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FRIDAY MARCH 25, 2011 Breaking news at: ‘Pierce’ By The Book SELECT TV www.redbluffdailynews.com See INSIDE RED BLUFF Sweet Sixteen SPORTS 1B Showers likely 55/42 Weather forecast 10A By ANDREA WAGNER DN Staff Writer One of the three people res- cued Sunday afternoon from flooding homeless encamp- ments disappeared into the ris- ing waters Wednesday when he went back looking for his puppy. 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 Man missing in river after failed dog rescue After becoming stranded by rising waters in the encamp- ments, Philip Paul Rice, 36, and his girlfriend Rosie Marie Lan- der, 39, were rescued Sunday from an island created by the rising water in the slough near Antelope Boulevard just east of Interstate 5. A California Highway Patrol helicopter rescued the couple and a third man nearby without injury and took them to an area off of Sale Lane. At about 5:30 p.m. Wednes- day, the Tehama County Sher- iff’s Department got a call from Lander saying that Rice had gone back to the Sacramento River slough to search for their Areas flood dogs and hadn’t returned, the logs said. Lander told deputies Rice had been very concerned about the dogs’ welfare on the island, said Assistant Sheriff Phil John- ston. Rescue personnel weren’t able to save the reported one or more dogs, Johnston said. “We didn’t have information about the dogs or see one,” Johnston said. Deputies searched the shore- line Wednesday and called out for Rice on both sides of the slough but were unable to locate him, a sheriff’s press release said. See RESCUE, page 9A City, broker join to fill dealership By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer A full scale campaign is just on the horizon for the former Red Bluff Ford property after a local business- man announced he was no longer buying the lot. Since the announcement, real estate broker John Troughton has doubled his efforts to get the word out about the property. He has already been in contact with the city and has plans for an open house event, he said. Businessman Don Williams put down a deposit for the property and entered into escrow in November but pulled out earlier this month. He is still moving forward with his plans for a spe- cial events center and ice rink, Williams has said. See CITY, page 9A Local producer earns gold medals Special to the DN Photo courtesy of Larry Long Heavy rains over the last few days in Tehama County have caused parts of San Benito Avenue in Gerber, pictured here Thursday, to flood. By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer Flood warnings were issued for bridges in the North State as the Sacramento River swelled. At the Tehama Bridge near Los Molinos the water level fluctuated around the 213 feet flood stage. The Sacramento River was around 211.5 feet Thursday and is predict- ed to rise as high as 214.5 feet this afternoon, according to the Nation- al Weather Service. Driftwood RV Park owner Bob Bortolussi said Thursday morning he was doing fine, as the water was still below the bank. The park sits on the east bank of the river on Tehama Vina Road. Bortolussi has seen higher water levels in the 8 years that he has been at the park, he said. His office has flooded before, but so far the water has stayed far below his doors. He was not worried about the rain doing too much damage and was more concerned with flows related to water releases from Keswick and Shasta dams, he said. Brown: Unions should be open to GOP concessions SACRAMENTO (AP) — Gov. Jerry Brown said Thursday that he has told his labor union allies they should be open to conces- sions that Republican law- makers are seeking on public employee pensions in exchange for GOP votes on the budget. The Democratic gover- nor has warned that if Republicans fail now, con- servatives could try for even bigger giveaways with a future ballot initia- tive. As if on cue, Republi- cans filed two such initia- tives with the state attor- ney general on Thursday. A group of GOP law- makers wants pension reforms, looser business regulations and a state spending cap in exchange for their votes to call a spe- cial election. Brown wants to ask Californians to extend temporary increas- es enacted two years ago on the personal income, sales and vehicles taxes for another five years. The tax hikes are scheduled to expire this year. Republican lawmakers who have been negotiating with Brown say he has not considered their sugges- tions seriously because he is unwilling to confront public employee unions, which contribute heavily to Democratic candidates. Brown points the finger at Republicans, saying they are holding up budget negotiations with unrealis- tic expectations. Nevertheless, he said Thursday that he remains open to their demands and has warned unions about the possible consequences of resisting change. “I tell my union friends, you’re going to have to make some changes now, 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 See BROWN, page 9A “We have no control over what they’re going to do over at the dam,” Bortolussi said. Water release from the dam has been ongoing and been increased or scaled back depending on the amount of rainfall, according to the Bureau of Reclamation, which operates Shasta Dam. Release was scaled back to about 20,000 cfs Thursday. The rising river has caused some problems for the Fish Passage Improvement Project at the Red See FLOOD, page 9A Pacific Sun Gourmet announce this week that three of its gourmet Cali- fornia extra virgin olive oils were honored with Gold Medals by the judges of the 2011 California Olive Oil Council Compe- tition. Pacific Sun’s Propri- etor’s Select Ascolana Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a mono-varietal oil made of 100 percent Ascolana olives, an Italian variety that grows in many olive groves in Tehama County. The Tehama County Blend Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the producer’s most popular and versatile olive oil. It is made from a blend of Mission and Ascolana olives. The delicate Eva’s Blend Extra Virgin Olive Oil is made from another cultivar typical of Califor- nia, the Manzanillo olive. This is the third consec- utive year the California Olive Oil Council has awarded Gold Medals to the Proprietor’s Select Ascolana and Tehama County Blend oils. This is the second consecutive year that the Eva’s Blend has been honored with a Gold Medal. Since 2003, Pacific Sun has been awarded a total of 23 gold medals, 13 silvers and two bronze medals from olive oil competi- tions. Constant recogni- tion by expert olive oil tasting panels proves the local company’s consistent success in producing qual- ity gourmet California extra virgin olive oils. You can buy Pacific Sun’s award winning See GOLD, page 9A SWAT team trains at vacant hotel By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer Tehama Inter-Agency SWAT team members spent Thursday braving the cold, windy weather to train at the former Cin- derella Motel at 600 Rio St. The site is owned by Pacific Gas and Electric, which is in the process of cleaning up the site — a former manufacturer’s gas plant. “Fortunately, PG&E has allowed us to use this facility to train our intera- gency swat team,” said Red Bluff Police Lt. Kyle Sanders. The team has trained on other large sites before, including a ware- house, but nothing quite like the motel, he said. “This site is particular- ly good because the mul- tiple rooms allow for dif- ferent scenarios,” Sanders said. “Typically we train in places like vacant resi- dences so this is unique in the fact that there are mul- tiple rooms with multiple windows and door, which brings a different element into it.” Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb Tehama Inter-Agency SWAT Team members make entry into a first floor room at the former Cinderella Motel building during training on Thursday. On Thursday, 10 mem- bers of the team, which consists of Tehama Coun- ty Sheriff’s, Corning Police and Red Bluff Police departments, were present for the training. The team holds 13 train- ing sessions a year, Sanders said. “The bulk of our train- ing today is focused on movement and entries, including forcing doors or using second entrances such as windows,” Sanders said. While the motel has 40 units, some of which were used by Red Bluff Fire for See SWAT, page 9A