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ByKristinJ.Benderand Scott Smith TheAssociatedPress SAN FRANCISCO Califor- nians who have sharply reduced water use dur- ing their four-year drought were warned against revert- ing to old habits Tuesday as the first of several storms spawned by a record-tying El Niño began drenching the state. The series of storms lining up over the Pacific Ocean was welcome news in California, despite their potential for causing flash floods and mudslides. But authorities cautioned that even the wettest of winters can't replenish de- pleted reservoirs and aqui- fers unless everyone keeps pitching in. California's water defi- cit is so deep that a "steady parade of storms" like these will be needed for years to come, said Mike Anderson, climatologist for the state's Department of Water Re- sources. "We're at least on a good trajectory," he said. "We've got to keep it going." The current El Niño — a natural warming of the cen- tral Pacific Ocean that in- teracts with the atmosphere and changes weather world- wide — has tied 1997-1998 as the strongest on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra- tion's Climate Prediction Center said Tuesday, cit- ing statistics that go back to 1950. El Niños usually bring heavy rains to California, although it remains to be seen whether people should expect anything like a re- peat of 1997 and 1998, when storms killed 17 people, wiped out crops, washed out highways and pushed houses down hillsides. "DarthNiño may fi- nally have California in its sights," said Jeff Mas- ters, meteorology director of the private Weather Un- derground. "A parade of strong Pa- cific storms characteristic of a strong El Niño event will batter the state this week and will likely bring damaging flooding by the time the second storm in the series rolls through on Wednesday," Masters said. However, Masters and meteorologist Ryan Maue of the private Weather- Bell Analytics don't believe this first storm is as pow- erful as some other Pacific storm systems, and caution that the storms now follow- ing it may land elsewhere. The current forecast calls for a "kind of a nice level of bombardment" over the next two weeks; probably not enough to cause the tre- mendous flooding of 1998, but then again, that year's floods didn't peak until Feb- ruary, Masters said. As much as 15 inches of rain could fall in the next 16 days in Northern Cali- fornia, with about 2 feet of snow expected in the high- est points of the Sierra Ne- vada, said Johnny Powell, a forecaster with the National Weather Service. In Southern California, between 2 and 3.5 inches of rain is predicted to fall across the coastal and val- ley areas, and up to 5 inches falling in the mountains. The first in the line of storms also drenched the desert Southwest on Tues- day and was aiming for the Gulf Coast, but should weaken to no more than a couple inches of rainfall by the time it reaches the Southeast, Masters added. In California, flash flood- ing and flows of mud and debris were a concern, es- pecially in places left bar- ren by last year's wildfires. Residents of the Silverado Canyon burn area in Or- ange County and the Soli- mar burn area in Ventura County were urged to con- sider evacuating. "The best time to pre- pare is before a weather event happens, but there is still time to prepare at least a basic emergency kit for your home, your car or your place of work," said Brad Al- exander, spokesman for the Governor's Office of Emer- gency Services. Rocks fell on the road- way through Malibu Can- yon, damaging four vehi- cles and clogging a heavily traveled commuter route through the steep Santa Monica Mountains, and Los Angeles police were roust- ing the homeless from nor- mally dry riverbeds. As steady and sometimes heavy rains fell, Los Ange- les Mayor Eric Garcetti urged people to clear gut- ters and anything in their yards that might clog storm drains, and to stockpile sandbags if their home is susceptible to flooding. Garcetti also said that the city's homeless en- campments have been mapped for the first time, and promised shuttles to bring people to shelters with 6,000 beds. Los Angeles Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas said swift- water rescue teams are ready, but he'd rather not deploy them. Authorities hope to avoid a repeat of last September's rescue of a homeless man who scrambled up a tree with his dog when the Los An- geles River quickly grew to a torrent. The storms are whipped up large ocean swells that could generate hazardous breaking waves at west-fac- ing harbors. Ventura's Har- bor Boulevard was closed Tuesday by flooding about a foot deep, police there said. Altogether, the storms hold the potential for mas- sive amounts of precipi- tation for a very parched state, but water manag- ers won't be able to fully estimate this year's snow- melt until April 1, when the snowpack is typically at its deepest. "Mother Nature has a way of surprising or disap- pointing us," Department of Water Resources spokes- man Doug Carlson said, in- sisting that conservation must continue. Californians used 20 per- cent less water this past No- vember than they did in No- vember 2013, before Gov. Jerry Brown declared the state's water emergency, the Water Resources Control Board announced Tuesday. That falls short of Brown's 25 percent conser- vation mandate for a second straight month, although board chairwoman Felicia Marcus said the state re- mains on track to meet his overall goal. "The fact that per person water use dropped to 75 gal- lons per person per day on average is proof that Cali- fornians are clearly think- ing twice before turning on the tap," Marcus said in a statement. Despite these storms, Shawn Coburn says grow- ers like him, working thou- sands of acres in the west- ern San Joaquin Valley, ex- pect no water this year from the federal govern- ment's vast system of reser- voirs and canals. He blames strict environmental laws designed to protect endan- gered fish. "I hope that it rains so much that Noah and his ark are flowing down the San Joaquin River," he said. "The people that run the system are telling us to be prepared for zero." Contributors include Seth Borenstein in Washington and John Antczak in Los Angeles. Smith reported from Fresno, California. WEATHER Hola,ElNiño!Weeksofstorms hi tt in g dr ou gh t- st ri ck en s ta te ERICRISBERG—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Traffic crosses the Golden Gate Bridge in the rain Tuesday in this view from Sausalito El Niño storms lined up in the Pacific, promising to drench parts of the West for more than two weeks and increasing fears of mudslides and flash floods in regions stripped bare by wildfires. By Matthew Perrone The Associated Press WASHINGTON The devel- oper of Lumosity "brain training" games will pay $2 million to settle federal allegations that it misled customers about the cog- nitive benefits of its online apps and programs. The Federal Trade Com- mission said Tuesday the company's advertisements deceptively suggested that playing the games a few times a week could boost performance at work, in the classroom and even de- lay serious conditions like dementia. Under the set- tlement, Lumos Labs must contact its customers and offer them an easy way to cancel their subscriptions. The San Francisco com- pany frequently promoted its games through na- tional TV and radio sta- tions including CNN, Fox News and National Public Radio. The company also used Google advertising services to drive traffic to its website, the FTC said in a statement. "Lumosity preyed on consumers' fears about age-related cognitive de- cline, suggesting their games could stave off memory loss, dementia, and even Alzheimer's dis- ease," said Jessica Rich, a director in FTC's con- sumer protection unit. "But Lumosity simply did not have the science to back up its ads." Customers pay any- where from $15, for a monthly subscription, or up to $300 for lifetime ac- cess to Lumosity's online and mobile apps. An FTC spokesman said Tuesday's action is the first government set- tlement with a maker of apps intended to boost brain health. Previous set- tlements have involved makers of dietary supple- ments and other products intended to boost mental performance. The govern- ment agency, which regu- lates consumer advertis- ing, plans to refund the $2 million to Lumosity customers. The agency ini- tially obtained a $50 mil- lion judgment against Lu- mos Labs, but the amount was downsized because of company's inability to pay. Lumosity is one of the most visible services in the burgeoning brain training industry, which has esti- mated sales of over $1 bil- lion per year, according to trade publications. Under federal law, only products that have been reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration can claim to treat or prevent serious diseases or condi- tions. To date, the FDA has not approved any brain training programs. In 2014, more than 70 prominent neurol- ogy and psychology re- searchers published a consensus statement critical of the brain training industry, citing its "frequently exagger- ated" marketing. "The aggressive adver- tising entices consumers to spend money on prod- ucts and to take up new behaviors, such as gam- ing, based on these exag- gerated claims," the ex- perts said. While studies have shown that gaming par- ticipants can improve their performance on sim- ple tasks, the experts con- cluded there is no compel- ling evidence that games "reduce or reverse cogni- tive decline." 'BRAIN TRAINING' GAMES Lumosity to pay $2M to settle deceptive ad allegations By Amy Taxin The Associated Press SAN BERNARDINO Fed- eral authorities on Tues- day asked for the public's help in filling out a gap in the whereabouts of the two assailants after they killed 14 people in last month's at- tack in San Bernardino. David Bowdich, the as- sistant director in charge of theFBI'sLosAngelesoffice, reiteratedthatthere'snoev- idence that the attack was foreign-directed, but said nothing has been ruled out. He also said investiga- torshavefoundnoevidence therewereanytargetsother than the Inland Regional Center, where Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, 29, opened fire Dec. 2 on a holiday lun- cheongatheringofFarook's co-workers in the county health agency. Investigators specifically need information about an 18-minute gap in the time- line between the deadly at- tack at the center and the pursuit and shootout in which both attackers were killed. Bowdich said investiga- tors want to leave no stone unturned and hope to find out if the assailants con- tacted anyone or stopped anywhere between 12:59 p.m. and 1:17 p.m. that day. The rest of their move- mentsthroughtheadjacent cities of San Bernardino and Redlands in a rented black Ford Expedition have been tracked, he said. "It's possible that they stopped, whether it be a storage area, a residence, a business. It's possible there was a contact made. We just don't know," Bowdich told reporters. ""It very well may not be an impor- tant fact, but until we close that gap we just don't know for sure." He urged people to call if they have any information, including video. After the shooting ram- page, the couple visited an area lake at 11:45 a.m. and then appeared to zig-zag throughout the area, stop- ping at certain places, he said. SAN BERNARDINO MASS SHOOTING FBI seeks to fill time line gap in attack WeDo Alignments, Brakes, Shocks, Struts, Oil Changes, Suspension, Trailer Repairs, Batteries & Wipers 1375MontgomeryRd. Red Bluff, CA 530 529-0797 Established 1947 StromerRealty www.stromerrealty.com Specializing in Residential to Ranches 590 Antelope Blvd Red Bluff (530) 527-3100 STOVEJUNCTION The TheNorthState'spremiersupplierofstoves 22825 Antelope Blvd., Red Bluff 530-528-2221 • Fax 530-528-2229 www.thestovejunction.com Over 25 years of experience Tues-Sat9am-5pm• ClosedSun&Mon Now Carrying! 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