Rangers round Pet of the week FORUM up Giants ..............Page 3 Our readers write .............Page 6 ...................................Page 4 INSIDE Mendocino County’s World briefly The Ukiah local newspaper ..........Page 2 Tomorrow: Cloudy with afternoon rain 7 58551 69301 0 MONDAY March 24, 2008 50 cents tax included DAILY JOURNAL ukiahdailyjournal.com 14 pages, Volume 149 Number 350 email: [email protected] With abalone season comes new rules, regulations Season begins April 1 Law Enforcement Chief Nancy 2008 ABALONE REGULATIONS The Daily Journal Foley. “This new regulation should When the abalone season opens enable our law enforcement officers -RED ABALONE CAN BE TAKEN BETWEEN APRIL 1 AND JUNE 30, AND FROM AUG. 1 THROUGH NOV. 30 IN CALIFORNIA WATERS NORTH OF SAN FRANCISCO. on the Mendocino coast at the begin- to better enforce regulations ning of April, there will be a few new designed to prevent the over harvest -THE DAILY LIMIT IS THREE PER DAY WITH A MAXIMUM OF 24 PER YEAR. of this abalone fishery.” rules for both free divers and shore -EACH ABALONE MUST BE AT LEAST SEVEN INCHES IN DIAMETER. pickers to follow, according to Requiring all fishermen to tag their abalone catch as soon as they reports from the California -ABALONE CAN ONLY BE TAKEN BY HAND OR WITH ABALONE IRONS. SCUBA EQUIPMENT AND SURFACE-SUPPLIED AIR ARE PROHIBITED. Department of Fish and Game. remove it from the water will lead to better tracking and management of Anyone who takes abalone along -FREE DIVERS AND SHORE PICKERS MUST POSSESS A VALID FISHING LICENSE AND AN ABALONE REPORT CARD. the coast this year will be required to the mollusk overall, said Associate have an abalone report card will be marine Biologist Jerry Kashiwada. -ABALONE MUST BE TAGGED IMMEDIATELY UPON EXITING THE WATER. required to tag their catch as soon as “The Abalone report cards have they pull it from the water. greatly increased the consistency of -ALL ABALONE MUST BE TAGGED AND THE TAG MUST CORRESPOND WITH THE REPORT CARD OF THE DIVER OR PICKER WHO TOOK IT. “Abalone is a very important and -ABALONE MUST REMAIN IN THE SHELL WITH THE TAGS ATTACHED UNTIL JUST PRIOR TO CONSUMPTION. valuable fishery resource,” said DFG See ABALONE, Page 14 The Rocketman SHH... BE VERY VERY QUIET, I’M... stops in Willits Sir Elton John makes impromptu visit Hunting for on way to airport in San Francisco By MAUREEN MOORE The Willits News Excitement was in the air for a few hours on Monday when Sir Elton John stopped in Willits, Easter eggs passing through on his way back to San Francisco after working with the Kinetic Sculpture Race in Humboldt County earlier in the day. Sir Elton stopped to look for a special neck- lace or earrings with an ankh, the Egyptian hiero- glyphic character that symbolizes “life” for a friend, dropping in first at the Headroom and then Natural Choice. “I didn't believe it was him,” says Pam Grover of the Headroom. “He was so sweet, he was very nice!” Linda Byrnes owner of Natural Choice was the first to figure out it was really Elton John, but didn't make a big scene because she could tell he was trying to stay out of the limelight. “After he left my shop,” Byrnes explains, “Pam [Grover] came over from next door and asked me if that was actually Elton John. I said it was and she mentioned what a fan of his she was. I went out onto the sidewalk where he had walked to near the Chamber of Commerce and I called him back. “He turned around and walked back and I told him I wanted him to know that when he sang the See ELTON, Page 14 Sarah Baldik/The Daily Journal Above, Egg hunters Sandra Moreno, 7, and her cousin Adrian Rodreguez, 7, anxiously wait for the signal to claim their eggs Sunday afternoon. Below, McKenna Savage, 11 months, collects her first Easter eggs. FERC approves Hundreds converge for yearly hunt PG&E permits By ZACK SAMPSEL successfully played host to the fastest The Daily Journal five minutes in Ukiah. Families and By FRANK HARTZELL he runners stood at the front of children began to fill Anton Stadium Fort Bragg Advocate-News the line, waiting for the horn for the hunt that started around 2 After more than a year of contemplation, the Tthat would send them on their p.m., but by 2:05 p.m. the place was Federal Regulatory Energy Commission has way, but this wasn’t the start of the a desert. issued preliminary permits to Pacific Gas and Boston Marathon. It was the begin- “This is something we’ve done Electric Company for studies off Eureka and Fort ning of the Annual Ukiah Host Lion’s forever,” said Chuck Thornhill, who Bragg. Club Easter Egg Hunt -- a tradition helped organize the event. “This a The permits give PG&E exclusive rights to more than 60 years in the making. community group having a communi- study large areas of the ocean for three years. At With help from 4,800 eggs, hun- ty event. This is what we do.” the end of that time, the non-transferrable permit dreds of children, sunny weather and Thornhill said the club met on now issued gives PG&E first right to obtain a a dedicated group of members, the FERC power license for a period as long as 50 Ukiah Host Lion’s Club once again See HUNT, Page 14 years. Alternative energy proponents believe the Wave Connect paired proposals would be the most important U.S. test of wave energy technol- ogy. PG&E will invite developers to each site to study different technologies under the applica- tion. FERC refused to allow the city of Fort Bragg or the county of Mendocino to have a role in the See WAVES, Page 14 Got family? Bunny Breann Dunken, 11, shows a yellow prize egg. Breann handed out yellow eggs to the kids who missed them on the field so they could receive a prize. find activities at ukiahdailyjournal.com When Too Much Is Simply Too Much UKIAH Call To Rent Storage Space & Free Move In Truck STORAGE TRUCK RENTAL For Details Call 707-468-0800 2 – MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2008 DAILY DIGEST Editor: K.C. Meadows, 468-3526 The Ukiah Daily Journal [email protected] August Olympics, which it had been hoping to use to bolster its who convert, appeals for peace in Tibet international image. The Chinese government said through official media that for- VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI rejoiced over The world briefly conversions to Christianity in an Easter Sunday Mass on the merly restive areas were under control and accused the Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, of trying to harm China’s steps of St. Peter’s Basilica a day after he baptized a promi- image ahead of the summer games. nent Muslim newspaper editor. “The Dalai clique is scheming to take the Beijing Olympics A white canopy protected the 80-year-old pontiff from a Iraq violence kills at least 57, suicide hostage to force the Chinese government to make concessions downpour while thousands of pilgrims, tourists and Romans attack hits Mosul to Tibet independence,” said the People’s Daily, the main braved thunder and wind-whipped rain. mouthpiece of the Communist Party. The faithful were celebrating their belief in the resurrection BAGHDAD (AP) — Rockets and mortars pounded The Tibetan spiritual leader called the accusations against of Jesus after he was crucified. Thanks to the apostles’ preach- Baghdad’s U.S.-protected Green Zone Sunday and a suicide car him “baseless,” asserting that he supported China’s hosting of ing about the resurrection, “thousands and thousands of persons bomber struck an Iraqi army post in the northern city of Mosul the summer games. converted to Christianity,” Benedict said. in a surge of attacks that killed at least 57 people nationwide. “And this is a miracle which renews itself even today,” the The latest violence underscored the fragile security situation pope said, hours after a Saturday night Easter vigil service in and the resilience of both Sunni and Shiite extremist groups as Palestinians complain to Cheney about which he baptized seven adults. The converts included Magdi the war enters its sixth year and the U.S. death toll in the con- Israel’s settlement construction Allam, a prominent journalist and commentator in Italy who has flict approaches 4,000. received death threats for his denunciations of Islamic fanati- Attacks in Baghdad probably stemmed from rising tensions RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Palestinian leaders asked cism. between rival Shiite groups — some of whom may have been Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday to pressure Israel to halt Allam, 55, deputy editor of Corriere della Sera newspaper, behind the Green Zone blasts. It was the most sustained assault settlement construction and voiced other complaints that deflat- was born a Muslim in Egypt, but was educated by Catholics and in months against the nerve center of the U.S. mission. ed Cheney’s hopeful words about Mideast peace. says he has never been a practicing Muslim. The deadliest attack of the day was in Mosul when a suicide Palestinians had little expectation their meetings with He wrote in a front-page letter published Sunday in Corriere driver slammed his vehicle through a security checkpoint in a Cheney, a strong defender of the Jewish state, would produce that he was now taking on the middle name Cristiano — hail of gunfire and detonated his explosives in front of an Iraqi anything concrete.