Weekend SPORTS entertainment Thursday Fresno takes college title ...................................Page 6 .............Page 3 June 26, 2008 INSIDE Mendocino County’s World briefly The Ukiah local newspaper ..........Page 2 Friday: Sunny H 95º L 55º 7 58551 69301 0 Saturday: Mostly sunny; H 94º L 55º 50 cents tax included DAILY JOURNAL ukiahdailyjournal.com 16 pages, Volume 150 Number 78 email: [email protected] FIRE IMPACT SMOKE STILL COVERING MOST OF THE COUNTY The Daily Journal Air ‘unhealthy for everybody’ Evacuation alerts delay court cases in Covelo By BEN BROWN The Daily Journal FIRE UPDATE Due to wildfire evacuation alerts, the The thick smoke that has Covelo Courthouse will be closed Friday. been choking Mendocino All cases scheduled for that day will be County since Saturday, 107 fires continued until July 25. Those who want leaving the air unhealthy to to have their case heard sooner are breathe, is expected to instructed to contact the Willits branch of remain at least through the burning the Mendocino County Superior Court at weekend. 459-5554. “We’re talking a couple of days, if not longer,” said in county Some community events Chris Brown, pollution con- By BEN BROWN canceled; others go on trol officer with Mendocino The Daily Journal County Air Quality. For the fifth day, fire- Due to smoky conditions from the fires, Measurements of the fighters worked to tame various events have been canceled. For the amount of particulate matter, lightning-sparked wild- first time in 46 years, the Black Bart especially superfine matter, fires across Mendocino Parade in Redwood Valley has been can- in the air have been elevated County as the total celed due to air quality conditions, as was since the fires began. acreage burned nearly Ukiah’s first Acoustic Café of the season Readings taken Tuesday doubled in size. (see Page 3 for more information). and early Wednesday were As of 9 p.m. Softball games and public swim at the .226 micrograms of particu- Wednesday, more than city pool are being decided on a day-by- lates per cubic meter of air in 21,000 acres had burned. day basis. For information on the softball Ukiah; readings were almost The total number of fires games, call 463-6713. For information on as bad in Hopland, at .191 in the county dropped the public swim, call 467-2831. micrograms per cubic meter. overnight from 131 to The day camp at Todd Grove Park “That’s unhealthy for 107, according to Cal Fire remains open, with children playing inside everybody,” Brown said. reports. the Todd Grove Clubhouse. The Sundays Air Quality issued anoth- Sacramento Fire Capt. in the Park concert on Sunday, featuring er air quality alert for and Cal Fire spokesman the Ford Blues Band, and the Ukiah Wednesday warning that the Farmers Market on Saturday will go ahead smoke was covering the bulk See FIRES, Page 14 as planned. of the county and was expected to be densest in the No Ukiah fireworks southern part of the state as fires that if the wind shifts it well as in the Ukiah Valley. just brings more smoke from The scheduled July 5 fireworks in another fire,” Brown said. Ukiah have been canceled, due to the fires Warm winds in the after- noon were expected to clear Air Quality was urging and the fire command center established at people to stay indoors if they the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds. some of the smoke in the valleys but it was expected didn’t have to go out, espe- to return by nightfall. “We’re so surrounded by See AIR, Page 14 Sarah Baldik/The Daily Journal Amber Maier wears a filtration mask generally used while painting and sanding on State Street in Ukiah Wednesday. Maier, who calls the mask her “Darth Vader mask,” says she only wears it while riding her bike in town and said it seems to help. “I only have one pair of lungs so I might as well take care of them,”she said. At right, a sign posted at the obstetrician entrance at Ukiah Valley Medical Center Wednesday asks the community to limit foot traffic due to the smoke. The hospital staff have also set up a fan blowing air out in hopes of protecting the sen- sitive lungs of newborns in the ward. Sarah Baldik/The Daily Journal California Department of Forestry air tanker No. 91 sits in waiting after having thermo-gel retardant washed off its belly. Air tankers stalled due to low visibility By BEN BROWN The Daily Journal As the battle against the Lightning Complex fire entered its fifth day Wednesday, firefighters continued to work without some of their resources. Seven helicopters from fire crews all over the state were working fires through- out the county, but at the air attack base at the Ukiah airport there was little business Wednesday. “We’re not going anywhere right now,” said Cal Fire firefighter Dave Kendall. “Not until the smoke clears.” Kendall said the Cal Fire tankers that take up residence in the county every sum- mer for fire season need at least three miles of visibility to operate safely. At noon Wednesday, dense smoke had cut EVACUATION WARNINGS IN MENDOCINO COUNTY visibility to half-a-mile. Areas under evacuation warnings as of 9 -Chicken Ridge area in Round Valley On Wednesday, the planes were in Lake p.m. Wednesday -The Flynn Creek Road area of Navarro County, where they were helping to com- Fire photos by Peter Armstrong -The Cherry Creek Road area near the inter- bat several fires there, caused by the same Debbie McCord of Comptche and Cal Fire -Montgomery Woods between Orr Springs section of Highway 101 and Highway 162. lightning storm that started the fires in Capt. Brian Kornegay watch a helicopter Road and Running Springs Road. -The community of Cummings Mendocino County. make multiple water drops Wednesday -Mountain View Road in the area of mile- -Leggett According to the National Weather on the Orr Fire above Orr Hot Springs. post 9 -De Haven Creek drainage north of Service, winds may clear out some of the Above right, a smoky sunset over Orr -Red Mountain between Highway 101 and Westport smoke by Friday. Springs. 13600 Bell Springs Road. -Howard Creek drainage north of Westport Jann Smith, a spokesperson for Cal Fire, said helicopters can work at a shorter visibility range than planes. visit http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com for the latest fire updates 2 – THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008 DAILY DIGEST Editor: Jody Martinez, 468-3517 The Ukiah Daily Journal [email protected] FUNERAL NOTICES The world briefly [\ She loved all kinds of [\ Edward and Richard, crafts; she loved to JERLINE CLORETA DELEON Jerline was predeceased in draw and loved reading Jerline Cloreta DeLeon death by her pa- and was a wonderful passed away Friday, rents Reaburn and Ethel FBI says 345 arrested, 21 children writer. Another of her tal- June 20, 2008 in Ukiah Kizer of Beaumont, ents was how she with her family pres- Ca. and a brother Wayne rescued in prostitution busts in 16 cities could whistle like a bird. ent. She was 80 years old. Kizer of Southern WASHINGTON (AP) — Hundreds of people have been She loved to take Jerline was born California. She is survived arrested and 21 children rescued in what the FBI is calling a care of her flowers in her on January 31, 1928 to by a large and lov- five-day roundup of networks of pimps who force children into garden. She will be Reaburn and Ethel Ki- ing family; son Ed Butler prostitution. greatly missed. She is pre- zer in Fort Sumner, N.M. and wife Anne, The Justice Department says it targeted 16 cities as part of its ceded in death by where she resided daughters Connie Gordon “Operation Cross Country” that caps off five years of similar her husband Bob, her until graduating from high and husband Jerry, and Stephanie Fesler and stings nationwide. mother, father, sisters school. She relo- Many of the children forced into prostitution are either run- Frances, Mary Anne, cated to Southern husband Mike all of Ukiah; sister Marge Strang aways or what authorities call “thrown-aways” — kids whose ROBERTA “BERT” brothers Paul, Curt, and California where she at- families have shunned them. Officials say they are preyed upon LEE SCHOMMER Toots. She is survived by tended cosmetology school and husband Bob of Oroville, Ca, & a broth- by organized networks of pimps who lure them in with shelter Roberta “Bert” Lee her brother Bobby, in Riverside, Ca. or drugs, then often beat, starve or otherwise abuse them until Schommer went home to daughters Lee Kerr and Upon completing her stud- er, Olin Kizer of ies she began work- Beaumont, Ca; grandchil- the children agree to work the streets. be with the Lord on her husband Tom “We together have no higher calling than to protect our chil- Sunday June 22, 2008 at Kerr of Sparks, NV, Joy ing as a hairdresser in dren Chris Gordon and Banning, Ca. wife Katie, Mike Gordon dren and to safeguard their innocence,” FBI Director Robert the age of 90 years old. Trent of Laguna Ni- Mueller said Wednesday. “Yet the sex trafficking of children guel, CA, Kathy Schommer In 1950 she met and and wife Cheyanne all of She was born on Ukiah, Patrick Butler of remains one of the most violent and unforgivable crimes in this February 13, 1918 in of Lockeford, CA, married her first hus- band, Edward Butler, the US Navy stationed at country.” Pardee, Virginia to Ar- Marta Sligh and her hus- In all, authorities arrested 345 people — including 290 adult band, Jim Sligh of resided in the San Fran- Camp LeJeune, North thur and Ellen Beaver.