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THURSDAY DECEMBER 29, 2011 Breaking news at: Wildlife Wonders Pastimes www.redbluffdailynews.com See Page 6A RED BLUFF Back in Black SPORTS 1B Mostly cloudy 63/46 Weather forecast 6B 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 AB 109 - Big picture Supercenter remains stalled By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer With another year coming to an end and still no Walmart Supercenter in Red Bluff, local officials are anxious to see the project move forward. The project that has been in the works for more than eight years was further delayed when an appellate court ruling made earlier this month required Walmart and the city to provide more information on the project's environmental impact report. During the most recent City Council meeting, Plan- ning Director Scot Timboe requested the council to authorize a contract amendment with consultant PMC for work on additional environmental information up to $10,000. "We're plugging away trying to get information that will allow us to move ahead and satisfy what the judge wants," Timboe said. See STALLED, page 5A Nation's largest welfare state makes deep cuts SACRAMENTO (AP) DN file photo By ANDREA WAGNER DN Staff Writer Note: The following is part three of a series of arti- cles giving a first look at the Tehama County realign- ment plan being written by the Community Corrections Partnership to carry out California Assembly Bill 109. Looking at the big picture of realignment, Commu- nity Corrections Partnership members include repre- sentatives from several public health and social service agencies who say they can help in reducing crime. During the most recent meeting, Dec. 8, of the Community Corrections Partnership, a group of county administrators and public safety representatives set to carry out Assembly Bill 109, the group looked for the first time on a rough draft of what will eventually be the county realignment plan. Community programs, including Alternatives to Violence, the Poor and the Homeless (PATH), eScholar Academy, the Job Training Center and New Covenant Community Development Corporation presented what each can do to help with some aspect of the realign- ment. With a program designed just for AB109, the New Covenant group, led by Brad and Susan Harms, pro- posed a transitional living program for those released Calif. pesticide use rises after years of decline FRESNO (AP) — Pes- ticide use in California rose in 2010 after declin- ing for four consecutive years, according to state data released Wednesday. The data released by the Department of Pesti- cide Regulation shows an increase of nearly 10 per- cent in pounds of pesti- cide used from 2009 to 2010. More than 173 mil- lion pounds were applied statewide, an increase of nearly 15 million pounds from the previous year. Most of the growth in use was in production agriculture, where appli- cations increased by 12 million pounds. The increase reflected a 15 percent jump in acres treated with pesticides — a total of 75 million acres were treated in 2010. Pesticide use fluctuates from year to year due to weather and economic factors, said department spokeswoman Lea Brooks. Last year's increase was mainly due to an abundant rainfall, better water availability for crop irrigation and the pricing of crops, Brooks said. An especially cool, wet winter and spring required more fungicide use to control mildew, she said. Low summer and fall tem- peratures resulted in late harvests and led to more insect damage to some crops and additional treat- ments. Water allocations for irrigation also played a role, said Les Wright, Fresno County's deputy agricultural commission- er. The county, which is the state's top agricultural county, ranked as the highest in pesticide use, followed by Kern, Tulare, San Joaquin and Madera counties. ''When we have water, we're able to plant more acreage, and more acreage equals more pes- ticide use,'' Wright said. Pesticide use depends on the type of crops plant- ed, he said, which in turn depends on projected crop prices. This year, farmers in the San Joaquin Valley planted more cotton, which increased the use of some pesticides, he said. In addition to cotton, crops that showed an increase in pounds of pes- 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 See USE, page 5A from prison. Their Transitional Living Program would offer housing and a base for community resources and edu- cation through an network of churches and service organizations. The program would be offered to the county at about $300 per person per month, or $12 per night, or about $24,000 a year per house, with a one-time set up fee of $2,250. Each house would provide for six participants. The group is able to do things at such a low cost because there are many volunteers that are involved in the non-profit ministerial group, Susan Harms said. "People want to do it virtually free because they want to make a difference," she said. The housing program would give newly-released offenders a place to incrementally get back into free- dom and society, Harms said. PATH offered a transitional housing program as well for a slightly higher price tag of about $25 per night. The program would use AB109 funds to expand exist- ing transitional housing programs but does not include the mentorship and ministerial programs that New Covenant offered. The transitional housing programs would be offered to those who are released from prison to county proba- See AB109, page 5A — Advocates of welfare reform in California often cite one, eye-popping statis- tic as they have pressed for cuts and changes to the pro- gram in recent years: The state has one-eighth of the nation's population but one- third of all welfare recipi- ents. Yet steps taken in recent years to cut costs and get more recipients back in the workforce have run head-on into the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression. Recipients have been left with fewer training programs, shrinking welfare checks and a shorter period during which they are eligi- ble to receive assistance at a time when employment prospects for even highly qualified job-seekers are dim. That has led to fear and uncertainty among welfare recipients, many of whom have spent a year or more in job-preparation programs without success. ''I've been trying to look for work, but everyone has been losing their jobs and work was hard to find,'' said David Balaba of Sacramen- to, who has been on welfare since being laid off in 2009 as a merchandiser for a bev- erage-packaging company. His wife lost her job working at a cafe in the Sacramento Zoo a month before his layoff, and their daughter was born shortly after. ''From there, it started to go downhill,'' said Balaba, 27. ''We couldn't find work, we lost everything. It was like a snowball effect.'' To help cut their child- care costs and living expens- es, his family moved in with his parents in south Sacra- mento, a few miles from the state Capitol. For almost two years, Balaba has been See CUTS, page 5A Pool receives major upgrades Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb The McGlynn pool has received a new roof, pic- tured here, among several other remodel projects completed using a $100,000 donation made by Karra Crowley, a 1979 graduate of Red Bluff Union High School, and her husband Chris in addition to $20,000 donated to keep the pool open through summer of 2011. Other projects included a water heater to allow lifeguards to warm up in the show- ers after early morning swim lessons, a designated first aid area and an additional 150-square-foot area to be used as manager's office and storage area. Skylights were added to the bathroom to allow extra light along with making the bathroom ADA compliant. Home Depot helped by donating paint and labor. The snackbar area received a roll up door to help deter break-ins and a ledge on the outside for food. CARE TO COMMENT? 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