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Friday, December 2, 2011 – Daily News 9A Death Notices Margaret Hannah Neilsen Margaret Hannah Neilsen of Red Bluff died Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011, at St. Elizabeth Communi- ty Hospital. She was 76. Hoyt-Cole Chapel of the Flow- ers is handling the arrangements. Published Friday, Dec. 2, 2011, in the Daily News, Red Bluff, Calif. Death notices must be provided by mortuaries to the news department, are published at no charge, and feature only specific basic information about the deceased. Paid obituaries are placed through the Classified advertising department. Paid obituaries may be placed by mortuaries or by families of the deceased and include online publication linked to the news- paper's website. Paid obituaries may be of any length, may run multiple days and offer wide latitude of content, including photos. WINDS Continued from page 1A Thursday blamed the city for protecting its old trees from over-trimming to such an extent that they have now become a public safety hazard. Vince Mehrabian, the general manager at A&B Motor Cars estimated eight Lexus, Cadillac and other luxury cars that had been destroyed by fallen limbs. He said he'd been asking the city for four years to trim the trees more. On a street around the corner, almost every tree was either cracked in half or missing limbs. Elsewhere, Daphne Bell, a 30-year Pasadena resident, said she was kept awake by howling wind. ''This is the worst, the absolute worst. There were times it sounded like a freight train was roaring down my driveway,'' she said Similar stories of downed trees and power lines echoed across the West, where winds in some areas ripped store- front awnings, filled gut- ters with debris and forced school closures. High winds ripped through Utah, overturning several semi-trucks on or near Interstate 15, and 54,000 customers were without power along the state's 120-mile Wasatch Front as high winds took down power lines. Police asked schools to close in Centerville, where a 102-mph gust was reported. Mail delivery and trash pickup were cancelled. In Nevada, weather officials warned that blowing dust was creating visibility problems on a highway that guides dri- vers between Reno and Las Vegas. In Steamboat Springs, Colo., the roof of a four- story condominium com- plex was blown off and about 100 trees were knocked over, some land- ing on homes. A ski area shut down its lifts after a gust of 123 mph. Even some weather experts were surprised by the wind's force. ''It's one of the strongest events that I can remember,'' said Brian Edwards, a meteorologist with Accuweather. ''It's rather rare.'' Sacramento priest arrested in molestation case SACRAMENTO (AP) — A priest in the Sacramen- to Roman Catholic diocese has been arrested on accu- sations that he molested a child, Bishop Jaime Soto announced Thursday. The Rev. Uriel Ojeda, 32, turned himself in on Wednesday after the diocese received a complaint from a parishioner's family, Soto said. Ojeda is assigned as parochial vicar at Our Lady of Mercy parish in Red- ding, in Northern California. ''I have personally spoken to the family involved, and they are in great pain. ... What they have endured has been difficult, and I grieve for what they have suf- fered and are suffering,'' Soto said. ''Yet I also admire the courage with which they have come forward.'' Police spokeswoman Laura Peck said Ojeda was arrested at police headquarters on suspicion of multiple molestation counts. Charges have not yet been filed, said Shelly Orio, spokeswoman for the Sacramento County District Attorney's office. It was not immediately clear whether the priest had an attorney. In a news conference, the bishop stressed the dio- cese's quick response to the allegations, which he said were brought by the family of the alleged victim on Tuesday. Soto said church officials immediately con- tacted Child Protective Services and Sacramento police. California law requires clergymen to report sus- picion of child sexual abuse. It also fulfills a pledge that American bishops made in the national child protection policy they adopted in 2002, at the height of the clergy sex abuse crisis, to alert civil authorities when child abuse is suspected. Chico Chavez, of the Sacramento chapter of the Sur- vivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, agreed that the diocese acted quickly to alert the public to the alle- gations against Ojeda, but he said the diocese has not always been so responsive. Church leaders in 2005 agreed to pay $35 million to settle 33 claims of sexual abuse by its priests. ''It's taken years of lawsuits and a number of arrests in order for the diocese to begin to get the message that the public wants to keep kids safe,'' said Chavez, who is a victim himself. ''It appears as though they respond- ed adequately and our hope is that they continue to do so in the future.'' Diocese spokesman Kevin Eckery said the Sacra- mento diocese has promised to immediately take action and notify the public, though this was one of the few cases involving an active criminal case instead of a civil lawsuit. ''The church has learned a lot in 10 years and is an example of what we do,'' Eckery said. ''We've walked the walk here.'' CHICO Continued from page 1A University Police offi- cers were stationed at the southwest entrance of the building since Thurs- day morning, allowing employees in and out. As of 5 p.m. Thursday people were still gath- ered in front of Kendall Hall taking turns speak- ing through a bullhorn. People were talking about the number of police on campus, con- cern about rising tuition and the importance of working together. Zingg took a turn on the bull- horn. Wills said earlier in the day that there is no indication that the bomb threat Wednesday had anything to do with the Occupy Chico State event. Yet, having an unknown number of peo- ple inside the building today didn't seem to be a good idea. "Not only is there a lot of common ground between what the stu- dents want to achieve and what many of us on campus want to achieve," Wills said. "We really want to stay engaged with the students." This report produced by the Chico Enterprise- Record. Some specific proposals by Occupy protesters Some of the leading proposals to solve the coun- try's economic and political problems, offered by members of the Occupy movement who were inter- viewed by The Associated Press: — Impose a 1 percent ''Robin Hood'' tax on large financial transactions, and use the money to support social programs. — Reinstate portions of the Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act that were repealed in 1999. The act had prevented bank holding companies from get- ting into certain other types of financial ventures, effectively separating investment banking and com- mercial banking. — Freeze all property foreclosures; cap interest charges at 6 percent or less. — Reduce military spending; stop wars that drain financial resources. — Reparations; make government payments to BROWN Continued from page 1A health care, and place new workers into a hybrid plan that includes 401(k)-style accounts. ''Without pension reform, I don't think we'll have the credibility to ask people to do other things that are very much needed,'' Brown told lawmakers. Brown's political adviser, Steve Glazer, would not confirm he administration was ready to submit the language for a ballot proposal but said the approach fits with the governor's budget philosophy. ''The governor continues to pro- mote a balanced solution to the state budget that combines difficult cuts and efficiencies with adequate rev- enue that protects schools and pub- lic safety,'' he told the AP. California is facing a projected $13 billion shortfall over the next 18 months. With tax revenue running behind projections, the budget passed last summer calls for auto- matic spending cuts after the first of the new year to higher education, public schools and some social ser- vices. Brown, a Democrat, has been the descendants of African slaves to reset a broken, unbalanced economy. — Ban big corporate donations to campaigns and set equal spending limits. — Instill a fair conscience and a sense of moral- ity into the minds of big decision makers. — Revamp the tax code to take a higher percent- age of multimillionaires' earnings. Ensure that Wall Street and big companies pay higher business taxes. — Equalize public education by paying fairly and proportionately for the entire U.S. population, regu- lating spending by student and not by school dis- trict. — Pass congressional legislation that returns bankruptcy protection to student loans. — End corporate personhood. — Ensure equal-access health care for all Amer- icans. developing his tax plan in a series of closed-door meetings with his staff, labor leaders and Democratic law- makers. He has argued since taking office that raising taxes is necessary in order to prevent further cuts to essential services such as public safety and schools. Among the options for school districts is slicing another seven days off the state's minimum 175-day school year, which already is five days shorter than before the recession began. Earlier this year, Republicans blocked his effort to place a measure on the ballot as part of budget nego- tiations. California has cut tens of billions of dollars in state spending since the recession began in late 2007 and sent tax revenue plunging. The state general fund this fiscal year is $86 billion, down from $103 billion before the recession. The additional revenue from the temporary taxes Brown proposes would be directed toward schools, which would in turn free money for other services. Brown's tax proposal would also seek to protect money the state is directing to local govern- ments for taking on additional responsibility for thousands of lower-level criminals, many of whom would be incarcerated in SACRAMENTO (AP) — California lawmakers are giving up a perk that had been unique among state legislators nationwide — taxpayer-subsidized vehi- cles. The program ended Thursday after the state's Citizens Compensation Commission voted last spring to do away with the benefit, a decision prompted by California's ongoing budget deficits and a series of stories by The Associated Press and other media. Legislators, like many employees, will now seek reimbursement for the actu- al number of miles they drive on official business. California was the only state that provided vehicles to its rank-and-file lawmak- ers for unlimited use, according to the National Conference of State Legis- latures. Lawmakers have used the perk to purchase vehi- cles that included a $55,000 Cadillac sedan and a $52,000 Lexus hybrid, the AP reported a year ago. Taxpayers spent $3.5 mil- lion for the vehicles that lawmakers used in their home districts. Senate and Assembly members also received insurance, repairs — and unlimited gasoline, another unique perk, the AP report- ed in 2008. It is not clear at this point what kind of savings the changes will bring to tax- payers, if any. The state plans to examine and com- pare spending between the two programs in the next year. Yet taxpayers might end up paying more for law- makers' travels than the compensation commission had intended when it voted to end the taxpayer-subsi- dized vehicles. Commissioners voted in April to replace the unlimit- ed vehicle program with a $300 monthly stipend. However, the state con- troller ruled that the com- mission has no authority to order the monthly allowance, so lawmakers will instead get mileage reimbursement. California employees get 55.5 cents per mile. The commission esti- mated taxpayers spent an average $7,453 in vehicle costs annually for each law- maker who accepted a vehi- cle. A $300 monthly allowance would have cut the average vehicle costs to $3,600 a year. That means the annual tab for legislators' vehicles would have dropped by more than half. But paying lawmakers by the mile could cost tax- payers $1.2 million a year, based on mileage figures from the Legislature. Assembly members drive an average of 19,538 miles each year in their subsidized vehicles, compared to 17,649 for senators. The Legislature's admin- istrators had contended that Red Bluff Simple Cremations & Burial Service You DO have a choice in the Red Bluff area. Caring & Compassionate Service Full traditional burial service or cremation 722 Oak Street, Red Bluff, FD Lic. 1931 527-1732 Over 50 years of serving Tehama County county jails instead of state prisons. The initiative's prospects at the polls will be far from certain if it qualifies for the ballot. The reces- sion has thrown millions of Califor- nians out of work, and several other groups also are planning tax-related initiatives, creating a logjam of con- fusing proposals. One, for example, seeks to close a corporate tax loophole while another seeks to raise income taxes to generate $10 billion for schools. Tom Del Beccaro, chairman of the state Republican Party, said vot- ers turned down the last seven tax increase proposals and will do so again. ''These will be turned down as well because voters know better than Gov. Brown,'' Del Beccaro said in a statement. Also Thursday, Moody's Investors Services issued a report saying midyear cuts to California schools could lead to credit down- grades of some districts, particularly those with low reserves. Dari Barzel, vice president and senior credit officer, wrote in her report that a total of 21 school dis- tricts have been downgraded by Moody's so far this year and seven remain on negative outlook. Lawmakers give up taxpayer-financed vehicles providing lawmakers with subsidized vehicles was a relative bargain compared to reimbursing them for each mile driven on official business. Senate spokesman Mark Hedlund said the old system cost the equivalent of 42.5 cents per mile, while lawmakers now will be eli- gible for reimbursement up to 55.5 cents per mile, although the reimbursement rate has yet to be set. The state Legislature ini- tially sought to get both the mileage reimbursement and the $300 monthly allowance, according to Jacob Roper, a spokesman for the state controller's office, and a Sept. 15 letter from a deputy state attorney who reviewed the law at the controller's request. The attorney general and con- troller rejected the double payments. ''I can't blame them for trying to get the maximum that they can,'' said com- mission member Charles Murray, who pushed to sub- stitute the $300 monthly stipend for the vehicle pro- gram. ''It's a natural reac- tion by someone on the street. But as a legislator, I think you'd speak to a high- er power, and you have to lead by example.'' Hedlund denied that the Legislature's lawyer sought both allowances. The lawyer was merely seeking legal guidance, he said. Murray disagreed with the attorney general's ruling that the commission lacked the authority to create a new monthly vehicle allowance. He said he plans to ask the commission to appeal, but the commission will not meet again until next year unless chairman Thomas Dalzell calls a special meet- ing. Independently owned Telephone: (530) 824-3792