LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Help hardworking Lake County families receive the tax refunds they deserve by volunteering today for the Earn It! Keep It! Save It program.

Last year, volunteers helped bring $1.3 million in refunds back into the Lake/Mendocino/Sonoma community at free tax preparation sites throughout our counties.

Two new locations are opening at Lake Family Resource offices located in Clearlake and Kelseyville.

No experience is necessary and training sessions, in person or online, will be held for tax preparer volunteers.

Volunteer opportunities include:

• Tax preparers – receive free IRS training and certification;

• Greeters – welcome taxpayers to the sites;

• Interpreters – interpret between the taxpayer and the tax preparer, when needed;

• Community resource coaches – connect individuals and families to resources that can make a difference.

No experience is required. Training can be completed online 24 hours a day, seven days a week or at the Clearlake site between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. You set your hours to fit your schedule.

Learn more about the program and how to volunteer, by calling Joy Swetnam, Lake Family Resource Center, at 707-995-2958 or 707-272-2660, or email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Law Library is now offering some new services to the community.

The library has updated its Web site to include many more links, and also now are subscribing to Lexis Online as well as CEB OnLaw, with limited access to WestLaw.

The Lake County Law Library is open to all residents of Lake County. Come to the law library to research federal, state, and local laws, statutes and ordinances.

On site visitors will find two public computers with Internet, connected to a printer, a copier, a typewriter and study space.

Another great resource is a wide selection of self-help books on a variety of subjects such as real estate, bankruptcy, divorce, small claims, guardianship and more. They also have access to many common forms.

“We are the major source for forms of all kinds for the community and legal referrals to other agencies,” said librarian Kathleen O'Connor. “We are here to help all residents of Lake County.”

The library is located at 175 Third St. in Lakeport, across from the Lake County Courthouse. Hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It is closed on holidays.

Call 707-263-2205, e-mail O'Connor at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit the library online at www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Law_Library.htm .

Middletown Mustang David Pike, seen here in a game with St. Helena last November, will play football at Montana Tech in Butte, Mont., beginning this fall. Photo by Ed Oswalt.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – MT Tech Oredigger Head Football Coach Chuck Morrell has announced that Middletown High School standout running back David Pike will be playing for the Orediggers in 2011.

“We are very excited to get David up here this fall,” said Morrell. “With all his success on the field and in the classroom he will be a great fit for Montana Tech.”

Pike played defensive back and returned punts for Head Coach Bill Foltmer and the Mustangs, but it's at running back where he made his mark.

He also was the 2010 All-County and All-League (NCL I North) offensive MVP, and is the school record holder for all-time single-season touchdowns, scoring record, rushing record, career total rushing touchdowns and tied for career total touchdowns.

Pike is also the Lake County record holder for all-time single-season rushing touchdowns, scoring touchdowns and touchdowns.

He runs the 100 meter dash and the 4x100 meter relay in track, and was a 2010-11 North Coast Section, CIF Scholar Athlete.

Montana Tech is located in Butte, Mont.

New officers for the Hidden Valley Lake Garden Club in Hidden Valley Lake, Calif., at their installation. Courtesy photo.

HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE, Calif. – The Hidden Valley Lake Garden Club has installed new officers this year.

Officers include President Angela Birk, Vice President Inge Rankin, Secretary Pat Berry and Treasurer Anita Engberg.

The Hidden Valley Lake Garden Club was the first club Birk joined when she moved to HVL in 1998. Birk loves living in HVL and says she considers garden work “green therapy.”

Rankin and her husband Mike, also a garden club member, moved to HVL a little over one year ago from Pennsylvania to be closer to their children and granddaughter.

“Gardening has been a fun activity for me since I was a toddler and helped my grandmother plant her vegetable garden,” she said. “We are continually amazed at the long growing season here and the great variety of plants that thrive in this area.”

Berry, in her second term as garden club secretary, has been interested in gardening since Girl Scouts' "Victory Gardens" during WWII.

She belonged to the Paradise, Calif., Garden Club for 22 years. She joined the HVL Garden Club 3 years ago and enjoys the pleasant associations and sense of purpose in various areas such as the plantings in the community, education of members, the Garden Sale, Adopt-a-Road, conservation and the general interest in making our world more beautiful.

Engberg has gardened in Nebraska, Iowa, Montana and Santa Rosa and is now learning to do so in Middletown where she settled two years ago. She and her late husband were active in the Santa Rosa Garden Club.

“It was a natural to join the HVL Garden Club,” Engberg said. “Sharing knowledge and ideas with fellow gardeners is always a joy.”

The mission of the HVL Garden Club is to provide members a greater sense of appreciation, pride and knowledge about our private and public gardens and for the study and enjoyment of amateur gardening in various aspects and applications.

Membership is open to all interested persons.

Meetings are held the second Monday of each month with a social gathering at 9:30 a.m. followed by the business meeting at 10 a.m. in the administrative office of the Hidden Valley Lake Association, 18174 Hidden Valley Road.

For further information please contact Angela Birk at 707-987-0195, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – During the winter season, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) urges customers to be mindful of the dangers associated with carbon monoxide.

Several tragic cases of carbon monoxide poisoning take place each year during the winter months as people try to stay warm.

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, tasteless and odorless gas that is created by the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and wood. If unsafe concentrations of carbon monoxide are not detected, the result can be fatal.

Customers should never use generators, charcoal or barbeque grills inside the home. When using the fireplace to stay warm, make sure the flue is open, so the byproducts of combustion can vent safely through the chimney.

Many customers in PG&E’s service area use natural gas furnaces to stay warm. PG&E reminds customers to make sure all natural gas furnaces and appliances inside the home are in proper working order. Natural gas appliances that do not burn properly can produce carbon monoxide.

Customers should inspect the flame on all gas appliances.

A blue flame indicates complete combustion and the appliance is working properly. A lazy, yellow or white flame is a warning sign that the appliance is not burning properly and could be producing carbon monoxide.

If customers suspect there is a problem with a natural gas appliance inside their home, they should call PG&E immediately at 1-800-PGE-5000. A gas service representative will be dispatched to do a thorough inspection.

Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include headaches, drowsiness, dizziness, nausea and convulsions.

Because carbon monoxide is hard to detect, someone with mild poisoning can go to sleep and continue to breathe the carbon monoxide until severe illness or death occurs.

People may also mistake their symptoms for a viral infection like the flu.

To help prevent cases of carbon monoxide poisoning, PG&E offers the following tips to keep customers healthy and safe:

• Install a carbon monoxide detector. Carbon monoxide has no color, no taste and no odor. Detectors will warn you when concentrations become dangerously high.

• The Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends detectors be placed near sleeping areas, where they can wake you if you are asleep.

• Never use generators, propane heaters, barbeques or charcoal indoors.

• Ensure that generators are properly installed and operated outdoors. For more generator safety tips, please visit www.pge.com/generator/.

• When using the fire place, make sure the flue is open, and the chimney is venting properly.

• Do not idle cars inside the garage and do not allow snow to block tailpipe emissions when operating a vehicle outdoors.

• Make sure water heaters and other natural gas appliances have proper ventilation. Older appliances and room heaters that are not vented externally should be inspected annually.

• Have a trained professional inspect furnaces and other gas appliances. To schedule an inspection with PG&E, customers can call 1-800-PGE-5000 or visit www.pge.com.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – “The Law Show” on KPFZ 88.1 FM will host new Lake County District Attorney Don Anderson on Saturday, Jan. 29.

The show will air from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Less than a month or so into his first term as district attorney, Anderson will join host Herb Gura in KPFZ’s studios to discuss how it’s going so far, including what changes he has instituted, what campaign promises he has begun to fill and what major cases he's working on now.

Telephone lines will be open for questions or comments. Call 707-263-3435.