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WEDNESDAY JUNE 15, 2011 Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com Dusty Way Plant Farm See Page 4A Commerce RED BLUFF Rare feat Sports 1B Sunny 95/61 Weather forecast 8B By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer The family of Jason Michael Williams was in for a surprise Tuesday at the Tehama County Board of Supervisors meeting, when they showed up to receive a certificate on his behalf. The family thought they were at the meeting to receive a certificate of recognition for Williams’ personal contribution to Tehama County while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. However, when Super- visor Bob Williams got up the present the certificate, he started to call the fami- ly up but asked them to hold on a moment, turn- ing to the side of the room, where U.S. Army Sgt. E-5 Jason Williams walked in. Williams’ family had several different reactions from one young boy who ran up to Williams, to his grandmother Betty Garcia who teared up after spot- ting him. “I’m so excited to have him here, but it was hard to keep it a secret, espe- cially since I’m raising a 6-year-old grandson who also had to keep the secret” said Angie Williams, Jason’s mother. The group made up the largest number of family coming for a certificate she had seen, said Kathy Peters, of the Tehama County Military Family Support Group. DAILYNEWS TEHAMACOUNTY DAILY 50¢ T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Soldier surprises family Teens arrested in home invasion By ANDREA WAGNER DN Staff Writer Two 16-year-old Red Bluff boys are the suspects in an attempted burglary early Tuesday morning in the 2500 block of Cimarron Drive. Carmel Growney called 911 just after midnight when she was woken up by someone breaking a window on the back of her home, a press release said. Growney stayed in a locked room and waited while police officers responded, police logs said. Officers entered through a window a few minutes later. Police sirens may have frightened the culprits, the release said. Officers couldn’t find anyone when they arrived but saw that the window had been shattered by a rock. About two hours later, Growney called 911 again to report that two male juveniles were back, the logs said. See TEENS, page 7A County makes final offer to union By ANDREA WAGNER DN Staff Writer Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb US Army Sgt. E-5 Jason Williams surprised his family,Tuesday, after receiving a certificate of recognition from Tehama County. Supervisor Williams had the honor of handing the certificate to the sol- dier. “Periodically, we get the honor of recognizing folks from Tehama Coun- ty who serve, but this is pretty special because it’s on Flag Day,” Williams said. Upon receiving the certificate, Jason Williams, the son of Gay judge’s same- sex marriage ruling upheld SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday had a message for those trying to salvage Cali- fornia’s gay marriage ban: Sure, the judge who threw out the measure last year is in a long-term relationship with a man, but he could still be fair to them. Chief U.S. District Court Judge James Ware’s ruling rejected arguments that for- mer Chief Judge Vaughn Walker would potentially benefit from declaring the ban unconstitutional. In his 19-page decision — a response to the first attempt in the nation to dis- qualify a judge based on sexual orientation — Ware had a bigger message. Gay judges, he said, are just like minority and female jurists: They can be impartial, too, even in cases that might affect them. ‘‘We all have an equal stake in a case that chal- lenges the constitutionality of a restriction on a funda- mental right,’’ he wrote. ‘‘The single characteristic that Judge Walker shares with the plaintiffs, albeit one that might not have been shared with the majority of Californians, gave him no greater interest in a proper decision on the merits than would exist for any other judge or citizen.’’ Ware upheld his retired predecessor’s ruling that struck down Proposition 8. Finding that Walker could not be presumed to have a personal stake in the case just because he has a same-sex partner, Ware wrote that the judge had no obligation to divulge whether he wanted to marry before he struck down the ban. ‘‘The presumption that Judge Walker, by virtue of being in a same-sex relation- ship, had a desire to be mar- ried that rendered him inca- pable of making an impartial decision, is as warrantless as the presumption that a female judge is incapable of being impartial in a case in which women seek legal relief,’’ he wrote. The ruling does not settle the legal fight over the mea- sure. The sponsors of the ban are planning to appeal Ware’s ruling. Lawyer Charles Cooper, who repre- sents the conservative reli- gious coalition that put the ban on a 2008 ballot, said he disagrees with the ruling. ProtectMarriage.com, which filed the challenge, said it would appeal and ‘‘continue our tireless efforts to defend the will of the peo- ple of California to preserve marriage as the union of a man and a woman.’’ Meanwhile, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is considering whether Walker See JUDGE, page 7A 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 Red Bluff Outdoor Power Angie and Steve Williams and the step-son of Cindy Williams, had a few words of his own. “I’ve always had sup- port from my family, but to get this from the com- munity to show its sup- port is a real honor,” Williams said. “Thank you very much.” Williams, who is origi- nally from Red Bluff, served one tour in Iraq and one in Kosovo during his six years in the Army and has just re-enlisted for another four years. He will be en route to Fort Bragg, where he will be stationed, Sunday evening. ——— Julie Zeeb can be reached at 527-2153, extension 115 or jzeeb@redbluffdailynews .com. County Supervisors imposed a final offer on management unions Tues- day after labor negotiations reached an impasse among county officials. The Tehama County Management Bargaining Unit, represented by the Tehama County Manage- ment Employees’ Associa- tion, was handed the coun- ty’s “Last, best and final offer,” which will force con- cessions in management employee contracts. Another set in a series of budget-cutting concessions, the action is similar to actions taken with the Mis- cellaneous Bargaining Unit in February and the Tehama County Deputy Sheriff’s Association in January. In the new resolution, the county agrees to pay four- sevenths of the normal PERS member retirement contributions for all employ- ees of the bargaining unit, effective June 16. The change affects man- agement in public works, the Animal Care Center manag- er, administrative taries, the mental health and public health directors, per- sonnel analysts, assistant district attorneys and others. County Administrator Bill Goodwin reminded the See UNION, page 7A Event honors Old Glory By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer CORNING — The Corning Senior Center held a Flag Day luncheon celebration Tuesday that also served as a fundrais- er. World War II veteran Bucky Bowen spoke to the audience, which filled the center, about the meaning of the flag and the history of flag day. “The Stars and Stripes, flag of the Unit- ed States of America, is the world-wide hope of all who, under God, would be free to live and do His will,” Bowen said. “Upon its folds is written the story of America — the epic of the mightiest and noblest in all histo- ry.” Flag Day was original- ly observed June 14, 1960, by President Woodrow Wilson but it was not until 1961 at a ceremony sponsored by the Elks Lodge that it was formally recognized as a holiday, he said. “I’d like to express my thanks as a World War II veteran for all of you coming out,” Bowen said. “I’ve often felt that Flag Day gets lost when it comes to tributes done. I’m pleased to see so many of you here today.” In his speech, Bowen said the Stars and Stripes was a new constellation appearing in the western skies and symbolizes the divine right of all men to life, liberty, happiness and peace under endow- ment by their creator, Bowen said. “To what man or woman is given words ing generation and must be rewon again, again and again until the end of time, lest it too shall pass like the ancient Empires of Greece and Rome,” Bowen said. “The price of liberty is eternal vigi- lance. What was won at Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill had to be repurchased at Ticon- deroga and Yorktown.” It was achieved again through the high seas war by John Paul Jones and Commodore Perry on Lake Erie in the war of 1812. It was also pur- chased at the attacks on Pearl Harbor and Manila in 1941. “What our troops Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb A flag attached to the Corning Volunteer Fire Department Ladder Truck is flown at the Flag Day Luncheon Celebration held Tuesday at the Corning Senior Center. adequate to tell the story of the building of this nation?,” Bowen asked. “It is an immortal story written in blood and sweat, in heroic deeds and unremitting toil, in clearing the primeval forests and in planting of vast prairies where once the coyote and the buffa- lo roamed.” The flag and what it symbolizes, is the her- itage of the people of the United States, he said. “It has been repur- chased by each succeed- achieved under the Stars and Stripes at Chateau- Thierry and Flanders in World War I, their sons were required to repur- chase in World War II in the bloody trek across northern Africa, on the beachheads of Europe and in the Battle of the Bulge,” Bowen said. The prize of freedom that our flag symbolizes was also won at Iwo Jima, in the Korean War, Vietnam, Grenada and Panama. “Today, American See GLORY, page 7A PHYSICIAN REFERRAL A FREE SERVICE PROVIDED FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE 1-800-990-9971 CHW North State Region secre-