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Larson:DanielT.Larson, 62, of Corning died Satur- day, Feb. 27at St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Red Bluff. Arrangements are under the direction of Hoyt-Cole Chapel of the Flowers. Published Saturday, March 12, 2016in the Daily News, Red Bluff, California. Deathnoticesmustbe provided by mortuaries to the news department, are published at no charge, and feature only specific basic information about the deceased. Paid obituaries are placed through the Classified advertising department. Paid obituaries may be placed by mortuaries or by families of the deceased and include online publication linked to the newspaper's website. Paid obituaries may be of any length, may run multiple days and offer wide latitude of content, including photos. Deathnotices • California has been the nation's leading dairy state since 1993when it sur- passed Wisconsin in milk production. • Cows are ruminant animals, which have four stomach compartments, and efficiently digest many different commodities such as hay, silage (fer- mented corn, wheat or hay including the stalks and leaves), and grain (corn, oats and barley). • In California, 280,000 bearing acres, primarily from Redding to Bakers- field, produce three-quar- ters of the worlds trade in Walnuts. Walnut shells can be burned to generate power and heat, or ground and used as pet litter or in sand blasting. Walnuts are rich in Omega-3and its shells are a mild abrasive that is used as "fine grit" in many women's cosmet- ics and face cleansers. • California supplies more than 47percent of the worlds supply of dried plums from more than 49,000bearing acres. California dries plums are a high-energy snack that provides antioxidants, potassium, and fiber. • With more than 6,000 growers and 100almond processors, California produces approximately 80percent of the world's almonds and 100percent of the United States com- mercial supply. 99percent of the commercial U.S. supply and 3/4 of the world trade of walnuts now come from California (2010). • 30percent of American farmers are women. Each American farmer feeds more than 144people each year. • Lettuce is a member of the sunflower family and almost all lettuce is packed right in the field. Apples are a member of the rose family. • California grows about 70percent of all the asparagus grown in the United States More than 50,000tons of asparagus are grown in California each year • Pumpkins were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snake bites Pumpkin flowers are edible Pumpkins are used for feed for animals • California is the world's largest producer of dried plums, supplying 48 percent of the world's supply and 99percent of the US Supply. Dried plums can reverse bone loss and preserve bone structure, reducing the risk of osteo- porotic fracture • California produces 100 percent of the nation's dried figs and 98percent of the fresh figs. Eating one half cup of figs has as much calcium as drinking one-half cup of milk. • Pistachios are an excel- lent source of vitamin B6, copper and manganese Ag facts havecanvased4,792homes, installed 2,029 smoke de- tectors and helped fami- lies create 1,314 fire escape plans. "Every day seven peo- ple die in a home fire some- where in the United States. Working with our partners, we are changing that by making people safer with each new smoke alarm we install," said Robin Fried- man, regional disaster of- ficer. "The campaign has already helped to save the lives of dozens of people and we know that num- ber will only grow as more alarms are installed and more people take action to prevent home fires." Daylight Saving Time occurs at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 13 and the Red Cross reminds everyone to turn and test — turn their clocks ahead one hour and test their smoke alarms. If a home is lacking smoke alarms, residents should install smoke alarms on every level of the home, inside bedrooms and out- side sleeping areas. The alarms should be tested ev- ery month and the batter- ies replaced at least once a year, or according to the alarm manufacturer's in- structions. Every household should develop a fire escape plan and practice it several times a year and at different times of the day. The plan should include two ways to get out of every room and a place to meet outside. Consider es- cape ladders for sleeping ar- eas or homes with two sto- ries or more. With the requirement for all new smoke alarms in California to have a 10- year lithium battery, there is not always the need to change it, but it is a good idea to still use daylight sav- ing time as a reminder to check smoke detectors, Cal Fire Tehama-Glenn Unit Public Information Officer Kevin Colburn said. "Even though California Law requires 10-year lith- ium battery smoke alarms, we still recommend test- ing alarms once a month to ensure they are working properly and clean them at least once a year," Colburn said. "For those individuals who still have alkaline bat- tery smoke alarms we rec- ommend replacing batter- ies at least once a year, but if people are more comfort- able changing them with the time change, that's okay too." The important thing is to make sure a residence has smoke alarms in place. "It's important to have working smoke alarms in your home," Colburn said. "Approximately two-thirds of home fire deaths occur in homes without smoke alarms. Since most fatal fires occur at night, its es- sential that every home has working smoke alarms to provide an early warning. Working smoke alarms in- crease the chance of surviv- ing a home fire by 50 per- cent." Alarms FROM PAGE 1 Walnuts are a $169.4million industry in Tehama County and the number one crop followed by almonds, which is a $48.2million industry. CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS Prunes round out the top five commodities in Tehama County and are an $18.3million industry. Tehama County has ex- perienced six consecutive record years for total gross value agricultural produc- tion, with 2014 total gross value at $380.3 million, which represents a 25.9 percent increase from 2013. Tehama County is ranked as 26th overall in value of the 58 California Counties. California's top five val- ued commodities for 2014 were: milk — $9.4 bil- lion, almonds — $5.9 bil- lion, grapes — $5.2 billion, cattle — $3.7 billion, and strawberries — $2.5 bil- lion. Tehama County's top five commodities in 2014 were: walnuts — $169.4 million, almonds — $48.2 million, olives — $36.4 million, cattle — $33.8 million, and prunes — $18.3 million. To read the entire Te- hama County Crop Re- port, as well as all Tehama County Crop Reports dat- ing back to 1950, visit: www.co.tehama.ca.us/dep- agriculture. Ag Day FROM PAGE 1 By Julie Zeeb jzeeb@redbluffdailynews.com @DN_Zeeb on Twitter CORNING A 35-year-old Corning woman is being cited for use of cell phone while driving and driving on a suspended license af- ter her vehicle crashed into a utility pole, caus- ing a power outage Friday morning. Officers responded at 9:06 a.m. Friday to the 200 block of Marguerite for a collision into a power pole that required traffic control due to live power lines down along a Corn- ing High School fence, ac- cording to a Corning Police Department press release. The driver, identified as Yvonne Louise Castillo, was reportedly not paying attention to the road and lost control of the vehicle. She declined medical assis- tance at the scene. The crash caused an outage that initially af- fected 226 Pacific Gas and Electric Co. customers in northeast Corning, PG&E spokesman Paul Moreno said. Crews had restored power to all but 58 cus- tomers by about 12:15 p.m. and power was estimated to be restored completely by 4:30 p.m. Friday. To view outages, visit www.pge.com/outages. OUTAGE Cra sh ne ar C or ni ng H ig h School causes outage to 226 PG&E customer By Tom Murphy The Associated Press The Affordable Care Act's health insurance co- ops absorbed deep finan- cial losses last year, and 2016 is shaping up to be a make-or-break year for these nonprofit alterna- tives to traditional insur- ers. Officially called Con- sumer Operated and Ori- ented Plans, these still- fledgling insurers were devised during the ACA's creation to inject com- petition into insurance markets. But they have struggled from the start to build a customer base from scratch and deal with higher-than-expected ex- penses, among other prob- lems. Heading into their third full year of operation, the co-ops are adding cus- tomers and improving their coverage, but they also face the end of some government programs de- signed to support insurers as they build business on the ACA's public insurance exchanges. They will have to determine soon whether their businesses can stand on their own and compete with more established car- riers. "Plan year 2016 is a crit- ical year for these co-ops — they must move from startup to stability and im- prove their financial capa- bilities," said Kevin Couni- han, CEO of the federal exchange operator Health- Care.gov, during a Thurs- day hearing held by the Senate's Homeland Secu- rity & Government Affairs Committee. A dozen of the 23 co- ops created under the law have closed, and many of the survivors lost well over $20 million last year, ac- cording to recently filed annual statements com- piled by the National Asso- ciation of Insurance Com- missioners. But the co-ops also hit a growth spurt and now cover more than 350,000 people, or nearly triple their total from 2014. En- rollment is growing bet- ter than expected and pa- tient populations appear to be getting younger and healthier in some cases. That can help cut future expenses. Plus, the co-ops are learning more about their patient population, which can help them price future coverage to cover claims. These insurers knew 2015 would be ugly, ac- cording to Kelly Crowe, CEO of the trade associ- ation the National Alli- ance of State Health Co- Ops. But she said last year's numbers don't re- flect where the co-ops stand today. Crowe noted that many are growing methodically and adding more stable, employer- sponsored coverage. "We're optimistic that they will continue to grow and be a viable alterna- tive for people in selecting their health care," she said. "They are still financially fragile, though. There ob- viously is still some risk there, as there is with any start up business." Maryland's Evergreen Health Cooperative did the best of the remaining co-ops in 2015, booking a loss of $10.8 million. Land of Lincoln Mutual Health Insurance Co. in Illinois lost $90.8 million. Maine's Community Health Options made $7.3 million in 2014 but lost $74 million last year. More than half of that stemmed from a reserve the insurer set aside to cover future losses. Both the Maine and Il- linois co-ops say higher- than-expected costs hurt them in 2015. Hospital and medical expenses for Community Health Options more than doubled to $354.7 million, something CEO Kevin Lewis attributes in part to pent-up demand from people who had been wait- ing for coverage in order to seek treatment. A nearly $55-million reinsurance payment from the federal government helped ease that blow. FLEDGLING INSURERS ACA co-ops lose millions in 2015; some expect 2016 profits By Janie Har and John Antczak The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO Schools shuttered, motorists re- routed and residents snapped up sandbags Fri- day in response to heavy rains drenching North- ern California as part of a much-needed storm system that's moving south. Roads were closed due to floods and mudslides, including a portion of Cal- ifornia Highway 1 in Men- docino County where over- night slides nearly toppled a California Department of Transportation dump truck with an employee inside. The truck hit a guardrail — stopping its fall — and landed at a 45-degree an- gle. The employee was un- injured. The latest in a series of storms moved in Thurs- day night, adding more moisture to an already wet March that has resulted in mudslides and swollen creeks. A mudslide was likely to blame for a com- muter train that derailed east of San Francisco on Monday, injuring nine. Bobby Rehfeldt of Good- man Building Supply off U.S. 101 in Mill Valley, said Friday that most of the cus- tomers in the busy store were thrilled with the rain, although some are under- standably unhappy about leaks. "Lots of people are buy- ing tarps and roof patch and heat guns to dry stuff up, anything for getting water off the ground, and sandbags are flying out of here," he said. "It's just rain, and we need it." California is entering its fifth year of drought, and water watchers say any- thing helps, although it will take years of normal or above-normal rainfall to right the deficit. Rain moved down the Central Coast and into Southern California dur- ing the morning, but only a few sprinkles fell during the funeral for former first lady Nancy Reagan at the Ronald Reagan Presiden- tial Library in Simi Valley, northwest of Los Angeles. A waterproof tent behind the library shielded those at- tending the service. Minutes after the service ended, the skies unleashed a blustery downpour and mourners pulled out um- brellas as they filed past her coffin. The National Weather Service said the cold front would move through the re- gion very quickly and peak rain rates would likely only last an hour or two, with a couple of hours of lighter precipitation in its after- math. Snow levels were ex- pected to initially be be- tween 6,000 and 6,500 feet, then lower, possibly to 4,500 feet by night. WEATHER Schools, roads closed by Northern California storms R ed Bluff Simple Cremations and Burial Service FD1931 527-1732 Now open longer hours 722 Oak Street, Red Bluff SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 2016 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM | NEWS | 9 A