Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/449006
ByMattSedensky The Associated Press BOYNTON BEACH, FLA. An estranged Florida couple's fight over whether to cir- cumcise their son has be- come a rallying cry for those who denounce the procedure as barbaric. The dispute between Heather Hironimus, the mother opposing circum- cision, and Dennis Nebus, the father favoring it, has sparked a prolonged court battle, protests and the rapt attention of a move- ment of self-proclaimed "intactivists." Judges have ruled in fa- vor of the father, meaning the surgery is likely to hap- pen, but the possible clo- sure of the legal chapter has done little to mute the case's most passionate fol- lowers. Though many still choose to remove their sons' foreskins at the sug- gestion of a doctor, for re- ligious or cultural reasons, or out of habit, opponents have been bolstered by the overall waning popularity of circumcision, and the fact this fight has gone on so long the boy at its center is now 4 years old. "I couldn't speak when I was cut, but I can speak now," said Thomas Frederiksen, a 39-year-old machinist who traveled from Orlando to protest, wearing a red beret and "I (Heart) My Foreskin" T- shirt and speaking breath- lessly about the issue. Volumes of court fil- ings tell the story: Hironi- mus and Nebus had a six- month relationship that re- sulted in a pregnancy, the birth of a boy named Chase, and a fight over nearly ev- erything since. Nebus sued to prove his paternity and to get partial custody of the boy and the couple whittled out a parenting plan outlin- ing everything from his sur- name to his legal address, to whom he calls mommy or daddy and, notably, what becomes of his penis. In that document, the cir- cumcision of the child was agreed to by both parents. When it came time to sched- ule the procedure, though, the mother resisted, having researched the subject fur- ther. The matter wound its way through circuit court, which ruled in Nebus' favor, then to the Fourth District Court of Appeal, which re- fused to overturn the lower court's ruling. "Just the normal thing to do," the father said of cir- cumcision, according to the court files. "To me, it's not worth it to put my son's life at risk for a cosmetic proce- dure," the mother said. The parents entered an agreement on Dec. 24 to not talk to the press and to avoid any other campaigns or ac- tions that might exploit the child. There is no indication in the court documents the circumcision is being done for religious reasons. The at- torney that had represented the mother, who lives in Boynton Beach, is no longer being retained and has not been replaced, the lawyer's office said. The attorney for the father, who lives in Boca Raton, did not respond to re- quests for comment. Thoughcircumcisionrates have fallen in the U.S., a ma- jorityofboysstillundergothe removal of their foreskin. A 2013 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Pre- vention found 58.3 percent of newborn boys were circum- cisedin2010,downfrom64.5 percent in 1979. (The data ex- cluded babies who were cir- cumcised after leaving the hospital—manyJewishboys have the procedure during a ceremony called a bris, eight days after birth.) Meantime, a bubbling anti-circumcision movement has grown. They have made the boy at the center of this case their cause celebre, as ev- idenced by one of several small sidewalk protests here featuring signs in- cluding "Let Chase Keep His Foreskin," "Don't Cut Chase's Penis," "Don't You Dare Circumcise Chase!" and "Ethics 101: No Dis- ease, No Consent, No Cir- cumcision." FLORIDA Boy's circumcision spurs legal battle By Henry C. Jackson The Associated Press WASHINGTON Cheap oil doesn't only mean cheaper gas in the tank. It means that a car dealer in Illi- nois is shuffling the inven- tory of models he'll be sell- ing, that more students in Wisconsin may get school- provided iPads, that some planned projects in a Southern California city will get delayed, and that some expected oilfield hir- ing in North Dakota and Texas may not happen. In ways large and small, plummeting oil prices are now reverberating through businesses, towns, schools and family budgets, caus- ing confusion and chang- ing plans. With prices hav- ing fallen by nearly half in just six months, the poten- tial impact has been sud- den and wide ranging. "I'm always chasing my tail," said Ron Hicks, who has sold cars for 10 years in Galesburg, Illi- nois, and overall for 38 years, and suddenly finds himself with too many smaller fuel-efficient cars on his City Select lot when trucks and sports cars might sell better. "I need to be smarter even than I've been in the past. I need to find the balance." Fuel is a major cost item for many businesses and local governments, and the recent changes are up- ending budgets that were drafted month ago and used to plan hiring and authorize projects for 2015. For a medium-sized city with police cars and gar- bage trucks to fuel, gaso- line costs can amount to several hundred thousand dollars annually. But oil is also a revenue source in more than two dozen states, especially for about a third of them. In Alaska, where up to 90 percent of the budget is funded by oil, new Gov. Bill Walker has ordered agency heads to start identifying spending cuts. "This pullback caught most everyone by surprise," Brian M. Youngberg, a se- nior energy analyst for Ed- ward Jones wrote in analy- sis last week. The stakes are espe- cially high for transpor- tation companies. But at Delta Airlines, which now projects $1.7 billion in fuel savings in 2015, no adjust- ments are envisioned, at least in ticket prices. "When it comes lower, hang on to all of it," Delta CEO Richard Anderson told investors in December about likely profits. "That's kind of our philosophy." In states like North Da- kota, Oklahoma and Texas, which have reaped the benefits of a domestic oil boom, the retrenchment is beginning. "Drilling budgets are being slashed across the board," said Ron Ness, pres- ident of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, which represents more than 500 companies working in the state's Bakken oil patch. Drilling and extrac- tion jobs that soared from 293,000 to more than 586,000 since 2003 are now heading back down. ENERGY Ca r lo ts t o ci ty b ud ge ts , cheap oil means change MATTSEDENSKY—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Jennifer Blanchard, 34, of Miami, protests in Boynton Beach, Fla., over the case of a little boy whose parents have been fighting over whether to circumcise him. Washington 51/34 New York 38/25 Miami 76/65 Atlanta 63/42 Detroit 31/20 Houston 71/51 Chicago 37/31 Minneapolis 33/27 Kansas City 52/31 El Paso 68/38 Denver 39/20 Billings 37/16 Los Angeles 71/51 San Francisco 59/46 Seattle 49/33 AIRQUALITYFORECAST Whatitmeans:0-50:Good; 51-100:Moderate; 101-150:Unhealthyforsensitivepeople; 151+:Unhealthyforall. Source: Airnow.gov City Today'sairquality City Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W CALIFORNIA CITIES National and world forecast s-sunny,pc-partly cloudy,c-cloudy,sh-showers,t-thunderstorms,r-rain,sf-snow flurries,sn-snow,i-ice City Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W Summary National Extremes World Extremes North and South America Asia, Australia Africa CarsonCity Hawthorne Reno Herlong Lovelock Sacramento Yuba City Napa Ukiah Chico Corning Lakeview Alturas Susanville Redding Red Bluff Laytonville Fort Bragg Point Arena Eureka Redway Mount Shasta Yreka Crescent City Ashland Shown is today's weather. Temperatures are today's highs and tonight's lows. Shown are today's noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. ALMANAC Precipitation Temperatures ALLERGY REPORT Pollenlevels Source: National Allergy Bureau TODAY'S UV INDEX (The higher the number, the faster skin damage will occur.) Extreme Very high High Moderate Low SUN SETTINGS, MOON PHASES Sunrise Sunset Moonrise Moonset Hoursofsunlight River Levels SacramentoRiver Flood 7a.m. 24-hr Stage yest. chg. Lake Levels Elevation Yesterday Storage (acre-feet) Percent Capacity Q: A: WEDNESDAY 67° 40° THURSDAY 65° 41° Dense fo g in the morning Dense fo g in the morning FRIDAY 71° 47° Dense fo g in the morning SATURDAY 74° 48° Dense fo g in the morning TODAY 65° 42° Cloudy and dense fog this morning; some p.m. sun. Partly cloudy, then cloudy and dense fog tonight. High ....................................................................... 65° Low ........................................................................ 39° Normal high ......................................................... 55° Normal low ........................................................... 38° Record high ............................................. 74° in 2009 Record low .............................................. 20° in 1943 Humidity noon today ........................................ 45% 24 hours through 2 p.m. yesterday ................. 0.00" Month to date ................................................... 0.04" Normal month to date ..................................... 3.16" Season to date ................................................ 16.39" Normal season to date .................................. 12.14" Red Bluff through 2 p.m. yesterday Chico .......................................................... Moderate Napa ........................................................... Moderate Red Bluff .............................................. Not available Redding ..................................................... Moderate Yuba City ................................................... Moderate Allergy, dust and dander today: Neutral Grass ....................... N.A. Mold .........................N.A. Trees ....................... N.A. Weeds ..................... N.A. 2 Highest at 12 p.m. Today 7:27 a.m. 5:13 p.m. 7:15 a.m. 5:57 p.m. Wednesday 7:27 a.m. 5:14 p.m. 8:00 a.m. 7:10 p.m. 9 hr., 46 min. Jan20 New Jan26 First Full Feb3 Last Feb11 aboveBendBridge......................27 ...........1.20 .......none atHamiltonCity.........................148 ......129.20 .......none atOrdFerry................................114 ........96.70 .......none atRedBluffDiversionDam.......253 ......237.80 .......none atTehamaBridge ......................213 ......200.60 .......none atVinaWoodsonBridge............183 ......166.40 .......none BlackButte ....................444.01..............39,613 .....27.6% LakeOroville..................719.34.........1,408,226 .....37.7% LakeShasta ...................954.33.........1,949,283 .....42.8% LakeTrinity..................2236.92............847,033 .....32.0% Whiskeytown...............1198.85............206,713 .....85.7% Weather Trivia ™ Is it true that January has the fewest thunderstorms? No. December has the fewest. Today Wednesday Anaheim 72/49/pc 72/48/s Bakersfield 61/45/c 61/41/c Chula Vista 68/50/pc 67/49/s Crescent City 56/40/pc 56/42/s Death Valley 74/50/pc 74/44/s Eureka 56/38/pc 57/41/s Fremont 61/41/pc 63/39/s Fresno 55/42/c 55/41/c Glendale 71/50/pc 71/51/s Huntington Beach 67/53/pc 67/53/s Irvine 69/50/pc 70/48/s Lake Tahoe 49/21/pc 46/21/s Long Beach 69/51/pc 70/49/s Los Angeles 71/51/pc 71/51/s Mammoth Mountain 54/20/pc 50/17/s Modesto 56/40/c 57/39/c Monterey 60/43/pc 64/44/s Moreno Valley 72/43/pc 70/42/s Napa 61/37/pc 62/36/s Needles 73/54/pc 72/47/pc Oakland 59/42/pc 61/40/s Oxnard 67/50/pc 68/51/s Redding 67/40/pc 68/39/s Riverside 72/41/pc 70/37/s Sacramento 57/40/pc 58/39/pc San Bernardino 72/44/pc 72/42/s San Diego 67/54/pc 66/51/s San Francisco 59/46/pc 60/45/s San Jose 63/41/pc 63/40/s San Luis Obispo 67/44/pc 71/42/s Santa Ana 70/53/pc 71/51/s Santa Barbara 67/47/pc 67/45/s Santa Clarita 71/45/pc 70/46/s Stockton 56/39/pc 57/39/pc Ventura 66/49/pc 68/52/s Yosemite Valley 57/30/pc 58/28/s Today Wednesday Albuquerque 56/33/pc 48/28/c Atlanta 63/42/pc 62/39/s Baltimore 47/27/pc 37/26/c Boston 35/19/s 32/26/c Buffalo 24/7/c 27/17/sn Chicago 37/31/sn 36/24/sf Cincinnati 50/31/c 45/30/c Dallas 66/44/s 60/40/c Denver 39/20/pc 32/15/c Detroit 31/20/sn 28/21/sn El Paso 68/38/pc 61/37/c Fargo 34/25/sn 27/10/sf Honolulu 82/67/s 82/67/s Houston 71/51/s 63/51/pc Indianapolis 46/29/c 42/27/c Kansas City 52/31/pc 47/27/pc Las Vegas 65/47/pc 65/38/s Louisville 55/32/c 49/30/pc Miami 76/65/pc 80/66/c Minneapolis 33/27/sn 33/19/sf New Orleans 68/49/pc 66/49/pc New York City 38/25/s 35/29/sn Oklahoma City 60/38/pc 51/38/c With Sunday's winter storm continuing to slowly track through Atlantic Canada, brisk winds will once again chill New England today. Dry weather, however, will prevail. Meanwhile, one band of nuisance snow will swing through the lower Great Lakes with spotty rain and snow showers in store for the Ohio Valley. A second snow band will track over the northern Plains. On the backside of the system responsible for this snow, gusty winds will drive colder air over the High Plains. Ahead of both snow zones, high pressure will keep the South dry and mild for mid-January. The West will also stay dry. High ............................... 80° in Del Rio, TX Low ............................ -8° in Gunnison, CO High ........... 112° in Marble Bar, Australia Low .................... -54° in Susuman, Russia Bogota 66/47/t 64/46/t Buenos Aires 74/62/pc 78/67/s Caracas 86/72/pc 87/72/pc Ensenada 72/47/pc 69/50/s Mexico City 74/48/pc 73/47/pc Montreal 9/-5/s 11/1/s Rio de Janeiro 94/79/pc 92/78/t Tijuana 69/51/pc 67/49/s Toronto 24/5/pc 25/9/pc Vancouver 46/31/c 45/36/pc Orlando 72/53/pc 74/53/pc Philadelphia 44/26/pc 34/28/sn Phoenix 76/52/pc 73/51/pc Pittsburgh 40/27/c 40/28/sn Portland, ME 30/12/s 29/17/pc Portland, OR 50/34/pc 48/37/pc St. Louis 53/34/c 48/30/pc Salt Lake City 39/22/pc 35/18/s Seattle 49/33/pc 48/39/pc Tucson 77/46/pc 73/42/pc Washington, DC 51/34/pc 41/32/c Cairo 73/53/s 76/53/s Casablanca 58/43/sh 57/43/sh Johannesburg 75/56/c 78/59/t Kinshasa 91/71/pc 92/73/t Lagos 91/74/pc 91/75/pc Nairobi 82/61/pc 80/58/t Tripoli 64/45/pc 65/46/s Baghdad 63/40/pc 65/41/s Beijing 45/24/s 42/18/s Hong Kong 68/56/s 71/55/s Jerusalem 61/47/s 66/47/s Kabul 44/30/r 39/28/sn Manila 88/74/c 87/73/s Melbourne 83/64/pc 86/64/s New Delhi 70/50/c 70/51/c Seoul 36/24/pc 42/27/c Singapore 86/76/pc 85/75/t Sydney 79/70/c 80/72/t Tehran 48/33/s 53/35/s Tokyo 51/37/pc 44/42/r Amsterdam 38/29/c 35/29/c Athens 62/54/pc 63/49/s Belgrade 52/41/c 54/41/pc Berlin 36/28/sn 34/29/pc Budapest 44/37/c 46/38/c Dublin 40/32/c 41/31/pc London 39/35/c 41/32/sh Madrid 42/26/c 47/35/s Moscow 26/-2/c 11/-1/pc Paris 36/29/c 38/30/sn Rome 55/44/sh 57/43/r Stockholm 35/29/c 32/28/c Vienna 42/29/c 41/37/pc Zurich 40/28/sf 38/27/pc 52/27 53/29 53/27 49/26 54/17 57/40 57/37 61/37 63/34 63/38 64/41 46/17 50/21 49/24 67/40 65/42 61/33 57/41 58/45 56/38 62/33 53/27 50/23 56/40 51/27 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2015 20815DalbyLn. 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WEHAVEALMOST400 VEHICLES IN STOCK. CHRYSLER JUST ANNOUNCED BIGGER REBATES. HERE'S SOME GREAT REASONS TO COME TO RED BLUFF DODGE AND LOOK. BIGGER REBATES JUST ANNOUNCED. HUGE SELECTION. DEEP DISCOUNTS. VERY GENEROUS TRADE IN ALLOWANCES. | WEATHER | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2015 8 B