Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/294060
no self-involvement in the crime, stood strong until the end of prosecution and didn't let being a victim become an excuse. He saw that in Fitzger - ald, who read aloud her own victim impact statement at Smith's sentencing. Eldred said Fitzgerald did that so she was doing her part to make sure no "sickos" will ever touch lit - tle kids again. Victim Advocate Meghan Swain chose to honor "Chris- topher" along with two women from the Greenville Rancheria, who ended up be- ing directly involved with his case. Christopher was at a park when he was suddenly at - tacked. He was struck in the face, and both sides of his jaw were fractured. For weeks the attacker was at large, until finally he bragged about the assault and law enforcement was able to track him down. Meanwhile at Greenville Rancheria Kelly Cole and Jennifer Gagliano helped con - vince Christopher to come forward to law enforcement and helped him through his dark and difficult time. Swain said through the help of family, friends and community Christopher overcame being a victim and spoke in front of his attacker at his sentencing. "He is nothing short of courageous," Swain said of Christopher. While victims were the center of Thursday's cele - bration, Eldred said it is a collective team effort be- tween law enforcement, schools, victims, families, counselors and other service providers that is key. "When we work together things go better," Eldred said. Along those lines the last person honored was Alter - natives to Violence Director Jeanne Spurr. Eldred said Spurr and her program are always avail - able no matter the time to help someone in need. This year National Vic - tims' Rights Week cele- brated the 30th anniversary of the Victims of Crime Act. The Act created funding opportunities previously un - available to victims and gave victims a place in the crimi- nal process. Honor From Page 1 By rich greene rgreene@redbluffdailynews. com @richgreenenews on Twitter red BluFF » Entering its 12th year Saturday the Round-Up Kickoff Classic Car Show and Shine has be - come a staple of the open- ing days of Round-Up week. The car show will on Pine Street between Main and Washington from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., next to the ICS Chili Cook-off. Not only is the event free to the public, it's free to en - ter. Although pre-registra- tion is required because of limited space. Dash plaques will be awarded to the first 25 ve - hicles registered. Local merchants and the Red Bluff-Tehama County Chamber are donating more than $200 in prizes that can won by entries. The event is being spon - sored by the chamber, Ghost Rider Ghosts, Friday Knights Car Club and Ser- endipity Corvettes. For registration informa- tion call 529-3814 or send an email to ghostcar@wild- blue.net. round-uP events Classic car show enters 12th year Car Show and Shine scheduled for downtown Saturday thick Black smoke Billowed over gerBer aFter a PickuP truck caught Fire on san Benito avenue thursday aFternoon. Officials said the driver of the northbound Ford pickup noticed smoke rising from the truck's engine compartment, and moments later the vehicle was engulfed in flames. No injuries were reported. Firefighters with Tehama County Fire and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection knocked down the blaze, which started about 12:30 p.m. and burned for about 25 minutes. California Highway Patrol officers rerouted traffic in the area for about an hour. gerBer PICKUP BURNS, SENDS SMOKE OVER GERBER veys conducted in the sum- mer of 1999, the summer of 2012 and the winter of 2013 Thursday at the Red Bluff Community and Senior Cen - ter. The presentation gave an overview of those who visit the park, how long they stay, and how much money they spend in the park's surrounding communities among other statistics. Lassen Park in 2013 took in about 407,000 visitors, a number Koontz said the park will hit consistently. It was deduced that $22.9 million was spent in local communities, and 297 jobs were supported because of the park. "That's a signif icant amount of money," Little - john said. "That shows that partnering with the park is a good thing to do." A figure that did surprise Koontz was the percentage visitors who were visiting the park for the first time. In the summer of 2012, nearly half — 48 percent — of visitors were taking in the park for the first time. "To me that's a great opportunity for the com - munities around, and the park, to make that snatch," Koontz said. Some numbers that struck some of those who attended the presentation were the percentage of vis - itors who travel through Red Bluff to get to the park, but choose to spend the night elsewhere. In the summer of 2012, 40 percent of people vis - iting the park traveled through Red Bluff, and that number rose to 44 percent in the winter of 2013. But in the winter, only 6 per - cent of visitors stayed the night in Red Bluff before visiting the park, and only 5 percent stayed in Red Bluff the night after visiting the park. That's compared to about 21 percent who stayed in Redding, and 20 percent who stayed in Chico the night before visiting the park. The same numbers are true for the night after a visit. "The thing that needs to happen is they need to be grabbed in," Littlejohn said. "Spend some money there, stay there, eat there." To view the reports, visit http://psu.uidaho.edu/c5/ vsp/vspreports. Lassen From Page 1 Andre Byik— dAily news darlene koontz, lassen Volcanic national Park superintendent, introduces the results of three surveys that provide an overview of those who visit the park. rich Greene — dAily news shelby Fitzgerald is honored by Tehama county Victim and witness Advocate Jeff eldred Thursday at a Victims' rights week celebration at the red Bluff city council chambers. By russell contreras The Associated Press alBuQuerQue, n.m. » Af- ter a scathing report by the U.S. Justice Department re- vealed a troubling and often unjustified pattern of exces- sive force by the Albuquer- que Police Department, city officials on Thursday com- mitted to rebuilding the de- partment under the guid- ance of federal officials who have been working on simi- lar problems in other cities around the country. T he Justice Depa r t- ment spent months con- ducting interviews, scour- ing videos and reviewing hundreds of pages of doc- uments. The agency found that Albuquerque officers too frequently used deadly force on people who posed a minimal threat and used a higher level of force too often on those with mental illness, often violating their consti - tutional rights. Albuquerque is only a re- cent example of a city tar- geted by the Justice De- partment over allegations of brutality and violations of constitutional rights by po- lice officers. Portland and New Orleans are among those that been investigated amid similar complaints. In Albuquerque, federal investigators focused on 37 shootings — 23 of them fa - tal — by officers since 2010. By comparison, police in the similarly sized cities of Den- ver and Oakland have been involved in fatal and non-fa- tal shootings totaling 27 and 23, respectively. Federa l investigators found the majority of those Albuquerque shootings were unreasonable and violated constitutional rights. They also uncovered a significant number of instances in which officers used less lethal mea - sures such as Tasers in an unconstitutional manner. The Justice Department recommended that Albu - querque make changes to its use of force policy to, among other things, place more em- phasis on techniques for de- escalating potentially violent situations. Jocelyn Samuels, the act - ing assistant attorney gen- eral of the Justice Depart- ment's civil rights division, said the investigation was thorough and that it became clear the problems within the police department were systemic. "The reforms we are pro - posing ... are going to result in the kinds of structures that will over time create a change in the culture," she said. "It starts with commit - ment from the top." She acknowledged that changes will not happen overnight. The findings served as validation for critics who have long complained that a culture of aggression has permeated the Albuquer - que Police Department. However, some community members voiced concerns after Thursday's announce - ment that recommendations have been made in the past with city leaders failing to take action. Mayor Richard Berry ac - knowledged the findings in the report were difficult, but he said the city stands ready to work with the Justice De- partment to make needed changes. It could take weeks to hammer out the final blue - print for overhauling the Po- lice Department, but Berry said he fully expects a fed- eral monitor to be assigned to the city. "It won't be quick and easy, but we can achieve it," he said of the goals laid out by the Justice Department report. If a federal monitor is ap - pointed and the city agrees on terms, A lbuquerque would join cities such as De- troit, Los Angeles, New Or- leans and Seattle that are subject to federal oversight. Scrutiny of the Albuquer- que force is one of 15 investi- gations of police departments launched during President Barack Obama's first term. Samuels did not offer a timetable for negotiations with Albuquerque, but said the agency would remain en - gaged for "as long as is nec- essary." new mexico Mayor embraces change for Albuquerque police force russell conTrerAs — The AssociATed Press Protesters sit in downtown Albuquerque, n.M. during a rally sunday against recent police shootings. By alan Fram The Associated Press washington » Republican opposition to Obama ad- ministration plans to spin off U.S. oversight of the In- ternet's domain name sys- tem is evolving into an elec- tion-year political fight, with GOP lawmakers using it as the latest front in their at- tacks on President Barack Obama's trustworthiness. "We've seen enough out of this administration and its imperial presidency poli - tics that I'm not going to just give them a blank pen and then walk away," Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., said Thurs - day as a House subcommit- tee he chairs voted to im- pose a one-year delay in im- plementing any changes so congressional investigators could study the issue. The party-line 16-10 vote came as administration of - ficials defended their pro- posal at other congressional hearings. And Democratic lawmakers said Republican warnings that the Internet could be turned over to hos- tile governments were the stuff of fantasy. "It's not a conspiracy or a digital black helicopter," Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Ca - lif., said in a sarcastic ref- erence to 1990s-era claims by some militias and other right-wing groups about government surveillance aircraft. "It's a plan, and I think it's time to move for - ward with it." The back and forth comes during a campaign season in which Republicans have vili - fied Obama as exceeding his powers by taking steps such as delaying various deadlines set by his health care over - haul law, which they oppose. The latest dispute is over an administration announce- ment last month that it wants to give up its oversight of the non-profit U.S. corporation that manages the Internet's system of addresses, such as www.ap.org. internet GOP, Dems clash over online domain name oversight R ed Bluff Simple Cremations & Burial Service Now Offering Eco-Friendly urns at economy friendly prices. 722 Oak Street, Red Bluff, FD Lic. 1931 527-1732 FridAy, APril 11, 2014 redBluFFdAilynews.coM | NEWS | 9 a