The Sacramento Bee from Sacramento, California • 18

The Sacramento Bee THURSDAY September 30 1999 SUPERIOR Internet WWWSACBEECOM WEATHER Page B2 OBITUARIES B5 EDITORIALS BG HMQ reforms may not change much Diana Griego Erwin Some plans ban suits already have reviews By Dorsey Griffith Bee Medical Writer While hailed as some of the strongest consumer legislation two key bills signed this week in California guaranteeing health plan members access to independent review and the right to sue may not dramatically change how most HMO enrollees resolve their disputes Several large plans already allow their members to ask an independent panel to review an treatment denial or delay a process called external review that will be required by the new law' beginning in 2001 While non-government employees will now have the right to sue their health plans many HMO members will be banned from seeking a jury trial because they had signed arbitration agreements with the health plan Gov Gray Davi i on Monday signed the liability and external review legislation ulong with 19 other reform bills Davis said the package will make the patient "the bottom line of every managed-care company in California" But even reform supporters agree consumers will be shortchanged unless the law is changed to prevent HMOs from requiring arbitration agreements a less than perfect justice system" said Jamie Court a consumer advocate who championed the HMO liability bill would like legislation clarifing that just because you sign up for an HMO mean you gie up the right to go to court" Please see SUIT page B1 This hands-on exhibit at the Memorial "Gold exhibition is designed to let visitors experience firsthand what a gold nugget feels like Cools Off I1 A "'-s- 'iT 'j CDF: Bad fuel hurt our planes It wants $774000 to replace engines By Tom Sellers Bee Correspondent The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has demanded $774000 in repayment from a Chico aviation business that filled three air tankers and two other CDF airplanes with contaminated fuel in August a spokeswoman said Wednesday The planes among up to 150 total aircraft that took on the contaminated fuel continued to fly firefighting missions for three weeks before Pacific Flight Service discovered that jet fuel had been mixed with fuel used in propeller engines and notified CDF No flight problems were reported CDF spokeswoman Karen Terrill said her agency sent a letter Tuesday to the aviation service at the Chico Municipal Airport demanding compensation for replacement of all engines on the five twin-engine airplanes is a said Linda Patrick general manager of Pacific Flight Service She said the problem was discovered Sept 20 by a bookkeeper who found a billing irregularity from a supplier The CDF airplanes the only ones affected Patrick estimated that up to 150 aircraft that filled up from her tanks were contaminated have heard of no one who has had an said Patrick who had not received the CDF letter by Wednesday afternoon She said that when she does get the letter it will be forwarded to her insurance carrier understand CDF probably had to take the steps they she said although the swiftness of the action was a surprise Despite the problem and her strongly worded letter Terrill said the CDF continues to fill its planes at Pacific Flight Service were very forthcoming and called us Terrill said a very good ven- Please see CDF pageB4 a U' ft 1 'ri 'Vvv 1' jL Portraits of a place and its history When Livingston Calif farmer Sweet Potato Joe Alvernaz looks you in the eye you can see the no-nonsense sort who gets things done But you can also tell he can laugh at life and himself when he wants to If the years have taught him anything to never say never Especially in California Anyone lived in the state for long knows as decent a maxim as any to live by in ever-changing California In case he thought he knew where he was headed when he went off to serve as a bomber gunner in World War II vowing never to work another day on his sweet potato farm But a wartime comrade never met a farmer before Brian Keith the actor nicknamed him Potato Alvernaz eventually returned to his farm and became the San Joaquin undisputed sweet potato king In all honesty I have never looked Sweet Potato Joe in the eye except in a photograph But easy to feel you know him somewhat after studying his portrait on the wall of classiest new venue the Golden State Museum The image is part of a black-and-white collection by Merced photojournalist Roger Wyan that provides a glimpse into the heart and soul of the Central Valley through its people firmly believe that the sleeping giant is undergoing a kind of Wyan 44 wrote of the Central Valley in an introduction to his exhibit Ground: Portraits from It runs through Jan 2 That renaissance Wyan later explained could mean the end of Valley life as generations have known it Farms orchards and ranches are succumbing to a sea of treeless housing tracts Lives tied to the land are being outnumbered by those of handed commuters tapestry of intimate portraits chronicles both where the been and in limited ways where going The people Wyan are drawn to are everyday sorts who have something interesting to share about their definition of Valley life: JT Masterson a ferry pilot who navigates the 50-yard crossing between Empire Tract and Venice Island in the Delta six times a day Maria Navarro an Exeter woman who took 37000 signatures to Washington DC to bring about a change in immigration law resulting in more families staying intact Carmon Neff a Chowchilla windmill maker taught impoverished Peruvian Indians how to move water using windmills made of eucalyptus-tree towers and goatskin blades Kia Lee dressed in traditional Hmong clothing for a weeklong New celebration in Merced Jose Rodrigues an honest-to-good-ness assistant Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel a Tulare poet whose 47 volumes chronicled the plight of her family and other transplanted Dust Bowl-era Oklahomans A portrait of four muscular men on an oil rig in Kern County which darned if I knew this is the United fourth largest oil-producing region behind Loi-siana Texas and Alaska The diversity of subjects also speaks to urban audiences who experience the intersection of competing cultures and lifestyles daily Ten minutes after leaving the exhibit for instance I was a Latina eating spicy Thai soup at a cafe with a French name A woman from the Philippines served me the woman sitting next to me while nibbling a scone wore a sari are not stereotypical images of Valley life they are genuine Wyan just recently figured out that his own upbringing is probably responsible for his interest in hard-working everyday Californians His father was a New York City firefighter who came home and told fascinating tales about the people met that day Wyan came to learn that everyday people had interesting stories to tell He also worries that some of the stories are disappearing sense of things is that in 20 years the Valley may not be what it is Wyan said worry about it and whether it can hang on By photographing it trying to hold onto DIANA GRIEGO ERWIN column appears Sunday uesday and Thursday Write her at Box 1 5779 Sacramento 95852 call (916) 321 1057 ore-mail her at dgnegotn safbee com bee photographs Anne Chadwick Williams Pupils from Rocklin's Parker Whitney Elementary pass the Night at the painting at Exhibit fails to strike pay dirt with public Parker Whitney students Alison Costello left and Audrianna Lee examine a gold display at the downtown exhibition were project manager Milita Rios-Sa-maniego said Average turnouts dipped below 500 during the summer although daily attendance has climbed to about 700 this month she By Robert Davila Bee Staff Writer The bug gripped 10-year-old Cojoya Davis the moment she laid wide eyes on the jewelry coins nuggets bullion and other gilded treasures on display at Memorial Auditorium like the she exclaimed Wednesday while touring Fever! The Lure and Legacy of the California Gold with her fifth-grade class from Kenneth Avenue Elementary School in Carmichael The exhibition is booked solid with school groups for the rest of its three-month Sacramento run which ends Oct 31 But the widely acclaimed showcase said of the defining era in history has lost some of its early luster with the general public Initial projections of 1000 visitors a day when opened Aug 1 The overall drop means the $14 exhibition probably will not break Please see GOLD pageB4 -1- Lincoln throws wrench into Indian casino plans it Forme gambling is wrong what it boils down to Michael Star Lincoln major Truce in foothill subdivision fight Builders trim El Dorado plans By Peter Hecht Bee Staff Writer In a breakthrough in a litigious war over growth in the Sierra foothills developers have agreed to scale back two El Dorado County subdivisions convert one into a complex for people over age 55 and take steps to preserve wetlands and night-time views of the stars The impact of the agreement between environmentalist and homeowner groups developers and county officials is that two major communities planned for El Dorado Hills will begin construction as early as next spring The subdivisions Carson Creek and The Promontory will add 2818 homes just across the Sacramento County line But they will take on decidedly different characteristics than once planned The two communities will total 1003 fewer homes I Please see SETTLE pageB4 By Art Campos Bee Staff Writer Turning its back on millions of dollars in inducements the Lincoln City Council has rejected an agreement to provide water and sewer service to a gaming casino planned south of town by a local Indian tribe The 5-0 vote late Tuesday left casino opponents ecstatic Some felt the lack of water and sewer connections would kill the project planned in the industrial area outside Lincoln Roseville and Rocklin Howard Dickstein attorney for the United Auburn Indian Community said the tribe has no plans to abandon the 58-acre site at Athens and Industrial boulevards tribe will have to build its own sewage-treatment plant" he said will cost several million dollars and the funds we were offering Lincoln will go toward building For water the tribe has options such as digging wells or approaching the Placer County Water Agency for a direct hookup Placer County Supervisor Bill Santucci an outspoken foe of the casino site said statement was a Santucci said the US Bureau of Indian Affairs which ultimately will decide the fate of the casino site likely to approve if Lincoln Roseville and Rocklin behind it Opponents of the site have said they wish to stop the tribe from building a casino but feel the proposed location is too close to homes schools and businesses and that it may load to increases in drugs drunken Please see GAMING pageB4 i.