Month: December 2021

By Larry Judkins

Glenn County Observer

Habitat for Humanity, the organization made famous in part through the participation of former President Jimmy Carter after he left the White House, has a project planned for Orland.

Working in partnership with the City of Orland and the County of Glenn, Habitat for Humanity (H4H for short) wants to purchase the Orlanda Inn Motel at 827 Newville Road, next to the Subway sandwich shop, and completely refurbish it, adding a second story and, perhaps later, additional residences. The site would not provide temporary shelter or walk-in accommodations, but would establish long-term housing for the homeless.

The Orland City Council has held two public meetings dealing with the proposed H4H project, on Oct. 19 and Nov. 2. Three members of the Orland City Council, Orland City Manager Pete Carr, and Orland Police Chief Joe Vlach also recently visited the H4H 62-room Harmony Village in Yuba City.

The Orland officials were impressed with Harmony Village. Comments made at the Orland City Council meetings indicated that they are convinced a similar facility would be an asset to Orland.

The present Orland Inn Motel requires a great deal of attention from the Orland Police Department. It is believed that the new facility would greatly reduce the demands on law enforcement.

Councilmen also remarked that the H4H facility would greatly improve the appearance of the Newville Road/Highway 32 entryway to Orland.

The selection of residents, H4H says, would require that they meet certain qualifications. Ongoing site management would be provided.

The premises would be gated, and passcodes would be required to enter the property. In another effort to keep the “riff-raff” out, guests would have to check in.

H4H would own and operate the 30-residence facility, while Glenn County Health and Human Services would provide a variety of services to the residents, ranging from behavioral health to employment skills. H4H also has plans for a satellite administrative office in Orland and a ReStore surplus building products outlet.

A great deal depends on the project being awarded a grant from the California Department of Housing and Community Development’s “Homekey Program.” This program provides, the department explains, an “opportunity for state, regional, and local public entities to develop a broad range of housing types, including but not limited to hotels, motels, hostels, single- family homes and multifamily apartments, adult residential facilities, and manufactured housing, and to convert commercial properties and other existing buildings to Permanent or Interim Housing for the Target Population.”

The application for funding to complete the project could be up to $8,000,000.

Habitat for Humanity is a “faith-based” organization. It describes its mission as “Seeking to put God’s love into action, Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities and hope,” and the first of its stated “principles” is to “Demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ.”

However, it also has a non-proselytizing policy: “Habitat for Humanity and its affiliate organizations will not proselytize. Nor will Habitat work with entities or individuals who insist on proselytizing as part of their work with Habitat. This means that Habitat will not offer assistance on the expressed or implied condition that people must adhere to or convert to a particular faith or listen and respond to messaging designed to induce conversion to a particular faith.”

There are concerns that faith-based organizations like H4H that form partnerships with government entities and/or receive government funding of various types are in violation of the constitutionally required separation of state and church. The courts and constitutional scholars are divided on this issue, however.

Critics charge, among other things, that government partnerships with and financial aid to faith-based service organizations can be taken as signs that government entities endorse not just the public services provided by these religious groups, but the religious groups themselves. In the case of the Orland H4H project, some could see it as the City of Orland, the County of Glenn, and the State of California supporting not only Habitat’s project for the homeless, but its religious outlook, Christianity, as well.

Advocates, however, maintain that government entities should assist faith-based social programs so long as they do so without any kind of endorsement or favoritism. They are confident that these organizations can distinguish between permissible social services and impermissible proselytizing.

Following the public hearing at the Nov. 2 meeting, the Orland City Council addressed an authorizing resolution. The resolution states:

RESOLUTION NO. 2021-23

A RESOLUTION OF THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF ORLAND AUTHORIZING JOINT APPLICATION TO AND PARTICIPATION IN THE HOMEKEY PROGRAM

WHEREAS:

A. The Department of Housing and Community Development (“Department”) has issued a Notice of Funding Availability, dated September 9, 2021 (“NOFA”), for the Homekey Program (“Homekey” or “Program”). The Department has issued the NOFA for Homekey grant funds pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 50675.1.3 (Assembly Bill No. 140 (2021-2022 Reg. Sess.), § 20.).

B. The City of Orland (“Co-Applicant”) desires to jointly apply for Homekey grant funds with Habitat for Humanity Yuba-Sutter (“Corporation”). Therefore, Co[1]Applicant is joining Corporation in the submittal of an application for Homekey funds (“Application”) to the Department for review and consideration.

C. The Department is authorized to administer Homekey pursuant to the Multifamily Housing Program (Chapter 6.7 (commencing with Section 50675) of Part 2 of Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code). Homekey funding allocations are subject to the terms and conditions of the NOFA, the Application, the Department-approved STD 213, Standard Agreement (“Standard Agreement”), and all other legal requirements of the Homekey Program.

THEREFORE, IT IS RESOLVED THAT:

1. Co-Applicant is hereby authorized and directed to submit a joint Application to the Department in response to the NOFA, and to jointly apply for Homekey grant funds in a total amount not to exceed $8,000,000.00.

2. If the Application is approved, Co-Applicant is hereby authorized and directed to enter into, execute, and deliver a Standard Agreement in a total amount not to exceed $8,000,000.00, any and all other documents required or deemed necessary or appropriate to secure the Homekey funds from the Department and to participate in the Homekey Program, and all amendments thereto (collectively, the “Homekey Documents”).

3. Co-Applicant acknowledges and agrees that it shall be subject to the terms and conditions specified in the Standard Agreement, and that the NOFA and Application will be incorporated in the Standard Agreement by reference and made a part thereof. Any and all activities, expenditures, information, and timelines represented in the Application are enforceable through the Standard Agreement. Funds are to be used for the allowable expenditures and activities identified in the Standard Agreement.

4. City Manager or their designee, is authorized to execute the Application and the Homekey Documents on behalf of Co-Applicant for participation in the Homekey Program.

Councilman Dennis Hoffman moved to approve the resolution and Councilman Chris Dobbs seconded it. In the final vote, they were joined by Mayor Bruce Roundy and Vice Mayor Jeffrey Tolley. Councilman William “Billy” Irvin was absent.

Don’t expect work on the project to begin immediately. This is reportedly going to be a gradual process.

Stay tuned.

On Sept. 5 of this year, I watched reporter John Dickerson interview Pulitzer Prize-winning Associated Press photographer Richard Drew on the CBS Sunday Morning television program.

Drew’s most famous photograph may be “The Falling Man”, which shows a man plummeting to the ground following the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001. In the days following 9/11, this picture appeared on the front pages of countless newspapers around the United States and around the world.

To this day around the anniversary of the infamous attacks, many Americans use this and other photos of other falling men and women to remind us of the importance of this day in history. On the other hand, some people consider it disrespectful to show such unpleasant pictures, maintaining that photos like these demonstrate a lack of empathy toward families and friends of those who died, for whom such images are the last ones they will ever see of their loved ones.

Another famous photograph taken by Richard Drew was that of Robert F. Kennedy as the presidential candidate lay dying on the kitchen floor of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles after being shot by assassin Sirhan Sirhan on June 5, 1968. In the CBS interview, Drew described how he climbed onto a table to better photograph the pandemonium.

Drew said that he and another photographer were approached by Kennedy’s wife, Ethel, who tried to wave them off from taking photos of her husband.

Dickerson asked Drew, “What did you think when Ethel said, ‘Don’t take the picture’?’

“Well,” responded Drew, “that was her choice, but not mine.”

“What’s your choice?” inquired Dickerson.

“My job is to record history,” answered Drew, “and I record history every day.”

“What happens if you mess with that rule?” asked Dickerson.

“You’re not a journalist,” replied Drew. “Then, you’re just a person with a camera.”

I recently did a story, followed by two updates to that story, about a man, Bernabe Trenado Cruz, who, late Tuesday afternoon, shot into a car occupied by relatives. The incident happened in the area of 514 Fourth Street in Orland.

Cruz then ran away, climbing over a fence separating the back yard of the residence from an alleyway running north and south between Fourth and Fifth Streets. As he was climbing the fence, his gun went off, fatally wounding him.

Cruz died in the alley. His body wasn’t discovered until about 8:45 Wednesday morning.

At the scene later on Wednesday, I took a photo of Cruz’s body on the ground in the alley. I was quite a distance away, and the body in the picture is completely unrecognizable.

Nevertheless, a handful of people or so have expressed their objections to the photo, demanding that I remove it. Printing the picture was “beyond insensitive,” one person said.

However, it is not the job of a journalist to be sensitive. It is the job of a journalist to print the truth, to show reality in all its beauty and all its ugliness and all its states in between.

The death of Bernabe Trenado Cruz was indeed a tragedy, regardless of whatever character flaws he possessed, whatever crimes he committed, and whatever bad choices he made in his life. But this does not change the fact that journalists write and photograph in order to keep the public in general informed, not to protect the feelings of a small number of people with personal agendas, even agendas they sincerely consider legitimate.

The Observer will continue to do its best to show the realities of life and death in Glenn County.

Even if that makes some of us uncomfortable. – Larry Judkins

By Larry Judkins

Glenn County Observer

The man whose body was found in an Orland alley Wednesday morning apparently died from a self-inflicted but accidental gunshot wound – after he shot into a vehicle occupied by estranged members of his own family.

This according to a press release from the Orland Police Department sent out at about 3:15 Thursday afternoon.

As reported very late Wednesday and early Thursday afternoon in The Glenn County Observer, at about 8:45 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 1, Orland police officers received a request for a welfare check for a man lying on the ground in the alley behind 514 Fourth Street.

Officers responded to the alleyway and found a deceased man with an apparent gunshot wound. A firearm was recovered at the scene.

The man was identified as Bernabe Trenado Cruz, 33, of 367 Stonycreek Drive, Orland.

After Orland police officers found the body, Glenn County Sheriff’s Deputy Emily Lourenzo responded to the scene. She confirmed the death and a coroner’s investigation was initiated.

According to the Orland Police Department’s press release on Thursday, the preliminary investigation uncovered evidence, statements and video surveillance indicating that during a domestic incident at a nearby residence [presumably 514 Fourth Street – Editor] on Tuesday, Nov. 30, at around 5 p.m., Cruz fired a handgun into a vehicle occupied by his estranged family.

The vehicle’s occupants were not injured during the attack and fled in the vehicle to safety.

Immediately following the shooting, Cruz fled the area. While climbing through a fence, Cruz sustained a single fatal gunshot and collapsed in the alley.

As stated above, the Orland Police Department was not dispatched to the area until next morning, when nearby workers spotted the body of Cruz in the alley.

A couple of Observer readers were offended by a photo in the first story about the death that showed Cruz lying on the ground in the alleyway. The photo was taken a considerable distance away and more or less into the sun, and the body in the photo is completely unrecognizable.

Both readers were concerned that Cruz’s family may see the photo and be traumatized by it, never being able to forget that this was the last image of the man they will ever see.

The Observer’s editor is skeptical of this notion, at least with regards to some members of Cruz’s family. Specifically, this probably won’t be the image of Cruz that the members of his family who he shot at will remember.

The investigation is continuing, and an autopsy is scheduled. The Orland Police Department is not currently looking for any suspects and there is no known threat to the public.

Anyone with further information is asked to call Sgt. Kyle Cessna at 865-1616.

By Larry Judkins

Glenn County Observer

The Glenn County Sheriff-Coroner has released the identity of the man whose body was found Wednesday morning in an alleyway in Orland.

As reported earlier in The Glenn County Observer, at about 8:45 a.m. on Dec. 1, Orland police officers received a request for a welfare check for a man lying on the ground in the alley behind 514 Fourth Street.

Officers responded to the alleyway and found a deceased man with an apparent gunshot wound. A firearm was recovered at the scene.

This morning, the man was identified as Bernabe Trenado Cruz, 33, of 367 Stonycreek Drive, Orland.

After Orland police officers found the body, Glenn County Sheriff’s Deputy Emily Lourenzo responded to the scene. She confirmed the death and a coroner’s investigation was initiated.

Next of kin (Julissa Jeanette Trenado of 514 Fourth Street, Orland, and Rafael Trenado of 1082 Winterpine Drive, Orland) were notified of the death.

When the investigation was complete hours after the body was discovered, the decedent was released to the care of Sweet-Olsen Family Mortuary of Orland.

Cruz has had numerous encounters with law enforcement, both inside and outside of Glenn County. On Sept. 6 of this year, he was booked into the Glenn County Jail for a Tehama County warrant alleging willfully discharging a firearm in a negligent manner, and possession of ammunition by a prohibited person (both felonies).

His bail was set at $45,000.

Obviously, Cruz had enemies. The investigation into his death is ongoing, and the Orland Police Department urges anybody with information about the incident to contact Sgt. Kyle Cessna at 530-865-1616.

The Observer plans to publish updates as more information is received. See also the preceding story, “Apparent homicide victim found in Orland alley”.

By Larry Judkins

Glenn County Observer

The body of a man was found in an Orland alley Wednesday morning, Dec. 1.

At about 8:45 a.m., Orland police officers received a request for a welfare check for a man lying in the lane behind 514 Fourth Street, immediately to the south of the Hannah Reed home at 510 Fourth Street and immediately to the north of Penner’s Auto Service at 528 Fourth Street.

The alley runs north and south between Swift Street in the south and Tehama Street in the north, and between Fourth Street in the east and Fifth Street in the west.

Officers responded to the alleyway and found a deceased man with an apparent gunshot wound.

A firearm was recovered at the scene.

Officers contacted the California Department of Justice Crime Lab, and an investigation was initiated.

Numerous Orland police officers were on the scene, as were some of Orland’s Volunteers In Police Service, or VIPS, posted to prevent members of the public from entering the crime scene. Sergeant Sean Johnson was also called in on his day off.

Glenn County Sheriff’s deputies and detectives were also dispatched to the alley.

From the Glenn County District Attorney’s Office, the D.A. himself, Dwayne Stewart, responded, as did Assistant District Attorney Ruby Neumann, and Chief Investigator Kelly Knight.

Police tape not only prevented access to the alley at the north and south ends, it also prevented access to the front of the house. One or more of the residents waited outside on the sidewalk near the street.

A car parked in the driveway of 514 Fourth Street was impounded. Two cell phones were reportedly inside the car, and the owner or owners asked if they could get the phones back.

It is not known if the police returned the phones.

This investigation is ongoing, and the Orland Police Department urges anybody with information about the incident to contact Sgt. Kyle Cessna at 530-865-1616.

The Observer plans to publish updates as more information is received.

Here are the latest bookings from the Glenn County Jail. Remember: Everyone accused of a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Thursday, Nov. 25:

12:54 p.m., Adrian Aumont Lee, 31, a handyman who lives in Orland, was booked into the Glenn County Jail on warrants alleging misdemeanor violation of probation, and felony robbery. Total bail was set at $107,000. He was taken into custody at 725 South Tehama Street, Willows, by an Orland police officer.

Friday, Nov. 26:

10:01 a.m., Michele Evelyn Urrutia, 47, a laborer who lives in Hamilton City, was booked into the Glenn County Jail on a warrant alleging failure to appear on a misdemeanor charge. Bail was set at $13,000. She was taken into custody at 601 Sixth Street, Hamilton City, by a Glenn County Sheriff’s deputy.

12:44 p.m., Maria Concepcion Paniagua, 42, a laborer who lives in Willows, was booked into the Glenn County Jail on charges alleging violation of a court order to prevent domestic violence (a misdemeanor). Bail was set at $5,000. She was taken into custody at 810 North Humboldt Avenue, Willows, by a Glenn County Sheriff’s deputy.

4:05 p.m., Darrin Kyle Smith, 37, a laborer who lives in Orland, was booked into the Glenn County Jail on a warrant alleging violation of a court order to prevent domestic violence (a misdemeanor), and a Butte County warrant alleging battery with serious bodily injury (a felony). Total bail was set at $62,500. He was taken into custody at Walker and East Streets by an Orland police officer.

7:27 p.m., Christopher Loyd Simpson, 27, a laborer who lives in Orland, was booked into the Glenn County Jail on a warrant alleging failure to appear on a misdemeanor charge. Bail was set at $10,000. He was taken into custody at Walmart, 470 North Airport Road, Willows, by a Glenn County Sheriff’s deputy.

10:15 p.m., Kiana Marie Lewis, 26, a sales representative who lives in Chico, was booked into the Glenn County Jail on charges alleging driving while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, and driving while under the influence of alcohol (both misdemeanors). Bail was set at $10,000. She was taken into custody on Papst Avenue at East Swift Street by an Orland police officer.

Saturday, Nov. 27:

8:13 p.m., Latsamy Kangmeuang, 44, a laborer who lives in Orland, was booked into the Glenn County Jail on charges alleging possession of a controlled substance (a misdemeanor), possession of marijuana for sale (a misdemeanor), possession of a controlled substance for sale (a felony), transportation of a controlled substance for sale (a felony), obstructing or resisting a public service officer (a misdemeanor), evading a peace officer with wanton disregard for safety (a felony), possession of a stolen vehicle (a felony), and transportation of marijuana for sale (a misdemeanor). Bail was set at $80,000. He was taken into custody on County Road 9 at County Road O by a Glenn County Sheriff’s deputy.

8:13 p.m., David Ryan Sumahit, 45, a laborer who lives in Chico, was booked into the Glenn County Jail on charges alleging transportation of marijuana for sale (a misdemeanor), possession of marijuana for sale (a misdemeanor), possession of a controlled substance for sale (a felony), possession of a controlled substance (a misdemeanor), transportation of a controlled substance for sale (a felony), obstructing or resisting a public service officer (a misdemeanor), and altering, concealing or moving physical evidence (a misdemeanor), and a no-bail warrant out of Butte County alleging violation of post-release community supervistion (a felony). Bail on the fresh charges was set at $35,000. He was taken into custody on County Road 9 at County Road O by a Glenn County Sheriff’s deputy.

Sunday, Nov. 28:

2:57 a.m., Tylor Raymen Knight, 25, a farmer who lives in Laytonville, Calif., was booked into the Glenn County Jail on charges alleging public intoxication (a misdemeanor). Bail was set at zero. He was taken into custody at Vine and Plumas Streets, Willows, by a Glenn County Sheriff’s deputy.

8:58 p.m., Christopher Alan Boyes, 38, a salesman who lives in Cottonwood, was booked into the Glenn County Jail on charges alleging driving while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, driving while under the influence of alcohol, and hit and run with property damage (all misdemeanors). Bail was set at $10,000. He was taken into custody on Interstate 5, just north of the Glenn-Tehama County line, by a California Highway Patrol officer.

Monday, Nov. 29:

No one was booked into the Glenn County Jail on this date.

Tuesday, Nov. 30:

11:08 a.m., at the Glenn County Jail, Luis Alberto Mancilla, 40, a laborer who lives in Willows, was found to have warrants alleging disobeying a court order (a misdemeanor). Total bail was set at $7,000.

1:36 p.m., Bryan Paul McLain, 19, a laborer who lives in Hamilton City, was booked into the Glenn County Jail on charges alleging violation of a court order to prevent domestic violence (a misdemeanor). Bail was set at $5,000. He was taken into custody at 350 Shasta Avenue, Hamilton City, by a Glenn County Sheriff’s deputy.

2:10 p.m., Kathalena Dorothea Rodriguez, 36, an agricultural worker who lives in Hamilton City, was committed to the Glenn County Jail without bail on charges alleging violation of post-release community supervision (a felony). She was taken into custody at the Glenn County Probation Department, Willows, by a probation officer.

5:52 p.m., Gregory Wayne Lewis, 59, a laborer who lives in Orland, was booked into the Glenn County Jail on charges alleging violation of a court order to prevent domestic violence (a misdemeanor). Bail was set at $5,000. He was taken into custody at 7628 Capay Avenue, Orland (Capay District), by a Glenn County Sheriff’s deputy.