UKIAH
Free energy efficiency kits to be distributed to Lake County senior center clients
Northern Rural Energy Network (NREN), a program of the Lake Area Planning Council (LAPC), launched recently in Lake County as a direct response to the unique issues and urgent needs of underrepresented rural California energy customers. NREN is part of a statewide initiative of regional energy networks focused on helping communities address rising utility costs through the adoption of energy efficiency programs targeted at rural customers.
NREN Lake is partnering with senior centers throughout Lake County this summer to provide free Energy Efficiency Kits to their clients during regularly scheduled luncheons. These Energy Efficiency kits contain about $100 worth of products such as LED bulbs, a smart power strip, water aerators, rope caulking, window film and more to help seniors start saving energy at home right away. (Lake County PG&E ratepayers are eligible for the free kits and can be requested via the NREN website at: https://northernren.org/energy-efficiency-kits/)
Seniors will also be able to sign up for a free Home Energy Assessment at the luncheons. These assessments will be conducted over the phone starting in August and will provide a free report with specific energy efficiency solutions and opportunities tailored to their homes and budgets to save energy and cut their utility bills. (Lake County ratepayers are eligible for a Free Home Energy Assessment and can be requested by emailing Ryan O’Neill Roneill@dbcteam.net.)
“These kits are a great way to start saving energy and reduce utility bills. For example, the kits contain 8 LED bulbs. Just replacing 8 light bulbs with LEDs can save a customer up to $200 a year on average,” said Lisa Davey-Bates, Executive Director of the Lake Area Planning Council (LAPC). “We look forward to working with the Senior Centers and serving their clients, some of the hardest hit when it comes to rising utility bills.”
Schedule of Events:
Lakeport Senior Center – Wednesday, June 25 11 to 1 p.m.
Clearlake Senior Center – Tuesday, July 1 10 to noon
Middletown Senior Center – Tuesday, July 15 11 to 1 p.m.
Developed by rural agencies and organizations for rural communities, NREN delivers innovative approaches to reduce energy use and expand the adoption of energy-saving resources across Northern California’s vast rural regions.
More information on NREN’s services can be found at NorthernREN.org.
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WASHINGTON
Padilla condemns Trump’s militarization of Los Angeles, extreme immigration enforcement on Face the Nation, State of the Union
In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, joined CBS’ “Face the Nation” and CNN’s “State of the Union” to discuss the unprecedented militarization of Los Angeles and his forcible removal from Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s press conference, where he was thrown to the ground and handcuffed after simply trying to ask a question. Padilla condemned the Trump Administration’s cruel immigration enforcement operations in Los Angeles, utilizing unnecessary and excessive actions to repeatedly escalate tensions across the region.
Senator Padilla set the record straight against blatant Republican disinformation on his forcible removal, highlighting that he was already in the high-security building for a scheduled oversight meeting with the general in charge of the military presence in Los Angeles and was escorted into the briefing room by law enforcement.
On his attempt to ask Secretary Noem a question:
“The reason I was at the press conference, I was at a scheduled briefing with representatives of Northern Command just a couple doors down the hall in the same federal building when I learned of the press conference, my briefing delayed because the folks I was supposed to meet with were at that press conference. So I asked if we could listen in. I was escorted over, and that’s what I was doing.”
“When I had the audacity to try to ask a question, as a Senator, of a cabinet secretary, that’s what happened. And you saw the response, everybody’s seen the video. It wasn’t about me, right? If that’s how this Administration responds to a Senator with a question, don’t just imagine what they’re capable of, but what they are doing when the cameras are not there, to people without a title like United States Senator, that cruel disrespectful treatment of so many people who deserve much better.”
On the unprecedented deployment of military personnel to Los Angeles and the Trump Administration’s broken promise to target violent criminals:
“Among other things, their justification for the federalization of the National Guard, not only not necessary, but counterproductive as we’ve seen this last week in Los Angeles.”
“And also just truth. You know, for all the talk about the focus and targeting of violent criminals, if that’s all the Trump Administration was doing, there would be no debate. There is no disagreement on that. But as you’re hearing more and more stories of undocumented, long-term residents of the United States who are otherwise law abiding, working hard, paying taxes, raising families and, frankly, working in jobs that under the first Trump Administration, when the COVID pandemic hit, were deemed essential. Workers in restaurants, in agricultural fields, in health care, construction, etc. — that’s who’s being targeted now, and that’s why there’s so much fear and terror in communities, not just in Los Angeles, but throughout the country.”
Video of Senator Padilla’s full “Face the Nation” interview is available online at https://youtu.be/94FI77J9Rpg?si=vdRiJL9rnyfZWnMy
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