Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/189264
8B Daily News – Wednesday, October 9, 2013 Gov't: Most heating bills to rise this winter By JONATHAN FAHEY AP Energy Writer The government forecast Tuesday that most households will pay more for heat this winter. Heating oil users will catch a slight break, but still pay near-record prices to keep warm. Prices for natural gas, electricity and propane should be higher, the primary reason that more than 90 percent of U.S. homes will incur higher heating expenses. Natural gas users will see the biggest percentage increase after two years of historically low prices. Their heating bills should rise to an average of $679, the Energy Department said in its outlook for heating costs for the season running from October through March. That is about 13 percent higher than a year ago but still 4 percent below the average for the previous five winters. Homes relying on electricity for heat, about 38 percent of the U.S., will likely pay about 2 percent more compared with last year. For heating oil customers, there is good news and bad. Their average bill should drop 2 percent. But they'll still pay an average of $2,046 for the season, the second highest on record behind last year's $2,092. Just over half of U.S. households use natural gas for heating. Many of the 38 percent of U.S. households that use electric heat live in warm regions where heating demand is not high. Only 6 percent use heating oil, but those homes tend to be in New England and New York, where winter heating needs are high. Some analysts are concerned about a spike in heating oil prices. That's because the fuels that refiners make alongside heating oil, including diesel and jet fuel, are in high demand around the world and inventories are low. ''If there's one type of product that could catch fire and go higher, it's heating oil,'' says Tom Kloza, Chief Oil Analyst at the Oil Price Information Service and GasBuddy.com. Natural gas should average $11 per thousand cubic feet, the government said. That's $1.33 more than last year, but still below the nearly $13 per thousand cubic feet that homeowners paid in the winter of 2008-2009. The Energy Department expects temperatures in the Northeast to be about 3 percent colder than a year ago, resulting in a 3 percent increase in consumption of heating oil. Bills will be lower, however, because the average price for heating oil will drop to $3.68 a gallon from $3.87. About 25 percent of homeowners in the Northeast use oil for heat. But the government cautions that if temperatures are about 10 percent below expectations nationally, heating oil costs could rise around 9 percent from a year ago. That would mean an average bill of $2.280, a record. Dave Streit, a meteorologist at the Commodity Weather Group, which forecasts weather patterns to predict energy demand, expects slightly cooler than normal temperatures. ''It will look like a colder winter than what we've seen over the last couple of years,'' he says. ''But nothing compared to the harsh winters we had in the two years before that.'' Mark Wolfe, Executive Director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, which advocates for heating assistance for low income families, worries that high heating oil prices, colder weather, and cuts in federal heating assistance will leave more families vulnerable. For Obama, little to say that hasn't been said WASHINGTON (AP) — His Asia trip was scrapped, most of his staff has been furloughed and he's refused to hold negotiations with House Republicans. So on Tuesday, President Barack Obama was looking for something to fill his time. His destination? The White House briefing room, where reporters and photographers packed in for a hastily arranged news conference, eager for any sign of a breakthrough in Washington's latest round of gridlock. But there was little to say that hadn't already been said. That didn't keep Obama from saying it all again. He promised that his opening statement would be brief — then proceeded to speak for nearly 15 minutes before taking questions. ''The greatest nation on earth shouldn't have to get permission from a few irresponsible members of Congress every couple months just to keep our government open or to prevent an economic catastrophe,'' he said. It was a point Obama made over and over throughout an afternoon news conference that stretched beyond the one-hour mark. The president appeared at one point to provide an opening for a resolution of the impasse, saying his offer to negotiate with Republicans would still stand even if they only passed short-term spending and debt ceiling bills. But less than an hour later, that pathway was shut down by House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who said the president was asking for ''unconditional surrender'' from Republicans in exchange for negotiations. The standoff between Obama and House Republicans has largely stranded the president in Washington with little to do. He had planned to spend the week on a four-country trip to Asia promoting stronger trade ties with the U.S. But the White House canceled the trip so Obama could stay in Washington during the partial government shutdown, which is now in its second week. When Obama's travel plans changed, the White House found itself staring at an empty schedule — and plenty of empty desks, where the furloughed staffers who would have been busy planning new events and trips normally would be sitting. That's left the remaining staff planning the schedule one day at a time and scrambling to find opportunities for the president to be in the public eye without taxing resources that are already stretched thin. Obama bemoaned the cancellation of his travel to Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines, a trip that included meetings at two regional economic summits the U.S. plays a substantial role in organizing. ''It's almost like me not showing up to my own party,'' he said. Secretary of State John Kerry stood in for Obama. Obama's absence from the economic meetings has raised speculation that China will try to take advantage of the American political mess and make the case the countries in the region that the U.S. cannot be counted on. ''I'm sure the Chinese don't mind that I'm not there right now,'' the president quipped. However, he said he did not expect there to be long-term damage to America's relationship with Asia as long as lawmakers resolve the current dispute quickly. The president also tackled a case argued before the Supreme Court on Tuesday that could eliminate limits on campaign contributions by the biggest individual donors. He railed against cutting the caps, saying it would shut ordinary Americans out of the process. But Obama, who set campaign fundraising records in both of his runs for the White House, acknowledged that ''there's nobody who operates in politics that has perfectly clean hands on this issue.'' The president, who held his last full news conference in August, typically takes seven or eight questions from reporters from major news organizations. But in an unusual move, Obama answered queries from 11 reporters, including some from news outlets that don't normally get the chance to question the president. That spurred some mild griping in the briefing room from some of those left off the list. The president pleaded innocence. ''I'm just going through my list, guys,'' he said. Seeking to shift the blame elsewhere, he motioned to his press secretary Jay Carney. ''Talk to Jay,'' he said. Electrical issues stall NSA data warehouse opening SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Electrical problems have stalled the planned opening this fall of the nation's new $1.7 billion epicenter for fighting global cyber threats — a Utah data center filled with superpowered computers designed to store massive amounts of classified information. The Army Corps of Engineers discovered the problems during tests ahead of the scheduled Oct. 1 opening of the center south of Salt Lake City, on a National Guard base, Corps spokeswoman Diedra Cordell said in an emailed statement. The facility will be the National Security Agency's largest data storage center in the U.S., constantly using 65 megawatts of electricity — enough to power 33,000 houses. But what exactly will be happening there remains shrouded in mystery. There is no visible marker bearing the facility's name and operator, and the NSA has been tightlipped about what they'll be doing there. The Corps, which is in charge of construction, says experts are working to correct the electrical problems. Cordell did not provide details about the exact nature of the issue, or say if it has caused any major damage. NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines acknowledged the problems in an email but declined to provide any more information. ''The failures that occurred during testing have been mitigated,'' Vines said in a state- ment. ''A project of this magnitude requires stringent management, oversight, and testing before the government accepts any building.'' The problems were first reported by the Wall Street Journal. NSA officials say the center will play a key role in the nation's effort to protect national security networks, and allow U.S. authorities to monitor for potential cyber threats. The secrecy is necessary to protect classified information that is highly sought-after by foreign spies, said a former U.S. intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the program publicly. Richard ''Dickie'' George, who retired from the NSA in 2011 after 40 years, says the facility isn't nearly as mysterious as some think. The center only holds data, with NSA agents elsewhere combing through the information to understand how terrorist groups operate and who plays what roles. George calls it no more than a ''big file cabinet'' out West. The Army Corps also found an air flow problem with the generators that they are working to fix, Cordell said. The agency is working to complete its final inspection of the center before handing it over, she said. NSA officials have said the agency chose the Utah location over 37 others because electricity is cheaper here, and because it was easier to buy enough land to build the center's long, squat buildings that span 1.5 million square feet. The center sits on a hill in Bluffdale, a community of about 8,000 people 25 miles south of Salt Lake City that is known for its rodeo and annual Old West Days. The utility that powers the data center said it determined the electrical problems are the fault of the NSA data center and not the power grid. The utility's engineers did a detailed analysis of their systems during the times the NSA reported problems, said Rocky Mountain Power spokesman David Eskelsen. ''It's something internal to the NSA system,'' Eskelsen told The Associated Press. James Bamford, the author of several books on the NSA who last year wrote about the Utah center in Wired magazine, said the problems sound very serious from what he read in the Wall Street Journal story. The center has some standard servers, but most of it is extremely unique, state-of-theart equipment that is expensive. It's not surprising to Bamford that they are encountering problems considering how much data they are trying to store and make available around the world via fiberoptic cables. ''There's never been a time in U.S. history where they've tried to collect so much data in one place and then try to access it from other places on a cloud,'' Bamford said. LEGAL NOTICE FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. 2013000322 The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: B & B Lawn Maintenance 218 San Benito Ave. Gerber, CA 96035 Marlin Bruner 218 San Benito Ave. Gerber, CA 96035 Anna Bruner 218 San Benito Ave. Gerber, CA 96035 The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on 10/4/13 This business is conducted by: Married Couple S/By: Anna Bruner Anna Bruner This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Tehama County on 3/8/2013 BEVERLY ROSS Tehama County Clerk & Recorder Publish: October 9, 16, 23 & October 30, 2013 LEGAL NOTICE STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE # 2013000317 The following person(s) has/have abandoned the use of the following fictitious business name: Shanahan Cattle Company 8270 Truckee Ave Gerber , CA 96035 The fictitious business name referred to above was filed on: 5/31/13 in the County of Tehama Original File #2013000200 This business is conducted by: Married Couple Kendel Trent 8270 Truckee Ave. Gerber, CA 96035 Belinda Trent 8270 Truckee AVe. Gerber, CA 96035 S/By: Kendel Trent Kendel Trent S/By: Belinda Trent Belinda Trent This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Tehama County on 9/27/13 Beverly Ross Tehama County Clerk Publish: October 2, 9, 16 & 23, 2013 LEGAL NOTICE Request for Qualifications Civil Engineering Consultant City of Corning, CA The City of Corning desires to obtain the services of a Civil Engineer Consultant to provide various Public Works related engineering consulting services. Services may include but are not limited to preliminary engineering, design, specifications, detailed plans, construction engineering, field inspections and cost estimate for future State and/or Federal and City funded projects. Consultant may be required to attend City Council, Staff, preconstruction/construction, etc., meetings. Consultant must have experience working on projects with local, State and Federal funding and be familiar with their requirements and procedures. Submit (1) copy of your Statement of Qualifications for Civil Engineering. The (SOQ) should state the following: • Qualifications of key personnel proposed for the contract; • Related projects that key personnel have worked on; • Qualifications/experience of the firm; • References. Applicant must have an adequate financial management and accounting system as required by 48 CFR Part 16.301-3, 49 CFR Part 18, and 48 CFR Part 31. The City Staff will rank the firms based on their support documentation; i.e., resume and experience on similar projects. Final decisions and selection of the firm will be made in an open public meeting by the City Council. The firm selected will be asked to attend an interview with city staff and to submit a cost proposal to complete the work. All costs of responding to this notice shall be the responsibility of the Respondent. Agreement term will be for a (5) year period commencing upon completion of selection and award process. Interviews will be conducted of representatives of the three engineering firms considered best qualified.The Disadvantage Business Enterprise (DBE) Goal is 0%. Qualifications and support information should be submitted to: Patrick Walker, Director of Public Works, Attention: Civil Engineer Selection Committee 794 Third Street, Corning, CA 96021 (530/824-7025) no later than November 12, 2013 by 5pm. Lisa M. Linnet City Clerk Publish: October 9, 2013 LEGAL NOTICE FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. 2013000308 The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: BASRA MINI MART 2015 Solano St. Corning, CA 96021 Gurinder Singh Basra 1112 Plumas Links St. Plumas Lake, CA 95961 The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on N/A This business is conducted by: an individual S/By: Gurinder Singh Basra Gurinder Singh Basra This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Tehama County on 9/13/2013 BEVERLY ROSS Tehama County Clerk & Recorder Publish: September 18, 25, October 2 & 9, 2013 LEGAL NOTICE SUMMONS (CITACION JUDICIAL) CASE NUMBER (Número del Caso): 113CV250441 NOTICE TO DEFENDANT (AVISO AL DEMANDADO): DANIEL ROBERT SCOTT, and DOES ONE through FIVE, inclusive YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF (LO ESTÁ DEMANDANDO EL DEMANDANTE): COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA NOTICE! You have been sued. The court may decide against you without your being heard unless you respond within 30 days. Read the information below. You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this summons and legal papers are served on you to file a written response at this court and have a copy served on the plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you. Your written response must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case. There may be a court form that you can use for your response. You can find these court forms and more information at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center ( www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), your county law library, or the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the court clerk for a fee waiver form. If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default, and your wages, money, and property may be taken without further warning from the court. There are other legal requirements. You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may want to call an attorney referral service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be eligible for free legal services from a nonprofit legal services program. You can locate these nonprofit groups at the California Legal Services Web site (www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfh elp), or by contacting your local court or county bar association. NOTE: The court has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on any settlement or arbitration award of $10,000 or more in a civil case. The court's lien must be paid before the court will dismiss the case. ¡AVISO! Lo han demandado. Si no responde dentro de 30 días, la corte puede decidir en su contra sin escuchar su versión. Lea la información a continuación. Tiene 30 DÍAS DE CALENDARIO después de que le entreguen esta citación y papeles legales para presentar una respuesta por escrito en esta corte y hacer que se entregue una copia al demandante. Una carta o una llamada telefónica no lo protegen. Su respuesta por escrito tiene que estar en formato legal correcto si desea que procesen su caso en la corte. Es posible que haya un formulario que usted pueda usar para su respuesta. Puede encontrar estos formularios de la corte y más información en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California (www.sucorte.ca.g ov), en la biblioteca de leyes de su condado o en la corte que le quede más cerca. Si no puede pagar la cuota de presentación, pida al secretario de la corte que le dé un formulario de exención de pago de cuotas. Si no presenta su respuesta a tiempo, puede perder el caso por incumplimiento y la corte le podrá quitar su sueldo, dinero y bienes sin más advertencia. Hay otros requisitos legales. Es recomendable que llame a un abogado inmediatamente. Si no conoce a un abogado, puede llamar a un servicio de remisión a abogados. Si no puede pagar a un abogado, es posible que cumpla con los requisitos para obtener servicios legales gratuitos de un programa de servicios legales sin fines de lucro. Puede encontrar estos grupos sin fines de lucro en el sitio web de California Legal Services, (www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California, (ww w.sucorte.ca.gov) o poniéndose en contacto con la corte o el colegio de abogados locales. AVISO: Por ley, la corte tiene derecho a reclamar las cuotas y los costos exentos por imponer un gravamen sobre cualquier recuperación de $10,000 ó más de valor recibida mediante un acuerdo o una concesión de arbitraje en un caso de derecho civil. Tiene que pagar el gravamen de la corte antes de que la corte pueda desechar el caso. The name and address of the court is (El nombre y dirección de la corte es): SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA, 191 N. First Street, San Jose, CA 95113; Downtown Superior Court The name, address, and telephone number of plaintiff's attorney, or plaintiff without an attorney, is (El nombre, la dirección y el número de teléfono del abogado del demandante, o del demandante que no tiene abogado, es): ORRY P. KORB, County Counsel, S.B. #114399, MICHAEL L. ROSSI, Deputy County Counsel, S.B. #184997, 70 West Hedding Street, East Wing, 9th Floor, San Jose, CA 95110-1770; (408) 2995900 (408) 292-7240, DOR #TBA DATE (Fecha): Jul 31, 2013 DAVID H. YAMASAKI, Clerk (Secretario), by S. SMITH, Deputy (Adjunto) (SEAL) Publish: 10/2, 10/9, 10/23/13 CNS-2539752# DAILY NEWS (RED BLUFF) 10/16,