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THURSDAY Youths Head Double Trouble To State Finals MAY 16, 2013 Wrangler Jr. Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com See Page 8A Rodeo SPORTS 1B DAILY NEWS RED BLUFF Few showers 72/54 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 Emergency prep East-west rail link gains steam By RICH GREENE DN Staff Writer Public officials from the Humboldt Bay and Sacramento Valley areas connected Wednesday in Red Bluff in an attempt to drum up support for an east-west railroad route. The idea of a railroad from the bay to Tehama County is nothing new. It was proposed as early as the 1880s, but eventually derailed in 1906 following the San Francisco earthquake. A north-south route was deemed more necessary at the time to help rebuild the city with lumber in Humboldt County. But the north-south route through Humboldt County has been out of service for the last decade. Officials there say the loss of a railroad system has cost the area around $25 million per year as industry chooses to port elsewhere. Ever since, an east-west route has been gaining steam, beginning with a grassroots effort in Humboldt County called the East-West Rail Advocates. That group has birthed others, including the Land Bridge Alliance, a non-profit group primarily focusing on raising public and private funding for a feasibility study of an east-west railroad. The study is estimated to See RAIL, page 7A Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb Red Cross Volunteers Ken Miller of Burney and Mike Moynahan of Redding set up cots for the shelter at a mock disaster drill Wednesday at Rolling Hills Casino. By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer Tehama County had a flood of visitors preparing for the worst Wednesday in a mock disaster drill, a partnership between the Northeastern California American Red Cross and Tehama County, held at Rolling Hills Casino in Corning. Under the scenario of an earthquake in San Francisco, several agencies gathered as a way to test their response, Tehama County Sheriff's Sgt. Rod Daugherty said. Specifically, the department was testing the ability of communicating in various methods, including using amateur radio operators, Daugherty said. It was also a chance for local law enforcement and other agencies to work side by side as they would in a real scenario, said Red Cross Emergency Services Coordinator Eric Kiltz. "This is a part of the statewide exercise, which used the scenario of an earthquake," Kiltz said. "We chose this location because in an emergency, people leave last minute and this is roughly a full tank of gas from the Bay Area so it's a good place for people to stop, which means there would be a sudden flood of people asking for help and places to stay." Scenarios involved everything from someone who might need to be under an involuntary psychiatric hold to dealing with someone who was armed coming into the shelter, he said. Those in registration were given a taste of dealing with people who were frustrated due to a long wait and people coming in with injuries. The Red Cross sites do not treat severe injuries, but do have the ability to render minor first aid or deal with chronic medication issues that would come up, Kiltz said. The volunteers registering people are trained to look for certain triggers that would indicate someone needed to go to a health services check point where, if necessary, 911 would be called in a real scenario, he said. Other scenarios were what to do if someone is a registered sex offender or if someone shows up with a pet. What happens to a pet depends on the shelter itself, said volunteer Lisa Christie, who acted as a public information officer. Sometimes a network of veterinary clinics or an animal control facility is set up to take animals. If there is a smaller number of pets and a shady area outside the building people can house their pets outside. Volunteers were not allowed to use cell phones at all for Tuesday's Man convicted in North Coast Ponzi scheme REDDING (AP) — A man accused of cheating North Coast residents out of hundreds of millions of dollars in what prosecutors characterized as one of the largest real estate Ponzi schemes in California history has been convicted by a Shasta County jury. James Stanley Koenig, of Redding, shook his head and rubbed his forehead as the verdicts against him were read on Monday, the Record Searchlight of Redding reported. Koenig, 60, accused of being the architect of the Ponzi scheme, was convicted on 35 of 36 felony counts, including securities fraud and two counts 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 of first-degree burglary. He faces about 50 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 11. In all, prosecutors said Koenig and two accomplices —Gary Armitage, of Redding, and Jeffrey Guidi, of Santa Rosa — bilked 2,000 investors out of $250 million. Many of the victims were retirees who lost much of their life savings. Armitage, 62, was sentenced to 10 years in prison earlier this year after pleading no contest to conspiracy to commit a crime, fraud and sale by false statement. Guidi pleaded guilty to lesser charges and avoided prison time. Prosecutors said the three men sold real estate investments, promising low-risk returns. But many of the projects falSee PONZI, page 7A training. While an earthquake in San Francisco would not likely knock out phone lines in Corning, it was a good chance to practice situations in which there might not be lines, as sometimes happens, Kiltz said. Staff practiced what to do if monetary donations were brought in to the shelter. The shelter is a service offered free of charge and therefore no donations are accepted on-site, he said. Donations are welcome online at redcross.org. "It's the only time you'll here that we don't accept donations," Kiltz said. Red Cross evaluators roamed the scene to watch and observe how volunteers and staff dealt with situations, but were unable to say anything to participants until a briefing after the drill was over. "We try to make this event as real as possible," Kiltz said. "This is a great test for the upcoming wildfire season." The key thing in the drill was to take a look at how people handled scenarios and learn from the experience, he said. It wasn't until a big event like Katrina where people went all over the country that the Safe and Well database was set up. See PREP, page 7A County objects to employee collective bargaining changes By RICH GREENE DN Staff Writer The Tehama County Board of Supervisors Tuesday authorized Chairman Dennis Garton to sign a letter detailing the county's objections to a proposed bill that would make changes to collective bargaining practices between public agencies and employee unions. Assembly Bill 537 would make significant changes to the MeyersMilias-Brown Act, which has governed local public agency collective bargaining law since 1968. The proposed legislation would require mandatory mediation during bargaining disputes if either side asked for it. Current law only requires mediation if both sides mutually agree to it. The board's letter addressed to AB-537's author Rob Bonta, D- Oakland, says the effect of making mediation mandatory is to further delay the conclusion of labor negotiations. "Delays are generally sought when employers are seeking concessions and employees want to preserve the status quo," the letter reads. The board also questioned whether mediation, which would be required within five days under the bill, would be practical considering the 58 counties, 482 cities and 2,000 special districts covered. The letter says there is unlikely to be enough mediators in the state and that would result in a backlog of agencies waiting further drawing out negotiation periods. An amendment to AB537 would eliminate the requirement that a tentative agreement on a MemSee COUNTY, page 7A Classic car show in Red Bluff The Contemporary Historical Vehicle Association, Mount Shasta Region, invites Car Clubs and individuals to display their street legal collector cars and trucks at the 39th Annual Red Bluff River Park Car Show. Registration begins at 8 a.m., on Sunday, May 19. From Main Street, vehicles enter on Willow Street. Techno types can GPS 100 River Park Way. Registration is $15 at the gate. Spectators are free, so bring the relatives and neighbors too. This one-day event includes People's Choice voting trophies for 1979 and earlier. On site, there will be barbecued hamburgers and polish dogs; soft drinks, ice cream and pastry sales. A cash 50-50 drawing; and merchandise raffle prizes are an event feature. Barbecues, pets, burnouts, loud music and alcohol are not allowed by City Park rules. For more informa- Courtesy photo This Brass Era 1910 Maxwell was on display during the 2012 Red Bluff River Park Car Show. The Maxwell later became General Motors' Plymouth automobile. Comedian Jack Benny was noted for driving his thrifty old Maxwell. Notice the hand crank used for starting the engine. Batteries not required? tion, contact Ron Phillips, 530-275-8655, ronlips@netzero.com; or Bev Kendall, 530- 5 1 5 - 5 7 7 4 , bevnty@yahoo.com.