UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Lake County Wine Studio is hosting a wine tasting event with Jim and Diane Fore featuring award winning wines from Fore Family Vineyards, and artist reception with a collection of engraved arts by Dayle Marshall on Friday, Feb. 7, and Saturday, Feb. 8.

The event will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. Feb. 7 and 4 to 7 p.m. Feb. 8.  

The $12.50 ($10/pp for Studio club members) wine sampler and appetizers presented at the studio will showcase the silver medal winning 2009 Pinot Noir, double gold medal winner and new release 2011 GSM Rhone Blend, gold medalist 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon and new release 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon, which earned a double gold medal as well at the recent SF Chronicle Wine Competition.

In the late 1980s, Jim Fore won a first place award with his Pinot Noir in the Napa Town and Country Fair home winemaking division. The win gave him the drive to plant a small Cabernet vineyard in his backyard.  

Since then, the passion has grown to 60 acres between Napa and on Cobb Mountain in Lake County and Fore’s wife Diane, when not teaching kindergarten classes, also is very involved helping in all facets of their family business.  

They personally manage the Cobb Mountain vineyards and farm using sustainable techniques such as planting mixed blend cover crops that are tilled into alternating rows each year.  

Most of the vineyard production is sold to other producers and the Fore Family vintages that they produce under their own label are small quantities of 500 cases or less.

The artist for February is Dayle Marshall, a California native, born and raised in Los Angeles County.

Her first official job was soldering printed circuit boards at Continental Devices Corporation in El Segundo in 1962. It was in that factory that she entered her engraving trade.

She went from there to an engraving company and learned the different aspects of the marking industry – engraving, silk-screening, stenciling and stamping.
 
In 1976 Marshall opened her own engraving business and now has the distinction of being the only woman in her field to be considered a master engraver and who has continuously owned and operated her own company for more than 30 years.

Throughout those years she became involved in many creative projects including engraving track and nameplates for the New York subway control panels, silk-screening and engraving for the space shuttles, for movie props and various engraving jobs for celebrities and film companies. She still does custom lens engraving and cinematography equipment engraving for long standing customers in Los Angeles.
 
Marshall’s love of creativity has always been present in her life as she she has ventured into stained glass, jewelry making and even winning first place in an amateur photography contest. She considers herself an "artisan.”

She loves working with wood, canvas, plastics, metal and mixed media bringing her engraving trade into her creative niche.
 
The opening of her business 2 Women Traders in Middletown with her partner in 2011 has given her an avenue to display and market her unique artworks, many of which will be on show and for sale at the Wine Studio during February.

Lake County Wine Studio is a gallery for display and sale of arts and a tasting room, wine bar and retail shop for the fine wines of Lake County.

Artists' shows are held on a monthly basis with art and wine receptions held the first Friday and subsequent Saturday of each month.

The Marshall show will be on display for the full month of February.  

The gallery is located at 9505 Main St. in Upper Lake and is open Mondays, 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 7 p.m.; and Fridays, 1 to 8 p.m.

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

SACRAMENTO – The Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) extended its thanks to key California Congressional leaders for passing the Farm Bill Conference Report in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday.  

Through the Farm Bill, federal Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funding will be extended for FY 2014, providing resources for rural California counties to provide critical government services.

“Federal PILT funding is critical to California’s rural counties, and RCRC is grateful to key Congressional leadership for voting to secure this one-year extension,” said Nate Beason, RCRC chair and Nevada County supervisor. “Now that we’ve secured the reauthorization for FY 2014, it’s time to work with Congress to enact a multi-year funding reauthorization, as was the process in years past.”

As part of the federal PILT program, California counties are due more than $41 million in annual funding to provide critical local government services, such as law enforcement, search and rescue, health care, environmental compliance, firefighting, and parks and recreation.

The payments would total $133,836 annually for Lake County.

The Farm Bill is expected to be heard in the U.S. Senate in the coming days, and if passed, funding will flow to California counties before October 2014.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A series of new changes have been announced for local programs that help seniors stay in their homes.

After 25 years of service on the board of Konocti Senior Support, including 10 years as president, Hope Brewer wanted to step down, and fortunately for this nonprofit program, board member Pat Goodson, volunteered and was voted in as president.

Goodson has a fantastic background to succeed Brewer's dedication in overseeing Konocti Senior Support's two programs: The Friendly Visitors and Senior Peer Counseling Program.

Goodson already had served on the board for three years and had volunteered as Senior Peer Counselor for five years.

She has a degree in behavioral science, has lived in Lake County for 25 years and had worked for Lake County Mental Health for almost six years.

One of her first duties as president was to find a new director for the Senior Peer Counseling Program.

An excellent candidate was hired, Barbara Nuckols, who had been a guidance counselor for more than 20 years, working in nonprofits, schools and agency-based settings, assisting with clients in psychosocial rehabilitation, corrections, reentry and phase-of-life transitions.

Along with her strong experience, she has a master's in counseling psychology with a somatic emphasis and a master's in educational counseling psychology, as is a credentialed guidance counselor.

Nuckols feels her main strength is helping clients reconnect to the support and joy in their own lives. What may feel like a lonely path or an uphill battle can become a joyful dance and procession.
 
On Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to noon in Clearlake, Nuckols holds weekly meetings and training sessions for volunteer senior peer counselors.

Those trained will visit seniors in their home who may need grief counseling or emotional or psychological support.

Each week in a confidential setting they will receive guidance to help their clients. If you have questions, want to volunteer or know a senior who you think might benefit from peer counseling, please contact Nuckols at Konocti Senior Support offices at 707-995-1417.  

Visit the organization online at www.konoctiseniorsupport.com .

LUCERNE, Calif. – A fun evening for daughters and dads – or other father figures – will take place on Friday, Feb. 7.

“Dessert and Dancing with Dad” will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at Lucerne Elementary School, 3351 Country Club Drive.

Get dad or your favorite over-18 father figure – uncle, grandpa or brother – out for an evening of fun entertainment with a local DJ and a 50/50 raffle.

Presale tickets will be available Feb. 3 to Feb. 7 at 8 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. in front of the school office for $10 per couple Additional tickets are $5 each.

Tickets will be $15 per couple at the cafeteria door the night of the event, with additional tickets costing $5 each.

For more information call 707-274-5578.

SACRAMENTO – State Controller John Chiang has introduced eClaim, a breakthrough online tool aimed at reuniting Californians with lost and forgotten money.

When the property is worth less than $500 and there is only one owner listed, this online innovation – found at www.claimit.ca.gov – may let the claimant bypass the “paper and snail-mail” process upon which the state has been dependent since the Unclaimed Property Program was first established in 1959.

Instead, Californians can search for and claim their money completely online, and expect to be reunited with their assets within 14 days.

"After reforming one of the nation's largest lost and found programs to put property owners first and returning record amounts of assets, I am pleased to announce this latest technological advancement that will reunite owners with their lost money with greater speed, ease, and convenience." said Chiang. "For those who have put off doing paperwork to claim smaller amounts of property, the simple eClaim tool provides a painless option."

Currently, 72 percent – or 18 million – of the 24.9 million lost items being safeguarded by the Controller's Office are eligible to be claimed through eClaim. Depending on feedback and usage, future editions of this tool may include a higher qualifying dollar threshold.

For tips on how to use eClaim, watch a tutorial at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EvPiLG0-lk&;feature=youtu.be or call the Controller's Unclaimed Property Division at 800-992-4647.

Since January 2007, the controller has reunited owners with more than $2.5 billion in cash that had been lost or forgotten – more than any previous controller.

As of June 2013, the controller also returned 181 million shares of securities to owners, which is more than 30 times the amount returned to owners during the previous decade.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Chi Council for the Clear Lake Hitch will hold a special workshop for its network of volunteer hitch migration monitors on Wednesday, Feb. 12.

The workshop will begin at 6 p.m. in the Board of Supervisors chambers in the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes in Lakeport.

Presentations will cover the history and life cycle of the hitch, traditional Pomo uses and the monitoring protocol, as well as an update on Chi Council activities to date and results of its work over the past 10 years.

There also will be a brief status update regarding the Endangered Species Act listing process, with the hitch currently under consideration for a listing.

If you are one of the council's dedicated volunteers who wants to increase your expertise and the value of your observations, if you have been following the council's work over the years but have never taken an active part in its annual springtime efforts or if you are simply curious, you are welcome to attend this highly informative and free event.

For more information visit http://lakelive.info/chicouncil/ .