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SACRAMENTO (AP) — California would become the first state to write into law much of the national mortgage settlement negotiated this year with the nation's top five banks, and expand it to all lenders, under wide-ranging legislation state law- makers approved Monday. Assembly OKs adding bank settlement into California law Majority Democrats sent the homeowner protec- tion package to Gov. Jerry Brown despite opposi- tion from business and lending organizations and most Republican legislators. The Assembly approved the legislation on a 53- 25 vote, and the Senate followed by voting 25-13. The legislation would require large lenders to provide a single point of contact for homeowners who want to discuss loan modifications. It would prohibit lenders from foreclosing while the lenders consider homeowners' request for alternatives to foreclosure. And it would let California homeown- ers sue lenders to stop foreclosures or seek mone- tary damages if the lender violates state law. The protections would benefit all California FOURTH Continued from page 1A teer Fire Department stopped running its annual fireworks show. The fire department, which had staged a show since the 1950s, ended its involvement due to a lack of personnel and percep- tion issues. Tuesday, July 3, 2012 – Daily News 7A show was held in Septem- ber 2008. The show had been pushed back from July 4 that year because of the rash of wildfires across the North State. The department's last OUTAGE Continued from page 1A was split in half. The roadway was littered with debris and power lines. A box for a 30-pack of beer was visible near the truck, and Ortega said two boxes of beer "snapped" from the truck. Witnesses said Lucero was driving recklessly homeowners, not just those whose mortgages are with the five banks that signed the national settle- ment in February. And many of the restrictions would become permanent, while those in the nationwide agreement will end after five years. It applies to all owner-occupied residences, but not commercial or rental properties. Jose Vega drove 70 miles to Sacramento with his NAME Continued from page 1A two young children to lobby lawmakers to pass the legislation after he spent three years battling to keep his home in the San Francisco-area city of Pittsburg. In November 2009, he said, he found a trustee sale notice posted on his door 16 days after he was placed in a loan modification program. He was put into another modification program in the spring of 2010, only to have the bank again begin foreclosure proceedings. Vega, 52, eventually kept his home after filing for bankruptcy and getting help from the office of Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Now he and his family owe $466,000 — including the bank's legal fees — on a home he said is worth about $200,000. ''I'm not asking for a handout. All I'm saying is, you created this mess, let's work something out,'' said Vega, a member of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment. ''Hopefully, Cali- fornia will lead the way so other states will follow.'' Attorney General Kamala Harris said an estimat- ed 700,000 California homeowners now are facing foreclosure, up from 500,000 in previous projec- tions. ''They will now have a system that will offer them transparency and fairness,'' Harris said after the vote. She helped negotiate the February settlement that requires Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Ally Financial Inc. to pay $18 billion in penalties to California homeowners. Harris said the California legislation is the next step in reforming the industry, even as a special task force of California Department of Justice prosecu- tors continues investigating mortgage abuses. Key portions of her original proposal to write the settlement into state law were stalled by opposition from some of her fellow Democrats in the Legisla- ture, until the right to sue banks and other measures were significantly narrowed. ''This legislation can be the catalyst not only for Tabaka was a passenger in the 2007 Kia driven by Thomas Williams, 23, of Wentzville, Mo. who was arrested on suspicion of DUI, following the crash. Williams was flown to Enloe Medical Center in Chico with minor injuries. He was treated and released before being booked into Tehama County Jail, CHP Officer Ken Reineman said. Williams was booked WORK Continued from page 1A dent of the company. Because Capps' father was a longtime employee of Viking Con- struction, the fatality has weighed heavily, Jenco said. The company has provided a therapist for workers who needed psychological counsel- ing. CENTER Continued from page 1A lease, NCCDI found the location first on its radar in 2008 as a possibility for the future. a recovery of California's real estate market, but a catalyst across the nation as borrowers everywhere will demand the same protections given to Califor- nia borrowers, the same protections given to our families,'' said Democratic Assemblyman Mike Feuer, a member of the conference committee that negotiated the bill. ''Those protections boil down to this: They ought to be treated fairly, they ought to be treated consistently.'' Lenders' organizations joined by the California Chamber of Commerce said in a letter to lawmakers Friday that the final legislation is an improvement, though they still fear it will ''encourage frivolous litigation'' by borrowers who cannot realistically afford to stay in their homes. The lending industry cited a study it commis- sioned by Beacon Economics, a Los Angeles-based research firm. It echoes industry arguments that let- ting homeowners sue their lenders, even in limited circumstances, will delay foreclosures and increase lenders' costs, potentially harming the shaky hous- ing recovery and making it more difficult and cost- ly to obtain mortgages. The legislation can't address what lenders and opposing lawmakers said is the underlying prob- lem: too many borrowers can't afford their pay- ments. ''It's a mistake that will hurt this economy for years to come,'' said Republican Sen. Sam Blakeslee, a member of the conference committee. Supporters of the bill say it still takes important steps. ''The point is ... not to launch an avalanche of lawsuits. What it's really about is having some meaningful accountability to ensure that servicers follow the rules,'' said Paul Leonard, director of the California office of the Center for Responsible Lending, a consumer group. Previous efforts have repeatedly failed to clear In 2009, President Bar- rack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which in addi- tion to infrastructure investments such as the Red Bluff Rehabilitation Project included $2 billion toward the expansion of Head Start and Early Head Start programs, he said. "Understanding the importance of positive social and emotional development and good health and nutrition during the first three years of a child's life ... we contin- ued to search for opportu- nities to reach and serve children at this critical stage of their life," Heese said. takes many months of planning and many people involved in the process," Hansen wrote. "In order for this event to take place, the entire community needs to play an active role in donating. The com- "An event of this nature munity involvement over the past couple years has been lacking and one small group can't do it alone." Among the options for those still wishing to see a sponsored fireworks show on the Fourth of July is the 23rd annual Freedom Fes- tival at the Redding Civic Auditorium. The show is scheduled for 10 p.m. Wednesday. Anderson Explodes! before he crashed into the pole. Red Bluff resident Bill Bloxham, 76, said he was watching a movie on television Saturday morning when he heard a "big bang and then the power went off." Bloxham, who lives at Oak Park will take place at the Shas- ta District Fairground at 9:45 tonight. To the south, the Fourth of July Fireworks Spectac- ular at Lake Oroville Dam is scheduled for 9 p.m. Wednesday. The Redding Colt .45s baseball team had a fire- works show scheduled for Saturday, but the club announced it was resched- uling the event to a date to be announced. Manor, which is about two blocks from scene of the crash, said his power had been out for about seven hours. on the charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, DUI: drug/alcohol resulting in bodily injury and DUI 0.08 percent blood alcohol content with injury. Bail was set at $300,000. According to Tehama County Superior Court records, charges were filed Friday and Williams will appear in court at 8 a.m. today in Department 3 before Judge Todd Bottke. Passenger Lindsey Dennison, 29, of St. Charles, Mo. was taken by ambulance to St. Elizabeth Both passengers were transport- ed to St. Elizabeth Community Hos- pital for treatment. One of them was subsequently transported via heli- copter to Mercy Medical Center in Redding as a precaution before being released. Extra city road and police depart- Lucero sustained minor injuries. Bail was set at $75,000. Community Hospital and Will Duggan, 28, of San Angelo, Texas was flown to Mercy Medical Center in Redding by the CHP helicopter. Both had minor injuries. Williams had been dri- ving south on Remunda Road when he entered a corner, ran off the left side of road, down embank- ment and overturned. driver Chad Walker, 47, of Manteca was killed in a rollover crash at 2:04 a.m. Thursday when his semi ran of the road, hit a Almost 12 hours later, take care of their four girls after Brad died, but has been aided by other residents of Cottonwood, she said. how thankful I am," she said. Community members in Cotton- wood and friends of the family have put on spaghetti feeds and kept up donations to the Bradley Capps Memorial Fund at Tri Counties Bank to help Capps support her a program call Family Start, serving 36 children and families, which even- tually turned into a six year partnership, he said. An ARRA grant was applied for in June 2009 and in December the group received word that its proposal had been accepted and while they had two facilities in Corn- ing the one in Red Bluff fell through during the six- month waiting period. however, ... and in January 2010 we signed the lease and in May we had our contractor," Heese said. "Just as a caterpillar in a cocoon, the work began on the inside as the walls were torn down, floors were torn up and the nightmare began." "The stars aligned, In 2004, the group was able to partner with First 5 Tehama and was able to get a three-year grant to launch Fed officials delay salmon From a disgruntled contractor who threatened to sue after his bid was not accepted to an old septic tank, there were several challenges, but in the end NCCDI was able to trans- form the facility. Through recovery act funding, NCCDI was able ant Dam dried up their habitat. Capps' wife Teresa was left to guardrail and the overpass before overturning on northbound Interstate 5 at Sunset Hills. Walker died of his injuries at the scene. His passenger, Jerry Kline, 50, of Modesto, who was in the sleeper birth in the rear of the big rig, was flown to Mercy Medical Center in Redding with major ments' staff were called in to assist with the road closure and added call volume. injuries. ——— Julie Zeeb can be reached at 527-2153, extension 115 or jzeeb@redbluffdailynews. com. Follow her on Twitter @DN_Zeeb. "I just want everybody to know family, she said. Despite Capp's death, the project is projected to be finished ahead of schedule, sometime in the fall of 2013, Jenco said. Other incidents that hindered the project included a hydraulic fluid spill into Big Chico Creek and the felling of a power pole that knocked out electricity to part of Chico. Capps' fatality is the second for Viking Construction in the last 10 years, Jenco said. to hire 28 employees, 18 full-time and 10 part-time, many of who were unem- ployed due to layoffs, cut- back and places that had been shut down, he said. "Maybe even more important than that, it has provided 48 low-income families in Tehama Coun- ty with no-cost child care that enables them to work, finish high school or pur- sue higher education in order to provide a better future for their children," Heese said. Early Head Start is not simple a child care facility, but an educational facility with structure and envi- ronment that are develop- mentally age appropriate to held children get ready for school, he said. It is also a place for par- ents and staff to build a relationship that creates a support system for the child, Heese said. The building was dedi- cated to McGuinness in honor of her 36 years with Tehama County. She was first hired by Lassen-Modoc-Plumas- STATE BRIEFING The settlement's goal eral officials say they are delaying for three years the restoration of salmon runs in the San Joaquin River. restoration FRESNO (AP) — Fed- the Legislature. Leonard said the national mortgage settlement and Harris' involvement are likely to make the difference this year. Democratic Sen. Noreen Evans, who co-chaired the conference committee that negotiated the bill, said Brown's administration worked with Democ- rats on the legislation and has given every indica- tion he would sign it into law. However, Brown declined to comment as he left the office of Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg moments before the vote. The governor's office later issued a statement praising the legislation for establishing ''important consumer protections that are long overdue'' but stopped short of saying he will sign the bill. The law would not take effect until Jan. 1, though Evans and Harris said they expect lenders would begin following the new rules immediately even if the penalties don't yet apply. In a draft plan made public last week, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said the restoration would cost $892 million. When the restoration agreement was signed in 2006, the price was estimated between $250,000 and $1 billion. The sweeping restora- tion program of about 150 miles of the state's sec- ond-largest river is the result of a settlement to an 18-year lawsuit brought by environmentalists. Salmon vanished from the river six decades ago, after construction of Fri- was to return water to dry stretches of the river and bring back native Chi- nook salmon by 2012 — while reducing adverse water supply impacts to area farmers. appeals ruling SACRAMENTO (AP) — The state controller announced Monday that he is appealing a judge's deci- Controller sion that prevents him from blocking lawmakers' pay if they fail to pass a balanced budget on time. filed an appeal notice in Sacramento County Supe- rior Court because the deci- sion ''effectively gutted a key provision of Proposi- tion 25,'' according to Chi- ang's spokeswoman, Hal- lye Jordan. California vot- ers passed Proposition 25 in 2010 to block lawmak- ers' pay if they didn't meet a budget deadline. Chiang argued he was Controller John Chiang You DO have a choice in the Red Bluff area. Caring & Compassionate Service Full traditional burial service or cremation Red Bluff Simple Cremations & Burial Service 722 Oak Street, Red Bluff, FD Lic. 1931 527-1732 Tehama Community Action Agency, the predecessor of NCCDI, in 1971 as a cook. From there she moved to teacher assistant in 1973 followed by Home Visitor position and Edu- cation, Social Service and Parent Involvement Coor- dinator. In 1980, McGuinness became the Head Start Director, moving to Exec- utive Director in 1990 where she served until retirement in 2007. While she has been retired for five years, she still actively serves as an ambassador for Head Start and an advocate for chil- dren and families in Tehama County, Heese said. For more information on Head Start and Early Head Start in Tehama County visit http://nccdi.com or call 529-1500. ——— Julie Zeeb can be reached at 527-2153, extension 115 or jzeeb@redbluffdailynews. com. Follow her on Twitter @DN_Zeeb. acting within his power when he determined the budget adopted by law- makers last year was not balanced. He froze their pay for 12 days. David Brown ruled in April that Chiang violated the separation of powers clause of the California Constitu- tion. Superior Court Judge