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ByChristopherWeber TheAssociatedPress LOS ANGELES Shortly af- ter Elvis Summers be- friended Irene McGhee, he learned she was sleeping on the streets of South Los Angeles. So the man with the blue mohawk and wraparound shades decided to build the grandmother nicknamed "Smokie" a tiny house on wheels. Summers esti- mates he spent less than $500 on plywood, shingles, a window and a door for the 8-foot-long structure that can be moved around by one person. It turned out so well that Summers launched a crowdfunding campaign to construct similar shelters for other homeless people in his neighborhood. He had no grand ambitions beyond lending a helping hand in a city with thou- sands of residents without roofs over their heads. "Honestly, I thought I'd raise enough money to help a dozen people, call it a day, and then go back to stress- ing about my job," said the 38-year-old, who runs an online apparel store. Summers never thought more than 5.6 million peo- ple would watch a You- Tube video of him con- structing the house for Mc- Ghee, who's been homeless for more than a decade. It ends with McGhee doing a little jig and hanging up a "Home Sweet Home" sign. The GoFundMe cam- paign — called Tiny House, Huge Purpose — has brought in nearly $60,000 in less than a month. And Summers' inbox is over- flowing with offers for help from carpenters, homeless advocates, retirees and children as young as 6. Summers suddenly con- siders himself a man with a mission. He has started a nonprofit and reached out to Los Angeles officials to get the city involved in his plan to build more tiny homes for transients. "People are calling it a movement," he said Thurs- day. "I'm humbled. But now I can't turn my back on it." Builders said they would donate materials, contrac- tors offered to help in the design of the small, wheeled structures, and chefs said they would bring food to the construction sites. Summers said he wants to hire homeless people to help with the construction. McGhee, 61, said she would be the first person to sign up. "I'm ready to start build- ing," she said. "Give people a good night's rest. Some- place warm." It is unclear if the city would enforce rules for these homes. McGhee said police have told her she won't be bothered as long as she moves the home, which is small enough to fit in a parking space, ev- ery three days. And the structure is so small that it wouldn't re- quire permits if built on private property, said Luke Zamperini, spokesman for the city Building and Safety Department. HOUSING By Christopher Weber The Associated Press LOSANGELES A cold spring storm left some Califor- nia mountains coated Fri- day with the kind of snow- falls that winter largely failed to deliver, while scat- tered downpours doused other parts of the drought- stricken state. The hit-and-miss system blanketed patches of the Si- erra Nevada in white, and a May snow day shuttered schools in the Rim of the World district atop the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles. Several inches fell in tiny Lee Vining, a town with about 200 people at 6,700 feet just east of Yosemite Na- tional Park. "It's more than we got all winter!" said Leslie Rangel, who works at Nicely's res- taurant. The snow was heavy and wet, but it was not likely to stick around long because temperatures were rising fast, she said. In the San Bernardino range, preschool teacher Karen Day said the weather turned windy and cold over- night in Running Springs, and the community woke up to3inchesofsnow—enough for children to build a snow- man. "We didn't think we'd get this much — we thought maybe a dusting," she said. The low-pressure system beganmovingsouththrough California on Thursday, bringing snow to parts of the Sierra, where peaks that nor- mally hold a vast water sup- ply have been devoid of a sig- nificant snowpack after an- other dry year. More than a foot of snow fell in some areas south of U.S. 50, according to the Na- tional Weather Service office in Sacramento. That's the general area where Gov. Jerry Brown stood April 1 in dry brown grass at what would nor- mally be a snowpack depth- measuring site and or- dered mandatory water re- strictions because of the yearslong drought. This week's dousing, how- ever, will not ease the state's worsening water shortage. In Southern California, theNationalWeatherService said up to 6 inches of snow fell in the mountains and rainfall totals ranged widely from a few tenths of an inch to more than 1 inch. WEATHER Chilly spring storm brings rain, snow to California, Nevada RICKSFORZA—THEINLANDVALLEYDAILYBULLETINVIAAP Snow covers a sculpture in Forest Falls on Friday. A cold spring storm le some California mountains coated Friday with the kind of snowfalls that winter largely failed to deliver, while scattered downpours doused other parts of the drought-stricken state. DAMIAN DOVARGANES — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Irene "Smokie" McGhee, a woman who had been sleeping on the streets in a South Los Angeles neighborhood, listens to music on the doorway of her newly built tiny home Thursday in Los Angeles. Building tiny houses into big help for Los Angeles' homeless The Associated Press CAMPTONVILLE A man who went missing with his young children in a rugged area of Northern California said he spent more than two days trying to get rescuers' attention by putting pink blankets in trees and leav- ing bottles by a river. Nicholas Vlahos, 41, said he and his 5-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter also tried to attract notice by lighting fires and put- ting out lots of yellow straps, San Francisco news station KGO-TV reported (http:// abc7ne.ws/1ImvKaC ). The family got stranded Tuesday in Tahoe National Forest after they went off- roading and their truck be- came stuck. National Guard Black Hawk helicopters equipped with a device that can de- tect heat helped law enforce- ment and volunteers search for Vlahos and his kids, ac- cording to the station. "We could hear them and we could see them, but they couldn't hear us. We were just too tiny," said Vlahos, a barber in Oakland. Rescue crews finally found the trio Thursday night and airlifted them to a staging area near Camp- tonville, about 100 miles northeast of Sacramento. They were not injured and in good spirits. A KGO-TV news crew captured the kids smiling as they were reunited with their grandparents. "We're just real excited that they're here," said Bob Wehmeyer, the children's grandfather. "Oh, what a re- lief. What a relief." Vlahos said he was sorry for making people worry. "We are so grateful to ev- eryone who looked for us," he said. TAHOE NATIONAL FOREST Fa mi ly s tu ck i n fo re st f or 2 days tried to alert rescuers NEW ASIAN RESTAURANT MOTHER'S DAY MAY 10th SurpriseGift For All Moms 11am-9pm (530)529-9888 628 Main Street, Red Bluff Saturday, May 30, 2015 10am-3:30pm Hostedbythe Red Bluff Community CenterAuxiliary What Do You Have For Sale? 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