LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Republican Party will hold a meeting on Tuesday, April 12.

The meeting will be held at Round Table Pizza, 821 11th St. in Lakeport.

There will be social time with no-host food and beverage at 6:30 p.m. and a planning session that starts at 7 p.m.

The group is working to reestablish itself in Lake County.

For more information contact Lake County Chair Dee Cuney at 707-235-2902 or visit the group on Facebook.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – In response to issues voiced by Valley fire survivors surrounding the permitting process and its effects on rebuilding, the Lake County Community Development Department announced that it will be increasing counter hours at the courthouse in Lakeport.

The counter will be open between 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and will remain open through the lunch hour.

The new hours will take effect Monday, April 4.

Over the last few months lines at the Lakeport counter have been long as Valley fire survivors move toward rebuilding homes that were destroyed.

“Given the importance of helping people get back to normal after the fires, we’re going back to a model that was successfully used in the early 2000s when development was booming in Lake County,” said Scott De Leon, interim Director of Community Development.

De Leon added, “We’re keeping the counter open most of the day, and then using that last 1.5 hours to meet as a group and review submissions made during the day.”

He expects that implementing the process of reviewing submissions in a group setting will improve efficiency and the thoroughness of the review.

De Leon also announced the closing of the Middletown satellite permitting office.

“Due to technology and staffing limitations, the center wasn’t working as effectively as it could,” De Leon said. “The intentions to open it were good, but the logistics didn’t pan out. We’ll now be able to utilize those resources to expand the hours at the Lakeport counter.”

Community Development is located on the third floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St. in Lakeport. The phone number is 707-263-2221.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Lupoyoma Parlor No. 329 of the Native Daughters of the Golden West will meet Thursday, April 14, for a membership social and organizational meeting.

The group will meet at 5 p.m. for its social time and 6 p.m. for a business meeting at Round Table Pizza, 821 11th St. in Lakeport.

If you were born in California and are over 16 you are a Native Californian eligible for membership in the Native Daughters of the Golden West Organization.

The Native Daughters is a fraternal and patriotic organization founded in 1886 on the principles of:

– Love of home;
– Devotion to the flag;
– Veneration of the pioneers;
– Faith in the existence of God.

All Native Daughters are welcome to attend.

For more information contact Parlor Worthy President Carla Dore, 831-524-5588, or V.P. Dee Cuney, 707-235-2902, and visit the group on Facebook.

For information about Lake County Konocti No. 159 Chapter of the Native Sons of the Golden West contact Tony Braito at 707 245-7663.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – In an effort to attract new members the Sons In Retirement took a hard look at what they can offer.

Here is the schedule for April.

– April 6: The first golf tournament of the year at Arbuckle starting at 9 a.m.
– April 8: Monthly lunch meeting at TNT in Lakeport with District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown reporting on the impact of the Valley fire.
– April 12: A movie night out at the Soper Reese Theater showing “Notorious.”
– April 13: A group bike ride starting at 11 a.m. at Kelseyville Lumber.
– April 20: Golf tournament at Black Rock; tee time is 9 a.m.
– April 23: Bowling tournament in Ukiah.

Little SIR Bob Rumfelt has volunteered to plan and coordinate the new bicycling group but the success of efforts to expand activities and events will depend on other members volunteering to plan and coordinate activities.

Sons In Retirement is a social organization for men of retirement age who are pursuing the goal of enjoying their later years. 

Branch 168 holds a luncheon on the second Friday of each month at the TNT Restaurant in Lakeport. 

If you are already a member and would be willing to help plan and coordinate activities please contact Bob Rumfelt at 707-263-0844.

If you are not a member but would be interested in learning more about Sons In Retirement please feel free to contact Larry Powers, chair of the membership committee, at 707-263-3403 or visit the state Web site at http://sirinc.org/sirhappenings/ .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Children's author Kim Zwemer-Margulis will be talking about her experience with wildfire, helping children get through trauma and her children's wildfire healing book “Shadowchaser of the Siskiyous” on Saturday, April 2, at the Lakeport Library.

Zwemer-Margulis will speak from 10:30 to 11 a.m. at the library, 1425 North High St.

“Shadowchaser of the Siskiyous” follows a small deer family through their first year of life.

A fawn is born in the biologically important Siskiyou Mountains of Southern Oregon. Along with his mother and brother, he experiences danger from predators, play with other fawns, and browsing on forest foods in his first months of life.

Then wildfire strikes the land, and the family seeks safety in a nearby creek.

The story is completed with the deer’s mating cycle, the brothers forming antler nubs, and the passing of winter before they are old enough to leave their mother to be on their own.

The book allows children to explore the effects of wildfire in a third-party manner, aiding them to integrate their own experience with wildfire.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif.  – “How far would you walk for health care?” With that question, Worldwide Healing Hands (WHH) invites individuals of all ages to take part in the third annual “Hike 4 Healing” on April 30.

In addition, WHH seeks sponsors for the event and for hikers. Sponsors will be recognized in print and broadcast releases about the event as well as acknowledged on information available at the hike.

All donations will help support the WHH’s goals and missions to provide quality healthcare to women and children, especially those who do not have access to such care.

Hike participants will traverse the Wright Summit Trail on Mount Konocti, a little more than 6 miles round-trip and an elevation gain of 1,600 feet. Suggested donation for the hike is $25 per person (no amount for children under the age of 12). Participants may register on EventBrite ( https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2016-hike-4-healing-registration-23469961286 or search “2016 Hike 4 Healing” at www.EventBrite.com ).

Registration forms are available at Worldwide Healing Hands’ office in the Specialty Care and Surgery Center, 5685 Main Street, Kelseyville. Call 707-279-8733 or stop by the office to pick up a form.

The Hike 4 Healing was launched two years ago as a fundraiser for Worldwide Healing Hands’ missions, according to Hike 4 Healing coordinator Anthy O’Brien, a WHH board member and supporter.

Led by Dr. Paula Dhanda, an obstetrician and gynecologist based in Kelseyville, WHH provides health care services to women and children in underserved areas of the world. WHH teams have traveled to Uganda, Nepal, Chad and Haiti to deliver health services.

WHH volunteer medical teams have also provided free health screenings to homeless and impoverished in Lake County, as well as to evacuees following last year’s devastating fires in south Lake County.

WHH recently sent a team of volunteers to Haiti for a week-long mission in conjunction with Project MedShare. While in Cap-Haitien, the WHH doctors and nurses conducted cervical cancer screenings and treatment for dozens of Haitian women and provided training to Haitian physicians and midwives.

The WHH Board of Directors is planning a second mission to Uganda for the organization later this year, following WHH’s successful 2015 trip to the Muko Health Center.

“We will need funds to acquire equipment and supplies for the clinic in Uganda,” said Dhanda.

Doctors, nurses and staff who accompany Dhanda on the WHH missions are not paid for their time; they donate their services to WHH. However, there are other costs incurred, mainly for much-needed supplies and medicine, according to Dhanda.

“Please join us on our Hike 4 Healing this year so that we may help many more women and children with the health care they need and deserve,” O’Brien said.

The hike is not a race nor competition, she added. “Your prize is the satisfaction of completing the hike and helping a worthy cause.”

For more information about the Hike 4 Healing, call 707-279-8733. Visit WHH’s Web site, www.worldwidehealinghands.org , to read more about the organization.