Community

SACRAMENTO – The California Assisted Living Association gave Assemblywoman Patty Berg an award for her work on behalf of seniors residing in assisted living facilities, particularly those receiving hospice care.

“I am honored to receive this award,” said Berg, D-Eureka. “I've worked for decades to ensure that seniors can remain healthy and independent, and for many Californians, assisted living services make that possible.”

Berg has been Chair of the Aging and Long-Term Care Committee for six years. She released the nation’s first policy agenda to help California prepare for the dramatic changes that will come as the Baby Boom generation moves into old age. Her legislation has focused on aging issues, protecting seniors against fraud, and advocating for more community-based programs to help seniors stay in their homes.

The California Assisted Living Association represents more than 450 assisted living providers throughout the state. Their members range from small, independently-operated communities, to those that specialize in caring for residents with dementia, to large campuses with multiple levels of care.

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KELSEYVILLE – Historical conditions in the Kelsey Creek watershed will be the topic of a special Big Valley Watershed Council meeting.

The meeting will be on Tuesday evening, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., March 4, at the Kelseyville American Legion Hall, corner of Gaddy Lane and Second Street.

Longtime and multi-generation residents of the watershed will share their memories and experiences of past watershed conditions and changes.

The evening will include refreshments and panel discussion by these longtime residents. The event is free of charge and watershed residents (those living in the vicinity of Kelsey Creek from Forest Lake on Cobb Mountain to Clear Lake itself) are especially encouraged to attend.

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SACRAMENTO – North Coast State Senator Patricia Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa) has introduced legislation (Senate Bill 1431) designed to protect state parks by allowing the California Department of Parks and Recreation to purchase conservation easements.

The easements require that lands be preserved in their natural, scenic, historical, agricultural, forested, or open-space conditions, even after change of ownership.

“In the face of ongoing growth and development across California, the Department of Parks and Recreation lacks the ability to purchase conservation easements,” Wiggins said. “SB 1431 would allow the department to purchase easements if it is determined that there is a need to protect a state park from an encroaching incompatible use.

“And the use of easements is a cost-effective way to protect a state park because it would allow the property to be held by private hands and thus not require maintenance resources from the state,” Wiggins added.

SB 1431, which is sponsored by the Nature Conservancy, would authorize the Department of Parks and Recreation to make grants to a state or local government agency or a nonprofit land trust organization to purchase and hold conservation easements.

SB 1431, which has yet to be scheduled for its first hearing in the Capitol, is similar to bill carried last year by Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee (R-San Luis Obispo), which got stuck in committee.

Wiggins, who represents California’s 2nd Senate District, has come out in opposition to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to close 48 state parks as a cost-cutting move, a move she says is “both short-sighted and likely to have a long-term negative impact on the quality of life in California.”

The 2nd District includes portions or all of six counties: Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Solano and Sonoma.

To find out more about Senator Patricia Wiggins, including her legislation, please visit her website at: http://dist02.casen.govoffice.com/.

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