Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/526023
county's most active and community-minded citi- zens. Your distinguished military service to our country and your contin- ued support of our local veterans is greatly appre- ciated by the community and this board." The letter will be deliv- ered to Bowen during a birthday celebration and open house, which is open to the public, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Los Molinos Masonic Fam- ily Center, 25020 Tehama Vina Road. Bowen served in the Army from 1943 to 1946 in New Guinea and the Phil- ippines before starting his 37-year career with Pacific Bell as a splicer's helper, which is the lowest rated craft job at the company, he said. He eventually worked his way up through the ranks to district manager in Stockton before spend- ing 20 years as the director of labor relations. This put him on the opposite side of the negotiating table from when he was president of the local union in Hay- ward, Bowen said. " I moved from bargain- ing for the union against the company to being the company's third chief ne- gotiator," Bowen said. "Re- ally (the Union and I) had great relationships." Bowen can remember well his days negotiating, particularly one time when a serious problem arose with the unions and Moth- er's Day fell right in the middle of it, Bowen said, Both sides decided to take a recess until the Tuesday following the weekend to allow peo- ple to be home with their mothers. On Mother's Day, he got a surprise from the chief negotiator for the union who sent a telegram to his house saying "Happy Mother's Day you mother," Bowen said. Following his retire- ment in 1983, he and his wife Gena, who celebrate 36 years of marriage in 2015, moved to the Corn- ing area and both became actively involved in the community. The couple has three daughters and three sons. Bowen has held a va- riety of roles including Corning Rotary president, exalted ruler of the Elks Lodge, Corning Exchange Club president and Shast- ina Chapter of the Retired Telephone Workers presi- dent. In 2013, he was honored as Corning's Senior Citizen of the Year and served as grand marshal at a local parade. Bowen has hosted a va- riety of events, includ- ing a candidates night, and has served as master of ceremonies at the Ex- change Club Police and Fire Awards dinner and the annual Memorial Day service in Corning, the lat- ter of which he has done since 1998. "I've only missed it twice," Bowen said of the Memorial Day event. "The first was when I was in Washington D.C. for a vet- erans event. The second was when I was recover- ing from chemo. It's a very satisfying experience to do that." Birthday FROMPAGE1 PHOTOSBYANDREBYIK—DAILYNEWS The Corning City Council on Tuesday heard from residents who said they don't want the city to cut its fire dispatchers to balance the city's budget. fighters, during the meet- ing. "Eleven-hundred and eighty calls, 7,000 hours donated last year and the Fire Department is under discussion in balancing the budget on the backs of the volunteers." Spannaus said the Fire Department runs at a bud- get of about $535,000, and that cutting its budget by about 60 percent would be "unacceptable." "It will affect emergency services to the community. Combining dispatch is not a simple as it sounds," he said, adding that officer and firefighter safety "all come into play." The City Council did not take action on a 2015-2016 budget, as Tuesday's budget study session was billed as a way to gather input from the community. Council members will likely hold another study session at a future City Council meeting to further discuss the city's options. Residents also addressed council members at the meeting, many saying that public safety should be the city's priority and that the officials should find other areas to save money before cutting the city's fire dis- patchers. Placing a mea- sure before voters to raise the city's sales tax rate by a half-percent also was raised a possible option to gener- ate more revenue. The city of Corning's General Fund is bolstered by sales tax revenue, which largely comes from fuel sales, according to figures presented by City Manager John Brewer. In the 2013- 2014 year, the city's sales tax receipts totaled $2.9 million. The projected to- tal for the 2014-2015 year, which ends June 30, is $2.59 million. The differ- ence has been attributed to a significant drop in oil prices and the volatility of fuel costs in the last year. "That's, in a nutshell, what the problem is with our General Fund," Brewer said. He added: "No one knows what will happen to fuel prices and sales tax over the next 12 months, and so it begs the question, is the reduced sales tax that we're experiencing right now an event that's just a snapshot in history, or is it a trend. If it's a trend it really presents some long- term problems that we need to get out in front of." According to city staff, the city can continue to op- erate under a budget that is similar to the one adopted for the 2014-2015 year for about one-and-a-half more years before the city's nearly $1 million in reserves is de- pleted and "serious General Fund service cuts would be forced on the city." "We do have a problem," Mayor Gary Strack told res- idents and fire personnel. "And I want you to realize it is a true problem." The city budgeted about $820,000 in fire and police dispatch costs in the 2014- 2015 year, which accounts for about 18 percent of the city's General Fund reve- nue, according to a city staff report. About $353,000 of that amount pays for an in- house fire dispatch depart- ment. In comparison, the city of Red Bluff in 2014-2015 budgeted a total of about $472,000 in dispatch costs, which accounts for about 6 percent of its General Fund revenue. Red Bluff has a roughly $100,000 contract with the California Depart- ment of Forestry and Fire Protection, which provides fire dispatch services for the city. "In these days of reduced General Fund Revenues, we simply cannot afford to dedicate nearly 19 percent of our General Fund reve- nues to operate two sepa- rate Dispatch Centers," ac- cording to a city staff re- port. "It is an inefficient use of City resources. Other communities have come to similar conclusions and combined dispatch ser- vices, or opted to contract with other agencies for dis- patch services." Councilman Dave Linnet said he disagreed with the notion that the city is fac- ing a budget crisis, adding that the city "needs" both of its in-house fire and police dispatchers. "We can do this without cutting the fire dispatch, without cutting the police dispatch," Linnet said. The next City Council meeting is scheduled to be held at 6:30 p.m. June 23. Residents FROM PAGE 1 Corning Fire Chief Martin Spannaus, center, defended Corning's fire dispatchers Tuesday evening at a City Council meeting held at Corning High School. Corning Fire Chief Martin Spannaus at the Corning City Council meeting held Tuesday at Corning High School. the exercises, including the Sheriff's Office, Red Bluff and Corning police and fire departments, Tehama County District Attorney's Office, California Highway Patrol, California Depart- ment of Forestry and Fire Protection, California De- partment of Fish and Wild- life, Tehama County Fire, St. Elizabeth Community Hospital, Red Cross and the Tehama County Depart- ment of Education, among others. Each agency, Borden said, had their own evalu- ators taking note of both what went right during the simulations, and what went wrong. For Cal Fire person- nel, Wednesday's training exercises tested the new roles firefighters can be ex- pected to fill during an ac- tive shooter incident, said public information officer Kevin Colburn. "We didn't have a policy before that actually has us putting on vests and hel- mets and going in with the cops," Colburn said. "We usually stage for all that stuff, so this is something new for us." Borden said the multi- ple agencies that partici- pated in the exercises were thankful and happy to be able to train for the event of a school shooting or other violent school-related inci- dents. "We don't ever want to have a real situation and not know what to do or hes- itate," she said. "We all want to save everybody's life." Train FROM PAGE 1 "It's a great way to keep the district at the forefront of emerging environmental improvement programs," Hall said. Local rancher Vickie Dawley spoke along with rancher Bill Burrows about why they want to bring this program to Tehama County. "We are creating our own compost using litter from our chickens," Daw- ley said. "The is a way to open opportunities for ranchers. The thing that really grabbed me about the Marin project was the exciting things NASA and UC Berkeley researchers found." One application of ma- nure can lead to a 40-70 percent increase in for- age production and an in- crease of 17-25 percent in the available soil water ca- pacity, Dawley said. "If we did this in just 5 percent of the rangeland California has, it could have significant carbon reduction," Dawley said. "It would reduce 28 mil- lion metric tons, which is equivalent to having 600 million cars removed from the roadway. Plus there are other added benefits." Burrows said it could be another way to stay in ranching and farming. His family has been involved in ranching in Tehama County and a neighboring county since 1848, he said. "We've made it this far," Burrows said. "We just hope to make it another 150 or 200 years." For more information on the exchange, visit http:// www.ghgrx.org/ or the Cal- ifornia Air Pollution Con- trol Officers Association at http://www.capcoa.org/. Exchange FROM PAGE 1 TheAssociatedPress FRESNO Wal-Mart could be on the hook for more than $100 million in back pay af- ter a federal judge ruled the company failed to pay truck drivers in California mini- mum wage for activities in- cluding inspecting and fuel- ing their trucks and taking rest breaks, an attorney said. The ruling was a "big vic- tory" for his clients, Butch Wagner, whose firm repre- sents 720 past and current Wal-Mart drivers, told the FresnoBeeinastoryonTues- day. Wal-Mart spokesman Randy Hargrove said there was no finding that Wal- Mart drivers were not paid minimumwageforeachhour worked. "We intend to continue to defend the company against the claim," he told the Bee. At issue is whether drivers werepaidminimumwagefor the time they spent on activ- ities such as washing and weighing the tractor and trailer and completing man- datory paperwork. Wagner said Wal-Mart was not meet- ing minimum wage stan- dards for those tasks, which drivers were not to be paid forunderWal-Mart'spolicies. TRUCK DRIVERS Federal judge: Wal-Mart violated state minimum wage laws PATRICIA(PAT)VELDMAN October 20, 1939 ~ June 2, 2015 Patricia Veldman, 75 passed away June 2, 2015, in Red Bluff. She was born to Joseph and Hazel (Jones) Bukowski in Ottumwa, IA, October 20, 1939. Patricia mar- ried Harold Veldman, April 18, 1958, and resided in Corn- ing for past 40 years. Patricia was a homemaker, wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother and sister that will be loved and missed by all. She was a member of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Corning. Patricia is survived by children; Renee (Veldman) Heiney, Copley, OH; Brenda (Veldman) Jackson, Woos- ter, OH; Steve Veldman, Reno, NV. She is also survived by her sister Mary (Bukowski) Doyle and brother Don Bukowski, 7 grandchildren, 5 great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her husband of 57 years, Harold Veldman whom passed away on April 22 this year; brother, Joseph (Joey) Bukowski, Jr.; James (Jimmy) Bukowski and Richard (Butch) Bukowski. She is also pre- ceded in death by her parents Joseph and Hazel (Jones) Bukowski. Inturnment will be held at Igo Veterans Memorial Ceme- tery, June 11, 2015, 1:30 pm. Visitation will be held at 10:00 am at Hall Brothers Mortuary, Corning. Memorial service will be at 11:00 am following the visitation. Obituaries Combining Quality and Low Cost is what we do. www.affordablemortuary.net•529-3655 FD1538 LocatedinChico,CA R ed Bluff Simple Cremations and Burial Service FD1931 527-1732 Burials - Monuments - Preneed 722 Oak Street, Red Bluff THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM |NEWS | 7 A