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ByJulietWilliams TheAssociatedPress SACRAMENTO Nearly a million ballots cast in Tues- day's primary election have not been counted yet, Secre- tary of State Debra Bowen reported Friday. Elections officials in all 58 counties provided estimates to the state as they wade through ballots dropped off at polls and provisional votes cast on Election Day, which total 991,699. Several high-profile races were still too close to call, including who finished sec- ond for controller, where only 1,400 votes separate Republican accountant Da- vid Evans and two Demo- crats, former Speaker John Perez and Board of Equal- ization member Betty Yee. Turnoutpercentage could increase The registrars have so far counted nearly 3.4 million ballots cast Tuesday, which puts turnout at 19.2 percent. With the outstanding bal- lots, turnout could approach 25 percent, which would be a record low for a regular elec- tion in California but better than some forecasts. The previous low for a non-presidential primary was 33.1 percent in June 2010. Turnout was 28.2 per- cent in June 2008, an anom- aly when the state split the presidential and primary elections. Many of the uncounted votes are from permanent absentee voters who receive their ballots in the mail but do not return them by mail. More of those voters appear to be getting their ballots early then sitting on them and turning them in at a poll- ing place on Election Day, which delays the vote count, said Paul Mitchell, vice pres- ident of Political Data Inc., a consulting firm that tracks voter data. Tuesday was the first statewide election in which the top two vote-getters ad- vance to November regard- less of their party affiliation. Experts blame the low turnout on a lack of excit- ing races to draw voters, such as a competitive race for governor or citizen-led ballot initiatives, which the state Legislature have per- manently moved to the gen- eral election. PRIMARY Nearly a million ballots still uncounted By Scott Smith The Associated Press FRESNO An environmen- talist billionaire who has pledged to spend tens of millions of dollars target- ing Republicans who reject climate change announced Friday that he is now creat- ing a fund to help victims of extreme weather disasters, starting with wildfires in the American West. Tom Steyer and his wife, Kat Taylor, launched the Cli- mate Disaster Relief Fund that will draw on the cou- ple's personal profits from investments in Kinder Mor- gan, one of the largest en- ergy companies in North America. Climate change leads to warming temperatures, drought and insect out- breaks, which exacerbate costly wildfires, Steyer said in a statement. "Climate change is the defining issue of our gener- ation," he said. "We can no longer afford to wait to ad- dress this very real threat." A retired hedge fund manager and longtime Democratic donor, Steyer has pledged to spend up to $100 million this year in po- litical campaigns nation- wide to shape climate pol- icy — half his money and the rest raised from like- minded donors. The money will be used to back Dem- ocrats and attack Republi- cans running for Senate in New Hampshire, Iowa, Col- orado and Michigan, and for governor in Pennsylvania, Florida and Maine. Steyer's group, NextGen Climate, did not immedi- ately respond to requests for comment, but the San Fran- cisco Chronicle reported that the disaster fund will start with up to $2 million. The statement did not elab- orate on the funding. Steyer cited studies that predict climate change could double the threat of wildfires in the southern Rockies and increase that threat by 74 percent in Cal- ifornia. Firefighters and nurses on the front lines of these disasters will be among the first to receive money from Steyer's fund to be man- aged by the San Francisco Foundation. The fund will also provide relief to vic- tims of oil spills, droughts, floods and other disasters related to extreme weather or climate change, Stayer said. ENVIRONMENT Billionaire environmentalist seeks to aid climate change victims The Associated Press LOS ANGELES A new poll says 9 out of 10 California voters are alarmed by the drought plaguing the state — but few say they've felt its impact. The recent USC Dornsife- Los Angeles Times poll says 89 percent of voters sur- veyed view the drought as a "crisis or major problem." Yet only 16 percent say it's af- fected them. To address water supply problems, most favored con- servation efforts rather than spending tax dollars. So far, California's conser- vation efforts have remained mostly voluntary. Most poll respondents say they've shortened shower times or water their lawns less fre- quently. The telephone poll of about 1,500 voters was con- ducted last month. It had a margin of error of plus or mi- nus 2.9 percentage points. STATE Poll: Californians alarmed by drought By Gene Johnson The Associated Press SEATTLE The man blasting away with a shotgun paused to reload, and Jon Meis saw his chance. The 22-year-old building monitor pepper-sprayed and tackled the gunman Thursday afternoon in Se- attle Pacific University's Otto Miller Hall, likely pre- venting further carnage, ac- cording to police and univer- sity officials. Meis and other students subdued him until officers arrived and handcuffed him moments later. Police said the shooter, who killed a 19-year-old man and wounded two other young people, had additional rounds and a knife. "I'm proud of the selfless actions that my roommate, Jon Meis, showed today tak- ing down the shooter," fellow student Matt Garcia wrote on Twitter. "He is a hero." Meis, a dean's list electri- cal engineering student, was emotionally anguished but not injured in the shooting, Harborview Medical Center spokeswoman Susan Gregg said Friday. He was treated and released from the hos- pital. The leafy campus of the small, private, Christian university about 10 minutes north of downtown Seattle was quiet the morning af- ter the shooting, with a ser- vice held at midday. Flowers and candles were laid on the street near Otto Miller Hall, which was taped off as a crime scene. People stopped by the makeshift memorial to pay their respects, and some students milled about or prayed in groups. The man arrested in the shooting, Aaron R. Ybarra, 26, was booked into the King County Jail late Thursday for investigation of homi- cide, according to police and the jail roster. He was sched- uled to make an initial ap- pearance in a jail courtroom Friday afternoon. Ybarra was hospitalized for mental health evalua- tions twice in recent years, said Pete Caw, assistant po- lice chief in Ybarra's home- town, the Seattle suburb of Mountlake Terrace. Officers encountered Ybarra in 2010 and 2012. Both times, he was severely intoxicated and taken to Swedish Hospital in Ed- monds for evaluation, Caw said. In the October 2012 in- cident, police found Ybarra lying in a roadway. He was arrested on sus- picion of DUI in nearby Ed- monds in 2012, said Ed- monds police Sgt. Mark Marsh. "We just hope he's safe," the suspect's father, Am- brose Ybarra, told The Se- attle Times on Thursday. "It's upsetting to have these accusations thrown around. We're in emergency mode. We are trying to stay calm." A woman who answered a cellphone listing for Ybar- ra's mother, Janice, declined to comment, saying "I will be speaking later." Ybarra is not a student at the school, police said. Investigators searched a house in the north Seattle suburb of Mountlake Ter- race believed to be tied to Ybarra late Thursday. The victims included a critically wounded 19-year- old woman who remained in intensive care Friday after a five-hour surgery, as well as 24-year-old man in satisfac- tory condition, Gregg said. Their identities had not been released. Meis,whograduatedfrom Seattle Christian Schools in SeaTac, kept a low profile the day after the shooting. An outgoing voice message at a phone listing for his par- ents' home in Renton said, "We ask that you please re- spect our privacy during this time while we recover." It solicited prayers for stu- dents and the family of the man killed. Salomon Meza Tapia, a friend who serves with Meis on the board of a stu- dent engineers group, de- scribed him as a hardwork- ing student who is "always super chill." "I am not surprised he was cool and collected enough to take action," he wrote in an email to the AP. "I was in the building, and I can say he definitely saved our lives. I am thankful to be alive and thank God for Jon Meis' courage and actions." Garcia declined to com- ment in an email to the AP Friday out of respect for his roommate's privacy. Another roommate, Ryan Salgado, on Thursday gave The Seattle Times a detailed account of what happened, as relayed to him by Meis. Salgado said Meis seemed to be in shock afterward. Meis typically carries pepper spray with him wherever he goes, because he likes to be prepared, Sal- gado said. "There are a number of heroes in this," Assistant Police Chief Paul McDonagh said Thursday. "The peo- ple around (the gunman) stepped up." He added: "But for the great response by the peo- ple of Seattle Pacific, this incident might have been much more tragic." The Seattle Times said Zack McKinley, a friend of Ybarra, described him as "super happy and friendly." McKinley said the at- tack was puzzling because Ybarra was happy to have just started a job bagging groceries. Ybarra could get emotionally low but had a good group of friends, McKinley said. Student Chris Howard was at Otto Miller Hall when the shooting happened. He said he saw the wounded woman on the floor. Her phone was covered in blood, but she asked those help- ing her to look through her phone for her mother, aunt and best friend. "She was panicking," Howard said. "She said, 'I think I'm going to die.'" Howard said he also saw the suspect pinned on the floor. "The suspect was calm. Not speaking. Not moving. Not struggling. Just there," Howard said. The shooting came a week before the end of the school year. McDonagh said detec- tives are working to figure out the gunman's motive or intended target. On Thursday evening, an overflow crowd packed the First Free Methodist Church on campus for a ser- vice of prayers and song. SEATTLE SHOOTING St ud en t pe pp er -s pr ay ed , ta ck le d gu nm an TEDS.WARREN—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS A group of people pray together near a sign on the Seattle Pacific University campus that reads "We Will Overcome This," on Friday in Seattle, the day a er a shooting took place at Otto Miller Hall at the school. By Don Thompson The Associated Press SACRAMENTO For seven years, inmates at a South- ern California state prison have learned to express themselves through acting, acquiring skills that ac- tor Tim Robbins says can change their lives. The program will now ex- pand as the California Arts Council and the Califor- nia Department of Correc- tions and Rehabilitation an- nounced Thursday that the state will spend $2.5 mil- lion over the next two years to bring the arts to 14 state prisons. Robbins has starred in moviesincluding"TheShaw- shank Redemption," "Bull Durham"and"MysticRiver." He is also artistic director of theActors'GangPrisonProj- ect,whichhasofferedtheater arts programs in California prisonssince2006,including the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco for the last seven years. "Wefindthatitfundamen- tally changes the inmates that participate. It also helps the prison at large because it can change the culture of theprison,"Robbinssaidina telephoneinterviewwithThe Associated Press. "They tell us they can talk to their chil- dren for the first time when they're visiting and can ex- press emotion to them." His group had been pro- viding services without charge but will now be able to expand into other pris- ons with the grant money. It is one of one of seven groups that will offer Arts-in-Cor- rections programs. Besides theater,theprogramswillin- clude music, dance, creative writing, poetry, storytelling, painting, drawing and sculp- ture. Though prisons are usu- ally rigorously self-segre- gated by race and gang af- filiation, Robbins said his or- ganization insisted that the acting program include in- mates of all stripes. "We'vehadsessionswhere we've had white suprema- cists and Crips and Asians, and what happens in that room is so profound that the guystellus,toaman,thatthe bonds that they made in that roomarefarmoreimportant thanthey'vehadpreviously," he said. He related that two in- mates were able to attend only three acting sessions before the program moved to another part of the prison. Buttheinmatesstartedtheir own theater company last year and trained 40 other in- mates using methods they had learned in the acting classes. "They wrote a play and they figured out how to make costumes out of paper and tied bed sheets for a cur- tain," he said. Unlike those participat- ing in other prison rehabil- itation, vocational and edu- cation programs, inmates aren't likely to become ac- tors upon their release — in part because pay and job se- curity in the acting field isn't all that great, Robbins joked. Buthesaidtheprogramspay long-term benefits tosociety. "As much as we want to abstract the issue and be tough on crime, most of the guys who are in jail right now are going to get out," he said, "and they're going to be moving back to neigh- borhoods near you, near all of us." 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