Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/118545
FRIDAY Science Fair winners MARCH 29, 2013 Red Bluff track Education Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com See 4A Sports 1B DAILY NEWS RED BLUFF Partly cloudy 75/49 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 Bingo bandit swipes stash Large chunk found in car By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer CORNING — More than $1,000 was stolen Wednesday evening from the VFW Post 4218 Bingo night held at the Corning Veterans Memorial Hall. Most of it was thankfully recovered quickly, Bingo CoChairman Dennis Wyman said. Shortly after the theft was reported, Wyman received a call from a local sports team coach who had a player that had been giving a ride home to the thief who left the bag behind in the vehicle, he said. The police were able to identify the person responsible and return the US Bank bag the money was in with the checks, which were still in it, Wyman said. "This is the first time something like this has happened," Wyman said. "Usually at night, we leave it out in the area as we clean up. It sits out there and no one ever touched it before, but thankfully we were able to recover some of it." The group had about $90 in cash that was not recovered. However, had the checks not been returned Wyman believes because of his group's generosity that in the end they most likely would have covered it. "This is the first time something like this has happened. Usually at night, we leave it out in the area as we clean up. It sits out there and no one ever touched it before, but thankfully we were able to recover some of it." — Bingo Co-Chairman Dennis Wyman "We have a really good group of players," Wyman said. "Most of them would have rewritten their checks for us if we'd told them." Coincidentally, there is a big money box that typically sits out as well, however, something told him Wednesday evening that he shouldn't leave it out, Wyman said. The good news is he had put that one in a safe right away. "They could have absconded with a lot of money," Wyman said. The bingo evening is put on by the local VFW post with proceeds going to the community, he said. "It's for all the local organizations," Wyman said. "People come to us for swim teams, little league baseball, soccer and sometimes individuals." One time, the group was able to help pay for a student to go to Washington D.C. to participate in Black returning to Red Bluff Baxter Black, cowboy poet and humorist, will be appearing Tuesday, April 16 in Red Bluff at the State Theatre as part of the kickoff to the "Eleven Days of Round-Up". Baxter Black was described by the New York Times as "…probably the nation's most successful living poet." An ex-veterinarian who turned poet, he can shoe a horse, string barbed wire or bang out a Bob Wills classic on his flat top guitar. He is the best selling cowboy poet in the world. He has written several books, recorded audio and video tapes, CDs and DVDs. He can be seen regularly on RFD TV, and has appeared many times at the Elko Cowboy Poetry Gathering. Tickets for the event range in price from $50 "Prime" which is the VIP seating (includes a meet and greet with Baxter), $30 "Choice" and $25 "Select" for general admission. Baxter will meet and greet from 5:30 to 6:30 a service program, he said. In cases like those, the money is not given to the individual directly, but to the organization through which the person is participating in the event, Wyman said. The group also helps to support organizations like Corning Christian Assistance, which it gives several thousand dollars a year to, he said. Supervisors change bridge requirements By RICH GREENE DN Staff Writer Tehama County Supervisors changed the weight limit on a pair of rural bridges Tuesday following CalTrans recommendations. The weight limits on a bridge on Paskenta Road over Elder Creek were lowered to 19 tons for trucks, 30 tons for semi-trailer combinations and 38 for truck and full trailer combinations. In addition a 15 mph speed restriction was removed. CalTrans found the speed limit on the bridge was impractical as drivers were ignoring it with the straightaway path before the bridge. See BRIDGE, page 7A Caltrans techs faked data, took extra OT Daily News archive photo Baxter Black chats with Carol Enos before his 2011 appearance in Red Bluff. p.m. at the I.O.O.F. Hall across the street from the Theatre. Refreshments will be served. One performance only will start at 7:00 p.m. Opening the event will be special guests, "Loosely Strung" a County may lose portion of timber payments local fiddlers group. Tickets are available in Red Bluff at The Gold Exchange, and The Loft; Shasta Farm & Equipment in Cottonwood, Rabobank in Corning, and Bucke's of Orland. Tickets will be available online this year at www.statetheatreredbluff.com. This event is being sponsored by the Tehama County CattleWomen; additional information is available at 385-2616. SACRAMENTO (AP) — Two Caltrans technicians who tested foundations for construction projects statewide claimed pay for hundreds of hours of overtime and specialized testing work they did not perform and falsified testing data on 11 projects, the California state auditor said in a report Thursday. Auditor Elaine Howle found that the transportation agency took no action to determine whether the affected structures were safe after initially learning of the falsified reports. In subsequent reviews, Caltrans has said the bridges are safe. The two staffers claimed over 260 hours of overtime and pay for extra testing that they never performed, collecting nearly $14,000 to which they were not entitled, Howle's See TECHS, page 7A Tehama's newest deputy pinned Special to the DN PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings and another 30 members of Congress have sent a letter to the Obama Administration, asking why it is demanding timber counties send back roughly $18 million in federal subsidies. The Agriculture Department distributed $323 million to 41 states in January as part of the Secure Rural Schools program, which helps timber counties make up for revenue lost when national forests cut back logging to protect wildlife. But the administration recently said the payments are subject to the sequester, and states must return a portion of the money. In his letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Hastings, a 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 Washington Republican, says the move is an ''obvious attempt'' to make the sequester as painful as possible and asks for the repayments to be halted. Tehama County Administrative Services Director Julie Sisneros said the county hasn't been officially told it needs to send money back, but they have seen correspondence about the issue. The county would have to repay 5.1 percent of what it received this year. That would equal about $55,641 that would have went to roads and schools and another $3,438 that is used for search and rescue equipment and community fire prevention. Sisneros said the money Tehama County receives from the program has steadily declined each year. Daily News reporter Rich Greene contributed to this report. Dustin Maria has known he wanted to be in law enforcement since he was 8-yearsold when he first met a police officer from the Antioch Police Department. "If you want something bad enough you'll work hard to achieve it," Maria said. On Thursday that dream became reality when he was sworn in as a deputy sheriff with the Tehama County Sheriff's Department. Many of his family and friends attended the ceremony, including that police officer from Antioch Police Department — now known as Sergeant Tom Furhmann. Maria began his law enforcement goal in 2004 when he joined the Explorer Scout Post No. 120 with Tehama County Sheriff's Department, a youth-oriented program affiliated with the regional and national organizations of the Boy Scouts of America. He promoted to the rank of captain, which Courtesy photo Dustin Maria is pinned by his mother Pam Maria during a ceremony Thursday. is the highest rank possible in this program. Maria served with the Explorer program until 2011. In May of 2011, Maria completed his Associates in Arts degree in Social and Behavioral Science as well as his Associates in Science degree in Law Enforcement from Butte College. The following month Maria graduated at the top of his class from the Butte College 127th Basic Law Enforcement Academy. Maria most recently served as a reserve deputy with the Tehama County Sheriff's Office. He will be assigned to the Operations Division.