CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : BAKERSFIELD : Suit Takes Aim at Basketball Practice

Bounce-bounce-swish sounds have driven a wanna-be pro basketball player’s neighbors to sue him for pain, suffering and emotional distress. The complainants want $25,000. Paul Chavez, 18, shoots hoops after dark on a lit court in his back yard. A four-year varsity player and three-year all-league honoree for Bakersfield High School until he graduated last June, Chavez hopes to play for the University of California at Santa Barbara this fall. But William Schmidt and his wife, Tommi Saghatelian, are not cheering him on. They say in a 1990 lawsuit scheduled to go to court Aug. 27 that lights and noise from Chavez’s practice sessions have ruined their back-yard barbecues. The couple say Chavez’s dribbling and shooting is a nuisance, defined by state law, in part, as “an obstruction to the free use of property.” Chavez responds: “Playing basketball is my job. One of my goals is to go pro and I can’t pursue that dream if I don’t practice. Basketball is my life.”