Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/617076
The revised portion of the ordinance states: "Por- table manufactured out- door fireplaces may be used in accordance with the manufacturer's instruc- tions and shall not be op- erated within 15 feet of a structure or within 15 feet of any combustible materi- als. Only small twigs, sticks or properly sized natural wood can be used. A mini- mum of one portable fire ex- tinguisher or a water hose should be available for im- mediate utilization." If a fire escapes, that per- son would be held liable for damages and suppression costs, according to the new ordinance. During the Dec. 1 meet- ing many were not on board with this revision and said it would cause more prob- lems than not. "Red Bluff is too densely populated for backyard fires," a resident said. "The smoke from one fire is go- ing to affect multiple homes around it." If outdoor fireplaces are used safely, there is no rea- son, Shobash said, in his 17 years with the department, that they would get out of control and start a fire. There isn't any expected smoke hazard being created by this ordinance, Shobash said. If for some reason that is not the case the city will change it back. The council voted 3-2, with Mayor Clay Parker and Councilwoman Daniele Jackson as the dissenters. Fireplaces FROMPAGE1 Fire Station with a gun shot wound to the back of his leg, according to an article from the Daily News on July 28. Smith told law enforcement he had gone to an unknown location with two friends, Mike Chaudhry, 18, of Red- ding and a 17-year-old who was not identified, to buy marijuana. During the transaction, Smith said he was shot by Foster and left the area to seek medical attention, leaving his friends behind, according to the article. It was determined dur- ing the investigation that Chaudhry had been kid- napped by the suspects, who were later positively identified. Chaudhry was forced to pay ransom for his release and was let go unharmed in Shasta County, accord- ing to the article. Foster's felony charges include selling marijuana. Dismissed from his case was one of two counts of robbery and attempted, willful, deliberate and pre- meditated murder. His bail was set at $3,450,000. The bail for Thornton, Hale, Beaugrand and Lena- rdo was set at $1,430,000 each. Suspects FROM PAGE 1 By Don Thompson TheAssociatedPress SACRAMENTO Guards at an isolated state prison have created a "culture of racism," engage in alarm- ing use of force against in- mates and have a code of silence encouraged by the union that represents most corrections officers, the California inspector gen- eral said Wednesday. The scathing report calls for management and other changes at High Desert State Prison in the north- east corner of the state. More broadly, the re- port finds rising violence statewide in special hous- ing units designed to pro- tect vulnerable inmates, in- cluding sex offenders, gang dropouts and prisoners with physical disabilities. The months-long inves- tigation was sparked by re- ports that some guards at the Susanville prison mis- treated inmates with dis- abilities and set up sex of- fenders for assaults be- cause of the nature of their crimes. The investigation also found evidence of "a cul- ture of racism and lack of acceptance of ethnic differ- ences" among correctional officers, three-quarters of whom are white. Inspector General Rob- ert Barton said the Califor- nia Correctional Peace Of- ficers Association advised members not to cooperate and filed a lawsuit and col- lective bargaining griev- ance in a bid to hinder the investigation. The union sent a letter last month to Gov. Jerry Brown and every state lawmaker in what Barton called "the latest strong- arm tactic" to obstruct the investigation and dis- credit the inspector gen- eral before the report was released. Union President Chuck Alexander and spokes- woman Nichol Gomez- Pryde did not immediately respond to calls and emails seeking comment. The report came more than a decade after the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation tried to stamp out a culture in which prison guards pro- tect one another when they witness wrongdoing. It says some problems at the High Desert facility evolved because the prison is so isolated about 90 miles northwest of Reno, Nevada. Susanville has fewer than 16,000 people, and High Desert and the neigh- boring California Correc- tional Center are its largest employers. Workers form tight-knit social groups known as "cars" that can foster a code of silence and make it difficult to report wrongdoing, the inspector general said. He found that the pris- on's nearly 3,500 inmates won't report abuse because they fear word will spread among employees and lead to retaliation. The "staff complaint pro- cess is broken," with few employee complaints inves- tigated, the report states. "This dangerous staff misconduct has been toler- ated for too long," Rebekah Evenson, an attorney with the nonprofit Prison Law Office who represents in- mates, said in a statement. "The culture of abuse at High Desert endangers prisoners and the prison staff." She called for the depart- ment to create a strong ex- ternal monitor to oversee reforms. Corrections Secretary Jeffrey Beard, who is retir- ing later this month, said the department has already taken steps involving em- ployee training, manage- ment changes and investi- gations of alleged wrong- doing. "We do not tolerate staff misconduct of any kind," Beard said in a statement. The inspector general's report also recommends changes statewide to make it tougher for employees to learn what crime an inmate committed. Guards can now use an electronic state database to easily see which inmates have an "R" coding that designates a sex offender. Some spread that informa- tion, knowing sex offenders are often marked for retri- bution because of the na- ture of their crimes, the in- spector general found. He also called for an overhaul of special hous- ing units designed to pro- tect the most vulnerable inmates as the department combats a wave of violence and gang activity in what were supposed to be safe areas. CODE OF SILENCE Report: Alarming abuses seen at remote California prison By Colleen Long The Associated Press NEW YORK The husband- and-wife team who killed 14 people and wounded 21 others this month in San Bernardino, Califor- nia, communicated pri- vately about jihad and martyrdom before they were married, but there is no evidence to suggest the couple revealed those thoughts publicly on so- cial media, the FBI direc- tor said Wednesday. "We can see from our investigation that in late 2013, before there is a physical meeting of these two people resulting in their engagement and then their journey to the United States, they're commu- nicating online, showing signs in their communica- tion of their joint commit- ment to jihad and to mar- tyrdom," James Comey said after a New York con- ference involving the city's police department and pri- vate businesses. Comey said those mes- sages between Syed Riz- wan Farook and Tashfeen Malik were direct, private messages. "So far, in this investiga- tion we have found no evi- dence of posting on social media by either of them at that period in time and thereafter reflecting their commitment to jihad or to martyrdom," he said, refer- ring to media reports sug- gesting that Malik had spo- ken openly on social media about jihad and that back- ground checks had not de- tected those comments. Comey also said the July 16 attack in two military sites in Chattanooga, dur- ing which five U.S. service members were killed, was "inspired and motivated by foreign terrorist propa- ganda." The FBI had previ- ously hesitated to use the word terrorism in relation to the attack. Comey said he under- stands Americans are jit- tery, but citizens should try to channel their awareness into vigilance, not panic. He said the threat from the Islamic State group has not changed — but it's vastly different from how terror cells operated around the time of the Sept. 11 attack. "Your parents' al-Qaida is a very different model and was a very different threat that what we face today," he said. The message is so much easier to receive now, he said. TERRORISM FBI: California shooters privately discussed commitment to jihad By Sue Manning The Associated Press LOS ANGELES Ugly sweat- ers aren't just a Christmas tradition for people. Cats, dogs and even guinea pigs are joining the party. Zigzilla "Ziggy" and Chopper "Lambchop" got sweatersfromPetSmartthis yearsothey'llbereadywhen they get an invite to their firstuglysweaterparty,said thecats'ownerCatieSavage of New York City. "My non-cat lady friends definitely think I am crazy," said Savage, who handles her cats' Instagram site (@ life_of_ziggy), with 43,000 followers. She says she en- joys the sweaters more than the cats do, "which makes it even funnier to me." "PetSmart'suglysweaters fordogsandcatsareamong our top five best-selling hol- iday apparel items so far this season," said Eran Co- hen, chief customer experi- enceofficerforthepetstore. "Weevenhaveuglysweaters for guinea pigs." Television ushered the ugly sweater in and out in the 1980s. Around the turn of the century it en- joyed a revival, starting with adults, who had par- ties just to celebrate the ug- liness. Kids got in on the act and now pets have nosed their way in, giving owners laughs and plenty to photo- graph. Ugly sweater dog events across the country this month included an ugly sweater contest for dogs at a park in Anaheim, Cali- fornia; a dog-friendly ugly sweater 5K run and walk in National Harbor, Mary- land; and separate ugly sweater parties for big and little dogs hosted by Chi- cago Party Animals, one of the nation's largest canine clubs with 2,000 members. You can find ready-made ugly sweaters everywhere from 99 cent stores to high- end stores, but they're an especially hot item at thrift stores—thoughpresumably most shoppers are buying them for people, not pets. "Our stores collect holi- day sweaters year-round," said Marla Eby, market- ing and community rela- tions director for Goodwill Southern California. "Then we decorate them, adding ribbons, bows, and embel- lishments until they are at their gaudy best." "Customers snap up the sweatersassoonaswebring them out on the floor," said vice president of Retail Op- erations Craig Stone. "They aresopopularwecan'tkeep them in stock." Aimee Beltran of Vir- ginia Beach, Virginia, has turned her blog (http://irre- sistiblepets.net)intoanugly sweaterclassroomtwice,us- ing her 6-year-old Chihua- hua Chuy as a model for the finished product. Her advice to anyone makingapetsweater:"Have fun with it. Don't take it too seriously. Make it your own and your style. There is no right or wrong way to do it." An ugly sweater has to celebrate Christmas. The bolder the colors, the brighter and the more stuff on it, the better — bring on the bows, snowmen, San- tas, trees, buttons, stars, se- quins, rickrack, felt, glitter and cotton. Sleeves can be mismatched, misshapen or missing. But most pets — includ- ing Savage's cats — would probably like to ditch the sweaters. "Dog vision is different than human vision and be- cause patterns are not par- ticularly useful to their vi- sion, dogs probably could care less what their sweater looks like," said Dr. Bonnie Beaver. TRADITION Cats and dogs partying like animals in ugly holiday sweaters RICHARDVOGEL—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS An 8-year old Chihuahua named Coco is out in the winter cold in his new Christmas sweater in Los Angeles. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Aimee Beltran shows her Chihuahua Chuy decked out in an ugly Christmas sweater at her home in Virginia Beach, Va. BEBETO MATTHEWS — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FBI Director James Comey speaks during a press conference a er addressing the NYPD Shield Conference at NYPD headquarters, on Wednesday in New York. | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015 8 A