INSIDE: Special deals for Shop Local Saturday
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MORE INSIDE:Santa's coming to TheJunction this week, businesses to offer Black Friday specials, A2
1HE MOTHER LODE'SLEADING INFORMATION SOURCE SINCE1854 • SONORA, CALIFORNIA
TUESDAY
NOVEMBER 24, 2015
CalaverasGrown
A special thank you to UnionDemocrat subscriber John McGinnes, of Sonora.
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around to bear witness to the significant amount of small, now life less,trees that stood Sean Kriletich was stand- so closeto each other that ing atop a charred hillside they resembled a bundle of deep inside the land scorched pencils tied together by a rubby the Butte Fire. ber band. At one point, he turned Under proper maintenance By JASON COWAN The Union Democrat
BRIEFING
Parole hearingMan convicted of PML murder denied parole. A3
Relatives sought
u e i r e scar when alive, did not contribute much to the area. 'This is disgusting. There should maybe be four or five trees in this little area right here. These arenevergoing tobe big,nice trees. They needed to be cut out. If we had just done this
of thegeneral vegetation,the firein September could have been prevented, he said. "Look at this right here," said Kriletich, a farmer by trade as well as a geologist, while pointing at the remnantsofa seriesoftrees that,
Man Nets 21 Years forhuman tramickinl
OPlnlOn — Saunders: Ratings trump dignity at NBC.A4
CHP —CHPadvises
Thanksg iving
travel can be dangerous.A4
Travel advisory-
By LACEY PETERSON
State Department issues warning for U.S. travel after attacks.AS
The Union Democrat
By ALEX MacLEAN
— State, nation and worlds news.AS
FOOD 5 DRINK
The Union Democrat
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A Sonora boy is going to have a special holiday experience this year. Nine-year-old J.J. Paris will light the California Capitol Christmas tree on Dec. 2 with Gov. Jerry Brown and First L ady Anne Gust Brown in Sacramento. O rnaments made b y Paris and his fourth-grade classmates at Curtis Creek Elementary School will hang on the 61-foot-tall
News elsewhere
A man who pleaded guilty in Tuolumne County's first human trafficking case was sentenced to 21 years and
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four months in state prison,
prosecutors announced Monday. Daniel Leon Clifton, 35, of Oakdale, was sentenced in Tuolumne County
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criminal threats and posses-
near Redding in Shasta County. Paris said during an interview last week that he is excited to light the Capitol tree. He is the first child from Tuolumne Countyto help light the state tree. Last Wednesday, Paris and his classmates in Liz Burr's class made orna-
• THE DAY AFTER: Turkey pot pie a simple way to use leftovers.B1 • COMMUNITY MEALS: Free dinners welcome all for Thanksgiving.B1 • MARIO BATALI: Post-holiday potato salad gets Italian seasonings.B1 • DINNER ROLLS: Dried fruit, cinnamon jazz up traditional rolls. B1
sion of child pornography. "The typical human trafficking case that we hear about in the press is where minors are being forced into the sextrade for commercial gain," said Tuolumne County District Attorney Laura Krieg. "This case was different." In 2011, Clifton contacted a 15-year-old girl from Tuolumne County through on online dating app for teenagers called Skout. Clifton, then 31, was posing as a 17-yearoldatthetim e. The two eventually met in person and began having sex. Clifton would travel to Sono-
ments &om tree branches,
paint sticks, glue, rhinestones and gold pipe cleaners. The class also made a large Christmas card with a painted wreath fiom their handprints to present to the Browns. The entire family will travelto Sacramento for the occasion, including mom Maren, dad Jeff, sister Sonny, 13, and brother Austin, 7. Unfortunately, brother Austin will miss the first two days of the tripbecause he is the lead
SPORTS • THREE-PEAT:Wildcat volleyers claim section title.C1 • FOOTBALL:Sonora plays for section title Saturday.C1 • BASKETBALL:Columbia Claim Jumpers get second-straight win over Gavilan.C1 • NFL: Del Rio'8 concerns go beyond non-challenge.C3
See TREE /Back Page
ra once a month to have sex
Curtis Creek fourth-grader J.J. Paris, 9, adds his handprint last week to a Christmas card for Gov. Jerry Brown.
A winter storm warning was issued Monday afternoon for 7 a.m. today through noon Wednesday for an area Forecasters in Sacramento say they including Sonora, Twain Harte, Murhave increased confidence a cold Gulf phys and San Andreas. of Alaska storm system that arrived Isolated, strong thunderstorms are overnight will bring rain and snow to possible. Cold and dry conditions are the Mother Lode today and tomorrow expected by Thursday. before Thanksgiving Day. Due to the outlook, Calaveras CounThe Union Democrat
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New location:
Maggie Beck/ Union Democrat
Purchasephotos online at www.uniondemocrat.corn
By GUY McCARTHY
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Hours
with the girl and promised to marry her once she turned 18, according to the District Attorney's Oflice. The girl's name was not released due to her age when the crimes occurred. See CLIFI'ON / Back Page
Rain and snow expected; Thanksgiving outlook cold, dry
NEWS TIPS? PHONE: 770-7153,5884534 NEWS: arritorounIondamocrat.a>m FEATUR ES: faatrtraalrtniondamocrai.corn SPORTS: aporisIuniondamocratcom EVENTS ANDWEEKENDER: waakand arlunIondamocratcom lEITERSi laaaraINunIondamocratcom CAlAVERAS BUREAU:770-7197 NEWSR OOMFA7E532-8451 SUBSCR IBERSERVICES: 533-3814
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clift o00
a fter ple a ding guilty Sept. 28 to felony charges of human trafficking,
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white fir from Latour Demonstration S t at e F o r est
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See SCAR/Back Page
TuolumneCounty
.. PARIS
— The Stanislaus County Coroner's Office is looking for relatives of a Twain Harte man who died at Doctors Medical Center in Modesto.A3
work, dammit, before this happened, this would still be beautiful." And because the land was not properly maintained, the future of what has long been
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Mon.- Fri., 7 a.m.- 6 p.m. Sat., 8 a.m.- 2 p.m. 9 0 0 Greenley Road, Suite 920 (aboveCommunityPharmacy)
Questions? 536-3600
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Shorter wait times for the latI Dedicated registration staff for the lab Larger waiting roomfor the lab
It's not only a draw, it's a win!
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ty Public Works employees are touting sandbag and gravel-bag locations for structure protection and fiood control. The locations are in Murphys, Arnold, Rancho Calaveras and Valley Springs, and Mountain Ranch in the Butte Fire burn. The weather system is being described as a "high impact, low eleva-
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SONOPa RegiOnal Medical Center ~A.dvendst Health
tion snow storm" with heaviest snow accumulations expected this afternoon,beforemany Thanksgiving travelers plan to hit the road. Most or all Central Sierra Nevada passes are already closed due to snow and ice, including Ebbetts Pass, SonoSee WEATHER/Back Page
Today:High 56, Low 36
Thur sday: High 52, Low 27
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