A local medical marijuana collective is in the limelight, but it's not for what you think. City of Shasta Lake collective, 530 Collective, located on Locust Avenue, is kicking off the giving season with a canned food drive.
Both members and non-members can donate. Members who chip in will get a discount on their medicine. The collective's founders said non-members will get a chance to learn about how the collective operates. They say the want to be as transparent as possible, and that's why they're inviting the public to ask questions while donating their canned goods. They say they hope to dispel negative stereotypes while serving a community need.
All of the food will be donated to the Shasta Lake Community Food Pantry. The director of the food pantry, Ray Siner, said he's uncomfortable with medical marijuana collectives, but the community needs the food badly. He can't imagine turning down donations when so many City of Shasta Lake residents are going hungry.
The food drive will run from Nov. 1 to Nov. 24.

It's every parent’s worst nightmare. A 14 year old boy is hit by a car on Halloween night. Redding Police say the boy was with a group of kids in the middle of the street. Police say he dashed in front of a moving car. This happened at 9:30 pm near Victor Avenue and Vega Street. When emergency crews arrived, the boy was coherent. But witnesses say he was unconscious for a time. He was taken to Mercy Medical Center and and police say he's suffering from some broken bones.

Chico and Red Bluff turned their Main Streets into treat streets today for Halloween. The annual tradition let's stores pass out candy to children coming in for early trick or treating. Store workers said today, "was a great day to work" and called the event, "wonderful." In Redding, families with children 12 and under can go to the Mt. Shasta Mall tonight from 5:30 to 8 for their store to store trick or treating and costume contest event.

The Shasta County parole and probation department will be doing sweeps tonight to check in on registered sex offenders. Offenders are supposed to have their porch lights off through the night, a sign to parents and children to pass by their house when trick or treating. We'll have video of this year's Operation Boo tonight at 11.

The halloween weekend has already gotten off to a busy start for Redding Police. They spent the evening looking for a man who ran from them after he was stopped near Hartnell Avenue around 8:00 Friday evening. Officers combed the area, but weren't able to find the guy. The search was cancelled a few hours ago. Officials tell us there's no reason to be concerned. They have his name and say they'll have the District Attorney's office file charges.

Rumors have been swirling that people who are not in the H1N1 target group have been getting the vaccinations. We did some fact checking and found out that is just not true.

Officials across the Northstate tell us only the most vulnerable people are getting vaccinated.

Here is a break down of those groups:

• Pregnant women.
• Kids under the age of 9.
• Caregivers for babies under the age of 6 months.

Shasta County Public Health held its first H1N1 clinic Friday afternoon. It was by appointment only.

If you have not made an appointment yet, do not worry. Shasta County officials are holding a walk-in clinic during the first two weeks of November.

In addition to the target groups, kids between the ages of 6 months-18 years are eligible. Details on the clinics have not been set yet, but we will let you know the locations and times as soon as we get them.

Enloe Medical Center in Chico is gearing up for the Halloween weekend. Officials tell us they are expecting an increase in alcohol and drug related problems.

In response to the increased workload, they will keep their PromptCare Clinic on Cohasset Road open a few extra hours, until midnight on Saturday. They will also open a command center and have extra staff on hand to respond to any emergencies.

Three Chico State students are doing fine after a fire at their home claimed the life of their dog. The fire, which produced a great deal of smoke but very few flames, broke out just after 8 Thursday night at a home on Alba Avenue in Chico.

The tenants were not home at the time of the blaze, which trapped "Mocha," a shepherd-Rottweiler mix, inside. None of the people living in the home were insured.

The cause of the fire, which is believed to have started in one of the bedrooms, is still under investigation.

Halloween is this weekend and AAA is offering free rides to any one who drinks too much. Their Tipsy Tow program will be available Saturday night through Sunday morning.

All you have to do is call up AAA at 1-800-222-4357. They will tow your car up to five miles for free, along with you and your passengers. You do not need to be a AAA member.

Halloween festivities are underway, and if you are looking for some fun, Tehama County might just be the place to be. Los Molinos has three carnivals set up for Saturday.

No event is complete without a pumpkin carving contest, not to mention costume contests. But let's get to the bottom line here: candy is one of the main reasons for the holiday.

We caught up with organizers on Friday. They are welcoming all the ghosts and goblins in the Northstate, and they say this is a fun and safe alternative to roaming the streets.

The first carnival will be from 1-4 PM at Los Molinos Elementary. Tickets are five dollars.

Vina's Halloween Carnival is from 6-8 PM at Vina Elementary. That is also five bucks.

Lassen View School will host a carnival from 5-8 PM. It is free to get in, but tickets are 10 cents each.

A woman from Trinity County has died of the swine flu, county health officials announced.

She was in her late 40s, and had a pre-existing health condition. She died in a Sacramento hospital.

Her death is the first swine flu death linked to the county.

Nasal spray vaccines are still available in Trinity County by appointment, but vaccine shots have yet to arrive.

Are you afraid to go back to the library because of an overdue book? Well don't be, because the Shasta County Library is starting a new program to try and get those overdue books back.

It is called fines for food. If you have an overdue book, you can get a dollar off your fine for each food item you bring in. The reward is threefold: it brings people back to the library; the library gets their books back; and it helps out needy people in the community at the same time.

The program begins the 1st of November and runs through the 21st. Food donations will be capped at 10 items or 10 dollars. Donations will be accepted at all three Shasta County libraries. Of course, food items will be accepted even if you do not have an overdue book.

The Governor may have saved California State Parks from closing for good, but that does not mean it is business as usual. To fill a $14.2 million budget cut, the parks are making cuts.

Some of the most common cuts include reduced days of operation, like closing down two or three days per week at some parks.

Other parks will close campgrounds or day-use areas. Many parks, including some in the Northstate, will reduce the number of interpretive programs offered to school tours.

Here are the State Parks in the Northstate that will be affected:

• Bidwell Mansion will not give tours on Monday, Thursday, or Friday.
• The Courthouse museum in Old Shasta will be closed Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
• The Joss House in Weaverville will not offer tours on Mondays, Tuesday, or Wednesdays.
• The Ide Adobe Park in Red Bluff will not give tours on Mondays, Tuesdays, or Wednesdays.

At Ide Adobe Historic State Park, Red Bluff High School students teach 4th graders about 19th century history twice a week in the spring. It is called the Ide Adobe Docent Program.

Park employees train the students, but now there is only one full-time staff member at Ide Adobe, thanks to budget cuts. She has to take three furlough days every month, so the program may have to be scaled back.

The Red Bluff Unified High School District Superintendent, Dan Curry, is a former docent. He says the program is a great learning experience. The high-schoolers dress up in 1850-era costumes and demonstrate how to make lead bullets, drip candles and do woodwork.

This is different from Adobe Day in August. Park officials say that is in the next fiscal year, so there is no telling whether funding for the event will be in the budget.

A Tehama County bicycle rider is in serious condition after he was hit by two cars Wednesday night.

Red Bluff Police say 30-year old Larry Turner Jr. was crossing Antelope Blvd. at Rio Street around 5:30 PM right in front of a car. He was hit and knocked off his bike.

The driver said the sun was partially in his eyes, and made it more difficult to see. Turner was then run over by a second car. He was taken to Enloe Medical Center in Chico.

According to police, he was in critical condition Wednesday night, but his condition has since been upgraded to serious condition on Thursday.

Two suspects were arrested for a string of armed robberies that started late Wednesday night in Chico.

Chico P.D. officials say the men held up five different people during four robberies at the Bank of America ATM at 5th and Salem, and in the parking lot of the Safeway on Sacramento Avenue.

Officers say they spotted the men when they came back to the scene of one of the crimes and arrested them. 20-year old Andrei Butler and Michael Mullen were booked on robbery charges.

The "Tea Party Express" rolled through the Northstate this week, stopping in Redding on Thursday morning. It is sponsored by the Conservative Political Action Committee, which is called "Our Country Deserves Better."

The Express Message was less government, less spending, and getting back to the constitution. While the anti-Obama sentiment was palpable, even co-emcee Mark Williams admits that it is not strictly along party lines.

About 400 people showed up. They say they are not willing to sit back and watch their freedom erode. They said that they want to get the country back to a free republic, since the government has been controlling the lives of citizens the past several years.

They came from the Bay Area Wednesday night and moved on to Medford later in the day. They will head up the west coast, then cross-country to Florida in a couple of weeks.

Two people were found clinging to a log and rescued from the Sacramento River after their boat overturned Wednesday afternoon.

According to the Tehama County Sheriff's Office, Jordon Mallory, 30, of Chico, and Jonathan Perata, 26, of Pioneer, were with Michael Janke, 27, of Chico, in his 18-foot power boat just upstream of the Woodson Bridge.

The boat flipped over after it ran out of gas. Janke was able to swim to shore but Mallory and Perata were left on a log about thirty yards from the eastern side of the river.

They were rescued by local fishing guide Chuck Powell. Deputies and a CHP helicopter were also on-site.

Mallory and Perata were treated for exposure to the cold water and released on the scene.

According to the Sheriff's Office, there were life jackets in the boat but it flipped too quickly for anyone to put them on. They also said alcohol was not a factor.

The Shasta County District Attorney is promising he'll prosecute marijuana collectives and cooperatives who are acting illegally. It was the answer to just one of the many questions from the audience at a town hall meeting in Cottonwood Tuesday night. Top officials from Shasta County updated the audience on everything from marijuana regulation to new construction projects in the area. They pointed out that Cottonwood is expected to grow in the coming years, but it will take some time because of the economy.

Was it a crime of passion or murder? That is what Butte County law enforcement officials are trying to figure out after a 42-year old woman died. She was reportedly stabbed at her Palermo home allegedly by her husband.

The Butte County Sheriff's Department says it has the weapon and has not one, but two confessions from 52-year old Steven Zornes in the death of his newlywed wife-Katherine Jewel Allen.

Authorities say Zornes and Allen, who have been married since April, were arguing inside the home when he stabbed her. Allen left the house and went outside, where she died from her wounds despite medical treatment.

This would not be the first time that Zornes has had problems with Butte County law enforcement. District Attorney Mike Ramsey said that just over twenty years ago in 1987, Zornes was tried and convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the death of a Butte County man.

After serving his 11-year sentence, he had been off the law enforcement radar until Tuesday. Ramsey says if Zornes is convicted of killing his wife, it would be his second strike, and any sentence he receives would automatically be doubled.

Authorities described the place where the alleged murder took place as a church and treatment center, and there were more than one couple living there at the time.

Apparently, the other people there did see the couple fighting, but no one saw the stabbing. We tried speaking to them on Wednesday, but they said they were still grieving over what happened and were not ready to talk.

Zornes will be in the Butte County Courthouse Thursday at 3 PM to be formally charged.

Wal-Mart has cleared a big legal hurdle in trying to expand in Red Bluff. It faced a lawsuit filed by a citizens group, but a court ruled in favor of the City and Wal-Mart, with one exception.

It required a closer look at the noise trucks make when they stop there. A citizen group took the City and Wal-Mart to court. It said the project's Environmental Impact Report was inadequate.

Red Bluff's Mayor Pro Tem says he is happy the project will probably be moving forward. Jeffery Moyer said, “It's been a long-awaited thing in the city, and I think it's an excellent thing that happens. It's going to create jobs and overall be a good tax revenue base.”

City officials say the new analysis of truck stop noise will take a month or two. The new Supercenter would be located just behind the current Wal-Mart on Luther Road.

People living in Butte County have a month to make sure their lights and generators are not creating a nuisance for neighbors. On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a pair of ordinances that limit the amount of light and generator noise that is allowed.

Property owners will be required to shield lights that shine directly onto a neighboring lot and generator noise will be limited to 55 decibels. Both ordinances go into effect November 26th.

A truck hit a pedestrian late Wednesday afternoon around 4 PM. Witnesses say a woman and her dog were on Victor Avenue near Conifer Way when a truck hit her.

Officials say the truck slowed down to let the woman cross and then a second truck, traveling behind the first, could not slow down in time and rear-ended the first truck. That sent the first truck into the woman.

The woman was transported to the hospital and though officials did not know the extent of her injuries, they do say that she was walking around and talking. The dog she was walking has not been located.

We will give you any updates as they come in.

A Palermo woman is dead and her husband is in jail accused of stabbing her.

Butte County Sheriff's Deputies were called to a home on Highway 70 in Palermo on Tuesday at around 12:35 PM, after someone had called 911 to report a stabbing.

Deputies found Katherine Jewel Allen, 42, suffering from wounds consistent with a stabbing when they got to the home. Paramedics tried to save her but she died at the scene.

Deputies questioned and then arrested Allen's husband, Steven Frederick Zornes. He is in the Butte County Jail with bail set at $1 million.

A Redding man was knocked over and robbed at a Sierra Central Bank ATM around 7:20 p.m. Tuesday, according to Redding Police.

Doug Stover told police he was taking cash from the machine when two men came from behind, attacked him, and grabbed his wallet.

According to police, Stover said he was struck on the head with a wooden stick by one man and then punched in the mouth by the other. He was treated for minor injuries.

Both attackers then fled the scene toward Pine Street.

Police don't have names for either suspect.

On Wednesday morning, Redding police said the case has been transferred to the investigations division. Investigators will be looking into whether surveillance video of the robbery was taken at the scene.

It is another poor year of return for the fall salmon run in the Sacramento River. Workers are trying to squeeze every egg out of every female salmon that makes its way back to Coleman National Fish Hatchery.

Hatchery workers are about two-thirds of the way through spawning this year's run. There are salmon, but not in the numbers they would like to see.

Right now, about 10 million eggs have been fertilized. Coleman's quota is 15 million, resulting in at least 12 million juvenile salmon released into the system. Coleman has always met its quota, but this year could be a struggle.

It is free to watch the spawning process at Coleman, usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but call to make sure they are spawning before you go. School groups come through all time, sometimes arriving in the hundreds.

To contact the hatchery, call 365-8622 or go to their website here.