LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – With a storm set to arrive, Pacific Gas and Electric is offering a number of suggestions to help power customers prepare.

Preparing for power outages

• Have battery-operated flashlights and radios with fresh batteries ready. Listen for updates on storm conditions and power outages.
• If you have a telephone system that requires electricity to work (such as a cordless phone or answering machine), plan for alternate communication – have a standard telephone handset, cellular telephone or pager ready as a back up.
• Freeze plastic containers filled with water to make blocks of ice that can be placed in your refrigerator/freezer during an outage to prevent foods from spoiling.

Safety tips

• Treat all downed power lines as if they are "live" or energized. Keep yourself and others away from them. Call 911, then notify PG&E at 1-800-743-5002.
• Use battery-operated flashlights, not candles.
• Customers with generator should make sure they are properly installed by a licensed electrician. Improperly installed generators pose a significant danger to our crews.
• Unplug or turn off all electric appliances to avoid overloading circuits and fire hazards when power is restored. Simply leave a single lamp on to alert you when power returns. Turn your appliances back on one at a time when conditions return to normal.

Reporting a power outage

• Before calling PG&E about a power outage, check to see if other neighbors are affected. This would confirm if an outage has occurred in just your residence or within the neighborhood area.
• If only your residence is without power, check circuit breakers and/or fuse boxes to see if the problem is limited to the home electric system.
• After performing the steps above, single or neighborhood outages can be reported to: PG&E's 24-Hour Emergency and Customer Service Line: 1-800-743-5002.
• Once your outage has been reported, you can call PG&E's Outage Information Line at 1-800-743-5002 to get a status report on your outage and the anticipated time your power will be turned back on.
• If you lose power overnight, you can call PG&E to request a wake-up call. They'lll be happy to give you a wake up call, as well as up-to-date information on your outage and time of restoration.

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The 2011 Watershed Year in Review event has been rescheduled for Tuesday March 6.

The event will take place at the Odd Fellows Hall, 9480 Main St., in Upper Lake.

Doors open at 6 p.m. for socializing, with the event beginning at 6:30.

Bring a potluck dish to share, and help celebrate the volunteers who work all year on behalf of our communities and the environment.

Speakers include Greg Dills, district manager and watershed coordinator for the East Lake and West Lake Resource Conservation Districts; East Lake RCD President Dwight Holford; NRCS District Conservationist Korinn Woodard; and Fire Safe Council Coordinator Linda Juntunen.

There will be good food, great volunteers and caring members of the community – the perfect combination for a wonderful evening.

The meeting is free and the public invited.

For more information, contact Greg Dills, 707-263-4180, Extension 102.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Umpqua Bank's Lakeport branch will hold a canned food drive on Wednesday, Feb. 29.

The drive will support Lake County CAN! Stop Hunger Now.

The bank will spend its extra day this year collecting food for local communities.

They will collect canned food items all day long out in front of the 11th street location, beginning around 9 a.m. and continuing throughout the day.  

Umpqua's Lakeport branch is located at 805 11th St., telephone 707-263-7500.

CLEARLAKE, CA – Recognizing that the need for donations is greater than ever at local food banks across the nation, Curves International is kicking off the 2012 Curves Food Drive on March 1 with a challenge to all Curves Clubs to meet or exceed last year's donations.

Each club, including Curves of Clearlake, is asking its members to donate bags of non-perishable food or cash throughout the month of March to support their local community food bank.

In addition, Curves of Clearlake will waive the joining fee for new members who bring in a bag of nonperishable food or donate $30 to their local food bank from March 12-25.

"Curves of Clearlake is committed to supporting the health and well-being of our members, so the food drive is a natural extension of that commitment to the whole community," said a Curves of Clearlake staff member. "Many families are struggling with basic expenses and need some help to make ends meet. Our food drive gives our members a way to reach out and support their neighbors."

With a theme of "Good for your body and your soul," this year's drive encourages Curves members to feel doubly good about themselves as they make time to exercise for good health and take time to help others in the community with a donation of nutritious food. Local Curves clubs may also qualify to win cash prizes for their local food banks.

Curves International will award cash prizes to the clubs that collect the most food, the clubs that show the greatest increase in donations over the 2011 food drive, and to two additional clubs randomly selected from all the clubs who enter the contest.

"We would love to see all of our clubs top their donation levels from last year," said Curves founder Diane Heavin. "But the main goal of our annual drive is to enlist the help of our members in re-stocking the shelves of local food pantries across the country. We also hope that new members will take this opportunity to give back to their local communities as they join our Curves community."

For more information about Curves of Clearlake, located at 14828 Olympic Drive, and the 2012 Curves Food Drive, contact a Curves of Clearlake staff member at 707-994-4888 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

For more information about Curves, please visit www.curves.com.

LOWER LAKE, CA – The women’s a cappella singing group My Divas will perform on St. Patrick’s Day, Saturday, March 17, from 11:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. at Hawk and Horse Vineyards.

The event will be free to attend; you are welcome to bring picnics and plan to stay awhile (the winery will be open until 5 p.m.).

The tasting room will offer a special flight for the day at $10 per flight, including the winery’s 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2006 Latigo (port-style Cabernet-based dessert wine).

“Spring is a celebratory time for us,” said proprietor Tracey Hawkins. “Our vines are waking up from their winter slumber and bud break will be upon us. Come have a picnic, listen to local music, enjoy a glass (or two) of wine and enjoy the company of friends and neighbors.”

Claudia Listman, the founder and musical director of My Divas (www.miodivas.moonfruit.com)  explained, “My Divas is a women’s singing group specializing in a cappella (without accompaniment) madrigal songs from the Renaissance period, from England, Italy and Europe. We sing three and four part harmonies, have a lot of fun, and dress in period “wench” costumes.”

My Divas is based in Lake County.

Hawk and Horse Vineyards’ tasting room features an antique Victorian bar, Western and local memorabilia, historic photos and a picnic area with horses grazing nearby ready to meet visitors.

Hawk and Horse Vineyards was founded In 1999 by Mitch Hawkins, Tracey Hawkins and David Boies.

The winery’s first release was 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon. Hawk and Horse is a family-owned and family-operated vineyard and ranch practicing biodynamic viticulture on a historic property in the Red Hills AVA of Lake County, specializing in estate-grown Cabernet Sauvignon and Latigo (port).

Current releases are the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, which sells for $65.00, and the 2006 Latigo, a port-style Cabernet-based dessert wine, which sells for $85 (for a 750 ml bottle).

Hawk and Horse Vineyards is one of the North Coast’s most visible practitioners of biodynamic viticulture, having been Demeter-certified since 2008 and California Certified Organic (CCOF) since 2004.

Currently planted are 18 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The soils are rocky, red and volcanic, consisting of Aiken, Collayomi, and Whispering loam.  Lake County ‘diamonds,’ a soft form of quartz, which the winery uses for biodynamic preparations, are abundant.  They are a natural product from volcanic activity of nearby Mt. Konocti, a now dormant volcano.

Hawk and Horse extends over a total of 1,300 acres and straddles elevations from 1,800 to 2,200 feet. The property is home to El Roble Grande, the largest oak tree ever recorded in California. The ranch is also the home of a herd of Scottish Highland cattle, three American Saddlebred horses, five American Quarterhorses plus bees, hawks, owls, bear, wild boar, bobcats, mountain lions, squirrels and other wildlife.
 
Hawk and Horse Vineyards is in Lower Lake at 13048 Highway 29.

The tasting room is open for tasting Thursday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at $10/person or $45/person for an extended ranch and vineyard tour including tasting.

LAKEPORT – Westside Community Park is receiving a set of bleachers, a gift from the Lakeport Unified School District.

The school district recently donated the bleachers previously located at the high school baseball field to the Westside Community Park Committee, announced Dennis Rollins, chair of the Park Committee.  

The bleachers will be assembled in two five-row sections in Phase 2 of the park development, said Rollins.

“This will allow us to provide some seating at each of the baseball fields currently under construction,” Rollins said.   

The school district made the decision to donate the bleachers because they were not being used at the school’s fields.

Dave Norris, facilities director for Lakeport Unified School District, said the view from the bleachers had been obstructed by the construction of a new first-base dugout several years ago.

School district personnel and inmates from the Lake County Jail prepared the bleachers for removal.
Darryl Davis of Davis Fabrication & Ornamental Designs volunteered to cut the all-steel framework free and into sections which could be moved to the City of Lakeport’s Corporation Yard for storage.

Davis also will be involved in the assembly at the park site. The assembly is expected to take place in the late fall, following completion of backstops, dugouts and infields.

According to Rollins, the bleachers will be made to conform to current safety standards as a portion of the reconstruction process.

UCC Rental of Lakeport donated a trailer for use in moving the bleachers.  A group of seven volunteers was on hand to load them.

Westside Community Park is located off of Parallel Drive, behind the Kathy Fowler Auto Dealerships in Lakeport.  It is currently the site of soccer fields, a dog park and walking trail.

Grillin on the Green, the annual fundraising event for the park is scheduled for Aug. 4.

For more information about the park, call Rollins at 707-349-0969 or visit the Web site, www.westsidecommunitypark.org.