LOWER LAKE – The Lower Lake Historical School Preservation Committee will present its 16th annual Fashion Festival on Saturday, Feb. 20.

The show will begin at noon at the Lower Lake Museum’s Weaver Auditorium, 16435 Main St. in Lower Lake, and includes a delicious luncheon, live entertainment, a raffle for fine prizes, and a hat contest for most beautiful, most creative and most outrageous bonnets!

This event is the main annual fundraiser for the Committee's efforts to maintain and improve the Historic Schoolhouse Museum.

The Fashion Show itself will feature Lisa’s Sizes 3-60 of Clearlake with six local ladies modeling the latest styles, including prom dresses.

Tickets are $20 and groups may reserve a table for ten. Reservations are required and seating is very limited.

So shake off those winter doldrums and join the fun!

Call 707-995-3565 to reserve your tickets.

The gathering – which will include a no host bar, music, food and fun – will take place from 8 p.m. to midnight at Edgewater Resort, 6420 Soda Bay Road in Kelseyville.

The cost is $15. Special rates will be offered for those booking accommodations.

Tickets are limited; to reserve yours call Edgewater Resort at 800-396-6224.

For more information visit www.lakecountypride.info .

Included are Mendocino County projects that may impact Lake County commuters.

LAKE COUNTY

Highway 20

– Caltrans will perform routine maintenance from Rosemont Drive to 0.2 mile east of Long Valley Road beginning Monday, Feb. 8. Work hours are 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., weekdays. One-way traffic control will be in effect. Motorists should anticipate 10-minute delays.

– PG&E of Eureka has been granted a Caltrans Encroachment Permit for tree trimming from Blue Lake to the North Fork Cache Creek Bridge beginning Monday, Feb. 8. Work hours are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., weekdays. One-way traffic control will be in effect. Motorists should anticipate 10-minute delays.

Highway 175

– PG&E of Eureka has been granted a Caltrans Encroachment Permit for tree trimming from 0.5 mile east of the junction of Route 29/175 near Kelseyville to Middletown beginning Monday, Feb. 8. Work hours are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., weekdays. One-way traffic control will be in effect. Motorists should anticipate 10-minute delays.

MENDOCINO COUNTY

Highway 1

– Construction of a retaining wall about 3 miles north of Elk will continue. One-way traffic control with a temporary signal will be in effect 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Motorists should

anticipate 10-minute delays. Contractor – Granite Construction of Ukiah.

Highway 20

– A culvert replacement project from 1.0 mile east of the James Creek Bridge to 0.1 miles east of Blosser Road will continue. Work hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., weekdays. One-way traffic control will be in effect. Motorists should anticipate 10-minute delays. Contractor – Kapel Construction of Willow Creek.

– Construction of a retaining wall 0.4 mile east of Three Chop Road will continue. One-way traffic control with a temporary signal will be in effect 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Motorists should anticipate five-minute delays. Contractor – Granite Construction of Ukiah.

Highway 101

– An emergency culvert replacement project at the northbound 101 onramp of the junction of Routes 101/271 will continue. Work hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., weekdays. A full ramp closure will be in

effect. A detour is available. Contractor – Mendocino Construction Service of Willits.

For information pertaining to emergency roadwork or for updates to scheduled roadwork, please contact the California Highway Information Network (CHIN) at 1-800-GAS-ROAD (1-800-427-7623).

The meeting will be followed by a screening of the film, “Straightlaced: How Gender’s Got Us All Tied Up,” produced by GroundSpark, a Bay Area-based nonprofit that creates visionary films and educational campaigns.

The Lake County Respect For All Task Force, a group of local individuals, is striving to increase awareness about safe and inclusive learning environments.

Working to identify possible actions to help the Lake County community, the task force will discuss updates to its action plans and possible next steps.

Individuals interested in attending the meeting should notify coordinator Cristy Chung in advance by sending an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or calling 415-641-4616, Extension 307.

The Respect For All Project, a program of GroundSpark (www.groundspark.org), in cooperation with Lake County Healthy Start and Lake County Family Resource Center, is collaborating with local educators, high school students, community leaders, and representatives from a variety of organizations. Lake County was chosen as one of three California counties for the pilot project.

The task force has been meeting periodically over the last 14 months. Respect For All Project coordinators Chung and Barry Chersky have traveled from the Bay Area on several occasions to facilitate meetings of the group.

GroundSpark’s newest film, “Straightlaced: How Gender’s Got Us All Tied Up,” will be shown between 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m., according to Chung.

Task force members who attended the November meeting of the group previewed a screening of the movie and agreed that it should be shown again to allow more members to see it.

The task force discussed presenting the film at future community screenings to help raise funds to assist the group and schools present Challenge Day and other awareness events.

A proposal for the Lake County project explains that GroundSpark, The Respect for All Project (RFAP) “is a nonprofit organization that seeks to create safe, hate-free schools and communities by providing youth and the adults who guide their development the tools they need to talk openly about diversity in all of its forms.”

As part of its work toward safe and inclusive learning environments, the task force used GroundSpark’s Community Readiness Assessment tool to interview community members.

GroundSpark compiled the results of the assessment, and a draft report was distributed to the task force members. Using the report, the group is focusing now on strategies for its next steps.

Individuals interested in helping the task force in its efforts to assist youth and their families in assuring safe and inclusive learning environments are invited to attend the meetings.

More information about the Respect For All Task Force is available on the GroundSpark website, www.groundspark.org .

The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go-Act (H.J. Res. 45) requires Congress to offset all new policies that reduce revenues or expand entitlement spending.

“This is a good first step towards restoring fiscal discipline to Washington. I’ve been working to pass Pay-As-You-Go legislation, also known as PAYGO, since I was elected to Congress and I carried the measure of the floor of the House during the 108th Congress,” said Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA). “The federal government’s budget shouldn’t be any different than a family’s budget: you don’t spend more money than you can afford. And if you do make a big purchase, you have to cut back elsewhere.”

The bill passed Thursday is similar to the bipartisan PAYGO law in place in the 1990s, which helped reverse huge deficits, create budget surpluses, and produce an economic boom.

In 2002 these budget rules were allowed to expire, contributing to the dramatic turnaround from a projected 10-year surplus of $5.6 trillion in 2000 to projected deficits of over $11 trillion in 2009.

H.J. Res. 45 makes PAYGO law, so that future Administrations can’t choose whether or not they want to follow pay-as-you-go principles.

There are some protections in the rule, so that during an economic crisis Congress and the president can do what is needed to strengthen our economy.

The bill now heads to President Obama’s desk for signature.

The group will meet at 1 p.m. at the community garden, which is located on the lakeside at Highway 20 and 13^th Avenue in Lucerne.

Denise Rushing, who owns an organic farm in Upper Lake and is the Northshore's county supervisor, will offer a workshop on organic gardening.

In case of rain the meeting will be at the Lucerne Community Clinic, 6300 E. Highway 20, at 14th Avenue.

Everyone is welcome.