Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/733995
inJune. Turner faced a mini- mum sentence of two years in state prison, and prose- cutors argued for six years, but Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky cited the "extraordinary circum- stances" of Turner's youth and clean criminal record in imposing the shorter county jail term. The new law removes that option, meaning fu- ture defendants will face state prison sentences as long as 14 years. "Judge Persky's ruling was unjustifiable and mor- ally wrong, however, un- der current state law it was within his discretion. While we can't go back and change what happened, we have made sure it never happens again," Assembly- man Evan Low, D-Camp- bell, said in a statement. "If you do the crime, you're go- ing to do the time." Turner's case burst into the spotlight after a poi- gnant statement from the victim swept through so- cial media. Politicians and law en- forcement officials have lined up alongside sexual assault survivors to crit- icize Turner's sentence, back a recall effort against the judge and urge Brown to sign the tougher sentenc- ing legislation. The 21-year-old one-time Olympic hopeful was re- leased from the Santa Clara County jail in September af- ter serving three months for good behavior. He will be on probation for three years in his native Ohio. Brown said in a signing message that he usually op- poses adding more manda- tory minimum sentences. But he said he signed the sentencing bill "because I believe it brings a measure of parity to sentencing for criminal acts that are sub- stantially similar." Outside jail after Turner's release, county Sheriff Lau- rie Smith said she believed his sentence was too light and urged Brown to sign the bill. "Letting felons convicted of such crimes get off with probation discourages other survivors from coming for- ward and sends the mes- sage that raping incapaci- tated victims is no big deal," Democratic Assemblyman Bill Dodd of Napa said in a statement after lawmakers approved his bill in August. But more than two dozen groups dedicated to end- ing campus sexual assaults urged Brown to veto it, fear- ing that the punishment would more likely be ap- plied to minority and lower- income defendants than white offenders like Turner. Mahroh Jahangiri, exec- utive director of Know Your IX, a national organization representing survivors, said mandatory minimum sen- tences also could deter vic- tims from pressing charges against their attackers, who are often people they know. Brown also signed an- other bill permitting sex- ual assault victims to say in court that they were raped, even if the attack doesn't meet the technical defini- tion under California law. State law defines rape as nonconsensual inter- course between a man and a woman, leaving out other forms of sexual assault, in- cluding Turner's 2015 at- tack on the woman he met at a fraternity party. He was convicted of three sex- ual assault felonies, includ- ing digital penetration of an unconscious woman. The rape definition that came under fire in the Turner case leaves Brown in an awkward position as he promotes a November bal- lot initiative that would al- low earlier release of prison- ers as a way to control over- crowding. Proposition 57 would al- low earlier parole consid- eration for nonviolent in- mates, but the legal defi- nition of a violent felony includes just 23 crimes, such as murder, kidnapping and forcible rapes and sex- ual assaults. Turner's crimes were considered nonviolent un- der California law because he assaulted an intoxicated or unconscious person who could not resist, so he didn't have to use force. "All sexual assaults are a violent offense. There is no such thing as a nonvio- lent sexual assault," Stan- ford law professor Michele Dauber said. Dauber is a friend of the woman Turner assaulted and is leading a campaign to recall Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky for departing from the usual minimum sen- tence in the case. The bill passed without a dissentingvote,thoughDem- ocratic Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia of Bell Gar- dens scaled back her initial proposal to expand the def- inition of rape. Prosecutors were concerned the original version would prevent them from filing multiple charges against perpetrators. "Sexual penetration without consent is rape. It is never invited, wanted or warranted. Rape is rape, pe- riod," Garcia said in state- ment. "When we fail to call rape 'rape, we rob survivors and their families of the jus- tice they deserve." Bill FROMPAGE8 dreamed of; the advan- tages of science and inven- tion and a better apprecia- tion of liberty and content- ment, is it not a wonder we do not grow more rapidly into powerful significance and ascend to the sphere of our real usefulness. The foregoing references to bygone days have no di- rect bearing upon the sub- ject in hand, except that it serves to illustrate this one vital fact; the people are the mainspring, regardless of their environment, and they can make and unmake, build and destroy cities and empires at their will. The latent energy of Red Bluff citizens is beyond computation. The dynamo is there and only needs the current. Not speaking ir- reverently, God Almighty is not making any more land, nor is the ruler of the universe creating any more such spots as nature has en- dowed this section of Cali- fornia with. This city and country surrounding have scarcely begun the development which they are destined to reach, and such an expres- sion does not necessarily mean that good progress has not already been made. Favored as it has been in climate, health, citizenship and in all capacities tend- ing toward the higher ide- als of life, commensurate with business and other attainments well worthy of the most vital consid- eration, Red Bluff is today the richest city of its size in the State of the Golden West; is famous for its at- tainments commercially and otherwisel its magnifi- cent systems of streets, sew- erage, fire department, wa- ter, lights, power, gas; its schools, churches, elegant homes, library, hospital and other institutions. The fertile soil extend- ing for hundreds of miles up and down the Sacra- mento valley, possesses the properties richer and more productive than the famous Valley of the Nile. Thou- sands of acres of land that have year after year yielded millions in livestock, wool, grain, hay and other com- modities, are still virgin soil in the sense that it has not yet been put to the use for which it was intended. A tract of land suitable for growing the finest fruit of vegetables on earth should not be kept in grain, or used for grazing purposes. Mil- lions of barrels of water that at present go rippling past the valley farms could and should be turned into nug- gets of gold by diverting this source of wealth from the river bed to the plantations. The conditions and pos- sibilities are well known to people residing in this sec- tion. Doubtless many have never stopped to think of the waste of land and la- bor, being satisfied with comparitively good returns from investments. However, the day has ar- rived for bettering our con- ditions and laying the foun- dation for future happiness and prosperity. A new era has come, and the people who steadfastly ignore the call of progress must and surely will be swept aside by the onrush of those who appreciate a golden oppor- tunity and grasp it. These manifold advan- tages are to be taken up un- der different heads and dis- cussed in subsequent arti- cles to appear in the Daily News. There is no axe to grind. It is a plain propo- sition of urging and lead- ing the entire citizenship into action; blazing the way for something greater and grander. But first some education or preparatory work must be done. This will form the nucleus for a movement that will be with- out boundary and uncurbed in its zeal and energy. — Oct. 1, 1916 Nature FROM PAGE 3 ter to assist military per- sonnel and veterans. In- cluded in the plans are the construction of a new Career Technical Educa- tion facility to provide stu- dents with needed training in Advanced Manufactur- ing, Welding, Automotive/ Diesel and Computer Sci- ence; and an update of the college's STEM — Science, Technology, Engineering and Math — labs. Also included is the up- grading of facilities on the main Redding campus, the majority of which were built between 1966 and 1972 with some, including a portable, dating back to 1964, said Vice President of Adminis- trative Services Morris Ro- drigue. Shasta College serves Shasta, Trinity and Tehama counties, which covers a 10,000-square-mile area. It includes both associate de- gree programs and evening classes geared toward those who may have started but not finished a degree. These students can finish their as- sociate and potentially earn a bachelor's without leaving the community. The area the college cov- ers has about 31 percent of 25- to 64-year-old people who have some college but no degree, compared to a 20 percent rate statewide. The college is one of 15 commu- nity colleges chosen for a pi- lot program to help commu- nity members attain a bach- elor's without leaving their community. There is a program to teach 260 courses as of the fall semester at high schools by high school teachers who have been certified to do so. These courses will count for credit at the high school and college, which can put a student as far as a semes- ter ahead when entering. Measure H needs a 55 percent rate to pass suc- cessfully and would be held accountable through a cit- izens oversight commit- tee meeting quarterly with representatives from vari- ous areas. The cost of the bond is about $19 per $100,000 of assessed property value. Bond FROM PAGE 1 PHOTOSBYJULIEZEEB— DAILYNEWS CHP volunteer president Charlotte Bailey and volunteer Joyce Hampton serve up hamburgers and hot dogs on Friday at Truck Driver Appreciation Day at the California Highway Patrol Cottonwood Inspection Facility. pulled over unless there was a gross violation. "It's really integral to our mission to ensure the drivers are well-rested and their equipment is in good repair," said Al- exander. "Our mission is to ensure smooth and ef- ficient transportation of goods and services down the highway. This is a great day to really reach out to the drivers. Most of the time our interac- tions are enforcement re- lated. This is a good in- teraction with the drivers in a different capacity. In the end, we all want the same thing. To share the highway and be able to go up and down safely while ensuring swift and safe movement of goods and services." The facility has seen as many as 800,000 trucks come through in a year, of which only about 30,000 receive a level two or three inspection. Inspec- tions range in three lev- els with a level one being a thorough inspection of the truck and driver's pa- perwork including driv- er's license, logs and bill of lading. A level two is a walk around visual in- spection and paperwork and a level three is just the paperwork. Plans are to eventually build a class B facility on the southbound side of the freeway, which operates about four days a month. Opening the south- bound side more fre- quently has helped catch violations that were some- times missed in the past. It also has been a chance to further educate drivers. "I'd like to think we're making a difference and seeing less violations," Al- exander said. In addition to booths, the CHP had its rapid re- sponse vehicle and heli- copter available for peo- ple to check out. The rapid response vehicle is sta- tioned out of the North- ern Division office in Red- ding and is a mobile in- cident command center to help with communica- tions in major incidents. It can dispatch all the way to Los Angeles from Cottonwood if needed and can cross patch net- works to allow communi- cation with fire and sher- iffs departments. It is a self-contained unit, but is able to be plugged in and recharged if needed for a long time. The helicopter is not just for CHP operations, but to support other agencies in 13 northern counties with anything from mutual aid to law enforcement, officer back up, search and rescue and medical evacuations, said pilot Chad Millward. "We're involved in a lit- tle of everything from ma- jor incidents to accidents," Millward said. Truckers FROM PAGE 1 Truckers enjoy a lunch of hamburgers and hot dogs. California Department of Motor Vehicles Licensed Registration Examiner Gina Norred talks with visitors. Visitors got to check out the CHP Incident Command Vehicle on Friday. By Mike Stobbe The Associated Press NEW YORK A first look at U.S. teens and young chil- drenwhowereinfectedwith Zika suggests the virus typ- ically causes at worst only a mild illness. Zika infection during pregnancy can cause severe brain-related birth defects. But the report seems to con- firm health officials' belief that infections after birth in children are similar to infec- tionsinadults—mostpeople don't feel sick, and some de- velop only mild symptoms like fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes. Some experts say there's not enough data to answer questions about the virus's potential impact on the de- veloping brains of infants andsmallchildren,however. The report, released Fri- day by the Centers for Dis- ease Control and Preven- tion, is based on 158 infec- tionsfromearlierthisyearin kidsages1monthto17years. All the children picked up the virus while travel- ing abroad, and the bulk of them wereolderkidsintheir teens. Only 16 were age 4 or younger and only four were under a year old. Experts are worried about very young children because they can be more severely affected by infectionsingeneral,andbe- cause their brains are devel- oping rapidly. "I'm really concerned about birth through the first birthday," said Dr. Carrie By- ington, a University of Utah researcher who focuses on infections in children. None of the children stud- ied died, and none devel- oped a paralyzing condition seen in some infected adults called Guillain-Barre syn- drome. But Guillain-Barre is rare, seen only once in every sev- eral thousand Zika illnesses in adults. It may be that kids can still get it, but there weren't enough cases for it to surface, said Dr. Ganesh- waran Mochida, a pediatric neurologist at Boston Chil- dren's Hospital. Zikaoutbreakshaveswept through Latin America and the Caribbean in the last year, but data on infections in children are limited. Ex- pertshavebasedconclusions about how infections prog- ress in kids partly on what was seen in 10 children in a ZikaoutbreakonaSouthPa- cific island in 2007. Zika is mainly spread a tropical mosquito called Aedes aegypti, though it can also be spread through sex. Mosquitoes have been spreading the virus in Flori- da's Miami-Dade County, as well as in Puerto Rico and some other U.S. territories. Most of the more than 3,600 reported infections in the 50 states, including about 800 pregnant women, have been seen in people who traveled to and were infected in Zika outbreak countries. DISEASE Zika illnesses are mild in US teens, children WILFREDO LEE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Aedes Aegypti mosquito larvae swim in a container at the Florida Mosquito Control District Office in Marathon, Fla. 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