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FRIDAY MARCH 26, 2010 Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com Coupon Queen Debuts See Page 3A RED BLUFF Lightning Strikes Twice SPORTS 1B Partly cloudy 64/42 Weather forecast 8A By GEOFF JOHNSON DN Staff Writer As the United States adds some 32 million to the ranks of its health insurance plans, Tehama County health care providers appear as divided over this week’s passage of a health care overhaul bill. The Pros On one end, Connie Massie, manager for Corning Medical Associates, expressed the strongest support for the bill of anyone contacted by the Daily News. 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 Health overhaul gets mixed local reaction Like most, she said she was still coming to terms with all the bill’s individual provisions, but thought the expansion was both timely and needed. “We’re dealing with people who are needing health care,” Massie said. “We’re seeing them financially wiped out.” Massie said she hopes the bill will hold insurance compa- nies more accountable for their profits, and expects it to lower insurance costs in the long run. “We have to be aware of the fact that there are some areas where we have let the fox guard ‘I think a lot of this stuff was done to hasten the decline of private health care in this country, and force a crisis where this all becomes nationalized’ Dr. William Gentry the chicken coop, and there has to be more accountability,” she said. Massie said her opinion was shared by doctors in her clinic. The president of Catholic Healthcare West, owner of St. Elizabeth Community Hospital, expressed explicit support of the bill in a press release on the eve of the bill’s passage. “This legislation addresses the real problems in our health care system: too many people without coverage and the high cost of care for all,” said Lloyd Dean, Catholic Healthcare West president and CEO. Kristin Behrens, community and marketing relations manag- er for St. Elizabeth, said the health care expansion was in line with the hospital’s mission. “We support that whole- heartedly,” Behrens said. The hospital already meets or exceeds new “pay for perfor- mance” guidelines in the bill, See HEALTH, page 7A Racing toward disaster Departments, jobs merge Red Bluff man is first responder to tragedies By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer In the wake of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti on Jan. 12, thousands of volunteers swarmed the country to help where they could. Steve Engler of Red Bluff, a retired fire battal- ion chief and paramedic with the Disaster Medical Assistance Team, Califor- nia 6, was among the first to reach Haiti. The team deployed on Jan. 13 and stayed in Haiti for two weeks. There are 15 such med- ical teams throughout the US that are called upon when disasters occur. Engler, who has worked on the team for eight years, said the team goes wherever it is need- ed. When the group first arrived in Haiti, members stayed at the US Embassy before they were assigned duties. The team eventually set up medical tents on a golf course to take in patients. The place quick- ly filled with people need- Courtesy photo Collapsed buildings such as this one trapped Haitians who were still stuck days after the earthquake hit Haiti on Jan. 12. ing medical assistance, and interpreters crowded the tents looking for an opportunity to make some money. The level of care pro- vided was efficient but nothing comparable to the New event aims to connect homeless with resources Special to the DN The first of what is hoped to become an annual event, Project Homeless Connect will be a homeless fair 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 5 at the Tehama District Fair- ground. The principals of Pro- ject Homeless Connect are as follows: Not business as usual, no waiting in line, hospitality from the whole community, immediate access and this is not just a day for people to gather information or get referrals, but a day for people to make changes and get con- nected to essential services. To prepare for the event, organizers are asking the community to help by donating three basic items — socks, towels and blan- kets. One of the services planned will be a sock exchange in which used, older socks can be exchanged for clean, new ones. Another service typical- ly needed by homeless peo- ple is information and resources regarding how and where to obtain show- ers on a fairly regular basis. Organizers need towels to pair up with the soap the group already has to bundle with the cards containing addresses and times show- ers will be available. Chilly nights mean there is the continual need for blankets. 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 Donation locations will be the Daily News, Tehama County Courthouse lobby, Tehama County Adminis- tration Building, St. Eliza- beth Community Hospital, Department of Social Ser- vices and Tehama County Department of Education. For more information, call Senia Owensby at 526- 2173, or 527-2151 x 129. level of treatment that most Americans are used to, Engler said. The para- medics tried to get as many people in and out as they could. Patients could not be referred to a doctor or check into a hospital for a longer stay. If someone left, got infected and died, that was it. There was not much his team could do about it, Engler said. See RACING, page 7A By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer Red Bluff’s water and street departments have been combined, creating a savings that will go toward fund- ing roads. The City Council voted recently to approve the pro- motion of Water Division Supervisor John Jennings to oversee both departments under the new title public works supervisor. In the process, Councilman Jim Byrne took the opportunity to once again state his desire to have a reor- ganization of the entire public works department. Earlier this month the street department supervisor retired. Instead of filling the vacancy, Public Works Director Mark Barthel proposed the street department supervisor’s duties be taken over by Jennings, who would be given a 10 percent raise for taking on the extra responsibilities. There are a number of vacancies in the street depart- ment and Barthel does not want to pull a person from the field into a supervisory position, he said. The street and water departments work closely together, so the promotion of Jennings to oversee both departments would be for the best. The council debated the issue over two meetings, postponed the decision during the March 2 meeting and asked for information on the organization of the public works department and for a job description and classi- fication for the proposed public works supervisor posi- tion to be written. Councilman Bob Carrel questioned the proposed 10 percent raise after seeing the new job description in comparison to each of the separate division supervisor positions that would be eliminated. The description of all three positions are 96 percent the same so why should the raise be given, he said. Barthel said, though the descriptions look the same, Jennings will be performing more duties than he would be supervising just one department. With the 10 percent raise, the annual salary plus ben- efits for Jennings will be $94,342.56. See MERGE, page 7A Show is an earful, and an eyeful By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer Close to 750 Tehama County students packed into Red Bluff’s State Theatre Thursday for a noon showing of Charlie and the Chocolate Facto- ry, but by the sound of things you wouldn’t know it. The production, pre- sented by actors from Signstage on Tour, includ- ed both spoken and sign language, with some actors speaking the words for their fellow actors, who are hearing impaired. “I’m the rookie so there’s an added chal- lenge,” said actress Kris- ten Burke. “I play two characters on stage and five off stage. I kind of have to do vocal gymnas- tics doing both boy and girl parts.” Burke, who is from Philadelphia, said she got involved with Signstage after seeing a flyer while taking sign language classes. “It was really a perfect fit for me because it com- bined two things — sign Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb Third grader Cienna Corpus accepts a coloring book and crayons from Lisa Noftz and Desiree Bassett of US Bank while Signstage on Tour actress Kristen Burke, far right, greets students coming in to Thursday’s performance of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the State Theatre. language and theater,” Burke said. “It’s especial- ly neat when we do have a deaf audience. Kids will say ‘I never knew I could do this,’ so we see a lot of kids inspired to see more deaf theater or perform in it.” As students lined up to get in, US Bank Branch Manager Lisa Noftz and Assistant Manager See SHOW, page 7A TEHAMA COUNTY GLASS GOT MOULE’S GLASS! OPEN Saturdays 9:00-3:30 515 Sycamore St. 529-0260 Sat. March 27th Ribeye Dinner Jack the Ribber & Wine Tasting featured by Mt. Tehama Winery & Alpine Cellars Winery $ 1250 dinner only 1300 with wine tasting 1150 Monroe St. • 527-6108 $