Recent events which are either predictable or as common as toenails.
NOT NEWS
This was not news recently:
It is not news that the County will purchase from local people unless the total cost of the item is five percent more. This is not news because the County should only buy in county, if possible. It is a foolish economy which takes money away from local businesses because they are too small to provide volume discounts, since they are too small partly because the County doesn’t trade there enough.
It is not news that the Beckwourth Ranger District of the Plumas National Forest is going to charge for camping in the Lakes Basin now. It isn’t news because, as we value war in far off places over care of our resources, the Feds can no longer afford to properly fund things like care of our National Forest. The idea of "user fees" meaning the person who uses them pays for them, has become popular. This would make sense if some people weren’t rich and happy to pay $10.00 a night, and other people poor and have a hard time to pay $50.00 to camp out for five days. No fault to the Beckwourth Ranger. The Lakes Basin is a treasure, and improved campsites reduce fire danger, reduce damage to fragile lake side plants, increase the safety of campers and improve the "outdoors experience." Ten bucks is probably still a bargain. To find the full fee non-news, go HERE.
It is sad news that Sierra Pacific Industries is shutting down the small log mill in Quincy, though it is not surprising given the economy. NOT news but still unfortunate is the anti-environmentalist BS which SPI and conservative Dan Logue are making of the closing. As most people can tell you, the price of building materials are down, logs are way down and the higher diesel goes the lower the log price goes. Small trees are worth more as electricity in the co-gen plant than they are in stacks in the yard. Further, the problem with railing against environmentalists is that the science is on their side, clearing all the wood out after a fire, for example, does NOT make the forest safer or more healthy. Not news, and not cool.
It is a little bit of news that Logue is trying to undo AB885, the bill that eventually lead to the Water Resources Control Board trying to keep us from living in rural areas, by preventing us from… using septic systems.
