It had been 77 years and two days since Deputy Arthur Dewitt Miner was stabbed in the line of duty on Hazel Street in Downtown Gridley, when the City of Gridley placed a beautiful plaque in his honor along with fireman Anthony Soares who was also stabbed but lived through his injury.
On Saturday, a gathering of City and County officials, family members of both men, an honor guard and bagpipe player had one thing in mind - to remember the two men who should have been honored long ago.
Butte County Public Health Department and Butte County Office of Emergency Management will be conducting an Animal Disaster Shelter Drill on October 18 in Oroville. The purpose of the drill is to exercise emergency response plans, policies and procedures as they pertain to animal sheltering. The drill will also allow county planners the opportunity to test the functionality and capabilities of a new shelter site on Del Oro Avenue for the first time.
Vice Mayor Dave Garner reminded fellow Council members and City staff Monday night to attend the special dedication Saturday, October 22, 2011 to pay tribute to Arthur DeWitt Miner, the officer who was stabbed on Hazel Street in 1934.
Gridley-Biggs Police Chief Gary Keeler will begin the ceremony with the invocation being given by retired Police Chief, current GBPD Chaplain Jack Storne followed by Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey at the special ceremony to unveil a plaque in Miner's honor along with A.D. Soares, who was also injured while transporting a citizen to jail.
On October 24, 1934, Miner died due to peritonitis and pneumonia in the right lung after being stabbed on October 20, 1934.
Miner's daughter and granddaughter who live in Marysville and Soares two sons Brud and Dan all plan on attending the City's unveiling ceremony set for Saturday, at the site of the stabbing at Virginia and Hazel Streets where the memorial sign will be placed. A reception will be held following the ceremony at the Gridley Museum.
Gridley-Biggs Police Chief Gary Keeler requested the approval of a new city wide phone system to support a 911 upgrade made last year at the Monday night City Council meeting.
“Technology is changing very rapidly. People can now call 911 through the internet and we have to keep up with the times,” Chief Keeler explained.
Cal-Fire and Bigg-Gridley police shut down a section of Biggs Wednesday afternoon around the Sunwest Rice Co. after a propane tank was damaged, allowing gas to leak out of the container. Firemen were able to complete a "cold patch" of the 1,500 gallon tank, allowing the gas to slowly disperse into the atmosphere, according to Cal-Fire spokesperson Mary Ann Aldrich.
Workers for Sunwest were moving the tank when a valve was torn off, allowing the gas to escape. Officials believe only about 100 gallons of propane remained in the tank. No evacuations were necessary, although workers in the vicinity were moved to a "cooler environment." The accident was reported by Sunwest at 12:56 pm, and the area was closed for over an hour.
A Gridley man reported Tuesday that he had been robbed by two hispanic female adults in Vierra Park one-and-a-half hours prior to calling police.
Gridley Indoor Flea Market owner Kenneth Eaton, 55, of Oroville was one of four men recently arrested for allegedly conspiring to cultivate high quality marijuana and ship it to New York.
Pancakes, bed and tire races, classic cars and a power jump all sound like a good time for Saturday, May 21, 2011, especially since all this will be happening at the 49th Annual Red Suspenders Day Parade in Downtown Gridley.
Daddow Park will be filled to capacity with vendors of every sort, whether it is food, drinks, art pieces or Red Suspenders t-shirts at the Chamber of Commerce booth.
Gridley-Biggs Police Officers responded to the 200 block of Nevada Street on November 8, 2010, at 7:40 p.m., for a victim of multiple stab wounds,
The victim, Rodolfo “Rudy” Martinez, Jr., was found on the front step of a home in the 200 block of Nevada Street where a resident found him on the front porch and immediately called “911.”
Martinez was air-lifted to Enloe Medical Center as a result of the injuries and was listed in stable condition.
Gridley-Biggs Police Officers have identified a number of involved individuals as well as a suspect. Officers are currently conducting follow-up interviews.
On Tuesday, November 9, 2010, two male juveniles were caught in the act of burglary, on the premises, by Officer Mike Mitchell who witnessed the brandishing of weapons when he responded within 30 seconds of the burglary call.
The juveniles, both students at Gridley High School, were taken to Butte County Juvenile Hall. One juvenile is being charged with the stabbing of Martinez.
When officers searched the home of one of the juveniles they discovered items such as a television and jewelry stolen in another burglary.
On Sunday, October 31, 2010, at approximately 6:06 a.m., a two car collision caused four fatalities and three major injuries at Highways 99 and 162.
A 2006 Ford Explorer carrying six passengers from Live Oak driving northbound south of Highway 162, and was hit by a southbound 2006 Dodge Dakota pickup when the pickup veered into the path of the Explorer, rotating the Explorer approximately 160 degrees in a clockwise direction coming to a rest almost parallel with the Dakota. Both vehicles were traveling at an estimated 60 m.p.h.
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Responding to a possible DUI driver reported by a citizen at 4:30 am, on Thursday, Officer Scott Smallwood arrested Luis Escamilla, 24, of Gridley who was found in possession of a stolen gun in his pocket from a 1992 Bremer Hardware burglary.
A significant amount of methamphetamine was found in his pockets and Escamilla was arrested on possession of meth or sale, stolen handgun, possession of drug parapernalia, possession of a firearm in commission of a felony, which was the meth for sale.
GBPD assisted Butte County Sheriff's Officers on Friday morning when a homeowner on W. Liberty Road was chasing thieves who came to steal his marijuana.
Bail of $150,000 was posted for Gloria Gonzalez on Thursday, September 16, 2010 after her arraignment in Butte County Superior Court.
Her husband Victor and daughter Miranda will be arraigned on October 8, 2010, and have already posted bail.
While conducting a check reconciliation process at the City of Gridley, irregularities were discovered with voided checks being cashed and cleared by banks. After a more thorough investigation, a search warrant was served on the City of Gridley's Accounting Clerk, Gloria Gonzalez, 46, of Live Oak. Gonzalez was arrested September 14, 2010, by the Gridley-Biggs Police Department and the Sutter County Sheriff's Department for embezzling funds from the City of Gridley.
Gonzalez worked for the City of Gridley in the finance department for approximately 15 years.
Gonzalez has been charged with seven felonies, four for embezzlement, one for receiving stolen property, forgery and false personation and two misdemeanors for false personation and retention of ID information.
Her next appearance in Butte County Superior Court will be a preliminary hearing set for October 13, 2010.
Vincent Gonzalez, 46, her husband, was charged with possession of a firearm with altered identification and criminal conspiracy.
The Gonzalez' daughter, Miranda, 20, of Live Oak, was charged with criminal conspiracy, passing fictitious checks and unauthorized use of personal identifying information.
The investigation is continuing.
On September 7, 2010, members of the Butte Interagency Narcotics Task Force (BINTF), the California Department of Justice (CA/DOJ), Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement (BNE), Redding Regional Field office and the California Multi-jurisdictional Methamphetamine Enforcement Team (Cal-METT), were involved in the arrest of William Lavy, 68, and subsequent search warrants at 48 Hastings Avenue, Biggs, California and the Point Four Ranch, in Richvale, California. Seized as a result of the search warrant was 43 one pound bags of powdered ephedrine, 40 marijuana plants, and two firearms. William Lavy, was arrested and booked into the Butte County Jail on charges of possession ephedrine for sale, ex-felon in possession of a firearm and armed in the commission of a felony. Bail was set at $5,000,000.
Former Gridley Little League Treasurer, Eryka Abella was found guilty on three felony counts and one enhancement in Butte County Superior Court on Wednesday, July 7, 2010.
On April 1, 2009, Abella plead guilty to embezzling $32,878 from the Gridley Little League for two years while she served as treasurer.
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Late in the evening on May 18, 2010, Butte County Sheriff's detectives booked Cynthia Alexandra Dubose, and charged her with the murder of her husband Montgomery Dubose.
There were two fires in Gridley on Wednesday, one at the former Hinaman Dryer office and another at a modular structure that was one of several buildings that was to be the site of a charter school years ago.
On April 30, 2010, at 3:48 p.m., Gridley-Biggs Police Department (GBPD) officers served a search warrant at the residence of Jose Alberto Morfin, 37, located at 410 Kentucky Street, in Gridley.
Between the hours of 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 21, 2010 and 7 a.m. Thursday, April 22, 2010, the Gridley Recycling Center located at 775 Sycamore Street in Gridley was burglarized.
The "Fedora" bandit has struck again. With two more bank robberies during the past two weeks, his total now stands at six in just over a four month period. The last two robberies occurred on April 14 at the Bank of the West, 2976 North Carson St., Carson City, NV. and on April 26 at the Bank of the West, 34 E. Gridley Rd., Gridley, CA. All of the robberies have been Bank of the West branch locations.
