Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/235530
Wednesday, January 1, 2014 – Daily News TOP 10 (Continued from page 1A) tures one of the most impressive skate parks in the North State. Skateboarders and bicyclists, ever eager to get a taste of the skate park's curves, arrived in droves. Organizers said the effort to build the skate park was 10 years in the making. The opening was for the first phase of the new park that includes a playground area and basketball courts. The second phase plans to add soccer fields and rest areas. The Corning Community Park broke ground in April, when Mayor Gary Strack lauded the effort by city officials to make the park a reality. "I'm glad the city is finally recognizing where I played as a kid," Strack said at the time. "I grew up three blocks from here. This park will help draw people here and help diversify things with the skate park, basketball and soccer." Ongoing marijuana issues The issue of marijuana has always drawn people into different camps, but the lines became even more blurred in 2013. Issues of recreational and medicinal use have butted against law enforcement's difficult problems handling large-scale criminal enterprises. Through the haze what became clear was the large difference in a zoning ordinance not being complied with to an outright disregard to laws and public safety. In February the 3rd District Court of Appeals affirmed a Tehama County Superior Court judgment dismissing a lawsuit challenging the county's medical marijuana cultivation ordinance. That paved the way not only for Tehama's ordinance to be viewed as a model in other parts of the state, but for the Tehama County Board of Supervisors to move to strengthen their own ordinance in the months to come. In July the board restricted future grows to no more than 12 plants and created a process of monetary fines to help pay for tighter regulation moving forward. Still residents often raised concerns to the board throughout the year regarding pot operations that were being grown for purely criminal purposes and the dangers they posed from violence to destruction of natural resources. The Tehama County Sheriff 's Department and Tehama Interagency Drug Enforcement task force made frequent busts throughout the year, but complained of a lack of funding for further proactive law enforcement work to deal with the situation. In October resident's concerns came to fruition when a 37-yearold Redding man was killed during a marijuana-related shooting 12 miles west of Red Bluff. Three men were charged with his murder and their case is still working its way through the legal system. Daily News file photo The new Tehama County Visitor Center opened up. Many hope it ushers in additional tourism. County and surrounding areas. The visitor center, which was built by North Valley Services, offers motorists passing through Red Bluff a chance to get a taste of happenings in the county and out. In August, the center provided informational exhibits of Lassen Volcanic National Park and the Sacred Stones project, which is a reconstruction of a chapter house of the Cistercian monastery in Ovila, Spain that's being rebuilt at the Abbey of New Clairvaux in Vina. The 5,000 square foot visitor center also provides vocational opportunities for those with disabilities. The visitor center aims to highlight local businesses and products. "We built upon the foundation laid out by the Branding Project and incorporated ideas from the community," CEO Lynn DeFreece said. She added: "We took a building that was an eyesore and reproposed it into something that was beautiful and useful. To do this, we utilized local resources for labor and materials. It truly is an investment in the community." The visitor center is fitted with interactive exhibits as well, such as a quiz that tests people's knowledge of agriculture throughout the county. The center is open on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Despite no launch firework group a success Perhaps no story showed more of what Tehama residents can accomplish together than a holiday tale that was missing its explosive ending. When the 2012 Fourth of July suffered a blackout in the county with no fireworks scheduled to light up the sky, a group of volunteers led by Shannon Nason formed the Tehama County Fireworks Committee to make sure it never happened again. While the committee formed as a small group of volunteers it truly became a county-wide effort as more than enough funds were raised to cover a 22minute fireworks show. The fundraisers ranged from recyclables drives to dinners to special nights offered by local businesses. Unfortunately as residents gathered up-anddown Main Street July 4, only a few test shots and sporadic personal fireworks were seen. High winds the night of the fireworks show forced the cancellation of the pyrotechnics. The group later voted to hold onto its funds for a 2014 show. Part of why the group leaned toward that decision was that it had in many ways accomplished what it had set Group pitches elephant reserve in northern county When a group of philanthropists and animal researchers pitched bringing an African elephant reserve to Tehama County in early December, the idea was certainly going to raise some eyebrows. Just how many eyebrows were raised was remarkable. The Daily News article on the informational presentation to the Tehama County Planning Commission set the newspaper's record for being recommended through Facebook. The proposal is for a 4,900-acre facility at the site of the current Diamond Ranch, northwest of Bowman Road in the unincorporated area of northern Tehama County. The project would take between 50 to 100 years to complete and would include around 50 elephants when all was said and done. The Oakland Zoo and Ndovo Foundation's vision is that the reserve would become a source of global pride for Tehama County, which would benefit economically from job creation and through educational programs. The group will be working through the planning department in 2014. While the project has received strong public support, concerns have also been raised about water and land use associated with supporting an elephant reserve in Tehama County. And it provided a mammoth proposal to end the year on. Red Bluff's Baumgartner makes rodeo Hall of Fame Baumgartner, who is said to be one of the greatest bullfighters ever, was inducted to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs Colo., in July. Baumgartner's prolific bullfighting career included 14 National Finals Rodeo and 18 straight Professional Bull Riders Finals appearances. He was awarded the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Bullfighter of the Year honor four times from 2004 to 2007. Baumgartner was raised in the Bay Area and moved to Red Bluff in the early '90s. He started bullfighting at the age of 16. "If I was going to do something, I wanted to do something the best that I could," Baumgartner said in March. Baumgartner's career was praised by John Growney, of Growney Brothers Rodeo, as a run that will be a feat to match in part because Baumgartner was able to avoid injuries that cut many bullfighting careers short. "To me, it was automatic," Growney previously said. "It was a no brainer that he was supposed to be in (the Hall of Fame)." Growney added that Baumgartner had a special talent. "What made Michael Jordan great? What made Joe Montana great?" Growney said. "Whatever that was is what made Joe Baumgartner great." Baumgartner also worked at the Red Bluff Round-Up, where many of the top rodeo stars in the country compete, off and on since the late '80s. Baumgartner previously said he referees high school basketball games now, and enjoys spending time with his wife, Melanie, and two teen-aged sons. Red Bluff's own Joe Setting it straight –––––––– It is the policy of the Daily News to correct as quickly as possible all errors in fact that have been published in the newspaper. If you feel a factual error has been made in a news story, call the news department at 527-2153. THE PASSING PARADE (Harkening back to earlier I Say columns, I was continuing my father's column in 1966 after his demise two years earlier. To keep from being edited, father paid for his column and I continued the practice. The editor at the time, Jim McGiffin and I were good friends and got along well socially. However, an incident occurred that caused me to write the following column on the 3rd of December 1966) "An author owned an asterisk, and kept it in his den, Where he wrote tales, which had large sales of frail and erring men; And always when he reached the point where carping censors lurk, He called upon the asterisk to do his dirty work." Elizabeth Whidden. The above doggerel concerns censorship, and horrors upon horrors, I have been censored! It happened in last week's column. I had written about Judo and the "fear of having the crap kicked out of you". So I sent the column in Wednesday and by Friday the phase had mysteriously been changed to "stuffins kicked out of you." This was quite unnerving, even for a paid advertiser. Number one, I wasn't consulted beforehand, and number two, the word change was not accurate. Each noun has a different means of introduction into an orifice. Now, my friends, that sort of pious editing is just not tolerated by men of principle. Also, one has to think of one's public. If readers were interested in strictly sweetness and light, they would have turned to the Wednesday columnist long before this. No, I think the small success of this column was due to the humorous or at least the peculiar views of the writer. Would you prefer warped? Courtesy illustration A proposed elephant reserve in northern Tehama County sparked record-breaking response from Daily News readers from those who want to see the idea happen to those more skeptical. Simple Cremations New visitor center opens The Tehama Country Visitor Center at 250 Antelope Blvd. held its grand opening in August, and it hopes to usher in an era of tourism to Tehama out to do — to bring the feeling of Independence Day back to Tehama County. The committee received overwhelming public support and empathy for its work throughout the year and the community's trust that a fireworks show would be returning over the Sacramento River soon enough. 7A starting at $ .00 929 5530 Mountain View Drive, Redding CA 96033. Call 530-241-3400 to prearrange your wishes • www.BlairsCremation.com FD2153 Business Managers: There's never been such an effective promotion package Well, enough of this posturing. I have been censored and that is that. I must now take my notebook and injured pride and steal softly into night. It has been great fun poking fun at sacred cows, though not as profitable as slaughtering them. Remember me not as a Daily News dropout, but as a writer who had a mouthful…and tried to say it. *** The above writings in 1966 proved to be fortuitous in that I was eventually contacted by the great , late, Mari Petty of the Corning Daily Observer who offered to print the I Say column, free of censorship…and would pay me to do so! Wow! That was the start of something wonderful and continued for many years until I was once again welcomed back by the Daily News, and this time they would pay me! However, not all marriages are made in heaven and I once again fell victim to censorship or the threat of same, and had to withdraw from this august publication. After a short stint at the Redding Searchlight, I was able to ease this camel's nose once again under the DN tent…and here we are today nearly as good as new, but cautious as what we do and "I Say"…and once again (sob) without compensation. Robert Minch 1929The Passing Parade is brought to you by by Minch Property Management, 760 Main Street specializing in commercial leasing and sales. 530 527 5514