NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Nearly a half million young steelhead recently started their journey to the ocean, thanks to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, or CDFW.

Staff at Nimbus Fish Hatchery nursed the young steelhead through several potentially devastating conditions, including drought-induced high water temperatures in the hatchery last summer and winter flood conditions that nearly cut off usable water supplies and carried dangerous levels of silt into the hatchery’s normally clean water distribution system.

“The fish we released will be returning to the American River over the next two to four years, and we are proud and relieved to have brought them this far,” said Gary Novak, the Nimbus Hatchery manager. “Steelhead are hardy, but considering their size and the number of environmental obstacles cropping up in rapid succession, they still needed human intervention in the hatchery to ensure a better chance of survival in the wild.”

All 420,000 young steelhead were released into the American River just upstream of the I Street Bridge in Sacramento.

Due to the high water conditions, the juvenile fish are expected to make excellent time traveling down the Sacramento River to the Bay and eventually on to the Pacific Ocean. Losses to predators are believed to be lower during turbid water and high flow conditions.

During January and February 2017, water releases from Nimbus Dam reached 80,000 cubic feet per second, or cfs, which is well above the normal 6,000 to 10,000 cfs.

The high flows created conditions that dislodged exceptional amounts of debris, clogging the intake structure at Nimbus Fish Hatchery and creating near-lethal levels of nitrogen in the water.

Hatchery staff worked around the clock over a month-long period to keep the water intake open, clear water distribution points, tanks and raceways of silt, and install aerators to lower nitrogen levels.

Fish health assessments by CDFW pathologists found the steelhead to be in satisfactory condition and near the average weight for fish their age prior to release.

It remains to be seen how the stressors of living in turbid water and enduring some periods of high nitrogen levels will affect the fish. Annual returns of mature steelhead to Nimbus Hatchery have varied widely in recent years, from a high of 3,409 in 2013 to a low of just 150 the following year.

All the fish in this release were marked with an adipose fin clip.

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The Rotary Club’s annual seafood boil is a major community service project for student of Konocti.

Carlé's work crew at this event was run by teacher Dan Maes. On the first day students set up all the tables for people to dine. The next day, after the tables were set with utensils, etc., each student then waited on two people.

“The students at Carlé were a joy to work with and they worked very well together, we were very happy with all the students that served,” said Bill MacDougall, who ran the seafood boil. He also is the former Konocti Unified superintendent and principal of Carlé. “I’m very pleased with the students at Carlé and look forward to working with them again.”

Altogether, the seafood boil is a great opportunity not only to earn community service credits, but to get some work experience under your belt for your future.

“The students from Carlé were hardworking and everyone worked well with each other,” said Ryan O’Bryan, a student from Carlé who worked at the seafood boil.

Kelly Smith, another Carlé student who worked at the seafood boil, mentioned how well the students worked together.

Michael Descalso, a teacher at Blue Heron, will be traveling to Morocco after going through a two-step application process and an interview for a Fulbright Grant from U.C. Berkeley.

Mr. Descalso was one of 15 teachers selected to participate in this “study abroad” program that lasts for one month during the summer, from June 24 to July 24.

The group will be studying the different ethnic groups, cultures and religions of Morocco. Located in North Africa, Morocco is a very diverse country and was a major historical, cultural, ethnic and religious crossroad.

This is an all-expense paid trip by U.C. Berkeley. Mr. Descalso and the 15 other teachers will each be staying in a riad (traditional house) in the old walled-in part of the city called the Madina.

During this trip there will be excursions to the Sahara Desert, the Atlas Mountains, Casablanca and an ancient fishing village on the Atlantic Coast.

The main focus of this trip will be to study how all of these religions, ethnicities and cultural groups interacted and thrived together for more than 2000 years. There will also be some free time built in for the applicants to explore the region.

After this trip Mr. Descalso will create lesson plans involving the information that he will learn on this trip. He said he would then be better able to inform students regarding world religions, geography and language.

He said that implementing personal experiences into his lessons was his favorite kind of teaching.

In conclusion, this should be a really cool and knowledge filled trip for Mr. Descalso, but the real benefactors regarding the cultures that thrived in this region of Africa bordering the Atlantic will be his students.

Ingrid Larsen, a counselor from Woodland Community College, visited Carlé to present the students with an opportunity to earn some college credits to be put toward graduation from high school.

To show our thanks for this opportunity she made available we made her a plaque. Thank you, Ingrid, we appreciate it.

Student of the week is Jose Carillo. Congratulations and good work on earning Carlé's Student of the Week.

“Jose is a consummate student. He comes every day, he works hard, is totally focused and we at Carlé are glad to have such a great student,” said teacher Alan Siegel.

Given that we didn’t have an article last week there were two students of the week: congratulations Marcos Saucedo and Taylor Churchill.

Alan Siegel nominated Taylor and said, “Taylor follows her own lead and really has worked hard to get her credit, you can really tell she takes her education seriously.”

Lance Christensen, who nominated Marcos, said “ I nominated Marcos because he showed how hard working he was, he also demonstrated excellent behavior and finally he seemed really focused on earning his credits.”

Gold level students for the fourth grading period were Alvaro Duran, Nicholas Kieffer, Alfred Lewis and Samantha McCullough. Good work and keep it up and enjoy your off-campus lunch.   

Silver level students were Vanessa Gonzales, Donovan Harvey, Cecilia Brown, Micaela Martinez, Aries McDonald, Alex Parriott, Haley Ramirez, Teagan Tompioner and Shaina Yaquinto.

Just as this article was going to print student council ran an activity, more on this in next week’s article.

Nicholas Phipps is a student at Carlé Continuation High School.

COLLIDE (Rated PG-13)

Besides death and taxes, one thing is certain in life: A Jason Statham action film is not going to get nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award. But action fans, for the most part, love his high-energy cinematic adventures regardless.

This won’t be true for every film that seeks to emulate the Statham style of high-octane car chase scenes. “Collide” makes an effort but falls short in this regard with high-speed pursuits on Germany’s famed Autobahn.

Despite a talented cast that is unable to save a film from its own self-destructive manner, “Collide” has the unfortunate feel of an inferior exercise to duplicate Statham’s success in the “Transporter” franchise.

Nicholas Hoult’s Casey is an American ex-pat working in Cologne for flashy mobster Geran (Ben Kingsley), who speaks with a terrible Turkish accent that he inexplicably loses during the unfolding action while living it up with hookers and cocaine.

When Casey meets pretty fellow American Juliette (Felicity Jones) in a nightclub, he decides to turn legitimate at menial jobs just so they can have a happy, normal life even if they have to struggle financially.

But when Juliette discovers that she needs an expensive kidney transplant, Casey returns to Geran for a major heist job to score the money needed for medical treatments.

Geran has in mind the daring theft of his chief rival’s shipment of cocaine hidden in golf balls. The contraband load belongs to industrialist Hagen Kahl (Anthony Hopkins), who is equally adept as Kingsley in delivering high-camp theatrics.

The idea of robbing Kahl only comes to surface after Geran’s plea for a partnership has been rudely dismissed by his rival’s haughty sense of superiority. The volatile Geran decides that the best revenge is to hit Kahl in the pocketbook. 

What happens for the next hour is that Casey and his sidekick Matthias (Marwan Kenzari) hijack a truck in an elaborate scheme, soon followed by Kahl’s heavily-armed goons descending on Casey’s trail in a furious chase.

The stakes are raised considerably when Kahl kidnaps Juliette, resulting in Casey having to use more smarts than he appears to possess to maneuver his adversaries into a more tenuous position.

Aside from Kahl and Geran facing off in a comical showdown in a tavern, the hour-long climactic action of “Collide” is all about the chase scenes with expensive and exotic German cars involved in demolition derby-style destruction.

TV Corner: ‘Feud: Bette and Joan’ on FX Network

A glimpse into the waning days of Old Hollywood, where female movie stars exuded real glamour even if they had no power to exert control of their professional destinies, seems about right as the backdrop for the FX Network’s anthology series “Feud: Bette and Joan.”

In the early 1960s, a ruthless studio head like Jack Warner (Stanley Tucci) could rule Warner Brothers with an iron-fist, giving the green light to movie productions without consulting a slew of executives.

When approached by second-rate director Bob Aldrich (Alfred Molina) for a project teaming up bitter rivals Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, at a time the two actresses had long passed their sell-by dates, Warner was rudely profane in his initial reaction to the pitch.

The thing to keep in mind about the aptly named “Feud” is that Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange) and Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon) absolutely detested each other and any definition of “cat fight” should include a picture of them at each other’s throats.

What would bring two enemies together was the shared realization that Hollywood, then and even now, subjected aging female stars to enduring a measure of ageism, sexism and misogyny during the twilight of their careers.

As “Feud: Bette and Joan” opens circa 1962, Crawford, having lost her beloved husband Albert Steele, the chairman of Pepsi-Cola, was coping with financial troubles amidst the inability to secure any film roles.

Unable to convince various studio titans to give her a chance, Crawford found a film vehicle in the novel “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” and pitched it to Bob Aldrich for a comeback attempt.

Putting aside petty grievances, Crawford suggests to Davis, then relegated to stage productions, that “Baby Jane,” a gothic horror story of two aging, reclusive sisters, would put them both back in the limelight.

For her part, Davis believes that while Crawford may have the looks she has talent that her inferior rival would never have. The pairing of the two became either a union of convenience or the setup for a raging battle of snide remarks and furious gossip. Here, it looks like both.

The best thing going for “Feud” is the excellent casting of not just the leading ladies but the supporting members, from Judy Davis’ turn as gossip columnist Hedda Hopper to Jackie Hoffman’s loyal if put-upon housekeeper for the temperamental Crawford.

At one point, Crawford says about her adversary: “I will have her respect even if I have to kill both of us to get it.”

As fate would have it, “Baby Jane” turned into a huge commercial success for which Davis would win the Academy Award.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Curtis Fair and Barbara White, US Forest Service archaeologists for the National Forest Service, will talk about native technologies at the Lakeport Library on Saturday, March 18.

This free program is part the Lake County Library’s “Know Lake County” series.

The program will be held at the Lakeport branch of Lake County Library at 1425 N. High St. from 2 to 4 p.m.

The program will include displays and a demonstration of the lithic-knapping to make stone tools.

The Know Lake County lectures feature speakers from a wide array of organizations and disciplines, each representing some aspect of Lake County.

For more information call the library at 707-263-8817.

The Lake County Library is on the Internet at http://library.lakecountyca.gov and Facebook at www.Facebook.com/LakeCountyLibrary .

NORTH COAST, Calif. – Caltrans reports that the following road projects will be taking place around Lake County and the North Coast during the coming week.

Included are Mendocino County projects that may impact Lake County commuters.

LAKE COUNTY

Highway 20

– Emergency highway repairs east of the Bachelor Creek Bridge will continue. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays. Motorists should anticipate 15-minute delays.

– Curb and sidewalk repairs from Sayre Avenue to Howard Street will begin Monday, March 13. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Motorists should anticipate 15-minute delays.

– Emergency highway repairs from Foothill Drive to Bruner Drive will continue. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays. Motorists should anticipate 10-minute delays.

– PG&E has been granted a Caltrans Encroachment Permit for utility repairs  from Grove Street to Second Street on Thursday, March 16.  One-way traffic control will be in effect from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Motorists should anticipate five-minute delays.
 
Highway 29

– Emergency culvert repairs from Spruce Grove Road to Hofacker Lane will continue. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays. Motorists should anticipate five-minute delays.

Highway 175
 
– Emergency highway repairs from Grouss Springs Road to Emerford Road will continue. One-way traffic control will be in effect 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Motorists should anticipate five-minute delays.

– Emergency highway repairs from east of Arroyo Vista Road will continue. One-way traffic control will be in effect 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Motorists should anticipate five-minute delays.
 
MENDOCINO COUNTY

Highway 1

– PG&E has been granted a Caltrans Encroachment Permit for utility repairs near Pearl Drive on Wednesday, March 15. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Motorists should anticipate five-minute delays.
 
– Emergency slide removal near Leggett will continue. A full road closure is in effect 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Motorists should seek an alternate route.

Highway 101
 
– Routine maintenance near Frog Woman Rock will continue. Northbound traffic will be restricted to one lane 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Motorists should anticipate minor traffic slowdowns.

– PG&E has been granted a Caltrans Encroachment Permit for utility repairs near Henry Station Road on Thursday, March 16. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Motorists should anticipate five-minute delays.

– Emergency slide repairs on the westbound Route 20 to southbound Route 101 connector ramp will continue. Intermittent ramp closures will be in effect from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Motorists should anticipate 10-minute delays.

– Emergency slide removal near Piercy will continue. Traffic will be reduced to one lane in both directions 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Motorists should anticipate minor traffic slowdowns.

Highway 162
 
– Emergency storm damage repairs from the junction of Routes 101/162 to 1.8 miles west of Pookiny will continue. One-way traffic control will be in effect from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays. Motorists should anticipate 10-minute delays.

– Emergency storm damage repairs near The Middle Way will continue. One-way traffic control with temporary stop signs will be in effect 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Motorists should anticipate five-minute delays.

The Caltrans Traffic Operations Office has reviewed each project and determined that individual project delays are expected to be less than the statewide policy maximum of 30 minutes, unless noted otherwise above.

For information pertaining to emergency roadwork or for updates to scheduled roadwork, please contact the California Highway Information Network (CHIN) at 1-800-GAS-ROAD (1-800-427-7623).

For many people, the benefit of Daylight Saving Time is the arrival of more daylight, spring time and more time outdoors.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. encourages its customers to emphasize savings – not just daylight, but dollars, too.

Checking the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors remains sound advice, and could save your life, but it’s also the time of year to save energy.

Here are 10 sunny suggestions that could turn Daylight Saving Time into dollar saving time:

– Check the timers on your automatic lighting inside and outside of your home as longer days mean you’ll need less lighting. In less than six weeks, Californians will have sunlight for more than 13 hours.
– Check the timer on your outdoor sprinklers, too, to make sure you’re applying the right amount of water at the right times.
– Get your pool and hot tub ready for summer and make sure that pumps and vacuums are working properly. Get $100 for replacing an old pool pump with a more energy-efficient version. Visit www.pge.com/pools .
– Take a few minutes to complete a free, online Home Energy Checkup to see what savings are possible.
– If you have an electric vehicle (EV) or plug-in hybrid, check out PG&E’s EV rate plans to make sure you’re “fueling up” in the most economical way possible. Visit www.pge.com/ev .
– If you’re in the market for a new appliance, remember to look for the ENERGY STAR® label. These products use about half as much energy as other devices and can help our customers save big on energy costs.
– Visit PG&E Marketplace to explore our one-stop shop for all energy-saving appliances and consumer electronics.
– Check if your new purchase qualifies for a rebate with the retailer or PG&E.
– For certain income-qualified customers, the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) and the Energy Savings Assistance Program help save money and energy.
– Sign up for PG&E’s Bill Forecast Alerts to help you budget for your energy costs. It takes less than five minutes.  

And, just as a reminder, Daylight Saving Time starts on March 12, so be sure to spring forward.