Man pleads not guilty to murder James...

Man pleads not guilty to murder

James Paul Snider pleaded not guilty to a murder charge at his

arraignment Tuesday morning at Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.

Snider is accused of the 1983 murder of Ronald Jay Murphy in a Laguna

Beach hotel. Snider allegedly battered Murphy’s head with a toilet

seat. DNA obtained from beer bottles and cigarettes at the scene led

Laguna police officers to arrest Snider in June 2004 in Michigan,

where he had been living. A trial date has not yet been set.

Injured bird reports on rise recently

Laguna Beach Animal Services has recently been fielding a high

amount of calls from residents reporting injured birds, said Animal

Services officer Dave Pietarila. These birds are not usually injured,

instead they are baby birds learning to fly for the first time,

Pietarila said.

This is the time of year when fledglings learn to fly and it is

not uncommon to see babies out of the nest, Pietarila said.

“They almost never make it on the first attempt,” Pietarila said.

Though the birds may seem to be in distress, they are usually

being watched by their mothers, Pietarila said.

The best thing to do when a small bird is found on the ground, is

to return it to the nest, Pietarila said. When returning the bird to

the nest is not an option, Pietarila advises to leave the bird alone.

Picking up the fledgling and removing it from the area only decreases

its chance of survival, Pietarila said.

When Animal Services responds to calls about baby birds, it is not

likely they will remove the bird from the area, Pietarila said.

Taking the bird is bad for several reasons, Pietarila said: humans

cannot take care of a baby bird like the mother can and secondly,

baby birds quickly become too dependent on humans.