Ripon, heavily favored to win the 2012 Trans Valley League football crown, started its season on a strong note by defeating host Bret Harte 45-0 on Friday night.
For full story, photos and comments from players and coaches, pick up a copy of The Union Democrat on Monday, Aug. 27.
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Ripon spoils Bret Harte season-opener
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State parks show will air next month
By CHRIS CASKEY
The Union Democrat
When Sally Kaplan and David Vassar started working on a documentary about California’s state parks, the park system was not such a hot topic. But now, the current political climate surrounding the park system could make their film “California Forever” especially relevant.
The two-part documentary spotlights the past, present and possible future of California’s park system, which predates the country’s national parks and at one time included the iconic Yosemite Valley.
It also features local Calaveras Big Trees State Park, which is near the filmmakers’ part-time residence in Arnold.
“California Forever” will air on PBS stations in and outside of California, including Sacramento’s KVIE on Sept. 9, 12, 16 and 19. The show will run in most of the state’s television markets, and stations will pick it up as far away as Hawaii and New England.
The film documents the formation and expansion of the state park system, from 1864 to the present. It will spotlight 46 of the 278 outdoor and historic parks, giving viewers an idea of the scenic and cultural value the system has to offer.
Vassar, a native Californian, said the state’s park system has a strong connection to public land policies around the country. Just look at the first park managed by the state — Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove — which didn’t become a federal park until 1906.
“The birthplace of the park idea, it happened here,” Vassar said during a phone interview on Monday.
The project also looks forward, examining the challenges the parks and the system might face during challenging times for the state.
Vassar and Kaplan started working on “California Forever” four years ago, long before budget cuts, closure lists and hidden funds made the system a hot political topic. But they say the timing of its release is a good thing, as Kaplan said they hope this reminds viewers of why these places were preserved in the first place.
“It could not come at a better time, because in fact, it elevates the conversation,” Kaplan said.
Vassar and Kaplan, who alternate living in Southern California and Arnold, both came to the project having completed multiple outdoor-related television programs and documentaries that have aired on the History Channel, Travel Channel, Food Network and elsewhere.
Both also worked on the Harrison Ford narrated film “Discover Hetch Hetchy,” which has been in the middle of a recently revived campaign to restore the river valley and drain the reservoir.
Vassar said the first spark of inspiration for the film came when developers and conservationists were debating proposals to build a toll road over part of San Onofre State Beach. Both were “taken aback” by the lack of outrage over the proposal, and considered putting together a program that would remind people in California of “the legacy that the state parks protect,” he said.
“I think now more than ever is a really great time to remind Californians of the legacy, the cultural heritage and natural heritage that scenic lands and historic places protect,” Vassar said. “You really are talking about the crown jewels of the state.”
California’s state park system includes 1.4 million acres and attracts more than 82 million visitors a year. The film highlights the scenic, historic and cultural, moving from locations like the wooded streamside trails under the world’s largest living things at Big Trees to the stories of the state’s Chinese immigrants as they moved through Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay.
The parks, Vassar said, “protect the very essence of what it means to be a Californian.” And if the films inspire anything, they say they hope it’s to get people out to experience those places.
“Don’t take these places for granted,” Kaplan said.
Contact Chris Caskey at ccaskey@uniondemocrat.com or 588-4527.
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Noise regs return Sept. 11
Each of the Calaveras County supervisors Tuesday expressed support for instituting a controversial noise ordinance.
Though given the list of amendments to the proposal they agreed upon, the board members voted 5-0 to continue the matter to the Sept. 11 meeting for a final vote, in hopes of ensuring every “i” will be dotted and “t” crossed.
Supervisors Merita Callaway and Steve Wilensky each voiced specific concerns about the allowed decibel limits being too low and the board agreed to lift levels permitted in residential (60 decibels), commercial (70 decibels) and industrial zones (75 decibels) during daytime hours.
A conversation from one meter away is 60 decibels.
The board heard from a steady stream of residents in Tuesday’s hearing, most opposed to the ordinance as heavy-handed government intrusion into their private lives.
“I would venture the county’s general welfare would be better served by permitting more joyful, boisterous community gatherings,” Ray Goodpastor said.
Goodpastor said he is accustomed to hosting informal musical gatherings of 80 to 100 people without incident.
“We can get high as a kite and yet be sober as a judge,” an animated Goodpastor said, rousing a round of laughter and applause.
Tom Liberty said law-abiding residents will be affected but doubted scofflaws will pay any mind.
“I’m going to be violating this by just being alive. Two hours don’t go by (at my house) without somebody picking up a guitar,” Liberty said. “I think this law is going to be disregarded by the people it’s aimed at.”
Proponents of the ordinance have cited the nuisance for neighbors created by recent years of “Wood Whomp” festivals near Mountain Ranch and “bump parties” at Lake Tulloch Resort.
“This ordinance has been a long time coming. I hope you won’t forget the years of testimony … from people suffering,” said Lee Mayhew, who co-founded the Keep It Rural Calaveras organization. “Please don’t forget the sheriff, who has said this is a significant problem, a significant cost in use of resources.”
Others who have been impacted by noise, like Lake Tulloch Resort neighbor Ray Hoot, said the ordinance is not the right response to the problem.
“If you’d just enforce existing laws, you wouldn’t have decibels (problems),” Hoot said.
Hoot said law enforcement response was improved at the latest “bump” on Aug. 18 but dwindled after 11 p.m.
Supervisor Merita Callaway disagreed with Hoot’s assessment that laws on the books are sufficient.
“I’m going into this kind of kicking and screaming. I didn’t support it two years ago. I didn’t feel like we should have decibel cops … when the Sheriff’s Office came to us this time and said they just needed this as a tool … that sort of swayed me into supporting this,” Callaway said. “We really don’t have any laws in Calaveras County that can support law enforcement when they go out.”
The ordinance will allow sheriff’s deputies to shut down loud events and imposes up to $875 in fines and court fees for first-time offenders.
Supervisors said it had been difficult to reconcile competing property rights interests but eventually came down on the side of those who wanted relief from inconsiderate neighboring noisemakers.
“People have a reasonable right to live on their property without unreasonable disturbances,” Supervisor Gary Tofanelli said.
Contact Sean Janssen at sjanssen@uniondemocrat.com or 890-7741.
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Animal Services moved
Animal Services will transfer from control of the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Department back to the Environmental Management Agency after seven years starting Oct. 1.
County supervisors voted unanimously to approve the transition after a two-hour study session Tuesday afternoon and will seek a long-term public-private partnership with the nonprofit Calaveras Humane Society to manage animal services.
Sheriff’s Department administrators told the board in January the department would seek a transition based on reduced funding and prioritization of opening a new jail next year.
“We’re trying to get all our resources back into law enforcement,” said jail commander Lt. Dennis Huberty. “We love Animal Services but we simply don’t have the resources to manage it. We didn’t have the money. If we had the money, we still don’t have the (time) resources to run it properly.”
The Sheriff’s Department took on Animal Services in 2005 after a grand jury report slammed the condition of the county animal shelter and its management. While things greatly improved, a new shelter is still in early planning and fundraising stages and staffing has been cut nearly in half as the county’s revenues have been ravaged for five consecutive budget years by a moribund economy.
Animal Services was “disproportionately hit, probably more than any other general fund department” by years of cuts, said Chief Assistant County Administrative Officer Clay Hawkins.
Supervisor Tom Tryon questioned why the move ought to be made at all.
“Moving it costs more money and the Sheriff’s Department, quite frankly, has everything you’re looking for,” Tryon said. “From an enforcement standpoint, it has something no other department can offer.”
County staff from various departments each recommended funding and staffing of Animal Services be increased regardless of what department administers it.
The cost to shift Sgt. Laurie Murray from Animal Services to the county jail, add an office technician and shelter assistant, hire a temporary Animal Services manager, increase the pay of EMA Administrator Brian Moss for taking on added duties, complete an analysis of shelter capacity and relocate the county livestock yard to a larger site is estimated at $184,541 for this budget year and $241,985 the following year.
“Would we not be better off keeping Animal Services with the Sheriff’s Department and putting that $425,000 toward improving Animal Services?” Tryon asked.
Ensuing conversation showed that could create a toxic situation.
“It’s been year by year, taking away staffing from (Animal Services) little by little. I know you don’t like the Sheriff’s Department. That’s been clear. I don’t know why you hate the Sheriff’s Department, I don’t know what we’ve ever done to you,” Sheriff Gary Kuntz told supervisors. “I’m very appalled that you’re going to give somebody a $20,000 raise for something that I took over for two years and didn’t get an additional dime for.”
“What it gets down to is the sheriff does not want the department. It’s blossomed under the Sheriff’s Department so I understand what (Tryon) is saying,” Supervisor Merita Callaway said. “I’m happy to move it from the sheriff. I don’t want it with a department that doesn’t want it. I think it’s for the wrong reasons but I will support doing it.”
The raise to Moss, first tagged at 12 percent or about $20,000 annually, dropped to 5 percent, or less than $10,000, in a 3-2 vote of the board. Callaway and Supervisor Darren Spellman dissented.
Spellman said the raise offered Moss had already been negotiated with the administrative office.
“You can’t renegotiate in a public forum … he can tell you to go pound sand,” Spellman said.
Supervisor Gary Tofanelli asked Moss his thoughts on the added duties.
“It is probably the most politically charged department in the county,” Moss said. “I look at it as an extreme challenge. Do I look at it as this is going to be a simple thing to do? Absolutely not.”
Calaveras Humane Society volunteers were numerous and supportive of the transition at Tuesday’s session. Society President Karen Elliott said the group is working hard to make the long-term solution viable and she believes department revenues can be doubled with a dedicated staff.
Callaway concluded the discussion with tearful praise of Murray.
“She has given respect to the volunteers and they in turn have respected her,” she said. “I will very much miss having her at the Animal Services Department.”
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Letters to the editor for August 29, 2012
Thanks to good samaritans
To the Editor,
On Aug. 20 at approximately 12:20 p.m. our GMC Acadia was hit by a driver not paying attention on a dangerous stretch of O’Brynes Ferry Road just south of Lake Tulloch Bridge. It was a very terrifying experience.
Due to a dead cellular area, cellulars did not work but our 2-meter amateur radio did. AE6LA/Ken answered our call for aid by calling 911.
A Mom and teen daughter came to our aide with moist towels, water and comfort while we waited for EMS.
An off duty paramedic assisted in calming me while the first responders were assisting in freeing my husband from the car. Names were shared with me but I was so traumatized that I can’t remember the names of those who offered aid.
You know who you are; know that you hold a very special place in our hearts. Thank you!
Miriam Brown
Copperopolis
Tax cheats
To the Editor,
Tax cheaters are traitors. If Mitt Romney won’t prove that he’s not one then he’s unqualified to be president.
Bob Wetzel
Murphys
Good neighbors
To the Editor,
We too were affected by the Monte Grande Road fire on Aug. 7. We are thankful that Cal Fire did a wonderful job and the fire was stopped across the road from our home.
Talking with neighbors further up the road, a special vote of thanks goes to all the Covers over the hill. Had it not been for their quick response and a big caterpillar plugging up the hill toward our subdivision, several more homes could have been lost. We may not know the Covers personally, but we have never heard anything but good about them and their work efforts. Maybe it is time that some of us get better acquainted with them.
Ramona Cook
Monte Grande Heights
Misconception
of AB109
To the Editor,
AB109 was put into effect to reduce the prison population and give counties jurisdiction over the sentencing and housing of inmates that otherwise would have gone to prison. Prison population has reduced, but on the other hand Tuolumne County and other counties like it have increased in population size. Before AB109, if you were sentenced to prison, you would serve your time and, when released, you had a parole officer who would monitor your employment, your living environment and monthly drug tests. Being on parole, you had the opportunity to have a full time job with no interruptions of daily reporting.
Since AB109 has come into effect, Tuolumne County has taken it upon itself to give all their released inmates daily reporting, classes and random drug tests multiple times during the week resulting in missing a check in or dirty test. Results: More county time payed for by the tax dollar. Does anybody see a pattern here?
Wake up people. AB109 is a straight setup for failure for people wanting to get back on their feet. How could you possibly make ends meet or have an employer that will hire you when you have to take so much time off for these unnecessary guidelines of Tuolumne County probation? With this said, the results end in more crime when otherwise decent people trying to make ends meet end up having to resort back to crime in order to survive because of these extreme guidelines that they have to follow. AB109 is a setup for failure.
Richard Klidies
Sonora
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Sonora netters beat Calaveras in playoff rematch
The Sonora Wildcats volleyball team defeated the host Calaveras Redskins 3-1 (23-25, 25-11, 25-23, 25-18) on Friday night in both teams’ season opener.
The game was a rematch of last season’s first-round playoffs game in which the Wildcats prevailed 3-0.
For Calaveras, Dakota Butzler had a team-high seven kills and also had five blocks, Madison Hull smacked six kills, four blocks and had a team-high nine digs, Brianna McGinness had five kills and four blocks, Kelly Airola had 21 assists and Samantha Baseman added seven digs, four kills and three blocks.
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Letters to the editor for August 30, 2012
Something’s fishy
To the Editor,
In a recent article “Muddy Water No Fish Danger,” that ran Aug. 28, it is stated by Forest Service biologist, Crispin Holland, that “Our native species are adapted to these kind of natural disturbances,” in reply to the excessive amount of sedimentation in our waterways lately because of Sierra Nevada thunderstorms, downpours, and hail storms.
He also goes on to state this sediment introduced into the waterways is actually beneficial to certain species and helps keep the natural balance.
No, what is odd to me is it’s supposedly sedimentation that us dredgers were supposedly causing that was evidently “harming,” the fish, and the ecology of the water way?
As dredgers and the past studies have shown, we know that what we were doing was not harming the fish either, yet it was still banned. It is also odd that there has been record salmon runs the last few years?
What gives? Something smells fishy … and its not the fish.
C. Stemler
Sonora
Safety is everyone’s responsibility
To the Editor,
Regarding the Aug. 22 guest column from the Los Angeles Times, “How to make Yosemite Safer.”
Thanks the Boy Scouts of America for making our wilderness national parks safer for so many years. Kids in scuffy blue and yellow uniforms experienced their first hikes and tents thanks to the BSA, and the uniforms they wore were insignias of safety: The scout bandana was a cravat — first aid!
Most of that technical know-how — how to survive in a wilderness place — has gone to the BSA wayside, but the main roads to wild places are still much traveled.
What we need to do is to rekindle an interest in the awareness of dangers and survival, as the CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training of the American Red Cross does.
I say teach CERT in schools as a requirement for high school graduation.
Likewise, we need to instruct park visitors in routine safety.
More signs (a.k.a. speed limits) will be ignored. Handing out leaflets is asinine where functional illiteracy hovers at the rate of 1 in 2. What we need to do is to invent a comic strip feature that teaches kids (and adults) safety in the parks, Yosemite included.
How many people see in the depths of their mind’s eye the slick-rock scenario that takes lives year after year and fall after fall — the same lesson pending ad infi-nauseum.
Blame the parks! How to make Yosemite safer, as if we can engineer safety into wilderness.
Bah, humbug!
We need to teach people painlessly (even those who read poorly) about the dangers inherent in nature and the need for personal survival skills.
Safety is not just the responsibility of those who wear the broad-rimmed hats — it’s your responsibility too ... and yours ... and yours!
Bud Hoekstra
San Andreas
No such thing as ‘legitimate’ rape
To the Editor,
In regards to Todd Akin.
There is never, never such a thing as a “legitimate rape,” as per Todd Akin.
Rape is a horrific crime with terrible consequence to the victim — sometimes venereal disease and even worse, a pregnancy.
For Akin and others of his ilk, I think a little middle-school sex education might broaden his intellect, if he has any.
If a woman is not on birth control and the cycle of her menses is at the fertile time when she is raped — pregnancy can happen.
As to what she chooses to do at that time is her business alone. Not yours, not mine and certainly not Akin’s.
Nancy Czito
Jamestown
Electoral college
To the Editor,
I take exception to many of the statements in CB Maxwell’s letter in the Aug. 14 paper.
First, “The Electoral College is a foundation of our republic and constitution” — Huh!
Isn’t it just a method of electing the president and vice-president. This antiquated method may have been useful in the early days of this country when transportation and communication were primitive, but it certainly isn’t needed today.
In most states, all of the electoral votes go to the candidate who received the majority of that state’s vote. In effect, nobody else’s vote counts. If you happen to live in a state where the majority of the votes are Democrat, for example, and you vote for a Republican or Independent presidential candidate, sorry your vote won’t count toward electing the Prez.
It would take an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to change the system, and would be extremely difficult to accomplish. But, if enough state voting laws are changed, the method of electing the president could, in effect, be changed to the popular vote. This change has already been made in several states.
Let’s encourage our state to do the same.
The means to accomplish this is very simple — have the state’s electoral votes go to the candidate who receives the most popular votes (in the whole country).
Voila, the president (and VP) would, in effect, be elected by the popular vote (so, everyone’s vote counts).
Another benefit of eliminating the Electoral College would be the elimination of “battleground states!”
Hoorah!
Jerry Fueslein
Groveland
Correction
An Aug. 15 letter from Dolores Kipp contained incorrect information regarding Union Bank of California and its advertisements. It also contained incorrect information about President Obama’s chief of staff.
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News of record for August 30, 2012
TUOLUMNE COUNTY
The Sheriff’s Office reported the following:
TUESDAY
8:21 a.m., Tuolumne — A 41-year-old woman was booked into Tuolumne County Jail on suspicion of misdemeanor battery, after an arrest on the 18400 block of Tuolumne Road.
9:10 a.m., Sonora area — A man on the 14300 block of Cuesta Court said a woman fraudulently wrote a $1,900 check from his personal business account.
10:20 a.m., East Sonora — A man accidentally left his wallet on top of one of the gas pumps at a station on the 14800 block of Mono Way when another man in an orange logging truck picked it up and left with it. The business caught the theft on video.
2:08 p.m., Jamestown — A woman on the 18700 block of Highway 108 said there were five local charges made to her credit card without her permission over the previous two days.
3:15 p.m., Sonora area — A woman was in the Sheriff’s Office lobby to report check fraud on the 13400 block of Algerine Wards Ferry Road.
3:30 p.m., Tuolumne — A woman lost her Walmart credit card while at a business on the 19400 block of Tuolumne Road North and someone made charges to it.
3:43 p.m., Mi-Wuk Village — A woman on the 23900 block of Pine Lake Drive said she heard someone in her house at about 11:30 a.m. and thought it was her son, but later found out it was a burglar who broke in through her bathroom window and stole a box of jewelry.
4:32 p.m., Mi-Wuk Village — Someone broke into a man’s residence on the 24000 block of Golf Links Drive and stole video game controllers, coins from a change jar, checks and jewelry.
Felony bookings
TUESDAY
1:04 a.m., Phoenix Lake — Dustin Loren Allen, 32, of the 9900 block of Main Street, Chinese Camp, was booked on suspicion of possessing drugs and misdemeanor charges of possessing drug paraphernalia and being under the influence of drugs, after an arrest at Phoenix Lake and Hess roads.
2:35 a.m., Sonora area — Kenneth James Shaw, 19, of the 12700 block of Chukar Circle, was booked on suspicion of assault and a misdemeanor charge of injuring a wireless communication device, after an arrest on Chukar Circle.
10:51 p.m., Sonora — Sharmayne Faye St. Lawrence, 23, of the 11300 block of Columbia Village Drive, was booked on suspicion of child endangerment and a misdemeanor charge of driving while under the influence of alcohol, after an arrest in a parking lot on the 300 block of South Washington Street.
The Sonora Police Department reported the following:
TUESDAY
1:21 p.m., suspicious circumstances — A be-on-the-lookout advisory was issued regarding suspicious circumstances that occurred earlier in the month. On Aug. 18, two suspects appeared to be casing the Tuolumne County Museum on West Bradford Avenue. One of the suspects took photographs of the security door and handle. The Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office responded to an alarm that went off at the business the following day.
1:35 p.m., weapons violations — Someone said they saw a man at a business on Mono Way with what appeared to be a 24-inch machete. Officers located the suspect walking on Mono Way and confirmed he had a machete, but it was still in the packaging and in a bag. The man was released.
8:08 p.m., assault — Someone claimed to have been assaulted on Hospital Road. The victim knew the alleged attackers and declined medical attention and didn’t want to file charges.
CALAVERAS COUNTY
The Sheriff’s Office reported the following:
TUESDAY
9:52 a.m., San Andreas — Limbs were cut off a tree on Gold Hunter Road without the owner’s consent.
2:28 p.m., Murphys — Someone said a vacant house on Murphys Grade Road had been burglarized but the claims turned out to be unfounded.
4:26 p.m., Murphys — There was a report of a burglary in progress on Highway 4, but Sheriff’s deputies investigating the incident determined the claim was unfounded.
WEDNESDAY
5:12 a.m., Burson — Someone said there was a prowler on Messing Road.
Felony bookings
TUESDAY
2:23 a.m., Angels Camp — David Andrew Hall, 41, of the 100 block of North Main Street, was booked on suspicion of two felony and two misdemeanor sexual assault-related charges, after an arrest on the 300 block of South Main Street.
Fire calls
TUESDAY
11:40 a.m., Rail Road Flat — Someone using a weed trimmer on dry grass accidentally sparked a quarter-acre grass fire on the 2000 block of Prussian Hill Road. Firefighters with Cal Fire and Central Calaveras Fire Protection District responded and extinguished the blaze at 2:29 p.m. No one was injured and damage to the land was estimated at $50.
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Obituaries for August 30, 2012
Dean Bauer
March 18, 1970 — Aug. 19, 2012
Sonora Dean Bauer died Aug. 19 at his home after a brief illness. He was 42.
Mr. Bauer was born and raised on Los Banos.
He and his wife settled in Sonora 10 years ago
He aspired to be a firefighter and began volunteering with Merced County Fire at age 16. He later had a career as an EMT with AMR Ambulance and Memorial Medical Center in Modesto.
He enjoyed riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle and playing football, and was a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He enjoyed Western music, movies, rodeos and fast draw shooting.
He was a member of the Ridge Hogs Motorcycle Club, the Jamestown Harley Owners Group, Cowboy Fast Draw Association and the American Motorcyclist Association.
Mr. Bauer was preceded in death by his mother, Susan Reid; grandparents Boyd and Ginger Douchette, all of Los Banos; and mother-in-law, Grace Beaver, of San Leandro.
He is survived by his wife of 15 years, Lori Bauer, of Sonora; his children, Katie Grace Bauer and Colten James Bauer, both of Sonora; father George Shepherd, of Los Banos; sister, Debbie Bosworth and her husband, Steve, of Riverbank; sisters-in-law, Linda Beaver, of San Leandro, Earlene Miller and her husband, Norm, of Carson City, Nev., and Gloria Mitchell, of Lake Oswego, Ore.; and many nieces and nephews.
Donations can be made to Hospice of the Sierra, 20100 Cedar Road North, Sonora, CA 95370.
A celebration of life will be held 1 p.m. Sept. 9 at the Sonora Elks Lodge, 100 Elk Drive, Sonora.
Heuton Memorial Chapel is handling arrangements.
Michael Stephen Evans
July 1, 1950 —Aug. 17, 2012
Sonora resident Michael Stephen Evans died Aug. 17 at Memorial Medical Center in Modesto. He was 62.
Mr. Evans was born in Colusa and settled in Sonora 40 years ago.
He worked as an elementary school teacher for seven years and with the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office for 10 years.
He was a member of E Clampus Vitus and enjoyed fishing, teaching and music.
Mr. Evans is survived by his children, Sean Evans, of Jamestown, and Joshua Evans, of Valley Springs; his siblings, Patrick Evans, of Merced, Anna Evans, of Chico, and Annette Evans, of Merced.
No services are planned at this time.
Heuton Memorial Chapel is handling arrangements.
David Lynn King
Aug. 22, 1968 — Aug. 13, 2012
San Andreas resident David Lynn King died Aug. 13 at his home. He was 43.
Mr. King was born and raised in San Andreas.
He lived outside the area for several years before returning to the area with his family in August 2011.
He worked as a truck driver and mechanic more than 10 years.
He enjoyed hunting and riding Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
Mr. King was preceded in death by his parents, Carol Jean King, in 2007, and Roy David King, in July.
He is survived by his wife, Lisa M. King, of San Andreas; his children, Cayla J. King and Jacob-David A. King, both of San Andreas; his sister, Kelly J. King, of Sonora; and three nephews.
Services will be held at a later date.
San Andreas Memorial Chapel is handling arrangements.
Notices
BRUCE — Hallie Bruce, 92, of Tuolumne, died Wednesday at her home. Terzich and Wilson Funeral Home is handling arrangements.
PEFFER — A memorial service will be held for Doug Peffer, 49, of Angels Camp, at 11 a.m., today, at Chapel in the Pines, in Arnold followed by a potluck reception.
OWEN — Georgia Owen, 90, of Sonora, died Wednesday at her home. Heuton Memorial Chapel is handling arrangements.
ROGERS — Joan Rogers, 35, of Mi-Wuk Village, died Tuesday at her home. Heuton Memorial Chapel is handling arrangements.
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Class of ’13: They’re, like, the net-gen
A survey of teachers and seniors at Mother Lode high schools shows proof positive that the class of 2012-13 is a generation steeped in the electronic age — more familiar with Facebook than face-to-face contact or actual books.
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Porsche guru lived life in fast lane
The walls of Bob Garretson’s modest Sonora home are festooned with plaques and trophies that harken back to his days as one of the fastest men in the world.
While retirement has hit the brakes on his racing career, the soft-spoken engineer was a road warrior in the 1970s and 80s. His weapon of choice — the turbocharged Porsche 935K.
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Meals on Wheels raises $75,000
The local Meals on Wheels program says it exceeded its fundraising goal for last Saturday’s Las Vegas-themed event at Railtown 1897 State Historic Park in Jamestown.
The annual Meals and Wheels gala at Railtown 1897 State Historic Park is generally the program’s biggest annual fundraiser and made no exception this year, raising more than $75,000 for the program, said Mike Ruggles, director of Sierra Seniors Providers.
“This was our sixth year holding the event and by far the most successful yet” said Ruggles, whose organization runs the Meals on Wheel program in Tuolumne County.
Ruggles said proceeds from the event will go toward delivering about 15,000 meals to homebound seniors in the area, which makes up about one-quarter of the total meals the program delivers on average each year.
“It’s just heartwarming to see how much the community gets behind us and helps support us, because without them we wouldn’t be able to provide the services we do to those who need it the most,” Ruggles said.
The Meals program prepares and delivers about 55,300 meals to 430 seniors age 60 and older around Tuolumne County every year. It is also funded by the Area 12 Agency on Aging, an organization that serves multiple mountain counties in the region.
There were 400 tickets available to Saturday’s gala, which completely sold out for the first time ever, Ruggles said.
Each ticket cost $75 and included a train ride, catered dinner by Seven Sisters and live entertainment from local musicians.
A large portion of the money raised Saturday also came from the auctions and raffles with prizes donated by Meals programs sponsors including Sonora Subaru, Indigeny Reserve and Gianelli Winery.
Some of the big-ticket items auctioned off during the event were a dinner catered by Seven Sisters, an all expenses paid trip to a NASCAR race in Las Vegas scheduled for March 2013 and tickets for six people to the San Francisco Giants game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sept. 8.
Ruggles acknowledged the work by event organizers Ron Patel and Julie Von Savoye as being a key part of its success.
He said excitement is already building for next year’s gala at Railtown.
“We’ve gotten a lot of feedback on this,” he said. “People say they just love the event and can hardly wait until next year.”
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Columbia FD theft detailed
A court document filed by the Tuolumne County District Attorney’s Office chronicles the investigation of a former fire chief with the Columbia Fire Protection District arrested last week on suspicion of misusing public funds.
The affidavit in support of an arrest warrant for Randall Allan Nickley, 50, of Sonora, alleges he wrote several checks from the district’s donation fund for personal expenses and overpaid himself in monthly stipends between January 2007 and June 2011.
Nickley was in Tuolumne County Superior Court for an arraignment Wednesday morning where his Coulterville-based attorney, Vangie Eidsvik-Garza, asked Judge Eleanor Provost to delay the hearing so she could review documents pertaining to the case.
“He is cloaked in the presumption of innocence,” Eidsvik-Garza said of her client, who she instructed not to speak to the media after Wednesday’s hearing.
Provost granted the request to delay entering a plea and set a new court date for Sept. 7.
The District Attorney’s Office accuses Nickley of misusing CFPD funds and embezzling public funds, which are both felonies, according to the complaint against him.
The affidavit supporting the arrest warrant features a deposition by District Attorney Investigator Chris Rogers alleging that the former fire chief — hired in December 2002 — opened an account at Umpqua Bank in July 2003 to establish a special fund separate from the district’s general operating fund.
Money generated through fundraising activities is deposited into the “Columbia FPD Firefighters’ Fund” and can be used by firefighters specifically for improving living conditions at the district’s fire station, according to the document.
This separate account is not reported to the county, unlike the CFPD’s general fund, which is only used for operational costs and supply and equipment purchases pre-approved by the CFPD Board of Directors, the document stated.
On Oct. 16, 2007, the district was given a check for $27,616.62 from the Lyle R. Scott Revocable Trust that Nickley said would be deposited into the unreported account and used to purchase life-saving equipment for fire trucks, the document stated.
Nickley “almost immediately” began writing checks out of the account without the consent of the district’s firefighters, including a $2,000 check he later admitted was a personal loan to his wife to cover debts from her previous marriage, the document alleged.
The document further alleges that Nickley wrote a $1,100 check out of the special fund for a security deposit payment on his house.
Nickley admitted to writing both checks along with another $500 check to his wife, but couldn’t remember the reason for that loan, the court document stated.
While employed as the district’s fire chief, Nickley also received a $400 monthly stipend and a share of a $100 stipend, divvied up among responders, for each call-for-service.
The district’s board voted in June 2010 to reduce the call responder stipends to $50 because of decreasing property tax revenues and the volunteer firefighters agreed to divert their shares of the stipends to the general fund.
Rogers alleges in the affidavit that Nickley continued to include his share of the stipends on the monthly payroll sheet he submitted to the county from June 2010 to May 2011. Investigators alleged that Nickley was overpaid $1,100 from the district’s general fund, which is paid for by public tax fees, over that period.
Some of the stipends Nickley collected were for service calls that he never responded to and non-district calls that are not covered, Rogers alleges in the affidavit.
The initial internal investigation was launched when the district Board of Directors placed Nickley on administrative leave in June 2011 after receiving complaints accusing him of responding to a fire call with alcohol on his breath, said Board President Stan Steiner.
An interim chief was brought in to investigate the claims and began going through records, which ultimately uncovered the other suspected financial misconduct, Steiner said.
“The more it turned over the worse it got,” Steiner said.
He said the board fired Nickley about a month later after turning over the findings of its internal investigation to Tuolumne County Counsel Gregory Oliver.
Investigators searched Nickley’s home on May 24 of this year and found two pagers, a battery charger, pager holder, a check for $66 and a wildland firefighter jacket that were later confirmed to be CFPD property, court documents alleged.
Nickley was arrested Aug. 23 on a felony warrant at his home on the 11300 block of McKellar Drive. He posted $20,000 bail and was released from Tuolumne County Jail by the next day.
“It’s a very unfortunate situation and we’re all just pretty amazed,” Steiner said.
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Livezey getting prison cancer treatment
A Valley Springs man convicted in February of involuntary manslaughter in the beating death of a former friend is now receiving treatment for terminal brain cancer in a state prison hospital at the county’s expense.
James Alison Livezey, 42, was sentenced March 19 for a June 29, 2011, attack that killed Marvin Brown, 52, at Brown’s home in the Sequoia Rose Mobile Home Park in Valley Springs.
Livezey has an inoperable brain tumor that experts testified during his trial he would not likely survive through March.
Yet Livezey has outlasted doctors’ expectations despite his condition worsening. A probation report in March documented a Feb. 29 incident in which Livezey began to accuse jail staff of withholding information from him, moving the jail with a diesel truck and lying to him. It stated that he banged his head on his cell door, threw a pitcher repeatedly and swung it at staffers. He also flooded his cell with water and urine, correctional officers discovered, when they entered to remove him to a safety cell.
The report concluded that although Livezey’s physical capabilities are “greatly diminished (he) still becomes very angry and physically aggressive.”
The Calaveras County Board of Supervisors Tuesday unanimously approved up to $28,105 for Livezey’s continued care at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, where Superior Court Judge John Martin agreed to transfer him on July 18 and he moved two days later.
A staff report submitted Tuesday by Calaveras County Sheriff’s Department Capt. Ed Ballard to the board said Livezey’s tumor “has resulted in hyper aggressive behavior and an inability to feed and clothe himself. Hence he requires full-time hospice care which the county jail cannot provide.”
Livezey initially became a county jail inmate, rather than a state prisoner, because his crime fell under the auspices of Assembly Bill 109, which remands those convicted of “nonviolent” offenses to local authorities.
An agreement with the state requires the county to pay the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation $77 a day to house Livezey, not including “extraordinary health care expenses, medical transportation and medical guarding,” according to Ballard’s report.
“At some point it is expected that Inmate Livezey will expire, due to his medical condition. It is impossible to predict when this will occur,” Ballard wrote. “As a result, a complete financial obligation for the housing of Inmate Livezey with CDCR cannot be determined. Absent extraordinary health care expenses, it is anticipated that $2,310 per month will be expended until such time Inmate Livezey expires.”
On Aug. 10, the Executive Steering Committee for the Community Corrections Partnership that administers AB 109 implementation in the county approved up to $30,000 in AB 109 contingency funding to house Livezey in the state prison system.
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Golf suit bounced to new court
The former owners of the ill-fated Trinitas golf course will likely have their $12 million civil rights suit against Calaveras County moved from a federal bankruptcy court to the U.S. District Court for Eastern California in Fresno.
Malcolm Gross, a Colton attorney representing Michael and Michelle Nemee, indicated to U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Ronald Sargis in a Wednesday afternoon hearing in Modesto that he will file to have the jurisdiction changed prior to a Nov. 28 status hearing scheduled in Sargis’ court.
Sargis ruled against the Nemees after hearing their suit in October 2011 that sought to overturn the county’s order to stop golf activity at the course. The plaintiffs argued unsuccessfully that golf should be considered “agritourism” by definition in the county code.
The Nemees then lost the golf course to foreclosure in April and a U.S. District Court judge ruled their appeal of the agritourism suit had thus been rendered moot. That ruling has since been appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal in San Francisco, which is awaiting initial briefings on the case from the Nemees’ lawyers in October.
The civil rights suit filed on the eve of the agritourism suit trial names several former county employees including former interim Community Development Director Brent Harrington and alleges they denied the couple’s rights to due process in handling the project. The amount sought is intended to reimburse them monetarily for the investment they ultimately lost when the 280 acres near Wallace were foreclosed upon and sold.
Attorneys for the Nemees and the county agree that the civil rights suit should be stayed at least until the Ninth Circuit weighs in on the case. However, attorneys for Calaveras County preferred Sargis hear the civil rights case whereas Gross favored a different venue.
Sargis did not object but told Gross he must be the one to tell the District Court the case no longer has substantial relation to the Nemees’ Chapter 7 bankruptcy and should be stayed pending the appeal.
“If you want me to just put this in the freezer and chill it … if I’m going to put it in storage for you, I’d really need an agreement from both (sides) to have me hear it,” Sargis said.
Sargis said he does not have the proper authority to unilaterally transfer the case to the District Court but agreed that “at this juncture, this lawsuit has very little left to do with the bankruptcy.”
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Letters to the editor for August 27, 2012
Walmart lawsuit
To the Editor,
In response to the article in the Aug. 23 Union Democrat regarding the lawsuit aimed at curbing Walmart’s expansion, I object to the fact that others are deciding how I can save money.
What does it matter that Walmart can implement its own zoning rules without the requirement to complete an environmental impact review? Why is this needed?
When Walmart originally bought or leased (I don’t know which) the property, the extra lot was included in the deal. The consensus, at that time, was they would be able to expand their store. Isn’t it the future now?
Mr. Domenic Torchia said he was against the expansion because he wanted to save jobs for the other grocery stores. Considering the economy and the prices of groceries today, I am in favor of it.
I am a senior living on a fixed income. Any way I can save money would be helpful to me. Would these other stores help me to save money and lower their prices?
Marge Jones
Sonora
GOP wants to privatize Medicare
To the Editor,
In response to Patricia DuFur’s Aug. 22 Letter to the Editor:
Where is the $716 billion coming from that Patricia DuFur is talking about? I am sure she believes in the alleged raid on Medicare that Romney/Ryan have been campaigning on in one minute ads.
Let’s look where it really comes from. According to the Affordable Healthcare Act it will come from reducing annual increases in federal reimbursement to hospitals, nursing homes and home health care agencies — to force a notoriously inefficient system to find ways of improving productivity. Another source will come from drug makers, device makers, and insurers — fees they can surely afford since expanded coverage for the uninsured will increase their markets and revenues.
More will be saved by reducing unjustifiably high subsidies to private Medicare Advantage plans that enroll beneficiaries at a higher than average cost than Medicare.
Romney/Ryan recently said they would restore the entire $716 billion in cuts by repealing the Affordable Care Act.
The Congressional Budget Office says that would increase the deficit by $109 billion in the next 10 years. The Republicans have long had a goal of privatizing Medicare. Romney/Ryan would see that plan would begin.
Carol Malispina
Sonora
Hooliganism jailings
To the Editor,
Media outlets are condemning Russia’s two year imprisonment judgement of the Pussy Riot Three for hooliganism in Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral. After watching their stunt on Youtube, I agree imprisonment is warranted but two years is excessive.
A modification may give appropriate justice: reduction to three months upon good behavior, sign agreement not to perform publicly for 2 years, all monetary gain from stunt go to the Cathedral they embarrassed.
The U.S. media should not be shocked and exploit this event because of our prisons being crowded with long sentences for illegal drug transactors and three-strike trivial offenders.
Dennis Schneider
Angels Camp
The conservative agenda on unions
To the Editor,
The conservative agenda is anti-union. Apparently we’re better off when workers have no voice. Our government could foster labor and business cooperation, but it doesn’t. Since the 1970’s, union membership has declined from 40 percent to 9 percent.
Graph the decline in union membership and the decline in middle class wages since the 1970s they nearly match. American workers are more productive but profits aren’t shared. Busting unions keeps your wages low.
In “Upward Mobility,” America ranks 47th among the 47 industrialized economies, so much for the American dream. If worker wages had grown at post World War II rates, wages would be 30 percent higher today.
Healthy unions fight wage gouging that funds excessive executive pay, and exports jobs overseas.
We deregulated the banks (another conservative idea), creating the recession.
The bankers got off — what had been illegal was deregulated. It costs money to create jobs but we hate stimulus.
The Tea Party thinks we create jobs by making the “recession creators” wealthier but there’s no evidence this happens.
The top 20 percent of Americans hold 84 percent of the nation wealth — so where are those jobs?
And who’s paying for this recession?
Who’s losing their homes, jobs, benefits, and pensions…the wealthy?
“The recession creators” get tax cuts, while they’re claiming huge wage increases, and bonuses…why?
Who’s there to stop them?
American workers are paying for this recession.
In Scranton, Penn., the wages of the public workers including police and firemen were cut to minimum wage of $7.25.
Wages, benefits and pensions are declining. You’re next.
And the recession creators are just laughing, saying, “No new taxes… unions are bad.”
And when wages are low enough, “You can shine my shoes!”
Robert Carabas
Sonora
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Two more hantavirus cases confirmed
New cases of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare rodent-borne
illness, have been linked to Yosemite National Park’s Curry Village
campground, bringing the total number of people infected in the park to
six.
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Long-term jobless struggle
Jenny Njirich’s father always told her that one day she could take over his design firm, so she didn’t see it coming when the business fell on hard times and she was laid off.
That was more than a year ago, and the intervening months have been a struggle for the 27-year-old mother of two. Her car was repossessed, she was forced to sell her house for less than she paid for it and she slipped further into a chasm of credit card debt.
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Quarry, budget on county docket
The Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors will vote on a settlement agreement covering two lawsuits challenging the county’s approval of a proposed quarry project at Tuesday’s meeting.
Under the proposed agreement, the Cooperstown Quarry will pay 7 cents for every ton of rock extracted from the quarry to the city of Riverbank, which amounts to about $4 million over the life of the five-year project. It also sets limits on operating hours, rail car traffic and requires periodic testing of rock samples for asbestos.
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Sonora City Council to consider tall buildings
The Sonora City Council will meet Tuesday to discuss an ordinance that would allow buildings taller than 35 feet in certain commercial zones within the city.
Buildings in various areas such as the city’s historic district along South Washington Street, the Downtown Plaza on Stockton Road and the Sonora Plaza Shopping Center on Mono Way are allowed to exceed 35 feet in height through the approval of a conditional use permit, but buildings that tall are strictly prohibited in the Timberhills, Crossroads and former Andy’s Home Center shopping centers.
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