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WEDNESDAY MARCH 30, 2011 Breaking news at: Taking Bullet for Reagan 30 years on www.redbluffdailynews.com See Page 5B RED BLUFF Athletes of the Week SPORTS 1B Mostly sunny 80/57 Weather forecast 8B By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer A man wanted in connection with his involvement in a 2008 stabbing in Red Bluff was arrested in Southern California on March 14. 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 Suspect in 2008 stabbing nabbed at border Adrian Rodriguez, 24, of Mexico, was arrested while try- ing to illegally re-enter the United States, according to a Southern California television station. Border Patrol agents arrested Rodriguez while he was trying 5 for 5 to avoid a checkpoint and later turned him over to the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office to await extradition, the station said. Red Bluff Police Sgt. Kevin Busekist confirmed Tuesday afternoon that Rodriguez is connected to a Red Bluff case and had a warrant for attempted murder issued by the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office for his arrest. “Bail was set at $1.25 mil- lion and he is awaiting extradi- tion to Red Bluff,” Busekist said. Hospital makes record run on Top 100 list On Oct. 14, 2008, police responded to a stabbing on the porch of a residence in the 1100 block of Monroe Street where they found then 22-year-old Michael St. John of Red Bluff, who had been stabbed several See BORDER, page 7A County works to maintain budget By ANDREA WAGNER DN Staff Writer Some 52 Tehama County employees participated in a panel discussion with six department heads about the county budget Monday evening. Facilitating discussion, Human Resources Director Reanette Filmer tried to steer away from employee con- tract negotiations questions. However, many questions skirted in that direction. The hot topic: Reserve funds. Some are miffed that the county has been asking employees for concessions but that there is an existing reserve fund on the books. That matter was clarified partly by the evening’s discussion about what the reserve fund is for and for what the county’s budget has designated funds. The big picture: State budget fluctuations and uncer- tainties are keeping department heads guessing. Chief Administrative Officer Bill Goodwin intro- duced the panel, made up of himself, Sheriff Dave See BUDGET, page 7A Daily News photo by Chip Thompson St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Red Bluff is the first hospital in the state to be named to the Thomson Reuters Top 100 Hospital lists five years in a row. Staff report St. Elizabeth Community Hospi- tal, a member of CHW, was named one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospi- tals by Thomson Reuters for the fifth consecutive year, setting a new record for California hospitals. No other hospital in California has been awarded this distinction five years in a row. The study evaluates performance in 10 areas: mortality; medical complications; patient safety; aver- age patient stay; expenses; prof- itability; patient satisfaction; adher- ence to clinical standards of care; post-discharge mortality; and read- mission rates for acute myocardial infarction (heart attack), heart fail- ure, and pneumonia, according to a press release issued Monday. The study has been conducted annually since 1993. “It is an honor and privilege to work with the high performing St. Elizabeth team,” said President John Halfhide. “At every level of this organization, the St. E’s team and our physicians keep two key concepts at the forefront; quality care with compassion and efficien- cy paired with safety.” The hospital, with 76 licensed beds and a trauma level III, offers advanced services including endo- scopic and laser surgery. St. Eliza- beth provides critical, adult, pedi- atric and maternity care, as well as Home Health and Hospice pro- grams and includes a state-of-the- art Imaging Center and Outpatient Surgery Center. “This team is amazing,” said Chief Nurse Executive Joanne Heffner. “Their dedication and focus is unmatched as far as I am concerned and I am proud to be a part of all that we do here.” In the north state, the hospital’s CHW partners Mercy Medical Cen- ter Redding and Mercy Mt. Shasta provide a network of care, includ- ing cardiac care, oncology, special- ized services for troubled teens, low income mothers, seniors and the disabled, as well as inpatient and outpatient care. To conduct the 100 Top Hospi- tals study, Thomson Reuters researchers evaluated 2,914 short- term, acute care, non-federal hospi- tals. They used public information See 100, page 7A Court date set for charges of sex with minors A court date for former Richfield resident and businessman Thomas Sherman Endicott, 73, has been set for Nov. 28 when Endicott will appear in the US Federal Court 9th Cir- cuit Court in Sacramento before Judge Morrison C. England, Jr. Endicott is facing six counts of transportation of a minor across state lines with the intent to engage in sexual activity. Endicott, who was arrested March 30, 2009 near the Red Bluff Diver- sion Dam, has been in Sacramento County Jail, where he is held without bail, since he pleaded not guilty at his March 31, 2009, arraignment. Endicott’s attorney Jan Karowsky, of Sacramen- to, filed an appeal for Endicott to be released on $1.5 million bail. That appeal was denied in an Oct. 29, 2009, decision by England. A court date was previ- ously set for Nov. 7, but due to a motion filed by Karowsky stating his paralegal and second attorney would not be available until late November the trial was moved. —Julie Zeeb RB woman charged Delta's survival more important than fish with bank fraud By MIKE TAUGHER A former Red Bluff Woman is facing federal charges of bank fraud following an investiga- tion by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Redding Police. Laura Vannoy, 57, was arrested Friday at an Urban Lane resi- dence in Red Bluff by FBI agents, according to the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office, which assisted in the arrest. She was arraigned Monday in the US Dis- trict Court in Sacramen- to on 10 counts of bank fraud and pleaded not guilty to all counts, according to court docu- ments. An indictment from a federal grand jury alleges that over a five- year period, between 2006 and 2010, Vannoy stole checks made out to others and deposited them into her personal account at Umpqua Bank in Redding before withdrawing the funds for her own use, accord- ing to a press release from the US Attorney’s Office. Tehama County is among the 10 victims whose checks Vannoy is charged with pocketed, according to court docu- ments. The county’s check was written in October 2009 in the amount of $3,544. Documents do not say who was supposed to be the recipient of the check. If convicted, Vannoy faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Her next court date is scheduled for May 6. Bail was set at $25,000. 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 Red Bluff Outdoor Power MediaNews Group WALNUT CREEK — Letting some fish species die off as part of a larger environmental restoration may be the best way to protect the Sacramento- San Joaquin Delta, a lead- ing California think tank says. The recommendation in a 500-page report by experts working with the Public Policy Institute of California, is the second time recently that an influential report has sug- gested some fish, particu- larly Delta smelt, may become too far gone to save. The other was an early draft from a new state agency charged with crafting a plan for the Delta. In short, experts assembled by the Public Policy Institute of Cali- fornia say it is time for a number of sweeping changes. Among them: • Shift the focus from trying to protect single species like Delta smelt and instead take a broader ing." While recommending 30 percent cuts in urban water use, the report con- tains no similar request for agriculture, which uses four times as much water as California's cities. The reason, the authors said, is that more efficient use of water on farms would not generate more water for others, includ- ing the environment, to use. view of the health of the estuary, a shift that could allow smelt to die out if it helps other fish. For example, there is some- times a conflict between the needs of smelt and salmon over the best time to release water from upstream reservoirs. • Impose a fee on the use of water to finance improvements. • Cut water use in urban areas by 30 percent. • Curtail pollution and invasive species. "California has essen- tially run out of cheap new water sources," said Ellen Hanak, an agricul- tural economist and senior fellow at the PPIC. In the battle between society and the environ- ment for water, Hanak added, "the fish are los- Others disagree, but the reasoning behind that conclusion is that water that is used inefficiently on farms percolates into the ground, is used to See FISH, page 7A PHYSICIAN REFERRAL A FREE SERVICE PROVIDED FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE 1-800-990-9971 CHW North State Region