Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/31555
Friday, May 13, 2011 – Daily News 9A Obituaries MARY ELIZA GUERTNER Mary Eliza Guertner, born May 27, 1917 in Lamesa, Texas to Sarah Louvenia Young and William Henry Young, passed away peacefully on Monday May 9, 2011 in Red Bluff, CA. at the age of 93. Mary is leaving behind daughter, Marie Maddox of Magee, Mississippi and son Norman Guertner of Red Bluff, California. She has four grandchildren, 5 great grandchildren and 4 great great grandchildren. Also nu- merous other close relatives all of who will miss her terri- bly. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Clarence Guertner in November, 2002. Graveside services will be held at Tehama Cemetery at 10am, Friday, May 13th. A celebration of life will immedi- ately follow at the Church of Latter Day Saints in Red Bluff, CA. Assembly GOP proposes budget SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Republican state lawmakers on Thurs- day released their own proposal to close California’s remaining $15.4 bil- lion budget deficit, proposing to cut the pay for state employees, reduce pro- grams further for the needy and take funds intended to help young children and the mentally ill. They contend there is no need to extend recent increases to the personal income, sales and vehicles taxes, as Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Jerry Brown want. Instead, Assembly Republicans proposed deeper cuts on services to the poor, elderly and disabled that Brown proposed but Democratic lawmakers rejected earlier this year. They want state workers to take another pay cut equal to 10 percent of their salaries. And they suggest raiding one-time funds intended for early childhood development and mental health. “The budget approach that we out- line today represents the common sense solutions that we believe can be embraced by Democrats and Republi- cans alike in enacting a reasonable no- tax increase, budget compromise,” Assembly Minority Leader Connie Conway wrote in a letter Thursday to Assembly Speaker John Perez. Perez had challenged Republicans to craft their own budget plan after they balked at Democrats’ plan to extend tax increases. All week, teachers have led protests at the Capitol and across the state, urging lawmakers to support tax extensions to stave off further class- room cuts. MARGIE EVELYN GUTIERREZ Red Bluff will be held at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, May 14, 2011 at St. Paul Lutheran Church. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at St. Paul Lu- theran Church. Burial will be at Oak Hill Cemetery. Margie was born March 14, 1922 in Townsend Town- Red Bluff - Services for Margie Evelyn Gutierrez, 89, of ship, Sandusky County, Ohio. She passed away peaceful- ly Friday, May 6, 2011 at Brentwood Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation Center where she was cared for lovingly. Margie was a faithful member of St. Paul Lutheran Church where she worshipped and drew spiritual strength. She enjoyed life and loved the Lord. Her great- est accomplishment was raising her family, which knew no bounds. With compassionate heart and open arms, she provided the love necessary to make a house a home, no matter where it may be. Nickname "Traveler", affection- ately given to her by son Ray, spoke of her love for trav- eling. She began her family in Michigan where the first three children were born. The family grew by four more after moving to Red Bluff in 1945. With the three oldest out of the nest, she packed up the rest and temporarily moved to Mangla, West Pakistan in 1964 to be with hus- band, John. When the youngest two were high school age, she began a 13 year career for Tehama County School District driving bus for developmentally disabled during which time was commended for saving the life of one of her students. She continued to enjoy fishing and traveling with family after retirement in 1987, and visited such places as Shreveport, Louisiana with son Greg, and participated in the Cystic Fibrosis Walk in Spokane, Washington with granddaughter Michele, pushed in a wheelchair by great grandson Kyle. Survivors include sons Phillip (Rosie), Frank (Glenda), and Gregory (Bobbie) all of Red Bluff, CA., Raymond of Sacramento, CA., and stepson John, Jr. of Acton, CA., daughters Marie Bartlett of Red Bluff, Juanita Serfoss (Frank) of Ronan, MT., and Angie Pitman (Kerry) of Rich- land, WA., 15 grandchildren, and 25 great grandchildren. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to St. Paul Lu- theran Women’s Missionary League (LWML), as a faithful member of the LWML her desire was to help spread the good news of Jesus Christ to those in need. Donations may also be made to the American Cancer Society in her memory as she was a cancer survivor. Death Notice Rodger Harris of Corning died on Thursday, May 12, 2011, at Brentwood Skilled Nursing Home in Red Bluff. He was 65. Hoyt-Cole Chapel of the Flowers is handling the arrangements. Published on Friday, May 13, 2011, in the Daily News, Red Bluff, Calif. Rodger Harris REFUGE (Continued from page 1A) department has been berat- ed for its lack of public out- reach and accused of secre- tively and quietly evaluat- ing the refuges to get rid of them quickly. The accusations are not well-founded. The level of outreach was consistent with many other depart- ment actions or proposals that solicit public input, the report states. “As the Department received over 5,000 pieces of input from California and other states and coun- tries, it should be apparent the effort was not secre- tive,” the department said in the report. Efforts to reach the pub- lic were made during public meetings of the state Fish and Game Commission, commission advisory meet- ings and county fish and game commissions. If there was outreach to county commissions, the effort was not felt locally. The Tehama County Fish and Game Commis- sion volunteered to host public meetings. All the department had to do was send a representative, and it never responded to the request, Commission Chairman Warren Duke said. “I feel and the rest of the fish and game commission feel, they could have done a better job,” Duke said. Regardless of where the department stands on the issue, the decision is really in the hands of the Legisla- ture, Duke said. If the Leg- islature decides not to take up the issue or draft legisla- tion eliminating the refuge status, the point is moot. Even though there is a majority opposition to elim- inating the refuges, it’s hard to say what the Legislature will do, he said. The county commission can only wait and see what decision the Legislature will make. “At this point, the big question is, does the Legis- lature want or not want to abolish game refuges,” Duke said. ——— Tang Lor can be reached at 527-2153, Ext.110 or by e- mail at tlor@redbluffdai- lynews.com. The Service Employees Interna- tional Union tried to amplify that mes- sage in announcing a seven-figure ad campaign that will start Friday. The cable, radio, print and outdoor ads call on lawmakers to “stop extreme cuts.” The ads target certain Republicans, including three senators who unsuc- cessfully negotiated with Brown on a compromise earlier this year. GOP lawmakers are trying to get ahead of the Democratic governor, who is scheduled to release an updated version of his budget Monday. Brown wants to extend the current sales, income and vehicle tax to help balance the budget. He already has signed bills cutting the budget by $11.2 billion through spending cuts and fund trans- fers. The Republican plan assumes the state will be able eliminate redevelop- ment agencies as the governor has pro- posed, or reach a compromise that saves the state as much as $1.7 billion. “We’re claiming a victory on rede- velopment,” said Brown’s spokesman Gil Duran. “Unfortunately, the rest of their budget press release appears to be based on the same old short-term, smoke and mirrors, gimmick-based budget approach.” Republicans are predicting that an improving economy should be enough to maintain current education funding levels. According to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, the state received $2.5 billion more than project- ed since the fiscal year started last July 1. GOP members believe that trend will continue, bringing in another $2.5 billion in the new fiscal year. “Facing a $15.4 billion deficit, we are under no illusion that crafting a bal- Highlights of the Assembly GOPbudget proposal By The Associated Press Here are highlights of the proposal by Assembly Republicans for address- ing a $15.4 billion budget deficit without tax extensions: Revenue: —Count on a $5 billion boost from increased tax revenue in the current fis- cal year and the one that starts July 1. The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office reported the state received $2.5 billion more than projected since the current fiscal year started July 1. —Take $2.4 billion from First 5, a preschool program funded through tobacco taxes, and Proposition 63, a mental health account funded by a tax on millionaires, including both their 2011-12 revenues and reserves. Voters reject- ed similar proposals to take from the special funds in the February 2009 spe- cial election. Solutions: —Cut $1.1 billion in state employee costs, which translates to a 10 percent pay cut for workers. The state recently negotiated savings from public employ- ee unions, including increases to the amount workers’ pay toward their own pensions and one-day-a-month of unpaid leave. —Save $1.3 billion by adopting cuts proposed by the governor but rejected by Democratic lawmakers. The proposal includes cutting funding to adult day health care centers, limiting the time to four years that both parents and chil- dren can receive welfare grants under CalWORKS, reducing CalWORKS grants by 13 percent, and eliminating paying for cleaning and laundry for seniors and the disabled receiving in-home support. —Save $1 billion to $1.7 billion by adopting the governor’s proposal to eliminate the state’s 400 redevelopment agencies or a compromise plan put forth by the California Redevelopment Association. —Furlough court workers two days a month to save $130 million. —Transition to electronic court reporting to save an estimated $700 million. —Reduce prison medical costs by $400 million by contracting out the ser- vice. The state cannot take such a step on its own because the prison medical system is under a receivership overseen by the federal courts. Other proposals: —Reject the governor’s effort to shift responsibility for jailing and super- vising thousands of California criminals from the state to local governments. Brown has already signed the realignment bill into law and says it will help save the state about $2 billion annually about three years after it is implement- ed. But he also says it will not take effect until the state has enough money to help counties adjust. —Provide K-12 schools and community colleges nearly the same amount as the governor proposed but skip a $450 million payment in supplemental funds for low-performing schools. The governor and Democrats warn that without tax extensions, the state will have to cut billions more from schools, shorten the school year and increase class sizes. anced budget is an easy task by any stretch of the imagination,” Conway wrote. “But the news that California has taken in $2.5 billion in unanticipat- ed tax revenue in the past four months shows that we can balance the budget and protect the priorities of working families like education and public safe- ty — without raising taxes on overbur- dened Californians.” Duran said with the state still bil- lions in debt, the governor is looking for a long-term solution, not a one-year fix. Some of the GOP’s ideas have pre- viously been rejected by Democrats, who have majorities in both houses of the Legislature. The cuts proposed for state workers come on top of recent concessions. The state has negotiated savings from public employee unions, includ- ing increases to the amount workers’ pay toward their own pensions and one-day-a-month of unpaid leave. But some GOP members have criticized that the savings aren’t enough. Senate Majority Leader Darrell Steinberg, a Democrat from Sacramen- to, urged lawmakers to do the math in an honest way. ‘‘It will do little good to paper over a budget deficit with gimmicks ... only to have not solved the problem long- — Californians saw the rate of empty homes and rental apartments in the state increase during the past decade, census data showed on Thursday in the latest news on the state’s battered housing market. The Golden State’s homeowner vacancy rate shot up from 1.4 percent to 2.1 percent, while the rental vacancy rate rose from 3.7 percent to 6.3 percent, according to data from the 2010 census. At the same time, the average household size in owner-occupied and rental units increased across the state. Since the economy tum- bled, Californians have left the state in search of jobs or doubled up with family members to ride out the storm in the housing market, real estate experts said. ‘‘People are moving out of state or people are dou- bling up,’’ said Richard Green, director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern Cal- ifornia. term and have our educators and our children be in the same, same awful place next year and the year after,“ Steinberg said. Republicans also suggest transition- ing to electronic court reporting to save an estimated $700 million and propose reducing prison medical costs by $400 million by contracting out the service. Outsourcing prison health care would be problematic because the state’s prison medical system is currently under a receivership overseen by the federal courts. The GOP plan also rejects the gov- ernor’s effort to shift responsibility for jailing and supervising thousands of California criminals from the state to local governments. Republicans con- tend that local jails and probation departments already are overwhelmed, meaning many criminals will serve lit- tle time and be largely unsupervised. Brown has said realignment will help save the state about $2 billion annually about three years after it is implemented, but the governor also has said it will not take effect until the state has enough money to help counties adjust. That will happen only if the tempo- rary tax increases are extended or money is diverted from elsewhere in the budget. Census: Rate of empty homes, apts up in state LOS ANGELES (AP) In addition, developers were too zealous in develop- ing the inland parts of the state, he said. Dowell Myers, a profes- sor of urban planning at the University of Southern Cal- ifornia, said the rental vacancy rate was low in 2000, which prompted the construction increase. But given the severity of the housing crisis in California, the state appears to have fared fairly well, he said. ‘‘There’s a lot more sta- bility than you would fear after all the turmoil we’ve gone through,’’ he said. Over the past decade, the average household size rose from 2.87 to 2.90. The aver- age family size also rose from 3.43 to 3.45 at a time Red Bluff Simple Cremations & Burial Service Family owned & Operated Honor and Dignity 527-1732 722 Oak Street, Red Bluff, FD Lic. 1931 when a smaller share of households had children, the data showed. It isn’t immediately clear whether household size is increasing because families are moving in together to cut down on costs, or because of growth in the state’s Mexican and Chinese communities, where chil- dren tend to live with their parents longer, or another explanation, experts said. The Mexican population grew 35 percent over the past decade to 11.4 million and accounted for 88 per- cent of the state’s population growth. About 82 percent of Hispanics in California identified as Mexican in 2010, up from 77 percent in 2000, the data showed. While the Hispanic pop- ulation in California grew 28 percent over the decade and was the key driver in the state’s 10 percent popula- tion growth, some demo- graphic experts cautioned on reading too much into the country-specific data for Latinos. Jeffrey Passel, senior demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center, said the apparent increase in the share of the Latino popula- tion that is Mexican stems from the way the 2000 cen- sus questionnaire was word- ed, which prompted more Hispanics to give general, not specific, accounts of their national origin. The Chinese population — the largest Asian group in California — rose 28 per- cent over the decade to 1.3 million. While smaller in size, other Asian communi- ties grew more during the 10-year period. The Viet- namese, Filipino and Kore- an communities each grew slightly more than 30 per- cent, while the Indian popu- lation rose 68 percent to 528,000, the data showed.