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Friday, January 28, 2011 – Daily News – 9A Death Notices Sherry McCollum Davis Sherry McCollum Davis of Palo Cedro died Tues- day, Jan. 25, 2011 at her home of natural causes. She was 50. Allen & Dahl Funeral Chapel in Palo Cedro is han- dling the arrangements. Published Friday, Jan. 28, 2011 in the Daily News, Red Bluff, Calif. Christine Jane McCarley Christine Jane McCarley died Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2011, at her residence in Gerber. She was 60. Red Bluff Simple Cremations and Burial Service will be handling the arrangements. Published Friday, Jan. 28, 2011, in the Daily News, Red Bluff, Calif. ALIENS Continued from page 1A those of someone in DHS’ biometric system, the new automated process notifies ICE. ICE evaluates each case to determine the indi- vidual’s immigration sta- tus and takes appropriate enforcement action. This includes aliens who are in lawful status and those who are present without lawful authority. Once identified through finger- print matching, ICE will respond with a priority placed on aliens convicted of the most serious crimes first—such as those with convictions for major drug offenses, murder, rape and kidnapping. "The Secure Communi- ties strategy provides ICE with an effective tool to identify criminal aliens in local custody," said Secure Communities Assistant Director David Venturella. "Enhancing public safety is at the core of ICE’s mission. Our goal is to use biometric infor- mation sharing to remove criminal aliens, preventing them from being released back into the community, with little or no additional burden on our law enforcement partners." With the expansion of Secure Communities to these five additional Cali- fornia counties, ICE is now using this biometric information-sharing capa- bility in 46 jurisdictions statewide. Across the country, ICE has activated Secure Communities in 998 jurisdictions in 37 states. By 2013, ICE plans to be able to respond nationwide to all finger- print matches generated through IDENT/IAFIS interoperability. "Secure Communities will be a much needed and helpful tool for Sutter County law enforcement," said Sutter County Sheriff J. Paul Parker. "In the last year alone, our neighbors to the south, Sacramento County, have identified 192 Level 1 offenders, which includes those con- victed of serious or violent crimes, such as murder, sexual assault and robbery and 560 criminal aliens overall. Without the assis- tance of ICE and their Secure Communities pro- gram, many of these crim- inal aliens would have gone through the system undetected." Since ICE began using this enhanced information sharing capability in Octo- ber 2008, immigration officers have removed from the United States more than 59,300 aliens convicted of a crime. ICE does not regard aliens charged with, but not yet convicted of crimes, as "criminal aliens." Instead, a "criminal alien" is an alien convicted of a crime. In accordance with the Immigration and Nation- ality Act, ICE continues to take action on aliens sub- ject to removal as resources permit. The IDENT system is maintained by DHS’s US- VISIT program and IAFIS is maintained by the FBI’s Criminal Justice Informa- tion Services (CJIS). "US-VISIT is proud to support ICE, helping pro- vide decision makers with comprehensive, reliable information when and where they need it," said US-VISIT Director Robert Mocny. "By enhancing the interoper- ability of DHS’s and the FBI’s biometric systems, we are able to give federal, state and local decision makers information that helps them better protect our communities and our nation." "Under this plan, ICE will be utilizing FBI sys- tem enhancements that allow improved informa- tion sharing at the state and local law enforcement level based on positive identification of incarcer- ated criminal aliens," said Daniel D. Roberts, assis- tant director of the FBI’s CJIS Division. "Addition- ally, ICE and the FBI are working together to take advantage of the strong relationships already forged between the FBI and state and local law enforcement necessary to assist ICE in achieving its goals." For more information about how ICE is using biometrics to identify aliens convicted of a crime, visit www.ice.gov/secure_com munities. Winter warm spell to end LOS ANGELES (AP) — California’s spell of winter warmth is coming to an end after more record highs. The National Weather Service says high pressure that pushed Southern California temperatures into the upper 70s and low 80s on Wednesday will diminish along with the accompanying gusty winds, and there will be low clouds and fog during the weekend. There’s also cooling in the forecast to the north, where several high temperature records were broken or tied in the San Francisco Bay and Monterey Bay areas on Wednesday. In the great Central Valley, meanwhile, extensive areas of dense Tule fog remain a problem Thursday. Long-range forecasts suggest the interruption in unusually warm temperatures may be temporary as high pressure is expected to begin building again on Monday. Parts of Calif park closing for Gold Rush cleanup GRAEAGLE (AP) — The campground, visitors center and picnic areas at a state park in Northern Cal- ifornia’s Gold Country are set to close while crews remove hazardous waste from the park’s mining past. California State Parks Acting District Superinten- dent Matt Green says the upcoming work will close parts of Plumas-Eureka State Park for several months. Green told The Sacramento Bee that he’s trying to get the word out because the park’s campsites usually sell out for the summer. About 100 people already have made reservations that will have to be canceled to start work once the snow melts. Federal environmental officials say the $1.4 million job involves removing soil that was contaminated by naturally occurring arsenic, lead and mercury when miners hunted for gold 150 years ago. BOMB Continued from page 1A dles and scales, Maher said. Three chain saws that had been stolen in a bur- glary in Shasta County were located, Maher said. DIG Continued from page 1A The park, which has become a popular site for transients, is trans- forming back into the park that the city intended it to be, a place for families to enjoy the outdoors, Parks and Recreation Director Debbie Carlisi said. “The public has gotten their park back with this project,” Carlisi said. The course is free and open to everyone of all skill levels. Anytime the park is open, the course will be open. Talks of creating a disc golf course in Red Bluff have gone on Harvin was booked into the Tehama County Jail on $60,000 bail. He was charged with receiving known stolen property, possession of a controlled substance and probation violation. Shrader was booked on warrants for misde- meanors of driving on a suspended license, two counts of failure to appear after a written notice, and contempt of court. His bail was set at $40,000. CalFire, Tehama Coun- ty Sheriff’s deputies, and a for awhile, she said. Grissom was the third person to go to the parks department wanting to build a course, but he is the first one to fol- low through. “With every project there is a champion,” Carlisi said. “Brandon and Shane Emde were the champi- ons of this project.” Grissom does not want to take credit for the project, saying it was really the support of the community that made the project successful. About $8,500 has been invested in the project, and it’s all money that was donated by individuals, groups and businesses, Grissom said. The first donation that got things rolling was a $5,000 from an anonymous donor. Each hole will be named after a local fishing hole along with the hole’s sponsor. Grissom is still look- ing for sponsors for 7 holes and thir- teen benches. A grand opening, which will include a barbecue is planned once all the benches and signs are installed. A park wide cleanup is planned prior to the opening, and volunteers are needed. To volunteer or become a spon- sor, contact Grissom at 230-8880 or Emde at 736-6167. ——— Tang Lor can be reached at 527- 2153, Ext. 110 or by e-mail at tlor@redbluffdailynews.com. Hundreds turn out for bull sale dinner Red Bluff ambulance assisted during the search and arrests. ——— Andrea Wagner can be reached at 527-2153, extension 114 or awagner@redbluffdailyne ws.com. Daily News photo by Chip Thompson Winners of the 4 big prizes for the Youth Activities Raffle during Wednesday evening’s Buyer and Consignor Dinner at the Red Bluff Bull & Gelding Sale are as follows. Gun safe from California Gun Safes - Mitch Kofford, Vina; 4 Tires from I-5 Tire Warehouse in Red Bluff - Jim Bass, Orland-El Ranch Capay Arena; $500 Cabelas Gift Certificate donated by Pine Creek Cattle Co. - John Flynn, Lakeview, Ore.;Yamaha Rhino from Redding Yamaha & SeaDoo - Cliff Kemen, Red Bluff. All proceeds from the sale of the tickets go to help youth organizations and Jr. Livestock auction. Court revives town’s pollution lawsuit SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — An appeals court revived a class-action lawsuit Thursday for 160 residents of a Northern California town who claim an industrial plant’s pollution severely sickened them. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled a trial judge was wrong to dismiss the case on grounds that the statute of limitations had expired. About 100 residents of Willits filed a lawsuit in 1999 claiming chemical disposals from Remco Hydraulics Inc. brought exposure to chromium and caused a wide-range of illnesses, from cancer to mental disorders. The lawsuit ultimately included more than 1,000 residents, many of whom settled with the company, which closed the plant and filed for bankruptcy in 1995. The company’s attorney, Collie James, didn’t return a phone call seek- ing comment. Hundreds of other plaintiffs reject- ed the settlement, and U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston dismissed them all from the case on various legal grounds. Illston also dismissed some plaintiffs before the settlement was reached. A total of 323 plaintiffs were removed after they failed to answer questionnaires about what chemicals they might have been exposed to and what injuries they were claiming. Ill- ston dismissed another 51 plaintiffs after ruling the opinion of an expert they were relying on to prove their case was inadmissible. Illston dismissed still more on other legal grounds, including the 160 resi- dents who had their lawsuit reinstated Thursday. Illston had ruled that group joined the lawsuit too late when they signed on after Aug. 24, 2000. In California, once plaintiffs know who caused their injuries they have one year to file law- suits. Illston said the clock started ticking for those 160 residents when the initial lawsuit was filed on Aug. 23, 1999. A divided three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit disagreed with Illston’s analysis and ruled the deadline to file was sometime in 2001. The decision to reinstate the 160 plaintiffs was written by Judge N. Randy Smith and joined by Judge Proctor Hug. The two-judge majority opinion was co-written by Judges Pamela Ann Rymer and N. Randy Smith. The pair said the 160 plaintiffs weren’t put on notice until the appearance the follow- ing year of newspaper articles dis- cussing the residents’ claims and the movie ‘‘Erin Brockovich,’’ a private investigator who discovered chromi- um poisoning sickening many resi- dents of Hinckley, Calif. ‘‘The hazards of chromium expo- sure gained nationwide attention beginning in March 2000, with the release of the movie ’Erin Brock- ovich,’’’ Smith wrote. ‘‘Brockovich became involved in the Willits conta- mination soon after the movie was released, even holding an informa- tion session in Willits on Aug. 4, 2000.’’ All three judges affirmed Illston’s dismissal of the other plaintiffs. Ethics panel clears Calif. bullet train leaders LOS ANGELES (AP) — An ethics inquiry has cleared four members of California’s High-Speed Rail Authority board and one former member who took overseas trips paid for by foreign governments seeking contracts with the agency. The state’s Fair Political Practices Commission issued letters this week informing authority chair- man Curt Pringle and board members Quentin Kopp, Lynn Schenk, Tom Umberg, as well as former executive director Medhi Morshed that their cases are closed. Last October, the com- mission began looking into whether the officials violat- ed rules limiting the receipts of gifts and travel after receiving complaints that they didn’t disclose trips they took overseas. The Los Angeles Times reported that the officials took tours of bullet train systems in Europe in 2009 but didn’t disclose who paid for them. The commission said it found no evidence that the officials violated rules per- taining to ‘‘gift and travel reporting and limits.’’ Rail officials had defend- ed the trips as a way to gain valuable information on high-speed rail systems at no cost to state taxpayers. The authority said that foreign governments donat- ed the trips to the agency, which then assigned travel to those countries to board members and staff. Because of that, the authority said most board members didn’t have to disclose the travel on annual reports of gifts received. Red Bluff Simple Cremations & Burial Service Family owned & Operated Honor and Dignity 527-1732 722 Oak Street, Red Bluff, FD Lic. 1931