Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/7183
OROVILLE (AP) — A state investigation has found that the Department of Water Resources subjected Oroville Dam employees to dangerous conditions that injured five people in July 2009. The injuries occurred when a steel wall in a dam tunnel collapsed during tests on two valves that reg- ulate the flow of river water from the Feather River to the Edward Hyatt Power Plant. One man suffered head trauma, a broken arm and leg. Four others had only minor injuries. A California Division of Occupational Safety and Health investigation released last month says the state's water department exposed the employees to 100-mph ''hurricane-like winds'' in the tunnel. It also says the depart- ment knew an important safety device called an ener- gy dispersion ring was Red Bluff Outdoor Power Weather forecast 8B Mostly cloudy 55/42 N EWS D AILY DAILY 50¢ WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 24, 2010 Preparing for Kindergarten Spartan Hoops Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com N EWS D AILY RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 See Page 5A SPORTS 1B Tip from First 5 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 PHYSICIAN REFERRAL A FREE SERVICE PROVIDED FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE 1-800-990-9971 CHW North State Region Business Connections Has added another service! LIVE SCAN FINGERPRINTING With results electronically sent to DOJ & FBI Appointments and/or walk-ins. 332 Pine St., Red Bluff 527-6229 Since 1979 Dave Hencratt for Sheriff/Coroner ★ Tri Tip Dinner $ 15 00 Paid for by the committee to elect Dave Hencratt for Sheriff/Coroner February 26th, 2010, 6pm Red Bluff Community Center Auction & Silent Auction • Door Prizes Music by: Chad Bushnell Ticket available at: Crossroads Feed 595 Antelope Blvd. or call 526-5675 Paid Political Advertisement Red Bluff Sunrise Rotary Club Crab & Tri-Tip Feed Saturday, February 27, 2010 Red Bluff Veterans Hall Tickets: $30 in advance Call 200-2831 or 366-2149 $35 at the door Doors Open 6pm Dinner starts 6:30pm Auction to follow RB schools in for double digit job cuts By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer The Red Bluff Elementary Unified School District board voted unanimously to cut a number of employees for the coming school year during a special board meeting Tuesday. The district will lose 21.7 full-time certified employees and number of classified employees. The employees will continue to work the rest of the school year, but will not be rehired for the 2010-2011 school year. Several teachers and staff on the list of employees that will be laid off spoke to board, ask- ing members to delay the deci- sion and consider other options. But board members said the cuts are inevitable considering the lack of money the state is providing the district. Califor- nia School Employee Associa- tion co-President Barbara Ramey said the board has not listened to what the employees have to say. "They come into these meet- ings prepared to do what the superintendent asks of them," she said. Superintendent William McCoy read a prepared state- ment following the board's vote saying, though he would have preferred to speak it than read it, he was afraid of emotions getting in the way. "It's incredibly disheartening to know that many of the indi- viduals that have contributed to the success our district has experienced over the last few years will not be with us to help further that growth, or to feel the joy of prolonged success for children. Our hands, as a dis- trict, are currently tied by the state budget and our collective bargaining agreements and A place to call home Daily News photo by Tang Lor Resident Monica Souza, left, and house monitor Jodi Cordial with baby Taliyah Souza at the Sale Lane House. PATH to hold open house Sunday at new shelter By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer A year ago the gray Victorian at the corner of Sale Lane and Gilmore Ranch Road was vacant and dilapi- dated. Today its formerly bare walls are painted and filled with artwork. Rooms with floral names like lavender and rose of sharon have full amenities for double or family occupancy. The house, operated by Tehama County's Poor and the Homeless as a transitional home for women and children, has had a complete transition thanks to the County rewrites pot restrictions By GEOFF JOHNSON DN Staff Writer A new county ordinance may link medical marijua- na garden regulation to property size. Supervisors unveiled Tuesday a 15-page policy for cultivation of medical marijuana, most of which has been carried over from an ordinance supervisors reject- ed in July 2009, to be voted on in the coming weeks. The earlier ordinance was voted down 3-2 in part because it had not been created by an ad-hoc committee. The ordinance would ban the growing of medical marijuana within 1,00 feet of schools, school bus stops, churches and other locations where children are likely to be present, and would require opaque, six-foot fences around outdoor marijuana growth. The proposed ordinance would lift a requirement for burglar alarms on marijuana patches and tie the amount grown to property size. Anyone with fewer than 20 acres will be limited to 12 mature marijuana plants or 24 immature plants. At the opposite end of the scale, anyone with 160 acres or more can have 99 marijuana plants, either mature or immature. Guidelines would require all growers and their landowners to register with Tehama County Health Ser- vices Agency. As an abatement ordinance, the county would be empowered to destroy non-compliant marijuana growths and bill owners for the work, but non-compli- ance itself would not be treated as a criminal matter. Supervisor Bob Williams, who wrote the original and developed the second with the assistance of Super- visor Gregg Avilla, described the ordinance as a com- promise. The sliding growth scale is designed to keep medical marijuana growth out of residential areas, while allowing countryside growers to cultivate more for their patients. "We listened to input from all sides," Williams said. The proposal has the backing of county law enforce- ment, education and health officials, he said. What it does not have, according to medical mari- juana advocate Jason Browne, is the input of growers. Browne, who describes himself as an expert witness for medical marijuana law, said Williams' proposal was derived from a template not used by law enforcement agencies. Wine, art, food make for tasteful event By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer CORNING — Always the last weekend in Febru- ary, the annual Corning Rotary Wine, Art and Food Festival is adding something new for its fifth year. The festival will fea- ture a clam-chowder cook-off in an enclosed tent outside Carlino's Event Center, where the main section will be, said Kyle Lauderdale, Corning Rotary President. "We wanted to add something new and be creative," Lauderdale said. The event is scheduled 4-9 p.m. Friday and noon to 9 p.m. Saturday at Courtesy photo Susana Roisenzvit of the Red Bluff Art Association reviews a painting at a previous Corning Rotary Wine, Art and Food Festival. The event is scheduled Friday and Saturday at Rolling Hills Casino. Probe faults water agency in Oroville Dam accident See POT, page 7A See HOME, page 7A See SCHOOLS, page 7A See WINE, page 7A See PROBE, page 7A