KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Redbud Audubon Society members and guests are welcome to join the group on Thursday, May 18, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. for its annual end-of-the-year picnic and installation of officers.

The event will be held at Lakeside County Park on Park Drive off of Soda Bay Road.

The picnic is a potluck, but Audubon supplies hot dogs, buns and condiments. You are welcome to bring an alternate meat or meat-substitute to grill if you prefer.

Sodas and water will also be provided.

Participants are encouraged to bring salad, beans, chips or dessert to share.

Please arrive at 5:30 p.m. Look for thems down by the lake to the left of the launch ramp.

The event will include installation of officers and is a nice way to visit with and get to know chapter members.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – 100+ Women Strong in Lake County is pleased to announce its second meeting will take place at Twin Pine Casino & Hotel event center in Middletown on Thursday, May 11, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

There will be mingling, networking, professional photography with a step and repeat, food and beverages, and most importantly, at the end of the night a local Lake County charity will be selected to receive a very generous donation that is made possible by the local women of Lake County.

Women wishing to join this organization are welcome to pre-register online or to register at the event.

Part of a worldwide coalition of similar organizations, the Lake County chapter was just created in 2017 as a community effort to fundraise for Lake County based non-profit organizations.

The group consists of women in Lake County from all ages, walks of life and professions. What unites them is their commitment to donate $400 per year to different Lake County charities.

The group meets once every three months and three local, pre-vetted, charitable organizations are invited to give brief presentations in hopes of being selected by 100+ Women Strong.

One of the three charities is selected by a majority vote of the group after the presentation and receives $100 from each and every member of 100+ Women Strong. The goal of the group is to be able to raise $10,000 each quarter for local charities.

The first meeting resulted in a donation of $14,600 to Operation Tango Mike, all from local Lake County women who came out in full force to give back to the local community.

“The Feb. 9 event far exceed our expectations,” explained one of the group’s founders, Crystal Martin. “We weren’t sure if we would meet the 100 women mark by our first meeting, but were overwhelmed when we had 146 local women register and donate.”

Martin added, “100+ Women Strong in Lake County is a group of local women who are dedicated to supporting our community. We come from all walks of life and different financial backgrounds. As individuals, we found that it is difficult to make a significant difference, but as a group we have the ability to contribute to the growth of our community and make an impact in ways that we never thought possible.”

On May 11, the doors will open at 5:30 p.m. for about an hour of mingling and networking while light appetizers are served along with a no-host wine and beer bar.

The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. sharp and the three chosen presenters will each introduce their charity.

The membership has an opportunity to ask questions and then voting will commence. At the conclusion of the event, a winner is chosen and the winning charity then will receive a generous donation, made possible by the local women of Lake County.

This quarter the group has selected Sponsoring Survivorship, Lake County Arts Council, and Totes 4 Teens as the candidates to present and receive the donation on May 11.

For more information or to register to join visit www.100womenstronginlakecounty.com .

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The agricultural science class at Mountain Vista Middle School is gearing up for spring.

Seeds are being sown, and raised beds are being prepared for planting.

Flowers and vegetables, such as zinnias, sunflowers, tomatoes, chard, kale and lettuce are well on their way in the school’s small greenhouse.

Thanks to a donation from the Clearlake Trowel and Trellis Club, Mountain Vista will be installing a second greenhouse to give more cold-weather growing space.

For the past two years Mrs. Seely’s agricultural science have made landscape improvements to the MVMS campus, planting drought tolerant plants around buildings.

The students used academic skills such as mapping, calculating areas and estimating volumes of compost and top soil for the projects.

The students also test existing soils, research appropriate plants for the sites and formulate budgets.

However, the most popular activity in class is the tasting days where easy recipes are prepared using items harvested from the garden.

“Mrs. Seely's ag students are getting hands-on experience in germinating, planting, transplanting and caring for plants around campus,” said Mountain Vista Middle School Principal Tavis Perkins. “Mrs. Seely and her students have also been instrumental to the beautification of our campus. They have designed, planted, and now care for landscapes around the office building. Students feel pride in being a direct part of their school community.”

Kelseyville Unified School District has taken on a great role with its students in such a robust agricultural community.

Not only does agricultural science benefit the children growing up in an agricultural area, but it also is a trait being lost amongst the younger generations in today’s age.

Perhaps these students can pass these traits on to their own children to strengthen and build the Lake County community.

SACRAMENTO – In this latest Caltrans News Flash, the department honors its 187 highway workers who have paid the ultimate price while on the job.

This year, Caltrans paid special tribute to Jorge Lopez, Randy Whisenhunt and Annette Brooks, who all lost their lives since last year’s memorial.

Lopez was an electrician who was struck and killed on Sept. 1, 2016, by an errant big rig that crossed onto the shoulder on SR-14 in Acton.

Whisenhunt was an electrician from the Escondido Yard, who passed away on Oct. 9, 2016, as a result of injuries suffered on the job.

Brooks was a structural steel painter supervisor and was shot and killed at a Caltrans facility in Rio Dell on April 24.

This observance also highlights safety awareness for employees in work zones, as well as the motoring public.

This News Flash is the 130th in a series of videos highlighting Caltrans' activities that present the wide-ranging and critical work that Caltrans does to enhance California's economy and livability.

To see more of these and other videos, search for #CaltransNewsFlash on Twitter or visit http://bit.ly/1ez3LYz .

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Flotilla 8-8 of Lake County, will meet on Saturday, May 13.

The meeting will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Konocti Bay Sailing Club building located at Braito's Marina, 1555 Eastlake Drive, Buckingham Peninsula, in Kelseyville.

The meeting is open to anyone 17 years or older who would be interested in joining this active group. 

For additional information, call the flotilla’s voice mail line at 707-278-8288.

BERKELEY, Calif. – One day, patients may be able to monitor their body’s response to cancer therapy just by having their blood drawn.

A new study, led by bioengineers at UC Berkeley, has taken an important step in that direction by measuring a panel of cancer proteins in rare, individual tumor cells that float in the blood.

Berkeley researchers isolated circulating tumor cells from the blood of breast cancer patients, then used microscale physics to design a precision test for protein biomarkers, which are indicators of cancer.

After isolating each cell, the microfluidic device breaks the cells open and tests the cellular contents for eight cancer protein biomarkers.

The researchers are expanding the number of proteins identifiable with this technology to eventually allow pathologists to classify cancer cells more precisely than is possible using existing biomarkers.

“Tremendous advances have been made in DNA and RNA profiling in cells collected using a liquid biopsy. We extend those advances to highly selective measurement of proteins – the ‘molecular machines’ of the cell,” said Amy Herr, Berkeley a bioengineering professor and leader of the study team. “We are working to create medicine that would allow a doctor to monitor a patient’s treatment response through a blood draw, perhaps on a daily basis.”

The study was published March 23 in the journal Nature Communications.

The research was a collaboration with breast cancer surgeon Stefanie Jeffrey at Stanford University and with a University of California startup, Vortex Biosciences.

Funding was provided by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

The study focuses on circulating tumor cells, a potentially rich source of information about a person’s cancer.

These cells are thought to break off from the original tumor and circulate in the blood, and may be a sign of an aggressive tumor.

But studying these cells is difficult because the cells are rare, so few are collected even when enriched from the blood.

The cells contain different proteins than the original tumor, so research is ongoing to unlock the secrets of these elusive cells.

To better study circulating tumor cells, the researchers collaborated with physician-scientists and industry engineers to develop a microfluidics system that separates these large cells into a concentrated sample.

A key advance the team made was in devising a system to precisely handle and manipulate the concentrated cells from blood. The Berkeley researchers then analyzed each circulating tumor cell for the specific panel of cancer proteins.

To do so, they placed each rare cell in a microwell (with a diameter roughly half the width of a human hair).

Once settled in the microwell, the circulating tumor cells were burst open and the proteins released from inside each cell were separated according to differences in size or mass.

The scientists were then able to identify cancer proteins by introducing fluorescent probes that bind to and light up a specific protein target. By sorting and probing the protein targets, the test is more selective than existing pathology tools.

Enhanced selectivity will be crucial in detecting subtle chemical modifications to biomarkers that can be important but difficult to measure, Herr said.

The researchers plan to expand their approach to identify more proteins, and proteins with unique modifications, in circulating tumor cells.

“Microfluidic design was key in this study. We were able to integrate features needed for each measurement stage into one process,” Herr said. “Systems integration allowed us to do every single measurement step very, very quickly while the biomarkers are still concentrated. If not performed exceptionally fast, the cell’s proteins diffuse away and become undetectable.”

Brett Israel writes for the UC Berkeley News Center.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Highlands Senior Service Center in Clearlake is holding a T-shirt sale and fundraiser to help support its Meals on Wheels program.

The campaign can be found online at https://www.bonfire.com/save-our-seniors/ .

The Meals on Wheels program is one of the vital services offered by the Highlands Senior Service Center.

Many seniors are lacking not only the proper nutrition, but the means to get it. The Meals on Wheels program gets good healthy meals to homebound seniors, food for all seven days of the week.

But it's not just about proper nutrition, it's also about human contact. For some of clients, the Meals on Wheels drivers are the only person they will see for weeks on end.

From daily conversation to saving the life of a senior who has fallen and is unable to call for help, Meals on Wheels drivers deliver so much more than just good food.

Funding is always short and the center needs the community’s help now more than ever.

The campaign will only last until May 23, with a goal of selling 75 shirts.

One hundred percent of the proceeds from the fundraiser to to the center.

BERKELEY, Calif. – The first year of elementary school markedly boosts a child’s attentiveness, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley, and the Max Planck Institute in Germany.

The study, led by the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, shows that children who transition earlier to a formal school environment learn to be more focused and less impulsive than their peers at play-based preschools.

The findings were published Wednesday in the online issue of the journal Psychological Science.

“These results demonstrate for the first time how environmental context shapes the development of brain mechanisms in 5-year-olds transitioning into school,” said study co-author Silvia Bunge, a UC Berkeley professor of psychology and neuroscience.

Researchers hypothesized that a controlled educational setting in which young children must learn to sit still, follow directions and avoid distractions would boost certain cognitive skills, such as staying on task.

The experiment, conducted in Germany where preschool is referred to as “kindergarten,” proved their theory.

“Our results indicate that the structured learning environment of school has a positive effect on the development of behavioral control,” said study lead author Garvin Brod, a researcher at the German Institute for International Educational Research.

For the study, researchers used computerized tests and brain imaging to track the cognitive performance of 62 children aged 5.

In comparing the results of tests conducted at the beginning and end of a school and preschool year, the study found that the children who had gone to school showed greater improvement than their preschool peers at maintaining focus and following rules.

Moreover, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of their brains during an attention control task showed the schoolgoers to have a more active right parietal cortex, which supports attentiveness, among other cognitive skills.

While the findings reveal new information in the ongoing debate over the developmentally appropriate age to start school, the researchers are not necessarily advocating for early school start ages.

“Those results should not be taken to mean that the elementary school setting is necessarily better for young children’s development than play-based early schooling,” Bunge said, citing research that shows children do well in hands-on, interactive learning environments.

Moreover, there is enormous developmental variation across children of the same age, she said.

The study is part of the HippoKid project led by Yee Lee Shing at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development.

Yasmin Anwar writes for the UC Berkeley News Center.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – On Saturday, May 13, the Postal Service and the National Association of Letter Carriers, or NALC, will once again do their part to help feed the hungry, just as they’ve done for the past 24 years.

Literally, “The Postman Rings Twice” that day, once to deliver the mail, and once to deliver food to the hungry.

The USPS and the NALC ask that customers who want to donate non-perishable food items, such as peanut butter, pasta, rice, and canned food like vegetables, soups and meat, leave their donations in a bag next to their mailbox on Saturday, May 13. Your postal letter carrier will take care of the rest.

The “Stamp out Hunger” food drive is the largest one-day food collection effort in the nation.

Since the campaign began in 1993, the NALC has collected a total of 1.5 billion pounds of food that has kept the shelves of many food banks across the country from becoming bare.

Last year, USPS employees set a new record and collected more than 80 million pounds of food during the Stamp Out Hunger food drive.

However, nearly one in six Americans don’t know where their next meal is coming from, and our children and seniors are the most vulnerable.

Summer becomes critical for all food banks because many pantries are at their lowest levels that directly affect children and families who may not have access to school breakfast and lunch programs.

According to the California Association of Food Banks, one in four children in California, more than two million, go to bed hungry every day.

Food collected by letter carriers goes directly to local food banks and organizations.

Faith groups, grocery outlets and other businesses help process these donations and volunteer groups assist in organizing and distributing the food to hundreds of agencies that help your local community.