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FRIDAY Featured Teacher JANUARY 4, 2013 Kicker Conundrum Education Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com See Page 4A SPORTS 1B DAILY NEWS RED BLUFF Mostly sunny 59/33 Weather forecast 8A TEHAMA COUNTY DAILY 50¢ T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U NTY S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Men held at gunpoint during home invasion A 35-year-old Reed Avenue resident and his 50year-old step brother reported to police they were held at gunpoint around 11 p.m. Wednesday. According to Tehama County Sheriff's logs the man reported he and his brother were at his residence on the 19000 block of Reed Avenue when three armed suspects broke into the home. The suspects held the brothers at gun point, tied them up and then ransacked the house. They left with property including a television. After the suspects left, the two brothers cut off their ropes and drove to Star Mart to call 911. Neither man saw a face and LaMalfa sworn in said the subjects wore black hoods. No vehicle was seen either. One of the brothers said he was pepper sprayed in the face. Woman arrested for bad checks A 31-year-old Anderson woman was arrested Thursday after weeks of reportedly passing fictitious checks around Redding, Anderson, Cottonwood and Red Bluff. Jamie Danielle Garland was arrested and booked into the Shasta County Jail for forgery, passing fictitious checks, burglary, identity theft, and possession of marijuana after she admitted to the crimes according to a Redding Police Department press release. The case will also be submitted to the Tehama County District Attorney's Office for prosecution of crimes committed in Tehama County. See CHECKS, page 7A Bill aims to speed up college degrees By LARRY MITCHELL MediaNews Group Courtesy photo Rep. Doug LaMalfa is joined by his family as Speaker John Boehner administers the oath of office Thursday. Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) Thursday took the oath of office in the Chambers of the United States House of Representatives and joined the 113th Congress of the United States. "We're really exited to get started," LaMalfa said in a phone interview Thursday. "It's kind of overwhelming to be sworn into the House. I know Congress has a low approval rate at times, but to be a part of it is a high honor. We have some big issues to tackle with leftovers from the fiscal cliff. Tomorrow we'll be working on a portion of funding for Hurricane Sandy that's really needed." "It's kind of overwhelming to be sworn into the House. I know Congress has a low approval rate at times, but to be a part of it is a high honor." — Rep. Doug LaMalfa While it won't be the full $60 billion initially tabled until Jan. 15, the house is expected to vote today on a $9 billion in Gas rate to drop, electric creeps up Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced Monday that residential customers will see a significant decline in natural gas rates, but a modest increase in electric rates to begin the new year. A company press release said the increase is to cover the utility's costs of maintaining and modernizing its system and of meeting a state mandate to buy more renewable energy. Gas rates will dip about 6 percent in January compared to the previous year. However an increase of about 2 percent could hit customers as early as Feb- 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 ruary. The increase is part of PG&E's Pipeline Safety Enhancement Plan, a modernization program. Electrical rates will increase about 2.6 percent system-wide compared to January 2012. An additional increase of about 2 percent will likely occur in May to pay for additional electric transmission infrastructure. "We know our customers care more than ever about their energy bills during these difficult economic times, so we continue to focus on keeping rate increases as modest as possible while raising enough revenue to continue improving our safety and reliability," Senior See GAS, page 7A relief that will get the ball rolling, LaMalfa said. Within the next two months, the national debt ceiling should be coming before the House and by the end of the year, he hopes to have the Farm Bill approved for a fiveyear period, LaMalfa said. "It's good we got something done to avoid the dairy cliff and now we'll have time to address it," LaMalfa said. Part of the problem in getting things done was the hang over from the presidential election, he said. "Everything was wound so tight it was difficult because of politics to get things done," LaMalfa said. "Now we have a fresh start with new members and a fresh See LAMALFA, page 7A L O M A RICA — Assemblyman Dan Logue wants college students to get their degrees Logue inexpensively and more quickly. Chico State University President Paul Zingg wants that, too. But Zingg made it clear Wednesday he doesn't like the idea behind a bill Logue introduced last month. Logue, R-Loma Rica, sent out a news release Wednesday about the measure, Assembly Bill 51. The bill would start a pilot program to explore how students could get a bachelor's degree in certain subjects within 18 months of graduating from high school and at a cost of no more than $10,000. Such programs are beginning to be put together in Texas and other places, the assemblyman said in a phone interview Wednesday. "It's something that's starting to go nation- wide." Zingg said he understood the idea was proposed in Texas but that "it's not getting any traction" because it makes no sense. Logue said he was inspired to write AB 51 after reading how Texas Gov. Rick Perry was promoting such a program. In California, the pilot program would be for students majoring in socalled STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). These might include biology, nursing, physics, civil engineering and other majors. Students with good grades would start taking STEM classes for college credit while they were still in high school, Logue said. They would enroll in a community college after high school, and take more such classes. Finally, they would transfer to a California State University school, like Chico State, and finish their degrees. The aim would be to See BILL, page 7A Calif schools face rising special education costs LOS ANGELES (AP) — California's school districts are shouldering an increasing share of the rising cost of educating students with disabilities as state and federal funding remains flat, according to a state report released Thursday. The 25-page report by the state Legislative Analyst's Office found that school districts must keep dipping deeper into their general funds to pay for special education. Schools spend $8.6 billion a year on special education, a combination of state, federal and local funds. The average cost to educate a student with disabilities is $22,300 a year, compared with $9,600 for a non-disabled child. In 2005, districts assumed 32 percent of their special education costs. In 2011, that figure had risen to 39 percent. The report said the figure is now likely higher after a two-year boost from federal stimulus funds has dried up. The report made no recommendations for policy changes. Rather, it was meant as an informational survey of an especially complicated and costly area of K-12 education, author Rachel Ehlers said. It came as Gov. Jerry Brown is slated to unveil next week an overhaul of how the state funds education, with a goal of shifting more money to lowerincome schools. ''We don't know if special education will be in or out of that yet,'' Ehlers said. ''We'll see what the governor proposes.'' California provides special services to 618,000 school-aged children, or about 10 percent of public school enrollment, as well as another 68,000 preschoolers. Many students with spe- cial needs — about 40 percent — have relatively minor impairments, such as dyslexia and other learning disabilities. The overall number of students with disabilities has dropped over the past decade due to a 20 percent decrease in the number of children diagnosed with learning disabilities. Experts say better awareness and earlier intervention have led to more kids avoiding the special education classification. But increasing expens- es are coming with a 240 percent increase in the number of children with autism, and a 120 percent rise in other impairments that require costlier interventions, the report said. Those categories of disabilities, however, still comprise a small proportion of special education. The report also found that California students with disabilities face poor educational outcomes, with many struggling to See COSTS, page 7A QuickBooks 2013 Classes 6 Wednesday Evening Classes 5:15pm-7:15pm January 9th through February 13th $99.00 per person Job Training Center 718 Main St., Red Bluff Call 529-7000