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TUESDAY Benefits of Smoking Bans AUGUST 13, 2013 Practice Starts Vitality Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com See Page 4A SPORTS 1B DAILY NEWS RED BLUFF Sunny 95/63 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 Fewer local students proficient in STAR testing By RICH GREENE DN Staff Writer A smaller percentage of Tehama County students were found proficient in nearly every grade and subject across the board compared to their California peers, 2013 Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) assessments show. Tehama County also followed a statewide trend of seeing the percentage of proficient students fall from the prior year's testing. State Superintendent of Pub- lic Instruction Tom Torlakson said scores fell as schools dealt with ongoing budget reductions and the transition to the Common Core State Standards, in a press release publicizing the results Thursday. Students can attain one of five levels of performance for each subject tested through STAR: advanced, proficient, basic, below basic and far below basic. The State Board of Education established proficient as the desired achievement goal for all students. In Tehama County a total of 7,792 students took at least one STAR test. Just 50 percent of students tested at a level of proficient or higher in English and Language Arts, a drop from 56.4 percent in 2012. Across the state 56.4 percent of students were proficient. In Science 49.6 percent of students were found proficient, 48.2 percent in Mathematics and 41.9 percent in History. Overall across the state 59.1 percent were proficient in Science, 51.2 percent in Mathe- matics and 49.4 percent in History. The only tests where Tehama County had a higher percentage of proficient students were in eighth grade General Mathematics; seventh, ninth and 11th grade Algebra; 11th grade Geometry; ninth and 11th grade Biology; and 11th grade Earth Science. More than 1-in-5 students tested far below basic in ninth grade General Mathematics and ninth and 10th grade Earth Science. The past year was likely the Shopping day last California will use the STAR program on a statewide scale as it switches to the Common Core State Standards. Seven Tehama County schools had higher proficiency levels than the state in all subjects: Bend Elementary: English and Language Arts (81.3 percent) and Mathematics (79.6 percent). Evergreen Elementary: English and Language Arts (64.1 percent) and Mathematics See STAR, page 7A Man stabbed in River Park A 51-year-old man suffered a minor injury early Sunday morning after an altercation with two younger men at River Park. The man, described as a transient, told officers he was walking through River Park near the boat launch bathrooms shortly after midnight when he was confronted by two men in their 20s, according to a press release issued Monday by Red Bluff Police Department. The men asked about camping equipment the elder man was carrying and demanded he give it to them. The man refused and one of the suspects struck him while the other stabbed him in the stomach, the release said. The suspects are described as men in their 20s, one bald and one with brown hair. The victim was unable to offer any further details about the suspects or the object with which he was stabbed. The victim was treated and released at St. Elizabeth Community Hospital. Sheriff installs backup generator By RICH GREENE DN Staff Writer Daily News photo by Andre Byik The Back to School Project in Tehama County served 295 kids on Saturday at Walmart. Children received new clothes, shoes and a backpack as about 100 volunteer shoppers aided disadvantaged families on the day. By ANDRE BYIK DN Staff Writer Ten years ago Alyssa Bailey was an 8-year-old in Corning heading back to school with new clothes and a new sense of confidence because of a newly-formed program in Tehama County. On Saturday, Bailey, now 18 and living in Red Bluff, was one of about 100 volunteer shoppers at Walmart during the 10th anniversary of the Back to School Project, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to send disadvantaged children back to school with new clothes, shoes and a backpack. "It made me feel really confident," said Bailey, reflecting on her experience as one of the 18 kids served in the program's inaugural 2004 event. "It made me excited about school. It made me excited to go. Just that you don't have to worry about not being dressed like other kids and it made me realize I will remember it for the rest of my life." The program has served more than 2,000 kids since 2004, and 295 children on Saturday each received $100 in back to school bounty. As she shopped with a young girl going into fifth grade, Bailey said memories of joy resurfaced. "She was just running all over the place picking out a bunch of clothes and everything that she wanted," Bailey said. "And she just had so much fun in the store and she didn't stop smiling the whole time. She had so much fun and it really reminded me how happy I was and made me want to do it again next year." The Back to School Project was founded by Kim Berry, who as a single parent years ago received two anonymous donations of $100 and wanted to pay it forward. As the event was nearing its close Saturday morning, Berry was standing near the checkout counters at Walmart. Volunteer shoppers, wearing red shirts and name tags, were helping a few families complete their purchases. "My husband was talking to me last night about this and I never thought about it like this," Berry said. "If you think of a classroom of 30 kids, give you 300 kids, that's 10 classrooms and that's a school of kids." Berry said that for many children, the shopping event will be the only time they'll receive new clothes all year. And while the clothes may be outgrown, the kids are "going to get to start out like everybody else," Berry said. "They're going to go to their school the first day and they're going See DAY, page 7A A mobile power generator was recently installed at the Tehama County Sheriff's main facility on Antelope Boulevard as part of an ongoing effort to increase the facility's preparedness in the case of an emergency. The facility has been designated a Daily Operations Center to be used in the event of a disaster, but before the mobile power generator was installed the facility had no back-up power system. The building houses the OASIS warning system, the sheriff department's computer systems, Emergency Operations for the operational area, evidence storage and the county morgue. "This project goes a long way to providing our community with disaster preparedness," Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston wrote in a press release. The total project to install the mobile generator was $130,184. Around $65,000 was covered through an Emergency Management Preparedness Grant. The Tehama County Board of Supervisors approved the project's Notice of Completion Tuesday. The generator is a 6cylinder diesel-powered mobile unit capable of delivering 175 kilowatts of electrical power. It sits on a trailer and can be moved to another location if need be, but would require disconnection of hard wiring into the building. The grant required a portable generator be used. However, Sheriff Dave Hencratt agreed with an assessment by Chairman Dennis Garton Tuesday that in the case of an emergency, there would be a slim chance the generator would ever be moved as keeping the sheriff's department powered would be a priority. Corning man Brown signs transgender-student bill times landed in court. SACRAMENTO (AP) — CaliThe National Center for Lesbian fornia on Monday became the first arrested for shooting state to enshrine certain rights for 'They're not Rights and the ACLU of California were among the bill's supporters. transgender K-12 students in state interested in Detractors, including some Republaw, requiring public schools to at neighbor allow those students access to going into bath- lican lawmakers, said allowing stu- An 83-year-old Corning man was arrested Friday afternoon after his neighbor claimed he shot at her home several times while she was in it, according to a press release issued Monday by the Tehama County Sheriff's Department. The victim, 56, had been in an ongoing prop- 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 erty dispute with Carl Edwin Secrest, 83, when she found bullet holes in the walls of her living room, she told deputies. She said she had just returned home when the shots rang out. Secrest admitted to deputies he had fired the shots, the release said, but claimed he was shooting at dogs that were chasing his horses. Further investigation produced evidence to the contrary. Secrest was booked at Tehama County Jail. whichever restroom and locker room they want. Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown announced that he had signed AB1266, which also will allow transgender students to choose whether they want to play boys' or girls' sports. The new law gives students the right ''to participate in sex-segregated programs, activities and facilities'' based on their selfperception and regardless of their birth gender. Supporters said it will help reduce bullying and discrimination against transgender students. It comes as the families of transgender students have been waging local rooms and flaunting their physiology' — Carlos Alcala, spokesman battles with school districts across the country over what restrooms and locker rooms their children can use, disagreements that have some- dents of one gender to use facilities intended for the other could invade the other students' privacy. Such fears are overblown, said Carlos Alcala, spokesman for the bill's author, Democratic Assemblyman Tom Ammiano of San Francisco. In general, he said, transgender students are trying to blend in and are not trying to call attention to themselves. ''They're not interested in going into bathrooms and flaunting their physiology,'' Alcala said. He also noted that the state's largest school district, Los Angeles Unified, has had such a policy for See BILL, page 7A