Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/114956
WEDNESDAY One Stew, Junior Olympic Swimming Three Themes MARCH 13, 2013 County Fare Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com See Page 5A SPORTS 1B DAILY NEWS RED BLUFF Sunny 81/47 Weather forecast 8B TEHAMA COUNTY 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 Bealer asserts innocence Court scrambles to find defense attorney DN Staff Writer The new Tehama County Courthouse project has continued to dodge the budget ax despite the California court system indefinitely delaying another 11 construction projects and continuing cuts across the state. At the end of February the state judicial council voted to delayed 11 construction projects. The council had delayed seven projects in September. Each time the project to build a new five-courtroom facility in Red Bluff has been given the green light. The project is listed in the design phase with an order to start working drawings in the upcoming fiscal year. The 59,683-square-foot project is scheduled to be completed in the second quarter of 2016. California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye urged lawmakers Monday to reinvest in the state���s court system after its budget has been reduced by more than $1 billion over the last five years. In one of the latest rounds of budget cuts, Tehama County Superior Court���s Corning branch will close See COURT, page 7A State drops Lake Oroville's black bass size limit By BARBARA ARRIGONI MediaNews Group Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb Quentin Ray Bealer, 39, awaits the confirmation of a lawyer at a hearing Tuesday morning at the Tehama County Superior Court. Bealer was referring to a Feb. 26 surveillance video that showed him walking from Douglas Street into the school parking lot about a Coalition forms to defend Calif. environmental law SACRAMENTO (AP) ��� Labor and environmental groups on Tuesday joined some of the more liberal Democrats in the state Legislature in announcing a coalition to oppose reforms sought by Gov. Jerry Brown to the California Environmental Quality Act. Overhauling the law to prevent abuse is one of the governor���s top priorities this year, but opponents say the act has served a vital role in protecting the state���s air and water over its four-decade history. Signed into law by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan in 1970, the law requires public agencies to weigh the potential environmental effects of proposed development. Critics say it has drifted from that purpose, instead being used to delay projects, seek labor concessions and undermine competing developers. Common Ground, the new coalition group opposing reforms, commissioned a report as part of its effort to emphasize the importance of the law. The study by Peter Philips, a University of 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 Courthouse project on track By RICH GREENE By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer The case against Tehama County resident Quentin Ray Bealer, 39, will continue today after six Tehama County Public Defenders declared conflicts on Tuesday at the Tehama County Superior Court, delaying entry of plea. Bealer is charged with murder in the death of 14year-old Marysa Nichols, whose body was found between Red Bluff Union High School and Baker Road Feb. 28. Bealer was in court at 8 a.m. Tuesday where Ken Miller, who was assigned at the March 6 arraignment, declared a conflict. Ron McIvor was next up to be assigned a case, but declared a conflict due to a potential issue with a witness. Christopher Logan declared a conflict on behalf of Diane Martin-Logan who was next in line to receive a public defender case, citing the same conflict as McIvor. As Tehama County Superior Court Judge John Garaventa explained the proceedings and that the court would return at 1 p.m. to continue its search for an attorney to serve as defense, he asked Bealer if he understood. ���Not really,��� Bealer said. ���I don���t understand why I���m being charged with murder when there is just a photo with a kid walking behind me.��� DAILY 50�� Utah economics professor, points to the state���s record in building alternativeenergy projects and maintaining construction jobs as evidence that the law is working. ������Has CEQA actually hindered construction? Far from it,������ said Bob Balgenorth, chairman of the California Construction Industry Labor Management Cooperation Trust. ������If anything, it���s facilitated greater construction, a cleaner environment and a better quality of life for Californians.������ Brown and the Legislature���s Democratic leaders are negotiating changes after an attempt to pass a bill failed last year. The governor���s office had no comment on the report, but Brown has advocated for more consistent standards in reviewing development projects. A separate coalition of business, labor and government organizations supports changes to the law that would make it easier to build. Republican Sen. Tom Berryhill of Stanislaus has re-introduced a proposal for streamlining the review process that was See LAW, page 7A minute before Nichols followed the same route. Police identified Bealer March 1 as a person of interest in the investigation. Bealer went to the Red Bluff Police Department early in the morning March See BEALER, page 7A OROVILLE ��� After 20 years, a state regulation that limited the size of black bass people could take home from Lake Oroville will expire today. Beginning Friday, people who fish at Lake Oroville and catch black bass species can keep fish that are 12 inches or longer, said Kyle Murphy, senior environmental scientist for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The bag limit, or number of fish people can take home, will be five bass per day, he said. The change applies to all species within the black bass genus, including redeye bass, Alabama spotted bass, large-mouth bass and small-mouth bass. Since 1983, the state has had what it called a ���slot limit��� on bass in Lake Oroville and four other reservoirs in California. Under the slot limit, people could keep bass either 12 inches or smaller, or 15 inches or longer. Any bass See BASS, page 7A Cowboys gone wild Special to the DN Picture Wranglers, boots, a cowboy hat, and chaps, and you know you're envisioning a cowboy. But add some rock stars, Waldo from Where���s Waldo?, guitars, dresses and dinosaurs, and you have Red Bluff Round-Up���s Wild Ride. The Wild Ride adds excitement to the RoundUp, as cowboys dress up in crazy costumes and ride saddle broncs on the last day of the rodeo. And anything from Britney Spears to the Blue Man can be seen in the arena. Cowboys can bring their own costumes, or Red Bluff Round-Up can provide them. Maryanne Montandon, a friend of committee chairman Dave Ramelli helps locate costumes. ���She works throughout the year to make up bags of costumes for them, collecting things from local thrift stores.��� Red Bluff Round-Up fans love the Wild Ride, Ramelli says. ���It���s turned out to be a great event, and has given us a lot of notoriety.��� The Wild Ride winner receives $1,000 and a saddle. Roy Johnson, Etna, was the 2012 winner. He has ridden in the Wild Ride several times, once as a Native American, and last year, as Bret Michaels, holding a plastic guitar while he rode. Courtesy photo by Bob Click J.C. DeSaveur, Roberts, Mont., rides as Waldo at the 2012 Wild Ride at the Red Bluff Round-Up. The Wild Ride is unique to Red Bluff and brings notoriety to the Round-Up. He loves the Wild Ride. ���It���s laid back, and a lot of fun,��� Johnson said. ���You can goof off and be silly. The crowd loves it too.��� Any cowboy can sign up to ride in the Wild Ride, says Ramelli. Mostly, saddle bronc riders participate, but ���we've even had a steer wrestler See WILD, page 7A PHYSICIAN REFERRAL A FREE SERVICE PROVIDED FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE 1-888-628-1948