Former Vice-Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin made her mark on Redding.

The one-time Governor of Alaska made two speeches as the headliner for the Sierra-Cascade Logging Conference.

It was a quick day for Palin. Her private jet landed at the Redding Airport around 12:30 PM Monday afternoon. By 3:15 she was making her way into the Convention Center to give her first address.

Speaking to a supportive crowd, she said the federal government has too much power over environmental issues, and said the research behind global warming is quote "a bunch of snake oil science."

Of course, healthcare came up. Palin said Washington should scrap the current reform bill and start all over.

Another big topic that often got a round of applause from the audience was the nation's budget deficit. Palin accused the federal government of spending out of control.

As thousands gathered in the Redding Convention Center to listen to Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin Tuesday, a small crowd of about 10 to 20 people stood near the entrance to protest Palin's visit. The group argued the potential 2012 presidential candidate does not have the intelligence or experience to lead the country. Most of the protest was organized by the Citizens for Responsible Government and the Humanist Society of Redding.

A basketball tournament honoring the life of a Red Bluff boy killed at Lassen National Park was a huge success over the weekend.

The first annual Tommy Botell Memorial Basketball Tournament raised more than $4000 for the Botell family to help them pay their medical bills.

Nine-year-old Tommy was killed, and his sister Katrina severely injured, when a rock wall gave way on Lassen's main trail last summer.

If you would like to donate to the Botell Family, please go to http://www.tommybotell.com

Alcohol may be to blame for a deadly accident on I-5 in Redding Monday morning.

19-year-old Blake Johnson Junior was struck and killed by a semi-truck as he tried to run across the highway around 4:00 AM. Authorities say Johnson had been partying after the Super Bowl, and had alcohol in his system when he was killed. However, they still don't know why he was on the interstate in the first place.

If you have any information, contact the California Highway Patrol.

Previous Stories:
2/08/10 - 8:44 AM: A big rig truck hit and killed a 19 year old man on Northbound Interstate Five in Redding early Monday morning.

So far, authorities have not determined whether alcohol was a factor in the crash.

New information on a child abuse and homicide case in Paradise. An 8-year-old girl died on Saturday, and her 11-year-old sister is in critical condition, after allegedly being beaten with a thick plastic pole by their adoptive parents. According to officials, the 11-year-old girl has been placed on dialysis, because her kidneys are shutting down.

The girls' adoptive parents, Kevin and Elizabeth Schatz, were arrested on an open count of murder and child abuse. Investigators say the couple admitted to the crime, saying it happened while they were disciplining the girls.

The family is made up of nine children, including three from Liberia, and six biological children. They range in age from 3-16 yeas old.

Kevin and Elizabeth Schatz are expected to be arraigned on Tuesday.

Previous Stories:
2/07/10 - 7:01 PM: Police are investigating the death of an eight year old child and the brutal beating of her eleven-year old sister. They have arrested the girls’ adoptive parents, Kevin and Elizabeth Schatz, for murder and abuse.

Sgt. Steve Rowe from the Paradise Police department says the couple did admit to the abuse. Neighbors tell KRCR the couple was nice, and this is the last thing they would ever expect. Officers say the parents had a clean background. Kevin and Elizabeth Schatz were arrested and booked into Butte County Jail.

The Super Bowl is causing problems for a bar in Paradise. Police say they discovered an illegal gambling ring at the Canteena Bar on Skyway over the weekend.

Christopher Fierro, the owner of the bar, was arrested after police say they received an anonymous letter that led them to the bar. He is facing illegal gambling charges.

More than $2100 was seized in the investigation.

Former Alaska Governor and Vice Presidential Nominee Sarah Palin will be speaking Monday afternoon and evening at the Sierra Cascade Logging Conference in Redding.

Her original talk is scheduled for 7 p.m. It sold out back in November, just days after tickets went on sale.

Palin will also make a second, matinee appearance at 3 p.m. According to the Redding Convention Center web site, tickets for that appearance were still available as of 7 a.m. Monday.

The talks come just one day after Palin said on Fox News Sunday she would consider running for president in 2012, if it were "the right thing to do for our country and for the Palin family."

Two Paradise parents accused of murdering their 8-year old adopted daughter and physically abusing her 11-year old sister were described as being quiet and peaceful by neighbors. Speaking to us off camera, neighbors said Kevin and Elizabeth Schatz were very family oriented, adopting three girls from Liberia to add to their family of eight just three years ago. They said the girls had an interest in everything and loved their family. Neighbors said that is what made yesterday's events so disturbing.

Paradise Police found the 8-year old suffering from a cardiac arrest yesterday after responding to an emergency call just after midnight. They were able to resuscitate her briefly before she died on the way to Sutter Memorial Hospital in Sacramento. Searching the home police found the 11-year old sister in critical condition with injuries they describe as being consistent with a beating. Kevin and Elizabeth Schatz were taken into custody and booked on open charges of murder and child abuse. Their other seven children have been taken into protective custody.

The Shasta Area Red Cross hopes a good meal for a good cause helps them bring in some much needed money. Tasked with contributing $160,000 as an area to the Haiti relief efforts the Shasta Area Red Cross says they need people to snag tickets to this upcoming Saturday's Annual Crab Feed at the Win River Event Center.

Tickets are $45 per person or $400 for a table of 10 and can be purchased at the following locations:
The Shasta Area Red Cross
Buz's Crab Shack
Rush Personnel
Cleanrite-Buildrite
Servpro Shasta County

This month’s rain is a welcome sight, but not everyone is wishing for a downpour. The Corning Animal Shelter is still mopping up a huge mess after rain water forced pooches out of their homes. The shelter was practically underwater this month.

Ten dogs had to be moved from the flooded outside pens into the shelter. They were forced to cram into crates. The shelter says flooding happens every year here and it will continue to happen, until the city starts helping out. "This is not a high priority item in my eyes. Even though I'm not opposed to it. I think we have to look at where the biggest need is and get the biggest buy for the buck spending," said Corning Councilman, Ross Turner.

"I know we were gonna get through the day. The volunteers here are wonderful. Everybody has gotten, all the dogs have gotten love today. They've gotten walked. They've gotten their care. But, it's almost like, how much longer can we go on like this? It's sad, just sad," said Pat Panko, shelter volunteer.

There's some talk ... on building a new shelter near the corning airport. But that doesn't look like it'll happen in the foreseeable future.

Horses are being quarantined in Los Molinos, as the equine flu continues to spread across Northern California. The Sunshine Sanctuary for Kids and Horses has 35 horses, but no money to vaccinate them. So for now, the sanctuary has refused to take their horses anywhere and they've cancelled all activities.

The owner says, it's been a rough ride. "It can scare you to death just to lose one and not to mention to risk them and love them, all of those things. Other than the sadness, the breed will be extinct forever," said Christina Nooner, owner of the sanctuary.

The sanctuary has 25 spanish colonial horses. The breed is almost extinct and that's why protecting these particular horses is so important.

Robert Kliebe was sentenced to 13 years in prison today for beating up a woman and stealing $40 from her before leaving their home. Kliebe has to served at least 85% of his sentence before being eligible for parole. He was convicted in 2007 for assault with a deadly weapon on the same woman in Sacramento.

A month-long dispute over what fire agency should protect the town of Millville is over. From now on, when a fire breaks out, both Cal Fire and the Millville Volunteer Fire Department will hit the ground running.

It is called "automatic aid", and it spurred into action thanks to one woman. This issue began boiling over back in October.

Betsy Bevin’s trailer was completely destroyed, and she lost her little puppy. Betsy said that it took too long for fire crews to get to her house.

Thursday night's decision has given Betsy some peace of mind. She is putting the past aside and looking to the future.

In fact, she is moving into a beautiful home on Monday. While it took some time for all the fire departments to come to an agreement, they did. And that, Betsy says, is a wonderful thing.

Betsy says that you have to take the bad with the good, and hopefully her experience will help others when disaster strikes.

We did speak with Fire Chief Devon Tasson about the outcome. He is happy about it. At the end of the day, he says that the community deserves the best.

A Tehama County woman accused of murdering her boyfriend made her first appearance in court Friday. 49-year-old Susan Childs was arraigned in Tehama County Superior Court.

She is accused of stabbing Larry Arnel to death with a 10-inch butcher knife at his father's home. During her arraignment, the judge reduced her bail from over $1 million to $250,000.

She faces first-degree murder charges, and could face 25 years to life in prison if convicted. She did not enter a plea on Friday.

Grad night committees at high schools around the Northstate say they need to be more creative to raise the money for this year's sober grad events.

The bad economy means many people and businesses are not able to donate as much as they have in years past. They are now looking for new sources of funding.

At Paradise High School, that means enlisting the help of students through fundraisers. School officials say that while fundraising is slower than usual, they do not anticipate having to scale back this year's event.

Uninsured children got a chance to see if any "sugar monsters" are at work on their teeth on Friday.

The operatories were busy at the annual Give Kids a Smile event at Shasta Community Health Center's three dental clinics in Redding, Anderson and the City of Shasta Lake.

In Redding, volunteer dentists, Shasta College Dental Students, and high school ROP students all pitched in to meet a growing need.

The dentists were pleasantly surprised. Some children had severe problems, but dentists were encouraged that there were fewer children who needed treatments than last year.

1:04 PM: We've spoken with the USGS and learned more about yesterday's earthquake.

The earthquake's magnitude is currently estimated at 5.9. It was centered in an area called the Mendocino Fracture Zone.

The Mendocino Fracture Zone runs along the edge of the Gorda plate, where last month's 6.5 magnitude quake took place. The fracture is an extension of the San Andreas Fault, and earthquakes there are extremely common.

Earthquakes on the Gorda Plate are also interesting to our area because the plate actually extends underneath North America, and is beneath our feet. There has actually been an earthquake on the Gorda Plate 95 miles beneath Red Bluff.

According to the USGS, there is little risk of tsunami from earthquakes on the Mendocino Transform, because the plate is rubbing sideways. The plate has to move up and down to generate a wave.

Previous Stories:
2/4/10 - 1:29 PM: The 5.9 magnitude earthquake that struck off the coast of Eureka on Thursday has not caused any problems for the town. That's according to police and fire officials in Eureka.

We talked to Mount Shasta Police, and they say that they have not heard of anything that was damaged. They do say they got quite a jolt, but no reports of damage or injuries yet.

Thursday's heavy rain was partly to blame for the death of a Paradise woman, according to police.

51-year-old Elizabeth Chamberlin was trying to cross the Skyway on foot Thursday during heavy rain and traffic, according to a press release.

She was struck by a Ford Ranger truck driven by Michael Slade, 58, also of Paradise.

According to authorities, the driver saw her too late to stop.

Chamberlin was transported to the Feather River emergency room, where she was declared dead.

According to police, speed and alcohol did not initially appear to be factors.

City of Red Bluff officials say they are being sued for a third time by the same group of people who want to stop construction on a new Wal-Mart Supercenter.

They say the legal challenge is against the project's environmental impact report.

City officials say they approved the initial EIR in 2006, but the groups first lawsuit required them to look into eight other issues identified by the court.

The city then completed a "Supplemental Environmental Impact Report" which was passed by the city council.

A second lawsuit then challenged that added EIR. That litigation caused the city to prepare a study on truck noise.

The sound data addendum was prepared and accepted by the council, leading to this third lawsuit.

The city says they consider these lawsuits to be "delay tactics" and plans to fight them.

Chico Unified officials say they will run out of money by November if they cannot fix their budget deficit. If they cannot balance the budget, they risk losing control to the State.

District officials say everything is being considered, from school closures to cutting sports programs. They say an 11% raise for teachers over the last six years has made the situation unsustainable.

Officials say that there is no formal plan right now. The Board will take up the budget discussion again at their next meeting on February 17.

A teacher who placed a plastic bag over a student's head will keep his job.

Chico Unified School District officials say that the actions of the Parkview School teacher in January were not serious enough to merit termination because the student was never in any physical danger.

Other discipline is currently being considered, but nothing has yet been decided. An investigation into the matter by Chico Police concluded that no crime had been committed.

Tehama County schools will battle it out on the basketball court this weekend in an attempt to raise money for Tommy Botell. Tommy was the 10-year-old Red Bluff boy who died after a retaining wall collapsed on him and his sister at the Lassen National Park in 2009.

Reed's Creek School will hold the First Annual Tommy Botell Memorial Basketball Tournament February 5-6 in Red Bluff.

Friends and family said Tommy was looking forward to playing basketball on his school's team this year, and this tournament helps his memory spread throughout the Northstate.

The First Annual Tommy Botell Memorial Tournament will be held at the Bethel Assembly of God gym in Red Bluff. Friday's games start at 4 PM. Saturday's games go from 8 AM-4 PM.

Tickets are $3 for adults and $1 for kids, with all proceeds from tickets and concessions going to the Botell family.

Highway 3 in Trinity County is closed in both directions due to winter conditions. It is closed at the Scott Mountain Summit near the Trinity/Siskiyou County line.

There is no estimated time of re-opening.

Los Molinos High School was placed on lockdown Wednesday afternoon, after school officials received a call warning about a shooting at the school.

In the call, the anonymous person said that someone was bringing a gun onto the campus to shoot someone. The school was placed on lockdown immediately after that.

After deputies investigated and did interviews, the threat was determined to be unfounded, and nothing indicated that the students were in danger. The lockdown lasted about 50 minutes.

The name has been released of the man who was struck and died from getting hit by a train on Wednesday afternoon. Police say 25-year old Davin Diaz was walking along the track with his back turned to the train.

He was taken to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

Previous Stories:
2/3/10 - 5:45 PM: A 25-year-old man has died after being struck by a train Wednesday afternoon in Red Bluff. Officials say the Hispanic man was trespassing on the tracks between Monroe and Oak Streets.

The name and condition of the victim has not been released yet. Agents are looking into the accident to see what happened.