Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/811101
The emergency effort to repair the Lake Oroville spillways will not interfere with most outdoor recre- ation this summer at the lake, and with the exception of the Spillway Boat Launch Ramp,allboatlaunchramps are open, according to the California State Parks and the Department of Water Resources. Allcampgroundsareopen and floating campsites are back on the lake and avail- able for rental. Some areas near the dam will continue to be off-limits to visitors as crews work to repair or re- place spillways damaged in Februaryduringhighrunoff. All campgrounds are open with site-specific reser- vations available at Bidwell Canyon, Loafer Creek and Lime Saddle. Campers with- outreservationsarestillwel- come on a day-to-day basis to any campsites that have not been previously re- served. Campground show- ers have been equipped with token machines. Each site will have a unique, collect- able token which can also be used at other participating state parks. Lake Oroville has a num- beroftrailsforhiking,biking and equestrian use. Trails around the Diversion Pool and Hyatt Power Plant likely will be closed throughout the summer, although au- thorities may make changes to other trails to accommo- date more hikers and help compensate for the closures. Water levels are expected to fluctuate throughout the summer. This may affect the availability of boat launch ramps. To verify availability, please call the visitor center at 538-2219. A variety of events are anticipated for Lake Oro- ville this summer. Authori- ties will soon post a special events calendar on www. parks.ca.gov/LakeOroville. Check back on the website periodically. Another web camera will soon be placed near the gated flood control spillway on the Brad Freeman Trail near the Oro Dam Boule- vard crossing. Though the area is closed to the public, viewers of the webcam will be able to watch construc- tion activity through the summer and fall. Currently, awebcameraisplacedatthe Lake Oroville Visitor Center. It is programmed to see the backside of the emergency spillway, the dam and sur- rounding areas. Thefeedfromthiscamera canbeviewedatwww.parks. ca.gov/LakeOrovilleWebcam. Feed from the new camera will be available to view on the same web page. As authorities prepare for this year's summer season, staff will be meeting with recreationalandcommunity leadersonspecialeventsand future projects, such as the development of new and up- gradedrecreationalfacilities. The department will also consider ways to help com- pensate for the loss of park- ing, the boat launch ramp, and trails affected from the emergency effort to repair the Lake Oroville spillways. Lake Oroville is located in ButteCounty,nearthecityof Oroville. The reservoir, sec- ond-largest in the state, was created by Oroville Dam, the tallestearth-filleddam.Com- pletedin1967,the lake offers outdoor recreation that in- cludes camping, picnicking, horseback riding, hiking, biking, sail and power boat- ing, water skiing, fishing, swimming, boat-in camp- ing, floating campsites and horse camping. For more information on the Lake Oroville State Rec- reationAreaortobookares- ervation, visit www.parks. ca.gov/LakeOroville.Forout- door safety tips, visit www. parks.ca.gov/safetytips. LAKEOROVILLE DNFILEPHOTO Lake Oroville pictured in fall 2016. Lately, I've been hear- ing a lot about meal kit delivery services. And I've been skeptical. I mean, who in their right mind would trust seafood, meat and produce that's been piled onto a loading dock then moved into the back of an unrefrigerated Fe- dEx truck for who knows how long until some de- livery guy leaves it on my porch so I can make din- ner? The whole idea sounds ridiculous and expen- sive, if not downright gross. I didn't need to test the obvious, so I did what comes all too nat- ural for me: I jumped to conclusions. Turns out I was way off base and so wrong. Today, I'm here to come clean and set the record straight. Several weeks ago, I approached other peo- ple who live close in my community to help me test one of these services: one bachelor who lives in California and is, by his own admission, a very picky eater, and a family with two young children. (By the way, Home Chef is not aware that we've been testing. I set up our accounts and cov- ered the cost of all the meals and deliveries dur- ing the testing period.) I could write chap- ters about every detail of our Home Chef experi- ences, but in the interest of time and space, I'll cut to the chase: Home Chef has greatly improved our lives — as varied as our lifestyles and situations are. It is an amazing ser- vice. Nothing about it is gross (I'm so sorry I even thought of that as a possibility). In fact, the food arrives fresher than meat, fish, seafood and produce at my local su- permarket, thanks to some kind of space-age gel packs that are still frozen hard upon arrival. The super high-quality food is never frozen. Everything required to prepare a meal is per- fectly portioned and in- cluded in the kit, except for salt, pepper and oil. Each meal requires about 30 minutes of preparation. We can change our delivery day, adjust our meals, skip a week or pause our ac- counts whenever we need. And there are no contracts involved, which means we can can- cel anytime. The food is amazingly delicious, too. In six weeks, not one re- gret was reported. The cost for Home Chef is $9.95 per serving. Ship- ping is free for orders over $45 and $10 for or- ders less than $45. Each of us in the test group or- dered two two-serving meals per week. I have done my best to compare Home Chef costs against the cost with the exact same ingredients at my local supermarket, and they are nearly the same. I can't beat it. And com- pared to a restaurant meal, Home Chef beats wins by a long shot! Based on what our test group experienced collec- tively, here is what you can expect from Home Chef: You will most certainly improve your culinary skills and repertoire. The food is amazingly deli- cious! It is SO much fun, and opening the box to see what's for dinner never gets old. You will surprise your- self as you prepare reci- pes you might otherwise skip over in a magazine or cookbook because you don't have all of the in- gredients. Your kids and other family members will sur- prise you when they are willing to try new items or items they were cer- tain they hated and then end up enjoying them. Home Chef serving sizes are surprisingly generous (two servings were adequate for the testing family with two kids ages 2 and 7), and instructions are super easy to follow. All of us are impressed with Home Chef, so much so that none of us will be cancelling the service anytime soon. Home Chef has changed our lives in different ways, all without increas- ing our food costs. In fact, Harold and I have spent less on food since joining Home Chef. You can check it out at everydaycheapskate.com/ homechef. And when you get to that page, you'll see that I've arranged for you to get a $30 coupon should you wish to give it a test run. I can't wait to hear about your expe- riences. Wouldyouliketosend a tip to Mary? You can email her at mary@ everydaycheapskate.com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, 12340 Seal Beach Blvd., Ste. B-416, Seal Beach, CA 90740. EVERYDAY CHEAPSKATE Dinner in a box is not at all what I thought ShastaCollegeinRedding is scheduled to offer three concerts this spring. MatthewColey The Shasta Symphony and the Shasta Percussion Workshop will welcome in- ternational marimba virtu- oso Matthew Coley to the Shasta College Theater at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 19. Coley will perform a wide variety of music for ma- rimba, including his own compositions, new and old repertoire, and transcrip- tions. Come see the mallets fly across the rosewood bars for an evening that will both entertain and also represent significant musical expres- sion. The percussion section of theShasta Symphony,which is also the Percussion En- semble from Simpson Uni- versity, will open the concert with works by David Hollin- den and Philip Glass. This performance is free and open to the public. Earth Day Concert Celebrate Earth Day with a fabulous concert of the Shasta Symphony, perform- ing music related to ideas of our amazing planet. TheShastaSymphonyOr- chestra's Earth Day Concert will have two showings, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 22 and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 23 in the Shasta College Theater. Tickets are $5-$10. Montana composer David Maslanka'scompositionsare often filled with a child-like wonder and awe of the phys- ical world around us; the or- chestra will explore these themes in his orchestral overture World Music, con- ducted by guest conductor Angela Holt from the Cin- cinnati Conservatory. Rim- sky-Korsakov creates vivid images of the sea and nine- teenth-century ideas about global travel in his master- work Scheherazade, featur- ing concert master Li-Yuan Ho. A special highlight of this concert will be perfor- mances by the student win- ners of our Concerto & Aria Competition, soprano Sarah Meng and guitarist Sage Mitchell. For more information, visit www.ShastaSymphony. org. Spring Concert Join the legendary Shasta College Symphonic Band for their spring concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 28 and Saturday, April 29 in the Shasta College Theater. Tickets will be $5 general admission. This show fea- tures a wide variety of mu- sic, from marches, to Gersh- win, to the soundtrack from Star Trek, to classic band works by Dello Joio and more. Conductor Dwayne Corbin will be joined by the 2015 California Teacher of the Year and Foothill High School band director Mitch Bahr. Come early to ensure a good seat. SHASTA COLLEGE Tr io o f co nc er ts s et f or A pr il The Gateway Science Museum at California State University, Chico will host special presen- tations in April, as part of its spring 2017 Museum Without Walls lecture se- ries. The series lineup in- cludes "Building Sto- ries Through Editing" by Jimmy Lillard, BA, Com- munication Design, 2004, assistant film editor, Pixar Animation Studios on April 19 and "Putting the Wind to Work" by David Alexander, assistant pro- fessor, CSU, Chico Depart- ment of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering and Sustainable Manufac- turing on April 26. This series is a perfect complement to the na- tional touring exhibit De- sign Zone, which is show- ing at the Gateway Science Museum through May 7 and was produced by the Oregon Museum of Sci- ence and Industry. Join in this celebration and exploration into the world of design and its impacts for the future and the world. Museum Without Walls lectures will take place at 7:30 p.m. at the museum, 625 Esplanade, in Chico. Admission is $3 for adults and free for museum members, children and students. All proceeds will bene- fit Gateway Science Muse- um's future exhibits, edu- cational programs, sum- mer camps and lecture series. For more information, visit www.csuchico.edu/ gateway or call 898-4121. GATEWAY SCIENCE Museum hosts lecture series Summer recreation is just around the corner Mary Hunt LonghairbrownandwhiteChihuahua. She was last seen on the corner of LaBray Avenue and Berrendos in R.B./Antelope Area. She weighs approx. 9 lbs and has no collar.PleasecallOwnerRenea @ 530-736-5906 if you find her or have seen her. If you are unable to call, take her to the nearest vet and have them call me please. LOST $300 REWARD if you find her! Patrick's Pumping SepticPumpingServices Red Bluff, CA Garet Patrick Owner/Operator 530-366-6899 4patricks@att.net Available 24/7 RUNNINGS ROOFING and CONSTRUCTION SheetMetalRoofing ResidentialCommercial • Composition • Shingle • Single Ply Membrane ServingTehamaCounty 530-527-5789 530-209-5367 NoMoney Down! 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