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TUESDAY JUNE 26, 2012 www.redbluffdailynews.com See Page 6A Breaking news at: Vitality Walking For Weight Loss RED BLUFF Manta Rays SPORTS 1B Weather forecast 10B Mostly sunny 84/58 By RYAN OLSON MediaNews Group OROVILLE — The Butte County District Attorney's Office has filed two counts of misdemeanor child molestation 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 Scout leader sex abuse probe shifts to Red Bluff against a 20-year-old Boy Scout leader. Upholding the law Butte County Sheriff's deputies initially arrested Dustin Lee Hedrick, 20, of Shingletown June 21 on suspi- cion of felony lewd acts on a child younger than 14, but Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said the alleged felony conduct took place in Red Bluff. Tehama County District Attorney Gregg Cohen is inves- tigating alleged conduct there, Ramsey said. The alleged incidents at the Camp Lassen Scout camp in Butte Meadows involved Hedrick and a 15-year-old male on May 18 and 19. Ramsey said, under the law, the alleged inappropriate touching had to be filed as misdemeanors because of the minor's age and because the alleged perpetrator See SCOUT, page 9A Family finds body of missing hiker By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer was found Saturday about 200 yards off the road in heavy brush on Ponderosa Way, south of Forward Road, in the Manton area. Family of the 40-year-old Redding man, who went missing June 15 while hiking Bluff Springs, also known as Little Hawaii, in the area with two friends, organized a search party of about 100 searchers, Tehama County Sheriff's Lt. Dave Greer said. The body of missing hiker Patrick Michael Amen See HIKER, page 9A City to mull final budget tonight By RICH GREENE DN Staff Writer The Red Bluff City Council will hold a spe- cial meeting tonight with the intent of passing a 2012-13 fiscal year bud- get on time. Daily News photo by Andre Byik Tehama County Sheriff Dave Hencratt, who hosted Saturday's panel discussion for a group of north state sheriffs at the Tehama District Fairgrounds, speaks to an audience of more than 500. ANDRE BYIK DN Sports Editor iffs criticized the federal govern- ment and Sacramento lawmakers Saturday for not understanding the needs and traditions of their coun- ties. A group of 10 North State sher- The panel discussion, which was held at the Tehama District Fair- ground, sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots and hosted by Tehama County Sheriff Dave Hencratt, attracted more than 500 people. The group of sheriffs go by the name of "constitutional sheriffs," and while they stressed they are not anti-government, they argued that they took an oath to enforce the law and have a responsibility to protect the rights of their electorate. For Tehama County, Hencratt said Assembly Bill 109 has been one of the biggest issues ever for law enforcement in the county. The prison realignment program for lower-level offenders was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2011 to poten- tially save hundreds of millions of dollars for the state. "Am I a big fan of AB109?" Hencratt said during the panel dis- cussion. "Not really." Corning to consider budget, prayers By JULIE ZEEB Corning will end the year with $803,000 in reserve for its projects and, according to staff reports, the cost of the Capital Improvement Plan approved by the council would be about $611,500. Corning is in good shape thanks to an increase in sales tax revenue and the recovery of sales tax rev- enue mistakenly sent to another city, City Manager John Brewer said. DN Staff Writer CORNING — The City Council will take a final look at the 2012-2013 bud- get and consider its policy for invocations prior to council meetings. recovered sales tax had not been received as of the June 12 meeting, it was more than what was origi- nally expected, he said. The city's goal is to end While the $210,000 in employee furloughs by Dec. 31, fill Public Works maintenance and Public Works director vacancies by January 2013 and replenish the operating reserve, Brewer said. The operating reserve received by the city from someone outside of the council to give the invoca- tion traditionally given before the meeting. The unwritten policy is that it be the mayor or vice- mayor gives the invocation and the council has been asked to decide whether to make that the official poli- cy or to open it to others. The council will decide whether giving the invoca- tion is open to others, whether there is a residen- cy requirement and whether there will be a time limit. 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 The Corning City Council meets the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at City Hall, 794 Third St. Meeting minutes and agendas are available at www.corning.org. was lowered by the council to $500,000 due to the eco- nomic downturn and the city hopes to bring it back to its original $800,000. A request has been The realignment bill adds more responsibility at the county level to assess the risks of convicted crimi- nals and can result in longer stays for inmates in the county jail. There have been some positive results from the bill, Hencratt said. Tehama County has 80 people in work programs that would have otherwise been housed in the coun- ty jail. Tehama County's issues are not so bad, comparatively, Hencratt said. Mendocino County Sheriff See LAW, page 9A posed budget include a revamping of vacation and sick time accruals to produce $1 million in sav- ings, elimination of two department heads and the restoration of general fund staff to full time. The latter move will mean City Hall will no longer be closed every other Fri- day. Highlights of the pro- The budget anticipates $6.1 million in revenues. City Manager Richard Crabtree has been work- ing to change the city's policy toward vacation and sick time accruals. Previously the two were lumped together into one account and departing employees were able to cash out considerable lump sums of unused sick days. employees will only be entitled to unused vaca- tion time when they leave the city. By separating the two, first full-year budget to incorporate the savings from eliminating the Human Resources and Parks and Recreation directors. A savings of $112,000 from the gener- al fund. worked into the police officers' contract passed June 19 and is included in a resolution up for adop- tion tonight to apply to management employees. The city is on the hook for about $1.5 million in unfunded comp leave accrual. The budget report estimates the change will save the city $1 million over the next few years. The budget will be the The new policy was See BUDGET, page 9A Talent to spare at inaugural showcase Special to the DN Red Bluff's Got Talent, held at the Elks Lodge Saturday night was a rousing success, say orga- nizers, but it certainly wasn't an easy task for the judges to pick only three winners. So they added a fourth. "It was not an easy task at all," said judge Linda Watkins-Bennett, a KHSL, KNVN and CW10 news anchor. "There are so many talented people here in Red Bluff, it was impossible to pick just three" Watkins-Bennett and her fellow judges — Red Bluff High School Princi- pal Patrick Gleason, Mercy Principal Paul Webber and Red Bluff Mayor Forest Flynn — said they wished they could give prizes to every- one who participated, especially those who were brave enough to appear onstage for the first time in their lives. Despite a few technical glitches with the music CDs for a few acts, which were eventually ironed out, the show went smoothly and attendees enjoyed the Elks-provided dinner, which featured Courtesy photo The winners of the first Red Bluff's Got Talent, held at the Elk's Lodge on June 23. Pictured are, from left, second place winners Harmonic Disposition mem- bers Mahalee Gaumer, Royce Crane and Lance Crane; third place winner Lindsey Fletcher; first place winner Ellie Fletcher; and fourth-place winner Kyla Barriga-Ashurst. Not pictured is Kyla's dance partner, Karlee Garcia. Elks chef Chris Sharp's own secret recipe for spaghetti. The winners were: first place Ellie Fletcher, 12, who sang Think Of Me; second Harmonic Dispo- sition, featuring members Mahalee Gaumer, 16, Royce Crane, 19, and Lance Crane, 21, who sang Who I Am Is Who See TALENT, page 9A Smog Inspection $ COMPLETE AUTO REPAIR Pass or FREE retest (MOST CARS & PICK-UPS) 2595 195 S. Main St. Red Bluff 530 527-9841 + cert. HAVOC WITH YOUR SOCKS? toenails WREAKING Are your PODIATRY CENTER AEROFEET Painless Topical Treatment THAT REALLY WORKS. Treat your neglected nails and cracked heels with our at home SPA EXPERIENCE. Call today for an appointment (530)527-7584