The Fresno Bee from Fresno, California • A4

4A THURSDAY JANUARY 26 2017Local FRESNOBEE.COM 0 0 0 2 8 5 9 5 1 8 0 1 featuring The Comfort Gallery BONE THE thebonestore.com 6610 N. Blackstone Ave Fresno, CA 93710 559.226.7500 5410 W. Cypress Ave, Visalia, CA 93 77 559.739.7500 Monday Friday 9am 6pm Saturday 10am 5pm Closed Sunday store for details. Sale ends CLEARANCE! FLOORMODEL SAVE UP TO ON TEMPUR-PEDIC FLOORMODELMATTRESSES SELECT STRESSLESS FLOORMODELS NOTICE OF PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION Para detalles llame 1-800-660-6789 PROJECT NAME: Crescent Switching Station and San Joaquin Solar Project Interconnection (Fresno County, P. No.

10357) ADVICE LETTER NUMBER: 5003-E Proposed Project: To interconnect the planned San Joaquin Solar photovoltaic generation facility to the electric transmission system, Pacific Gas and Electric Company is proposing to replace the existing Stroud Switching Station with a new approximately 7-acre 70 kilovolt (kV) Crescent Switching Station in western rural Fresno County. The new switching station will be located approximately 800 feet southwest of the existing switching station, just east of the intersection of Kamm Avenue and Yuba Avenue, and approximately 2.75 miles west of the community of Helm. will re-route three existing 70 kV power lines from the existing Stroud Switching Station and extend them up to approximately 1,200 feet into the new Crescent Switching Station. To support the re-routed lines, will remove, modify, or replace approximately 13 wood poles with approximately 12 new light-duty steel and tubular steel poles approximately 15 to 30 feet taller. The new approximately 60- to 80-foot-tall poles are needed comply with current design standards and maintain California Public Utilities Commission General Order 95 minimum ground-to-conductor clearance requirements.

To keep the existing power lines in service during construction, may install several temporary wood poles to support the energized power lines. The poles would be approximately the same height as other poles on the existing lines, and would be removed following construction. Construction is currently scheduled to begin in spring 2017, or as soon as practicable after project approval. Construction is scheduled to be completed in spring 2018, or as soon as possible after construction begins. Exemption from CPUC Permit Requirement: CPUC General Order 131-D, Section III, Subsection B.1, exempts a utility from the requirement to file an application requesting authority to construct if a project meets specific conditions.

This project qualifies for the following exemption: f. lines or substations to be relocated or constructed which have undergone environmental review pursuant to CEQA as part of a larger project, and for which the final CEQA document (Environmental Impact Report (EIR) or Negative Declaration) finds no significant unavoidable environmental impacts caused by the proposed line or The Fresno County Board of Supervisors adopted a Mitigated Negative Declaration for the San Joaquin Solar Project Generation Tie Line and Switching Station on January 10, 2017 (State Clearinghouse finding no significant unavoidable environmental impacts resulting from proposed facilities. Additional Project Information: To obtain further information on the proposed project, please call Project Information Line at (415) 973-5530. Public Review Process: Individuals or groups may protest the proposed construction if they believe that has incorrectly applied for an exemption or that the conditions set out in Section III.B.2 of General Order 131-D exist; a. There is reasonable possibility that the activity may have an impact on an environmental resource of hazardous or critical concern where designated, precisely mapped and officially adopted pursuant to law by federal, state, or local agencies; or b.

The cumulative impact of successive projects of the same type in the same place, over time, is significant; or c. There is a reasonable possibility that the activity will have a significant effect on the environment due to unusual circumstances. Protests should include the following: 1. Your name, mailing address and daytime telephone number. 2.

Reference to the CPUC Advice Letter Number and Project Name. 3. A clear description of the reason for the protest. 4. Whether you believe that evidentiary hearings are necessary to resolve factual disputes.

Protests for this project must be filed by February 15, 2017 at the following address: Director, Energy Division ED Tariff Unit California Public Utilities Commission 505 Van Ness Avenue, Fourth Floor San Francisco, California 94102 With a copy mailed to: David Kraska, Law Department Pacific Gas and Electric Company P.O. Box 7442 San Francisco, California 94120 must respond within five business days of receipt and serve its response on each protestant and the Energy Division. Within 30 days after has submitted its response, the CPUC Executive Director will send you a copy of an Executive Resolution granting or denying request and stating the reasons for the decision. Assistance in Filing a Protest: If you need assistance in filing a protest, contact the CPUC Public Advisor: email: public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov or call: 1-866-849-8390 (toll-free), or (415) 703-2074, or TTY (415) 703-5258. Public Comment: Even if you do not want to file an official protest, you may still comment on the request.

To do so, send your comments to the Energy Division at the address noted above. Please reference Advice Letter 5003-E. wo former Clovis North High School students, who say a school employee asked them to participate in a drug sting on campus without their consent, have settled their civil lawsuit with the Clovis Unified School District. The school district paid the two students $300,000, Clovis Unified spokeswoman Kelly Avants said Wednesday. The names of the two students, who were fresh- men at the time of the incident, were not made public because minors.

They were identi- fied in Fresno County Superior Court documents as John Doe and Mary Roe. Fresno attorney Stephen Cornwell, who represented the two stu- dents, said his clients received equal shares of the settlement this month. The two students sought damages from the district on a number of legal grounds, including negligent supervision, false arrest, humiliation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Avants said Wednesday the school district talk about litigation, but felt the settlement was reasonable. Cornwell also said the settlement was fair, but said his clients had to endure some men- tal anguish.

For example, Cornwell said he wanted to keep the identities confidential, but once they sued the district, Clovis Unified trustees identified them on one of their agendas under po- tential litigation. not sure if it was inadvertent or on Cornwell said. John Doe remained at Clovis North and gradu- ated last year, but once word got out that he was involved in a drug sting, some people ostracized him, Cornwell said. The incident forced Mary Roe to leave Clovis North and her friends to be home- schooled, the lawyer said. She also attended a char- ter school before return- ing to Clovis North in her senior year to graduate last year.

The settlement could have been done sooner, but Cornwell said Clovis Unified wanted him and the students to sign a non-disparagement clause in the settlement papers that would prevent them from saying any negative things about the school district. Cornwell said he and his clients declined to sign the settlement papers if the clause remained. truth is the Cornwell said. Cornwell declined to name the school employee who got his clients in trouble, saying the em- ployee had the right in- tentions of wanting to rid the Clovis North campus of drugs. went about it the wrong he said.

Court papers identify the employee as Kelly Racca, who was listed in the lawsuit as a Clovis North counselor. She was a campus safety monitor at the time of the incident and also had served as a volleyball coach at Clovis North. An online biog- raphy stated she has a degree in coun- seling from California State University, Fresno. Avants said Racca re- signed after the incident. Racca could not be reached for comment.

The lawsuit, filed March 11, 2014, spells out the allegations: Racca decided to devel- op a plan to stop the ille- gal sales of marijuana on campus. She befriended Mary and asked her to assist in her drug sting. Racca then gave Mary money to buy the marijua- na and Racca recorded the serial numbers of the bills in order to link them to the drug seller. she asked Mary to find out the iden- tity of a student who was reported to be illegally selling marijuana on cam- the lawsuit states. Mary, however, was hesitant to get involved in the drug sting, so she told her friend, John, who agreed to help if Racca would assist them in get- ting an expelled student reinstated into school.

agreed to do so, the lawsuit says. Following in- struction, John bought marijuana from a student on campus using money. Mary took a pho- tograph of the transaction to implicate the student. John and Mary later turned over the marijuana and photograph to Racca. The next day, however, school administrators called Mary out of her class for a meeting with two Clovis police officers.

Without notifying her parents, police interrogat- ed Mary and she was told to write her account of the drug buy, the lawsuit says. After police threatened to arrest her, Mary waited in the Student Services office for many hours without any explanation of what would happen to her and without her parents being contacted. She finally was allowed to leave without being arrested. School officials and police officers also called John into a conference room but did not advise him of his Miranda rights. John asked to call his father, but his request was denied, the lawsuit says.

School officials and police then questioned him at length, ignoring his pleas to contact his father, the lawsuit says. John was not arrested, but some days later school officials called Mary out of class again and ordered her to write an incident report about the drug purchase. In reaching the settle- ment, Cornwell said nei- ther Mary nor John were advised that the school plan was ille- gal and a violation of the zero-tolerance drug policy. The two stu- dents assumed the em- ployee who concocted the drug sting was authorized to conduct her plan, he said, noting that the em- ployee never notified police of her plan, nor did she have law enforcement background to conduct a drug investigation, In addition, neither school officials nor police advised Mary or John of their right to a lawyer and their right to refuse to answer questions that could incriminate them, Cornwell said. The Clovis North stu- lawsuit mirrors one filed in a Los Angeles case.

In December, the 2nd District Court of Appeals upheld a verdict that ordered the Los Angeles Unified School District to pay a student $1 million in dam- ages for emotional dis- tress, as well as $15,250 in economic damages. A civil lawsuit accused school officials of using the 12-year-old as bait in a drug sting at Porter Mid- dle School in February 2009. The lawsuit states school officials gave the student money to pur- chase marijuana from the drug dealer and did not notify the par- ents or law enforcement. As a result, the student suffered bodily harm and emotional distress, and incurred medical expens- es, the appellate court said in a split decision. Pablo Lopez: 559-441-6434, CLOVIS UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT Two ex-students settle for $300,000 after drug sting BY PABLO LOPEZ LAWYER SAID HE WANTED TO KEEP THE TWO IDENTITIES CONFIDENTIAL, BUT ONCE THEY SUED THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, THE SCHOOL BOARD IDENTIFIED THEM ON ONE OF THEIR AGENDAS UNDER POTENTIAL LITIGATION.

A longtime area engi- neering manager has been hired as executive director of the Fresno County Transportation Authority, which oversees projects funded by the Measure transportation sales tax measure. Mike Leonardo served as engineering manager for California high-speed rail contractor Parsons Brinckerhoff. He previous- ly served as public works director for Clovis and District 6 director for Caltrans, which covers the central and southern San Joaquin Valley. is a heavy hitter in transportation said Fresno County Super- visor Buddy Mendes, chairman of the trans- portation authority board. want to have someone we were going to have to bring up to speed.

He knows Fresno County. Fresno County is a little unique, and he can navi- gate the system and bring good things back Leonardo will take on a variety of responsibilities, overseeing programs and projects funded by the 20-year Measure Ex- penditure Plan. Measure is Fresno half-cent trans- portation sales tax with $72.9 million in revenue projected in the 2016-17 fiscal year. Measure has resulted in more than $1 billion in local road and infrastructure improve- ments, including expan- sions of Highways 41, 168 and 180. The Measure exten- sion is expected to raise more than $1.2 billion by 2027, the sunset for the current measure.

That revenue is used to lev- erage state and federal funds for Fresno growing transportation needs. Leonardo is a Fresno County resident, Fresno State graduate and is the third exec- utive direc- tor to lead the FCTA since 1987. Ron Pe- terson, the previous director, passed away last year. Leonardo serves a nine- member board of direc- tors that includes local elected officials. He will earn $190,000 annually.

Mike Leonardo will lead Fresno Co. road projects The Fresno Bee poison the animal. stomach acid leeches out heavy metals from the coins and causes said Shannon Nodolf, a zoo veterin- arian. She said Sur, the sea lion, has developed an ulcer from the pressure on her stomach caused by swallowing the rocks and coins, she said. believed that exhibit visitors dropped rocks and coins from a viewing area where steel grate vertical fencing is open to the water.

an area where coins have been discov- ered underwater. Much of the exhibit is on a sandy walkway with few rocks, so unclear where the rocks are coming from. seem like said Lyn Myers, general curator for Fresno Chaffee Zoo. think people acting like throwing coins in a wishing well, but no thought about how it affects the ani- It was first detected when veterinarians dis- covered Sur had five bro- ken teeth, Myers said. Veterinarians were curious about what she was eating and performed an X-ray that revealed a collection of coins and rocks in her stomach, said Myers.

Initially, veterinarians tried to induce vomiting, but it bring up the debris. That led to the endoscopy procedure. The procedure involves anesthesia and placing an endoscope equipped with a tiny camera down the throat and into the stom- ach of the animals. A tiny grabber tool, a net at- tached to the device, cap- tures coins and rocks but requires several passes to gather up everything. In the case of Sur, zoo veterinarians enlisted the help of Dr.

Stephen O. Davis, a Fresno gastroen- terologist, and a second technician. A second pro- cedure will be required because not all the mate- rial, which included 1.3 pounds of pebbles, small rocks and a peach pit, was removed from her stom- ach. The procedure for Sur lasted about 90 min- utes. know if she was able to eat, her stom- ach was so Nodolf said.

ended up pull- ing five Ariel, the harbor seal, also will need a second procedure. Doctors re- moved 72 cents two quarters, two nickels, two pennies and a dime from her stomach. As preventive measures, zoo officials will place signs at the exhibit to deter visitors from throw- ing coins and rocks in the Sea Lion Cove pool, and a plexiglass barrier likely will be installed to replace the vertical fencing, Myers said. also possible a nation could be added to the Sea Lion Cove grounds for those visitors with spare change to give away, she said. Marc Benjamin: 559-441-6166, FROM PAGE 3A ZOO KNOWIF SHE WAS ABLE TO EAT, HER STOMACH WAS SO FULL.

WE ENDED UP PULLING FIVE TEETH. Dr. Shannon Nodolf, veterinarian, Fresno Chaffee Zoo.