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FRIDAY AUGUST 12, 2011 Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com Gloria Steinem in her Own Words See Inside Select TV RED BLUFF Nevada vs Red Bluff ESPN2 Today 2 p.m. Weather forecast 10A Sunny 97/64 Man flees, tosses gun By ANDREA WAGNER DN Staff Writer Police officers pursued a 28- year-old Red Bluff man Wednesday after a dis- turbance call on Wiltsey Road about a man with a gun. Police got an anony- mous call about a man with a gun trying to get into the back window of DAILYNEWS Pot grow bust 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 register robbers caught By ANDREA WAGNER Farias an apartment at about 9 p.m., logs said. As officers arrived, two vehicles, a 1998 Saturn and a white 1998 Ford Mustang, were seen fleeing from the scene, said Red Bluff Police Sgt. Michael Graham. The officers followed the vehicles, See GUN, page 9A Former RB man wraps up career at college By LARRY MITCHELL MediaNews Group BUTTE VALLEY — After a career of nearly 25 years, Mike Miller, Butte College’s director of f acilities, planning and manage- ment, is retiring. “It’s been fun — it’s been a priv- ilege,” he said in a phone interview Miller See COLLEGE, page 9A Courtesy Photo Hundreds of marijuana plants were recovered Wednesday from an illegal growing operation on Paskenta Road. By ANDREA WAGNER DN Staff Writer Drug task force agents arrest- ed eight people and recovered 736 marijuana plants in a com- mercial pot grow operation dis- guised as a medical marijuana grow on Paskenta Road Wednesday. The suspects, from Texas, Cottonwood and Red Bluff, were arrested on a property with several 50-foot long greenhous- es and a fenced back yard full of marijuana plants, said Special Agent Supervisor Eric Maher. Several medical marijuana recommendations were posted throughout the growing area implying that it was a medicinal crop, but investigators deter- mined that it was a commercial growing operation, Maher said. Agents found two suspects sleeping in the growing area armed with a pistol and a shot- gun, Maher said. Two bullet- proof vests and six firearms were seized. Brown to seek changes to fire fee SACRAMENTO (AP) — Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration plans to seek changes to fix prob- lems with a contentious wildfire fee on rural resi- dents because it could end up draining money from the state’s firefight- ing budget, a spokesman said Thursday. The move by Brown came about a month after the fee was approved as part of the new state bud- get. It had been intended to provide money for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protec- tion to battle wildfires and to replace money the state took from the department to help bal- ance its budget. However, The Associ- ated Press reported Wednesday that money from the $150 annual fee must go to local fire-pre- vention programs. Using the money for prevention rather than bolstering the department budget could leave it with a $50 million budget hole next year and a gap of up to $200 million in future years. H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the gover- nor’s Department of Finance, said Brown will seek to amend the law when the Legislature returns from its summer recess next week. Republican lawmakers and local fire officials said the law was poorly written and should be changed or repealed. They said it unfairly taxes rural residents twice for fire protection because many of them already support local dis- tricts. John Vigna, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker John Perez, D- Los Angeles, said law- makers are consulting with the administration and hope to fix the prob- lems when they return to the state Capitol for the final four weeks of their legislative session. ‘‘We knew there that would be some cleanup required,’’ Vigna said. ‘‘We felt at the time that it was more important to 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 See FEE, page 9A A stolen car that had been stripped for parts was found on the property in the 11400 block of Paskenta Road, he said. Agents executed a search warrant on the property with a collaboration between Tehama Interagency Drug Enforcement task force and the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement’s North State Marijuana Investigation Team, Glenn Interagency Nar- cotics Task Force, District Attorney investigators, sheriff’s detectives, the California High- way Patrol, Homeland Security and the county probation department. There was a shop, green- houses and a double wide mobile home on the property as well as six unlicensed pit bulls, Maher said. Animal regulation officers from the sheriff’s department took one of the dogs to the county shelter, sheriff’s logs said. The other pets were returned to residents on the property who were not arrested, Maher said. Of those arrested, four men and one woman were charged with cultivation and possession of marijuana for sale. Those were Eduardo Ramos Galvez, 30, and Noune Phasavath, 40, both of Red Bluff, and Somethonit Phoumychack, 23, Noukay Sengxay, 46, and Thon Phoumychack, 55, all of Cot- tonwood. Bail was set at $55,000 each. Lamyai Sengxay, 46, of Cot- tonwood was arrested on charges of cultivation and pos- session of marijuana for sale as well as charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. She is being held in lieu of $95,000 bail. Michael Ketsana Phimma- sone, 38, of Irving, Texas, and John Chanthavong, 36, of Fort Worth, Texas, were arrested on charges of cultivation of mari- juana. Bail was set at $25,000 See POT, page 9A DN Staff Writer Two men armed with large knives who report- edly stole a cash register and other items from a Valero gas station on Sutter Street Wednesday were caught. A store clerk pushed the panic alarm at about 11:30 p.m. and moments later called 911 report- ing the store was being robbed, police logs said. Two sus- pects, later identified as Anthony Sunny Arviso, 24, and Billy Walker German Jr., 19, both of Red Bluff, reportedly fled the store on foot carrying the cash register, some cigarettes and other items, said Red Bluff Police Sgt. Michael Graham. Just as officers were respond- ing to the call a witness reported seeing the two suspects running from the area toward Interstate 5, a press release said. Arviso was found within a few minutes hiding in a culvert pipe underneath Interstate 5, police logs said. A unit from both California Highway Patrol and Tehama County Sheriff’s Department See CASH, page 9A Olive Festival to get early start By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer CORNING — The Olive Festival is around the corner and things are kicking off for the week- long event, held Aug. 22- 27, a bit earlier this year. The Miss Corning competition, normally held days before the event, will be moving up a week, said Corning Chamber of Commerce manager Valanne Carde- nas. The competition, which has four girls run- ning, will start at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Veterans Memorial Hall, 1620 Solano St. “I’m really excited about this year’s event,” Cardenas said. “We have the trackless train for the first time and it will be at the parade and the festival to take passengers from the Assembly of God parking lot on Solano to the park.” The addition is expect- ed to help free up parking closer to the event for those who cannot walk the longer distances, she said. The newest addition will be the Farmers Mar- ket, 6-8:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 19, in the area of Third and Yolo streets. The Missing Olive contest will get under way, with the winner receiving $150, Aug. 22 with clues available on www.corningchamber.blo gspot.com, posted on the chamber’s door, 1110 Solano St., or at the Corn- ing Observer office. Last year it took three days for the winner to find the missing olive, Carde- nas said. The City Water Festi- val will be 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 24, at Northside Park, Colusa and Sixth streets. The break-room at Bell-Carter Olive will be the site of the Olive Festi- val Mixer 6-8 p.m. Thurs- day, Aug. 25. Friday, Aug. 26, will be the Olive Festival Parade, which starts at 6 p.m. on Solano Street and DN file photo The 2010 Corning Rotary Olive Drop. The market, previously run by New Life Assem- bly, was offered to the chamber as a fundraising event and opened in June. The market was sched- uled to end in August and is starting to pick up nice- ly, Cardenas said. It has been suggested to run it for a few weeks longer than planned, but nothing has been decided. Lucero Olive Oil & Shasta Cascade Slow Foods Presents Sat. Aug. 13 • 6:30-9:30pm See OLIVE, page 9A TEHAMA COUNTY GLASS MOULE’S You are invited to enjoy a Movie at the Mill Featured Movie: Truck Farm 2120 Loleta Ave Corning CA, 96021 530-824-2190 Featuring Local Products: Bianchi Orchards Feather River Brewery Julia’s Fruit Stand Tehama Oaks Winery Tin Roof Bakery McKenzie Ranch REMOVE ALL • Well water build-up • Water stains • Soap scum with NOTHIN’S BETTER stain remover only at Moule’s 515 Sycamore St. 529-0260 Arviso German