WASHINGTON, D.C. – Peace Corps reported that it recruited 15,386 applicants in fiscal year 2009.

This represents the largest amount of applications since the agency began electronically recording applications in 1998 and is an 18-percent increase from fiscal year 2008. The report is based on fiscal year 2009 data as of Sept. 30.

“Our record application numbers are another indicator of the strong interest in public service,” said Peace Corps Director Aaron S. Williams. “From recent college graduates to our mid-career or retired applicants, Americans are inspired to serve both their country and the world as a Peace Corps volunteer. Peace Corps is a tremendous leadership opportunity for individuals prepared to live and work for two years in a community abroad.”

As of Sept. 30, 7,671 Peace Corps and Peace Corps Response volunteers and trainees are serving worldwide in 74 host countries. While the average age of a Peace Corps volunteer is 25, 6 percent of Peace Corps volunteers are over 50 and the oldest currently-serving volunteer is 85. Sixteen percent of volunteers are minorities and 60 percent are women. Eighty-nine percent of volunteers hold at least a bachelors degree.

Peace Corps Global Operations are divided into three regions:

• Africa Region: 2860 Peace Corps volunteers serve in 27 countries/posts. The largest number of Peace Corps volunteers serving in one country is 180 in Mozambique.

• Inter-America and the Pacific Region: 2480 Peace Corps volunteers serve in 22 posts and 28 countries. The largest number of Peace Corps volunteers serving in one country is 221 in Paraguay.

• Europe, the Mediterranean and Asia Region: 2331 Peace Corps volunteers serving in 19 countries/posts. The largest number of Peace Corps volunteers serving in one country is 339 in Ukraine. Ukraine is the agency’s largest program.

Peace Corps volunteers serve in seven general skill sectors: Education, 35 percent; health and HIV/AIDS, 22 percent; business development, 15 percent; environment: 14 percent; agriculture: 5 percent; youth development, 5 percent; other sectors, 4 percent.

Peace Corps is an independent U.S. government agency that provides volunteers to countries requesting assistance. As Peace Corps approaches its 50th anniversary, its service legacy continues to promote peace and friendship around the world. Historically, nearly 200,000 Americans have joined the Peace Corps to promote a better understanding between Americans and the people of the 139 countries in which they have served. Peace Corps Volunteers must be U.S. citizens and at least 18 years of age. Peace Corps service is a 27-month commitment.

To learn more about the Peace Corps, please visit our website: www.peacecorps.gov .

SB 318 by Senator Ron Calderon (D-Montebello) provides procedures for the forfeiting of property acquired through the crime of dogfighting and AB 242 by Assemblymember Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara) imposes stricter penalties on those found guilty of attending dog fights.

“Organized dogfighting is a horrible and inhumane crime that brings cruel violence to our neighborhoods,” said Schwarzenegger. “These bills will increase the punishment for spectators at dog fights and will allow our law enforcement officials to confiscate the profits of this illegal activity.”

SB 318 provides mandatory forfeiture procedures of property and profits acquired by organizers and participants through organized dogfighting. The bill states that the prosecuting agency in any dogfighting crime must file a petition for forfeiture.

AB 242 increases the penalty for being or intending to be a spectator at a dog fight from a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in a county jail to imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, or by a fine not to exceed $5,000, or by both.

In 2006, the governor signed SB 1349 increasing the penalty for causing any animal to fight with another animal.

Paul Bannick, an award-winning nature and bird photographer from Seattle and author of the book “The Owl and the Woodpecker,” will lecture and present his stunning photographs.

The event is free and open to the public, starting at 7 p.m.

Bannick’s stunning photographic studies are a visual journey to enjoy the 41 North American species of owls and woodpeckers, relates Redbud Audubon president, Marilyn Waits.

The Soper-Reese Community Theatre is located at 275 S. Main St., Lakeport.

For more information about the Redbud Audubon Society, go to www.redbudaudubon.org .

Manzanar War Relocation Center was one of 10 camps at which Japanese American citizens and resident Japanese aliens were interned during World War II. It is located at the foot of the imposing eastern Sierra Nevada mountains off highway 395 between Lone Pine and Independence in Inyo County, CA. In April, 2004, the National Park Service opened the Manzanar National Historic Site Interpretive Center in the adaptively restored high school auditorium. The center includes 8,000 square feet of exhibits, two small movie theaters, a bookstore and park offices. Photo by Susanne La Faver.

HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE – The public is invited to hear “Supporting Japanese American Internees at Manzanar Relocation Camp,” a free historical presentation for Stone House Historical Society ( www.lakecountystonehouse.com ) at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, in the Hidden Valley Lake (HVL) Activity Center.

The activity center is located at 18174 Hidden Valley Road, adjacent to Hidden Valley Lake administrative offices. HVL visitors announce at the gate that they are attending the Stone House meeting and entrance will be given.

Hidden Valley Lake resident Susanne La Faver will speak of her great-aunt, Margaret Matthew D’Ille, who was 63 years old when she moved to Manzanar War Relocation Center, located off highway 395 in the eastern Sierra Mountains, ( www.nps.gov/manz ) in 1942 as community welfare director and head counselor.

D’Ille’s 10 years experience working in Japan for the YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association) decades earlier was important for helping understand Japanese culture and Japanese Americans.

According to Manzanar Superintendent Ralph P. Merritt, D’Ille was the right person at the right moment to minister to the needs of the 10,000 evacuees living behind barbed wire fences.

He credits D’Ille with helping restore peace to the camp following the Dec. 6, 1942, riot which resulted in the deaths by gunfire of two men and the wounding of 10 others.

Manzanar’s educational toolbox includes biographical booklets which tell the personal stories of internees and others directly affected by the internment experience.

In her booklet, D’Ille is quoted as saying, “Language and cultural questions were a constant consideration at Manzanar. Many older people spoke and read only Japanese, while most young people spoke and read English.

“The question of how far Japanese language, culture, ideals, and manners should be recognized in a community whose background was Japanese, but we felt should increasingly be part of American life, came up repeatedly,” she said. “We encountered great difficulty in family conflicts between old Japanese cultural ideas and those of modern young Japanese Americans.”

Margaret Matthew D’Ille is the oldest camp member to have an official ID booklet. It can be viewed at www.nps.gov/manz/forteachers/upload/MDille.pdf .

This historical education presentation will include slides, handouts and group discussion.

Membership in Stone House Historical Society is open to all. Annual dues are $5 per person or $7.50 per couple. The group meets the first Tuesday of each month.

Ever since the U.S. Army enclosed this one-square mile with barbed wire in 1942, people have debated how to accurately describe Manzanar. During World War II, it was officially called a

The Friendly Visitor Program of Lake County is a fantastic option, especially now, when so many state programs have lost their funding.

You will visit homebound, lonely or isolated seniors in their homes. You'll help bring “some of the outside in” by letting seniors know what is going on in around the lake, reminiscing about “whatever,” playing cards, helping them write letters or finding resources to assist them.

If you are interested in being a part of this most needed and rewarding service, please phone 707-995-1417 for an application and information regarding our orientation program.

Also, if you would like to refer yourself, a family member or someone else for this service, please phone Gwen Snyder at 707-995-1417 and she will return you call. This is a free service.

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed AB 91 by Assemblymember Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) which creates an ignition interlock device pilot program in four counties for every vehicle owned or operated by a first-time driving under the influence (DUI) offender.

The governor also signed SB 598 by Senator Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar) allowing repeat DUI offenders to apply for a restricted license if they install an ignition interlock device on their vehicles. The ignition interlock device, an instrument that is installed to a motor vehicle’s dashboard, tests a person’s blood alcohol concentration before the vehicle’s motor can be started.

“I took action and signed these bills because we must do everything we can to ensure the public’s safety on the road,” said Schwarzenegger. “By installing ignition interlock devices we are making it harder for DUI offenders to get behind the wheel while intoxicated and we are working to save innocent lives.”

The following bills have been signed into law:

• AB 91 by Assemblymember Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) to create a Department of Motor Vehicles pilot project mandating the installation of an ignition interlock device on every vehicle owned or operated by a first-time DUI offender in Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento and Tulare counties.

• SB 598 by Senator Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar) to allow a repeat DUI offender to apply for a restricted license, if he or she voluntarily installs ignition interlock devices on all of his or her vehicles.