Nine-year-old J.J. Paris will light the California Capitol Christmas tree on Dec. 2 with Gov. Jerry Brown and First Lady Anne Gust Brown in Sacramento.
Ornaments made by Paris and his fourth-grade    classmates  at Curtis Creek Elementary School will hang on  the 61-foot-tall white fir from Latour Demonstration State Forest near Redding in Shasta County.
Paris said during an interview last week that he is excited to light the Capitol tree. He is the first child from Tuolumne County to help light the state tree. Read more.

Giving Tuesday is a day when individuals, families, corporations, companies and organizations around the world give back to their communities using social media.

Giving Tuesday uses social media to bring change to communities in need while bringing together nonprofit organizations, civic organizations, businesses and families to encourage small acts of kindness.

Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration. Observed on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving (in the U.S.) and the widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday kicks off the charitable season, when many focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving.

Since its inaugural year in 2012, Giving Tuesday has become a movement that celebrates and supports giving and philanthropy with events throughout the year and a growing catalog of resources. Be Part of Giving Tuesday and register today by clicking here.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said new guidance clarifying that IEP goals should align with grade-level standards will help ensure that students with disabilities are prepared for college and career. (U.S. Department of Education/Flickr)
Beyond offering a free appropriate public education, individualized education programs for students with disabilities should meet grade-level requirements, federal education officials say. Read more.

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month, and everyone in the country should take a few minutes to learn about this growing disease and its effect on our health, communities and economics.

I know first-hand the difficulties living with this horrible disease can cause. Read more.

Napa County suffers from a lack of beds for people in psychiatric crisis, leading some of its most vulnerable citizens with long waits and fewer mental health care options.

“We don’t have enough beds for our population; that’s the bottom line,” said Jill Kinney, a spokeswoman for St. Helena Hospital. Read more.

NBRC is in the set-up and testing phase of the Everbridge Mass Notification System. Designed to provide means for mass communications to NBRC’s entire service provider community in the event of a natural disaster or other regional emergency situation, NBRC will be testing Everbridge in January. Click here to learn more about Everbridge.

In this Friday, Oct. 30, 2015 photo, 13-year-old chef Chase Bailey poses for photos in the kitchen in Irvine, Calif. Diagnosed with autism at 2, Bailey’s mother feared her son would never have a normal childhood. Indeed, he hasn’t: The 13-year-old has his own cooking show featuring celebrity chefs and a legion of followers. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) The Associated Press. Read more.