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FRIDAY Computers Prep Students MARCH 1, 2013 All League Spartans Education Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com See Page 4A SPORTS 1B DAILY NEWS RED BLUFF Sunny 78/46 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 Body of missing teen found near high school 15-life for killing Caltrans worker MediaNews Group photo by Ryan Olson Russell Ned Hodge of Corning looks down during his sentencing today in Butte County Superior Court in Oroville. By RYAN OLSON Staff Writer OROVILLE ��� A Corning man was sentenced today to 15 years to life in state prison for a November 2010 incident where he struck and killed a Caltrans worker on Highway 99 north of Chico. Both sides had agreed to the sentence when Russell Ned Hodge pleaded guilty Jan. 24 to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and admitted two prior driving under the influence convictions. On Nov. 14, 2010, Hodge drove his Ford F-250 pickup into Caltrans worker Gary Smith, who was manning a roadblock following an earlier DUI crash that killed three and injured one. The driver in that case, Robert Change believe to be to of See CALTRANS, page 7A Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb Red Bluff Police officers and SWAT team members responded to and roped off an area between Red Bluff High School and Baker Road, where the body of missing teen Marysa Nichols was found Thursday. By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer The body of 14-yearold Marysa Nichols was found Thursday morning in an area between Red Bluff High School and Baker Road and the case has been ruled a homicide. Reading from a prepared statement Thurs- Nichols day night at a press conference, Police Chief Paul Nanfito said officers identified Nichols based on photographs and specific items found at the crime scene. The Red Bluff High School student was reported missing to Red Bluff Police when she didn���t come home from school Tuesday afternoon. Around 1 a.m. Wednesday, officers searched the creek area behind the high school because Nichols would have had to cross that area on her way home from school, Nanfito said. The search continued until around 3 a.m. and resumed at 8 a.m. Wednesday. Neither search produced any leads or information regarding Nichols��� whereabouts. Her mother, Diane Whitmire, told the department she had dropped Marysa off at the Red Bluff High School's Education Outreach Academy around 9:50 a.m. Tuesday, according to the initial Red Bluff Police press release. Marysa told her mother she would be home by 2:30 p.m., but did not return home, at which point Whitmire contacted the police department at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. Police again searched the creek area Wednesday night. Calif. lawmakers moving on health insurance rules SACRAMENTO (AP) ��� California lawmakers took the first step Thursday toward passing new consumer protections, such as guaranteeing coverage even with pre-existing conditions, under the federal health care overhaul. Democrats in both houses of the Legislature passed bills dealing with individual insurance regulations that would prevent insurers from discriminating and overcharging customers. The bills, ABx1 2 by Assemblyman Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, and SBx1 2 by Sen. Ed Hernandez, DWest Covina, also seek to ensure quality health coverage. The bills now switch houses while lawmakers work out the details with Gov. Jerry Brown to eventually pass and sign just one of them. One of the sticking 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 points is how many geographic regions health insurers will be able to use to determine premiums. ������This is just one part of the puzzle,������ Hernandez said. The bills were introduced during a special legislative session convened by Brown to implement health care reform in the state. The governor wants lawmakers to tweak state laws as soon as possible so officials can launch a new insurance marketplace and expand the state���s health insurance program for the poor. The two regulatory bills passed Thursday on partyline votes prevent insurers from discriminating based on an individual���s health status, medical condition, plan experience and genetic information. Instead, insurers will be limited to adjusting rates on age, geography and family size. The measures essentially add the Affordable Care Act See RULES, page 7A Around 11 a.m. Thursday, Red Bluff Police and the SWAT team responded to the creek area and two SWAT team members found the teen���s body, and taped off an area on Baker Road near the Spartan Ranch entrance. A second perimeter was set up within that perimeter. Forensic crime scene investigators were brought in to assist in processing of the crime scene, Nanfito said. An autopsy is scheduled for Saturday. Tip lines have been established at 530 737-3160 and 530 737-3225 and anyone with any information related to the case is encouraged to call. Nanfito said the investigation is in its early stages and was not willing to say whether the crime may be connected to reports of a white van parked near schools in the area over the last six months or an attempted abduction of a girl near Metteer See TEEN, page 7A Sales tax makes good year for Corning By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer Redding-based Certified Public Accountant Don Reynolds presented the city of Corning with its annual audit Tuesday, announcing that it was "still $300,000 to the good" in the fiscal year 2011-2012. Corning had a $250,000 shortfall, but due to the $500,000 more in sales tax revenue than anticipated in the budget, it was able to finish in good shape, Reynolds said. "It allowed the city to recoup some of its reserve," Reynolds said. "This bodes well if the revenue trend continues. If the city continues to exercise that kind of fiscal restraint it will be well on its way to achieving its reserve levels of the past." Corning has typically had a reserve around $800,000 during the several years Reynolds has compiled an audit, he said. "The economy is limping along at best," Reynolds said. "This will allow the city to build that up and more." An audit allows the city to see the financial highlights and shortfalls in the city budget, he said. "Your financial statements are the work product of your staff," See TAX, page 7A Local author writes about invasion of China By RICH GREENE DN Staff Writer Considering Ernest Hemingway was rejected some 60 times, Red Bluff author William Wong Foey thought nothing of being rejected at least 61 times trying to get his first novel published. It took Foey a year to write the novel about a survivor of the 1937 Japanese invasion of China. It took six more years to land a publisher. It made the joy even sweeter when Dark Planet Publishing began publishing ���Winter Melon��� in January. ���One of the greatest feelings in my life after years of frustration,��� Foey said. The book is available in paperback through Barnes & Noble stores and available in digital format through Amazon���s Kindle store, Apple iTunes, Barnes and Nobles��� Nook and the DirectMusic Cafe. Foey designed and painted the cover, depict- Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb Red Bluff author William Wong Foey had his first novel, ���Winter Melon,��� published in January. ing the story���s heroine, Gong Ree, a feisty 17year-old who is brutalized and loses most everything precious to her at the hands of the savage Sergeant Suzuki. Decades later Ree becomes a famous artist and once again runs into Suzuki. She then wrestles with a decision whether to exact revenge. While the major characters are fictional, the story is set in historical fact. ���I love make-believe stories with monumental events of the past as a backdrop. It gives it a very epic feel,��� Foey said. Foey, who holds multiple degrees in Fine Arts and Social Studies and a minor in history, said he has always had an interest in different cultures. His family has lived in Red Bluff since the 1850s when they came to what Foey said they believed to be ���Gold Mountain.��� While the Foeys didn���t find streets paved in gold, they did find an area they���ve made home for more than 160 years becoming part of the town���s history. Foey said ���Winter Melon��� is geared toward women readers. Like in many cultures, women for years took a submissive role toward men in his own. Foey���s grandmother was among the last to have her feet bound in what is now an illegal See CHINA, page 7A