AB 74, the Middle Creek and Hamilton City Flood Damage Restoration and Ecosystem Act, introduced last December by North Coast Assemblyman Wes Chesbro (D-Arcata) and Assemblyman Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber), was approved 75-0, according to Chesbro spokesman, Andrew Bird.

The bill had survived a tough Assembly Appropriations Committee last Thursday, in which hundreds of bills proposing state spending had been knocked out, as Lake County News has reported.

Bird said the bill is an authorization to spend funds from previous voter-authorized bond sales to restore Clear Lake habitat and wetlands.

The bill also would include funds for a levee project on the Sacramento River in Glenn County in Nielsen's district.

Bird said next week the Senate Rules Committee will assign AB 74 to a committee – most likely the Senate Natural Resources Committee, after which it may go to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

He said the bill probably won’t arrive at the Senate floor for a vote for at least a month.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Wooden boats docked at Library Park during the annual Wood & Glory show on Saturday, May 30, 2009. Photo by Gail Salituri.

LAKEPORT – Classic cars and boats were the focus of an annual celebration in Lakeport on Saturday.

More than 50 classic wood hulled powerboats returned to Library Park as part of the annual Wood & Glory boat show.

Another half dozen boats remained trailered and on display for up close inspection between the First and Fifth Street boat ramps.

Also featured were several high-powered ski boats and special race boats. Occasionally, a boat took to the water with the driver showing off the boat's power in loud, high-speed runs between Library Park and the Skylark Motel.

The event, sponsored by the Lakeport Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Antique Classic Boat Society, took place alongside the 18^th annual Car Roundup, sponsored by the Lake County No Name Car Club.

An estimated 100 cars – spanning six decades of special American automotive history – were entered. Cars in a wide variety of styles, shapes and colors lined the streets near Library Park.

More than 4,000 people were estimated to have visited Lakeport for the shows, which also included several vendor booths, according to reports at the event.

The Lake County Diamonds played for several hours at the end of the day to cap off the boat and car shows.

E-mail Harold LaBonte at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Great weather made it a good day for enjoying classic cars and boats. Photo by Gail Salituri.

Tom and Donna Cropp of Ukiah brought their 1941 Buick Super Eight to the Car Roundup in downtown Lakeport on Saturday, May 30, 2009. Photo by Harold LaBonte.

Classic cars

Anderson Marsh is among 220 state parks the governor is proposing to close to address the state budget. Courtesy photo.

LAKE COUNTY – A year after local residents fought a proposal to close Lake County's two parks, one local state park once again is facing closure as part of a massive plan that would gut the state parks system.

Last year, Anderson Marsh and Clear Lake State Park were among 48 parks Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed to close to address the state budget.

Now, he's upped the ante. In a startling proposal contained in his May budget revise, Schwarzenegger proposes to close 220 of the state's 279 parks, including Anderson Marsh State Historic Park.

Gae Henry, secretary of the Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association Board of Directors, called the proposal “a real kick in the stomach” after efforts to keep the park open and accessible through volunteer efforts. Anderson Marsh is visited by 43,499 people each year, generating $2,060 in revenue, according to the California State Parks Foundation.

Schwarzenegger proposes to eliminate general fund support for the state parks system in an effort to save $143 million.

The ramifications could be huge. Every park in the Lake Tahoe area would be shuttered, as would every park that's home to the state's famed redwoods, said Traci Verardo-Torres, legislative advocate for the California State Parks Foundation.

Most North Coast parks would be closed – including virtually every park north of Mendocino, Verardo-Torres said.

The popular MacKerricher State Park and Jug Handle in Fort Bragg, the Mendocino Headlands, Mount Tamalpais and Tomales Bay in the Marin District, and Robert Louis Stevenson State Park in Napa County are on the closure list.

“We are treating this as a very serious proposal and a significant threat to our state park system,” said Verardo-Torres.

North Coast Sen. Patricia Wiggins said Friday that, given voters' rejection of the five propositions on May 19, the state “will almost certainly be forced to make deeper cuts than if those measures had passed.”

What's less certain, said Wiggins, is whether the state will have to make cuts on the order that the governor has proposed, with some people feeling that the governor's proposals amount to a “a doomsday budget designed to force Democrats and Republicans to come to an agreement.”

“We need to keep all options on the table, and we need to be honest in telling people that cuts, including cuts to parks, aren't off the table by any means,” said Wiggins. “But do we need to cut from our parks to the extent to which the governor has proposed? I would hope that, in working toward a budget agreement, we find suitable alternatives that allow us to minimize closures and protect our state parks to the fullest extent possible.”

Verardo-Torres said no part of the state was spared in the proposed park closures, although Orange County's many beaches – which generate significant amounts of revenue – are being spared.

The proposal, she added, “will touch virtually every Californian.”

Criteria for closures and potential fallout

Roy Stearns, spokesman for the California State Parks Department, said the agency gathered all of its superintendents in one room and asked them which parks have resources outside of general fund money. They also identified those parks which can be self-sufficient in revenue if fees are raised and costs are lowered.

The recently released lists of parks to remain open and those to be closed were arrived at based on those discussions, Stearns said.

Clear Lake State Park, he said, is one of 10 parks across the state funded largely by boating gas taxes and reimbursements, he said.

According to a report issued last year by the California State Parks Foundation, Clear Lake State Park has 100,166 visitors annually, with revenue of $332,782.

Other parks proposed to stay open are either funded through self-generated revenue, off-highway motor vehicle gas taxes and fees, locally operated units of the state park system and parks with other concessions likely to continue operations – such as the series of private shops and restaurants that sustain operation on the Malibu Pier, according to Stearns.

If all of the $145 million in general fund support for the state parks was eliminated over the two-year period as proposed, Stearns said it would result in the need to close the 220 parks and lay off between 1,500 and 2,000 state park employees.

In addition, park water treatment and sewage plants would be closed, bathrooms locked up, electricity turned off and gates put down, said Stearns, with the properties put into caretaker status in order to preserve them.

Verardo-Torres raised the issue of closed parklands becoming susceptible to criminal activity; illegal marijuana cultivation already is a problem on public lands, she said.

Stearns said there currently are no talks about selling off parklands. “We are not about to want to go down that road unless forced to go down it,” said Stearns, calling it a very small, short-term fix that wouldn't really cure the state's budget problems.

Keeping parks open, said Stearns, would support the state more than closing them.

Verardo-Torres said the governor hasn't studied the economic fallout, which is what the foundation is now in the process of doing. They don't yet have an economic impact number, but she said every dollar spent at a state park is known to have $2.35 worth of impact in the local economy.

While Schwarzenegger said the proposal will save $143 million, the damage to the state's tourism and economy hasn't been calculated. “That's one of the things that the State Parks Foundation thinks is a real flaw for this proposal,” Verardo-Torres said.

She said that the economic downturn has hurt local governments as much as the state government, and it seems unlikely that many local jurisdictions will attempt to take over running state parklands. “Clearly there are no easy solutions out there.”

It also will be a blow to culture and education. Henry said the Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association just completed a series of field trips – which it also funded – with activities for local third graders.

She said she's not sure what the group will do next, but since they have largely been running the park through volunteer labor, she said they'll likely question if they could keep the park open that way. The proposal also would jeopardize their fall bluegrass festival event.

Verardo-Torres said state parks are a place of happy memories for many people, as well as places that preserve history and nature. “That's why we all need to fight it,” she said of the proposal.

Time is short to take action

Parks supporters have a short amount of time in which to organize in order to have the state Legislature hear their concerns.

Verardo-Torres said a state legislative budget conference committee meeting on Tuesday, June 2, will be the only opportunity for public comment to the Legislature on the parks proposal, which she said requires legislative action.

She said the parks foundation is trying to organize groups to get to Sacramento or, in lieu of that, to contact their state legislators.

Wiggins can be contacted at her State Capitol office, State Capitol, Room 4081, Sacramento, CA 95814, telephone 916-651-4002, fax 916-323-6958; or at her Ukiah district office, 200 South School St., P.O. Box 785, Ukiah, CA 95482, telephone 707-468-8914, fax 707-468-8931.

Assemblyman Wes Chesbro can be reached at his State Capitol office, P.O. Box 942849, Sacramento, CA 94249-0001, telephone 916-319-2001, fax 916-319-2101; or at his Lake and Mendocino district office, 311 N. State St., Ukiah, CA 95482, telephone 707-463-5770, fax 707-463-5773.

The foundation also has its Save Our State Parks (SOS) Campaign back online at www.savestateparks.org; there, park supporters can find out how to take action.

More information also is available at the California State Parks Foundation's Web site, www.calparks.org .

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Lt. Mike Hermann reported Monday that Clearlake Police had spent two weeks looking for 35-year-old Daniel Andrew Cox, who turned himself in last Friday.

Hermann said Cox was wanted for several outstanding warrants including a local traffic warrant and a no-bail, out-of-county probation violation warrant.

Cox's legal problems also allegedly included a confrontation with an off-duty Clearlake Police officer. Hermann said Cox approached the officer, who was with his young child, and started challenging him.

Hermann said officers visited Cox's known associates in an attempt to locate him. On May 29, Cox called and turned himself in.

After his arrest, Cox was transported to the Lake County Jail and housed.

In addition to the work of the officers who were actively searching for Cox, several community members also played a vital role in the arrest.

Hermann said Cox had taken care of his no-bail warrant before his arrest. He has since been released from the Lake County Jail on the other charge.

I love monosodium glutamate (MSG) so much that I make it at home. You shouldn’t be surprised at this because every single person reading this does the same thing.

First, a little history.

In 1907 a Japanese biochemistry professor became curious about some of the flavors in his wife’s cooking. He noticed that some foods had a much more satisfying flavor and yet didn’t fall into the categories of the four known tastes, and after some investigating he found that foods made with asparagus, cheeses, kelp, meats, mushrooms and tomatoes had something that he couldn’t match up with sweet, sour, salty or bitter.

Professor Kikunae Ikeda took these thoughts from home to work with him at the Tokyo Imperial University. After a considerable amount of investigating he discovered that the common denominator was the glutamates which were found in all of these items. He believed that he had discovered “The Fifth Taste.” He named it “Umami” and assumed that it along with sweet were the only tastes associated with pleasure. Bitter, salty and sour may be enjoyed by many people but they are not actually pleasure inducing.

He isolated the exact chemical, C5H9NO4, called L-glutamate, and was able to turn it into a product now known as MSG.

Although Professor Ikeda is nowadays considered one of Japan’s 10 greatest inventors, his contemporaries said there was no section of the tongue that detected MSG and so his theory was initially discounted.

So what exactly did Professor Ikeda discover then? Glutamic acid is a naturally occurring amino acid that breaks down into (monosodium) L-glutamate. It is found in many of the foods that the professor was studying and is created in many types of cooking processes.

Aging, brewing, braising, fermenting, heating, sun ripening, even the act of making soup naturally creates monosodium glutamate. The glutamic acid breaks down during these processes and becomes a simple and natural MSG.

The legendary French Chef Auguste Escoffier accidentally discovered this just about the same time as Professor Ikeda was doing his studies.

Chef Escoffier (pronounced Ess-COFFEE-eh) created a soup out of veal and onions that had none of the four primary tastes yet was delectable. He didn’t break it down scientifically, but knew he was on to something new.

Now over 100 years after Professor Ikeda and Chef Escoffier made their discoveries, the L-glutamate sensation has been marketed as “umami.” Most modern scientists and biologists admit that while there is no specific umami section of the tongue like the other primary tastes have, they have discovered that there are umami receptors all over the human tongue. An international symposium convened in 1985 and found that the umami flavor cannot be created by any combination of the four other tastes so umami was unique. The professor was right; he did discover a fifth, unique taste.

Chinese Restaurant Syndrome

There is no such thing as Chinese Restaurant Syndrome. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but here’s what happened.

One night after having dinner at a Chinese restaurant a physician felt ill, his heart was beating oddly, his breathing was labored and he had a headache.

He personally assumed that the MSG in his meal had caused this condition and wrote a letter about it to a medical journal. He never was diagnosed with any condition, and his observations were purely anecdotal and subjective; however since he wrote about it in a medical journal people grabbed onto it like a alien abductee to a psychiatrist.

Nobody has ever clinically repeated the results and nobody can confirm his condition. For all we know it’s possible he may have accidentally inhaled car exhaust fumes on the way home from the restaurant but not considered that as a contributing factor.

His symptoms actually sound more like “cheese syndrome” (which has been studied) so there is no telling what could have actually happened. It has been studied time and time again and proved, there is no such thing as Chinese Restaurant Syndrome. But just like UFO theories in Area 51, the story just won’t go away.

OK, hem and haw all you want, but numerous studies have proved that MSG is perfectly safe to eat. The FDA also concurs that Chinese Restaurant Syndrome has nothing to do with MSG.

Problems people claim to have with MSG are based on anecdote, conjecture or psychosomatic at worst, but nothing in fact. If MSG were a factor in the alleged syndrome then they would have the same problems eating sushi, or for that matter almost any Asian food, pot roast, Caesar salad, any cheese, milk, raw and cooked tomatoes, asparagus, any meats (especially red meats), cooked mushrooms, vegetarian meat substitutes, flavored nacho chips (actually all types of chips) ... I could list on for days.

The classic French sauce “demiglace” is so rich with glutamates that it might as well be just a bowl of beef-flavored MSG. If you were to actually look at the ingredients and cooking methods of French food, you would find it is much higher in umami flavor than Chinese food yet there are no anecdotes or stories about “French Restaurant Syndrome.” American fast food is packed with far more MSG than Chinese food, yet nobody seems to have problems with them. Could it be that aliens have placed microchips in our brains that make us only susceptible to MSG at certain places?

Your own body produces 40 grams of MSG per day just in the process of rebuilding itself. To give you an idea of how much that is, look at a jar of MSG in the grocery store: the average size jar is 85 grams. Human breast milk is 10 times higher in glutamates than cow’s milk, regardless of the mother’s diet. This fact backs up Professors Ikeda’s beliefs that sweet and umami are the tastes associated with pleasure since breast milk is sweet and full of glutamates.

It is thought that humans like sweets in general because deep in the back of our psyches it reminds us of mother’s milk, and umami could very well be another extension of this belief (just my personal conjecture on that one).

The raw food vegan’s Schadenfreude, a.k.a., the gross part

The glutamic acid inside cells of flesh is used to chemically store energy and is flavorless, but as an animal dies or the meat is cooked this glutamic acid breaks down into (monosodium) L-glutamate, that delicious flavor that MSG provides. When steakhouses age beef for long periods of time they are allowing more of the glutamic acid break down in the cells of the meat and give the fuller flavor that true steak lovers yearn for.

You could say with no real inaccuracy that MSG is the flavor of death. But since soy sauce, wine, beer and slow cookers also create MSG during their process you could also and more accurately say that MSG is the flavor of decay. It is the process of proteolysis or the sequence of cells degrading and the amino acids breaking down that creates the flavor of umami.

When mushrooms are cooked they create large amounts of MSG which is why they complement cooked beef so well. They mimic the beef aging process. And technically since MSG is a natural product, anything labeled “organic” can have MSG in it.

The only way to avoid large amounts of MSG in your diet is to become a raw foods vegan. Cooking creates umami, so every cooked meal you eat will have naturally occurring glutamates. Every bottle of alcohol, every bite of cheese, every forkful of meat, even vegetarian meat substitutes are packed with MSG. If you eat anything from a drive-through it contains huge amounts. And since so many fruits and vegetables are high in glutamates you will still consume some MSG, but it will be heavily reduced since you aren’t cooking them.

MSG is a naturally occurring substance that your body actually desires. Just because one doctor felt ill and made a conjecture isn’t a reason to demonize a product. Saying that you are allergic to MSG is like saying you are allergic to your own endocrine system; you may not know much about it and may not like the sound of it, but you don’t have to hate it.

I’ll be the first to admit I’m not a scientist, I am just food lover who doesn’t blindly follow the set patterns of time or popularity. I’m sorry if I have crushed anyone’s dogma when it comes to MSG, and I know there are many people out there who won’t believe any of this information.

There are plenty of Web sites out there that uphold the evils of MSG which will no doubt burn me in effigy, and they are entitled to have their wild beliefs. But glutamates are desired by the palate, and the human tongue is much more sensitive to umami flavor than any other species.

I hope you come to understand the truth about umami, but if you don’t, I understand. I console myself with the knowledge that there are thousands of Web sites for alien abductees and no one can ever convince them that there is no proof that they actually happen either.

Ross A. Christensen is an award-winning gardener and gourmet cook. He is the author of "Sushi A to Z, The Ultimate Guide" and is currently working on a new book. He has been a public speaker for many years and enjoys being involved in the community.

The fire was reported at about 12:40 p.m. Thursday at Upper Lake Elementary School on Second Street, according to a report for Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Northshore Fire and Lakeport Fire Protection District personnel were dispatched to the reported structure fire along with sheriff's deputies, who Bauman said were sent to assist with evacuation if it was needed.

While firefighters attacked a fully involved girls bathroom on the south side of the school, deputies learned from school officials that they had two girls, an 11-year-old and a 12-year-old – both from Nice – detained, said Bauman.

The two girls allegedly had been seen by other students lighting pieces of paper inside the bathroom shortly before the fire broke out, Bauman reported.

When deputies questioned the two girls, they learned they had both been playing with a lighter in the bathroom, lighting small pieces of paper on fire, said Bauman.

At one point, one of the girls apparently lit the paper towels in a wall dispenser on fire, threw water on the flames, and then left the bathroom thinking they had extinguished the fire, according to the report.

Fire personnel were on scene for more than an hour extinguishing the bathroom and surrounding structure, Bauman said.

According to school officials, the extent of damage is believed to be between $100,000 and $150,000.

Bauman said both girls were issued citations for felony arson and released to the parents.

He said their cases will be reviewed and adjudicated through the Lake County Probation Department.

The Manhattan Transfer performed at Cache Creek Casino Resort on Saturday, May 30, 2009. From left, Tim Hauser, Janis Siegel, Cheryl Bentyne and Alan Paul. Photo courtesy of Cache Creek Casino Resort.

“Hey! Would you all like to come on the road with us?”

– Aside to crowd by Manhattan Transfer member Alan Paul after the second standing ovation

At some point on Saturday at Cache Creek Casino Resort, during The Manhattan Transfer’s magnificent reading of their 1980 Grammy award-winning mega hit, “Birdland,” it became apparent to me that all the cats mentioned in the lyrics of the song are now in Bop Heaven. I think the last one standing was the innovative percussion pioneer Max Roach, who ascended in 2007.

It indeed seems like only recently that the Transfer sprang to the top of the charts with their gospel-inflected hit “Operator” from their self-titled album in 1975.

Now, they too have achieved a pinnacle of success that the gone-on masters they swing about have attained.

The Manhattan Transfer is comprised of Tim Hauser, Janis Siegal, Alan Paul and Cheryl Bentyne. They have been together since 1972.

The near-capacity crowd at Cache Creek’s Club 88 was thoroughly and joyfully entertained for 90 minutes. The group sprinkled its offerings with liberal doses of their varied repertoire, which includes many styles such as bop, Brazilian bossa nova, pop, jazz fusion, hard-edged New York R&B and doo-wop. You name it, they claim it.

The group’s set list included, but was not limited to, “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” “Route 66,” “Doodlin’,” “Java Jive,” “A Tisket, A Tasket,” “Tutu,” “Corner Pocket,” “Hear The Voices” (“Bahia De Todas As Contras”), “Groovin’,” “That’s The Way It Goes,” “The Boy From New York City,” “Soul Food To Go,” “Birdland,” “Tuxedo Junction” and “Baby Come Back To Me.”

The rich diverseness of the roots of their material is augmented by the fact that all of the members can easily swing lead on vocals. Let’s see, twice now in this piece I have purposely used “swing” rather than “sing” as the operative noun to emphasize that the group’s groove is firm entrenched in the jazz idiom and branches out from there.

Some of the brilliant vocal highlights of the members include Cheryl Bentyne’s vocals on “Doodlin’” and Janis Siegal’s stunning performance on Ella Fitzgerals’s “A Tisket, A Tasket,” complete with a wah wah trumpet solo created solely from her voice. (Cheryl Bentyne also reprised the Miles Davis trumpet solo with her voice on “Tutu.”) On the tune “Corner Pocket,” which was written by Count Basie’s guitarist Freddie Green, Alan Paul explained that the original harmony that the group has honed over the years was inspired by Basie’s sax section.

Crowd favorites included “Boy From New York City,” “Groovin’” and the doo-wop classic “Gloria” with lead by Paul and metaphysical period bass vocal by Hauser. The group left the stage to a thunderous standing ovation and returned for an encore of two songs, “Tuxedo Junction” and “Come Back To Me.” The group was onstage 90 minutes.

Club 88 is a tasty environ with a seldom seen “bar in the round” design. Early on Hauser quipped, “This is the first time we’ve played a theater with a bar in the middle.”

That prompted Siegal to kiddingly order a Manhattan which set the vibe for intimate interaction with the crowd. The venue is very listener friendly and the atmosphere of the staff very professional.

The Manhattan Transfer Band consists of Musical Director Yaron Gershovsky, keyboards and piano; Steve Hass, drums and percussion; Adam Hawley on guitar; and Gary Wicks on bass. They are a large part of the Transfer’s signature sound.

With close to 30 albums to their credit, The Manhattan Transfer is always attempting to offer up meaty fare to their listening public.

Their next album will tackle the songbook of the great Chick Corea. If you don’t have any Transfer in your collection that might be a good place to start. Then work backwards and get up to speed.

And the next time they are in these parts, check them out. You won’t regret it.

Keep prayin’, keep thinkin’ those kind thoughts.

T. Watts is a writer, radio host and music critic. Visit his Web site at www.teewatts.biz.

The event will be held on Saturday, June 27, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The event is a benefit for the Clear Lake Performing Arts (CLPA), and the purchase of a commemorative wine glass will allow event goers to taste any or all of the wines from the amateur winemakers at booths set up along Main Street in historic downtown Kelseyville. New this year is

the addition of a home brew competition.

In the morning before the festival begins, a professional judging panel will choose winners in several categories. Craig Renaud, one of the top wine brokers in California, wine critic and author of “Great American Wine: The Wine Rebel's Manual,” will once again serve as one of the judges at this year's Lake County Home Wine Makers Festival and will be available on the day of event to answer event-goers questions about wine.

During the festival, guests vote on their favorite wines and other categories, and People’s Choice awards will be presented at the end of the day to winners.

Local commercial wineries, including Brassfield Estate Winery, Cesar Toxqui Cellars, Dusinberre Cellars, EdenCrest Vineyards, High Valley Vineyard, Langtry Estate & Vineyards, Rosa d’Oro Vineyards, Shannon Ridge Vineyards & Winery, Steele Wines Inc., Wildhurst Vineyards, and

Tulip Hill Winery & Vineyards will be present to support CLPA’s event, and some will even pour their wines for tasting.

Wine isn’t all that’s on the menu, however. A category for home-brewed beers has been added and will be available for sampling as well. In addition, local purveyors will be selling food during the festival, including John’s Market, the Saw Shop Gallery Bistro, Studebakers and St. Peter’s Catholic Church serving Mexican food and more – all from Kelseyville.

A silent auction will take place during the festival with many donated items – including a timeshare stay in Hawaii, some overnight stays, wines from commercial wineries in attendance, and wine-related items.

A number of artists and artist groups also will set up booths to demonstrate their artistic processes, as well as exhibit and sell their art.

Local pianist David Neft and Friends will perform during the festival. The music of the day will be light jazz, bluegrass, folk and similar genres.

A benefit for CLPA, the Home Winemakers Festival is sponsored by the Kelseyville Business Association and CLPA, as well as the Lake County Winegrape Commission. For more information on the Lake County Home Winemakers Festival or to register as an amateur winemaker, contact Ed

Bublitz, 707-277-8172.

Tickets may be purchased in advance for $15 from Catfish Books, 1013 11th St. in Lakeport, High Valley Vineyard tasting room, 13151 E. State Highway 20, Clearlake Oaks; Shannon Ridge Vineyards & Winery tasting room, 12599 E. Highway 20, Clearlake Oaks; Wild About Books, 14290 Olympic Drive in Clearlake; or Wildhurst Vineyards tasting room, 3855 Main St., Kelseyville.

Tickets will be $20 on the day of the event.

Lake County is part of the North Coast American Viticultural Area (AVA), which also encompasses Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties. Within Lake County five other AVAs exist – Clear Lake AVA, Benmore Valley AVA, Guenoc AVA, and the recently approved Red Hills AVA and High Valley AVA.

For those planning to visit the festival from out of the area, the Lake County Visitor Information Center can be reached at 800-525-3743 or www.lakecounty.com .

The public is invited to the 11 a.m. ceremony, which will take place at the Pearl Harbor Memorial Flag Mast at Library Park in Lakeport.

D-Day – June 6, 1944 – was part of the largest military invasion in history. On that day, the Allied forces landed in France to take back Europe from the Nazis and their allies.

The Allied forces invaded by air and ground from June 4 through 14, 1944.

Veterans of the D-Day launching at Omaha or Utah beaches and support groups afloat or in the air will be honored on June 6.

Guest Speaker will be Bob Tucker of Clearlake, a World War II veteran.

Various veterans groups are seeking any survivors of the D-Day launchings, who are encouraged to come forward and be honored. Veterans of D-Day wanting to participate can contact the Lake County Veterans Service Office, 707-263-2384.

Family members who would like to participate of behalf of their loved ones are also encouraged to attend.

The Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit, which includes the counties of Sonoma, Lake, Napa, Solano, Colusa and Yolo, has already systematically deployed resources to Santa Barbara County and Santa Clara County earlier in the month to assist on large wildland fires.

On June 1, the Unit will have an engine at each of its 20 stations, as well as three bulldozers, 11 fire crews and one helicopter.

The Sonoma Air Attack Base will be staffed on June 15 with a ground crew, two air tankers and an air tactical plane.

Peak unit staffing will be achieved by June 29, with a total of 31 engines, six bulldozers, 11 fire crews, one helicopter, two air tankers and one air tactical plane.

To meet the staffing needs for fire season, Cal Fire augments its permanent workforce with seasonal firefighters. Most seasonal firefighters are returnees with one or more seasons of fire fighting experience.

Newly hired fire fighters will receive their initial training at a recruit academy beginning June 15 in Santa Rosa. Seasonal firefighters receive training in wildland and structural fire fighting as well as required certification in hazardous materials and emergency medical response.

Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit Chief Ernie Loveless wants to remind residents they are required to maintain a 100-foot defensible space around their homes in preparation for fire season.

For information about how they can make their homes fire safe, residents can go to Cal Fire's Web site, www.fire.ca.gov.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Sacramento predicts that Friday the high temperature will be in the mid-80s, and will cool off a few degrees on Saturday and Sunday to around 80 degrees, with low temperatures in the mid- to low-50s.

However, NWS states that afternoon thunderstorms are a possibility in the afternoons through the weekend over the higher elevations, especially the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Thunderheads have been seen forming in the afternoon since Wednesday over the Mayacama Mountain Range to the west, although no lightning strikes have been reported by www.strikestarus.com, a public, large scale and community-based lightning detection network.

After the weekend, NWS is forecasting a slight chance of rain showers beginning Monday night through Thursday in Lake County, with the greatest chance of precipitation on Wednesday.

Daytime highs Monday through Thursday will be in the upper 70s and lows around 50 according to the NWS.

For more weather information, visit the forecast for Lake County weather on our home page.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .