Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/135116
THURSDAY Princess Bride Ladies Invite at the State JUNE 6, 2013 Pastimes Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com See Page 4A SPORTS 1B DAILY NEWS RED BLUFF Sunny 103/70 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 City compelled to chlorinate drinking water By RICH GREENE DN Staff Writer If the Red Bluff City Council had its way, the city's drinking water supply would remain as it always has been — chlorinefree. City staff spent Tuesday's City Council meeting telling the council the city likely no longer has that option following a citation from the California Department of Public Health. The citation resulted from eight out of 37 monitoring samples testing positive for total coliform bacteria in April and May. Total coliform bacteria is found everywhere, including in human large intestines, but a positive test is an indicator that there is potential for harmful bacteria in a water supply. One of the tests showed the presence of fecal coliform, but it was not confirmed in a follow-up test. None of the positive tests were enough to warrant an emergency. State health officials have said there is no reason for resi- dents to boil water, but they have warned the city it needs to take precautionary measures moving forward or risk monetary fines. Water Supervisor Marvin Eckels said the tests were taken at sample sites throughout the city. One positive test came from a well, which was then taken offline. The well was Get your Crawdads! recently rehabilitated as part of an ongoing process to modernize the city's 11 active wells. Eckels said city staff can not find a pattern in the system that would explain positive tests and offer a simple solution. Although Public Works Director Bruce Henz said the See WATER, page 7A 'No bail' suspect booked, released A 47-year-old man on Post Release Community Supervision with two misdemeanor failure to appear charges, a "No Bail" warrant and an additional $50,000 in warrants already to his credit was arrested and released Tuesday with a promise to appear. The Red Bluff Police Department responded to Riverside Plaza around 6:10 p.m. for a report of a man peddling drugs in the area. Officers found Eurcle Lamon Williams, who matched the description from their report, a department press release said. Williams initially provided a false name, before giving his true identity. He had lied about his name because he knew he had See BAIL, page 7A City approves two new cops By RICH GREENE DN Staff Writer Courtesy photo The Fourth Annual Red Bluff Crawdad Festival starts Friday and runs through Sunday at the Tehama District Fairground, and this year the festival is under the direction of the Red Bluff-Tehama County Chamber of Commerce. The festival will feature zydeco music, Cajun food, Cajun dance lessons, crawdad eating contests, monster truck rides, bounce houses, zip lines and fun for the whole family. Admission is $5 Friday and $10 Saturday and Sunday , with children younger than 12 free. Seniors are $5 on Saturday. There is no charge for parking. If eating crawdad and alligator isn't your thing, there will be many other food vendors set up and lots of cool drinks. Group tickets can be purchased for 10 percent off at the chamber office at the entrance to River Park in Red Bluff. The Sea World Wet Slide is free for children to cool off and there will be lots of shade, misters, fans and drinks to help adults stay cool while listening to bands or chowing down on crawdads. Bands featured during the festival include Tom Rigney and Flambeau, Bob Woods and Swamp Billy, The Gumbo Band, Funky Gators, Mark St. Mary, Bayou Boys and Blues Box Bayou Band. Several local bands will also be performing a variety of music. For more information, visit http://crawdadfestival.net/. The festival runs 5-9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m to 9 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Friday 5 p.m. — Festival gates open, enter drawing and the Kids Zone opens 6 p.m. — Opening ceremony on the Kerstiens Stage 6:15 p.m. — Celebrity Crawdad Eating Contest on the Kerstiens Stage 6:45 p.m. — Dance lessons on the Kerstien's Stage 8 p.m. — Dance lessons on the Lawn Stage Saturday 10 a.m. — Festival gates open, enter drawing and the Kids Zone opens Noon — Crawdad Eating Contest on the Lawn Stage 1:15 p.m. — Dance lessons on the Kerstien's Stage 3 p.m. — Crawdad Eating Contest on the Lawn Stage 4:15 p.m. — Dance lessons on the Kerstien's Stage 6:15 p.m. — Dance lessons on the Lawn Stage Sunday 10 a.m. — Festival gates open, enter drawing and the Kids Zone Red Bluff Police Chief Paul Nanfito told the City Council Tuesday the time was right to create a surge in law enforcement personnel, asking the city to approve two grant-funded positions and consider keeping them moving forward. "Now is the time I need these positions, now is the time I need those resources," he said. The council approved both, which will bring the department's staffing to 25 sworn officers by the end of the year. That's one fewer than the department had before it was dropped to 21 positions following the 2009 budget cuts. The move will create a School Resource Officer at Vista School that will begin a Gang Resistance Education and Training program. The position will be funded through Prop. 30 funding the city See CRAWDAD, page 7A is receiving combined with AB 109 realignment funds dispersed by the Community Corrections Partnership. The latter funding of $40,000 still needs to be approved by the Tehama County Board of Supervisors. The second position is a full-time traffic officer, being funded by part of a $131,825 California Office of Traffic Safety grant. Advantageous scheduling had Nanfito's requests preceded on the agenda by the Red Bluff Police Department's 2012 Annual Report. That report showed a 27 percent increase in serious crimes from 2011 to 2012. Those crimes include homicide, rape, robbery, assault, burglary and theft. Nanfito described the increase as dramatic and pointed out his observation that the statistics See COPS, page 7A Search of senator's 'Banner year' for wild spring-run chinook salmon to the count last year. This is about the maximum the office involves creek can handle, based on the availability of spawning gravel, Garman water measures are People who know fish expecting another said. By HEATHER HACKING MediaNews Group SACRAMENTO (AP) — The FBI investigation of California state Sen. Ron Calderon involves legislation he introduced for a Los Angeles-area water district that uses his brother as a consultant, according to two people questioned by federal agents. Agents raided a state senator's two offices on Tuesday but the FBI wouldn't provide details on the investigation, which originated in Southern California. Two people told The Associated Press on Wednesday that they were 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 questioned by the FBI about Calderon and his brother, Tom. Michael Franchek, former vice president of EcoGreen Services, said agents contacted him twice and they discussed a deal his company lost out on to a firm linked to Tom Calderon, who was also a consultant for the Central Basin Municipal Water District. And a Los Angeles-area elected official said agents asked him about legislation written by Ron Calderon for Central Basin. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. Agents spent more than See SENATOR, page 7A "banner year" for threatened spring-run chinook salmon in Butte Creek. All but a few stragglers have made their way from the ocean, through the delta, along the Sacramento River, up Sutter Bypass and Butte Slough to Butte Creek Canyon. The fish rest in pools for the summer, living off fat stored in their bodies. In September, they will spawn and die. From creekside cliffs, the fish look like dark shadows, difficult to see until you adjust your perspective. But then a fish will jump, and the shadowy mass changes shape as the individual fish shift positions. Clint Garman, a fisheries biologist with the MediaNews Group photo by Bill Husa/Chico Enterprise-Record Butte Creek teems with chinook salmon in this recent photo. California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the weather was cool during the main migration for the spring chinook, which made for an easier journey. Sparse rainfall and a meager snowpack this winter have meant low natural water flow through Butte Creek. However, releases from PG&E hydroelectric facilities will keep the flow of water at 40 cubic feet per second in June, July and August. He estimated the number of returning springrun fish at about 12,00015,000, which is similar In 2003, a massive dieoff occurred, due to large numbers of fish and two weeks with temperatures above 100 degrees. Disease spread rapidly. Yet, an estimated 8,000 or more survived and spawned, Garman said. Since then, PG&E watches for predictions of "heat storms" and releases water from Philbrook Lake during extreme temperatures. Philbrook has cooler water than Round Valley Reservoir. So far, the strategy appears to be working, Garman said. The cycle of returning fish varies, and nobody knows for certain why some years are "banner See YEAR, page 7A