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Tuesday, August 9, 2011 – Daily News 7A Firefighters contain four fires over weekend By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer Four fires were reported over the weekend, includ- ing a 40-acre vegetation fire reported Friday on Hawley Road, cross of Highway 99W. • The 40-acre fire, reported at 5:29 p.m. Friday on Hawley Road, was caused by equipment use. In addi- tion to the 40 acres, one shed and three vehicles in it were destroyed before the fire was contained at 6:21 p.m. The fire caused $1,000 damage with a $200,000 save. CalFire and Tehama County Fire responded. Corning Volunteer Fire Department and US Fish and Wildlife assisted. • An 8-year-old boy was referred to the juvenile fire setter program following a vegetation fire reported at 1:34 p.m. Saturday on Birch Drive in the Bowman area. The boy had been playing with fire, causing a quar- ter-acre fire. There was no damage, but there was a $200,000 save. The fire was contained at 2 p.m. CalFire and Tehama County Fire responded. •A spot fire reported at 6:24 p.m. Sunday on South Avenue, across of Gardiner Ferry Road, was caused by a lawn mower. The vegetation fire was contained at 6:30 p.m. CalFire and Tehama County Fire responded with Corning Volunteer Fire Department assisting. Damage was $200 to the lawn mower with a $1,800 save. • Red Bluff Fire and CalFire responded at 5:07 p.m. Friday to a vegetation fire behind a vacant lot between Northern California Farm Credit and AAA on Sale Lane. The fire, which was backing into the slough, was contained at 6:11 p.m. The cause is under investigation. ——— Julie Zeeb can be reached at 527-2153, extension 115 or jzeeb@redbluffdailynews.com. Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb Firefighters from Red Bluff Fire and CalFire mop up a fire reported at 5:07 p.m. Friday in the vacant lot between Northern California Farm Credit and AAA on Sale Lane. suspect is arrested By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer Cottonwood stabbing Brown endorses popular vote bill SACRAMENTO (AP) A Redding man has been arrested in connection with a Cottonwood stabbing that took place Saturday night on Bowman Road. Logs show a man reported at 8:39 p.m. to the Tehama County Sheriff’s Department that a bleeding man had been dropped off in the 19100 block of Adams Road in Cottonwood and was saying he had been stabbed. When deputies arrived, they contacted the man, identified as Dennis Arlen Hill, 54, of Cottonwood. Hill told deputies he had been in a fight with a man on Bowman Road, near Draper Road, where his vehicle had run out of gas, a Sheriff’s press release said. Hill, who had lacerations on the left side of his face and left ear, was taken to St. Elizabeth Community Hospital where he was treated and released. Using witness statements and evidence indicating the man was staying with his girlfriend on the Shasta County side of Cottonwood, deputies were able to iden- tify the suspect’s girlfriend. A short time later, contact was made with the man, identified as Gene Charles Moffett, Jr., of Redding and his girlfriend. Deputies learned Moffett and Hill had been in a fight on Bowman Road, during which Moffett cut Hill with a steak knife before Moffett fled the scene with his girl- friend. Along the way, he discarded his bloody clothing and the knife, both of which were later recovered by deputies, near a residence on Lourance Road in the Bend area. Moffett was arrested and booked into Tehama Coun- ty Jail on the charge of assault with a deadly weapon. Bail was set at $50,000. ——— Julie Zeeb can be reached at 527-2153, extension 115 or jzeeb@redbluffdailynews.com. POT Continued from page 1A and around the Mendocino National Forest. The operation had more than 300 personnel from 25 local, state and federal agen- cies. The Department of the Interior managed close to a third of the public lands on which the illegal grow sites that were a part of this oper- ation were found. A dozen Bureau of Land Management and Fish and Wildlife Service officers were involved daily. “Growers don’t recog- nize boundaries,” said Laurel Pistel, Special Agent in Charge for the BLM in Cali- fornia, in a press release. “I’ve spent 18 years with the BLM in Northern California, and I’ve seen the marijuana industry evolve from small, personal use gardens to large-scale complexes with armed guards on public K W I K K U T S Family Hair Salon 1064 South Main St., Red Bluff • 529-3540 with coupon $200 REGULAR HAIRCUT off Not good with other offers Reg. $13.95 Expires 8/31/11 lands. We were proud to be a partner in this large-scale effort. It’s a win for the envi- ronment and the public.” It is believed many of these grow sites are con- trolled by drug trafficking organizations, the release said. As a result, law enforce- ment from a variety of agen- cies dedicated resources to the investigation, eradica- tion, and reclamation to con- trol the illegal activity. Reclamation efforts will continue as law enforcement strives to remove materials, which will help restore the land to its natural state and will eliminate the infrastruc- ture. The reclamation efforts are necessary to deter drug trafficking organizations from re-establishing their operations, the release said. ——— Julie Zeeb can be reached at 527-2153, extension 115 or jzeeb@redbluffdailynews.co m. James W. Tysinger, Jr. M.D. Eye Physician & Surgeon Fellow American Academy of Ophtalmology We accept Medical, Medicare & most Insurances Office Hours: Tues-Wed-Thurs 8am-4:30pm Mon & Fri 1pm-5pm For Emergencies, After Hours, Week-ends, Call 530-567-5001 345 Hickory St. Red Bluff Tel: (530) 529-4733 Fax: (530) 529-1114 — Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Monday that would award all of California’s 55 Electoral College votes to the winner of the national popular vote, a move intended to ensure that the winner of the popular vote becomes president. The movement by a group called National Pop- ular Vote aims to prevent a repeat of 2000, when Democrat Al Gore won the popular vote but Republi- can George W. Bush won the electoral vote and the presidency. California is the eighth state to sign on, giving the effort 132 of the 270 elec- toral votes it needs to take effect. The others are Ver- mont, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, Illinois, Washington, Hawaii and the District of Columbia. Most states, including California, currently have SACRAMENTO (AP) winner-take-all systems that give all their electoral votes to the candidate who wins the most votes in that state. Supporters hope changing the law will force presidential candidates to campaign in all 50 states, because they would need votes from all around the country. ‘‘Right now the candi- dates spend 98 percent of their time and money in 15 states. So two-thirds of the states are totally ignored,’’ said John Koza, chairman of National Popular Vote. The group hopes to have enough support to change the electoral system by 2014, well ahead of the 2016 presidential election. The bill Brown signed, AB 459 by Assemblyman Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, passed the Legislature in July. Brown also signed sev- eral other pieces of legisla- said tion Monday that make changes to California vot- ing. They include compan- ion measures by Assembly- woman Susan Bonilla, D- Concord, and Assembly- man Marty Block, D-San Diego. AB461 and AB503 require write-in votes to be counted if the voter’s intent can be determined, even if the voter did not follow all instructions, such as filling in the bubble next to the line where they write the candidate’s name. ‘‘Voters who support write-in candidates have an additional burden placed on them,’’ Block said in a statement. However, write-in votes will only be counted if there are enough to possibly change the outcome of an election. Brown also signed AB1343, which allows per- manent absentee voters to — Facebook has agreed to work with law enforce- ment agencies nation- wide to remove accounts set up by inmates or post- ed on their behalf, in part because prisoners are using the social network- ing site to stalk victims and direct criminal activ- ity, California prison offi- cials said Monday. It’s the latest effort to combat a problem that has grown with the advent of smart phones and social networking sites. Last year a convicted child molester used a cell phone smuggled into prison to search his vic- tim’s Facebook and MySpace web pages, the Department of Correc- tions and Rehabilitation said in announcing the agreement with Face- book. The inmate then sent sketches to the 17- year-old victim’s home. Though he hadn’t seen her in at least seven years, the inmate used photos from her social networking pages to accurately draw the clothes she wore and the way she styled her hair, the department said. ‘‘Victims who fought hard to put their offend- ers behind bars are being department spokes- woman Dana Toyama. ‘‘It’s evolving as Face- book has become a huge social networking site and a place for gang members to talk and coordinate inside and outside prison. This is just one example of what they can do.’’ Inmates are permitted to retain Facebook pro- files that were created before they went to prison, according to the department. But Face- book will disable the account if it is used while the inmate is behind bars. Prison officials said the problem has grown worse because of the growth in smuggled cell phones. Six years ago the department confiscated 261 devices, compared to 10,760 last year and 7,284 in the first half of this year. Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes said prison officials’ best response is to keep smart phones and other Internet devices out of prisons. ‘‘We will disable accounts reported to us that are violating relevant U.S. laws or regulations or inmate accounts that are updated by someone on the outside,’’ he said Red Bluff Simple Cremations & Burial Service Family owned & Operated Honor and Dignity 527-1732 722 Oak Street, Red Bluff, FD Lic. 1931 529-3655 www.affordablemortuary.net in an e-mailed statement. ‘‘We will also take appro- priate action against any- one who misuses Face- book to threaten or harass.’’ Noyes said Facebook has been cooperating with law enforcement for some time whenever it is notified of problems, but Toyama said California had previously asked Facebook to remove inmates’ pages without success. ‘‘We’ve really only been successful in taking down one account so far. After this, we’re looking to be able to do this more,’’ Toyama said. She said the Federal Bureau of Prisons first announced Monday that Facebook had agreed to take down any account that prison officials can confirm has been updated while an inmate is in prison. The bureau’s National Gang Intelli- gence Center also report- ed a growing problem of inmates with active Face- book accounts, Toyama said, but she could not miss up to four consecutive statewide general election votes before they are removed from a county’s vote-by-mail list, up from the current two. Supporters of the bill by Assemblyman Paul Fong, D-Mountain View, say vot- ers are not notified when they’re taken off the rolls after missing two elections. The bill was sponsored by the California State Associ- ation of Letter Carriers. Brown also approved an all-mail voting pilot project in Yolo County when he signed AB413 by Assem- blywoman Mariko Yama- da, D-Davis. The law will assess the effects of all-mail ballot voting on local elec- tions and report the findings to the Legislature. The data gleaned from the project ‘‘may help guide the future of elections in California,’’ Yamada said in a statement. State says Facebook will remove inmates’ pages re-victimized,’’ provide a copy of the report because it is a con- fidential law enforcement bulletin. The California correc- tions department’s gang and victims’ services investigators routinely monitor social network- ing sites for inmates’ postings or communica- tions on their behalf, Toyama said. The depart- ment said it has found numerous times when inmates threatened vic- tims or made unwanted sexual advances. Earlier this year, they reported investigating an inmate they suspected was posting messages to his mother and others from behind bars. They confirmed the inmate had a smuggled cell phone, but Toyama said they have not confirmed that he was using it to update his Facebook account. Today’s Burning Issue Chimney All Summer? 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