to make a reservation for the luncheon, please 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 club President Olga Martin Steele at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .