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TheAssociatedPress LOS ANGELES The first storm in a one-two punch of much-needed moisture arrived Tuesday in South- ern California, bringing light rain after unleashing downpours in the northern part of the state. A cold front brought an intermittent drizzle to the greater Los Angeles area be- fore dawn. A second storm expected to arrive later in the day will pack the heavi- est showers, the National Weather Service said. Be- tween 1 and 2 inches of rain was expected at higher el- evations, with snow above 6,000 feet. The storms triggered fresh fears of mudslides in foothill neighborhoods beneath wildfire-scarred mountain areas that were swamped by debris in strong storms last week. A high-surf advisory is in effect along the Los Ange- les County coast until 3 p.m. Wednesday. Scattered showers in cen- tral and Northern California continued to create trou- ble for morning commut- ers Tuesday. Highway 17 in the Santa Cruz Mountains was closed when a tree and power lines came down. An average of an inch to 2 inches of rain fell throughout Monday in the San Francisco and Sacra- mento regions, causing minor road flooding and power outages. In Butte County, a 4-mile section of Highway 162 shut down after getting flooded by swollen creeks and drainage channels. There is no estimated date to re- open due to continued rain, authorities said. Yosemite National Park officials said the Tioga and Glacier Point Roads have closed for the season be- cause of deep snow and icy conditions. A series of storms in the last few weeks have left up to 2 feet of snow in the higher part of the park, including Tuolumne Meadows and Glacier Point. FRESH FEARS OF MUDSLIDES New storm drops rain across soggy California VERNFISHE—MONTEREYHERALD Property managers Valorie, le , and Alan Lambert, right, work to clear drains to minimize flooding at a client's home Monday in Pebble Beach. By Ellen Knickmeyer The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO After Cal- ifornia's driest three years on record, there have been few sounds as disturbing to water conservationists as the whisk-whisk-whisk of automatic lawn sprin- klers kicking on directly behind TV reporters cover- ing some of the state's first heavy downpours in years. Recent storms eased the drought somewhat, but there's a long way to go. And state officials are wor- ried that the rain will give people an excuse to aban- don the already inconsis- tent conservation efforts adopted to deal with the dry spell. When Gov. Jerry Brown declared a drought emer- gency in January, he asked people to cut water use by 20 percent. Instead, many Cali- fornians' water use actually went up for a while. Dozens of communities called for mandatory water cuts but lacked the means to enforce them. So lawn watering, golf course maintenance and curbside car washes went on without interruption. State officials and weather experts say it's too early to know if the storms are the beginning of the end of the drought. They pledge to keep promoting conservation. "A deluge like this makes us feel, 'Oh, my God, it must be over,'" said Felicia Mar- cus, chairwoman of the state Water Resources Con- trol Board, which instituted monthly water-use report- ing this year to bring home to Californians how much water they were using. But "we are in a really deep hole ... and we have to act like we are in the drought of our lives." She said officials will "keep working on it even after the drought because there's going to be another one around the bend." The water board found last month that some well- off Southern California communities were still us- ing more than 500 gallons per person a day — 10 times the amount used by some poorer cities. Marcus and others pledged to step up education efforts. Climatolog ist Bill Patzert, a drought expert at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, rose at 3 a.m. last week to bask in the sound of rain from the first big storm to roll through Southern Cal- ifornia in a long time. By dawn, he was glowering at television reports showing water-wasting automatic sprinklers whirring in the rain behind at the scene of mudslides and floods. "Tell them to turn off their damn sprinklers for a week. Tell them I said so," Patzert said. "We're still in a drought." The biggest storm so far this season brought up to 5 inches of rain last Thurs- day to Southern California, 8 inches in Northern Cal- ifornia and 6 feet of snow in the higher Sierras. Sierra snowpack surged, from just 24 percent of average at the start of December to 48 per- cent of normal on Tuesday, according to the Depart- ment of Water Resources. DROUGHT RELIEF Rain could spell trouble for water conservation great bodily injury. Dani, of Red Bluff, was found July 9 outside Cross- roads Market off State Route 99W with a gun- shot wound to his head. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Gabino Madera, Lucio Madera and Sanchez were 19 at the time of the inci- dent. The defendants re- main in custody. Court FROM PAGE 1 ($149,815), another police sergeant ($136,904), fire chief ($135,884) and police chief ($134,512), according to the website. In Tehama, the city's eight reported employees, which include the city clerk, amaintenanceworker,acity treasurerandfive citycoun- cil members, averaged total wages of $5,552 and no re- tirement or health costs, ac- cording to the website. The city clerk earned $25,061 in total wages in 2013,amaintenanceworker totaled $17,744 in wages, and the city treasurer to- taled $1,608 in wages, ac- cording to the website. Average wages for Te- hama County's 932 employ- ees totaled about $38,650 in 2013. The average retire- ment and health costs to- taled about $16,440. The county's top compen- sated positions in 2013 were physician/surgeon($211,095), another physician/surgeon ($192,169), chief adminis- trator ($189,245), road commissioner/director of public works ($162,747) and sheriff ($161,289), ac- cording to the website. Salaries FROM PAGE 1 RICH PEDRONCELLI — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Travis Hiett, of the U.S. Geological Survey, checks a water sample bottle a er collecting water to determine the sediment levels of the water flowing down Cache Creek near Woodland Recent storms eased the drought somewhat, but there's a long way to go. point Patel, a motion that resulted in a 2-2 vote with Parker and Knox voting no. After a few more rounds of nominations and 2-2 votes, council members spoke about why they were nominating each applicant. Schmid said he was in fa- vor of appointing Patel be- cause he felt assured that he had a "true interest" in the community and could be unbiased and serve "with- out agenda." Jackson said she was impressed when Patel "stepped up" to fill an open- ing on the Parks and Recre- ation Department Advisory Commission. Parker and Knox spoke of why they were in favor of appointing Schutter to the vacant seat. Parker said she is capable of looking at both sides of an issue before making a decision and that she speaks her mind. Knox said he liked that Schutter earned a master's in public administration, and that her background in grant writing could be ben- eficial to the city. Still, a subsequent mo- tion to nominate Schutter for appointment resulted in a 2-2 vote with Jackson and Schmid voting no. Finally, Jackson again made a motion to nominate Patel. Schmid seconded the motion and Knox joined Jackson and Schmid in vot- ing in favor of seating Patel on the City Council. City Council members did not make a motion to nominate Latourell for ap- pointment. Patel FROM PAGE 1 JACKandDOROTHYSOUTH Jack and Dorothy South both recently died at the home of their daughter in Arcata, CA. They lived long happy lives for 87 years, married for 63 of them. Jack, who was born and raised in Red Bluff, died of metastatic prostate cancer on October 28, 2014. Dorothy died 18 days later on November 15, 2014. She suffered from Alzheimer's and died of a broken heart. A Cele- bration of Life will be held at 2pm, January 17, 2015 at the Para- dise United Methodist Church, 6722 Clark Road, Paradise, CA. All are welcome. Memorial contributions can be made to Para- dise United Methodist Church, PO Box 38, Paradise, CA 95969, Hospice, or your favorite charity. MICHAEL ALLEN HOUGHTBY November 4, 1949 ~ December 11, 2014 Michael 'Mike' Allen Houghtby, 65, passed away on De- cember 11 , 2014 at his home in Red Bluff, CA, surround- ed by his family. Visitation will be Wednesday, December 17, 2014 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Hoyt-Cole Chapel of the Flowers, 816 Walnut St. Funeral services will be held at Sacred Heart Church, 505 Main St. Red Bluff on Thursday, December 18, 2014 at 10 a.m. Graveside services to fol- low at Saint Mary's Cemetery on Hook Rd. in Red Bluff. Mike was born on November 4, 1949, a son of the late Leslie and Magdelena Houghtby. He graduated from Mer- cy High School in 1967, and CSU, Chico in 1976. He served in the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War. Mike had a lifelong career in law enforcement, as a probation officer for Tehama County and a representative for the California Board of Corrections. He was a hard- working, loving man that excelled at finding solutions to any problem. He had been actively involved in the Boy Scouts, troop 417, enjoyed landscaping, and going to the family cabin in Mineral. His memory is left to be cherished by his wife of 31 years Ann Houghtby; son Sean Houghtby; daughter Nicole Houghtby; sister and brother-in-law Marion and Don Taylor; brother and sister-in-law Wilfred and Trilla Houghtby; nieces; nephews; great nieces and nephews, and a great-great niece and nephew. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a cancer research organization of your choice. Harry Johnson July 22, 1961 ~ November 24, 2014 Harry Johnson 53, died Monday morning November 24 at his home in Red Bluff. Harry was born in Towanda, Pennsylvania on July 22, 1961. When he was 15 years old he moved with his mother to southern California and in 1993, they moved to Red Bluff. Throughout his adult life Harry enjoyed traveling across the United States, boasting of having visited almost every state. Always looking for a new adventure, Harry lived in many of those states, including Up-State New York, Alas- ka, Texas and Florida. In southern California Harry was a tree trimmer. When he moved to Red Bluff he brought his tree trimming tal- ent with him, and started Johnson's Tree Service. In his later years, Harry had to hang up his long dis- tance traveling shoes due to declining health, but found new passions, the biggest of which was riding his Harley. Harry loved to read and studied scripture, taking notes on the bible passages he felt touched him in a most per- sonal way, then sharing them with family and friends. For fun he liked to play his guitar, and had a voice that friends say reminded them of Johnny Cash. Harry also loved dogs, especially little Josie, his constant companion. Harry will be missed and remembered by many, but es- pecially his loving mother Jean Schlosser of Red Bluff, daughter Jessica Joseph, and grandchildren Kaleb, Eliza- beth and Sophie all of Sherman, TX, and uncle, several aunts and many cousins. Red Bluff Simple Cremation and Burial Service is han- dling the arrangements. Services at Community Baptist Church, Mulberry and Round-Up. 12/20/14 11am. Obituaries ThePassingParadeisbroughttoyoubybyMinchPropertyManagement, 760 Main Street specializing in commercial leasing and sales. 530 527 5514 THE PASSING PARADE (FromDaveMinch'sISaycolumnofMarch1960) Iwroterecentlyofournewesthouseholdgadget,the electric can opener. My wife now has open cans all over the place from showing friends how well they work. You might consider buying one for your wife if you want to atone for something you should not have done. … To be considered news, an article should be of an unusual happening. Larry Burke, who drives long haul trucks for us, was in Reno last week. He went into one of the casinos and bought one keno ticket. 7 out of the 9 numbers he had marked were drawn. He received $1,300.00. … The following news bits are followed by my comments in parenthesis. From the Sacramento Bee: Sam Pollock Dupont , 23, is a student in a business school in Miami. He is already a corporation president owning a dozen or more companies. He hires over a hundred people and grosses more than two million dollars a year. Although he is a member of the Dupont family, Sam had to start from scratch. He never had a cent of the family money invested in his many businesses. (Well, anyway, let's admit that the name Dupont and the fact that all of his relatives are multi-millionaires, didn't hurt his credit any.) From the Sacramento Bee: United States Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon said in a speech yesterday, "Labor must organizes as never before if it is to survive." (Survive investigations Senator?…or what did you have in mind?) Red Bluff news item about an IdeAdobe Memorial: "Aspokesman appealing to the City Council for a $2,000.00 donation to the Ide Adobe Celebration said, 'We hope, in years to come, the IdeAdobe Celebration will snowball to tremendous heights and become the greatest annual event in the entire state!'" (Now, counselor*, that takes in a lot of ground, what with the Rose Bowl Parade at Pasadena and what not. ) *The counselor was Rawlins Coffman who, together with yours truly, lobbied for funds for the IdeAdobe Celebration. The event finally came to fruition despite a heavy downpour on site that day which washed the vegetable dye from the school children in loin cloths portraying the noble savages in a tableau. The featured speaker was aged Senator Knowland, whose aide attempted to shelter the discomforted fellow from the deluge while the Senator appeared none too aware of his surroundings. Later, the sun came out and I had lunch with Will Rogers Jr. at a barbecue at the Tehama County Fairgrounds. Will and fellow actor Leo Carrillo were on the Board of the State Department of Parks and Beaches. Will commented that my film (depicting the rapid deterioration of the Adobe) was previously instrumental in getting it restored.Acopy of the 16mm film and the celebration and parade that followed should still be in the Tehama County Library today. RM Dave Minch 1900-1964 NeptuneSociety ofNorthernCaliforniahas provided trusted experience & service to our community for over 40 years. Weprovidecaring,affordableanddignifiedcremationservices. • Serving families immediate needs • Pre-arrangement options available 1353 E 8 th Street Chico, CA 95928 neptune-society.com Call for our Free Literature (530)345-7200 (24hrs) License #FD1440 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2014 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM |NEWS | 7 A