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Newsfeed SACRAMENTO Califor- nia issued 59,000 driv- er's licenses to immi- grants who are in the country illegally dur- ing the first month their applications were ac- cepted, state officials said Wednesday. Overall, a total of about 236,000 immi- grants in the country il- legally began the appli- cation process during January, the state De- partment of Motor Vehi- cles said in a statement. California expects to issue 1.4 million licenses during the next three years under the program to license drivers regard- less of their immigration status. Last week, the DMV said it would offer more appointments to appli- cants as officials try to keep down wait times. In early January, hun- dreds of immigrants lined up at designated DMV offices for walk-in appointments. Most new license ap- plicants must make more than one trip to a DMV office. First, they have to submit docu- ments and take a writ- ten test, and later, they must take a road test. SACRAMENTO Stateissues59,000 driver's licenses to immigrants LOS ANGELES Video shows Bruce Jenner started a chain reaction crash that resulted in a woman's death on a Mal- ibu highway, a law en- forcement official told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Jenner was hauling an off-road vehicle on a trailer behind his Cadil- lac Escalade on Feb. 7 when he steered to avoid cars slowing for a traffic light in front of him on Pacific Coast Highway, the official said. Jenner's SUV rear- ended two cars, pushing a Lexus into oncoming traffic, the official added. The driver, Kim Howe, 69, was killed when it was struck head-on by a Hummer. The Los Angeles Sher- iff's Department is inves- tigating the cause of the wreck and will consider whether to issue a cita- tion that could result in criminal charges. The official briefed on the video was not autho- rized to speak publicly and talked to the AP on condition of anonymity. LOS ANGELES Official: Video shows Jenner rear-ended cars in fatal wreck SAN DIEGO California home sales were down last month, plunging to the lowest level seen in January in seven years in the San Francisco Bay area, a research firm said Wednesday. But prices are still up over the same period last year. An estimated 25,325 new and resale houses and condos sold in Cali- fornia — marking a 30.6 percent decline from the number sold the previous month and about 2 per- cent less than in January 2014, according to data released by Irvine-based CoreLogic DataQuick. The median price paid for a home in California of $376,000 was 6.5 per- cent above what it was a year ago but slightly less than it was in December. Sales often dip around the holidays, though the Bay area saw a big- ger decline in sales last month than it usually does. SAN DIEGO California home sales fall in January; prices still up By Tami Abdollah TheAssociatedPress TORRANCE An explosion devastated a section of a major refinery on Wednes- day morning, raining down ash in the area and, experts say, likely helping to in- crease California gas prices, which have been creeping up in recent weeks. A huge smokestack flare — in which workers were burning off flammable product after the explosion — could be seen for miles around. Four contractors suffered minor injuries as workers fled the site of the blast, according to Exxon Mobil Corp., which owns the refinery. The facility, a structure several stories tall, was shattered. Crews poured water onto the structure af- terward, and a fire spokes- man said at midday the sit- uation was controlled. The blast happened in a recently installed process- ing facility, and the mate- rial involved was gasoline, Fire Department spokes- man Steve Deuel said. The facility's flare system was triggered to burn off fuel that could add to the fire, Deuel said. Residents within a mile or two reported feeling a sharp jolt that they initially thought was an earthquake. Electrical contractor Cory Milsap-Harris, 21, was in a switch house next door to the blast site keeping an eye on three colleagues working 8 feet under- ground in a manhole. "Ev- erything was going smooth. Next thing I hear sounded like heavy metal next door. There was a loud bang," he said. "You could feel the building shake a little." The blast reverberated in his ears despite the several layers of hearing protection he routinely wears, Milsap- Harrissaid.Herushedhisco- workers outside, where peo- ple were running away from flames and black smoke. Brittney Davis, whose office is about a block from the refinery, says the blast sounded and felt like some- thing had rammed her building. "The whole building shook. We couldn't figure out what it was, but we stepped outside the door and the flames were shoot- ing up from the refinery," Davis said. "I could feel the heat from the flame." The refinery about 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles covers 750 acres, employs over a thou- sand people, and processes an average of 155,000 bar- rels of crude oil per day and produces 1.8 billion gallons of gasoline per year, accord- ing to Exxon Mobil. It accounts for about 8.3 percent of the statewide to- tal capacity, according to state officials. The four contractors were taken to a hospital for eval- uation, company spokes- man Todd Spitler said. The refinery sent many workers home for the day. Spitler said the cause of the explosion was un- der investigation, and com- pany officials were working with local agencies. Nearby roads were closed after the blast hit, shortly before 9 a.m., Torrance police Sgt. Paul Kranke said. Students at 13 nearby schools were kept indoors, said Tammy Khan of the Torrance Unified School District. OIL Bl as t de va st at es r efi ne ry , 4 hu rt CHUCKBENNET—DAILYBREEZE A smokestack flare burns off flammable product a er an explosion in a processing facility at the ExxonMobil refinery in Torrance on Wednesday. The Associated Press LOS ANGELES California's U.S. Senate race next year is wide open. That's the finding of an in- dependentFieldPollreleased Wednesday that says voters are open to considering a wide range of possible can- didates for the seat being va- cated by Democrat Barbara Boxer when her term ends. The name that landed at the top of the list — nar- rowly — is someone who isn't interested in the seat. According to the survey, 49 percent of likely voters said they would be inclined to support Condoleezza Rice, a Republican who served as secretary of State un- der the George W. Bush ad- ministration. She's a senior fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution at Stan- ford University. Rice "is not considering a run for the Senate. She is happy at Stanford and plans to remain a professor," said her chief of staff, Georgia Godfrey. Next in line was state Attorney General Kamala Harris, the one established candidate, who notched 46 percent. A cluster of fellow Democrats followed. Beyond the top choices, "large proportions also say they are inclined to support a number of other potential candidates were they to en- ter the race," the survey said in a statement. The poll of nearly 1,000 voters conducted Jan. 26 through Feb. 16 says 39 per- cent would be inclined to support Rep. Loretta San- chez, who is considering running for the seat. Thirty-five percent gave a thumbs-up to former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Vil- laraigosa, another possible contender, but nearly half say they would not be in- clined to support him. The former mayor was a favorite among Hispan- ics, but Sanchez and Harris were also viewed favorably among Latinos, according to the poll. Two other members of Congress, Democratic Reps. Jackie Speier and John Gar- amendi, each picked up 36 percent favorable support. Twenty percent said they would be inclined to sup- port state Assemblyman Rocky Chavez, a Republi- can who said this week he is opening an exploratory committee to assess a pos- sible run. But nearly half said they were not inclined to support him. Democratic voters largely sided with Democrats; Re- publican voters with poten- tial GOP candidates. The telephone poll was conducted by reading a list of nearly 20 names and asking respondents if they would or would not be in- clined to vote for that per- son. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points. POLITICS Condoleeza Rice tops voters' Senate wish list The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO A co- owner of a Northern Cal- ifornia slaughterhouse at the center of a massive re- call has pleaded guilty to processing cattle with can- cer for consumption. Federal prosecutors said Wednesday that Jesse Ama- ral Jr., owner of the defunct Rancho Feeding Corp., ac- knowledged distributing adulterated, misbranded and uninspected meat. He's the third person to plead guilty in the conspir- acy that sparked a series of recalls, including one for 8.7 million pounds of beef. Prosecutors say that for two years, Amaral in- structed employees at the slaughterhouse north of San Francisco to process cattle that U.S. Depart- ment of Food and Agri- culture veterinarians re- jected for having cancerous eyes. A co-owner pleaded guilty last year, saying he had employees swap the heads of diseased cattle for healthy ones. SAN FRANCISCO Slaughterhouse owner pleads guilty in tainted beef case The Associated Press LOS ANGELES Maritime companies locked in a con- tract dispute with West Coast dockworkers took their case directly to rank- and-file longshoremen on Wednesday, as negotiators struggled to reach a deal and break the cargo grid- lock that has stalled bil- lions of dollars of interna- tional trade. In a move sure to upset union leaders, employers distributed letters at major ports from Los Angeles to Washington state that de- tailed their "last, best and final" contract offer. Meanwhile, negotiators for the union and the Pa- cific Maritime Association, which represents employ- ers, met with U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez in San Francisco. The involvement of the nation's top labor official underscored rising politi- cal and economic pressure to reach a contract deal and free cargo bottlenecks at 29 ports that handle about $1 trillion of trade annually. As negotiators met be- hind closed doors, with a media blackout in effect, dockworkers read the let- ter signed by the president of the association that rep- resents companies that own, load and unload mas- sive ships. The letter detailed a third, comprehensive con- tract offer employers made Feb. 12 — more recently than has been publicly dis- closed. PORT LABOR Firms in dispute appeal to workers REDBLUFF VISION CENTER 715-AJacksonStreet UP TO40% OFF A PAIR OF GLASSES (Some restrictions apply) Sale ends February 20th STOVEJUNCTION The TheNorthState'spremiersupplierofstoves 22825 Antelope Blvd., Red Bluff 530-528-2221 • Fax 530-528-2229 www.thestovejunction.com Over 25 years of experience Tues-Sat9am-5pm• ClosedSun&Mon Now Carrying! GreenMountainGrills & Accessories Serving Butte, Glenn & Tehama Counties Smog Check (MOST CARS & PICK-UPS) 527-9841 • 195 S. Main St. starting at $ 29 95 + $ 8 25 certificate SERVICESATLOWERPRICES All makes and models. We perform dealer recommened 30K, 60K, 90K MembersWelcome | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2015 8 A