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THURSDAY OCTOBER 20, 2011 Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com See Page 3A RED BLUFF Antelope Creek Study Football Preview SPORTS 1B Sunny 82/52 Weather forecast 8B By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer The Red Bluff City Council Tuesday reaffirmed its earlier decision to implement layoffs for employees in the miscella- neous bargaining unit despite an updated budget report that predicts the city will end the 2011-2012 fiscal year with 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 City rejects union offer, votes for layoffs about $286,730. The $45,000 savings from the partial layoffs, as well as the 12 percent cuts from the other employee unions were calculat- ed into the figure, Finance Director Sandy Ryan said. "We would have over a $300,000 deficit if we had not gotten concessions from the employees," Ryan said. 'The city is being very heavy- handed with these 10 employees' — Art Frolli, OEL Union Members of the union saw the report as good news, but Fiddle about Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb Members of Loosely Strung play at the Oct. 11 Corning City Council meeting. Pictured are Rich Reynolds, Pat Scott and Tex Ash. By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer Music will be filling the Tehama District Fair- ground as contestants from all over come for the 29th annual Western Open Fiddle Contest set for this week- end. While the contest starts about 8:30 a.m. Friday, reg- istration starts at 4 p.m. today and the fun begins at 7 tonight with a concert. "Billy and the Hillbillies, featuring Evan Marshall, from Disneyland will be in concert Thursday," said Treasurer defends tax break for energy firms SACRAMENTO (AP) — The state treasurer on Wednesday called Califor- nia's tax break program for clean energy companies a ''wise and needed one'' despite the failure of its most high-profile recipient — the solar startup Solyn- dra. Treasurer Bill Lockyer told a panel of state law- makers that the program is intended to promote the growth of alternative ener- gy manufacturing plants in California and comple- ments the state's push for renewable energy. He said nearly 70 per- cent of all businesses do not make it past eight years, and that risk extends to clean energy companies such as Solyndra. ''We take some risks by having this policy in place, and we probably take a big- ger risk by never having the tax exclusion because the jobs and investments don't come to California,'' Lock- yer said Wednesday. ''That's a bigger risk and, one we need to be very con- cerned about.'' Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, and Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, called a joint Senate committee hearing to find out if regula- tions need to be changed after the state awarded $25 million in sales tax breaks to the failed Fremont solar startup. Padilla said while the program might need to be tweaked, he believed it should continue because it provides an incentive that could help businesses expand in the state. Sen. Bob Huff, R-Dia- mond Bar, said the program doesn't appear to run the state as much risk as other incentives that could be considered tax giveaways. ''Well, there's not a whole lot of risk,'' Huff said. ''If they don't invest, they're not paying anything anyway. And maybe we help them become more viable.'' Then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Padilla's bill, SB71, in March 2010, when the Republican governor was in the midst of an ambitious push to move California to the forefront in developing alternative energy. The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 Red Bluff Outdoor Power Tex Ash, co-chairman of the event. "We also have Ed Carnes who is the chairman of the Grandmasters com- petition in Nashville Tennessee. He's coming from Kentucky, which shows how much he thinks of the western fiddle competition." The competition was started in Redding by Maria Nadauld and Mary Lane after visiting a national com- petition in Weiser Idaho. The event moved to Red Bluff in 1996 and is supported by the California State Old-Time Fiddle Association. See FIDDLE, page 7A Mayor Pro Tem Forrest Flynn said even though it may look like it is a surplus, it is really not. The layoffs are still neces- sary, council members said. The council rejected a sec- ond settlement offer by the union for employees to give back $50 per each biweekly pay period in lieu of 10 employees See CITY, page 7A LM driver arrested in rollover crash By GREG WELTER MediaNews Group CHICO — A Los Molinos driver whose pickup crashed and rolled on the Skyway between Chico and Paradise Tuesday afternoon, injuring her and four pas- sengers, was arrested Tuesday night at Enloe Medical Center. The California Highway Patrol said Cyndil S. Sin- quefield, 20, was driving under the influence of pre- scription drugs. About 3 p.m. Sinquefield allowed her 1994 Chevro- let pickup to drift off the south edge of the roadway as she traveled east, toward Paradise. The vehicle hit a boulder and began to roll over, See CRASH, page 7A Views on Delta plan aired By HEATHER HACKING MediaNews Group CHICO — The North- ern Sacramento Valley Water Forum gathered some of the key players in the water debate Wednes- day, drawing a crowd of about 100 to Sierra Neva- da Brewery's Big Room. Speakers included Randy Fiorini, vice chair- man of the Delta Steward- ship Council, which is charged with coming up with a plan to increase state water reliability and improve the Sacramento- San Joaquin Delta ecosys- tem. Since the 1940s the delta has been the hub for the Central Valley Project and the State Water Pro- ject. Those projects were to move water "from areas of abundance to areas of need" without much con- sideration of the ecosys- tem in the delta, Fiorini said. The 1970s saw a change in focus, and pas- sage of the Clean Water Act, increased environ- mental protection and the Endangered Species Act. "It's no coincidence See DELTA, page 7A Defend Rural America event set YREKA – Siskiyou County Sheriff Jon Lopey will lead a powerful panel of county sheriffs during the Defend Rural America event Oct. 22 at the Siskiy- ou Golden Fairgrounds in Yreka. Lopey said many sheriffs are facing the same prob- lems of increased unem- ployment, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, child abuse, elder abuse and domestic violence. That trend must be reversed. "Regulatory over-site imposed on Siskiyou Coun- ty residents, including our greatest industry of agricul- ture, threatens our economy, way of life, social issues and traditions," Lopey said. "Other sheriffs in Northern California and Oregon are having similar issues and we have a like-minded approach." Admittance to Defend Rural America is free; and those who seek solutions to threats against America's national treasure of rural agricultural and open-space areas are encouraged to attend. Four groups are organizing Defend Rural America — Siskiyou Coun- ty Water Users Association, Scott Valley Protect Our Water, Yreka Tea Party and Redding Tea Party. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. in the commercial 'Regulatory over-site imposed on Siskiyou County residents, including our greatest industry of agriculture, threatens our economy, way of life, social issues and traditions' — Sheriff Jon Lopey building at the fairgrounds with the premier showing of Kirk MacKenzie's docu- mentary DVD on Siskiyou County and its people. Seat- ing is available for 1,000. The film will show how the Klamath River Water- shed is an integral part of Siskiyou's issues, because of the proposal by both fed- eral and state agencies to remove four well-main- tained hydro-electric dams from the Klamath River. A number of groups through- out the region are raising awareness of the potential destruction to fish, wildlife and humans, if the huge dams are demolished. More information can be found at www.defendruralamerica.c om. After the documentary debut, a panel of Constitu- tion Sheriffs will take the stage expressing their con- cerns. The audience will then be involved in a ques- tion and answer period. Sheriffs who are stand- ing with Lopey include, Tehama County Sheriff Dave Hencratt, Grant Coun- ty, Ore. Sheriff Glenn E. Palmer; Del Norte Sheriff Dean Wilson; Trinity Sher- iff Bruce Haney and Shasta Sheriff Tom Bosenko. Joining the sheriff panel will be noted property rights attorney Karen Budd-Falen from Wyoming. Budd- Falen represents private property owners, ranching and farming organizations, and assists local govern- ments in asserting their rights in federal agency decisions. She has exposed radical environmental groups' abuse of the legal system and written for Range magazine. Constitutional rights are the theme running through this event, which will open its gates at 3 p.m. Vendors are setting up tables to share information until the Honor Guard brings in the Ameri- can flag at 6:30 p.m. Dona- tions to pay for the venue will be appreciated. For more information, call Louise Gliatto at 530- 842-5443; Liz Bowen at 530-467-3515 or Erin Ryan at 530-515-7135. 8:30am-12:30pm Cost: $ 65 Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011 Job Training Center 718 Main St. Red Bluff Per person Call 529-7000 Learn Basic WORD!