Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/6634
shelter at the First Church of God, to shelter them from rain storms hitting the area. She was told she could come in but not with Free- dom, even though Dishmon claims she has paperwork proving Freedom's status as a service dog. Because these licenses are issued by local animal control offices, and because the Daily News was unable to meet Dishmon in person, it could not confirm the validity of the claimed paperwork. "How do you get rid of your service dog," she said. "I have mental issues, you know, and they left me cry- ing." The last time the two were separated, Dishmon said her panic led her to break her mother's win- dows. Dishmon and her hus- band, who traveled from the coast so she could be closer to her nephews, initially had a home lined up. Those plans fell through when Dishmon, who describes herself as "bug-a-phobic," was frightened by cock- roaches living in the resi- dence and refused to move in, she said. Though Dishmon's mother lives in town, the two do not get along, Dishmon said. The couple found another place to take them in with a lease beginning on Feb. 1, one they could pay for with Social Security income, she said. But that was nine days away. In the meantime, the weather was so bad that it swept away the couple's tent and blankets into the river, she said. Access blocked P.A.T.H. has let service dogs in before. But in this case, the First Church of God had already let in a homeless guest who claimed a severe dog allergy, and who was still suffering from pneumonia. Lamberson said he decid- ed the dog could jeopardize the guest's health. At no point was Dishmon herself, or her husband, denied access to the shelter. Had she placed the dog with someone else, she could have easily come in from the rain, Lamberson said. Even if Lamberson didn't have the health of others in mind, he would have had to seek the church's permission to let the dog in, he said. It was by not an easy decision. "It's very hard to say no," he said. "We hardly say no to anything, we just don't do it." But asking the current resident to leave would have been unthinkable for Lam- berson. "I am very sympathetic," Lamberson said. "But by that same token, I can't see asking a person who is already at the shelter to leave." ADA action Lamberson thought it was unlikely PATH violated disability law in its decision. "I can't imagine that there would be a legal requirement that would force us to bring an animal into a place where (people) are being allowed to stay for free and are being provided shelter," he said. Officials from the Department of Justice on down were less certain. Churches themselves are not subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act, said Alejandro Miyar, a spokesman for the United States Department of Jus- tice. But if a church is dou- bling as a town hall, being used as a child care center or otherwise offering some public accommodation, it is supposed to accommodate the disabled. If PATH falls under the category of public accommodation, or if the city relies on PATH as part of a homeless shelter sys- tem, it could be subject to ADA requirements, he said. Dana Simas, deputy press secretary for the Cali- fornia Department of Jus- tice, said the question of whether it violates ADA guidelines in part hinges on to whom the shelter is made available. A spokesperson for the Tehama County District Attorney's Office said the issue was one District Attor- ney Gregg Cohen has not dealt with before. Attempts to contact Dish- mon since her initial call have been unsuccessful. Though she initially agreed to a photo, she could not be found, and the Daily News has not heard from her since. ——— Geoff Johnson can be reached at 527-2153, extension 114 or gjohnson@redbluffdailynew s.com. Saturday, February 6, 2010 – Daily News – 9A • Your loved one NEVER leaves our care. • For your peace of mind, we personally perform cremations on site. • No hidden charges. If cremation is your choice, there really is no other choice for you than the cremation experts at Hoyt-Cole Chapel of the Flowers. Contact us today so we may answer your questions. Hoyt-Cole Chapel of the Flowers Funerals • Cremations • Prearrangements 816 Walnut Street | Red Bluff (530) 527-1174 www.chapeloftheflowers.net Hoyt-Cole Chapel of the Flowers owns and operates the only on-site crematory in Tehama County. Is cremation your choice? Death Notice Obituary Norella (Trel) Houghton Etzler Norella (Trel) Houghton Etzler died Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010, at her residence in Red Bluff. She was 91. Private services are pending. Red Bluff Sim- ple Cremations & Burial Service is handling the arrangements. Published Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010, in the Daily New, Red Bluff, Calif. PAULINE "DOLLY" BARLOW WILLIAMS Pauline "Dolly" Barlow Wil- liams died, January 30th at her home after a long ill- ness. She is survived by a daughter Kathy McAfee of Lake Havasu, AZ, and a son Greg Barlow of Oregon City, OR. A Memorial Service will be held at the Red Bluff Moose Lodge on Friday, February 12th at 1:00 p.m. Dolly moved to Red Bluff from Southern Calif. after working ten years at Save On Drug stores. She be- came involved in the Red Bluff Garden Club and help- ed arrange the flower bas- kets on Main St. She loved gardening and painting and was a member of the Red Bluff Art Association. She and her longtime compan- ion, George Williams, trav- eled to many places in their 5th wheel trailer with friends from the Red Bluff Elks R.V. Club. In lieu of flowers, don- ations may be made in her memory to the American Diabetes Assoc.-Western Region, 2720 Gateway Oaks Dr., Suite 110, Sacra- mento, CA 95833 or call 916-924-3232. Arrangements are being handled by Hoyt-Cole Chap- el of the Flowers. endangerment, maintaining a residence where controlled substances are used or sold and marijuana cultivation. Both have since been booked at the Tehama Coun- ty Jail, with bail set at $12,500 for Goss and $45,000 for Bauer. In Redding, a search war- rant used on a residence on the 2500 block of Wilson Avenue yielded no arrests, as the home owner was not present. But agents did recover a child, a small amount of methampheta- mine and evidence of methamphetamine use and sales. The task force will be requesting felony charges for possessing methamphet- amine for sale, child endan- germent and maintaining a residence where controlled substances are used and sold. Tehama Interagency Drug Enforcement Task Force, Siskiyou County Interagency Narcotics Task Force, Glenn Interagency Narcotics Task Force, Cali- fornia Department of Jus- tice, Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, Drug Enforce- ment Agency, California Highway Patrol and Red- ding Police Department assisted in the operation. Continued from page 1A METH normally has one sergeant and four to five officers on duty. That has been reduced to one sergeant and two officers. In October 2008, the department was staffed with the minimum three or fewer officers 49 percent of the time. In October 2009, the time increased to 64 percent. Comparison of the remainder of the 2009 fourth quarter showed an increase from the same time period in 2008. More frequently the department has had to operate without a sergeant on duty. In October 2008, there were 28 hours the department operated without a sergeant on duty, but in October 2009, hours increased to 151 hours. There was an increase in the remainder of the 2009 fourth quarter compared to the same time period in 2008. Considering all the staffing changes that have occurred since 1995, the department has a high attrition rate at 2.96. The available sworn staff has gone from 26 to 22 positions, which is below the recom- mended number of officers for Red Bluff's population. This has led the department to rely more often on allied agencies such as the Tehama County Sheriff's Department and California High- way Patrol. Between Dec. 21, 2009 and Jan. 19 the department recorded 33 instances with which it received help from allied agencies. This number does not include the instances in which the department requested assistance but received none. The other agencies are operating on lim- ited resources as well, Nanfito said. The staff shortage has made it difficult for the department to oper- ate proactively. Instead of preventing crimes the department is forced to react to crimes as they occur. "We have less officers on the streets," he said. "We are operating in a call-to-call mode." Response time for emergency calls is increasing. Between Dec. 21, 2009 and Jan. 15, 69 calls were delayed from 11 minutes to 3 hours and 30 minutes, with the average delayed response at 51 minutes. The department continues to deal with gang enforcement and investi- gation, traffic enforcement and edu- cation, marijuana, identity theft and Internet-based crimes. A pending statewide prisoner release could bring additional stress to the depart- ment. Crimes against people, or vio- lent crimes, and domestic violence are on the rise. As far as traffic enforcement, fourth quarter reports for offenses such as DUI and traffic citations were down. But this is because traf- fic regulations have become tougher to enforce when officers' time is stretched thin. "It doesn't mean there are less crimes," Nanfito said. "It just means there are less officers seeking out the offenders." In addition to the services that were reduced or eliminated in the third and fourth quarters of 2009, the department may consider discontin- uing civil standbys, not responding to emergency calls that are hang-ups from a pay phone, offering citizen completed crime reports for differ- ent types of crimes at the front counter, and online crime reporting will be implemented. ——— Tang Lor can be reached at 527- 2153, Ext. 110 or by e-mail at tlor@redbluffdailynews.com. Continued from page 1A CUTS Continued from page 1A DOG tions have donated to the flag fund, Raglin said. A special account is kept with the city. Calling him- self the "flag tender" with a smile, Raglin said that even though he has offi- cially retired from the fire department, he plans to continue to take care of the flag. He even plans to replace the halyards and mechanisms this year. Continued from page 1A FLAG Daily News photo by Tang Lor Sacred Heart and Lassen View schools play during the second game of the Tommy Botell Memorial Basketball Tournament Friday. The games pick up again at 8 a.m. today. Awards and closing ceremony will be around 4 p.m. with a special tribute honoring Botell, who was killed at Lassen National Park last summer. The tournament is hosted by Reeds Creek School, and proceeds go to the Botell family. Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb Rose Hablitzel Enrolled Agents, 208 Elm St., held its grand opening Friday morning. Pictured from left, Pete Stiglich, Joyce Woodall, Kathy Forcum, Chelsey Forseth, Heather Hablitzel, Rose Hablitzel, Rex Cerro, Rich Mehling, Sue Hubbard and Ben Hughes.The business, which does taxes, audits and payroll, is open year round. Hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays. For information call 527-8225. Botell Memorial Tourney Enrolled Agent grand opening other economic woes. After hearing hours of testimony from both sides this week, U.S. Dis- trict Judge Oliver Wanger granted farmers' request for a temporary restraining order, lifting the pump- ing restrictions for two weeks. Environmentalists warned that would heighten the risk that fish were ground up in the pumps. ''We're very concerned that this may be the last nail in the coffin of these species that are on the brink of extinction already,'' said Erin Tobin, an attorney with Earthjustice. The pumping restrictions are part of a plan by federal biologists to safeguard endangered salmon as they spawn in the state's rivers and swim through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to reach the Pacific Ocean. Environmentalists and fishermen sued to get those protections in place, arguing that the collapse of one of the West Coast's biggest wild salmon runs two years ago foretold the extinction of related species. Even as recent storms have replenished reservoirs, pumping in the freshwater estuary has been cur- tailed to protect juvenile winter-run Chinook as they navigate the treach- erous pumps and canals linked to the delta — the heart of the state's water delivery system that supplies cities and farms. Wanger said the federal govern- ment could return to court to ask for the limits to be reinstated if more salmon are found around the mas- sive pumps or scientists find other evidence that fish are being harmed by unrestricted pumping. If not, water districts plan to ask for another two-week extension, said Tom Birmingham, general counsel for Westlands Water Dis- trict, whose farmers fallowed more than a third of their 600,000 acres last year due to the shortages. The two weeks of additional water will be enough to irrigate 11,000 acres of land for a year and relieve ''catastrophic harm,'' Birm- ingham said. Fishermen warned the order risked extinguishing their liveli- hood. ''We've been tied up at the dock for a thousand miles of coast for the last two years,'' said Larry Collins, a salmon fisherman and president of the San Francisco Crab Boat Own- ers Association, the oldest commer- cial fishing association on the West Coast. ''It's unbelievable that he could rule this way to kill all the baby fish in the pumps.'' Continued from page 1A WATER We've been tied up at the dock for a thousand miles of coast for the last two years. It's unbelievable that he could rule this way to kill all the baby fish in the pumps.' Larry Collins, salmon fisherman