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MONDAY JUNE 20, 2011 Breaking news at: Olive Oil May Prevent Stroke Vitality www.redbluffdailynews.com See Page 6A RED BLUFF Rory Romps SPORTS 1B Sunny and hot 100/66 Weather forecast 6B By ANDREA WAGNER DN Staff Writer From classic cars to ferris wheels, crawdads to Cajun music, there were many opportunities to explore, compete and enjoy shows throughout the weekend at the second annual R Wild Horse Ranch Crawdad Festival at the Tehama District Fairground. Many came to try crawdads for the first time. John and Doretta Sur- tees of Gerber had never tried them before, they said. After sampling one, Doretta was pleased. “Lobster is way too strong, but this is good,” she said. Others needed more urging from friends. Niki Thompson, 21, of Red Bluff encouraged her friend Samantha Bene- field, 21, of Platina, to give crawdads a try Satur- day. After festival staff showed Benefield how to break the fish open and pull out the meat, she gave it a try. “I thought it was going to be disgusting,” she said. She wouldn’t have tried it without her friend there, she said. “It was pretty good,” Benefield said. “It wasn’t fishy or anything.” Nearby, classic cars were lining up for a show. Festival guests were given blue voting tickets to pick out their favorite rides. Cars spanning decades from 1910 to today were on display fully restored and many with custom details from paint to upholstery. Peter and Sherry Pierce of Wildwood, members of the R Wild Horse Ranch, organized the show. “Everybody loves this show because everybody helps each other,” Peter said. Entries doubled from the previous year’s show, he said. There were 56 Daily News photo by Andrea Wagner Crawdads en masse were prepared and eaten throughout the weekend at the R Wild Horse Ranch's second annual Crawdad Festival at the Tehama District Fairground. cars on display. Many people don’t care about the trophies, he said. There’s no pressure on everyone and they want to come. “It’s a great bunch of people,” he said. “We’re so glad to do this.” Profits from the festi- val help fund the ranch’s Highway 36 rescue unit, Pierce said. The car show winners received four trophies and were chosen by ticket votes and styles of vehi- cle. The winner for the top prize Best of Show, with the most votes, was a Online tax bill passed Legislature SACRAMENTO (AP) — California lawmakers have passed a bill to force out-of-state Internet retailers such as Ama- zon.com to collect taxes under two different legal theories, both of which have been criticized by online sellers. The online tax bill combines elements of other bills introduced this legislative session. Sup- porters expect it to bring in $200 million or more per year, $83 million from Amazon alone. The bill, ABX1-28, was approved last week as part of a Democratic package to meet Califor- nia’s budget deadline. Gov. Jerry Brown prompt- ly vetoed the main budget bills, but others, including the online tax bill, were passed but not sent to the governor. The intent is to capture some of the estimated $1.1 billion California is owed each year in ‘‘use tax’’ but never collects. The use tax is charged on purchases from out-of- state sellers for goods to be used in California. It is levied at the same 8.25 percent rate as the base state and local sales tax. California retailers must collect sales tax, but cus- tomers are expected to report and pay use tax directly to the state. Many don’t. Much of the uncollect- ed use taxes are for Inter- net sales by retailers with no physical store in Cali- fornia that could be used as a ‘‘nexus’’ for tax-col- lection purposes. Ama- zon, with billions in annu- al revenue, only collects taxes on sales to five states. California is not among them. The tax legislation adds several new ways to define a nexus for tax col- lection. One approach requires online sellers to collect tax if they have affiliates in California that refer shop- pers to their site. Similar 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 See BILL, page 5A 1969 Chevrolet Camaro entered by Glenn and Pam Rogne of Red Bluff. The car also won last year for Best of Custom. The Best of Custom trophy went to Ron Arter of Red Bluff for his 1951 Ford pickup. Last year’s Best of Show winner, Paul Chan- dler of Cottonwood, won the 2011 Best of Paint award for his 1927 Model T. The fourth winner was Dennis Saunders of Corn- ing with his 1957 Chevro- let Bel Air. He won the trophy for Best of Stock. The only motorcycle entry in the show was given a special gift certifi- cate donated especially for motorcycles. Felix Berbena’s 2003 Harley Davidson Softail Classic recently won Best of Show at a Rolling Hills Casino show, Berbena said. Berbena’s daughters, Mariah and Sophia, vol- unteered to hand out tro- phies to the car show win- ners at 4 p.m. Around dinner time, a crowd gathered in the Kierstiens stage area to watch or participate in a crawdad eating contest. Emcee at the contest See CAJUN, page 5A 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 Crawdads, Cajuns, cars Council to mull budget proposal By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer The Red Bluff City Council will consider adoption of an interim budget for the next fiscal year at its Tues- day meeting as it faces another year of deficit. The proposed 2011-2012 budget would close the projected $300,000 general fund deficit and leave the city with a $200,000 reserve. The Budget Committee is proposing a number of options to close the deficit with the largest savings of $69,300 coming from a reorganization of the Public Works and the Parks and Recreation departments. See BUDGET, page 5A Corning puts off Public Works search By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer CORNING — The City Council discussed Tuesday the options for filling the anticipated retirement of Assistant Public Works Director Carl Crain, decid- ing to postpone taking any action. Crain is expected to retire in January and because of his extensive knowledge and people skills, the staff report rec- ommended outside recruit- ment and a job-shadowing period. “It’s a rare combination of training and people skills that Carl has,” said Public Works Director John Brew- er. “Even as a maintenance worker, Carl was a leader.” City Manager Steve Kimbrough said Crain’s position as a senior member of management is a critical one to fill that requires a lot of knowledge. “We know Carl’s irre- placeable, but we need to start thinking about filling his position,” said Vice Mayor Toni Parkins. Councilwoman Darlene Dickison made the motion to approve the recruitment and succession plan, which would have advertised the job starting in July with a job offered in September. The motion died for lack of a second. The recruitment process is expected to start in Sep- tember, which means there won’t be time for Crain’s replacement to have three months of training by job shadowing Crain. • The council approved a request by Sunsweet Dry- ers, 23760 Loleta Ave., to connect to the city sewer main. The business already pays the city a sewer fee for its main office building. The new connection will service the women’s restrooms, which have had a septic sys- tem failure. The staff report shows the company was informed of and agreed to pay Capital Improvement Fees in the amount of $4,642. • The council approved establishing a monthly city award for Business of the Month and Employer of the Month with an award each month in both categories for a small business and a large business. The idea was proposed by Councilman Dave Lin- net after talking with a busi- nessman about the lack of recognition for smaller busi- nesses. The Corning City Coun- cil meets the second and fourth Tuesday of the month at City Hall, 794 Third St. Meeting minutes and agen- das are available at www.corning.org. Hi-tech high graduates 33 students The eScholar Academy celebrated its 2011 com- mencement program at Red Bluff’s State Theatre June 2. The stream of 33 candi- dates dressed in the tradi- tional blue cap and gown entered to the music of Pomp and Circumstance played by Renee McChristian, the school’s voice and piano teacher. Luanne Schnase sang “Who I Was Meant to Be” as her way of encouraging students to look to the future. In his introduction to the ceremony, Harold Vietti, executive director, reviewed Microsoft founder Bill Gates’ 10 lessons every graduate should know. Several students who already have jobs nodded their heads in agreement when he said, “If you think your teachers and parents were hard on you, wait until you get a boss.” Parents, grandparents and many members of the audience indicated their approval when he men- tioned the number one les- son, “Life is not fair.” The introduction was followed by candidate Caleb Townley’s com- Courtesy Photo Pictured, from left, are Stephen Hood, Chad Coates and Trey Nichols. They were among the 33 graduates of eScholar Academy, June 2. ments about the school and his appreciation. As each candidate crossed the stage, each student read a personal testimonial. In addition to the regu- lar course work at eSchol- ar Academy, Stephen Hood and Trey Nichols were math tutors during the day. “What is amazing about Trey is that he grad- uated from high school with 20 Shasta College units,” said teacher Shan- non Barrow. “That is per- severance.” Chad Coates took col- lege courses on-line. “Once students suc- cessfully pass the Califor- nia High School Exit Exams in English and math, the school pays for two courses per semester at Shasta College, which shows them they can go to college,” Vietti said. Alexis Reeves is a graduate who lives in Rancho Tehama. This year eScholar Academy provided online courses supervised by Barrow at its site in Rancho Tehama. “With the increased cost of travel and the need to help these students move forward in their education, the board authorized this expan- sion,” Vietti said. See HIGH, page 5A