Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/148178
Saturday, August 3, 2013 – Daily News JURY Continued from page 1A Salaries can only be changed by a general election vote. In 2008, 55.62 percent of voters turned down a measure that would have authorized the Tehama County Grand Jury to recommend how much supervisors should make. The following year the 2008-09 Grand Jury weighed in and said county officials had not made the ballot measure clear enough for voters. The most recent Grand Jury interviewed individual boardmembers to determine their responsibilities and duties. Supervisors told the Grand Jury of the time they spend at various community events to interact with constituents. "The majority of these functions require personal time and expense in the form of a donation or ticket purchase, which is not reimbursed by the county," the Grand Jury report said. Board members are often reimbursed for business-related travel that occurs outside the county. The Board of Supervisors is responsible for the function of county government, passing all governing ordinances, adopting a yearly budget, setting employee salaries and directing services ranging from public roads to traffic regulation. The supervisors also serve as the governing board for the Air Pollution Control District, Sanitation District No. 1, InHome Supportive Services Public Authority and Housing Authority. 9A Air quality at unhealthy level Friday Air quality reached unhealthy levels Friday as smoke drifted into Tehama County from a number of wildland fires in the North State. The Tehama County Air Pollution Control District issued an Air Quality Advisory in response. At 10 a.m. Friday the Air Quality Index (AQI) reached 120, which falls into the range of Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups. At the level people with heart or lung disease, older adults and children are recommended to reduce prolonged or heavy exertion. At 11 a.m. the AQI in Tehama County was 116. "The Tehama County Air Pollution Control District advised that these sensitive categories stay indoors and avoid intense physical activity in those areas where high smoke levels are visibly evident," a press release said. While all people may experience varying degrees of symptoms, more sensitive individuals are at greater risk to experience symptoms including coughing, a scratchy throat, watery and itchy eyes and difficulty breathing. People experiencing questionable or severe symptoms should seek professional medical advice. The AQI measures the amount of fine particulate matter is the air. It ranges from 0 (good) to 500 (hazardous). Tehama County's AQI is recorded hourly at tehcoapcd.net/air_quality_index.ht m. Salmon River Complex update Rich Greene can be reached at 527-2151, ext. 109 or rgreene@redbluffdailyne ws.com. CENTER Continued from page 1A Stevens said his beginnings at the center started when he helped with a children's Christmas festival and an after school program there. He said a variety of needs were met. "That showed me that the center could be something to a lot of different kinds of people," he said. After a pause, he got personal. Stevens said his daughter was married at the center. He remembers seeing little kids in tuxedos. "I look in that auditorium and it's revisiting her wedding," Stevens said as his eyes welled up. He added, "When you die, all that you have to leave the world is hopefully good memories." The festivities included entertainment from Bushnell, illusionist Bryan Gilles, singer Kerry DeFonte, the Red Bluff Community Band and ballet dancer Joe Howarth, who was accepted to Joffrey Ballet School in New York. Howarth was awarded a $500 scholarship from the center's auxiliary, and he prepared a performance partly composed of original choreography for Friday's event. He said Stevens asked him to perform. "I'm really honored that he even thought of me," Howarth said. "It means I'm actually part of the community and I'm not just an odd kid who happens to live in Red Bluff." Howarth, who just completed his junior year at Red Bluff High School, said he's now connected to the center. "This will always be one of the places that helped me to become what I'm going to be," he said. Bushnell, taking a break from signing autographs, said he's been performing periodically at the center since he won a talent show there about 10 years ago. "Anything I can do to help out the local community," he said. Earlier in the day, State Sen. Jim Nielsen honored the center and donated a bound copy of Ronald Reagan's diary, which is composed of reflections in office from the country's 40th president. Nielsen said after a speech that he was involved with the center before its birth. Community members, including the late Goldie Walston, who is credited as being an integral piece in the center's inception, asked him for help. "Early on it was just kind of a wild dream, an elusive possibility, and then it's become an enduring reality," Nielsen said. Nielsen said the center's beginnings that started with modest fundraisers "illustrates something particular about Tehama County and Red Bluff. But as well, generally, rural communities. They're help your neighbor, protect your neighbor, work together kinds of communities." Bill Goodwin, chief administrator for Tehama County, said during a speech that the county and city split the costs to run the center. And he envisioned the center going strong for another 30 years, at least. Man's garage broken into twice in one day A 71-year-old Red Bluff man reported his garage was burglarized twice in one day Thursday. The man reported the first burglary at 10:14 a.m. after coming back to his home on the 16000 block of Skyline Drive following a few hours away from the residence. The man left his residence once again later in the afternoon, only to come home and find someone had made entry through the same door that had been kicked in during the earlier theft. Three small outboard motors, four electric microphones and other miscellaneous items all together totaling $1,500 were taken. Obama chooses 2 from same Calif. firm for court SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — President Obama has nominated two attorneys from the same California law firm to fill vacancies on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The court said in a statement Thursday that Obama selected former federal prosecutor John B. Owens and antitrust litigator Michelle T. Friedland for the San Francisco-based court that hears appeals from nine western states. Owens, a native of Washington, D.C., works in the Los Angeles office of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP. Friedland, a Berkeley native, works in the same firm's San Francisco office. Both are 41 years old. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Owens would fill a judgeship vacant since April of this year. The seat Friedland would occupy has been vacant since December of 2004. The Shelly and Boulder fires making up the Salmon River Complex now total 1,500 acres. Containment remains at 5 percent. Of the five fires identified Thursday morning about four miles west of Sawyer's Bar, along the Salmon River, three are contained. The Shelly and Boulder fires are expected to continue to grow due to steep, inaccessible and difficult terrain. Extreme burning conditions make this complex likely to become a long term event. Local crews from the US Forest Service, CalFire, Salmon River Fire Dept., Klamath River Fire, Etna Fire, Hammond Ranch Fire, Scott Valley Fire and other local agencies were successful in holding containment lines and protecting structures overnight. One firefighter was injured by a rock to the ankle. An interagency incident management team will arrive to assist the local forest this weekend, bringing with them additional firefighting and support person- COUNCIL nel and equipment. More than 400 personnel are assigned. This includes four Initial Attack hand-crews, along with two helicopters, five engines, one dozer and seven water tenders. The Klamath National Forest is working with Siskiyou County Air Quality Management District, Public Health and Office of Emergency Services to implement smoke monitoring. People are asked to remember fire danger is extreme. Please be extremely careful with best for Red Bluff. I am willing to listen to others." Harrop: "I want to be helpful in Continued from page 1A our community." Rieders: "I am new to Red Bluff. Eliggi: "I am not working off anyone and I don't have any hidden I believe in giving to my communiagendas. I think I can do what is ty. Every city needs fresh ideas to solve political issues." anything that can cause a spark. A loose trailer chain can start multiple fires along roadsides. Make sure your vehicle is properly maintained with nothing dragging on the ground. Check tire pressures and maintain vehicle brakes. Driving on an exposed rim throws sparks. A small flame can get out of control very quickly. Please report all fires or any suspicious activity by calling 9-1-1. More fire safety information is available at www.preventwildfireca.org. Stevens: "While on council, we had good times financially and poor times. I have the ability to know the records, and can work with current members." Rich Greene can be reached at 527-2151, ext. 109 or rgreene@redbluffdailynews.com. High court won't delay release of Calif. inmates SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday paved the way for the early release of nearly 10,000 California inmates by year's end despite warnings by Gov. Jerry Brown and other state officials that a public safety crisis looms if they're forced to open the prison gates. A majority of justices refused an emergency request by the governor to halt a lower court's directive for the early release of the prisoners to ease severe overcrowding at California's 33 adult prisons. The decision was met with concern by law enforcement officials in the state. Covina Police Chief Kim Raney, president of the California Police Chiefs Association, said the justices ignored efforts already underway to reduce prison populations and ''chose instead to allow for the release of more felons into already overburdened communi- ties.'' Brown's office referred a request for comment to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, where Secretary Jeff Beard vowed that the state would press on with a still-pending appeal in hope of preventing the releases. A panel of three federal judges had previously ordered the state to cut its prison population by nearly 8 percent to roughly 110,000 inmates by Dec. 31 to avoid conditions amounting to cruel and unusual punishment. That panel, responding to decades of lawsuits filed by inmates, repeatedly ordered early releases after finding inmates were needlessly dying and suffering because of inadequate medical and mental health care caused by overcrowding. Court-appointed experts found that the prison system had a suicide rate that worsened last year to 24 per 100,000 inmates, far The staff at Red Bluff Simple Cremations would like to thank all of the families who trust us with their loved ones needs. Red Bluff Simple Cremations & Burial Service 527-1732 722 Oak Street, Red Bluff, FD Lic. 1931 exceeding the national average of 16 suicides per 100,000 inmates in state prisons. Brown had appealed the latest decision of the panel and, separately, asked the U.S. Supreme Court to cancel the early release order while considering his arguments that the state is making significant progress in improving conditions. The high court refused Friday to stop the release but did not rule on the appeal itself. Corrections Secretary Beard said the state would press on with that, so the ''merits of the case can be considered without delay.'' However, inmate lawyer Don Specter, head of the Berkeley-based Prison Law Office, said the ruling Friday did not bode well for the overall appeal. He said the decision underscores what inmates have been arguing for years. ''The conditions are still overcrowded,'' he said. ''The medical and health care remain abysmal.'' Lawyers representing Brown had argued to the high court that releasing 10,000 more inmates would mean letting violent criminals out on the streets and overwhelm the abilities of law enforcement and social services to monitor them. ''No data suggests that a sudden release of inmates with these characteristics can be done safely,'' the state said in its filing. ''No state has ever done it.'' The panel of federal judges has consistently rejected that argument. The judges, prisoners' lawyers and others say other states have marginally reduced inmate sentences without sparking an increase in crime. The governor said the state has already transferred thousands of lowlevel and nonviolent offenders to county jails, but that local officials in turn have been forced into releasing some inmates early to ease their own overcrowding issues.