In 2009, the largest number of Peace Corps volunteers called California (920), New York (432) and Illinois (378) home. The greatest number of volunteers per capita came from Vermont (9.7/100k residents), the District of Columbia (7.8/100k residents) and Maine (5.7/100k residents).

The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria metropolitan area (339) produced the greatest number of volunteers, followed by the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island (334) and the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana (271) metropolitan areas. The Ithaca, N.Y. (12.9/100k residents); Corvallis, Ore. (11.0/100k residents); and Boulder, Colo. (9.9/100k residents) metropolitan areas led the nation in the per capita volunteer ratings.

Peace Corps’ nine regional recruiting offices across the United States work to recruit and provide information and guidance to prospective Peace Corps volunteers. Over 15,000 Americans applied to the Peace Corps this year – an increase of 18 percent over last year. Individuals can connect with a local recruiter and locate their local regional recruiting office by visiting the Peace Corps Web site at www.peacecorps.gov/ .

The following are the top-ten volunteer producing states and Metropolitan areas:

2009 Top Ten Metropolitan Areas (Volunteers, 2009):

1. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria (339)

2. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island (334)

3. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana (271)

4. Chicago-Naperville-Joliet (245)

5. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue (199)

6. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy (170)

7. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont (169)

8. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington (164)

9. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington (159)

10. Denver-Aurora (130)

2009 Top Ten Metropolitan Areas per capita (Volunteers per 100,000 residents):

1. Ithaca, N.Y. (12.85)

2. Corvallis, Ore. (11.0)

3. Boulder, Colo. (9.89)

4. Longview, Wash. (9.88)

5. Charlottesville, Va. (9.77)

6. Cheyenne, Wyo. (9.14)

7. Burlington-South Burlington, Vt. (9.11)

8. Olympia, Wash. (8.57)

9. Columbia, Mo. (8.52)

10. Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, Maine (7.78)

2009 Top Ten States (Volunteers, 2009):

1. California (920)

2. New York (432)

3. Illinois (378)

4. Washington (343)

5. Virginia (335)

6. Texas (318)

7. Ohio (317)

8. Michigan (309)

9. Pennsylvania (294)

10. Colorado (275)

2009 Top Ten States per capita (Volunteers per 100,000 residents):

1. Vermont (9.66)

2. District of Columbia (7.77)

3. Maine (5.70)

4. Colorado (5.57)

5. Oregon (5.54)

6. Montana (5.38)

7. Washington (5.24)

8. Alaska (4.52)

9. Minnesota (4.33)

10. Virginia (4.31)

Peace Corps also releases its “Top College” rankings annually. The list will be released in early 2010.

As Peace Corps approaches its 50th anniversary, its service legacy continues to promote peace and friendship around the world with over 7,600 volunteers serving in 75 host countries.

Historically, nearly 200,000 Americans have served with the Peace Corps to promote a better understanding between Americans and the people of 139 host countries. Peace Corps Volunteers must be U.S. citizens and at least 18 years of age.

Peace Corps service is a 27-month commitment. To learn more about the Peace Corps, please visit our website: www.peacecorps.gov .

The announcement came from Connel Murray, vice president of Clear Lake Performing Arts, the nonprofit group that sponsors the event.

The home winefest has attracted hundreds of amateur wine makers and attendees from all over Northern California since its inception in 2002.

It has become the major fundraising event for CLPA, which supports good music activities in Lake County including the symphony and youth orchestras.

Jim Perry, event chair, says triple-digit heat at last year's festival led to the decision to shift locations.

"We actually loved Kelseyville, and the Kelseyville Business Association couldn't have been more cooperative," he said.

The KBA also was a festival sponsor.

"We had planned to pattern our event after some of the village-based wine festivals in Europe, where they close the town center," he continued, "but I guess they don't get 103 degree temperatures in June like we did this year. Some of our volunteers actually dropped out with heat exhaustion."

Festival organizers are certain that the shaded park and lakeside breezes will do much to moderate Lake County's summer warmth.

The Lakeport City Council recently approved CLPA's application to hold its event in the park, including the closure of Park Street in order to accommodate the many arts and crafts exhibitors and food vendors who are a part of the festival.

Ed Bublitz, who has responsibility for soliciting the participation of amateur wine makers, says his committee will continue to provide participants with necessities, including canopies if needed, even though they might be under the trees.

"We think this new venue will make things a lot more comfortable for everyone." he said.

For the second year home brewers will also compete for ribbons.

Those seeking further information can contact Murray at 707-277-7076, or e-mail him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The event will take place from noon to 6 p.m. in Eastlake Elementary's gym, next door to the Eastlake Grange.

There will be handcrafts, art, gifts, live music, food and fun.

Come and get into the spirit of the season.

OAKLAND – The California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV) – the political arm of the environmental movement in California – released its annual California Environmental Scorecard this week.

North Coast Sen. Patricia Wiggins was among the legislators receiving a percent 100-percent score for her voting record.

The scorecard provides a behind-the-scenes look at the best and worst results for the environment in the 2009 legislative session.

Among the worst: economic fear and severe budget deficits dominated Sacramento’s attention this year. Environmental opponents exploited this fear to polarize the legislature, attack California’s landmark environmental laws, and secure vetoes of good legislation.

Only a modest amount of “green” legislation was enacted as environmentalists played defense to protect parks, oppose new offshore drilling and fight bills to bypass bedrock environmental laws. Unfortunately, even progressive legislators voted for some bad bills.

To compound the problem, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed two-thirds of the 15 high-priority environmental bills that reached his desk in the regular legislative session.

This year’s Environmental Scorecard reflects the governor’s record-setting vetoes of priority environmental bills which earned him a 28 percent score – the lowest of his career. This contrasts with his scores of 60 percent and 63 percent in previous years.

“The weak economy and budget deficits required tough decisions, but they also created opportunities,” said Warner Chabot, CLCV’s chief executive officer. “But, rather than seize opportunities to protect our natural resources and create clean energy jobs, Gov. Schwarzenegger rejected the vast majority of well-considered environmental legislation that landed on his desk. This is an unfortunate retreat from the leadership that the governor has often provided.”

The governor’s vetoes included bills to increase the state’s supply of renewable electricity to 33 percent in 2020; to prohibit cancer-causing chemicals in infant bottles and cups; and to prevent state park lands from being used for non-park purposes without proper approvals. His approval of three bills that undermine the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) combined to produce his career-low score of 28 percent, lowering his lifetime average score to 53 percent.

“This year’s legislative record demonstrates that environmental voters must work together to elect a ‘greener’ governor in 2010 – a governor who will maintain California’s position as an environmental leader in the nation and the world,” said Chabot, who urged Californians to join the effort to “Build a Greener Governor” by signing up on the campaign Web site: www.GreenGov2010.org .

Members of the state legislature were scored on 22 total bills in 2009. Senate Republicans’ average score was 9 percent, while Senate Democrats averaged 82 percent. Assembly Democrats averaged 87 percent in stark contrast to Assembly Republicans, who averaged 13 percent.

Three newly elected senators earned 100 percent scores—Loni Hancock (Berkeley), Mark Leno (San Francisco) and Fran Pavley (Santa Monica). In addition, several Assembly newcomers scored 100 percent: Tom Ammiano (San Francisco); Bonnie Lowenthal (Long Beach); Bill Monning (Santa Cruz), Nancy Skinner (Berkeley) and former Sen. Wes Chesbro (Eureka).

In other positive results: Several CLCV-endorsed members of the freshmen class of 2006 once again earned perfect scores and carried successful environmental bills. Assemblymember Jared Huffman (San Rafael) authored AB 920, which requires utility companies to pay customers for any surplus electricity they produce from solar or wind power—a change long sought by the renewable energy industry.

Huffman and fellow Assemblymember Mike Feuer (Los Angeles) jointly authored AB 49, which requires a 20 percent per capita reduction in urban water use by 2020 and requires agricultural water suppliers to implement a range of best management practices to reduce water use and use it more efficiently.

The bill became the template for the conservation portion of the comprehensive water package enacted by the legislature in early November 2009. (Note: The legislature acted on the water policy package as the scorecard went to press – the package was not scored in the 2009 Scorecard.)