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Friday, April 1, 2011 – Daily News – 9A DEATH Continued from page 1A months following release from jail, according to court records. She and her live-in boyfriend, Larry Arnel, were arguing inside their home on Plum Creek Road, in Paynes Creek, when she grabbed a 10- WAVES Continued from page 1A the school, Palubeski said. “In Ashland you see the play and walk away,” Palubeski said. “Here, they bring Shakespeare to life. Probably 90 percent of them won’t see a Shakespeare play outside of this experience.” While all the students saw the play, 49 drama stu- dents got to interact with the actors in a 45-minute workshop. During a question and answer session, students asked how the cast became involved in acting and the festival and what they like about acting. “It enables them to work with professional actors and for the ROP students they get to hear what the experi- ence is like from professional actors,” Palubeski said. “Instead of sending them out to find out about the job, we bring it to them.” Thursday was the second time in the five years Palubeski has worked at Red Bluff High School that he has brought members of the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival in, he said. “Hopefully this will be an every year thing,” Palubes- ki said. “It’s pretty expensive, but there was money in the budget this year. I’d like to thank (Associate Princi- pal) Jody Brownfield very much. She made this happen financially.” The cast, several of whom were making their debut, began rehearsals in September, started on the road in October and will finish performing next week, said Lizardo, a Tulare native who has been acting since junior high. Stamps said she grew up in San Francisco perform- ing, while Petzold began in college. “I was bored in college and ready to drop out when I took an acting class and just stuck with it,” Petzold said. Halloran said her favorite part of performing is watching the reaction of the students, especially those who really get into the play. Rhea said he has loved the challenge that the role of Prospero, which is typically given to a man 30 years his senior, brings and touring with the cast members, who are awesome. The group performs workshops for all age groups from third grade to high school and sometimes college. They perform at places like libraries and juvenile deten- tion centers, Stamps said. For more information on the group visit www.sfshakes.org. ——— Julie Zeeb can be reached at 527-2153, extension 115 or jzeeb@redbluffdailynews.com. COUNCIL Continued from page 1A disabilities, psychiatric conditions or physical conditions such brittle bone disease. In 2010, the Coordinating Coun- cil honored Cathy and Kevin Brun- nemer, Vickie Bellus, Verdine inch butcher knife and stabbed him in his lower abdomen, according to the District Attorney’s office. Tehama County Sher- iff’s Deputies found Childs hiding in the brush a short distance from the residence. Offi- cers were unable to revive Arnel, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. FLOOD Continued from page 1A flood mapping. The mapping changes go into effect the last week in September, Shaeffer said. Residents have until then to purchase insurance at a lower cost than will be available afterward, with some exceptions. The new maps were mandated by the agency and Tehama County is one of the last counties in the state to get new maps, Shaeffer said. Changes in the Ante- lope area are drastically different because FEMA will no longer allow roads to be used as flood protec- tion, she said. In the past, roads were considered somewhat like levees and flood maps were drawn accordingly. Since then, engineers decided that was unwise because flooding had surpassed roads on occasion. Redrawing the flood ranges past a section of BLUE Continued from page 1A vention, Fawver said. A second pinwheel display will be during the chili cook-off for the Red Bluff Round-Up, from 10:15 a.m. to 4 p.m., April 9, she said. Blue ribbon trees are created by individuals or businesses tying sur- veyor tape, available for purchase at hardware stores, or other blue rib- bons to a tree in yards or in front of businesses. The ribbons can be store- bought or homemade. The tree may BROWN Continued from page 1A election last year in part on a platform of pension reform, and much of that platform is reflected in Thursday’s pro- posal. Republican lawmakers had pushed during budget negotiations for more exten- sive pension changes, but both sides say the talks broke down last week over Mertens, Matt Steven, the Central Tehama Kiwanis Club and Norm's Printing. The Brunnemers were honored for starting Special People Day at the Tehama District Fair and the Central Tehama Kiwanis Club was recognized for cooking lunch for Special People Day. Norm's Printing was honored for Highway 36 creates a much bigger high risk flood plain. Bulleting her presenta- tion with comic strips and cartoon faces, Shaeffer illustrated the anger and frustration of residents and homeowners who receive the new flood maps. The mapping had already been delayed for a year after local engineers objected, Shaeffer said. They thought the road was truly high enough to act as a levee and stop the flood- ing waters. “That was not the case,” Shaeffer said. In a few spots, the water would come up over the road, she said. Supervisors responded to the presentation with a barrage of questions about insurance costs, base flood elevations and long-term solutions. Shaeffer declined to go into detail about insurance costs, but offered to send a liaison to talk about it. District 4 Supervisor Bob Williams asked Sha- effer if homeowners could be exempted from flood insurance requirements if it was determined that their houses were above the base flood elevation. Homeowners would be required to have an engi- neer process an elevation certificate to be filed with the county, Shaeffer said. What supervisors should do now, should they choose to accept the new maps, is encourage constituents to buy low- cost flood insurance and then work on coming up with solutions, such as building levees or diver- sions, Shaeffer said. When Chairman Gregg Avilla asked about assis- tance for low-income homeowners who cannot afford flood insurance, Shaeffer said there is none available. She encouraged supervisors to reach out to elected officials before the agency’s authority expires in October. “Now is the time to make your concerns known,” she said. be created as well. Any tree used must be done with permission from the owner of the tree. After the tree is finished, partici- pants can register the tree online at www.nvcss.org/events/treeRegistry.a spx. Although some other states have participated in the national effort in this way, this is the first blue ribbon tree event in California, Fawver said. Usually beginning with one coun- ty, the blue ribbon tree becomes a state event, she said. “We already have had one person out of county sign-up,” she said. other issues such as a spend- ing cap and tax changes. “We’re pleased to see that the governor is interested in pension reform,” said Sabri- na Lockhart, spokeswoman for Assembly Republican leader Connie Conway, R- Tulare. Nevertheless, the said Republican lawmakers are unhappy that Brown is look- ing to run it through the Leg- islature, which could easily change the rules in the creating table favors for many years for the Circle of Champion lunch. Vickie Bellus was recognized as an outstanding direct care provider for the developmentally disabled. Matt Steven was honored as an outstanding owner of a care home. Verdine Mertens was honored for her years of volunteer service for the handicapped. Teacher pension shortfall grows to $56B SACRAMENTO (AP) — The pension system for California’s teachers has $56 billion less than it needs to cover the benefits promised to its 852,000 members and their families, the fund reported Thursday, as big invest- ment losses in 2008 continue to reverberate. The drop in value was enough to trigger an automat- ic increase in the amount the state must pay into the Cal- ifornia State Teachers’ Retirement System, which is the nation’s second largest public pension fund. That will boost the payment from California’s already strained general fund by 20 percent — from $573 million to $688 million — in the fiscal year starting July 1. The pension shortfall as of June 30, 2010, was $15.5 billion greater than it had been a year earlier, CalSTRS officials said. The fund had expected the shortfall to be even greater, but educators received smaller raises than projected, reducing the ultimate amount of their retire- ment benefits, and the fund’s investments performed better than expected in the 2009-10 fiscal year. The pension fund’s assets at the end of June were enough to cover 71 percent of its accrued liabilities over the next 30 years, down from 78 percent a year earlier. The number itself isn’t cause for alarm but is headed in the wrong direction, said Ed Derman, CalSTRS’ deputy CEO, who discussed the latest projections from the fund’s accountants in a conference call with reporters. At this rate, he said, the system will run out of money to pay benefits in 2042 unless workers, school districts and the state work out a long-term plan to fix the fund- ing problems. The report will be presented next week to the CalSTRS board, but any fix would require action by the state Legislature. The funding shortfall results from numerous factors, especially from steep investment losses during the Great Recession, and hits just as a wave of baby boomers begins entering retirement. Longer life expectancies than planners projected when they set up the system also are increasing costs. “CalSTRS needs a significant increase in revenue to make progress toward its funding target,” the actuarial report said. That could come through higher contributions from workers, school districts or the state, as well as higher returns on investments than currently projected. “This once again shows how much pension reform is needed because the taxpayer is on the hook,” said Assemblyman Allan Mansoor, R-Costa Mesa, who is vice chairman of a committee that would review any bill asking for increased contributions. Unlike the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the teachers’ fund cannot set the amounts that employers and the state must pay toward retirement benefits. Labor contracts typically set the amount that workers pay toward their own pensions. Contributions to the teachers fund are set by statute, while the trigger for the increased state payment was written into law more than a decade ago. The $688 mil- lion payment from the state’s general fund required under the trigger already has been factored into the gov- ernor’s budget calculations for 2011-12, even as Cali- fornia faces a multibillion dollar deficit. As recently as 2000, CalSTRS had more than enough assets to cover the retirement promises it had made to teachers and school administrators. The fallout from the dot-com bust that started at the end of the 1990s began eroding investment returns, which plunged during the most recent recession. News of the shortfall comes amid a national debate over pensions for public employees and as conserva- tives in California seek changes to the lifetime defined benefit plans offered state workers, perhaps through a future ballot initiative. Shaeffer plans to con- tinue through the next two years to do a more detailed study, she said. Bob Durin, of FEMA, and John Stover, county building official and flood plain administrator, answered questions as well. Supervisors were con- cerned about affected resi- dents being informed of the changes. Stover is planning another outreach meeting before the maps become final, he said. The meeting may be in June or July, and residents will be con- tacted door-to-door some- how, he said. For more information about the maps, call the building department at 527-7002. ——— Andrea Wagner can be reached at 527-2153, extension 114 or awagner@redbluffdailyne ws.com. Pictures of the trees will start to be available throughout the month. A Facebook page, “Create a Blue Rib- bon Tree Tehama,” is available for participants to share photos as well. The events are to bring focus to prevention of child abuse, Fawver said. “One child abused is one child too many,” she said. For more information, call 528- 7950. ——— Andrea Wagner can be reached at 527-2153, extension 114 or awagner@redbluffdailynews.com. future, rather than put the plan before voters, where it would be much harder to undo. “There are more protec- tions for the taxpayers if the voters approve,” Lockhart said. Senate Republican leader Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, said the GOP supports most of Brown’s proposals but wants the pub- lic to vote on them and does- n’t believe a voluntary hybrid pension system will work. “Governor Brown’s pro- posal assumes public employees will volunteer for lower benefits, which ignores reality,” Dutton said in a statement. Public employee groups said state workers already have made pension conces- sions while negotiating new contracts that have saved hundreds of millions of dol- lars. Dems to lay out deeper cuts SACRAMENTO (AP) — With budget talks over a spe- cial election on taxes all but dead, Democratic lawmakers are preparing to illustrate the effects of an all-cuts budget to address the rest of California’s $26.6 billion deficit. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said Thurs- day he wants state residents to see what deeper cuts would mean, including larger class sizes and less money for pub- lic safety. He says he will use the Legislature’s budget committees to consider the cuts. Gov. Jerry Brown ended budget talks with Republican lawmakers this week, saying time had run out for a June special election. The Democratic governor says he will trav- el the state to make the case for raising taxes. Senate Minority Leader Bob Dutton says he will start promoting the GOP message of reducing business regula- tions. Colleges cutting enrollment SACRAMENTO (AP) — The 112-campus California Community Colleges system may be forced to enroll 400,000 fewer students and cut thousands of classes because of the state budget impasse and funding shortages. Chancellor Jack Scott said during a telephone news briefing Wednesday that community colleges funding cuts are tragic for students hoping to continue their education and transfer to universities. colleges. Nearly three million students attend state community The Los Angeles Times says California Community Colleges will likely be forced to absorb an $800 million reduction in funding, double the amount suggested in Gov. Jerry Brown’s current budget proposal. Critics contend the plans — which guarantee certain Low levels of radiation benefits based on workers’ salaries and how long they worked — provide richer benefits than those offered to private sector workers and underestimate costs, leaving taxpayers on the hook for the unfunded liabilities. Sev- eral proposals have been floated in California to reduce pension benefits for current or future workers, but they face significant legal or political hurdles. Most of the jump in the teachers fund shortfall came because of the way the number is calculated, the fund’s accountants said. The fund took an enormous hit to its stock portfolio when the market plunged during the heart of the recession, losing nearly $43 billion — roughly 25 percent of its value — from June 2008 to June 2009. found in West Coast milk WASHINGTON (AP) — Low levels of radiation have turned up in milk samples from two West Coast states. Traces of radioactive Iodine-131 were found in milk in California and Washington, according to federal and state authorities who are monitoring for contamination as the nuclear crisis unfolds in Japan. But the officials say the levels are still 5,000 times below levels of con- cern. The California Department of Public Health said on its website that a milk sample with radiation was found March 28 in San Luis Obispo County. Red Bluff Simple Cremations & Burial Service Family owned & Operated Honor and Dignity 527-1732 722 Oak Street, Red Bluff, FD Lic. 1931