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Around650attend Tehama County Special Olympics Track and Field Meet ByRichGreene rgreene@redbluffdailynews.com @richgreenenews on Twitter RED BLUFF TheannualTehama County Special Olympics Track and Field Meet tested the notion Tuesday that there can only be one winner. Judging by the smiles adorn- ing the faces of the 650 people in attendance, certainly every- one felt like they were a winner in some respect. Close to 400 athletes com- peted from 23 different schools from Tehama, Butte, Shasta and Glenn counties. They were cheered on by hun- dreds of coaches, teachers, volun- teers and peer-athletes from Red Bluff Union High School. "It's just so fulfilling to work with these athletes and to watch the high school athletes be peers and be exposed to the disabilities and see the advantages they have by participating with these ath- letes," Special Olympics Area Di- rector Debbie Hess said. The Olympics began with an opening ceremony as athletes paraded around underneath a giant American flag hoisted by a fire engine and led by Grand Mar- shalls Mike and Mikel Marsh, who host the annual Tip-A-Cop fundraiser at M&M Ranch House to raise money for the decades- old event. The Red Bluff High School girls choir sang the national an- them. The event, which adaptive physical education teacher Jody Johnson helped found, has contin- ued to grow through the years. Hess said it takes six weeks of solid planning to pull it off these days. "We couldn't do it without the community support," Hess said. "The event has gotten so large." The Department of Education has also become a major sup- porter, in taking care of a myriad of paperwork that must be pro- cessed as each child must pass a medical clearance. The athletes spend weeks practicing for their events at their home schools. "These kids wait all year long for this even," Hess said. "It's a very, very big deal for them." Lunch for all the athletes was provided by the Red Bluff Rotary Club. As for the events themselves athletes competed in just about every track and field event their high school counterparts take part in with the addition of some special events such as the softball and frisbee throws. Inside the track there were more activities for the athletes, such as basketball hoops and las- sos and booths from local public safety agencies and service clubs. "Anyone involved with Special Olympics can tell you they are probably the most happy, loving, appreciative group you can work with," Hess said. SPECIAL OLYMPICS Sm il es e ve ry wh er e RICHGREENE—REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS Athletes enjoy some basketball in between events at Tuesday's Tehama County Special Olympics Track and Field Meet. Staff reports Corning Exchange Club Pres- ident Dean Cofer, acting as Mas- ter of Ceremonies, with the able assistance of Supervisor Bob Wil- liams and Exchange Board Mem- ber Bucky Bowen, conducted an event Monday honoring five dis- tinguished battle proven Army vet- erans. The ceremonies were con- ducted at the Corning Senior Cen- ter courtesy of Manager Lin Lima. Recognition certificates and res- olutions were presented to each of the veterans from the Corning Ex- change Club; Williams, who also presented a resolution from Rep. Doug LaMalfa; State Sen. Jim Nielsen presented by District Rep- resentative Jerry Crow; the city of Corning; the Senior Center; and the California Federation of Wom- en's Clubs. Thad Blanchard, Sr., was rec- ognized and honored for his HONORED Veterans recognized at Corning ceremony By Andre Byik abyik@redbluffdailynews.com @andrebyik on Twitter RED BLUFF The Red Bluff City Council adopted a 2014-15 bud- get Tuesday that for the second straight year will see the city spending more than it takes in. The budget committee in its budget sent to council members, who adopted the budget by a 3-2 vote, estimates a general fund bal- ance of about $516,000 by the end of the next fiscal year. The commit- tee estimates a general fund bal- ance of about $648,000 at the end of the city's fiscal year that ends in June, down from $739,000 in 2012-13. Sandy Ryan, the city's finance director, said Red Bluff's general fund balance was doing well from 2003 to 2008, at which point the economy tumbled. She added that the goal was to have a general fund balance of no less than $500,000 at the end of the 2014-15 fiscal year. The approximately $131,000 decrease in the general fund bal- ance from 2013-14 is attributed to agreements made with the city's union employees, according to the adopted budget. A 4.5 percent in- crease in wages for police, fire and miscellaneous personnel is sched- uled to go into effect in the upcom- ing fiscal year at a cost of about $134,000 from the city's general fund. The budget committee esti- mates savings from cuts in a few areas, including public safety spending and decreased funding to the Red Bluff-Tehama County Chamber of Commerce and the Te- hama Economic Development Cor- poration. Other savings also would come from a revised agreement be- tween the city and Tehama County for utilizing the Tehama County Animal Care Center. The budget cuts 2.5 percent in police and fire department spend- ing, amounting to about $154,000 in savings, according to the bud- get. The city will allocate about $35,000 toward the Chamber of Commerce — down from $70,000 last year — and estimates about $20,000 in savings from a revised contract to use the Tehama County Animal Care Center that would base billing on a per-capita cal- culation rather than a per animal rate. That contract was approved by both the Red Bluff City Council and the Tehama County board of supervisors on Tuesday. Council member Wayne Brown said the budget committee, of which he sits on, had to make "tough and unpopular decision" regarding budget cuts. He said asking the police and fire departments to cut their bud- gets weren't popular, "but they did it." The cuts, he said, were not RED BLUFF Counciladopts2014-15budget City will spend more than it takes in for 2nd straight year Community.....A3 Business .........A4 Lifestyles........A5 Opinion............A6 Comics ............B3 Food.................B4 Index............... ## INDEX An open house is scheduled 3-6p.m. Thursday at 1754 Walnut St. to mark 100years of UC Ag & Resources. PAGEA5 OPEN HOUSE CooperativeExtension to celebrate centennial Five Tehama County high school football players were named to the Lions All-Star teams. PAGE B1 SPORTS Five Tehama players named to All-Star team Thousands given lesser punishments in 3,400cases reported to the Holy See since 2004. PAGE B8 VATICAN More than 800 priests have been defrocked America the beautiful is transforming into America the dangerous as a result of climate change. PAGE A8 GLOBAL WARMING Federal climate report shows damage to US Staff reports The Red Bluff Joint Union High School District Board of Trustees announced Tuesday that it had se- lected three candidates to inter- view for the superintendent va- cancy. The candidates selected for in- terviews are Glenn Gelbrich, Ju- neau, Alaska; Todd Brose, Corn- ing; and Willard McCabe, Hollis- ter. Interviews are scheduled to be conducted the week of May 12. Nu- merous stakeholder groups will have the opportunity to meet the final candidates and submit input to the board about each of them. The board intends to make its se- lection by May 21. The district retained the ser- RED BLUFF HIGH Top school job search narrows to three VETERANS PAGE 7 SEARCH PAGE 7 BUDGET PAGE 7 » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, May 7, 2014 50CENTS AN EDITION OF THE CHICO ENTERPRISE-RECORD 7 58551 69001 9 Volume129,issue119 Today's web bonus Eiffel Tower turns 125. redbluffdaily.com SOFTBALL Spartans battle Shasta Sports B1 4-H Event draws youngsters with fur and feathers Lifestyles A5 FORECAST High: 79 Low: 50 B8 Grow?Ranchorride? Readaboutlocalandnational Ag, rural, ranch and rodeo news and commentary. VISIT REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM/ RODEO DOYOU RODEO?