Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/54225
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2012 Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com Chamber update See 4A Commerce RED BLUFF Lady Spartans Sports 1B Partly cloudy 61/36 Weather forecast 8B By ANDREA WAGNER DN Staff Writer Citing budget woes and decreased community contri- butions, the Tehama County Supervisors Tuesday nixed plans for a 2012 exhibit at the State Fair in Sacramento. Although county officials sent a flyer through the local chambers of commerce and the farm bureau soliciting dona- 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 County to pass on State Fair exhibit tions, the business community didn't "catch the fire," said Chief Administrator Bill Goodwin to the board. The county asked for $4,000 by Jan. 15, but only received $1,375 in donations, according to the exhibit committee's report. This is down from the $1,990 contributed the previ- ous year. The Fair Booth Trust has been exhausted and cash con- tributions have declined 55 percent in the last four years, the report stated. There is a $750 balance car- ried over in the exhibit fund from a Tehama District Fair contribution last year, accord- ing to records. Traditionally, the county has hired a contractor from out of the area to create and build the county exhibits that are gener- ally up to 16 feet wide and "It helps people know we exist." — Supervisor George Russell showcase highlights of Tehama County. The 2011 exhibit, themed "Wine, Women and Song," fea- tured the Western Open Fiddle Championships, wines from the areas near Mount Lassen, Wednesday night PALs hiking and horseback riding trails, and the nuts, olives and grapes industries. Mark Gaffney of Gaffney Display in Pope Valley designed and created the See FAIR, page 7A Aanestad forms 'exploratory committee' By LARRY MITCHELL MediaNews Group GRASS VALLEY — Sam Aanestad has formed what he calls "an exploratory committee" as he weighs the wisdom of running for Congress. Having such a commit- tee would allow him to raise money for things like surveying voters or travel- ing around the district, he said in a phone interview Tuesday. The former assembly- man and state senator had said he expected to make a decision on running for Congress early this week. But on Tuesday he said he needed to give it more thought. Aanestad Aanestad considered himself retired when he sold his surgery center and oral-surgery practice in Decem- ber. See FORMS, page 7A Corning council to mull Daily News photo by Tang Lor Christian Zimmerman, Dylan Johnson, Caleb Brigs and mentor John Minton watch a flare burn during a demonstration by CHP Officer Phil Mackintosh. By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer A partnership between the Tehama County Mentoring Program and the Police Activities League is offering a new program for students. The Mentoring Program and the Police Activities League have been working together, but a grant recently obtained by the PAL through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention allowed for some extra funding to form a Wednesday evening session for mentees, Mentoring Pro- gram Coordinator Melissa Mendonca said. The new program, held at the PAL site on Vista Way, is casual with each participant choosing what he or she wants to accomplish during the hour- long session. Some students chose to do home- work while other split the time between homework and learning other skills, such as chess or crochet. During the most recent session mentees were surprised with a visit from California Highway Patrol Offi- cer Phil Mackintosh. Mendonca said she arranged for the visit, as it is important for children to form a positive relationship with law enforcement. "Kids can see law enforcement as role models who can lead them to hav- ing positive lives," Mendonca said. "Too often kids only see police under negative circumstances." Mackintosh showed the mentees his patrol car and some of the items he car- ries with him. He taught them about the dangers of guns and bullets and gave them advice about being good. Mentee Dylan Johnson said meet- ing a real police officer and learning new things from him was really cool. Dylan, who is a member of the Tehama County Young Marines, wants to be a football player or join the Marines Corps when he is older. "Being in the Marines is kind of close to being a police, so I was inter- ested in seeing what he had to show us," Dylan said. Mentee Christian Zimmerman said he enjoyed the visit and the Wednesday program. See PALS, page 7A 4-H Club invites public to Fun Night By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer Tehama County 4-H members are gearing up for the 4-H Fun Night, an annu- al fundraiser for local clubs, being held 4-8:30 p.m. Sat- urday in the cafeteria/audito- rium building at the Tehama District Fairground. "This year we have start- ed doing yearly themes and we have some live entertain- ment to go with this year's theme, which is How the West Was Fun," said Tehama County 4-H Pro- gram Secretary Spring Sev- erson. More additions include everyone having the chance to vote for their favorite tick- et booth and a root beer float bar to go along with the gui- See 4-H, page 7A Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb Red Bluff Outdoor Power 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 Quentin Azevedo hands a flyer to Tim Magill at the Jan. 24 Corning City Council Meeting for the 4-H Fun Night Fundraiser. PHYSICIAN REFERRAL A FREE SERVICE PROVIDED FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE 1-800-990-9971 Kimbrough replacement By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer The Corning City Council is holding a special meet- ing at 11 a.m. today to move forward on making a deci- sion in regards to filling the position of city manager being vacated by Steve Kimbrough due to a new CalPERS rule. One option set to be discussed is combining the jobs of city manager and public works director. The latter of which is currently held by John Brewer. "What we're meeting to do is discuss the possibili- ties," said Mayor Gary Strack. "There are multiple options. One of the ways we could go is to take the pub- lic works director and city manager and combine them. If in discussion what we came up with was public works director to become city manager there would need to be discussion held of whether there was the possibility of two positions being held." Strack said he wants to make sure the public is aware of what is going on. "We want people to know what we're looking at," he said. Even if council reaches a consensus by the meetings' end they would still bring it to the public for the next meeting, which is set for Feb. 14, he said. City Manger Steve Kimbrough, who will have been with the city 19 years on Feb. 24, changed to a part- time contract approved by council that went into effect in March 2011. See MULL, page 7A Romney wins Florida primary TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Mitt Romney routed Newt Gingrich in the Florida pri- mary Tuesday night, rebounding smartly from an earlier defeat and taking a major step toward the Republican presidential nomination. Despite the one-sided setback, the for- mer House speaker vowed to press on. Romney, talking unity like a nominee, said he was ready ''to lead this party and our nation'' — and turn Democratic President Barack Obama out of office. In remarks to cheering sup- porters, the former Massa- chusetts governor unleashed a strong attack on Obama and said the competitive fight for the GOP nomina- See MITT, page 7A