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from93percentto96per- cent, California public health department offi- cials said. "I am encouraged to see that California parents are making sure their children get the vaccinations they need," state public health officer Dr. Karen Smith said in a statement. "Many vaccine-pre- ventable diseases, such as measles, can easily spread in school settings," Smith said. "Getting all recom- mended immunizations on time is one of the most im- portant things parents can do to keep our children healthy and in school." Officials attributed the improvement in kinder- garten vaccination rates to a few reasons, includ- ing the impact of Senate Bill 277, signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2015. The law, which kicked into gear for students en- tering school in 2016-17, made California only one of three states at the time — including Mississippi and West Virginia — that permitted only medical exemptions as legitimate reasons to sidestep vacci- nations. Also influencing the soaring vaccination num- bers, according to the state: Increased public aware- ness about the importance of immunizations in recent years after highly visible outbreaks. Efforts by the state and local public health depart- ments, schools and com- munity organizations to support school immuniza- tion requirements. State audits of local schools in 2016 and 2017 to ensure they were com- plying with immunization laws. "I am pleased that this first year of implementa- tion of SB 277 has resulted in the significant rise of the vaccination rate of this year's kindergarten class," Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacra- mento, said in a prepared statement. Pan, who also is a prac- ticing pediatrician, co-au- thored the bill along with Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica. "This success is a first step toward reducing the number of un-immunized people putting our fami- lies at-risk for preventable diseases, thereby restor- ing community immunity throughout our state in the coming years," said Pan. Allen echoed that sen- timent, saying: "It is grat- ifying to see that in the course of just one school year, more children and the public at large are now more fully pro- tected from preventable diseases." State public health of- ficials cautioned that de- spite statewide improve- ments in vaccination rates, schools and communi- ties with low vaccination rates remain at risk for outbreaks. They said about 18 per- cent of California schools reported that fewer than 95 percent of their kin- dergarteners have had at least two doses of mea- sles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. In addition, 1 percent of schools reported that fewer than half of their students had received at least two doses of MMR. Public health experts emphasize that consistent, high immunizations rates are needed to prevent the spread of disease and pro- tect the small number of people who cannot receive a vaccination for medical reasons. The California Depart- ment of Public Health said it continues to work with the California Department of Education, local health departments, health care providers and schools in California to work toward further increases in vacci- nation rates. The Department en- courages parents to speak with their healthcare pro- fessionals to make sure children get their vaccina- tions on time. Rates FROMPAGE1 The council designated the Budget Committee to work with city staff to ne- gotiate a new lease with Cardan. Cardan is looking to ex- pand its current flight op- erations and the additional office space will help facil- itate this expansion, said Robin Kampmann, city engineer. The certified ad- vanced flight simulator that Cardan has acquired meets Federal Aviation Ad- ministration requirements for pilot recurrence and competency training and will be the only advanced flight simulator north of Yuba City. Cardan acquired an aircraft for flight training and is looking to expand its available fleet to meet the demands of the flight community, according to the agenda report. By providing space to operate the flight instruc- tion and ground school the airport would bring this needed service back to the community, Kamp- mann said. Full building plans will be submitted and reviewed before a building permit is issued. The matter will be brought back to the coun- cil for final approval before the project begins. Cardan has proposed moving the airport mu- seum,whichwasdisassem- bled when the restaurant was moved downstairs, into the vacant space on the north side of the FAA leased offices, Kampmann said. In addition to the mu- seum, Cardan is asking to negotiate a lease agree- ment for the remaining of- fices surrounding the pro- posed museum location for the flight simulator, flight school services and a rental car office. Prior to the relocation of the restaurant, Carden utilized that space for the flight school and the air- port museum, Kampmann said. After the restaurant was moved the city com- pleted an asbestos abate- ment project for the up- stairs space, which left an empty shell ready for re- construction. Cardan's asked the city to waive building and de- velopment fees associ- ated with the proposed improvements to the up- stairs. Richard Crabree, city manager, said he will bring the fee issue back to the council with a clear idea of what the fees are. Council members expressed will- ingness to waive the fees. Councilman Robert Schmid, who made the mo- tion, said the city should waive the permit fee in light of major improve- ments to the airport fa- cility. Flight FROM PAGE 1 have management obliga- tions. We're trying to create awareness of what we have to offer. At this time, we are a no fee area, but we do ac- cept donations. Our goal is to show the importance of wildlife and wildlife habi- tats and to teach about con- servation." The organization is us- ing grazing livestock, par- ticularly cattle and sheep, to help control invasive spe- cies of plants rather than chemically treating them, Weston said. Rangelands and vernal pools go hand in hand toward keeping lands healthy. "We have native vernal pools in the rangeland ar- eas of the ranch to try and show both because they compliment each other," Weston said. "I'm pro-ag- riculture, but I'm disap- pointed in all the orchards going in because we're rap- idly losing rangeland." Grazing keeps the non- native plants from over- taking the vernal pools, which in turn helps supply an environment for inverte- brates such as ferry shrimp, which provide a high pro- tein diet for the migratory fowl, Weston said. The project would not have been possible without partners such as the Cali- fornia Waterfowl Associa- tion who was a huge help in getting through the pro- cess of becoming a feder- ally recognized conserva- tion easement land from getting them a ranking that helped with funding and designing the location, which it did free of charge, Weston said. Volunteers of all ages are welcome to as- sist with various tasks at the center. The April 29 fundraiser starts at 10 a.m. with the barbecue lunch with both tri-tip and a vegetarian op- tion available. Docent led hay ride tours of the agri- cultural, vernal pool and wetlands will be avail- able as well as bird view- ing nature walks. A bounce house and horseshoes will be available. All events are free, but donations are appreciated, Weston said. Visitors should bring sun block and appro- priate footwear. For more information, call 824-2600 or write to corningtomorrow@gmail. com. To set up a field trip or volunteer, call 638-9859. Center FROM PAGE 1 Thankyou! PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER. By Brian Melley TheAssociatedPress INDEPENDENCE We were trudging up the side of a mountain on skis to mea- sure California's massive snowpack when a late blast of winter stopped us in our tracks. I started the morning less concerned about strong winds forecast and light snow than keeping pace with veteran snow survey- ors in the thin Sierra Ne- vada air and getting over steep, icy 11,700-foot Ke- arsarge Pass. Now, shy of that goal, I was struggling to keep warm and stay up- right. Howling gales warned to brace for impact. It didn't matter. Gusts bowled me over and toppled Kevin Klinefelter. Staggering to our feet, we followed John Dittli, making turns in a near-whiteout between fox- tail pines. Blown downhill to our cars, we decided to return another day. The arduous work of snow surveyors is largely unknown to most Califor- nians, even as measure- ments they compiled of a near-record snowpack bol- stered Gov. Jerry Brown's decision last week to lift an emergency declaration af- ter five years of drought. Crews stay out as long as two weeks in alpine wilder- ness, battling the elements, skirting avalanche terrain and plodding through deep powder to gather the data — a practice that has en- dured even as new tech- nology tries to gauge the state's expected water sup- ply from snowmelt. To get a feel for the expe- rience, I had skied in alone the night before under a sky awash with stars and a slice of moon that hung like a wry grin atop the jagged skyline. Using a headlamp to follow Dittli and Kline- felter's faint tracks a couple miles to a cabin high above, I had little idea of what lay ahead. Snow surveys date to the early 1900s when a Univer- sity of Nevada professor de- veloped a method to weigh water content in snow and predict runoff into Lake Tahoe. Dam operators used the information to prevent flooding and save water, ending a fight between lake residents and land owners downstream. The practice adopted by water agencies and power providers was eventually coordinated by the state. Remote sensors installed 40 years ago provide real- time depths, though not re- liably. In recent years, satel- lite imagery and planes us- ing lasers have measured snowpack from afar. Despite predictions tech- nology will make snow sur- veys obsolete, David Riz- zardo of the Department of Water Resources said boots on the snow will proba- bly be needed two more de- cades to verify and fine- tune remote data. Snow surveys remain some of the state's best-preserved cli- mate records. Rangers, utility and wa- ter agency employees, and state workers survey more than 250 areas — known as snow courses — monthly from January to May. Snowmobiles, helicop- ters and snowcats are used to reach many courses, but hardy skiers still travel to remote wilderness where machines aren't allowed, sheltering in rustic cabins along the way. Sierra Nevada means snow-covered mountain range in Spanish. In win- ter, it's like a 400-mile fro- zen reservoir that holds up to a third of the state's wa- ter supply. In recent years, imposing peaks that soar above 14,000 feet were less snow-capped and canyons and meadows sparsely cov- ered. Two springs ago, Dittli and Klinefelter hiked the high country in shorts and running shoes to measure a mostly nonexistent snow- pack. They bicycled to Dev- ils Postpile National Monu- ment, where not a patch of snow remained. The day after being driven down the mountain by wind and snow, we reas- sembled about 10 miles be- low Bishop Pass, a 12,000 foot gap dividing Inyo Na- tional Forest from Kings Canyon National Park. We were joined under blue skies by Klinefelter's wife, Ann. The four of us — all in our 50s — fastened our boots into ski bindings and were almost immedi- ately fighting our way along a steep, icy hillside above a reservoir. South Lake had been drained to make room for snowmelt and its buck- led ice looked like an earth- quake had struck. After huffing and puffing uphill through a pine for- est, we emerged in a clear- ing marked at each end with orange snow survey signs. With sections of snow tube assembled, Ann Kline- felter paced 50 feet be- tween the signs and plunged the tube through the snow to the ground nearly 7 feet below. She noted the depth, withdrew it and placed it on a scale her husband dangled from a ski pole. Dittli penciled the depth and water con- tent in a notepad. She repeated the cycle several times and found the water content double the average for April 1, the most significant measure of the year because it marks the normal start for runoff. When we reached the cabin, we dropped back- packs and sat in the sun in a motley assortment of beach chairs sheltered from the breeze by a towering wall of snow in front of the small stone cabin. Built in the 1950s, the bare-bones shelter fea- tures two bunk beds, a wood-burning stove, a pro- pane stove and a cupboard stocked with canned and packaged foods hauled in by mules. Dittli and Ann Kline- felter joked about how her husband hard shirked shov- eling duties on the lengthy Kern River tour this win- ter. Kevin Klinefelter had climbed through the sec- ond-story entrance of a cabin to light a fire but never emerged while they dug for more than an hour. As avid backcountry ski- ers, all three welcomed the near-record snow- pack even as it raised av- alanche danger, made for slow plodding at times and extra grit to drive the snow tube more than 11 feet deep through icy and dense layers.Each waited years for an opening to join the crew. Kevin Kline- felter even uses vacation from the U.S. Forest Ser- vice to participate. The $105-a-day pay is not enough to make a living, but it's not a bad way to live. "I've been told I blur the line between work and play," said Dittli, a photogra- pher, who carries a camera at his waist. "I kind of like to think that my play is had work and my work is play." SURVEY Howling wind, icy hills, and a tough trek to gauge snow PHOTOSBYBRIANMELLEY—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Members of a California Cooperative Snow Survey team ski toward Bishop Pass in Inyo National Forest. Kevin Klinefelter, le , and John Dittli, right, begin to ski toward Kearsarge Pass in Inyo National Forest near Independence. Snow surveys date to the early 1900s. By Robert Jablon The Associated Press LOS ANGELES An advo- cacy group sued the Los Angeles school district for serving hot dogs and other processed meats to stu- dents, arguing that they increase the risk of cancer, it was announced Wednes- day. The Physicians Commit- tee for Responsible Medi- cine filed the lawsuit Tues- day asking a court to ban the district from offering processed meats. It seeks the same ban for the Po- way school district in San Diego County. The suit, filed in San Di- ego County, says there is a "recognized association between eating processed meats ... and developing cancer, diabetes, and car- diovascular disease." The Los Angeles district is the nation's second-larg- est with more than 660,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The district lunch menu for April lists several pro- cessed meat items, in- cluding a "turkey pas- trami croissandwich with cheese" and a turkey hot dog. Breakfasts can in- clude beef sausage or tur- key chorizo. Serving such meats vi- olates California's Educa- tion Code, which requires school food to be of "high- est quality" and provide the "greatest nutritional value possible," according to the suit, which names both school districts and the California Department of Education. A Los Angeles teacher and two parents of Poway district students joined the suit. LAWSUIT Group seeks processed meat ban at 2 California districts Combining Quality and Low Cost is what we do. www.affordablemortuary.net•529-3655 FD1538 LocatedinChico,CA THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2017 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM |NEWS | 5 A