Red Bluff Daily News

March 18, 2016

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geoninggasdrillingfields. Pressure-testing for leaks would be required on older lines that were previously exempt, such as the Pacific Gas and Electric Company pipe constructed in 1956 that broke and torched a residential neighborhood in San Bruno, California, six years ago. But the government is sidestepping for now ac- tion on emergency valves that can automatically shut down ruptured gas lines. That issue was highlighted by San Bruno, where a 30-inch-diameter pipeline buried beneath a suburban street continued spewing gas for 95 minutes after it broke, burning 38 homes, before a utility worker man- ually shut it down. The Associated Press has reported on the poten- tial benefits of automatic valves, and safety regula- tors have urged making them mandatory. But the gas industry has resisted, in part due to their poten- tial high cost. In the past two decades, the government has re- corded more than 2,000 accidents on gas transmis- sion lines across the U.S., resulting in 46 deaths, 181 injuries and $1.8 billion in damages. The AP obtained details on Thursday's proposal in advance of its public re- lease. Transportation Secre- tary Anthony Foxx said it represents "commonsense measures" that are needed to handle a dramatic in- crease in domestic natu- ral gas production in re- cent years. They would bring under federal regulation for the first time roughly 11,000 miles of "gathering lines" that transport fuel directly from the wellhead to stor- age areas, officials said. "The significant growth in the nation's production, usage and commercializa- tion of natural gas is plac- ing unprecedented de- mands on the nation's pipe- line system," Foxx said in a statement provided to the AP. The rules would extend pressure-testing to include lines built before 1970, a step the National Trans- portation Safety Board has long recommended. Some companies already have been testing older lines voluntarily, said Ma- rie Therese Dominguez, ad- ministrator for the Trans- portation Department's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Admin- istration. But Dominguez said the agency has identi- fied 7,400 miles of pipe that have never been assessed for problems. "I really do think this is going to lead to a higher level of safety," she said. "It's going to reduce the number of incidents re- lated to gas transmission." Don Santa, president of Interstate Natural Gas As- sociation of America, said the industry group would look closely at the pro- posal to see if it is consis- tent with a voluntary pro- gram its members adopted in 2012. Pipeline safety advo- cates said the proposal was long overdue and ad- dresses major gaps in gov- ernment oversight of the industry. That includes ex- panding inspection and re- pair rules to include rural areas, where companies to date have been largely self- regulated. But Carl Weimer with the Bellingham, Washing- ton-based Pipeline Safety Trust said no requirement for automatic shut-off valves was a glaring short- coming. "We saw in San Bruno, when someone has to jump in a truck and drive through rush-hour traf- fic to manually shut off a valve, how much longer that left that blowtorch to blow into that neighbor- hood," he said. Dominguez said the use of automatic shut-off valves remained a high priority for the agency and would be addressed sepa- rately. She could not offer a timeline. Gas FROMPAGE1 tion will have everything from locally grown organic items to seasonal fruits and typical produce and the deli will have made to order items. "They won't be just sell- ing over the counter," Col- lins said. "It's a full-ser- vice bakery and deli de- partment that will bake bread, donuts and cakes, which can be decorated for anything from a basic birthday cake to a wed- ding cake." Another new addition is that whereas in the old building only pre-paid cell phones were sold there will now be a wire- less center where people can purchase phones and set up plans with vari- ous companies. There will also be liquor sold in an area that will also in- clude beer and wine. Flo- ral arrangements, previ- ously available only at hol- idays, will be available on a daily basis. The jewelry section will have a larger selec- tion and in the apparel area the store will be of- fering new brands. Some customers have expressed concern over if the store would continue to have fabric available to be cut at the new location and the answer is yes with a much larger area and availability of fabrics to choose from, Collins said. The garden area, which was a destination spot at the old store, will all be in one section where it was formerly out in the park- ing lot, she said. The number of regis- ters will change with 24 up front along with eight self checkout registers which will have an assis- tant who has a hand scan- ner for larger items that are sometimes difficult to scan. The garden area will see an additional register and there will be two ad- ditional registers for a to- tal of four at the customer service desk. A pickup area for on- line purchases, which can be done as quickly as an hour or two from when ordered, will also be up front along with a separate area for finan- cial services. The finan- cial services area will be capable of being used for check cashing, money grams, money orders, bill payment and express pay- ment. There will also be a Subway and the Smart Style Hair Salon. "We're excited to pro- vide this for the commu- nity and bring new prod- ucts to the community that has supported us for so long," Collins said. "We are from this commu- nity so to be able to give back is a great opportu- nity. There are tons of op- portunities in Walmart to advance. Through this ex- pansion we were able to promote 15 people inter- nally. To watch associates grow in their positions and then move up and be able to provide for their families is wonderful." Walmart FROM PAGE 1 JEFFCHIU—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE A massive fire following a pipeline explosion roars through a mostly residential neighborhood in San Bruno in 2010. issues, particularly night vision and medicine. Topics will also include various myths about senior drivers and a self-aware- ness questionnaire as well as taking control of factors that change with age such asvision,hearing,mentalvi- tality, physical fitness, nutri- tion,sleepandrest.Reaction time and alcohol will also be up for discussion along with safe driving practices, plan- ning one's trip, things to do before you even start your engine and checking your vehicle out. Attendees will also talk about knowing when it's time to stop driving and about handling life with- out driving. For more information on the program itself contact Somavia at the Red Bluff CHP Office at (530) 527- 2034. To register for the class contact Valerie at the community center at (530) 347-7900. Driving FROM PAGE 1 RED BLUFF High School awards Mr. Spartan Crombie: Hugh Crombie, 80, died March 16, 2016in Redding. Arrangements are under the direction of Hoyt- Cole Chapel of the Flowers. Published Thursday, March 18, 2016in the Daily News, Red Bluff, California. Parish: Lula Blanche Par- ish, 95, died March 15, 2016 in Red Bluff. Arrangements are under the direction of Red Bluff Simple Crema- tions and Burial Services. Published Thursday, March 18, 2016in the Daily News, Red Bluff, California. Deathnoticesmustbe provided by mortuaries to the news department, are published at no charge, and feature only specific basic information about the deceased. Paid obituaries are placed through the Classified advertising department. Paid obituaries may be placed by mortuaries or by families of the deceased and include online 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. Death notices PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY JOE PALUBESKI SamStorywascrownedRedBluffHighSchool's2016 Mr. Spartan on Saturday. First runner up for the Mr. Spartan award was Karam Al-shargabi, second was Danny Ramirez and tied for third runner up was Evan Meagher and Ryan Gamboa. The two winners of the Mr. Congeniality title were Leopoldo Jauregui and Donovan Turley. Ramirez also won the Director's Choice award and Owen Swarthout won the People's Choice award. The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO Bay Area commuters faced over- crowded trains, travel de- lays and other inconve- niences for the second time in two weeks Thursday due to a mysterious electrical problem affecting the re- gion's rail transit system. Bay Area Rapid Tran- sit officials said 50 of their train cars — twice as many as originally estimated — were damaged by un- explained power surges Wednesday. The voltage spikes took out another 80 BART cars at the beginning of the month, but in a different segment of the system. BART engineers have not been able to determine what'scausingtheproblem, and outside experts are be- ing flown in to evaluate, system spokeswoman Ali- cia Trost said. "What'soccurringisthat when a train is traveling over that section of track, it experiences a high spike in voltage and that is dam- aging a piece of the propul- sionequipmentonthetrain car," Trost said. The Thursday evening commute from downtown SanFranciscowasexpected to be just as frustrating, if not more so, she said. There is speculation the glitch might be age-related since all the damaged train cars are of the same vin- tage, Trost said. So far, offi- cials think the issue is me- chanical, not the result of deliberate tampering or other human causes, she said. "No one has indicated that, but because of the factwehaven'tgottentothe bottom of the root cause, I don't know," she said. The electrical surges are burning out critical com- ponents and putting cars that typically carry over 200 passengers apiece dur- ing peak commute hours out of commission. That has made BART trains even more crowded than usual and left some people in downtown Oak- land standing on station platforms as packed trains passed them by. System officials said the electrical problems don't pose a danger to passen- gers. Unlike the power prob- lems that led to an unprec- edented 29-hour shutdown of the subway system in the nation's capital this week, the issues with BART have caused no electrical fires, Trost said. COMMUTERS The Associated Press SAN DIEGO It sounds like a pitchforafar-fetchedmovie: "Cast Away," but with a dog instead of Tom Hanks. Only this sea tale is true. A California fisherman's beloved German shepherd fell overboard and was pre- sumed drowned. More than amonthlater,shewasfound. The 1 ½-year-old dog named Luna was spotted this week on San Clemente Island, a Navy-owned train- ing base 70 miles off San Di- ego. The blue-eyed pup dis- appeared Feb. 10 as Nick Haworth, a commercial fisherman from San Diego, worked on a boat 2 miles from the island. "They were pulling in their traps, and one minute Lunawasthere,andthenext minute she was gone," said Sandy DeMunnik, spokes- woman for Naval Base Coro- nado. "They looked every- where for her. They couldn't see her. The water was dark, and she's dark." Haworth notified Navy personnel. "He insisted that he was 90 percent sure that she made it to shore because she wassuchastrongswimmer," DeMunnik said. Haworthsearchedthewa- ters for about two days and Navy staff searched the is- land for about a week but found no sign of Luna. She was presumed lost at sea. Until Tuesday, that is, when staff arriving for work at the island's Naval Aux- iliary Landing Field spot- ted something unusual — a dog sitting by the side of the road. Domestic animals aren't allowed on the island for environmental reasons. It was Luna. "She was just sitting there wagging her tail," DeMun- nik said. The staff called to Luna, and she came right over. Abiologist thenexamined thedogandfoundheralittle thin but otherwise healthy. "It looks like she was sur- viving on rodents and dead fishthathadwashedup,"De- Munnik said. Officials called Haworth, who was out of state, work- ing in the middle of a lake. "He was overwhelmed. He was so happy and grate- ful and thrilled," DeMunnik said. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HAYNE PALMOUR IV — THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE Conner Lamb carries Luna, a 11/2-year-old dog that fell off a fishing boat in February, a er Luna arrived by a Navy commuter flight Wednesday at Naval Base Coronado in California. Doggone good tale: Pup found 5 weeks a er falling overboard Mysterious power surges damage Bay Area rail transit system MICHAEL SHORT — SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE Bus driver Victor Caires of County Connection waits for customers on his free shuttle bus at the Pittsburg/Bay Point BART station Thursday in Pittsburg. FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2016 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM | NEWS | 9 A

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