Business News
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Richard Schmid, a beekeeper from Homeland, replaces Scott Hudson in serving District 2, representing Farm Bureau members in Inyo-Mono, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Schmid is the past president and a longtime member of Riverside County Farm Bureau. He has served on the California Farm Bureau Rural Health and Safety Committee for many years.
Steve Kafka, a forester from Avery, replaces Paul Sanguinetti in serving District 12, representing Farm Bureau members in Calaveras and San Joaquin counties. Kafka is a graduate of Leadership Farm Bureau, a longtime member and chairman of the Forestry/Public Lands Committee, and past president and a longtime board member of Calaveras County Farm Bureau.
Martin Spannaus, a hay farmer and cattle rancher from Corning, replaces Jim Morris in serving District 20, representing Farm Bureau members in Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama and Trinity counties. He is a past president and current board member of Tehama County Farm Bureau.
Each will serve two-year terms.
Daniel Jones of Dixon was elected to a one-year term as chair of the Young Farmers & Ranchers State Committee. He is a member of the American Farm Bureau YF&R Committee, a Leadership Farm Bureau graduate and a member of Solano County Farm Bureau. He works full time as an insurance adjuster and raises cattle, almonds, hay and olives.
Re-elected to two-year terms on the California Farm Bureau board were Kevin Merrill of Los Alamos in District 4 (Santa Barbara and Ventura counties); Roger Everett of Porterville in District 6 (Tulare County); April England of Hollister in District 8 (Monterey, San Benito and San Luis Obispo counties); Jan Garrod of Saratoga in District 10 (Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Francisco and San Mateo counties); Joe Fischer of Auburn in District 14 (Amador, El Dorado, Placer and Sacramento counties); Garrett Driver of Woodland in District 16 (Colusa, Glenn and Yolo counties); and Daniel Suenram of Kelseyville in District 18 (Lake and Mendocino counties).
California Farm Bureau President Shannon Douglass and First Vice President Shaun Crook were elected to serve as delegates at next month’s American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention in San Antonio. Second Vice President Ron Peterson and Mary Lou Coffelt of Hollister, San Benito County, were elected to serve as alternate delegates.
The California Farm Bureau works to protect family farms and ranches on behalf of more than 26,000 members statewide and as part of a nationwide network of 5.8 million Farm Bureau members.
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- Written by: Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control
ABC also wants to remind the public to have a plan in place for a sober driver to get everyone home safely.
ABC is partnering with the California Office of Traffic Safety and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, to help keep communities safe through the holiday season.
ABC strongly advises people to remember to designate a sober driver, and to use public transportation or a ride-hailing service.
“We want Californians to be safe this holiday season,” said ABC Director Joseph McCullough. “ABC licensees play a vital role in protecting our communities by carefully checking IDs and preventing customers from being over-served.”
The department will be utilizing education and prevention programs, and enforcement where necessary in collaboration with local law enforcement, licensed establishments, and community stakeholders to help make the holiday season as safe as possible.
Thanksgiving enforcement efforts are funded by a grant from OTS through the NHTSA.
Visit ABC’s website to see how the department protects communities through education, prevention and enforcement programs designed to increase compliance with California’s alcoholic beverage laws.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The fraudsters are “spoofing” the bank’s phone number, in other words, the scammers are using deceptive technology that makes it seem like those calls are coming from the bank by deliberately falsifying the caller ID to disguise their identity.
This scam is targeting customers of many different financial institutions locally and coast to coast.
“We cannot emphasize enough how important it is to NOT give out your personal identifying information over the phone, by text, or email,” said Stacy Starkey, Savings Bank president and CEO. “The bank will never contact you to ask you for that information.”
In recent attempts, the fraudsters are informing the person that they are calling that their account has been the target of fraud and asking them to verify their debit card number, PIN and requests them to verify personal information.
The fraudster will use that information to contact the bank to attempt to impersonate the customer and attempt to gain access to the customer’s accounts to initiate large debit card transactions.
Remember, the bank will never contact customers and ask them to verify a debit card number, PIN or account information.
Savings Bank is advising that if you do receive an unsolicited phone call, text message or email from someone claiming to be from your bank, hang up and call your bank immediately using the phone number on your bank statement, not caller ID.
Your financial security is our top priority. To further protect our customers, Savings Bank has placed increased restrictions on debit card transactions. To reduce your risk, customers are urged to insert their chip card at the checkout terminal when making purchases.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. — The Lake County Winegrape Commission announces the highly anticipated launch of its third year of Lake County Pruning School, which will begin December.
The Pruning School will once again be held in collaboration with Simonit & Sirch, a prestigious grapevine pruning firm that boasts more than 30 years of research and experience and an impressive client list of top vineyards in the United States and Europe.
“This will be the final year of our highly successful three-year program, and we couldn’t be more pleased with the results so far,” said Debra Sommerfield, president of the Lake County Winegrape Commission. “Each year, the sessions have sold out, and growers who have started implementing the technique are excited by what they’re seeing in the vineyards.”
This first-of-its-kind regional collaborative program is offered in both English and Spanish and has expanded over the years with engaging content and topics specifically developed based on participant input, including an advanced pruning course this year focused on head-trained vines.
“Vineyards in California that utilize head-trained systems exhibit remarkable longevity; many vineyards planted around the end of the 19th century are still producing high-quality grapes and wines today,” said Jacopo Miolo, general manager of Simonit & Sirch USA LLC. “The longevity of vines is essential for achieving sustainability in a vineyard.”
“One of the most important things for me is to learn how to extend the life of our vineyards,” said Pilar Luchsinger White, owner of Luchsinger Vineyards and a board member with the Lake County Winegrape Commission. “We have some blocks that are over 20 years old now, and it does require specialized pruning.”
Miolo noted the goal of the advanced pruning course is to enable students who have completed the first two courses to apply their knowledge in a practical setting, following the principles of the Simonit & Sirch pruning methodology to ensure the vine's performance is preserved over time.
Beckstoffer Vineyards has been a proponent of the program since its inception, even dedicating a demonstration vineyard block for the Pruning School’s hands-on instruction each year.
“We’re gaining a lot of knowledge,” said Pedro Rubio, general manager of Beckstoffer Vineyards Red Hills, “and the industry as a whole will benefit from this program.”
Lake County Pruning School is designed for vineyard owners, vineyard supervisors and crew leaders, and experienced vineyard workers.
Each class is limited to 15 students to enable one-on-one learning and an opportunity to exchange ideas and techniques with others in the cohort.
This year’s offerings include three levels of instruction, each with winter and spring components.
The introductory course consists of three days of practical hands-on lessons in the vineyard and provides in-depth fundamental principles applicable to all grapevine training systems: controlled branching, vascular flow, cuts and crown buds, and protective spare wood.
The three-day intermediate course begins with classroom instruction followed by hands-on instruction at two Lake County vineyard sites that allow for the exploration of young vines and cane-pruned vines.
The two-day advanced course builds on the first two courses and focuses solely on head-trained vines.
For eligibility information and to register for Lake County Pruning School, visit https://www.lakecountywinegrape.org/news-events/events/lake-county-pruning-school/.
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