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WEEKEND FEBRUARY 12-13, 2011 Breaking news at: Live Happily Ever After USA Weekend www.redbluffdailynews.com See Inside RED BLUFF Spartans Go For 3 SPORTS 1B Mostly sunny 68/39 Weather forecast 8B By KATY SWEENY MediaNews Group OROVILLE — A Corning man had twice signed paperwork acknowledging he could be charged with murder if he hit and killed someone while driving drunk, a prosecutor said Thursday in court. Butte County Superior Court Judge Clare Keithley held that 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 Driver in death of Caltrans worker bound over for trial man, Russell Hodge, to answer Thursday on the charges of mur- der and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated with three priors. The second charge includes the allegation of fleeing the crime scene. He faces life in prison. The prosecution alleges Hodge was driving with more than twice the legal limit of alcohol in his system about 11:18 p.m. Nov. 14 ‘There is ample evidence to show he knew if he got into a vehicle and drove while intoxicated he could kill somebody’ Deputy District Attorney Glenn Jennings on Highway 99 at Hamilton Nord Cana Highway, when he plowed She rocks! into Caltrans worker Gary Wayne Smith. The 57-year-old Chico man died that night from his injuries. Clark was diverting traffic from the scene of an earlier triple fatality on 99, also blamed on drunken driving. The judge said she found the prosecution presented enough evidence for the probable cause hearing to bound over Hodge for See TRIAL, page 7A Repeat offender caught in sting Staff report Tuesday was not a good day for a local contractor who was caught attempting to do work without a license. Randy Wade Dueck, 50, of Red Bluff was again caught contracting without a license and arrested dur- ing an undercover operation conducted by the Contrac- tors State License Board’s Statewide Investigative Fraud Team, this time in downtown Red Bluff. The sting was conducted in cooperation with the Tehama County District Attorney’s Office and Califor- nia Department of Industrial Relations. Investigators posed as owners of a commercial prop- erty near the Sacramento River seeking painting, floor- ing and tile work. See STING, page 7A Nomlaki acquire barn producer Staff report CORNING — The Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb Become A Rock Detective founder Ruth Deike packs one of several kits at her warehouse in Red Bluff. By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer Holding up a package in the warehouse where she packs her Become A Rock Detective kits, Ruth Deike says, “It’s dinosaur poop. No, really it is.” While Deike may hasn’t been around as long as the items she has diligently collected over the years, the 76- year-old retired geologist is still passionate about telling people, particularly students, about her collection of rocks and fossils and how the earth works. Deike, who retired from the Department of Interior US Geological Survey and now lives in Red Bluff, spent more than 25 years researching geology before opening her non- profit organization. “It was all by accident if there are such a thing as acci- dents,” Deike said. Asked by her granddaughter’s teacher in 1988 to come talk to the third grade class, Deike thought she might be able to keep students’ interest for 5-10 minutes, she said. “I instantly panicked,” said Deike. “I talked to a friend who was a city geologist in Washington D.C. who worked See ROCKS, page 7A Paskenta Band of Nomla- ki Indians announced the purchase of the most pop- ular modular barn brands, MD Barns and Barnmas- ter. The Tribe plans to combine the strengths and attributes of both nation- ally respected brands under the name MD Barn- master. “We’ve acquired the assets of a company with a 30-year proven track record of designing and building high quality barns and structures,” Chief Executive Bruce Thomas said. “Rather than manufacturing and marketing two separate, competing brands, we’re merging MD Barns and Barnmaster under one umbrella brand; MD Barnmaster. The concept is to showcase two differ- ent models of one product line. The models will appeal to a broader nationwide market, and standardizing the prod- ucts and marketing as one company will allow us to operate more efficiently and market more aggres- sively.” Before the housing cri- sis, MD Barns and Barn- master reported impres- sive annual earnings, and Thomas expects MD Barnmaster to do as well in the future under the tribe’s ownership, he said. The company has deal- ers in major market areas across the United States and is seeking to add to its See BARN, page 7A Corning sets date Ferreira elected treasurer of milk board to fill open seat Special to the DN By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer CORNING — The City Council set at date to inter- view candidates for the council seat left open by the Jan. 25 resignation of Jesse Lopez. Lopez, the top vote-get- ter in November’s election, was sworn-in and immedi- ately resigned to give the council more time to fill the seat he was elected to, but unable to fill at this time due to questions of his eli- gibility. Lopez also resigned from his seat on the planning commission. A 2005 conviction of forgery knocked down to a misdemeanor after 36 months of probation caused his eligibility to take office to be ques- tioned. A 2009 Tehama County Superior Court order said Lopez would be free from all penalties, however, according to the constitu- tion, a conviction made him ineligible to hold office. By being sworn in and resigning it gave the coun- cil up to 60 days from his resignation to fill that seat. Applications are being taken until 5 p.m. on Feb. 17 and the council will interview candidates at a special meeting at 7 p.m. on March 1. Three people had shown interest in the seat as of Tuesday with Dave Linnet and Melodie Poisson applying for both council and planning commission, City Clerk Lisa Linnet said. Kyle Lauderdale has applied for the planning commission position while Lorenzo Casia has applied for the council seat, Linnet said. 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 ——— Julie Zeeb can be reached at 527-2153, extension 115 or jzeeb@redbluffdailynews.c om. Frank Ferreira has been elected Treasurer to serve on the Execu- tive Committee of the California Milk Adviso- ry Board (CMAB), the promotional arm of the state's dairy farmers. He previously served as Member-at-Large. The Ferreira Family has been milking cows in Tehama County since 1978. His parents Ramiro and Mary Ferreira start- ed the dairy. Frank joined after finishing school and helped expand the dairy from 300 cows to 700 cows. Today, his parents, wife Michelle and their three children, Kirra, Luciana and Frank, take pride in producing safe and nutritious milk for Cali- fornia families. California is the nation’s leading milk producer and also pro- duces more butter, ice cream, yogurt and non- fat dry milk than any other state. Dairy products made with California milk can Agriculture, is funded by the state’s 1,752 dairy families. With headquarters in South San Francisco and Modesto, the CMAB is one of the largest com- modity boards in the United States. The CMAB executes advertising, public rela- tions, research and retail and foodservice promo- tional programs on behalf of California dairy products, includ- ing Real California Milk and Real California Cheese. For more information on California dairy products, visit www.RealCaliforni- aMilk.com Learn be identified by the Real California Milk seal, which certifies that the products are made exclusively with milk produced on California dairy farms. The state is the sec- ond-largest producer of cheese, which is avail- able nationally under the Real California Cheese seal. The California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB), an instrumen- tality of the California Department of Food and Intermediate EXCEL Thursday February 17, 2011 8:30 am to 12:30 pm Cost: $65 per person Job Training Center 718 Main St., Red Bluff Call 529-7000 Microsoft