Ukiah Daily Journal from Ukiah, California • Page 1

Ukiah Daily MHHMMiv -VW ournal 1692, Donrey Media Group Tuesday, Dec. 29,1992 Joe's back in true form Montana shakes off the rain; 49ers shake off the 7 12 pages Volume 132 Number 219 25 cents tax included MENDOCINO COUNTY'S LARGEST NEWSPAPER DAYBREAK Tonle Godlnez Business school graduate Tonie Traina Godinez graduated from the paralegal studies program with President's Honors at Empire College School of Business recently in Santa Rosa. Godinez is a 1977 graduate of Leggett Valley High School and a 1979 graduate of Empire College's legal secretary with shorthand program. She is the daughter of Jim and Helen Traina, of Leggett, and has two children, Michael and Christopher. TIDBITS Christmas trees can be recycled locally, according to Keep Mendocino Beautiful.

In Ukiah, leave your old trees at curbside for regular yard waste pickup on garbage day. Trees must be cut into lengths of four feet or less. In Willits, unflocked trees can be dropped off without charge at Solid Wastes of Willits recycling center, 285 N. Lenore Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., or cut into lengths of six feet or less and left at curbside for pickup on garbage day.

Old trees are also accepted as yard waste at the Ukiah landfill, open Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The charge for yard waste drop-off is $3.75 per cubic yard, with a two-yard minimum. Additionally, in Ukiah, Pomolita Middle School band students will be holding a special Christmas tree pickup service Jan. 2 and 9, with a $2 donation requested.

Telephone 463-5999 for a reservation. The trees will be used for fish habitat in Lake Mendocino. DAILY 3: 8, 1. DECCO: clubs, diamonds, spades, 3. CORRECTIONS The name of Josefina Anzilotti- Batis was misspelled in the Friday edition of the Daily Journal.

Anzilotti-Batis was one of Yokayo Elementary School's students of the month for November. The Ukiah Dally Journal UMI apace to correct errore or make to Significant In or birth will reaull In reprinting of the entire Item. may be reported to the editorial department, 468-3500. WEATHER Outlook: Rain Temperatures Yesterday's high 49 Overnight low 39 Last year's high 53 Last year's low 48 Rainfall As of 8 a.m. today .86 Season to 14.97 Last year to 06.43 FIRE AND WATER The Dally Journal made from at 40 percent recycled rwmprinl Complete (he loop and recycle your Winter storm slams state More wet weather due this week By Journal staff and The Associated Press A winter storm pelted Northern California for a second day today with gusty winds and heavy rain, dumping more snow on the Sierra Nevada and shutting down three major highways over the mountain passes.

Locally, snow was reported at Cow Mountain where Bureau of Land Management crews stood in snow while they closed recreational vehicle trails because of muddy conditions. Snow was also reported in the Willits area. A dispatcher at the California Highway Patrol said Highway 101 at the Willits grade was slushy this morning, and snow was also falling along Highway 20 at the seven-mile grade west of Willits. Caltrans advised that chains and snow tires are required to drive Highway 175 over Cobb Mountain in Lake County, and blade and sand trucks have been called out in Laytonville. In Ukiah, rain is still falling in most areas.

Ukiah received .86 inches of rain in the last 24 hours as of 6 a.m. today, bringing the Ukiah rainfall to 14.9 inches for the season, compared to 6.43 inches at this time last year. The California Department of Forestry at Howard Forest reports a total of 1.30 inches of rain overnight with some snow falling this Metereologists said more than See WEATHER, Back Page Roly Dtily Journal A steady rain did not stop this fire from consuming an abandoned building In Redwood Valley Monday afternon. Redwood Valley Fire Chief Delbert Phelps said the structure wasalready down to Itsframewhen firefighters arrlved.The fire department allowed the fire to continue burning, while firefighters kept watch over the surrounding trees. According to Phelps, the former house had been abandoned for 20 years or more.

The cause of the fire Is under Investigation as "suspicious," and Phelps said he hoped to find out today how It got started. Finding a doctor takes persistence and luck EDITOR'S NOTE: This is part of a series appearing this week in the Daily Journal reporting on the difficulty of obtaining medical care within the Ukiah Valley and Mendocino County. By GLENDA ANDERSON Journal staff writer Looking for a primary care physician in Mendocino County? Anywhere? Good luck. Earlier this year, 50-year Ukiah resident Georgia Portlock went looking for a new physician because hers had become ill. She found a new doctor, but shortly after, he gave up his hospital privileges, which meant he would not be able to admit Portlock to the hospital should she become ill.

So Portlock, who is 79 years old an age at which hospitali- zatipn could easily become a reality went looking for a physican again. But "everybody I called would say, 'we're not taking any patients she said. Noting that many doctors are reluctant to accept Medicare patients because of the paper hassle and the reimbursement rate, Portlock said she told a doctor's office staff that she also has regular insurance. But they said, Georgia Portlock Tough to find a doctor we're not taking she said. With some difficulty, Portlock was able to get appointments with a couple of doctors, but she didn't care for them.

Finally, months after starting her search, she found a doctor she liked. But she was only able to get past the front office to see him after speaking with him at the hospital when her husband, George, was sick. Other county residents having difficulty finding primary care doctors aren't as persistent as Portlock. Some commute, others go to specialists, who tend to cost more to see, but also tend to be easier to get appointments with. Doctors at Copper Towers Family Health Center in Cloverdale are seeing some of Ukiah's See DOCTOR, Back Page Medical ethics conflicting more often with mortality By, DAVID BRIGGS The Associated Press BOSTON Walk into any intensive care unit in America, says bioethicist John J.

Paris, and you'll find at least two beds occupied by patients with no prospects for recovery. "We ask them what they want, and the answer comes back: 'Everything says Paris, a professor at Boston College. "It's another illusion we have immortality through medicine." But some inevitable forces of economics and ethics are bringing Americans face to face with their own mortality. The billions of dollars spent on aggressive care for the dying is the first place ethicists are urging insurance companies, corporations and politicians to look as they seek to control skyrocketing health costs. "That's a fairly stupid place to spend the money," sums up Thomas Shannon, a professor of social ethics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

And some patients, fearful that their last moments will be spent hooked up to a machine denying them any semblance of dignity, are demanding the right to die on their own terms. Since California in 1977 gave legal force to living wills, all but nine states have passed laws spelling out right-to-die rights. A federal Patient Self- Determination Act that took effect last November requires all hospitals and nursing homes receiving Medicare or Medicaid funding to inform patients of their legal rights to refuse care. And that's just the start. Last year, voters in the state of Washington nearly approved a measure that would have allowed adults to request and receive aid in dying from their physicians.

Forty-six percent voted for Initia- Cost of cure 1992 federal spending for major Research Treatment Prevention I I (In millions) Cancer Total: $2,050 million AIDS $1,967 million Disease $5 Total: $764 million Total: $308 million for fiscal year 1092 Source: US. Public Health Service live 119. Proposition 161, meanwhile, another proposal to allow physician-assisted suicide, was defeated by California voters in November. Some say this debate is healthy. "It's absolutely unacceptable to accept the notion that just Da Gaiero because we can treat, we must treat," said medical ethicist Stephen Post of Case Western Reserve University.

Others look at the lack of an ethical consensus that would extend even to giving doctors the See ETHICS, Back Page Start II treaty accord reached GENEVA (AP) The United States and Russia reached agreement today on a Start treaty that would sharply reduce the two countries' stockpiles of long-range nuclear weapons. Under the treaty announced by Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, hundreds of the world's deadliest nuclear range, land-based missiles with multiple warheads would be banned and stockpiles of U.S. and Russian strategic warheads would be pared to about one-third current levels. 3 It would be President Bush's See TREATY, Back Page California women still earning less LOS ANGELES (AP) Women in California earn 69 cents for every dollar men do, and the disparity worsens in such professions as dentistry and medicine, a study found. Women working full time earned an average $25,015 per year, compared to $36,248 for men, according to a Los Angeles Times analysis of U.S.

Census Bureau figures for 1989. The Times published the results today. Female dentists averaged 55 cents for every dollar earned by male colleagues, or $47,639 to $86,009 for men. Women physicians earned 57 percent per male dollar, or $62,574 to $110,224. Among grade school teachers, women earned an average $29,299 and men took home $35,273.

Nationally, women earn about See PAY, Back Page HOLIDAY ESS AYS Holidays reinforce positive role model of Jesus Christ EDITOR'S NOTE: The Daily Journal has asked people throughout the Ukiah Valley to write a series of essays on what Christmas and New Year's mean to them. By BOB ALTO hristmas is for me a joyous celebration of family activities (putting up the Christmas tree and decorating the house), exchanging and receiving gifts (even the shopping all year long is exciting), getting correspondence from friends all over the world (the one time of year everyone communicates), and listening to the sounds and seeing the visual symbols of the holiday (the carols, the lighted trees and houses, the Hanukkah candles, and The Nutcracker among others). In addition to all of those special happenings is the true meaning of Christmas for me, the commemoration of the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ. As a follower of Him, I am reminded during this season not only of His sacrifices and His resurrection for us all so that we will have eternal life, but that His example gave us not only hope but a positive role model to be happy in this life. With Christmas I am reminded of the powerful message of "peace on earth, good will toward men" which is the focus of the Savior's birth and mission.

Christ's birth reminds me to love others and to be in the service of my fellow beings just as He was. His life and message are important to everyone, Christian and non-Christian alike. As we enter 1993, I look forward to a new year of challenges and opportunities for my family and myself. The world is still far from perfection as it struggles with homelessness, starvation, conflicts, and disease, etc. In many ways, world conditions contradict the message of Christ's life.

I know I cannot do everything, but I am mindful that I have a small sphere of influence here in the Ukiah Valley where I can give hope, love, support, and understanding. As a teacher and counselor, I am constantly reminded that people need to See ESSAY, Back Page Bob Alto.