Mr. Kennedy's ukulele group from the Middletown International Charter School performed on Friday, Aug. 27, 2010, in Clearlake, Calif. Courtesy photo.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The final month of the Friday Night Farmers' Market begins Friday, Sept. 3, with a time change and a cooking demonstration by co-op member Lori Patotzka.

The Market hours will be 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. through September as daylight hours recede into fall.

Patotzka, Clearlake resident and Co-op Education Committee producer, will demonstrate and share a few fast and easy recipes for delicious dishes with summer squash, eggplant and cucumbers at 6 p.m. at the co-op booth.

Patotzka has been cooking only plant-based (vegan) recipes for more than 10 ten years and enjoys sharing these healthier, cruelty-free, less processed, whole-foods based dishes with others. Tasty samples of recipes demonstrated will be shared.

This week's musical entertainment will be provided by a duet, Allen Markowski and Barbara Jo Bloomquist, with their selections of original ballads and good-time favorites.

Market goers also can enjoy the tasty delights of shishkabobs and home-baked goods (sweet potato pie) freshly prepared by the Power House Community Church of Clearlake.

Roger Hue De LaRoque displays his organic heirloom tomatoes

A benefit for Community Radio Station KPFZ 88.1FM, tickets for the Singer Songwriter Festival are $14 general and $11 for KPFZ members.

Scheduled to start at 2 pm, the performers are: Clayton Andrade, Michael Barrish, Jazz London, Melissa Margrave, Allen Markowsky, Tom Nixon, Raymond McClane, Melody Staats, Carl Stewart, Mary Swehla, Mike Wilhelm, Jim Williams and Hilary Wilt. Soper-Reese Community Theatre is located at 275 S. Main St., Lakeport. For more info: www.SoperReesetheatre.com.

A smile will get you into the Blue Wing Saloon & Cafe Blue Monday Blues for some rockin' rhythm and blues by Mike Wilhelm and his Hired. Part of the Tallman Hotel complex, the Blue Wing is located at 9520 Main St., Upper Lake.

Reservations are recommended for parties of 6 or more. The telephone is 707-275-2233 and the website is www.BlueWingSaloon.com.

Wilhelm and Hired Guns appear on the Circle Stage at the Lake County Fair on Friday at 4:30, 6:30 and 8 pm. The fairgrounds are at 401 Martin St., Lakeport. Full information is at www.lakecountyfair.com.

On Sunday, Wilhelm will play solo on the Circle Stage at 5 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 9 pm.

For further information about Mike Wilhelm visit http://mike-wilhelm.com.

SACRAMENTO – This week The California Senate voted 23-13 to approve SB 1142, legislation by North Coast State Senator Patricia Wiggins (D – Santa Rosa) to help preserve working farmlands and open space.

Also known as the California Farmland Conservancy Program Act, SB 1142 creates a relief stream of funding for critical farm and ranchland habitats.

Since it has also been approved by members of the State Assembly, the Wiggins measure will soon be on its way to the desk of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for his signature or veto.

Wiggins introduced SB 1142 in February in the midst of growing concern over the viability of the state’s Williamson Act program, which had for more than four decades served as a consistent source of a financial support for California farmers committed to maintaining their lands in agricultural production.

Since 1965, the state’s general fund has paid counties and cities about $40 million a year to make up for the property tax revenues lost because of lowered assessments. In addition, the general fund automatically backfills school districts for lost property taxes. However, in the revised budget proposal that Governor Schwarzenegger unveiled in May, Williamson Act funding would be reduced to $1000 for the entire state.

“California’s farmers and ranchers are struggling to keep their lands in active agriculture production and face many challenges, including the possible loss of their Williamson Act contracts,” Wiggins said. “Ensuring that these lands continue to produce food for Californians and the nation simultaneously provides many other public benefits, including support for rural economies, water supply and quality, flood control, wildlife, scenic vistas and our agricultural heritage.”

The California Department of Conservation’s Farmland Conservancy Program provides grants to purchase conservation easements from willing landowners. This program keeps lands in private ownership while the owners voluntarily avoid development for anything but agricultural production.

However, state law prohibits the DOC from imposing any restrictions on any commercial agricultural activities, making it difficult for the state to help landowners with properties that could be used for multiple or seasonal purposes, such as flood corridors or wildlife habitat.

SB 1142 gives the DOC flexibility to work with willing landowners by using other existing funding as grants to protect riparian zones, wildlife habitat or flood corridors while simultaneously keeping the farmed portions in agricultural use.

The Farm, Ranch and Watershed Fund established by the Wiggins bill would also be managed by the DOC, which would seek its own grants for the program. Money would come from existing bonds for soil, water and farmland conservation, but no new taxes would be required. Non-profits could also be involved, via cost-sharing, in the identification of critical habitats and other joint projects.

In Sonoma, Napa, and Solano counties alone, almost 100,000 acres of farmland has been lost since 1984. The biggest loss was in grasslands, which are good for livestock, wildlife, and watershed protection.

“SB 1142 is good government,” Wiggins said. “It gives farmers the ability to tap into an existing funding stream to protect the farms from which we all benefit. And it makes better use of tax dollars through carefully evaluated easements to protect critical habitats and watersheds.

“Better yet,” she added, “it gives the state the power to derive money from some non-tax sources for farm and ranch protection so that conservation is not annually subject to the state’s changing budget.”

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The next HazMobile event will be held on Friday, Sept. 17, and Saturday, Sept. 18, at Kelseyville Lumber, 3555 N. Main St.

Hours will be from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. Events may be canceled due to rain.

Households can bring up to 15 gallons of toxic items free of charge. A charge will be made for amounts above 15 gallons.

Items that are accepted include paint, solvents, fuels, 5-gallon propane tanks, pool chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, dry cell batteries, fluorescent light tubes (up to 60 feet free) and other toxins that cannot be put in the trash.

Excluded items that cannot be accepted are televisions, computer monitors, ammunition, explosives, radioactive materials or infectious wastes. To learn how and where to properly dispose these items, please contact the Public Services Office at 707-263-1980.

This is a residential service. Charges apply to businesses; phone 707-468-9786 for more information and business appointments.

Free recycled paint is available at Lake County Waste Solution Transfer Station at 230 Soda Bay Road in Lakeport on first come, first served basis in 5-gallon containers, of tan, brown, gray and pink.

Used oil can be recycled year round at a number of sites in the county.

The HazMobile program is subsidized by the Lake County Public Services Department Solid Waste Division.

If you have any questions regarding this or any of Lake County’s Solid Waste programs, please call 707-262-1760 or the Hot Line number at 707-263-1980, for a list of upcoming HazMobile events please visit our Web site at www.recycling.co.lake.ca.us.

CDFA’s first choice for treatment is fruit removal from backyard grapevines within 400 meters of where EGVM was found.

If property owners would prefer otherwise, the second choice would be ground treatment with the organic compound Bt, or bacillus thuringiensis, a naturally-occurring extract from bacteria.

Either option will help to eradicate EGVM on the properties and greatly reduce the risk of spread to commercial vineyards.

Approximately 1,000 properties are within the designated treatment areas. Some contain grapevines, which are the only EGVM host plant that will be treated.

Fruit removal activities are scheduled to begin in the Ukiah area next week. An informational open house to discuss the program is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 31, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., at the Alex Rorabaugh Center, 1640 S. State St., Ukiah, Calif.

The European grapevine moth has been detected in eight California counties: Fresno, Merced, Monterey, Napa, San Joaquin, Sonoma, Solano and Mendocino. The pest is known to occur in southern Asia, Japan, Europe, North Africa, Anatolia, the Caucasus and in South America. It primarily damages grapes, but has also been known to feed on other crops and plants.

The EGVM larvae, not the adult moths, are responsible for the damage to grapes. Larvae that emerge early in the spring feed on grape bud clusters or flowers and spin webbing around them before pupating inside the web or under a rolled leaf.

If heavy flower damage occurs during this first generation, the affected flowers will fail to develop and yield will be reduced.

Second-generation larvae chew into the grapes to feed before pupating in the clusters or in leaves.

Larvae of the third generation – the most damaging – feed on multiple ripening grapes and expose them to further damage from fungal development and rot. These larvae overwinter as pupae in protected areas such as under bark, and emerge as adults the following spring.

SANTA ROSA, Calif. – Jerry Brown, the Democratic nominee for governor will be making a rare appearance in Northern California on Wednesday, Aug. 25.

The event will take place from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building, 1351 Maple Ave., Santa Rosa.

Everyone is welcome. A $20 donation will be accepted.

Several people from Lake County plan to attend including Laurel Groshong and Paula Mune from Lakeport; Shirley Howland, Clearlake; Carol Bettencourt, and John and Kay Hancock, Lucerne; Richard Hoyt and Becky Curry, Kelseyville; Wanda Quitiquit and Louis Rigod, Nice; and Wanda Harris, Hidden Valley Lake.

Carpools are being organized and anyone wishing to attend the event can contact Wanda Harris at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 707-987-9027 to join the carpool.

The event is being sponsored by the Sonoma Democratic Party, The No Name Women’s Club and Latino Democratic and several other groups in Sonoma County.

For more information visit Jerry Brown’s campaign Web site at http://jerrybrown.org.