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MARCH 3-4, 2012 WEEKEND Tropical touch Country & Life 3B RED BLUFF Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com Weather forecast 10B Sunny Van rollover could have been worse By ANDREA WAGNER DN Staff Writer Five prisoners were temporarily trapped inside the Tehama County Sher- iff's transport van that wrecked near Mineral Thursday morning. While nobody was seriously injured when the van slid off the icy, snow- covered roadway, prison- ers on their way to facili- ties in Susanville were stuck inside when the van overturned and landed on the exit door, said Sher- iff's Lt. Dave Greer. The roughly 15-foot vehicle slid down a steep embankment at about 8:30 a.m. on Highway 36E about five miles east of Mineral, Greer said. About a foot of snow cushioned the crash which ended with the back end of the van sticking up nearly even with the road. "It could have been a lot worse," Greer said. The five inmates remained inside the vehi- cle until a Chester tow truck could turn the vehi- cle and pull it back onto the road, he said. While they waited for the tow truck, rescue crews on standby were talking to the men inside the van to determine if they needed to be gotten out sooner. Because none of their injuries were life-threat- ening, they were able to wait for the tow truck. "If anyone needed out, we would have cut the top off of the van in a heart- beat," Greer said. Transport vans travel between Tehama County and state prisons as often as twice a week, he said. See VAN, page 9A Daily News photo by Rich Greene Former Red Bluff Spartans football standout Collin Ramirez thanks his training at Tehama Family Fit- ness Center for helping him become a Division-I quarterback. QB's relationship with trainer has paid off By RICH GREENE DN Sports Editor Athleticism and accuracy helped Collin Ramirez break Aaron Rodgers' Butte College touchdown record, but so did a few hundred pounds of weights and an inspiring trainer back in his home town of Red Bluff. Ramirez, a 2009 Red Bluff Union High School graduate, is headed for bigger challenges after he broke the former Super Bowl MVP's single sea- son record for touchdown passes thrown at Butte College in November. "Kind of everything I've achieved and kind of everything I've done can be attributed back to my work I put in here with Troy." — Portland State quarterback Collin Ramirez The gracious and friendly Ramirez has signed on to play for Division I university Portland State this season, taking his talents to a competitive level not many local athletes have reached. It's that type of history, Tehama Family Fitness Center general manag- er Troy Lalaguna is trying to change with his work with local athletes. His track record working with youth is starting to match his own track and field records when he was a two- time javelin champion for Chico State. See GYM, page 9A 72/42 DAILYNEWS From gym to field TEHAMACOUNTY $1.00 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 RB business on delinquent tax listing A Red Bluff business was named in the State Board of Equalization's list of the "Top 500" tax delin- quencies for the first quarter of 2012. Gannon's Auto Sales & Collision Center, at 400 Kaer Ave., was listed as owing $436,858 since 2008. The "Top 500" list, man- dated by state law since Jan- uary 2012, is intended to encourage those who owe the delinquent taxes to pay by publicly posting the 500 largest unpaid sales and use tax debts online at http://1.usa.gov/BOE- Top500. The local business was listed among others who altogether owe about $555.7 million in total tax liabilities through the 2012 first quar- ter. Tax liabilities under appeal, litigation, or bank- ruptcy proceedings are not included. Since the inception of this program, 40 qualifying taxpayers whose account balances represents a total of $43.2 million in sales and use tax liabilities have come forward to take care of their debts. Of the $43.2 million in liabilities, $5.3 million has been collected to date. Since the Board of Equalization and the Fran- chise Tax Board began post- ing the state's largest tax delinquencies in 2007, more than $100 million has been collected. Beginning July 1, 2012, state agencies that issue licenses including driver licenses and occupational licenses, and certificates, registrations, or permits are required to suspend, revoke and refuse to issue a license if the licensee's name is included on this Top 500 list. — Andrea Wagner The more that you read, the more things you will know By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer Schools throughout Tehama County joined a nation-wide celebration on Friday of Read Across America, an annual event that encourages students to read and celebrates the birth- day of Dr. Seuss. Students at Bend School had a special treat with a breakfast of green eggs and ham served up by Bend teacher Albert Estrada and parent Jessica Fisher. "We've been celebrating all week with various activi- ties and community mem- bers who have come in to read," Estrada said. "We also read the bio of Dr. Seuss and made up poems in my class." Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb Emblem Club member Bonnie Lewis talks about Dr. Seuss with Bend School students Friday fol- lowing the Green Eggs and Ham breakfast for Read Across America. The older students at Bend spent part of the day reading to the younger chil- dren and each student got to choose a book to help encourage them to read, Estrada said. Bonnie Lewis of the Red Bluff Emblem Club dressed up as the Cat in the Hat and spent time talking to chil- dren about the famous author. At Richfield School, each class adopted a reading tree and decorated it. Stu- dents also had an assembly with several little competi- tions, organized by second- grade teacher Sheryl Vin- son. Students were chal- lenged to see who could walk the fastest from one location to another with a book balanced on their head and six students competed in a small obstacle course in the gym for one of three spots in a competition of questions designed to test the student's knowledge of Dr. Seuss. Blaze 103.5 Mike in the Morning host Mike Wessels read Green Eggs in Ham with the students following along on a projected image of the book on the gym's wall. Vinson's daughter, Marissa, dressed up as Cat in the Hat and Marissa's friend Regan Albee was Thing 1 who spent part of the assembly getting laughs by pulling the cat's tail. "We had several guests come in including every- thing from police officers with their dog and firefight- ers to a grandma and a nurse at the hospital," Vinson said. "We also had 14 students from the high school come read. The kids got to hear about their jobs and why reading is important for them." Vinson said she enjoyed seeing the students so inter- ested in high school and what they needed to be pre- pared for it. Corning High School students and various staff members were also at West Street and Woodson ele- mentary schools to read to the younger students. Jackson Heights had Tehama County Sheriff Dave Hencratt as one of its many guest readers Friday as a part of its Dr. Seuss Week celebration where each day had a different theme. See READ, page 9A