Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/768249
IwouldliketothankJo- sephine Cochrane of Illi- nois. I'd like to, but I can't. She's been dead for more than a century. But if I could, I'd thank her for invent- ing the first commer- cially suc- cessful dishwasher. Per- sonally, I'd give up just about anything but my dishwasher. I'll admit to being a stickler when it comes to properly washed dishes, glassware and utensils. If they come out spotted, gritty or cloudy, I'm not happy. If your dishwasher is not turning out beautifully clean, cloudless, spotless, sparkling dishes, pots, glassware and flatware — without you hand-washing them first — don't assume the dishwasher is broken. If it runs, you can make sure it runs well. And you can stop that prewashing Years ago, before we re- modeled and sold our home in California, I'd lived with a well-used low- end plain-wrap 18-year-old dishwasher. All was well until I began to notice that it wasn't. Dishes came out feeling gritty, glasses were streaked and cloudy, and food remained stuck to flatware. Ugh. It was really bad. I assumed my Tap- pan had lived out its use- ful life and deserved to be put down. At a total cost of nine bucks and a crash course in dishwasherology, I had good ol' Tappan working like new in no time, and I didn't resort to pre-rins- ing. I still refuse to pre- rinse. DE-GRUNGE. Just like a car, a dishwasher needs routine maintenance. From time to time you need to get rid of the lime scale, soap scum, iron and grease that builds up in your dishwasher — much of which is hidden in the hoses and other out-of- sight places. It needs a monthly acid bath. You can do this with unsweet- ened lemonade Kool-Aid, Tang powdered drink mix or a product called Dish- washer Magic (about $6 for 12 ounces). All of these products contain citric acid. Unlike the drink powders, Dish- washer Magic also kills 99.9 percent of germs and extends the life of your dishwasher while im- proving its cleaning per- formance. If you use the drink powders, fill both detergent cups with Tang, or pour one package of the lemonade powder into each of the cups. Run the empty dishwasher through a complete cycle. If you opt for Dishwasher Magic, follow the package direc- tions. I credit Dishwasher Magic with giving my old, old dishwasher another six years of life. WATER TEMPERA- TURE. To effectively clean dirty dishes, a dishwasher needs water heated to 140 degrees F*. And the water must enter the dishwasher that hot. If you raise your water heater temperature, beware of the potential for water hotter than that to scald in sinks, showers, bathtubs and your wash- ing machine. (You can get scald-protection devices for sinks and tubs, like those used for children.) The single most important factor for getting good re- sults is hot water. If your dishwasher is newer, it may have its own in-line water heater. Check your manual. DETERGENT. It's diffi- cult to beat the line of Cas- cade powdered products, but Costco and Wal-Mart store brands come pretty darn close. Make sure you use fresh powdered auto- matic dishwasher deter- gent. It loses its ability to clean properly when ex- posed to humidity and air. Never store your detergent under the sink. And unless you are a heavy user, don't opt for the largest box of detergent. DO NOT RINSE. Scrape food to remove all the chunks, but don't pre-rinse items for the dishwasher. Automatic dishwasher de- tergent is highly alkaline and needs the acidity of the food to reach optimum cleaning action. Besides, rinsing wastes time, en- ergy and water. RINSE AGENT. A rinse additive like Jet-Dry im- proves the sheeting action of water and leaves dishes sparkling clear, but it can be pricey. Hint: White vin- egar is a reasonable sub- stitute. Fill your rinse ad- ditive dispenser with straight white vinegar. Oc- casionally toss in a cup of white vinegar with the last rinse. SAVE WATER. It takes 6 to 10 gallons of water to run your dishwasher, com- pared to the 9 to 24 gallons you would use doing dishes by hand. So give yourself a break, and let your dish- washer do the job Jose- phine intended it to do. *Caution: Water hot- ter than 120 degrees F can scald children and el- derly adults. If your dish- washer does not have its own heating device, take proper precautions by in- stalling anti-scald devices. Or consider installing an in-line water heater for the dishwasher. EVERYDAYCHEAPSKATE Knowthydishwasher Mary Hunt By Patricia Mrofka Assistantdistrictmanagerin Redding Monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits will see a slight increase in 2017. Some other adjustments that take effect in January of each year are based on the increase in average wages. Based on that increase, the maximum amount of earnings subject to the So- cial Security tax — taxable maximum — will increase to $127,200 from $118,500. Of the estimated 173 mil- lion workers who will pay Social Security taxes in 2017, about 12 million will pay more because of the in- crease in the taxable max- imum. Thresholds for benefits will change slightly next year including the Sub- stantial Gainful Activity, SSI Federal Payment Stan- dard and SSI Student Ex- clusion. Information about Medi- care changes for 2017 are available at www.Medi- care.gov. For some beneficiaries, their Social Security in- crease may be partially or completely offset by in- creases in Medicare premi- ums. The Social Security Act provides for how the Cost of Living Adjustment is cal- culated. To read more, please visit www.socialsecurity. gov/cola. Learn more about the resulting changes at our factsheet on the subject: www.socialsecurity.gov/ news/press/factsheets/co- lafacts2017.pdf. SOCIAL SECURITY With the new year comes new changes The Center for Eco- nomic Development's 17th Annual North State Eco- nomic Forecast Conference will take place on Jan. 19, 2017, at the Gold Country Casino Event Center, 4020 Olive Highway, in Oroville. Registration and break- fast start at 7:30 a.m. and the final breakout sessions will end at 4:30 p.m. The Center for Economic Development, a center within the California State University, Chico Research Foundation, provides data, information and technical services to support lead- ers in business and gov- ernment make sound eco- nomic and policy decisions. The conference will pro- vide an analysis of where the national, state and North Valley economies are headed for the short and long-term. This year's conference will focus on strategies to build partnerships be- tween public and private groups. "With the loss of redevel- opment [programs], there are fewer financial re- sources to go around and many communities are competing for the same pots of money," said Mi- chael Suplita, associate di- rector of research at CED. "As a result, many local economic developers are relying more and more on public-private partnerships to accomplish tasks that may require large amounts of staff time, or significant financial resources," said Suplita. "This event will be a great opportunity to ex- amine certain best prac- tices, with an economics- first twist," he added. The plenary session will feature Bill Watkins, exec- utive director of the Cali- fornia Lutheran University Center for Economic Re- search and Forecasting in Thousand Oaks, California, along with Todd Mirell, a lecturer at the University of California, Davis. The key- note speaker will be Peter Luchetti, a managing part- ner at San Francisco, Cal- ifornia-based Table Rock Capital who specializes in public-private partner- ships. Breakout sessions will discuss Agriculture and Water Issues, Building Better Broadband, Com- mercial Real Estate, North State Public-Private Part- nerships, Small Business Financing, Recreation and Agricultural Tourism, Re- gional Economic Develop- ment and Workforce Devel- opment. The conference will also feature a day-long trade show to provide attendees with an opportunity to view products and services provided by local business and organizations. Regis- tration for trade show ex- hibitors is open until Jan. 6, 2017. To register, reserve an exhibitor's table for the tradeshow, or get more in- formation, visit www.ced- cal.com. Registration includes full breakfast and lunch and one copy of the 2017 EconomicScorecard for the region. NORTH STATE ECONOMIC FORECAST Conference to focus on public-private partnerships Organizers, partners and donors gathered Dec. 22 at the Tehama Country Visitor Center for a bicy- cle drive on the final day of collection for Bike For Kids program into Tehama County. There were 41 bicy- cles collected since the drive kicked off Dec. 8 and they were to be given to Tehama County fos- ter youth through Chil- dren's First Foster Fam- ily Agency. Volunteers and sup- porters included Red Bluff Police Sgt. Mike Graham, Heidi Thomas, Starbucks represen- tative Angela Brown, Robin Freisheim of Chil- dren's First Foster Fam- ily Agency, Main Street Starbucks manager Kel- cie Wilson, Red Bluff Fire Reserve Firefighter Jeremy Escamilla, Engi- neer Casey Hickok, Mike Logan of Children First and Julia Freisheim. 41 bicycles collected for foster youth JULIEZEEB—DAILYNEWS From le : Red Bluff Police Sgt. 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