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The Associated Press SAN BERNARDINO The widow of a man killed in last month's mass shoot- ing in San Bernardino has filed four claims against the county and is seeking dam- agestotaling$58million,ac- cording to a newspaper re- port. The claims were filed in late December on behalf of ReneeWetzel,whose37-year- old husband Michael Wetzel wasoneof14peoplekilledin the attack at the Inland Re- gional Center, the San Ber- nardino Sun reported Tues- day. Nootherclaimsstemming fromtheshootingshavebeen filedagainstSanBernardino County,spokeswomanFelisa CardonatoldTheAssociated Press on Wednesday. Michael Wetzel, of Lake Arrowhead, worked as a supervising environmen- tal health specialist for the county. He was killed while attending a holiday luncheon and training ses- sion for the county health department. His widow is seeking $3 millionfromSanBernardino County for loss of wages and $25 million in general dam- ages. She is also seeking $10 million in general damages for each of her three minor children. The claims, which list the county and 25 unidentified individuals as respondents, alleges Wetzel's death was preventable and caused by negligent, careless actions of the respondents. Andrew J. Nissen, one of two attorneys represent- ing Renee Wetzel and her children, told the Sun that countyofficialshadyettore- spond to the claims. He de- clined to elaborate about the negligence claims. County spokesman David Wertsaidinastatementthat thecountywillcarefullycon- sider each claim. 14 K IL LE D By Erica Werner The Associated Press WASHINGTON Two fresh faces in the Republican Party — House Speaker Paul Ryan and South Caro- lina Gov. Nikki Haley — are offering messages of diver- sity and openness to immi- grants that could answer the GOP establishment's increasingly desperate search for an antidote to the loud pronouncements of presidential front-run- ner Donald Trump. Delivering the GOP re- buttal to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night, Haley, a daughter of Indian immigrants, called for wel- coming legal immigrants to the country as long as they're properly vetted, and for resisting the temp- tation "to follow the siren call of the angriest voices." She acknowledged Wednesday that her com- ments were partly aimed at Trump, telling NBC's "To- day Show": "Mr. Trump has definitely contributed to what I think is just irre- sponsible talk." Ryan, the Wisconsin Re- publican beginning his third month as speaker of the House, has been pledg- ing to offer a bold agenda that will position the GOP as a positive alternative to Obama and the Democrats. Lastweekendhehelpedcon- vene an anti-poverty sum- mit with some of the GOP presidential candidates — Trump was absent — where he pressed for "a safety net that is designed to help get people out of poverty." Such rhetoric from two young and charismatic officeholders cheers es- tablishment Republicans who fear that the rise of Trump and of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz — with their fre- quent strong words on im- migrants in the country il- legally — could ruin the GOP for years, eliminat- ing any chance of winning the White House if either is the nominee and turning off swing voters, minorities and women. "Speaker Ryan and Gov. Haley provide an impor- tant contrast, particularly with independent voters, to show what the Republi- can Party is really about, and it's not about Donald Trump," said Brian Walsh, a Republican strategist. "The key, though, is con- tinuing to shine a light on leaders like the two of them, and that will depend in part on who we nomi- nate." Whether Haley or Ryan can do anything to sideline Trump or Cruz remains to be seen. That's not their explicit goal, and Haley, in particular, drew a backlash from some conservatives for her State of the Union rebuttal. "Trump should deport Nikki Haley," conservative talk host Ann Coulter said over Twitter. And at the Capitol, Hal- ey's comments on immi- gration were being inter- preted by House conserva- tives including Rep. Steve King of Iowa, a Cruz sup- porter, as a call for unlim- ited legal immigration into the country, something they reject. "I keep trying to remem- ber when a principled con- servative has been given the opportunity to provide that rebuttal," King told re- porters, adding that Hal- ey's comments would indi- cate she's not one. Trump himself criticized Haley in an interview on "Fox & Friends," calling her "very weak on illegal immi- gration." POLITICS By Kathleen Hennessey The Associated Press WASHINGTON President Barack Obama opened his State of the Union speech saying he'd keep it short, in what must have seemed music to the ears of some in the chamber antsy to get to Iowa to campaign for pres- ident. At times, Obama looked like he was one of them, ea- ger to challenge biting crit- icism from Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and other Repub- licans. Obama was at turns boastful and biting, confi- dent and sarcastic. Anyone who says the economy is declining is "peddling fiction," he ar- gued. Obama character- ized skepticism about sci- ence and reluctance to adopt technology as absurd. "When the Russians beat us into space, we didn't deny Sputnik was up there," he said. Claims that U.S. stat- ure in the world is shrink- ing, he virtually shouted, is "political hot air." "The United States of America is the most pow- erful nation on earth. Pe- riod. It's not even close. It's not even close!" the presi- dent declared. The president's final turn at the House podium was his most high-profile entry yet into the presidential race to succeed him. After largely begging off the day- to-day skirmishes in the raucous contest, Obama showed he was more than ready to defend his re- cord and happy to use one of his last chances to seize America's attention to show Democrats how he thinks it should be done. Obama has more than his party's interest at heart. His legacy will be shaped by whether Americans choose a Democrat to succeed him and cement his signature heath care law, environ- mental policies and immi- gration programs. Dem- ocrat Hillary Clinton has tried to put some distance between her campaign and the president — often say- ing she's not running for his third term. That has at times left Obama as his own best defender. The White House had billed Obama's speech as a rethinking of the genre, and delivered. Obama eschewed a lengthy to-do list for Con- gress and any rollout of new policies. (White House offi- cials have promised to re- veal some new plans in the coming weeks, rather than pack them into one night.) Obama only breezed through his remaining pri- orities — raising the mini- mum wage, overhauling the immigration system, tight- ening gun laws — even as he acknowledged they were unlikely to get done. He highlighted a few pos- sible proposals with better chances — criminal justice reform and fighting pre- scription drug abuse. "Who knows? We might surprise the cynics again," Obama said. The flip comment was a reminder that the speech, like the president's final year in office, wasn't fo- cused on Congress as much as on defending his accom- plishments. Obama took some clear shots at the cast of Repub- licans who've used him as a target for months. He defended his han- dling of the rise of Islamic extremism and tried to tem- per anxieties about the Is- lamic State group. "Over-the-top claims that this is World War III just play into their hands," Obama said. "We don't need to build them up to show that we're serious, and we sure don't need to push away vital allies in this fight by echoing the lie that ISIL is somehow representative of one of the world's largest religions." With an expected audi- enceofsome30millionview- ers, the speech was Obama's first of two chances to take Americans squarely by the shoulders and make his case for a Democratic successor. Not until his speech at the Democratic convention this summer, will Obama likely have such undivided atten- tion again. "The president's record has often fallen far short of his soaring words," South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said in the Republican re- buttal. "As he enters his fi- nal year in office, many Americans are still feeling the squeeze of an economy too weak to raise income levels. We're feeling a crush- ing national debt, a health care plan that has made in- surance less affordable and doctors less available, and chaotic unrest in many of our cities." But the president showed he was ready to rebut such comments — once Demo- crats pick a candidate and he's unleashed on the trail. ANALYSIS Obamaincampaignform in final State of the Union EVANVUCCI—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Tuesday. SEAN RAYFORD — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley speaks to the crowd at the Kemp Forum, on Saturday in Columbia, S.C. Gov. Haley, Speaker Ryan offer new GOP answer to Trump RACHEL LUNA — THE SUN FILE Renee Wetzel, widow of Michael Wetzel, center, and her daughter Allie, are comforted by a woman during the memorial service for her husband at Calvary Chapel Conference Center in Twin Peaks. Widow of San Bernardino mass shooting victim files $58M in claims 4,592fans+10 this week THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM | NEWS | 5 B