Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/559706
The Associated Press FRESNO Astubbornblaze burning for nearly three weeks in a recreation area outside Kings Canyon Na- tional Park has scorched more than 50 square miles as the flames move toward a popular lake, officials said Thursday. More than 1,000 fire- fighters are tackling the Fresno County fire that was sparked by lightning on July 31. Flames have run through grass on steep hill- sides and isolated ridges in Sierra National Forest. The blaze led to the evacuation of more than 2,500 campers, hikers, em- ployees and residents this week. It was just 3 percent contained Thursday. Flames on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada have crossed Highway 180 and a river, pushing people out of an area near Hume Lake, one of the most vis- ited areas in Sequoia Na- tional Forest. Wildfires throughout California have kept more than 11,000 firefighters on front lines for weeks. A fast-moving grass fire scorched nearly 4 square miles of dry brush near Livermore on Thursday af- ter burning down at least one unoccupied home in the rural area the day before. The Carnegie State Ve- hicular Recreation Area, a popular motorbike terrain park, was evacuated after the flames were reported Wednesday. The fire was headed south,awayfromLivermore, andtherewasnoimmediate danger to towns in the area, said Pam Temmermand, spokeswoman for the Cali- fornia Department of For- estry and Fire Protection. About 100 miles to the southwest, a fire of more than 5 square miles burned in steep terrain, with full containment expected to take another week. About 800 people driven from their homes near the small town of Santa Mar- garita were allowed to re- PARKS, FORESTS Californiawildfireskeep11K firefighters on front lines DAVIDMIDDLECAMP—THETRIBUNE A helicopter drops water above Highway 101on Cuesta Grade, the Cuesta Fire, on Monday east of Santa Margarita. By Jeff Barnard The Associated Press California has its first wolf pack since the state's last known wolf was killed in 1924. State and federal author- ities announced Thursday that a trail camera cap- tured photos earlier this month of two adults and five pups in southeastern Siskiyou County. They were named the Shasta pack for nearby Mount Shasta. The pack was discovered four years after the famous Oregon wondering wolf OR-7 first reached North- ern California. Karen Kovacs of the Cal- ifornia Department of Fish and Wildlife said it was an amazing accomplishment for wolves to establish in Northern California just 21 years after wolves were reintroduced in the North- ern Rockies. Those wolves eventually migrated into Oregon and Washington before reach- ing California and are pro- tected by federal and state endangered species acts. NEAR MOUNT SHASTA Fi rs t wo lf p ac k in d ec ad es sp ot te d SY BEAN — THE SEATTLE TIMES John Peterson of the local forest service controls the flames as they run south on Apple Acres Road outside of Chelan, Washington, on Saturday. By Brian Skoloff and Nicholas K. Geranios The Associated Press TWISP, WASH. The fire- fighters — members of a specially trained unit that is sent into danger ahead of everyone else to size up a wildfire — rushed up a narrow, winding gravel road with steep hills on ei- ther side. It proved to be a death- trap. Their vehicle crashed, and before they could es- cape, flames rolled over them, killing three fire- fighters inside and injur- ing four others nearby, one critically, authorities said. The tragedy Wednesday night cast a pall in Wash- ington state and brought to 13 the number of firefight- ers killed across the West this year during one of the driest and most explosive wildfire seasons on record. The blazes have "burned a big hole in our state's heart," Gov. Jay Inslee la- mented Thursday, describ- ing the outbreak as an "un- precedented cataclysm." "These are three big heroes protecting small towns," the governor said, urging residents to "thank a firefighter." Fire officials with note- books and cameras walked the hills and banks near Woods Canyon Road out- side Twisp, investigat- ing how the disaster hap- pened. Authorities gave few details, shedding no light, for example, on the crash, other than to say that it was not the accident itself that killed the victims, but the fire. The deaths happened in the scenic Methow River valley about 115 miles northeast of Seattle, where a series of blazes covering close to 140 square miles had merged. The flames burned an undetermined number of homes and trig- gered orders to about 1,300 people in the outdoor-recre- ation communities of Twisp and Winthrop to evacuate. "It was a nightmare," Okanogan County Sher- iff Frank Rogers said. "Ev- erything was burning." He added, "We know it was a firestorm in there." All the dead were U.S. Forest Service firefight- ers. The agency identified them as Tom Zbyszewski, 20; Andrew Zajac, 26; and Richard Wheeler, 31. Their hometowns weren't imme- diately released. Zbyszewski was a ju- nior at Whitman College in Walla Walla, majoring in physics and active in the school's theater depart- ment, the college's presi- dent said in a statement. He was fighting a fire near his hometown of Carlton when he died. All three were from highly specialized crews that go into dangerous ar- eas as fast as they can to examine a scene and re- port back to commanders on what needs to be done, said Bill Queen, a firefight- ing spokesman. "It just kind of exploded and they got caught in a burn over," said Queen, re- ferring to what happens when conditions change so rapidly that flames over- take firefighters. Nearly 29,000 firefight- ers — 3,000 of them in Washington — are bat- tling some 100 large blazes across the drought- and heat-stricken West, includ- ing Idaho, Oregon, Mon- tana and California. Conditions were ex- pected to deteriorate in Washington on Thursday, with high winds and high temperatures. "We have a responsibil- ity to stay on focus and stay on task today. That's a good way to honor the fallen firefighters," said fire incident commander Chris Schulte. Jessica Gardetto of the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, said the 13 dead firefighters so far is a relatively high number. There were 10 fa- talities last year and 15 in 2012. But there were 34 in 2013, including 19 mem- bers of an elite firefight- ing crew killed by an out- of-control wildfire near the small town of Yarnell, Ar- izona. 'A hole in our state's heart': 3 fir efi gh te rs m ou rn ed OVERRUN BY FLAMES By Fenit Nirappil The Associated Press SACRAMENTO About 5,000 high school students who couldn't graduate this year because the state canceled a required exit exam would receive a reprieve under leg- islation advanced Thursday. The students were ex- pecting to retake a test in July that they needed for di- plomas, but it was canceled because the testing provid- er's contract expired. Law- makers say students are un- able to enroll in college or join the military as a re- sult, although the Univer- sity of California and Cali- fornia State University sys- tems say students won't be denied entry because of the cancellation. "The vast majority of them are first-generation immigrants, who have over- come war, violence, pov- erty and language barriers to finish every other grad- uation requirement," said Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco. "None of these students should have their dreams deferred." SB725 by Oakland Dem- ocratic Sen. Loni Hancock heads to the Senate for an urgent vote to suspend the testing requirement. About 20,000 students do not earn their diploma at the time of graduation each year. Of those, about 5,000 only need to pass the high school exit exam in or- der to graduate, according to the state Department of Education. But those students were left in limbo this year when the July exit exam for stu- dents to try again was can- celed. The state's contract with Educational Testing Ser- vice, which provides the exam, expired as it shifts to new testing aligned with the Common Core stan- dards for math and English. The Department of Ed- ucation was expecting the requirement to take that out-of-alignment exam sus- pended under legislation in- troduced earlier it the year. A s s embly M i nor - ity Leader Kristin Olsen blasted the situation as avoidable. "This is something we have been working on for years. There is no logical rea- son we couldn't have been prepared," the Modesto-area Republican said. The Los Angeles Unified School District, the state's largest, says nearly 500 stu- dents are unable to gradu- ate despite completing all necessary coursework be- cause of the July cancella- tion. California State Univer- sity is allowing first-time freshmen who applied and were provisionally admitted to attend even if they were not able to take and pass the July exit exam. Passing the test is not a requirement for CSU admission, though the school noted that some students still don't have a graduation date on their high school transcripts be- cause the test was canceled. Steve Montiel, a spokes- man for the University of California, said none of the university's undergraduate campuses have reported encountering any prob- lems for admitted students so far. CONTRACT EXPIRED California lawmakers OK exit-exam reprieve affecting 5,000 students Paramásdetallesllameal1-800-660-6789 • 詳情請致電 1-800-893-9555. NOTICE OF EVIDENTIARY HEARINGS REGARDING PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY'S REQUEST TO CHANGE RATES FOR ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION IN 2016 AND THE RETURN OF REVENUES FROM THE SALE OF GREENHOUSE GAS ALLOWANCES (A.15-06-001) September 10-11, 2015 Starting at 10:00 a.m. at the address below: California Public Utilities Commission Courtroom State Office Building 505 Van Ness Avenue San Francisco, CA 94102 Summary On June 1,2015,Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) Company filed an application with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) requesting approval for the forecasted funding required in 2016 to obtain electricity on behalf of its customers. In addition, PG&E also requests approval of forecasted revenues from the sale of emissions allowances associated with California's Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction program.This application is referred to as the 2016 Energy Resource Recovery Account and Generation Non-bypassableChargesForecastandGreenhouseGasForecastRevenueandReconciliationApplication (15-06-001). If approved, this application will change electrical rates and customers' electric bills. PG&E's application primarily includes requests for approval of: 1. The forecasted recovery of $4.77 billion in electricity costs.These costs are associated with the fuel needed to produce electricity as well as the costs of buying electricity from third parties, such as renewable energy producers 2. Charges associated with the Cost Allocation Mechanism, Power Indifference Amount, and Competition Transition 3. The forecast spending of $0.8 million for administrative and outreach expenses associated with California's GHG reduction program 4. The return of $311 million to eligible customers from the sale of emissions allowances All requests in this application may change and are subject to CPUC regulatory approval. About the filing The CPUC regulates and oversees all requests for any rate changes. PG&E would not profit from any of the requests in this application. The cost of energy is passed directly to PG&E's customers without any markup. If the CPUC approves the application, PG&E will begin to recover its costs in electric rates, effective January 1, 2016. At the same time, PG&E will apply eligible GHG allowance revenue to rates because PG&E is required to pass the revenue received from the sale of allowances on to its customers.This is done through rates and with California Climate Credits.The revenue will be returned to PG&E's residential, small business and some industrial customers, based on legislative and CPUC determined methods. The GHG allowance revenue bill credits reduce the electric rate impacts of the GHG costs. At the end of 2016, to ensure all funds are used on the customers' behalf, PG&E will compare the actual costs to produce and purchase energy against revenues collected from customers and will incorporate any differences in next year's application. If approved, PG&E estimates that a typical residential customer using 500 kWh per month would see no change in the average bill of $89.30. Individual customers' bill will differ. Eligible residential customers will receive a California Climate Credit twice a year in April and October on their electricity bills of approximately $20.94. Evidentiary Hearings At the evidentiary hearings noted above,PG&E and other formal parties to the proceeding will present their evidence through testimony and will be subject to cross-examination before an Administrative Law Judge (Judge). The hearings are open to the public, but only those who are formal parties are permitted to present evidence and/or cross-examine witnesses. After considering all proposals and evidence presented during the formal process, the Judge will issue a proposed decision which may accept PG&E's proposal, modify it or deny it. Any one of the five Commissioners may also issue an alternate decision based on the record.The proposed decision and any alternate will be acted upon at a CPUCVoting Meeting where the Commissioners will decide whether to adopt the proposed or an alternate decision. CPUC Process As a party of record, the Office of Ratepayer Advocates (ORA) reviewed 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. The ORA has a multi-disciplinary staff with expertise in economics, finance, accounting and engineering. For more information about ORA, please call (415) 703-1584, e-mail ora@cpuc.ca.gov or visit ORA's website at http://ora.ca.gov/default.aspx. If you would like a copy of PG&E's filing and exhibits, please write to: PG&E, 2016 ERRA Forecast (A.15- 06-001),P.O.Box 7442,San Francisco,CA 94120.A copy of PG&E's filing and exhibits are also available for review at the CPUC,505Van NessAvenue,San Francisco,CA 94120,Monday – Friday,8 a.m.– noon. PG&E's filing (without exhibits) is available on the CPUC's website at www.cpuc.ca.gov/puc. Please note: The Commission Courtroom is wheelchair accessible. If you wish to attend and need specialized accommodations, please contact the Public Advisor's Office (PAO) (noted below) at least five business days prior to the hearing date. Any changes to the dates, times and locations of the hearings will be posted to the CPUC's Daily Calendar. 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 or questions about the CPUC processes, you may access the CPUC's Public Advisor's Office 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: Write: CPUC Public Advisor's Office, Room 2103 505 Van Ness Avenue San Francisco, CA 94102 Email: public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov Phone: 1-866-849-8390 (toll-free) or 1-415-703-2074 TTY: 1-866-836-7825 (toll-free) or 1-415-703-5282 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! 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