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FRIDAY JANUARY 24, 2014 Exploring Careers Leadership Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com See Below Curry Named All-Star Day SPORTS 1B DAILY NEWS RED BLUFF Sunny 70/37 Weather forecast 8A 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 DNA evidence shown Men flee after chase through residential area The Red Bluff Police Department is trying to determine the identity of a driver and passenger who led officers on a pursuit through a residential area Wednesday evening. Around 5:48 p.m. the department received information about a reckless driver, who was possibly driving under the influence heading into town on Monroe Street from State Route 36, according to a department press release. An officer spotted a vehicle matching the description, a Dodge Dakota pickup truck, occupied by two men. When the officer pulled behind the vehicle to investigate, the truck took off at a high rate of speed. The officer pursued the vehicle from the area of Jackson Street and Hickory Street through residential streets at around 60 to 65 mph. See CHASE, page 7A Daily News photo by Rich Greene Quentin Ray Bealer enterst the courtroom Thursday, where it was ruled there was sufficient cause to hold him over for a murder trial in the death of Red Bluff teenager Marysa Nichols. By RICH GREENE DN Staff Writer A Tehama Superior Court Judge ruled Thursday there was sufficient cause to hold the man accused of murdering Red Bluff teenager Marysa Nichols in February 2013 over for trial. Judge Jonathan Skillman ordered Quentin Ray Bealer to be arraigned on the open murder count Feb. 3 following Thursday's preliminary hearing. At the hearing the Tehama County District Attorney's Office presented evidence they said put Bealer in the vicinity where Nichols was last seen, showed he consistently lied to police about being there and that DNA evidence found tied Bealer and only Bealer to the crime scene. There was no motive offered during the preliminary hearing and Bealer's public defender Shon Northam argued that the open count should be reduced to second degree murder because there was no evidence presented showing a motive, as would be required by a first degree offense. Skillman said that it would be up to the jury to decide and allowed the open count to proceed. Nichols was found Feb. 28, 2013 in a dry creek bed near Red Bluff Union High School. The 14-yearold had been reported missing Feb. 26 and had been last seen leaving the campus around lunch time. Witnesses testified that Nichols was strangled with a yellow tank top, wrapped twice around her neck with knots in it. A criminologist from the State Department of Justice in Redding said DNA samples found on the tank top contained a mixture of Nichols' DNA and DNA that could not exclude Bealer. Rebecca Gaxiola said statistically the sample could be someone unrelated to Bealer at odds that began at 1 out of 100 trillion people. She said no other male's DNA was found on Nichols. When asked by the prosecution of DNA on Nichols' right breast that contained a mixture of an unidentified male, Gaxiola said the level was so low no interpretation could be made. Gaxiola said the only other DNA evidence that didn't match either Nichols or Bealer found in the case was on clothes owned by Bealer obtained by search warrants. Red Bluff Police detective Scott Curtis testified that he had heard an audio recording of a phone call Bealer made March 13, 2013 from jail to his mother. During the phone call Bealer told his mother that he had lied to investigators originally and had met Nichols near the creek, where he gave her a cigarette. Red Bluff Police Officer Aaron Murray testified that he had interviewed three students and a teacher who had seen Nichols and a man matching Bealer's description around the time of her disappearance. As part of their physical education class those students were out See BEALER, page 7A County to offer car seat safety classes Tehama County Health Services Agency, Public Health Division, in collaboration with the California Highway Patrol, is now offering car seat safety classes the fourth Thursday of the month through October, and the third Thursday of the month for November and December 2014 in the Shasta room of the Public Health Department, at 1860 Walnut St., Building D in Red Bluff. All Tehama County residents are welcome to attend free of charge. Class times are scheduled from 1-3 p.m. in English and 3-5 p.m. Residents who have been issued child restraint citations and fined through Tehama County Traffic Court can arrange with the court to attend the class and have their fines reduced. Participants may purchase a car seat for $25. Each person wanting a seat needs to attend the class and bring their vehi- cle for installation of the seat. Those who already own a car seat may also attend class and will receive assistance with proper installation of the the seat. Classes are limited to 15 participants and you must call 527-6824 to make a reservation. The Public Health Division encourages all residents to attend these educational classes. Recent car seat check-up events in Tehama County have shown that almost 100 percent of child safety seats are not installed properly. Car seats can also expire or be recalled, and the easiest way to ensure that your child is properly protected is to have the seat checked by a certified car seat technician. When making a reservation be prepared to provide parent or caregiver's name, phone number, how many seats are needed and the ages of the children the seats will be used for. Calif. health Eighth-graders explore career paths exchange criticized CORNING — Travis for sign-ups W., an eighth-grade stuBy ANDRE BYIK DN Staff Writer SACRAMENTO (AP) — After celebrating its enrollment numbers earlier this week, California's health-insurance exchange came under heavy criticism Thursday for its lackluster efforts to sign up Latinos and for continued paperwork problems that have left untold numbers of consumers in limbo. Members of Covered California's board of directors also questioned some of the exchange's spending priorities. Specifically, they wondered whether millions of dollars planned for a ramped-up marketing and advertisement campaign was the right approach when consumer advocacy groups and insurance agents say systematic problems persist and are discouraging thousands of people from getting coverage. 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 Those groups cited continued long wait times on the exchange's three telephone call centers, numerous problems with the online enrollment site and multi-week lag times in getting policy paperwork transferred from the exchange to insurance companies. ''This is not a marketing issue. Awareness without access does not get you to where you want to be,'' said Deborah Lazaro, a certified insurance agent. Lazaro told board members that major flaws continue with the Covered California website and said there was a lack of support for agents. For example, she said a hotline intended to enroll those who speak Chinese instead delivered a lengthy message in English, then switched to Spanish. The same was true for a call-in line for those who speak Korean, she said. Another agent said a See HEALTH, page 7A dent at Evergreen Middle School in Cottonwood, rolled the dice on life Thursday and ended up with a career in operation and fabrication. His salary? About $35,000 per year. The career and accompanying pay, he said, just wasn't for him. When he went through the Odds on You game again at the Eighth Grade Leadership Day at Rolling Hills Casino in Corning, this time choosing his own goals and aspirations, he paved his way to an officer rank in the military and then a career in underwater welding. Travis said it was interesting to see what his life would be like if left to chance, but taking matters into his own hands led to better results. "They literally are rolling the dice to determine what their life will look like," said Karissa Morehouse, College Options director in Tehama County. "The first time they go through it they leave their life to Daily News photo by Andre Byik Nancy Veatch, ELA coordinator for the Tehama County Department of Education, back left, interacts with students at the Eighth Grade Leadership Day event Thursday at Rolling Hills Casino in Corning. chance. Maybe they end up being an engineer or maybe they end up working at a fast-food joint. It's totally by the roll of the dice. Then they do it a second time where they actually make the decisions for what they want their life to look like." That was the theme at the conclusion of a fiveSee PATHS, page 7A QuickBooks 2014 Classes 6 Wednesday Evenings • 5:15pm - 7:15pm th Starts Wednesday, February 5 $99.00 per person Job Training Center Computer Lab Just 10 slots available/Each person at a computer Job Training Center • 718 Main St., Red Bluff Call 529-7000 Pre-Registration Required