SACRAMENTO – California Highway Patrol (CHP) Commissioner Joe Farrow has an important message for citizens of the Golden State who plan to be on the road this holiday season.

We asked S|N|O fans on Facebook to fork over some favorite “make-and-take” holiday appetizers. Here’s how you responded: Warning: do not read on an empty stomach! Reader Amy Beebe makes bacon and cream cheese-studded jalapenos as her “go-to” dish, adding “it’s not restricted to the holidays. They’re always a hit!”

COLUMBIA – A trip back in time to Christmases of long ago is drawing revelers to Columbia State Historic Park. The Park is decorated for the Christmas season and will host a variety of events throughout the month of December. The Columbia City Hotel Restaurant will host the 30th Annual Victorian Feast from Dec. 14 through 16, beginning at 6 ...

Ahwahnee Hotel Presents 86th Yuletide Extravagance – Bracebridge Dinner Is Served YOSEMITE – The annual transformation is set to begin, as adventurous guests from around the world gather to attend the Bracebridge Dinner, celebrated annually at the Ahwahnee hotel since 1927. Beginning Dec. 13, trumpets will blare, voices lift in song and taste buds will tingle as the Bracebridge pageant ...

MADERA COUNTY – With less than two-dozen shopping days left to make this season merry and bright for family and friends, thieves are finding opportunities at every turn to relieve you of your holiday cheer. With the hustle and bustle of shopping, and the chaos of stores and parking lots, there are many times when just a moment of inattention ...

Oakhurst, CA. – The local Hallmark store and ornament collectors donated over $600 worth of the popular decorations to the Children’s Museum of the Sierra for the annual Christmas Tree Auction. The donations came from Dave and Linda Dorsey, owners of Dorsey’s Hallmark in Oakhurst, as well as members of the H.O.L.I.D.A.Y.S. (How Ornament Lovers In Denial All Year Survive) ...

BASS LAKE – All festive party-goers and good-hearted philanthropists are encouraged to attend the 11th Annual Christmas Tree & Online Auction set for Sunday, Dec. 2, at the Bass Lake Event Center, Lakeview Room, at 3 p.m. Bidding has already started online at www.BiddingforGood.com/BGCOakhurst and will continue through Nov. 30, to benefit the Oakhurst Boys & Girls Club.

Five Ways to Thrive This Thanksgiving – ANYTOWN, USA – This is the time of year we gather in America to express our gratitude and bond over turkey and football. Glossy magazines decorate the aisles of overflowing supermarkets, resplendent with cornucopia, while malls stock up on stocking stuffers as Black Friday looms and the season of consumption begins. The juggernaut ...

Yes You Can – Make a diabetic-friendly Thanksgiving dinner You blinked, and it’s here: Thanksgiving, also known as 38 minutes of eating a meal that takes 36 hours to make and 8 hours to digest. When it comes to cooking, in a world of Turducken, nothing seems simple, anymore. Is your turkey free range, organic and college educated? Will you ...