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ByEllenKnickmeyer TheAssociatedPress IVANPAH DRY LAKE Work- ers at a state-of-the-art so- lar plant in the Mojave Des- ert have a name for birds that fly through the plant's concentrated sun rays — "streamers," for the smoke plume that comes from birds that ignite in midair. Federal wildlife inves- tigators who visited the BrightSource Energy plant last year and watched as birds burned and fell, re- porting an average of one "streamer" every two min- utes, are urging California officials to halt the opera- tor's application to build a still-bigger version. The investigators want the halt until the full ex- tent of the deaths can be assessed. Estimates per year now range from a low of about a thousand by BrightSource to 28,000 by an expert for the Center for Biological Diversity en- vironmental group. The deaths are "alarm- ing. It's hard to say whether that's the location or the technology," said Garry George, renewable-energy director for the California chapter of the Audubon Society. "There needs to be some caution." The bird kills mark the latest instance in which the quest for clean energy sometimes has inadvertent environmental harm. Solar farms have been criticized for their impacts on desert tortoises, and wind farms have killed birds, including numerous raptors. "We take this issue very seriously," said Jeff Hol- land, a spokesman for NRG Solar of Carlsbad, California, the second of the three companies be- hind the plant. The third, Google, deferred comment to its partners. The $2.2 billion plant, which launched in Febru- ary, is at Ivanpah Dry Lake near the California-Nevada border. The operator says it's the world's biggest plant to employ so-called power towers. More than 300,000 mir- rors, each the size of a ga- rage door, reflect solar rays onto three boiler towers each looming up to 40 sto- ries high. The water inside is heated to produce steam, which turns turbines that generate enough electricity for 140,000 homes. Sun rays sent up by the field of mirrors are bright enough to dazzle pilots fly- ing in and out of Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Federal wildlife officials said Ivanpah might act as a "mega-trap" for wildlife, with the bright light of the plant attracting insects, which in turn attract in- sect-eating birds that fly to their death in the intensely focused light rays. Federal and state biol- ogists call the number of deaths significant, based on sightings of birds get- ting singed and falling, and on retrieval of carcasses with feathers charred too severely for flight. Ivanpah officials dispute the source of the so-called streamers, saying at least some of the puffs of smoke mark insects and bits of airborne trash being ig- nited by the solar rays. Wildlife officials who witnessed the phenom- ena say many of the clouds of smoke were too big to come from anything but a bird, and they add that they saw "birds entering the solar flux and ignit- ing, consequently become a streamer." U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials say they want a death toll for a full year of operation. Given the apparent scale of bird deaths at Ivanpah, authorities should thor- oughly track bird kills there for a year, including during annual migratory seasons, before granting any more permits for that kind of solar technology, said George, of the Audu- bon Society. The toll on birds has been surprising, said Rob- ert Weisenmiller, chairman of the California Energy Commission. "We didn't see a lot of impact" on birds at the first, smaller power towers in the U.S. and Eu- rope, Weisenmiller said. The commission is now considering the applica- tion from Oakland-based BrightSource to build a mirror field and a 75-story power tower that would reach above the sand dunes and creek washes between Joshua Tree National Park and the California-Arizona border. WILDLIFE Emergingsolarplants scorch birds in mid-air JOHNLOCHER—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS A truck drives by an array of mirrors at the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System near Primm, Nev., on Aug. 13. By Amy Taxin The Associated Press SAN BERNARDINO The body of the missing, preg- nant wife of a U.S. Marine has been found deep in an abandoned mine shaft in Southern California, where her husband had been sta- tioned, and Alaskan author- ities have arrested her al- leged lover on suspicion of homicide. The remains of 20-year- old Erin Corwin were found Saturday 140 feet down an abandoned mine shift on federal land near Twenty- nine Palms after authorities spent nearly two months searching 300 square miles in the remote area east of Los Angeles, San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said. Her remains were identi- fied Sunday through dental records, he said. Her alleged lover and former neighbor, Christo- pher Brandon Lee, was ar- rested around 9 p.m. Sun- day in Anchorage, Alaska, on suspicion of homicide on an extradition warrant from California, said Jenni- fer Castro, a spokesman for the Anchorage Police De- partment. Corwin was in the early stages of pregnancy when she disappeared from her home in Twentynine Palms, California, on June 28. Her husband, Marine Cpl. Jona- than Corwin, reported her missing the next day. The investigation grew to focus on Lee, who was the Corwins' neighbor, accord- ing to court papers. Erin Corwin's friend told investigators that Cor- win and Lee were having an affair and that the un- born child might be Lee's, the papers show. Corwin told her hus- band when she left that day that she was going to scout out hiking trails that she and her mother could explore when her mother visited a few days later. But the friend showed au- thorities text messages that said Corwin was planning to go on a spe- cial hunting trip with Lee the day she disappeared to celebrate. "It is highly likely that Erin could have been harmed by an unknown firearm," investigators wrote in the documents. "Sometime after Erin left with Lee, her phone was deactivated (turned off). Detectives believe if Erin was injured and left at an undisclosed location, she would not (be) able to call for help." Other evidence was found in the shaft — one of more than 100 in the area — but McMahon declined to discuss what it was. Authorities also declined to release the manner of death. Lee, a former Marine, told investigators he was not with Corwin that day and had been hunting in Joshua National Park. He told police that although the two had kissed, they had never had intercourse. The investigation found that Lee and Corwin did have an "intimate relation- ship" dating back to at least February, sheriff's Sgt. Tre- vis Newport said. Lee was arrested in July on suspicion of possessing a destructive device after a search warrant was served at his home in Yucca Valley. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Body of Marine's missing wife found in mine sha The Associated Press LOS ANGELES This fall more than a fifth of all Uni- versity of California fresh- men will come from out of state, providing the system with an estimated $400 million in extra revenue. Each student from out- side California and the United States will pay $23,000 more in tuition than those from in-state, the Los Angeles Times re- ported Sunday. That extra revenue helps support the education of Californians, according to officials. Among the freshman classes at the system's nine undergraduate cam- puses, UCLA has the high- est percentage of students from out of state, with 30.1 percent. At UC Berke- ley, 29.8 percent of fresh- men are not from Califor- nia. UC San Diego has 28.4 percent. UC began aggressively increasing the numbers of non-California undergradu- ates five years ago to offset reductions in state support and a freeze on in-state tu- ition, the Times said. Although critics con- tend it hurts Californians and reduces political sup- port for the campuses, UC officials insist no state res- idents are being pushed out to make room for these students. The $23,000 non- Californians pay on top of the regular $12,192 tuition will provide about 6 percent of UC's core educational budget and help maintain classes and financial aid for Californians, adminis- trators said. Until 1993, it was easy to establish California res- idency within a year or so and then pay the lower tu- ition. But UC rules were tightened so that current students must prove fi- nancial independence for at least two prior years, among other things, to gain resident status. EDUCATION More California freshmen from outside the state The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO Pacific Gas & Electric Co. pleaded not guilty Monday to charges in a new indict- ment that accuses the util- ity of lying to federal inves- tigators looking into a fatal pipeline explosion in a San Francisco Bay Area neigh- borhood. Steve Bauer, an attor- ney for the company, en- tered the plea in federal court to all 28 counts, in- cluding obstruction of jus- tice. The new indictment — announced last month — replaced a 12-count in- dictment that related to PG&E's safety practices but did not include an obstruc- tion charge. Prosecutors say PG&E tried to mislead federal in- vestigators about pipeline testing and maintenance procedures it was follow- ing at the time of the 2010 explosion in the city of San Bruno and for six months afterward. The blast killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes. The utility was oper- ating under a company policy that did not meet federal safety standards, failing to prioritize as high-risk and properly as- sess many of its oldest nat- ural gas pipelines, prose- cutors said. PG&E said in a state- ment on Monday that the obstruction charge stems from a paperwork error that the company quickly corrected. "We are confident the legal process will ensure all of the facts are fully re- viewed. In the meantime, we want all of our custom- ers to know that we will stay focused on transform- ing this 100-plus-year-old natural gas system into the safest and most reliable in the country," the company said. The other charges ac- cuse the utility of failing to act on threats in its pipe- line system even after the problems were identified by its own inspectors. The indictment charges PG&E with keeping shoddy re- cords, failing to identify safety threats and failing to act when threats were found. PG&E said Monday that employees did not inten- tionally violate the federal Pipeline Safety Act and even when there were mis- takes, "employees were act- ing in good faith to provide customers with safe and reliable energy." COURT PG&E pleads not guilty to charges in deadly blast Imaginewhatyourlife would look like if you were completely debt free. Dave Ramsey's FINANCIAL Peace UNIVERSITY is designed to help you beat debt, build wealth and live like never before. So, start dreaming big because here's some great news! Financial Peace classes are starting soon at THEPRESBYTERIANCHURCH OF RED BLUFF, 838 Jefferson Street. Don'tmissoutonthis. 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