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FRIDAY MARCH 4, 2011 Breaking news at: Originality On The Menu Select TV www.redbluffdailynews.com See Inside RED BLUFF All Heart SPORTS 1B Partly cloudy 64/43 Weather forecast 8A 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 DOJ: No tampering in teen’s death case An investigation by the state Department of Justice supports the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office’s initial investigation and conclusion that the death of a Red Bluff man at Cone Grove Park was an accidental drown- ing. The justice department was asked by former Sheriff Clay Parker to conduct an indepen- dent investigation of the July 13, 2010 drowning of 19-year- old Sean Siders after rumors that staff in the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office may have influ- enced the sheriff’s investiga- tion. ‘Most of the controversy surrounding the case was based on what ifs and innuendoes’ Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston One of three men who had been with Siders at the park — before Siders separated from the group and was later found Bank robbed Bomb threat causes school evacuation By ANDREA WAGNER DN Staff Writer Tehama County Sher- iff’s deputies are on the lookout for a man with a grey mustache who robbed a Los Molinos bank and walked away with cash after threatening that he would blow up the high school Wednesday. The man, described as white, 55-60 years old, with a clean-shaven face except for a grey mus- tache, robbed Umpqua Bank, 7843 Highway 99E, at about 2:32 p.m. Wednesday, according to the sheriff’s department. The 6-foot-tall man with a large build, carrying a dark-colored notebook handed a teller a note indi- cating he had placed a bomb at Los Molinos High School. The man demand- ed that the teller give him money or he would deto- nate the bomb, a sheriff’s press release said. Using hand motions the suspect implied that he had a gun in his waistband, though no weapon was seen, the release said. At the time there were no cus- tomers in the bank, accord- ing to sheriff’s logs. The suspect, wearing a plain grey hooded sweat- shirt, blue jeans, light blue dead — is the son of a lieu- tenant in the sheriff’s office. Rumors, based mostly on a Chico television station news report, said the lieutenant had in some way influenced the inves- tigation. The justice department’s investigation concluded there See DEATH, page 7A Woman pleads guilty in embezzlement A former employee of a local logging company charged with taking millions of dollars during her employment pleaded guilty in Tehama County Superi- or Court last week. Cheryl Lynn Holder, 56, of Red Bluff pleaded guilty to charges of grand theft embezzlement. Two special allegations of excessive loss over $100,000 and $1 mil- lion were dismissed. A court date of April 5 has been set for affirmation of the guilty plea and sentencing, according to court See GUILTY, page 7A City expects to be in the black by July By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer Following controversy Daily News photo by Andrea Wagner Surveillance cameras show a man who robbed Umpqua Bank in Los Molinos at 2:32 p.m.Wednesday. beanie hat and black leather gloves took an undisclosed amount of cash, put it in his pocket and left north on foot on Highway 99E past the post office, the logs said. Los Molinos High School personnel were notified of the threat and the school was evacuated as a precaution, the release Woman arrested after storage unit is broken into Deputies responded to a burglary at South Main Mini Storage, 12149 High- way 99W, just after noon Wednesday. Three men and a woman had been seen driving to a storage unit, Hendrie cutting a lock and load- ing items into a white 2004 Dodge Neon, according to sheriff ’s logs. Deputies alerted Red Bluff Police to be on the lookout for the vehicle and suspects that had a metal lock box with birth certificates and a marriage license, as well as other items, police logs said. The items stolen, which belong to a Red Bluff couple, include three boxes of per- sonal items valued at $500, according to a sheriff ’s press release. About an hour later, the sheriff ’s deputy that responded to the storage facility saw the suspected vehicle on Antelope Boulevard near Chestnut Avenue and stopped the car, the logs said. The driver, Deborah Lynn Hendrie, 50, a transient in the Red Bluff area, had some of the stolen property and admitted to loading property from the stor- age unit into the car, a sheriff ’s press release said. Hendrie, also known as Nadine Hendrie or Debbie Lynn Soto, was arrested and charged 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 See UNIT, page 7A said. Sheriff’s personnel searched the school and could find no destructive device. It is unknown where the man went or what he did after the robbery, nor if he had a vehicle, the release said. Surveillance camera photos show the suspect. Anyone with information concerning the suspect or the robbery is asked to call Detective Rob Brinton at the Tehama County Sher- iff’s Department at 529- 7920. over Red Bluff’s $1.3 million deficit and after several months of no budget update, the City Council received a posi- tive budget report at its meeting Tuesday. Red Bluff is expected to recover from its deficit to end the fiscal year on the positive side. ——— Andrea Wagner can be reached at 527-2153, extension 114 or awagner@redbluffdailyn ews.com. A $4,000 balance is projected when the fiscal year ends June 30, said Sandy Ryan, the city’s accounting consultant. “There will not be a deficit fund budget at the end of the year,” she said. Employee concessions were a large part of the city being able to balance its budget, Ryan said. The city was able to negotiate a 12 percent compensation reduction with all of its employee units, which resulted in a savings of $534,000 in the general fund. In June 2010, the council authorized a $1.4 million reduction to close the budget deficit and create a $100,000 reserve. The reserve was not realized because of unbudgeted overtime expenses in the Fire Department due to a vacancy and unanticipat- ed severance payments. Various Parks and Recre- ation Department savings and uniform allowance See CITY, page 7A Dictionaries go to third-graders By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer The Rotary clubs of Tehama County have been busy passing out dictionar- ies at schools throughout the county with their latest drop made Thursday at Metteer Elementary School in Red Bluff. “We’re just so apprecia- tive of the Rotary clubs for donating the dictionaries to our third grade students,” said Principal Susanna Win- stead. “It gives the students access to the tools they need at home.” The Rotary project has been around for five years with Rotarians visiting 53 classrooms and giving out about 1,000 dictionaries this year, said Rotarian and Tehama County Superin- tendent of Schools Larry Champion. “It’s a wonderful pro- ject that supports Rotary International’s Literacy Initiative,” Champion said. “It celebrates the achievement of our goal that all third-graders are great readers by the end of third grade. It also means that every student in the county third through eighth grade now has a dictionary in their home to use so every teacher now Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb Tehama County Chief Administrator Bill Goodwin passes out dictionaries Thursday to a third grade class at Metteer School. can expect more from every student.” The project is a com- bined effort of the Depart- ment of Education, Red Bluff Sunrise and Noon Rotary clubs and Corning Rotary Club, Champion said. With an average of about 1,000 dictionaries a year, the cost is about $9,500 to $10,000 annually or about $200 a classroom, he said. “Individual Rotarians buy classrooms and the great thing is I don’t have to do anything,” Champion said. “When it comes time they just sign-up because they’re so supportive of the effort and they know the benefits of the project.” For more information on the project or to make a donation, call the Tehama County Department of Edu- cation at 528-7323. QuickBooks Class Six Wednesdays (3-9-11 to 4-13-11) Time: 5:15 pm to 7:15 pm Cost: $99.00 per person Job Training Center, 718 Main St., Red Bluff Call 529-7000