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More SF drug cases dropped amid crime lab scrutiny SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — More than two-dozen drug-related cases were dismissed in San Francisco court- rooms for a second day stemming from allegations on evi- dence handling in the city's crime lab. Assistant District Attorney Brian Buckelew says between 25 and 30 cases were dropped Thursday as author- ities investigate accusations that longtime lab technician Deborah Madden stole cocaine evidence last year. Buckelew also says up to 35 cases could be also be dis- missed on Friday. He says they may refile charges in those cases after evidence has been retested. Police Chief George Gascon said Thursday that other area crime labs could help with any new drug testing. He also says that Attorney General Jerry Brown's office will help with its investigation. No charges have been filed against Madden. Calif Supreme Court to hear body armor ban case SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The California Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal of a ruling that threw out a state law banning convicted felons from owning body armor. The court Wednesday announced its intention to consid- er the appeal filed by state Attorney General Jerry Brown. A lower court overturned the body armor ban in Decem- ber, ruling that the definition of body armor was too vague. But Brown says the court failed to follow the test need- ed to determine whether a law is too vague and needlessly threw out the whole statute. The ban — intended to protect officers — was passed in 1998 after a pair of shootouts between police and suspects wearing bulletproof clothing. Brown says allowing criminals to use body armor ''makes no sense.'' The state Supreme Court has not yet set a hearing date. 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CA DRE # 01773837 Call 530-241-0977 800-909-1977 of things staff will be looking at, but Kimbrough said that would cost more. Kimbrough said staff looked into a contract between CalFire and Grid- ley in which one engine is manned by CalFire for $732,000, not including volunteers and equipment replacement. The entire Corning Volunteer Fire Department, which has three engines, is budgeted at $507,325, he said. Turner's suggestion of cutting Recreation Super- visor Kimberly Beck's position back to 20 hours a week from Nov. 1 to May 1 will be considered. "We truly need the recreation department," said resident Leslie Wilbourn, a mother of two. "If we don't have it, we're in for trouble. We need to give our kids something to do. The movie theater and bowling alley are gone. What else are we going to take away?" Dean Cofer, a member of the Corning Bike and Skate Park Association Board, encouraged resi- dents to draft a letter in support of Beck. "Find other places to cut," Cofer said. "Don't touch Kim." Strack said Tuesday's meeting was just discus- sion and nothing would be done until April. The reorganization of the building and safety department was put into action. Building Official Terry Hoofard will have his hours reduced to 2-4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, with Planning Director John Stoufe, picking up the slack and a part-time office assistant helping cover the public counter. With hours cut in the building department, Hoo- fard will spend more hours working to support Public Works, which has four vacant positions. In this way, he will be paid out of Public Works funds instead of the general fund. The council meets the second and fourth Tues- days of each month at City Hall, 794 Third St. Meet- ing minutes and agendas are available at www.corning.org. ——— Julie Zeeb can be reached at 527-2153, extension 115 or jzeeb@redbluffdailynews. com. Continued from page 1A GAP The after school program already has several classes that students can take for their enjoyment. Classes could probably be expanded to include core subjects that students can take for credit recovery. Another option would be to offer classes during an extra period, Khinda said. Some students already take classes through Shasta College during the zero period before school starts. She would like to see credit recovery classes be developed for that period. The students realize summer school is just one of the programs they are losing, Ross said. They are aware of the snowball effect the budget shortfall has had on the school. Classroom sizes are getting larger while favorite teachers, class- es and extracurricular activities are gone or will be gone next year. The one positive that could be made of the situation is that it should serve as a wake up call for all students that they have to try harder to do well during the regular school year, Mendoza said. The student government repre- sentatives are discussing plans to hold an academic rally that would motivate their peers to focus on aca- demics. ——— Tang Lor can be reached at 527- 2153, Ext. 110 or by e-mail at tlor@redbluffdailynews.com. Continued from page 1A SUMMER time when K-12 classes are being cut across the board. "When we're talking about after school spend- ing programs as part of our educational spending in the state, it's just 1 per- cent of that," report author Brian Lee said Wednes- day. The organization's backers include some 400 crime victims, police chiefs, district attorneys and sheriffs, including Parker. After school programs have proven to reduce crime rates in both the short term and long term, Parker said. "Some of the law enforcement throughout the state don't feel we need to invest in preven- tion, but I disagree," he said. Studies of large Cali- fornia cities suggest vio- lent juvenile crime peaks between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. as students leave school. Keeping students on school grounds and under adult supervision not only gives these students some- thing to do, it gives them moral coaching and struc- ture, Parker said. "For some of these kids, it's huge," he said. Parker's assertions were backed by employ- ees of the Safe Education and Recreation for Rural Families program, the county's after-school pro- gram for elementary stu- dents. Combined with the ASSETs program for high school students, 89 per- cent of Tehama County schools offer some kind of rural program, the second- highest rate of programs to schools in the state. "Since our program began, juvenile crime in the neighborhoods where our sites are located has dropped," according to a report issued by SERRF Administrator Karla Stro- man. "Students are mak- ing better choices and our community is saving hun- dreds of thousands of dol- lars due to the prevention of crimes and accidents." The majority of chil- dren in SERRF programs come from families with working parents, said Lana McFann, SERRF site facilitator for Jackson Heights Elementary. After school programs allow these parents to pursue 9- to-5 jobs. In more extreme cases, the service can offer a temporary, surrogate fami- ly for children whose par- ents are "in and out of jail," said Jan Beck, a SERRF liaison. Academically, the strat- egy has also proven a suc- cess. Lee and Stroman both cite higher test scores across the board for stu- dents in after school pro- grams, and local SERRF employees say their expe- rience parallels this. Whether the children come from a family in which English is not spo- ken, or the parents are unfamiliar with interna- tional math strategies like "grid math" now used in classrooms , after-school programs such as SERRF can give students low-cost tutoring time with faculty and trained volunteers, Beck said. Local ASSETs Director Christine Broughton said she has had similar results for students in grades 9 to 12. Students come to the program on a strictly vol- untary basis, and after two years the service has built up a following of about 350 students, Broughton said. She attributes part of the success to student- teacher bonding and stu- dent focus groups, which have introduced activities as diverse as knitting, chemistry and book and movie clubs to the pro- gram. "That's one of the things students have cited most often, is that they love getting to know their teachers on a different level after school," Broughton said. ——— Geoff Johnson can be reached at 527-2153, extension 114 or gjohnson@redbluffdailyn ews.com. Continued from page 1A AFTER At redbluffdailynews.com, scroll to the end of any story, click the link and type away. CARE TO COMMENT? posed because of concern about the decline in chinook over the past three years. Those restrictions worry some California commercial fishermen, who said they might not be able to make a good living if they can't be out on the water all summer. For example, fishing wouldn't be allowed in June when salmon catch- es are typically high. ''What is being offered is not really what I consider a meaningful season,'' said Duncan MacLean, a commercial fisherman based in Half Moon Bay. Salmon fishing has been closed the last two years off California's coast, leaving West Coast fishermen with the second-worst year on record. Even so, commercial and recre- ational salmon fishing contributed $17 million to the West Coast econ- omy in 2009, according to the coun- cil. That was more than twice the amount in 2008 when fishing was also restricted in Oregon. Congress has allocated $170 mil- lion in disaster relief the last two years to help fishing communities in California, Oregon and Washington hurt by the losses. In Oregon and Washington, fish- ermen could have a full season from May to September, although there will be quotas on the number of fish they can catch and what species. For example, Oregon commercial fisherman likely won't be allowed to catch coho salmon, which aren't expected to be that abundant this year. Washington fishermen could be barred from catching coho in May and June. But losses in both states should be offset by a higher catch in chinook, fishermen said. Washington state fishermen described the salmon conditions as an average year. ''Our job is to make sure con- sumers and restaurants have fish, high-quality salmon all summer,'' said Joel Kawahara, a fisherman based in Quilcene, Wash. ''It looks good for the summer.'' The prospect for a salmon season in California comes after federal biologists predicted more fall-run chinook will return to the Sacra- mento River and its tributaries this year. Estimates indicate 245,000 fall-run chinook could return, many more than the last three years and above federal conservation goals designed to protect the species. Last year, the council predicted 122,000 chinook would return to the river, when only a third of that num- ber actually did, 39,500. That was one of the reasons the council agreed to weigh shutting the season down this year, even though it appears a remote possibility. ''We have concerns about the way in which the projections have been based,'' said Harry Morse, a spokesman at the California Depart- ment of Fish and Game, which urged the council to consider shut- ting down the season. ''There's no historical precedence for a return from 39,000 to 245,000 fish in one year.'' Under the best-case scenario, most of the California coastline could be open to recreational fisher- men between April and mid- November. A more restricted season would leave fishermen docked in May and June in central and south- ern California when more salmon are in the area, according to the rec- ommendations. ''I'm looking forward to recon- necting with the ocean and sharing some of the bounty with my family and friends,'' said Marc Gorelink, a recreational fisherman from El Cer- rito, Calif. ——— On the Net: The Pacific Fishery Management Council: http://www.pcouncil.org/ Continued from page 1A SALMON Woman arrested; 60 dogs seized LAKESIDE (AP) — A woman who ''had the best of intentions'' was in custody Wednesday after animal control officers seized 60 dogs in crates inside her small two-bedroom home east of San Diego. Alice Via, 65, was arrested for investigation of animal cruelty and neglect. She ran what she called the San Diego Boxer Rescue and kept mostly box- ers and Chihuahuas. The dogs were confined in dirty cages stacked two high throughout the 750-square-foot home, said San Diego County spokesman Dan DeSousa. Most of the dogs had injuries to their feet and noses from trying to escape and some had skin and respi- ratory problems, he added. ''These dogs were kept in crates, from what we're being told, up to 23 hours a day,'' DeSousa said. Calling it appalling, he added, ''It's not the life for an animal.'' Via did not have a kennel license, DeSousa said, so she was limited to six dogs. Via's Web site, with a St. Patrick's Day theme, featured mug shots of 45 dogs, including four that said they had been placed. The site also said 15 dogs were rescued in January and February and that the Web site had been updated on Monday. Via had good intentions, DeSousa said, and the animals were well fed, although many had no water in their cages. ''She got way in over her head. She had nobody to help her,'' he said. Authorities were called by a person who went to the home to check on a dog several days ago and was alarmed by the ''overpowering'' smell and unsanitary conditions, DeSousa said. Via's Web site said she was a member of the Res- cue Alliance of Hairless & Other Breeds Inc., a nationwide 501c3 nonprofit animal rescue organi- zation. That group did not immediately respond to an e- mail asking about the affiliation. STATE BRIEFING