LAKEPORT, Calif. – United Christian Parish will host “The Joy of Christmas Concert” on Sunday, Dec. 11.

The concert will begin at 4:30 p.m.

All are welcome to the free concert.

Goodies will be served after the performance.

United Christian Parish is located at 745 Brush St., Lakeport.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – You can help hardworking families receive the tax refunds they deserve by volunteering for the Earn It! Keep It! Save It! program.

Last year, volunteers helped bring almost a million dollars in refunds back to Mendocino and Lake Counties. North Coast Opportunities (NCO) Volunteer Network is once again partnering with MendoLake Credit Union and Mendocino College to provide free income tax preparation services in Lake and Mendocino Counties.

As part of a  multi-county coalition headed by the United Way of the Wine Country, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, also known as the Earn It! Keep It! Save It! Program, helps local, low-income community members file their 2016 taxes.

Last year over 700 returns were prepared in Lake and Mendocino counties, bringing over $900,000 back into the community.

The program is in need of volunteers to serve in Ukiah, Lakeport and Clearlake preparing tax returns and greeting clients. 

No experience is necessary and training is provided. Volunteers comfortable with tax preparation may complete the online training at home if preferred.

For more information, please contact Kayla Harrison, NCO Volunteer Network, at 707-462-1959.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake's List toy drive for Clayton fire survivors has issued an updated list of items needed in the final days of the effort.

The toy drive continues until Dec. 12, with distribution planned on Dec. 18.

Organizers are looking to collect new, unwrapped gifts.

Items they are requesting include toy horses, Barbie sets, basketballs, play makeup, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse toys, doll houses, Disney movies, warm clothing for newborns (hats, socks, etc.), comic books, Legos, Pokemon items, music CDs, helmets, perfume, gift cards for clothing (not Walmart), a fuzzy pink piggy bank, two The Weeknd posters, girls shoes (size one and a half), scooter (for a girl), bean bag chair, anything basketball-related, jewelry, books and board games (teen/young adult), baseball items (SF Giants), fishing pole and bait, Monopoly game, Captain America, Harry Potter (movies/ books/etc.), Wii U Games, Jurassic World, Star Wars and Minecraft (figures or wall torch).

There are six locations in different communities around the county where toys can be dropped off during the drive:

• Clearlake: Clearlake Paper Co., 14935 Olympic Drive.
• Clear Lake Riviera: Riviera Foods, 9730 Soda Bay Road, Kelseyville.
• Lakeport: Kingdom Games, 301 N. Main St.
• Lower Lake: Spruce Grove Storage, 11360 Spruce Grove Road.
• Lucerne: Lakeview Market, 6084 Highway 20.
• Middletown: Funtopia Toys, 21163 Calistoga Road.

For those who wish to mail a donation, items can be mailed to P.O. Box 524, Clearlake, CA 95422.

For additional information, visit www.facebook.com/LakesList/ .

SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is announcing three vacancies on the Feed Inspection Advisory Board (FIAB). 

The board makes regulatory and enforcement recommendations to the department to help ensure that commercial feed inspections contribute to a clean and wholesome supply of milk and meat.

The FIAB vacancies are for commercial feed industry representatives, and applicants must hold a current California Commercial Feed License.

Vacancies are available for two board members and one public member. The term of office is three years. 

Members receive no compensation, but are entitled to payment of necessary traveling expenses in accordance with the rules of the California Department of Personnel Administration.

Individuals interested in serving on the Feed Inspection Advisory Board must submit a short resume along with a completed Prospective Member Appointment Questionnaire (PMAQ) by Feb. 20, 2017.

The PMAQ is available on the CDFA Web site at https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/is/ffldrs/pdfs/ProspectiveMemberAppointmentQuestionnaire.pdf .
 
Send the resume and questionnaire via email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by mail to California Department of Food and Agriculture, Feed and Livestock Drugs Inspection Program, Attention: Brittnie Sabalbro, 1220 N St., Sacramento, CA 95814-5607.

For further information on the Feed Inspection Advisory Board and vacancies, please contact Brittnie Sabalbro at 916-900-5022 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The Clear Lake Trowel and Trellis Garden Club recently visited the student garden at Lower Lake taught by Lisa Rogers, environmental science and gardening teacher to all K-7 students at Lower Lake Elementary School.

The group entered the garden by ducking through a wire trellis with low-hanging gourds that may end up as future art projects.

The children were sitting around a bench getting ready to make holiday decorations out of sticks and ribbon. All were quite enthusiastic and welcomed club members with a “thank you” banner and a “flower” fan with words of appreciation. 

The club then was given a tour of the school by Rogers and students Alee and Regan of their vegetables, flowers and herb gardens. Jaxson also presented the block raised bed that his dad built. 

All of the children were quite proud of their achievements. When asked what part of the gardening they liked best, they said “all of it.”

As club members left, the children were working on painting rocks. One rock was painted “Bee Nice” and a smiley face on the other side. 

The portable classroom and all of its contents for Rogers' classes were damaged by the Clayton fire. All of it has to be removed.  Also their garden shed completely burned down with all gardening materials. 

The Lakeshore Lions Club has replaced the shed and Rogers anticipates the damaged portable classroom will be removed and replaced sometime next summer.

In the meantime, classes continue and they make do. The children are resilient and enthusiastic about gardening. Rogers said it is hard to keep the vegetables since the children keep eating them. 

The Clear Lake Trowel and Trellis Garden Club has donated $2,000 to this student garden as well as another $2,000 to seven other youth gardens located in Kelseyville, Lakeport, Cobb, Lower Lake High School and Upper Lake.

These donations were made possible through the “Hidden Gardens of Lake County” garden tour this spring and the support of the people of Lake County.

The Clear Lake Trowel and Trellis Garden Club is a member of the Mendo-Lake District of the California Garden Club Inc.-Pacific Region and National Garden Clubs Inc. For more information call Dana at 707-275-3500.

SACRAMENTO – The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office on Monday provided a guiding statement of principles to the system’s 113 colleges as they adjust to uncertainty over possible immigration policy changes that have the potential to affect undocumented students.

The guidance comes after incoming Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley joined with leaders of the University of California and the California State University to formally request that President-elect Donald J. Trump preserve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA program, which allows children of undocumented immigrants to pursue higher education in the United States.

“It is vital that these students, who were brought to this country as children, have the ability to learn without fear of being deported,” Oakley said. “The California community colleges stand with these students because they represent some of the best qualities that our state and nation have to offer.”

The Chancellor’s Office guidance provided to colleges reaffirms the following principles:

• The California Community Colleges are open to all students who meet the minimum requirements for admission, regardless of immigration status.
• The Chancellor’s Office will not release any personally identifiable student information, including any data related to immigration status, without a judicial warrant, subpoena or court order, unless authorized by the student or required by law.
• The Chancellor’s Office will not cooperate with any federal effort to create a registry of individuals based on any protected characteristics such as religion, national origin, race or sexual orientation.
• The Chancellor’s Office will continue to advocate for educational opportunities for all students in the community college system, regardless of immigration status, at the state and federal level.

While the Chancellor’s Office acknowledges local authority and control in the administration of its community colleges, its encourage local community college districts to consider the system’s values when responding to this situation.

The Chancellor's Office said it finds the following strategies to be consistent with these values and recommend using them as a starting point for local deliberations in these matters:

• District police departments should not detain, question or arrest any individual solely on the basis of (suspected) undocumented immigration status.
• Districts should not cooperate with any federal effort to create a registry of individuals based on any protected characteristics such as religion, national origin, race or sexual orientation.
• No confidential student records should be released without a judicial warrant, subpoena or court order, unless authorized by the student or required by law.

The California Community Colleges is the largest system of higher education in the nation composed of 72 districts and 113 colleges serving 2.1 million students per year.

For more information about the community colleges, visit http://californiacommunitycolleges.cccco.edu/ .

SACRAMENTO – Students who earn health credentials, including two-year degrees or certificates, from career technical education programs at California community colleges increase their earnings by an average of 50 percent, according to a report released today by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC).

A full copy of the PPIC report can at http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/report/R_1216SBR.pdf .

“Having a level playing field to create equity for all Californians is critical to our economy, and this report outlines just how valuable a California community college education can be for students and the state.” said Van Ton-Quinlivan, vice chancellor for Workforce and Economic Development. “Career technical education programs are a viable path to ensure job stability and social mobility within multiple industries.”

As the report details, wage returns do vary by the type of certificate offered. For example, a two-year degree in programs like registered nursing, dental hygiene and radiological technology offer wage returns about twice as high as other long-term certificates and nearly ten times as high as short-term certificates.

To develop more workforce opportunities and lift low-wage workers into living-wage jobs, California took a bold step in 2016 to create one million more middle-skilled workers.

At the recommendation of the California Community College Board of Governors, Gov. Jerry Brown and the state Legislature approved the Strong Workforce Program, adding $200 million to spur career technical education at 113 community colleges.

The goals are to increase the number of students enrolled in programs leading to high-demand, high-wage jobs and improve program quality as evidenced by students completing or transferring programs, getting employed or improving their earnings.

Additionally, regional planning efforts are taking place statewide between education and workforce stakeholders across multiple funding streams mentioned in the PPIC report such as the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, landmark federal legislation signed in 2014 which seeks to improve the nation’s workforce development system and job training programs.

The California Community Colleges is the largest system of higher education in the nation composed of 72 districts and 113 colleges serving 2.1 million students per year.

For more information about the community colleges, please visit http://californiacommunitycolleges.cccco.edu/ , https://www.facebook.com/CACommColleges or https://twitter.com/CalCommColleges .