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TUESDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2010 Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com On the brink See Inside American Profile RED BLUFF Local fighters Sports 1B Sunny 74/43 Weather forecast 8B By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer DAILYNEWS TEHAMACOUNTY DAILY 50¢ T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 A purrfect ending Thanks to the kindness of strangers a visiting couple who lost their cat a few weeks ago while staying at Duran- go RV Park in Red Bluff was reunited with him Thursday. “If you were to get lost anywhere in the world, Red Bluff is the place to be,” said Durango Activity Director Bianca Williams. “This was a huge communi- ty effort and this story helps convey what a tight knit community this is.” While Rod and Jan Carter, a couple visiting from Florida, were staying at the park, two of their cats got out of their motorhome, but only one was found right away. “The couple’s cat Iniki, a silver and grey Burmese with striking yellow eyes, slipped out of their motorhome and seemed to vanish,” Williams said. “They were just devastated. Our friendly staff along with vacationing guests immediately formed a search party and the teary-eyed Carters stayed an additional day searching for him until they had to leave because of a prior commitment in San Diego.” A few days later Charlotte Pertz, an extended day guest, heard a loud meowing under her rig. It was Duran- go Manager Pam Cappello who crawled under the rig “getting down- right greasy until she managed to grab him,” Williams said. Employees immediately set to work to get care for the cat and look for a way to get him home with Kristen Gray calling local vets and Alicia Ison calling airlines to see about getting him home, she said. Antelope Veterinary Clinic put Iniki, whose name means hurricane, up for five days before employee Debra Newby offered to take him home to rest. Park employees put up posters ask- ing for help in getting Iniki home. The cost to fly a cat was quite expensive and staff began to look for other options, including a ride to San Diego, Williams said. “Times are very tough in this econ- omy and not many people would be willing to make a 12-plus hour drive to bring a cat home,” Williams said. “We had an overwhelming response from this community and finally Pat and Pair of Corning drivers arrested for separate, but related DUI fatalities By GREG WELTER MediaNews Group CHICO — A head-on collision still under inves- tigation claimed the lives of a Chico couple Sun- day night, and is related to the death of a Caltrans employee, struck by a vehicle as he directed traffic near the accident scene. The deceased have been identified as Rogelio Herrera, 29, Sarai Alvarez, 31 and Gary Wayne Smith, 57, the Caltrans worker. Herrera was driving south on Highway 99 near Broyles Road at 5:49 p.m. when his GMC Sonoma pickup and a full-size Dodge 2500 pickup collided head-on. Herrera and Alvarez were found dead in the front seat of the crushed GMC by emergency per- sonnel. Two young boys sitting in the back seat were transported to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento with major injuries. The boys were identified Monday as Cristian Zaizar, 7, and Emanuel Zaizar-Alvarez, 6. The Cal- ifornia Highway Patrol reported early Monday morning that the older boy had died, but UC Davis personnel noticed the error and said both boys were alive as of late Monday afternoon, but in crit- ical condition. All four occupants of the GMC were wearing seat belts, officials said. Three men in the Dodge received minor to mod- See KILLED, page 7A Two die in Saturday night 99W collision Tehama County law enforcement are still trying to iden- tify the remains of two fatal victims from a pedestrian involved collision at 5:35 p.m. Saturday on Highway 99W, north of Sonoma Avenue. Identification of the two men is expected to take at least a Courtesy photos Durango RV Park employee Debra Newby holds Iniki who went missing from his owners motorhome and was returned Thursday by Pat and Nancy Patterson to his home in San Diego. Nancy Patterson offered to be the trans- porters. A story like this just warms your heart.” The Pattersons, originally from San Jose, have been staying in Durango for the season and offered to make a spe- cial trip to reunite Iniki with his own- ers. With three cats of their own, the Pat- tersons said they could relate to the pain of losing a pet and hoped that oth- ers would be willing to do the same if they were in a similar situation. The couple left Red Bluff and 4 a.m. Thursday and on Friday the Durango staff received a phone call to let them know that Iniki was now safe- ly home. few days since neither had identification on them, said Cali- fornia Highway Patrol Officer Ken Reineman. Vada Sutfin, 18, of Corning was driving south on High- way 99W when two men walked into the traffic lane direct- ly in front of her from the east side of the road. Sutfin swerved right in an attempt to avoid a collision, but was unable to do so, a CHP release said. The men died of fatal injuries at the scene and Sutfin was taken to St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Red Bluff to be treated for minor injuries, the release said. According to the release, authorities believe the men were trying to cross the road at the time of the collision, but it is unknown at the time why they did not see Sutfin’s vehicle approaching. —Julie Zeeb PG&E purchases Cinderella Motel, cleanup effort to follow By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer Speculations that have been going on for a cou- ple of months that Pacific Gas and Electricity Com- pany was interested in buying the Cinderella Motel have now been confirmed. PG&E announced Monday it has purchased the motel to investigate and clean up possible contaminants that are remnant of the site’s days as a manufactured gas plant. The motel will be demolished, according to a notice sent to PG&E customers. The Cinderel- la Motel sits on the site of a former manufactured gas plant that was owned and operated by PG&E from 1874 to 1947. Buying the motel will enable PG&E to more effectively investigate and clean the property, PG&E spokesperson Cindy Pollard said. Once the building is demol- ished, additional investi- gation work to determine the extent of impacts will be conducted and a clean up plan will be devel- oped. In the early 1800s, manufactured gas, which is made by burning coal and oil, was the primary energy source used to light street lamps. With the discovery of natural gas, the manufactured gas plants became obso- lete and PG&E has since closed down those plants, according to PG&E’s website. Research in the 1980s by the United States Environmental Protec- tion Agency of more than 1,5000 former plants found that residues may remain on sites, accord- ing to the website. PG&E has agreed to perform voluntary clean up of for- mer plant sites under the direction of the state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control. There are 40 other sites throughout the state that have been or are in the process of being cleaned up, including areas in Redding, Chico and Oroville, according to the website. At the Red Bluff site, 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 investigation to deter- mine if toxin are present and if remediation is nec- essary began in May 2009, said DTSC project manager Kevin Shaddy. Field investigation activi- ties and several ground- water samplings were made. Polynuclear aro- matic hydrocarbons met- als and total petroleum hydrocarbons and other manufactured gas related residues were detected in the samples collected. A preliminary evalua- tion of results does not indicate any immediate threat to human health or the environment, includ- ing water supply, Shaddy said. As the project moves forward, the potential for impacts to human health or the envi- ronment will be further assessed and, as needed, appropriate remedies will be developed and imple- mented to ensure that adverse impacts do not occur in the future. Pollard said a Remedi- ation Action Plan will be developed in coordina- tion with DTSC, once the extent of impacts has been determined. The public will get a chance to review and submit comments on the remediation plan before the project moves for- ward, Shaddy said. The plan will most likely be available for public review in the first half of 2012 with any necessary remediation activities beginning in late 2012 to early 2013. The entire project is anticipated to take between two to five years, Pollard said. The future of the site after PG&E has cleaned it up has not been determined, but PG&E will seek input from the city in determin- See MOTEL, page 7A Daily News photo by Tang Lor The Cinderella Motel at 600 Rio Street has been bought by PG&E for clean up of toxic left over from when a manufactured gas plant was operating at the site. Intermediate EXCEL class COMPLETE AUTO REPAIR Smog Inspection $ 2595 + cert. (MOST CARS & PICK-UPS) Pass or FREE retest 195 S. Main St. Red Bluff 530 527-9841 ARTHRITIS, AND POST SURGERY. DR. SWAIM’S PAIN CREAM NOW AVAILABLE IN OUR OFFICE AT 2530 SR MARY COLUMBA DR. RED BLUFF, CA 96080 (530) 527-7584 Thurs., Dec. 2nd 8:30 am to 12:30 pm Cost: $65.00 per person Job Training Center 718 Main St., Red Bluff Call 529-7000 STOP THE PAIN FROM NEUROPATHY, SHINGLES,