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New Year’s resolutions are a long-standing tradition, and millions of Americans make them each year.
These resolutions represent a chance for a fresh start in the New Year. Whether you want to get rid of a bad habit, change a behavior, or reach a goal, a resolution can be a great way to start the New Year on a positive note and stay motivated.
Everyone’s personal goals and challenges differ, and a resolution could be anything from doing more kind deeds to traveling the globe. However, most people have more in common than you’d think.
Nielsen studies show that common resolutions stay the same every year, and include exercising more, losing weight, saving more, getting organized and spending more time with family and friends.
Unfortunately, resolutions are notoriously difficult to maintain. Around half of Americans make pledges to better themselves every New Year, but not all succeed.
Research by John Norcross of the University of Scranton has shown that although 77 percent of resolvers maintained their pledges for one week, that number dropped to 46 percent after six months and only 19 percent after two years.
Why are resolutions so hard to keep? Psychology Today offers a few reasons: people aren’t truly ready to change and often set unrealistic goals and expectations.
Although being ready to make a change and willing to commit to a resolution varies by person and goal, anyone can improve their chances of succeeding by creating their goals through the SMART framework.
When you’re making your 2017 New Year’s resolutions, think about them in these SMART terms to maximize your odds of change:
· Specific: Define the goal as specifically as possible. Write out your goal with as much specific language as you can. Try to answer: who is involved, what do I want to accomplish, where will it be done, why am I doing it, which constraints will I face, and how will I accomplish it. For example, instead of setting the goal “I want to lose weight,” go for “I want to lose 15 pounds in six months.”
· Measurable: How will you measure your goal? This will keep you accountable and give you feedback. You want to be able to track the progress of your goal. For example, if your goal is “I want to be more social”, decide whether you’ll measure it by social outings you attend, contact you have with friends or new people you meet.
· Attainable: Is the goal reasonable? Make sure the goal isn’t out of reach. It’s OK if it’ll be challenging to achieve, but don’t set yourself up for failure. For example, if your goal is to travel, make the resolution to “visit one new country,” not “visit every continent.”
· Relevant: Is the goal worthwhile, and will it help you meet your long-term goals? Your goal should be consistent with other goals in your life and help you achieve a bigger-picture goal. Your goal should be something that will make you truly happier and better in the long-run. For example, if you generally want to try to save money, spend more time with your family and focus on your career, your resolution shouldn’t be to “take a 6-month solo trip around the globe.”
· Timely: your goal should include a time-limit. Be specific about when you want to complete your goal, it’ll help you establish a sense of urgency and keep you accountable. Instead of deciding that you want to “save $1,000,” decide that you’ll “save $1,000 by June 1.”
By making specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely goals, you’re setting yourself up to succeed in reaching them – no matter what changes you’ll have to make. And that’s truly smart!
Rebecca Harpster works for the Better Business Bureau serving the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern Coastal California.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – A Napa County resident died on Thursday, Jan. 5, from an influenza virus infection, county officials reported.
The individual was an adult under the age of 65 years. Napa County Public Health is investigating the case and will not release additional details about the individual in order to protect the family’s right to privacy and maintain confidentiality.
“This unfortunate case demonstrates that flu can be deadly,” said Dr. Karen Relucio, health officer for Napa County. “Fortunately, people can protect themselves and their family members from getting the flu by getting vaccinated.”
Bay Area public health officials urge vaccination against influenza because flu activity has reached “widespread” levels in California. Areas with most flu activity in the state include the Bay Area.
In addition to this first death, Napa County is seeing a rapid increase in the percentage of patients seen in local emergency departments with influenza like illness.
The flu specimens that have been tested match very closely to the current vaccine strains, which means the vaccine provides good protection against the flu.
The California Department of Public Health recommends the annual flu vaccine for everyone six months of age and older, including pregnant women.
“For many people, the flu can mean feeling miserable for a few days,” said Dr. Relucio. “But for others, including very young children, the elderly, and those with chronic health problems or weakened immune systems, the flu can lead to severe illness or death. Flu causes thousands of deaths per year and is preventable with vaccination.”
In addition to getting the vaccine, public health officials advise people to take the following steps to protect themselves and other from the flu:
· Stay home when you are sick, and stay home until you have been symptom free for 24 hours.
· Cover your cough and sneezes with a tissue; if you do not have a tissue, cough into your elbow.
· Wash your hands often and thoroughly with soap and warm water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
· Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
Flu vaccine is available:
· From doctors or health care providers.
· At pharmacies: visit https://vaccinefinder.org/ to find flu vaccine locations.
· Residents without access to flu vaccine can call 707-253-4270 for a free shot at the Napa County Health and Human Services Agency, Public Health Clinic, 2751 Napa Valley Corporate Drive (Building B, first floor) in Napa. Appointments are available Mondays and Wednesdays. Drop-ins, with no appointment needed, take place from 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and 1 to 4 p.m. Thursdays.
People that develop flu-like symptoms, especially those groups at higher risk for complications, should contact their health care provider immediately. Rapid treatment with antiviral medication may be able to prevent severe illness.
For more information on the flu, visit www.cdc.gov/flu .
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – With forecasters becoming increasingly confident in predictions for a series of incoming heavy winter storms, a flood watch has been issued for a part of Lake County early next week.
The National Weather Service issued the flood watch, which is in effect from 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7, through 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 11.
The agency is warning of the potential for widespread flooding during that time period, both in Lake County and across the region.
Forecasters said they expect flooding of streams and small rivers as the result of an atmospheric river – a narrow corridor of concentrated moisture – expected to arrive this weekend and bring with it a prolonged period of moderate to heavy rain, especially from Sunday through early Monday.
“Precipitation amounts this high have not been seen since December 2005,” the flood watch stated.
Rainfall in Lake County during the weekend storm is expected to range from 3 to 8 inches from Saturday through Monday, according to the National Weather Service.
That intense rain, coupled with already saturated soils from the storms of the past few days, could lead to flooding, forecasters said. Areas impacted by recent wildland fires also could be very susceptible.
A second atmospheric river could also occur on Tuesday and into Wednesday, bringing several more inches of rain, forecasters said.
The specific Lake County forecast shows rain or chances of rain through Thursday, with particularly heavy showers expected on Saturday night, Sunday and Tuesday.
Area residents are urged to use caution when traveling, and to avoid attempting to drive on roadways that are covered by water, as it can lead to life-threatening situations.
For flood preparedness information, area residents are encouraged to visit https://www.ready.gov/floods .
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake Ministerial Association is inviting the community to participate in an “Experience of Homelessness” event scheduled for 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 22, at the association's community warming center.
The center is located at the Lakeport Seventh-day Adventist Church, 1111 Park Way.
Community members are invited to line up outside the center between 5:15 and 6 p.m. to take part in the experience.
The doors will open at 6 p.m. and guests will have the opportunity to simulate the entire process that the center's homeless guests traverse each weeknight – from completing the guest agreement, to intake, showers (procedure, not real showers this night due to time), smoking break, dinner, sleeping on cots (again, not actually sleeping but to be assigned a cot, lie down on assigned cot and feel what it is like), morning chores and checkout to the morning bus.
For practical purposes, the normal process will be condensed into a two-hour segment. However, the association plans to create an experience similar to that of someone who is on the streets and deprived of the basic services, such as a warm and dry safe space, a hot meal, a shower or a bed.
Dinner will be provided free of charge by the warming center.
No regular guests will be in attendance because the center is not open on Sunday nights.
The Lake Ministerial Association Warming Center is operated by volunteers and leaders from over a dozen churches and nonprofits around the county.
Participating churches and organizations include, but are not limited to, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Clearlake Community United Methodist Church, Upper Lake UMC, Middletown United Methodist Church, Kelseyville United Methodist Church, Galilee Lutheran Church, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Recovery Road Ministry in Lucerne, Lucerne Community Center, United Christian Parish, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and others.
Park Place restaurant in Lakeport also has given supplies, as have second graders at Lakeport Elementary School, who have provided both meals and scarves for the center as part of the “Kindness Challenge for Kids.”
Personal items for center guests have been donated from Jesus Christ Fellowship in Middletown, St. Vincent DePaul volunteers and many others. Lake Transit provides bus passes.
The association said the warming center is truly a community project.
An RSVP is not required to participate in the “Experience of Homelessness” but would be appreciated to help them plan for an appropriate amount of food. RSVP to the warming center hotline at 707-349-4914. Calls are answered from 5:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. and messages during other hours will be returned as needed.
For more information about the warming center, the important outreach it continues in 2017, or for ways to volunteer or contribute, visit its Facebook page.
The California Department of Insurance on Friday released the examination findings and settlement agreement concerning the cyber security breach of health insurance giant Anthem Inc., which compromised 78.8 million consumers' records.
Anthem agreed to make a number of enhancements to its information security systems, and also agreed to provide credit protection to all consumers whose information was compromised.
Anthem is paying more than $260 million for security improvements and remedial actions in response to this breach.
California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones was one of seven insurance commissioners leading the national investigation of the Anthem cyber breach.
"This was one of the largest cyber hacks of an insurance company's customer data," said Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones. "Insurers have an obligation to make sure consumers' health and financial information is protected. Insurance commissioners required Anthem to take a series of steps to improve its cybersecurity and provide credit protection for consumers affected by the breach.”
Jones continued, “In this case, our examination team concluded with a significant degree of confidence that the cyber attacker was acting on behalf of a foreign government. Insurers and regulators alone cannot stop foreign government assisted cyber attacks. The United States government needs to take steps to prevent and hold foreign governments and other foreign actors accountable for cyber attacks on insurers, much as the president did in response to Russian government sponsored cyber hacking in our recent presidential election. "
The cyber breach was first discovered by Anthem on Jan. 27, 2015. In early February 2015, Anthem and its affiliates announced the company had suffered a major breach, which compromised 78.8 million consumer records, including records of at least 12 million minors.
An investigation by the insurance commissioners' examination team and a separate internal investigation by Mandiant, an information security firm hired by Anthem, revealed the data breach began on Feb. 18, 2014, when a user within one of Anthem's subsidiaries opened a phishing email containing malicious content.
Opening the email permitted the download of malicious files to the user's computer and allowed hackers to gain remote access to that computer and at least 90 other systems within the Anthem enterprise, including Anthem's data warehouse.
The lead insurance commissioners employed an examination team composed of the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike and Alvarez & Marsal Insurance and Risk Advisory Services LLC. The team focused its investigation on Anthem's pre-breach response preparedness, the company's response adequacy at the time of the breach, and their post-breach response and corrective actions.
The team found Anthem had taken reasonable measures prior to the data breach to protect its data and employed a remediation plan resulting in a rapid and effective response to the breach once it was discovered.
The team noted Anthem's exploitable vulnerabilities, worked with Anthem to develop a plan to address those vulnerabilities, and conducted a penetration test exercise to validate the strength of Anthem's corrective measures. As a result, the team found Anthem's improvements to its cybersecurity protocols and planned improvements were reasonable.
The team determined with a high degree of confidence the identity of the attacker and concluded with a medium degree of confidence that the attacker was acting on behalf of a foreign government. Notably, the exam team also advised that previous attacks associated with this foreign government have not resulted in personal information being transferred to non-state actors.
Within two weeks of discovering the breach and following discussions with the lead states, Anthem hired AllClear ID, a consumer credit protection company, to offer credit protection services to all breach-affected consumers for a two-year period.
Additionally, as a result of this multi-state settlement, Anthem has agreed to offer a credit protection solution to all minors who were under age 18 when the security breach occurred.
Consumers affected by the breach, including parents of affected minors, are encouraged to visit www.AnthemFacts.com to learn more about the credit monitoring and identity theft services that Anthem agreed to offer to individuals.
With temperatures expected to drop to the 20s throughout parts of Northern and Central California this week, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) is urging customers to take safety precautions when heating their homes.
Fuel-burning appliances, such as gas furnaces, stoves, ovens and water heaters, can increase the risk of carbon monoxide, a toxic gas, when they are not working properly.
According to the Center for Disease Control, every year in the U.S. at least 430 people die from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning and approximately 50,000 people will be sent to the hospital. If unsafe concentrations of carbon monoxide are present but not detected, the result can be fatal.
“Safety is always our top priority. We want to ensure that our customers stay safe and warm during the coldest days of winter. That’s why we’re asking families and businesses to be particularly careful, and follow a few key safety tips, when using both gas and electric appliances this season,” said Carl Schoenhofer, manager of PG&E’s Humboldt Division.
Electric heating devices, such as space heaters, can also be a safety hazard when used improperly. Improper use has been known to cause fires.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, heating equipment is the second leading cause of home fires in the United States and from 2009 to 2013, accounted for 56,000 structure fires per year. Nearly half of these fires occur from December through February.
The leading contributing factor to space heater fires is heating equipment too close to objects that can burn, such as furniture, clothing, mattresses or bedding.
PG&E urges customers to focus on safely heating their homes as temperatures dip and offers the following tips:
• Never use products inside the home that generate dangerous levels of carbon monoxide, such as generators, barbecues, propane heaters and charcoal.
• As of 2011, all California single-family homes are required to have carbon monoxide detectors. Installation of the devices will warn when concentration levels are high. Check the expiration date – most carbon monoxide detectors have a shelf life of five to seven years. Replace the batteries at least twice a year.
• Place space heaters on level, hard, nonflammable surfaces, not on rugs or carpets.
• Don’t put objects on space heaters or use them to dry clothes or shoes.
• Turn off space heaters when leaving the room or going to sleep.
• Keep all flammable materials at least three feet away from heating sources and supervise children when a space heater or fireplace is being used.
• Never use cooking devices such as ovens or stoves for home heating purposes.
• When using the fireplace to stay warm, make sure the flue is open so that the byproducts of combustion can vent safely through the chimney.
If customers suspect there is a problem with a natural gas appliance inside their home, they should call PG&E at 1-800-743-5000. A gas service representative will be dispatched to do a thorough inspection. If you detect carbon monoxide in your home, you should get out immediately and call 911.