Contract awarded for Red Bluff roundabout

RED BLUFF— The contract for the roundabout in Red Bluff near the intersection of South Main Street and Interstate 5 was awarded to S.T. Rhoades Construction, Inc., based on the base bid of almost $15 million. In January, the project engineer estimated around $12.5 million for the base bid and $5.1 million for the combined additive alternates. They proposed that the contract include 200 working days and be scheduled between April 2024 and February 2025, excluding any non-working days or delays. That same month, county staff was authorized to advertise construction bids for the project. The bid opening occurred on Feb. 21, and two bids were received. According to staff, the engineer’s estimate for the base bid plus two additive alternates was $17.6 million., and there was a 22.5 percent disadvantaged business enterprise participation goal. Designs of the proposed road improvements of the South Main Street and Interstate-5. (George Johnston — Daily News) The proposed project includes roadway and traffic control improvements in the Red Bluff City limits and unincorporated areas in Tehama County. Improvements in the city limits include rehabilitating and widening a ±0.95-mile

Carl’s Jr. forgoes Red Bluff location

RED BLUFF— One day, Red Bluff might get a Carl’s Jr., but it won’t be anytime soon. On Tuesday, Community Development Director Beth Lindauer revealed that the man developing the project had sold it, and the person now in charge of the franchise had no interest in developing it. A few years ago, City Manager Tom Westbrook shared that Carl’s Jr. was working on solidifying lot line adjustment documents to proceed with construction documents. The restaurant was slated to be in the Main Street shopping center’s parking lot, near the Dutch Bros. coffee drive-through. The city was first contacted about this project in January 2021. In other business Planning Commissioner Greg Latourell noticed that Wendy’s site had been cleared of debris. He was curious if the franchise has a schedule for the rebuild and opening. Beth answered the restaurant had submitted their preliminary plans for the city’s review. Staff have provided them with comments on the document. At this point, they are ready to submit for the building permit to break around. “I do not have an update on when that’s intended, but I do

Opening day 1969: “The Kid” returns

In the spring of 1969, spirits were high in the nation’s capital. The cherry trees along the Potomac River were in bloom, and cautious optimism prevailed that newly inaugurated President Richard Nixon would fulfill his campaign promise to end the Southeast Asian war. But more than anything for DC’s sports’ fans, legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi had agreed to assume the Washington Redskins general manager and head coach positions. And Hall of Fame great Ted Williams, “The Kid,” accepted owner Bob Short’s offer to manage the moribund Washington Senators. Short, a trucking and hotel mogul, had previously owned basketball’s Minneapolis Lakers and moved the team to Los Angeles before selling the Lakers for $5.2 million. Among Short’s goals were to entice more Senators fans and turn a profit. To achieve those objectives, he wanted a big name to take the Senators’ helm. Williams was certain that he could help the punchless Senators. When Short offered a five-year, $65,000 salary with perks that included a $15,000-a-year hotel suite, an unlimited expense account, a title as vice president and an option to buy 10 percent

When Newsom gives his State of the State, he should be candid about California’s economy

Gov. Gavin Newsom postponed his annual State of the State address while awaiting the fate of his mental health ballot measure in this month’s election. Whenever Newsom gets around to giving his appraisal of the state’s condition, he should curb his braggadocious tendencies and acknowledge that it faces what could be prolonged – even semi-permanent – economic sluggishness. While Newsom was sweating out the vote count on Proposition 1, which prevailed by fewer than 30,000 votes, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics was reporting that in February, California recorded the nation’s highest unemployment rate, with 5.3% of its labor force being jobless. That unhappy statistic reflected a growing consensus that while the rest of the nation is enjoying a fairly vigorous recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, California is lagging behind. It’s a major factor in the state’s having an immense budget deficit, one that could last for years. Newsom’s budget planners and the Legislature’s budget analyst, Gabe Petek, both see annual deficits in the $30 billion range for the remainder of Newsom’s governorship. “California entered a revenue and economic downturn last fiscal

Horoscopes March 29, 2024: Amy Sedaris, discover what life offers

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Megan Hilty, 43; Lucy Lawless, 56; Amy Sedaris, 63; Eric Idle, 81. Happy Birthday: Look at your alternatives before settling on something that doesn’t meet your expectations. Expand your search and discover what life offers, and you’ll find your happy place. It’s your life; make decisions that leave doors that intrigue you open and close those that no longer hold your interest. Secrecy is better until you are ready and able to pursue your dream. Your numbers are 9, 16, 20, 26, 34, 42, 48. ARIES (March 21-April 19): A little pressure will go a long way. Stand up for your rights and discover what you can gain by following a passionate path. Set a budget and focus on savings, investing and redefining what’s important to you. Sell what you no longer need. 3 stars TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Establish what you want to achieve. Entertain the possibility of not going solo, and you’ll discover alternatives that lead to a window of opportunity. If you need to apply pressure, you are banging on the wrong door. 3 stars GEMINI (May

Word Game: March 29, 2024

TODAY’S WORD — EUPHORIC (EUPHORIC: yoo-FOR-ik: Having a strong feeling of happiness or well-being.) Average mark 38 words Time limit 45 minutes Can you find 51 or more words in EUPHORIC? The list will be published tomorrow. YESTERDAY’S WORD — VULTURES vertu vest vulture ulster user usure uterus lest lues lure lust luster lute true rest result rule ruse rust rustle slue slur suer suet sure sutler suture To purchase the Word Game book, visit WordGameBooks.com. Order it now for just $5 while supplies last! RULES OF THE GAME: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. For example, if “bake” is used, “baked” or “bakes” are not allowed, but “bake” and “baking” are admissible. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed. Contact Word Game creator Kathleen Saxe at kzsaxe@gmail.com.

Bridge: March 29, 2024

My contrarian view is that players bid too much. They enter the auction when the prospect of gain is uncertain. But modern thinking seems to be “Bid when it’s your turn.” In the Women’s Pairs at the Fall NABC, Shawn Quinn emerged from a layoff to win the event with Nancy Passell. Quinn was today’s South. North’s bid of three clubs conventionally invited game with three-card spade support. East came in with three hearts, but Quinn jumped to game. HEART PITCH West led her heart: five, eight, ace. Quinn placed East with some length in diamonds as well as in hearts -– West had not bid diamonds -– so East wouldn’t have many black-suit cards. So at Trick Two Quinn led the jack of trumps and let it ride. She picked up the trumps, threw a heart on the ace of diamonds, and lost one heart and one club. Plus 650 was a strong result. East’s bid might have located a profitable sacrifice or directed an effective lead, but that was uncertain. Whether Quinn would have landed the valuable overtrick if East had kept silent

Ask Amy: My girlfriend won’t shut up about the guys who flirt with her

Dear Amy: I am 20 and my girlfriend of six months is 19. Ever since we started dating, she seems to go out of her way to tell me whenever a guy hits on her, compliments her or flirts with her. She’s gorgeous, and so I totally understand that this is going to happen. I completely trust her, but when we started going out I told her that I don’t really need to hear about every time a guy compliments her. I told her that I know these things happen, but that I don’t need to hear about it. Finally, I flat-out asked her to stop reporting these things to me. Yesterday she was headed to her friend’s house and told me that her friend’s brother has a crush on her. Why does she do this? I feel like breaking up with her, not because I’m jealous of other guys, but because she seems to enjoy rubbing my face in the attention she receives from other guys. – Stymied Student Dear Student: I think your girlfriend does this in part because she is insecure, and

Single-family house sells in Palo Alto for $3 million

2761 Cowper Street – Google Street View A 942-square-foot house built in 1945 has changed hands. The property located in the 2700 block of Cowper Street in Palo Alto was sold on March 11, 2024, for $3,010,000, or $3,195 per square foot. The layout of this single-story home includes two bedrooms and one bath. On the exterior, the house is characterized by the use of wood shake roofing / shingles. Inside, a fireplace adds character to the home. Additionally, the house is equipped with a one-car garage, allowing for convenient vehicle storage. The lot of the property covers a substantial area of 5,800 square feet. These nearby houses have also recently been sold: A 2,655-square-foot home on the 400 block of El Dorado Avenue in Palo Alto sold in July 2023, for $3,830,000, a price per square foot of $1,443. The home has 6 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. In October 2022, a 1,383-square-foot home on Waverley Street in Palo Alto sold for $3,000,000, a price per square foot of $2,169. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. On Kipling Street, Palo Alto, in June

Largest crane on the Eastern Seaboard arriving to start removing Baltimore bridge collapse wreckage

BALTIMORE — Crews working to clear the steel frame of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge and the 984-foot cargo ship that felled it face “an incredibly complex job” – one that is essential to reopening the Port of Baltimore and recovering the remains that may lie under the wreckage, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Thursday. “When you have a chance to see that wreckage up close, you fully understand the enormity of the challenge,” Moore said in a news conference, noting, “Our timeline will be long.” The largest crane in the Eastern Seaboard was expected to arrive Thursday evening to help clear the wreckage, Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen said, though it wasn’t yet on site as of early Friday. Additionally, three heavy lift vessels should begin arriving Friday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told CNN. Maryland officials are working “full speed” to reopen the vital shipping channel and revive traffic through the port – the largest in the US for autos and light trucks, handling a record 850,000 vehicles last year, Moore said. Nonetheless, he said, “We have a very long road ahead of

Thieves steal nearly 200 beehives from farmer in Fresno County

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) — Investigators are searching for the thieves who took off with hundreds of beehives. For farmers and growers, the bees are crucial in helping crops, like the almond trees, grow. Beekeepers start putting out their hives around January for the pollination. The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said it can be hard to keep an eye on the colonies, especially in a large field in a rural area. Having the bees stolen from beekeepers not only hurts their operations, but it’s also costly to replace. “That’s a lot of money lost and it’s a lot of money lost in the future,” said Peter Kotseruba, a Valley farmer and beekeeper. Last week, beehives were stolen from a ranch just south of Selma. It happened after the almond pollination. Kotseruba shared pictures with ABC30 of the stolen hives. He said the colonies in the pictures are the ones that were stolen Ed Harmon, Kotseruba’s business partner, said nearly 200 hives were taken. “It’s terrible because the beekeepers are out $200 bucks a hive,” said Harmon. “He’s got a lot of expenses in those hives.

Here’s how you can get free ice cream for a year at Fresno’s newest Baskin-Robbins

Friday, March 29, 2024 5:47AM There’s a new ice-cream shop location getting ready to celebrate it’s grand opening in Northeast Fresno. FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — There’s a new ice-cream shop location getting ready to celebrate it’s grand opening in Northeast Fresno. a select few will have an opportunity to snag a sweet deal. Baskin-Robbins is set to open its new location on Cedar and Shepherd Avenues. A grand opening celebration is happening this Saturday from ten in the morning until two pm. The first 31 guests will be awarded with free ice cream for a year. Customers can also enjoy ice cream scoops for a dollar and 31-cents. There will also be over giveaways, and a special appearance form Baskin-Robbins’ mascot Coney. Copyright © 2024 KFSN-TV. All Rights Reserved. Top Stories

Opinion: Why the proposed TikTok ban isn’t what we need

The House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill this month threatening to ban TikTok unless its parent company ByteDance sells the app. It may take the Senate months to address the legislation, which faces some opposition , so a ban is not imminent. But the relative success of this approach highlights the narrow, problematic pathway for data security reform in the U.S. as we continue to avoid real oversight. The authors of the House bill focused on national security, emphasizing concerns about the Chinese government’s access to the data of U.S. citizens who use TikTok. Although dialing up national security concerns was an effective tactic to marshal some consensus, that strategy still may not pass the legislation — and it won’t address the many security concerns that dog tech companies beyond TikTok. The U.S. uses a so-called risk-based approach to tech oversight, which addresses problems only after they have already developed. By contrast, Japan and some European countries use a precautionary approach that tries to anticipate risks. Tech firms have flourished financially under the U.S. approach: Companies can gather, use and monetize data with few

Scientists say these killer whales are distinct species. It could save them

More than 150 years ago, a San Francisco whaler noticed something about killer whales that scientists may be about to formally recognize — at least in name. Charles Melville Scammon submitted a manuscript to the Smithsonian in 1869 describing two species of killer whales inhabiting West Coast waters. Now a new paper published in Royal Society Open Science uses genetic, behavioral, morphological and acoustic data to argue that the orcas in the North Pacific known as residents and transients are different enough to be distinct species. They propose using the same scientific names Scammon is believed to have coined in the 19th century. Aggressive and impactful reporting on climate change, the environment, health and science. Killer whales, found in all oceans, are currently considered one global species. The new proposed species would mark the first split of the ferocious apex predators, which, if approved, could have significant conservation and scientific implications — in addition to furthering a decades-long quest to properly classify the whales. The two proposed species may look indistinguishable to the untrained eye, but there are subtle differences in their fins and markings

The IRS wants to give California taxpayers $94 million in refunds — if they file returns

As hard as it may be to imagine, Californians have left millions of dollars in unclaimed tax refunds with the Internal Revenue Service. And if they don’t act soon, that money will go to the federal treasury. The money was left behind by taxpayers who didn’t file tax returns, mainly because they earned so little in their jobs that they weren’t required to fill out a 1040 form. They’re eligible to receive the taxes withheld from their paychecks, but that money won’t come to them automatically — they have to file a return to recover it. Every year, IRS officials say, about $1 billion to $1.5 billion in refunds goes unclaimed, compared with about $300 billion in refunds paid. The feds give you more than three years to collect an unclaimed refund, but for taxes paid in 2020, time is running out. According to the IRS, an estimated 88,200 Californians who did not file returns in 2020 are owed $94.2 million, which works out to $835 per filer on average. Although the average amount they stand to recover is less than $1,000, there’s more at

Column: Corruption “feels like a betrayal.” What motivates U.S. Attorney E. Martin Estrada

In mid-January, U.S. Attorney E. Martin Estrada stood in front of a bouquet of microphones with a phalanx of prosecutors behind him. Their somber faces matched that of their boss, even though the group was celebrating. A federal judge had just sentenced former Los Angeles Councilmember Jose Huizar to 13 years in prison for his role in a sprawling corruption scheme that continues to stain L.A. politics. To the English-language media, Estrada — dressed in a sharp gray suit with a U.S. Department of Justice pin clasped to his lapel — inveighed against Huizar for abusing “his power to use City Hall as his personal ATM.” His remarks in Spanish weren’t as long — but were harsher. “Jose Huizar,” he stated in a deep, deliberate voice, “traicionó a su propio pueblo” — betrayed his own people. Estrada hadn’t used that line in English. Since becoming U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California in the fall of 2022, the 46-year-old Estrada has overseen one headline-grabbing case after another. Convictions for civic corruption scandals in Los Angeles and Anaheim. A lawsuit against City National Bank that

Homeless deaths in L.A. dropped, but many are dying from drugs

Fewer homeless people died in Los Angeles in 2023 than in the previous year, with nearly two-thirds of the deaths linked to drugs. The 23% drop in homeless deaths came even as the number of unhoused people has continued to climb in L.A. in recent years. According to data released Thursday by City Controller Kenneth Mejia, 898 unhoused people died last year on streets, in shelters, on freeways and elsewhere. Mejia’s report, which analyzed Los Angeles County Dept. of Medical Examiner data, did not break down the number of deaths linked to drugs because toxicology reports may be pending in some cases. A Times analysis of the data found that about 65%, or 545, of the homeless deaths last year were linked to drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine — an indication of the deadly toll of the drug crisis on the streets of L.A. The number could increase as more toxicology reports come in. Sergio Perez, Chief of Accountability & Oversight in the Controller’s Office, said the data shows that more services are needed. “It doesn’t matter if those deaths go up and down [each

Could House control flip to Democrats? Early resignations leave GOP on edge

Politics By Caitlin Yilek March 29, 2024 / 6:00 AM EDT / CBS News Should Johnson worry about MTG ouster threat? Should House Speaker Johnson be worried about ouster threat? 09:10 Washington — In mid-March, as the Republican majority in the House dwindled yet again, House Speaker Mike Johnson predicted that the series of resignations from frustrated GOP lawmakers had come to an end. “I think, I hope and believe that’s the end of the exits for now,” the Louisiana Republican said after being caught off guard by Colorado Rep. Ken Buck’s announcement that he would leave Congress on March 22. Then, a week after Johnson’s comments, Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, a rising GOP star, announced he was also stepping down early. After Gallagher’s departure on April 19, House Republicans will control 217 seats, compared to Democrats’ 213. That will mean the GOP can afford to lose just a single vote, since 216 will constitute a majority if all members are present and voting. While special elections should bolster their ranks in the coming months, Republicans could watch their majority slip away if just

Best smartphone apps, tools and websites to capture the eclipse

If you want to capture the total solar eclipse on April 8, you need to be prepared! You already have the most important piece of equipment: your smartphone. To find out about the rest, I consulted with Jefferson Graham of PhotoWalks TV. He travels the world in search of the perfect picture and was at the last total solar eclipse in 2017. “It’s daylight like this and then boom, it’s night and then boom it’s day again and it happens so fast and it’s so quick and so unusual that it’s really fascinating to be there,” said Graham. His recommendation? It’s best to leave the sun shots to NASA but capture the scene instead, and consider taking a video of the eclipse, too. “Enjoy the experience. Get pictures of people, all the people looking up at their glasses and the whole scenery,” said Graham. He showed me the right tools, including a tripod with a phone mount. I like this inexpensive gadget which incorporates both. Then, you’ll want to get a photo filter to protect the senses on your smartphone. Finally, you’ll need glasses to

Single family residence sells in Fremont for $1.5 million

908 Gurnard Terrace – Google Street View A 1,579-square-foot house built in 1996 has changed hands. The property located in the 900 block of Gurnard Terrace in Fremont was sold on Feb. 14, 2024, for $1,545,000, or $978 per square foot. This single-story house offers a spacious layout with four bedrooms and three baths. Additionally, the home includes a two-car garage. The property sits on a 3,992-square-foot lot. These nearby houses have also recently been sold: A 1,808-square-foot home on the 900 block of Pepys Way in Fremont sold in August 2023, for $1,780,000, a price per square foot of $985. The home has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. In September 2023, a 1,306-square-foot home on Litchfield Circle in Fremont sold for $1,600,000, a price per square foot of $1,225. The home has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. On Buckboard cmn., Fremont, in February 2024, a 1,486-square-foot home was sold for $1,500,000, a price per square foot of $1,009. The home has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.