Ukiah Surgery Center to Close by LAURA MCCUTCHEON the Daily Journal the Ukiah Surgery Center, in Operation Since 1995, Will Close Its Doors for Good March 30
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Local sports Weekend RAILROAD LEGISLATION roundup entertainment Bill would aid cleanup .............Page 6 ..............Page 3 ..................................Page 1 INSIDE Mendocino County’s World briefly The Ukiah local newspaper ..........Page 2 Tomorrow: Mostly sunny 7 58551 69301 0 THURSDAY March 22, 2007 50 cents tax included DAILY JOURNAL ukiahdailyjournal.com 16 pages, Volume 148 Number 347 email: [email protected] Redwood Valley man loses $2,600 in scam beware of a fraudulent check scam American Clearing Systems that said Western Union to an address in Days later, the man was notified Sheriff’s Office issues involving letters from North he had won $50,000. Canada to cover processing fees. by his bank that the check from Guy warning to residents American Clearing Systems and The letter contained a check from The man did as he was instructed Brickman Insurance had been postmarked from Canada. Guy Brickman Insurance Company and then called a number for a North returned because it was a fraudulent The Daily Journal According to sheriff’s reports, an in Miami, for $2,771.35 and a letter American Clearing Systems repre- check written on an account for a The Mendocino County Sheriff’s 82-year-old man from Redwood that instructed the man to deposit the sentative who asked for the Western Office is warning county residents to Valley received a letter from North check and then wire $2,600.54 via Union tracking number. See SCAM, Page 14 INATTENTIVE MOTORISTS REAR-ENDING SCHOOL BUSES Ukiah Surgery Center to close By LAURA MCCUTCHEON The Daily Journal The Ukiah Surgery Center, in operation since 1995, will close its doors for good March 30. “This decision was based upon a contin- ued decline in operational and financial per- formance of the center,” HealthSouth, the center’s general partner, said in a written statement. HealthSouth -- one of the nation’s largest health care providers -- purchased the center in 1997 in partnership with the Ukiah Surgical Center, LLC, which is made up of several physicians, according to HealthSouth spokeswoman Kristi Gilmore. The center has about 15 employees -- 10 See SURGERY, Page 14 Isaac Eckel/The Daily Journal Body found Carmen Saye, a bus driver instructor with the Ukiah Unified School District, stops traffic as she escorts students across the street Tuesday at a school bus stop on Washington Avenue. Two recent accidents involving motorists rear-ending school buses have caused concerns over safety. in house fire Stop! when red lights flash on bus in Westport By BEN BROWN By LAURA MCCUTCHEON “North State Street is an The Daily Journal The Daily Journal absolute disaster in the after- Two recent accidents involv- noon,” Saye added, before nam- The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office ing school buses and inattentive ing several other trouble spots. is investigating the death of a 54-year-old motorists -- and numerous close Kathy Barbera, also a school man who was found dead in a house in calls -- have left bus drivers bus driver instructor, agreed. Westport following a residential fire. feeling frustrated and vulnera- “There isn’t a bus stop out “He’s suspected to be the resident of the ble, Ukiah Unified School there that hasn’t had a problem house,” said Sheriff’s Lt. D.J. Miller. District bus driver instructor with the ‘red light runners,’” The body was found in the burned Carmen Saye said. Barbera said, noting that is the remains of a house at 24850 Abalone Street “The public needs to wake name used to describe motorists in Westport at 1:30 a.m. Monday. Miller said up; they need to pay attention to who ignore the flashing red the identity of the victim has not yet been the big yellow school buses,” lights on the back of a school confirmed. Saye said. “Over the last few bus. Positive identification of the body has months things have gotten On Feb. 1, a school bus car- been complicated because it suffered exten- increasingly worse. We’ve had rying children was rear-ended sive burns in the fire, Miller said. The iden- to pull kids out of the middle of on North State Street in Ukiah tity will likely have to be confirmed by den- the road to protect them, and as the driver was in the process tal records or DNA, he said. UUSD Mechanic Steve Spackman walks past a school An autopsy is scheduled for today to we’ve even had law enforce- of pulling over at a bus stop. bus that was rear-ended while it was stopped to unload ment run our red lights,” she determine a cause of death and hopefully children. The second bus was there to transport the 22 confirm the victim’s identity. Miller said said. submitted photo See STOP, Page 14 children after the accident. there was currently no evidence of foul play. See BODY, Page 14 Wiggins bill would help railroad pay for cleanup The Daily Journal which runs between Napa and through the Transportation suffered serious storm damage, Wesley Chesbro in 2005. Chesbro’s State Sen. Patricia Wiggins, D- Humboldt counties. Until the rail- Congestion Relief Program to repair encountered environmental prob- bill, however, was vetoed by Gov. Santa Rosa, has introduced legisla- road is fully operational, NCRA is and upgrade tracks. However, the lems, been slapped with federal safe- Arnold Schwarzenegger. tion to enable the North Coast responsible for emergency mainte- law also required the Authority to ty sanctions, and generally declined In his veto message, Schwarze- Railroad Authority to reallocate a nance such as strengthening levees, hold $5.5 million in reserve, previ- operationally and financially,” negger said the $5.5 million savings fraction of the funds it receives repairing bridges and culverts, vege- ously designated to help repay a fed- Wiggins said. “The NCRA now finds should revert back to the through the federal Traffic tation and weed abatement, and gen- eral loan that has since been forgiv- itself in a kind of Catch-22 situation, Transportation Investment Fund so Congestion Relief Program to help eral cleanup of debris along the 316 en. where it has funds available to that it could be allocated by the cover the costs of environmental miles of right-of-way from Lombard According to Wiggins, the origi- address several of its most pressing California Transportation cleanup. in Napa County to Samoa in nal justification for holding $5.5 mil- needs but is currently prevented from Commission to other projects within The NCRA was established to Humboldt County. lion in reserves no longer makes accessing those funds.” the Transportation Congestion Relief own and operate the former Under existing law, the NCRA sense. Her bill, SB 861, is similar to leg- Northwestern Pacific Railroad, received $60 million in grants “In recent years, the railroad has islation carried by former Sen. See RAILROAD, Page 14 2 – THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 2007 DAILY DIGEST Editor: Jody Martinez, 468-3517 The Ukiah Daily Journal [email protected] The investigation, ordered two weeks ago by VA Secretary POLICE REPORTS age at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Jim Nicholson, is the first major review of the facilities con- BOOKED -- James The world briefly ducted since the disclosure of squalid conditions at Walter Reed The following were Michael Eaglin, 46, of Army Medical Center. compiled from reports Willits, was arrested on war- A copy of the report was provided to The Associated Press. prepared by the Ukiah rants on suspicion of second- Democrats newly in charge of Congress called the report the Police Department. To degree burglary and a proba- House panel approves subpoenas latest evidence of an outdated system unable to handle a com- anonymously report tion violation at 3:08 p.m. for top Bush aides in prosecutor flap ing influx of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. Investigators crime information, call Tuesday. earlier this month found that the VA’s system for handling dis- 463-6205. Those arrested by law enforce- WASHINGTON (AP) — A House panel on Wednesday ment officers are innocent until ability claims was strained to its limit. ARREST -- Mark proven guilty. People reported as hav- approved subpoenas for President Bush’s political adviser, Karl “Who’s been minding the store?” said Sen. Patty Murray, D- William Riggs, 48, of Ukiah, ing been arrested may contact the Rove and other top White House aides, setting up a constitu- Wash., a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. was arrested on suspicion of Daily Journal once their case has tional showdown over the firings of eight federal prosecutors. “They keep putting Band-Aids on problems, when what the driving under the influence been concluded so the results can be By voice vote, the House Judiciary subcommittee on com- reported. Those who feel the informa- agency needs is major triage.” in the 700 block of East tion is in error should contact the mercial and administrative law decided to compel the presi- Gobbi Street at 9:27 p.m. appropriate agency. In the case of dent’s top aides to testify publicly and under oath about their Tuesday. those arrested on suspicion of driving roles in the firings. Gore implores Congress to save planet under the influence of an intoxicant: all DUI cases reported by law enforce- The White House has refused to budge in the controversy, WASHINGTON (AP) — Al Gore made an emotional return ment agencies are reported by the standing by embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and to Congress Wednesday to plead with lawmakers to fight glob- SHERIFF’S REPORTS newspaper. The Daily Journal makes insisting that the firings were appropriate. White House al warming with moral courage while revealing nothing about no exceptions.