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MONDAY FEBRUARY 28, 2011 Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com See Page 8A RED BLUFF Two Rodeos No Waiting On To State SPORTS 1B Scattered Rain 51/40 Weather forecast 8B 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 In the Cards Pot bust suspects may face feds By ANDREA WAGNER DN Staff Writer Those arrested in a large-scale marijuana bust in October in a remote area of eastern Tehama County may now be facing federal drug charges and greater penalties. The growing operation, which led to the arrest of 10 people, may be linked to larger organizations that have been cultivating indoors in the Central Valley in sever- al foreclosed homes, said Jack Nelson, commander of the North State Marijuana Investigation team. “There’s generally a small percent of these cases that get prosecuted federally,” he said. The Department of Justice Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement team issued a search warrant for a 157- acre parcel of unimproved land off Lanes Valley Road east of Manton Oct. 28. The ensuing bust resulted in a See POT, page 7A Club honors top cops, firefighters By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb The Corning Cardinals soccer team takes a victory lap after winning the Northern Section title over West Valley Saturday. By RICH GREENE and JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writers CORNING — It wasn’t as easy as it was a year ago, but once again the Corning Cardinals knocked off the West Valley Eagles to claim a Northern Section Division I boys’ soccer champi- onship. Hector Loera and Francisco Pano both scored goals and Rafael Ruiz and the Cardinals defense kept the visiting Eagles off the scoreboard as Corning won 2-0, Saturday, to repeat as section champions. “It feels fantastic, especially since this is my last year,” Corning senior Bob Morales said. “It’s sur- real for me. I couldn’t have done it without my teammates and my coach. I’m just thrilled.” In his second year as coach, Ascension Llamas now has two championships and a 30-2-1 com- bined record. The Cardinals were playing in their third consecutive section title game. They reached this year’s final with an 11-0 blasting of Oroville in the semifinals as senior Jorge Budget deadline nears as GOP balks on taxes SACRAMENTO (AP) — After weeks of political maneuvering in the Capitol, the coming month will go a long way toward determin- ing how California’s mas- sive budget deficit will be resolved. Gov. Jerry Brown has given lawmakers a March 10 deadline to call a June special election during which voters would be asked to extend increases passed two years ago to the personal income, sales and vehicle taxes. If he cannot get sufficient Republican support to call the election, the Democratic governor has said the alternative is deep spending cuts to close the $26.6 billion shortfall. It’s not clear whether any Republican lawmakers are willing to vote independent- ly to support a ballot mea- sure and, if so, what they want in return. Last week, Brown appeared before the legislative conference com- mittee — an extremely unusual move for a gover- nor — to debate ideas and implore Republicans to make him an offer that would persuade them to support the ballot measure. ‘‘Give me some ideas. And if you have some reforms you want to make, some things that Democrats don’t like, let’s hear what they are,’’ Brown said. In interviews, Republi- cans said they want to ease regulations on businesses, cut the size of the state work force and cap state spending to allow only enough of an annual increase to keep pace with inflation and pop- ulation growth. They also seek long-term pension reforms as the state faces $115 billion in unfunded pension liabilities. Pension reform gained sup- port last week after the Lit- tle Hoover Commission, a state watchdog agency, issued a report recommend- ing the state freeze pension benefits for current state and local government workers. The commission joined the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office in recom- mending that California switch from guaranteeing benefits to a hybrid system like the 401(k) plans offered to most private-sector employees. Yet even agreements in those areas would not be enough to win Republican votes for putting tax exten- sions before voters, said Senate Minority Leader Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga. ‘‘Frankly, at this point I do not see an endgame 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 See TAXES, page 7A Machado netted six goals. The 2011 Corning Cardinals are: Ivan Alvarado, Alexis Ange- les, Mario Campos, Arturo Car- rera, Luis Espinoza, Diego Figueroa, Cosme Flores, Jose Flo- res, Geovanni Garcia, Robert Gar- cia, Antonio Guzman, Manuel Ibarra, Hector Loera, Jorge Machado, Bob Morales, Francisco Pano, Carlos Rubio, Cesar Ruiz, Rafael Ruiz, Juan Serrano, Jacob Sullivan, Enrique Torres and Eric Zagal. The Cardinals were coached by Llamas with stats kept by Rogelio Silva. The Corning Exchange Club served close to 200 people Saturday at its annu- al Fire and Police Awards Dinner, with Linda Watkins-Bennett serving as mistress of ceremonies. “We’re so appreciative of the job that you do every- day,” Watkins-Bennett said. “Law enforcement officers and firefighters share a kin- ship like no other. It’s a strong brotherhood. No other profession bears the burden or suffers the dan- gers as that of a police offi- cer or a firefighter.” It’s not a job chosen for wealth, but for the opportu- nity to make a difference, Watkins-Bennett said. “You are really extraor- dinary people who do make a positive, sometimes life- saving difference in the lives of others,” Watkins-Bennett said. “In that, you often risk your own lives, undergo rig- orous training and you go where many of us choose not to go and for that we say thank you.” Corning Fire Chief Mar- tin Spannaus presented Kirk Hewitt with Fireman of the Year. Hewitt joined the department in 2009 and continues to serve while working full-time for Sierra Pacific. “He’s a devoted fireman and a devoted father,” Span- naus said. Corning Rural Fire Department Chief Jim Allen presented Fireman of the Year to Samantha McK- elvy. McKelvy has been with the department for two See COPS, page 7A Fundraiser a thrill for the senses By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer CORNING — Bitter cold weather didn’t keep hundreds of people from attending the sixth annual Corning Rotary Wine, Beer, Food and Art Festival held Friday and Saturday at the Carlino’s Event Center in Rolling Hills Casino. “This year we had more booths participating and early numbers indicated the attendance is up,” said Event Chairman Glen Nixon. “This is our largest fundraiser of the year so the success of this dictates what we can do.” Proceeds from the event go toward all the projects Corning Rotary does throughout the year, includ- ing everything from drink- ing fountains in parks to getting dictionaries into classrooms, Nixon said. “We put this on in con- junction with Rolling Hills Casino,” Nixon said. “This is all possible because of the support of the casino and a lot of man hours from 35-40 volunteers from rotary and area businesses.” The event included a wide variety of things for people to see, taste and hear with 26 booths with arts, crafts, food and wine and seven competing in the Clam Chowder Cook-off, including Corning, Red Bluff and Paradise Rotary clubs, Orland Police Department and the Corn- ing Elementary Education Foundation. Rolling Hills Casino had two teams of their own competing Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb Mandy Cadenhead accepts a sample of walnuts from Katie Bianchi of Bianchi Orchards Saturday at the sixth annual Corning Rotary Wine, Beer, Food and Art Festival held Friday and Saturday at Rolling Hills Casino. between themselves. There was live music and cooking demos for guests to enjoy. Melissa Cloyd of Orland was a first time participant of the festival. “I think it’s a wonderful event,” Cloyd said. “It’s a great place to showcase local agriculture and other products. We try to shop local so coming here is great (to see local things available).” Donna Boots of Indian Peak Winery in Manton has been coming to the festival with some of her wines for the last three years, she said. “It’s a really good venue and we get a lot of traffic from this event,” Boots said. Diane Norrbom of Chico was a first time visitor to the festival who came to sup- port her friends from the Paradise Rotary in the Clam Chowder Cook-Off, she said. “It’s fantastic,” said Nor- rbom, a Chico Sunrise Rotary member. “It’s so nice that the casino helps out and it’s all for a good cause.” ——— Learn Basic Excel Basic Thurs., March 20, 2011 8:30 am to 12:30 pm Cost: $65 per person Job Training Center 718 Main St., Red Bluff EXCEL Call 529-7000 Julie Zeeb can be reached at 527-2153, extension 115 or jzeeb@redbluffdailynews.c om. Microsoft