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TUESDAY FEBRUARY 5, 2013 Youth Fly On Refueling Trip Playoff Points Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com See Page 5B SPORTS 1B DAILY NEWS RED BLUFF Partly cloudy 60/38 Weather forecast 8B 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 Shots prompt lockdown Man arrested for pulling knife By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer A 29-year-old Idaho man was arrested early Sunday morning in the 700 block of Main Street after reportedly brandishing a weapon and attacking a Firehouse Pizza employee. Frank Quaid, Jr., of Boise, Idaho was booked into Tehama County Jail on the charges of battery and brandishing a weapon other than a firearm. He was also booked on a small warrant. Bail was $2,000. A 911 call was received at 2:41 a.m. from an employee at Firehouse Pizza reporting someone had brandished a knife outside the business. Red Bluff Police responded to the area where they found the suspect, identified as Quaid, and his 28-yearold brother, Jesse. A Firehouse employee approached the officers, placing Quaid under citizen's arrest. The man said Quaid had hit him in the face and threatened him with a dark colored pocket knife after he had tried to stop Quaid and his brother from attacking another man. See KNIFE, page 7A Suspect nabbed after false alarm Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb Principal Jerry Walker unlocks the gate about noon Monday after a 20-minute lockdown of Los Molinos Elementary School prompted by shots fired in the area. By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer A serious situation turned into a drill Monday afternoon at Los Molinos Elementary School, 7700 Stanford Ave., where students were under lockdown about 11:45 a.m. "We received a call about shots fired near the school and as a result did a sweep of the area," Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston said. "The shots were unrelated to the school and were believed to have come from a creek area adjacent to the school." The creek bed is about 450 yards behind the school toward the southeast corner of it, Johnston said. "We responded with eight officers including some from California Highway Patrol and CalFire," Johnston said. "There was no one found and the vehicle witness said might be associated had left the area prior to our arrival." The entire lockdown was in place for about 20 minutes, he said. At 12:05 p.m., Principal Jerry Walker was seen unlocking the two gates at the Stanford Avenue entrances. Walker said the school was safe and referred all questions to Los Helicopter executives indicted from crash PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Federal prosecutors announced fraud charges Monday against two helicopter company employees accused of lying about the performance capabilities of helicopters hired by the U.S. Forest Service to fight wildfires, including one that crashed in 2008 in Northern California, killing nine. The 25-page indictment from a federal grand jury in Medford, Ore., alleges that Steven Metheny, with help from Levi Phillips, submitted false information to win more than $20 million in contracts for seven helicopters. Metheny, 42, the former vice president of West Coast Operations for Carson Helicopters Inc., and Phillips, 45, the former director of maintenance, were charged with conspiracy to defraud the Forest Service. Metheny also faces charges of mail and wire fraud, making false statements to the Forest Service and endangering the safety of an aircraft. 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 Metheny did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment. Phillips does not have a listed phone number. No attorney is listed for Metheny or Phillips on the court docket The men face a maximum of 20 years in prison, if convicted on the conspiracy charge. Metheny could potentially get decades more on the other charges. The indictment states that when the Forest Service solicited bids for helicopters to be used in firefighting operations, Metheny submitted proposals with altered performance charts and falsified weight and balance charts. Then, after winning the contract, the incorrect information was given to pilots who had to calculate the maximum payload capacity during firefighting operations. When asked why the specifications were different than those on similar helicopters, the indictment says Matheny told the Forest Service the company had modified the engines to be more powerful. Through a spokeswoman, Assistant U.S. See CRASH, page 7A Molinos Unified School District Superintendent Charles Ward, who had helped Walker do initial lockdown and patrol of the school grounds. "At 11:45 a.m. I received the call at the district office across the highway from the elementary school that the school was going into lockdown," Ward said. "Some of our students heard and quickly reported that shots had been fired in the vicinity of the school and within minutes the principal and I had patrolled the area. This is someSee SHOTS, page 7A A false alarm at a Red Bluff business Sunday morning led to arrest of a 40-year-old man, who had common used tools to commit identify theft. Around 9:10 a.m. Red Bluff police officers responded to an alarm at Tuckers Automotive on South Main Street, according to a department press release. While the alarm was eventually determined to be a false alarm, officers contacted Scott Festag in a nearby parking lot after their arrival. Officers discovered Festag had a loaded 9-mm handgun and he was subsequently arrested. A search of Festag's vehicle turned up 0.7 grams of methamphetamine, materials used for packaging, a scale, several cell phones, $60 cash and narcotics paraphernalia. Festag was also in possession of driver's license numbers, Social Security numbers, PIN numbers, credit card numbers and other personal information commonly used for identity theft. Festag was charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance for sale, transportation of a controlled substance, felon in possession of a firearm, violent felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm with the intent to commit a felony, identity theft and possession of narcotics paraphernalia. His bail was $118,000. Event spreads smiles for kids By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer The eighth annual Give Kids A Smile Day was held Saturday at the Northern Valley Indian Health Clinic, 2500 N. Main St., in Red Bluff. "It's a wonderful collaboration," Mary Jacobson, a Tehama County Public Health Health Services Agency health educator and registered dental hygienist. "We're expecting about 130 kids to come today." The event, previously held at the clinic on Oak Street next to the State Theatre, has been at its new site, which has 16 operatories and a tent outside set up to be used, for two years, she said. The event, planned by the Tehama County Public Health Dental Advisory Committee, is a collaboration with Women Infant Children (WIC), the pubSee SMILES, page 7A Basic EXCEL Class Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb Dr. Maria Libao, left, and RDA Jamie Hepburn, right, work on patient Josue Vasquez, 14, of Red Bluff at the eighth annual Give Kids A Smile Day on Saturday. 2013 Weekly Hiring Events At the Job Training Center Tuesday, February 5 • 2-4pm Featuring: Thurs, Feb. 14TH 8:30 am to 12:30 pm Job Training Center AutoZone Positions available in Corning and for new Red Bluff store! 718 Main Street, Red Bluff (Come prepared with right to work documents) 718 Main St., Red Bluff Cost: $65.00 per person Call 529-7000 to register Job Training Center is an Equal opportunity Employer/Program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to people with disabilities. TTY: 530.527.2306.