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WEEKEND JULY 2-3, 2011 Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com Your pet and you See Inside USAWeekend RED BLUFF Giants in MoTown Sports 1B Sunny 101/67 Weather forecast 8B By ANDREA WAGNER DN Staff Writer Celebrating Independence Day with high-flying motocross tricks, Red Bluff celebration organizers promise a thrilling show at the Tehama District Fairground. “It’s the biggest show in the area and we’re really excited about it,” said Dave Gowan, Red Bluff- Tehama County Chamber of Com- merce CEO. The show was organized by the 4th of July Celebration Committee and the chamber, which was put together when the city could no longer afford to put together a show, said committee co-chair Vic- toria Campbell. This year, the event includes freestyle motocross professionals performing aerial tricks both before and after the fireworks show. 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 Fairground prepares for weekend fun “We’re bringing in freestyle motocross just for the ‘wow’ fac- tor,” Campbell said. The 100 percent community- funded event is meant to save the traditions of fireworks for families, she said. “The look on a child’s face when those explosions hit the air is priceless,” Campbell said. “We didn’t want to take that away.” The show is one of only 50 in the North State, she said. However, it is one of the first times that motocross has been a part of it. Organizers hope to see between 2,000 and 3,000 people at the event, Campbell said. Learning from last year, the committee decided not to make the event stretch all day to respect fam- ily time, Campbell said. The only daytime event is a See FUN, page 7A Daily News photo by Andrea Wagner Red Bluff-Tehama County Chamber of Commerce CEO Dave Gowan, and his daughter Glory, sell fireworks Friday in front of Food Maxx in Red Bluff. The stand’s proceeds go directly to fund the 4th of July fireworks show at the Tehama District Fairground. The final chapter Corning passes ban on pot dispensaries By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer CORNING — City council voted 3-1 Tuesday, with Councilman John Leach absent, to adopt the ordinance ban- ning medical marijuana dispensaries within city limits. Councilman Dave Linnet was the lone no vote. “It’s a little too restrictive for me,” Linnet said. “I was under the impression people could join a co-op (elsewhere) and have it shipped in.” Asked why he had not recommended an amendment to the ordinance prior to adoption, Linnet said he would like to wait a few months before looking at it again to see what other avenues there might be. The newly adopted ordinance reads that any collective or cooperative with four or more members would be a dispen- sary and prohibits dispensaries within Corning. Mayor Gary Strack said the issue of policing medical marijuana collectives was almost impossible and medical marijuana dispensaries should be banned until there was a better way to check and make sure there weren’t people join- ing multiple collectives. “There needs to be a check and balance and there needs to be clear guidelines,” Strack said. See BAN, page 7A Pets fear July 4th Daily News photo by Andrea Wagner After operating only three days a week with a rotating staff from the other branches, the Los Molinos library will close its doors August 15 due to budget cutbacks. Los Molinos library branch to be closed By ANDREA WAGNER DN Staff Writer LOS MOLINOS — After more than 20 years sharing books and infor- mation in the community, the Tehama County Library branch in Los Molinos will close by the end of August. “We just don’t have the funds to keep it open,” said county librarian Jes- sica Hudson. Instead, the county has decided to refurbish a discarded transit bus to cre- ate a bookmobile to service Los Moli- nos and many of the other smaller communities in the area. The closure was announced Tues- day during a presentation of the 2011- 12 preliminary budget to the Board of Supervisors. “Los Molinos is a really wonderful community and we didn’t want to stop serving them,” Hudson said. The new book bus, donated by the county public works department, should be ready within a month after the closure, she said. The closure was accepted as part of the preliminary budget approved Tues- day. Anticipating losing $21,583 in State Public Library Subvention funds, the library staff opted to cut service and supply expenses by closing the branch and contracting with the Department of Education to service school district See FINAL, page 7A By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer The Fourth of July can be a scary event for furry friends and the Tehama County Animal Care Center would like to help make sure your pet is not among the lost and found sit- uations they see yearly. “July 4th fireworks will absolutely frighten many dogs and if not secured in a safe spot they will do what they have to in order to get away from what they perceive as a scary and dangerous situation,” said Care Center Manager Mark Storrey. The Animal Care Center saw a 400 percent increase in its daily average of dogs coming in the day after the holiday in 2009. That number dropped in 2010, but was still higher than usual at a 300 percent increase in 2010. “I strongly encourage all pet owners to ensure their dogs are in a safe spot especially if the owner will be away,” Stor- rey said. “Even if an animal owner is at home I would encourage keeping a close eye on your pets during the fire- works celebrations.” This issue is one that rings just as true at other times of the year, especially for the New Year's fireworks celebration but in most cases the 4th fireworks last quite a bit longer, which is even more stressing for animals, Storrey said. Homelessness: Dog Island Park revitalization Editor’s note: This is the fifth story in a series on homelessness leading up to the July 5 Red Bluff City Council meeting on a pro- posed ordinance to rezone an area on Breckenridge Street that will allow for a permanent, year-round homeless shelter. By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer Brandon Grissom is a thinker. But more important- ly he is a doer. A full 18-hole disc golf course is now open at Samuel Ayer and Dog Island Park less than a year after Grissom came up with the idea for the course. His goal for the project 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 was twofold. He wanted to introduce the community to a sport he enjoys and he wanted to get the park cleaned up, allow- ing families to return to the park that had become a pop- ular place for the homeless. Grissom has seen changes since the opening of the golf course in January. People are returning to the park. There are families with children and people with dogs who walk through the park daily. “There’s a feeling of security at the park now,” he said. But all that will change if a proposed year-round homeless shelter is built on Breckenridge Street, which is just across the street from the park, Grissom said. He does not want to see the park return to the state it was in before he put in the course. Parks are supposed to be used by all the resi- dents, but when there are homeless loitering other people will get intimidated and they will stop coming, Grissom said. “The impacts of the homeless shelter will be detrimental to the park,” he said. The aesthetics of the park will be impacted as well. Shane Emde worked alongside Grissom in get- ting the disc golf course put in. He has worked hard to turn the park into a beautiful environment. He picked up and hauled out truckloads of trash from three homeless camps, he said. “All of that will come back if there is a homeless shelter,” Emde said. If the shelter is not open during the day, many of the homeless waiting for the shelter to open in the evening will hang out at the park because of its close proximity to the shelter. That will push out other people who want to use the park. Emde estimates an aver- age of 170 to 200 people use the course and visit the park daily. One of those daily users is Councilman Rob Schmid, an avid disc golf player. Schmid said he can’t see any benefit in having a shel- ter or shelter at that location because of its impacts on the neighborhood and the park. After 30 years of the park being fallow and serving as a refuge for criminals, Gris- som and Emde have finally come up with a solution that has returned the park to its intended use, Schmid said. “People are using the park every day. They’re down here because they love disc golf. They want to be here,” Schmid said. “But with the shelter over there? Everything that Brandon and Shane has created here will be spoiled.” Poor and the Homeless, the non-profit seeking to build the shelter, must have See PARK, page 7A