NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Feb. 2 is World Wetlands Day – better mark your calendars.

But wait, you don’t have to – the State Water Resources Control Board’s Clean Water Team has done it for you.

The Clean Water Team’s free, online calendar will also let you know when Creek Week happens, when California’s free fishing days come around, and even the date of National Squirrel Appreciation Day.

If all this sounds a little wonky, well, Embrace Your Geekness Day is July 13, according to the calendar.

The calendar is an eclectic mix of fun and useful information, with active links to many of the events and commemorations listed. So you not only know when World Wetlands Day is scheduled, but why wetlands are important, and what you can do to help preserve them.

Photographs of Clean Water Team members are featured on each calendar month, doing what they do: volunteering to help monitor the health of the streams and rivers of California.

The calendar can be accessed at www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/swamp/docs/cwt/volunteer/cal_2015.pdf .

The Clean Water Team is the citizen monitoring program of the State Water Board.

The team’s citizen monitoring coordinators work statewide to provide technical assistance and guidance, training, and loans of equipment to volunteers in citizen monitoring programs and watershed stewardship organizations.

Citizen volunteers work through a variety of organizations to monitor water quality in streams and rivers throughout the state.

Activities include collecting water quality data, evaluating fish habitat, counting birds, or making visual observations of stream health.

Community and resource managers use monitoring information to better protect California's waters.

For more information or to volunteer for a community-based monitoring program, visit the Clean Water Team’s Web page at http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/swamp/cwt_volunteer.shtml .

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Association of Realtors (LCAOR) Scholarship Committee is excited to announce the start of a series of three “Stress and Worry-Free Dinners For Four,” a delicious way to support Lake County seniors.

There will be one dinner per month for three months, beginning in January.

The first dinner will be available for pick up on Friday, Jan. 16, and will feature delicious pork posole, taco salad, red rice, refried beans, and chips and salsa and is priced at just $30 for a meal to feed a family of four.

According to Scholarship Committee member Heidi Johnson, “These dinners are delicious and the quantities are large!”

Simply order by Friday, Jan. 9, prepay with checks made payable to LCAOR and then swing by Kelseyville High School Student Center on Friday, Jan. 16, between 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. to pick up your meal.

Tickets can be purchased at the LCAOR Office in Lakeport, Noble Realty, Sterling Mortgage or ReMax Lake County.

Proceeds go to the LCAOR Scholarship Fund for Lake County high school seniors.

“In the past two years, we have been able to double our scholarship fund, presenting a total of nearly $10,000 annually in multiple scholarships to seniors at all of the five Lake County high schools,” said Johnson. “So something as simple as buying your family dinner can make a big impact for the youth of our community.”

For more information on this fundraiser, please call Heidi Johnson at 707-349-2258.

SACRAMENTO – As part of its ongoing reform efforts – including increased statewide accountability and transparency – Caltrans has published new manager and employee handbooks and launched a 24-hour ethics hotline for all staff.

“Caltrans is taking bold action to increase our performance and accountability across the board as we responsibly manage California's transportation assets,” said Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty. “Consistent, statewide policies help strengthen our organization and support the tremendous work of our employees who serve the public.”

The department policies cover issues such as health and safety, ethics, information technology, and overtime.

Caltrans also released an updated hiring guide including mandatory procedures for checking references and personnel documents during the vetting process.

The purpose of all these policies is to set consistent and predictable policies that help improve department performance statewide.

Starting last year, Caltrans has ramped up its ongoing effort to improve department performance, accountability and communications.

Caltrans recently announced a new department-wide mission, vision and goals as part of its effort to modernize operations and improve performance and accountability.

Caltrans also created a new Office of Enterprise Risk Management, which spearheaded a new 24-hour ethics helpline and a website for employees to report possible fraud, waste or abuse.

In addition to these management improvements, Caltrans is also modernizing its transportation policies. Caltrans recently funded $360 million to encourage walking, biking and other forms of active transportation.

It also endorsed the National Association of City Transportation Officials guidelines to help support walking and biking in California.

In March, Caltrans signed a $225 million contract with Siemens to manufacture 32 high-performance diesel-electric locomotives that reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent.

Caltrans recently held five public workshops and a Webinar to solicit input and feedback on how to draft a modern transportation plan for interregional corridors.

These reforms, and many others, are published periodically in the Mile Marker: A Caltrans Performance Report, which provides performance-based information to measure how the department is progressing.

The new Caltrans Employee Handbook is located at www.dot.ca.gov/hq/paffairs/news/pressrel/docs/Caltrans_Employee_Handbook.pdf .

For information on the Caltrans Improvement Project visit www.dot.ca.gov/CIP .

CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – Cache Creek Vineyards will be hosting two events in January.

The first one will be Wednesday, Jan. 7, and will feature the January installment of its Cozy Kitchen Supper series.

Beginning at 6 p.m. they will serve chili, cornbread, salad and wine for dinner in an intimate family-style setting.

To round out the evening of coziness, s’mores will be served for dessert.

Tickets are $25 for wine club members and $30 for nonmembers.

On Saturday, Jan. 17, you are invited to cure your cabin fever from 2 to 5:30 p.m. at the tasting room.  

Join the Cache Creek family for an afternoon of warm beverages, classic rainy day games, wine glass decorating and desserts.

Bring your friends and get out of the mid-winter slump.

Craft supplies will be provided and the cost of your ticket includes one wine glass to decorate.

Guests are encouraged to wear their coziest flannel shirts to the event. Fuzzy slippers are welcome, if you really want to feel like you’re at home.

Tickets are $15 for wine club members and $20 for nonmembers.  

Reservations are required for both events. Please call 707-998-1200 if you would like to attend either one.  

Situated on 590 acres, the winery is home to a roaming herd of tule elk that inspired Bill Van Pelt in his dream of creating a beautiful vineyard.

The Van Pelt Family invites you to stop in, taste wines and participate in the festivities.

Cache Creek Vineyards is located at the corner of Highway 20 and New Long Valley Road, east of Clearlake Oaks.

For more information visit www.cachecreekvineyards.com .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – At noon on Friday, Jan. 23, the Lake County Bar Association will welcome the Hon. Donald F. Miles of the State Bar Court, Los Angeles, who will address professional responsibility in the legal profession.

Members of the Bar will earn 1.5 hours of mandatory continuing legal education for attending.

The seminar will be held on the second floor of the Courthouse Museum, directly in front of the current courthouse on Forbes.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Miles to the State Bar Court in 2006.

Judge Miles is a former member of the California Legislature’s Joint Committee on Tort Law and served as a member of the California State Bar’s Attorney Civility Task Force.

He has been an adjunct professor at Hastings College of the Law, teaching evidence and advocacy, and he has taught trial practice programs for Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB), NITA, Hastings Center for Trial and Appellate Advocacy, and the Federal Practice Program for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Miles is now a frequent lecturer on the professional obligations of attorneys, and also is the author of numerous publications.

Cost for attorneys is $10 for members of the Lake County Bar Association and $30 for nonmembers. Cost for paralegals is $15.

This seminar is only open to attorneys, paralegals and private fiduciaries.

Annual membership in the Lake County Bar for 2015 is $35.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Approximately 200 children and their families experienced the joy of Christmas due to the generosity of donors to the 2014 Wish Tree program.

Coordinated each year by Lake County’s Department of Social Services (Child Welfare Services) and the Umpqua Banks of Lakeport and Kelseyville, the Wish Tree program has provided an opportunity for members of our community to share the spirit of the holidays.

Umpqua Bank offered thanks to Bass Masters, the Lakeport Fire Department, Becky Ornellas, Marilyn Buckner, as well as all of the members of our generous community for making this happen.

“This year, there were so many tags on our tree, we had no room to add ornaments,” said Paula Bryant of Umpqua Bank. “By Dec. 15, the trees at both stores of Umpqua Bank were completely bare of tags and the area under the trees were filled with gifts. The generosity of the people of Lake County never ceases to amaze me.”