LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County First 5 Commission will meet on Wednesday, March 28.

The meeting will begin at 2:30 p.m. at the Lake One-Stop's E.D.D. Conference Room, located at 55 First St. in Lakeport.

Agenda items include a public hearing on First 5 California’s 2010-11 Annual Report; First 5 Lake’s 2010-11 Annual Evaluation Report; and the Kindergarten Entry Developmental Profile Overview.

Also on the agenda is the executive director's report and reports from commissioners.

For more information call 707-263-6169.

Visit the commission online at www.firstfivelake.org .

UKIAH, Calif. – A memorial in honor of North Coast musician Marc Hansen will be held on Sunday, March 25.

The event will begin at 1:30 p.m. at the Saturday Afternoon Club, 107 Oak St. in Ukiah.

Hansen, 59, died in a car crash in Oregon on Feb. 14.

In an era of technology-driven communication, Cal Fire is using the latest tools and social media sites to help keep the public informed during major emergencies.

Californians looking for incident information can receive updates through sites like Facebook and Twitter, videos through YouTube, and even text messages sent right to their cell phones.

“When Cal Fire is at the scene of a wildfire, keeping the public and media updated is a top priority for us,” said Janet Upton, Cal Fire's deputy director of communications. “Using the latest technologies allows us to keep the public up to date on what’s happening and give us more ways to provide valuable information on how to prepare their homes and families well in advance of a fire.”

While the Internet has led to an increase in available information, it’s important to ensure the sites distributing information are official.

There are numerous social media accounts that use the Cal Fire name or who present themselves as official sources, but they are often run by individuals not associated with Cal Fire or a fire department.

Below are Cal Fire's official social media accounts.

Twitter

Official Account – @CAL_FIRE
Department Information Officer Daniel Berlant – @CALFIRE_PIO
CAL FIRE Director Ken Pimlott – @CALFIRE_Chief
Riverside Unit/Riverside County Fire – @CALFIRERRU
San Diego Unit – @CALFIRESANDIEGO
Fresno-Kings Unit / Fresno County Fire – @FresnoCoFire
San Luis Obispo Unit / SLO County Fire – @CALFIRE_SLO
San Bernardino Unit - @CALFIREBDU
San Benito / Monterrey Unit - @CALFIREBEU

Facebook

Search for CAL FIRE

Youtube

www.YouTube.com/CALFIRETV

SMS text messages

To subscribe text: “follow @CAL_FIRE” to 40404. The alerts are free, but standard text messaging rates do apply.

While the number of users on social media sites has increased, the public can still receive information from the CAL FIRE Web site, www.fire.ca.gov .

In February the department launched a mobile Web page version allowing easy access to incident information on smartphones.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The 15th annual Stars of Lake County community recognition program will take place on Sunday, May 6, at PSI Seminars in High Valley, above Clearlake Oaks.  

The Stars of Lake County committee is actively seeking nominations from throughout Lake County, in 21 categories for these prestigious awards.  

The program is co-sponsored by the Lake County Record-Bee, over 30 Lake County businesses and the Lake County Chamber of Commerce.   

This program provides recognition for the hardworking volunteers, businesses and organizations that do so much for Lake County, not because they have to but because they want to.  

It is the only recognition program of its kind in the county, said Jim Magliulo, Lake County Chamber of Commerce president.

In the first 14 years of this program more than 1,500 entities have been acknowledged through nominations and 281 Star Awards have been presented.

It is only through the residents of Lake County that the chamber and our communities learn of nominees.  

Look around at the people, businesses and organizations you deal with daily for potential nominees. Who will your nominee be?  

Each nominee receives a letter from the Lake County Chamber informing them of their nomination and providing them with information about the event.  

The chamber takes photos of each nominee and creates a video that is shown during the reception/dinner. The video also names all the sponsors for each category.

The nomination form for Stars of Lake County 2012 is online at www.lakecochamber.com .

Forms are available at the Chamber office at 875 Lakeport Blvd., Vista Point in Lakeport.

Tickets for the Stars of Lake County will go on sale to the public on Monday, April 16, through the chamber office.

For more information about making nominations or purchasing tickets, contact the Lake County Chamber at 707-263-5092.

LUCERNE, Calif. – North Lake Garden Club will present a workshop by Mary Lou Goodwin, past president of California Garden Clubs Inc. on Tuesday, March 27.

The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. with sharing plants and refreshments at Lucerne Community Church, 5870 E. Highway 20.

“Spring treasures featuring nine daffodils of yellow flowers” will be a hands-on flower arranging class.

Everyone needs to bring their own container, oasis, greens, filler and flowers. Learn to be creative with late winter early spring blossoms.

The club's last workshop, “Do the Rot Thing and Support Global Worming,” an informative hands-on presentation by Gabriele O'Neill, UCCE Lake County Master Gardener, had a great turnout. Attendees learned about the transformation of garbage into gardeners' gold, also called composting.

If you are interested in joining the group please come to the meeting.

You can check other activities coming up on the group's Facebook page at North Lake Garden Club.

The club is a member of California Garden Clubs Inc., National Garden Clubs Inc. and Mendo-Lake District, with meetings held on the fourth Tuesday September through May.

If you have a public place where a tree should be planted or need more information about the garden club please call club President Kimberly Marsh, 707-274-8775.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Community members are invited to join local time bankers and learn about a cash and tax free system for sharing services, skills, and labor that hearkens back to days of yore.

The meeting will be held on Saturday, March 31, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Lakeport Senior Activity Center, 527 Konocti Ave.  

Once upon a time neighbors helped neighbors with everything from hot casseroles to barn raising.  

While time banking philosophically draws on those old time traditions, it comes to us in a very modern manifestation – using computer software and the Internet to help like-minded community members connect.

Participants will learn more about how time banking works, meet current time bank members, have an opportunity to ask questions, and get an introduction to the time bank software.

If you are unable to attend, or want more information, please visit the Time Bank of Lake County Web site at http://timebanklakeco.com/ or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .