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TUESDAY Kids Meals Not So Healthful APRIL 16, 2013 Hoops Champs Vitality Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com See Page 4A SPORTS 1B DAILY NEWS RED BLUFF Sunny 69/43 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 Corning woman unhurt in Boston blasts By JULIE ZEEB and The Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Two bombs exploded in the packed streets near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday, killing two people and injuring more than 130 in a bloody scene of shattered glass and severed limbs that raised alarms that terrorists might have struck again in the U.S. A Corning woman, 33-yearold Carrie Safford, who ran the Boston Marathon Tuesday was uninjured. "She had just finished race not long before," her uncle Jack Safford of Corning said. "She ran it in 3 hours 5 minutes, which is a pretty good time." Knowing his niece ran past the area where it exploded was scary, he said. "I've been online to look at the pictures and they're very graphic," Safford said. "Her husband, Tom, was standing right there a few hours before." His brother is going to San Francisco to pick the couple up tomorrow, Safford said. "We didn't even know anything had happened until we got back to hotel room," Carrie Safford said. "It was about two hours after I had finished." This was the first time she 'We were just there and knowing we had just been there, it could have very easily been us' — Carrie Safford, Corning and her husband had been to the race and it was chaotic enough when things were running smoothly, she said. "We were watching it come across the news and I praise God," Safford said. "We were just there and knowing we had just been there, it could have very easily been us. My heart just breaks for the families (of the injured and dead). Being so far from home makes it hard, too." Safford said she was a little nervous to get on the flight to Chili champ crowned come home. "I'm ready to hug my kids when I get home," Safford said. "I hope they are able to catch whoever did this. It's such evil." A White House official speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation was still unfolding said the attack was being treated as an act of terrorism. President Barack Obama vowed that those responsible will ''feel the full weight of justice.'' A senior U.S. intelligence official said two other bombs See BLASTS, page 7A Corning man shot in head MediaNews Group CHICO — Police have identified the man who was shot in the head and who died almost a week later as Jeronimo Valladares-Mata, 52, of Corning. Valladares-Mata died Friday at the hospital as he was being treated for a gun shot wound he suffered April 6. Valladares-Mata is the brother of Audelino Valladares-Mata, who is a previous homicide victim and was allegedly murdered Aug. 1, 2007 at 123 Henshaw Dr., said Chico police Lt. Mike O'Brien. During the 2007 homicide, Audelino ValladaresMata was reportedly killed by an assailant with a handgun in a trailer park, according to a Chico police press release. A composite drawing was done during that See SHOT, page 7A Bank bought by Wash. company By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer Daily News photo by Andre Byik Ron Boisseranc poses with his first-place plaque and $500 reward for winning first place in the ICS Chili Cook-Off's Red Chili category on Saturday in downtown Red Bluff. DN Staff Report On a warm and clear Saturday, hundreds descended upon downtown Red Bluff looking to get a taste of some world-class chili. The ICS Red Bluff Round-Up Chili Cook-Off saw Ron Boisseranc of team Rat Rod Chili take home the top prize in the Red Chili category, which is $500. Dora Jepson and John Jepson earned second- and third-place honors, respectively. They took home $200 and $100. In the Chili Verde competition, which brought out 18 contestants, Susie Decker earned first-place honors, which came with $200. Rick Decker earned $125 in second place and Laurie Boisseranc placed third and walked away with $75. Diane Cooley won the Salsa event, which netted her $100. Dora Jepson, Jim Beaver and Gerry Lind all earned honorable mentions in the category. The People's Choice award went to Rabobank and the Red Bluff Fire Department won the Booth and Showmanship category. Both winners received a $100 prize. Lassen Steakhouse and Red Bluff Grocery Outlet tied for second in Booth and Showmanship. Proceeds benefitted the Red Bluff Rotary Club, which provides Gerber man arrested for assault A 25-year-old Gerber man was arrested for making criminal threats and assault with a deadly weapon Friday night. Tehama County Sheriff's deputies responded to the 8200 block of Highway 99E in Los Molinos for a reported assault around 9 p.m. according to a department press release. Deputies contacted a 22-year-old man who said while he was sleeping Lewis Ray Ables Jr. forced entry into the residence by kicking open the front door. Ables then assaulted 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 the man by holding a knife to his neck. The victim showed three small fresh scratches to his neck, where he told officers Ables had held the knife. Ables made threats to two other residents inside the residence saying he was going to kill them. Ables was yelling at all the subjects that he wanted to know where his children were. Ables children had lived at the residence with their mother, who moved out at least two days prior to Friday's incident. Deputies found Ables at the Nu Way Market parking lot about a quarter-mile from the residence. See GERBER, page 7A scholarships to Tehama County students. Chief judge David Hipskind, who has 30 years' experience in the field, said this year's event enjoyed a large panel of local judges who, with less experience, "picked the same chili I did." Hipskind said the judges did an outstanding job and credited the Red Bluff community for the success of Saturday's event, which was part of day three of 11 Days of Round-Up. Today's events include a show by cowboy poet and humorist Baxter Black at 7 p.m. at the State Theater. PremierWest Bank, which has branches in Corning and Red Bluff has been purchased by AmericanWest Bank. A call to a local branch referred all questions to corporate offices for the Spokane, Wash.-based company. "The deal did closed last Tuesday evening and, as of today, PremierWest Bank and AmericanWest Bank are one," AmericanWest Communications Director Kelly McPhee said. The company is in the process of changing out signage, but staffing and other elements of the bank should not change much, she said. "The two banks are very similar in corporate philosophy and personalities," McPhee said. "We're a community bank too. Big enough to acquisition, but still a small community bank that's engaged in the community. Decisions for loans always stay local. There's no shift at all in that." The top priority for the time being while the merging of the two entities is taking place is to talk to the employees and customers and to make sure all their questions are answered, she said. "It's very important, huge to us, that we move slowly through the See BANK, page 7A Nor Cal SWAT teams practice By ALMENDRA CARPIZO MediaNews Group OROVILLE — Special weapons and tactics teams from around Northern California gathered last week to share tips, techniques and also train during the third annual North State Regional Joint SWAT Training. The training had 12 agencies participate, said Butte County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Steve Boyd. Ten training stations were set up at the BCSO training center north of Oroville and featured live-fire and dry-fire training. The approximate 150 members who participated were able to rotate through four different stations every 90 minutes. SWAT members who participated in the shoot- house station, which was overseen by Boyd, went through several scenarios where they had to breech a building by breaking down the door. The first run had no role players, like suspects or hostages, to allow members to get the "cobwebs out," Boyd said. Once they had some runs, members would go through the exercise with role players and, without previously knowing, determine if they were shooters or not, he said. This exercise allows SWAT teams to learn to adapt and evaluate a scenario. Participating in this annual training is instrumental for SWAT teams, Boyd said. It's valuable not just because they get to do runs, but because it's way to learn ways to improve technique and tactics from other agencies. Chico Police Department's SWAT team members also participated and were in charge of the vehicle assault station. Tactical team members in that stations stood on the outside of a modified sport utility vehicle and made an assault on a suspect's car. Vehicle assault teaches them how to assure SWAT gets total control of the car safely and swiftly, said Chico police Sgt. Ted McKinnon. They want to "overwhelm a bad guy." Although this type of response hasn't been used by the SWAT team in Butte County, it is taught as a preventive measure and in case agencies are called to different counties as back-up, he said. SWAT members aren't the only ones who benefit from the training, McKinnon said. Members will go to their respective agencies and train patrol officers. During one of the mock hostage rescues, some Chico State University students studying criminal justice had the opportunity to get a firsthand experience while they played hostages or suspects. Vincent Spring, Allison Alacaraz-Smith, Alycia Miller and Donnie Frank all agreed that they would have taken on the role even if it wasn't in exchange for extra credit. "I got shot for lunch," Alcaraz-Smith said after exiting a large shipping container unit where the drill took place. Spring, who is a senior criminal study major, See SWAT, page 7A