NC Media Watch

Gold, Gold, Gold, I tell you there is Gold in them there hills!

Russ Steele

The local left is once again all a twitter about the possibility that those evil capitalist and job creators, are raping the land by mining for gold, ignoring the fact that Mother Nature put those precious metals there for humans to find and use. More details here.

The left always wants to know what Congressman McClintock and State Assemblyman Logue are doing to create jobs in Nevada County. However,  when these two leaders support gold mining, which creates jobs, the left starts damning these leaders for supporting mining. 

Consider this from Gold Pan of California: 

Tom McClintock (R-CA) is mad as hell and wants Governor Brown's assistance to squash 2 paragraphs of impending legislation which, if enacted, will kill the California suction gold mining industry.

In a terse written communication yesterday to Governor Brown, McClintock stated "Destroying 4,000 jobs when California is suffering from 11.9 percent unemployment is simply insane."

McClintock is referring to a bogus $1.8 million "budget deficit" which was supplied by anti-mining foes in order to provide a "cut" to the budget of the Department of Fish and Game, who oversees the suction dredge gold mining program. Although erroneous, passage of the language will close the industry forever in California.

Consider this from a local lefty blog on the Idaho Maryland Mine summer PR campaign.

I wonder if this is one of the “facts” you might hear: “The project has strong public support,” according to the mine’s website. “The City of Grass Valley completed an independent survey where 72 percent of residents supported the project, 16 percent were undecided and 12 percent opposed it.”

It’s going to be a tough row to hoe coming to the “truth” about the proposed project with unqualified statements like that. I wonder if “truth serum” is handed out at the booth. No counter argument or facts, just casting doubt on the facts presented. 

And, then there is this:  Dan Logue and Tea Party are teaming up to support gold mining at the 16 to 1 Mine in an upcoming meeting on June 29th, Esterly Hall, 336 Crown Point Plaza, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Guest Speakers;
Assemblyman Dan Logue
Third Assembly District, Mike Miller, President
Original 16 to One Mine

The Original 16 to One Mine in Alleghany is about an hours drive from Nevada City, and is the last operating gold mine in Northern California. It was incorporated 1911 and has been in operation since 1896.

Several weeks ago, I got a call from Mike Miller, President of the Original 16 to One Mine asking if we could help him with some serious problems he was having with our State government. The California Regional Water Control Board has been suing the mine over the quality of the water that the mine releases and runs into the nearby Kanaka River. This suit has been going on for at least ten years. Mike has reams of documents that show that his water is as clean as any water in Kanaka Creek and beyond. But, government agencies, run by bureaucrats, just keep forcing the mine to spend money on lawsuits that they cannot afford. They are now down to 3 employees instead of the 15 that they need. This is part of a story about government overreach and the power they exert on us and our economy.
After I called Assemblyman Dan Logue, he immediately called Mike to discuss the problem. Then he had a meeting with Mike in Sacramento so they could discuss how to proceed. Assemblyman Logue has taken up the 16 to One Mine issue, and he will tell us what he and his staff are trying to do to help his constituents.

You can read the rest here  You can speak to Dan Logue about his views on gold mining at the Tea Party Meeting above.

If you would like to share your views on gold mining with Congressman McClintock he is having a Town Hall Meeting in South County on June 30th, from 6:00-8:00pm, at the Higgins Lions Community Center.  For more information contact 916-786-5560.

Cost of CARB: Fuel price turbulance

Russ Steele 

With Brent Crude prices staying up around $117 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate falls to about $93 a barell, the diesel price downward trend has been broken. US and CA diesel prices are ticking back up while Nevada County continues the downward trend.  On the other hand US gas prices continue to fall, but leveling off in CA and Nevada County.  Seem to be some turbulance in the fuel market.

 

 

Cost of CARB: Latest fuel cost graphics

Russ Steele

If find it interesting that CA fuel prices are falling faster than in Nevada County after tracking so close for many months, which is most obvious in the diesel prices.  Regardless, they are all headed in the right direction as the price of oil falls based on as the Saudi's increasing production. I wounder how much it would fall if the US increased production?

Calling the Tribes to an Economic Summit

Russ Steele

The Former Editor of the Union, who used to sit on the ERC Board, is calling for a County Wide Economic Summit.

Our county has always prided itself on a “wild west” spirit, but you have to draw a line somewhere. We need a cohesive economic development strategy.

Right now we are all over the map, catering to retirees, 30-somethings and “old line” businesses — all at the same time.

Some examples:

•”Ron Moser, president of the Nevada County Economic Resource Council, said Rincon del Rio (a senior retirement complex) would provide significant benefits in terms of jobs,” according to the Auburn Journal.

•”Okay all those 30-40 somethings like me: The City of Grass Valley is looking for volunteer models for publicity this weekend,” reads the Downtown Association’s Facebook page. “This is your time to shine and be known (if you are not already)! We have big plans for GV.”

•”Emgold is in the advanced stage of permitting the re-opening of the Idaho-Maryland Mine and is completing an EIR for the project through its 100 percent owned subsidiary, Idaho Maryland Mining Corporation,” writes the mine’s president in the local newspaper.

Coming up with a cohesive strategy is like herding cats, thanks to our fiercely independent mindset. We also tend to lean too heavily on local government to help steer us along — a crutch.

We have had numerous economic summits and economic strategy planning meetings in Western Nevada County and they always end the same way, with lots of words by all the tribal leaders and no action. As a community we can not come up with a vision of what we want to be ten years from now. Without an agreed upon vision of want we want our community be economically in ten years, we are in capable of defining the steps necessary to reach our goal and allocated the community resources needed to make our visionary goal a reality. Every meeting, conference, and summit have failed the first step,  an agreed upon vision for our future.

Every tribe in the community wants to take a different path to our future.  Some want to go green, others want to revitalize our applied technology manufacturing industries, other want to focus on agriculture, others want Nevada County to become the Brentwood of the Sierra, home base business want more broadband and to be left alone, and local business just want more tourists.  The ERC was tasked by the County to come up with a comprehensive economic development plan, but once all the tribal leaders and the county staff did their inputs and edits it was a un-comprehensive mess. We need a clear vision that can be put on a single page, not 23 pages of mish mash. 

So, what did the County do, they fund a comprehensive web site and marketing plan that was due last October and still is not done yet. The rebranding logo was a milk toast bust, the web site was not mobile friendly, and required huge bandwidth to display the videos.

I will be discussing some of the comment to this proposal in future updates.  In the mean time, let’s hear from the tribal leaders on how we come up with a clear concise vision of where we want to be in ten years. 

Exit question: Is a clear vision of our economic future possible?

 

Sac Bee Editorial: Cliff Newell should step down

Russ Steele

The Editorial:  The decision is clear for Nevada County District Attorney Clifford Newell: He needs to step down.

He is hip-deep in legal and financial quicksand because of his own involvement, however unwittingly, in a "hard money" lending scam. With his appalling lack of discretion, he has irreparably damaged his ability to administer fair and impartial justice for those he is sworn to serve, too many of whom have been victimized by hard money brokers.

Read the rest of the editorial here.

So far, I have not seen any proven wrong doing by District Attorney Cliff Newell. He made some bad personal investment decisions, but many of us do.   If there is an indictment in the case, resulting from the FBI investigation, then yes, he should resign. I have heard that the FBI is trying to resolve some missing data issues in his office, does that sound familiar?

I think that we should let the professional investigators do their job and then make our decisions in this case. Making Cliff Newell the fall guy for some bad investments in not the way to go on this issue.

I just wish the Sac Bee would pay as much attention to the AtPac case against the County/Diaz/Aptitude Solutions, but as we know "it was just a nuisance" according to a Supervisor. This is just one nuisance case that it going to end up costing all the taxpayer in the County because of how it was handled. This will be the big story when it is all over.

Exit Question: Should Newell resign or stay in office? 

Second Segment of the Hard Money Story

Russ Steele

Here is the link to the second installment of the Sac Bee Story on Nevada County's Hard Money.

There is a very interesting comment below the story about an out of town-er's experience with our District Attorney?

All the comment on the story, parts one and two, seem to be rather harsh on Nevada County. Our reputation is being besmirched.

With the wide spread use of the Internet by people and firms wishing to relocate to Nevada County the hard money stories and the AtPac lawsuit will keep popping up in a Goggle or Bing Search. What we need now are some stories about local leaders cleaning up the corruption by taking some bold action. I seriously doubt it is going to happen unless citizens demand it. Where are the Tea Party Patriots when they are most needed. Let's hope they are present at next the BoS meeting to get some questions on the record, and all subsequent meetings until we get some action. 

Nevada County Corruption in Sac Bee - Again

Russ Steele

The Sac Bee has the this story:  Nevada County DA took special 'hard money' loan favors

NEVADA CITY – His personal finances in disarray and his ability to do his job compromised, Nevada County District Attorney Clifford Newell sat in a local cafe, eyes welling, as he described how he became beholden to a loan broker who is under investigation for bilking investors.

A few years ago, Newell and his wife assumed crushing debts to keep their summer camp business solvent. Unable to get a conventional loan – "Neither of us were qualified," Newell said – they borrowed from what is called a "hard money" broker, the equivalent, some say, of a legal loan shark who uses others' money to make high-priced loans.

That decision inextricably linked Newell, the county's top law enforcement officer, to Philip Lester. That hard money broker has since been accused by investors of cheating them, leading to investigations by police, and now the state attorney general's office, for securities fraud.

A yearlong Bee investigation found that Newell, 54, received favorable treatment on his own loans from two hard money brokers. Documents show that one of them, Lester, tried to help the Newells avoid foreclosure and possible bankruptcy by raising money for a loan and misleading investors who contributed.

Lester has since forfeited his lending license, ceased doing business, and admitted to numerous violations of laws designed to protect investors, involving other loans. Newell said he did not know about the false statements to investors and could recall little about his own transactions with Lester.

Newell said he and his wife "were moving property and loans, trying to keep all the balls in the air. Some of it was smoke and mirrors."

Newell's ties to the broker offer a window into a culture of fraud in the hard money community in Nevada County. A Bee review of thousands of pages of court and regulatory filings shows that for more than 20 years, a number of hard money brokers have misused or stolen their investors' money. Some brokers landed in prison; many investors lost their life savings.

You can read the rest of the story here.

Exit Question: Will this corruption eclipse the ongoing Diaz/County/Aptitude Solutions law suit for violating copyright laws?

OTOMH: Where will those damn dams be when the drought comes?

Russ Steele

My monthly OTOMH column has been published in the CABPRO News, and it is now posted on the CABPRO Report webs site.

It was a drought that is responsible for my interest in long term climate trends. In the 1970s my oldest daughter took an interest in the Anasazi cliff dwellings when we lived in Holbrook, Arizona for a year. The Strategic Air Command Radar Bomb Scoring Unit in Holbrook was my assignment upon my graduation from Air Command and Staff College in 1973. Not an auspicious assignment out of Command and Staff College, but I digress. Our year in Holbrook allowed us to take many family trips to the cliff dwellings scattered throughout Arizona and New Mexico, and eventually Colorado. But, Colorado is another story.

As we visited the cliff dwellings, one of the questions that kept coming up in our discussion was, why did this sophisticated community abandon their fields and dwellings and then vanish? The Internet was not yet a universal research tool, so we visited the local library and started researching possible causes: warfare, weather, famine, etc. We discovered there had been a long period of drought in the mid-11th and 12th centuries which may have contributed to the Anasazi cultural collapse.

Research by paleoclimatologists has confirmed that temperatures rose in the western U.S. from about A.D. 800-1300, known as the Medieval Warm Period, which translated into a series of droughts. The most devastating of these occurred in the mid-11th and 12th centuries, when dry conditions persisted for several decades. As I recall from our research, the longest we found was 27 years.

Paleoclimate data from tree rings and other sources also suggest that the mechanism driving drought during this Medieval Warm Period was eastern Pacific Ocean cooling. Much like a widespread extended La Ni√±a event with cool sea surface temperatures strengthening a persistent moisture-blocking system of high-pressure off the West coast, nudging storm tracks north. This year the blocking is lower down the coast, creating droughts in New Mexico and Texas. We are fortunate that the La Niña this year resulted in a record-breaking snowfall. However, this has not always been the case.

During the Dalton Minimum there was a 13-year drought in coastal California according to Church Mission records. This was also a period when a deep La Niña weather pattern dominated the Pacific. The La Niña weather patterns have been associated with drought throughout climate history We are entering a period of low sun spot activity similar to the Dalton Minimum. The Pacific has entered a cool phase, which promotes more La Niña weather patterns. We could be on the cusp of some long-term periods of drought if history is an indicator.

You can read the rest of my column here, which column concludes:
It is time to start building more of those damn dams. The cold Pacific droughts are just around the corner, and it takes ten years to build a dam as large as the Auburn Dam. Waiting for the droughts to happen before taking action is not an option!

Yes it has been a cold wet May, but how cold was it

Russ Steele

As many readers know, I have been tracking Grass Valley temperatures at the local national weather station since 2005. The average May Temperature in Grass Valley for the last 43 years has been 58.22 ºF.  This last month the average temperature was 53.33 ºF, almost five degrees cooler than the long term average.

If we look a longer period from 1909 to 1966, when the Grass Valley station was not located at the wastewater plant, the average was 54.29 ºF  It is interesting that the current month is much closer to the longer term 58 year record, than the shorter 43 year record.

The difference in the two long term records could be due siting issues, or the PDO shift that took place in 1977 and lasted to about 2003, or both.  For many years the weather station was at the Empire Mine. Neither location was the best for taking accurate local temperatures, except maybe in the 1960s when it was in Ray Stein’s backyard in Grass Valley.

Later today, I will see if I can find a graph of Grass Valley temperatures.

Cost of CARB: Gas and Diesel prices down, except for Diesel in Nevada County (Updated)

Russ Steele

Here are the latest plots of fuel prices in the County, State and Nation. Note that Nevada County Diesel prices are not following the national and state trend, I wonder why Robinson’s diesel prices are staying almost flat?




Exit Question: Why are Nevada County Diesel prices following the national and state trend?

Update (05-28-11, 7:45): Yahoo News: Gas tanks are draining family budgets

“Households spent an average of $369 on gas last month. In April 2009, they spent just $201. Families now spend more filling up than they spend on cars, clothes or recreation. Last year, they spent less on gasoline than each of those things. . . . Only twice before have Americans spent this much of their income on gas. In 1981, after the last oil crisis, Americans spent 8.8 percent of household income on gas. In July 2008, when oil price spiked, they spent 10.2 percent. Average hourly earnings, meanwhile, have risen just 1.9 percent in the past year. That’s only just enough to keep up with inflation.” And only if the measure of “inflation” doesn’t include gas prices.