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TUESDAY OCTOBER 25, 2011 Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com Same name clubs See Inside American Profile RED BLUFF Playoff points Sports 1B Sunny 74/46 Weather forecast 8B By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer From kayaks and boats to bikes and trucks city officials are moving from water to land recreation in hopes of revving city coffers. Lake Red Bluff went from a year-round attraction to shorter annual appearances to disappear- ing for good in early September when the gates of the Red Bluff Diversion Dam were raised for the last time. Construction of the pumping plant to replace the diversion dam is moving along and so are officials in coming up with a plan to make up for the estimated loss of mil- lions in dollars to the local econo- 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 considers vehicle playground my. City officials are working to gain ownership of the federally- owned Red Bluff Recreation Area, an area of about 488 acres across the Sacramento River from the pumping plant. Should the city be successful in acquiring the land, it plans to turn the area into an off-highway vehi- cle park, City Manager Martin Nichols said. OHV parks are areas set aside for recreational motor vehicle use. Parks are typically designed with trails or an obstacle course. It would essentially be a playground for ATVs, 4x4 trucks or dirt bikes. The city has not decided which types of vehicles would be permit- "An OHV park, if anything, is what was going to happen there anyway." — City of Red Bluff Planning Director Scot Timboe ted or the parameters of the trails, with Nichols describing the project as being "an apple in someone's eye" at this point. Process Officials from the city, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Forest Ser- vice and U.S. Representative Wally Herger have begun a discus- sion of the city acquiring the land, but no decisions have been made, reclamation spokesman Pete Lucero said. "The ongoing discussion is pre- liminary, at the very beginning," he said. Officials plan to meet Wednes- day to further discuss the issue. The Red Bluff Recreation Area, which is a part of the Mendocino National Forest, is owned by the bureau and maintained by the ser- vice. Gaining ownership of federal Pickin' a winner land would require approval from the U.S. Congress. "Herger is working with due diligence to aid the city in making the acquisition," said Herger's deputy district director Dave Meurer. The intent is to transfer the land without cost to the city, he said. It would be offered as mitigation for the impact to the local economy See CITY, page 7A Discovered body ruled suspicious By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer A woman was discovered dead Monday afternoon at a residence in the 1200 block of Aloha Street a day after police responded to the home for a domestic inci- dent. "A male was arrested here yesterday," Red Bluff Police Sgt. Dan Flowerdew said. "Due to the fact that police were called to a domestic at the location on Sun- day evening, we're being cautious. Right now we have ruled this as a suspicious death." Initial scanner reports were that a man had found his 41-year-old mother dead. Flowerdew confirmed that a family member had found the woman's body. He said he was unsure of her age, but he estimated it to be between 20 and 50 years old. The cause of death was unknown as of Monday afternoon. Flowerdew said he hoped to have more information by Tuesday, however, it could take longer if an autopsy was deemed necessary. Red Bluff Police were sent to the residence about 8:55 p.m. Sunday and Carmelo Acevedo Gutierrez, 39, of Red Bluff was arrested, Flowerdew said. Gutierrez was booked into Tehama County Jail on the charges of corporal injury to a spouse of ex-spouse and false imprisonment, he said. Bail was set at $65,000. Children were present at the time the woman was discovered dead, however, he did not know the ages, how many or what there relation was to the woman, Flowerdew said. Red Bluff Police logs on the domestic incident show Daily News photo by Andrea Wagner Ryley Gallagher of Red Bluff was the last to perform in the junior category finals Saturday but won fourth place in his division at the 2011 Western Open Fiddle Championships. By ANDREA WAGNER DN Staff Writer Quilt-covered walls, faded paint on rough wood- en signs and foot-tapping fiddle music gave a warm feel to the 2011 Western Open Fiddle Champi- onships at the Tehama Dis- trict Fairground. Finalists practiced and picked late into the evening Saturday as the contest played to the end of the 29th annual three-day event. Contestants, from 3-year- old Annie Culbreath of Orland to 84-year-old Les Tucker from Woodburn, Ore., came from across the west to play in 14 categories. However, some said the event is not just about skill. "The music is great, but the people are even better," said longtime fiddler John Francis of Salt Lake City. Francis, 57, started play- ing fiddle when he was 8 years old, he said. He met his wife at a national fiddle competition. Together they operate a gourmet jam and marmalade business in Utah. They have watched many of the young competi- tors grow as musicians through the years. "The wonderful sense of camaraderie in this is unlike any I have ever witnessed," John Francis said. Francis plays about six competitions a year and has won at the Western Open and state competitions sev- eral times, but the Red Bluff event is one of his favorites, he said. The traditional music, unlike written styles, is passed down through gener- ations person to person and encourages each musician to craft a song with its own voice, Francis said. At first, musicians learn to play through rote memorization of notes, but as they grow, they learn to make it their own. The ever-changing quali- ty keeps the music new and exciting, Francis said. Guests to the competition enjoyed the warm family feel of the event as well. Chet Smith, 92, of Red Bluff has made it to all the Western Open Fiddle Championships since the event moved to the local fairground and attended many of the competitions when it was held in Red- ding. "I love it," he said. Smith brought his daugh- ter, Janette Soncrant, 72, and her friend Gail Byers, 65, both of Citrus Heights to lis- ten to the fiddlers on Satur- day. "I think it's good for the 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 soul," Smith said. Soncrant said she enjoys watching some of the younger people play and interact with each other and the family environment. The little kids with the lit- tle violins are fun to watch too, she said. For Byers, it was her first time at a fiddle competition. Although she likes all types of music, there is something special about fid- dling, Byers said. "I wish I could get my kids interested in it," she said. Many were interested in the younger generations involvement. Event emcee and state representative for the organi- zation behind the competi- tion, Tex Ash has been in the business for about 35 years, he said. In that time, the greatest thing has been watching children grow up through the competitions. As for the event itself, Red Bluff has been a perfect fit, Ash said. After 14 years of hosting the event in Red- ding, the competition's host District 6 chapter of the Cal- ifornia State Old Time Fid- dlers Association faced shutting down when their venue raised its rates. It was then that Red Bluff's fairground became the new home for the fiddler family, Ash said. Within two years, the Western Open became a community event. In addition to the compe- tition, the Sun Country Quil- ters of Red Bluff softened the event hall and improved acoustics by hanging quilts along the walls. Members of the guild were on hand sell- ing tickets for a chance to win an "Opportunity Quilt" to be announced Dec. 12. Guests could also enter to win a fiddle donated by Tom Dodson at The Brass Reed in Redding or enter a silent auction for an antique wood and upholstered chair. The chair, donated by Patricia Busey of Custom Uphol- stery in Red Bluff, had a pic- ture of a fiddle engraved in the headrest on the back of the chair. Others were taking dona- tions for the family of Matthew Farley. The 10- year-old Evergreen Elemen- tary School student of Cot- tonwood lost his battle with cancer Oct. 18. Donations, gathered by Farley's music teacher Abbie Ehorn, were to help the family with funeral and related costs. a woman reported she was choked and her hair was pulled. Medical was requested to the scene, however, the woman declined medical treatment. Neighbors told the Daily News Monday, they did not know much about the family as they had just moved in within the last month, but their section of Aloha is typ- ically the quieter section and has only had two or three major incidents in the last few years. ——— Julie Zeeb can be reached at 527-2153, extension 115 or jzeeb@redbluffdailynews.com. Schools brace for more budget cuts LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — Educators are bracing for a tough reality: As difficult as budget cuts have been on schools, more tough times are likely ahead. Even in a best-case scenario that assumes strong eco- nomic growth next year, it won't be until 2013 or later when districts see budget levels return to pre-recession levels, said Daniel Domenech, executive director of the American Asso- ciation of School Administrators in Arlington, Va. That means more cuts and layoffs are likely ahead. ''The worst part is that it's not over,'' Domenech said. Already, an estimated 294,000 jobs in the education sec- tor have been lost since 2008, including those in higher edu- cation. The cuts are felt from Keller, Texas, where the district moved to a pay-for-ride transportation system rather than cut busing altogether, to Georgia, where 20 days were shaved off the calendar for pre-kindergarten classes. In California, a sur- vey found that nearly half of all districts last year cut or reduced art, drama and music programs. 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