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WEEKEND NOVEMBER 20-21, 2010 Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com See Page 5B RED BLUFF Reader Photos Warriors Playoff Semifinal Game SPORTS 1B likely Weather forecast 8A Rain 49/36 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 Unemployment dips 1.2 percent in October At 14 percent, the October unemployment rate in Tehama County has dropped from the previously reported 15.2 per- cent in September, according to preliminary numbers released by the Employment Develop- ment Department Friday. With a 27.5 percent increase, additional farm jobs made the greatest contribution to the reduced unemployment num- bers. Other industries in the coun- ty stayed about the same or had slight decreases. The construc- tion industry dropped 9.3 per- cent. The largest decline was in state government jobs at 20.5 percent. The unemployment rates in surrounding counties are down as well. Shasta County’s unemploy- ment rate is at 14.6 percent, a decrease from 15.2 in September. Butte County’s rate at 12.8 percent in October decreased from the 13.1 in September. Unemployment in Glenn County is 13.3 percent, down from the previous 14.7 percent. Vote tally complete Statewide, the highest unem- ployment rate is in Imperial County at 29.3 percent, and the lowest is in Marin County with a rate of 8 percent. California’s unemployment rate is at 12 percent. — Staff report Reward offered for missing teen The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office issued a release Friday that Secret Witness and an anonymous party are each offering up to a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Charles David Berlinghoff, 44, and the return of Jean Berlinghoff, 15. Charles Berlinghoff is wanted for detainment or confinement of a child from her legal custodian in the Nov. 10 disappearance of his niece, Jean Berlinghoff, of Redding. Anyone with information is asked to call Secret Witness at 243-2313 or go to www.scsecretwitness.com. Tipsters can choose to remain anonymous. State fines two Butte hospitals SACRAMENTO — Two hospitals in Butte County have been fined by the state for allegedly failing to prevent unau- thorized access to confi- dential patient medical information. Oroville Hospital was Daily News photo by Tang Lor Jennifer Vise, Tehama County assistant registrar of voters, processes ballots Wednesday afternoon. All the ballots have been count- ed, and the unofficial final results are in for the Nov. 2 general elec- tion. More people, 39.22 percent, chose to vote by mail rather than go to the polls, which had a turnout rate of 26.76 percent. The results of the vote-by-mail ballots did not change many of the original winners that were first reported after the polls closed Nov. 2. Listed are race results for local school districts, Corning mayor, Corning City Council and Red Congressional races, AG remain tight SACRAMENTO (AP) — Two Democratic con- gressmen were holding slim leads in their bids for re-election Friday, more than two weeks after Election Day. U.S. Rep. Jim Costa of Fresno had a 2,742 vote edge over Republican Andy Vidak, a political novice from Hanford, in the 20th Congressional District. Costa had 51.6 percent of the vote to Vidak’s 48.4 percent in the district that includes all of Kings County and parts of Kern and Fresno counties, according to the secretary of state’s office. Democrats hold a 20- point registration advan- tage in the heavily His- panic, agriculture-cen- tered district. Kings County favored Vidak, but larger voting blocs in Kern and Fresno went for Costa. Kings County had finished its count, Fresno County tallied about 99 percent of its ballots as of Friday, and Kern County planned to release the count from about 4,500 remaining ballots on Monday. Costa was first elected to Congress in 2004 after 24 years in the state Leg- islature. To the north, U.S. Rep. Jerry McNerney of Pleasanton was leading by 1,783 votes over Republi- can David Harmer, an attorney from San Ramon. His lead in the 11th Congressional Dis- trict was less than 1 per- cent of all votes cast. The district runs from the eastern San Francisco Bay area into the San Joaquin Valley, including parts of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin and Santa Clara counties. McNerney defeated a Republican incumbent to win his first term in 2006 in a district where voter registration is split nearly evenly between Republi- cans and Democrats. The race results show a geographic divide in the district. Harmer was trailing the incumbent by 15 per- centage points in Alame- da County and by 8 points in Santa Clara County. He led by 4 percentage points in San Joaquin County. Harmer led by 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 See RACES, page 7A Bluff City Council. The results must still be certified by the Board of Supervisors before they are official. Of the 31,167 registered voters in Tehama County, 20,564 cast bal- lots, bringing voter participation to See TALLY, page 7A fined $42,000, and Biggs- Gridley Memorial Hospi- tal was fined $5,000, the state Department of Pub- lic Health announced Fri- day morning. The two facilities in Butte County were among six hospitals and one nursing home in Califor- nia that were fined in con- nection with breaches of patient confidentiality, a news release from the department stated. “Medical privacy is a fundamental right and a critical component of quality medical care in California,” said Dr. Mark Horton, director of the Department of Public Health said in a prepared statement. “We are very con- cerned with violations of patient confidentiality and their potential harm to the residents of California.” Biggs-Gridley Memor- ial Hospital was fined after the facility failed to prevent unauthorized access of one patients medical information by two employees on three occasions. Oroville Hospital was fined after the facility failed to prevent unautho- See BUTTE, page 7A Fate sealed for Gerber Fire Dept By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer The Gerber-Las Flores Community Service Dis- trict had the second read- ing of its ordinance to close the Gerber Volun- teer Fire Department at Thursday’s meeting. That, with the passing of an ordinance by the Local Agency Formation Commission on Wednes- day, should see the process that started in March 2009 complete within 30 days. “As of yesterday, we’re officially out of the fire business and CalFire has taken over,” said District Manager Mike Murphy. “Oct. 21 we passed the ordinance at a regular meeting and if we vote and pass it tonight, put it in the paper and on the window, it will be official in December after the 30 days.” While the vote was 5-0 and no one in the audience at LAFCO or the Commu- nity Service District meet- ing spoke against the clo- sure, Board Member Shan Patterson was against it. “I will vote for it not because I want to, but because the process is already going along,” Pat- terson said. “I spent a good part of my life, one See GERBER, page 7A DN file photo The Gerber Volunteer Fire Department is pictured in this Daily News file photo. The Daily News office will be CLOSED Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 25 & Friday, Nov. 26 Retail advertising deadline for Thanksgiving Day edition is Tuesday, Nov. 23. at 10AM Classified deadline Wednesday, Nov. 24. at Noon D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY 527-2151 • FAX 527-3719 545 DIAMOND AVE., RED BLUFF