CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Thursday Morning Breakfast Group that meets weekly in Clearlake has announced its lineup of invited guest speakers for January.

The group meets at 7 a.m. at Main Street Café, 14084 Lakeshore Drive.

The lineup is as follows:

– Jan. 5: Clearlake Police Department School Resource Officers Stephanie Green and Joe Myers.

– Jan. 12: Det. Sgt. Martin Snyder on the Clearlake Police Department's support services.

– Jan. 19: Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen on what is going on in Lakeport.

– Jan. 26: Bill Salata, California State Parks superintendent who oversees Anderson Marsh State Historic Park and Clear Lake State Park.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The University of California Cooperative Extension's Master Gardeners Program is planning a series of upcoming pruning workshops.

The Master Gardeners are a group of volunteers dedicated to educating the community regarding any gardening questions they might have primarily in Lake County.

The following workshops are planned:

• Pruning fruit trees and table grapes: Saturday, Jan. 7, 10 a.m. to noon, Hidden Valley Lake.
• Pruning fruit trees: Saturday, Jan. 14, 10 a.m. to noon, south Lakeport.
• Pruning roses: Saturday, Jan. 21, 10 a.m. to noon, north Lakeport.
• Pruning fruit trees: Thursday, Feb. 2, 1:15 to 3:15 p.m., Cobb Mountain Elementary School.

A $5 per-person fee is requested for each workshop and includes informational materials. The Feb. 2 event is free to Cobb residents.

Workshops will be rescheduled in the event of rain.

For more information about the workshops, including their locations, or to register call the UC Cooperative Extension at 707-263-6838.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Diane was born Aug. 15, 1967, and departed from this life on Dec. 21, 2016.

Diane grew up in the Central Valley in the little town of Escalon, Calif. She attended Modesto Christian until high school where she moved on to Escalon High till her graduation. After graduation she did continue school at Modesto Junior College for a short time.

She was married twice, first in 1990 to Philip Blair. Diane gave birth to two boys, Joshua Dylan Blair and Joseph Richard Blair.

In 1993 she settled in Lucerne, Calif., where she and Phil raised their two sons and a daughter, Kristian Blair, from Phil’s first marriage.

During the next 12 years, she worked tirelessly being a mom and a caregiver of the community she lived in. She worked closely with the Lucerne School Booster Club and the Lucerne Fire Department, helping organize many successful community fundraisers and gatherings.

In 2003 she and Phil separated, not too many years later she met her final love Kevin Anderson. Kevin and Diane were married on Feb. 4, 2012. They spent their days in Kelseyville, Calif., right at the foot of the volcano, Mt Konocti.

In 2013 Diane lost her oldest son, Joshua. At her request, Kevin built a garden in Joshua’s memory, “The Healing Garden.” There, she and Kevin spent much of their time both with friends and family. Some of her best days were with her remaining children and grandchildren inside that garden, and boating on the lake with Kevin.

She leaves behind her husband, Kevin Anderson, 51; son, Joseph Blair, 21; daughter, Kristian Blair, 24; grandchildren, Olive Ruth, 5, and Corbin, 2; daughter-in-law Nani Phillips-Blair; mother-in-law Carole Anderson; ex-husband and lifelong friend, Phil Blair, 50; brother, Kelly Kavanagh, along with a huge family and friends.

Diane had a life illness of lupus and was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in June 2016. She did a short round of chemo therapy before becoming ill and passing peacefully at Sutter Lakeside Hospital surrounded by love, family and friends.

There will be a celebration of life taking place sometime in the spring inside “The Healing Garden” at her home in Kelseyville.

We will miss her.

“To some she was the black sheep, to others she was the shining light. She was simply a woman who trusted her internal compass and had the courage to live her life by her own rules.”

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LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The Lake County Democratic Central Committee holds its regular monthly business meeting on Thursday, Jan. 5.
 
The meeting takes place beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Lower Lake United Methodist Church Social Hall, 16255 Second St.
 
The agenda for the meeting includes reports from representatives for Congressmen Mike Thompson and John Garamendi, Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry and State Senator Mike McGuire, as well as reports from the representative of the Lake County Democratic Club.
 
The group also will be electing new officers for the 2017-19 term at this meeting.

Meetings are open to the public and committee membership is open to all registered Democrats.
 
The Lake County Democratic Central Committee is the official governing body for the Democratic Party in Lake County.
 
For more information about the Democratic Party in Lake County visit www.lakecountydemocrats.org or www.facebook.com/LakeCountyDemocrats .
 
Contact the Democratic Party of Lake County at 707-533-4885 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Watershed Books and LakeWorks, along with the Main Street Gallery are celebrating the first "First Friday" of 2017 on Jan. 6 from 5 to 7 p.m.

Join them as they renew their appreciation for this great community and its talented artists, crafters and writers.

Sarah Tichava, beautiful songstress with a voice not to be missed, will join them at LakeWorks. Main Street Gallery will host popular David Neft.

There also will be refreshments and good company all around.

For more information call Cheri at Watershed Books, 707-263-5787, or visit at 305 N. Main St. in Lakeport.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Lake County Campus of Woodland Community College wishes everyone a happy winter season and reminds students or potential students that the beginning of the spring semester is right around the corner.

Spring semester classes begin on Monday, Jan. 23.

For those planning to take classes this coming semester, counselors are waiting to help guide them through their educational goals.

The learning center is waiting to help ensure students succeed in their academic endeavors with tutoring and one-on-one help for math, English and more.

Financial aid officers are able to assist in obtaining federal Pell grants, Cal grants and more.

For veterans, disabled, first generation college students or low-income individuals, there is a program that may be able to offer assistance to ensure they can become a student with all the support they require to succeed. 

The Lake County Campus team is prepared to serve students' every need until they have received their certificate or degree, or until they have transferred on to the next stage in their educational path.

Classes are limited in space, so make sure to register today. 

Visit the campus at 15880 Dam Road Extension in Clearlake, call 707-995-7900, or go to http://lcc.yccd.edu for more information or to make an appointment.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Lake County Jazzercise honored 27 of its class members this year for attending at least 150 classes in the calendar year of 2016.

These students averaged three classes per week to attain their goal and were awarded a special Club Jazzercise shirt that states “Good things come to those who sweat.” They also realized improved health and fitness for their efforts.

Of these 27, seven attended over 200 classes. Shirley Pachie led the pack with 329 classes attended in 2016 and Bob Olsen was a close second at 300 classes.

Lake County Jazzercise is celebrating its 11th anniversary in the south county area this January.

It offers 24 classes per week – 10 of these have childcare available – at 15642 Armstrong St. in Middletown.

There are seven instructors who teach all the classes in a 2,400-square-foot fitness center with sprung hardwood floors.

“Some people still think legwarmers and leotards when they hear Jazzercise, but we left the 80’s behind a long time ago,” said Judi Sheppard Missett, Jazzercise founder and chief executive officer. “Jazzercise is the original dance party workout and 45 years later we continue to transform the bodies and lives of our customers because we know how to get results and keep it fresh.”

“We have a lot of exciting classes and announcements planned for this January,” added Lake County Jazzercise owner and instructor, Beth Rudiger. “For starters, our January sale offers anyone, regardless of age, gender, or fitness level, to pay $0 to start on their journey to health and fitness with Jazzercise. Contact us for more details.”

To learn more about Jazzercise and see the Middletown class schedule, go to www.jazzercise.com , or contact Rudiger at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 707-502-3389.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP) has launched a New Year’s campaign to help Americans turn their resolutions into real solutions for healthy eating in 2017.

This campaign is supported by new and existing MyPlate, MyWins resources available on www.ChooseMyPlate.gov , which are designed such that Americans can decide where to start on the journey to healthy eating.

“As Americans begin thinking about setting goals for the New Year, MyPlate, MyWins is the place to start,” said Kevin Concannon, Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services. “With the new resources available on the MyPlate, MyWins webpages, Americans can set small, attainable, healthy eating solutions to incorporate into their lifestyle now and into the future.”

Every January, Americans are overloaded with information about New Year’s resolutions. While starting with the best intentions, many people set unrealistic resolutions and incorporate goals that are difficult to maintain.

Starting with small steps and celebrating milestones along the way are shown to be more beneficial strategies in keeping resolutions.

This is where MyPlate, MyWins comes in; MyPlate, MyWins is a resource to help Americans turn resolutions into real solutions to achieve a healthy eating style in alignment with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020.

Real solutions are small, practical changes that add up to a healthy lifestyle over time. These changes can be incorporated into Americans’ lives to maintain a healthy eating style based on the five food groups of MyPlate.

MyPlate, MyWins encourages consumers to find and celebrate their wins and their real solutions. Since everyone has different eating habits, MyPlate, MyWins helps individuals create their own, personalized nutrition goals and solutions.

Over the course of five weeks as part of the New Year campaign, CNPP will release five MyPlate, MyWins animated videos to the new Make Small Changes webpage. These short, animated videos demonstrate simple changes Americans can make to their typical meals to decrease sodium, saturated fat, and added sugars. Each video has a different theme including breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and beverages.

“Making a small change, for example, switching from two slices of pepperoni pizza for lunch to one slice of veggie pizza, a salad, and an apple decreases sodium and saturated fat intake, while adding items from other food groups,” said Angie Tagtow, executive directors of USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. “The videos demonstrate to Americans that small, healthy changes, or switches, during meal and snack times can add up over time and improve your eating style.”

To supplement these videos, there are new, meal-specific webpages with nutrition information, more examples of small ways to improve typical meals, and five new MyPlate, MyWins tip sheets. The tip sheets provide suggestions for making healthier choices in typical dining environments: potlucks and parties, coffee shops, buffets, Italian restaurants, and Asian cuisine takeout. All of these resources can help consumers utilize real solutions in their typical day to achieve nutrition goals and maintain a healthy eating style now and into the future.

On January 2, 2017, SuperTracker will kick off a public New Year’s Challenge that encourages participants to start slowly and develop a healthy eating style over time.

Over five weeks, participants will be challenged to incorporate the five MyPlate food groups – fruits, vegetables, grains, protein foods, and dairy – into each day. To officially join the challenge and receive encouraging messages along the way, individuals will need to create a free SuperTracker account.

The MyPlate, MyWins landing page has many additional resources to assist Americans in modifying their meals in order to maintain healthier eating habits throughout their lives.

The Stories from Families and Individuals page includes videos from relatable families about their healthy eating solutions and testimonials from the MyPlate staff. There also are ways to get involved for partners, professionals, and consumers. Additionally, CNPP encourages consumers to share their real solutions and wins via Twitter and Facebook using #MyPlateMyWins.

Visit MyPlate, MyWins to learn more about achieving real solutions and celebrating wins in the New Year.