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THURSDAY JULY 22, 2010 Breaking news at: Walker named Artist of Month Pastimes www.redbluffdailynews.com See Page 4A RED BLUFF Taking Aim SPORTS 1B Sunny & hot 101/68 Weather forecast 8B DAILYNEWS 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, other interests wrestle with traffic control By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer The Convention and Visitors Bureau will now take charge of finding a solution to fix what stakeholders deem as Red Bluff’s fiscal mismanagement of transient occupancy tax rev- enue. For months the city and the Tehama District Fairboard have been at odds over how to recoup police overtime costs incurred as a result of traffic control pro- vided outside the fairgrounds during special events. Stakeholders, including the ‘Nobody was willing to step up and make a decision, so we came back and made our own’ fairboard, members of the Red Bluff-Tehama County Chamber of Commerce and event pro- moters, said the city would not be asking for money if it hadn’t mismanaged TOT dollars. Duo takes action Men race to help neighbor near blaze By GEOFF JOHNSON DN Staff Writer Members of a Christian facility for recovering addicts were among the first to respond to a fire that threatened to claim the residence of their neighbor Tuesday night. Dakota Carper, 24, heard a “boom” late in the night just as he and his roommate were about to go to sleep, he said. “The whole house pret- ty much rushed to our kitchen,” said Frank Gif- ford, Carper’s 24-year-old roommate. “And we seen the road glowing, and we were like ‘wow, the road’s on fire.’” Outside, a 2002 Chevrolet Impala was wrapped around a tele- phone pole. A Corning man, 26-year-old Justin Rich, had swerved off the road and collided with the pole, igniting the field in front of the residence. “We didn’t think much,” Gifford said. “Action just kicked in.” Gifford grabbed a hose and took to the flame, he said. Carper, meanwhile, put his shoes on and was met by someone warning him a man in a power chair, who uses a cane to walk, was trapped inside a near- by house. “I got to the old man as fast as I could,” Carper said. See DUO, page 7A Councilman Bob Carrel Councilman Wayne Brown and Bob Carrel, as the city’s budget committee, asked the council, Tuesday, to consider a proposal to charge event pro- moters for traffic control. Their colleagues did not accept the proposal, but only because they said more work See TRAFFIC, page 7A Collective owner vies for council By GEOFF JOHNSON DN Staff Writer If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Even as Corning prepares for a Sep- tember legal battle against him, the co- owner of the coun- ty’s sole remaining storefront-style cannabis collective is planning a run for council in the same city that seeks to shut him down. Reached Wednes- ‘I think there’s a lot of people who are tired of the way the city’s been run’ Ken Prather, candidate for Corning City Council day, Ken Prather said he had already collected more than the 20 required signatures to run for Corning’s City Council. He planned to collect at least 30 to guard against any technical problems. Prather and his wife, who own Tehama Herbal Col- lective, may be best known for fighting local medical marijuana policies. Appearing at heated city and coun- ty meetings, they have repeatedly accused both Corn- ing and Tehama County of violating Prop. 215, Cali- fornia’s key medical marijuana law. See COUNCIL, page 7A Parolee nabbed asking officers for directions A 47-year-old Hayfork man was arrested early Wednesday morning when he waived down a cop and asked for direc- tions. Daily News photo by Geoff Johnson Frank Gifford and Dakota Carper, both 24, were among the first to respond Tuesday night to a fire threatening their neighbor’s property. Both men live with Bondage Breaker Recovery, a Christian facility specializing in helping recovering addicts. Study: Classroom spending dips as ed funding rises SACRAMENTO (AP) — Spending in California classrooms declined as a percentage of total educa- tion spending over a recent five-year period, even as total school fund- ing increased, according to a Pepperdine Universi- ty study released Wednes- day. More of the funding increase went to adminis- trators, clerks and techni- cal staff and less to teach- ers, textbooks, materials and teacher aides, the study found. It was par- tially funded by a Califor- nia Chamber of Com- merce foundation. Total K-12 spending increased by $10 billion over the five-year period ending June 30, 2009, from $45.6 billion to $55.6 billion statewide. It rose at a rate greater than the increase in inflation or personal income, accord- ing to the study. Yet researchers found that classroom spending dipped from 59 percent of education funding to 57.8 percent over the five years. Spending on teacher salaries and benefits dropped from 50 percent of statewide spending to 48 percent over the same period. Spending on administrators and super- visors, staff travel and conferences all increased faster than teachers’ pay. ‘‘It’s not teachers’ salaries and benefits that are causing the financial problems in the education system,’’ said the study’s author, public policy pro- fessor Steven Frates. He is director of research for the Davenport Institute on the Malibu campus. The study covered a See STUDY, page 7A 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 Red Bluff Outdoor Power Michael Kiss was reportedly driving on a suspended license and carrying handgun ammu- nition in the passenger seat of his vehicle when he contacted police around 1:30 a.m. Wednes- day, Red Bluff Police Officer Gene Randall said in a press release. Kiss has a prior felony conviction for soliciting murder, Randall said. Because he was a felon, both his handgun ammu- nition and the large cal- iber handgun Kiss was reportedly carrying in his trunk were illegal for him to possess. Kiss was arrested on suspicion of driving with a suspended license, being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, being a convicted felon in possession of ammuni- tion and an outstanding warrant out of Shasta County for a traffic viola- tion. Bail was set at $21,140. —Staff report Gearing up for fire season By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer The Tehama-Glenn and Shasta-Trinity CalFire units started a three-day training Wednesday in Lake Califor- nia, where about six engine crews per day will rotate through multiple stations. “This is good for them because it gives them a chance to practice in all dif- ferent scenarios,” said Pub- lic Information Officer Kevin Colburn. “It’s a good refresher (for those return- ing) and it’s good to practice now before something does happen.” The training used to be held every year, but was canceled in 2008 due to the emergency situation created by a series of lightning- caused fires, said CalFire Chief Gary Durden. “We don’t get the hiring done until June and we hate to do this exercise without all the personnel,” Durden said. “The farther back hir- ing is pushed, the more chances there are that there will be bigger fires, and Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb A member of CalFire Engine 2561 from Manton pulls a victim to safety in a structure fire at a training session held Wednesday at Lake California. emergencies come first.” Fire engines from all over Tehama and Glenn counties were rotated in for the training, which took place from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, in order to maintain coverage for the outlying stations, Colburn said. See FIRE, page 7A