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6A Daily News – Tuesday, January 31, 2012 WORLD BRIEFING Romney looks good in Florida MIAMI (AP) — Cheered by new polls, Mitt Romney is all but predicting victory in Tuesday's Repub- lican presidential primary. Newt Gingrich is looking past Florida to regroup, vowing he won't stay buried long. ''With a turnout like this, I'm beginning to feel we might win tomorrow,'' an upbeat Romney told a crowd of several hundred at a stop in Dunedin on Mon- day as he and Gingrich zipped across the state mak- ing their final appeals. Gingrich, in turn, acknowledged that his momentum had been checked but promised not to back down. He character- ized Romney as an imposter, and his team start- ed to plot a strategy for upcoming contests. ''He can bury me for a very short amount of time with four or five or six times as much money,'' Gingrich said in a television interview. ''In the long run, the Repub- lican Party is not going to nominate ... a liberal Repub- lican.'' GOP officials in Florida were anticipating a big turnout, more than 2 million voters, up from a record 1.9 million in the Republican primary in 2008. More than 605,000 Floridians had already voted as of Monday, either by visiting early vot- ing stations or by mailing in absentee ballots, ahead of the total combined early vote in the GOP primary four years ago. In the span of a volatile week, the tables have turned in this potentially pivotal pri- mary state. Respecting People. Impacting Business Call us. And get back to work. Call us any time for: • An extensive network of recruiting sources • Testing and training • Experienced recruiters • Full-time employees • HR expertise and support services • Temporary Workers • Evaluation hire • Carefully screened candidates • Dedicated service WE'VE MOVED... to better serve you! 825 South Main St. 528-1688 At the Raley's Shopping Center, next to Papa Murphy's www.expresspros.com 530-527-0727 243 So. Main Street Computer Solutions for Home or Business www.xtremepcsolutions.com Gingrich rode a tri- umphant wave into Florida after a South Carolina victo- ry nine days ago. But since then, Romney and his allies have pummeled the former House speaker on TV and on the campaign trail. Rom- ney turned in two strong debate performances, while Gingrich faltered. Now opinion polls show the for- mer Massachusetts gover- nor with a comfortable lead here. Romney and Gingrich have been the only two can- didates to compete in Flori- da in earnest. Neither former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum nor Texas Rep. Ron. Paul campaigned much in the state, and they were elsewhere on Monday. Clearly in command, Romney flew to stops in media markets in northern Florida and the populous swing regions of central Florida, determined to keep Gingrich from surging late. Romney renewed attacks on his rival as an untrustwor- thy, Washington influence peddler at the outset of two separate appearances Mon- day. He claimed that Gin- grich's ties to federally backed mortgage giant Freddie Mac have hurt the former speaker in a state wracked by the foreclosure crisis. ''He made $1.6 million in his company, the very institution that helped stand behind the huge housing cri- sis here in Florida,'' Rom- ney said in Dunedin. Gin- grich's consulting firm received more than $1.5 mil- lion from the federally backed mortgage giant over a period after he left Con- gress in 1999. Gingrich plowed ahead, flying to stops in northern Florida starting in Jack- sonville — near his home state of Georgia — before touching down in conserva- tive Pensacola and then Tampa. Along the way, he tried to rally conservatives by cast- ing Romney as an imposter and himself as the true GOP stalwart. His claim to con- servative principles wasn't limited to economic issues. ''No politician, no judge, no bureaucrat can come between you and God,'' Gingrich told an audience in Tampa. ''I'm a little bit tired of being lectured about respecting every other reli- gion on the planet.'' Gingrich, who has sought to wrap himself in the mantle of Ronald Rea- gan, campaigned with the late president's son Michael. He was also joined by for- mer GOP presidential candi- date Herman Cain, who endorsed him Sunday. A win by Romney would again reset the 2012 GOP race, seen early this month as his to lose. GOPturns to eliminating state taxes OKLAHOMA CITY THE Locally owned & operated Keep the 5A>6 air out & the WARM air in with ENERGY EFFICIENT WINDOWS & DOORS Better Built Windows REMEMBER US FOR ALL YOUR DOOR & MOLDING NEEDS. We're not just for contractors 1040 B Monroe St., Red Bluff (530) 527-7962 LIC#659256 Community Events Planning Meeting "11 DAYS OF ROUND UP" – 2012 If your group or organization is planning an event in the days leading up to the Best 3-Day Rodeo in the West Grocery Shoppers! PLEASE SEND REPRESENTATIVES TO ATTEND THIS IMPORTANT MEETING! Western-themed events planned to precede and coordinate with the Red Bluff Round-Up need to receive maximum promotion by the Chamber of Commerce, The Daily News and other media in advance of the "11 Days," and as those fun-filled days unfold! When: Wednesday, February 1 10:00 a.m. – 12 Noon Where: Tehama County Farm Bureau 275 Sale Lane, Red Bluff Your Hosts: This advertisement Sponsored as a Community Service by: D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY Please call or e-mail to say you'll be there, and what group(s) you'll be representing! (530) 527-6220 or e-mail: info@redbluffchamber.com D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY FOOD IS MOVING FROM TUESDAY TO WEDNESDAY Effective next week, our food-related features, advertising and supermarket inserts (Raley's & Safeway) will appear in Wednesday editions rather than Tuesdays every week. This will align our "Best Food Day: with that of most other Northern California newspapers. (AP) — A year after Repub- licans swept into office across the country, many have trained their sights on what has long been a fiscal conservative's dream: the steep reduction or even out- right elimination of state income taxes. The idea has circulated among academics and think-tank researchers for years. But it's moving quiet- ly into mainstream political discourse, despite the fact that such sweeping changes would almost certainly mean a total rewiring of tax systems at a time when most states are still struggling in the aftermath of the reces- sion. ''I think there's going to be more action that way,'' especially as Republican governors release their bud- get plans, said Kim Rueben, an expert on state taxation at the Brookings Urban Tax Policy Center. Last year, GOP lawmak- ers in many states quickly went to work on a new con- servative agenda: restricting abortion, cracking down on illegal immigration, expand- ing gun rights and taking aim at public-employee unions. Emboldened by that suc- cess, the party has launched income tax efforts in Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma and South Carolina. But it's not clear how all those states would make up for the lost revenue, and Rueben said she's not aware of any state in modern history that has eliminated an income tax. Snakes killing off mammals in Everglades WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A burgeoning population of huge pythons — many of them pets that were turned loose by their owners when they got too big — appears to be wiping out large numbers of rac- coons, opossums, bobcats and other mammals in the Everglades, a study says. The study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that sight- ings of medium-size mam- M-F 6am-2pm* Rosser's Bakery & Specialty Foods Now on Facebook mals are down dramatically — as much as 99 percent, in some cases — in areas where pythons and other large, non-native constrictor snakes are known to be lurk- ing. Scientists fear the pythons could disrupt the food chain and upset the Everglades' environmental balance in ways difficult to predict. ''The effects of declining mammal populations on the overall Everglades ecosys- tem, which extends well beyond the national park boundaries, are likely pro- found,'' said John Willson, a research scientist at Virginia Tech University and co- author of the study. Tens of thousands of Burmese pythons, which are native to Southeast Asia, are believed to be living in the Everglades, where they thrive in the warm, humid climate. While many were apparently released by their owners, others may have escaped from pet shops dur- ing Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and have been repro- ducing ever since. Burmese pythons can grow to be 26 feet long and more than 200 pounds, and they have been known to swallow animals as large as alligators. They and other constrictor snakes kill their prey by coiling around it and suffocating it. The National Park Ser- vice has counted 1,825 Burmese pythons that have been caught in and around Everglades National Park since 2000. Among the largest so far was a 156- pound, 16.4-foot one cap- tured earlier this month. For the study, researchers drove 39,000 miles along Everglades-area roads from 2003 through 2011, count- ing wildlife spotted along the way and comparing the results with surveys con- ducted on the same routes in 1996 and 1997. The researchers found staggering declines in ani- mal sightings: a drop of 99.3 percent among raccoons, 98.9 percent for opossums, 94.1 percent for white-tailed deer and 87.5 percent for bobcats. Along roads where python populations are believed to be smaller, declines were lower but still Crafter's Boutique Complete bakery setup for breads, muffins, scones, etc. Easily expandable for more. Rosser's Bakery, call Wendy at 200-4150 446 Antelope Blvd. #38 Left side of Antelope Holiday Mkt 529-1687 For Sale American Girl Doll Clothes 650 Main St., Red Bluff 530 528-2723Tues.-Fri. 10-4 • Sat. 11-3 Closed Sun. & Mon. notable. Rabbits and foxes, which were commonly spotted in 1996 and 1997, were not seen at all in the later counts. Researchers noted slight increases in coyotes, Florida panthers, rodents and other mammals, but discounted that finding because so few were spotted overall. Syrian regime's forces push to retake Damascus BEIRUT (AP) — Syri- an forces pushed dissident troops back from the edge of Damascus in heavy fighting Monday, escalat- ing efforts to take back control of the capital's east- ern doorstep ahead of key U.N. talks over a draft res- olution demanding that President Bashar Assad step aside. Gunfire and the boom of shelling rang out in several suburbs on Damascus' out- skirts that have come under the domination of anti- regime fighters. Gunmen — apparently army defec- tors — were shown firing back in amateur videos posted online by activists. In one video, a government tank on the snow-dusted mountain plateau towering over the capital fired at one of the suburbs below. As the bloodshed increased, with activists reporting more than 40 civilians killed Monday, Western and Arab coun- tries stepped up pressure on Assad's ally Russia to over- come its opposition to the resolution. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the British and French foreign ministers were heading to New York to push for backing of the measure during talks Tues- day at the United Nations. ''The status quo is unsustainable,'' Clinton said, saying the Assad regime was preventing a peaceful transition and warning that the resulting instability could ''spill over throughout the region.'' ❤ 648 Main St. Downtown Red Bluff TATTOO (530) 528-8288 FIRST LOVE Valentine's Day Specials • Your Sweetheart's Name $20 • All Piercings $25 Feb. 14th only