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WEDNESDAY AUGUST 15, 2012 www.redbluffdailynews.com See 5A Breaking news at: Market Courses County Fare RED BLUFF Recruiting Reality SPORTS 1B Sunny 105/68 Weather forecast 8B DAILYNEWS No excuses 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 Carjacking suspect in sheriff's custody By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer A Red Bluff man was arrested Monday on Interstate 5 at Flores Avenue in connection with an Aug. 6 carjacking in Red Bluff and a robbery earlier Mon- day on Lakeside Drive in Red Bluff. Police were on the lookout for a gold 1997 Saturn, which led to a traffic stop by a District Attor- ney's investigator and the arrest of 26-year-old Ruben Banuelos, Jr. Officers were sent at 1:59 p.m. Monday to the 700 block of Lakeside Drive for reports of a robbery at knife point. Banuelos The victims said Banuelos had come into their resi- dence, threatening them with a large fixed-blade knife, before fleeing the area with another man in a gold Sat- urn, according to a Red Bluff Police press release. During the stop, Jason Scott Harding, 37, of Corning was arrested and booked into Tehama County Jail on See SUSPECT, page 7A Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb Damen Lopez, author of the book No Excuses University, talks with Gerber and Richfield schools staff Monday at Gerber School. Program prompts primary students to think college By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer On Monday, teachers and staff from Gerber and Richfield elemen- tary school gathered at Gerber for a presentation by Damen Lopez, author of the book No Excuses Uni- versity. "He came to share his philoso- phy on education based on six exceptional systems," Gerber School Assistant Superintendent Returning to school, Marr and some of the other staff put together a bulletin board showing their edu- cational backgrounds and where they attended school, which was something that really interested the students, she said. "We kind of started small and are moving forward with No Excuses University, which is a commitment to college first," Marr said. The school is in the process of becoming an official No Excuses University school, which requires Crews making progress battling Calif. wildfires SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Thousands of firefighters across Cali- fornia were contending with dry conditions, strong winds and triple- digit temperatures as they battled raging wildfires that left some areas with smoke lingering in the air. In Northern California, hundreds of evacuees were allowed to return home as crews continue to make progress against a wildfire that has now grown to about 5 square miles. The blaze in Lake County is now 30 percent contained after nearly threatening 500 homes in the Spring Valley and Long Valley communi- ties, state fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said Tues- day. to burn.'' Berlant said while the more than 1,100 firefight- ers at the scene are putting out hot spots, they still faced with dry conditions and near 100 degree tem- peratures. ''It's been the heat, not the winds,'' Berlant said. ''There's almost zero moisture inside the brush which hasn't burned in decades. It's very thick and overgrown.'' A home and two struc- Jenny Marr said. "Last spring five teachers (from Gerber) and I went to a Turn Around Schools training and we got jazzed and brought it back to school." an application and a video about committing to the whole philoso- phy of No Excuses University, she said. With the program there is a chance to network with other No Excuses schools and see what they are doing at their campus, Marr said. Cops seek suspects in home burglary toward creating a cultural of univer- sal achievement for all kids and focuses on one element at a time, including collaboration, having a good assessment plan, standards alignment and intervention. The goal is to start building a The system starts with working See COLLEGE, page 7A Sheriff's Department is seeking information on a residential burglary in which about $2,700 worth of items were taken some- time Monday from the 24000 block of Oklahoma Avenue. The Tehama County Deputies were sent about 6 p.m. Monday, when a man reported someone had entered his residence between 1 and 5 p.m. Monday by breaking a front window, according to a department release. Entry had been attempted by kicking in the front door, but the suspects were not successful. A 52-inch Panasonic Vierra Plasma television, worth $1,200, and an LG 850 watt surround sound system, worth $585, were taken. Other items includ- ed a XBox 360, two Pio- neer 6.5 inch car speakers, a chrome-colored Pioneer car stereo, a red, black and silver 760 watt Pio- neer amp, a silver 23-inch Sanyo LCD television, a gray 15-inch Acer laptop and a black iHome iPod See COPS, page 7A Lassen gala goes on despite smoke By RICH GREENE Those homeowners were allowed to return home Monday night as the fire is more active on the eastern edge which is unpopulated and plenty of open brush. ''Even though we've allowed the residents to return on the west side, this fire still has the potential to grow,'' Berlant said. ''We're just fortunate that it has moved away from the homes while continuing tures have been destroyed in the fire, officials said. Also in far Northern California, the Chips Fire in the Plumas National Forest continues to threat- en about 900 homes and has prompted evacuation orders in the Seneca and Rush Creek communities. On Monday, the Plumas County Sheriff issued a voluntary evacua- tion for residents in areas along Highway 70 as fire- fighters made progress with the fire along the northern edge. But, as crews expected, spot fires were beginning to emerge on Tuesday, along with slight winds and ash in the air, said Jennifer Velez, a fire spokeswoman. The fire has burned about roughly 57 square miles and it remains 12 percent contained. ''We do have contain- ment lines and, depending on what the forces of 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 See FIRES, page 7A event featuring cham- pagne and gourmet desserts are still on sale at brownpapertickets.com or the Job Training Cen- ter in Red Bluff. Trans- portation to and from the event can be purchased for an additional $25. The event is sched- uled to be held at the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Vis- itor Center in the south- west entrance to the park from highway 89. DN Staff Writer Tehama County Branding Project mem- bers say the Reading Fire will have no effect on their Starry Night gala fundraiser set for Saturday night at Lassen Volcanic National Park. Tickets for the $50 been burning on the north side of the park and the prevailing winds have been blowing the smoke to the north and east away from the visi- tor center. "We should have awe- somely clear skies the night of event," organiz- er Scott Chandler told the Daily News in an e- mail. The Reading Fire has tions to date had been successful, which would provide a larger margin of safety to the local communities. observatory to the park. The mobile observa- All preparation work for structure protection had also been complet- ed. The Reading Fire reached 23,958 acres as of Wednesday morning and was 15 percent con- tained. The estimated cost to fight the fire was down from an earlier report to $6.4 million. A community meet- ing had been scheduled for tonight. Firefighters reported all their burning opera- Although there were concerns thunder storms could be moving to the ear, which could cause erratic and shifting winds if cumulus clouds formed over the fire. Fire fighters hoped to have the fire contained by Tuesday. Saturday night's Branding Project fundraiser is scheduled to have local astronomy advocate, Dr. Norman Nasise, bring his mobile tory, which is a 2005 GMC Envoy that houses a 14-inch computerized telescope, will enhance the star gazing experi- ence by bringing into clearer focus the Andromeda Galaxy as well as other interesting Courtesy photo star systems and nebu- lae. fantastic place to view stars because of its alti- tude and darkness," Nasise said. "We'll be above the smoke and smog that accumulates "Mount Lassen is a See GALA, page 7A PHYSICIAN REFERRAL A FREE SERVICE PROVIDED FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE 1-800-990-9971