CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – Joey Luiz, a candidate for Clearlake City Council and a former vice chair of the Stonewall Democratic Club, will be a featured speaker at the next Stonewall Democratic Club meeting on Sept. 27.

The new meeting place is the Fellowship Hall of the United Methodist Church at 12487 The Plaza, Clearlake Oaks, across from the plaza on back of the Red & White Market on Highway 20.

Potluck will be served at 6:30 p.m. followed by the meeting at 7 p.m.

LGBT member and their friends and allies are always welcome.

For more information please call 707-993-4128 and leave a message.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Spirit of the Season will hold its first meeting on Thursday, Sept. 23.

The meeting will begin at 4 p.m. at Catholic Charities, 21257 Calistoga St. (Highway 29 between the library and the car wash).

At this first meeting they will assign tasks to coordinate the various projects needed to feed more than 500 people at Christmas and give gifts to children.

Those interested in helping are encouraged to attend.

Spirit of the Season is our grassroots holiday program serving Middletown, Cobb and Hidden Valley by assisting those who are in need at Christmas and providing a Christmas dinner and gifts for children who otherwise would not have such.

If you cannot attend yet still wish to volunteer, please call us.

Please call 707-987-8139 to register.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Volunteer Firefighters Association is holding its inaugural dinner, dance and auction on Saturday, Oct. 16.

The event will be held at the Lakeport Senior Center, 527 Konocti Ave.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with a no-host bar. Dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m.

The auction will start after dinner with a special guest auctioneer.

The evening entertainment will be provided by the Lake County Diamonds.

Proceeds will go to benefit the Matt Black Scholarship Fund and donations made to the community.

To purchase tickets or further information, please call Lakeport Fire Protection District, 707-263-4396, ask for Ken or Darren Wells.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Commission will hold its next meeting on Thursday, Sept. 23.

The meeting will begin at 12:15 p.m. in Room C on the third floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.

Chair Valerie LaBonte will report to the group about a juvenile justice conference she attended in Burlingame on Sept. 16.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The next HazMobile event will be held on Friday, Sept. 17, and Saturday, Sept. 18, at Kelseyville Lumber, 3555 N. Main St. in Kelseyville.

Hours will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Events may be canceled due to rain.

Households can bring up to 15 gallons of toxic items free of charge. A charge will be made for amounts above 15 gallons.

Items that are accepted include paint, solvents, fuels, five-gallon propane tanks, pool chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, dry cell batteries, fluorescent light tubes (up to 60 feet free) and other toxins that cannot be put in the trash.

Excluded items that cannot be accepted are televisions, computer monitors, ammunition, explosives, radioactive materials or infectious wastes.

To learn how and where to properly dispose these items, please contact the Public Services office at

707-263-1980.

This is a residential service. Charges apply to businesses; phone 707-468-9786 for more information and business appointments.

Free recycled paint is available at Lake County Waste Solution Transfer Station at 230 Soda Bay Road in Lakeport on first-come, first-served basis in five-gallon containers of tan, brown, gray and pink.

Used oil can be recycled year round at a number of sites in the county.

The HazMobile program is subsidized by the Lake County Public Services Department Solid Waste Division.

If you have any questions regarding this or any of Lake County’s Solid Waste programs, please call

707-262-1760 or the hot line number at 707-263-1980, for a list of upcoming HazMobile events visit www.recycling.co.lake.ca.us.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – After reports of falls experienced by such well-known figures as Zsa Zsa Gabor, Dodgers baseball broadcaster Vin Scully, Robert Culp of the “I Spy” series and Yogi Berra, we are reminded that falls remain a very real and serious issue.

With the third annual Fall Prevention Awareness Week comes the message that falls are preventable.

Fall Prevention Awareness Week – Sept. 19-25 – will see California’s fall prevention coalitions and health and senior service agencies uniting to hold presentations, health fairs, walks, and physical activity demonstrations to raise awareness among older persons and their families about the seriousness of falls and ways to reduce fall risk.

California’s Fall Prevention Awareness Week was established in 2008 via Senate Concurrent Resolution 77, authored by Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach).

At the heart of this initiative is the message that falls are preventable.

Experts recommend:

• A physical activity regimen with balance, strength training and flexibility components;

• A fall risk assessment by a health professional; and

• Making sure the home environment is safe and supportive.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an older adult is treated in a hospital emergency room for a fall every 18 seconds, and every 35 minutes an older adult dies as a result of a fall-related injury.

In fact, among older adults falls are the leading cause of injury deaths. They are also the most common cause of unintentional nonfatal injuries and hospital admissions for trauma.

In California alone, 1.3 million older adults experience an injury due to falling each year.

All of us play a role in reducing falls. Speak with your doctor about possible fall risks, bring your medications to your pharmacist to review, stop by a local senior center to see what services they offer, and visit the Fall Prevention Center of Excellence Web site, www.stopfalls.org, for more information on how you can reduce falls.