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MONDAY JULY 4, 2011 Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com Sunny 104/71 Weather forecast 6B DAILYNEWS RED BLUFF 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 Ashelter’s story Man, woman shot inside Chico bar By GREG WELTER MediaNews Group CHICO — A man and a woman were shot inside LaSalles bar, 229 Broadway, about 10:45 p.m. Saturday. Police said the man suffered at least one serious gunshot wound to the chest. A woman standing near the man was also reportedly hit by gunfire. Neither person was identified by police Saturday night. Both victims were rushed to Enloe Medical Center. Police said there might be a third victim who wasn't injured badly enough to need medical assistance. Police detained a man who had been inside the bar, and two employees of the business identified him as being involved in the shooting. Police said late Saturday night he remained a person of interest only, pending an investigation by detectives and crime-scene specialists. Police said a firearm was recovered at the scene. Two young women who were in the packed bar at the time of the shooting said an unidentified man fired multiple rounds into the ceiling of the business, then turned his firearm on the victim, shooting him up to four times in rapid succession. One of the witnesses said the victim's eyes rolled back in his head, and he was bleeding profusely from the chest. Police shut down a block of Broadway in front of the bar and a block of West Second Street, around the corner, until about midnight. Calif. GOP claims win in Daily News photo by Tang Lor Kira Creighton, a shelter coordinator at the Torres Community Shelter, pulls a bin from the shelves for a guest. Editor’s note: This is the sixth story in a series on homelessness leading up to the July 5 Red Bluff City Council meeting on a proposed ordi- nance to rezone an area on Brecken- ridge Street that will allow for a per- manent, year-round homeless shelter. By TANGLOR DN Staff Writer CHICO — It’s about 9 a.m., and even though all the guests are gone, Shawn Osborne’s work is just begin- ning. He has already put in two loads of laundry, handled a number of calls and is giving a tour of the facility when two unexpected guests show up at the Torres Community Shelter. They just want to borrow a basket- ball and promise to return it. They will most likely be back around 4:30 p.m., along with the other guests that are temporarily stay- ing at the year-round emergency shel- ter for the homeless located just south of Costco on Silver Dollar Way. Osborne, the shelter supervisor, gives them the OK and continues with the task at hand. On the tour Osborne explains how the Chico shelter operates, providing an insight for other similar shelters, such as the one proposed in Red Bluff. As the tour progresses, Osborne points out the lockers that align the outside back wall on each side of the main entrance where guests are allowed to keep personal belongings. Inside the facility, a room accessi- ble by paid staff only is filled with shelves of plastic bins that provide more storage space. While the staff takes out and puts away the bins at the request of the guests, they do not open the bins out of respect for their guests' privacy, Osborne said. The see-through bins allow staff to see what is inside with- out having to open it should they have any concerns about questionable con- tents. No one but the owner of the bin is allowed to open it or access the con- tents. The policy carries over to the dormitory area where guests are allowed to keep one see-through bag of contents at their beds. The dormitory areas, one for men and one for women, are at opposite ends of the 120-bed facility. Rooms are available for families. In mid-June the shelter had about 70 guests, which included men, women and families with children. The number of guests fluctuate depending on the time of year, with more people seeking shelter during the winter. Sex offenders are not allowed to stay at the shelter. Parolees and pro- bationers cannot stay there without the approval of their supervising agents or officers. Those who are intoxicated or under the influence of drugs are turned away, along with shelter hoppers. It's not often that he has to turn people away, as those who are not eli- gible usually do not show up, Osborne said. There are homeless who choose to live in encampments and do not want to abide by the rules See SHELTER, page 5A holding out against taxes SACRAMENTO (AP) — Republican lawmakers are claiming victory after the state budget passed last week with- out a single GOP vote because the plan did not include the Democrats' top solution — a renewal of the higher income, sales and vehicle taxes approved two years ago. But not every conservative is popping a bottle of Califor- nia sparkling wine in celebration: While they held fast to their no-tax pledge, GOP lawmakers also lost a historic chance to secure their top priorities: scaling back state employee pensions; imposing a state spending cap; and making business-friendly changes to California's regulatory and environmental laws. Republicans hope to pin the blame for massive spending cuts to social programs and higher education on Democrats, while claiming credit for holding the line on taxes. Assem- bly Minority Leader Connie Conway, R-Tulare, stressed that the budget was "not ours." "They're the ones that chose who got cut. They are the ones that made their priorities, and so if people are suffering and hurting, they need to contact the people that did that to them," Conway said this week during an event to celebrate the expiration of a 1 cent addition to the state sales tax and another hike to the vehicle tax. "Our agenda was to put the money back in the taxpayers' pocket." The majority vote budget came after Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, conceded defeat in his attempt to persuade a handful of Republican lawmakers to support his plan to ask voters to extend for up to five years temporary increases in the sales, income and vehicle taxes. In exchange for their votes to put the measure on the bal- lot, Republicans had hoped to put their own reform propos- als before voters. But after nearly six months of negotiations, See GOP, page 5A Veteran receives well-deserved vacation By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer A group of 22 veterans, including Arch Johnson of Red Bluff, were able to make a trip June 16-18 to Washington D.C. to view several of the war monu- ments. “It was the best pay and the best food,” said Arch Johnson, who served in the Navy from 1942 to 1945. “As an 18 or 19-year-old kid I jumped right in. The 88-year-old World War II veteran served on a submarine, the Devil Fish, which was the only subma- rine attacked by a Kamikaze war plane. “We were very fortu- nate,” he said. “If it’d been a minute sooner I’d have been here sitting on your shoul- der with a halo or a pitch fork. It was too close for my comfort.” The trip was one Arch Johnson thought he might not be able to make and had actually told his wife that he didn’t know if he would be able to make it next year, he said. “Three or four days later we got the call about the trip,” Johnson said. His grandson contacted Tom and Debbie Johnson who organized the trip for the NorCal Honor Flight trip to get the itinerary for the visit, took the day off and went with him, Arch Johnson said. “The first thing most people want to do when the go see him is visit the mon- uments so he was actually better than the paid tour guides,” Arch Johnson said. “He knew all the stuff they didn’t know or forgot.” The trip, which took two years from the time he signed up for it, was paid for entirely by donations from the Amvets, he said. “They wouldn’t even let us pay a dime,” Arch John- son said. 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 This was the eighth honor trip for the NorCal area, said Arch’s wife, Phyl- lis Johnson. They take the groups of veterans whenev- er they have funding avail- able, she said. The couple said they had heard about the trips before, but didn’t know for several years that there was a local group. The local group was started by Debbie and Tom Johnson, who took Deb- bie’s father, a World War II vet, to the monument. Upon returning home, Debbie started thinking about it and from there she and her hus- band Tom came up with the local group, Phyllis Johnson said. “They’re such tremen- dous people,” Arch Johnson said of Debbie and Tom Johnson. “Everybody ought to try to know them.” During the trip, the main focus was to visit the World War II monument, but they visited several others, he said. “We saw the changing of the guard at Arlington, the Vietnam wall, the Korean monument,” Arch Johnson said. “There were a whole bunch of them and we were fortunate to see all of them.” The World War II monu- ment was not completed until April 2004, about 60 years after the end of the war. “I always wanted to be able to go and Phyllis and I have been to the East Coast a few times, but at the time we went it didn’t exist,” Arch Johnson said. “It’s something they fought for years, to get this in DC. It was a fulfillment of a part of my life that was dedicated to the preservation of this nation and the principals it stands for to see it. It was a beautiful monument.” The group was greeted at the airport both in San Fran- cisco and Washington D.C. by the Patriot Riders. Johnson said he hopes others will be able to make the trip. Honor Flight Northern California is a non-profit program created to honor veterans for their sacrifices by flying them to Washing- ton D.C. to visit the memo- rials. With close to 1,200 World War II veterans a day being lost, priority is given to World War II veterans and those who are terminal- ly ill. For more information on Courtesy photo Arch Johnson, 88, of Red Bluff waits to board a plane at the San Francisco airport on June 16 as a part of the Honor Flight Northern California trip. the program call Tom John- son at 357-3380 or visit the Website http://honorflight- norcal.org. Donations can be sent to the NorCal hub, 260 California Drive, Yountville, CA, 94599. ——— Julie Zeeb can be reached at 527-2153, exten- sion 115 or jzeeb@redbluff- dailynews.com.