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FRIDAY JUNE 24, 2011 Breaking news at: ‘True Blood’ Nelsan Ellis Select TV www.redbluffdailynews.com See Inside RED BLUFF Giants Twins SPORTS 1B Weather forecast 10A Sunny 94/62 By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer The former Shasta College site on Palm Avenue will be developed into a community for special needs students. 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 Former college to be special needs community About 10 percent to 11 percent of students countywide require special needs education. The Tehama County Department of Education has a responsibility to create and house programs that serve those students, Superinten- dent of Schools Larry Champion said. “We want to create a commu- nity around our special ed pro- grams,” Champion said. “Having a centralized location will allow those who are part of the program River Fest to form a better sense of commu- nity.” The department has already bought the buildings on Palm Avenue from Shasta College and will take over the facilities July 1. Shasta College has agreed to allow the department to pay for the $300,000 purchase over a 10- year period with monthly pay- ments of $30,000. The money will come from the See NEEDS, page 9A Man crushed when SUV slips off jacks By ANTHONY SIINO MediaNews Group MINERAL — A Tehama County man died under the weight of his SUV while camping at Battle Creek Camp- ground Friday. Casey Ellsworth, Sr., 36, of Los Molinos, suffocated after his Mercury Mountaineer fell off its jacks while he was See SUV, page 9A County to share director with Butte, for now By ANDREA WAGNER DN Staff Writer Daily News photo by Tang Lor Tim Beeman barefoot skiing at Villa Lagos in a preview for Saturday's wakebaord and water ski show at the River Park Festival. During this weekend’s River Park Festival, Tips Bar will host the Down- town Block Party. The outdoor party is free and staged behind the bar in the parking lot, from 4:30-7:30 p.m., Saturday. Live entertainment will feature the Rat Jerky Band, an area favorite, play- ing the greatest hits from decade to decade. Activities include a Beer Pong Tournament. The buy-in is $10. Sign- ups can be made at Tips from now until the start of the party at 4:30 p.m. Tips will be offering a tri-tip sand- wich dinner for $7. Net proceeds go to saving the McGlynn Pool. The block party, along with the State Theatre Open House, should cre- ate enough buzz to get people who haven’t been downtown in awhile a good reason to check it out, said Mick Kennedy, owner of Tips. “We love the festival’s efforts to try and get past residents and high school alumni to come back home,” Kennedy said. “We’re also big fans of the pool. The kids need it during our hot summers.” Festival co-Chairwoman Kris Behrens said when River Park Festival organizers began planning the big three-day event they knew early spon- Brown wants vote on tax extensions SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — With budget talks hitting a wall, California Gov. Jerry Brown said Thursday he was still deter- mined to give voters a chance to decide whether to extend tax increases to balance the state’s budget. Brown said at a meeting of apartment investors and builders that he remained in negotiations to get the four Republican votes he needs to call a special election. The election would let vot- ers weigh in on whether to extend increases in sales, vehicle and personal income taxes for up to five years. ‘‘I’m not giving up. I’m going to keep working till we get those tax exten- sions. And we will get them, one way or another,’’ Brown said. The governor last week vetoed a budget passed by Democratic lawmakers, saying the spending plan relied too much on borrow- ing and legal maneuvers. Republicans have resisted Brown’s call for a special election without promises of pension reform and a state spending cap, possi- bly as companion ballot initiatives. Brown has said since his gubernatorial campaign that he would seek a statewide vote on the increases, the last of which expire June 30. No special election could likely occur before September, which puts lawmakers in the polit- ically unpalatable position of asking voters to approve what amount to new tax increases, since the old increases would have expired. If GOP legislators won’t agree in the next few weeks to the special election and a ‘‘bridge tax’’ that will keep the increases in place until a statewide vote, Brown said the process of getting an initiative before voters would take the better part of a year. ‘‘But I’m going to tee this up so that all of you and the people of Califor- nia can weigh in,’’ Brown 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 See BROWN, page 9A sor support would be crucial. “They allow the ball to start rolling, it’s that simple,” Behrens said. “For us, the Gold Exchange and PJ Heli- copters made commit- ments early on. Without them, we’d still be stuck at the starting line.” Tips Bar was another sponsor who has actively engaged in the planning process of the event, holding a party in March as a pep rally for the festival. Admission to the Downtown Block Party is free. Tickets to other events can be bought inside Tips at the bar. The Butte County director of Child Support Services will temporarily oversee the Tehama Coun- ty division while the Board of Supervisors con- siders its options. In a vote Tuesday, supervisors approved appointing Sharon Stone as the interim Child Sup- port Services Director for Tehama County. The move filled the void left by outgoing director Dennis Reasoner. Stone has been the Butte County director since 2002 and will con- tinue her duties there while overseeing Tehama County. The state has specific requirements for the posi- tion, said County Admin- istrator Bill Goodwin. There wasn’t anyone locally who could meet the requirements and the county needed an immedi- ate replacement. After considering options with Shasta, Glenn and Butte counties, Stone was the best fit with Tehama County, Goodwin said. Stone will be the “tech- nical interface” between the county and state, Goodwin said. The day-to-day admin- istrative duties will contin- ue as they have been, he said. However, Stone will oversee the communica- tions with the state depart- ments from Butte County. The child support divi- sion is funded directly through the state and is separate from the county general fund, Goodwin said. The interim position See SHARE, page 9A Hundreds apply for school clothes By ANDREA WAGNER DN Staff Writer It’s application time for the 2011 Back to School Project in Red Bluff. With more than 213 children in 77 families signing up on Wednesday, project coordinators are expecting more than 400 children to apply. The project, started by Kimberly Berry in 2004, helps hundreds of school- age children buy shoes, clothes and backpacks before school starts in August. Last year, with the help of a social services grant and other funding, the pro- ject supplied nearly 600 children, Berry said. Each child is given $100 to spend with a vol- unteer shopper to pick out the items during a special shopping day, she said. Most funds come through private donations and fundraising within the community. This year, the only public fundraiser has been small backpacks that have been set up at area businesses to collect dona- tions. “We live in a fantastic community that just rallies around these causes,” Courtesy Photo Heidi and Harmony McGill participated in the 2010 Back to School Project in which children are given $100 each to shop for shoes, clothes and backpacks in August. Berry said. Children are chosen at random from a database of applicants and are contact- ed as funding becomes available. So far, there will be enough funding for about 100 children, Berry said. However, that could change as donations come in. Applicants must bring proof of income for the household to apply. The program is geared to help low income families. Because of the econo- my, there have been a lot See APPLY, page 9A