Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/524901
The Associated Press SANFRANCISCO Motorists in some California counties will no longer have to pay traffic tickets before they can contest them in court under a new rule adopted Monday by the state court system's governing body. The Judicial Coun- cil voted unanimously to abolish the practice of de- manding bail as a prereq- uisite to challenging a traf- fic citation. The vote came as state officials have raised concerns that traffic fines and penalties are ensnar- ing minority and low-in- come residents. Fines have skyrocketed in California over the past two decades, and courts have grown re- liant on fees as a result of budget cuts during the re- cession. The Judicial Council's decision takes effect imme- diately, and also requires courts to notify traffic de- fendants that they don't have to make the payments to appear in court in any in- structions or other materi- als they provide to the pub- lic. "I am proud of the rule that has been developed," California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil- Sakauye said in a state- ment. "This is an impor- tant first step to address an urgent access-to-justice issue." Many county courts do not require payment be- fore motorists can appear in traffic court. But the American Civil Liberties Union sent let- ters in April to eight North- ern and Central California counties where it found the practice was stated on the counties' websites. Those counties included Fresno and Shasta, but not San Francisco or Sacramento. The ACLU challenged the practice, saying a court ap- pearance was a right that should not be contingent on someone's ability to pay. The pre-payment require- ment disproportionately affected minority and low- income residents, according to the ACLU. "Folks who are com- pletely innocent may not even be able get in front of a judge to explain their in- nocence because they can't pay the $500 or $600 up front," said Christine Sun, legal director of the ACLU of Northern California. Some counties said they didn't require pre-payment, but the courtesy notices or tickets they sent suggested otherwise, creating confu- sion, Sun said. Monday's vote came as Gov. Jerry Brown last month proposed amnesty for residents who can't af- ford traffic fines and penal- ties that have resulted in 4.8 million driver's license sus- pensions since 2006. Under Brown's plan, driv- ers with lesser infractions would pay half of what they owe, and administra- tive fees would be slashed from $300 to $50. Brown called the traffic court sys- tem a "hellhole of despera- tion" for the poor. MOTORISTS TrafficfinepolicybannedinCaliforniacourtsystem By Anne Flaherty The Associated Press WASHINGTON The fed- eral government will erase much of the debt of students who attended the now-de- funct Corinthian Colleges, officials announced Mon- day, as part of a new plan that could cost taxpayers as much as $3.6 billion. Corinthian Colleges was one of the largest for-profit schools when it nearly col- lapsedlastyearandbecamea symbol of fraud in the world of higher education and stu- dent loans. According to investigators, Corinthian schools charged exorbitant fees, lied about job prospects foritsgraduatesand,insome cases,encouragedstudentsto lie about their circumstances to get more federal aid. In a plan orchestrated by the Department of Educa- tion, some of the Corinthian schools closed while others were sold before the chain filed for bankruptcy this spring. The biggest ques- tion has been what should happen to the debt incurred by students whose schools were sold. The law already provides for debt relief for students of schools that close, so long as they apply within 120 days. The latest plan expands debt relief to students who attended a now-closed school as far back as a year ago. And it streamlines the process for students whose schools were sold but believe they were victims of fraud. As an example, the de- partment said it has already found that many programs at a California subsidiary of Corinthian Colleges, known as Heald College, were "mis- represented" to students. So any student enrolled in that school between 2010 and 2015 would likely qual- ify for relief. EDUCATION Feds: Corinthian student debt on track for erasure By Keith Ridler The Associated Press BOISE, IDAHO Federal au- thorities have released their final recovery plan for a fish species that teetered on the brink of extinction in the early 1990s in one of the Pacific Northwest's ma- jor rivers. The plan released Mon- day by the National Oce- anic and Atmospheric Ad- ministration will create a self-sustaining population of Snake River sockeye salmon over the next 50 to 100 years, authorities said. The run in 1991 was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, kicking off a hatchery pro- gram that at first had only a handful of returning fish to propagate the species. But last fall more sock- eye, some 1,500 fish, made the 900-mile journey from the Pacific Ocean to cen- tral Idaho's Redfish Lake than in any year going back nearly six decades. "I think this really does show the resiliency of the species," said Rosemary Furfey, the agency's salmon recovery coordinator for the Interior Columbia Basin. The 6,800-foot-eleva- tion basin is where the last Snake River sockeye salmon spawn. But officials said a century of habitat destruc- tion, dams, chemical treat- ments that killed fish in the lakes and some years with poor ocean conditions for salmon survival combined to push the fish to the edge. Now, enough fish are re- turning that the 431-page plan includes recolonizing two more central Idaho lakes — Alturas and Pettit. Years of work that involved removing fish barriers and buying water rights and land to make sure streams have water has made that possible, state and federal officials said Monday. "I'm amazed at how far we've come," said Tom Flagg, a scientist with the Northwest Fisheries Sci- ence Center who's been in- volved in the recovery pro- gram from the start. The recovery of the salmon has been mapped out in three phases, with the first phase simply to prevent the species from becoming extinct. Authorities are now starting on the second phase that involves ex- panding spawning habitat to additional lakes and us- ing the hatchery program that is benefiting from the increasing number of re- turning adults to bolster the number of young fish released into the system. Chris Kozfkay, a re- search biologist with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, worked to se- lect which adults to pair to maintain the genetic health of the species, increasing the chances of fish return- ing as adults. She said biologists, who now have more fish to work with, are looking at releas- ing a million young sockeye salmon, called smolts, into the basin by 2017. The goal is to eventu- ally lift federal protections by having enough young fish surviving the journey downstream, several years in the ocean, and then re- turning upstream as adults to spawn naturally. Specifically, the plan says the fish can be con- sidered for delisting when the lakes have a yearly av- erage of 2,500 fish return- ing from the Pacific Ocean over a 10-year span. NORTHWEST SALMON Feds release plan for recovering fish species STEVEHANKS—LEWISTONTRIBUNEVIAAP,FILE Dan Green of Idaho Department of Fish & Game loads one of four Sockeye salmon into a tank mounted on a truck for transport to the Eagle Fish Hatchery in Lewiston, Idaho. Juli Foster Exclusive Agent 250 Walnut Street Red Bluff, CA 96080 Office 530-527-5534 Cell 530-339-1595 Fax 530-527-4808 julifoster@allstate.com CA Insurance License Number OD41159 24-Hour Customer Service Changing Lives One Career At A Time ◆ Emergency Medical Technician ◆ Criminology & Emergency Response Management ◆ Medical Office Administration ◆ Pharmacy Technician ◆ Professional Medical Assistant ◆ Vocational Nursing ◆ Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning 1755 Hilltop Drive, Redding CA 96002 (530) 224-1000 Facebook.com/IOTRedding 604 Main St., Red Bluff (530) 529-5154 www.redblufflosmariachis.com Goodthrough June 30, 2015 Onitemsofequalorlesservalue Cannot be used with other specials Limit to one per party per day Breakfast Special Buy 1 Get 1 FREE Breakfast (mustpurchasetwodrinks) Breakfast: 9am-11am • 7 days a week Mention or present coupon ad to receive offer ✓Checkoutourselection of beer, wine & tobacco YourOneStopConvenienceStore 5am to 11pm 714 Walnut St., Red Bluff ONE STOP 515SycamoreSt.,RedBluff 529-0260 MOULE'S TEHAMA COUNTY GLASS WESERVICE Garage Doors Springs Cables Sectional Remotes Rollers NOTICEOFPACIFICGASANDELECTRICCOMPANY'S REQUEST TO INCREASE RATES FOR 2014 DROUGHT FIRE RISK REDUCTION ACTIVITIES (A.15-05-016) Summary OnMay28,2015,PacificGasandElectricCompany(PG&E)filedanapplicationwiththeCaliforniaPublicUtilities Commission (CPUC) for approval to increase rates for the recovery of expenses recorded in the electric Catastrophic Event Memorandum Account (CEMA). The 2015 CEMA Application seeks recovery of $26.6 million in expenses incurred in 2014 to comply with directives by California Governor Jerry Brown and the CPUC. Background On June 12, 2014, the CPUC approved Resolution ESRB-4 (the Resolution). This Resolution is in accordance with Governor Brown's drought State of Emergency proclamation.PG&E has an ongoing vegetation management program to ensure the safety of its electric distribution system. The Resolution ordered PG&E to take additional measures to reduce the likelihood of fires associated with drought-stricken vegetation near PG&E's electric distribution facilities. In 2014 PG&E introduced several programs to help reduce the risk of fire ignition from its electric distribution facilities or from drought-stricken vegetation damaging facilities, including: • Additional inspections of its electric distribution facilities in high fire risk areas • Funding California Fire Safe Councils' fire fuel reduction programs • Installation of lookout cameras in forested areas crossed by PG&E's electric distribution facilities California state law allows PG&E to record expenses to the CEMA for complying with state and federal orders associated with declared emergencies. This application will be examined by the CPUC to determine if costs are reasonable and eligible for recovery from customers before any rate increase will be approved. PG&E will continue to undertake additional drought fire risk mitigation activities to ensure continued safety and electric reliability for communities we serve as long as the drought persists. How will PG&E's application affect me? If approved, this application would result in a rate increase that would start at the next electric rate change following a final decision in this proceeding.A table presenting a more illustrative description of the impact of this application was included in a bill insert announcing this filing that was sent directly to customers in June 2015. If the application is approved, PG&E estimates that a typical residential customer using 500 kWh per month would see an average bill increase of $0.23 (or 0.3 percent), from $89.30 to $89.53. Individual customers' bills will differ.The CPUC regulates and oversees all requests for any rate changes. How will PG&E's application affect non-bundled customers? Direct Access (DA) and Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) customers receive electric transmission and distribution service from PG&E. Since PG&E does not buy energy for these customers, this application only seeks recovery of electric distribution expenses. DA and CCA customers are responsible for a portion of the costs so the net impact of this application on DA and CCA customers is an increase of approximately $2 million, or an average increase of 0.01 percent. Another category of non-bundled customers are Departing Load customers.These customers do not receive electric generation, transmission or distribution services from PG&E for their departing load; however, they are required to pay certain non-bypassable charges. The net impact on Departing Load customers is a decrease of approximately $3,000, or an average decrease of 0.01 percent. How do I find out more about PG&E's proposals? If you have questions about PG&E's filings, please contact PG&E at 1-800-743-5000. For TDD/TTY (speech-hearing impaired), call 1-800-652-4712 Para más detalles llame al 1-800-660-6789 • 詳情請致電 1-800-893-9555 If you would like a copy of PG&E's application, please write to PG&E at the address below. Pacific Gas and Electric Company CEMA 2015 P.O. Box 7442 San Francisco, CA 94120 A copy of this is also available for review at the CPUC, 505 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102, Monday– Friday, 8 a.m.–noon or on the CPUC's website at www.cpuc.ca.gov/puc. CPUC process This application will be assigned to an Administrative Law Judge (Judge) who will determine how to receive evidence and other related documents,necessary for the CPUC to establish a record upon which to base its decision. Evidentiary hearings may be held where parties of record will present their testimony and may be subject to cross- examination by other parties. These evidentiary hearings are open to the public, but only those who are parties of record can participate. After considering all proposals and evidence presented during the formal hearing process, the assigned Judge will issue a proposed decision which may adopt PG&E's proposal, modify it or deny it. Any CPUC Commissioner may sponsor an alternate decision.The proposed decision, and any alternate decisions, will be discussed and voted upon at a scheduled CPUC Voting Meeting. As a party of record, the Office of Ratepayer Advocates (ORA) will review this application. ORA is the independent consumer advocate within the CPUC with a legislative mandate to represent investor-owned utility customers to obtain the lowest possible rate for service consistent with reliable and safe service levels. ORA has a multi- disciplinary staff with expertise in economics, finance, accounting and engineering. Other parties of record will also participate in the CPUC's proceeding to consider this application. For more information about ORA, please call 1-415-703-1584, email ora@cpuc.ca.gov or visit ORA's website at http://ora.ca.gov/default.aspx. Stay informed If you would like to follow this proceeding, or any other issue before the CPUC, you may use the CPUC's free subscription service. Sign up at: http://subscribecpuc.cpuc.ca.gov/. If you would like to learn how you can participate in the proceeding, or if you have informal comments about the application, or questions about the CPUC processes, you may access the CPUC's Public Advisor's Office (PAO) webpage at www.cpuc.ca.gov/puc and click on "Public Advisor" from the CPUC Information Menu. You may also contact the PAO as follows. Email: public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov Mail: Public Advisor's Office 505 Van Ness Avenue, Room 2103 San Francisco, CA 94102 Call: 1-866-849-8390 (toll-free) or 1-415-703-2074 TTY: 1-866-836-7825 (toll-free) or 1-415-703-5282 If you are writing or emailing the Public Advisor's Office, please include the proceeding number (CEMA,A.15-05-016).All comments will be circulated to the Commissioners,the assigned Judge and the CPUC staff and will become public record. Areyoumelting? Professional Evaporative Cooler Service & Repair 221 3331 Chimneys • Air Ducts Swamp Coolers • Dryer Vents Residential & Commercial WhiteGloveChimney.com ChocolateIsn'tHappy InTheDesert Take15%offyourmeal with this ad dineinonly 723 Main St. 527.5470 www. palominoroom .com Prime Rib on Fridays nights Open Tues-Sat Growney Motors 1160 Main St. (530) 527-1034 We buy late model used vehicles paid for or not! Locallyowned business offering high value, low cost energy for decades. Call Liam at 526-1551 or visit www.sacriversolar.com Lic# 996900 | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 2015 8 A