Red Bluff Daily News

March 06, 2014

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By Jeff Barnard The Associated Press GRANTS PASS, ORe. » A deal to share scarce water be- tween ranchers and the Klamath Tribes has cleared another hurdle on its way to- ward becoming part of a bill in Congress to overcome a century of fighting over wa- ter in the Klamath Basin. P a r t i e s a n n o u n c e d Wednesday they have fin- ished negotiations to over- come last summer's irri- gation shut-off to cattle ranches in the upper Klam- ath Basin after the Klam- ath Tribes exercised newly awarded senior water rights to protect fish. The deal still must be voted on by the tribes and ranchers. If approved, it be - comes part of Oregon Demo- crat Sen. Ron Wyden's effort to pass legislation authoriz- ing removal of four hydro- electric dams on the Klam- ath River to help struggling salmon, and another that gives farmers on a federal irrigation project greater assurances of water during drought. That legislation has been stalled by House Re - publicans. "This agreement is noth- ing short of historic," Gov. John Kitzhaber said in a statement. "On one of the more complex issues facing the state, people committed their time, energy and ex - pertise to come up with so- lutions that support a stable agricultural economy and healthy fisheries and ripar- ian areas." The parties came to - gether after 30 years of a process known as adjudica- tion to settle water rights in the Sycan, Wood and Wil- liamson rivers, which flow through the former reser- vation lands of the Klamath Tribes into Upper Klamath Lake, ended with the tribes gaining water rights to time immemorial. The agree - ment addresses some out- standing issues from that process. When drought hit last year, the tribes and the Klamath Reclamation Proj - ect called their senior wa- ter rights, forcing water- masters to go to each ranch drawing water from the riv- ers and telling them they had to stop, turning green pas- tures to brown. The negotiations could not have been possible with- out the shut-off, which forced ranchers to sell of their herds or move them, said rancher Becky Hyde. Ranchers face an even tougher year this year, be - cause with drought continu- ing and another irrigation shut-off likely, many no lon- ger have any cattle to sell, added rancher Andrea Rabe. With a federal drought declaration in place in neigh - boring California, Klamath County ranchers qualify for federal grants to help them through the hard times, said Richard Whitman, nat - ural resources adviser to the governor. If the deal becomes law, it includes further federal pay - ments to ranchers who fence their stock out of the rivers, and plant trees to help keep water temperatures cool for fish. Reduced water w ith - drawals by ranchers under the agreement will increase flows into Upper Klamath Lake by 30,000 acre feet, where they will benefit en - dangered sucker fish that are sacred to the tribes. The water will also be avail- able to the Klamath Recla- mation Project, a federal ir- rigation project straddling the Oregon-California bor- der that has seen irrigation cutbacks during drought to protect suckers and salmon in the Klamath River. Klamath Tribes Chair - man Don Gentry said the agreement provides a bal- ance that will benefit the en- tire region economically. It also offers help for the tribes' efforts to regain control over timberlands they hope will restore an economic founda - tion for the tribes lost along with their reservation in the 1950s. The cost of the combined agreements goes from a 2007 estimate of $970 mil - lion, to $550 million, due in part to increased pledges of funding from Oregon and California, said John Bez - dek, special assistant to the secretary of Interior. wATeR Agreement reached on Klamath Governor hails 'historic' deal between ranchers and tribes By Paul elias The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO » Two men were found guilty of steal- ing an American company's secret recipe for making a chemical used to whiten products from cars to the middle of Oreo cookies and selling it to a competitor con - trolled by the Chinese gov- ernment. The four-man, eight- woman federal jury found Robert Meagerle, 78, and Walter Liew, 56, guilty of economic espionage and each could face 15 years or more in prison and hun - dreds of thousands of dol- lars in fines. Noting Liew's connec- tions to China, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White ordered him taken into custody im- mediately. "He has received millions of dollars from the People's Republic of China that re - mains unaccounted for," White said. "That's a lot of money that could help some- one flee." The two men were con- victed in San Francisco of stealing Delaware-based DuPont Co.'s method for making titanium dioxide, a chemical that fetches $17 billion a year in sales world - wide. Federal prosecutors said Walter Liew and his wife Christina Liew launched a small California company in the 1990s aimed at exploiting China's desperate desire to build a DuPont-like factory. The couple recruited for - mer DuPont scientists with the single-minded goal of winning Chinese contracts. Maegerle worked for DuPont from 1956 to 1991 before join - ing the Liews. Tze Chao, another for- mer DuPont scientist who worked with the Liews, pleaded guilty in 2012 to conspiracy to commit eco - nomic espionage and will be sentenced later. A third Du- Pont engineer linked to in the case, Tim Spitler, com- mitted suicide. Prosecutors say Liew re- ceived more than $12 mil- lion from the Chinese com- pany between 2009 and 2011 for his efforts. Maegerle remained free on bond pending his sentenc - ing scheduled for June 10. He declined comment as he left court. He could face a max- imum of 15 years in prison. "Justice was served," U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag said after the verdicts. Jurors de - clined to discuss the case publicly. The rare criminal eco- nomic espionage case began when a disgruntled former employee of Liew wrote Du- Pont a letter about the Liews efforts to secure its technol- ogy. DuPont contacted the FBI, which launched an in- vestigation. COuRTS 2 guilty in sale of trade secrets Chemical used in Oreo cookies fetched millions from China By Marilynn Marchione The Associated Press A second baby born with the AIDS virus may have had her infection put into re- mission and possibly cured by very early treatment — in this instance, four hours af- ter birth. Doctors revealed the case Wednesday at an AIDS con- ference in Boston. The girl was born in suburban Los Angeles last April, a month after researchers announced the first case from Missis - sippi. That was a medical first that led doctors world- wide to rethink how fast and hard to treat infants born with HIV, and the Cali- fornia doctors followed that example. In another AIDS-related development, scientists have modified genes in the blood cells of a dozen adults to help them resist HIV. The results give hope that this approach might one day free at least some people from needing medicines to keep HIV un - der control, a form of cure. That study was published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. The Mississippi baby is now 3 ½ and seems HIV- free despite no treatment for about two years. The Los Angeles baby is still getting AIDS medicines, so the sta - tus of her infection is not as clear. A host of sophisticated tests at multiple times sug - gest the LA baby has com- pletely cleared the virus, said Dr. Deborah Persaud, a Johns Hopkins University physician who led the test - ing. The baby's signs are different from what doctors see in patients whose infec- tions are merely suppressed by successful treatment, she said. "We don't know if the baby is in remission ... but it looks like that," said Dr. Yvonne Bryson, an infectious dis - ease specialist at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA who consulted on the girl's care. Doctors are cautious about suggesting she has been cured, "but that's obvi - ously our hope," Bryson said. Most HIV-infected moms in the U.S. get AIDS med- icines during pregnancy, which greatly cuts the chances they will pass the virus to their babies. The Mississippi baby's mom re - ceived no prenatal care and her HIV was discovered dur- ing labor. Doctors started the baby on treatment 30 hours after birth, even before tests could determine whether she was infected. The baby is continuing treatment, is in foster care "and looking very healthy," Bryson said. hIv Doctors hope for cure in 2nd baby Rapid treatment may have put infant's infection into remission Nick Ut — the associated press Former secretary of state hillary clinton, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, speaks to students at the University of california Los angeles campus on the subject of leadership Wednesday in Los angeles. By Michael R. Blood The Associated Press LOS ANGELES » Rus- sian President Vladimir Putin is a tough but thin- skinned leader who is squandering his country's potential, former U.S. Sec - retary of State Hillary Clin- ton said Wednesday, a day after she likened his actions on the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine to those of Ad - olf Hitler in the 1930s. Clinton, a potential 2016 presidential contender, warned during her latest speech at the University of California, Los Ange - les that "all parties should avoid steps that could be misinterpreted or lead to miscalculation at this deli - cate time." Putin has said he was protecting ethnic Rus- sians by moving troops into Crimea. However, Clinton said Tuesday at a closed fund - raising luncheon in Long Beach that Hitler had maintained that he was protecting Germans when he invaded places such as Czechoslovakia and Roma - nia. "Now if this sounds fa- miliar, it's what Hitler did back in the '30s," Clinton said, the Press-Telegram of Long Beach reported. "Hitler kept say ing, 'They're not being treated right. I must go and pro - tect my people.' And that's what's gotten everybody so nervous." Responding to a ques - tion submitted at the UCLA talk, Clinton said she was not making a compari- son although Russia's ac- tions were "reminiscent" of claims Germany made in the 1930s, when the Na- zis said they needed to pro- tect German minorities in Poland and elsewhere in Europe. "I just want everybody to have a little historic per - spective. I am not making a comparison, certainly. But I am recommending that we perhaps can learn from this tactic that has been used before," she said. Clinton said Putin is try - ing to "re-Sovietize" the pe- riphery of Russia but is ac- tually squandering the po- tential of his nation and "threatening instability and even the peace of Europe." lOS ANGeleS Clinton says Russia is wasting potential Remarks come a day a\er she compared some of Putin's tactics to those of Hitler "I just want everybody to have a little historic perspective. I am not making a comparison, certainly. But I am recommending that we perhaps can learn from this tactic that has been used before." Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Nick Ut — the associated press University of california Los angeles' chief executive officer, and chancellor, Gene Block, le, presents a medal to former secretary of state hillary clinton aer addressing students Wednesday. thUrsday, March 6, 2014 redBLUFFdaiLyNeWs.coM | NEWS | 5 B

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