Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/242011
WEDNESDAY For Flavor JANUARY 15, 2014 3 in a Row and Healing County Fare Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com See Page 5A SPORTS 1B DAILY NEWS RED BLUFF Sunny 76/36 Weather forecast 8B 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 Rock on, Red Bluff County to pursue two properties By RICH GREENE DN Staff Writer Presented with an either-or choice of two properties to buy for the temporary Probation Department Adult Day Reporting Center, the Board of Supervisors chose both. The board directed county staff to proceed with an offer to buy property at 778 Antelope Blvd. to house the center, but also directed staff to examine the possibility of purchasing property next to the County Library at 715 Madison St. At a special meeting Thursday to discuss the two properties, the board came to the consensus that the Antelope location near the Sheriff's Department Inmate Auto Shop was still the best fit for the Reporting Center, but the Madison property could turn out to be too good an opportunity to pass up. Supervisor Dennis Garton said the county may never have the opportunity to buy land downtown next to its existing campus in the future and in the long term — 25 See COUNTY, page 7A UC to help ranchers survive winter 2013-14 Daily News photo by Andre Byik Noelle DeJong, right, of the Red Bluff Rock Choir instructs a group on how to sing The Beatles tune "Let It Be," Thursday at Freedom Church on Monroe Street in Red Bluff. The choir meets at 4 p.m. Thursdays at the church. By ANDRE BYIK DN Staff Writer A rock choir in Red Bluff? Ah, let it be. A group of Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry students are bringing a bit of the U.K. to Red Bluff, and they're stretching their vocal chords in the process. Since October, five students from the Redding-based, nondenominational school have been inviting the community to join the Red Bluff Rock Choir, which is held at 4 p.m. Thursdays at Freedom Church on Monroe Street. The choir, based on a similar movement that has spread throughout the U.K., accepts anyone regardless of age and talent at no charge. On Thursday, Noelle DeJong, a 23-year-old student at Bethel, led a group of about eight through some vocal exercises before going into the session for the evening. "Mama made me mash my M&Ms," DeJong directed the group to sing. "Mama made me mash my M&Ms," the group returned, continually raising their voices and hitting higher notes. The program's goal is to bring the community together through music, said Victoria Stephens, a 24year-old Bethel student who graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with a degree in music. Stephens added that the choir aims to bridge age gaps and is open to all, not just the musically talented. "Especially with 'Glee' being so popular now and all that kind of stuff, it's like, 'Oh it's cool again to do this stuff rather than it being super dorky,'" said Stephens, who typically arranges pieces of music Senate leader taps 'dearest friend' for $128K job SACRAMENTO (AP) — A committee led by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg appointed one of the Democrat's closest friends to a $128,000-a-year job on a board that has long been criticized as a plum position for termed-out lawmakers. Sacramento attorney John Adkisson was sworn in Tuesday to the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, which oversees unemployment and disability disputes in the state. Adkisson has been paid $300,000 a year for two state government roles since 2009: $150,000 as special counsel to the Senate and Legislative Counsel; and $150,000 as director of the Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes, an office that was created at Steinberg's urging. Steinberg, who will be termed out of office later this year, told The Sacramento Bee in 2009 that his former law school 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 classmate was ''one of my dearest friends.'' ''They are, but that takes nothing away from the fact that he's extremely qualified,'' Steinberg spokesman Mark Hedlund said Tuesday. Adkisson's law practice since 1984 has had an emphasis on employment law. He has been a professional arbitrator and mediator, and he owned and operated a firm that produced and distributed employment-training materials and provided employee training. ''He didn't just pluck me out of a group of friends. This is the kind of work I've been doing all along,'' Adkisson said in a telephone interview. Adkisson noted he is taking a pay cut to fill the board position, which is full-time even though the board meets monthly. The appointment, made last week by the Senate Rules Committee, fills a vacancy and will last for one year. Adkisson said he has been doing contract work for the Senate Rules Committee for 20 years, since before Steinberg was See JOB, page 7A for the choir. The Red Bluff Rock Choir is one of a spate of programs that about 110 Bethel students are a part of in Red Bluff. The point is to "be good news" and actively serve the community without expectation of receiving anything in return, said Pete Williams, who with his wife, Beverley, lead Freedom Church as head pastors. After that, the door is open for those to ask "why?" With Stephens at the keyboard during Thursday's session, DeJong took the group through The Beatles song "Let It Be." Some said the song was before their time, and others remembered performances by the Fab Four in the states. By the end, the modest group of students largely had the offbeat timing of the song down. See ROCK, page 7A The first agricultural operations to feel the impact of a drought are dryland ranchers, many of whom rely almost entirely on annual rainfall to grow food for their livestock. The UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources will hold a drought workshop from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Jan. 29 in Browns Valley to help these ranchers live on to fight another day, said Glenn Nader, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Sutter-Yuba counties. "From previous droughts we've learned that feeding the whole herd through the drought may spell the end of business," Nader said. "We plan to provide information on management options and impacts of drought on dryland range and irrigated pasture, feeding options to consider during a drought and how to decide what cows to sell." Nader is organizing the workshop, "Mitigating Drought - Optimizing Pasture and Supplemental Feed, and Managing Risk," with Jeremy James, director of the UC Sierra Foothill Research and Extension Center. The workshop is designed to provide ranchers with information to manage their herds during a period of low feed supply. Practical tools and strategies to be presented include: • Getting the most effective use out of limited dryland and irrigated pasture • Alternative protein See UC, page 7A Koeberer joins Outdoors Hall of Fame SACRAMENTO – Red Bluff businessman John Koeberer was inducted as a member of the 2014 class of the California Outdoors Hall of Fame Saturday, at the International Sportsmen's Exposition. Koeberer, whose business The California Parks Company is based in Red Bluff, operates visitor services locally at Shasta/Trinity National Forest, Lassen Volcanic National Park and numerous federal, state, county and local parks and marinas across California. He was recognized for his leadership in outdoor recreation, innovations that he has championed in concession management and his humanitarian efforts. Koeberer is an advocate of conscious capitalism within his company and awards his managers for their achievements in community service. As chairman of the Lassen Park Foundation, he was the first to appoint a child to a national park foundation when he appointed 7year-old Zach Brunner to its board of directors, so that the foundation might hear a child's perspectives on how parks should be Courtesy photo managed and protected. Koeberer created FitKid, a program that rewards children for participating in outdoor recreation and making healthy choices and was instrumental in the establishment of Park Partners an annual conference that brings together public and private lands managers. See FAME, page 7A FIREARMS TRAINING January 18TH C.C.W. 1ST time class Smog Inspection $ 2995 +$825 certificate (MOST CARS & PICK-UPS) Call for class details Walt Mansell 527-1154 Early morning & evenings • Members Welcome 530 527-9841 195 S. Main St., Red Bluff