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By CHIP THOMPSON Daily News They had to wait a few months longer for it, but Mercy High School students cele- brated homecoming Fri- day night with girls' and boys' basketball games, homecoming dance and crowning of Homecom- ing King and Queen. Marta Espinosa and Cameron Vietti were crowned between the games as Homecoming royalty, while the Spirit King and Queen awards went to Chris Rosauer and, in a tie, Benecia Grace and Alaina Ger- mano. Germano was the runner up for Home- coming Queen, while Scott Farmer took run- ner up in Homecoming King. Other members of the court included Melissa Grens, Bianca Torres, Patrick Farmer and Ryan Ward. Espinosa, the daugh- ter of Everado and Marta Espinosa of Ger- ber, is active in Key Club, a high school extension of Kiwanis, Student Council and Friday Night Live, of which she is president. With plans to attend a junior college in the area, Espinosa expects to transfer to a four-year college to pursue a degree in business man- agement. She is also considering becoming a licensed cosmetologist. Vietti, the son of Paul and Dawn Vietti of Cot- tonwood, has participat- ed in the Hacky-Sack Club and student gov- ernment, now serving as the Athletic Coordinator on the Student Council. He plays baseball and basketball and partici- Weather forecast 10A Chance of showers 52/40 N EWS D AILY DAILY 50¢ WEEKEND JANUARY 30-31, 2010 Kristi Yamaguchi Friday Hoops Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com N EWS D AILY RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY 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 See USA Weekend SPORTS 1B Bull Sale See 7A, 8A Olympics Preview 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 Re-elect Sheriff/Coroner Clay Parker Tri-Tip & Chicken Dinner • Auction FEBRUARY 20, 2010 • 6:00PM $ 20 00 Donation • No Host Bar • Door Prizes Tehama District Fairgrounds Cafeteria FOR TICKETS CALL 527-9129 or www.sheriffparker.com Paid Political Advertisement Paid for by Sheriff/Coroner Clay Parker Re-Election Committee Shirley Wheeler, Treasurer 595-4418 Back on track Daily News photo by Rich Greene One year ago today, Garrett Jones of Red Bluff was diagnosed with cancer and had to halt his promising career as a motocross racer. Today, he is cancer-free and back on the bike. By RICH GREENE DN Sports Editor As 2009 approached Garrett Jones was like any other 18-year-old, believing he was on top of the world — in his case, he had every reason to think he was. The Red Bluff Union High School graduate was speed- ing toward his childhood dream of a career as a profession- al motocross racer. Jones now looks back at those first few months in the sport as an amateur-professional and says he thought he was a bit too lucky, that his life was going too well. By January, those instincts would turn out to be true. The race, and his life, started to slow down. Weighed down by constant fatigue, Jones sought med- ical help that would eventually lead to surgery in late Janu- ary. Afterward, exactly one year ago today, Jones found out he was just like 8,400 other American men in 2009 — he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. No one in Jones' family had a prior history and, apart from the cancer, his body had only shown signs of being healthy and strong up until the fatigue and some soreness set it. Although testicular cancer accounts for just 1 percent of cancer types in American men, according to statistics from the National Cancer Institute, it is the most prevalent form in men between the ages of 18 and 34. In 2009, 380 men Rodgers update Corning OKs theater plans By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer CORNING — The City Council authorized the Rodgers Theatre Rehabilita- tion plan and expenditures at its meeting Tuesday after listening to a formal request by Kyle Lauderdale. Lauderdale, Treasurer of the Corning Community Foundation, which is spear- heading much of the restoration effort, Laud- erdale gave an update on the project and formally asked for park funds. The use of $220,000 in the city's 2002 Park Bond Fund was initially approved at the Aug. 11, 2009 council meeting along with a reha- bilitation plan outlined on a priority basis. "We would like to begin work as soon as there are four or five days of good weather," Lauderdale said. "The most critical work includes the re-roofing of Rodgers Theatre, demoli- tion work of the interior auditorium and installation of new concrete flooring." Lauderdale said rough plumbing, electrical work and restoring the building's exterior face and front lobby are toward the top of the list. The estimate for the ini- tial work is about $275,000 based on prevailing wage and does not factor in the savings that will come with volunteer labor the founda- tion has already lined up, he said. Money saved through volunteer work and collect- ed through additional fundraising will be used toward the restoration finish work. "We have also enlisted the help of a professional grant writer who agreed to help search for funds and pursue other avenues of financing the work once the first phases are complete," Lauderdale said. In addition to the $220,000 in Park Bond money, the foundation has $50,000 earned through fundraising and been tenta- tively approved for a $27,500 California Energy Commission grant. The money from the grant will be used to partial- ly fund the proposed heat- ing, ventilation and air con- ditioning system. Road funds half of needs By GEOFF JOHNSON DN Staff Writer Tehama County's road funding is less than half of what it will take to maintain its roads and bridges — and most of the state is in the same situation. On Tuesday, the board voted to send let- ters to state legislators and the governor to look at reaching stable trans- portation funding. Snowpack no panacea for state's water users SACRAMENTO (AP) — Winter storms have bolstered the Sierra snow- pack and started to replen- ish California's water sup- ply, but officials said Fri- day that may not mean much for farms and cities. The state Department of Water Resources reported the snowpack was holding about 115 percent of its usual water content for this time of year. That marked a big improvement over last year, when the snowpack was just 61 percent of nor- mal during the same peri- od. The snowpack along the 400-mile mountain range is important because its runoff pro- vides much of Califor- nia's water supply. Despite the wet winter, federal regulations intend- ed to protect fish are lim- iting water deliveries from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Central Valley farms that grow half the nation's produce rely on the water that passes through the estu- ary. ''We anticipate it to be as bad, if not worse, as last year,'' said Sarah Woolf, a spokeswoman at Mercy celebrates belated homecoming festivities Daily News photo by Chip Thompson Marta Espinosa and Cameron Vietti were crowned Homecoming Queen and King Friday. See ROAD, page 9A See BACK, page 9A See PLANS, page 9A See MERCY, page 9A See WATER, page 9A