LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Organizers of the annual Lake County Special Olympics Polar Plunge reported that, due to lake conditions, the event is being moved.

The plunge fundraiser is set to begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 18.

Originally scheduled to be held at Lakeside County Park, the event is being moved to Kelseyville County Park, located at 5270 State St., according to organizer Peggy Buchholz.

Buchholz said that Clear Lake’s flood conditions necessitated the move.

As for how the plunge will take place, they’re still considering options – from sprinklers to a horse trough, or just standing in the rain, Buchholz joked.

“Somehow, they’re just going to have to get wet,” she said.

After the plunge, there will be the awards ceremony and lunch, Buchholz said.

The Polar Plunge is Lake County Special Olympics’ major annual fundraiser, and a critical way of providing services to local athletes.

Last year’s event raised about $22,000, which Buchholz said was “a very good amount.”

Registration is still open for Saturday’s event, and can be completed online at www.ipolarplunge.com or at the event, Buchholz said.

For those who don’t want to plunge but want to support Lake County Special Olympics, Buchholz said they can mail a check to P.O. Box 94, Lakeport, 95453.

Plungers – which have included individuals, companies, law enforcement, families, schools and organizations – are asked to raise a minimum of $100 each to participate.

Buchholz said this year’s signups are on par with last year. They have many of the same groups participating each year, including teams from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Lake County Probation Office and the Lake County Office of Education.

All proceeds from the Lake County Polar Plunge benefit Special Olympics Northern California to continue to showcase the capabilities and achievements of individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Along with providing year-round free sports and competition programs to nearly 20,000 athletes, Special Olympics Northern California encourages education through Unified Sports and the Schools Partnership Program, and is committed to improving the health and well-being of athletes through a variety of screenings and programs.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – State officials said Wednesday that repairs are continuing around the clock to repair the Oroville Dam’s emergency spillway ahead of anticipated storms.

Concerns that the emergency spillway was about to fail led on Sunday to the evacuation of 188,000 people in Butte, Yuba and Sutter counties, as Lake County News has reported. Those mandatory evacuations were reduced to a warning on Tuesday.

The California Department of Water Resources said that levels on Lake Oroville fell an additional 5 feet and were 26 feet below the emergency spillway as of Wednesday night.

Crews continue to work around the clock, regardless of weather conditions, to make emergency repairs. Barges and cranes are being mobilized to remove debris and sediment from the diversion pool, the agency said.

The Department of Water Resources said 100,000 cubic feet per second of water continues to flow through the flood control spillway in an effort to accommodate anticipated inflow from upcoming storms.

Officials said the storms are forecasted to bring colder temperatures and inflows are anticipated to increase to 45,000 cubic feet per second. However, lake levels will continue to decrease throughout the storm activity.

The agency said it continues to aggressively monitor the status of the dam, spillways, related structures and progress of repair activities.

Caltrans crews are working around the clock seven days a week on numerous state routes in California to repair roadways impacted by recent storms and unstable soil.

“Our roadways have been pounded this winter by the severe weather conditions,” said Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty. “Crews are mobilized across the state removing debris, repairing road damage, performing traffic control and assessing ongoing risks. As we work to reopen many of our roadways, we are also preparing for the next wave of storms. We will continue to work around the clock.”

Every region in California has been affected by the winter storms, and thus far, there has been an estimated $401 million in storm damage to the state highway system at 190 locations.

Meteorologists are predicting storm systems to impact California beginning Thursday and by Monday, the state may receive three to eight inches of rainfall, and snow levels could drop as low as 5,000 feet in Northern California.

Crews are currently working to restore full access to the following roadways; however, an estimated time of reopening is unavailable due to the incoming storm:

· Westbound Interstate 80 is closed at the Nevada State line due to a landslide.

· State Route 1 near Leggett in Mendocino County has been closed since Feb. 3 due to an active slide. Cleanup to reopen the highway has been slow due to the instability of the slide and concern for worker safety.

· Northbound State Route 17 at Sugarloaf Road in Santa Cruz County is closed due to a mudslide.

· Crews are working to restore State Route 37 between U.S. Highway 101 and Atherton Avenue in Marin County.

In the Caltrans News Flash above, get a glimpse at the work that was done to clear fallen debris and to stabilize the hillside on While U.S. Highway 50.

The recent storms have also affected rail and freight movement; below are a few of the major routes affected:

· Union Pacific Fresno Sub South of Elk Grove is out of service due to derailment on Feb. 10.

· Union Pacific Sub above Oroville is out of service due to washouts, rockslides and flooding.

· Heavier than usual freight traffic over the Martinez subdivision between Oakland and Sacramento is leading to significant delays to Amtrak trains.

· The Coast Starlight is canceled between Redding and Sacramento; however, trains are running from Redding to Seattle, and Sacramento to Los Angeles.

Caltrans anticipates additional closures with the new storm systems; motorists should check road conditions frequently.

For the latest road condition information, the radio may be tuned to the Caltrans Highway Advisory Radio (HAR) at 530 AM, 1610 AM or 1670 AM or call the Caltrans Road Condition Hotline at 1-800-427-ROAD (7623).

Real time conditions are also available online and for mobile phones at http://quickmap.dot.ca.gov .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Sutter Lakeside Hospital has welcomed a new chief administrative officer.

Dan Peterson, MHA, joined the hospital this week.

Peterson comes from the Sutter Santa Rosa Surgery and Endoscopy Center, where he served as administrator for four and a half years.

He succeeds Siri Nelson, who led the hospital for nearly eight years before leaving to take the chief executive officer’s position at South Meadows Medical Center in Reno earlier this month.

Peterson, who grew up in rural Michigan, is happy to return to his small town roots.

“I look forward to raising my family in a place with a strong sense of community,” said Peterson. “I devote most of my free time to my family, and they’re thrilled to be moving to a place with a lake, mountains and the forest.”

Peterson has a decade of experience in health care administration. His father’s career as a physician inspired Peterson to pursue the health care field.

“To me, health care is the most impactful industry,” said Peterson. “I find it gratifying to positively influence such an important aspect of people’s lives.”

He added, “Sutter Lakeside has a great team in place. I’m excited to continue improving health care in Lake County.”

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – On Tuesday, the Governor’s Office said it had received approval of its request for federal emergency aid in response to the situation at the Oroville Dam, with state officials continuing their work to repair the dam’s damaged spillway.

Gov. Jerry Brown thanked the Federal Emergency Management Agency for moving quickly to approve his requests for federal assistance to support the response to the issues at the Oroville Dam and to help with the impacts of January’s heavy storms across the rest of the state.

On Sunday, Brown declared a state of emergency in response to the Oroville Dam situation and activated the State Operations Center in Mather.

On Monday Brown met with emergency response officials and sent a letter to President Donald Trump and FEMA requesting a presidential emergency declaration for direct federal assistance to support the communities impacted by the damage to the dam's emergency spillway.

“This federal aid will get money and resources where it’s needed most,” he said in response to the approval of his request.

Some 188,000 residents of Butte, Yolo and Sutter counties had been ordered to evacuate on Sunday after officials said they believed the dam’s auxiliary spillway might fail, as Lake County News has reported.

On Tuesday, the mandatory evacuation for the impacted residents of those three counties was changed to a warning, officials said.

“An evacuation warning means the immediate threat has ended but the potential for an emergency remains and therefore residents must remain prepared for the possibility of an evacuation order,” said Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea.

On Tuesday evening, the California Department of Water Resources said it work was continuing to reinforce the emergency spillway.

More than 125 construction crews are working around the clock, placing 1,200 tons of material on the spillway per hour using helicopters and heavy construction equipment. The agency said the area is being continually monitored from the ground and by the use of drones.

The Department of Water Resources said it is continuing to regulate outflow at the dam in order to reduce water levels in the reservoir, support construction activities and protect the Hyatt Power Plant.

The level of the reservoir continues to decrease, and at current rates is projected to possess the capacity to absorb anticipated inflows due to the rainstorms forecast for this week, the Department of Water Resources reported.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.