Mid-Valley briefs published in Friday's paperLive Oak

Five busted with improvised bomb

Five juveniles used fireworks to improvise a bomb that slightly damaged the interior of a vacant Live Oak house, a Sutter County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman said Thursday.

Deputies responded at 1 p.m. Wednesday and found smoke coming from the back of the house in the 9500 block of K Street. The remains of a bomb were found in a toilet, said spokeswoman Brenda Baker.

The Beale Air Force Base bomb squad was called and found a second device, unexploded, in another part of the house she said.

The juveniles, who had kicked in a door, were arrested on suspicion of vandalism, trespassing and possession of explosives. Their names were not released.

Yuba City

Garage fire smokes house

A house fire in the Shanghai Bend area early Thursday morning resulted in more than $250,000 in damage, a Yuba City Fire Department official said.

Firefighters responded to the blaze at a two-story house on Swift Creek Court at around 2:30 a.m., said Battalion Chief Robert Bills.

The connected garage of the home was fully involved when firefighters arrived, Bills said. A total of 15 personnel, made up of four engine crews from Yuba City and an engine crew from Sutter County's Oswald-Tudor station, contained the fire to the garage.

However, the home did receive heavy heat and smoke damage. Total damage is estimated at $275,000, Bills said.

The occupants of the house were out of town. It appears the fire originated in the garage, but the exact cause is undetermined and is still under investigation, Bills said.

Yuba City

GAP open to public again

Gauche Aquatic Park will be open today and has been open since last Saturday.

Yuba City closed the park June 27 due to unhealthy air quality. The park reopened the next day when air quality improved, said Abbie Cesena, recreation supervisor at Gauche Aquatic Park.

The water park is at 421 C St.

The particulate matter in the air reached 177, an unhealthy level for everyone, June 27 in Yuba City. The high dropped down to 61, in the moderate air quality level, the next day, according to the California Environmental Protection Agency Air Resources Board.

Yuba City

Hepatitis C advocate dies

Sherri Rae Ziegler, 49, founder of the Nor-Cal Hepatitis C Network, died June 26 at the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco.

A longtime resident of Yuba City, she was a very active advocate for education, support and services for people with Hepatitis C.

She was also a founding member of the California Hepatitis Alliance and a member of the California Hepatitis C Task Force.

A memorial service is planned at 1 p.m. July 12 at the Church of Glad Tidings in Yuba City.