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FRIDAY MARCH 19, 2010 Breaking news at: Life is Good Nature Series Select TV www.redbluffdailynews.com See Inside RED BLUFF Corning Baseball SPORTS 1B Sunny 80/44 Weather forecast 8A DAILYNEWS Mock and Load 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 Reeds Creek the scene of disaster drill By GEOFF JOHNSON DN Staff Writer Shasta County Sgt. Marc St. Clair leaned forward Thursday morning, hunched in a tiny brown metal chair, in a wooden trailer that bare- ly accommodated the five men standing nearby. Before St. Clair stood more than a dozen switches and knobs and a video feed of what appeared to be a pipe bomb — a pair of capped PVC pipes with wires attached — resting on the desk of Reeds Creek School teacher Jennifer Brockman. Operating the Remotec Andros, a $250,00- bomb robot, can be a tense process. A voice, caught by the robot’s speaker and carried into the trailer, broke the silence. “They got sandwiches up in the cafeteria, if you guys want something to eat,” Undersheriff Dennis Garton said. The bomb squad was tasked with the last drill in a mock disaster Thursday at Reeds Creek School that test- ed members of just about every single facet of Tehama County’s emergency response teams, and some of Shasta County’s, too. Members of the Tehama City in the black; gap looms large By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer The city will make it through the remaining three months of the fiscal year ending with a slim margin of $3,840 in savings in its general fund. The top sources of revenue con- tributing to the general fund, sales tax and motor vehicle license fees, both declined. Overall, sales were down 22.6 per- cent compared to the same third quar- ter — July through September — in 2008 resulting in a $66,000 shortfall in sales tax. The largest decline is in auto and transportation sales, attributed to the closing of Red Bluff Ford in April 2009. Gas and service stations continue to See BUDGET, page 7A Redneck Mardi Gras, motocross Daily News photos by Geoff Johnson SWAT members get ready for an assault on the Reeds Creek School campus Thursday as part of a mock disaster. County Sheriff’s Depart- ment, California Highway Patrol, Red Bluff Police Department, Tehama County SWAT, Shasta County Bomb Squad, CalFire, Tehama County Fire Department, St. Elizabeth Community Hospi- tal and Tehama County Department of Education swarmed the campus as the school went on lockdown. The drill’s scenario involved a bomb detonating, burning down a classroom and injuring dozens of stu- dents, with Sgt. Rod Daugh- erty playing a disgruntled man who used a second bomb to take another class- room hostage. SWAT members escort students across campus Thursday at Reeds Creek School as part of a mock disaster. Christian film festival Saturday Special to the DN Ne w Hope Foursquare Church will pre- sent the inaugural Brickyard Creek Christian Film Festi- val from noon to 9 p.m. Satur- day, March 20 at 925 Walnut St. Admis- sion is free and a variety of films will shown at the event with opportunities for discus- sion to follow. The event is organized by Jay Nelson and Chris Officer, of Red Bluff, to promote the efforts of If you go... What: Brickyard Creek Christian Film Festival When: Noon to 9 p.m. Saturday Where: New Hope Foursquare Church How much: Free Christian filmmak- ers and recruit individuals interested in screen- ing films to be pre- sented at the festival next year. The films to be presented Saturday have won v arious awards at national and inter- national film festivals. New Hope plans to issue awards for films submit- ted and reviewed at the 2011 festival. New Hope Foursquare will be presenting a free Christian film each month for the remainder of 2010. The festival schedule is as follows. Noon — The Sword, a 90-plus min production 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 See FILM, page 7A Daughterty played the role of a man whose wife lost a school job and, without health insurance, succumbed to cancer. He was eventually talked out of his demands for pizza and a conservation with the governor by the negotiat- ing team of Red Bluff Police Sgt. Jason Beeman and Sgt. Dan Flowerdew, who, like the other responders, had lit- tle information on what to expect. “It’s as real as it gets,” Beeman said. The drill was a contrast of dead seriousness and light humor. Volunteer mothers took pride in sneaking past deputies and into guarded buildings while children, sporting mock injuries, shouted for help. Deputies See MOCK, page 7A to fair ground By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer The Tehama District Fair Board dis- cussed the addition of three new events during Tuesday’s monthly meeting. The first and most thoroughly dis- cussed event was the relocation of the Isleton Crawdad Festival. According to a release from the R Wild Horse Ranch Owners Associa- tion who will host the 2010 event, the event has been hosted in Isleton since 1986, but has outgrown the communi- ty. The release describes the event as a “redneck mardi gras” with dancing in the streets, beads and beer, hot craw- dads, hot zydeco and Cajun music, a carnival and lots of surprises. With no other locations within the town’s limits, the Isleton Chamber of Commerce opted to sell the event to another non-profit organization. Several groups approached the Isle- ton chamber, but the R Wild Horse Ranch Owners Association walked away with the rights to the event. Many of the festival’s volunteers See FAIR, page 7A CalFire efforts lower insurance rates By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer Thanks to a drop in Insurance Services Office ratings, effec- tive March 1 at many rural fire stations in Tehama County some resi- dents may be seeing a drop in insurance premiums. “We’re starting to see property coverages go down,” said John Jones, owner of Robert Jones Insur- ance in Corning. Jones, who asked CalFire Chief Gary Durden to check into the matter of ISO ratings after a conversation with his co-worker, Bonnie Demo, said he has seen customers save as much as $800 a year with an average savings of $300 to $400 a year. Stations seeing improved ratings include CalFire stations in Red Bluff, TEHAMA COUNTY GLASS MOULE’S IT’S SCREEN SEASON Enjoy the Fresh air without Bugs New Window & Door Screen Re-screen your existing screens 515 Sycamore St. 529-0260 Learn QuickBooks (April 7 to May 12) 6 Wednesday Evenings Time: 5:15 pm to 7:15 pm Cost: $99.00 per person Location: Job Training Center, 718 Main St., Red Bluff Call 529-7000 to Register ‘The higher the point value, the less insurance companies that will write them a policy. By going down one point it gave more insurers the right to write policies’ CalFire Chief Gary Durden Bowman, El Camino, Los Molinos, Richfield, Corning, Dibble Creek, Business Mineral, Paynes Creek, Baker, Paskenta, Red Bank and Elk Creek, according to a list provided by Jones. Homeowners are urged to check with existing insurers, as availability of discounts varies by area and com- pany, Jones said. Every state is different and not all insurance companies use ISO ratings to determine ratings, but ISO, which is based out of Chicago, does set the ratings for the majority of states, Durden said. “Our ratings in the areas with fire hydrants were pretty good, but the rest of the county weren’t,” Durden said. ISO ratings, with the lower the better, are typically re-done when either an assigned field representa- tive comes to a station and evaluates it or when paperwork is sent in by a station and evaluated, Durden said. See RATES, page 7A Connections Has added another service! LIVE SCAN FINGERPRINTING With results electronically sent to DOJ & FBI Appointments and/or walk-ins. 332 Pine St., Red Bluff 527-6229 Since 1979 Tues., April 6TH 8:30 am to 12:30 pm Cost: $65.00 per person Job Training Center 718 Main St., Red Bluff Call 529-7000 Intermediate EXCEL class