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The following informa- tion is compiled from Red Bluff Police Department, Tehama County Sheriff's Department, Corning Police Department and Cal- ifornia Highway Patrol. Arrests Noah Jonathan Brandon Hodges, 24, and Laura Renee Burkett, 21, both of Red Bluff, were arrested Wednesday afternoon on Lakeside Drive by the RBPD. Hodges was arrested on suspicion of issuing crimi- nal threats and violating parole. Bail was withheld. Burkett was arrested on suspicion of two counts of forfeiting bail. Bail was set at $22,500. Theft •Valerie Barker reported the theft of her refrigerator, her flooring and a flat-bed trailer Wednesday after- noon on Benson Road. •Someone reported being the victim of identity theft Wednesday afternoon on Main Street. •A cell phone was reported stolen Wednesday afternoon on Sale Lane. Scam Elouise Lane reported receiving a phone call from a "Mrs. Clark" Wednesday evening on Evergreen Road. The caller reportedly stated Lane had won $5,000, but would have to pay a $190 processing fee before she could receive her winnings. Crash • A Corning woman was taken by helicopter to Mercy Medical Center in Redding with moderate injuries after a crash at 7:10 p.m. Wednesday on Lake California Drive, east of Main Street. Sonia Montes, 19, who was dri- ving west on Lake Califor- nia about 30-35 mph, was upset and distracted by the recent death of a friend and was looking at the clock on her vehicle as she entered a left hand curve. While entering the curve, she allowed the vehicle to drift right off the roadway and onto a dirt and grass shoul- der where it hit a telephone pole before coming to rest. The pole was damaged, but didn't fall over. Montes' vehicle received moderate damage. Friday, February 26, 2010 – Daily News – 3A Local Businesses create and maintain jobs, provide personal customer service, donate to local charitable causes and community betterment projects, generate sales tax revenue ... and turn cities into communities. We hope you will always remember to shop locally first for the goods and services you need! Spotlight Highlighting selected Tehama County businesses for their customer and community service! 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 Tehama County Business Rose Hablitzel, Enrolled Agent has just moved her office to 208 Elm Street in Red Bluff. She has been in business for 27 years providing tax preparation, audit representation before the Internal Revenue Service, pay- roll services for small business, and bookkeeping. She has 3 children and 2 grandchildren Rex Cerro will be working with Rose after just passing the IRS Special Enrollment Exam. He recently retired with 29 years of service as a manager with PG&E and has been active for years in the community with the Chamber of Commerce and Tehama Local Development Corporation. Rex and his wife Janice have made Red Bluff their home for the past 27 years raising their 2 sons, & 5 grandchildren. Enrolled Agents ae the only federally licensed tax preparers who also represent taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service. Located on the corner of Rio St. and Elm. St. Call 530-527-8225 or stop by. They welcome "walk-ins" and referrals. Local Calendar To add an upcoming event in the Local Calendar, submit information well in advance to the Daily News, attention Calendar, P.O. Box 220, Red Bluff, 96080 or e-mail to clerk@redbluffdailynews.com. Include a contact name and telephone number. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26 Red Bluff Al-Anon, 6-7 p.m., Presbyterian Church, Jefferson and Hickory California High School Rodeo Association Rodeo, Tehama District Fairground Celebrate Recovery, 6:15 p.m., Vineyard Christian Fellowship, 738 Walnut St. 527-2449 Half price sale, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Hospice Second- hand Store, 320 S. Main St., 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. hot dog barbecue Knit for Kids, 9:15 a.m. to noon, Presbyterian Church, 838 Jefferson St., 527-0372 Corning Adult Wood Carving Class, 10 a.m. to noon, Corn- ing Senior Center, 1015 Fourth Ave, 824-5669 Rotary Wine, Art and Food Festival, 4-9 p.m., Rolling Hills Casino Spanish Adult Education, 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., Corning Family Resource Center, West and South streets, 824-7670 SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27 Red Bluff California High School Rodeo Association Rodeo, Tehama District Fairground, 11:30 a.m., Spe- cial Rodeo Corning Corning Exchange Club Police/Fireman Awards Dinner, 7 p.m., Veteran's Memorial Hall, 1620 Solano St., 824-5550 Rotary Wine, Art and Food Festival, noon to 9 p.m., Rolling Hills Casino SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28 Red Bluff PATH Open House, 1-6 p.m., tour, refreshments provided, 22005 Gilmore Ranch Road Corning Evangelist services, 7 p.m., Family Bible Church, 609 Marin St., 824-9989 MONDAY, MARCH 1 Red Bluff Al-Anon, 6 p.m., Presbyterian Church, Jefferson and Hickory (additional meetings noon and 6 p.m. Wednesdays, 6 p.m. Fridays) HIRE (Head Injury Recreational Entity), 10 a.m., St. Elizabeth Community Hospital, Coyne Center, Rusty, 529-2059 Key to Life, 6 p.m., Red Bluff Family Resource Center, 220 Sycamore St. Suite 101, 528-8066 Red Bluff Community Band, 6:45-8:45 p.m., Red Bluff Community and Senior Center, 1500 S. Jackson St., 527-3486 Sons in Retirement, 11:30 a.m., Elks Lodge, 529- 5700 Sun Country Quilters Community Service Group, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Red Bluff Family Resource Center, 220 Sycamore St. Suite 101, 528-8066 Corning Narcotics Anonymous, 7 p.m., 815 First St., 385- 1169 or 566-5270. Meetings are everyday through Saturday with an additional meeting at noon on Mon- days Sewing class, 9 a.m., Corning Family Resource Center, West and South streets, 824-7670 Spanish Adult Education, 5 p.m., Corning Family Resource Center, West and South streets, 824-7670 Strategies for Success, Life Skill classes, 1:30 p.m., Corning Family Resource Center, West and South streets, 824-7670 Los Molinos Senior Dance, 7 p.m., Los Molinos Sr. Social Club, Los Molinos Senior Center, Josephine St. TUESDAY, MARCH 2 Red Bluff City Council, 7 p.m. City Hall, 555 Washington St. Playtime Pals Playgroup, 9:30 a.m., Red Bluff Family Resource Center, 220 Sycamore St. Suite 101, 528-8066 Red Bluff Rotary, noon, Elks Lodge Tehama County Peace Officers Association, 5:30 p.m. Happy Hour, 6 p.m. dinner, business meet- ing to follow, Red Bluff Elks Lodge, 355 Gilmore Road Tehama County and Red Bluff Landfill Manage- ment Agency, 8 a.m., board meeting, 727 Oak St. Tehama County Board of Supervisors, 10 a.m., board chamber, 727 Oak St. Tehama County Patriots, 6 p.m., Trinity Landmark Missionary Church, 20920 Hampton Rhodes Drive Corning Corning Community meeting, 7 p.m., Maywood Middle School, 1666 Marguerite Ave. Corning Recreation Commission, 7:30 p.m., City Hall, 794 Third St. Spanish Adult Education, 1:30 p.m., Corning Family Resource Center, West and South streets, 824- 7670 Los Molinos Los Molinos Elementary School Kindergarten Registration, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. First 5 building, 384-7903 Emperor has no clothes: Pensions short on cash llinois politicians are at it again. They're borrowing from the future to make state pension contributions today. Illinois has one of the most underfunded public pension plans in the nation. When boomers start retiring, there won't be enough money to pay those pension promises. Both polit- ical parties are still trying to hide the magnitude of the problem. Under Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Illinois borrowed $10 billion for pensions in 2003, with some of the borrowings to be invested in the stock market to beat the 5 percent cost of inter- est. In early January, while everyone was busy watch- ing the nasty campaign commercials, the State of Illi- nois pulled an end-run on the budget process. On Jan. 7, the state sold $3.5 billion of "pension oblig- ation notes." In simple English, the state borrowed money to finance the state's contribution to its five retirement systems. These five-year debt securities carry an interest rate of 3.84 per- cent, tax-free to bondholders. It's a much higher yield than you could get in the bank because of the risk involved. Moody's and Standard and Poors rated them at least six notches below the top AAA rating. In fact, all the rating agencies char- acterized the outlook for Illinois finances as "negative." The money raised will go to shore up the Teachers Retirement System, which is scheduled to receive $2.08 billion of the pro- ceeds, and the Illinois State Univer- sities Retirement System, which will get $702.5 million from the bond offering. The Illinois State Board of Investment gets nearly $813 million for funds, including the Illinois State Employees' Retire- ment System, and the Judges Retirement System, and -- big sur- prise -- the Illinois General Assem- bly Retirement System. But what happens in five years, when those bonds must be repaid? Where will the state find $3.4 bil- lion -- plus the interest that must be paid along the way? Will investors be willing to lend to them at any yield? Will the next governor return to Blagojevich's plan to lease out the state lottery and sell the toll roads? Or will this "Ponzi scheme" finally be exposed? On that day, the war between the taxpayers and the public pensions will officially begin. This is a nasty story I've fol- lowed for years. I wrote about the "accounting legerde- main" in 2003, when under Blagojevich the state borrowed $10 bil- lion to make required pension contributions, with some of the borrow- ings to be invested in the stock market. The belief was that stock mar- ket investment returns would beat the 5 per- cent cost of interest on the bonds, helping to fill the gap between promis- es and reality. Unfortu- nately, the stock market didn't cooperate. Then in January 2009, this column highlighted the growing budget deficits and late pay- ments to state providers, such as nursing homes, pharmacies, day care centers and other providers. We called it the "Coming Pension Wars" -- as the state and municipalities are forced to raise taxes or cut services to pay the promised pensions, along with cur- rent bills. In just the last year, the situation has become even more dire. In November 2009, the state's Pension Modernization Task Force sent its recommendations to Gov. Quinn. The Task Force concluded that Illinois' unfunded pension lia- bility exceeds $61 BILLION! And that number is growing exponen- tially. The report points out the "deadly combination of nearly 30 years of systematic state underfunding of its employer contributions to the pen- sion systems" as the main cause of the gap between promises and real- ity. It's also exacerbated by longer life expectancies and payout peri- ods, not to mention the second- worst decade ever for investment returns. The report lays out the problem clearly: "Not wanting to implement dra- matic cuts in spending on essential services, the legislature and various governors elected to instead divert revenue from making the required employer pension contribution to maintaining services like education, health care, public safety and caring for disadvantaged popula- tions. Effectively, the state used the pension systems as a credit card to fund ongoing service opera- tions." Several pension reform proposals have been pre- sented to the Illinois Legis- lature. Even the most gen- tle reforms would require the state to make additional annual pension contribu- tions of more than $12 bil- lion every year. Simply cutting benefits for current or future retirees comes nowhere near to solving the problem. And the prospect of a longer-lasting recession wreaks havoc on the state budget, aside from pension contributions. Illinois now has public debt of more than $130 BILLION. Unlike the fed- eral government, our state cannot simply create new money to pay its bills. At some point -- and that point is very near -- investors will no longer be willing to lend money that cannot be repaid. If you would like to see more facts and figures, check out the web- site www.IllinoisIsBroke.com, cre- ated by the nonpartisan Civic Com- mittee of the Commercial Club of Chicago. A visit to the site shows a few pictures that are worth a thou- sand words -- and billions of dollars. Perversely, the problem is so huge that our politicians won't acknowledge this true "elephant in the room." So let me say it loud and clear: The emperor has no clothes. Illinois is broke. And there's no way public pensions will be paid -- unless huge changes are made. And that's The Savage Truth. Terry Savage is a registered investment adviser and is on the board of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. She can be reached at www.terrysavage.com. She is the author of the new book, "The New Savage Number: How Much Money Do You Really Need to Retire?" Terry Savage The Savage Truth on Money Police reports Herd health workshop A reproductive herd health workshop will be held starting at 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 26, at the Shasta Livestock Auction Yard in Cottonwood. Dr. Les Anderson, Beef Cattle Specialist from the University of Kentucky, Dr. Bill Gray of the Cottonwood Veterinary Clinic, Dr. John Maas of UC Davis, Dr. Dan Drake, Siskiyou County farm advisor; Larry Forero, Shasta County farm advisor and Josh Davy, Tehama/Glenn/Colusa Farm advisor will be the speakers. Topics include breeding, measuring produc- tion and reproduction, results of irrigated pas- ture aeration trial and production and quality of dryland hay. Dinner, which is from George Wold's Anderson FFA, is free, but participants must rsvp by Feb. 24. For information or to RSVP call Davy at 527-3101. Free ag disposal event A Free Agricultural Plastic Container Collection Event is now being held concurrent with the agricultur- al tire collection event at the Tehama County/Red Bluff Landfill through Monday. Agricultural plastic containers acceptable for recy- cling must be empty and triple-rinsed. Plastic drum containers 33-55 gallon in size must be quartered. All non-HDPE parts such as caps, labels, metal handles, rubber linings, plastic sleeves, labels and booklets must be detached so as not to interfere with the recycling process. There is no limit and you must bring your plastics during normal landfill business hours: from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on weekends. This event is coordinated by the Tehama County/Red Bluff Landfill and Interstate AgPlastics. For details about the agricultural plastics collection event, or for proper rinsing techniques, please call 528- 1103 or visit www.interstateagplastics.com.