LUCERNE, Calif. – A fun evening for daughters and dads – or other father figures – will take place on Friday, Feb. 7.

“Dessert and Dancing with Dad” will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at Lucerne Elementary School, 3351 Country Club Drive.

Get dad or your favorite over-18 father figure – uncle, grandpa or brother – out for an evening of fun entertainment with a local DJ and a 50/50 raffle.

Presale tickets will be available Feb. 3 to Feb. 7 at 8 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. in front of the school office for $10 per couple Additional tickets are $5 each.

Tickets will be $15 per couple at the cafeteria door the night of the event, with additional tickets costing $5 each.

For more information call 707-274-5578.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Chi Council for the Clear Lake Hitch will hold a special workshop for its network of volunteer hitch migration monitors on Wednesday, Feb. 12.

The workshop will begin at 6 p.m. in the Board of Supervisors chambers in the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes in Lakeport.

Presentations will cover the history and life cycle of the hitch, traditional Pomo uses and the monitoring protocol, as well as an update on Chi Council activities to date and results of its work over the past 10 years.

There also will be a brief status update regarding the Endangered Species Act listing process, with the hitch currently under consideration for a listing.

If you are one of the council's dedicated volunteers who wants to increase your expertise and the value of your observations, if you have been following the council's work over the years but have never taken an active part in its annual springtime efforts or if you are simply curious, you are welcome to attend this highly informative and free event.

For more information visit http://lakelive.info/chicouncil/ .

SACRAMENTO- Assemblymember Mariko Yamada (D-Davis) will recognize Davis constituent and children’s book author, Dr. Loriene Honda, on the Assembly Floor on “Fred Korematsu Day,” Thursday, Jan.30.

Dr. Honda will be accompanied by her father, Mr. Lawrence Honda, who was interned at the Manzanar War Relocation Center during World War II.

Assemblymember Yamada’s family members also were Manzanar internees.

“In honor of Fred Korematsu Day, it is important to reflect upon our civil rights and the heroes  who stood up to protect them,” stated Assemblymember Yamada. “Inspired by illustrations by the late renowned artist and Sacramento native, Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani, Dr. Honda’s book, ‘The Cat Who Chose to Dream’ tells Jimmy the Cat’s tale of triumph over tragedy and freedom over fear during the Japanese American internment during World War II. My hope is that young readers will be empowered to stand up for themselves and for others by reading this story.”

Dr. Honda is a child and adolescent psychologist, using art to help children distance themselves from the pain of abuse and neglect so that they can make strides towards healing. Currently, Dr. Honda serves her community through her private practice in Davis.

In 2010, AB 1775 established the “Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution” to honor Asian American Civil Rights Hero, Fred Korematsu, who defied orders of removal during World War II.

His failure to report to the internment camp later became the subject of a Supreme Court case challenging the constitutionality of forced incarceration of Japanese American citizens.  

Assemblymember Yamada will host a reception in honor of Dr. Honda and her book at 10 a.m. in Capitol Room 317. Members of the public are invited to attend. Please RSVP by calling 916-319-2004.

More information about “The Cat Who Chose to Dream” may be found at http://www.martinpearl.com/childrensbooks/thecatwhochosetodream.html .

SACRAMENTO – State Controller John Chiang has introduced eClaim, a breakthrough online tool aimed at reuniting Californians with lost and forgotten money.

When the property is worth less than $500 and there is only one owner listed, this online innovation – found at www.claimit.ca.gov – may let the claimant bypass the “paper and snail-mail” process upon which the state has been dependent since the Unclaimed Property Program was first established in 1959.

Instead, Californians can search for and claim their money completely online, and expect to be reunited with their assets within 14 days.

"After reforming one of the nation's largest lost and found programs to put property owners first and returning record amounts of assets, I am pleased to announce this latest technological advancement that will reunite owners with their lost money with greater speed, ease, and convenience." said Chiang. "For those who have put off doing paperwork to claim smaller amounts of property, the simple eClaim tool provides a painless option."

Currently, 72 percent – or 18 million – of the 24.9 million lost items being safeguarded by the Controller's Office are eligible to be claimed through eClaim. Depending on feedback and usage, future editions of this tool may include a higher qualifying dollar threshold.

For tips on how to use eClaim, watch a tutorial at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EvPiLG0-lk&;feature=youtu.be or call the Controller's Unclaimed Property Division at 800-992-4647.

Since January 2007, the controller has reunited owners with more than $2.5 billion in cash that had been lost or forgotten – more than any previous controller.

As of June 2013, the controller also returned 181 million shares of securities to owners, which is more than 30 times the amount returned to owners during the previous decade.

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The Redwood Empire Civil War Roundtable will have its next presentation at 6:15 p.m. Monday Feb. 3, at the Tallman Hotel in Upper Lake.

Dr. Mark Cooper and Phil Smoley will share presentation honors as they both are intimately familiar with the CSS Hunley, the Confederate submarine that sunk the USS Housatonic in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, 150 years ago this February.

Smoley attended the funeral of the Confederate sailors in 2004 following the removal of their remains from the vessel after it was raised form its resting place.

More than 10,000 reenactors participated in the funeral procession through the streets of Charleston.   

Dr. Cooper has since been back to Charleston and seen the progress of the restoration of the submarine. It is in remarkably excellent condition.

"Outside history circles, the story of the Hunley is little known," according to Smoley. "But it is a story that needs to be told and retold. It has elements of courage, heroism, ingenuity, patriotism, tragedy and a strong connection to our modern day. It will come across as imaginative fiction, but it all happened."

The Civil War Roundtable meets once a month to discuss topics related to that war. The group was founded to coincide with the Sesquicentennial of the conflict. Admission is free, and everyone is welcome.

For more information, contact Phil Smoley (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 707-264-4905) or Zane Jensen (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 707-349-6390).

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The Lake County Democratic Club will meet on Saturday, Feb. 8.

The meeting will begin at 11 a.m. at the Russell Rustici Park Club House, Lower Lake Community Park, corner of Mill and Second streets.

The club's guest speakers are Davis City Council members Dan Wolk ( www.danwolk.org ) and Joe Krovoza ( www.joekrovoza.org ), both of whom are running for State Assembly District 4.

The Lake County Democratic Club meets every second Saturday of the month at 11 a.m.

The public is always welcome and membership is open to all registered Democrats.

Contact the Lake County Democratic Club at 707-533-4885, by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit http://lakecountydemocrats.org .