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Since 1880
THE
Vol. 118 No. 51
i . ,.
Fifty Cents
Friday, June 2, 2000
Local schools all face financial woes
Gridley, Biggs and LO could face budget cuts
Dan Ross Biggs school board members great deal of work ahead to tion asked us to do a budget revi-
Staff Reporter
Financial troubles seem to
have spread through all three of
this area's larger school districts.
Live Oak's school district has
just announced no money exists
for teachers raises for the upcom-
ing school year.
have spent months juggling a
$200,000-plus deficit for the
2000-01 school year and Gridley
school board members are just
beginning to look at a possible
budget deficit for next year.
The Live Oak Unified School
District board members have a
straighten out district finances,
according to Wayne Gadberry,
the district's interim superintend-
ent.
A special board meeting will.
be held Monday evening, Said l
Gadberry.
"The county office of educa-,
sion for them. There is just one
item and I will be presenting that
to the board," said Gadberry.
Once the special meeting is
complete, Gadberry said he will
begin to focus on the 2000-01
school year.
"My goal is to have a budget
for next year at the June 20 meet-
ing," said Gadberry.
"Being new to the district, I am
working hard to close out this
school year then get things going
for next year," added Gadberry.
Gadberry came to the district
following the school board mem-
bers asking for and receiving the
resignation of then-superintend-
ent Sam Hill in March of this
year.
Hill resigned abruptly follow-
ing a series of board meetings
revolving around a poor evalua-
tion he gave of Brad Roberts the
principal at Live Oak High
School and a school board evalu-
ation of Hill's duties as well.
At the time of his resignation,
the school board members said
Hill was hired in 1992 when the
district was facing financial trou-
bles and credited Hill with
See TROUBLES on page 5
EVERY 15 MINUTES
A FAR TOO REALISTIC--Firemen work to free a student from a mock crash scene in front of Gridley High School. (photo by
Mei Nieschulz)
Production warns Gridley High, students
of the danger of drinking and driving
Mel Nieschulz
Intem
At approximately 12:15
Tuesday afternoon, May 30, an
announcement was made at
Gridley High School over the
public address system which
reported a head on traffic acci-
dent in front of the school
involving several classmates.
Students gathered in front of
the school and watched as six of
their classmates, bloody and
contorted were pulled from the
crumpled vehicles. Despite the
chaos the students remained
quiet.
One of the teens was declared
dead on the scene by para-
medics while another was
arrested by police for driving
under the influence.
The victims were taken away
in emergency vehicles with
their sirens piercing the after-
noon air. Afterwards only the
twisted metal of the two cars
remained like distorted statues
to monument the occasion.
The accident scene that stu-
dents witnessed was actually a
staged one which is part of a
program called "Every" 15
Minutes." The name is based
on the statistic that every 15
minutes someone dies as a
result of an alcohol related acci-
dent.
The event was presented at
the local high school in the
hope that real tragedies of this
nature will be prevented in the
spring months where alcohol
related accidents and casualties
are on the rise.
To combat this statistic,
Gridley High School, Gridley
Police Department, Gridley
Ambulance, Enloe Flight Care,
Gridley-B!ock Funeral Chapel,
"Friday Night Live," Biggs-
Gridley Memorial Hospital and
CDF Fire/Gridley Fire
Department stage this anti-
drunk driving program to edu-
cate juniors and seniors as to
the danger of mixing alcohol,
driving and spring activities
such as prom and graduation.
Tom and Toni Tamagni
looked on as their son Trent was
removed donning wounds and
fake blood from the back of the
car by paramedics on the scene.
Regardless of the validity, the
parents watched solemnly.
"It gives you goose bumps,"
Toni Tamagni said.
"You realize it can happen to
any one of these kids," Tom
Tamagni concluded.
The accident, while involving
six teens, focuses on three vic-
tims' stories and the aftermath
of drinking and driving.
One victim, after being con-
victed of driving under the
influence of alcohol, was arrest-
ed by the Gridley Police
Department and booked into
jail.
Another victim was fatally
injured at the scene and escort-
ed by hearse to the Gridley-
Block Funeral Chapel.
The third victim was trans-
ported to Biggs-Gridley
Memorial Hospital.
"Any signs of life?" a nurse
asked.
"Negative," is the answer he
received.
At 12:57 p.m. the patient was
See EVERY 15 on page 9
Officers found
not at fault in
March shooting
The officers involved in the Gutierrez was in a residence and
March 29 incident in which an
18-year-old Gridley man fatally
shot himself have been ruled to
have acted appropriately during
the tragic incident, according to
a report from the Butte County
District Attorney's Office.
"Based on the investigation
and the D.A.'s conclusion, the
officers did everything they
co.uld to prevent the tragedy as
well as protect the general public
at the scene," said Gridley Police
Lt. Brian Cook.
Porfirio Gutierrez suffered a
single self-inflicted gunshot
wound to the head during the
incident? .....
Because the incident was clas-
sified as an officer involved
shooting, the entire event was
investiglated by independent
policing agencies within the
county. District Attorney Mike
Ramsey released the results of
the investigation Thursday after-
noon.
Police were initially notified
of a disturbance in the 1000
block of Pecan Street at approx-
imately 6:40 p.m. March 29. of
this year.
Officers Jim Roberts, Alan
Byers and Sgt. Dana Davis
responded m the call and learned
could possibly be armed.
A search of the residence and
an adjacent garage failed to turn
up any sign of Gutierrez.
He was later found by the offi-
cers inside a beauty shop along-
side the residence and was
armed with a handgun, accord-
ing to police.
According to the D.A.'s
report, Gutierrez was ordered to
come out of the dark and pepper
spray was used in an unsuccess-
ful attempt to disarm him.
Roberts then fired two rounds
from a non-lethal weapon, com-
monly referred to as a "bean-bag
gun. ............ " "
The officer's attempts to dis-
arm Gutierrez were unsuccessful
and he shot himself once in the
head, according to the report.
"The district attorney's office
stated the officers were discharg-
ing their legal duty to protect the
public and Mr. Gutierrez when
they attempted to disarm him
with the "bean bag" shot gun,"
said Cook.
Ramsey's report further stated
that the officers acted in an
appropriate manner to protect
the public at the scene, Gutierrez
and themselves.
Local graduations
es at 7 p.m. Tuesday in front of
the school district office on
Pennington Road.
Live Oak Middle School's 8th
graders will walk the stage at the
high school's football field on
Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
The 8th graders from
Manzanita Elementary School in
Gridley will take their last steps
before moving on to Gridley
High with their commencement
exercises on Wednesday at 7
p.m. at the school.
At the same time as
Manzanita's commencement the
continuation students from
Gridley at Esperanza High
Dan Ross High, kicks off graduation week
with its commencement exercis-
Staff Reporter
The last classes and final
exams are wrapping up as area
high school seniors complete
their preparations for graduation
day.
As the high school seniors pre-
pare to advance to college or
career, area middle school 8th
graders gear up for the big step
next fall for their first high
school classes.
Graduation week in the
Gridley, Biggs, Live Oak corri-
dor will be quite full, with cere-
monies starting .Tuesday night,
June 6 and continuing through
Friday night, June 9.
The continuation school for
Live Oak students, Valley Oak
See GRADS on page 9
City issues water quality report
Scotty Williams
Editor
Residents received the City of
Gridley 1999 Annual Water
Quality Consumer -Confidence
Report this week.
Gridley Public Works
Department Manager Ed Melton
said he is pleased with the report,
as it shows the city's drinking
water to have levels of contami-
nants which are far below the
amounts allowed by state stan-
dards.
"We're well under any of the
detectable limit of any of the
chemicals. Basically I think
we've got good water," said
Gridley Public Works Director
Ed Melton.
Nearly all drinking water,
including bottled water, atains
some level of contaminants.
Contaminants most often are the
result of natural deposits found
in the ground.
The report outlines the levels
of contaminates found in city
water and compares them to the
levels allowed by State of
California.
For example: 20 samples of
city water were tested for lead
over the course of 1999. On
average Gridley water was found
to have 5.5 parts per billion of
lead in city water.
State standards allow the pres-
ence of up to 15 parts per billion
of lead in drinking water.
City wells were also tested for
copper in '99 with 304 parts per
billion detected. State standards
allow up to 1,300 parts per bil-
lion.
Lead and copper levels are the
only two non-biological contam-
inates the city is required to test
for annually.
The results of the most recent
tests for other non-biological
contaminates are also included in
the report.
"By comparing the numbers of
what's detected and the maxi-
mum contaminate level, we are
way below what is allowable by
state standards,' ',aid °ublic
Works Supervisor Tim Hill.
Both Hill and Melton stressed
that Gridley is fortunate to have
such a pure source of wed water
beneath the city.
"I think not only in the quality
of water, but the purity. You save
See REPORT on page 5