NC Media Watch

Minority is hollering in the wind, why should we listen?

Russ Steele

Trina Kleist writes about Public concerned about use of input,  August 31, 2006

Residents say city OKs growth criteria despite feedback from workshops

Residence of where?  Nevada City, Rural County, or true citizens of Grass Valley. How may Citizens form Grass Valley?

The city of Grass Valley has held several public workshops in recent weeks to gather comments from residents regarding growth issues, especially the terms under which four large housing developments will get their applications processed.

The city supplemented that process with a public opinion survey in March on the issues people think are important.

Joe Heckel, city community development director, has said it is unusual for a city the size of Grass Valley to go to such an extent to get public input.

Right we heard the complainer about growth at every public meeting. It was always the same faces, the same song, and the same out come.  Many of the voices were not even from Grass Valley, they were from Nevada City and the County.  The City Council is elected to represent the citizens of Grass Valley, not the County or Nevada City.  The elected representatives on the City Council did what was best for the citizens of Grass Valley. If not, then Citizens need new representatives.

Last week, City Council members approved criteria for processing the four developments. The criteria were unchanged from earlier versions, although 140 people had participated in a public workshop on the topic two weeks before.

I was at the works shop and there was maybe one person in the room under 40, well several of the ladies were claiming 39.  The point is there were NO young people at the workshop, those that will benefit most from increases in the supply of homes in the market. I will bet that 99% of the people at the workshop already had a home.   So a small minority, less then one percent of the population of Western Nevada County, wants to superimpose their vision on Grass Valley.  I am pleased to hear that the Council showed some leadership in moving the SDA process forward. \

Now, public concern about the scale of the Dorsey Drive interchange is beginning to make itself felt at the council level - but late in the game, possibly jeopardizing funding of the project.

Now the people complaining about traffic are attacking one of the solutions the Transportation Commission has been working on for over 20 years. If the Council deep sixes the Dorsey Drive Interchange funding, they deserve all the traffic congestion and grid lock that will result. If they kill the Dorsey Drive funding, as a Commissioner, I will be inclined to send future traffic congestion reduction funds to Truckee with my vote, where it will be well spent. Truckee has some true visionary leadership!

Cooperation leads to workforce housing

Russ Steele

Jeff Ackerman writes on workforce housing in Ivy Street residents open door to compromise, August 29, 2006

The residents of Ivy Street in Grass Valley know something about workforce housing. After all, the houses along that narrow street have been called "miners shacks" for more than 100 years and have been home to mostly blue-collar workers.

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Even though the city's staff determined that the project would cause no "negative" impacts on the neighborhood, a point of serious dispute with neighbors, the Planning Commission voted it down the last month. Two commissioners voted for the project, two against it and the fifth excused himself from the vote because he had been a Habitat board member.

The opposition came from concerns with traffic and with the number of homes proposed for the site.

That could have been the end of it, as far as the neighbors were concerned. They'd won and they could have simply sat back and basked in their victory, which would have done nothing to address Grass Valley's need for workforce housing.

Instead, members from the Ivy Street Association contacted Habitat to see if they could work on a compromise, perhaps reducing the number of proposed housing units to reduce the impacts on traffic and other issues that would result from an estimated 200-percent increase in the neighborhood's population.

Affordable housing, especially for the local work force has been a problem in most of the US  communities we have visited on our way to Alberta, Canada. It is certainly an issue in Alberta, which is growing rapidly, especially in the oil regions and those that support energy development and transportation.  Which seems to be everywhere we wen. We saw hundreds of shallow wells in farm fields.  Farms for sale advertise oil revenue as part of the sale. They were exploring for deeper oil and gas right in our RV site.

In the Calgary Herald this morning was an article about business talking a larger role in providing housing for employees.  The oil sand companies in Fort MacMurry are building small enclosed cities with small apartments for workers, now construction companies are considering building apartments for their labor force in the cities. 

At one time, The Union was considering building an apartment building over a parking lot for reporters and staff.   At the Colombia Ice Fields in Alberta, Brewester who runs the Center, and transportation on the glacier, provides housing for their employees.
Some Sierra ski resorts also are providing housing for their seasonal employees.

Company provided employee housing is becoming a growing issue in upcoming Canadian political campaigns according to news stories.  Candidate are looking at governing regulations, fees and tax incentives and establishing positions, and looking for ways to cooperate with business to solve the problem of workforce. What a concept! 

Perhaps our own local government should be looking at our local regulatory fee structures and see if there is room for workforce housing incentives. They could be looking at zoning changes that encourage the development of affordable work force housing. Then, of course there is the NIMBY we have in Nevada County.  A subject that need to be explored in future post.   If you have some thoughts on this issue, e-mail me or just post a comment below.

Solar efficiency comes at a cost

Russ Steele

Mark Machado insists New thinking needed to ignite solar energy, August 24, 2006

I attended some of the Power Palooza event the other night in Nevada City and I must admit, I left early. Quite frankly, I didn't fit in.

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What or who was missing you might ask? Well, I'd call it "middle America." These are the people we really need to affect, if our society is one day going to change from its current status of being the world's biggest consumer of fossil fuels in creating usable energy, to a lean, mean, efficient "solarized" society. Take a look around, these people weren't there and aren't watching. Mainstream America isn't paying much attention. Middle American still wants big, big cars, big yards and big homes.

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We need to get architects, planners and planning commissions thinking in a different direction. The emphasis should be efficiency, with specific emphasis on solar efficiency, in our housing designs and subdivision layouts. If we start now, maybe next year's Power Palooza event will have a few architectural firms represented, showing what can be accomplished with the fundamental solar collector ... the home.

I am in agreement with Mark, we need middle American involved.  But, it is hard to fit in when you are not one of the zealots.  In the late 70s when we were planning our move to California, I studied up on solar energy and solar homes. I just donated my box of solar design books to the County Library. 

I am not a architect, but wanted to build a solar home. We had just been screwed by the local power company in Nebraska, they talked us into building an all electric home, but once the development was done they herded us into a bank conference room and explained that they were raising our rates by 36% and more hikes were on the horizon. It seem they were scaling back on nuclear power due to the lack of government support, and we would be picking up the difference.  So, we installed a wood stove in the basement and used lot less electrical energy, two can play the energy game.

I bought books on how to design a solar home and wrote to Nevada County for the weather records.  It was not long and I received the hand written ledger for the weather records, not a copy the actual records for over 50 years.  We were concerned that some thing would happen to these original records and hand carried them back to California. We used copies of these records to calculate our solar energy budget. It took two tries, but we ended up with a solar efficient design, that did not look like a high tech plumbing nightmare.  We build in mass that could be heated by the sun, lots of large windows on the South side, small windows on the North side with extra thick insulation in the walls and ceiling, sky lights for illumination, insulated all concrete walls that touched the ground, including the basement floor. We use the basement floor as a collector in the winter with large South facing windows.  And with three acres of oak  and fir, we put in wood stove up stairs and in the basement.

Our water pump, electrical outlets, and lights were the only electrical energy we needed, Thinking ahead, the garage roof was set at the correct angle to maximize solar collection. Had a real problem with the contractor, he could not understand why the roof angle had to be the same as our local Latitude.  We planned to install solar panels someday, but that someday has not come yet.

The real challenge was not keeping the house warm in winter, but cool in the summer. Some maple trees for summer shade over the solar collecting windows and a big whole house fan, proved to be a workable solution. We use the fan to cool the mass at night which then cools the house during a good part of the day. A few years ago, we were offered natural gas to replace the wood stoves, and made the change. With our four girls married, or in college, Ellen got tired of bringing in the wood when I was traveling almost every week. So, we took the gas offer, and installed a furnace with AC, but that is another story for another time. We have also installed a generator when PG&E goes out.

The big obstacle to the solar panel issue is cutting down the trees that provide summer shade.  Also, we have experienced a lot of damage to our furniture from the winter sun. Solar efficiency is possible, but it comes at a cost.   

Big things in Alberta Canada

Russ Steele

We are in the Hinton KOA and the WiFi antenna is about 25 feet from the window of the trailer. Nice connection!!!  It is a little slow, as they use a satellite Internet connection, with WiFi throughout the park. This is BIG!

Everything is big in Canada: big smiles from locals, big sky over the rolling  prairie, big mountains, big malls, and super size museum exhibits.

Shovels at the Reynolds Transportation Museum.

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Waterpark wave pool inside the Edmonton Mall

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Nothing but broken promises

Russ Steele

The promised WiFi connection in the RV Parks have been more hype than reality.  We are waiting at the Edmonton Airport for Ellen's sister and brother-in-law. We can get a connection in the baggage area.  The Edmonton Mall, the biggest in the world was a total WiFi bust, was supposed to be a Webesphere. Ha, what a pain in the .... ops almost went over the edge. More on this issue when we can find solid connection and some sitting time. Alos, I have some pictures of the Mall to share, the indoor water park.

What do AB-32 emission caps mean for Nevada County?

Russ Steele

Samantha Young an AP writer asks: What do emission caps mean for California?

California Portland Cement Co. had planned to build more plants this year but put its expansion on hold as it awaits a decision by state lawmakers that the company says could force it to cut production.

Cement manufacturers represent just one of several industries that would be required to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases they emit under a bill that would make California the first state in the nation to impose such regulations on businesses.

The bill has set off a sharp debate in California over the need to balance environmental goals with the concerns of businesses that say such rules are too costly and technologically difficult.

Unlike other industries, which might be able to comply by implementing energy-efficient practices or using alternative fuels, much of the carbon dioxide emitted by cement plants is a byproduct of the chemical process.

"That's just the way cement is made," said Rick Patton, a vice president of the Glendora-based company. "If you limit the amount of carbon dioxide that can be produced, what you're doing is limiting the amount of cement that can be produced."

The price of Dorsey Drive has grown from $12 million to $28 million and continues to grow today as land and constructions material prices climb on the global markets. The prime driver is supply and demand.  Now, we learn that AB-32 will farther restrict the supply of cement in California.  This should drive up the cost of Dorsey Drive higher and higher, perhaps at a faster rate than in the past.

Does this bring AB-32’s economic disaster closer to home?   How high can the cost go before we can no longer consider building Dorsey Drive overpass. What about other construction projects in Nevada County, or California?   Remember, AB-32 is based on junk science. Is the cost worth it? Really?  All pain, no gain!

Sticker shock at the fuel pump

Russ Steele

Let’s not hear any more whining about high California fuel prices.  The farther we came into the mountains the higher the fuel prices.  Just outside Reno, diesel was $3.18 a gallon on the sign. By afternoon it was $3.32 in Lovelock when we fueled up. We stopped for fuel in Carlin Nevada around noon and paid $3.44. Tonight we topped off the tank in Twin Falls at $3.55 a gallon. Hope it is not $4.00 a gallon in Montana tomorrow!

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Spotted this eighteen wheeler while fueling the GMC in Carlin. Looks like this driver does not want to miss Fox News while on the road. When at a roadside stop, up goes the pole, slight adjustment to the antenna at the top and sleeper cab has 150 channels to choose from. Some of the big expensive RVs get satellite TV on the go.  We just have satellite radio, and the days of searching for a station in the static, when crossing the desert, are gone for ever.

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Here is Ellen at the Shoshone Falls Overlook.  Higher than Niagara Falls, but the local tourist bureau does not have an agreement with the farmers not to take out irrigation water when the tourist are around, like they do in New York.   Usually this time of the year the falls are almost dry according to the tour book, but a wet winter (produced by global warming no doubt) provided this more than adequate flow. 

We are in Twin Falls Idaho at the 93 RV Park. The WiFi is free and we are both getting strong signals in the trailer. Unusual to say the least.  The only drawback so far is the strong farm smell in the air. I think we are down wind from a manure pile.  Hey, I’ll trade a little animal smell for a strong WiFi signal any day.   Besides, this is Idaho!

Uneventful first day on the road

Russ Steele

Our first day on the road went well, we are in the Winnemucca RV Park. The WiFi is highly unreliable in the metal trailer. If Ellen stands in the door, I can get a signal, but she has other things to do, like cook dinner.  So, I am at the picnic table to check my e-mail and send this picture:

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The one notable sight was a full Rye Patch Reservoir.  We have been up I-80 twenty times, but this is the first time I have ever seen the reservoir full. The willows, on what used to be the bank, now are bobbing on the surface, struggling to keep from drowning in the windy waves.  Global warming is blamed for all climate changes, why not for filling Rye Patch. Hummm. . .

Someday starts today

Russ Steele

Over a life time, one often declares “I will do that one of these days.” Well, for Ellen and I one of our “one these days” has arrived. This morning we are off to Jasper, Banff and Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada in our pickup and travel trailer. Be back in couple of weeks. We have made reservations at camp grounds with WiFi connections, so I will continue to blog when we have a robust connection.  We will be posting pictures if we see anything spectacular of local interest.

The Union looks ahead to 2007

Russ Steele

Pat Butler writes in the third segment of his Saturday column:

Even though the dog days of summer aren't done wagging their tails yet, we're looking ahead to 2007 at The Union and TheUnion.com.

At many newspapers, this means a bunch of managers and editors hole up in conference rooms and study marketing surveys and brainstorm while trying to figure out what readers want to see in their newspapers and web sites.

We'll be doing some of that here as well, but we want to reach beyond the data that surveys can bring to the process and find out what you're thinking, too. What we're primarily interested in hearing is what sort of content do you want to see in your local newspaper.

Do you want more coverage of politics, local government, crime, business, health or education? Are we missing any topics that you would like to see covered? What columns do you like or dislike? What can we do to make our products more relevant and useful?

If you want to participate, just zing me an e-mail at [email protected] or give me a call at 477-4235. The deadline for this is Aug. 31.

Here is an opportunity for us to shape the news we get from The Union. Granted just one small voice, but if we fail to say anything, then others voices will shape what we hear, liberal voices, socialist voices, libertarian voices, green voices, etc. 

We all see the world through a filter defined by our experiences. I personally would like to know more about the reporters that write the news. Who are they and what life changing experiences shaped their views of the world.  Who are the reporters heroes, a conservative grandfather, a revered liberal journalism professor, a literary oracle like Ayn Rand or Carl Marx.  One easy avenue for sharing this information are reporter blogs, with only a light editorial touch,  letting the personality behind the news come through.  But, only the bravest of editors will support this level of access, yet they are quite popular in the top 100 newspapers across the nation.   

Please share in the comments below any insightful thoughts you send to Pat Butler.  We might even get a dialog started on this blog, something impossible on the inactive Union blogs.  More blogging and more linking to local blogs would be good.