Santa Maria

Highway 101 to see some night closures

Highway 101 in Santa Maria will be closed overnight in both directions in various locations from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., starting Monday.

The closure for overhead sign work will take place between the Highways 101/135 interchange at the north edge of town and Betteravia Road. The project should be done by Thursday.

Motorists will be able to use a detour, with signs spelling out the location.

The work is part of the $30 million, six-lane project, which is now 50 percent complete. The widening project to three lanes each direction should be done by the end of 2008.

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San Luis Obispo

President Ford's son to speak at dinner

Steve Ford, the son of the late President Gerald R. Ford, will be the guest speaker Wednesday at the annual member dinner of the Los Padres Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

The dinner will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Embassy Suites, 333 Madonna Road, San Luis Obispo. Tickets are $150 per person and can be purchased through the Atascadero office of the Los Padres Council of the Boy Scouts. Corporate tables are also available for $1,500.

Ford will discuss growing up in the White House and how his father's involvement in the Boy Scouts of America shaped his adulthood, leadership and later presidency. Gerald R. Ford was the only president to reach the exclusive rank of Eagle in the Boy Scouts program.

The Los Padres Council has been the local council of Boy Scouts of America in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties since 1919.

The local council service center is at 7350 El Camino Real, Suite 201, Atascadero. For more information and to purchase tickets, call 461-4018 or visit www.lpcbsa.org.

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Arroyo Grande

Experts to speak on water at forum Dec. 9

The local chapters of the Sierra Club and the Surfrider Foundation will present “Where's the Water? A Public Forum” at 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9, at the Elm Street Community Center in Arroyo Grande. Admission is free.

During the forum, experts will speak about water use, reuse, desalination and other options to secure reliable water sources, according to a Sierra Club spokesman.

Speakers will include Sarah Corbin, Heather Cooley and Conner Everts, Southern California Watershed Alliance executive director and chair of Public Officials for Water and Environmental Reform, known as POWER.

Everts is also a member of the CALFED Water Efficiency, Reclamation and Desal Subcommittee and has helped draft state and federal legislation on desalination, water quality and subsidies, according to the Sierra Club.

Cooley is a senior research associate in the Water and Sustainability Program of the Pacific Institute, an independent nonprofit organization providing research and policy analysis on sustainable development.

Corbin is Central California regional manager for Surfrider Foundation and a participant in the Monterey Regional Water Resource Collaborative that's working to develop a regional water supply project in Monterey County.

The Elm Street Community Center is at 1221 Ash St. For more information, call 543-8717.

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Arroyo Grande

Library combines book sale, concert

Friends of the South County Library volunteers will hold the annual December book sale at the Arroyo Grande Library from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, with a free holiday concert at 2 p.m.

Fiction, nonfiction and children's books, audiobooks, DVDs, videos and special collectibles will be available for purchase during the sale, organizers said.

The sale is a fundraiser, and all proceeds will be used for library needs, according to organizers.

Also at 2 p.m., Dolce Celli (Sweet Cellos) will perform a free concert inside the library, featuring classical, ethnic and holiday music.

The Arroyo Grande Library is located at 800 W. Branch St. For more information, call 473-7161.

- From staff report