Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/420675
Gann:FranklinGann,59, of Corning, passed away on Wednesday, Nov. 19at his home. Arrangements are under the direction of Blair's Direct Cremation & Burial. Published Friday, Nov. 21, 2014in the Daily News, Red Bluff, Calif. Deathnoticesmustbe provided by mortuar- ies to the news depart- ment, are published at no charge, and feature only specific basic informa- tion about the deceased. Paid obituaries are placed through the Clas- sified advertising depart- ment. Paid obituaries may be placed by mortu- aries or by families of the deceased and include on- line 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. DEATHNOTICES we're going to spend the money." Traditionally, Crabtree said, the city has allocated 70 percent of its public safety funding toward po- lice services, and 30 per- cent toward fire services. "The council could di- rect us to continue that split, it could direct us to do something different," he said. Sandy Ryan, the city's finance director, said the city may not know how much money the sales tax increase will bring the city in its first effec- tive quarter until Septem- ber 2015. "We're really not going to see extra revenue until next fiscal year, but we can in our budgeting process for next fiscal year look at how the council wants to direct us to spend the money," Crabtree said. Tax FROM PAGE 1 cording to the report. The average price of gas across the U.S. is $2.85 per gallon — 43 cents lower than the average price last Thanksgiving — and gas prices continue to fall in Northern California as well, according to AAA. The average price of gas in Northern California is $3.19, which is 39 cents less than the average re- ported Oct. 14. In Red Bluff, gas prices bottom out at $2.89 per gallon for regular gas at the Arco stations on North and South Main streets, and the InterState Gasoline sta- tion at Walnut Street and David Avenue, according to CaliforniaGasPrices.com on Thursday. The highest price per gallon for regular gas was $3.19 at the Chev- ron stations on North and South Main streets and An- telope Boulevard. "Absent of any unan- ticipated market-moving events this winter, the re- tail price for gasoline is ex- pected to remain relatively low," said Cynthia Harris, AAA Northern Califor- nia spokeswoman, in a re- lease. "As consumers ad- just to falling oil prices, California motorists can enjoy some of the lowest prices during a holiday season since 2009." The drop in gas prices has been attributed to a multi-month drop in crude oil costs, and an "unex- pected" move by Saudi Arabia to lower the price per barrel for crude oil sold to the U.S., according to the AAA. Americans will travel an average round trip dis- tance of 549 miles this Thanksgiving and spend about $570 during the hol- iday weekend, according to the AAA report. About 3.5 million people will travel by air — the high- est level since 2007. "Lower prices are in- creasing disposable in- come and enabling families to carve out more money from household budgets for travel this Thanksgiv- ing," said Marshall Doney, AAA president and COO, in the report. Travel FROM PAGE 1 work better, or question the wisdom of me acting where Congress has failed, I have one answer: Pass a bill," Obama said, flexing his presidential powers just two weeks after his political standing was challenged in the midterm elections. As Obama spoke from the White House, immi- gration supporters with American flags draped over their shoulders marched on Pennsylvania Avenue out- side carrying signs that read, "Gracias, Presidente Obama." The address marked the first step in the White House effort to promote the executive actions to the public. On Friday, Obama will speak at a campaign- style rally in Las Vegas. Despite Obama's chal- lenge to Republicans to pass a broader immigra- tion bill, his actions and the angry GOP response could largely stamp out those prospects for the remainder of his presidency, ensuring that the contentious debate will carry on into the 2016 elections. Republicans, embold- ened by their sweeping vic- tories in the midterms, are weighing responses to the president's actions that in- clude lawsuits, a govern- ment shutdown, and in rare instances, even impeach- ment. "The president will come to regret the chapter his- tory writes if he does move forward," Sen. Mitch Mc- Connell, the Kentucky Re- publican who is soon to be- come the Senate majority leader, said before Obama's address. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who has refused to have his mem- bers vote on broad immi- gration legislation passed by the Senate last year, said Obama's decision to go it alone "cemented his legacy of lawlessness and squan- dered what little credibil- ity he had left." While Obama's measures are sweeping in scope, they still leave more than half of the 11 million people living in the U.S. illegally in limbo. The president announced new deportation priorities that would compel law en- forcement to focus its ef- forts on tracking down se- rious criminals and people who have recently crossed the border, while specifi- cally placing a low prior- ity on those who have been in the U.S. for more than 10 years. The president spent months trying to gain a House vote on the Senate bill, frustrating immigra- tion advocates and some Democrats who wanted him to instead take action on his own. While Obama had long insisted that his powers to halt deportations were limited, the White House began seriously ex- ploring options for unilat- eral action. Still, that process has been beset by delays, es- pecially Obama's decision to hold off on announcing the executive orders until after the midterms. Some Democrats had feared that thrusting the immigration debate to the forefront of the campaign would hurt their chances of keep- ing control of the Senate, though the White House's delay ultimately did little to stem their defeats. Obama insisted that his actions did not amount to amnesty. "Amnesty is the immi- gration system we have to- day — millions of people who live here without pay- ing their taxes or playing by the rules, while politi- cians use the issue to scare people and whip up votes at election time," he said. The main beneficiaries of the president's actions are immigrants who have been in the U.S. illegally for more than five years but whose children are citizens or lawful perma- nent residents. After pass- ing background checks and paying fees, those in- dividuals will soon be able to seek relief from depor- tation and get work per- mits. The administration expects about 4.1 million people to qualify. Obama is also broaden- ing his 2012 directive that deferred deportation for some young immigrants who entered the country illegally. Obama will ex- pand eligibility to people who arrived in the U.S. as minors before 2010, in- stead of the current cutoff of 2007, and will lift the re- quirement that applicants be under 31. The expan- sion is expected to affect about 300,000 people. Applications for the new deportation deferrals will begin in the spring. Those who qualify would be granted deferrals for three years at a time. Immigration-rights ac- tivists gathered at watch parties around the country to listen to the president an- nounce actions they have sought for years. "This is a great day for farmworkers. It's been worth the pain and sacri- fice," said Jesus Zuniga, a 40-year-old who picks to- matoes in California's Cen- tral Valley and watched the speech at a union gathering in Fresno. In New York City, how- ever, a couple of protesters held "no amnesty" signs outside a New York union office where advocates of the president's plan were gathering to watch him and celebrate. Address FROM PAGE 1 By Sudhin Thanawala Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO State reg- ulators Thursday fined Pa- cific Gas & Electric Co. and required its shareholders to cover as much as $400 mil- lion of a planned gas rate increase because of back- room negotiations between the utility and regulators. The California Public Utilities Commission voted 3-0 in favor of the penalty, which stems from recently released emails that show a PG&E executive and CPUC officials discussing which judge to appoint to a case over gas rates. The execu- tive objects to one judge for having a history of be- ing hard on the utility. The emails are the latest in a se- ries released by the utility and others that allegedly show PG&E executives pri- vately negotiating with CPUC officials. The commission's deci- sion fines PG&E $1 million for the emails about the judge and requires PG&E shareholders to cover a portion of the proposed rate increase instead of utility customers. "While this fine alone may not have enough de- terrent factor, I think it is important for this commis- sion to continue to signal that violations will be met with our primary tool for compliance, namely mon- etary sanctions," Commis- sioner Carla Peterman said. Shareholders could be on the hook for as much as $400 million, though ratepayer advocates say the commission has dis- cretion to require a much lower figure. An alternative proposal before the commission did not call for a fine or any shareholder contribution. PG&E spokesman Keith Stephens said in a state- ment that the company will appeal the decision. The emails in question were in- appropriate and some vio- lated the CPUC's rules, but PG&E reported them, held people accountable and was "making significant and voluntary changes de- signed to prevent this from happening again," he said. The company has cre- ated a new role of chief regulatory compliance of- ficer and engaged the ser- vices of former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar as special counsel on regula- tory compliance matters, according to Stephens. "We fully understand that we are accountable when we fail to uphold high standards," Stephens said. "However, in our view, the CPUC's decision doesn't appropriately take account of these corrective actions. It imposes sanctions that aren't warranted and that may go beyond the CPUC's legal authority." Thursday's decision also restricts back-chan- nel contact between com- mission members and the state's largest utility. Com- missioner Michael Picker raised concerns that an ear- lier ruling on such commu- nications by an adminis- trative law judge had made it more difficult for staff members to get informa- tion from PG&E. Commissioner Cathe- rine Sandoval said the ap- proved proposal would cre- ate a more workable situa- tion that would allow the commission to continue its oversight role. Ratepayer advocates have demanded that the commission release tens of thousands of additional emails that they say may also show illegal contact between the CPUC and PG&E, the state's largest utility. The commission did not address that request. "Where this decision falls short is that it allows PG&E to cherry-pick which emails to release and when to release them," said Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Net- work. "As far as we're con- cerned, the emails that were talked about today are just the tip of the iceberg. And there is so much more wait- ing to be uncovered." Commissioner Mike Flo- rio, who was involved in the email exchange over the assignment of a judge, re- cused himself from the vote as did commission Presi- dent Michael Peevey. He re- ceived a copy of at least one of those emails and has an- nounced he will not seek re- appointment when his term ends this year. PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION PG&E fined over alleged secret dealings The Associated Press LOS ANGELES Consum- ers will pay about $3.3 bil- lion and shareholders will pay about $1.4 billion un- der a settlement approved Thursday on costs stem- ming from the premature closure of the San Onofre nuclear power plant. The vote by the Califor- nia Public Utilities Commis- sion was 5-0. At issue has been who should take the financial hit for the early demise of the plant located between Los Angeles and San Diego — company shareholders or customers. The settlement of who should pay the $4.7 bil- lion cost from the closure stems from negotiations among operator Southern California Edison, minor- ity owner San Diego Gas & Electric Co. and consumer advocates. Critics argued that the deal shortchanged ratepayers. Consumers will pay the estimated $3.3 billion in costs over 10 years, in- cluding for power pur- chased after the plant shut down. Southern California Edi- son said in a statement sub- mitted to federal regula- tors that customers should expect to see a rate reduc- tion in January, reflecting the settlement. The com- pany expects rates to in- crease later next year to cover the costs of buying power, but the size of the increase will be buffered by the settlement's call for shareholders to pay $1.4 billion. The settlement "is rea- sonable in light of the whole record, consistent with law and in the public interest," Commissioner Mike Florio said in a statement. San Onofre shut down for good last year after a long fight over whether it was safe to restart. It had been idle since January 2012, af- ter a small radiation leak led to the discovery of un- usual damage to hundreds of tubes inside virtually new steam generators. A federal investigation after the 2012 leak con- cluded that a botched com- puter analysis resulted in generator design flaws that were largely to blame for the unprecedented wear in the tubing that carried ra- dioactive water. SAN ONOFRE De al d iv id es b il li on s in closed nuke plant's costs LENNY IGNELZI — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Beach-goers walk near the San Onofre nuclear power plant in San Clemente. SGT.MAJORHAROLDE.SMITH, USMC, RETIRED Harold E. Smith, 82, of Cottonwood, California passed away November 18, 2014 after a long battle with cancer. Harold, "Smitty" to his family and friends, was born to Harrison and Suddie Smith in Coopers, Alabama on Octo- ber 20, 1932. After graduating from Opelika High School, Harold joined the Marine Corps, where he served for 31 years. His career in the Corps included some interesting assignments, including Embassy duty in Finland, Drill In- structor at Parris Island, South Carolina and two tours in Vietnam. He and his wife, Wickie, spent two years sta- tioned in Iwakuni, Japan before his retirement in 1982. His service didn't end there. Harold became a JROTC In- structor and taught at Tuba City High School in Arizona, and then at both Sterling and Robert E. Lee High Schools after a move to Baytown, Texas. After his second retire- ment, Smitty and Wickie moved to Cottonwood where they have lived for 16 years. Harold is survived by his wife Wickie Smith, son Carl Nicholas Smith, step-son Zack Campbell, his sister, Mary Smith Elliott of Opelika, Alabama who raised Harold after their parents' death, several nieces and nephews, and his faithful companion, Liberty. He was predeceased by his sister, Carmel Moore, and brother, Adolph Smith, who was killed by a sniper in WWII. A short service will be held Tuesday at 11:00 am, No- vember 25 at the Northern California Veterans Cemetery in Igo, California. In lieu of flowers, please donate to your favorite conservative group working against Presi- dent Obama and Hillary Clinton. Obituaries FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM |NEWS | 7 A