COBB, Calif. – A new event debuting later this month will raise much-needed funds for a new inpatient rehabilitation center offering treatment for mothers with substance addiction as well as services for their children.

On Saturday, Feb. 25, all are invited to “Dress to Impress” at the inaugural Oscars-themed red carpet event to support Tule House, a residential program for mothers with addiction.

The event will be held at the Black Rock Golf Course in Cobb and will feature dinner, a raffle and live auction.
 
The evening will begin at 5 p.m. with a stretch-limousine arrival, no host bar and silent auction, followed by a dinner with prime rib, chicken, salmon and vegetarian entrée options. The live auction will liven up the festivities and dessert will add a sweet end to the evening.

All proceeds will support mothers struggling with addiction to drugs, providing treatment and a safe place for their children to flourish.
 
Tule House is a program conceived by Dr. Kimberly Fordham, MD, and overseen by Redwood Community Services Inc., which provides services to foster children and their families.

The Tule House residential treatment program will address the specific needs of mothers recovering from drug and alcohol dependency issues in Lake County.

The nearest intensive inpatient rehabilitation program for mothers is located in Santa Rosa, creating multiple barriers to these women receiving the support they need.

As a labor and delivery physician at St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake, Fordham sees firsthand the increasing amount of methamphetamine positive pregnant women.

“This not only negatively impacts both the health of these women and babies, but also the health of our community as a whole,” said Fordham. “Tule House will create a local option to best offer treatment and support mothers in creating a healthy and positive life in our community.”
 
The Dress to Impress Event is being organized by Fordham and the Women’s Care Unit staff at St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake.

“We are privileged to support women in the delivery of their newborns,” said Josie Lutz, RN. “We want to extend that support to allow women to be the best parents to their children and to live happy, drug-free lives.”
 
Much work has already begun to open Tule House and with community support and funds raised by the Dress to Impress event, the home will be ready for clients in 2017.
 
Tickets are $65 and may be purchased by calling Josie Lutz at 702-292-2153.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – The latest statewide snow survey shows continued gains for the Sierra snowpack thanks to the recent series of winter storms.

Thursday's manual snow survey by the California Department of Water Resources, or DWR, at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada range found a snow water equivalence of 28.1 inches, a significant increase since the Jan. 3 survey, when just 6 inches was found there.

The average as measured at Phillips since 1964 is 11.3 inches.
 
Snow water equivalence is the depth of water that theoretically would result if the entire snowpack melted instantaneously. That measurement is more important than depth in evaluating the status of the snowpack.

On average, the snowpack supplies about 30 percent of California’s water needs as it melts in the spring and early summer.
 
More telling than a survey at a single location, however, are DWR’s electronic readings Thursday from 101 stations scattered throughout the Sierra Nevada.

Statewide, the snowpack holds 31 inches of water equivalent, or 173 percent of the Feb. 2 average (18.1 inches). On Jan. 1 before a series of January storms, the snow water equivalent (SWE) of the statewide snowpack was 6.5 inches, just 64 percent of the New Year’s Day average.
 
Measurements indicate the water content of the northern Sierra snowpack is 26 inches, 144 percent of the multi-decade average for the date. The central and southern Sierra readings are 32 inches (173 percent of average) and 32 inches (200 percent of average), respectively.
 
The Phillips snow course, which is near the intersection of Highway 50 and Sierra-at-Tahoe Road, is one of hundreds that will be surveyed manually throughout the winter.

Manual measurements augment the electronic readings from more than 100 sensors in the state’s mountains that provide a current snapshot of the water content in the snowpack.
 
Frank Gehrke, chief of the California Cooperative Snow Surveys Program, conducted Thursday's survey at Phillips and reported that, “We’ve got a very good snowpack, a very robust snowpack on the ground right now.”
 
The first four months of Water Year 2017 (Oct. 1 to Feb. 2) were wet due to atmospheric river storms and rainfall from lesser storms that drenched the state.

All three regions DWR monitors continuously for their rainfall had recorded more by Jan. 23 than their annual averages for the entire water year, which runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30:
 
• The average annual precipitation at the eight-station Northern California index is 50 inches; that total was surpassed on Jan. 20, 112 days into Water Year 2017. Water Year 1997 had more rain in the region during the October-through-January period (58.22 inches) than during the same period this water year (53.2 inches).
 
• The San Joaquin Basin rainfall total Thursday is 204 percent of average for the date.
 
• Tulare Basin rainfall is 207 percent of average for the date.
 
Shasta Lake, California’s largest surface reservoir now holds 114 percent of its historical average on Thursday’s date. One year ago, Shasta’s storage was just 78 percent of its February 2 average.

Similarly, Lake Oroville, the State Water Project’s largest reservoir, holds much more water Thursday than a year ago – 121 percent of its historical average Thursday compared to just 68 percent one year ago.

Although this year, so far, is exceptionally wet, storms can cease. For example, after the previous drought declaration was ended in March 2011 – and the arrival of some storms in November and December 2012 – severe drought returned, leading to the driest four year period (and some of the warmest years) in California’s history.

“In the last 10 water years, eight have been dry, one wet, one average,” said State Climatologist Mike Anderson. “Hopefully this year will end up being wet, but we cannot say whether it will be one wet year in another string of dry ones.”

Many Californians continue to experience the effects of drought and a number of Central Valley communities still depend on water tanks and bottled water.

Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara County is at just 12 percent capacity, and groundwater – source of at least a third of the supplies Californians use – will take much more than a few storms to be replenished in many areas.

California’s climate is the most variable of any state. Historically, it swings from drought to flood and back to drought, and climate change is intensifying those, DWR reported.

In addition, as global warming drives up average temperatures in California more precipitation will fall as rain, not snow stored in the Sierra Nevada and other mountains. To help prepare for these ever-wider extremes, the agency said Californians should be making conservation a way of life.

Below is a historical snowpack water content average for the past 15 years.

Statewide Snowpack Water Content – Feb. 1 Average (17.75 inches):
 
• 2002: 110.
• 2003: 101.
• 2004: 111.
• 2005: 163.
• 2006: 122.
• 2007: 42.
• 2008: 116.
• 2009: 58.
• 2010: 111.
• 2011: 129.
• 2012: 37.
• 2013: 87.
• 2014: 14.
• 2015: 23.
• 2016: 116.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Teams of bright, hard-working students will square off this weekend in the annual Lake and Mendocino County Academic Decathlon.

The competition will culminate in the Super Quiz and awards, which are free and open to the public, at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb.4, at Clear Lake High School, 350 Lange St. in Lakeport.

Tammy Serpa, education specialist with the Career and College Readiness Department of the Lake County Office of Education, is the event's lead organizer.

Serpa said this year 73 students from five schools will compete. High schools sending teams are Clear Lake, Kelseyville, Middletown and defending 2016 champion Upper Lake, with a team from Willits also taking part. Middletown and Willits returned this year after not participating in the 2016 competition.

This year's topic is World War II.

Academic decathletes will compete in 10 disciplines: arts, economics, essay, interview, language and literature, mathematics, music, science, social science and speech. In addition, the teams are scored on their Super Quiz performance.

The local competition also includes poetry and poster production competitions judged by the Lake County Arts Council but not scored in the overall competition.

The full competition actually takes place over the course of several weeks. On Jan. 6, the students took their first exam, an essay, Serpa said. Then, this past Saturday, they completed their speech and interview portions.

“We had 40 volunteers from the community help judge the speeches and interviews,” Serpa said.

Students will compete in the remaining disciplines on Saturday morning, she said. They will then have a break before the afternoon Super Quiz, which will be followed by the awards ceremony.

The team that wins the regional competition on Saturday will advance to the state competition, to be held in Sacramento March 23 through 26, according to the California Academic Decathlon Competition Web site.

The team rosters are shown below.

Clear Lake High School
Superintendent Erin Smith-Hagberg; Principal David Chamberlain; Coach Kristi Tripp
Team: Brenden Allen, Kaitlyn Avila, Miah Bullard, Alexis Burke, Michael Camacho, Candace Clayton, Zoe Cramer, Anna DelBosco, Dustin Domagalski, Dominik Helms, Brent Hinchcliff, Kyle Jensen, Subhagya Joshi, Christopher Lasher, Carina Martinez Lopez, Clinton Mather, Isabella Mattina, Courtney McIntosh, Nicolette Norcio, Anahy Olmedo, Sarah Pope, Nicolette Rivera, Felix Salinas, Andrew Scott, Connor Simons

Kelseyville High School
Superintendent Dave McQueen; Principal Matt Cockerton; Coaches Erick Larsen and Heather Koschik
Team: Andrew Aceves, Samantha Darnell, Kelsie Engle, Cassidy Holmes, Christina Jimenez, Kyle Keener, Artem Laptiev, Sienna Longoria, Anna Pak, Megan Petersen, Tiara Richards, Merin Rixen, Savannah Rodriguez, Kaitlyn Salata, Hannah Smith, Nichole Stevens

Middletown High School
Superintendent Catherine Stone; Principal Bill Roderick, Coach Jeff Mielke
Team: Robert Carey, Tyler Chorjel, Ella Dunsford, Donald Elder, Diana Espinoza, Carissa Forest, Olivia Glosser, Rachel Harvey, Ashley Hediger, Justin Hingston, Beckett Hoage, Moyra Horrell-Pyzer, Alixe Olson, Gary Pickrell, Jack Shrive, Colton Soderling, James Stalker

Upper Lake High School
Superintendent Pat Iaccino; Principal Sandy Coatney, Coaches Anna Sabalone and Angel Hayenga
Team: Cyndal Ader, Daniela Estrada Flores, Jeff Fannon, Megan Franco, Casey Herman, Miranda Huntley, Anisha Kalan, Kehlani McKelvey, Katlyn Minnis, Cristal Nieves, Rue Owen, Elizabeth Rosas Moreno, Breanna Sanchez, Maria Tinoco, Sarah Williams, Jack Wurm

Willits High School
Superintendent Mark Westerburg; Principal Robert Chavez; Coach Mary Colvig
Team: Katelyn Abernathy, Jace Atalig, Aiden Bertolino Haley, Oliver Campuzano, Hanna Corey, Eduardo Escobedo, Ryann Hee, Mychaela Nowlin, Tachyna Renick, Cheyanne Turner, Alisabeth Wilcox, Miranda Wilson

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

On Thursday, Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-05), chair of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, forcefully spoke against H.J. Res. 40, which would undermine the background check system for firearm purchases.

The resolution prohibits the Social Security Administration, or SSA, from reporting the names of beneficiaries who cannot responsibly own a firearm to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or the NICS.

Under the Congressional Review Act, passage of this resolution would prevent the SSA from passing a substantially similar rule in the future – barring the agency from being able to report those who should not have firearms to the NICS background system indefinitely.
 
“I am a gun owner and a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, but this resolution is not about denying the right to own a gun – it is about upholding the law. And the law is very clear about who should be reported to the NICS background system. This law was passed more than a decade ago to keep guns from those who cannot responsibly own them,” Thompson said.
 
“Passage of this resolution would put Americans at risk. It would prevent the SSA from reporting the names of those who should not have a gun – indefinitely. If there are concerns about this rule, we can revise it. But the CRA process is not a revision. It would ban the SSA from even trying to fix the rule. This is a dangerous overstep, and I urge every Member to consider the safety of our districts. No one wants another Virginia Tech. No one wants another Newtown,” he said.
 
The SSA regulation complies with the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007, which requires federal agencies to submit the records of individuals prohibited from possessing a firearm under existing federal law to NICS.

The regulation states that the SSA will only report individuals who meet both of the following criteria:
 
• They have a very severe, long-term, mental disorder that prevents them from holding any kind of job – even part-time or below the minimum wage.

• Legal, medical, and lay evidence have indicated they are not capable of managing their own benefits.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – District 1 Supervisor Moke Simon wants to make sure that everyone who lost a home in the Rocky, Valley and Jerusalem fires is aware that the standard 24-month deadline for receiving insurance proceeds will occur this summer.
 
Insurance Code Section 2051.5 provides that in a “loss relating to a ‘state of emergency,’ no time limit of less than 24 months from the date that the first payment toward the actual cash value is made shall be placed upon the insured in order to collect the full replacement cost of the loss, subject to the policy limit.  Nothing in this section shall prohibit the insurer from allowing the insured additional time to collect the full replacement cost.”
 
County staff verified with the California Department of Insurance that homeowners who do not expect to be able to meet the 24-month deadline can request an extension for “good cause” from their insurance company. Owners may also have concerns about living expenses.

Any consumer who has questions or concerns relating to their insurance matters should file a request for assistance with the California Department of Insurance, which will look into the matter and assist you in resolving your concerns.
 
According to Supervisor Simon, “Filing a RFA is easy and can be done online at: http://www.insurance.ca.gov/01-consumers/101-help/index.cfm .”

ACCUWEATHER GLOBAL WEATHER CENTER – AccuWeather reports just after sunrise on Thursday, Punxsutawney Phil declared six more weeks of winter for the United States – a prognostication AccuWeather meteorologists largely agree with.

Though many Americans are longing for warmer weather, most of the country will be faced with weeks of wintry conditions.

“There will be more rain than snow in the big East Coast cities,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Paul Pastelok said. However, the interior Northeast will have a higher chance for snow as temperatures remain below normal.

“As far as a significant warmup goes across the Northeast, I think you have to hold off til late April or early May,” he said.

Cold air and snow will also persist in the Midwest, northern Plains and Northwest, enveloping nearly the entire northern tier of the country.

Northern and central California will see additional winter storms and rainfall. The abundant precipitation will continue to build a buffer for reservoirs in the coming months, Pastelok said.

Meanwhile, wet weather will grip cities from the mid-Atlantic down to the Florida Panhandle.

The rest of Florida will mark the exception for the Southeast, as dry weather prevails between now and springtime.

The spring season will officially begin on March 20.

For more details on what to expect, check back for AccuWeather's full 2017 spring forecast on Feb. 8.

Jillian MacMath writes for www.AccuWeather.com .