Regional Roundup

CB user: Get better equipment to fix problem

A Lodi man whose neighbors have grown upset with interference from his use of a CB radio said Tuesday that he has no interference and blamed their electronic equipment.

Dale Brenneise said his family has been using CB — short for Citizens' Band, a free two-way communication system — for decades. He said that if neighbors pay for cable TV rather than broadcast, they won't have a problem.

Other neighbors said they regularly hear his foul language on their radios, telephones and computer speakers, but Brenneise said he gets no interference in his own house.

"If you want to get rid of it, don't go to Big Lots and buy $3.99 speakers," he said, adding that expensive electronic devices have better filters.

As for the foul language, Brenneise, 28, acknowledged that he could use fewer swear words.

Brenneise could not initially be reached for comment Monday, and a story on the neighbors' complaints was published Tuesday in the News-Sentinel. Sacramento-based TV crews soon arrived to do their own version of the story, lingering outside his Daisy Avenue house to the point that Brenneise called police.

South San Joaquin County to be sprayed for West Nile

An area between Manteca and Ripon will be sprayed to kill mosquitoes Thursday night, according to the San Joaquin County Mosquito and Vector Control District.

The area to receive ground and aerial spraying is between Highway 120 and the Stanislaus River (also the county line), and between Airport Way and Brennan Road.

If it gets too windy to spray from the air, the operation will take place on Friday night.

One man from central San Joaquin County has died from complications of West Nile virus this year. There have been two non-fatal human cases of West Nile this year in San Joaquin County, plus 25 dead birds, 97 groups of collected mosquitoes, six test chickens, one horse and one squirrel that have tested positive.

For more information, call 982-4675. Report dead birds and tree squirrels to (877) WNV-BIRD or visit http://www.westnile.ca.gov.

Bulls escape State Fair pen, injures officer

SACRAMENTO — Two bulls broke free from their steel pen at the California State Fair, injuring a police officer as she tried to steer children out of their path.

Snorting and raging, the bulls also trampled a horse and terrified a grandstand full of people who were gathered to watch a "Dancing With Bulls" event featuring rodeo clowns. The clowns were quickly pressed into action scooping children out of the animals' way.

The animals were able to lift 100-pound metal panels, held together with pins, that formed their enclosure, by simultaneously sticking their heads through the panels and lifting them apart.

"We've never had that happen, never in my life," said Cotton Rosser, whose Marysville-based Flying U Rodeo staged the event. "Those panels are heavy."

The bulls broke loose as children were leaving the rodeo arena after a contest in which kids gathered dollar coins tossed on the ground.

As the bulls rushed out, Cal Expo Police Officer Pam Irey summoned onlookers to get out of the way. Her daughter Shelby, 16, was preparing for a flag ceremony in the staging area with nearly two dozen members of the sheriff's Explorers program.

"My mom grabbed a 5-year-old boy and tossed him over the fence to a cowboy so he wouldn't be trampled," she said. "She distracted the bulls from another Explorer."

Then the bulls charged Irey. She remained hospitalized Tuesday after suffering broken ribs, a minor concussion and some abrasions, State Fair spokeswoman Jessica Dunning said. Irey is also a Sacramento County sheriff's sergeant and a trustee on the Elk Grove Unified School District Board.

The fair's deputy general manager, Brian May, called Irey a hero.

"Her instinct as a police officer was to warn people," May said. "She waved her arms, drew the attention of the bulls and was charged herself."

Rodeo hands and cow dogs were able to round up the bulls later and load them into trailers.