Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/51146
Monday, December 26, 2011 – Daily News 5A PAIR Continued from page 1A ing materials. Neal tried to flee the scene on foot but was cap- tured after a short chase and arrested, the release said. While officers were chasing Neal, the girl tried to flee but was quickly apprehended and taken to PLAN Continued from page 1A tangs in the Jakes Wash Herd Management Area with- in the 855,000-acre complex, Emmons said. ''We're not going to remove more than 50 percent of the horses in that area,'' she said. The suit challenged the BLM's plan to ''zero out'' the Jakes Wash area for wild horses, while continuing to authorize thousands of sheep and cattle to graze the same public land there. The plaintiffs also criticized the agency's plans to reduce the complex's horse population from about 2,200 to 360 over the next six to 10 years, and to replace 200 wild stallions with castrated males there over the same period. ''The proposed actions are precedent-setting and permanent in nature, and we firmly believe the court will find them in violation of the law,'' said attorney Katherine Meyer, who represents the plaintiffs. ''The agency's agreement to delay these radical management actions will avoid the need to seek an emergency injunction over the holidays, and will allow the court time to review the considerable merits of our lawsuit.'' The suit, filed Dec. 14 by the Western Watersheds Project, the American Wild Horse Preservation Cam- paign and the Cloud Foundation, follows the BLM's decision in July to back off a similar plan to castrate hundreds of wild stallions in Wyoming. BLM officials said they plan to remove horses from the Pancake Complex in phases over the next six to 10 years because the agency lacks sufficient space in its holding facilities. Activists complain the agency's ongoing mass removal of mustangs from public lands has resulted in the stockpiling of horses in long-term facilities in the Midwest at growing taxpayer expense. Captured horses are put up for adoption, but sent to government-funded facilities if they attract no owners. There now are more horses in holding facilities — 41,000 — than free-roaming horses in 10 Western states — 33,000. Over the 2011 fiscal year, holding costs accounted for nearly 50 percent of the BLM wild horse and burro program's $75.8 million budget. Neva- da is home to about half of the West's wild horses. Calif. man to get medal for World War II actions SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A North- ern California congresswoman says a black Navy veteran credited with saving the lives of some of his shipmates during a battle in World War II will be getting a long-awaited medal for his heroism. U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo said Thursday that after a delay of 66 years, Carl Clark of Menlo Park will be awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with the Combat Distinguished Device in January. Clark was serving as a steward aboard the USS Aaron Ward in May 1945 when Japanese kamikazes attacked near Oki- nawa. Though he suffered a broken collar- bone in the attack, Clark was credited with dragging men to safety and dousing a fire in an ammunition locker that could have sunk the ship. The congresswoman and the 95-year- old Clark both say the recognition took so long because of racism. California could lose 1,500 inmate firefighters LOS ANGELES (AP) — An unfore- seen result of the state's prison realignment that moves prisoners from state to county facilities is that it may reduce the number of inmate firefighters in California. The Los Angeles Times reports more than 1,500 inmate firefighters will be lost in the process. The state has relied on well-behaved, nonviolent offenders to help clear brush and cut fire lines since World War II. Fire officials say the prisoners can comprise as much as half of the man- power assigned to a major inferno. The state's realignment was devel- oped to comply with a U.S. Supreme Court decision that ordered California to reduce overcrowding. State corrections and fire officials say they want to work with local govern- ments to train county inmates, but local officials balked at the $46 a day cost. N. California family loses gifts, dog in burglary MORGAN HILL (AP) — A Northern California family victimized in a burglary a few days before Christmas is hoping to at St. Elizabeth Community Hospital before being booked into juvenile hall for public intoxication. Neal was treated for a minor injury he sustained jumping down a flight of stairs while trying to evade officers, the release said. Neal was booked at Tehama County Jail and was being held in lieu of $76,000 bail. Staff report DROP Continued from page 1A were here, but they're not," Stinson said. He planned an evening of looking at Christmas lights with his son for Christmas Eve. There were some who TOWING Continued from page 1A in the state. Police also ask for drivers' licenses at the sobriety checkpoints. Supporters of the vehicle impounds say unlicensed drivers are also a roadside hazard and that the new law is misguided. ''It's a terrible law, really disap- pointing,'' said Jim Maher, who sharply expanded checkpoints in Escondido after being named police chief in 2006. All but three U.S. states — New Mexico, Utah and Washington — deny driver's licenses to illegal immigrants but controversy over checkpoints has been strongest in California. Cedillo believes that's because a 1995 state law has allowed police to impound vehicles from unlicensed drivers for 30 days, resulting in fees that can easily top $1,000. Towing practices vary widely across the state. San Francisco allows 20 minutes to find a licensed driver to claim a vehicle at a check- point. The Los Angeles Police Department eased rules on 30-day impounds in March. Checkpoints have divided Escon- dido, a city of 144,000 people near San Diego whose Latino population has surged in the last 30 years. Lati- nos moved into aging neighbor- hoods near downtown as newer sub- divisions gradually spread to avoca- do orchards, vineyards and citrus groves. Nearly half the signs at a big strip mall near City Hall are in Spanish. Like Hazleton, Pa., and Farmers Branch, Texas, authorities in Escon- dido have tackled illegal immigra- tion on their own. In 2006, the City Council voted to require landlords to check ten- least get its dog back. The Lancers lost all of the presents under the tree along with their dog when their Morgan Hill home was broken into last week, authorities said Sunday. ''It's a very unfortunate thing that some- body would steal from a family, especially at this time of year,'' said Santa Clara Coun- ty sheriff's Sgt. Jose Cardoza. Attempts by The Associated Press on Sunday to reach the family were unsuccess- ful, but Chris Lancer made an emotional Christmas Eve appeal on KNTV, pleading for the return of the family's dog. ''Bring the dog back, please,'' he said. ''It's my daughter's dog. I won't say noth- ing if you just bring the dog back.'' The family returned home Wednesday evening and found the front and back doors open and several gifts, worth about $600 missing, as well as the family pet, Cardoza said. Cardoza did not know the breed of the dog or its age, but described it as a ''small dog.'' No suspects have been identified, but investigators were able to gather finger- prints from the home. The prints will be sent to a lab for analysis this week, Cardoza said. Parolee gets 10 years in animal abuse case SACRAMENTO (AP) — A Sacramen- to judge has sentenced a parolee convicted of animal abuse to serve 10 years in state prison and ordered him to register as a sex offender. Robert DeShields was ordered to serve the maximum prison sentence Friday after being convicted of felony animal cruelty for the sexual abuse of a Chihuahua mix named ''Shadow,'' the Sacramento Bee reported. The dog suffered severe injuries that required surgery and now lives in a foster home, the newspaper said. DeShields, 55, described by the prosecu- tion as a chronic methamphetamine user, was convicted after a trial that included graphic testimony. During Friday's hearing, Sacramento County Deputy District Attorney Hilary Bagley-Franzoia argued that DeShields be should treated as a sexual offender for the rest of his life because he is a danger to soci- ety. ''The public needs to be on alert,'' she said. In sentencing DeShields, Superior Court Judge Thadd Blizzard said the nature of the case was ''inherently sexual in nature.'' Bagley-Franzoia said it may be the first time that Jessica's Law has been applied in a case involving sexual abuse of an animal. The law, approved by California voters in 2006, lengthened sentences for sex offenders and placed other restrictions on them, including prohibiting them from started Christmas shop- ping on Saturday. Angelica Martinez, 24, of Corning had to wait until she got paid to start, she said. She was shopping in the toy aisles for her daughter, son and two step-children. "They expect so much," she said. "I'll do the best I can do. Something is bet- ter than nothing." Martinez, planning on a dinner at home with her family for Christmas, was ready to get out of the store, she said. "It's hectic," she said. "I don't like coming when it's like this." Whether people were looking for one more ants' immigration status but a feder- al judge blocked the ordinance and it never took effect. Last year, Escondido police forged an unusu- ally close alliance with U.S. Immi- gration and Customs Enforcement, which has four agents at police headquarters to check the immigra- tion status of people who are ques- tioned at checkpoints or elsewhere. ''It's a never-ending battle,'' said Concilman Ed Gallo, a New Jersey transplant who blames illegal immi- gration for overcrowded homes and schools. ''We didn't pay attention to it for 25 years and look what hap- pened. It was a long, slow process.'' Several residents and a labor union sued Escondido in state court this month to create City Council districts, a bid to increase Latino representation. The lawsuit says the council has pursued ''aggressive anti-immigrant policies that have inflamed racial tensions.'' Maher said the partnership with ICE is aimed only at rooting out ille- gal immigrants who commit crimes after arriving in the United States, including being previously deport- ed. Those whose only offense is being in the country illegally won't be bothered by his officers, nor will any crime victims or witnesses. Police say they have turned over 670 people to ICE for immigration proceedings since the joint effort began in May 2010. Their most common offenses were previous convictions for driving under the influence and drugs, with lower numbers for theft and assault. ''We certainly have enough of our own criminals. We don't need someone else's here,'' Maher said. Escondido has impounded more than 3,200 vehicles since 2006, mostly at the federally funded sobri- ety checkpoints. The city had towed about 1,000 at driver-license-only checkpoints until the American STATE BRIEFING within 2,000 feet of a park or school. Defense attorney Jennifer Stoneburner said she would appeal. AG seeks changes to CAmedi-pot laws SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Attorney General Kamala Harris is urging California lawmakers to get serious about clarifying the state's notoriously murky medical marijuana law. In a letter to leaders of the California Leg- islature, Harris said on Thursday that numer- ous holes in the 15-year-old statute approved by voters have left law enforcement and legitimate patients in a constant state of uncertainty. She said the state needs to spell out, for example, if storefront pot dispensaries are legal and if so, under what conditions they can operate. Harris, a Democrat who was elected with backing from the state's medical marijuana industry, has been under pressure to defend it since the four federal prosecutors based in California announced in October a coordi- nated effort to shut retail pot shops they described as fronts for public drug dealing. Christmas card or some extra frosting and sprin- kles, Christmas shopping continued to flourish right up to the last few hours before the holiday. ——— Andrea Wagner can be reached at 527-2153, extension 114 or awagner@redbluffdailyne ws.com. Civil Liberties Union and El Grupo, a Latino advocacy group, threatened a lawsuit in 2009, contending they violated the state vehicle code. Maher insists he is targeting unli- censed drivers, not illegal immi- grants or Latinos. Six towing companies each pay the city $75,000 a year to take turns at checkpoints, keeping impound fees for themselves. About one-third of the cars towed are believed to be abandoned, allowing the towing companies to auction them. ''It was kind of like letting them steal cars,'' said Olga Diaz, the only Hispanic on the City Council. Websites that have sprung up in the last two years quickly alert motorists to checkpoints through social media networks and smart- phones, severely undermining their effectiveness. A few years ago, Escondido police impounded 50 or 60 vehicles a night. Now they typi- cally get about 20. One of the final checkpoints before the new law takes effect was one of the slowest in memory for many of the 15 officers who stood under bright lights and encountered a December chill. Activists waved signs several blocks away, giving motorist an opportunity to turn away. Police impounded six vehi- cles — three for driving without a license and three for driving under the influence. Aldama, who paid a smuggler $1,300 to lead him through the mountains east of San Diego on a weeklong trek 13 years ago, was able to reach all his friends before the checkpoint began. One he didn't call had his 1997 Ford Explorer towed at an Escondido checkpoint a few weeks earlier. The unemployed construction worker surrendered the SUV to the towing company because he couldn't afford the fees.