SMASHING DEBUT:'Cat hoopsters open tourney with win MORE IN SPORTS:Ackerman:Twelve years for deer tag worth the wait; Preps Roundup:Tioga's Dauth has monster night in win, C1
1HE MOl HERLODE'S LEADING INFORMATION SODRCE SINCE1854 • SONORA, CALIFORNIA
FRIDAY
DECEMBER 4, 2015
TOD AY'S READER BOARD BRIEFING
ChineseCamp
ner
a n t's uture remains uncertain
By ALEX MacLEAN
mains in limbo, with a bipartisan bill to subsidize some operationalcosts at a standThe fate of a biomass en- still in the California State ergy plant in Chinese Camp Legislature. thatemploys 25 people mostAn industry leader says the ly from Tuolumne County re- 20-megawatt Pacific UltraThe Union Democrat
power Chinese Station facility is one of eight plants in the state that are at risk of shutting down within the next 13 months unless more is done to help biomass energy stay economically competitive against
other heavily subsidized re- southern region general mannewable sources, such as solar ager for the Orange CountyBlld wmd. based IHI Power Services a We're losing i n frastruc- Corporation, which operates ture that could help solve our the Chinese Camp plant. problem with dead and dying trees," said Rick Spurlock, SeeBIOMASS /Back Page
Polar ExpressPassengers boarded the Polar Express Wednesday evening at Railtown 1897 State Historic Park in Jamestown.A2
CalaverasCountv
Saii iieriiariiiBO H
Initiative
H
would ban private med pot cultivation
OplhlOh —Elias: Good news, bad news in latest school test scores. Chavez: Call it Islamist terrorism, Mr. President.A4
COMMUNITY ON PAGE A5:Motives for shooting complex; FBI exploring terrorism, workplace violence
By JASON COWAN The Union Democrat
• COUNTS COMING UP:Volunteers sought for annual Christmas Bird Counts.B1 • VISITING VETS: Group brightens holidays for veterans.B1 • HISTORY BUFFS: Tuolumne County Historical Society will hold luncheon, elections.B1 • VETS' CORNER:Pay, benefit uncertainty tops new family survey.B1 • FLASHBACK:The Union Democrat shares an unidentified photo. Do you remember?B2 • WEDDING: Lafayette and Quire tie the knot. B2 • GIVING SPIRIT: Food Bank distributes 1,600 Thanksgiving bags.B2 • RELIGION: Events and outreach in the Mother Lode.B3
NEWS ELSEWHERE • WASHINGTON: Defense Secretary Ash Carter ordered all military jobs now be open to women.A5 • LONDON:Coalition targets IS oil facilities in Syria.A5 • FRESNO:Gray wolves could be stripped of state endangered species protections.AS
SAN BERNARDINO (AP) — Californiagunman Syed Rizwan Farook had been in contact with known Islamic extremists on social media, a U.S. i ntel-
Roger Morgan said he is pushing for a ban on privately owned medical marijuana development and dispensaries because he's concerned for the
ligence official
environment.
satd T h u r sday, and police s aid he a n d his wife h ad enough bullets Far ook and bombs to slaughter hundreds when they launched their deadly attack on a holiday party. The details emerged as investigatorstried to deter-
The founder of the Take Back America Campaign, a California nonprofit group createdthis year, said that the naturalresources statewide are being depleted by the 50,000 medical marijuana cultivation sites throughout California. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has re-
mine whether the rampage
ported massive devastation
that left 14 people dead Marcus Yam /Los Angeles Times/TNS was terrorism, a workplace Chelsie Ramirez (left) and her mother, Josie Ramirez-Herndon (center), attend a grudge or some combination. candlelight vigil Thursday at San Manuel Stadium in San Bernardino, a day after a The h u s band-and-wife shooting at the Inland Regional Center that killed 14 and wounded 21. killers were not under FBI ''We don't know if this was scrutinybefore themassacre, gathered Wednesday morn- the coupleleft three riggedsaid a second U.S. ofrtcial, ing. Farook had attended the together pipe bombs with workplace rage or something who likewise was not autho- event but slipped out and re- a remote-control detonat- larger ora combination of rized to discuss the investi- turnedinbattle dress. ing device that apparently both," Attorney General LoFour hours later and two m alfunctioned, and t h ey retta Lynch said in Washgation and spoke on condition of anonymity. miles away, the couple died in had more than 1,600 rounds ington, echoing President Wearing black t actical a furious gunbattle in which of ammunition r e maining Barack Obama. 'We don' t gear and wielding assault they fired 76 rounds, while when police killed them in know the motivation." rifies, Farook, a 28-year-old 23 law offi cers unleashed their rented SUV, Burguan Investigatorsare trying to county restaurant inspector, about 380, police said. said. determine whether Farook, and his wife, Tashfeen MaOn Thursday, Police Chief At a family home in the who was Muslim, became lik, 27, sprayed as many as Jarrod Burguan ofFered a nearby town of Redlands, radicalized — and, if so, how 75 roundsinto a room at a grim inventory that suggest- theyhad 12 pipebombs, tools — as well as whether he was socialservice center for the ed Wednesday's bloodbath for making more, and over in contact with any foreign disabled, where about 75 could have been far worse. 3,000 additional rounds of of Farook's co-workers had At the socialservicecenter, ammunition, the chief said. See SHOOTING / Back Page
to the streams and resources in Northern California. It is catastrophic, said Morgan, a resident of Placer County. The industry is drying up streams, which is affecting everything
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But Ben Bradley, operations director of the California Cannabis Industry Association, said the depletion of resourcescomes from most of
the illegal grows in the state, which only exist in a system absent of regulations. Cannabis legalization would create a regulatory process, eliminating many of the illegitimate sites and their strains See POT/Back Page
Visual impairment doesn't stop man from setting his sights high By LACEY PETERSON
NEWS TIPS?
downstream.
The Union Democrat
The best part of Michael Lida's day is when he's dreaming. Ks dreams are vivid, sharp and in color. That's a big deal for someone who is nearly blind. He has 8 percent vision in his right eye. Yet, Lida says he feels lucky to be able to see in his sleep. Lida,61, suffered a stroke at 48. He was healthy before and
In '
worked as a carpenter in Modesto, where he spent a good portion of his youth. Retired from the U.S. Army after 21 years, he fiew helicoptersand was stationed allover the world, including Korea and Germany. Hehitchhiked around England while on leave once. The strokeaffected the ti p of a bundle of nerves into his eyes, and the nerve connectors died. It caused tunnel vision and double vision. About two weeks after his stroke, Lida was at home watch-
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ing TV and his vision got fuzzy, then turned to double vision. His doctor sent him to a neuro-ophthalmologist at University of California, San Francisco, known for its ophthalmology department. "He told me, 'there's nothing we can do,' " Lida said. "He told me, 'right now you have vision, but it' s probably going to go black at some point.' " Maggie Beck / Union Democrat It hasdeteriorated since and Michael Lida, of Sonora, who is legally blind, examines a telephone photo dialer designed See VISION/ Back Page for visually impaired people. Q ss as
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