SACRAMENTO – A trio of state department heads on Tuesday announced a set of contests in which Californians can win up to $25,000 for ideas to improve transportation and sustainable government practices, and help prevent underage drinking.

They were joined at the State Capitol by the Los Angeles lawmaker who wrote the bill creating the innovation contests.

The directors of Caltrans, the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) and the Department of General Services (DGS) announced the “$25K Find a New Way” contests, which stem from legislation by Assemblyman Mike Gatto (AB 2138), which was signed into law last September by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.

Caltrans will award up to $25,000 to the Californian with the best unique idea with the highest likelihood of being successfully put into action that will improve the state’s transportation system.

All California residents are eligible to apply except for current and retired state employees and their immediate families.

Applications for the Caltrans contest will be accepted beginning Aug. 25. The deadline is Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 5 p.m. PDT.

DGS and the Government Operations Agency will award up to $25,000 to Californians who participate in its “GreenGov Challenge,” an open data code-a-thon to be held Oct. 24 to 25, which will engage the civic coding community to better show the work the state is doing to combat climate change.

Participants will focus on creating apps, visualizations, and other tools that can help improve government sustainability practices.

The contest is open to California residents and individuals who are 18 years of age or older as of the date of entry. State employees are not eligible to enter.

Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty, whose contest seeks the best idea for improving the state’s transportation system, said, “Californians have contributed some of the best transportation solutions in the country and we look forward to putting a great idea into action.”

“As the state deals with the on-going impacts of environmental change and the drought, we in state government are seeking out innovative ways to better promote sustainability,” said Daniel C. Kim, director of DGS. “This code-a-thon allows us to leverage the creativity of the civic coding community to better show the work the state is doing to combat climate change.”

“This is an exciting opportunity for Californians to possibly win an award for submitting new ideas to reduce or prevent underage drinking or develop new ways to limit youth access to alcohol. We are looking for out of the box solutions and creative strategies to improve these efforts,” said ABC Director Timothy Gorsuch.

“The people of California are resourceful and inventive,” said Gatto. “Incentives like this can showcase Californians’ creative solutions to some of the state’s most pressing issues.”

Visit www.findanewway.ca.gov (or the departments’ individual Web sites) to enter.

More information is available on social media via hashtag #25KFindANewWay.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Democratic Central Committee will meet Wednesday, Sept. 2.

The group will meet at 6:30 p.m. at the Lakeport Senior Activity Center conference room at 527 Konocti Ave.

This is not the group's usual first Thursday of the month meeting. They are changing the date to the first Wednesday, Sept. 2, because the Lake County Fair is opening on Thursday, Sept. 3.

The committee will have a booth near the fair entrance where they will offer information on candidates, some memorabilia and good conversations.

The agenda for the Sept. 2 meeting includes reports from representatives for Congressmen Mike Thompson and John Garamendi, Assemblyman Bill Dodd and state Sen. Mike McGuire, as well as reports from the Stonewall Democratic Club chair and the representative from the Lake County Democratic Club.

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 of 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. .

NORTH COAST, Calif. – Tune into KZYX&Z’s “Women's Voices” program at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 24, when host Blake More will be talking with counter culture royalty, Camp Winnarainbow co-founder and Wavy Gravy’s longtime partner Jahanara Romney.

They will be talking about what it is like to be the wife of a clown, Camp Winnarainbow, commune life, the Seva Foundation and much more.

The show will air on KZYX&Z 90.7FM Philo, 88.1FM Fort Bragg, and 91.5FM Willits, as well as streaming live on the Web at www.kzyx.org .

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Lake County Chapter of the California Retired Teachers Association will hold its quarterly meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 8.

This luncheon meeting will be held at the Riviera Hills Restaurant, 10200 Fairway Drive, Kelseyville.
 
Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. A business meeting will be called to order by President Joyce Anderson at 10 a.m.

The program will be a meet and greet with Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg. 

This will provide attendees an opportunity to learn what the Lake County Office of Education is currently doing and to have any questions answered by the superintendent.

Recently retired teachers are encouraged to attend and learn how the California Retired Teachers Association is working to protect the retirement of California teachers.

In addition, the Lake County Chapter provides scholarships to students, grants to local teachers and supports education in Lake County in numerous other ways.

Lunch will be served at noon. The menu consists of Chicken Marsala and vegetarian paste with salad, bread and desert. Beverages are included.  

The cost of lunch is $13 including tax and gratuity.  

Reservations may be made by calling Julie at 707-279-2625 by Sept. 4.

Transportation can be arranged for those in need by contacting Julie at the above number.

CLEARLAKE. Calif. – A workshop on healing and building resilience in the wake of major incidents such as the recent Rocky and Jerusalem fires will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 26.

It will be held a the Highlands Senior Center in Clearlake, 3245 Bowers Ave.

The event will begin with a free catered meal at 5 p.m., with the workshop taking place from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

It is geared for:

· Anyone who would like to learn tools for healing and resilience in the aftermath of trauma;
· Anyone who felt anxious during the recent fires;
· Anyone ready to be empowered to help rebuild the community.

This workshop is sponsored by the Clearlake Police Department, the city of Clearlake, Lake County Sheriff's Office, Lake County CAN!, Marymount University, the United Methodist Churches of Lake County, Lakeport Bible Fellowship, Galilee Lutheran Church, United Christian Parish and Week of Compassion.

It is free to the public, but they ask that those planning to attend RSVP so they can have materials available for all participants.

Please RSVP to United Christian Parish at 707-263-4788 or by visiting the church's Facebook event page.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Wine Studio is hosting a wine tasting event in September featuring wines from R Vineyards with owners David and Monica Rosenthal, and artist reception with a collection of watercolor paintings by Sharon Fenton.

The event will run over two days, from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4, and 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 5.

The $12.50 ($10/per person for studio club members) wine sampler and appetizers will showcase the new release 2014 Viognier with goat cheese and pears with strawberry gastrique and toasted red walnuts on endive, 2012 Cabernet Franc with a salad of lentils, cucumbers, red onion and grapefruit supremes with an orange and honey vinaigrette, 2012 Reba Red Syrah with a Turkish turkey meatball with herbed cream sauce, and the 2013 Old Vine Zinfandel with Armenian lemon amoushe dusted with pistachios and a drop of local honey.

Appetizer pairings for these wines have been created by Fresh & Bangin’ Eatery in Lucerne.

R Vineyards presents the release of their 2014 Lake County Viognier at this reception event. This is the third vintage released of this exotic and aromatic varietal, R Vineyards’ signature white wine.

“This wine is our personal ‘go to’ wine,” said Monica Rosenthal. “It pairs well with almost everything we serve at our table.”
 
The 2013 Lake County Old Vine Zinfandel is a Gold medal-winning wine and the distinct, fruit forward style 2012 Cabernet Franc has been honored with a Double Gold medal at the recent 2015 Lake County Wine Awards Competition held at Langtry Estate & Vineyards earlier this summer.

The Gold medal-winning R Vineyards 2013 Old Vine Zinfandel is made from grapes planted in 1937 on the Rosenthal family’s Hoodoo Creek Ranch property in Middletown. The production is limited; only 72 cases produced.
 
“This is the first time I have made wine from these old vine grapes in about 15 years,” said Rosenthal. “The grapes usually go to a Napa Valley winemaker who has earned 90+ ratings for the finished wine. Since my wife, Monica and I started releasing wines under the R Vineyards label in the fall of 2013, I have been looking forward to bottling and releasing this wine made from the old vine head-trained Zinfandel grapes.”

Owners David and Monica Rosenthal have been involved in the wine industry for 30-plus years. Between the two of them, their experience includes winegrape growing, wine tasting, marketing and winemaking.
 
R Vineyards is located in South Lake County in Middletown. The grapes are sustainably farmed and grown in the soils of the Mayacamas Mountains on the north slope of Mount St. Helena. R Vineyards is not currently open for public tasting, however the wines are available at the Lake County Wine Studio.

The artist for June is Sharon Fenton. Introduced to art by a paint by numbers kit at the age of 12, Fenton was "hooked" and painted her first original piece using the leftover paints from that kit.

A California girl and former Cardinal, she graduated from Clear Lake High School in Lakeport and moved to the Ukiah area in 1970. Her formal art studies commenced at Mendocino College in their watercolor class and since then she has not put her brushes down.

Refusing to box herself into any particular style, Fenton said, “Every subject is my favorite. I believe there is no limit to the exciting combination of techniques and colors. I experience each painting as an adventure, and sometimes an unintentional stroke or touch becomes the painting.”

A member of the Lake County Arts Council, Mendocino County Art Association and Ukiah Valley Artists Co-op, Fenton’s works have won numerous awards at the Lake County, Mendocino County and Redwood Empire Fairs.

Lake County Wine Studio is a gallery for display of arts and a tasting room, wine bar and retail shop for the fine wines of Lake County. Artist’s shows are held on a monthly basis with art and wine receptions held the first Friday and subsequent Saturday of each month.

The gallery is located at 9505 Main St. in Upper Lake and is open Monday, 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 7 p.m.; and Friday from 1 to 8 p.m.

The Fenton art show will be on display for the full month of September.

For more information call Lake County Wine Studio at 707-275-8030 or 707-293-8752.