Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/781722
ByEllenKnickmeyerand Rich Pedroncelli AssociatedPress ECHO SUMMIT Clambering through a snowy meadow with drifts up to the tree branches, California's water managers mea- sured the state's vital Sierra Ne- vada snowpack Thursday at a drought-busting and welcome 173 percent of average. Runoff from the overall Sierra snowpack, which provides Cali- fornia with a third of its water in a good year, stood at the highest level since 1995 for this point in the year, California's Department of Water Resources said. State officials say Gov. Jerry Brown will wait until closer to the end of California's rain and snow season this spring to decide whether to lift an emergency dec- laration addressing the devastat- DROUGHT Snowpack heaviest in 22 years Staff report @redbuffnews on Twitter RED BLUFF A 31-year-old Red Bluff man was arrested Sunday, charged with assault in connec- tion to a reported axe attack. Tehama County Sheriff's Dep- uties were dispatched to a resi- dence on the 500 block of Hunt Avenue at 9:30 p.m. Sunday re- garding reports of a man being struck in the head with an axe. Upon arrival, deputies con- tacted Dale Wilder, who had sus- tained a laceration to the top of his head, according to the press released issued Thursday by the Tehama County Sheriff's Office. During the course of the inves- tigation Wilder reported to au- thorities that Alfredo Galvan, of Red Bluff struck him in the head with what he described as an axe after a verbal confrontation with him. A broken axe handle was lo- cated at the scene missing the axe head, which couldn't be found HUNT AVENUE Ma n arrested a er a ll eg ed axe assault Staff report @redbuffnews on Twitter RED BLUFF A 42-year-old Paynes Creek woman was arrested in Red Bluff Wednesday in connec- tion with an ongoing investiga- tion into suspected embezzle- ment and tax fraud and booked into Tehama County Jail. Jessica Andromeda McCoy was booked on the charges of two counts of willfully failing to file tax returns, one count of willfully filing false tax returns, 33 counts of grand theft, two counts of in- tent to take property with spe- cial allegation and aggravated white collar crime, according to a press release issued Thursday by the Tehama County Sheriff's Department. McCoy is suspected of embez- zling more than $300,000 from Gilchrist Properties, LLC. in Los Molinos while serving as its ac- countant between 2012 and Jan- uary 2016, when she was released from their employ- ment. Following the initial report, a six-month investi- gation looking into the allegations was conducted by the sheriff's depart- ment after which search warrants were obtained and served on McCoy's bank ac- counts, residence, vehicles and a private business office, the release said. Probable cause was found to indicate that McCoy was responsi- ble for the embezzlement reported at Gilchrist. A parallel criminal investiga- tion into family taxes relating to McCoy was launched in August 2016 with the California Fran- chise Tax Board assigning an in- vestigator. That investigation showed that in 2014 McCoy filed a false tax re- turn and then failed to file tax re- turns, a felony violation, in both 2015 and 2016. The investigations were as- signed to a prosecution team with the Office of the Attorney Gener- al's Financial Fraud and Special Investigations Unit and a case was filed with the Department of Justice in Tehama County Su- perior Court on Monday. A warrant was issued for Mc- Coy's arrest and she was arrested outside of her Red Bluff business, the release said. Bail was set at $1 million. CRIME Womanfacestaxfraudcharges By Heather Hoelscher hhoelscher@redbluffdailynews.com @DN_Heather on Twitter RANCHOTEHAMA Apersonofin- terest has been identified as Al- fonso Antonio Vargas, 23, of Ran- cho Tehama in Monday's double homicide shooting there. Vargas may be armed with a handgun and may also have a gunshot wound that he receive during the commission of the crime,accordingtoapressrelease issued Thursday by the Tehama County Sheriff's Office. He is as- sociated with a truck similar to a black 1992 Chevy 1500, with the license plate number 4M63204. The first deceased man in the homicide, who was found laying in the front yard of a residence in the area near Black Ranch, was identified as Moises Salgado Far- ias, 38. The second man was identi- fiedasHispanicbutnofurtherde- tails were released pending posi- tive identification and family no- tification. Deputies responded at 10:15 a.m. Monday to Rancho Te- hama Reserve for reports of an attempted carjacking with a weapon.Shortlyafter,deputiesar- rived at the west end of Rancho Tehama Road, where they found aresidentwitnesswhoreporteda home invasion robbery had been attempted, related to the carjack- ing reports. Deputies were dispatched around 10:30 a.m. to the Chev- ron station in Corning at the in- tersection of Solano Street and 99W to a report of a second gun- shotvictimwalkingintothebusi- ness and collapsing as a result of his injuries. He was transported to Enloe Medical Center in Chico, where medical staff pronounced him dead. If anyone has any contact with the Chevy truck or Vargas, the sheriff's office asks them to notify Det.JeffGarrettat(530)529-7920. RANCHO TEHAMA DOUBLE HOMICIDE SUBJECT SOUGHT CONTRIBUTEDPHOTO Pictured is a black 1992Chevy 1500truck has been identified as a truck similar to one driven by Alfonzo Antonio Vargas, Monday's double homicide suspect, with the licence plate number 4M63204. Community.....A3 Education........A4 Lifestyles........A5 Opinion............A6 Weather ..........A8 Sports.............. B1 Index............... ## INDEX Have a great day, Toni Gwaltney GOOD MORNING D DowJonesIndustrial 19,884.91 (-6.03) U Standard & Poor's 2280.85 (+1.30) D Nasdaq 5636.20 (-6.45) BUSINESS President uses forceful language in response to Iran's test of medium-range missile, support of rebels. PAGE B4 WHITE HOUSE TrumpsaysIrannow'on notice' a er missile test Audience of 300seeks to permanently close gas storage facility in Los Angeles a er widespread illnesses. PAGE A8 PUBLIC SAFETY Raucous crowd shuts down gas leak meeting Vargas McCoy SNOW PAGE 7 AXE PAGE 7 Online See more news at our website. redbluffdailynews.com ยป redbluffdailynews.com Friday, February 3, 2017 50CENTS AN EDITION OF THE CHICO ENTERPRISE-RECORD Lassen Volcanic Park welcomes on board acting superintendent Lifestyles A5 Basketball Cardinals down Willows Honkers to go to 21-0 Sports B1 DON'TBE SCAMMED Scamalerts Readour online scam alert section to learn how to avoid being scammed. VISIT REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM/ SCAMALERT Volume132,issue54 7 58551 69001 9 Rain High: Low: 60 50 PAGE A8 Check out what's going on in your neighborhood and the community. PAGE A2 LOCAL CALENDAR