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FRIDAY FEBRUARY 3, 2012 Breaking news at: Give Kids A Smile Day Community www.redbluffdailynews.com See Page 2A RED BLUFF Lady Spartans SPORTS 1B Weather forecast 10A Sunny 65/35 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 Bus budget back Cops seize $367K of meth in bust By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer A California Highway Patrol traffic stop around 9 a.m. Wednesday on southbound Interstate 5 led to an arrest of a Washington man reportedly found in posses- sion of methamphetamine. Officers stopped a black Chevrolet Trailblazer south of Sourgrass Road, making contact with the driver, later identified as Agustin Garcia-Zamundio, 38, of Yakima, Wash. While making the stop, officers saw signs of crimi- nal activity and brought in a drug detection dog, which displayed behavior showing detection of the odor of a controlled substance. A search of the vehicle turned up 8.1 pounds of See BUST, page 9A Corning park out to bid soon By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer Corning Community Daily News photo by Tang Lor Students at Red Bluff Union High School board the bus after school on Thursday. The Legislature has decided to restore $248 million in school transportation. SACRAMENTO (AP) — Par- ents and educators said they were relieved Thursday after state law- makers changed their minds and voted against targeting school bus service in a midyear budget cut to education. The move alters a $248 million school transportation spending cut lawmakers included in the state budget they passed last summer. The cut was to take effect automat- ically at the start of the year because tax revenue was running well behind projections, but many school districts objected. Both houses of the Legislature approved the bill, sending it to Gov. Jerry Brown, who was expected to sign it. Eliminating or significantly reducing bus service would have had the greatest effect on rural dis- tricts, where students often travel long distances to get to and from school. Lawmakers listened and said school districts can absorb the spending cut anywhere in their overall budgets. The measure would take effect immediately if Brown signs it into law, but it would protect transporta- tion funding only through the rest of the current school year. Brown is proposing to eliminate the funding in the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1. The governor wants to switch to a formula that would replace nearly all school categorical programs, including home-to-school trans- portation. SB81 cleared the Assembly 54-4 and the Senate 26-8. In the Assem- bly, some lawmakers representing suburban areas objected or abstained because their districts would lose more money under the Gold nuggets stolen in $3M Yreka break-in YREKA (AP) — Investigators in a far Northern California town sought leads Thursday in the theft of large chunks of gold from the county courthouse's $3 million historical collection, as residents lamented the loss of an important piece of their cultural heritage. Thieves smashed a lobby display case and stole the gold from the Siskiyou County Court- house in Yreka, the site of an 1851 Gold Rush known as the second Mother Lode. Surveillance footage shows two men broke into the courthouse around 1 a.m. Wednesday, said Allison Giannini, a spokeswoman for the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office. In addition to search- ing for the suspects, investigators were trying to figure out how the thieves broke the display case's supposedly unbreakable glass and why no alarm alerted authorities to the heist, Giannini said. The total collection was worth $3 million, officials said. The county was still taking inventory to determine how much of the gold had actually been stolen. The break-in was dis- covered by courthouse employees just after 7 a.m. Wednesday. Yreka, the Siskiyou County seat, sits in the shadow of 14,000-foot Mount Shasta near the Oregon border. Miners and other residents donat- ed much of the gold to the collection over the past century, while other pieces were purchased with county funds. ''The historical pieces, if they aren't found again, they're absolutely irre- placeable,'' Claudia East, vice president of the Siskiyou County Histori- cal Society board of direc- 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 See BREAK, page 9A funding shift. ''We're going to gore one district to fix another,'' said Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries, R-Lake Elsinore, who did not vote. Supporters of the legislation said some districts will indeed lose some money under the change but can survive. They argued the transporta- tion cuts would have been devastat- ing to other districts and the chil- dren who rely on the service. ''It all boils down to this: Chil- dren cannot learn if they cannot get to school,'' said Assembly Budget Committee Chairman Bob Blumen- field, D-Sherman Oaks, who car- ried the bill. The fix for this budget year ''is a Band-Aid on the problem,'' Blu- menfield said. When the cuts were first See BUS, page 9A Park, funded by a $4.2 million Prop. 84 grant, is expected to go out to bid soon. "We're hoping to go out to bid in February or March and to start con- struction of phase one in the summer," said Plan- ning Director John Stoufer. The first item to be built will be the skate- board park, an idea that started in 2009 and began moving rapidly forward with the formation of the Corning Skate and Bike Park Association in July 2009. The skateboard park will be about 1,800 square feet and created to inte- grate bicycles while including an area designed for spectators. The rest of phase one will include a gazebo, basketball court and play- ground, Stoufer said. Phase two will include a soccer park. "It will be one big reg- ulation-size field with room for four youth regu- lation-size lots within that area," Stoufer said. Shopping for play- ground equipment has been narrowed down to three companies and the city hopes to make a deci- sion soon, he said. "It's really going to be neat," Stoufer said. "There will be new play- ground equipment and we're going to use rubber- ized bark." The bark will be made from recycled tires. "We've also designed it so there will be less graf- fiti and vandalism and more features that will get the kids out to get more exercise," Stoufer said. "It's a beautiful site. Real- ly just a natural setting for a park with lots of oak trees. We're very excited about it." The park is naturally divided for development See BID, page 9A Planning begins for Round-Up events By CHIPTHOMPSON Daily News Business and commu- nity leaders gathered Wednesday to kick off planning for the 11 Days of Round Up activities in April. The goal of the meet- ing, led by Red Bluff- Tehama County Chamber of Commerce Chairman Greg Stevens at the Tehama County Farm Bureau office, was to get commitments from orga- nizers of various events that take place before and during the three-day rodeo — scheduled for April 20-22 at the Tehama District Fairground. A common thread in planned events was to attract rodeo crowds into downtown to encourage shopping and dining and provide educational and recreational activities for the community. Perhaps the biggest addition to this year's events will be a down- town carnival secured by Round-Up board member Corky Kramer. The plan is for the carnival to be open downtown April 19- 22. The 11 Days of Round Up will get under way at 7:45 a.m. Thursday, April 12 at a venue to be deter- mined, followed by the Daily News photo by Chip Thompson Stock contractor John Growney Wednesday proposes holding a blood drive dur- ing the 11 Days of Round-Up festivities April 12-22 in Red Bluff.Community lead- ers gathered Wednesday to brainstorm activities during the 11 days to draw vis- itors downtown and provide community involvement and entertainment. screening of Western and Native American films at Prime Cinemas at 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 13. A day brimming with festivities for children and adults is planned Satur- day, April 14 starting with the Soroptomist Spring Run and followed by an ICS Chili Cook-Off and Dutch Oven Competition and Classic Car Show and Shine downtown and a concert by Michael Mar- tin Murphy in the evening. Other sugges- tions included a tractor rodeo, stick horse rodeo, street dance and dummy roping. Rodeo stock contractor John Growney promoted holding a blood drive dur- ing the community events surrounding the rodeo and See BEGINS, page 9A TEHAMA COUNTY GLASS MOULE'S 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