UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Caltrans invites the public to attend an informational open house to review a proposed project to improve the safety of the Highway 20 and Highway 29 intersection in Lake County.

The drop-in style open house will be held on Thursday, Feb. 16, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Upper Lake Middle School Gymnasium, 725 Old Lucerne Road in Upper Lake.

The purpose of the project is to improve the safety of the Highway 20 and 29 intersection by reducing the frequency and severity of collisions.

The project is needed because the collision rate at the intersection is 3.7 times greater than the statewide average for similar intersections.

Two alternatives are being considered: installation of traffic signals, or installation of a roundabout.

The public will have the opportunity to review displays on these alternatives. Caltrans staff will be available to answer questions and receive comments or suggestions.

For more information, call Project Manager Sebastian Cohen at 707-441-3991.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Soroptimist International of Clear Lake will present its annual Spring Fling Luncheon on Saturday, March 3.

The event will take place beginning at noon at the Highlands Senior Center, located at 3245 Bowers Ave. in Clearlake. Doors open at 11:30 a.m.

The annual fundraiser will include silent and live auctions and a raffle.

Local author Kit DeCanti will be the featured speaker.

Reserve tickets now as seating is limited.

The cost is $35 per person, which includes lunch, beverage and the famous dessert bar. .

Lunch selections include fresh mushrooms and spinach, sundried tomatoes, fresh basil, chicken and Italian sausage tossed together with penne in special cream sauce; or rotini pasta, mushrooms, fresh spinach, basil and roasted vegetables in cream sauce.

For more information or to purchase a ticket call Fawn Williams, 707-350-5866.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clear Lake/Callayomi Masonic Lodge will host the “best breakfast in Lake County” on Sunday, Feb. 19.

The meal will be served from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Masonic Center, located at 7100 South Center Drive in Clearlake.

Clear Lake/Callayomi Masonic Lodge No. 183, Free and Accepted Masons, serves a full, sitdown breakfast on the third Sunday of each month.

Choose your breakfast from a large menu including, eggs (any style), omelets, hash browns, biscuits and gravy, hot cakes, breakfast meat, toast, juice and coffee.

The cost is $8 for adults and $4 for children ages 6-12. Kids under age 5 eat for free and are served a special “kids” breakfast.

If you, or someone you know, would like to join the Masonic Lodge or learn more about Freemasonry, please call Lodge Ambassador Don Auradou at 707-998-4720 or e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Jon Streeter, president of the State Bar of California, will address the Lake County Bar Association at a dinner meeting on Thursday, Feb. 23.

“Having the president of the State Bar Association take time to come to Lake County and address our local legal community is quite an honor,” said Mary Heare Amodio, president of the Lake County Bar Association. “The State Bar has been instrumental and very supportive to our efforts at reorganizing the local bar association and President Streeter’s office welcomed the idea of visiting Lake County and worked with us to accommodate our schedule.”

Streeter will address the relationship between the State Bar and local practitioners in regard to State Bar discipline of attorneys, changes to the Rules of Professional Responsibility and the changing role of attorneys in our society.

In addition, Streeter will discuss the current funding crisis faced by California courts.

The crisis was created by the $1 billion in cuts that had to be absorbed by the judicial branch over the past three years; expected layoffs and court closures as a result of proposed cuts for the 2012-13 state budget; and the threat to judicial independence and public safety created by such cuts.

Attorneys attending the event will receive one hour of continuing education credit.

Streeter is a partner in Keker & Van Nest, LLP, a litigation firm in San Francisco. He regularly performs pro bono work and has been active at the State Bar and in his local bar association in addition to his public service activities.

He attended Stanford University and received his law degree from UC Berkeley School of Law. He worked for Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP and served a judicial clerkships for the Hon. Harry T. Edwards of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Members of the legal community interested in attending the event should contact Amodio at 707-263-5759 or Lake County Bar Association Treasurer Jacqueline Snyder, 707-263-5212.

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Got vines? Do they need pruning?

Then head over to Six Sigma Ranch on Saturday, March 3, for the fifth annual Pruning & Pastries event, which will feature a professional pruning competition and hands-on vineyard pruning demonstration.

This year participants will not only learn pruning tips, but they can test their own pruning skills in an amateur competition.

The two-hour event will convene at 10 a.m. just inside the Six Sigma Ranch gate on Spruce Grove Road in Lower Lake.

First, the professional pruning competition will challenge top pruners from around the county in a race of speed and accuracy.

Then a hands-on demo of winter pruning techniques will provide the necessary preparation for participating in the amateur pruning competition.

Professional judges will determine the winners. Prizes will be awarded.

Come give it a try. Bring friends. Watch the pros in an informal and fun setting. Coffee, tea and pastries will be served. Vineyard pruning questions are welcomed and please dress for the weather.

Space is limited; reserve a spot by calling 707-994-4068 or purchase your $15 ticket online at: www.sixsigmaranch.com/events/pruning-and-pastries.

Rain cancels the event.

Six Sigma Ranch & Winery is located at 13372 Spruce Grove Road, Lower Lake.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – “Women's Voices” on KZYX FM will feature the co-directors/producers Mendocino Coast Films on Monday, Feb. 20.

The show begins at 7 p.m. and can be heard online at www.kzyx.org.

Host Janie Rezner's guests will be Carmen Goodyear and Laurie York, discussing Mendocino Coast Films' latest production, “Women on the Land: Creating Conscious Community.”

The film highlights the work of women of this Northern California coastal community over the past 40 years, and opens with archival footage of women who founded “Country Women” in the 1970s, the extremely successful feminist publication and how-to magazine for women's self-sufficiency.

Featuring the work women in this community have done to care for the environment of the coastal land and sea over the years, the film then follows the lives of women farming now and explains why the sustainable, organic, local food movement is essential in our current world of dwindling natural resources and economic decline.

In celebration of International Women's Day, Mendocino Coast Films presents the premiere of their new documentary in two screenings, March 8 at 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the Matheson Theatre, 10700 Ford Street, just off Little Lake Street in the town of Mendocino.