Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/51329
USE Continued from page 1A ticides applied included wine grapes, carrots, almonds, and table and raisin grapes. Sulfur, a natural fungi- cide used by conventional and organic farmers to control mildew, was the most used pesticide in the state. Its use grew by 10 percent and accounted for 27 percent of all reported pesticide use. The fumigant 1,3- dichloropropene, also known as Telone, saw the greatest increase in pounds applied — its use went up by 37 percent. Telone is used on straw- berries, almonds, sweet potatoes, carrots, and table and raisin grapes. It's an alternative to methyl bro- mide, which is being phased out under an inter- national treaty to protect the ozone layer. Environmentalists decried the increase in pesticide use. ''The numbers released indicate that we're stuck on the pesticide tread- mill,'' said Paul Towers, spokesman of Pesticide Action Network. ''Instead of providing support and forward thinking policies to help farmers transition from pesticide use, our state is continuing the use of unsafe and outdated chemicals.'' Most alarming was the increase in the use of fumigants, Towers said, which are prone to drift and some of which are linked to cancer and groundwater contamina- tion. Pesticides include fumigants, insecticides, herbicides, anti-bacterials and other chemicals. The data covers only pesticides used in agricul- ture, termite treatment and professional landscaping. About two-thirds of the pesticides sold in Califor- nia, including chlorine used for municipal water treatment and home-use pesticide products, are not subject to reporting. Parolee charged in mom's strangling, beating death OROVILLE (AP) — A parolee could face the death penalty if convicted of strangling his mother, beating her with a hammer, then hiding her body in the septic tank of her Chico home. Anthony David Yee was arraigned Tuesday on charges of first-degree murder with special allegations that include robbery and lying in wait. Prosecutors say the 34-year-old Yee broke into Judith Nathan's house on Dec. 19 and attacked her. A neighbor told police that the pair were heard argu- ing a day or two earlier. Prosecutors say Yee showed up at the home shortly after being paroled, but Nathan would not allow him to stay there because she was afraid of him. Yee has a criminal history that includes assault and burglary convictions. The Chico Enterprise-Record reports (http://bit.ly/urlvKX) that he's due back in court Thurs- day to enter a plea. ——— Information from: Chico Enterprise-Record, http://www.chicoer.com N. Calif. crash leaves 7 utility poles toppled MARYSVILLE (AP) — Authorities say a Northern California highway has reopened following an extend- ed closure Tuesday, after a suspected drunk driver top- pled a utility pole and a passing tractor-trailer that got snagged in the downed wires knocked over six more. The crash on two-lane Highway 70 in Marysville occurred around 4:20 a.m. Tuesday, and crews escorted vehicles through one direction at a time for hours. A California Department of Transportation dispatcher says both lanes reopened shortly after 5pm. The California Highway Patrol says the driver of a red pick-up truck was seen weaving in traffic before crashing into a telephone pole and going into a ditch. Officer Christian Booth tells the Appeal-Democrat of Marysville (http://bit.ly/uM5JI4 ) that the big rig dragged the other poles down after getting tangled in wires lying across the road. ——— Information from: Appeal-Democrat, http://www.appeal-democrat.com Damaged Southwest jet towed from runway SACRAMENTO (AP) — The Southwest Airlines flight that suffered two blown tires at Sacramento Inter- national Airport has been towed from the runway. The Sacramento Bee reports (http://bit.ly/sr65fT) that all runways at the airport were again open on Wednesday morning, a day after the tires blew and forced one of the runways to close. Sacramento County airport officials say crews have since conducted inspections of the runways, but have not found any debris that could have been responsible for the ruptures. The Seattle-bound flight with 130 passengers on board was cancelled. The passengers were booked onto other flights. Another Southwest flight was canceled on Wednes- day as a precaution after striking a bird and returning to the runway. The plane suffered minor damage, and the passengers were rebooked onto other flights. ——— Information from: The Sacramento Bee, http://www.sacbee.com How California spends its welfare budget SACRAMENTO (AP) — The California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKS) program is the largest cash grant program in the state. The state spent $6 bil- lion on welfare services in 2011. — In July, the most recent data available from the state Department of Social Services, 1.4 mil- lion people applied for assistance from Cal- WORKS. Of those, 1.1 million were age 18 or younger. — $269 million was spent on cash grants for CalWORKS in July. — Cal-Learn, which has been suspended for a year, cost $43.6 million in 2010. — CalFresh, Califor- nia's food stamp program, had 3.7 million applicants in July and cost $559 mil- lion in 2010. — 1.3 million people received $750 million in Supplemental Security Income and state supple- mentary payments. — $380 million was spent on in-home support- ive services for 426,000 people. AB109 Continued from page 1A tion who don't have a home or healthy environ- ment to return to. Both groups suggested that their programs would give pro- bationers incentives to stay out of trouble. Along the same lines, county programs already in place also have a stake in how AB109 funds are distributed. Other elements consid- ered in the draft plan included county social ser- vices, mental health ser- vices, drug and alcohol programs and the depart- ment of education. The director of drug and alcohol treatment ser- vices, Sue McVean, sug- gested that all of the com- munity services working together will make a dif- STALLED Continued from page 1A The additional work will be paid for by Walmart. So far, the project has not cost the city any money, Timboe said. Walmart remains com- mitted and continues to pay for all the costs, which have included the original plans, environmental impact report and its amendments and attorney fees, among other expenses. City Attorney Richard Crabtree said the project has been in the works even before he started work- ing for the city eight years ago, and while it's frustrating to see the delay, there is not much he can legally do to fast track the project. "All we can do is keep on plug- CUTS Continued from page 1A drawing welfare checks while participating in state- funded programs designed to help him find work. None of those programs has paid off, and with state spending cuts to welfare pro- grams, he is receiving $300 a month from the state, less than half his previous check of $661. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Balaba is one of 4.6 million Americans on welfare amid a lasting recession that has forced lawmakers to slash budgets across the country, including for many safety-net pro- grams. California will spend $6 billion this fiscal year on its welfare programs, or roughly 7 percent of a general fund budget that has shrunk by $17.5 billion over the past three years. Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Repub- lican lawmakers pushed suc- cessfully for welfare reforms in 2004 and have won other cutbacks and concessions since then. Funding for CalWorks, the welfare-to-work program that is the state's main wel- fare service, was cut by $1 billion this year. The legisla- tion that reduced the spend- ing also shortened the amount of time a recipient can stay on welfare, from 60 months to 48, while also reducing monthly checks by at least 8 percent. Lawmakers also suspend- ed a program called Cal- Learn, which offers incen- tives and services for teenage parents who had dropped out of high school. Many Republican law- makers say the cuts need to continue because California can no longer afford all the program's costs. They say the relatively generous bene- fits have made California a magnet for those seeking welfare assistance. The Legislature's budget cuts and reform measures in recent years are steps in the right direction but don't go far enough, said state Assem- blyman Brian Jones, a Republican from La Mesa, near San Diego. He said he would support cutting the amount of time adults can remain on welfare even further. ''By the time someone is on welfare for 48 months, I think they're trained to be on that system,'' he said. ''I ference in curbing people from re-offending. Thursday, December 29, 2011 – Daily News 5A funding. All the services using the same methods and telling them the same things could affect change, McVean said. Success comes through account- ability, strong supervision and incentives. McVean's supervisor, Valerie Lucero, the execu- tive director of county health services, is a voting member of the Communi- ty Corrections Partner- ship. Lucero and members of her staff have been involved with several of the subcommittees that helped put together the individual reports that make up the draft plan. Public health covers mental health services, drug and alcohol treatment programs and jail nursing, all of which are projected to be impacted by increas- es in probation and jail populations in the county. In an immediate response to the issue, Lucero and the Communi- ty Corrections Partnership proposed to allot a contin- gency fund of $10,000 to mental health services. The funds, to be used as needed, are intended to cover costs of medication and psychiatrists visits to probationers who are not covered by or eligible for other medical insurance programs. Following approval by a vote of the Community Corrections Partnership executive members, Lucero brought the pro- posal before the Board of Supervisors Tuesday, Dec. 20. The board authorized the transfer of funds to mental health services. Also included in the draft plan were several suggestions for AB109 ging through and hope to clear a hurdle," Crabtree said. The recent court ruling asks pro- ject planners to supply more infor- mation on the noise impacts coming from sweepers that will be used to clean the parking lot. It leaves it up to the local court to enforce the rul- ing. Walmart first presented the city with a proposal to build the super- center in 2003. The final EIR was approved in 2006, and was immedi- ately challenged by a group of resi- dents calling themselves the Citi- zens for a Healthy Community. The original suit that was filed in Tehama County Superior Court in December 2006 alleges at least 10 deficiencies in the EIR. Most of those issues have been resolved in subsequent versions and think we need to make it more attractive in California to get folks off of welfare instead of onto it.'' The Legislature focuses too much on trying to micro- manage people's lives, he said, while failing to devise productive ways to get Cali- fornians back to work. ''The welfare numbers are high because the econo- my is in the pits, and there doesn't seem to be a political force in Sacramento to push the reforms we need to get our economy going,'' said Jones, vice chairman of the Assembly Human Services Committee. Yet recipients say a per- sistent recession that has given California the nation's second highest unemploy- ment rate is just the reason not to cut welfare benefits further. Theresa Hooks had been working as a mobile notary in Arizona when she decided in 2009 to move to Califor- nia, where her grandmother had offered to help care for her children. Shortly after the 35-year- old divorced mother of three moved to Hemet, in a semi- rural area about 90 miles east of Los Angeles, her grand- mother developed an illness that left her unable to care for Hooks' children. Hooks said she then lost the three-bed- room apartment she had been living in because she couldn't afford the rent. ''That's when I ended up homeless,'' she said. ''I could not find a job anywhere, and I applied everywhere. Not Kmart, not McDonald's. There was not one company in Hemet that would hire me.'' She is among the 1.5 mil- lion Californians who depend on monthly welfare grants. California's caseload far outnumbers the rest of the country, with 3.8 percent of its population on welfare in 2010. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Health and Human Services, Maine, the state with the second highest percentage, had 2.9 percent of its population on welfare. Tennessee, New Mexico and Washington, the next three states, were at 2.5 percent. The states with the lowest proportion of residents on welfare — Wyoming, Idaho, Georgia, Texas and Illinois — had less than one half of 1 percent of their population receiving state assistance. The main reason Califor- nia has such a high percent- Some of the proposals suggested funding proba- tioners to enroll in a "workforce academy" through the Job Training Center, having probation- ers participate in existing services at Alternatives to Violence and funding a school probation officer and/or probation assistant for a community day school in the works. Nothing is final, and the proposals merely high- light the priorities of each subcommitteed within the Community Corrections Partnership. The next meeting of the Community Corrections Partnership to further dis- cuss the draft plan will be at 2 p.m., Jan. 11, at the Tuscan Room of the coun- ty administration building, 727 Oak St. amendments to the EIR, City Man- ager Martin Nichols said. Even though the project has already been approved by the City Council, construction has been stayed until all the environmental issues have been worked out in court. "It's frustrating the minority has this much power to delay the pro- ject," Mayor Forrest Flynn said. Mayor Pro Tem Wayne Brown said the group's continual appeal to the courts is an abuse of the appel- late system. "How three citizens can continue to fight is beyond me," Brown said. ——— Tang Lor can be reached at 527- 2153, Ext. 110 or by e-mail at tlor@redbluffdailynews.com. age of the nation's welfare cases is because it is one of the few states that continue to provide welfare checks for children once their parents are no longer eligible. About three-quarters of California's welfare recipi- ents are children age 18 and younger. Just three other states — Indiana, Oregon and Rhode Island — provide assistance checks to minors after their parents no longer qualify for welfare. Yet even with the state's promise to support children, families are finding it harder to move from welfare to employment amid a stagnant job market. California's unemploy- ment rate has been dropping in recent months but is still second highest in the nation behind Nevada, at 11.3 per- cent, and remains far higher than the national rate of 8.6 percent. After applying for wel- fare, Hooks moved her fami- ly into a one-bedroom apart- ment in the San Fernando Valley. For the past two years, she has been studying for a degree in public rela- tions while struggling to pay her bills with a welfare check that shrank by $76 a month to $752 in the latest round of state budget cuts. She said her ex-husband sends a little money, but she still finds her- self short of cash every month. She said her job prospects are uncertain, at best. ''I'm not trying to stay on this,'' she said of the state's welfare rolls. ''I'm trying to get off as soon as possible.'' Former President Bill Clinton supported an over- haul of the nation's tradition- al welfare system in 1996 by giving states more control over the money that came from the federal government, which had been used to fund cash payments. States used the new flexibility to begin funding child care services and job-assistance programs. Welfare rates plummeted across the nation as the promise of assistance checks was connected to mandatory welfare-to-work programs. Some 12.6 million people were on welfare nationally at the time of the overhaul, with 2.6 million of those in Cali- fornia. Some states have seen the number of welfare recip- ients decline by almost 50 percent since those changes were made. California's low- est figure was in 2007, when an average of 1.2 million people applied for state assis- tance. The numbers have been creeping up since the reces- sion began in 2007, said Jean Ross, executive director of the California Budget Pro- ject. California's relatively high cost of living and its large number of low-wage jobs make it difficult for resi- dents to make ends meet, she said. By 2009, California saw 1.3 million apply for state assistance, and the number has continued to climb. ''California is widely rec- ognized as having one of the most effective programs, which is why the caseload dropped,'' Ross said. ''What's unfortunate is that all the best pieces that work are the very pieces that have been scaled back.'' The Sacramento-based nonprofit, which often advo- cates for union-friendly changes to state budgeting, estimates that $3.5 billion has been cut from Califor- nia's welfare-to-work pro- gram since 2008. Welfare spending as a percentage of the state's overall budget has dropped by more than half since 1996, the group says. As the Legislature cuts funding to welfare programs, the consequences are being felt by the people who rely on them. Cal-Learn, which helped teenage parents finish their high school diplomas and gain job skills, assisted more than 11,700 people during the last year it was fully funded. Its suspension has left many of them stuck at home caring for their children because they can- not afford reliable child care.