News

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – The California Department of Water Resources on Wednesday offered an update on operations at the Lake Oroville spillways.

On Sunday DWR completed the transition from incident emergency response to incident emergency recovery at the damaged spillways.
 
Officials said emergency recovery includes construction of the main spillway and the emergency spillway throughout the summer and fall.

DWR reported that the main spillway will be operational by Nov. 1 to accommodate flows from winter storms.

Additional work will begin again in 2018 to complete reconstruction of both spillways, the agency said.

DWR said it will begin ramping down outflows from the main spillway on Friday, May 19, at 9 a.m., with outflows expected to stop by Friday afternoon. The gates at the main spillway are closing to accommodate the construction work on the main spillway.
 
“We are making gradual changes to outflows and river levels and will continue to adjust as we balance community concerns, regulatory requirements and Mother Nature,” said acting DWR Director Bill Croyle.
 
DWR said it intends to keep the gates at the main spillway closed for the remainder of the season.
 
Agency officials that, as part of the ongoing site preparation work that is under way – in addition to the upcoming use of the main spillway – some soil and concrete may be dislodged from the spillway structure. This is expected and will not delay construction.

To balance flows in the Feather River, the Hyatt Powerplant flows are expected to ramp up from 5,000 cubic feet per second to 8,100 cubic feet per second at 1 p.m. Friday.
 
Penstock 1 at Hyatt Powerplant is expected to come online after routine and scheduled maintenance early next week. Once Penstock 1 is back in use, Hyatt Powerplant will have the ability to release 13,000 cubic feet per second.

The River Valves Outlet System has the capacity to release an additional 4,000 cubic feet per second should DWR deem it necessary. A contingency plan is in place should reservoir levels require that the main spillway be used once more this spring or summer.
 
The forecast flows downstream in the Feather River will be a gradual transition over four days, beginning at 20,550 cubic feet per second on Friday morning and ramping down to 5,300 cubic feet per second to Sunday, before the outflow is allowed to rise to 9,800 cubic feet per second beginning on Sunday night.

Meantime, Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. – shown in the video above at work at the site on Tuesday – is expected to ramp up construction work on Monday, May 22. DWR said the complete recovery or replacement of the spillways will be done in multiple phases due to the enormity of the project and the time limitations of the construction season.
 
Work has already started on portions of work like road construction and slope stabilization in and around future work areas which needs to be completed regardless of spillway recovery design decisions.
 
The public can watch construction activities through a live feed from two cameras at the site.

Hosted by the California Department of Parks and Recreation, the Lake Oroville State Recreation Area Spillway Live Stream is at www.parks.ca.gov/live/lakeorovillesra_spillway .

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – On Friday, May 5, in Aromas Café at Lake County Campus of Woodland Community College, two student chefs competed in the Future Chefs of Lake County cooking competition.

Joel Atkins and Jessica Bateman-Gonzalez cooked for 90 minutes to prepare a wonderful meal for the judges. 

Atkins prepared southern-style chicken cordon bleu served on yellow grits and Bateman-Gonzalez prepared a Deconstructed Chicken Pozole.

The judges were Chef Jay Marshal from Sysco, Dr. Judy Luchsinger from Lake County Wine Alliance and Dr. Michael White from Woodland Community College. 

They interfaced with the young future chefs, deliberated over the food served to them, and eventually chose the deconstructed chicken pozole that Bateman-Gonzalez had prepared for them as the winner of the competition.

The Culinary Club hosted the competition and the event was both a fundraiser to raise funds for future scholarships as well as a wonderful way to give away scholarships to the contestants.

Bateman-Gonzalez won a $1,000 scholarship and Atkins won a $500 scholarship.

The guests who attended the competition were delighted with local wines paired with exquisite food prepared by the culinary arts students. 

A flight of wine, 3 ounces each, was served to those in attendance. The wines that were donated for the event came from Six Sigma who donated a Sauvignon Blanc, Gregory Graham who donated a Grenache, and R Vineyards who donated a Reba Red. 

Along with the wine, the students had prepared a Dungeness crab salad canapé, gruyere and duck confi sliders and lacquered pork belly.

To celebrate the end of the competition, the culinary students served a delicious passion fruit curd tartlet and dark chocolate mousse cups paired with a Lady of the Lake Pear Sparkling Wine or a Fults Family Vineyard Blanc de Blanc.

The event highlighted all that the students have learned throughout their culinary arts education and the presentation, the food, the service showcased a top quality restaurant atmosphere that is hard to find around the county of Lake.

For those interested in pursuing an education in culinary arts, make sure to apply to Woodland Community College in Clearlake at 15880 Dam Road Extension, call and make an appointment with one of their counselors at 707-995-7900, or find more information about the campus and their programs at http://lcc.yccd.edu .

Summer session starts on June 12 and Fall semester starts on Aug. 14.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake has awarded Melisa Long, RN, with the DAISY Award For Extraordinary Nurses.

Long has been a nurse since 1995, always working in the hospital setting. She has worked in outpatient surgery at St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake since 2009.
 
Long was nominated for the DAISY Award by her many grateful coworkers at St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake.

She is known for her kindness, bright smile and special gift of making each patient feel special and in good hands.

Coworkers comment that Long fills the halls of the hospital with her enthusiastic enjoyment of her calling as a nurse and can often be found kneeling by a wheelchair or sitting by a bedside praying with a patient.
 
“Balancing a patient’s medical needs with their spiritual and emotional care can be a challenge, but Melisa embraces this big goal each day with joy, compassion and a desire to make each patient feel like part of her family,” said Al Hansen, RN, director of the surgery, women’s care and medical/surgical departments.
 
“The DAISY Award is an incredible honor, but I didn’t receive it on my own” said Long. “We have an amazing team here at Adventist Health, and I am blessed to have the opportunity to touch someone’s life every day I go to work.”

Long has worked as a nurse more than two decades, including time in med/surg, ICU, surgery and emergency departments.
 
Long was honored with the DAISY Award on Friday, May 12, as part of Nurses Week and Hospital Week festivities. Staff were treated with Cinnabon cinnamon rolls, a DAISY Award tradition.

Fellow nurse Carolyn Dabney, who serves on the medical/surgical unit, was awarded as the DAISY Award runner-up.

“Carolyn is always kind, always compassionate, and always looking for another way to help her patients feel their best and her fellow nurses do their best,” said Hansen.
 
The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses is organized by the DAISY Foundation.

An acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System, The DAISY Foundation was formed in November 1999 by the family of J. Patrick Barnes who died at age 33 of complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura. The nursing care Barnes received when hospitalized profoundly touched his family, who started the award to say “thank you” to nurses everywhere through a recognition program.
 
St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake’s Hospital and Nurses Week celebration also included a strawberry shortcake feed, massages for staff at various outpatient locations throughout the county and a barbecue catered by the hospital’s dietary services department.

“I appreciate all of our nurses for delivering excellent patient care with kindness and compassion,” said Colleen Assavapisitkul, vice president of patient care and chief nursing officer. “Special recognition such as the DAISY Award allow us to share our gratitude our nurses’ dedication and skills.”

For more information visit www.sthelenahospitalclearlake.org .

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – “Healing – A reality within a play” will be presented in Middletown on Thursday, May 18.

The show will be presented at the community room at the Middletown Library, 21256 Washington St.

Doors open at 6:45 p.m. with the show presented from 7 to 9:15 p.m.

Admission is free for general seating, but donations are greatly appreciated.

“Healing” is an interactive live theatrical production based on a theatrical custom dating back before 400 BC. 

The audience is invited to explore the possibility that, as Baba said, “We are all perfectly poised to learn life’s lessons. All life’s lessons can be learned in softness, gentleness, and loving kindness. Any lessons not learned in softness, gentleness and loving kindness will be compassionately returned until the lessons are loved.”

The play is appropriate for mid-teens and older. Refreshments will be served. 

For more information call 707-295-9458.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The First 5 Lake Commission will hold its next meeting on Wednesday, May 24.

The commission will meet beginning at 2 p.m. in the Round Room of Mendocino Community College, 2565 Parallel Drive in Lakeport.

Items on the agenda include public hearings on the First 5 Strategic Plan, long-range financial plan and the 2017-18 budget.

The commission also will review and approve recommendations from the ad hoc committee for new commissioner appointees.

Other items will be the review and approval of a sublease agreement between Legacy Court and Easter Seals, a funding request from Sutter Lakeside Hospital for their "Baby Box" program and commissioners’ reports.

All those interested in the well being of families and young children are encouraged to attend.

The commission includes Chair Pam Klier, Vice Chair Denise Pomeroy and members Brock Falkenberg, Jeff Smith, Crystal Markytan, Susan Jen and Laurie Daly.

For a complete meeting agenda, visit www.firstfivelake.org .

MENDOCINO NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. – Grindstone Ranger District fire managers are conducting the Alder Springs prescribed fire approximately 16 miles from Elk Creek  this week.

Crews may ignite 20 to 90 acres depending on weather and environmental conditions.

The Alder Springs project is a ridge-based fuel break that follows the ridgeline from the junction of the M3 Road and FH7, past Alder Springs to the Camp Ellendale area. Smoke may be visible from I-5 and surrounding areas.

The goal of this project is to improve forest health, remove hazardous fuels, protect the Alder Springs Community and adjacent cabins, and increase firefighter safety.

Prescribed fires are an essential part of the Mendocino National Forest’s fire management program. They are used to improve forest health, reduce hazardous fuels, restore nutrients and create future fire breaks.

The burns are conducted within a “prescription” that is determined by appropriate fuel moisture, temperature, humidity, wind and ventilation.

The ignition of all prescribed fires is dependent on the availability of personnel and equipment, favorable weather, conditions that minimize smoke impacts as best as possible and California Air Resources Board approval.