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U.S. NEWS Saturday 16 February 2019
Snow storm brings whiteout conditions to California's Sierra

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ and to get out on the mountain
JOHN ANTCZAK but the roads are pretty
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Ski- treacherous right now," he
ers eager to hit the slopes said.
had to sit out a Presidents' Some skiers canceled their
Day holiday weekend as plans after seeing the re-
heavy snow and rain fell for ports.
a fourth straight day Friday Aura Campa, of Oakland,
in California's mountains, and her partner were hop-
where the snow was so ing to take advantage of
deep in some areas plows their season passes and the
couldn't go out and cities fresh powder at Squaw Val-
were running out of places ley-Alpine Meadows resort,
to pile it. but a scary near-accident
Several routes to the ski on an icy road last week-
mecca of Lake Tahoe were end made them reconsid-
closed Friday, including er.
about 70 miles (110 kilome- When a main highway
ters) of Interstate 80 from through the Lake Tahoe
Colfax, California, to the area was crushed with traf-
Nevada state line. Chains fic, she drove her SUV on a
were required for travel side road. Her vehicle didn't
in many other parts of the have chains, and when it
towering range. was going uphill the vehicle Jinchun Xia, left, and Kevin Liu, 5, of San Francisco, roll a ball of snow for a snowman they made
"They have ordered up a went into reverse. at Wingfield Park in downtown Reno, Nev., Friday, Feb. 15, 2019.
large blower to try and "That was really scary for Associated Press
clear the pass," Placer us. It was on a tiny hill with
County Sheriff Lt. Andrew a small amount of ice but 1986. stage, and the San Fran- swept down a wash in Tuc-
Scott said in a tweet he that was enough for us to The main route there, High- cisco Bay Area commute son, Arizona, by runoff.
posted with a video of a think twice about travel- way 395, has been experi- was snarled after a levee Residents were being
snow-covered I-80. "Please ing through a snow storm encing closures because of breach partially flooded a helped after homes along
stay home." again," Campa said. "We're dangerous driving condi- highway. a creek 50 miles (80 kilo-
The storm is forecast to not going to risk it." tions, but was open Friday There were at least two meters) south of Flagstaff
dump between 3 and 6 About 140 miles (225 kilo- to those with the proper deaths. A woman pulled received up to several
feet (1 to 2 meters) of fresh meters) southeast of Lake gear. from rising water in a flood- feet of water, said Yavapai
snow in a region where Tahoe, Mammoth Moun- "The winds have calmed control channel in Corona, County Sheriff's spokesman
some ski resorts reported tain was about to break a down and it looks like it's southeast of Los Angeles, Dwight D'Evelyn.
getting 3 feet (1 meter) of more than 30-year record going to be an awesome had a heart attack and Road crews in parts of Col-
snow since Thursday. An for monthly snowfall but weekend to get people up died at a hospital. And the orado, Montana and Wyo-
avalanche warning was is- skiers and snowboarders here," Romano said. "We're body of an unidentified ming worked to clear ava-
sued for the greater Lake should be able to reach stoked to have them." man was recovered from lanches that had closed
Tahoe Area, where heavy the slopes as long as they In other parts of California, a fast-flowing creek in Es- mountain highways and
snow and high winds are have chains or snow tires, crews turned to cleanup condido, northeast of San to mitigate potential ava-
forecast through Sunday. said resort spokesman Jus- and damage assessment Diego. lanche threats.
It's snowed so much recent- tin Romano. as the drenching storm Arizona and other parts of Similarly, dangerous travel
ly that cities are running out The resort has already brought flood dangers to the West on Friday dealt conditions, as well as pow-
of places to put the snow, gotten 163 inches (414 Arizona. with effects of a blitz of win- er outages, flooding and
said Kevin Cooper, market- centimeters) of snow this Warnings were issued ter weather. road closures were cited in
ing director for Lake Tahoe month, just 5 inches shy of for Guerneville north of Firefighters rescued a mo- a decision to cancel class-
TV. its monthly snowfall record San Francisco as the Rus- torist who called 911 to es in seven school districts
"All avid skiers are itching for the month of February sian River surpassed flood report his car was being in San Diego County.q

Judge halts Air Force's efforts to discharge airmen with HIV

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A of their HIV status and de- the men being considered service members are likely Spokeswoman Kelly Laco
federal judge on Friday or- spite the recommenda- "unfit" for continued military to have some success in ar- said its attorneys are re-
dered the U.S. Air Force to tions of their doctors and service. guing their case as it moves viewing the judge's deci-
temporarily stop discharg- commanding officers, who Because of advances in forward. sion. She declined to com-
ing service members who say they are fit to serve. medicine and treatment The military has argued that ment further.
are HIV-positive, ruling that For now, the ruling keeps at for HIV, Judge Brinkema the lawsuit is premature be- The service members are
it's working under a policy least two HIV-positive men wrote that the disease cause the personnel have being represented by law-
that is "irrational" and "out- in the Air Force who were "does not impose unrea- not explored all of their op- yers from the LGBT rights
dated." days and weeks away from sonable burdens on the tions within the military to groups Lambda Legal and
U.S. District Judge Leonie being formally discharged. military when compared to fight being discharged. The OutServe-SLDN as well
M. Brinkema in Alexandria, Air Force policies had pre- similar chronic conditions." military has also argued as the law firm Winston &
Virginia, issued her decision vented the service mem- She also said that HIV "does that such policy questions Strawn.
as a lawsuit moves forward bers with HIV from deploy- not seriously jeopardize the fall under the discretion of The service members' at-
against the U.S. Military. ing to places outside the health or safety of the ser- the federal government's torneys said a judge's ruling
Service members in the Air U.S., such as Iraq and Af- vice member or his com- executive branch. against the military is rare,
Force claim they're being ghanistan, without a waiv- panions in service." The Department of Justice and framed the decision as
discharged solely because er. That, in turn, resulted in The judge added that the is representing the military. a significant legal victory.q