Visalia Times-Delta from Visalia, California • 1

Visalia Times Delta wwwVisaliaTimesDeltacom Sports IB US sends Gifts rom missiles on Home to Yemen Tulare County offers unique solutions to holiday gift giving dilemmas By Melinda Morales See Gifts3A Stayner to ask for new trial today A THU CEMBER 122002 50 CENTS SERVING TULARE COUNTY SINCE 185! international effort to enforce a trade embargo against Iraq board ed the vessel whose name had been painted over They found 15 Scud missiles hidden under bags of cement The incident highlights a loop hole in the international regime designed to prevent the spread of missile technology The Missile Technology Control Regime bans the export of missiles with a range of more than 300 kilometers But neither North Korea nor Yemen has signed the agreement The United States released the ship after securing a promise from the Yemeni officials that they would not transfer the arms to another country or to militant groups US officials said The Yemenis who said the contract to purchase the missiles was made promised to make no more purchases of missiles from The special breads candies chocolates and even ice creams that proprietors Uwe Jens and Nancy Reimer make from Ger man born family recipes in the kitchens in Three Rivers are one example of locally made gifts that have become holiday favorites Right at the top of the list are chocolates No 1 chocolate is our California Nancy Reimer said This turtle is so packed with walnuts and pecans that it looks positively swollen The sheer volume of chocolates is enough to make even the most die hard chocolate lover go all soft and gooey inside The Reimers create 88 differ ent types of candy pieces includ ing Grand Marnier cherry cor dials apricot creams truffles nuts and chews soft centers and a European variety of chocolate dipped fruit And their candies go around the world fun part for me is getting a call from someone in Seattle who wants me to ship something New York Times WASHINGTON Cast ing the threat of wildfires next year as an emergency the Bush administration on Wednesday proposed rule changes that it said would speed up environmental wrong suspects More than three years after motel handyman Cary Stayn er helped solve the four killings he committed a judge is poised to approve a death sentence verdict today in a hearing that promises little of the drama it once held Defense lawyers have already filed a motion for a new trial citing 111 instances from judicial errors to jury misconduct Environmental reviews may no longer be needed No law permitted officials from denying delivery Cookies Carol Steiner owner of Good ies in the Vineyard shop ping center in Visalia is going nonstop too Her special quarter pound made from scratch cookies and cookie bouquets are a popular gift idea at the holidays think of it as real per sonal because homemade and it makes a really neat pre Steiner said Steiner presents her cookies like flowers one cookie on a stick wrapped in cellophane and tied with a ribbon or a bunch clustered as a bouquet in a vari ety of containers that she sells in the shop reviews to allow the thinning of forests While the proposal was short on details it did suggest that thinning projects could be undertaken without envi ronmental impact state ments and assessments if they were in the orest Ser judgment unlikely to affect the environment This possibility alarmed some environmental organi See orests3A By Brian Melley The Associated Press SAN JOSE The mystery began when three Yosemite National Park tourists van ished in ebruary 1999 send ing a shiver up the spine of California It ended six months later just after the killer struck again beheading a nature guide carelessly leaving his tracks and then spilling his story to federal agents who had been focusing on the Los Angeles Times WASHINGTON A cha grined Bush administration released a vessel carrying Scud missiles' from North Korea to Yemen on Wednesday after secur ing a fresh promise from the Yemeni government to stop buy ing weapons from Pyongyang Administration officials had trumpeted the Monday seizure of the vessel as a blow against arms dealing by cash strapped commu nist North Korea singled out by the United States as a dangerous source of weapons proliferation But Wednesday after calls between the Yemeni government and Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Pow ell administration officials said they were forced to let the missiles reach their destination because no international law permitted them to block the delivery US intelligence agents had tracked the ship from North Korea to the Arabian Sea since mid November suspecting it was North Korea although US offi bound for Iraq White House cials acknowledged that Yemeni spokesman Ari leischer said authorities had made the same have no choice but to obey promise a few months ago Asked international White House why the White House would spokesman Ari leischer said accept such a promise a second A Spanish ship that had been time a senior Pentagon official patrolling the area as part of an said need Photos by Steve ujimotoTimes Delta Above: Uwe Jens Reimer right and his wife Nancy dust powdered sugar on loaves of stollen a traditional German Christmas bread Wednesday in their kitchen at Reimer's in Three Rivers Those looking for unique gifts have to go far Tulare County boasts plenty of ideas Top: Dolls made by Nicole Ellison of Raggedy Old Annie's include Basket Annie from left Miss Burrzy Wurzy and Christmas Wish Annie to a friend in New Nancy Reimer said The Reimers said that between Thanksgiving and Christmas they sell roughly 12 tons of chocolate and work around the clock to fill orders get a brief respite in January before they start all over again for Day COPYRIGHT 2002 VISALIA NEWSPAPERS A GANNETT NEWSPAPER VOLUME 144 ISSUE 146 employment education or other aspects are not researched Rodriguez said he believes the prohibition was discovered by the Woodlake city attorney Rodriguez a parks maintenance worker got the second highest number of votes in the Nov 5 elec tion more votes than Vice May or Chuck Ray There were three candidates for the open seats on the council That newly elected council met for the first time Monday Rodriguez discovered days before the election he would be ineligible to take office should he win if he kept his city job The rev elation came too late to remove his name from the ballot tried to find another job when I found out but I just do it before I taken he said While most of the issues raised in the motion for new trial were previously rejected by the judge defense lawyer Marcia Morrissey Morrissey said three jurors acknowledged they were molestation victims despite claiming on a lengthy juror questionnaire before trial that they had never been crime victims Morrissey said three of the jurors discussed their own abuse during deliberations Prosecutor George Will iamson said he was still ana lyzing the defense arguments Wednesday and could not comment next The city of Woodlake is taking applications for an appointment to fill a vacancy on the City Council Information: City administrator Bill Lewis or city clerk Ruth Gon zalez 564 8055 By Justin Stoner Staff writer The decision Heriberto Rod riguez faced was a disappointing but ultimately an easy one to make He could take his seat on the Woodlake City Council and lose his seven year city job in the pro cess or relinquish his electoral vic tory for one of three seats on the council and keep his job The 36 year old father of five chose to keep his job just hope this a discour agement to the people who voted for he said another election two years from now and hopefully by then I will have a dif ferent The city of Woodlake is seeking applications from residents who want to be appointed to the coun cil serving a four year term dilemma stemmed from a 1996 law that prohibits gov ernment employees from taking an elected office of that agency City officials were' unaware of the code as were Tulare County elec tion officials until recently Candidates for public office are checked for residency and voter eligibility requirements before being certified for election elec tion division manager Hiley Wal lis said Background checks on Turtles walnuts and pecans are made by Naticy and Uwe Jens Reimer in their candy kitchen at Reimer's in Three Rivers Tulare Western stripped of title Player eligibility problems cost Tulare Western four wins and its first East Yosemite League football title since 1992 School officials say it was all just a mistake Weather2A Areas of dense morning fog Change would make it easier to thin forests Inside Officials have received a credi ble report that Islamic extremists affiliated with al Qaida possess a chemical weapon3A When Carolynn Black pulled up Wednesday to the trio of red gingerbread houses "TTivari Dnrarc flint nr I 111 11UVV 1UVUO Liiai 11A4UW upr Candies Gifts si ie was disappointed to find the candy shop closed or two days No bother she would just return on riday when the shop reopens because the marzipan stollen she was buying as a gift for her daughter in San Diego ambrosia she said Black said she has sent the German Christmas bread filled with raisins currants golden raisins and fruit and i topped with powdered sugar to friends all around the country and now she gets requests from friends who say they must have it for their holidays too or holiday gift giving few people would argue that there is anything better than hand craft ed locally made gifts 'nM Citrus drives taste buds wild How many types of citrus can you name? Three? ive? Ten? Try 130 and we mean try them Samples will be available Saturday at the Lindcove Research and Extension Center Lifestyle ID Woodlake man picks job over council seat A 4 Carey Stayner said she has evidence of juror misconduct that could post pone sentencing and ulti mately throw out the verdict in favor of a new trial ''wwy a i Vl 'lip BLMMnwBMw WEr fe" jfWsaai Hr IRLv 'A I 'Wai uitl JBB jobs V' A Index Bridge 5C Lifestyle ID Business 6B Local 1C Comics 5D Movies 3D Classified 5C Opinion 6A Crossword7C Sports IB Deaths 2C Stocks 5B THU.