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Friday, August 23, 2013 – Daily News Death Notices Death notices must be provided by mortuaries to the news department, are published at no charge, and feature only specific basic information about the deceased. Paid obituaries are placed through the Classified advertising department. Paid obituaries may be placed by mortuaries or by families of the deceased and include online publication linked to the newspaper's website. Paid obituaries may be of any length, may run multiple days and offer wide latitude of content, including photos. Christine Adell Monroe Christine Adell Monroe, of Corning, died Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013 in Orland. She was 53. Red Bluff Simple Cremations & Burial Service is handling the arrangements. Published Friday, Aug. 23, 2013 in the Daily News, Red Bluff, Calif. Klamath water task force needs more time ASHLAND (AP) — A task force looking for solutions to the water woes in the Klamath Basin says it needs an additional two weeks to come up with a list of suggestions for lawmakers. The group had been scheduled to produce recommendations by Sept. 5. But the Herald and News (http://bit.ly/153HkVT ) reports that during a meeting Thursday in Ashland, the group decided it needs more time. Richard Whitman, natural resources adviser to the governor, cited slow progress on addressing upper Basin water issues and federal costs. Drought and newly recognized water rights for the Klamath Tribes has cut off irrigation for cattle ranches in the upper Basin. The task force is being asked to consider ways to assure water for irrigation, restore fish and wildlife habitat, and negotiate a settlement over water rights. MURAL (Continued from page 1A) grounds. There are areas within the mural that can support copies of ranch branding irons. Additionally, there are spaces for local businesses' logos and trademarks without compromising the integrity of the mural. "We are getting ready to paint the rodeo arena to house the barrel racer," Sipes said. "Traditionally there are ads on the background walls. This will not only bring funds to the Fairgrounds and go toward supplies, but will also recognize local businesses and bring a personal touch as well as credibility to the mural." Some of the other artists involved in the development of the mural are Connie Graham, Marjorie Curl, Roland Lint, Jim Ramey, Connie Maxey, Sylvia Skonberg. The association welcomes the participation of others wishing to be involved. If you are interested or have photos or ideas, call the Tehama Fairgrounds Community Alliance or the Tehama District Fair Office at 527-5920. Red Bluff Art Association meets mornings, most Thursdays, at the Tehama District Fairground, 650 Antelope Blvd., Red Bluff. For specific information, call 529-1603 or visit redbluffartists.com. ARREST Tehama County Sheriff's Office. Assistant United States Attorney Michael D. (Continued from page 1A) McCoy is prosecuting the cellophane wrapped pack- case. ages, each filled with a white If convicted, Guzman powdery substance. A pre- faces a maximum penalty of sumptive test of the contents 20 years in prison and a $1 of one of the bags deter- million fine. Any sentence, mined that it contained however, would be detercocaine. The bags were mined at the discretion of the weighed and the packages court after consideration of were determined to weigh any applicable statutory facapproximately one kilogram tors and the Federal Sentenceach, for a total of approxi- ing Guidelines, which take mately 30 kilograms. into account a number of The case is the product of variables. The charges are an investigation by the Drug only allegations; the defenEnforcement Administra- dant is presumed innocent tion, the California Highway until and unless proven Patrol, the Glenn County guilty beyond a reasonable Sheriff's Office, and the doubt. VISTA (Continued from page 1A) dren at an age where they are likely to begin gang associations. The program is focused on seventh- and eighthgraders at the school and uses officer-instructed classroom curriculum. Lessons focus on providing children with life skills to help them avoid delinquent behavior and violence. GREAT's website says the program's primary objective "is prevention and is intended as an immunization against delinquency, youth violence and gang memberships." A University of Missouri, St. Louis study found the program produced a 39 percent reduction in odds of a student joining a gang within a year of having the program and a 24 percent reduction four years after the program. The officer will also perform gang prevention outreach activities with families of at-risk students and form a Gang Prevention Unit with the District Attorney's Office. During the summer the officer will work with the Tehama County Probation Department and Juvenile Hall. The agreement was approved by the Tehama County Community Corrections Partnership executive committee. Board Chairman Dennis Garton said he supported the concept, but was hesitant to spend county money on a city school. He questioned how many county residents attended Vista. "They're all county students," Supervisor Bob Williams replied. "Everyone who lives in the city, lives in the county." Williams said he wholeheartedly supported the program, referencing the benefits he saw a school resource officer have during his time on the Corning High School Board of Trustees. Supervisor Steve Chamblin said the county was fortunate in that federal funds were covering similar-type programs in the southern part of the county. He said because of that he felt it was right to target the largest junior high school in the northern part of the country. The board approved the agreement unanimously. The Red Bluff City Council approved its end of the spending in June. Rich Greene can be reached at 527-2151, ext. 109 or rgreene@redbluffdailyne ws.com. 9A Wildfire near Yosemite surges to 84 square miles FRESNO (AP) — A wildfire outside Yosemite National Park more than tripled in size Thursday, shutting down businesses in surrounding communities and leading scores of tourists to leave the area during peak season. California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency due to the huge fire, one of several blazes burning in or near the nation's national parks and one of 50 major uncontained fires burning across the western U.S. Fire officials said the blaze near Yosemite, which threatens several thousand homes, hotels and camp buildings, had grown to more than 84 square miles and was only 2 percent contained Thursday, down from 5 percent a day earlier. Two homes and seven outbuildings have been destroyed. While the park remains open, the blaze has caused the closure of a 4mile stretch of State Route 120, one of three entrances into Yosemite on the west side, devastating areas that live off of park-fueled tourism. Officials have advised voluntary evacuations of the gated summer community of Pine Mountain Lake, population 2,800, other area residences, several organized camps and at least two campgrounds. More homes, businesses and hotels are threatened in nearby Groveland, a community of 600 about five miles from the fire and 25 miles from the entrance of Yosemite. ''Usually during summer, it's swamped with tourists, you can't find parking downtown,'' said Christina Wilkinson, who runs Groveland's social media pages and lives in Pine Mountain Lake. ''Now, the streets are empty. All we see is firefighters, emergency personnel and fire trucks.'' Though Wilkinson said she and her husband are staying put — for now — many area businesses have closed and people who had vacation rental homes are cancelling plans, local business owners said. ''This fire, it's killing our financial picture,'' said Corinna Loh, whose family owns the still-open Iron Door Saloon and Grill in Groveland. ''This is our high season and it has gone to nothing, we're really hurting.'' Loh said most of her employees have left town. And the family's Spinning Wheel Ranch, where they ''This fire, it's killing our financial picture. This is our high season and it has gone to nothing, we're really hurting.'' — Corinna Loh, business owner rent cabins to tourists, has also been evacuated because it's directly in the line of fire. Two outbuildings have burned at the ranch, Loh said, and she still has no word whether the house and cabins survived. ''We're all just standing on eggshells, waiting,'' Loh said. The governor's emergency declaration finding ''conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property'' frees up funds and firefighting resources and helps Tuolumne County in seeking federal disaster relief. Park officials said the fire has not impacted the park itself, which can still be accessed via state Routes 140 and 41 from the west, as well as State Route 120 from the east side. Yosemite Valley is clear of smoke, all accommodations and attractions are open, and campgrounds are full, said park spokesman Scott Gediman. During summer weekdays, the park gets up to 15,000 visitors. ''The fire is totally outside the park,'' Gediman said. ''The park's very busy, people are here. There's no reason that they should not come.'' The Yosemite County Tourism Bureau based in Mariposa has been helping tourists displaced by the fire to find new accommodations in other park-area towns, said director Terry Selk. In Yellowstone National Park, five wildfires have been burned about 18 square miles of mostly remote areas on the 25th anniversary of the infamous 1988 fires that burned more than 1,200 square miles inside Yellowstone, or more than a third of the park. The vast areas that burned that year remain obvious to anybody who drives through. The trees in the burn areas are a lot shorter. This summer's fires haven't been anywhere near that disruptive. The biggest fire in Yellowstone, one that has burned about 12 square miles in the Hayden Valley area, for a time Tuesday closed the road that follows the Yellowstone River between Fishing Bridge and Canyon Village. Anybody who needed to travel between Fishing Bridge and Canyon Village faced a detour through the Old Faithful area that added 64 miles to the 16-mile drive. By Wednesday, the road had reopened. Later that day, half an inch of rain fell on the fire. Park officials had been making preliminary plans to evacuate Lake Village, an area five miles south of the fire with a hotel, lodge, gas station and hospital. Any threat to that area appeared less likely now. A few trails and parking areas along the Yellowstone River remained closed in case the fire flares up again and the area needs to be evacuated, park officials said. Smoke from the fires has been blowing into Cody, a city of about 10,000 people 50 miles east of Yellowstone, for the past couple weeks. If anything, though, visitors have been more curious about this year's fires than threatened, said Scott Balyo, executive director of the Cody Country Chamber of Commerce. ''People from the East Coast or the Midwest where this isn't common are very interested, certainly, in the way the fires look, the way the smell,'' he said. ''There's a lot of educational opportunities along with it.'' This year's Yellowstone fires are being allowed to burn to help renew and improve the ecosystem. A lightning-sparked fire in a remote area of Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park burned more than 615 acres in June but had no impact on tourists — other than backcountry trail closures — or tourism-dependent towns adjacent to the park. Crews allowed the Big Meadows Fire to burn beetle-killed spruce before containing the blaze. The fire was overshadowed by wildfires that destroyed nearly 500 homes near Colorado Springs and a 170-squaremile complex of fires on national forest land in Colorado's southwestern mountains. Non-citizens could be jurors under bill SACRAMENTO (AP) — California would become the first state to allow non-citizens who are in the country legally to serve as jurors under a bill that cleared the Assembly on Thursday and heads to Gov. Jerry Brown's desk. If signed into law, the legislation would make immigrants who are legal permanent residents eligible for jury duty. It would not change other requirements for jurors, such as being at least 18 years old and having English proficiency. They also must live in the county making the summons. Assemblyman Bob Wieckows- ki, D-Fremont, said AB1401 would help California widen the pool of prospective jurors and help integrate immigrants into their community. Immigrants already can serve in other roles in the courts system, including working as judges, he said. ''Immigrants are our friends, immigrants are our neighbors, immigrants are our co-workers and immigrants are our family members,'' Wieckowski said. ''They are part of the fabric of our community.'' The Assembly passed AB1401 on Thursday on a largely partyline vote of 41-26. Three Democ- rats —Assemblymen Ken Cooley of Rancho Cordova, Adam Gray of Merced and Rudy Salas of Bakersfield — joined Republicans in opposing the measure. Assemblyman Rocky Chavez, R-Oceanside, said during his floor comments that he does not see a shortage of potential jurors. He also said those accused of a crime have a right to a jury of peers who fully understand the country's laws and culture. ''I think that understanding only comes when an individual openly takes an oath to become a citizen of the country in which they live,'' Chavez said. Agency taking back federal funds JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service plans to take a portion of the timber payments it has promised or paid out to 22 states, citing federal budget cuts. Collection letters from Forest Service Chief Thomas Tidwell went out to governors around the country Monday, saying money would be taken from funds used for habitat improvement and other national forest-related projects that put people to work under the Secure Rural Schools and Community SelfDetermination Act. Oregon stands to lose the most in the move, with nearly $4 million in reductions. That would leave the state with about $3.4 million under that program. California would lose nearly $2.2 million, leaving it with about $1 million for the program. Idaho is set to lose $1.7 million, Montana nearly $1.3 million and Alaska, about $930,000 — nearly half the total allotment it had been expecting. Earlier this year, Tidwell sent letters to 41 states, asking for the return of $17.9 million in timber payments used to pay for schools, roads, search and rescue operations in rural counties and conservation projects. ''We regret having to take this action, but we have no alternative under sequestration,'' Tidwell said in his letter to Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell, dated March 19. Alaska was given the option of having about $826,000 the state had received or expected under the act reduced from its so-called ''Title II funds,'' for habitat improvement and other projects, or getting a bill for the money that had already been paid out under other sections of the act. Parnell refused, saying there was no basis in law for the request. It wasn't immediately clear why the agency was taking a greater share of funds from Alaska now. Parnell spokeswoman Sharon Leighow said by email that the state will be exploring all options to address the agency's actions, ''as an individual state and in concert with other states.'' The Western Governors' Association, in a letter to U.S. Agricul- ture Secretary Tom Vilsack in May, said the budget act that triggered the automatic federal budget cuts, known as sequestration, does not include language authorizing ''retroactive application of the spending reductions or limitations. Nor does it contain language requiring reimbursement of funds that were already distributed in order to satisfy spending limitations.'' The Forest Service falls under the Department of Agriculture.