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Families also are spending money on back- to-school gear such as clothes, supplies and com- puters. Strom suggested the first week of July could be a good time for the fair, which could take advan- tage of the Fourth of July weekend. "What's more all- American than a county fair?" she said, adding, "The cons, and I'm sure this is why it was changed in the first place, it's hot. But you know what, we live in Tehama County, we are used to it, it's hot." Fairboard Direc- tor Pete Dagorret said he largely agreed with Strom's points, and two years ago was in favor of moving the fair back from September, but was per- suaded against the move because of the potential loss of the fair's education day, a joint event between the Tehama County De- partment of Education and the Tehama District Fair that provides learn- ing opportunities for the county's sixth grade stu- dents. President Linda Dur- rer said over the years the fair has changed dates "at least about 10 differ- ent times," and added that the board will take a change of date into consideration after next week's fair. Directors said any change in the fair's dates would be scheduled at least two or three years Fair FROMPAGE1 On March 7, a human- caused fire heavily dam- aged the building's floor, rear interior and back wall. Shobash at the time said there was evidence of transients living in the building, and added that the property's owner had reported problems with transients breaking into structure. On April 10, the Red Bluff Fire Department again responded to a re- ported fire at the Main Street property. Officials said they found evidence of arson throughout the structure as well as recent occupation by squatters. The Red Bluff Fire De- partment on Wednesday received assistance from Tehama County Fire and the California Depart- ment of Forestry and Fire Protection. Fire FROM PAGE 1 Frew:WandaFrew,84,of Corning died Monday, Sept. 15in Corning. Arrangements are under the direction of Affordable Mortuary. Pub- lished Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014in the Daily News, Red Bluff, Calif. Ortiz: Ligia Maria Ortiz, 55, of Corning died Saturday, Sept. 13at her residence. Arrangements are under the direction of Hall Brothers Corning Mortuary. Published Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014in the Daily News, Red Bluff, Calif. Deathnoticesmust be provided by mortu- aries to the news depart- ment, are published at no charge, and feature only specific basic information about the deceased. Paid obituaries are placed through the Classified ad- vertising department. Paid obituaries may be placed by mortuaries or by families of the de- ceased and include online publication linked to the newspaper's website. Paid obituaries may be of any length, may run multiple days and offer wide lati- tude of content, including photos. Death notices By Jeff Barnard The Associated Press WEED Teams of firefight- ers went house-to-house on Wednesday to pin down damage done by a wildfire that officials estimated had destroyed 110 homes and damaged another 90 when flames swept through the small Northern California town of Weed. The figures marked a big increase from the initial es- timate that 150 structures had been burned in the blaze that began Monday. Four firefighters lost their homes. Elsewhere, a wildfire east of Sacramento kept grow- ing and about 1,000 addi- tional firefighters streamed into the area to bring it un- der control. In Weed, two churches, a community center and the library also burned to the ground, while an elemen- tary school and the city's last wood products mill were damaged by flames that had been pushed by 40 mph winds. On Wednesday, firefight- ers braced for more wind as they battled the 375-acre fire, and insurance compa- nies worked to find places to live for the people who lost their homes. The cause of the blaze was under investigation. Burned neighborhoods remained off-limits, but people have been find- ing ways in since the fire started. Kate Stonecypher, who sifted through her burned house on Tuesday, said she was not planning to return until the weekend, when she hoped evacuation orders would be lifted. At the Roseburg Forest Products veneer mill, work- ers looked for structural damage to the main manu- facturing facility. A mainte- nance shed was reduced to twisted sheet-metal. "We were in the mid- dle of its path," said Kellye Wise, vice president of hu- man resources for the com- pany based in Dillard, Ore- gon. He said employees also lost homes in the blaze. In Pollock Pines, 60 miles east of Sacramento, more than 2,500 firefighters bat- tled the King fire, which grew by thousands of acres overnight and had burned through nearly 29 square miles. It was threatening 500 homes, with some under mandatory evacuation or- ders, and was just 5 percent contained. "It's burning in steep, dense terrain with heavy timber that's posing quite a challenge," said Alyssa Smith, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Pro- tection. In Weed, the temporary closure of the mill came as another blow to a town still suffering from log- ging cutbacks in the 1990s intended to protect fish and wildlife, said Siskiyou County Supervisor Michael Kobseff. With 170 workers, the mill is the second largest employer in Weed, a blue- collar town of 3,000 peo- ple in the shadow of Mount Shasta. He said some res- idents are anxious to re- build. 'Then there are oth- ers still pretty well devas- tated," he said. "But I think the community is just try- ing to pull together and get back on track." Near Yosemite National Park, a 320-acre fire that damaged or destroyed 71 structures, including 37 homes, around Oakhurst was 60 percent contained. More than 4,000 wild- fires have burned in Cali- fornia this year. BOLES FIRE Officials: Blaze destroyed, damaged 200 homes GREG BARNETT — THE RECORD SEARCHLIGHT Vehicles and homes are destroyed in Weed where a wind-driven wildfire raced through the hillside neighborhood and forced more than 1,000people to flee the small town near the Oregon border. The fast-moving blaze, which began Monday, was among nearly a dozen wildfires burning in California that have been exacerbated by the state's third straight year of drought. By Tami Abdollah The Associated Press LOS ANGELES School po- lice departments across the country have taken advan- tage of free military surplus gear, stocking up on mine resistant armored vehicles, grenade launchers and scores of M16 rifles. At least 26 school dis- tricts have participated in the Pentagon's surplus pro- gram, which is not new but has come under scru- tiny after police responded to protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, last month with tear gas, armored military trucks and riot gear. Now, amid that increased criticism, several school dis- tricts say they'll give some of the equipment back. Nearly two dozen edu- cation and civil liberties groups sent a letter earlier this week to the Pentagon and the Justice and Educa- tion departments urging a stop to transfers of military weapons to school police. The Los Angeles Unified School District — the na- tion's second largest school district covering 710 square miles and enrolling more than 900,000 students — said it would it would re- move three grenade launch- ers it had acquired under the program in 2001 be- cause they "are not essen- tial life-saving items within the scope, duties and mis- sion" of the district's police force. But the district plans to keep the 60 M16s and a mil- itary vehicle — known as an MRA — used in Iraq and Af- ghanistan that was built to withstand mine blasts. District police Chief Steve Zipperman told The Associated Press that the M16s are used for training, and the MRAP, which is parked off campus in a lot, was acquired because the district could not afford to buy armored vehicles that might be used to protect of- ficers and help students in a school shooting. "That vehicle is used in very extraordinary circum- stances involving a life-sav- ing situation for an armed threat," Zipperman said. "Quite frankly I hope we never have to deploy it." Los Angeles school board member Steve Zimmer said the board was told of the specific equipment the dis- trict had received only after the protests last month in Ferguson. He said the dis- trict will likely let go of the MRAP. "I think that we're go- ing to end up for both pub- lic relations purposes and because I don't think we really, really need it, we'll probably end up giving that actual vehicle to another ju- risdiction," Zimmer said. Law enforcement agen- cies around the country equipped themselves dur- ing learner budget years by turning to the Pentagon program, which the Defense Department has viewed as a way to get rid of gear it no longer needs. Since the Columbine school shooting in 1999, school districts in- creasingly participated. Federal records show schools in Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Nevada, Texas and Utah obtained surplus military gear. In addition to the Los Ange- les school district, at least five other California dis- tricts have received equip- ment, state records show. In response to police tac- tics after a white policeman fatally shot an unarmed black 18-year-old in Fergu- son, the White House said it would conduct a review of the Pentagon surplus pro- gram, and Congress also plans hearings on it. U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said while there's a role for surplus equip- ment, especially defensive gear, going to local police departments, "it's difficult to see what scenario would require a grenade launcher or a mine resistant vehicle for a school police depart- ment." San Diego Unified School District is painting its MRAP white and hoping to use the Red Cross sym- bol on it to assuage com- munity worries, said Ursula Kroemer, a district spokes- woman. The MRAP has been stripped of all weapon mounts and turrets and will be outfitted with medical supplies and teddy bears for use in emergencies to evac- uate students and staff, she said. Adding: "This thing is a bulletproof safe haven on wheels." Jill Poe, police chief in the Southern California's Bald- win Park school district, said she'll be returning the three M16 rifles acquired under her predecessor. "Honestly, I could not tell you why we acquired those," Poe said. "They have never been used in the field and they will never been used in the field. They're locked up in our armory ... I was look- ing to ship those back be- cause they're never going to be of use to us." EDUCATION School districts stock up free military gear THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The L.A. Unified's School District police department received a MRAP vehicle like this one through a federal program. The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO Facebook says it temporarily restored hundreds of deleted profiles of self-described drag queens and others, but declined to change a policy requiring account holders to use their real names rather than drag names such as Lil Ms. Hot Mess and Sister Roma. The company restored the names Wednesday af- ter it met with several drag queens and a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors who object to Facebook's policy. The drag queens say requiring them and others to disclose their real names is unfair and could put jobs, relationships and health at risk. Facebook said it will keep the accounts active for two weeks so people can decide whether to provide their real names. Several drag queens and Supervisor David Campos said at a news conference at San Francisco City Hall that they are disappointed that Facebook didn't change its policy after the two sides met for about an hour Wednesday. Campos said Facebook has agreed to an- other meeting. FACEBOOK Drag queens' pages restored The Associated Press SACRAMENTO Medi-Cal patients and health ad- vocates have filed a law- suit against the state for leaving hundreds of thou- sands of low-income and disabled people waiting months for health care. A coalition of legal aid organizations and health care advocates filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Al- ameda County Superior Court on behalf of four Medi-Cal patients. They are asking the Califor- nia Department of Health Care Services to process applications within a re- quired 45-day time frame. One plaintiff, Frances Rivera of Visalia, lost her adult son, who died from a pulmonary embolism while waiting to hear about his Medi-Cal application. The application was approved two months after he died. DISABLED PEOPLE Medi-Cal patients sue over application backlog Rick Giannola 1966-2014 Family and friends are all welcome to attend an informalCelebrationofLife for Rick on Sat. Oct. 4th from 1 to 4 p.m. in Chico at his mom's place. Rick passed away in Chico on May 18th not long after his 48 th birthday. Please call his mom Adriana at 530-343- 3882 For questions regarding location, driving instructions, etc., or for more details you can visit either Rick's Facebook page or that of his sister Robin Johnson or brother Joe Giannola. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2014 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM |NEWS | 7 A