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WEDNESDAY AUGUST 29, 2012 www.redbluffdailynews.com See Page 5A Breaking news at: Pizza on the Barbecue Grill County Fare RED BLUFF Looking to Pagan SPORTS 1B Sunny 94/61 Weather forecast 8B By RICH GREENE DN Staff Writer The Tehama County Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday not to take a stance on Proposi- tion 30, Gov. Jerry Brown's 2012 ballot tax initiative. Supervisor Bob Williams, 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 County takes no stance on Brown tax plan who represents the county on the California State Association of Counties, had asked the board to consider an opinion as the association was to form its own at its upcoming Sept. 6 meeting. Williams, who ran in the Republican Primary for the State Assembly, said he person- ally could not support the proposition. He could not sup- port raising more tax dollars when plans including the "Train to Nowhere" were on the books, referring to a planned high- speed rail project. Party has opposed the proposi- tion, which would raise the sales tax one-quarter cent for four years and create three new personal income tax brackets at and above $250,000 for seven years. The California Republican Vietnam wall arrives The Legislative Analyst's Office estimates the proposition would create an additional $6.8 billion in revenue in the upcom- ing fiscal year. Williams said The Schools & Safety Protection Act was another example of schools and public safety being used as a bargaining chip to get a tax See TAX, page 7A Ponderosa fire winding down By RICH GREENE DN Staff Writer Tehama County Chief Administrator Bill Goodwin announced Tuesday a needs assessment meeting would be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 6 at the Manton Vol- unteer Fire Department. Goodwin said the day-long meeting will be used to help department heads understand the needs and con- cerns of Manton residents affected by the Ponderosa Fire. See FIRE, page 7A on Williamson land By RICH GREENE DN Staff Writer Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb The Vietnam Wall That Heals replica made its way through downtown Red Bluff Tuesday on its journey to the Tehama District Fairground, where it will be on display through Sept. 3. By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer The Vietnam Wall, or at least a 250 foot long, half-scale replica of the one in Washington D.C. called The Wall That Heals, arrived in Red Bluff Tuesday escorted by Red Bluff Police and riders from the Missing in America Project. "I'm a grandpa times eight," Bob Dobek said. "I'm committed to helping the little ones get all the information they need to wet their whistle with history so they do more research and learning." Dobek, who served more than 23 years in the Army and spent more than 13 years in trucking prior to taking on escorting the wall in 2009, drove the truck carrying the wall, accompanied by his wife, Brenda, and Pattie and Dan Little. The wall is very personal for Dobek, not just because he is a Vietnam veteran, but because he knows people on the wall. "I got two buddies I knew since grade school, Army Pfc. Craig T. Reska and Gerald A. Davis, on the wall," Dobek said. "This memorial is a wall that heals. Every wound hurts and if you don't cleanse it, it eats you alive. It gives an opportu- nity for loved ones to say hello and goodbye. It's a chance to be back with your brother in arms and wel- come them home jointly." Red flag alert may hinder 2 area fires SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A series of red flag warnings issued Tuesday had fire officials concerned about contain- ing two major wildfires in Northern California. The high-speed winds predicted in the warnings, coupled with low humidi- ty, could stall efforts to stop the once-massive Ponderosa Fire, which was 96 percent contained, state fire spokeswoman Julie Hutchinson said. ''On one hand, the fire know that it's time to go,'' Siskiyou County sheriff's spokeswoman Jayme Lynch said. was burning about 150 miles north of Sacramento after chewing through more than 43 square miles and destroying more than 142 structures since it started nearly two weeks ago. The Ponderosa Fire is slowing down, but on the other hand, with these winds coming in, that's going to hinder our efforts to get that last bit of con- tainment,'' Hutchinson said. ing involved a fire in Plumas National Forest that was 71 percent con- tained after it scorched more than 114 square miles. With more than 1,500 Elsewhere, authorities in northwest Siskiyou County ordered about 300 residents in Seiad Valley to evacuate as a fast-mov- ing wildfire threatened more than 80 homes. ''We're going door to door and letting people Another red flag warn- While the wall is not etched and you cannot make a rubbing off of it, there is a way to get a rubbing of a name directly from the wall in Washington D.C., he said. All a person needs to do is fill out a rubbing request and put it in a collection box and at the end of the visit in Red Bluff his group will send a mass mail of requests back to D.C. A rubbing will then be mailed back to the person requesting it, free of charge. The group has a computer onsite to look up the location of the name on the wall, which holds 58,249 names. See WALL, page 7A A joint study session between the Tehama County Board of Supervi- sors and Planning Com- mission Aug 21 focused on whether solar power facilities should or even could be built on land con- tracted under the Williamson Act. The session essentially proposed one question — what approach should Tehama County take? With the state's man- date that 33 percent of all energy come from renew- able sources by 2020, the county has been receiving numerous applications to build solar power facili- ties. County studies solar violate the existing Williamson Act contracts, which are in place to dis- courage the development of agricultural land. Around 800,0000 of Tehama County's 1 mil- lion agricultural acres are under Williamson Act contracts. A group of farmers told the session Tuesday they were hoping to supple- ment their agricultural income with solar power facilities on portions of their land. Interim Planning Direc- tor Jim Hamilton said Tehama County is ripe to be part of this "solar land rush." Those facilities would That sentiment has been felt across the state and helped the genesis of Senate Bill 618, which became law Jan. 1 and provides options for landowners to receive a solar easement for part of their land. The bill streamlines the application process for landowners who wish to See SOLAR, page 7A Colorado dog lands in Chico shelter By LAURA URSENY MediaNews Group CHICO — Sara Bella the dog slipped out of "grandpa's" home in Kansas, took a ride with a transient to California and ended up in the Chico Animal Shelter without a way home to Colorado. "It was hard to take, especially for my kids, my two small kids," Justin Howard said of when his dog went missing. Earlier in the week shelter manager Tracy Mohr asked for the com- munity's help to get the Queensland mix a plane ticket from Sacramento to Denver. firefighters, 140 engines and numerous helicopters battling the blaze, crews were optimistic it could be contained by Friday. ''That's the plan,'' fire spokesman John Daugh- erty said. ''We want to have a full line around it and hope that it won't jump and take off again.'' However, Daugherty said there could be prob- lems, as strong winds approached the southern rim of the steadily burn- 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 See ALERT, page 7A money was collected, and it was a matter of waiting for cooler weather for the trip. That happened Tues- day. In less than a day, the MediaNews Group photo by Bill Husa Sara Bella, a friendly Queensland mix, waits at the Chico Animal Shelter last week. was the soft heart who volunteered his pickup truck for Sara Bella's final trip in California. "I saw the information Gary Kerch of Chico in the newspaper. Before I even finished the article, I heard this voice that told me I needed to try to do something." Kerch called the shelter and supplied the last donation to bring the pot to $500 for the flight and a crate. "I always figured there When the transient dropped the young dog off at the shelter, staff scanned a microchip that See DOG, page 7A was a reason why when you spell dog backwards ..." 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