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Saturday, November 30, 2013 – Daily News 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. Albert Hayes Albert Hayes died Wednesday, Nov. 27 at his Cottonwood home. He was 83. Arrangements are under the direction of Hoyt-Cole Chapel of the Flowers. Published Saturday, Nov. 30, 2013 in the Daily News, Red Bluff, Calif. Sherri Ann Holm Sherri Ann Holm, of Cottonwood, died Thursday, Nov. 28, at Oak River Rehab. She was 66. Arrangements are under the direction of Blair's Direct Cremation & Burial. Published Saturday, Nov. 30, 2013 in the Daily News, Red Bluff, Calif. Richard Meadows Richard Meadows, of Redding, died Friday, Nov. 29 at Windsor Redding Care Center. He was 66. Arrangements are under the direction of Blair's Direct Cremation & Burial. Published Saturday, Nov. 30, 2013 in the Daily News, Red Bluff, Calif. Patricia J. Southern Patricia J. Southern, of Red Bluff, died Thursday, Nov. 28 at Mercy Medical Center in Redding. She was 74. Arrangements are under the direction of Hoyt-Cole Chapel of the Flowers. Published Saturday, Nov. 30, 2013 in the Daily News, Red Bluff, Calif. FINES Continued from page 1A Last month, in a case that garnered national publicity, the department failed to take prompt action after the owners of a Bay Area facility abandoned its residents, effectively leaving 19 frail or impaired seniors to fend for themselves. Working without pay or training, a janitor and a cook tried to care for the clients. While the federal government regulates the nursing home industry, it has left oversight of the assisted living business to the states, which, over the past two decades, have crafted a hodge-podge of widely divergent laws. Today some 750,000 elderly Americans reside in assisted living facilities, many operated by national chains. Home to more assisted living facilities than any other state, California is widely seen as one of the loosest regulatory environments in the country. ProPublica's examination of the state's regulatory records lends evidence to that view. Our review shows that troubled facilities often pay pennies on the dollar after they have been fined. A Southern California facility hit with $19,200 in fines in 2009 paid only $1,600. Another facility was fined $5,400 but wound up writing a check for $600. Department spokesman Michael Weston pointed to an array of factors that slow – and sometimes halt – the state's collection of fines. Some facilities go out of business and never pay. Some pay off fines in installments. Some choose to appeal the fines repeatedly – there are four levels of appeal – eventually succeeding in getting fines reduced or dismissed altogether. Yee chairs the state Senate's Human Services committee and intends to convene hearings on the state's oversight of assisted living early next year. "When we hold hearings in January that is one of the things we'll be looking at – why the fines were not paid," he said. Weston said "the department is committed to improving" the process of collecting fines and is "looking at creating an automated system to track the unpaid debts. We don't have that presently." He added that the state expects to collect at least a portion of the money that has so far gone unpaid. By one measure, the state appears to be growing more aggressive in policing assisted living facilities. In 2008, the department revoked the licenses of 52 facilities, exercising what officials describe as their most effective enforcement tool. In 2012, the most recent year for which data is available, the state moved to revoke 72 facility licenses and is still litigating to shutter many of those facilities. But in other regards California's oversight efforts are faltering. The state maintains one of the least rigorous inspection schedules in the nation. Ten years ago as state leaders stared at grim budget shortfalls, lawmakers dramatically revamped the department's inspection regimen, decreasing the frequency of routine inspections from once a year to once every five years. The revised law is unequivocal: "Under no circumstance shall the department visit a residential care facility for the elderly less often than once every five years." But the state has not been perfect in meeting even this relaxed mandate. Weston said the department had failed to inspect 13 facilities during the past five years. Weston said he did not know why the state had failed to meet its own requirement, but said the 13 facilities had now "been flagged." "Somebody is going to go out and perform an inspection," he said. In recent years, an industry lobby group, the California Assisted Living Association, has emerged as a force for reform, pushing repeatedly for more frequent inspections. Last year, the organization supported an unsuccessful bill that would've required inspectors to make unannounced visits to facilities every two years. "We believe that more frequent inspections will further enhance the integrity of assisted living," said CALA president Sally Michael, adding that the group's members are willing to pay 20 percent more in annual licensing fees to help fund increased inspections. LASSEN Continued from page 1A Lassen Volcanic National Park regrets the impacts the closure will have on visitors and the surrounding communities. "We ask for understanding as people encounter changes to park operations and encourage visitors to explore other areas of the park, including Manzanita Lake," Koontz said. Ranger-led snowshoe walks will be offered to the public in the Manzanita Lake area on Saturdays and Sundays beginning Jan. 11 through March 23, 2014, weather permitting. Join a ranger for a one- to two-mile adventure exploring winter ecology and Lassen's geologic history. Visitors should meet the ranger outside the Loomis Ranger Station on the plaza at 1 p.m. and come prepared for a range of winter conditions. Dress in layers, carry food and drinking water. A limited number of snowshoes will be available for a $1 donation. Visitor services will continue to be provided through the park's website and over the telephone. "Whether planning your overnight backcountry trip or a day of family fun on the nearby sledding hill, you can still get the information you need from our park rangers over the telephone, by email, or the park website and social media" Koontz said. Given the continuing BALLOT Continued from page 1A before proceeding with extensive analysis that county staff has said could be lengthy and expensive. State of Jefferson supporters presented their case at a special board meeting Nov. 13, asking the super- DAM Continued from page 1A tions and maintenance division. ''The dam is essentially overbuilt.'' The dam — completed in 1968 — has enough water to serve 7 million average households for a year. Its failure would fiscal uncertainty, the National Park Service will exercise extreme caution in spending to ensure that available funding is directed to the highest resource priorities and serves the most visitors. The winter closure of the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center will reduce the cost of winter operations by about $43,000. The savings will be realized through a reduction in utilities, personnel, supplies, snow removal operations and fuel. Lassen Volcanic will evaluate the effectiveness of the closure at the end of the winter season and conduct a cost benefit analysis to help guide decisions in future years. average 5,300 visitors, or about 44 visitors a day. The majority of Lassen's visitors come to the park in the summer months, with more visitations on a single day in July than most winter months. Visitation to the visitor center during the winter months of December, January, February and March has been low with average monthly visitation totals for the past three years being 1,100, 1,700,1,500 and 1,000 respectively. For information regarding ranger-led programs, backcountry permits and weather and road conditions visit www.nps.gov/lavo or call During the four months the park at (530) 595the visitor center will be 4480, daily, from 9 a.m. to closed, the park sees on 4 p.m. visors to pass a Declaration of Support. Withdrawal proponents said they were looking to have the Declaration passed by at least 10 counties before proceeding with the extensive analysis. The advisory ballot measure in Tehama County would cost about $12,360. Proponents point to a similar flood numerous cities downstream. The dam lies just north of a fault line first revealed after a 5.7-magnitude earthquake in 1975. That quake did not damage the dam. At issue in the inspectors' report are two other earthquake sources in the area, the Foothill Fault June 1992 advisory vote when 31 counties considered a measure asking whether California should be split into separate states. Twenty-six counties supported the measure, with 75.6 percent of voters in California voting yes. Rich Greene can be reached at 527-2151, ext. 109 or rgreene@redbluffdailynews.com. System and the Prairie Creek Fault, according to the Bee. University of California, Davis, civil engineering professor Ross Boulanger said the computer modeling the inspectors are recommending could cost several hundred thousand dollars. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or California's Division of Safety of Dams could still require the Department of Water Resources to conduct the study. Dave Gutierrez, chief of the state's dam safety division, said he expects his agency will decide in January whether to order further earthquake studies. Lawmakers, state elected officials getting raise SACRAMENTO (AP) — California lawmakers and statewide elected officials will have a little extra cash in their pockets this holiday season, as their paychecks rise by more than 5 percent starting Sunday. The state Citizens Compensation Commission approved the increases in June, adding nearly $5,000 a year for rank-and-file members of the Legislature and nearly $9,000 for Gov. Jerry Brown. That brings Brown's salary to nearly $174,000, still short of the governor's office 2009 salary of $212,000. The raises were meant to restore some of the pay cuts made during the recession. Even after the previous cuts, California lawmakers remained the highest paid in the nation. Yet unlike their peers in some other states, they do not receive pensions. Legislatures in many other states also meet part-time or every other year. Crab on: Opening day set for Dec. 1 Lorna Rodriguez MediaNews Group The commercial Dungeness crab season opens on Sunday for the North Coast, but officials are worried that there may not be as many crustaceans to catch this year. "It's pretty clear that the crabs are ready to catch, so that's a good thing," fisherman Dave Bitts said. "It also seems like there aren't very many crabs, which isn't a good thing, but it happens." California Department of Fish and Wildlife senior environmental scientist Pete Kalvass said the department doesn't have any data yet on the central California season - which opened on Nov. 15 -- but from what he understands, it's shaping up to be an average season there. "Over a number of years you get high catches, and over a series of years you get low catches," Kalvass said. "We're coming off of some very good years statewide, so we're moving into more of an average or lower catch regime." The industry potted about $60 million in crab statewide last year, with about half coming from Northern California, Kalvass added. While it remains to be seen how many there are, officials said they believe the ones available will be a good quality catch. "There may not be as many crab, but each crab will be heavier with more meat and in better shape because it's not competing with hoards of other crab for the same food," Kalvass said. By law, the season north of the Mendocino County line must open by Dec. 1 unless testing indicates the crab are of poor quality. As fishermen set off, they will have to adhere to a new law that limits the number of traps they can carry on their vessels, based on the number of buoy tags they've purchased. The law, drafted by state Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, is meant to help put smaller, local fishermen on a move even keel with larger boats out of Washington and Oregon. "I'm hoping that it works out and turns out to be a good thing," Bitts said. "I'm hoping even the guys at the top end will find that they can do what they need to do and catch what they need to catch and maybe not need to invest as much to do it." Stephen Sagan, a crane operator at Pacific Choice Seafood, said he is just happy the season is starting on time this year with delays the past two years. "Everybody is generally relieved that the crab season is here," Sagan said. ON THE WEB: The most recent commercial crab news, including test results and season start date notifications, can be found on the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission website athttp://www.psmfc.org/cr ab/. CARE TO COMMENT? At redbluffdailynews.com, scroll to the end of any story, click the link and type away. ProPublica is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. Simple Cremations starting at $ .00 Setting it straight –––––––– It is the policy of the Daily News to correct as quickly as possible all errors in fact that have been published in the newspaper. If you feel a factual error has been made in a news story, call the news department at 527-2153. 9A 929 5530 Mountain View Drive, Redding CA 96033. Call 530-241-3400 to prearrange your wishes • www.BlairsCremation.com FD2153