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Friday, December 21, 2012 ��� Daily News 9A Obituaries Pedestrian hit by car on Antelope LOIS HAWKER September 5, 1927 - December 9, 2012 Lois Hawker, 85, passed away on Sunday, December 9, in Red Bluff. She had been a resident of the Brentwood Skilled Nursing Facility. Lois was preceded in death by her husband Jack Hawker. Lois was born on September 5, 1927, in Red Jacket, West Virginia. She is survived by her sister; Rema Casey of Red Bluff, her four children, son; Jim Steele,of Pomona, CA., daughter���s; Nita Leak-Ward and Rema Bagshaw, both of Red Bluff, and Sheila Scarlett, of Colorado. She is also survived by numerous grandchildren, greatgrandchildren, nieces, and nephews. Lois was laid to rest at Oak Hill cemetery. A celebration of Lois��� life will be held at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 22, at the Palomino Room in Red Bluff. Death Notices Death notices must be provided by mortuaries to the news department, are published at no charge, and feature only specific basic information about the deceased. Paid obituaries are placed through the Classified advertising department. Paid obituaries may be placed by mortuaries or by families of the deceased and include online publication linked to the newspaper���s website. Paid obituaries may be of any length, may run multiple days and offer wide latitude of content, including photos. Helena Keeler Helena Keeler died Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012, at St. Elizabeth Community Hospital, in Red Bluff. She was 76. Hoyt-Cole Chapel of the Flowers is handling the arrangements. Published Friday, Dec. 21, 2012, in the Daily News, Red Bluff, Calif. Continued from page 1A Mu��oz was an emcee for the Lopez Tonight Party Bus national tour for comedian George Lopez He was one of 20 finalists out of 20,000 who auditioned for the Telemundo reality show Nuevas Voces de America of the acclaimed producer Emilio Estefan Jr., husband of Gloria Estefan. ���Daniel is one of the most inspirational and kindest people that I know. He deserves every honor possible and this is only the beginning of his stardom,��� longtime friend Vanessa Latham said. PRIDE Brown: MediCal expansion could hit budget SACRAMENTO (AP) ��� Expanding the state���s Medi-Cal program to meet new federal guidelines could add up to $4 billion a year in costs at the same time California is implementing federal health reform, potentially putting its budget ������right out of whack,������ Gov. Jerry Brown said Thursday. In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Brown said his administration is seeking federal waivers for some of the proposed expansions to California���s health care program for the poor. The changes could add more than a million people to the 7.7 million already served under the state���s version of Medicaid. ������We���re very interested in seeing everyone ��� as many people as possible ��� covered, but I am very concerned that negotiations in Washington could have huge negative impacts in California by loading billions of dollars of new and unexpected costs that will just take our budget and put it right out of whack,������ the Democratic governor said. States must commit to fully expanding coverage for individuals who make up to about $15,400 a year, or about 138 percent of the federal poverty limit, in order to tap more generous funding. California is one of many states that have yet to decide whether to expand their programs. In California, the change would add between 1 million and 1.4 million people to Medi-Cal. The state is also in the process of moving 900,000 children to Medi-Cal from the health insurance program known as Healthy Families. ������We certainly are going to come out with a program that will chart a path to expand Medi-Cal eligibility, but the federal government has to give us the tools so that we can temper the rising costs in health care,������ he said. Brown said adding more people to the rolls goes beyond what the state has available to pay for it ������unless we can get waivers and law changes that will allow us to deliver a health care with a more, let���s say, judicious, business model.������ Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for the poor and disabled, is one of two primary ways in which the Affordable Care Act will expand coverage for people who currently have no health insurance. California has been aggressive in setting up its new health insurance exchange, which will make subsidized private health insurance available starting in 2014. Under the law, the federal government will cover 100 percent of the cost for the first three years of the expansion, gradually phasing down to a 90 percent share ��� still a far more generous match than the 50 percent states have traditionally received. There���s no deadline for states to decide, and they can try the expansion and later cancel it if it doesn���t work out. Two nonpartisan groups, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Urban Institute, said in a recent report that states can expect to receive $9 in federal funds for every $1 they spend on the expansion. But some governors worry that Medicaid is already a strain on their state budgets. The Supreme Court in June gave states the right to opt out of the expansion. A report released this week by the National Conference of State Legislatures found that rising health care costs are boosting state Medicaid costs, and that spending on public health programs is over budget in 10 states, compared with six at this time last year. Texas��� Medicaid program was underfunded by $4.3 billion in its 2012-13 biennial budget, West Virginia estimates it will be over budget by $180 million next year, and Maine noted that despite declining caseload, Medicaid spending continues to increase, the report stated. ��������� Associated Press writer Judy Lin contributed to this report. A man was taken to St. Elizabeth Community Hospital after being hit by a vehicle around 5:45 p.m. Thursday in the left westbound lane of Antelope Boulevard. A Red Bluff Police spokesman said the man was walking in the middle of the road and the young woman driving the vehicle was unable to see him, as were two officers in a OUTAGE Continued from page 1A regulator, PG&E Spokesman Paul Moreno said. There were 4,300 PG&E customers affected by the outage. PG&E crews were able to restore GUN Continued from page 1A to keep people who intend to commit harm to our families from perpetrating those acts.��� He added, ���I am committed to our Constitution and the right to keep and bear arms enshrined in the Bill of Rights. Restricting the rights of those who follow the law will only empower those who choose to break the law.��� Assemblyman Dan Logue, R-Loma Rica, said in a phone interview Wednesday that all the facts need to be known about what happened in Connecticut before it���s vehicle a short distance behind the woman. Alcohol was not a factor in the incident, the officer said. The extent of the man���s injuries were unknown, power to customers by isolating the trouble spot and systematically reenergizing customers with auxiliary equipment at the substation, Moreno said. The first customers were restored at 8:50 a.m. and all remaining customers were up and running by 9:10 a.m., he said. PG&E is investigating what may determined what actions might prevent such incidents. He said he strongly supports the right to keep and bear arms for people who are responsible. But that���s not everyone, he added. Gun control seems to be getting all the attention right now, he said, while other important factors are being ignored, such as what young people see on television and the large amount of time many spend playing violent video games. He said consideration should be given to having more armed security people trained to stop a mass shooting as soon as it begins. but he was conscious at the time he was put into the ambulance, the spokesman said. Nothing further was available. ��� Julie Zeeb have caused the regulator to fail, Moreno said. Corning Fire Department was on standby while the regulator was smoking. ��������� Julie Zeeb can be reached at 527-2153, extension 115 or jzeeb@redbluffdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @DN_Zeeb. Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, said he remains ���absolutely, unequivocally��� supportive of the right to own guns. ���What causes tragedies is not the gun,��� he said, adding he didn���t think any additional gun laws are needed. ���The focus must be on human behavior,��� he said. ���We must address the human behavioral issues.��� For a number of reasons, there are now many dangerous criminals living in California communities, many of whom are mentally unstable, he said. Unfortunately, county mental health programs don���t have the money to provide adequate help to those who are dangerous to themselves and others. It���s almost certain that new gun restrictions will be brought before the Legislature, said Greg Pagan, chief counsel for the Assembly Public Safety Committee in an interview Wednesday. He said he���d heard several legislators were planning to introduce gun bills. One might require people who buy ammunition to have a renewable license. The same thing could be required to buy guns. And improper storage of guns could become a crime. Pagan said California already has very strong gun laws. the board was filled with a wide- with him and offered leadership and range of life experiences that allowed direction. at least one supervisor to relate to A formal retirement ceremony for every problem that came before Continued from page 1A Avilla and Warner will be held them. was blessed to have the two men lunchtime Jan. 4 at the Tehama serve for so long. Chief Administrator Bill Good- County Board Chambers. The public He said the most recent makeup of win said both men showed patience is invited. COUNTY PG&E customers to foot part of pipe safety costs SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ��� California regulators on Thursday unanimously approved a twoyear Pacific Gas and Electric Co. rate increase of $299 million to help pay for pipeline inspection and upgrade costs in the wake of the fatal 2010 gas pipeline explosion in a San Francisco Bay area suburb. The amount approved by the California Public Utilities Commission was considerably less than the nearly $769 million PG&E had sought, but more than survivors of the blast felt the company should be allowed. Residential customers will see their monthly bills go up by an average of 88 cents next year and $1.36 in 2014, utility spokeswoman Brittany Chord said. The money is aimed at safety testing, replacing and upgrading hundreds of miles of PG&E���s gas transmission lines after the Sept. 9, 2010, blast that killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes in the bedroom community of San Bruno. The total cost of those improvements has been estimated at around $2.2 billion. Consumer advocates and survivors of the inferno sparked by a ruptured pipeline nonetheless criticized commissioners for a last-minute decision Thursday to scrap an administrative law judge���s proposal to lower how much PG&E shareholders will be allowed to profit in the next few decades from investments connected to the safety improvements. The nonprofit Utility Reform Network legal director Tom Long said the commission���s move means that ratepayers ultimately will be footing 55 percent of the safety upgrades��� long-term costs. ������It���s not good for safety, because PG&E won���t get the message,������ Long said. Commissioners said they were trying to strike a balance between punishing the company for past mismanagement and encouraging the company to invest in safety, which requires meeting expensive new infrastructure and operating requirements for all state utilities and fixing record-keeping and other problems found to be unique to PG&E. ������We want to make sure PG&E���s new management team has the resources to provide the safe system we all want,������ Commissioner Michel Peter Florio said. The explosion prompted a series of state and federal investigations. The National Transportation Safety Board said the accident was caused by what NTSB chairman Deborah Hersman called ������a litany of failures������ by PG&E, as well as weak oversight by regulators. Hersman called the explosion the nation���s most significant pipeline accident in the last decade, not only in terms of its destructiveness, but also for the significant maintenance lapses it revealed. California State Sen. Jerry Hill described the commission���s decisions on how to apportion the expense of operating gas pipelines safely as a ������Christmas gift������ for PG&E. ������This will allow PG&E to profit from their gross negligence,������ he said. PG&E could also face hundreds of millions of dollars in possible fines in other proceedings before the commission. Attorneys for the San Bruno blast victims have argued that PG&E did not do enough to determine if the pipeline had defective welds. PG&E has claimed in court filings that the explosion was an accident and not due to mismanagement. California offered as national mental health model SACRAMENTO (AP) ��� In response to the killing of schoolchildren in Connecticut, the federal government should consider California���s strategy for dealing with mental illness, experts and lawmakers said Thursday. The Mental Health Services Act passed by voters in 2004 levied a special tax on high-income residents to pay for housing, medication, therapy and other services. The tax has helped more than 60,000 Californians. A fifth of the money is dedicated to prevention and early intervention, though The Associated Press reported in August that tens of millions of dollars had gone to general wellness programs for people who had not been diagnosed with any mental illness. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said the act that he championed has been effective in promoting early and broadranging intervention. He sent a letter to Vice President Joe Biden, urging him to consider California���s experience as he seeks ways to increase mental health resources and avert violence. On Wednesday, President Barack Obama instructed Biden to oversee the administration-wide review that also will consider gun control legislation and ways to keep society from glamorizing guns and violence. The federal government should match money raised in California and other states to create the foundation of a national mental health system, Steinberg, a Democrat from Sacramento, said at a news conference. The $1 billion in annual funding has been offset as other California programs have lost hundreds of millions of dollars due to budget cuts elsewhere in the system. Jessica Cruz, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental IllnessCalifornia, praised Steinberg���s proposal but said the nation should do even more to provide adequate funding for mental health services. Biden���s office had no immediate comment, but the proposal was backed by lawmakers including Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, who has introduced the Excellence in Mental Health Act. Her legislation would support community mental health services and make them eligible for Medicaid reimbursement. Steinberg���s proposal had general support from state Sen. Ted Gaines of Roseville, a conservative Republican senator who generally opposes gun control efforts. Gaines said he will introduce legislation that would permanently bar anyone from owning a gun if they have been deemed by the courts to be a danger to others because of a mental disorder or mental illness. Current law allows such people to petition the court to legally possess a firearm after they have completed treatment. Gaines��� bill would also extend the weapons prohibition to mentally disordered sex offenders. He is among several lawmakers advancing proposals to tighten gun restrictions and improve school safety preparations. On Thursday, Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, said she will introduce legislation requiring that those buying ammunition show identification, that the purchases be reported to the state Department of Justice, and that all ammunition dealers be licensed and undergo a background check.