Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/7766
SACRAMENTO (AP) — A new report says teach- ers, public employee unions, Indian tribes and corporations are among the biggest contributors to Cali- fornia political campaigns. The report, titled ''Big Money Talks,'' was released Wednesday by the Califor- nia Fair Political Practices Commission. It lists the top 25 interest groups that together spent more than $1.3 billion over the last 10 years influencing politi- cians, voters and ballot campaigns. The California Teachers Association led the overall spending with $211.8 mil- lion. Interest groups spent far more supporting or oppos- ing ballot propositions than they did on candidates. American Indian tribes spent the most on proposi- tions related to tribal gam- bling. ——— On the Net: Read the report at http://www.fppc.ca.gov/ classified staff, Barrett said. The list was again mentioned during the meeting, and McCoy said, despite the belief that he had not considered the items on the list, he has. Some of the suggestions are worth looking into, but some of the ideas just are not bankable when he is trying to write a second interim report of the district's bud- get, he said. McCoy broke the list into cate- gories. Eight are related to trans- portation, six on the district's Monroe Street property, five on delaying materials purchases, seven are options that are unavail- able due to legal restrictions, 14 on operating expenditures, 15 on re-examining outside and in-dis- trict resources and 20 fall in the other category, which includes ideas such as holding fundraisers and applying for grant money. There were 91 suggestions on staffing and layoffs. Teachers Jenny Caylor and Nancy Collins gave more sugges- tions, including closing down one of the district's campuses and restructuring classes to have mul- tiple grade levels in one class- room. Most suggestions being offered are "temporary solutions to a long term problem," McCoy said. Parent Nigel Mist said that nothing can be done if there is no trust. It seems that a situation has been created in which it is teach- ers versus administrators and the children are forgotten. He asked that everyone keep the children in mind, trust each other and work together to solve the issue. Mist who identified himself as a parent, is the husband of board member Heidi Mist. Board member Leonard Stohler read from a prepared statement giving his view on the situation. School districts all over the state are dealing with budget issues, and it saddens him to see that this is happening in Red Bluff, too, he said. But he refuses to give up and advocates that there is hope in all the chaos. He called upon everyone to work together to solve the crises. ——— Tang Lor can be reached at 527- 2153, Ext. 110 or by e-mail at tlor@redbluffdailynews.com. Thursday, March 11, 2010 – Daily News – 7A Death Notice Obituary GREGORY ALEN BELL Gregory Alen Bell, age 49, passed away on February 24, 2010 at St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Red Bluff, CA. Born October 31, 1960 in Sacramento, CA., Greg was an incredible father and gave everything for those he loved. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends. He is survived by his wife Ruby Bell of Dixon, CA, son Gregory Alen Bell, Jr. of Salem, OR., daughter Can- dice Jean Bell of Los Moli- nos, CA., his father Robert Bell and step-mother Eden Bell of Red Bluff, CA, broth- er Rob Bell of OR., his two grandsons, and lots of family and friends. A celebration of life will be held at the VFW Hall in Los Molinos, 7980 Sherwood Blvd. on Saturday, March 13, 2010 at 11am. Barbara Lee Gordon Barbara Lee Gordon died Wednesday, March 10, 2010, in Red Bluff. She was 73. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, March 15 and funeral ser- vices will be at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, March 16 at the Hoyt Cole Chapel of the Flowers. Hoyt-Cole Chapel of the Flowers is handling the arrange- ments. Published Thursday, March 11, 2010, in the Daily News, Red Bluff, Calif. Leonard V. Rohrer Leonard V. Rohrer, a 40-year Tehama County resident, died Monday, March 8, 2010, in Red- ding. He was 83. Visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thurs- day, March 18, at Hoyt- Cole Chapel of the Flow- ers. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, March 19, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church followed by burial at 12:45 p.m. at Northern California Vet- eran's Cemetery, 11800 Gas Point Road, in Igo. Hoyt-Cole Chapel of the Flowers is handling the arrangements. Published Thursday, March 11, 2010, in the Daily News, Red Bluff, Calif. ness. Newborns and infants may not have a stiff neck, but may appear slow or inactive, irritable or sim- ply stop acting normally. As the disease progresses, patients of any age may have seizures. If any of these symp- toms should develop, par- ents should take their child immediately to a physi- cian or the emergency room to be evaluated for possible meningococcal disease. Antibiotic treat- ment of the disease is usu- ally successful, especially if it is started early. You are at increased risk if you are a close con- tact of someone with meningococcal disease. Close contact means liv- ing with or having inti- mate contact with this per- son. People in the same household and those working in the same set- ting as the patient are con- sidered close contacts. For people who are not close contacts of an active case, the risk of infection is extraordinarily low. For them, preventative treat- ment with antibiotics is not advised. For more information, call Tehama County Health Services Agency, Public Health Division, at 527-6824 or 1-800-655- 6854. Continued from page 1A CASE CUTS Continued from page 1A fresh air, jobs for people, timber products, recre- ation and beauty, among other things, Puentes said. Arbor Day is not just about the celebration of trees, it includes a mes- sage of planting and grow- ing for future generations. Conifer seedlings were given to each student. The hope is that they will plant the trees and learn some- thing as well as have the trees there for others to enjoy, Moeller said. "If you plant your little tree, in 15-20 years it will still be there for other peo- ple to enjoy," she said. Seventh-grader Emalee Kourani will plant her tree outside and hopes that it will grow, she said. She will plant it near another tree that she got from the State Fair. The informative pre- sentation taught seventh- grader Tess Jones that trees are important, she said. The one thing that she will remember is how much trees are used each year. ——— Tang Lor can be reached at 527-2153, Ext. 110 or by e-mail at tlor@redbluffdai- lynews.com. Continued from page 1A PLANT tinues to meet at the center. "We were just compatible from the beginning," Meents said. "We appreciate being able to critique each other's work and teach each other anything new that we come upon. It's a relief from other things (to be able to paint togeth- er)." Friday's show will run 5-7 p.m. at The Big Picture, 857 Washington St., in Red Bluff. Several of the pieces at the exhibit will be offered for sale. Information is available by call- ing 526-4426. ——— Julie Zeeb can be reached at 527-2153, extension 115 or jzeeb@redbluffdailynews.com. Continued from page 1A DEBUT Parkins said. She also said she would like to see Lopez run for election in November. Turner said he was an advocate of election and both he and Leach said cit- izens should chose the council member. "I agree with the elec- tion process except I believe we have a grave situation here and we can use all the help we can get," Strack said. "With our history, a lot of things may go 2-2. I feel we'd be hindering the city by not appointing now." Strack made a motion to appoint Dickison to fill the remainder of Hill's term, which ends in December, but the vote failed to get a majority. In other business: A request was made and denied for $200 from Corning for the Tehama County exhibit at the Cali- fornia State Fair. The motion that denied the request was amended to include a provision that council members may contribute their own money up to $200 if they wished. City Manager Steve Kimbrough reported that the IRS said a council member had to be on the Corning Community Foundation Board in order for it to have non-profit status. Leach was chosen as the council's representa- tive. ——— Julie Zeeb can be reached at 527-2153, extension 115 or jzeeb@redbluffdailynews. com. Continued from page 1A FOUR Fiorina: More competition needed for health care SACRAMENTO (AP) — The federal government should pro- mote choice and competition to lower health care costs while rejecting a wholesale overhaul of the nation's medical system, Republican U.S. Senate candi- date Carly Fiorina said Wednes- day. Fiorina said the plan pending before Congress misses the goal of making sure every American, including those who are currently uninsured, has access to quality, affordable health care. It ''creates more problems than it solves,'' said Fiorina, one of three Repub- licans competing to face three- term incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer in November. She also questioned whether the nation can afford the proposal. Her comments came as Presi- dent Barack Obama traveled to a St. Louis suburb as part of a series of town hall-style events to promote health care reform. ''In the real world, the way we solve problems is to start with those things that we know work,'' said Fiorina, former chief execu- tive of Hewlett-Packard Co. For health care, she said that includes changing medical mal- practice laws, giving consumers more information about health insurance and procedures, and promoting ''more robust compe- tition'' among health insurers to control massive rate increases. ''The truth is that the health insurance industry is a regulated oligopoly. There isn't enough competition for health insurance companies,'' she said, leaving them largely immune to normal market forces. She said government should change regulations to promote more competition. The Senate-approved bill pending in Congress includes a state-based system of insurance exchanges in which consumers could shop for private coverage. It does not include a government- run public option, which Fiorina opposes. Fiorina was in Sacramento picking up the endorsement of former California Secretary of State Bill Jones in her Republi- can primary race against former congressman Tom Campbell and state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore. The winner will face Boxer, who defeated Jones in 2004. Jones said he respects all three candidates but believes Fiorina has the best chance against Boxer. Also Wednesday, Fiorina sided with the state's senior U.S. senator, Democrat Dianne Fein- stein, in Feinstein's effort to pres- sure the government into divert- ing more water from the troubled Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to farms in the San Joaquin Valley. ''While it is important to pro- tect our environment, for goodness sakes, commonsense says that families are more important in a crunch than fish,'' Fiorina said. Fiorina twice declined to say if farmers should pay more for water or are partly to blame for planting water-intensive orchards. She deferred each time to Jones, whose family owns irri- gated farmland throughout the valley. Jones said farmers are doing more to conserve water, including fallowing productive farmland. Red Bluff collective owners ordered to pay fine Owners of the defunct Blue Toad cannabis col- lective appeared in court Wednesday and were found guilty on charges of unlawful land use and unlawful occupancy. This settles the last of four citations that the owners received while operating the collective in Red Bluff. Lana Aguiar and Ashley Arnold were cited on Nov. 3, 2009, for unlawfully occupying the build- ing where they were dispensing marijuana, according a Red Bluff Police Department press release. Each have been ordered to pay $90 for the cita- tion granted they do not violate the law in the next 12 months or the fine will increase to $830, according to court records. In January the pair was found guilty of the same charges from three other citations that were issued on Oct. 22, 26 and 28, 2009. The fines for those violations have not been paid yet, according to court records. The Blue Toad, which operated out of a build- ing on Hickory Street, closed in November after the city adopted a temporary ordinance against marijuana collectives, cooperatives and dispen- saries. That ordinance was extended in December by the City Council and is still in effect. — Staff report At redbluffdailynews.com, scroll to the end of any story, click the link and type away. CARE TO COMMENT? Campaigns dominated by unions, businesses