Ukiah Daily Journal from Ukiah, California • Page 1

Your guide ta Special section Ukiah Daih Every postal workers nightmare: Fido Page 13 Sunday, Aug. 18,1991 Journal Donrey, Inc. Vol. 131 No. 105 20 pages Serving Mendocino County, Calif.

75 Cents taxlndudwl DAYBREAKER Amanda Mclaln likes to make people laugh Amanda Mclain, 12, an actress and model, left the San Francisco Bay Area a year ago, leaving behind a three-year modeling career with Star, a well- known San Francisco modeling agency which has produced many soap- opera and movie stars. Art, especially acting, is Amanda's passion. "I love the way it feels being in front of an audience," she said. "I like to make people laugh." She hopes to become a career actress. Last Christmas, she made her debut in The Best Chrjstmas Pagent Ever," at trie Ukiah Players Theater.

She played the part of Alice. Currently, she is taking classes in dance, piano, voice and horseback riding. Amanda, who will be attending Deep Valley Christian School this fall, is the daughter of Hank and Melissa Mclain. Her father works for and her mother helps Amanda with her career. TIDBITS The Ukiah Daily Journal has a new telephone system and new telephone numbers.

The Journal can now be reached at 468-3500, although the paper's previous number of 468-0123 will remain active for a time to allow people to become accustomed to the change. Other telephone numbers people may call directly include the Circulation Department at 468-3533 and the classified advertising section at 468-3535. CORRECTIONS Ttw Ukiah Dally Journal thla apaca to eon-act arrara or maka clarifications to nawa articles. Errors may ba raportad to the adltorlal department, 4684123. WEATHER Outlook: Fair Temperatures Fridays high 90 Friday's low 50 Last year's high 79 Last year's low 61 Saturday's high 93 Saturday's low 50 Last year's high 80 Last year's low 61 Rainfall As of 4 p.m.

Saturday 0.00 Season to 00.07 Last year to 00.00 Officer arrested in sting operation i me David Richard Arrested on suspicion of theft Dan Walker and Police Chief Fred Keplinger at 1:13 a.m. at the Ukiah Police Station on suspicion of grand embezzlement and By LOIS O'ROURKE Journal staff writer A two-month-long investigation has led to the arrest of a Ukiah police officer for allegedly stealing more than $400 cash from Hispanic, non-English speaking prisoners. David L. Richard, 26, of Ukiah, an officer with the Ukiah Police Department since March 1989, was arrested early Saturday morning during a sting operation conducted by Ukiah police investigators and state Department of Justice personnel. Richard was arrested by Sgt 5.8 Shelter Cove quake rattles Ukiah residents Second quake hits within hours By Journal staff and The Associated Press EUREKA Two strong earthquakes shook Northern California and southern Oregon on Satur-.

day, the second measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale. The first temblor, measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale, was felt in Ukiah and a police dispatcher said she received dozens of calls after the 12:29 p.m. quake. "I've probably received 50 calls from people some saying they're dizzy and nauseated," said Terri McAnally, a police dispatcher in Ukiah. There were no reports of injuries, but a house fell' off its foundation and small landslides closed at least one road.

The second quake struck at 3:17 p.m. in the Pacific Ocean 65 miles west of Crescent City, said, Willis Jacobs, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colo. Crescent City is on the coast about 20 miles south of the Oregon border. The first quake was centered on the coast 40 miles south of Eureka near Shelter Cove, in roughly the same spot as a 5.7-magnitude quake' Friday afternoon.

Ukiah Police Officer Marcus Young said no damage was reported in Ukiah, but a few automatic burglar alarms were activated by the quake. See QUAKE, Back Page Conservation kills governor's lawn SACRAMENTO Wilson is discovering there are some political battles that a governor just as the water consumption at his Sacramento home. It started in February, when Wilson's efforts to drum up public support for water conservation during the drought prompted reporters to look up the consumption at the official governor's residence. They found Wilson was using about three times as much water as his neighbors. Wilson responded by cutting back on the enthusiastic landscape watering by state gardeners and having a leak at his swimming pool fixed, and his water use fell below the 300-gallons-per-day goal he had set for all California families.

Now, it seems that the gardeners did too good of a job at conserving 1 water, since a large chunk of the lawn and other landscaping died. State crews were out Friday replacing the plantings a 6-by-l 2-foot patch of lawn and some junipers that bit the dust. "In the spirit of cutting down on the water, we lost the grass in that area," said Anne Garbeff, spokeswoman for the state Department of General Services. "This is the front yard and we just can't have it brown," she said. Wilson was out of the state and not available for comment.

theft from a prisoner and later booked into Mendocino County jail. Officials at the jail said he posted bail within an hour. The officer was placed immediately on administrative leave from the police department, pending a personnel hearing scheduled for Monday. Richard is scheduled for arraignment on the criminal charges Sept. 19 in Mount Sanhedrin Municipal Court here in Ukiah.

Contacted Saturday afternoon, Keplinger said he was "disgusted" with the: alleged actions of the I never had to arrest one of my own. It was disgusting. Police Chief Fred Keplinger officer. "It is an unfortunate incident that has brought embarrassment and a sense of shame to all of us at the Ukiah Police Department," Keplinger said. He later added, "He (Richard) violated one of the sacred trusts that citizens give to police officers honesty and integrity.

I hope people in the Hispanic community know we (the Ukiah police) took Set OFFICER, Page GUILTY PLEA Henry Plymlre, right, confers with his attorney, Duncan James, outside the courtroom after he pleaded guilty to felony drunken driving. Suspect pleads guilty to drunken driving Mario and Krlsten Scaturro, parents of Nicholas Scaturro, the boy who nearly lost his foot In the May 3 hit- and-run accident, listen to the court proceedings Friday. By LOIS O'ROURKJE Journal staff wrttar A Willits man pleaded guilty to felony drunken driving Friday in connection with a May hit-and- run accident where a 5-year-old Ukiah boy nearly lost his foot. Henry Plymire, 67, answered "guilty, sir" after Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Conrad Cox asked how he pleaded to the charge. The May 3 accident in the Wells Fargo Bank parking lot, 707 S.

State injured Nicholas Scaturro and caused an outpouring of generosity from the Ukiah community after the boy underwent surgery at the Ralph K. Davies Medical Center in San Francisco. Nicholas suffered a fracture of his left arm and leg and nearly lost his left foot as a result of the accident. The accident occurred when Plymire backed his Cadillac Coupe de Ville into the Scaturro van, pinning Nicholas underneath the wheel of the Van. The boy, now 6, is learning to walk again after months of hospitalization and therapy, according to his parents.

Appearing nervous throughout the court proceeding Friday, Plymire waived his right to a jury See GUILTY, Back Page Health care costs too much, nation's governors agree SEATTLE (AP) Governors opened debate Saturday on the nation's health care system, saying it is too expensive and bypasses too many people. But they also expressed misgivings about legislation pending before Congress. Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas, a Democrat who co-chaired a bipartisan study of the health care system, said he did not want Congress to enact legislation that failed to deal with "the structural issues, the cost control issues, the insurance reform issues." "I'm certainly not prepared to endorse any of the bills that are there (in Congress)," said Republican Gov. John Ashcroft of Missouri, who will be the next chairman of the National Governors' Association.

Ashcroft said he wasn't certain how he would vote on a lengthy statement that would put the governors on record in favor of sweeping changes in all aspects of the health care system. Joining the governors for a discussion of the issue was Sen. Bob Kerrey, who sponsored a health care bill before Congress. "To get the structural reform we need, real reform, the federal government ought to say yes to everything the states are asking," said Kerrey, a former governor. Kerrey said he saw no conflict between proposed legislation and the experimentation advocated by the governors.

The proposal before 'the governors calls for making affordable health care available to all Americans by the end of the decade. Pressing for full-scale debate of the issue was Gov. Booth Gardner of Washington, a Democrat who is this year's NGA chairman. Ashcroft will succeed Gardner at the close of the meeting. If adopted, the statement would put the governors on record sharply criticizing the current system and calling for sweeping changes in delivery of services and how they're paid for.

"Clearly, the nation's health care system is in trouble," said the draft policy statement. "The system costs too much and provides too little." Health care was the principal topic for the four-day meeting, which also will hear discussions of transportation, agriculture, trade, crime and the economy. The meeting was taking place at a time when many states are struggling to cope with economic hard times. An Associated Press survey of governors on the eve of the conference found nearly half saying their states were in a recession. Even those who said times were getting better said they didn't expect a dramatic upturn..