The Sacramento Bee from Sacramento, California • 17

The Sacramento Bee SECTION Thursday February 6 14') 7 EDITORIALS OBITUARIES bee on the internet wwwsacbeecotn S3 a I iTTiliTiitlirf admit Diana Griego Erwin in North Sacramento said homicide Sgt John Parker Harrell who has admitted to using methamphetamine was not on drugs or intoxicated at the time police said Researchers however say chronic methamphetamine use can induce severe paranoia and violence in users even when they are not directly under the influence of the drug The drug is also believed to be a key contributing factor to the rising number of domestic- and child-abuse cases Harrell lives with his mother Rosie jandre child was beaten repeatedly nearly to the point of Police arrested Harrell 23 on suspicion of killing the infant later that night He confessed during questioning Alejandre said Harrell is scheduled to appear in court today for his arraignment Alejandre would not say what else Harrell told investigators Paramedics found the child unconscious and not breathing in a litter-strewn apartment infested with syringes when they arrived at apartment By Yvonne Chiu Bee Staff Writer John David Harrell confessed to continuously striking 15-month-old Brady West until the child was nearly dead police said A preliminary examination reported the infant died of blunt trauma to the abdomen around 11 am on Tuesday shortly after paramedics were summoned to the apartment Harrell shared with his mother said Sacramento Police Department spokeswoman Pam Ale- Blaker who was the baby sitter at Palm Courts Apartment on the 600 block of Plaza Avenue Blaker left the apartment to conduct business before the fatal injuries were inflicted police said grandfather and legal guardian Joseph Defoe 45 left the child in care in November Officials at the Sacramento County Child Welfare Division would not return telephone messages Wednesday No one else has been arrested in the beating or neglect of the child Alejandre said believe he acted alone in Gary Allen sits with his dog Lucy in his new Isleton apartment The Red Cross helped with the purchase of a new bed Red Cross floods area with relief Leabo to head Grant schools Board lets police keep their guns By Emily Bazar Bee Staff Writer Grant Joint Union High School District board members unanimously agreed late Wednesday to name interim Superintendent Sue Leabo as the permanent leader and followed her recommendation to let Grant police officers keep their guns With a burst of applause from the audience the board voted 4-0 with Trustee Erthia Johnson absent to extend contract through June 2000 has been a superb assistant superintendent for four years and is bringing her fairness and positive vision with her as a Board President TiAnne Rios said Leabo said she and the boaid will pursue three goals in the coming year: organizing curriculum around career paths looking mlo a year-round single-track schedule and considering block scheduling sincerely committed to the success of the Grant district and I do think we will make a she said after her contract was approved In her five months with the district Leabo has tackled one of its most debated institutions: the Grant police force In January she unveiled recommendations to restructure tile agency which the board accepted on a 3-1 vote Wednesday night with Trustee Linda Shull opposed Leabo wanted to keep Grant police armed but limited to patrol-ing campus perimeters where they would be expected to keep students safe from outsiders District police have been scrutinized since October when the release of an independent report described a badly trained disorganized and overly armed force 3 lie report recommended disarming officers and selling their patrol cars In late November a Grant police officer shot and killed a 19-year-old man during a struggle for the gun outside of a basketball game at Highlands High School Although Trustee Kevin Hay--bert said he want guns on campus he's confident that armed officers on the outskirts of cam-pu-es can coordinate woth un- see (RANT page B'l Basketball teams make a city This a column about what Sacramento should have done in the Kings deal because frankly there were reasons to beg the Kings to stay and reasons to tell them to hit the road it What I want to address is all the talk about what a second-rate miserable little cow town Sacramento would have been without the Kings We heard it in so many words from team captain Mitch Richmond first and then City Councilman Sam Pannell and Chamber of Commerce President Rusty Hammer sang the chorus Others joined in singing the praises of the less tangible benefits the Kings bring Sacramento like having our image spread far and wide via the mass dissemi- nation of sports scores on national TV Not that Kings scores are consistently worth crowdng about but beside the point Their point was that having an NBA team has Sacramento on the as several fans put it This implies that we were not on the map before a notion I reject But it also begs a question that Sacra-J mento has struggled with for some time which is what defines a city? What makes us or would make us feel about Sacramento the way Herb Caen felt about his beloved adopted San Francisco? Or put another way of all the places people could go why do some move here and stay in effect choosing Sacramento? made my home here because my life feels balanced said bartender Joe Halero 27 who lived in Miami St Louis and Los Angeles before moving here three years ago take forever to get to work there are places to hang out I play slo-pitch I work I go out for jazz I kayak I ski Everywhere I go I run into people I know weird That happen in most came here for my husband's (job) interview and stopped by a festival in Old Sac that weekend and there seemed to be a lot of families there kids everywhere children who seemed thrilled by simple things like bubbles and cotton said Marilyn Angel who relocated from Southern California in 1992 They w'ere invited to dinner at the house and the family readied themselves for a formal somewhat uncomfortable meal among strangers Instead everyone spent the evening sipping wine in a back yard dripping with camellias while the Angel children swam in a pool wearing borrowed swimsuits felt like family life was said Angel 42 were People mentioned hot summer nights spent watching old mov ies on the side of a building in Old Town They talked of motoring down the Delta Of Sunday brunch outdoors at the Tower Cafe Of Music Circus under the big tent Of midtown Halloweens and free Music in the Park concerts On the negative side teens complain of nothing to do Others worry about personal safety increasing racial divisions closed libraries crumbling schools drugs There are those whose relocation checklist included have an NBA But speaking in dire tones of how the Future of The City rests on keeping a basketball team in town is silly if not manipulative And certainly not true Sports are great but they define a city Sacramento's grow th and cultural blossoming preceded the Kings in fact made their move here possible Check around and you'll find a surprising number of intelligent interesting people ho love this city but have never seen the Kings play Some of these same people wonder how-great this city might become if the same herculean efforts mounted to The Kings" were directed to fundamentally important endeavors such as making i Sacramento-area schools second to none People have argued that a Kings-schools comparison is apples and oranges that unlike schools the Kings have reve-nue sources to pay the city back But an equally bold investment in education would result in the city being paid back in full with interest Given the tools the attention and settings that are at least as modern and well-maintained as the local McDonald's would show oungsters rather thanjust tell them' that education is truly valued Goodness if adults revered our schools like we do sports celebrities school would be cool As for profit on investment a lot more corporations considering Sacramento ask about the state of area schools than they do the existence of professional sports teams I'm watching for the placard demanding we Our Schools" DIANA GRIEGO ERWIN ccijma accea-s Srcay Tuesday a-'d Tricscay e- at 0 Bo 15779 Sjo-arrerto 95852 HC9 eai d-egoasacteeccorcal 1C57 Gary and Linda Allen lived in the Hotel Del Rio for 31 days after flooding forced them from their home Jan 3 The Red Cross paid for the hotel stay and the deposit on an apartment rTtV Volunteers still helping Central Valley victims weeks after disaster hit By Edgar Sanchez Bee Staff Writer The Red Cross never goes away A month after Gary and Linda Allen were flooded out of Ida Island near Isle-ton the couple got a visit Tuesday from a Red Cross worker who wanted to ensure they were all right Red Cross has been wonderful to Linda Allen said noting the relief agency had put the couple up in an Isle-ton hotel for 31 days and given them other assistance including a deposit toward an apartment where they are staying while their home is rebuilt Helping disaster victims has been the mission of the American Red Cross for 116 years The agency was ready when the first in a series of storms walloped Northern the first of an estimated 6000 local volunteers into affected areas Soon after about the time that California was declared a major disaster area the chapters issued a plea for Please see RED CROSS page B3 California over the New holiday Flooding forced more than 100000 people from their homes in the Central Valley and elsewhere the largest evacuation in state history Fifteen Red Cross chapters across the alley sprang into action dispatching Lincoln man guilty of murder in fatal wreck findings to the alternate counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated makes no sense Peters declared they decided was that he was guilty in 1996 because he killed somebody in Erickson was marginally intoxicated and Please see ERICKSON page B4 sion that will send the 23-year-old Lincoln man to state prison for a minimum of 15 years to life But the verdict hailed by prosecutor Daniel Gong left defen-e attorneys Ronald Peters and David Dratman mystified baffled by what this jury Peters said after hearing the same jury that found his client guilty of murder return not-guilty By Wayne Wilson Bee Staff Writer It take long Wednesday for a Yuba County jury- to convict Jeffrey Aaron Erickson of two counts of second-degree murder After getting the case at midday the panel of six men and six women needed just a few hours of deliberation to reach the deci Clinton budget proposal seeks to speed levee repairs Mickey Mouse greets Eddie Wilson 1and volunteer Intae Moon on Wednesday at the UC Davis Medical Center Mickey is performing with Walt Disney's World on Ice at Arco Arena through Sunday Bee photograph Laura Chun INSIDE President Clinton 1998 budget includes a $143 3 million inest merit in Calt'orma wa'er futiro Page B4 to provide -mall allocation- far a project However the expenditure i packaged if approved by an unu-uallv quick re-spon-e by the Chnton admim-tra-tion will trim -everal month- off the normal timetable and allow the repair- to begin a- soon a- d---ign and preparatory work is corn- By Herbert A Sample Bee ashington Bureau WASHINGTON To speed up flood control work in Sacramento Pre-ident Clinton will a-k Congress to finance the federal share of repair- to American and Sacramento river levees the fi-cal 1 998 budget Clinton who will unveil hi-i 1998 spending blueprint also may recommend that the entire federal of levee upgrade et at $49 million be approved all at once by That would depart from the uvaal method in which lawrmer-vote annually over several vear- J'lease see LEVEES page.