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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 22, 2010 Breaking news at: 90th Annual Tehama District Fair www.redbluffdailynews.com See Pages 1B-6B RED BLUFF Athletes of the Week SPORTS 1C Mostly sunny 79/50 Weather forecast 6A 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 Man found guilty Growing hope in 2009 incident A man was found guilty Mon- day of charges from an incident that occurred more than a year ago. Jose Guadalupe Ramirez was convicted by a jury of carjack- ing, robbery and street terrorism with enhancements of gang involvement and use of a firearm, according to a press release from the District Attor- ney’s office. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 26. Ramirez and an unidentified man, both of whom are Ramirez See 2009, page 5A Mom denies sexual contact with Orland High wrestlers By GREG WELTER MediaNews Group ORLAND — A Red- ding woman entered a plea of not guilty to 10 felony counts including lewd acts with a minor, intercourse, oral copula- tion and exhibiting lewd material to a minor in Glenn County Superior today. Laura M. Gallegos, 38, was arrested in mid- August on suspicion of having sexual relations with one Orland High School wrestler, and send- ing sexually explicit text messages (sexting) to at least one other. The boys were report- edly 15 and 17 when the alleged incidents took place. Gallegos turned herself in at the Glenn County Jail when she learned an arrest warrant was pend- ing. An investigation of the case began in April after the mother of an Orland wrestler told the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office her son was getting explicit messages from an adult female identified as GF. A mother of another wrestler got a non-incrim- inating message from GF, whom she knew to be Gallegos. Photo by Christine Vovakes Tommy Thomas harvests corn from his Red Bluff garden. He uses donations from his produce stand to purchase food basket items that feed the hungry in Tehama County. The older victim told Gardener turns produce into investigators Gallegos performed sex acts on him during a wrestling tourna- ment in Bakersfield, and at meetings she had allegedly arranged in Red Bluff and Corning. Crimes which alleged- ly took place in Tehama and Kern counties are being prosecuted in Glenn County, a court official said. The defendant is reportedly a former See MOM, page 5A food baskets to feed hungry By CHRISTINE VOVAKES Special to the DN The sun is barely up when 82-year-old Tommy Thomas, dressed in a cotton shirt and jeans with sus- penders, wades into a stand of corn twice as tall as he is. His wide brimmed straw hat bobs into the green thicket as he goes down the rows in his Red Bluff gar- den and snaps off the day’s harvest. Next he dips into the tomato and squash plants, and then checks the ripening melons. “This one’s ready,” he tells a visitor, and adds a cren- shaw to the bounty in back of his four-wheeler. As he does nearly every morning of the growing sea- Miracle in Highway 99 Everyone walks away from T-bone By GREG WELTER MediaNews Group CHICO — Three peo- ple survived a grinding two-car crash on Highway 99 north of Chico Satur- day night that, based in witness descriptions, had California Highway Patrol Officers fearing they would find at least one person dead, if not more. Upon reaching the crash, in front of the Cen- terfold’s Gentlemen’s Club, officers were aston- ished to find all three peo- ple out of their vehicles and standing up. A newer Honda Accord, driven by a man who allegedly caused the collision and was arrested on suspicion of DUI, was on the east shoulder of the road, its right side shred- ded beyond recognition from the hood to the trunk. The Honda was hit broadside as driver Lazaro Garcia, 38, allegedly turned left directly into the path of a Ford F-250 pick- up, northbound about son, he putters down to the vegetable stand in front of an old barn at the foot of his property and carefully lays out the day’s offerings. The retired teacher and head of Red Bluff High School’s agriculture department doesn’t sell his pro- duce. Instead, a hand-lettered sign requests donations which he turns into food basket staples that feed the hungry in Tehama County. About 1995 his church began a “soup for the hun- gry” program. “I brought extra vegetables and left them in back of church along with a sign requesting donations. I bought cases of soup with the money,” Thomas said. Now he and Elaine, his wife of 60 years, buy rice and beans in bulk and scoop them into smaller bags for the church’s food boxes. In 2005 he moved from Los Molinos to Red Bluff See HOPE, page 5A Builders, union chime in on service cuts By GEOFF JOHNSON DN Staff Writer Cutbacks at the Tehama County Building Depart- ment are irking local developers and unions alike. Speaking before the Board of Supervisors Tuesday, union representative Robert Belgeri protested cuts to hours for a pair of inspectors in the building depart- ment announced earlier this month. The cuts would reduce the working time for both employees by 50 per- cent. “When times are tight, why don’t public agencies cut at the top first?,” Belgeri said. A handful of members from the building communi- Photo by Greg Welter, MediaNews Group An Orland man arrested on suspicion of felony DUI turned this Honda Accord into the path of a Ford F-250 pickup Saturday night on Highway 99, causing a broadside collision. The Honda driver and a woman driving the pickup suffered minor injuries. A male passenger in the pickup was unhurt. 11:30 p.m. The passenger side doors of the Honda were ripped from the frame and driven into the roof. The Honda reportedly rolled over multiple times after impact, coming to rest on its wheels. The pickup came to a stop in a field east of 99, but the impact flattened Red Bluff Outdoor Power 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 the hood and windshield area and dislodged a tool box bolted into the bed. Garcia, an Orland resi- dent, suffered two cracked ribs and some cuts. Corning resident Ste- fanie Goldsberry, 19, behind the wheel of the pickup, sustained minor cuts and abrasions. Her passenger, Russell Pitter, 21, of Vina, was reported- ly uninjured. Goldsberry told a CHP officer the man turned right in front of her and there was no way to avoid a collision. See 99, page 5A Red Bluff Daily News Saturday delivery will be late due to the football coverage. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you. D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY ty backed Belgeri. They said the wait for inspections could cause a chain reaction of delays, especially in mountainous areas where winter can halt construction. One contractor, Rob Schmid, brought up the build- ing department’s decision to increase fees in May 2009. “Costs are going up, services are going down,” he said. “Somehow that doesn’t really make a lot of sense.” Schmid estimated response times could change from a day or two to about a week if services are cut in half. See CUTS, page 5A PHYSICIAN REFERRAL A FREE SERVICE PROVIDED FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE 1-800-990-9971 CHW North State Region