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MONDAY MARCH 7, 2011 Breaking news at: Fetal Surgery a Success Vitality www.redbluffdailynews.com See Page 4A RED BLUFF State Eight SPORTS 1B Mostly sunny 59/36 Weather forecast 8B By ANDREA WAGNER DN Staff Writer Union representatives, whose impasse with Tehama County during labor negotia- tions ended recently in forced contracts, challenged the employment contract renewals of the top labor 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 Union, ex-employee question county contracts negotiators Tuesday. Supervisors, in a 4 to 1 vote, approved to renew con- tracts with Chief Administra- tor Bill Goodwin, Personnel Director Reanette Fillmer and Chief Probation Officer Richard Muench, three of 14 separate management con- tracts among county depart- ‘It’s clear there’s no shared sacrifice, at least at the executive level’ Union representative Robert Belgeri ments. Miscellaneous Bargaining Err plain Unit representative Robert Belgeri, addressed the board along with Trinna Higgs, a laid-off county employee. The two objected to the conditions of the three man- agement contracts, saying that the benefits and salaries don’t match the sacrifices the bargaining unit’s employees were forced to make. See UNION, page 7A Fight sends 3 to hospital An altercation outside a Red Bluff restaurant and bar early Saturday morning left three people with knife injuries. Red Bluff Police were called to the parking lot of River- side Bar and Grill at Rio Street and Antelope Boulevard about 2 a.m. for a reported physical fight involving about six people, according to a press release. When officers arrived, none of the parties could be locat- ed, but there was fresh blood on the ground and a knife. After continuing to search the area, officers found two men hiding in bushes near the Cinderella Motel on Ante- lope. Both had injuries caused by blunt force and lacera- tions from a knife, the release said. The men, whose names were not released, claimed they were attacked by two other men — one white and one his- panic — who were accompanied by a woman. A short time later, a woman was found a few blocks away with a laceration on her hand, the release said. The woman told officers she had been attacked by the men they had found hiding in the bushes and the white and See FIGHT, page 7A Utility rates hold steady; March bump offsets Jan drop Courtesy photo Proposed changes to the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map will include areas west of Highway 36, affecting about 300 households in the Antelope area that will be required to buy flood insurance. Mistaken levy to cost some Antelope residents By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer Two meetings are planned for Antelope property owners regarding a soon to be implemented flood map that will designate much of the area as a special flood hazard area. The meeting will be noon to 1 p.m. and again 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Tehama County Board of Supervi- sors Chambers, 727 Oak St. Property owners, insurance agents, lenders and real estate agents are encouraged to attend either meeting. Reward offered in shooting of 2 Sikh men ELK GROVE (AP) — The Council on Ameri- can-Islamic Relations has offered a $5,000 reward after two Sikh men were gunned down — one of them fatally — on a side- walk in a Northern Cali- fornia suburb. The executive director of the council’s Sacra- mento Valley chapter noted that Sikh men in beards and turbans are often targeted by those who mistake them for Muslims. ‘‘The Muslim commu- nity offers its condolences and support to the Sikh community in this time of sorrow,’’ Basim Elkarra said. The reward for infor- mation leading to a con- viction in the Friday after- noon shooting in Elk Grove comes as police cautioned there was no evidence it was a hate crime. However, the Sacramento suburb’s police chief, Robert Lehn- er, said there was no other apparent motive. ‘‘The obvious Sikh appearance of the men, including the traditional Dastar headwear and lack of any other apparent motive, increasingly raise that possibility,’’ he said in a statement. Authorities said 65- year-old Surinder Singh was pronounced dead at the scene, and a second man, identified as 78- year-old Gurmej Atwal, has been hospitalized in 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 See SIKH, page 7A Nearly 300 households in the Antelope area will be directly affected by the special flood hazard area designa- tion, said John Stover, Tehama County building official and floodplain administrator. For property owners, one of the biggest changes resulting from the designation will be a requirement to buy flood insurance. The proposed designation covers the area west of High- way 36 and about a 1/2 mile north of Antelope Boulevard, Stover said. While areas east of the highway have long been in the floodplain, the area to the west was an exception, as federal authorities have, in the past, accepted Highway 36 as a buffer or levee against flooding. But Highway 36 was never engineered or constructed to act as a levee, and authorities will no longer treat it as such, See PLAIN, page 7A Pacific Gas and Elec- tric Company (PG&E) announces that it expects its system-aver- age bundled electric rate to remain nearly flat into 2011. The rate decreased by 0.8 percent on January 1 and will increase by 1.5 percent on March 1, resulting in a net increase of 0.7 percent. PG&E’s March 1, 2011 rate would be about 2 percent below its March 1, 2010 rate. The rate change pri- marily reflects electric transmission-related costs approved annually by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commis- sion. Actual bill effects will vary among cus- tomer classes and by customer usage. The March 1 rate change does not include revenue that is covered by PG&E’s 2011-2013 General Rate Case (GRC). Based on the pro- posed and alternate decisions recently issued by the California Public Utilities Com- mission (CPUC), PG&E anticipates that the final decision will further increase the system- average bundled electric rate by less than 0.1 per- cent. Calf gets a taste of the good life A calf from Cow and Calf Operations of Red Bluff, owned by Bob Kerstiens, went missing for a few days and now follows Vicky Mahoney around wherever she goes. The calf, named Junior, was born Feb. 24 along with its twin and went missing sometime the next day. Larry Mar- shall, who works for Cow and Calf Opera- tions, said he called for help in locating it. On Feb. 26, Vicky Mahoney found the red- dish-brown Charlois and Beef Master breed calf cold and wet. She brought it right on in to the kitchen to blow dry it, Marshall said. Now, it thinks it’s a part of the family. “The calf follows Vicky around every- where and now it goes on inside and lays down with the dogs,” Marshall said. “It’ll probably start crying when we take it back to the barn because he thinks Courtesy photo A calf named Junior sits with the family pug in Vicky Mahoney’s kitchen. The calf, born Thursday, Feb. 24, was missing Friday and Saturday, Feb. 25 and 26, before being found and brought into the home. Vicky’s his mom.” The calf will proba- bly stay inside for about another five weeks before being taken back out to the barn, Marshall said. — Julie Zeeb Learn Basic Excel Basic Thurs., March 10, 2011 8:30 am to 12:30 pm Cost: $65 per person Job Training Center 718 Main St., Red Bluff EXCEL Call 529-7000 Microsoft