Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/302136
Hit Wedon'thavetolookatan artist's illustration any longer to know what the new, or should we say old-time replica, State Theatre blade and marquee will look like. The restoration work started this week and should be completed by the end of May. In the meantime passersby will no - tice neon lights going up, alumi- num skins being placed and up- dates to the theater's marquee boards in the coming week, in addition to the new coat of paint already visible above the theater. It may be just a sign, but here's hoping it's a sign of downtown Red Bluff's revitalization. Miss Our justice system can be considered the fairest in the world, but its lengthy process can be awfully hard on victims and their families. A family mem - ber of a murdered Red Bluff child called the news room this week to vent about the process that in- cludes one delay after another. She told of the toll it was hav- ing on the mother of the victim, 8-month-old Dylan Miller who was killed on Mother's Day 2013. Almost a year later the accused has had seven Entry of Pleas scheduled. A pretrial conference is finally scheduled for June 16. The story makes the strength we witnessed at the recent National Victims Rights Week celebration in Tehama County all the more special. Hit We've come to expect Red Bluff High School's baseball and softball teams to fill our sports pages with good news every year and this spring has been no ex - ception. The boys captured the Shasta Lake Bass Easter Base- ball Classic last weekend and are riding an eight-game win streak as they take part in another tour- nament in Hilmare. The Spar- tans are 17-4, with all four of those losses coming to just two schools — a doubleheader in South Medford, Ore. and against rival Pleasant Valley. Here's to meeting the Vikings again in the playoffs. As for the girls, after a bit of a rocky start under new manager Aubrie Thomas the Lady Spartans have found their stride. They've won nine games in a row, which included win - ning Shasta's Wolfpack Invita- tional. Who did they beat in the championship? None other than the Corning Lady Cardinals, who also get a thumbs up from us for their 15-6 start to the season. Miss It's not a miss when our local law enforcement is out be- ing proactive, as was the case with a Red Bluff Police Depart- ment two-day driving under the influence campaign over the weekend. What is a miss is they found eight people who were sus - pected of being intoxicated while driving over the course of the two days. These days one intox- icated person out driving some- where is one too many. The risks are too well documented for both the general public and the of- fender. On Monday the RBPD did one of our favorite annual stings when officers followed offenders who had just been ordered not to drive by a judge from the court room to their cars. Four individ - uals proceeded to drive away and were subsequently stopped by an officer. Hit Thursday marked the 112th anniversary of the General Federation of Women's Clubs. The Maywood Woman's Club of Corning is the oldest of the Shasta District's California Fed - eration of Women's Clubs, hav- ing been founded in 1898. The Maywood Woman's Club has a rich history from participating in the women's suffrage movement to planning and fundraising to build and furnish Woodson Park, founding the Maywood Colony Library and the Corning Library Association to leading the suc - cessful bond issuance to build Corning's first high school. Miss We know it's been an- other dry year and farmers es- pecially need the water, but we were just getting used to the warm, sunny days before winter made its curtain call this week with high winds, overcast skies and even a bit of rainfall. The forecast is for temps to climb back toward 90 by the middle of next week, so we should prob - ably keep out mouths shut and be thankful that April showers bring May flowers. Hits and misses Standing ovation for new blade There are some programs our tax dollars support that infer/ bestow a variety of broad-based economic and social benefits to the state that make them worthy of preservation. The Agricultural Education Incentive (AEIG) Pro - gram is a prime example. Although the state is fully funding education, the Gover- nor's budget has slated this suc- cessful agricultural education grant for elimination. The incen- tive grant funding came only af- ter the passage of Senate Bill 187 in 1983, a bill I authored to estab- lish vocational agricultural ed- ucation firmly in the Education Code, coupled with high stan- dards for excellence for each and every local ag program. The program is not a give- away or an entitlement, but rather a Career Technical Ed - ucation opportunity that pro- vides matching grant funding to local school districts commit- ted to agricultural education - with multiplied and multi-gener- ational benefits. The standards for excellence established under SB 187, coupled with the incen- tive grant format, have resulted in far-reaching favorable bene- fits for California agriculture and our economy. For these reasons, I must enthusiastically make the case that the AEIG should be re - tained and fully supported, not only for the coming fiscal year, but into perpetuity. We live in a state that offers uniquely exceptional weather and vast acres of productive farm and grazing land ideally suited to cul - tivate an exceptional array of agri- cultural goods to meet a state and global demand while providing an untold number of jobs founda- tional to our state's economy. It takes a lot of hard work to bring a healthy variety of fresh foods to our table. Consider the citrus and sweet tree fruit we en - joy, the berries and nuts, olives and wine grapes, and the rich array of vegetables grown here – too numerous to mention, as well as essential grains includ - ing wheat, oats, barley and rice. Thousands of acres also support the meat and dairy industries on which we depend. The opportu - nities for jobs in agribusiness are also significant. Our government leaders and policy-makers should be grati - fied to see the Agricultural Edu- cation Incentive Grant Program attracting record numbers of stu- dents who are intent upon pursu- ing careers in farming and ranch- ing. The California Agricultural Teachers Association reports that throughout the state, more than 74,000 students are enrolled in more than 300 programs state - wide, and graduate follow-up data reveals that, since its inception in 1983, the AEIG has sent more stu- dents to post-secondary colleges and training institutions, where they graduate with degrees in larger numbers and in shorter time frames than their peers in general academic programs. This program has proven its worth many times over as evidenced by the hundreds of letters I have re - ceived from students. Here's an excerpt from a letter sent by a senior at Red Bluff High School: My participation in FFA events such as State Conference, the Made for Excellence Leader - ship Conference, Advanced Lead- ership academy, various public speaking contests and field days has allowed me to create rela- tionships and experiences I never thought possible; but my partici- pation has only been made possi- ble because of the Agriculture In- centive Grant. Not fully understanding the positive impact of this incentive grant, the Governor proposed rolling the $4.1 million into gen - eral purpose spending in the fis- cal year that begins July 1. With- out the incentive, many school districts may be pressured to ap- propriate these precious dollars to other purposes, and the agricul- tural education opportunities for our young students may dry up. As Vice Chair of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Com - mittee, I have and will continue to make the case that we simply cannot allow the Agricultural Ed- ucation Incentive Program to go away. A Senate sub-committee is scheduled to deliberate this pro- gram at its meeting on Tuesday. I urge all those who can attend the hearing to come to the capitol to lend your support. Like the letter excerpted above, I have received hundreds of letters from students whose lives have been literally changed as a result of the Agricultural Ed - ucation Incentive Grant. Recog- nizing that we reap what we sow, this program is one small invest- ment that will continue to benefit this state and nation by preserv- ing our agricultural heritage and the opportunities that keep us ec- onomically and physically strong - both in the immediate future and for generations to come. sen. Jim Nielsen Agricultural education program should be protected Cartoonist's take PatJohnston'sgall Editor: Tuesday night, I had the op- portunity to attend a Candidates Night for candidates running for various County of Tehama gov- ernmental positions. Pat John- ston was one of the candidates for the Board of Supervisors. For me, her being at the meet- ing in Lake California was a dis- play of utmost gall. She has re- peatedly written e-mails and Facebook comments that have accused the Lake California Property Owners Association's Board of Directors, management and individual Lake California Property Owners Association members of wrongdoing and ly - ing to the membership. Yet Johnston is not a resi- dent of the Lake California com- munity, has never attended any Lake of California Board of Di- rectors meetings and few, if any, Tehama County Board of Super- visors meetings. What is the ba- sis for her accusations against Lake California? What is her basis for becoming a Tehama County Supervisor? How can anyone vote for a candidate who makes baseless accusations about any commu - nity and then expects its mem- bers to vote for them? I know that I cannot. —BobWilkinson,LakeCalifornia California is too large Editor: F.Y.I. We here in the North State do pay California taxes. If you don't pay any state tax, you don't make enough money. Plain and simple. The North State isn't com - pletely dependent on those in the south to support us. If more had jobs, those dependent on the state would be supporting them- selves. But since every indus- try up here has been reduced to almost zero, there are no jobs and if you can get a job, it pays much less than those in a state or union job. I agree the state of Califor - nia may be our largest employer, maybe that's most of the prob- lem. Who funds all those peo- ple with pensions, benefits, sick leave, etc? Taxpayer money, that's who. The guy not working for the state pays his own way completely plus taxes for state workers. Doesn't seem fair, does it? As far as so many being afraid of the State of Jefferson, nothing works now, why not give it a try. The latest opinion wants to know specifics, facts, etc. If these people would come to the meetings, they'd learn a lot. As it is now, nothing is factual in the entire country. The latest fi - asco is about our vets not re- ceiving care. They go to war, come home and are not taken care of properly. If any one per- son is found guilty of any wrong- doing, they get promoted. You can't fire a liberal. That's thanks to this administration headed by an inexperienced puppet. We attended the last State of Jefferson event at the Elks Lodge in Red Bluff. Another letter made a nasty comment suggesting we erected our tent and were in a state of ecstacy of some kind. Each event gets larger, we may have to go to a tent dear lady. There was standing room only. At that same event, a woman accused our speakers of lying. She claimed our schools were in 11th place for schools, which isn't even close to what I've ever heard. When I moved from Cal - ifornia to Arizona 50 years ago, Arizona was a grade higher than California then. Hasn't gotten any better and if I had children, depending on whatever school they attended, I might home school them also. Some schools are better than others. I applaud those flying the State of Jefferson flag. I hope more will do so. I'd do it myself but I think we have a liberal liv - ing up the street. Can't take the chance, I love my dog. An article a week ago sug- gested we join Oregon. My neigh- bor said they'd welcome us. They need the population. We'd have no sales tax, lower prop- erty taxes, etc. I thought about it and after hearing the BLM man- ages 88% of the land in Oregon. Why would we do that? They're not our friends no matter where you live. When we moved to Red Bluff 14 years ago, it wasn't a bustling town then, but now it's horrible. No shopping. Remember when they had a nice nursery, a great shoe store, True Value Hard - ware, more than one furniture store, on and on. When a busi- ness quits, retires, closes down, a thrift store goes in. Our sales taxes are down because we go to Chico or Redding to shop. Obama claims the ACA is alive and well, cannot be re - pealed. Actually it's only just be- gun. I have two family members who have lost prescriptions be- cause of a shortage of some sort and some cannot be gotten at all. We had 11 million uninsured, now we have many more than that. And 38% of those who got insurance will get subsidies, I wonder who will help them with their deductible. Did they think of that when they drafted this ridiculous piece of junk? Proba - bly not. — Bernice Cressy, Cottonwood Your opinions this program has proven its worth many times over as evidenced by the hundreds of letters i have received from students. We've come to expect Red Bluff High school's baseball and softball teams to fill our sports pages with good news every year and this spring has been no exception. GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EditoRial BoaRd How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@red bluffdailynews.com Phone: 530-527- 2151ext. 112 Mail to: P.O. 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