CLEARLAKE
Soroptimist Club to present Live Your Dream Awards
Clear Lake Soroptimists are hosting a special lunch for two women who will receive “Live Your Dream” program awards.
The public is invited to join Soroptimist members at the March 26 event where the women will be acknowledged and rewarded for their progress in meeting their educational goals. Each award recipient will receive $2,000.
During the awards lunch, guests will meet the Lake County recipients and learn about their challenges, goals, and progress. “It is always inspiring to hear how these amazing women, despite overwhelming challenges, work their way out of hardship through education,” said Committee Chair AnnMarie Pleskaczewski. “I’m pleased we can open the awards lunch to community supporters.”
The awards lunch will be held at Aromas Restaurant & Café on the Lake County Campus of Woodland Community College. A 3-course plated lunch will be served including a Blue Zone salad with honey crisp apple; Chicken Marsala, rice pilaf and vegetables; and a special dessert by former Live Your Dream recipient, Chef Jenn.
Aromas Restaurant & Café is located at 15880 Dam Road, Building 200 in Clearlake. Lunch is $20 per person; to reserve a seat, call Wendy at 510-303-1414 by March 19.
The Live Your Dream program provides women with the resources they need to improve their education, skills, and employment prospects. For more information about the program call or text Olga at 916-849-8170 and visit Soroptimist International of Clear Lake on Facebook.
—Submitted
SACRAMENTO
New leadership members announced by State Small Business Group
California’s largest small business association today announced a new vice-chair of its leadership council and chair of its PAC committee.
Beth Booth, co-owner, along with her husband, Marshall, of Spaces Renewed, a residential design-and-build firm in Oceanside (San Diego County), will serve as vice chair of the California Leadership Council of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). Last year, Booth journeyed to Washington D.C. to help lobby for keeping the 20% Small Business Deduction from expiring at the end of 2025. Booth has been an NFIB member since 2018 and can be reached at 760-637-2175, bbooth@spacesrenewed.com.
Paul Cramer, president and COO of Star Milling in Perris (Riverside County), will take over as chairman of NFIB California’s PAC committee. In that role, he will direct NFIB California’s endorsements for the legislature and state constitutional offices. Star Milling manufactures pet and animal food which is distributed on the West Coast, Hawaii, and exported to many countries in the Pacific Rim and Mexico. During the pandemic and continuing since, Cramer has been NFIB’s go-to source on supply-chain disruptions. Cramer has been an NFIB member since 2011 and can be reached at 951-657-3143, paul_cramer@starmilling.com.
Max A. Ordonez of Whittier (Los Angeles County) will continue to serve as chairman of NFIB California’s Leadership Council, which consists of 18 small business owners representing 13,000 NFIB members from all corners of the state. Ordonez is president and CEO of Whittier-based IMM Management, a fractional CFO firm. He has been an NFIB member since 2007 and can be reached at 714-600-5692, maxordon@gmail.com.
“We are very thankful to have Beth Booth and Paul Cramer agree to take on new roles in our association,” said John Kabateck, state director for NFIB in California. “Together with Max Ordonez, we have a formidable team of small business policy advocates whose work will benefit every Main Street enterprise in the state.”
Keep up with the latest California small-business news at www.nfib.com. Follow us on X @NFIB_CA and on Facebook @NFIB.CA.
—Submitted
WASHINGTON
Padilla, Welch continue to push FEMA for answers on disaster victim data, mass firings, funding freezes
U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) led nine of their colleagues in calling on Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) leadership to respond to unanswered questions about President Trump and Elon Musk’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) and its reported access to sensitive disaster victim data. The Senators also demanded answers about how FEMA’s firing of hundreds of personnel and freezing of certain critical grants will hamper the agency’s capacity to mitigate and quickly respond to future disasters.
Senators Padilla and Welch previously led their colleagues in demanding details on who has been granted access to victim data, the extent of access to that data, and FEMA’s protocols for ensuring Americans’ data is not misused, but FEMA failed to respond.
“Our constituents—rebuilding from severe flooding in Vermont, Minnesota, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, as well as catastrophic wildfires in Hawai’i, New Mexico, Oregon, and California—have experienced first-hand the shortcomings of the federal approach to disaster resilience and recovery,” wrote the Senators. “Instead of addressing their needs and concerns, the Trump Administration has taken a sledgehammer to the foundation of FEMA. We agree FEMA needs fixing, but effective reform requires thoughtful and precise solutions, not brute force and arbitrary terminations.”
“These apparent freezes have left frontline organizations in limbo and our communities in jeopardy. The Administration’s destructive approach will not assist the disaster-impacted communities across the country hoping to rebuild and move forward,” continued the Senators. “To the contrary, it will leave the nation more vulnerable to future disasters and less prepared to pick up the pieces when the dust settles.”
The Senators also criticized FEMA’s firings of over 200 probationary employees despite longstanding serious staffing shortages, and they called out the lack of evidence surrounding the Administration’s claim that only “non-mission critical” personnel were impacted. The Senators warned that “these firings will undermine federal disaster response and hamper FEMA’s ability to provide critical support to our constituents.”
Senators Padilla and Welch were joined by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
In their letter, the Senators requested prompt responses to the questions posed in their previous inquiry, as well as responses to the following questions regarding reports of mass firings and funding freezes at FEMA.
—Sumbitted
