NORTH COAST, Calif. – Caltrans reports that the following road projects will be taking place around Lake County and the North Coast during the coming week.

Included are Mendocino County projects that may impact Lake County commuters.

LAKE COUNTY

Highway 29

– Valley fire recovery work from the Lake/Napa County line to Hidden Valley will continue. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Motorists should anticipate five-minute delays.

Highway 53

– AT&T has been granted a Caltrans Encroachment Permit for utility repairs near Kugelman Street beginning Wednesday, Jan. 11. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. Motorists should anticipate five-minute delays.

Highway 175
 
– Valley fire recovery work from the junction of Routes 29/175 in Middletown to Loch Lomond will continue. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Motorists should anticipate five-minute delays.

MENDOCINO COUNTY

Highway 1
 
– PG&E has been granted a Caltrans Encroachment Permit for utility repairs near Ocean View Drive on Friday, Jan. 6. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Motorists should anticipate five-minute delays.

– Repairs at the Albion River Bridge will continue on Monday, Jan. 9. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Motorists should anticipate five-minute delays.
 
– PG&E has been granted a Caltrans Encroachment Permit for utility repairs from Ocean Drive to the junction of Routes 1/20 on Tuesday, Jan. 10. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Motorists should anticipate five-minute delays.

Highway 101
 
– Routine maintenance near Frog Woman Rock will continue. Northbound traffic will be restricted to one lane 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Motorists should anticipate minor traffic slowdowns.

– Emergency slide repairs just south of Standish-Hickey State Park will continue. One-way traffic control with a temporary signal will be in effect 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Motorists should anticipate five-minute delays.

– Emergency slide removal near Piercy will continue. Traffic will be reduced to one lane in both directions 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Motorists should anticipate minor traffic slowdowns.

The Caltrans Traffic Operations Office has reviewed each project and determined that individual project delays are expected to be less than the statewide policy maximum of 30 minutes, unless noted otherwise above.

For information pertaining to emergency roadwork or for updates to scheduled roadwork, please contact the California Highway Information Network (CHIN) at 1-800-GAS-ROAD (1-800-427-7623).

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Ely Stage Stop and Country Museum reported that the January Fiddlers Jam, which was scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 8, has been canceled due to the forecast for a heavy winter storm.

The regular monthly first Sunday Fiddlers Jam sessions will begin again on Feb. 5. Hours are noon to 2 p.m.

The Ely Stage Stop is located at 9921 Soda Bay Road, Kelseyville.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – On Tuesday, Jan. 10, from noon to 6 p.m., the Lake County Campus of Woodland Community College will be host an open house.

The event is tailored towards the entire community in order to inform you of the programs and services available on the campus. “Many changes have occurred on the campus over the course of the past few years and this is a great way to renew our connection with those that we serve,” said Bruno Sabatier, outreach specialist of Lake County Campus.

Throughout the day, a variety of departments will be making presentations about their programs and classes being offered to students of the campus.

There will be presentations from the culinary arts, business and economics, counseling, water treatment, welding, astronomy, biology, drug and alcohol counseling, and human services departments.

There also will be two workshops assisting with college and financial aid applications.

Many rooms will be open all day for walk-ins for questions and answers and other information such as culinary arts, business lab, biology lab, early childhood education, the learning center and the campus library.

More information will be available as well with booths ranging from the Associated Students club to the Veteran’s Affair programs for the students.

Other booths include the Extended Opportunity Programs and Services, Disabled Students Programs and Services, WorkForce Lake, Cal Fire and Marymount.

The Lake County Campus is thrilled with the forward progress that the county is experiencing and wants to ensure that the county is aware of all the advantages that the campus offers to continue pushing the forward progress even further.

“We are here to serve the needs of our community, and we are excited to be a part of the solution,” said Pamela Bordisso, a campus counselor.

For more information please call Lake County Campus at 707-995-7900, visit the campus at 15880 Dam Road Extension in Clearlake, or visit the campus online at http://lcc.yccd.edu .

Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-05) on Wednesday applauded the Federal Communications Commission's approval of Globalstar's modified plan to establish a new wireless network.

A previous Globalstar proposal may have interrupted Bluetooth and wireless devices using the same bandwidth, including hearing aids.

The amended plan will significantly lessen the potential for interference, ensuring individuals with hearing loss can use the wireless features of their hearing devices without interruption.

“I commend the FCC and Globalstar for recognizing that Americans with hearing loss should not have to face a disruption in their hearing devices,” said Thompson. “Innovation drives our economy, but it should not come at the expense of the health and well-being of the public. This modified plan is a strong compromise to allow the development of new technology without posing a risk to Americans with hearing impairments.”

Andrew Bopp, executive director of Hearing Industries Association, noted that rapid advances in wireless technology have enabled people with hearing loss to connect directly through their hearing aids to the telephone, music players, television and other devices. 

He added, “HIA deeply appreciates the efforts of Rep. Thompson to insure that new interference issues do not emerge to prevent people from accessing these features.”

As co-chair of the Congressional Hearing Caucus, Thompson sent a letter to Chairman Tom Wheeler of the FCC in April of 2016, expressing concerns about the impact Globalstar's previous proposal may have had on people with hearing loss.

In his letter, Thompson requested that the FCC verify that any proposals would not harm the availability of Bluetooth or similar features for hearing assistance devices.

Furthermore, Thompson called for testing of the proposed technology to determine its viability. 

California’s State Highway system has more than 12,000 bridges, and since the 1971 Sylmar earthquake, Caltrans’ Seismic Retrofit Programs have focused on seismically retrofitting bridges and bridge expansion joints throughout the state. 

In this Caltrans News Flash, learn what Caltrans has done to prepare for large scale earthquakes at major interchanges and bridge structures.

You also will see what Caltrans does when a quake of magnitude 5.0 or larger occurs.

The current Seismic Retrofit Programs have been focused on identifying and retrofitting existing bridges statewide, bringing them up to the latest seismic safety retrofit standards established to prevent collapse during future earthquakes.

MENDOCINO NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. – Mendocino National Forest District officials have implemented several off-highway vehicle (OHV) trail closures on the Grindstone Ranger District until the trails can be repaired.

The trails are located south of the Summit Springs Trailhead and south of Letts Lake.

Trails included in the order are 85311, 85312, 85345, 85354 and 85356.

Officials deemed this closure necessary for resource protection until treads and drainage structures are repaired to withstand additional OHV traffic.

The closure may remain in effect until Jan. 2, 2018.

Forest Order No. 08-17-03 and the associated map are posted on the forest website at http://tinyurl.com/z2c6asr .

For more information about the Mendocino National Forest please check the forest Web site https://www.fs.usda.gov/mendocino , Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MendocinoNF/ or Twitter @MendocinoNF.

COBB, Calif. – A power outage that began on Tuesday night in the Cobb area was fully resolved on Wednesday afternoon, according to Pacific Gas and Electric Co.

The company said the outage, first reported at approximately 10:32 p.m. Tuesday, affected more than 300 people.

The outage, which was fully resolved as of 1:48 p.m. Wednesday, was caused by trees coming into contact with a power line, PG&E said.

For information on outages visit www.pge.com/outage .

Hindus are urging all 1,025 public school districts of California to declare an official holiday on Diwali, the most popular of their festivals.
 
They are also urging California’s all 1,222 charter schools, all about 3,170 private schools and all independent schools also to adopt Diwali as an official holiday on their 2017-18 school year calendars.
 
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement this week, pointed out that it would be a step in the positive direction in view of presence of a substantial number of Hindu students at schools around the state, as it was important to meet the religious and spiritual needs of these pupils. Some school districts in New York, New Jersey and Maryland had reportedly already declared Diwali as a holiday.
 
Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, indicated that schools should make efforts to accommodate the religious requirements of Hindu students and show respect to their faith by not conducting regular business and scheduling classes on Diwali.

“We did not want our students to be put at an unnecessary disadvantage for missing tests/examinations/papers, assignments, class work, etc.; by taking a day-off to observe Diwali,” Zed said.
 
“If California schools stayed closed on other religious holidays, why not Diwali?” Zed asked. “Holidays of all major religions should be honored and no one should be penalized for practicing their religion.”
 
Zed suggested all California schools to seriously look into declaring Diwali as an official holiday, thus recognizing the intersection of spirituality and education.

Zed noted that awareness about other religions thus created by such holidays like Diwali would make California students well-nurtured, well-balanced and enlightened citizens of tomorrow.
 
He urged Gov. Jerry Brown, California State Board of Education President Dr. Michael Kirst, California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, California School Boards Association CEO Vernon M. Billy, California Charter Schools Association President Jed Wallace, California Association of Private School Organizations President Kevin Baxter and California Association of Independent Schools Executive Director James McManus to work toward adding Diwali as an official holiday in all the public, charter, private and independent schools of the state.
 
Zed said that Hinduism is rich in festivals and religious festivals are very dear and sacred to Hindus.

Diwali, the festival of lights, aims at dispelling the darkness and lighting up the lives and symbolizes the victory of good over evil.

Besides Hindus, Sikhs and Jains and some Buddhists also celebrate Diwali, which falls on Oct. 19 in 2017.
 
Hinduism is the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion adherents and moksh, or liberation, is its ultimate goal. There are about three million Hindus in the United States.