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THURSDAY JUNE 17, 2010 Breaking news at: Summer Fun For Children Pastimes www.redbluffdailynews.com See Page 4A RED BLUFF Wilcox Ladies SPORTS 1B Sunny 85/57 Weather forecast 8B Giving business a boost By GEOFF JOHNSON DN Staff Writer The Job Training Cen- ter may have the power to turn a handful of local, five-man businesses into a statewide powerhouses. The center has some $172,000 set aside for its Business Incubation Pro- gram, most of it federal funding, and all set aside to help local shops com- pete with big chains. The center has enough money to fund between seven and 10 businesses, CEO Kathy Schmitz said. Businesses chosen for the program must be earn- ing 80 percent or less of the county’s median income, depending on the owner’s family members, and employ five or fewer people. Those that qualify will receive benefits that, in some cases, can wholly transform a business, Ryne Johnson, CEO for the Chico Project, told the Tehama County Board of Supervisors on June 8. Chico Project will be tasked with coaching, strategizing and market- ing on behalf of Tehama County operations. Already deployed to aid some 75 Butte County businesses, the Chico Pro- ject works especially well with manufacturing busi- nesses, or those that sell a physical product. Johnson singled out Marc Kessler of Califor- nia Organic Flowers as See BOOST, page 7A Daily News photo by Geoff Johnson Chip sealing for Aramayo Way, which runs from the city of Tehama to Los Molinos, is one of the top priorities for Tehama County Public Works as it distributes Prop. 1B funding. Prop 1B money a drop in the bucket By GEOFF JOHNSON DN Staff Writer Tehama County streets face a rough road. The county’s Public Works department has received an addi- tional $2.5 million in the third and final round of funding from Prop. 1B bonds, and has plans to improve dozens of roadways needing work. Projects from Aramayo Way out- side Los Molinos to Bowman Road in Cottonwood stand to receive either chip sealing or asphalt over- State panel votes against cuts to lawmakers’ pay SACRAMENTO (AP) — After cutting pay last year, the independent commission that sets salaries for lawmakers and elected statewide office- holders decided Wednes- day against imposing fur- ther reductions. The six-member Cali- fornia Citizens Compensa- tion Commission voted unanimously to maintain to keep salaries for rank- and-file lawmakers at just more than $95,000 a year. Last year, the commis- sion slashed salaries by 18 percent for the 120 mem- bers of the Legislature and 12 statewide officeholders. Several members of the commission said they felt uncomfortable cutting salaries when the state had not yet completed its bud- get for the fiscal year that starts July 1. Despite California’s continuing financial crisis, they said docking pay fur- ther would appear puni- tive. ‘‘Earlier this year, I was POWER PRODUCTS DOLMAR Red Bluff Outdoor Power really feeling that an addi- tional 10 percent would be fair, but now I think the 18 percent cut we made last year was plenty,’’ commis- sioner Kathy Sands said. ‘‘I think we should wait until next year and see where we are with the bud- get.’’ The commission also opted to keep lawmakers’ benefits the same, includ- ing daily expense allowances, vehicle allowances and health insurance. Lawmakers receive additional per diem pay of $141.86 on days the Legislature is in session, which provides most lawmakers as much as $30,000 on top of their base salaries. California lawmakers earn more than their coun- terparts in several of the country’s most populous states, according to a sur- See PAY, page 7A lay. Even after the funding is spent, the county is likely to see only a marginal improvement in its street quality. “The county could easily spend 10 times this and then we would start making a dent in the roads,” Senior Civil Engineer Tim Wood said. The money only covers, at most, 20 of 1,100 miles of county road and represents the first chip sealing the county has been able to do in as much as half-a-decade, Wood said. The state pays one way or the other for most of the county road- work, with a trickle of county money and project-specific federal money rounding out road costs. The numerous methods of distri- bution for state funding, which include gas taxes and the Trans- portation Commission, an entity separate from public works but which shares road responsibility, have dried up over the past decade. The commission, acting in paral- lel to the department, has been asked to stretch three years of pro- jects over the next five years, Wood said. Combined with rising asphalt prices and the need to earthquake- proof local bridges, the public works department has little funding to spare for public roads. See ROADS, page 7A DAILYNEWS $2.5M goes to roads TEHAMACOUNTY DAILY 50¢ T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 City OKs new homes By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer The construction of new houses on the south end of the city has been approved by the Red Bluff City Council. At its Tuesday meet- ing, the council voted 5-0 to approve the develop- ment project. The 65 single family units will be on a 16.2- acre lot on South Jackson Street, south of Vista Way, near Crosby Lane and Spyglass Drive. Part of the acreage will be reserved for open space common land because of species endangerment, specifically Red Bluff dwarf bushes, that have been identified by the Department of Fish and Game. Other agenda items • A total of $16,965 from the Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Team Grant will be reallo- cated for equipment and to pay the detective assigned to the enforce- ment team. The grant must be used by the end of the month. • The police depart- ment will apply for a COPS Hiring Recovery Program Grant in the amount $263,391, which See HOMES, page 7A Vote early, vote often in mayor race By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer LOS MOLINOS — The Honorary Mayor’s Race is up and running with a few weeks left to go for candidates to col- lect money. Hopefuls for the race, which collects money to be used for the Los Moli- nos Independence Day Parade and Play Day, include Kenny Brewer, Mike Voyles, Rick Singer, Todd Hamer and Jeremy Baugher. Brewer, a lifelong Los Molinos resident and 2010 graduate of Los Molinos High School, works at the Burger Shack. He is often found at the Los Molinos Cham- ber of Commerce’s annu- al Santa visit and Cham- ber Installation Dinners. Brewer’s next fundraiser is a co-ed, slow pitch softball tournament Friday and Saturday at Mill Creek Park. For information, call 262- 9320. Voyles, also a life-long resident of Los Molinos, likes to call himself a BE YOUR OWN BOSS CAMP! July 5-9, 2010 Shasta College Tehama Campus 770 Diamond Ave. The top winner receives an all-expense paid trip to the Ultimate Life Summit in Disney World. Open to ages 16-21 • $40 per student Call Amanda (530) 529-7000 Space is limited. Sponsored by the Job Training Center, Business One Stop Services, the Red Bluff Daily News, 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 the Tehama County Youth Council & Shasta College Tehama Campus (530) Baugher “shade tree mechanic.” Singer has scheduled his second annual Mayor’s Run benefit, which includes a 130- mile scenic motorcycle ride through Tehama and Shasta counties followed by a party at Mill Creek Park in Los Molinos, for Saturday. For more infor- mation, call 864-9138. Hamer, a life-long Tehama County resident, is a substitute teacher and track coach. He will be holding raffles, a car wash and a spaghetti dinner. Baugher has lived in Los Molinos since 1998. He thinks it is his patriot- ic duty to help keep Los Molinos clean by recy- Singer cling and has plans for a barbecue and a car wash as his fundraisers. The public is invited to support these candidates by attending the special events scheduled by each Voyles candidate or by donating to the candidates while shopping in town. Throughout the busi- ness district of Los Moli- nos, there are display See VOTE, page 7A • “Main Street or Wall Street” banking, which do you want As Local As.... CALL TODAY 529-1222 237 South Main Street • Still offering better than free checking • Now offering Health Savings Accounts • Local decision making • Community Support Brewer Hamer