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Monday, February 8, 2010 – Daily News – 7A N EWS D AILY RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 NEWSPAPER IN EDUCATION Please help sponsor a classroom subscription Call Kathy at (530) 527-2151 to find out how. • M & M RANCH HOUSE • ROSE HABLITZEL, ENROLLED AGENT • RED BLUFF INTERIORS • MOTHER LODE HOLDING CO. • LP BUILDING PRODUCTS • LOUISIANA PACIFIC • STATE FARM INS. KEITH THOMAS • TEHAMA ESTATES • CALIFORNIA WALNUT CO., INC. • MR. PICKLE'S SANDWICH SHOP • AIRPORT AUTO REPAIR • JOHN WHEELER LOGGING • KAY STEPHENS, MD • QRC • GREENWASTE OF TEHAMA • TRI COUNTIES BANK • MOSS LUMBER & HARDWARE • BRETNEY SUTTERFIELD • HOYT-COLE CHAPEL OF THE FLOWERS • TEHAMA COUNTY ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS • FIDELITY NATIONAL TITLE CO. • SUSANNE WHALEN, DMD INC • PLACER TITLE CO. – Thank You – Through the Newspapers in Education program, area classrooms receive the Red Bluff Daily News every day thanks to the generosity of these local businesses & individuals. N EWS D AILY RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 swim team. A third softball field, walking and bike trails, new bathrooms and a water feature are sugges- tions for Trainor Park. Survey cards are avail- able at the Red Bluff Community and Senior Center for those who would like to offer input. March 1 is the grant application deadline. The grants are from the Propo- sition 84 bond act passed by voters in 2006. The meeting, which starts at 7 p.m., has been moved to the Red Bluff Community and Senior Center, 1500 S. Jackson St. The Parks and Recre- ation Commission meets regularly at 7 p.m. the sec- ond Wednesday of each month. For information, call 527-8177. Continued from page 1A CITY crooked, crowded teeth. By the third time the van drove to the same locations, almost no cavities turned up. But with more than 100 patients signing up for examinations, fill- ings or cleanings at Saturday's Give Kids A Smile Day, it is clear the dental service is still in demand among Tehama County residents. Kids who showed up Saturday got as much treatment as a team of 16 dentists and more than 100 vol- unteers could provide. Sometimes, that's still not enough. If a problem has gone untreated long enough, it may warrant referral to oral surgeons and anesthesiologists who special- ize in children, which are hard to come by in the North State, Sage said. But every child who still gets basic dental care that the child might not otherwise receive. That was the case for the chil- dren of Hector Valenzuela. A for- mer chain puller, Valenzuela has been unemployed for about a year, forced to provide for his family without the health insurance and medical benefits once offered to him. By the time 10-year-old Ken- neth Valenzuela received treat- ment Saturday, it had been a while since the boy had been to the den- tist, Valenzuela said. "It's a good thing that they're doing here," he said. The State Theatre was lined with helpful booths explaining, in both Spanish and English, what services are available to Tehama County's low-income families and lessons on how to avoid dentist visits in the future. With volunteers from Shasta College, Butte College and Red Bluff Union High School, the helpers get an education, too. Emily Richards and Yesenia Garagarza, a pair of 17-year-old seniors enrolled in the health occupation ROP class at Red Bluff Union High School, are already getting hands-on experience with medical equipment. The experience could give Gara- garza a first step in her quest to become a dentist, or Richards in her goal of entering the health profes- sion. More information about dental care through First 5 for pregnant women or families with children under 19 who have neither dental insurance nor Medi-Cal is avail- able by calling 527-6824 or 1-800- 655-6854. ——— Geoff Johnson can be reached at 527-2153, extension 114 or gjohnson@redbluffdailynews.com. Continued from page 1A SMILES the shop. "I just like critters," Nance said. Simi Valley was once, to hear Nance tell it, a little town more like Red Bluff than the Southern California sprawl that surrounds the city today. But it wasn't too small to have an ordi- nance barring Nance, or any of its residents, from keeping wild animals. The city took Nance to court, and the ensuing publicity was good for business. If anything, most people were on his side, Nance said. He lost his case, even- tually, and soon Holly- wood was saying "Hello, Dolly" as she took off for a career in the movies. But when another baby elephant the zoo had ordered came in, Nance was there to give her a home. Then he figured out he could get around the city language barring him from keeping "Fluffy" around by mov- ing the elephant between his home and his busi- ness. The city's attor- neys couldn't hit a mov- ing target, and the administration threw up its hands and surren- dered, Nance said. Little town As Simi Valley grew, so did its crime rates. Nance considered his children safe around his animals — in those days, Nance could walk down Hollywood Boulevard with an elephant in tow, without so much as a leash — but decided the North State would offer a more hospitable envi- ronment to raise his growing family. By this time was ready to leave, Fluffy had grown increasingly attached to her trainer, Carol Buckley, who maintains an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee. Fluffy was left with Buckley, and renamed Tarra. The family wasn't done with animals. Maintaining a local auto yard, Nance drew cus- tomers with 12 monkeys and a siberian tiger. But none of this was meant to last. As the 1980s opened, the opportunity for wildlife closed, as the state passed laws barring Nance from keeping his animals. They've all gone back south, to Hollywood, he said. Present day Today, Nance's chil- dren are grown — nurses and schoolteachers or carrying on the family business. But some animal presence still lingers in the shop. The countertop to Bob's shop is crowded with Polaroids of animal friends, including Fluffy, Dolly, chimps and the tiger. Just beneath the counter, four turtles and a tarantula make their home, and a quartet of parrots live in the shop. There's even an ele- phant statue, almost hid- den by tires, tucked just beyond the entrance. In the waiting area, just to the right of the TV, is a framed painting, a seemingly random splotch of overlapping, random colors. Next to it is a photo of an elephant painting — an elephant named Tarra. Continued from page 1A WILD Daily News photo by Geoff Johnson Bob Nance, owner of Bob's Tires in Red Bluff, takes a call at his desk, which doubles as a terrarium for his turtles. tional programs, shaving months off their sentences. It also lets the state stop monitoring low-level offenders after they leave prison, making it unlikely they will be returned if they violate the terms of their probation. At the county level, differing interpretations have led to a patchwork approach since the law took effect Jan. 25. At least 18 of California's 58 counties are applying the law retroactively, giving their county jail inmates additional credits for the time they already spent in jail before the law took effect. That led to a surge of releases over the last two weeks. At least 16 counties decided the earlier releases apply only to credits earned for time served after the law took effect, according to the California State Sheriffs' Associa- tion. Four other counties aren't sure yet how they will implement the law, while 20 counties had not responded as of Friday. ''The counties are all over the map on this,'' said Scott Thorpe, chief executive officer of the California District Attorneys Association. No state prison inmates have been released under the law yet because the language is more specific for state prison- ers: They will get credit only for completing rehabilitation programs started after the law took effect. Whether it applies to inmates in state prisons or county jails, the law was not intended to help those convicted of violent or sexual crimes get out early. A release this week from the Sacramento County Jail exposed an apparent loophole in that provision when an inmate who was let out early under the new law was arrest- ed just hours later on suspicion of attempting to rape a coun- selor. Although he had been in jail for a probation violation, the inmate's underlying crime was a violent one — assault with a deadly weapon. Had the law not been in effect, he would have had to wait an additional 16 days before he was eligible for release. The alleged assault prompted several lawmakers to call for an immediate halt to the law's implementation at the county level. ''We're no longer speculating. An inmate was improper- ly released and almost raped a woman,'' said Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, D-Fremont. ''It's obvious we're creating a very dangerous situation.'' Torrico, who is running for attorney general and helped write the law, said he will introduce a bill next week seek- ing to remove counties from the law's early release provi- sions. He joined a lawsuit filed Friday by the Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs Association, saying in a sworn dec- laration that the law was intended to apply only to inmates in state prisons, not county jails. The association sued Sacramento County and the state corrections department, seeking an injunction preventing more early releases. The lawsuit argues that the law should not be applied retroactively to time inmates have already served and should not affect county jail inmates at all. Two Democratic Assembly members, Ted Lieu of Tor- rance and Alyson Huber of Lodi, have introduced a bill requiring local law enforcement agencies to be notified before any state inmates are freed without parole supervi- sion. State corrections officials and law enforcement experts have said the law could improve public safety by easing overcrowding in state prisons, encouraging inmates to com- plete rehabilitation programs and reducing caseloads for parole officers so they can concentrate on violent offenders. Thorpe, of the district attorneys association, said the early release program simply accelerates what is happening already. ''These guys get dumped on the streets every single day,'' Thorpe said. Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, Stanislaus and Tulare counties each released at least 150 inmates within a matter of days after the law took effect. Officials there believed they should count inmates' credits for time already served. Other counties — including Los Angeles, the state's most populous — decided the law should not be applied retroactively, thus avoiding a mass release. The law is not clear on when the early release credits should be applied. The state attorney general, state correc- tions officials and associations representing sheriffs and prosecutors say they cannot provide an answer. That left each sheriff to decide individually, after consulting with local prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and lawyers. ''It's just a big gray area. My understanding is about half the sheriffs did it one way and half the sheriffs did it the other,'' said San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore. ''It cries out for state interpretation — a little leadership up there.'' Gore said one reason his county opted to grant the cred- its retroactively was to avoid potential challenges by inmates. Continued from page 1A LAW 1 dead, 4 wounded in SF shooting SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Police say one person is dead and four critically injured after a shooting outside a night- club near San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. The shooting around 1:40 a.m. Sunday took place outside the Suede Nightclub and Lounge on Bay Street, according to a police spokesman. The two-story nightclub is about three blocks from the wharf and near a num- ber of hotels popular with tourists. The San Francisco Medical Examiner's Office identified the per- son killed in the shooting as 19-year-old Lawon Hall, of nearby Richmond. He was pronounced dead at the scene.