Best of Ask the R-S mailbag 2021: Bethel grows. Gift card tips. County's 'secret' fund?
Dear Readers,
The reporting team behind the Ask the Record Searchlight mailbag is on holiday hiatus this week. But don't worry: the Ask the R-S mailbag will return on Jan. 18.
In the meantime, submit any questions you'd like us to tackle this year. Details about how to get your queries in can be found at the bottom of this story. Your curiosity and questions will help power what we do in 2022.
In the meantime, the newsroom couldn't resist spotlighting some of your most memorable Ask the R-S mailbag questions from throughout the year.
Ask the R-S is a newsroom-wide initiative to connect with you, our readers. If you wondered about something happening around town or want to know more about a North State issue — well, you know what to do!
Wishing everyone a very happy New Year!
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What happens to drug arrest money seized in Redding? (from August)
Q. I see tens of thousands of dollars that are forfeited in connection to drug arrests. Who gets it: law enforcement, the courts, the cities/county or the state?
A. A portion of the funds that are seized and forfeited after an arrest related to illegal drugs goes to the agency that made the arrest. So, if the Redding Police Department was involved, that money would get directed to RPD.
The department has discretion on where to spend the money. "Legally, federal law allows us to spend that on anything that the department deems necessary," management analyst Michele Davis said. "Generally, those funds are left to the discretion of the department or to the chief."
The portion of the funds that come to RPD are deposited in a separate account and are tracked. "They accumulate interest until the time they are expended," Davis said.
For RPD, that's meant buying software, safety equipment such as helmets and other items.
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From January 2021 until June 2021, RPD received $12,638.32 in forfeited drug-related funds. For the same period in 2020, no funds were received, Davis said.
While the money could legally be used to cover salaries, Davis said that's not done. The funds are not used for ongoing expenses but are directed to "whatever equipment or items the department might need."
RPD receives 55.25% of the amount seized, with the remainder distributed to other agencies that may have been involved with the case, she said.
Those include the Shasta County District Attorney (10%), California District Attorney's Association (1%), Shasta County Auditor Controller (24%) and the Local Intervention Program Fund (9.75%), which works to fight gang activity and drug abuse.
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What to do with gift cards to the closed-for-now Clearie's restaurant (from November)
Q. I have two $50 gift cards from Clearie's restaurant, which has closed. Do you know if they are reopening or am I just out of luck?
A. Clearie's Restaurant & Lounge closed in March 2020, after statewide pandemic restrictions ended indoor dining at the eatery, formerly located at Eureka Way and Market Street.
In August 2020, restaurant owner Robbie Clearie announced on Facebook that the popular, high-end dining spot will be moving to a new development on Hartnell Avenue behind the Veterans Administration health clinic.That new complex has yet to be built, said Amanda Hindes, who had been Clearie's bar and beverage manager.
On the gift card front, Hindes said that Costco is issuing refunds to people who present them, "no questions asked, without receipts." The majority of Clearie's gift cards were sold at Costco, Hindes said.
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Robbie Clearie told the Record Searchlight in August 2020 that the restaurant's 5,000-square-foot ground-floor new location will feature an outdoor patio.
Now, for you local history buffs: Robbie Clearie is the granddaughter of former Doc's Skyroom owner Harry "Doc" Clearie. Opened in September 2011, Clearie's restaurant was a tribute to Clearie's late grandfather.
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About monoclonal antibody therapy ...
(from October)
Q: Are monoclonal antibodies treatment and Remdesivir available to treat COVID patients in Shasta County?
A: Yes, both are available, according to the HHSA.
Sold under the brand name Veklury, Remdesivir is an intravenous antiviral drug for treating COVID-19 in people ages 12 and older, according to the FDA.
Monoclonal antibody therapeutics are used to treat non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients at high risk of becoming severely ill or of landing in the hospital, according to the HHSA. A patient must have a doctor's referral, be 12 years old or older, have a positive COVID-19 test, have mild to moderate symptoms and for no more than 10 days.
"These treatments mimic your immune system’s response to SARS-CoV-2, the infection that causes COVID-19," HHSA spokeswoman Kerri Schuette said.
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Public health and hospitalists are working to make this medication more available in Shasta County, she said, but supply nationwide is limited. It's also a complex process to administer the medication, and not every medical facility can do so.
"To reduce the strain on our busy hospitals and conserve limited supply, it is preferred that people get vaccinated to prevent COVID-19," Schuette said.
Where can I read past Ask the R-S chats? (from November)
Q: I like your idea about readers and the community writing in to ask questions. My question is this: I am not able to make the live chats, but I want to read (or view if I have to) everything that gets asked and answered in them later. Where can I view all past and future live chats after-the-fact, since I’m not able to attend them in real time?
A: There are two ways you can get to all published Ask the R-S live chats and Ask the R-S mailbags, an effort that the newsroom started in March of this year.
Go to Redding.com and right under the Record Searchlight masthead, you should see a menu bar with a black background that strips across the page. There on the right-hand side next to the weather/temperature, click on the magnifying glass. You can type Ask the Record Searchlight or Ask the R-S to see all our content related to our effort.
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We also keep a running list of all live chats and mailbags at the bottom of the following story: bit.ly/3GNJ756
Bethel breaks ground on new campus (from November)
Q: What are the plans for improving the Churn Creek and Highway 299 interchange in light of Bethel's new construction?
A: There are several traffic improvements in and around that Highway 299 corridor that need to be done before Bethel Church opens its new campus.
One has been completed, the Highway 299-Churn Creek Road interchange in the area of College View Drive. Northbound and southbound lanes were added, a second left-turn lane was put in, and the former westbound thru lane was changed. Also, the area is more bicycle-friendly.
But plenty more needs to be done.
For the record, in early August, Bethel broke ground on its $96 million campus at Collyer Road and Twin Tower Drive.
“The occasion was marked by a gathering on the property, were we celebrated by singing songs, praying over the project and ceremoniously shoveling dirt,” project manager and Bethel senior leadership team leader Charlie Harper said in an email.
Eddie Axner Construction is doing the site work under the supervision of Modern Building Company, the project’s general contractor.
Harper said Bethel plans to modify its planned unit development permit to reduce the size of its second support building to provide a smaller building for office space.
As it stands now, the new campus will include a 171,708-square-foot campus with 1,851 parking spaces and 300 bike racks. There is a one-story worship center that seats 2,600 people and a two-story building for the School of Supernatural Ministry with classroom space for up to 3,000 students.
Bethel wants to start construction of the smaller office building next year, while construction on the worship center and children’s classrooms could start in 2023, Harper said.
Meanwhile, Bethel is spending about $10 million on the traffic improvements, which include road widening, new signals and roundabouts.
On the north side of the Highway 299 Interchange at Churn Creek Road is where two roundabouts will be built. They will go at the intersection of the westbound on-ramp/off-ramp and at Hawley Road and Collyer Drive.
Other traffic improvements to be done are:
A traffic signal at Collyer and Twin Tower, which include widening Collyer to accommodate a turn lane into the campus and widening Twin Tower to the north along the campus property.
At the Collyer Drive and Ridgewood Road intersection, a roundabout or traffic signal
A traffic signal at the north side of the Highway 299-Old Oregon Trail interchange
A traffic signal at the Old Oregon Trail and College View intersection
Brandon Tenney, a project manager at the services firm GHD, said there is no set schedule for what portion of the traffic work will start next.
"If I had to guess, I think the Hawley-Collyer and Churn Creek interchange would probably go next," said Tenney, adding that that could start in the next year to year and a half.
COVID vaccine spike proteins are safe (from September)
Q: Do spike proteins in vaccinated donors' blood protect those receiving it?
A: The person receiving your blood gets no benefit or disadvantage from your being vaccinated, according to staff at Vitalant blood bank on Larkspur Lane in Redding. It won’t affect the receiver’s likelihood of getting the disease or their immunity.
That’s because spike proteins are in tissue cells, not blood, according to Vitalant's medical director Dr. Chris Gresens.
Here is how the vaccine works:
Spike proteins are found naturally on the surface of the COVID-19 virus, Gresens said. They give the virus its spiky crown — its "corona" — appearance. Our bodies need to recognize these spike proteins in order to realize we're under attack from the virus.
The vaccine has to fool the body into thinking it has an active coronavirus, Gresens said. It does so by making our bodies create only the spike proteins ourselves. Then our immune systems react to them as if they were the whole virus, making antibodies to protect us.
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The vaccine is delivered into arm muscle, not the bloodstream. Much of the vaccine dose then goes to the nearby lymph nodes under the arm and in the neck. That’s why some people feel a bit sore around the pit of the arm where they received the shot; the lymph nodes are a bit swollen while they create all those protective antibodies.
While the spike proteins you produce help your body build immunity, they won't likely help the person who receives your pint of blood, he said.
“While it’s possible that minuscule amounts of spike protein could be transferred passively from the blood of a recently-vaccinated donor to a recipient during a blood transfusion, this amount would be so minute that it would not (likely) have any effect on the individual receiving the blood product,” Gresens said.
Does Shasta County have a 'secret' fund? (from March)
Q: When (former Shasta County CEO) Larry Lees retired in 2019 he left an estimated $60 million in an account that was kept secret from the public. The money was accumulated from multiple projects over 15-plus years. Was it used to give the sheriff’s department a 25% raise? Where’s the remainder and how come it’s a secret?
A: County Auditor-Controller Brian Muir said the rumor that the county has a secret fund with millions of dollars in it is “lunacy.”
“There is no secret money,” Muir told the Record Searchlight. “I try to be as open as I can. … There is not $60 million in a secret fund and I wouldn’t allow Larry Lees to have a $60 million fund that we haven’t told the public about. There is no money that we don’t disclose to the public, period.”
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Muir said maybe the rumor keeps coming up because the county does have about $80 million in an Other Post-Employment Benefits account that pays for retired county employees’ health care.
“That money is in an irrevocable trust and the money belongs to retired employees,” he said. “I oversee the investment of the money, but I have no access to it and neither does the board.”
So why won’t this rumor go away?
“Well, you know, it’s like the Loch Ness Monster. People start talking about it and somebody says it enough times and it comes off as fact,” Muir said. “Obviously, lots of people mistrust government, and maybe for a reason. In this particular case, our finances are open to the public.”
Muir said anybody can call him with questions.
In the meantime, here is the link to most recent Shasta County audit reports.
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Michele Chandler covers city government and housing issues for the Redding Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. Follow her on Twitter at @MChandler_RS, call her at 530-225-8344 or email her at michele.chandler@redding.com. Please support our entire newsroom's commitment to public service journalism by subscribing today.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Best of Ask the R-S mailbag 2021: Top faves picked by our staff
