Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/803133
county," said Tehama County Farm Bureau Man- ager Kari Dodd. "Ag is the largest economic contrib- utor in our county." In recognition of the role it plays, the farm bureau partnered with SERRF to make sure each of the 23 sites had a copy of the book "How Did That Get in My Lunch Box?" along with lesson plans to encourage discussion about where food comes from, she said. The farm bureau also planned to have staff and interns make a visit to read the book themselves at as many sites as they were able to make it out to. Day FROMPAGE1 people who participated last year. Fair board Pres- ident Linda Durrer and Vice President Pete Dag- orret also liked the theme "Blue Jeans and 'Big' Small Town Dreams" by Chris- tina Jackson. The theme "Lets Party til' the Cows Come Home" by Dustie Parker was board mem- ber Joan Kaiser-Bell's top choice. Last year's win- ner, Yuri Souza, came up with "Pig Tails and Coun- try Trails," another board favorite. Fair FROM PAGE 1 source of energy for cook- ing, lighting, heating and hot water to the surround- ing community before nat- ural gas became available. The plant was pur- chased by PG&E in 1919, when it converted the plant to crude oil and op- erated it until it closed. The site operated as a gas plant until 1947 when a propane plant was built and the manufactured gas operation ceased. The manufactured gas plant equipment was removed by 1949. PG&E sold the site to a motel owner after the plant no longer existed. The site housed the Cin- derella Motel from 1962 to 2010. PG&E repurchased the site in 2010 to safely con- duct its environmental in- vestigation and cleanup and in 2014 soil samples were collected on the site and tested to begin the process of the cleanup. Those interested in more information on the gas plant can visit the Te- hama County Library in Red Bluff. PG&E FROM PAGE 1 CRIME RICHPEDRONCELLI—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Sacramento City Police officer Tyler Curtis stretches crime scene tape across the road leading to the home where four people were found dead on Thursday in Sacramento. By Don Thompson The Associated Press SACRAMENTO Police said they found four people dead in a Sacramento home early Thursday, and the mayor's office said at least two are children. A suspect likely known to the victims was being held in San Francisco, said Sac- ramento police spokesman Sgt. Bryce Heinlein. The four victims were found when police broke into the home after a rel- ative reported that some- thing might be wrong. Po- lice were not immediately identifying the victims, in- cluding their genders and ages, Heinlein said. Kelly Fong Rivas, a dep- uty chief of staff for Sacra- mento Mayor Darrell Stein- berg, said police told offi- cials that two were children but had not provided other details. Steinberg called the crime horrifying and ex- tremely tragic in a state- ment praising police for quickly making an arrest. The single-story beige home with sculpted shrub- bery has a basketball hoop set up in a driveway that po- lice blocked off with yellow crime scene tape. It was unclear when the victims were killed, Hein- lein said. Police also weren't saying how they were killed as the investigation contin- ued in the tree-lined res- idential neighborhood of neatly maintained homes down the street from a church. Police were able to quickly identify "a subject of interest," Heinlein said, and worked with San Fran- cisco police to have that male suspect detained. "Preliminarily this does not appear to be a random act. We believe the suspect is known to the victims," Heinlein said. He would not reveal the relationship of the suspect to the victims and said the suspect had not yet been questioned by investigators. San Francisco police con- firmed they took a suspect into custody about four miles (six kilometers) from the Golden Gate Bridge but would not give other de- tails. There were no reports of shots fired or other prob- lems until the relative called to report that he was con- cerned about the welfare of the home's residents, Hein- lein said. He said he was not aware that any weapon had been recovered. A few neighbors looking on curiously as homicide detectives and crime scene investigators made their way in and out of the home south of the state Capitol. Don Sherrill, whose home shares a back fence with the victims' house, recalled talking to a man and his two children — a boy and a girl — several years ago. He and his wife, Joanne Sher- rill, said they often heard the children playing in the back yard or using an inflat- able pool. "The young kids really enjoyed the backyard and swimming in the summer time," Joanne Sherrill told The Sacramento Bee. Nei- ther heard anything un- usual before the victims were discovered. Police were interviewing potential witnesses and searching for surveillance cameras as part of what was expected to be part of a daylong investigation that shut down at least one road, Heinlein said. 4 de ad i n Sa cr am en to h om e, suspect detained in San Francisco By Jocelyn Gecker The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO Univer- sity of California President Janet Napolitano is cross- ing the border next week to send a "strong and loud" message to Mexico — which she clearly hopes will reso- nate in Washington — that America should not isolate its neighbor. The 3-day trip starting next Wednesday is meant to reassure Mexico that UC campuses remain com- mitted to academic and re- search collaboration de- spite the Trump admin- istration's plan to build a border wall and decrease federal research funding, said UC spokeswoman Di- anne Klein. The trip comes at a "very propitious time to strengthen ties," Klein said in a telephone interview Thursday. "And to send a very strong and loud mes- sage — to our counterparts in higher education, to the Mexican government, to the private sector in Mexico, to researchers, scholars and the Mexican people — that we believe it is wrong to iso- late and antagonize this im- portant neighbor." Strengthening cross-bor- der ties doesn't typically fall to university presidents. But Napolitano is well-versed in the world of politics and U.S.-Mexico relations, as former governor of Arizona and former U.S. Homeland Security chief. Like many university presidents, Na- politano has been outspo- ken since President Donald Trump's election on protect- ing students who entered the country illegally, saying the UC will not assist gov- ernment agencies trying to enforce federal immigration laws. Napolitano launched the UC-Mexico Initiative in Jan- uary 2014, shortly after tak- ing up her job at the Univer- sity of California, to coor- dinate research, academic programs and student ex- changes between Mexico and the UC's 10 campuses. It focuses on five areas of common concern: arts and culture, education, energy, environment and academic mobility. "Regardless of what is happening federally, the University of California re- mains open to academic partnerships with Mexico," Napolitano told the Los An- geles Times on Wednesday, adding that research won't stop even if federal funding does, "We will be searching for other sources of fund- ing." Klein said the UC has pro- vided $3 million dollars to the initiative and research- ers have raised an addi- tional $12 million, primarily from the National Science Foundation, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mex- ico, the largest university in Mexico known as UNAM, and Tec de Monterrey, a pri- vate university that has nu- merous joint research proj- ects with UC schools. During her trip, Napol- itano is scheduled to meet with U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Roberta Jacobson to reaffirm UC's commit- ment to strengthening col- laboration with Mexican in- stitutions, according to her itinerary. She will also speak to the US-Mexico Chamber of Commerce, visit with stu- dents in Mexico and busi- ness leaders. EDUCATION UC president to send 'strong' message on Mexico trip By Matthew Daly The Associated Press WASHINGTON The Justice Department is investigating California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter for possi- ble campaign finance vio- lations, an allegation the lawmaker dismisses as in- advertent mistakes. The House Ethics Com- mittee has been investi- gating allegations that Hunter improperly used campaign funds to pay for tens of thousands of dollars in personal expenses, such as trips to Hawaii and It- aly and tuition for Hunter's school-age children. The ethics panel said in a statement Thursday that it is delaying the inquiry at the request of the Justice Department. Hunter, 40, won a fifth term last year representing the San Diego area. His lawyers said Hunter and his wife, Margaret, re- paid the campaign about $60,000. "Congressman Hunter intends to cooperate fully with the government on this investigation, and main- tains that to the extent any mistakes were made they were strictly inadvertent and unintentional," law- yers Elliot Berke and Greg- ory Vega said Thursday in a statement. The independent Office of Congressional Ethics said last year that Hunter's cam- paign committee reported expenditures that may not be legitimate and verifiable campaign expenditures. The ethics office, which investigates complaints of wrongdoing by House mem- bers, said Hunter may have converted tens of thousands of dollars of campaign funds from his congressio- nal campaign committee to personal use to pay for family travel, flights, utili- ties, health care, school uni- forms and tuition, jewelry, groceries and other goods. Hunter's office said in January that one of the charges he repaid was a $600 fee for flying a pet bunny with his family. There was no intent to stick donors with the cost, said Hunter spokesman Joe Kasper. The congress- man used airline miles to pay for his family's travel and there was an assump- tion that bringing along the rabbit would not incur an extra charge, Kasper told The Associated Press. When Hunter found out his campaign had paid for the rabbit's transport, he paid back the money as part of more than $60,000 in other questionable charges, Kasper said. Kasper pointed to the rabbit expense as an exam- ple of overreach by the con- gressional ethics office. Noah Bookbinder, execu- tive director of the watch- dog group Citizens for Re- sponsibility and Ethics in Washington, called the alle- gations against Hunter "the most egregious congressio- nal spending scandal since Aaron Schock," an Illinois Republican who resigned in 2015 amid scrutiny over real estate deals, extensive travel and other spending. Questions about Schock's spending were sparked in part by word that he redec- orated his congressional office in the lavish style of TV's "Downton Abbey." CAMPAIGN FINANCE Ju st ic e De pa rt me nt p ro bes Ca lif or ni a Re p. H un te r The Associated Press PORTOLA Officials warned residents on a Northern California water- shed that a major lake has filled with runoff and they should be prepared for in- creased water flows from a dam's spillway for the first time in more than two de- cades. The California Depart- ment of Water Resources said Thursday that while major problems were not expected, boaters, an- glers and residents on the Feather River's middle fork downstream from Lake Davis should be alert as stream levels rise. Until Tuesday the res- ervoir had not reached its full elevation and capacity since May 20, 1996. Winter rainfall in the region was approximately twice the historical average. Lake Davis is part of DWR's Upper Feather River Project within Plu- mas National Forest about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Sacramento. In addition to water sup- ply, the reservoir provides recreational camping, fish- ing, picnicking and boat- ing. It is about 60 miles (97 kilometers) east of Lake Oroville, where offi- cials are scrambling to re- pair damage to its dam's main spillway. Safety ex- perts warn that California would face a "very signif- icant risk" if the Oroville spillway is not in working order by fall, the start of the next rainy season. NORTHERN CALIFORNIA Spillway flows begin a er lake fills with runoff By Lauran Neergaard The Associated Press WASHINGTON Cancer pa- tients often wonder "why me?" Does their tumor run in the family? Did they try hard enough to avoid risks like smoking, too much sun or a bad diet? Lifestyle and heredity get the most blame but new research suggests ran- dom chance plays a big- ger role than people real- ize: Healthy cells naturally make mistakes when they multiply, unavoidable ty- pos in DNA that can leave new cells carrying cancer- prone genetic mutations. How big? About two- thirds of the mutations that occur in various forms of cancer are due to those random copy- ing errors, researchers at Johns Hopkins University reported Thursday in the journal Science. Whoa: That doesn't mean most cases of can- cer are due solely to "bad luck." It takes multiple mutations to turn cells into tumors — and a lot of cancer is preventable, the Hopkins team stressed, if people take proven protec- tive steps. Thursday's report is an estimate, based on a math model, that is sure to be hotly debated by scientists who say those unavoidable mistakes of nature play a much smaller role. But whatever the ulti- mate number, the research offers a peek at how cancer may begin. And it should help with the "why me" ques- tion from people who have "done everything we know can be done to pre- vent cancer but they still get it," said Hopkins' Dr. Bert Vogelstein, a pioneer in cancer genetics who co- authored the study. "They need to understand that these cancers would have occurred no matter what they did." Whatcausesthe mutations? You might inherit some mutations, like flaws in BRCA genes that are infa- mous for causing aggres- sive breast and ovarian cancers in certain fami- lies. More commonly, dam- age is caused by what sci- entists call environmen- tal factors — the assault on DNA from the world around us and how we live our lives. There's a long list of risks: Cigarette smoke, UV light from the sun, other forms of radiation, certain hormones or vi- ruses, an unhealthy diet, obesity and lack of exer- cise. Then there are those random copy errors in cells — what Vogelstein calls our baseline rate of genetic mutations that will occur no matter how healthy we live. One way to think of it: If we all have some muta- tions lurking in our cells anyway, that's yet another reason to avoid known risks that could push us over the edge. 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