Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/791244
The Red Cross Shelter at the Los Molinos High School was also scheduled to close at 5 p.m. Thursday. For those in Tehama County who are in need of assistance the Tehama County Sheriff's Office is offering free flood clean up kits, a total of 20 available, at a first come first serve basis, Borden said. Citi- zens would need to appear in person at the front coun- ter of the main office, 22840 Antelope Blvd. open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The kit consists of a five gallon bucket, mop and miscellaneous clean- ing supplies. Borden said to keep in mind the Sher- iff's Office only has 20 flood kits. High river levels are continuing throughout the weekend with levels for both bridges, Tehama and Vina Woodson, expected to be in the minor flood stage, according to the weather service. At 1 p.m. Thursday the Sacramento River at the Tehama Bridge was at 216.2 feet. Minor flooding was occurring through- out Wednesday and Thurs- day and is forecasted to continue at the same level through to Tuesday. The water level is forecasted to fluctuate near 216 feet through late Friday morn- ing with flood stages being at 213 feet. The flood warning had been cancelled for Sacra- mento River below the Red Bluff Diversion Dam as of 9:32 a.m. Thursday. Releases from Shasta Reservoir are expected to keep the upper Sacramento River at high flows for the next several days, accord- ing to the weather ser- vice, although there were no scheduled releases on Thursday or Friday. The last releases were at 6 a.m. Wednesday with 50,000 cu- bic feet per second of water released, at 8 a.m. 58,000 cfs, at 10 a.m. 66,000 cfs and lastly at noon Wednes- day 70,000 cfs of water was released, according to the California Department of Water Resources. A chance for more rain is forecasted throughout the weekend as well, accord- ing to the weather service as of Thursday afternoon. On Friday night there is a 30 percent chance of show- ers with mostly cloudy skies and low around 35 degrees. According to the weather service precipita- tion amounts are predicted to be less than a tenth of an inch. On Saturday there is a 50 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 53. Southwest wind around six mph becoming calm in the morning. On Saturday night there is a 20 percent chance of showers with mostly cloudy skies. Temperatures are ex- pected to reach as low as 32 degrees, according to the weather service. On Sunday rain is fore- casted with a 60 percent chance of precipitation. Sunday night, Monday and Tuesday rain is also fore- casted. Flood FROMPAGE1 the Old Time Fiddlers Asso- ciation. Awards and prizes will be awarded to the contestants, and the first place winners in each division will be in- vited to perform and com- pete in the Exchange Club District Search for Tal- ent Competition, which will be held at the Feather Falls Casino on June 3. In past years, winners of the Red Bluff competition — Mitchell Suave, Chad Bush- nell, Devin Penner, Ashiah Scharaga, Stacy Stone, Ashtin Lopeman and Mat- ilyn Szychulda — have all gone on to win at the dis- trict level. Attendees are advised to arrive early as it is expected this gala event will sell out. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for ages 10-18. Chil- dren younger than 10 will be admitted free of charge. The proceeds from the evening provide the prizes and awards to the contes- tants and support for the programs of the Exchange Club and the Soroptimist International of Red Bluff. Talent FROM PAGE 1 CONTRIBUTED Mitchell Sauve and Ashtin Lopeman wowed the audience at the 10th annual Search For Talent in 2016. The Sacramento River is just below flood stage at Woodson Bridge around 9:50a.m. Thursday. PHOTOS BY CHIP THOMPSON — DAILY NEWS The Sacramento River covers up a footpath at Ide Adobe State Historic Park around 10:20a.m. Thursday. By Sadie Gurman TheAssociatedPress WASHINGTON The Jus- tice Department will step up enforcement of federal law against recreational marijuana, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Thursday, offering the Trump administration's strongest indication to date of a looming crackdown on the drug, even as a solid ma- jority of Americans believe it should be legal. "I do believe you'll see greater enforcement of it," Spicer said in response to a question during a news conference. But he offered no details about what such enforcement would entail. President Donald Trump does not oppose medical marijuana, he added, but "that's very different than recreational use, which is something the Department of Justice will be further looking into." A renewed focus on rec- reational marijuana in states that have legalized pot would present a depar- ture from the Trump ad- ministration's statements in favor of states' rights. A day earlier, the administra- tion announced that the is- sue of transgender student bathroom access was best left to states and local com- munities to decide. Enforcement would also shift away from marijuana policy under the Obama ad- ministration, which said in a 2013 memo that it would not intervene in state's mar- ijuana laws as long as they keep the drug from crossing state lines and away from children and drug cartels. But the memo carried no force of law and could be rewritten by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has consistently said he op- poses legal marijuana but has not indicated what he might do. Eight states and Wash- ington, D.C., have legalized marijuana for recreational use. The Justice Depart- ment has several options available should it decide to enforce the law, includ- ing filing lawsuits on the grounds that state laws reg- ulating pot are unconstitu- tional because they are pre- empted by federal law. Pot advocates said they hoped Spicer's prediction would not come to pass. "This administration is claiming that it values states' rights, so we hope they will respect the rights of states to determine their own marijuana policies," said Mason Tvert, commu- nications director for the Marijuana Policy Project. "It is hard to imagine why anyone would want mari- juana to be produced and sold by cartels and crim- inals rather than tightly regulated, taxpaying busi- nesses." States have been flout- ing the U.S. Controlled Sub- stances Act since at least 1996, when California vot- ers approved marijuana for sick people, a direct conflict with federal guidelines bar- ring the use of marijuana for medical purposes. And presidents since Bill Clinton have said the fed- eral government unequivo- cally rejects a state's ability to modify federal drug law. However, three presi- dents over the last 20 years have each concluded that the limited resources of the U.S. Department of Jus- tice are best spent pursuing large drug cartels, not indi- vidual users of marijuana. Nevada state Senate Ma- jority Leader Aaron Ford said in a statement Thurs- day that meddling in recre- ational pot laws would be federal overreach and harm state coffers. "Not only did voters overwhelmingly vote to approve the legalization of recreational marijuana, the Governor's proposed education budget depends on tax revenue from rec- reational marijuana sales. Any action by the Trump administration would be an insult to Nevada voters and would pick the pock- ets of Nevada's students," Ford said. Spicer's comments come as a solid majority of Amer- icans support legalization. A Quinnipiac poll released Thursday said 59 percent of Americans think mari- juana should be legal and 71 percent would oppose a federal crackdown. Associated Press writer Kristen Wyatt in Denver continued to this report. FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT White House expects crackdown on legalized marijuana MANUEL BALCE CENETA — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS White House press secretary Sean Spicer speaks during a daily press briefing at the White House in Washington on Thursday. By David Crary The Associated Press Bills to curtail transgen- der people's access to pub- lic restrooms are pending in about a dozen states, but even in conservative bastions such as Texas and Arkansas they may be doomed by high-powered opposition. The bills have taken on a new significance this week following the deci- sion by President Donald Trump's administration to revoke an Obama-era fed- eral directive instructing public schools to let trans- gender students use bath- rooms and locker rooms of their chosen gender. Many conservative lead- ers hailed the assertions by top Trump appointees that the issue was best handled at the state and local level. Yet at the state level, bills that would limit transgender bathroom ac- cess are floundering even though nearly all have sur- faced in Republican-con- trolled legislatures that share common ground politically with Trump. In none of the states with pending bills does passage seem assured; there's been vigorous opposition from business groups and a no- table lack of support from several GOP governors. The chief reason, ac- cording to transgender- rights leaders, is the back- lash that hit North Caro- lina after its legislature approved a bill in March 2016 requiring transgen- der people to use pub- lic restrooms that corre- spond to the sex on their birth certificates. Several major sports organiza- tions shifted events away from North Carolina, and businesses such as PayPal decided not to expand in the state. In November, Re- publican Pat McCrory, who signed and defended the bill, became the only in- cumbent governor to lose in the general election. "We don't need that in Arkansas," said that state's GOP governor, Asa Hutchinson, earlier this month. "If there's a North Carolina-type bill, then I want the Legislature not to pass it." North Carolina's experi- ence also has been evoked in Texas, where a "bath- room bill" known as Sen- ate Bill 6 is being champi- oned by GOP Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who founded the Legislature's tea party cau- cus and oversees the state Senate. Business groups and LGBT-rights support- ers have warned that pas- sage of the North Carolina- style bill could cost Texas many millions of dollars, as well as the opportunity to host future pro sports championships. Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University in Houston, as- sessed the bill's chances of enactment as "effec- tively zero." The measure might not even clear the Senate, he said, and would be "dead on arrival" if it reached the House of Rep- resentatives. "The centrist conser- vative Republicans in the House, led by Speaker Joe Straus, view SB 6 as an un- wanted distraction," Jones said. In Virginia, South Da- kota and Wyoming, bills targeting transgender peo- ple already have died this year for lack of high-level support. The South Dakota bill, opposed by GOP Gov. Dennis Daugaard, would have required public school students to use the locker rooms and shower rooms matching their gen- der at birth. In several other states, such as Kansas and Ken- tucky, bathroom bills re- main alive but are gain- ing little traction. Ken- tucky's GOP Gov. Matt Bevin, though a staunch social conservative, has dismissed the proposal as unnecessary government intrusion. "Is there anyone you know in Kentucky who has trouble going to the bath- room?" he asked. In Tennessee, two law- makers promoting a bath- room bill abruptly ended a news conference last week when it was interrupted by protesters, one wearing a T-shirt reading, "You can pee next to me." Major Tennessee busi- nesses have joined forces to oppose the bill. And on Thursday, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally said the bill was no longer needed because of the Trump administra- tion's decision to revoke the directive on transgen- der students' rights. There's a bathroom bill pending in Missouri, where an identical pro- posal didn't even receive a hearing last year. Wis- consin's GOP-controlled Legislature also rejected a bathroom bill last ses- sion; its sponsor promises to bring it back this year even though GOP leaders have not made it a priority. Other states with pend- ing bathroom bills, accord- ing to the National Confer- ence of State Legislatures, include Alabama, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, South Carolina and Wash- ington. When these types of bills advance to pub- lic hearings, the sessions can be emotional. Saman- tha DeMichieli, a 13-year- old transgender girl in Missouri, started crying when she told lawmakers this week about being bul- lied; she said the prospect of using a different bath- room was "horrifying." Attorney Gary McCa- leb of Alliance Defend- ing Freedom, which sup- ports the push for bath- room bills, said politicians need to hear the testimony of students with the con- trasting views, such as girls who feel "embarrass- ment and humiliation" for sharing bathrooms with transgender schoolmates. As for the Republican leaders who don't em- brace the bills, McCaleb suggested they were suc- cumbing to pressure from the business community. Looking ahead, McCa- leb said it was difficult to predict if any of this year's bathroom bills would pass. "It's tough to know," he said. "There's a lot of mov- ing pieces." National LGBT-rights groups are closely mon- itoring the fluctuations, recalling how North Caro- lina politicians took activ- ists by surprise last year when they passed the di- visive bathroom bill in a fast-paced special session. "That experience makes us very wary about when and how legislation will move," said Sarah Warbe- low, legal director of the Human Rights Campaign. "On the other hand, the American public has been incredibly vocal against these bills... so we're hope- ful that legislators have learned a lesson from North Carolina." TRUMP DECISION JAY JANNER — AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN FILE Brad Kent, chief sales and services officer for Visit Dallas, holds a sign at a news conference at the state capitol in Austin, Texas, to oppose a Texas "bathroom bill." Bills targeting transgender bathroom access are floundering FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM |NEWS | 7 A