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TheAssociatedPress SANFRANCISCO The first winter-like storm of the season brought rain and snow to California on Mon- day, triggering traffic acci- dents including a 20-vehicle crash in the southern San Joaquin Valley when gusts ahead of the front whipped up dust. The big collision hap- pened shortly after noon on southbound State Route 99 a few miles south of Ba- kersfield, said California Highway Patrol Scott Job- inger. Traffic backed up for three miles. Five people with minor injuries were taken to hos- pitals, Kern County Fire De- partment spokesman Tyler Townsend said. There were no serious injuries. The cold front from the Pacific Northwest dropped nearly an inch of rain by midday on some cities in the San Francisco Bay Area. Power outages and traffic accidents were widespread across the region. Much of the interior of Central California was also receiving "a good rain drenching" while the pre- cipitation was falling as snow at elevations above 7,000 feet, the National Weather Service said. Stormy weather also dumped rain across most of northern Nevada, caused temporary power outages around Reno and Lake Tahoe and triggered a strong wind advisory as far south as Las Vegas. Chains or snow tires were required on most moun- tain highways around Lake Tahoe. Three to four inches of snow were reported at the Mount Rose Ski Resort near Reno, and the National Weather Service said there could be as much as 2 feet of snow above 8,500 feet be- fore the storm moves off. In California's moun- tains, storm warnings for heavy snow, with accumu- lations from 6 inches to 19 inches, were in effect un- til late night for the Sierra Nevada from Yosemite to Kings Canyon. Snow lev- els were expected to fall to 5,000 feet by early evening. Snow in the Sierra is vi- tal to drought-stricken Cal- ifornia, which significantly relies on a winter snowpack to feed reservoirs. The storm also brought risk of trouble to areas hit hard by wildfires earlier this year. Flash flood warn- ings were posted in Yolo, Lake and Colusa counties, where heavy rain had the potential to unleash debris flows from burn areas, the weather service said. Among other accidents, the California Highway Patrol reported that a big rig carrying a load of fro- zen chickens overturned on westbound Highway 580 in Livermore. It was not im- mediately known if the driver was injured. WEATHER Ca li fo rn ia s to rm b ri ng s rain, snow, highway pileup KARLMONDON—BAYAREANEWSGROUP A morning soaking brought the Guadalupe River back to life, as it flows Monday under the Interstate 280overpass in San Jose. By Josh Lederman and Jill Colvin The Associated Press NEWARK, N.J. President Barack Obama toured a drug rehab and met with former inmates Monday in the rough-and-tumble city of Newark, calling on the nation to ensure those re- gaining their freedom get a second chance instead of a return ticket to prison. Although his visit boosted his campaign for a crim- inal justice overhaul, it also pulled the president into a war of words with presidential candidate and GOP Gov. Chris Chris- tie. "There are people who have gone through tough times, they've made mis- takes, but with a little bit of help, they can get on the right path," Obama said at Rutgers University's law school. "It's not too late." On a gritty street in downtown Newark — a city beset by violent crime and policing challenges — Obama made an afternoon stop at Integrity House, a state-funded drug and res- idential treatment center. Obama held up the facility as "a model for the good work that's being done sporadically around the nation." He also met pri- vately with former prison- ers, a parole officer and a federal judge to hear more about obstacles to rehabil- itation. Aiming to divert some of Obama's limelight to him- self, Christie spent the day in Camden, New Jersey, where he met with com- munity and police leaders and touted the city as a na- tional model for police re- form. In 2013, the city dis- banded its police force and replaced it with a county- run department. No longer bound by union contracts, the department has empha- sized community policing, with more officers and im- proved community engage- ment. Christie, who is strug- gling to attract attention for his White House bid, told The Associated Press in an interview that Wash- ington can't claim credit for the decreases in crime and criminal justice reforms he's pushed as governor. "I just think he's had nothing to do with the suc- cesses that are here," Chris- tie said. "I think for the president to come and, you know, try to take a victory lap here is beneath him." Christie's critiques, echoed in morning tele- vision appearances, drew a stern rebuke from the White House, which called them "irresponsible." White House spokesman Josh Ear- nest speculated that Chris- tie's comments were aimed at turning around his cam- paign. The Democratic presi- dent and the brash New Jersey governor have had a mixed history over the years. Christie's praise for the president's response to Hurricane Sandy, just days before the 2012 elec- tion, was credited with helping Obama secure a second term. But the two have clashed over national security and law enforce- ment, with Christie accus- ing Obama of failing to ad- equately support police. More than two million people are incarcerated in the U.S., and each year 600,000 or more are re- leased back into society. There they face a dearth of jobs, housing and men- tal health services that puts many on the short path back to prison in what Obama has plaintively de- scribed as a cycle of incar- ceration. Obama's focus on the previously incarcerated comes as more than 4,300 inmates are being released at the start of November, in what will likely be tens of thousands to benefit from drug sentencing changes last year. In rare biparti- san fashion, Congress is considering legislation cut- ting sentences for nonvio- lent drug offenders, an ef- fort the White House has elevated as one of Obama's top priorities for the re- maining months of his presidency. CRIMINAL JUSTICE Obama calls for second chances a er prison The Associated Press VISALIA A self-described enforcer for a Mexican drug cartel is expected to receive a sentence of life in prison without parole Monday after pleading guilty to killing nine peo- ple in California over three decades. Authorities say that Jose Manuel Martinez, 53, admitted to several other killings across the country in the service of a cartel he refuses to identify. Martinez pleaded guilty Oct. 6 to nine murder charges. In exchange, pros- ecutors said they wouldn't pursue the death penalty. He is scheduled to be sen- tenced in Visalia, 230 miles southeast of San Francisco. Martinez was arrested in 2013 while attempting to cross the border from Mexico to Arizona in connection with a slay- ing in Alabama. Shortly after his arrest, he con- fessed to killing and col- lecting debts across the county for an unnamed cartel. CALIFORNIA Cartel enforcer faces life sentence in 9 killings By Brian Melley The Associated Press LOS ANGELES Big Sugar and Big Corn face off in court this week in a bitter, multibillion-dollar battle of sweeteners that boils down to a mix of science, seman- tics and marketing. Jurors in the case be- tween sugar processors and corn manufacturers will take up one of nutri- tion's most vexing debates and confront a choice com- mon among some consum- ers: sugar or high fructose corn syrup? The trial starting Tues- day in federal court grew out of efforts by the Corn Refiners Association to re- brand its high fructose corn syrup as "corn sugar" to re- verse damaging publicity that associated it with di- abetes and obesity. Its ad campaign featured a TV commercial with a father walking with his daughter across a cornfield and saying that he's reas- sured by experts that high fructose corn syrup is the same as cane sugar. "Your body can't tell the difference," he says. "Sugar is sugar." That didn't go over well with the Western Sugar Co- operative and other sugar processors, who sued the corn refiners and Archer Daniels Midland Co. and Cargill Inc. for false adver- tising. They are seeking as much as $2 billion. Corn refiners and the two agribusiness giants countersued, charging the sugar industry with mak- ing false and misleading statements that included a comment that high fructose corn syrup is as addictive as crack cocaine. They are seeking $530 million. Jurors will hear from ex- perts on both sides of the debate, getting a mix of science and spin. They will also see damning internal documents that show what was happening behind closed doors. Corn refiners will pres- ent evidence that the sugar industry was behind the pounding that high fruc- tose corn syrup took in pub- lic opinion as sugar tried to regain market share it lost when food producers switched to the cheaper corn product that came on the market in the 1970s. "We were just getting tor- pedoed in the press with all this junk science about high fructose corn syrup," said at- torneyNeilMurphy,whorep- resents corn refiners. "They were feeding the media." There were some high- profile defections as a re- sult. Hunt's ketchup, Ca- pri Sun juices and Thomas English muffins dumped high fructose corn syrup for sugar. The sugar producers will attempt to show that the corn refiners' own advertis- ing agency was uncomfort- able creating something it felt was misleading. "We've got the ad men saying that after they deal with their client, the corn refiners, they have to take a shower because they feel so dirty," said attorney Mark Lanier, who repre- sents sugar. "It tells you that this was not an ad agency gone amok. This was a cli- ent pushing an ad agency amok." One key document on the sugar side will be from a 1997 Mexican court case in which corn refiners said their product was distinct from sugar. "Then 15 years later, 'Sugar is sugar,'" Lanier said. "You can't be more electrically charged oppo- sites than those two posi- tions taken by the one de- fendant in the case." Corn refiners say that was taken out of context, and they argue there's no difference in the way the body metabolizes the two substances. The two products are nearly identical and are me- tabolized the same, he said. Sugar is sucrose, which is half fructose, half glucose. High-fructose corn syrup is 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose. SUGAR VS. CORN SYRUP Jury to settle bitter battle between sweeteners SETH PERLMAN — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE A farmer harvests corn near Farmingdale, Ill. MARK HUMPHREY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Former President Jimmy Carter answers questions during a news conference at a Habitat for Humanity building site Monday in Memphis, Tenn. By Kathleen Foody The Associated Press MEMPHIS, TENN. Jimmy Carter resumed his role as Habitat for Humanity's most prominent booster on Monday, donning a white hard hat and a worn leather belt stocked with his own tools to hammer and saw with other volun- teers building a home in Memphis, Tennessee. "We haven't cut back on my schedule yet," Carter said, seeming invigorated during an Associated Press interview. "I know it's go- ing to come, particularly if my cancer progresses, but we don't yet know what the result will be from the treatments." The former president celebrated his 91st birth- day in October, and is un- dergoing treatment on cancer found in his liver and brain. But he was sure- footed on the construction site as he moved from one task to another. Arriving ahead of sched- ule, Carter installed a hammer, measuring tape and thick pencil on his tool belt. Then he helped place pre-framed walls, hammered nails into place and sawed boards into smaller pieces, occasion- ally shouting questions or suggestions at the rest of the crew. His wife, Rosalynn Carter, 88, hammered brackets to secure the walls, pulling the nails from her own leather tool belt. "Hard work," she said with a soft laugh. Carter and the Atlanta- based charity have been practically synonymous for more than 30 years. His presidential museum even has his work boots and a hammer on display. Since leaving the White House, the Carters have personally been involved with 3,943 projects in 14 countries for the charity, which has helped five mil- lion people with home con- struction and repairs. Each year since 1984, the couple has volun- teered a week of their time to "Carter work proj- ects," drawing thousands of volunteers. The streak seemed at risk in August when he revealed his ill- ness, casting doubt on his ability to travel to a re- mote region of Nepal this month. Ultimately, doctors ap- proved the trip, but it was cancelled due to concerns about civil unrest in the re- gion, Carter said. Former President Carter says he feels fine, keeps busy despite cancer HABITAT FOR HUMANITY BOOSTER DOUGLASMcKAYHANKS March 15, 1963 ~ October 21, 2015 Douglas McKay Hanks, 52, of Corning, California, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, October 21, 2015, of cancer. Doug was born in Corning on March 15, 1963. He attended local schools, and graduated from Corning High School in 1981. He attended College of the Siskiyous. Doug worked for Redding Oil Company for over thirty years, managing the Corning Valero (76) Sta- tion. Doug enjoyed sports both as an athlete and a as a fan. Doug's teams were the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cin- cinnati Reds, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Louisville Cardinals. He played softball and basketball for many years on local teams and founded the DHFL—Doug Hanks Football League. Doug will always be remem- bered for his witty sense of humor and for his love of his family and friends. He hosted family holiday celebra- tions in his home. He is survived by his sons, Casey and Eric Hanks, his brothers, Gary and Brad (Laurie) Hanks, his nephews Mike (Sandy) Huff, Carson and Cory Hanks, and Dillon Lucero and nieces, Rebecca Henthorne, Amber Hanks, and Amanda Lucero, as well as and his great- nephew and great nieces and many cousins. Doug was preceded in death by his parents, Floyd Hanks and Gla- dys Wiedel and his sister, Janet Hanks. Doug's family is grateful to Shannon Minor, Debbie Gonzales, and Cindy Adams, as well as Dr. Randolph and the staff at Enloe Re- gional Cancer Center and Doug's Enloe HomeCare and Hospice nurses for the loving care that they faithfully pro- vided. A graveside memorial service will be held on Sat- urday, November 7th at 11 a.m. at Sunset Hills Cemetery in Corning followed by a luncheon that will be held at the First Baptist Church Gymnasium at 506 Colusa Street in Corning. Obituaries R ed Bluff Simple Cremations and Burial Service FD1931 527-1732 Burials - Monuments - Preneed 722 Oak Street, Red Bluff TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM |NEWS | 7 A ★