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WEDNESDAY Superfood Cardinals Spartans Smoothies JANUARY 8, 2014 County Fare Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com See Page 5A SPORTS 1B DAILY NEWS RED BLUFF Partly cloudy 58/38 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 Weather forecast 8B Supes' salary bump to be on June ballot Fire sale By RICH GREENE DN Staff Writer The Tehama County Board of Supervisors will ask voters in June to decide whether the elected positions are worthy of a raise. During a study session Tuesday the Tehama County Board, the lowest paid in the state, directed staff to prepare a ballot measure that would raise monthly compensation from $1,045 per month to $3,795. If approved it would be the position's first increase since at least the 1980s. Supervisor Burt Bundy, who was on the board in 1989 when the $1,045 figure was added to the County Charter, said he believed that at that time it wasn't a raise, just simply clarifying what the salary was. While the proposed figure would more than triple the existing pay, the $3,795 agreed upon by the board Tuesday was less than the $4,277 county staff had recommended for a salary. County staff came to that amount by using a 2007 comSee BALLOT, page 7A Courtesy photo Red Bluff Union High School students in the school's firefighting program are pictured near a fire engine recently acquired by the school from the city. High school buys retired engine By ANDRE BYIK DN Staff Writer Red Bluff Union High School's recent acquisition of a retired city fire engine is being called a "win-winwin" for the school's firefighting program and automobile shop and the fire department. Shortly before the school's winter break, the Red Bluff Fire Department delivered a working 1978 American LaFrance fire engine to the high school complete with a red bow. The acquisition had been about a year in the making, said Jody Brownfield, associate principal. A bid of $1,200 was enough to buy the school's first fire engine. "Receiving that truck was a perfect example of working together to make things right for kids and serving kids," Brownfield said. She added that the partnership the school has had with the Red Bluff Fire Department has been "phenomenal." Red Bluff fire Capt. Dom Catona said the money will go toward the department's training fund. "The economy the way it is and with budgets being very tight, that money is very beneficial to us," Catona said. The fire engine will be used by the school's firefighting program, which is one of more than 20 career technical education programs offered at the high school. The school's automobile shop will get a chance to train on the fire engine as well. Ken Binder, the school's automobile instructor, said one benefit will be being able to teach his students about working on a heavy diesel engine, which the school didn't have before. Tyler Ferro, a 17-year-old auto shop student, said he was surprised when the school got the engine, and he is interested in learning all about diesel engines. He added the skills he'll learn will translate over to trucks, generators and more. The school's firefighting program is headed by Ken Johnson, who said the 16 students in the program will now be able to use the fire engine to train in hose lay, mobile attacks, and how to operate the engine. Johnson has been teaching at the high school for about 30 years, and he's a volunteer firefighter as well. He said the program teaches students about firefighting basics, which he says people interested in a firefighting career need to know. Johnson said his students have gone on to work in Shasta and Butte counties as well as at Tehama County Fire. The city fire department has been working with the program for the past two years, said Catona, who added that his crew usually meets with students about twice a week. "Our goal is to prepare them for a fire academy and also fire service," he said. "So it's almost like a pre-fire academy." Catona said the program also reinforces the skills city fire personnel need to know, and also teaches them how to be instructors. The fire engine, which was retired in 2005, was in service fore more than 30 years with the city, Catona said. "Because of its age, we retired it," See FIRE, page 7A Campbell Fire grows to 745 acres Hand crews are making good progress on the Campbell Fire burning in the Ishi Wilderness Area on the Lassen National Forest, north of the community of Campbellville in Tehama County. As of 6 a.m. Tuesday, the fire had burned about 745 acres and was 55 percent contained, according to a press release issued Tuesday by the U.S. Forest Service. Crews have completed construction of fire lines on the south side of the fire and are continuing mop-up operations. On the north side, the fire continues to burn in the Deer Creek drainage in steep and rocky terrain. It was anticipated that by the end of Tuesday crews will complete line construction down to Deer Creek on the east and west ends of the fire. Weather conditions have improved with less wind, higher humidity, and lower temperatures. Northern California Interagency Incident Management Team 1 took command of the fire at 6 p.m. Monday. More than 500 personnel were on the fire from the U.S. Forest Service, CalFire, Bureau of Land Management and several local fire departments. The fire remains more than two miles from Campbellville. While no structures are immediately threatened, crews continue to be staged in the Campbellville area where they are working to make the structures more fire safe. The fire was first reported around 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 2. The cause remains under investigation. Estimated cost as of Tuesday to combat the blaze was $850,000. Catholic bishops Slough hazards become wildlife shelter pray to relieve dry California Special to the DN SACRAMENTO (AP) — Catholic bishops called for divine intervention Tuesday as California endures what appears to be its third straight dry winter. The California Conference of Catholic Bishops asked people of all faiths to join in prayers for rain as reservoirs in the state dipped to historic lows after one of the driest calendar years on record. Some cities already are restricting water use, while prospects for another dry summer have raised alarm about agriculture and wildfires. The first Sierra Nevada snow survey of the winter last week found the water content in the statewide snowpack to be just 20 percent of average for this time of year. Without relief, state water managers said they 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 will be able to deliver just 5 percent of the water sought by agencies that supply more than 25 million Californians and nearly a million acres of irrigated farmland. Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto, president of the bishops' conference, suggested a prayer for God to ''open the heavens and let His mercy rain down upon our fields and mountains.'' ''Our reliance on water reveals how much we are part of Creation and Creation is a part of us,'' Soto said in a news release that included four other suggested prayers for relief and for the wellbeing of those most at risk from a water shortage. The bishops said a drought, if it comes, will affect people's livelihoods, health and quality of life. Concern is growing in California even as much of the rest of the nation huddles in a deep freeze fed by See DRY, page 7A In an effort to improve native riparian habitat, the Tehama County Resource Conservation District (TCRCD) recently removed 10 acres of invasive plants and hazardous understory trees, along with dead and dying vegetation from the East Sand Slough. This also serves as a fire and safety risk prevention measure in the reduction of fuel loads. Select vegetation was used to construct more than 20 brush mound wildlife dens onsite providing dense ground cover for various wildlife species dependent on a healthy Sacramento River watershed. The slough's native vegetation, as with native trees and plants in all the sloughs, creeks and streams in Tehama County, play a critical role in the health and vitality of the Sacramento River watershed. Riparian forests create corridors through which birds and other animals migrate to various habitat types. These corridors provide the four elements necessary for wildlife to thrive in a habitat: food, water, a Courtesy photo Select vegetation in the East Sand Slough was used to construct more than 20 brush mound wildlife dens, including this one, as part of a recent effort to improve native riparian habitat. space to raise young, and shelter. With restoration project such as this, the slough site is making strides in foster- ing all four key ingredients to healthy river systems. These restoration activi- Smog Inspection $ 2995 +$825 certificate (MOST CARS & PICK-UPS) • Members Welcome 530 See SLOUGH, page 7A 527-9841 195 S. Main St., Red Bluff