Community The LOCAL sports digest Commerce File New info may force flag issue .............Page 6 ..............Page 3 ......................................Page 1 INSIDE Mendocino County’s World briefly The Ukiah local newspaper ..........Page 2 Tomorrow: Sunny, fires permitting 7 58551 69301 0 WEDNESDAY Aug. 2, 2006 50 cents tax included DAILY JOURNAL ukiahdailyjournal.com 16 pages, Volume 148 Number 115 email: [email protected] Willits fire controlled, IN COURT Pitman forest fire still burning denies theft from library Auditor for Mendocino Takes the County Meredith Ford testi- stand Tuesday fied that her 2005 audit of the monthly financial reports By BEN BROWN prepared by Pitman showed The Daily Journal a pattern of checks being Linda Pitman took the deposited with non-match- stand Tuesday to testify in ing receipts. her own defense and denied Pitman also testified that that she embezzled $65,000 funds from the Fort Bragg from the Ukiah Library and Willits libraries often when she was an employee arrived without documenta- there. tion as to how much money Pitman testified that an individual branch had funds coming in from the collected. Fort Bragg and Willits “A lot of times it was just libraries sometimes arrived money,” Pitman said. without documentation or This was specifically true receipts and that it was diffi- in Fort Bragg after 2003 cult to determine which when the library ran out of checks went with which receipts and they were not receipts. replaced. In those cases, Pitman Pitman said she was told said, she made sure the by former Library Director amount on the check Erika DeMille that the outly- matched the amount on the ing branches did not need receipt and entered it for reciept books and that she deposit. Laytonville Fire Department Battalion Chief Greg Smith hoses down a tree during the Walker fire south of On Monday, Assistant See TRIAL, Page 10 Willits on Monday evening.The fire burned just over 104 acres just east of Highway 101 and was started when a vehicle trailer hitch came undone from the motor home that was pulling it, causing sparks which ignited a vegetation fire that spead into the surrounding area. Below, a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection firefighter hikes into woods to help contain the fire. New info may CDF crews force flag issue stretched By KATIE MINTZ The Daily Journal “There are legal very thin Dave Hull and Ric Piffero, owners of the 45- findings we feel will By LAURA MCCUTCHEON foot-tall flagpole standing make the council The Daily Journal 1,600 feet above the Ukiah Firefighters are in hot Valley floor, are hopeful that vote in favor demand as multiple blazes tonight the Ukiah City around the county -- and state Council will grant the use of the variance.” -- consume not only vegeta- permit they need to keep – Ric Piffero tion, but local resources. their flag flying despite its The Walker Fire -- closest indication that it would not Planning Department’s rec- to home -- located off at the previous City Council Highway 101 just south of ommendation to approve the Willits, near the entrance of meeting. permit based on what they the Willits Municipal Water “There are legal findings perceived to be a conflict Treatment Plant, broke out we feel will make the coun- with provisions of the city’s just before 4 p.m. Monday, cil vote in favor of the vari- General Plan. The final vote when a trailer hitch on a ance,” Piffero said. on the matter was put off motor home towing a trailer The flagpole, constructed until the meeting tonight to came loose and created sparks in 2004 on Hull’s western give City Attorney David along the highway, causing hillside property at 335 Rapport adequate time to the adjacent vegetation to Janix Drive, is 25 feet taller draft findings supporting the catch on fire. Tuesday. advised to limit their outdoor than allowed by Ukiah’s res- denial of the major use per- “We had eight fires along AIR QUALITY WARNING The increased pollutant activities today. idential zoning code for mit application, City the roadway ... they burned level is creating a situation People experiencing accessory structures, requir- Manager Candace Horsley together very, very rapidly ... Smoke from several wild- that could affect those who headaches, repeated cough- ing a major use permit. said. and we had 104 (scorched) land fires will continue to are especially sensitive to ing, chest tightness or pain, At the last council meet- Since then, a section of acres before everybody got remain fairly heavy irritants. difficulty in breathing, or nau- ing, July 19, the Califoria Government there,” California Department Wednesday throughout the The elderly, individuals sea should contact a health Councilmembers Phil Code was brought to Hull of Forestry and Fire county, Mendocino County with respiratory disease and care provider, according to Baldwin, John McCowen and Piffero’s attention by a Air Quality Management anyone else who is especial- the Air Quality Management and Mari Rodin said they See FIRES, Page 10 District stated in an advisory ly sensitive to air pollution is District. could not support the See FLAG, Page 10 Revised regulations for the Western Hills moving forward tion a home would become part of were under 1,000 feet and therefore over the lot should be something to walk around to get a better look at Walkabouts planned the hillside district, the number of not considered in the hillside zoning consider,” Pruden said. “Also possi- the lay of the land. By JAMES ARENS accessory buildings that would be district. They also agreed that the bly a maximum of two or three “I would suggest to the planning The Daily Journal allowed on a parcel and what sort of starting point of the hillside zoning accessory structures on the lot, not commissioners that they do some There appears to be movement on requirements the hillside homes would be at 1,000 feet and also con- exceeding a total of 750 square feet fieldwork,” Stump said. “This will the proposed revised Hillside Zoning would have to conform to in regards sidered a stipulation that certain for all the structures would seem rea- help give them a feel for the land so regulations after recent meetings of to soils/geotechnical information. homes might be exempt from being sonable to me. Anything more would they can make an informed decision the Ukiah Planning Commission. In the last meeting on July 26 the considered in the hillside zoning by have to come before the Planning when the time comes.” planning commissioners came to 100 feet cushion above or below the Commission.” During the July 12 meeting the Stump also offered to coordinate Planning Commission discussed a many agreements on the directions 1,000. “This would create the possibility they wanted to go. They came to a In terms of the accessory build- of community feedback when a con- meeting times with the landowners, number of issues associated with the commission members and building revised regulations for the Western consensus that the second units ings a little more conversation took troversial structure is wanting to be Hills. Some of the issues were how would be considered just the same as place. Commissioner Judy Pruden built,” she added. staff members so everyone involved second dwellings on a lot would be a they are in the single family resi- had ideas to start from for a basic Planning Director Charley Stump could get the best experience out of treated in the hillside district, the dential (R-1) zoning. They also regulation concerning accessory made a recommendation at the July their visits and get enough informa- homes on Helen Avenue and whether reached a unanimous consensus that structures. 26 commission meeting that suggest- tion to make a solid recommendation or not they would be considered part the homes that were considered to be “A clustering of accessory build- ed that the commissioners go out into to the City Council about the hillside of the hillside district, at what eleva- in the hillside zone on Helen Avenue, ings rather than having structures all the hillside community area and zoning regulations. 2 – DAY, DATE, 2006 DAILY DIGEST Editor: K.C. Meadows, 468-3526 The Ukiah Daily Journal [email protected] POLICE REPORTS by State Parole. FUNERAL NOTICES The world briefly In a search of the immedi- The following were ate area where Ackerman had compiled from reports entered there was a plastic [\ prepared by the Ukiah container containing 0.1 BARBARA AZLEE MCCANN Israel fights Fidel.” Illinois officials blamed three Police Department. To grams of suspected metham- Barbara Azlee McCann Hezbollah across The speaker of parliament, deaths on the heat. The blister- anonymously report phetamine. Ackerman was passed away at her home Ricardo Alarcon, rejected the ing temperatures also crime information, call booked at Mendocino County on June 23, 2006. She is wide front notion that Castro’s condition scorched Conyers, Ga., where 463-6205. Jail and is being held on a no- survived by her son Tony could be critical. He told the a high school football player ARREST -- Michael Lee bail status because of the and her daughter BOURJ AL-MULOUK, government’s Prensa Latina died one day after collapsing Allsup, 41, of Upper Lake was parole warrant. Elizabeth. Barbara was Lebanon (AP) — Israeli news service that the Cuban at practice. arrested on suspicion of dri- BOOKED -- Shannon born on 9/18/1962 in forces battled Hezbollah leader is known for fighting to “I am pretty much dying,” ving under the influence in the Elizabeth Gillespie, 18, of Ukiah. She was very across a broad front in the very end, but said his said Grace Hartmann, a New 600 block of South State Fort Bragg, was booked into artistic and enjoyed many Lebanon’s south Tuesday, “final moment is still very far York University student.