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- Written by: California Department of Insurance
California is now the fourth largest insurance market in the world and remains the largest insurance market in the United States.
"As the regulator of the largest insurance market in the nation, I am committed to protecting consumers and making sure they have access to a healthy insurance market offering products to meet consumer and business needs," said Jones.
"Insurance is the one product that touches our lives from the moment we are born to beyond our last breath,” he said. “Whether it is health, auto, home, business, workers' compensation, disability or life, insurance is an integral part of our lives-we rely on it to protect ourselves, our families, our assets and our businesses. Insurance provides financial protection and peace of mind for millions of Californians."
In California, there are more than 24 classes of insurance, sold by more than 1,300 companies.
More than 410,000 agents, brokers, adjusters, and business entities are licensed to sell insurance in the state.
An earlier version of this article stated that California is the third-largest insurance market in the United States, but the California Department of Insurance has since reported that it is in fact the fourth largest.
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- Written by: Editor
Distilleries can register at http://cmsfs.fairmanager.com/default.aspx.
The CCSC helps promote the craft distillers that are producing the finest quality artisan spirits inside and outside of California.
The competition welcomes craft distillers from anywhere in the United States, offering an additional division for craft spirits produced outside of the state.
Chief Judge Tim McDonald has compiled an elite team of judges, including industry leaders and international journalists, Michael Cervin, wine and spirits journalist, Darrell Corti, food and beverage specialist and grocer of Corti Brothers Market in Sacramento, and Traci Dutton, from the Culinary Institute of America.
“The purpose of the California Craft Spirits Competition is to promote the quality and diversity of craft spirits being produced in the area, as well as nationwide, and educate consumers on the increasingly expanding industry of artisan spirits that are on the market,” says Mid-State Fair CEO Michael Bradley.
Discounted early-bird registration ends Friday, June 1, with an entry cost of $80 per spirit. Then registration increases to $90 per spirit and closes Friday, June 8. The competition and judging takes place June 19 and 20 in Paso Robles.
Distilleries who participate in the competition are invited to be a part of the Get Crafty Mixologist Competition at the California Mid-State Fair on Sunday, July 22.
Mixologists, restaurants and/or bars will partner with a winning spirit from the California Craft Spirits Competition to create a cocktail of his/her choice. Cocktails are featured in a two-hour festival tasting. The competition is from 3:30 to 5 p.m., and the public, ticketed tasting is from 5 to 7 p.m.
Enrollment has also begun for the Home Winemakers Competition, the Central Coast Wine Competition and the Central Coast Vinegar Competition.
All the competitions are returning with a whole new look in 2018. To update the design – and provide winning entries with a more visually appealing medal – all the competitions are boasting new logo themes.
To enroll in the California Craft Spirits Competition, or for more information on the Central Coast Wine Competition, Home Winemakers Competition, or Central Coast Vinegar Competition, please visit http://cmsfs.fairmanager.com.
The 2018 California Mid-State Fair runs July 18 – 29, and this year’s theme is “Ole, It’s Fiesta Time!”
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LAKEPORT, Calif. – A new Internet service provider launched on March 1 in Lake County and has begun serving the Big Valley area surrounding their offices near Lampson Airfield including downtown Kelseyville, Finley, and areas of south Lakeport and will provide reliable high-speed broadband Internet service throughout Lake County in the coming months.
Lake County Broadband Solutions, or LCBS, which is staffed, funded, and operated by residents who live and work in Lake County, began connecting businesses and residents in the Big Valley area to true high-speed broadband internet with no data caps and no contracts at the first of March.
With the capacity to serve hundreds more customers in the Big Valley geographic area today, LCBS encourages residents needing true high-speed internet to contact them and schedule site survey.
“Our only choice was a satellite-based internet service because we can’t get cable or DSL,” said one of the first LCBS customers who lives near Lampson Airfield. “Our satellite internet had slow speeds and a data cap that we blew through in a few days. Now, thanks to LCBS, everyone in my family can be connected to wifi, at the same time (even our daughter, who constantly streams videos), with no problems whatsoever. We love your service.”
LCBS deploys fiber-fast “terrestrial wireless point-to-point” technology enabling low-latency, high-speed broadband internet service by connecting homes and businesses to hilltop relays without incurring the high cost of digging miles of trenches for cable or digital subscriber line (DSL/phone lines).
To connect customers, a small (12 to 15 inch) outdoor antenna CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) with line-of-sight to a nearby relay station is installed then connected via cable to a small Power over Ethernet wifi gateway inside.
Residents and business customers in Lake County now will have an affordable option for fast, local, and reliable service that gives them the ability to utilize internet-based technologies such as online distance learning for college courses or homeschooling, streaming video services such as Netflix, Hulu, and more, VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol), place real-time video calls to family and businesses, upload and share video and photos, subscribe to online backup service, use live and interactive gaming networks like xBox and PlayStation, have reliable service to process credit cards, and provide wifi hotspots to customers - all without data caps or contracts.
Customers purchase their own equipment, then pay for the service plan that meets their needs. LCBS even offers a “back-up” plan, ideal for businesses that want redundancy or vacation homes.
Additionally, a limited number of households on a tight budget with students, veterans or seniors and who qualify and receive CalFresh, a state-run program for low-income people meeting federal income eligibility rules that want to add to their budget to put healthy and nutritious food on the table, can apply for a reduced-rate plan.
LCBS was formed in 2017 due to the continued frustration of the unreliability and lack of true high-speed broadband Internet service (defined at the federal level as 25mbps down and 3mbps up) that continues in so many areas of Lake County.
Business and community leaders approached Andy Nester, who for decades had owned and operated wireless internet service provider (WISP) companies in other parts of the United States (but who now lives here), to start a WISP focused on supporting the needs of Lake County residents and businesses
He enlisted the assistance of Terre Logsdon, who worked for years to address this lack of internet access in Lake County, and LCBS was formed in 2017.
“In 1996, I started one of the first WISPs in the United States using old TV licensed frequencies broadcast from Black Mountain in Las Vegas, NeV. After expanding to several more sites around the U.S., we built a network in the rural and hilly area of Northeast Pennsylvania, and provided a secure network to one of the largest rural health care providers in the country,” explained Nester. “I am honored to bring a better, faster, and more reliable locally-based internet service to my home in Lake County.”
LCBS also recently purchased a small WISP serving Spring Valley, and will migrate those customers to the LCBS network as soon as possible, but is first focusing on the Big Valley area around their offices at the Work Right Building by Lampson Airfield outside of Lakeport.
The company now has the capacity to serve customers in the Big Valley area with service plans that include no data caps, no contracts, and high up and download speeds.
Logsdon, LCBS’ chief operating officer, said local businesses who have trouble running credit cards can say goodbye to the bottlenecks that have been choking business.
“Screaming fast internet is a prerequisite for successful business, online gaming, and access to breaking news,” she said. “Lake County deserves the best and is finally getting it.”
“If you live or work in downtown Kelseyville, Finley, south of Lakeport, and need and want fast, local, and reliable internet service, starting at 40mbps down and 20mbps up, contact us today,” said Logsdon. “If you are in North Lakeport, Upper Lake, Nice, or Lucerne we’ll be serving those areas very soon. Each month or so, we’ll expand to another area to eventually cover all areas of Lake County.”
She added, “I am optimistic about the potential this offers the county itself as telecommuters who depend on Internet speed will now be able to buy homes and work from them – wherever that is in Lake County. This should increase the tax base and the domino effect is immeasurable. This has the potential to improve school funding, increase funding for local community projects, and help out in a county dramatically affected by destructive wildfires and flooding in the past few years.”
Because the technology LCBS deploys requires line-of-site to transmit the very low-power signals, there are some homes and locations that will require additional relay points – which may mean a neighbors’ rooftop or hilltop – to get service to their home.
“If we can’t get to you today, we’ll get to you as soon as we can - even faster if you can get your neighbor signed up as well,” Logsdon explained.
To request service, go to the LCBS Web site at www.lcbs.co or www.lakecountybroadbandsolutions.com, click on any of the “Get Connected Now” buttons, and fill out the information that will provide LCBS with a preliminary site evaluation and put your address on the deployment map for service.
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- Written by: Editor
SACRAMENTO – State Sen. Bill Dodd’s proposal to improve public safety during power outages by requiring newly sold or installed garage door motors to be equipped with backup batteries on Tuesday cleared a key committee.
The bill comes in the wake of the devastating October wildfires that left many evacuees and victims unable to open their garage doors to flee the flames. The remains of at least five victims were found where the garages once stood.
“We absolutely cannot allow something like this, that is so easily corrected, to happen again,” said Sen. Dodd, D-Napa. “My bill requiring garage doors to have backup batteries will ensure no one is left vulnerable in the event of a future power failure during such a calamity.”
The senator is personally aware of the peril posed by power failures in the face of emergencies. He was forced to evacuate his own Napa home the night of the fires and could not open his heavy wooden garage door because power was out in his neighborhood.
While garage door motors can be disconnected and opened manually, many people, especially seniors, find it difficult or impossible to do so.
“Most people don’t think about this until it is too late,” Dodd said. “My goal with this bill is to raise awareness and give people the security of a battery backup.”
Senate Bill 969 cleared the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee Tuesday afternoon with overwhelming support. It heads next to the Senate Judiciary committee and later, a full house vote.
Battery backups are currently available for many models of existing garage door openers and are relatively inexpensive. There are also garage doors openers on the market with built-in battery backups. Senator Dodd’s bill would ensure that going forward garage doors sold or installed in California are coupled with battery backups.
The bill is supported the Consumer Federation of California. It is co-authored by Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters.
“The tragic lesson of the recent fires is that we need to have backup systems so residents are not trapped,” said Richard Holober, executive director of the statewide consumer group. “This is an important measure that will protect people when the power goes out.”
Residents who experienced firsthand the terror of being trapped in the garages while trying to evacuate the approaching firestorms applauded its advancement. Santa Rosa resident Cheryl Diehm, who was stuck in her Oakmont garage as flames approached, testified it was much-needed.
“This bill will go a long way to helping people in California to be better able to survive any future natural disasters,” said Diehm, whose home was ultimately spared by shifting winds.
Dodd represents the Third Senate District, which includes all or portions of Solano, Napa, Sonoma, Yolo, Contra Costa and Sacramento counties. Visit www.sen.ca.gov/dodd.