Think beyond the pink during this Breast Cancer Awareness Month
By Laura Friedman | Source This October you’ll see a certain color popping up around town. You’ll pass by ribbons, vehicles and an untold variety of products lining store shelves — all pink. Since its founding by the American Cancer Society and the pharmaceutical...
read moreEnglish learners now eligible for child care assistance
Source Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 273 by Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Solano, a priority bill for the California Legislative Women’s Caucus this year. The governor signed it during a public ceremony held at Women’s Empowerment in Downtown...
read moreCeremony starts Anderson Springs project
By Tammy Murga | Source ANDERSON SPRINGS >> About 80 people gathered in Anderson Springs Saturday morning to mark the start of a recovery project by breaking ground on a new wastewater system and homes for the area. The celebration was co-hosted by Senator Mike...
read moreLocal reps secure funding for farmworker housing
Source The California State Legislature approved the 2017-18 State Budget, with $250,000 included to support farmworker housing in Napa County. Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Solano, and Senator Bill Dodd, D-Solano, championed this funding proposal, which will...
read moreAguiar-Curry and Dodd Lead Charge to Protect California’s National Monuments
Source (From Press Release) – Assembly Joint Resolution 15, a bill expressing the support of the California State Legislature to continue protecting national monuments, passed out of the State Assembly on a bipartisan vote of 56-16. The measure was introduced by...
read moreAguiar-Curry introduces bill to ‘Make Clear Lake Clear,’ establish blue ribbon committee
Source NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – A bill to create a blue ribbon committee to study Clear Lake and develop a plan to protect and improve its conditions passed unanimously out of the Assembly’s Natural Resources Committee this week. Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry...
read moreAssembly Bill Would Make English Learners Eligible for Child Care Assistance
Source (From Press Release) – Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D – Winters) introduced AB 273 last week in order to help Californians pursuing English-language education or a High School Equivalency certificate receive state assistance for childcare services. Both...
read moreAguiar-Curry Wins Assembly Seat
By Anne Ternus-Bellamy | Source Winters Mayor Cecilia Aguiar-Curry will represent the 4th Assembly District in the state Legislature for the next two years, having defeated Republican Charlie Schaupp in Tuesday’s general election. Aguiar-Curry had received 63.6...
read moreAguiar-Curry Thankful For the Support
Source I am gratified and overwhelmed by the supporters across District 4 that came out to vote for me for Assembly on June 7th. I want to thank them and the many volunteers and individual donors who helped make our campaign possible. And I want to congratulate all my...
read moreSt. Helena Star Endorses Cecilia Aguiar-Curry for Assembly
By the Editorial Board | Source Winters Mayor Cecilia Aguiar-Curry is an energetic, accomplished, down-to-earth candidate who would be an effective advocate for rural communities in the State Assembly. Aguiar-Curry, a Democrat, is competing with Republican Charlie...
read moreBy Mark Anderson | Source
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. on Monday broke ground on a $75 million gas pipeline training and safety center in Winters.
The company fast-tracked the development of the training center, and won approvals and got environmental certification for the 40-acre project next to Putah Creek in two years.
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. began construction Monday on a $75 million gas pipeline training and safety center in Winters.
BY BROKENSPHERE VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Construction of the training school is expected to be completed this time next year, said Winters City Manager John Donlevy Jr.
“They are working on a super-tight deadline. They want to get this place up and running,” he said.
DPR Construction is general contractor on the project, which will include state-of-the-art equipment and labs, Donlevy said. “Some aspects of what they are building here don’t exist anywhere else.”
The center will feature technology benchmarked against all the best practices of utilities in the U.S., said Donald Cutler, spokesman with PG&E.
The Winters center will train and test PG&E workers from all over the state on techniques in troubleshooting natural gas pipeline problems. It will consolidate training currently done in Tracy, San Ramon and Livermore.
Once construction ramps up, there could easily be periods when there are hundreds of construction workers on the site, Donlevy said.
Once it is open, the center will have about 100 to 150 employees revolving through training at any given time. The utility employs more than 4,000 gas line employees.
The training center will feature a simulated neighborhood with built-in problems for gas line workers to find.
The San Francisco-based utility is building the training center to help its gas-line employees avoid accidents and respond to emergencies. The utility has suffered some high-profile gas-line accidents, including the 2010 San Bruno explosion and a 2008 explosion in Rancho Cordova.