Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/804369
MooreofRedBluff,goesto Red Bluff High School and plans to attend Chico State to study Agriculture Busi- ness. Tobin, daughter of Col- leenKirchem,attendsMercy High School. She plans to at- tend Humboldt State to ma- jor in hydrology. Tomasello, the daughter of Vicki and Salvatore John Tomasello of Cottonwood, attends West Valley High school. She plans to go to CSU Fresno to major in pre- veterinary with a minor in ag business. "Thank you all for com- ing,"Spencersaid."Thecom- munity support we receive is great.Wehitupalotofthese businessesthreetimesayear so please look at all the stuff and let's support them for supporting us. These are the same businesses that get hit up by other groups. We have a great community which also includes you so we want to thank you for coming." The evening included a raffle and silent auction for which winners were an- nouncedinbetweenliveauc- tion items with Wyatt Spen- cer serving as auctioneer. AframedT-shirtfeaturing Lane Frost and Red Rock, signed by John Growney and donated by Barry and Barbara LaVatte, was one of several items up for auction. The shirt, which brought in $80, was bought at auction 20 years ago, Barry LaVatte said. Other items included a fishing trip for two donated by Doug Hill, $200; two chances to purchase half a hog donated by the Spencer family and Tony's Meats, each going for $225; a barb wire cross donated by The Loft, $75; Sunset Swings loungeswingdonatedbyB& M Distributors, $650; and a fireplace set donated by Wy- att Spencer, $100. Toward the end of the dinner, six tri-tip roasts pre- pared by the Elks Lodge were sold off for $15 each. All together, the live auction brought in $1,565. For more information on the Red Bluff Junior Round-Up visit: http:// redbluffjuniorroundup. com/ . RBJRU FROMPAGE1 since been released from the hospital. The sheriff's office, as- sisted by investigators from theTehamaCountyDistrict Attorney's Bureau of Inves- tigations along with crim- inalists from the Califor- nia Department of Justice and investigators from the CHP's Major Accident In- vestigations Team, investi- gated the shooting. Northbound I-5 was closed from Hooker Creek Road to Sunset Hills Road for around 12 hours while the scene of the shooting was investigated. Additional information will be released as the in- vestigation continues, the release said. Crime FROM PAGE 1 HEATHERHOELSCHER—DAILYNEWS Crews from Dudley's Excavating Monday fill up a sinkhole that formed Thursday night at the corner of Rio and Cedar streets. location since Thursday night, said City Manager Richard Crabtree. On Friday the Public Works crews erected barricades and partially filled the sinkhole with base rock. The work was expected to be completed by Tues- day afternoon. The city contracted with Dudleys' Excavat- ing in Gerber to make the needed repairs on an emergency basis, Crabtree said. Workers were digging trenches in the ground on Monday and hoped to be finished by Tuesday. Crews estimated the failed drainage pipe to be about 100 years old. Roads FROM PAGE 1 law and budgetary and legislative directives," the audit says. The audit by the state Department of Finance that is scheduled to be made public Thursday fo- cused especially on board member Jerome Horton. It says that he has reas- signed public employees to work for him, effec- tively swelling his politi- cal staff. He also held out- reach events that strayed from the board's mission and opened a call cen- ter in his district without the consent of other board members. The audit also found that 113 employees of the board helped with park- ing and registering guests at an event called "Con- necting Women to Power" in Escondido that was sponsored by board mem- ber Diane Harkey. Harkeysaidtheauditwas inaccurate, and the event was perfectly justified. "The audit narrative is really wrong," Harkey told the Bee. "I am merely appearing at this agency event. To the extent that there's something spent or diverted that should not be, that will be ad- dressed." Horton's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment from either the Bee or The Associated Press. But he has previously publicly defended his outreach ef- forts as a way to reach a large number of taxpay- ers. The board won't re- lease its official response until the audit is made public. It is the first of sev- eral audits to be released in coming months of the agency, which adminis- ters sales and other state taxes and handles appeals of state income tax issues. The audits were prompted by an initial 2015 audit by state Con- troller Betty Yee that found the board had mis- allocated $47.8 million in sales tax revenue. Finance FROM PAGE 1 PHOTOS BY JULIE ZEEB — DAILY NEWS Wyatt Spencer, right, auctions off a cross donated by The Lo held by Red Bluff Junior Round-Up President Jason Spencer, le , during the live auction on Saturday at the annual George Growney Debbie Moore Scholarship Dinner held at the Red Bluff Elks Lodge. Winners of the Red Bluff Junior Round-Up Scholarship introduce themselves to attendees on Saturday at the annual George Growney Debbie Moore Scholarship Dinner held at the Red Bluff Elks Lodge. John Growney fills out tickets for a gun raffle on Saturday at the annual Red Bluff Junior Round-Up George Growney Debbie Moore Scholarship Dinner held at the Red Bluff Elks Lodge. By Alex Veiga TheAssociatedPress LOS ANGELES As a bil- lionaire developer, Donald Trump built casinos, luxe condo towers and lush golf courses. Now, as president, Trump aims to develop per- haps his most ambitious and surely his most con- tentious project yet: A wall along the nearly 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border. How? At what cost? And who would benefit? Much remains unknown. Ultimately, though, experts saytheproject,ifbuilt,could deliver a windfall for some large construction compa- nies and their suppliers. En- gineering and infrastruc- ture companies that have worked on previous gov- ernment projects could cap- ture a chunk of the multi- billion-dollar work. Among them are Kiewit and Flour Enterprises. Subsidiaries of both have signed up as in- terested vendors. Here's what's known and not known about the po- tential effects on U.S. con- struction companies and workers: Q Which companies would likely work on the wall? A The government has laid out plans to hire contractors for design and construction. Some smaller businesses would serve as subcontractors. One factor the government is to con- sider in choosing contrac- tors is their track record in hiring small businesses as subcontractors and mak- ing significant use of them. The Customs and Border Protection agency has set a goal of having 38 percent of subcontracts go to small businesses. Q What kinds of jobs are we talking about? A Along with engineer- ing and design work, the project would require numerous construction and heavy machinery op- erators. Among the jobs: Truck drivers to ferry ma- terials, crane operators, concrete workers, digging- equipment operators, site supervisors and general la- borers. Any employees who work on-site would have to pass an immigration and criminal-history check. Finding enough skilled la- borers could be tough, though, because thou- sands of skilled construc- tion workers left the indus- try after the housing melt- down and Great Recession a decade ago. Q How long might it take to build? A Unclear. For now, the government's contract solicitations are intended only to assess prototype designs for the wall and to build some segments of the structure. In addition, acquiring land from pri- vate owners that would be needed to build the wall would likely add delays. Q What might the wall look like? A The government has been inviting compa- nies to submit designs for a wall made of either re- inforced concrete or other materials. The idea is to evaluate several prototypes before deciding on a design and material. The wall is envisioned be- ing as high as 30 feet, with automated gates for pedes- trians and vehicles. The wall would also extend at least 6 feet underground to de- ter tunneling across the bor- der; be resistant to climbing tools; and be strong enough to withstand attempts to make a 12-inch diameter breach in the wall using a sledgehammer, drill or other power tools. Q What benefits might the wall deliver for the U.S. construction industry? A Given the estimated cost — somewhere between $8 billion and roughly $20 billion — the project would represent just a thin slice of overall U.S. construction spending. Spending last year on public construction totaled $286 billion. And that was just a quarter of overall construc- tion spending, which in- cludes residential and com- mercial developments. Q How much would the project cost? A Unclear. Trump has suggested that the proj- ect would cost $12 billion. Congressional Republicans have estimated it could go as high as $15 billion. An internal report pre- pared for Homeland Secu- rity Secretary John Kelly projected the cost of build- ing a wall along the entire U.S.-Mexico border at about $21 billion, according to a U.S. official who is involved in border issues. The official spoke on condition of ano- nymity because the report has not been made public. An estimate by engineers at the National Precast Con- crete Association puts the cost of the wall at $8 billion. This would be for a design made up of reinforced con- crete panels, with some por- tion of the panels extending underground.Notincludedis the potential cost of acquir- ing land. Q Where would the money come from? A The White House's budget proposal to Congress included a $2.6 billion to forge ahead with the border wall. Critics — Democrats and someRepublicans—havear- gued that a border-long wall is unnecessary and have chafed at the notion that Trump wants to draw upon U.S. taxpayer money, even though he promised repeat- edly during the campaign that Mexico would be forced to pay for the wall. It'sunclearhowsoonCon- gress might act on Trump's request or how much money might be approved or appro- priated.Thegovernmenthas cautioned would-be contrac- tors that the project is sub- ject to "availability of appro- priated funds." Q&A Who'd gain from a Trump border wall? Hint: Not Mexico DANBYRONWITTORFF Dan Byron Wittorff, 86, of Red Bluff died peacefully Monday, March 20, 2017. He is survived by his wife of al- most 60 years, Ruth; brother Don (Linda), 4 daughters Anne, Kay (Lester), Lisa, Sue (Lorin), 6 grandchildren, and 4 great grandchildren. He was a wonderful husband, fa- ther, brother, son, woodworker, flyfisher, outdoorsman, woodcarver, teacher, and friend. Memorials may be made to Sacramento River Discovery Center, The Nature Con- servancy (Nature.org), or North State Public Radio/KCHO (mynspr.org). Family with gather this summer for a cele- bration of life. Memories for the family can be left at Legacy.com. Melbourne William Hedge, Jr. (Bill) November 28, 1928 ~ March 22, 2017 Melbourne William Hedge, Jr. (Bill), 88 years old, passed on Wednesday morning, March 22, peacefully at Brookdale Assisted Living in Red Bluff. Bill has a kind and compassionate husband, father, grandfather, great- grandfather, and friend. He was born in Stirling City, Cal- ifornia, on November 28, 1928. In December of 1948 he married Carole Jean Maples. He worked at Diamond Match, Diamond International, Kimberly Clark, and Simp- son Paper, from which he retired in 1991 as a Fire Chief. He is survived by his sister, Elizabeth Orner; son, Tho- mas Hedge of Paradise, CA; daughter, Linda Hedge- Rieland of Cottonwood, California; granddaughter Kate Grayson and great-grandchildren Sarah and Drew Gray- son, of Cottonwood, CA; grandson Weston Rieland and great-grandchildren Corbin and Garrett Rieland of Folsom, CA; and granddaughter Ashley Hedge of Sydney, Austral- ia. He was a member and former officer of Vesper Lodge No. 84 F&AM of Red Bluff, and a member of the Tehama County Shrine Club. Graveside services will be held Thursday, March 30, at 2:00 PM at the Oak Hill Cemetery in Red Bluff with a re- ception following at the Masonic Lodge. In lieu of flow- ers, donations can be made to the Shriners Hospital for Children in Sacramento either online (shrinershospitals.org/donate) or by mail (Development Office, Shriners Hospitals for Children - Northern Califor- nia, 2425 Stockton Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95817) Obituaries We Don'tThink Cremation Should Cost So much. www.affordablemortuary.net•529-3655 FD1538 LocatedinChico,CA R ed Bluff Simple Cremations and Burial Service FD1931 527-1732 Now open longer hours 722 Oak Street, Red Bluff TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2017 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM |NEWS | 7 A