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Tuesday, January 3, 2012 – Daily News 7A CHILD Continued from page 1A of an Alabama man and a story she could have only dreamed. Disbrow, the daughter of Dutch immigrants, weath- ered a harsh childhood milk- ing cows on South Dakota dairy farms. Her stepfather thought high school was for city kids who had nothing else to do. She finished eighth grade in a country schoolhouse with just one teacher and worked long hours at the dairy. On a summer day in 1928 while picnicking with girls from a sewing class, Disbrow and her friend Eliz- abeth were jumped by three men as they went for a walk in their long dresses. Both were raped. ''We didn't know what to do. We didn't know what to say. So when we went back, nothing was said,'' Disbrow recalled. Months passed. Her body began to change. Disbrow, who had been told babies were brought by storks, didn't know what was happening. Her mother and stepfa- ther sent her to a Lutheran home for pregnant girls. At 17, she gave birth to a blond- haired baby with a deep dimple in her chin and named her Betty Jane. In her heart, Disbrow longed to keep her. But her head and her mother told her she couldn't bring an infant back to the farm. A pastor and his wife were looking to adopt a child. She hoped they could give Betty Jane the home she couldn't. ''I loved that baby so much. I wanted what was best,'' Disbrow said. She never met them, or knew their names. But over the years, Disbrow wrote dozens of letters to the adop- tion agency to find out how her daughter was faring. The agency replied faithfully with updates until there was a change in management, and they eventually lost touch. Disbrow's life went on. She married a fruit salesman who became a wartime pilot and drafting engineer and they had two children. She worked as a dressmaker, silk saleswoman and school cafeteria manager in cities spanning from Rhode Island to Minnesota and Northern California before moving to the seaside town of San Clemente an hour's drive north of San Diego. Every year, she thought about Betty Jane on her May 22 birthday. Five years ago, Disbrow prayed she might get the chance to see her. ''Lord, if you would just let me see her,'' Disbrow remembers praying. ''I promise you I will never bother her.'' On July 2, the phone rang. It was a man from Alaba- ma. He started asking Dis- brow, then 94, about her background. Worried about identity theft, Disbrow cut him off, and peppered him with questions. Then, the man asked if she'd like to speak with Betty Jane. Her name was now Ruth Lee. She had been raised by a Norwegian pastor and his wife and had gone on to marry and have six children GOLDEN GATE including the Alabama man, a teacher and astronaut Mark Lee, a veteran of four space flights who has circled the world 517 times. She worked for nearly 20 years at Walmart — and especial- ly enjoyed tending to the garden area. Lee knew she was adopt- ed her whole life, and grew up a happy child. It wasn't until she was in her 70s that the search for her biological parents began. Lee started suffering from heart problems and doctors asked about the fam- ily's medical history. She knew nothing about it. Her son, Brian, decided to try to find out more and petitioned the court in South Dakota for his mother's adoption records. He got a stack of more than 270 pages including a written account of the assault and handwritten let- ters from a young Disbrow, asking about the tiny baby she had cradled for a month. He then went online to try to find one of Disbrow's relatives — possibly through an obituary. ''I was looking for some- body I thought was probably not living,'' said Lee's now- 54-year-old son. He typed Disbrow's name into a web directory and was shocked when a phone listing popped up. ''I kind of stopped breathing for a second.'' On the phone with her biological daughter, Dis- brow was in disbelief. Her legs began to tremble. She couldn't understand how a naove dairy farm girl with- out an education could have such accomplished grand- children. A month later, Ruth Lee and Brian Lee flew to Cali- fornia. They arrived at Dis- brow's meticulous apart- ment on a palm tree-lined street armed with a gigantic bouquet of flowers. Disbrow couldn't get over how Lee's hands were like her mother's. Lee was amazed at the women's sim- ilar taste in clothing. They pored over family photo albums and caught up on the years Disbrow had missed. ''It was just like we had never parted,'' Disbrow said. ''Like you were with the family all your life.'' Since then, the families have met numerous times. Disbrow has gone to visit grandchildren and great- grandchildren in Wisconsin and Texas. She is planning to travel to Alabama in the spring, where they will cele- brate her recently marked 100th birthday. Disbrow has started shar- ing her story with members of her church and communi- ty. The Orange County Reg- ister ran a story about Dis- brow's journey in Decem- ber. The family's improba- ble reunion also made the local newspaper in Viroqua, Lee's hometown in western Wisconsin. ''It has been such a surre- al, amazing experience that I still think sometimes that I will wake up and it will just be a beautiful dream,'' the 82-year-old Lee said. Disbrow's daughter Dianna Huhn, 65, of Port- land, Ore., said the reunion has filled a void for her mother — one that for many years, the sharp, stylish woman with sparkling blue eyes kept a deep, dark secret. ''I have never seen my mother as happy,'' said Huhn. NATIONAL RECRE- ATION AREA, Calif. (AP) — A historic World War II- era gun battery that once guarded San Francisco Bay has been restored as an exhibit that showcases the region's military past as the country's first line of defense against a West Coast invasion. The U.S. Army built Battery Townsley into a Marin County hillside more than 70 years ago to house weapons that could lob 2-ton shells 25 miles. The series of underground tunnels and concrete gun emplacements became an underground party spot for teenagers and fell into dis- repair after the Army left Marin in the 1980s. Mia Monroe, a National Park Service ranger with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the crumbling structure had become infested with rodents and covered with graffiti. More than a dozen National Park Service vol- unteers worked to shore up and clean out the battery in order to reopen the land- mark to visitors. Their work earned them a major park service award last month. ''They turned it into a CRISIS Continued from page 1A more than 1,300 jobs and $1.4 billion in new state revenue over 10 years. Correa's bill would let every Indian tribe and state-licensed card room operate its own Internet poker site, using the state's existing card room regula- tions. It would ban other online gambling, aside from pari-mutuel wager- ing on horse racing. He has the backing of many gambling tribes and card rooms. Sen. Rod Wright, D- Inglewood, has a compet- ing bill, SB45, that would allow poker and other forms of gambling online. His bill would autho- rize three operators who would give 10 percent of their gross revenue to the state. Online gambling operators backed his bill, but early versions were opposed by tribes and card rooms. An early analysis created for Wright esti- mated his plan could bring the state between $2.4 bil- lion and $6.1 billion over eight years. Wright chairs the Gov- ernmental Organization Committee, which plans hearings in January with the intent of advancing a bill. Supporters estimate more than 1.5 million Cal- ifornians play online poker each week, making the state the nation's largest online poker mar- ket. They want California to act quickly out of fear that Congress could restrict states' interest in Internet-based games. Assembly Speaker John Perez is skeptical that expanding gambling would significantly help with the state's budget problems and said his chamber will wait to see how the legislation devel- ops in the Senate. While online gambling would add money to the state's general fund, two other hot-button topics require billions in spend- ing and are being criti- cized as too expensive for a state facing a $13 billion deficit over the next 18 months. Lawmakers might con- sider reducing the cost of what is currently an $11 billion water bond mea- sure scheduled for the November ballot, or even remove it from the ballot altogether. Gov. Jerry Brown is among those who think voters will balk at borrowing that much money, even for water pro- jects and conservation programs. Steinberg, however, worries about upsetting the bipartisan compromise that was negotiated in 2009 between legislative Democrats and Republi- cans and Brown's prede- cessor, former Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. He said doing so would be particu- larly problematic because any new deal would need a two-thirds vote in the Leg- islature, requiring some Republican support, at a time when the two parties are finding it virtually impossible to compromise on major issues. Lawmakers already shifted the bond measure from the 2010 ballot priceless treasure where the public can see what it was like to serve in a fort at the edge of the continent in the days just after Pearl Har- bor,'' Monroe said. The site is nestled in the Marin Headlands just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco in the Marin Headlands, a popular tourist spot known for its open spaces, beaches and sweeping views of the city and the ocean. Starting in San Francis- co's days as an 18th centu- ry Spanish colonial out- post, the region's defenders have mounted artillery in view of the famous pas- sageway between the ocean Key 2012 legislation California lawmakers return to the Capitol this week to begin an election-year session complicat- ed by the state's ongoing multibillion dollar budget deficit. Here are some of the top issues they will debate: — Public pensions: Gov. Jerry Brown wants to increase the retirement age, require local and state government workers to pay more toward their pen- sions and retiree health care, and place new work- ers into a hybrid plan that includes 401(k)-style accounts. Republicans say the plan doesn't go far enough, while Brown's fellow Democrats are reluctant to make wholesale changes. — High-speed rail: Some lawmakers of both parties, and the nonpartisan legislative analyst, want the Legislature to rethink spending $9 billion in voter-approved bonds toward a $98 billion high- speed rail system. — Water bond: Gov. Jerry Brown is among those who think voters would reject an $11 billion water bond on the November ballot. Legislative leaders say they could reduce the cost or delay vot- ers' consideration for a second time, but they say the money is urgently needed to provide jobs and improve California's water system. — Medical marijuana: Attorney General Kamala Harris says lawmakers should clarify the state's 15-year-old medical marijuana law after federal prosecutors cracked down on pot growers and dispensaries. She wants the Legislature to decide if dispensaries and delivery services are legal or if patients must form collectives to grow their own marijuana. — Internet poker: Senate leader Darrell Stein- berg previously delayed consideration of compet- ing bills that would make Internet poker legal in California, but he now wants to see if California can reap millions of dollars by taxing the proceeds. Assembly Speaker John Perez is skeptical that Internet gambling can solve the state's budget problems. — Campus and Caltrans scandals: Lawmakers will consider tightening child abuse reporting requirements in response to the scandal at Penn State University, review use-of-force policies for university police and examine bridge and highway safety after a California Department of Transporta- tion technician was fired for falsifying safety test reports. because of the state's pre- carious fiscal condition, and Perez said they could delay it again. But he also said the state would bene- fit from construction jobs that would be created if the bonds were approved. Some lawmakers from both parties and the non- partisan legislative analyst also say the Legislature should reconsider spend- ing the $9 billion voters have approved for build- ing a high-speed rail sys- tem. The total cost esti- mate has more than dou- bled since voters approved the bond in 2008 and now stands at $98 billion. Lawmakers must approve selling the bonds if the project is to contin- ue. Brown and both Democratic legislative leaders support high-speed rail, but a Field Poll released in December found about two-thirds of California voters want to rethink the borrowing while a majority would reject the spending if given another chance to vote on it. Meanwhile, state Sen. Noreen Evans said she will challenge Brown's plan to close as many as 70 of the state's 278 parks starting July 1, a step intended to save $33 mil- lion over two years. The Santa Rosa Demo- crat said the targeted parks were chosen without an economic or environmen- tal analysis. She plans to introduce legislation halt- ing the closures until offi- cials analyze the costs and benefits and consider alter- natives to closing them. Lawmakers also will take up Brown's proposals to reform California's public employee pension system. Brown wants to and the bay. Many of the forts, barracks and bunkers built between then and World War II still stand but no longer serve as active military installations. In the new year, the park service hopes to find increase the retirement age, require local and state government workers to pay more toward their pensions and retiree health care, and place new work- ers into a hybrid plan that includes 401(k)-style accounts. Republicans say his plan doesn't go far enough, while Brown's fellow Democrats were lukewarm during a joint Assembly-Senate commit- tee hearing this month. Steinberg called the governor's plan ''a pretty provocative proposal'' and said he is reluctant to swap the state's defined-benefit plan for a hybrid model. Perez said the majority of problems are with local governments, and that most public employees earn a reasonable retire- ment income. California provides a guaranteed pension for life for its state government workers and most local government employees, but the system has too lit- tle money for the benefits promised to current work- ers. The California Public Employees' Retirement System has estimated its unfunded future pension liabilities at $75 billion, although critics say it is actually far higher. A Stanford study says the actual liability is closer to $500 billion. The state also has $52 billion in unfunded retiree health care costs. Brown has urged his fellow Democrats to make sweeping changes to the employee retirement sys- tem, in part because he wants to ask voters to approve tax hikes next fall. The distressed econo- my and struggles for the middle class and working money to bring a surplus battleship gun now in a Nevada arsenal to Battery Townsley. The battery is open for tours the first Sunday of each month from noon to 4 p.m. Located in Chico, CA 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 529-3655 www.affordablemortuary.net class also are acting as prompts for legislation in the coming year. Steinberg, the Senate leader, is trying to both improve oversight of banks related to home foreclosures and limit some higher education costs. He is introducing bills to create an online library of free college textbooks that professors could use to customize their own teaching materials. The savings will help offset recent fee increases that California's public univer- sities imposed in response to state budget cuts, he said. ''We need to do every- thing we can with the tools that we have to help mid- dle-class families and stu- dents. People are getting squeezed on every end,'' Steinberg, D-Sacramento, said in an interview. He also wants to give distressed homeowners more time to arrange alter- natives to foreclosure, such as restructuring their mortgage payments or arranging for short-sales of homes. Sen. Mark Leno is working with Steinberg to advance legislation that could require lenders to exhaust borrowers' alter- natives before they begin foreclosure proceedings. It would ban the practice of ''dual tracking,'' in which lenders pursue foreclo- sures and alternatives at the same time. Borrowers could go to court if the process is abused, where they currently have no recourse, Leno said. ''Millions of Californi- ans are suffering,'' said Leno, D-San Francisco. ''We won't see a revival of construction until we see an end to the foreclosure phenomenon because we have not yet hit bottom.'' Michael Belote, a lob- byist for the California Mortgage Association, said erecting barriers to foreclosure would dis- courage lenders from making real estate loans at a time when the housing market is struggling. Other legislative debates expected to draw attention in 2012 include: — Attempts to clarify the state's 15-year-old medical marijuana law after a federal crackdown of dispensaries. In a letter to lawmakers, state Attor- ney General Kamala Har- ris said they must decide if dispensaries and delivery services are legal or if patients must form collec- tives to grow their own marijuana. — Plans to protect chil- dren from sexual predators after the Penn State Uni- versity child molestation scandal. Two bills would require coaches, adminis- trators and athletic direc- tors to report suspected abuse, while another would end nonprofits' tax-exempt status if they conceal the sexual abuse of children. — Reviewing oversight of the California Depart- ment of Transportation after a technician was fired amid allegations that he had faked safety test reports on California bridges and freeways. Lawmakers said they want to examine whether Cal- trans cultivates a culture in which workers turn a blind eye to internal problems. Gun battery that guarded San Francisco restored News tip? Call 527-2151