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TheAssociatedPress SACRAMENTO The state Senate has passed a bill making it easier to fire teachers accused of sex abuse, child abuse or seri- ous drug crimes. Senators unanimously passed AB215 on a 33-0 vote Monday. The bill by Dem- ocratic Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan of Alamo creates a separate hearing process for teachers who are charged with egregious misconduct. It also requires school districts to hold a hearing within six months if a teacher appeals. The bill was the result of a compromise after pre- vious legislative efforts to speed up the disciplinary process failed. AB215 was presented by Sen. Alex Padilla, a Los An- geles Democrat who sought changes after longtime Miramonte Elementary School teacher Mark Ber- ndt pleaded no contest for lewd acts including spoon- feeding students his semen. The bill now moves to the Assembly. SACRAMENTO BillOK'd easing firings for teacher abuse The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO San Fran- cisco police say a 6-foot tall dolphin statue outside an art store in the city's Fish- erman Wharf area fell and killed a 2-year-old boy vis- iting from Utah. The boy wrapped his arms and legs around the heavy statue outside Ma- jestic Collection Art Gal- lery on Friday, bringing it down on him. He was initially treated for a nose bleed, but later died at a hospital. The med- ical examiner has identified the boy as 2-year-old Kay- son Shelton of Draper, Utah. San Francisco police spokesman Gordon Shyy says the store was cited for having the statue outside. The art gallery was not al- lowed to place anything in front. A call to the store on Monday was not immedi- ately returned. BAY AREA 2- ye ar -o ld dies a er st at ue f al ls on him The Associated Press ALTADENA A high school teacher asked three stu- dents for a ride, then ab- ducted them at knifepoint and ordered them to take him to a fast food restau- rant, Los Angeles County sheriff's detectives said Monday. John Edward Maust, 34, a teacher at Arroyo Pacific Academy in Arcadia was standing on the sidewalk around 9:30 p.m. Saturday night when three 17-year- old male students from the academy stopped to say hello. As the teacher walked to- ward them, he appeared to be intoxicated, the students told investigators. When Maust asked for a ride, the students said yes and he got in the car. Something Maust said in the car caused the driver to pull over and the students to jump out, but Maust or- dered them back, pulled a knife and told them to take him to a Jack-in-the-Box restaurant. One of the stu- dents was able to call 911 as they drove, deputies said. When Maust saw a sher- iff's department helicopter, he got out of the car and fled, deputies said. None of the students was hurt. On Sunday, around 1:30 p.m., Maust walked into the department's Altadena station and surrendered without incident. He was booked at the Crescenta Valley Station for investi- gation of kidnapping, false imprisonment, and crimi- nal threats. He was being held on $100,000 bail. The school's website calls him an instructor. It does not say what he teaches or how long he has been there. S. CALIFORNIA Police: Teacher kidnapped 3 students By Abdi Guled The Associated Press MOGADISHU,SOMALIA The mother of an ethnic So- mali teenager who stowed away on a plane from Cali- fornia to Hawaii has left a refugee camp in Ethiopia because of what she says are death threats against her. Ubah Mohammed Ab- dule was moved outside of the Shedder Refugee Camp in far eastern Ethi- opia near the border with Somalia for safety rea- sons, said Abdlrasak Abas Omar, a legal protection officer at the camp. He said that Abdule showed the camp administrators logs of anonymous calls she said were made by people threatening her with death. "It's just a 600 meter (yard) evacuation because she felt vulnerable in the camp's makeshift homes," said Omar. "She's quite un- stable now." Abdule has not seen her teenage son in eight years. The teen stowed away in the wheel well of a jetliner during a 5 -hour flight to Hawaii. Abdule believes her boy was trying to get to Somalia to see her. Since her son's trip in April, Abdule says she has received threats from call- ers she believes are rela- tives of her former hus- band. "They are going to kill me, so that his claims that I was dead will turn out to be true," she told an As- sociated Press reporter by phone. "I couldn't keep waiting for death to come, because the makeshift home was not a good safe haven. I was exposed to any attack." STOWAWAY Mother of Somali teen fears for life By Fenit Nirappil The Associated Press SACRAMENTO As budget talks enter the final week, Democratic state lawmak- ers are pushing Gov. Jerry Brown to accept higher revenue projections so more money can go toward restoring social services. A key disagreement has emerged over the size of the 2014-15 spending plan for the fiscal year that be- gins July 1. Lawmakers face a June 15 deadline set by the state constitution to pass a balanced budget. Brown's administration is using a more conserva- tive revenue estimate for a $107.8 billion general fund and warns against paying for new programs with temporary increases in tax revenue. Lawmakers want to use figures from the Legislative Analyst's Office, which predicts the state will collect $2.5 bil- lion more. H.D. Palmer, a spokes- man for the state Depart- ment of Finance, said the administration believes those revenues are "ques- tionable, given what we are seeing in the economy" and remain a concern in budget negotiations. State leaders are dealing with surplus revenues for the upcoming budget after years of multibillion-dollar budget cuts to social wel- fare and other state pro- grams. Both sides have agreed to a rainy day fund and paying down liabilities for teachers' pensions. But lawmakers want to undo some of the reces- sion-era cuts to health and welfare benefits by rely- ing on rosier revenue pro- jections in their propos- als. They have been plac- ing pressure on Brown by withholding money for the high-speed rail project from "cap-and-trade" fees on businesses that emit greenhouse gases. Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, on Monday downplayed the disagreements over the size of the budget. "We feel pretty good about the expenditures we are talking about falling within the conservative projection. But we have to be careful, and we will be," she told reporters. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D- Sacramento, did not an- swer a question Monday about revenue projections. "We always find a way and will again," he told reporters, describing past negotiations. "We are go- ing to make some good solid investments in kids, in infrastructure and some other key areas." Steinberg has pushed for a $378 million pre- school program for chil- dren of low-income fami- lies, a scaled-down version of his original call for tran- sitional kindergarten for all four year-olds. The gov- ernor addressed the earlier proposal with skepticism. "The truth is there are many good ideas in health care, in schooling, envi- ronment, in prison reform, in court expansion. But we only have so much money," Brown said at a news con- ference last month. "We do live within the revenues given until more money is provided by new taxes." AgroupofSenateandAs- sembly lawmakers trying to resolve differences in their budget proposals did not meet as expected on Mon- day. It's unclear whether a budget vote will happen be- fore Friday, but legislative leaders say they expect to meet the Sunday deadline. SACRAMENTO Democrats, governor debate total for California budget By Gene Johnson The Associated Press SEATTLE College student Jon Meis, who has shied away from the spotlight since he ended a Seattle campus shooting by pep- per-spraying the gunman last week, said Monday it's hard to accept his status as a hero. Meis, 22, and his fam- ily have declined media requests since the shoot- ing, with relatives going as far as to ask his high school not to grant inter- views about him. But on Monday, Meis issued a written state- ment through Seattle Pa- cific University, where the shooting occurred Thurs- day. He said he's praying for the victims, that the tragedy deepened his re- spect for the work of first responders, and that the gunman appeared to be a sad, troubled young man, not a monster. 'Aquietand private individual' "I know that I am be- ing hailed as a hero, and as many people have sug- gested I find this hard to accept," he wrote. "I am indeed a quiet and pri- vate individual; while I have imagined what it would be like to save a life I never believed I would be put in such a situation. It touches me truly and deeply to read online that parents are telling their children about me and telling them that real he- roes do exist." Meis is a dean's list se- nior at the small, Chris- tian college in a leafy neighborhood north of downtown Seattle. He was working as a build- ing monitor when the gunman walked into Otto Miller Hall and be- gan firing a shotgun. A 19-year-old student was killed and two oth- ers injured, and author- ities say the carnage al- most certainly would have continued had Meis not acted by spraying and tackling the shooter while he reloaded. God credited Meis credited "God's grace" for enabling him to stop the shooter, whom police have identified as Aaron Ybarra, 26, of the north Seattle suburb of Mountlake Terrace. "When I came face to face with the attacker, God gave me the eyes to see that he was not a faceless monster, but a very sad and troubled young man," Meis wrote. Meis said he's not ready to forgive him, but added: "I truly desire that he will find the grace of God and the forgiveness of our community." Ybarra is being held without bail and has been on suicide watch at King County Jail. His lawyer says he's sorry about the shooting and that he has a long history of mental problems. Ybarra had at least 50 additional shotgun rounds, and after he was arrested he told investi- gators he planned to kill as many people as pos- sible and himself, police said. Meis also said he has been overwhelmed by generosity and support. An online campaign has raised about $50,000 for him, and supporters bought items on a wed- ding registry for Meis and his fiancee. He requested that any future donations be di- rected to the victims of the shooting through Se- attle Pacific. SEATTLE Hero of campus attack: Shooter looked sad SEATTLEPI.COM,JOSHUATRUJILLO—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Jon Meis is taken from the scene by medics a er a shooting at Seattle Pacific University on June 5in Seattle. STOVEJUNCTION The TheNorthState'spremiersupplierofstoves 22825 Antelope Blvd., Red Bluff 530-528-2221 • Fax 530-528-2229 www.thestovejunction.com Over 25 years of experience Tues-Sat9am-5pm• ClosedSun&Mon Now Carrying! 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