Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/180894
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 27, 2013 District Fair Kicks Off Fair Section Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com See Pages 1B, 2B & 4B DAILY NEWS RED BLUFF Sunny 78/57 Weather forecast 6A 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 Youngsters' 4-H animals killed by loose dogs By RICH GREENE DN Staff Writer Allyson and TC Drury had a completely different vision of how their fair week would turn out, but that all changed Tuesday night. The stress they had been expecting was gone, but so was something more important to them. The 4-Hers were preparing to present a lamb and goat at the Tehama District Fair when they arrived to their Shasta Boulevard home with their mother to find two loose dogs on their property. Allyson, a freshman at Red Bluff Union High School, said she was wondering what these 'From June through last Tuesday, these kids poured their heart and soul into making their 4-H projects ready for the Tehama District Fair... Now?' — Tim Drury strange dogs, a Pitbull and a Panic set in. The family soon discovered that what the two dogs had done was destroy five months of hard work. The lamb and goat were both dead, their carcasses lying in a bloody mess inside their pens next to tipped over buckets. Great Dane, were doing. Common Core explained See 4-H, page 5A Man charged with indecent exposure A 48-year-old Rancho Tehama man was arrested Wednesday afternoon after trying to lure a 5-year-old boy into his car in the Bend Area while half naked. A woman at a China Rapids Drive address told Tehama County Sheriff's Deputies the boy was playing in the front yard around 1:30 p.m. when James Jerrold Price pulled up and motioned for the boy to get into his car, according to a sheriff's press release issued early Thursday. The woman approached the Price car and saw that Price was naked from the waist down and masturbating, she told officers. She immediately grabbed her son and called police. Price sped away southbound on China Rapids in a full-sized burgundy Ford pickup truck. A manhunt ensued involving the sheriff's department, California Highway Patrol helicopter and Red See EXPOSURE, page 5A Corning gears up for park opening Daily News photo by Andre Byik Lisa Escobar, Red Bluff Joint Union High School District superintendent, speaks Wednesday about the Common Core State Standards Initiative being implemented across the nation at the Tehama County Department of Education Library. By ANDRE BYIK DN Staff Writer Tehama County schools this year have been implementing Common Core standards, and teachers and administrators Wednesday evening said the new standards will better prepare students for college and the work force. In a discussion hosted at the Tehama County Department of Education Library, a panel of county administrators and teachers spoke to a group of about 40 about how the Common Core State Standards Initiative affects learning in the classroom. "I look back to 1999, it's a much different world out there," said Lorna Manuel, the county's director of education support services. "And the needs of business and the community is way different than it was in 1999 as it is in 2013." The Common Core standards, which have been adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia, are a set of new education standards affecting kindergarten through 12th grade students. The standards are to implemented over the next two years and have been touted as being globally competitive. "We need to be able to be globally ready so that we can compete," Manuel said. The Common Core standards focus on improving communication, writing, critical thinking and problem solving skills, said Lisa Escobar, Red Bluff Union High School District superintendent. "I think that's what's so exciting Contract awarded for dam decommissioning By RICH GREENE DN Staff Writer An Anderson company has been awarded a $3.28 million contract for decommissioning work on the Red Bluff Diversion Dam. The Bureau of Reclamation awarded the contract Tuesday to E.C. Smith, Inc. The contract requires the demolition, removal and disposal of interim, research and temporary pumping plant facilities near the dam. The work order also calls for the demolition, removal and disposal of drums screens for the Settling Basin and TehamaColusa Canal Check as well as five on-site trailers. 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 At the siphon inlet, removable guardrails will be installed with stop logs and a lifting beam. The two concrete fish ladders will be removed with earth and gravel filled between the concrete walls and a concrete cap placed on each ladder. A concrete cutoff wall is to be built to separate the stilling basin from the Sacramento River. The project includes rehabilitation to Altube Avenue. The Red Bluff Diversion Dam gates were permanently raised in September 2011 following a yearslong court battle with environmentalists, who argued the dam was having a damaging effect on the population of several endangered fish species. See DAM, page 5A about Common Core for teachers," Escobar said. "Is that they're not just giving a problem and saying, 'What's the answer?' They're being able to expand on that. 'If that's the answer, what would you do with it?'" Kevin Penner, math department chair at Red Bluff Union High School, said for a long time math has been taught as finding the answer to a specific equation, but not so much as applying math to real world problems. "One of the biggest changes is to do math in context," Penner said, adding, "So the child knows as they're learning this has to do with something real. And when they look at it the first time it should be See CORE, page 5A By ANDRE BYIK DN Staff Writer CORNING — The City Council on Tuesday approved a trio of items related to the Corning Community Park, affecting traffic, parking and the park's construction. In an effort to slow traffic feeding into the park, which is tentatively scheduled to open Oct. 19, the council unanimously approved the installation of a four-way stop at the intersection of Toomes Avenue at Fig Lane. Officials said while the speed limit heading south on Toomes Avenue before Fig Lane is 25 miles per hour, traffic tends to travel about 40 miles per hour before crossing the Jewett Creek Bridge, according to a staff recommendation to the City Council. "The arch of the bridge makes it impossible to see any pedestrians crossing the road when traveling at an excessive speed," the recommendation said, adding that the speed limit about 50 yards south of Fig Lane changes to 35 miles per hour. Traffic heading north on Toomes Avenue, which has a posted speed limit of 25 miles per hour, tends to slow after the crossing the bridge as it's a more residential area, according to the recommendation. The council also approved a no parking zone on the east side of Toomes Avenue extending about 430 feet north See CORNING, page 5A Farmers face labor shortages in the fields FRESNO (AP) — With the harvest in full swing on the West Coast, farmers in California and other states say they can't find enough people to pick high value crops such as grapes, peppers, apples and pears. In some cases, workers have walked off fields in the middle of harvest, lured by offers of better pay or easier work elsewhere. The shortage and competition for workers means labor expenses have climbed, harvests are getting delayed and less fruit and vegetable products are being picked, prompting some growers to say their income is suffering. Experts say, however, the shortage is not expected to affect prices for consumers. But farmworkers, whose incomes are some of the lowest in the nation, have benefited, their wages jumping in California to $2 to $3 over the $8 hourly minimum wage and even more for those working piece rate. The shortage — driven by a struggling U.S. economy, more jobs in Mexico, and bigger hurdles 'In the past, we were overrun with farmworkers. But not anymore. Employers have to do something to attract them. The fastest workers can now earn more than $1,000 per week.' — labor contractor Jesus Mateo to illegal border crossings — has led some farmers to offer unusual incentives: they're buying meals for their workers, paying for transportation to and from fields, even giving bonuses to those who stay for the whole season. And a few have stationed foremen near their crews to prevent other farmers from wooing away their workers. ''In the past, we were overrun with farmworkers. But not anymore,'' said labor contractor Jesus Mateo, whose crews saw a 20 percent pay increase. ''Employers have to do something to attract them. The fastest workers can now earn more than $1,000 per week.'' A California Farm Bureau Federation member survey being conducted this year thus far has found about half of farmers are experiencing shortages, said bureau manager Rayne Pegg. Many of the growers say their workforce has decreased by up to one-third. In some cases, farmers are being paid below market prices, because their produce is past its prime, having stayed on the branch or vine for too long. Hardest hit are small farmers, who can't afford to pay See FARM, page 5A