The Fresno Bee from Fresno, California • B1

DAYNAMER THE FRESNO BEE FINAL 1 Printed 11:30 Logical Page is THE FRESNO BY JIM DAVIS A decision to preserve a state program that protects farmland drew praise Wednesday, al- though a Fresno County farm group wondered why the pro- gram was even at risk. The Williamson Act allows counties to keep farmland free of development while giving tax breaks that help farmers, Supervi- sor Juan Arambula and fourth- generation farmer Brian Pacheco said. Act helps us especially in these down cycles to stay Pacheco said. The program was restored in Gov. proposed budget that was made public last week after earlier versions eliminated it.

But the farm bureau executive director, Karla Kay Ful- lerton, said the program never should have been on the chopping block. was disappointing that we had to spend so much time and effort lobbying for it when it should never have been in jeopar- dy in the first Fullerton said. For nearly 40 years, the Will- iamson Act has given farmers and landowners a property-tax break if they develop their land for a decade. The state paid counties $39mil- lion to make up for the losses in property taxes. Under previous versions of the state budget, Davis wanted to eliminate theWilliamson Act.

But last week, under his May revision of the budget, Davis restored the funding. a huge deal for the central Please see PROGRAM, Page B5 HOME AT LAST Chandra remains are soon to be returned to her family. Page B3 WANT NEWS ONLINE? SECTION OBITUARIES 6 OPINION 8 WEATHER 10 THE FRESNO BEE THURSDAY, MAY 22, 2003 Update to fair in the works The Big Fresno Fair envisions alterations to racetrack, more. Schools contract to change Fresno trustees plan a meeting to add at least $8.2 million back to the budget. Ready for the Weekend Bass Lake gets prepared for holiday tourism.

BY MARC BENJAMIN Improvements are under way for this version of The Big Fresno Fair, and plans are being made to develop a large park set- ting in the horse in- field parking area. But The Big Fresno Fair board has larger ambitions and iswork- ing on a master plan to revamp and update the grounds. Among proposals are efforts to make the fairground a year- a large region- al park, possibly amusement park rides or large exhibit hall. Modest improvements will make the groundsmore aestheti- cally pleasing, including rede- sign of entrances and planting of additional greenery along fence lines, said Scott Anderson, The Big Fresno chief executive officer. At 7 p.m.

today, the fair board will seek input on some of those long-term plans in the Fine Arts Building on The Big Fresno Fair grounds, 1121 S. Chance Ave. The public is invited. The master plan will examine projects for the fair grounds over thenext 10 to20 years and evalu- ate whether the ideas are viable. To shape the future, the fair board has hired a nationally known fairground-design firm, Bullock Smith Partners Inc.

of Knoxville, to create amas- ter plan for the grounds. really determined what direction we are Anderson said. can give us their two cents about impor- tant needs for the fair in the fu- Bullock Smith was paid $80,000 to formulate master plan concepts. The company has worked on redesign plans for fairs throughout the country. The design representa- tives will unveil its ideas for The Big Fresno Fair during meeting, Anderson said.

is probably a chance the general public comes up with something we never thought of thatwillmake Anderson said. what will be born out of this will be a laundry list of things we can do from year to year to update the The Big Fresno Fair board has been crossing items off that list in the past two years. The fair board demolished the Wine Roses Building and re- placed it with a grass courtyard withwalkways and a concert pa- vilion and then developed a new grass parking lot at Butler and Maple avenues that doubles as soccer fields when the fair is not held. The board is moving ahead with two more projects: a pad- dock improvement plan to open a southern entrance to the grand- stand; and the grandstand in- field project that will feature a park, lake, baseball and soccer fields on the infield grass. That $3 million-plus project may require more than one year and several phases to completebecauseof costs, Ander- son said.

The $500,000 paddock-im- provement project is under way and should be done next month. Gone is a shish kebab stand on the southern edge of the grand- Please see FAIR, Page B2 BY ERIN KENNEDY After getting a scolding from the Fresno Teachers Association president and impassioned pleas from nurses and teachers not to wait, Fresno Unified trustees agreed to hold a special meeting Friday to ratify a contract change that adds at least $8.2 million back to the budget and to look at restoring jobs. Union members came to Wednesday board meet- ing expecting to hear trustees ac- cept the contract ratifica- tion and start rescinding pink slips. But it listed on the agenda. going to scold a little said FTA President Sherry Wood.

been ready and all lined School nurse Vicki Reinhardt, part of the FTA bargaining team, echoed that: was hoping to go home and make phone calls to nurses to beg themnot to get new jobs. I feel The union acted in haste, Wood said, to cast a yes vote on adding two students to classes in grades 4-12 and to increase their monthly health insurance contribution from $10 to $70 for a family and to pay more for doc- tor visits and prescriptions. And teachers stayed late Monday to count those votes in hopes of sav- ing jobs, Wood said. The district faces a possible $40 million defi- cit in its $850 million budget, mostly because of the state bud- get crisis. The district had to complywith a May 15 legal deadline and send out layoff notices to 490 teachers, counselors, nurses and adminis- trators and to 500 employees without teaching certificates, such as janitors, cooks, bus driv- ers and clerks.

But trustees prom- ised that as soon as all five of the unions ratified changes in health benefits that bring in savings, they would begin restor- ing those positions. On Wednesday, the board an- nounced it would wait until a June 4 meeting to do that. Super- intendent Santiago Wood said it would take that long for other unions to vote on contract chang- es and for administrators to come upwith a list of jobs that could be paid for out of those savings. almost there. We ask for he said.

Please see MEETING, Page B4 he guide is derived fromthe Spanish word for the ash trees that grew on the banks of local rivers and sloughs. another, lesser-known etymological tidbit: Fresno also is derived from the Armenian word for worst I made up the part about the Armenian word. But truth is stranger than fiction, and truth is, nothing stranger than local drivers. Name a vehicular sin, got it. Last week alone, city cops gave out 1,300 tickets.

lived from here to Michigan, and Fresno says Andrea Akers, secretary at the Drive America traffic school. got red-light runners. Chronic speeders. Daydreamers going 20 mph in the left lanes on Shaw Avenue. Freeway cruisers who hit the gas when you try to pass them.

Panicked shoppers going around and around the River Park traffic circle without the vaguest idea how to exit. even got people who try to drive with their knees while pressing cell phones against both ears. Thank goodness these nutcakes born with three ears. If you wanted to sum up our sorry state of driving on a T-shirt, the logo would have to say, Destruction Derby, Jan. 1-Dec.

Drivers this bad born. They need years of breaking the law and getting away with it to become the worst of the worst. Here in Fresno, we were pushed along by a crazy deal that encouraged cops to look the other way. The genesis was a 1977 revenue-sharing agreement that gave all of the fines from city traffic violations to Fresno County. Under that scheme, after figuring in officer salaries, the city lost money every time a cop opened his ticket pad.

The results were embarrass- ing, costly and deadly. Fresno ranked among the top 10 metropolitan areas for deaths caused by red-light runners. Last summer, Fresno County agreed to share the fines as long as the city used them for traffic-law enforcement. Now the city is making up for lost time with a 37-officer patrol team that is cracking down on bad drivers. There have been 16 traffic fatalities this year compared with 52 in 2002.

are starting to get Fresno police Lt. Andy Hall says. Business is booming at traffic schools, where drivers can remove violations from their records by completing an eight-hour safety class. Among those headed for traffic school is Drive America manager Nancy Garcia. An officer recently cited her for speeding at the intersection of Barstow and West avenues.

The same officer, she says, wrote up a man in the car behind her for speeding and tailgating. was a Garcia says. was turning left, and he said I was going 55. How can that be? I always drive under 40. I even go 55 on the Though she disputes her ticket, Garcia says the city is doing the right thing by putting the brakes on dangerous habits.

do have some terrible drivers in she says. see them every day when I go to work and when I go What does Akers hear most when people show up for class? lot of them tell me never gotten a ticket Akers says. Finally, a Fresno traffic-school tale that rings of the truth. The columnist can be reached at or 441-6632. Brakes put on bad drivers Budget leaves ag land secure Davis restores funds for Williamson property-tax breaks.

Bill McEwen BY LISA ALEMAN-PADILLA A combination of summerlike temperatures and a three-day weekend is expected to lure hun- dreds of water enthusiasts to Bass Lake for Memorial Day. Valley residents should be ready for a break from the heat. High temperatures Wednesday pushed into the mid-90s from Merced to Visalia, and more warm weather is expected be- tween now and the holiday. The Pines Resort at Bass Lake had reserved rooms for nearly 400 guests as ofWednesday and more bookings were expected, said BrianWilkinson, director of sales and marketing. He said accommodations would probably fill up Saturday and Sunday, and area camp- grounds were sold out already.

full and look- ing he said. is kind of the first official kickoff of the Temperatures at the lake should be about 10degrees cool- er than on the Valley floor. Forecasts call for highs in the low- to mid-80s under clear skies today. In the Valley, temperatures in the mid-90s are expected today and Friday, with a slight cooling into the low 90s Saturday. Wilkinson said other activi- ties drawing visitors to the mountains for the weekend in- clude the Fair in near- by Oakhurst and the Jazz on the Lake series, scheduled to begin Friday evening at the resort.

While good news for local business owners, it puts law enforcement on high alert. They expect about 500 boats and personal watercraft to launch from the shores be- fore the weekend is over. they obey the law, all have a whole lot of said Erica Stuart, spokeswoman for the Madera County De- partment. For the second straight year, personalwatercraft designed for three or fewer passengers will be allowed only in three lake areas, said a sergeant who over- sees boatoperations for the sher- department. Four-passenger watercraft may use the same areas as boats butmust abide by the traf- fic pattern, he said.

Please see LAKE, Page B5 DARRELL WONG THE FRESNO BEE Scott Anderson, chief executive officer of The Big Fresno Fair, tours the south side of the grandstand area, where the paddocks are located. The area is expanding with landscaping and a new south entrance to the grandstand. That project should be completed next month. IF YOU GO What: A town hall meeting to review The Big Fresno Fair master plan options When: 7 to 8:30 p.m. today Where: Fairground, 1121 S.

Chance Fresno Details: (559) 650-3247 BY JERRY BIER One man was sentenced to 18 months in prison and another pleaded guilty to making false claims against the government as part of a $13.3 million tax-fraud case described by Internal Reve- nue Service investigators as one of the largest schemes ever uncov- ered in Central California. Miguel Mendoza, 37, of Porter- ville was sentenced to 18 months inprison byU.S. District Judge An- thony W. Ishii on Monday. Mendoza had admitted in a plea agreement last month that he allowed his sister, Elvia Ruiz, who also is charged in the case and has pleaded innocent, to use his address and post office boxes to receive tax-refund checks.

Mendoza said he would deposit the checks into his bank at direction, then wait three to five days and withdraw the money, keeping $100 or $200 for himself and giving the rest to his sister. Norberto Torres Ramos, 31, of Terra Bella pleaded guilty Mon- day. Ramos saidhe paid $100 each for Mexican voter registration cards and used them to have W-7 forms completed to establish IRS taxpayer identification numbers. He then would use that informa- tion to have W-2 forms prepared to submit tax returns. Ramosadmittedheknewthe in- formation he submitted to the IRS was false.

He also acknowledged that he had rented or had access to numerous post office boxes in Richgrove, Terra Bella and Ducor. Please see CASE, Page B4 Porterville man to serve 18 months for tax fraud.