Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/23403
THURSDAY JANUARY 20, 2011 Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com Didgeridoo concert See 4A Pastimes RED BLUFF Wrestlers face PV See Sports 1B Sunny 64/40 Weather forecast 8B By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer A CalFire Ishi crew doing brush clean-up on Highway 36W, west of Red Bluff, was in for a surprise Wednesday when they discovered a suspicious device about 1 p.m. that turned out to be a pipe bomb. Caltrans was called out to look at the device and after agreeing that the suspicious device looked like a pipe bomb called the Cali- fornia Highway Patrol who asked for help from the Shasta County Bomb Squad. “A lot of things resemble a pipe bomb, but this thing has all indications of a pipe bomb so we’re going to treat it as such,” said Shasta County Bomb Squad Sgt. Jason Barnhart. “Our job is to render it safe.” 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 Pipe bomb found on Highway 36 CalFire had an engine from the Dibble Creek station standing by in case of an emergency and Caltrans and CHP set up a road block. After closing Highway 36W for about half a mile in each direction from mile marker 31 about 4 p.m., the bomb squad set about disposing of the device, which they did by counter-charg- ing it with explosives, Barnhart said. The bomb was detonated about 4:30 p.m. and shortly after the road was re-opened to normal traffic. There are no leads on how the device got there or how long it had been there, but signs of oxi- dation on it have led authorities to believe it had been there for some time, said CHP Sgt. Jeff Ross. Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb A puff of smoke is visible about 4:30 p.m.Wednesday after the Shasta County Bomb Squad detonated a pipe bomb a CalFire Ishi crew found about 1 p.m. while doing brush clean-up along Highway 36W, near mile marker 31. Cutting school JPA formed to oversee Antelope area sewer By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer County and city offi- cials have come together to form a joint powers authority that would over- see the development of a sewer system in the Ante- lope area. Daily News photo by Andrea Wagner Students returned to classes Wednesday at the Tehama County Center of Shasta College on Diamond Avenue in Red Bluff. By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer Since the release of Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget proposal last week, the administration at Shasta College has been trying to grasp the effects, address the issue and prepare for a worse case scenario. The effect of the governor’s pro- posed budget has been what he has been working on for a week, said Joe Wyse, vice president of administrative services at the Shasta Community Col- lege District. On Friday, he participated in a workshop with other community col- lege administrators to get a better sense of how each of district would be effect- ed. California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott said this is really the best case scenario, because it could get worse, Wyse said. Brown’s proposal slashes $400 mil- lion from the California Community College system and increases fees for classes. The increased fees are estimat- ed to bring in about $110 million. The proposed budget is contingent on vot- ers passing tax extensions. For the Shasta Community College District that means a $1.9 million cut or about 5 percent of the district’s general fund. The approach is to address the prob- lem and work on contingency options if it does get worse, Wyse said. Though the district has not made cuts yet, any- thing can be on the table to be consid- ered. “We still have to cover those costs somehow,” Wyse said. The district is already operating under a strained budget with the state deferring about $5 million in state funding through July. Another estimat- ed $900,000 or so of deferred funding is being added on top of that. Cuts taken in July 2009 set the dis- trict back $1.3 million. The result of those cuts has been a reduction of about 7 percent to 10 per- cent in course offerings and crowded classrooms. “We’ve basically been asked to not focus so much on lifelong learning courses and focus on career technical, transferable and basic skill courses,” Wyse said. Between now and when voters decide whether or not to extend taxes, the district just has to prepare a contin- gency for a worse case scenario. Under Brown’s proposal, voters would decide in a June special election on extending a 0.25 percent increase in the state income tax rate, an increase from 0.65 percent to 1.15 percent in the vehicle license fee and a 1 percent increase in sales tax for another five years. If voters do not approve the tax extensions, the district would be facing steeper cuts estimated at about $5 mil- lion or 14 percent of the general fund, Wyse said. “It would just be devastating if it goes that way,” he said. Personally, he supports the tax extension. It’s a solution that mitigates the effects of the cuts and provides a good balanced approach that makes sense. “These are deep cuts, but keeping the taxes in place means a mixed bal- ance,” Wyse said. In their own separate meetings Tuesday, mem- bers of the Tehama Coun- ty Board of Supervisors and the Red Bluff City Council agreed to form the Antelope Sewer Authority. The affected area con- sists mainly of properties in the county, with some in the city limit, so both groups must work togeth- er on the project, said Tehama County Public Works Director Gary Antone. “It’s not a situation where one or the other can work on their own,” he said. The sewer authority, made up of the five coun- cil members and the five supervisors, will be the governing board that oversees the Antelope sewer project and sewer district, once created. A majority of the prop- erty owners in the area would have to agree to create the special assess- ment district before the project is implemented. Homeowners will proba- bly make that decision in about a year or two. The vote-by-mail ballot will be a weighted vote based on household equivalent, which means a person in a single family household will have one vote, but someone who has a larger property will have more votes, said Assistant Tehama County Counsel Arthur Wylene. But before the vote is taken, the sewer authority will have to complete the California Environmental Quality Act process and Project by the numbers Cost of entire project: $44 million Cost for single family household hookup (esti- mated): $18,200 Cost for system conver- sion (estimated): $5,000 to $10,000 One-time connection fee (estimated): $1,800 Monthly service charge: TBA Approval rating need- ed: 50 percent plus 1 Households affected: around 2,683 Estimated completion: 5 years an engineers report for the project. A draft mitigated nega- tive declaration and pre- liminary engineers reports have been completed and should be available for public comment soon, Antone said. Those reports will be submitted to the State Regional Water Quality Control Board for approval and hopes of funding. The water board urged for development of the sewer system after conducting a series of studies in the mid-’90s that found high nitrate levels in the Antelope groundwater. Funding for the $44 million project has not been identified, Antone said. About $400,000 in grants have been secured by the county and the city, but most of that money has been used to take the project this far, paying for all the initial studies. The city’s portion of the fund- ing must be spent by the end of March. For single family households it would cost an approximate $18,200 to have the system built and to hook up to it. That See JPA, page 7A Gang-related graffiti found at Community Center By ANDREA WAGNER DN Staff Writer A senior who was going to the Red Bluff Communi- ty Center Tuesday to play bingo discovered blue gang-related insignia spray painted along the east wall of the building, said Debbie Carlisi, Red Bluff Parks & Recreation director. Graffiti in blue spray paint was found at both the community center and the City Park swimming pool building Tuesday. “It makes me very angry that they’d spend so much time doing something POWER PRODUCTS DOLMAR 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 Red Bluff Outdoor Power unproductive and to some- thing that belongs to the community,” Carlisi said. “That’s just wrong.” Sureno insignia was painted on two pillars, a cement picnic table and on the cement ground near an entry to a dining hall where the senior nutrition pro- gram serves meals. The damages will cost roughly $850 in labor and supplies, Carlisi said. Graffiti, also in blue paint, was found by work- ers dumping garbage at City Park, she said. The swimming pool building was marked with a morose stick figure and a mermaid with all anatomical parts on the wall that faces the Tiny Tots Playground. It was more vulgar than the community center graf- fiti, and it is similar to graf- fiti drawn on the nearby restrooms recently, she said. City staff had the graffiti covered by Wednesday afternoon. “We try to get it cleaned right away so people don’t think it’s okay,” Carlisi said. Both locations are dimly lit and secluded from the road. The parks are vandal- ized with graffiti at least once a month, Carlisi said. However, the damage Tues- day was worse than normal, she said. The damages at the City Park was estimated at $200. Carlisi asked that any- one who sees anyone defacing public property to call the police immediately. “We’d like to stop them,” she said. ——— Andrea Wagner can be reached at 527-2153, extension 114 or awagner@redbluffdailyne ws.com.