By Larry Judkins
Glenn County Observer
“Daisy’s News Briefs: The Long and Short of It” is dedicated to the memory of Daisy, the official newshound of The Glenn County Observer, who died on Jan. 22.
GCSO gets it right: In a county where officials tend to treat almost everything as if it is a threat to national security, it is refreshing that the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office recently got something right.
According to the Glenn County Sheriff’s log for Wednesday, March 27, “Deputy Robert Thompson was dispatched to 4540 County Road FF, Orland, for a report of a neighbor dispute. The deputy contacted Christopher Rivera, who reported a neighbor had put up a sign that had offensive language.
“As the sign was on private property, Rivera was provided with information on civil liberties as well as information on Glenn County Code Enforcement. No law enforcement action was warranted.”
The Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects all speech, offensive and inoffensive speech alike. In fact, inoffensive speech does not even need constitutional protection; only offensive speech does.
So, good job, Deputy Thompson!
Now, if only authorities in the Cities of Willows and Orland and the County of Glenn could understand such things as:
HIPAA does not apply to law enforcement entities or volunteer fire departments;
The posting of booking photos on social media is legally forbidden (with some exceptions) only to law enforcement entities that have their own social media accounts, and booking photos are public records and must be released by anyone who makes a request, who can then do whatever they want with the photos;
Unless a juvenile is accused of committing a crime or is the victim of sexual abuse or domestic violence, the withholding of the child’s name is not permissible (for example, a child who was an occupant of a vehicle in a traffic accident must be identified just like the adult occupants); and
Unless it is a crime scene, reporters cannot legally be kept out of the proximity of events like fires or vehicle accidents, and even in the case of crimes, reasonable restrictions must be applied.
Thursday afternoon, the reporter for The Observer drove out to Road FF, looking for the offensive sign. However, he couldn’t find it.
Corning fire dispatcher Mura retires: Troy Mura, longtime fire dispatcher, retired on Thursday, March 28.
Mura was a dispatcher for many years for the Corning Fire Department and, following the retirement of Frances Pratt McCollum in December of 2007, the Orland and Capay Fire Departments.
He and the other Corning fire dispatchers stopped dispatching for Orland and Capay after all county fire dispatching was taken over by the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office earlier this month.
Mura was on duty on April 10, 2014, when a FedEx tractor-trailer collided with a tour bus on I-5 in Orland, killing 10 people. He handled an enormous number of calls that day, first from people reporting the accident, then from families desperately seeking information about the accident victims.
Late Thursday afternoon, an announcement was heard on the scanner, congratulating Mura on his retirement, thanking him for his service, and wishing him well in his new endeavors. Several Glenn County firefighters and others echoed the sentiments.
Pickup takes a plunge: A pickup with five occupants traveled off the northbound side of Interstate 5 late Friday morning and plunged into the Tehama-Colusa Canal located between County Roads 25 and 27.
The pickup became fully submerged, but all five occupants were able to get out.
The incident happened at about 10:23 a.m. on March 29. Artois Fire Department volunteers began responding at 10:30 a.m.
On Highway 99, an Orland firefighter (he sounded like Jerry Kraemer, whose manufacturing facility is nearby) opened a gate to the north side of the canal, thereby giving Artois firefighters and others access.
The Orland firefighter temporarily assumed incident command.
At 10:33 a.m., the Orland volunteer reported that all five occupants were out of the water and their injuries were being assessed.
Two minutes later, it was announced that all the accident victims were “walking wounded” and that Westside Ambulance was “about a minute out.”
Shortly thereafter, incident command was turned over to Artois.
At 10:51 a.m., it was reported that “patients were being transported” and Artois Fire units were being released at the scene.
“Additionally, fire cut the lock on the north side of the T-C Canal, north of Road 27.” The dispatcher was asked to try to make contact and “let the landowner know.”
Bambauer Towing was called to remove the pickup but was cancelled just minutes later as it was not currently recoverable.
The Glenn County Observer 