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WEDNESDAY JULY 13, 2011 Breaking news at: Not Forgotten Donation Community www.redbluffdailynews.com See Page 2A RED BLUFF Tritons Invite SPORTS 1B Partly cloudy 81/58 Weather forecast 6B By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer The pretrial conference in a case against two men accused of cultivation and possession of 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 Cash for grass ruling key to pot grow case marijuana for sale continued Tuesday with a hearing over a motion that had been filed by the defense regarding jury instructions. The jury instructions filed by the defense request the judge give specific instructions regarding how the jury should apply the law when it comes to the legality of money exchang- ing hands in the case against local events promoter Joseph Dailey Froome and his son-in- law Daniel Miguel Ludwig. They face charges of culti- vating marijuana and posses- sion of marijuana for sale. Mayor of Bend Daily News photo by Andrea Wagner Helen F. Coates, the “unofficial mayor of the Bend” who died in October 2010, was remem- bered by friends and family who pushed to rename the Bend river access after her. Access to honor noted resident By ANDREA WAGNER DN Staff Writer To hear people in the Bend area tell it, Helen Flournoy Coates was a firecracker. She talked. You listened. Buzzing about the Bend area in her red Toyota pickup right through her 90th birthday, Coates was known for “smoking like a freight train,” being addicted to ice cream and barely stopping long enough to eat. Her contributions to the commu- nity and her personality warmed the hearts of those who knew her. In a flood of letters telling the story of the unofficial “mayor of the Bend,” Coates was remembered by neighbors, friends and family after she passed away in her sleep Oct. 23, 2010. The flow of letters, accompanied by a petition with some 130 signa- tures requesting to name the Bend river access after Coates, made its way to the Tehama County Board of Supervisors in April. Supervisors approved the request April 26. Barely more than 5 feet, with a booming voice, Coates used to herd cattle to Chico and back and hold her own with the men in the busi- ness. She grew up in Corning, a member of the Flournoy family, and moved to the Bend area in 1943. Coates’ 54 years in the Bend carved a mark in the area’s history. Her brothers-in-law, Clay and Clarence Coates, provided the ini- tial public access to the Sacramento River in the Bend by “draying” the boat launch site with a team of horses. Coates’ husband Al often rode his horse from the Bend to Jelly’s Ferry Landing to operate the ferry. Remembering her mother’s charisma, Coates’ daughter Lynn Bellon talked about all sorts of “projects” that she had, such as yard work, giving nature lessons to chil- dren, running to the store or making applesauce for people. Once, a man from Maine had come to the Bend to go fly fishing, Bellon said. He came back white and shaken after getting a hook stuck in his arm. Coates went to work with a pair of pliers. She sat on the man with a ciga- rette hanging out of her mouth until she got that hook out right there on the spot, Bellon said. Another time, Bellon recalled being on a trip with her mother sticking out of the sun roof of their car with her knees on the two front seats, she said. When the cops pulled them over, Coates convinced them not to give her a ticket. “By the time they were through talking with her, they just wanted to get away,” Bellon said. It seems Coates had a knack for persuasion. Bend River Store co-owner Pam Kenderes had daily chats with Coates and misses her greatly, she said. See BEND, page 5A Froome faces an additional charge of eight counts of money laundering. The facts of the case are not See POT, page 5A Defense demands more evidence in cyclist death case By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer The preliminary hearing for a reportedly drunken driver accused of killing a woman in a hit-and-run has been delayed as his attorney seeks more information. Defense attorney Eric Berg filed a motion for dis- covery for three items he said the defense is entitled to in building a case to exonerate his client Victor Hugo Rodriguez. Tehama County Superior Court Judge Todd Bottke Tuesday granted the discovery motion provided to the extent that the information does exist and is available. Berg is requesting the Tehama County District Attorney’s Office hand over an autopsy report for the victim, Wanda Pridemore, a video of Rodriguez fol- See CYCLIST, page 5A Cops seek Corning man after pursuit By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer CORNING — Police are looking for a 46-year- old Corning man who led law enforcement on a chase late Monday evening in Corning after he reportedly tried to force his way into his ex- wife’s residence. Corning Police were sent at 11:26 p.m. to the residence, however, Eric Glenn Stevens had left the area in a Ford pick-up prior to their arrival, a Corning Police release said. Stevens, who had a felony warrant out of Tehama County, was spot- ted in the area of Houghton and Elizabeth avenues where officers tried to make a traffic stop. Stevens fled the area in his pickup by driving through a nearby dirt field at a high rate of speed. As he was going over a large embankment just before Toomes Avenue his vehicle hit a fence, belonging to Anthony Scribner, just south of Blossom Avenue, the release said. The loss was $400. Following the crash, Stevens fled the area on foot in an unknown direc- tion of travel. An unsuccessful search was made of the area by Corning Police with assistance from Tehama County Sheriff’s Department. A search of the pickup turned up a small amount of methamphetamine, para- phernalia and 32 hypo- dermic syringes, the release said. Charges are pending against Stevens for felony evading, hit and run, dri- ving without license, pos- session of a controlled substance and resisting or delaying an officer. ——— Julie Zeeb can be reached at 527-2153, extension 115 or jzeeb@redbluffdailynews .com. Man stands tr Work begins today on gas mainial in kidnapping of By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer Siskiyou girl YREKA (AP) — A man is on trial for allegedly abducting, sex- ually abusing and trying to kill a 3-year-old Yreka girl. The Siskiyou Daily News reports that jury selection began Monday in the trial of 23-year-old Kody Kaplon. He’s charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, child endangerment and multiple counts related to sexual assault. Prosecutors say Kaplon attended a house party thrown by the vic- tim’s parents in March 2009. He allegedly fled with the child during the night. Authorities issued an Amber Alert, and three miners found the girl later in the day under bush near Kaplon’s car. She told investigators her abductor took most of her clothes, choked her and buried her. She then dug herself out. Kaplon’s attorney had sought to move the trial to another county because of pretrial pub- licity, but the judge denied the motion. 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 Red Bluff Outdoor Power An estimated three- month project by Pacific Gas and Electricity Co. to upgrade a gas main on Jack- son Street will start today. The gas line is being replaced with new pipes that will allow for greater capacity because of future growth on the north side of Red Bluff, PG&E spokesman Paul Moreno said. Work will continue through mid-October to install 1,100 feet of six-inch plastic gas main, 954 feet of 2-inch plastic gas line and 384 feet of 1.25-inch plastic gas line. A bulk of the work, which will include digging up the road, will be done on Jackson Street between Hickory and Crittenden streets. In some cases there will be digging in sidewalks for the smaller gas lines. Work will be done on Cedar and Union streets extending one block east and one block west of Jackson. Due to the width of the streets, PG&E expects to maintain two-way traffic flowing during the majority of the project. Minor flag- ging and delays may occur at the intersection of Jack- son and Cedar streets and a few other locations. Work hours will be 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, with the possibility of some work occurring on Fridays and weekends. PG&E has left door hangers at residences along the route about the upcom- ing work. About 40 customers will be impacted by a brief inter- ruption to their gas service, and PG&E will notify those customers directly in advance, Moreno said. The upgrade is necessary to increase the size of the gas line for better intercon- nection throughout the net- work. The new line will increase the capacity and allow the line to service more customers. “We do need to upgrade our infrastructure from time to time and maintain relia- bility,” Moreno said. Often PG&E works with cities and developers to determine areas of growth and make the changes nec- essary to reflect the growth, he said. “We do need to build infrastructure ahead of time before any customers come on the line,” Moreno said. City Manager Martin Nichols said there is no spe- cific pending development, but having PG&E install a new line in that area is appropriate, as the city would most likely expand to the west per its sphere of influence or growth bound- ary. ——— Tang Lor can be reached at 527-2153, Ext. 110 or by e-mail at tlor@redbluffdailynews.co m. PHYSICIAN REFERRAL A FREE SERVICE PROVIDED FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE 1-800-990-9971 CHW North State Region