The Jan. 8 shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson – allegedly by a mentally disturbed 22-year-old, Jared Loughner – has given rise to numerous debates about the shooter's possible motivations, and also has raised questions about the safety of the other 434 House members and 100 senators.

North Coast Congressman Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) said security is normally a topic of consideration for Congress, but he told Lake County News in an interview this week that he, personally, doesn't plan on changing how he approaches his district.

“I think that the same security issues are in place now that have been,” said Thompson, who is in the district this week and set to return to Washington next Tuesday.

The United States Capitol Police, which is taking part in the investigation into the Giffords shooting, said in a Jan. 8 statement that while it doesn't discuss specifically discuss the security of members of Congress, it communicated with lawmakers, “advising them to take reasonable and prudent precautions regarding their personal safety and security.”

The basic common practice, said Thompson, is to alert law enforcement to any possible threats or other safety concerns, noting that the district contains “outstanding” law enforcement agencies, both police and sheriff's departments.

Otherwise, he said, “I'm not doing anything different that when I always do.”

Thompson normally travels through the district, including Lake County, on his own, with wife, Jan, or with a small group of staffers, including his well-known district representative, Brad Onorato, who is based in Thompson's Napa office.

The small entourage travels at a fast pace, with daylong itineraries that would exhaust most people.

This reporter spent a day traveling around Lake County with Thompson, Onorato and a staffer last spring, on a day when he visited the Bottle Rock Power Plant on Cobb, the groundbreaking of the new Veterans Affairs clinic in Clearlake, took part in a Habitat for Humanity groundbreaking in Clearlake and headed up a meeting in Kelseyville for business and community leaders regarding the new health care bill.

He said this week that he's never felt unsafe or threatened in his district, even during these times of heightened passion and political rhetoric. Thompson added that it's impossible to completely prevent any tragedy from happening in an open society like that of the United States.

He said he wants his district staff to stay aware of potentially threatening situations. “Sometimes we take things for granted.”

For example, following the Arizona shooting, what Thompson called “an alarming e-mail” was sent to his office that, at first, his district staff discounted before he directed they turn it over to the authorities just to be cautious.

Thompson also has a special perspective on the shooting: He said he knows Giffords well and considers her a friend.

“She's a great person. She's a great member of Congress. She's a great leader. She's a great American,” he said.

Both Thompson and Giffords are members of the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, made up of members of Congress who consider themselves moderates, and who also champion a fiscally conservative approach to governing.

“I helped her in all of her campaigns,” he said, explaining that she's visited his North Coast district and he and his wife visited Giffords' district in Arizona last year. At that time, he did a parachute jump along with astronaut Scott Kelly, the twin brother of Giffords' husband, Mark Kelly, also an astronaut.

Speculation as to the root causes of Loughner's attack have centered on political rhetoric, the man's reported mental illness and anti-government sentiment, and even his ability to purchase the Glock pistol he used, which he is reported to have done legally.

Thompson said there may be a little truth in “all of the above,” noting, “We still haven't found out everything” about Loughner's reasoning, which appears to have included clear plans for Giffords' assassination.

He said laws to help the mentally ill need to be improved, and if there are additional gun laws that make sense and would keep Americans safe, they should be considered, noting he wants to balance that with support for the Second Amendment.

As to political rhetoric, Thompson suggested a person would have had to have lived under a rock for the last few years to think that the tone of how the country's political sides are talking to each other hasn't contributed somehow.

“We've got some huge challenges and we've got to come together to figure out how we're going to address those,” he said.

If the political volume is so high and facts are thrown to the wind, with lies replacing honest debate, “we'll never even get to the table let alone sit down at the table” and discuss problems, he said.

He pointed to particularly heated comments in a regional publication that named one of his colleagues in Congress in an article published before the shooting. Blog commenters said the woman should have a bulletproof vest and a car because of an action she had taken.

Thompson said if you “scare the hell” out of people over legislation – he used the example of the health care legislation and the “death panels” rhetoric – a frightening response can be expected.

The country also just emerged from what Thompson estimated was the worst, dirtiest and most unproductive campaign cycle that the nation has seen in a long time. As such, he said people need to take responsibility for being honest and trying to work together on solving the issues that are so important not only to the North Coast district but to the country.

Thompson said of the Tuscon incident, “This is an attack on our country, this is an attack on our democracy,” as well as the people of the United States. “We can't allow that to happen.”

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews , on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

The Northern California Ocean and Coastal Protection Act – which Thompson introduced on Tuesday – is meant to protect the unique and dynamic marine environment along the Northern Coast of California’s outer continental shelf (OCS) from off shore drilling.

“It is critical that we permanently protect our coast and its vital marine life from the environmental hazards of off-shore drilling,” Thompson said in a statement. “In past Congresses, this important issue has become a political dispute rather than a debate on legitimate policy. This legislation will steer the debate back to sensible, science based policy, and ensure the wellbeing of our oceans for future generations.”

During the 110th Congress the ban on OCS drilling expired, which leaves the North Coast susceptible to drilling. The moratorium on OCS drilling had been a bipartisan agreement in Congress since 1982, but came under regular attack, and was not renewed in 2008.

Thompson also introduced this legislation in the 111th Congress.

“One of the four most crucial upwellings in the world's oceans is located off of California’s North Coast and sustains 20 percent of the ocean’s fish,” said Thompson. “Regardless of who is in charge in Washington in the future, we need to ensure now that our coast is permanently protected from needless and harmful offshore drilling.”

The coastal areas that support extremely abundant and productive marine life are known as upwelling regions. This is because an upwelling brings cold, nutrient-rich waters from the ocean depths that, when combined with sunlight, enhance seaweed and phytoplankton growth.

The seaweed and phytoplankton supply energy for some of the most productive ecosystems in the world, including the North Coast fisheries and many of the world’s most important fisheries.

Thompson said drilling for oil off of California’s North Coast could cause serious harm to the unique and productive ecosystem and abundant marine life found off the coast, including the fish many local North Coast economies depend on.

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In his first executive order since taking office, Gov. Jerry Brown directed state agency and department heads to collect and turn in 48,000 government-paid cell phones – half of those now in use – by June 1.

He reportedly also is planning on turning in his own state-allocated cell phone.

Brown said the state now pays for 96,000 cell phones, one for 40 percent of all state employees.

He estimated that the state will save at least $20 million a year by cutting cell phone usage in half.

“It is difficult for me to believe that 40 percent of all state employees must be equipped with taxpayer-funded cell phones,” Brown said. “Some state employees, including department and agency executives who are required to be in touch 24 hours a day and seven days a week, may need cell phones, but the current number of phones out there is astounding.”

Brown said his goal is to cut the number of phones in half by June 1, and said he believes the state can continue to reduce cell phone usage throughout the year.

He explained that some cell phones may be under term contracts with cell carriers, and he wants to make sure that the state does not incur early termination penalties that exceed the monthly savings.

“Because of contract obligations, it is possible that we may not be able eliminate all 48,000 cell phones by June 1, but it is also conceivable that we can do it earlier – and that is my hope,” Brown said.

He added, “Even with a 50-percent reduction, one-fifth of all state employees will still have cell phones. That still seems like too much and I want every department and agency to examine and justify all cell phone usage.”

Brown’s estimate of at least $20 million in annual savings assumes that the average cell phone bill is a bit over $36 a month, which the Department of Finance has determined is the average cost.

“In the face of a multi-billion dollar budget deficit, a cell phone may not seem like a big expense,” Brown said. “But spending $20 million, and perhaps far more than that, on cell phones can’t be justified. We’re facing a budget crisis in California and I want to achieve all possible, reasonable savings. We have one of the best state workforces in America, and I am confident that all state employees will understand the need for this move and will cooperate.”

Brown said he expects to find additional savings throughout state government as his new appointees examine all areas of spending.

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The meeting will start at 3 p.m. in the board room at the Lakeport Unified School District office, 2508 Howard Ave.

The main focus will be on the work of the group’s subcommittees.

The meeting is in a different location and at a different time than prior meetings, organizers say, to attempt to boost attendance and participation. Task force members have discussed holding meetings in various locations of the county and at different times of the day to accommodate interested individuals’ locale and schedules.

The meeting is open to the public, and the task force welcomes participation by new members.

The Lake County Respect For All Task Force, a group of local individuals, is striving to increase awareness about safe and inclusive learning environments.

The group is working to identify possible actions to help the Lake County community. Task force members are focusing on reducing bullying in schools and providing students with information on resources.

Subcommittees are working on outreach projects, gathering information for a list of community resources, providing training and awareness for school personnel and administrators, strengthening policies and procedures for use in the schools, and helping campuses with their efforts for student activities.

The Respect For All Project is a program of GroundSpark. More information about the project is available on the GroundSpark website, www.groundspark.org.

GroundSpark, The Respect for All Project “is a non-profit organization that seeks to create safe, hate-free schools and communities by providing youth and the adults who guide their development the tools they need to talk openly about diversity in all of its forms.”

As part of its work toward safe and inclusive learning environments, task force members identified a list of goals and split up responsibilities. The goals include identifying community resources, networking and expanding the task force, pursuing support for gay/straight alliances, developing and fundraising for Challenge Day events at schools, and reviewing policies and implementation strategies.

The Lake County Respect For All Task Force is a diverse group of volunteers including educators, school counselors, students, media representatives, and organization and business people.

Individuals interested in helping the task force in its efforts to assist youth and their families in assuring safe and inclusive learning environments are invited to attend the meetings. The group has been meeting every other month.

In Lake County, the Respect For All Project was started approximately two years ago as a pilot project through GroundSpark and in cooperation with Lake County Healthy Start and Lake County Family Resource Center.

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Jim Harris of Lucerne, Calif., survived Pearl Harbor, D-Day and being blown off a ship in the Pacific. He died Saturday, January 8, 2011, at age 86. Photo by Ginny Craven.

LUCERNE, Calif. – In his 86 years, Jim Harris' eyes had settled on scenes that, for most, are confined to history books.

He had survived Pearl Harbor, had been blown off his ship in the Pacific and lived to tell the story and had gone on to serve at the invasion of Normandy, all before he turned 20 years old.

So when his eyes closed for the last time on the morning of Saturday, Jan. 8, he took with him memories that could fill volumes.

Harris' friend, Ronnie Bogner, said he often joked with Harris that he should either buy a lottery ticket or not bother, because he was either the luckiest or unluckiest man he'd ever met.

“He was around for a lot of interesting stuff,” said Bogner, who acts as the master of ceremonies of the annual Pearl Harbor commemoration at Library Park and is an honorary member of the local Pearl Harbor Survivors Association group.

Harris' rich life will be celebrated at a memorial service planned for 1 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 13, at the Lucerne Community Church, 5870 E. Highway 20, not far from where Harris and his wife, Helen, lived on the shore of Clear Lake.

A reception will be held afterwards at Kapitan's Kafe, 6150 E. Highway 20, also in Lucerne.

Harris had been diagnosed with terminal cancer last fall, but his robust demeanor hardly betrayed the fact in his more recent appearances.

Given between three months and a year to live, he continued attending meetings of local veterans groups, and took his place of honor at the Veterans Day and Pearl Harbor commemorations held late in the year, wearing his usual Pearl Harbor survivor uniform of white pants, a Hawaiian shirt, his service hat and a necklace of large, black Hawaiian kukui nuts.

At the county Veterans Day commemoration on Nov. 11, Supervisor Rob Brown presented to Harris a proclamation honoring his service in World War II, with Brown calling Harris “one of the finest men I've ever met.”

Harris, who received a standing ovation from the crowd, only spoke briefly, telling the hundreds in attendance, “I want to thank you all for being my friends.”

The following month, several of his fellow Pearl Harbor survivors traveled from Lake County to Hawaii to take part in the last gathering of survivors. Harris didn't go because he was a caregiver for his wife, Helen. But he had attended the 50^thanniversary commemoration in Hawaii in 1991.

He and fellow Pearl Harbor survivors Henry Anderson of Lakeport, Clarence “Bud” Boner of Glenhaven and “sweetheart” – or widow – Vanya Leighton were on hand for the local commemorations on Dec. 7, where they received commemorative ship pennants flown over the US Capitol from Brad Onorato, district aide for Congressman Mike Thompson.

Pearl Harbor survivors Bud Boner (left) and Jim Harris raise the American flag at the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association's memorial mast in Library Park in Lakeport on the morning of Tuesday, November 11, 2008. Photo by Ginny Craven.

A young man's trip through the war

Harris was the youngest of the local Pearl Harbor survivors.

Born in 1924 in Los Angeles, his family would later move to New Orleans when he was a teenager. He worked there in a fishing fleet and, at the age of 15, lied about his age – he said he was 19 – so he could join the Navy in 1940, which took him to San Diego for a year for sonar school.

He was next assigned to the destroyer USS Ellet, which took him to Pearl Harbor, where he was given yet another assignment – serving as part of the admiral’s flag allowance aboard the destroyer tender USS Dobbin, a repair and mother ship for destroyers, he said in a 2007 interview.

On what might otherwise have been a quiet Sunday morning on Dec. 7, 1941, Harris had just come up from breakfast and was standing on the Dobbin's quarterdeck when he saw airplanes sweep in over the Aiea Hills and head for Pearl Harbor.

At first, he and his fellow sailors thought the planes were from the USS Enterprise, which that same day had launched scout planes en route back to the harbor, according to a Navy chronology.

But as the planes banked, Harris said they could see “the read meatball” – the red sun and imperial seal of the Empire of Japan.

“After a few cuss words we identified them,” he said.

The officer of the deck hit the alarm for general quarters and called all boats away, trying to get the smaller boats moored to the battleships clear so the larger boats could move.

Pearl Harbor survivors and sweethearts share a smile. From left, Clarence “Bud” Boner, Walter Urmann, Bill Slater, Alice Darrow, Vanya Leighton, Henry Anderson and Jim Harris. Photo by Janeane Bogner.

Harris moved onto the admiral's barge, which went around the hospital ship USS Solace which had anchored off the Dobbin.

He watched as, just after 8 a.m., the USS Vestal and the USS Arizona – which had been moored together – were hit, and the Vestal's captain was blown off the ship's bridge. The captain survived, and as the admiral's barge started for him, Harris said the captain waved them toward the Arizona.

“We started toward the Arizona to pick up survivors, and that's when she exploded,” said Harris.

He said that by the time they got to the Arizona, “There were no survivors to pick up as far as we could find.”

Harris and his fellow sailors would hurry to try to pull fellow sailors from the oil-coated waters. In one case, he recounted trying to pull a man up and having the man's skin come off in his hands.

Later, he would be assigned to a work team sent to the USS Arizona to identify bodies, he said in a recorded interview late last year with Kelseyville resident Steve Davis, the county's retired California Highway Patrol commander.

In one place on the Arizona, Harris recounted that the work team found a human humerus bone – the long bone of the upper arm – driven through eight-inch armor in the ship.

They also gained entry to a boiler room where they found 21 bodies of reservists who had assembled on Dec. 7 for training, he said.

“They were trapped,” Harris said.

The men, who didn't know how to get out, kept a log for 17 days, before they starved to death, in what Harris said was one of the attack's untold stories.

Surviving Pearl Harbor would be only one of the horrifying chapters of the war Harris would live through.

After Pearl Harbor Harris found himself traveling farther into the Pacific Theater, where he was assigned to the destroyer USS Stewart.

During the February 1942 Battle of Badung Strait he was blown off the Stewart's bridge, but rescued by a Dutch PBY seaplane, which transported him to a hospital in nearby Surabaya, Indonesia.

Harris said in a 2009 interview that he and other patients were warned to leave the hospital because of the Japanese, invading from the north. Harris and his fellow patients secured a launch and traveled by night along the shore until they happened upon an American destroyer, the USS John D Ford, sitting camouflaged in a river.

He said he later found out that those who stayed behind at the hospital – patients too ill to travel and staff who stayed to care for them – were slaughtered, some beheaded by the Japanese.

Moving into the European Theater

Within a few years, Harris found himself on the other side of the world, in the European Theater.

By age 19, he was assigned to the destroyer USS McCook, which saw duty in the Mediterranean before heading off to England to prepare for the Normandy invasion.

In April 1944 the then-second class petty officer and sonar man was aboard the USS McCook as part of Operation Tiger, a preparation exercise for D-Day held at Slapton Sands, off the coast of Devon, England.

“This rehearsal was what you might call chaos,” Harris said at the county's June 2009 D-Day commemoration.

Hundreds of men died after German submarines showed up and sank three troop ships. Harris said the incident was kept so quiet that the men who died there were counted as casualties at D-Day.

Two months later, on June 6, 1944, the McCook and Harris would be at Omaha Beach as the Allies sought to invade France and break Germany's stranglehold on the continent.

Harris said the McCook's captain saw Germans firing from the cliffs above onto the Allied forces on the beaches, and the admiral gave the command to go after them.

He said the 345-foot McCook was steered into the breakers, trying to avoid mines while attempting to get close enough to shoot at the cliffs above. With each wave, the ship had to be thrust into reverse to avoid the mines or running aground.

The McCook shot an estimated 1,000 rounds into the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc, hitting “Tiger” tanks and German soldiers who were firing down on the landing Allied Forces, according to historical accounts.

Harris said of D-Day, “That was the longest day I ever lived.”

As a member of the McCook crew, Harris would take part in invading southern France as part of Operation Anvil.

By the end of 1944, Harris was sent home to the US because of an injury suffered earlier in the war in the South Pacific.

 

 

Pearl Harbor and D-Day survivor Jim Harris receives the French Liberation Medal from Michelle Price on Monday, August 24, 2009, in High Valley. Photo by Ginny Craven.

 

 

 

 

 

After the war

 

After the Navy, Harris went to work in the Bay Area as an agent for American National Life Insurance Co. On April 6, 1950, he and the love of his life, Helen, were married.

 

The Harrises raised a daughter, Diane, and eventually they made their way to Lake County in 1967.

 

Their daughter died in 2001, but they moved forward, Jim Harris staying acting in veterans groups and keeping the memory alive of what he and other men like him had survived in the war.

 

That included helping inspire the Pearl Harbor Survivors’ Memorial Mast at Library Park in Lakeport, which his brother, Leon Harris, designed, and which was taken on as a project by the Lakeport Rotary.

 

At a Pearl Harbor Survivors Association breakfast in August 2009, Bogner arranged for Harris to receive a surprise in the form of a long-desired token of his service – the French Liberation Medal, which the French government issued to commemorate its liberation from the Nazis in World War II.

 

Harris called the medal “the most wonderful surprise I've had in many, many years.”

 

Recently, Brown took a contingent of Kelseyville High School wrestlers, who he coaches, to meet Harris, because he said he wanted them to meet a real American hero.

 

 

 

 

Jim and Helen Harris of Lucerne, Calif., celebrated 60 years as husband and wife at an anniversary party in Lucerne on April 6, 2010. Photo by Ginny Craven.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bogner had seen Harris about a week before he died, taking him an old postcard of the USS Dobbin that he had purchased for Harris on eBay.

 

Janeane Bogner spoke with Harris on the phone the day before his death. Harris seemed to be doing well, Ronnie Bogner said, noting that no one expected Harris would go so soon.

 

Harris' death follows by two months that of Clearlake Oaks resident Chuck Bower, who was at the US Sub Base at Pearl Harbor. Bower died Nov. 12.

 

With the passing of Bower and Harris, there are now five Pearl Harbor survivors remaining in Lake County – Clarence “Bud” Boner, Floyd Eddy, Bill Slater, Walter Urmann and Henry Anderson, and “sweethearts” – or widows – Alice Darrow, Vanya Leighton, Lynn Poehler and Charlotte Bower, and now Helen Harris.

 

Bogner said Pearl Harbor survivors from Lake County and beyond are planning to attend the Thursday memorial.

 

In a December 2007 interview Harris said of his experiences at Pearl Harbor, “Everybody came away from there with a different attitude. Only time has made a difference to us.”

 

For additional stories on Jim Harris, please see the following:

 

Recalling the 'Day of Days': Vets gather for D-Day ceremony

Veterans remember attack on Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor survivors talk of life after the attack

Solemn ceremony honors Pearl Harbor's living and lost

Solemn commemoration marks 65th D-Day anniversary

Pearl Harbor and D-Day veteran receives special token of service

Survivors, community members gather to remember Pearl Harbor attack

Harrises celebrate 60 years together

County's annual Veterans Day ceremony honors service of the past, present and future

Solemn Dec. 7 commemoration acknowledges debt of gratitude

 

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews , on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

 

 

 

Members of the Kelseyville High School wrestling team visited with Jim Harris in Lucerne, Calif., in late November 2010. Photo by Rob Brown.

On Monday Brown presented a budget with $127.4 billion in spending for the 2011-12 fiscal year, with $84.6 billion coming from the state's general fund.

Brown's balanced budget proposal would cut $12.5 billion, make $12 billion in revenue extensions and modifications, and $1.9 billion in other solutions to close the gap and provide for a $1 billion reserve, his office said.

Measures to balance the budget include reducing state employees' take-home pay by 8 to 10 percent, carrying out a “vast and historic” restructuring of government operations, puts $1 billion into a “rainy day” reserve fund and would close the state's budget deficit “now and into the future,” Brown suggested.

“These cuts will be painful, requiring sacrifice from every sector of the state, but we have no choice,” Brown said. “For 10 years, we’ve had budget gimmicks and tricks that pushed us deep into debt. We must now return California to fiscal responsibility and get our state on the road to economic recovery and job growth.”

Republican leaders said they were skeptical of the plan, largely because of its taxation elements.

Senate Republican Leader Bob Dutton (R-Rancho Cucamonga) noted that while the budget proposal contains “difficult but necessary spending reductions,” the plan isn't compete because he said it assumes voters will support major tax increases, but doesn’t provide solutions if they reject them. That, he said, could result in a $10 billion budget hole come June.

Dutton said the way government operates needs to be addressed first. He said there also isn't anything in the budget to stimulate the economy or create jobs.

Lake County's Administrative Officer Kelly Cox said he's concerned about how the proposals would impact the county, and noted that some of Brown's proposals look like some put forward by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and shot down by the Legislature.

“It's going to take quite awhile to analyze everything that will impact local government, but believe me there is a lot in this budget proposal that, if enacted, will significantly impact county government,” Cox said Monday.

North Coast Assemblyman Wes Chesbro (D-Arcata) said Monday that it's now up to the Legislature to make the budget proposal work.

“Jerry Brown has laid out a plan to put us on a road to a cure for California’s chronic economic

condition,” Chesbro said. “This plan represents a starting point. It is now our job to work with the governor to heal the state’s economic woes.”

State Controller John Chiang said Brown has proposed “some ugly solutions to an even uglier situation,” but added that gimmicks and delay make the state's budget problems multiply.

He called Brown's proposal “a refreshing departure from past schemes that too often sacrificed long-term fiscal stability for band-aid solutions. While more work is required, this plan is an honest first step toward building consensus on how to best shape California’s future.”

With cuts proposed for colleges and universities, the state's higher education leaders – University of California President Mark Yudof, California State University Chancellor Charles B. Reed and the California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott – issued a joint Monday statement in which they said that, given the vast demographic shifts at work in the state, “now is not the time to shrink public higher education, but to grow it.”

Their statement added, “The road to recovery from this recession and prosperity far beyond it runs straight through our many campuses. These universities are the economic engines of California.”

Cuts proposed to social services, higher education; redevelopment may be in danger

Brown said Monday that decisive action is needed to help the state as it slowly emerges from “the Great Recession,” which his budget states California entered with “an existing structural deficit.”

The budget also looks at several economic factors, suggesting that full recovery of jobs lost during the recession won't occur until 2016, when jobs are expected to surpass the 2007 level.

It also suggests that the worst of the housing slump may be over – although new home construction permits are down 80 percent from the mid-2005 peak – and the stability of the housing market itself is still in question.

Exports are up 21 percent compared to 2009's first half, taxable sales are recovering but still down from 2007, unemployment is still trending high – the last state report put it at 12.4 percent – and personal income declined in 2009 on a year-over-year basis for the first time since 1938, although it later began a moderate recovery.

Among his proposals, the governor Brown intends to call for a special June election in which he'll ask voters to give him a five-year extension to several current taxes – personal income, sales tax and vehicle license fee – while California pays off its debt. First, the Legislature will have to implement the necessary statutory changes to allow the measure to go on the ballot.

If the ballot measures are approved, revenue from the sales tax and the vehicle license fee will be transferred directly to local governments to finance the first phase of his realignment plan, Brown said.

But Republican leaders already are saying they'll oppose the tax ballot measures.

Assembly Republican Leader Connie Conway of Tulare issued a Monday statement in which she said there are not the votes in the Assembly Republican Caucus to place the same tax increases “that voters overwhelmingly rejected less than two years ago” on a June ballot.

“Californians have sent a strong message at the polls that they want Sacramento to make government live within its means,” Conway said.

The realignment plan – which Brown said will return more governing decisions and authority to cities, counties and schools – will “allow government at all levels to focus on core functions and become more efficient and less expensive” by reducing duplication of services and administrative costs.

Brown's plan will spare kindergarten through 12th grade education. “Schools have borne the brunt of spending reductions in recent years, so this budget maintains funding at the same level as the current year,” he said.

While kindergarten through 12^th grade education won't see cuts based on Brown's plan, higher education will, with Brown proposing to cut $500 million to the University of California and $500 million to California State University systems.

Other areas where Brown is suggesting major spending reductions are $1.7 billion to Medi-Cal, $1.5 billion to California’s welfare-to-work program (CalWORKs), $750 million to the Department of Developmental Services, $308 million for a 10 percent reduction in take-home pay for state employees not currently covered under collective bargaining agreements and $200 million in government actions that Brown proposes to cut through efficiencies including reorganization and consolidation.

On the health care front, the budget elicited condemnation from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, whose president, Michael Weinstein, called it “a death warrant for California AIDS patients” because he said it would “drastically” alter care for AIDS care and require steep share of costs from low-cost HIV/AIDS patients.

Brown also is proposing reductions to the state's judiciary and corrections, wants to require all corporations to use a single sales factor when measuring income attributable to California and would create an amnesty program for taxpayers who have avoided or underreported income owed to the state.

An area of particular concern for local officials like Cox is the proposal to phase out the current funding mechanism for redevelopment agencies.

While Brown said that step would return billions in property tax revenues to schools, cities and counties and help pay for public safety, education and other services, it would mean attempts to rejuvenate areas of the county – such as the Northshore and parts of Lakeport and Clearlake – would see a considerable setback.

Still, Cox noted, “I have a hard time believing that proposal will make it through the legislature. It was only two months ago that the voters approved a ballot measure protecting local redevelopment funds from being raided by the state.”

Cox said Brown's proposals concerning realignment and funding of criminal justice programs, welfare and mental health programs sound very similar to proposals made by Schwarzenegger. “Since the legislature soundly rejected many of those ideas when they were previously proposed, I wonder if they will receive any traction now.”

In Cox's view, it's hard to fault Brown for proposing “drastic measures” in light of the need that's been present for years for the state to resolve its budget problems.

“I'm hoping that some of his proposals were designed simply to get everyone's attention and understanding of the seriousness of the state's budget crisis, but that there will be an openness to considering alternatives to some of the current proposals-alternatives that would still generate the needed savings in state expenditures,” Cox said. “There are alternatives which I don't believe they have yet proposed, that should be considered.”

The full budget can be found at www.ebudget.ca.gov.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews , on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the abduction of Amber Hagerman and the program that was named in her memory.

In 1996, 9-year-old Hagerman of Arlington, Texas was abducted and later found murdered. At the time, there was no system in place to inform and alert the public of the abduction.

Residents contacted area radio stations in the wake of this tragedy and suggested that a special alert

be in place for child abductions.

Working with local law enforcement agencies, radio and television stations in Texas developed a plan using emergency broadcast systems across media outlets to alert the public of child abductions; these alerts became known as AMBER Alerts.

Today, there are AMBER Alert programs in all 50 states.

California’s AMBER Alert program, the California Child Safety AMBER Network, which is coordinated by the California Highway Patrol (CHP), was implemented in August 2002.

To date, there have been 213 children safely recovered following 174 AMBER Alert activations in California.

“The overwhelming success of this program is the direct result of a partnership between government, law enforcement, broadcast media and the public,” said California Highway Patrol Commissioner Joe Farrow.

The goal of an AMBER Alert is to provide immediate information to the public about the most serious child abduction cases via widespread media broadcasts and other means to solicit help in the safe and swift return of an abducted child.

The program continues to grow, taking advantage of new technology and other means to expand the way the public is alerted to a child abduction.

For example, this year, the CHP and the California State Lottery Commission have teamed up to display AMBER Alerts anywhere lottery tickets are sold.

Additionally, AMBER Alerts will be available on Facebook. According to the National Center for

Missing and Exploited Children, users of the social media platform will be able to sign up for AMBER Alerts in their state/region.

“It is important that we use every communications tool at our disposal to get the word out in a timely manner in a child abduction case,” added Commissioner Farrow. “Every second counts.”

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The fire was reported shortly before noon at 2213 New Long Valley Road in Spring Valley Lakes, according to reports from the scene.

Northshore Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Pat Brown, who along with Chief Jim Robbins was on the scene, said the fire burned a roughly 20-year-old double-wide mobile home.

The source of the fire was traced to a wall near a freestanding fireplace, said Brown.

Brown said Northshore Fire sent two engines and a water tender, and Lake County Fire Protection District in Clearlake sent a water tender as mutual aid.

It took about 30 minutes to suppress the fire, but longer to fully mop up. Brown said firefighters had to pull out ceilings to get at hot spots.

While the fire didn't destroy the home – Brown estimated it caused about $20,000 worth of damage – “It did burn them out of the house,” he said of the family, including a woman and her two young daughters.

There were no injuries, Brown said.

Brown said the Red Cross was notified of the fire so the organization could offer the family temporary housing assistance.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews , on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

“Thanks to the generous contributions of so many donors, people in Haiti are receiving immediate relief and resources, as well as the necessary support and training to help them recover and rebuild,” said Gail McGovern, president and CEO of the American Red Cross. “Red Cross efforts saved lives and improved the quality of life for Haitians with emergency shelter, food, water, latrines, medical treatment and other supplies.”

“People in Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake Counties, as well as those across the country, responded quickly to help Haiti. These donations have made a real difference in the lives of Haitians,” said Tim Miller, CEO of the local Red Cross chapter.

“Residents in our counties donated more than $292,000,” said Miller. “Children at more than 20 schools, donation cans in nearly 100 locations, more than 20 local fundraising events, and more than 1300 individual donors and business all contributed to the relief effort. We are grateful for such an outpouring of support.”

The one-year report on Red Cross relief and recovery efforts in Haiti can be found at www.redcross.org/haiti.

Since the earthquake on January 12, 2010, the American Red Cross and the global Red Cross network have provided:

• Medical care for nearly 217,000 patients.

• Cash grants and loans to help 220,000 people.

• Latrines for 265,000 people.

• Daily drinking water for more than 317,000 people.

• Emergency shelter materials for more than 860,000 people.

• Vaccinations for nearly 1 million people.

• Food for 1.3 million people for one month.

Since the earthquake struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, the American Red Cross has raised approximately $479 million for the Haiti relief and recovery efforts, including more than $32 million from the record-setting text donation program.

At the one-year anniversary of the earthquake, the Red Cross expects to have spent and signed agreements to spend $245 million, which is more than half of what has been raised.

Specifically, 30 percent of the money will have been spent on emergency shelter and basic homes; 26 percent on food and emergency services; 15 percent on providing clean water and sanitation; 13 percent on health and disease prevention programs; 10 percent on livelihoods and host family assistance; and 6 percent on disaster preparedness activities.

The remainder of the money will go to longer-term recovery over the next several years, with spending plans likely to evolve to respond to changing needs.

In addition to responding to the earthquake and its aftermath, the Red Cross worked to provide help following the cholera outbreak last fall. The American Red Cross has spent more than $4.5 million and plans to spend at least another $10 million to fight the spread of cholera.

One of the big challenges facing the Red Cross and other nonprofit organizations is finding land to get people out of camps and into transitional homes.

It has been difficult for the Haitian government to determine exactly who owns the land where these homes would be built. Much of the available land is covered with tons of rubble that must be removed, and there is not enough heavy equipment in Haiti to do this quickly.

In addition, the government, which would take a lead role on much of the land ownership and rubble removal, was severely affected by the earthquake.

Overall, the American Red Cross expects to spend about $100 million of the remaining funds on construction of permanent homes and community development projects. These efforts, which will unfold over the next few years, will depend on several outside factors including the availability of appropriate land and the coordination of infrastructure, livelihoods and community centers.

“The Red Cross will continue to spend the money entrusted to us by the American people in the most responsible way possible to help Haiti and its people,” McGovern said.

Visit the Red Cross online at www.redcross.org. American Red Cross, Sonoma & Mendocino Counties (which includes Lake County) can be found at www.arcsm.org .

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Shawn David Gulseth, 40, of Kent, Wash., was arrested in Willits, Calif., on Tuesday, January 11, 2011, on a warrant out of Washington state, where he is being charged with the murder of his girlfriend on December 20, 2010. Photo courtesy of Kent Police Department.

WILLITS, Calif. – A Washington man on the run from the law and charged with his ex-girlfriend's December murder was found under a bridge Tuesday and arrested by Mendocino County officials.

Shawn David Gulseth, 40, of Kent, Wash., was arrested after he was located under Willit's Broaddus Creek Bridge Tuesday afternoon, according to Capt. Kurt Smallcomb of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.

Smallcomb said the sheriff's office received information Tuesday from the Kent Police Department in Washington that Gulseth was wanted for murder, was an escapee from the Washington State Department of Corrections and was possibly staying in the Willits area.

The Kent Police Department reported that the victim was 45-year-old Bonnie Peterson, found murdered in her East Kent apartment on Dec. 20 after police received a call from her friends who were concerned about her.

“This is a crime of violence committed by a very dangerous person,” Kent Police Lt. Pat Lowery said in a written statement released Dec. 21 that asked for the community's help in finding Gulseth, who police already had identified as the suspect.

The department had warned community members not to try to approach Gulseth, who was considered to be armed and dangerous.

Smallcomb said officials received information that Gulseth had last been seen at a local business establishment located in the Willits area on Monday.

He said reports from community members led law enforcement to believe Gulseth was possibly still in the area.

Personnel from the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office, Willits Police Department and the California Highway Patrol responded to the area of the Broaddus Creek Bridge, located in downtown Willits, and searched the area, finding Gulseth and arresting him without incident, Smallcomb said.

Smallcomb said Gulseth was transported to the Mendocino County jail where he is currently being held pending an extradition hearing.

The Seattle Times reported Tuesday that Gulseth has been charged with first-degree murder in the case.

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The Hazard Mitigation Plan is the framework used by the county to optimize preparedness before disasters occur in order to reduce the damage caused by disasters when and if they occur, according to Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office, which oversees OES.

Lake County OES has scheduled two public meetings to help prepare for the Hazard Mitigation Plan update as required by the California Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA.)

Members of the public are encouraged to attend either of the two scheduled meetings and present their concerns or other information about their communities or neighborhoods.

The current Hazard Mitigation Plan can be viewed on the Lake County Information Portal Web site at www.co.lake.ca.us, under Channel Menu/Be Prepared/Hazard Mitigation Plan.

The public meetings are scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 20, from 10:30 a.m. to noon, in the Lake County Jail Dining Hall, 4913 Helbush Drive, Lakeport; and Tuesday, Jan. 25, from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the South Lake Fire District Station meeting room, 21095 Highway 175, Middletown.

Anyone wishing to contribute to the preparedness of their community and the accuracy of the Hazard Mitigation Plan update should attend one of the two public meetings.

Questions may be directed to Emergency Services Coordinator Jerry Wilson at 707-263-1813.

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The new Republican chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee says its time to learn where a lot of those dollars went and to provide better oversight of how VA budgets are shaped and spent.

Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), interviewed before the 112th Congress convened, said his predecessor as chairman, Democrat Bob Filner of California, was inclined to address veterans’ needs with more dollars.

Miller said he will be “more focused on helping to increase resources through efficiencies.”

“This is a huge government agency and there is a mindset within the agency that is hard to change,” Miller said. “But I think we need to focus not only on delivery of services but the cost at which those services are being delivered to the veteran.”

“You know,” he added, “the Department of Veterans Affairs really has grown immune to oversight from Congress. And I hope to reinvigorate the process.”

Like Filner, the 51-year-old Miller is not a veteran. He was a real estate broker and former deputy sheriff before entering politics in Florida.

In fall of 2001, after Joe Scarborough, now a TV personality, resigned his House seat, Miller won a special election to fill it and has represented Florida’s 1st Congressional District in Congress ever since.

It is home to Eglin Air Force Base, Pensacola Naval Air Station and many veterans, which helps explain why Miller has chosen to serve on both the veterans’ affairs and the armed services committees.

He was picked by leadership to chair the VA committee after former ranking member Steve Buyer of Indiana said he would retire, and the next most senior Republican, Cliff Stearns of Florida, tried but failed to gain chairmanship of the energy and commerce committee in the new Congress.

Miller listed closer oversight of VA’s $125 billion budget as his top priority along with, as always, improving delivery of services to veterans.

“The [Veterans] Benefits Administration is woefully behind with a backlog on benefit claims,” he said. “The only way we’re going to be able to solve that is good, strong oversight of the cooperative effort of both VBA and the [VA’s] Office of Information and Technology.”

Some veterans’ service organizations agree that tighter supervision might be timely. One executive at a major VSO pointed to a VA inspector general report last year that found $6.3 million appropriated by Congress to fund traumatic brain injury research had diverted to priorities.

“This could be just one of a multitude of issues considered under the greater oversight role” Miller promises, he said.

Miller referred to “a culture in some areas of the VA system that has got to be brought up into the 21st century.”

For example, he noted lapses in sterilization at the St. Louis VA hospital revealed last year and other incidents involving possible spread of infection.

But the notification process, said Miller, was “done in a very cold, callous way. Folks need to understand we are dealing with human beings who served their country and deserve dignity and respect.”

One issue Miller raised in our interview, as something he wants to expand, worries vet advocates. He wants to allow more veterans to get health care from private-sector doctors and hospitals, at VA’s expense, in situations where VA facilities are inconvenient to use.

In northwest Florida, he said, veterans still must travel to VA facilities in Biloxi, Miss., New Orleans and on to Birmingham, Ala., for care that they could be receiving locally at private hospitals.

“We need to find a way to allow for expansion of veterans use of local medical facilities instead of requiring them to drive great distances … It’s something that Congress has worked on for a number of years but we still don’t have a handle on it,” Miller said. VA should expand fee-for-service exceptions beyond “rural communities.”

That raises alarms for veterans’ groups. They view such a move as a first step toward weakening the VA health care system. They also see it as a threat to VA continuity of care, particular for veterans with multiple health issues, all of which now get tracked and treated by a single system.

But Miller said he worries about older veterans or those with critical health issues having to travel too many miles to get the care the need.

Veterans in his district who need heart surgery, he said, “are required to leave the panhandle of Florida, and there are great cardiac physicians in our community.”

Localizing care would be “a benefit for the doctor to have the patients” near and “for the patients to have their physicians as close as possible, not only for the surgery but in the recovery.”

VA has run some pilot programs, Miller said.

“But I think we need to look at expanding it so that the veteran can receive the care as close to home as possible.”

Vet groups worry that sending more vets to private hospitals and doctors for care will make lawmakers reluctant to fund new VA medical centers and hospitals in areas of rising veteran populations if those areas also have plenty of private physicians and hospital beds.

“So rather than build a $300 million VA hospital,” said one worried advocate, “Congress could easily say ‘Hey, let’s just kind of farm them out to the local community.’ Does that give them the care they deserve through the VA, which is the best care in the world? Does that give the VA system the pool of veterans from which to learn and provide better care? Does that give the VA system the care from which to practice new techniques? No.”

To comment, send e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or write to Military Update, P.O. Box 231111, Centreville, VA, 20120-1111.

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