Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/621780
ByEllenKnickmeyer The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO Bank- ing into the wind and then gliding out of sight, a male California condor flew back into the wild after a cap- tive breeding program that helped save North Ameri- ca's largest species of land bird. The 35-year-old bird named AC-4 soared out of his open pen earlier this week at a canyon rim inside the Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge, in central California's Kern County. He had been one of just 23 condors left in the world in the 1980s. It was the bird's first free flight since 1985, when a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- viceteamcapturedhimnear the same spot. It was part of a last-ditch attempt to stop the extinction of the Califor- niacondor,whichhasawing span of more than 9 feet. AC-4 needed only a few minutes to get his bearings before flying out of the pen and over the canyon, said Joseph Brandt, a lead con- dor biologist with the wild- life service. Brandt was sit- ting on a hilltop nearby to watch the release. "He kind of flew right past us. It was really in- credible," Brandt said by telephone Thursday. Lead poisoning is be- lieved one of the main fac- tors that drove California condors toward extinction. The birds ingest fragments of lead bullets when they feed on carcasses of ani- mals shot by hunters. California lawmakers voted in 2013 to phase out lead bullets for hunting by 2019. Biologists believe AC-4 was 5 to 7 years old when they captured him for the captive breeding program. He fathered the first chick born in the program, giv- ing the program's found- ers greater hope they could save the species. In all, AC-4 sired 30 con- dor chicks that have been successfully released into the wild. "Many people have poured their heart and soul" into saving the con- dors, Jesse Grantham, a former condor program co- ordinator and part of the original team that captured AC-4, said in a statement from the wildlife service. This year, biologists re- corded 19 wild condor nests in central and South- ern California, more nests than at any point this cen- tury, Brandt said. Condors can live up to 60 years in the wild and mate for life, Brandt said. Biolo- gists hope AC-4, which they CAPTIVE BREEDING PROGRAM California condor that helped save species returns to wild JONMYATT—U.S.FISHANDWILDLIFESERVICE A California condor designated AC-4, whose captive breeding helped save the species, is re-branded as California condor 20before its release at the Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge near Maricopa Washington 47/31 New York 44/32 Miami 84/71 Atlanta 52/34 Detroit 29/23 Houston 50/42 Chicago 26/19 Minneapolis 27/16 Kansas City 36/17 El Paso 45/33 Denver 34/15 Billings 34/18 Los Angeles 65/43 San Francisco 50/37 Seattle 39/28 AIRQUALITYFORECAST Whatitmeans:0-50:Good; 51-100:Moderate; 101-150:Unhealthyforsensitivepeople; 151+:Unhealthyforall. Source: Airnow.gov City Today'sairquality City Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W CALIFORNIA CITIES National and world forecast s-sunny,pc-partly cloudy,c-cloudy,sh-showers,t-thunderstorms,r-rain,sf-snow flurries,sn-snow,i-ice City Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W Summary National Extremes World Extremes North and South America Asia, Australia Africa CarsonCity Hawthorne Reno Herlong Lovelock Sacramento Yuba City Napa Ukiah Chico Corning Lakeview Alturas Susanville Redding Red Bluff Laytonville Fort Bragg Point Arena Eureka Redway Mount Shasta Yreka Crescent City Ashland Shown is today's weather. Temperatures are today's highs and tonight's lows. Shown are today's noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. ALMANAC Precipitation Temperatures ALLERGY REPORT Pollenlevels Source: National Allergy Bureau TODAY'S UV INDEX (The higher the number, the faster skin damage will occur.) Extreme Very high High Moderate Low SUN SETTINGS, MOON PHASES Sunrise Sunset Moonrise Moonset Hoursofsunlight River Levels SacramentoRiver Flood 7a.m. 24-hr Stage yest. chg. Lake Levels Elevation Yesterday Storage (acre-feet) Percent Capacity Q: A: SATURDAY 49° 38° SUNDAY 55° 40° Times of clouds and sun Plenty of sunshine MONDAY 55° 43° Ra in and driz zle in the a.m. TUESDAY 51° 43° Pe riods of ra in TODAY 48° 30° Plenty of sunshine. Clear and cold tonight. High ....................................................................... 53° Low ........................................................................ 30° Normal high ......................................................... 53° Normal low ........................................................... 37° Record high ............................................. 71° in 1958 Record low .............................................. 25° in 1982 Humidity noon today ........................................ 35% 24 hours through 2 p.m. yesterday ................. 0.00" Month to date ................................................... 3.41" Normal month to date ..................................... 4.16" Season to date .................................................. 4.78" Normal season to date .................................... 8.22" Red Bluff through 2 p.m. yesterday Chico .......................................................... Moderate Napa ........................................................... Moderate Red Bluff .............................................. Not available Redding ............................................... Not available Yuba City ................................................... Moderate Allergy, dust and dander today: High Risk Grass .................. Absent Mold .........................Low Trees ....................... Low Weeds ................ Absent 2 Highest at 11 a.m. Today 7:31 a.m. 4:54 p.m. none 11:45 a.m. Saturday 7:31 a.m. 4:54 p.m. 12:25 a.m. 12:14 p.m. 9 hr., 23 min. Jan1 Last Jan9 New First Jan16 Full Jan23 aboveBendBridge......................27 ...........1.00 .......none atHamiltonCity.........................148 ......128.90 ....... -0.03 atOrdFerry................................114 ........96.50 ....... -0.06 atRedBluffDiversionDam.......253 ......237.80 .......none atTehamaBridge ......................213 ......200.50 ....... -0.10 atVinaWoodsonBridge............183 ......166.20 ....... -0.13 BlackButte ....................442.61..............36,726 .....25.6% LakeOroville..................666.15.........1,014,467 .....27.1% LakeShasta ...................920.17.........1,427,113 .....31.4% LakeTrinity..................2184.29............497,885 .....18.8% Whiskeytown...............1197.89............203,888 .....84.6% Weather Trivia ™ What is coldest it has ever been in the Northern Hemisphere? -90F Verkhoyansk in northern Asia. Today Saturday Anaheim 66/39/s 68/40/s Bakersfield 57/35/s 61/40/s Chula Vista 65/41/s 67/43/s Crescent City 50/34/s 52/44/s Death Valley 52/27/s 57/34/pc Eureka 51/34/s 52/44/s Fremont 50/34/s 55/42/sh Fresno 52/33/s 55/36/s Glendale 63/41/s 66/42/s Huntington Beach 64/46/s 65/48/s Irvine 65/41/s 66/41/s Lake Tahoe 23/8/pc 36/23/pc Long Beach 67/43/s 68/46/s Los Angeles 65/43/s 68/46/s Mammoth Mountain 31/8/pc 42/18/pc Modesto 50/33/s 53/37/pc Monterey 55/40/s 59/46/pc Moreno Valley 61/32/s 65/36/s Napa 50/26/s 49/36/pc Needles 56/39/s 62/43/s Oakland 51/34/s 52/41/pc Oxnard 65/44/s 67/47/s Redding 49/28/s 49/38/s Riverside 62/30/s 67/33/s Sacramento 50/28/s 50/33/pc San Bernardino 62/36/s 67/39/s San Diego 64/47/s 65/49/s San Francisco 50/37/s 52/43/pc San Jose 54/35/s 57/44/pc San Luis Obispo 61/39/s 65/44/s Santa Ana 64/42/s 66/45/s Santa Barbara 62/35/s 65/44/s Santa Clarita 57/34/s 62/38/s Stockton 50/30/s 51/35/pc Ventura 64/45/s 66/48/s Yosemite Valley 40/19/pc 45/26/pc Today Saturday Albuquerque 36/22/c 41/23/c Atlanta 52/34/c 51/35/pc Baltimore 45/27/pc 43/25/s Boston 42/29/s 39/30/s Buffalo 31/25/sf 33/27/c Chicago 26/19/pc 30/18/s Cincinnati 35/23/s 35/24/s Dallas 49/32/c 54/36/c Denver 34/15/s 40/18/pc Detroit 29/23/sf 33/26/pc El Paso 45/33/c 49/33/c Fargo 25/14/s 27/11/s Honolulu 81/68/pc 81/68/s Houston 50/42/r 53/41/c Indianapolis 29/22/s 31/22/s Kansas City 36/17/s 35/16/s Las Vegas 47/33/s 50/37/s Louisville 39/26/s 41/26/s Miami 84/71/pc 82/70/c Minneapolis 27/16/pc 27/16/s New Orleans 52/45/r 55/45/c New York City 44/32/pc 42/31/s Oklahoma City 42/24/pc 46/24/s Drier and chillier air, when compared to much of December, will continue to expand across the central and eastern United States today. In the wake of record warmth in many locations during December, temperatures will be within 5 degrees Fahrenheit of average in most locations, except for the Florida Peninsula, where warmth will linger. A swath of clouds and showers will extend from South Texas to northern Florida and the coastal Carolinas, near the boundary between the warmth and chill. The air will be cold enough to al- low bands of snow downwind of the Great Lakes. High ................................ 86° in Naples, FL Low ................................. -20° in Craig, CO High ............... 114° in Newman, Australia Low ............. -58° in Delyankirskiy, Russia Bogota 70/48/t 65/44/r Buenos Aires 86/67/pc 88/70/pc Caracas 85/75/pc 85/75/pc Ensenada 65/39/s 68/40/s Mexico City 73/49/pc 72/48/pc Montreal 32/20/sn 30/27/sn Rio de Janeiro 95/74/t 84/72/t Tijuana 66/39/s 67/39/s Toronto 31/22/c 34/28/c Vancouver 37/24/s 39/26/s Orlando 83/59/t 69/55/c Philadelphia 46/31/pc 41/31/s Phoenix 68/46/s 71/48/s Pittsburgh 34/22/c 33/24/pc Portland, ME 38/22/pc 35/26/s Portland, OR 38/25/s 37/26/s St. Louis 39/25/s 39/25/s Salt Lake City 23/10/s 30/19/pc Seattle 39/28/s 39/28/s Tucson 67/44/pc 68/44/s Washington, DC 47/31/pc 44/30/s Cairo 56/47/pc 58/46/c Casablanca 72/45/s 70/47/s Johannesburg 87/61/c 83/58/pc Kinshasa 90/72/pc 91/73/t Lagos 89/71/s 89/70/s Nairobi 82/58/s 81/60/s Tripoli 62/50/pc 67/50/s Baghdad 59/39/pc 51/30/s Beijing 44/22/s 49/22/pc Hong Kong 69/63/pc 69/65/pc Jerusalem 44/36/sh 43/38/r Kabul 51/26/s 51/31/pc Manila 85/76/sh 86/76/s Melbourne 86/61/pc 81/62/c New Delhi 74/44/pc 73/46/pc Seoul 43/35/pc 50/32/pc Singapore 86/78/t 86/77/t Sydney 78/64/pc 75/66/pc Tehran 50/38/c 47/22/sh Tokyo 53/41/pc 56/45/pc Amsterdam 46/39/pc 45/40/r Athens 44/36/pc 51/42/c Belgrade 30/24/sf 35/26/pc Berlin 41/32/c 34/20/c Budapest 27/23/sn 27/21/pc Dublin 47/43/r 49/40/sh London 47/46/r 53/44/sh Madrid 56/42/r 52/36/sh Moscow 9/3/c 6/1/pc Paris 49/45/c 52/43/sh Rome 55/42/c 58/47/sh Stockholm 34/23/c 28/19/sf Vienna 31/24/sn 31/22/pc Zurich 44/33/c 41/34/c 23/6 27/6 28/12 22/4 24/1 50/28 49/27 50/26 48/26 48/29 48/29 19/-6 18/-2 24/8 49/28 48/30 47/22 51/40 50/38 51/34 49/25 32/13 32/12 50/34 35/15 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2016 Established1978 CELEBRATING 38 YEARS MOULE'S TEHAMACOUNTYGLASS 515 Sycamore St., Red Bluff 529-0260 750DavidAvenue Red Bluff EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY TehamaEstatesProvides: ◆IndependentLiving ◆ Private Apartments ◆ Three Nutritious Meals Daily ◆ 24 Hour Secure Environment ◆ House Keeping Services ◆ Warm & Friendly Staff ◆ Recreational Programs ◆ Scheduled Transportation ◆ Private & Formal Dining Rooms A Retirement Community for the Active Senior Citizens Established 1987 TehamaEstates 527-9193 Established 1987 WECARRYMANYSELECTBRANDSOF DOG & CAT FOODS •SOLIDGOLD•BLUEBUFFALO•CALIFORNIANATURAL • TASTE OF THE WILD • ROYAL CANINE • CHICKEN SOUP • DIAMOND NATURALS • NATURAL BALANCE • NUTRA • WELLNESS • INNOVA-EVO • HOLISTIC SELECT OPENEVERYDAY9:00amto6:00pm 345So.MainStreet•RedBluff (530) 527-4588 365-7194or365-4322 OPEN 7 DAYS 6am-10pm 8080 AIRPORT ROAD Your full service: Meat Department, Deli & Groceries www.kentsmeats.com On-site HARVESTING CUTTING & CRYOVACING 525 Antelope Blvd, Red Bluff (530) 527-5272 Mon.–Fri.8am-5pm Saturday by appointment Locally owned & operated Enrollment, Plan Changes, Income & Subsidy Modifications 805 Walnut Street CornerofWalnut&Jackson Red Bluff 530-840-6611 Lic# OK13422 ENROLLMENT Service Assistance CertifiedInsuranceAgent HUGE Selection of New & Used Musical Instruments & Accessories BEST PRICES OF THE YEAR! 413WalnutStreet•530-528-8000 Sat.-Mon. 10am-4pm • Tues-Fri 10am-5:30pm Se Habla Español www.redbluffgoldexchange.com www.angelsamongusall.com ServingOurCommunityForOver21Years FACTORYMATTRESS OUTLET 3650MainSt.inCottonwood 347-3646 Open7Days(since1920) • FREE Delivery • FREE Take-Out SAVEFROM $ 100 $ 250 OFF With This Coupon TO QUALITY 2-SIDED FLIPPABLE MATTRESSES | WEATHER | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM FRIDAY, JANUARY 1, 2016 8 A