Grass Valley, California 95945

Embarrased to be a Packer's fan

2009-11-02T14:56:00.000-08:00

I am appalled at the way the fans treated Brett Farve at Lambeau Field on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009, in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

After the years he gave them, the blood, sweat, tears, pain, and the WINS, these people need to be tossed off the face of the earth, smacked around, and forced to root for the Detroit Lions or the Cleveland Browns.

These people have no idea what went down with Farve and the Greenbay Packer Organization. What is rumored and there seems to be to validity to it if you understand how things work in the REAL world you asinine utter-heads (not worthy of being called a cheese-head, which is an honor — I know, I am called that often).

One person states on the posts after the game laughing and dispising those fans that booed Farve

Get off it already. FAVRE gave Green Bay his blood for most of his professional career. Evidently it wasn't enough for the GB front office, who was ready to put him out to pasture. Well, HE wanted to play, they didn't want him to play. Pretty basic. So you take an ALL Pro quarterback and put him out to pasture. Obviously it was a BIG mistake. Fess up, and get beyond it. Maybe he will retire after this season and GB can get back to winning a division. Don't blame Favre for wanting to play, and that's exactly what GB fans are doing. Get over it!

It's not Farve's fault he was let go you ignoramus boneheads!!!

I was routing for the packers, being a fan, but also being a fan of Farve and was upset at the front office for tossing him aside — yeah sure, he had injuries, but can you tell now? And after the reception they gave Farve, I wanted all those brainless, shortsighted, re-knobs, to taste agony of defeat.

I am so embarrassed to be a Packers fan, or at least to put myself in the company that was there at Lambau field -- those people desecrated and disrespected a historic landmark and it's history of honor.

You might as well just shit on the flag you splitters.

This woman has obviously following what her husband said to do.
Ignorant blonde

the silly costume made your team go home with their heads down.

First off these people are way to young to even be hating Farve -- they have no concept
of reality or of their minuscule existence on this planet.
FARVE never betrayed anyone you pathetic excuses for a human beings let alone being
called packer fans. Who let you in? You are probably Cowboy fans or worse, Patriot fans.

It's amazing how the human brain in most people can actually have nothing in it and
they go speaking their minds before knowing what they talk about.

AGAIN. I am truly saddened to call myself a packer fan because of these maggots and if you
were on of those maggots booing Farve after all the years he gave and never wanted to leave,
there are ways you can erase the shame you brought upon us and save us from your
worthless life.Technorati Tags: Packer Fans, Brett Farve, Disgraceful, Emabarrased

A little humor to and thoughts to ponder from a woman's point of view

2009-07-22T11:37:00.001-07:00

If you love something set it free; If it comes back it will always be yours.
If it doesn't come back it was never yours to begin with.
BUT... If it just in your living room, messes up your stuff, eats your food,
uses your phone, takes your money, and deasn't appear to realize that you set it free .....

You either married it or gave birth to it.

One of life's mysteries is how a two pound box of chocolates can make a woman gain five pounds.

If men can run the world why can't they stop wearing neckties?
How intelligent is it to start the day by tying a noose around your neck?

this one is from Sandy at Women of worth.

WHY MEN ARE NEVER DEPRESSED
Men Are Just Happier People — what do you expect from such simple creatures?

Your last name stays put.
The garage is all yours.
Wedding plans take care of themselves.
Chocolate is just another snack.
You can be President.
You can never be pregnant.
You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park.
You can wear NO shirt to a water park.
Car mechanics tell you the truth.
The world is your urinal.
You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky.
You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt.
Same work, more pay.
Wrinkles add character.
Wedding dress: $5000. Tux rental: $100.
People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them.
New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet.
One mood all the time.
Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat.
You know stuff about tanks.
A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase.
You can open all your own jars.
You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness.
If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend...
Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack.
Three pairs of shoes are more than enough.
You almost never have strap problems in public.
You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes.
Everything on your face stays its original color.
The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades.
You only have to shave your face and neck.
You can play with toys all your life.
One wallet and one pair of shoes with one color for all seasons.
You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look.
You can 'do' your nails with a pocket knife.
You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.
You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes.

No wonder men are happier!

Idiots in the world

2009-07-22T11:16:00.001-07:00

Just read about the "Concealed arms reciprocity rejected by Senate," and I am wondering why was it even up for a vote? Who in the right mind would want to approve this?

I know it is some far right or leftest, extremist republican group who feels they have the RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS when ever they damn well please, but wake up and grow up you ingrained morons!!! Other than the fact that you can use the law to the letter — and then some — there is no reason, NONE WHAT SO FUCKING EVER to need a gun in your home let alone concealed somewhere on you or in your car.

It is your paranoid delusions that you think you need to defend yourself and your lack of understanding — maybe because you're not smarter than a 5th grader — that you fear someone is going to take your rights away. You need to go find your own island or planet then you will truly have your privacy and the rights to do as you wish, but here on earth in the united states, you're not the only one who lives here.

I understand the need to defend yourself, but out of the billions of people that live here, what are the odds that you need it to defend yourself? less than 1%. BUT the real reason that people own and have guns is too much testosterone and the need to kill things. If you are so fucking worried about defending yourself from being killed, why do you kill things that don't have a chance against a weapon? You want to kill a deer, a duck, bear, even a person, then do it with your bare hands.

Guns are for sissy's, pansies, little scared boys and girls that can't stick up for themselves. A person who uses a gun is a chicken shit cry baby's that hide behind the gun and think they are tough — you're nothing but a loser.

I am not suggesting to ban guns; I am just suggesting people think about it before they get one and do some serious thought about whether they really need one, not just because you CAN have one, but do you need one? And 90% of the people that have one now do not need one. But some suggest that if you ban guns or if you make it a crime to have a gun only criminals will have guns.

Well if you were to use logic. the only people that truly need a gun to protect themselves from criminals are store owners. They are the only ones I have seen on the news that get robbed and cannot defend themselves. Home owners, people at homes, or at the office, or on the road, are rarely heard of — not that it may not happen, but convenience store clerks are by far the largest targeted place by criminals NOT the average person or beer drinking, redneck, backwoods, inconsiderate bastard that actually owns a gun. He doesn't need a gun to scare people away or defend himself. Unless he is messing with the wife of another of his kind; then it is his own damn fault.

Now we have idiots thinking to legalize marijuana. Well we know where there mind is marijuana the have none after they killed it with the drug, so why listen to them pantie wastes?
This is what the proponents are saying about the DRUG!!!

that marijuana is less dangerous than legal substances like cigarettes and alcohol; that pot has legitimate medical uses; that the money spent prosecuting marijuana offenses would be better used on more pressing public concerns.

REALLY??!! Bullshit!! At least when someone is drinking near me I don't get second hand DRUG USE. IF someone is smoking a cigarette near me, and not many do, I either walk away or put it out for them then shoot them with my gun — hmmm... a reason to have one... — but if I, my wife, friends, or CHILDREN happen to get a whiff if cigarette smoke at least we do not get high and effect our state of mind — get infected as I call it — like one would if we were next to a marijuana smoker.

The negative out weaighs the positive for legalizing the DRUG!!! I am anti drug. You need a crutch to get through life? Get a gun and do yourself in. We don't need your kind around effecting the sactity of our lives you freaks!!!

Nevada County Airfest 2009

2009-06-30T10:24:00.001-07:00

The Nevada County AIRFEST 2009 is a must see. Do not miss.
( I know, TV ads have over used these phrases and most people are immune to their meaning, but you really must see this. )

GEFA is bringing many, many planes and activities to see to the Nevada County Airport.

Fun for all!! Food, drinks, planes, war birds, heck, go here and see what will be there.

Sexual Preference or being gay

2009-05-28T15:17:00.000-07:00

I grew up with someone who was gay but no one knew until many years after he moved out of the house. That never changed the way I felt about him; it did not change the way I was around him; nor did it change what I thought about him.

What did change it all was the fact that he was always talking about it; always mentioning it — like it he had to prove something to me, himself, or the world; and he always had to be the center of attention — him and his gayness and his young studs he would go to Hawaii with and not stay and see us for more than a day at Christmas.

I have no phobia. I can careless what anyone does in the privacy of their own home and bedroom. So why does anyone else care? What is the big deal? I mean come on, really? And why do they have to let us know?

This ban on gay marriages is for what reason?

1) God did not invent marriage MAN DID!!! Yes man did! Not God. Open your freakin mind and see the facts.

2) Now intercourse is for pleasure but also for the creation of human life. You cannot do this with a woman and woman or man and man — artificial insemination and adoption do not count. A man and a woman can only make a baby —— this is what those religiosos might be talking about, if you follow that God created man and so on.

3) I can see the need to show ones commitment to another by marrying someone, but other then that and a few tax benifets, what are the advantages to a married couple over a single person? NOT MUCH.

Let them get married and suffer are sufferings.

4) Now if you believe that being gay is a disease, a genetic defect, or a choice, doesn't matter what you say, think, or do, they will not go away; either with with violence or prayer — I've been praying that hip hop and rap would go away. [still waiting]

5) we get back to my intro. WHO CARES?!? I don't care what you do in the privacy of your own home and bedroom! Unless it is making bombs, child porn, or something as odious as those then yes I do care — it is wrong. But sexual preferences and activities? Grow up. It's none of your business. You liberal, self indulged, got nothing better to do than effect everyone else just because you're not happy.

Do you care whaty I do in my bedroom with my wife? [pervert] Do you care that I'm straight — if that is the oposite of gay. Does it make me a better person? Does it make the gay a worse one? Does it effect their judgement?

Well if you're going to pick on gays, then what about Jews? Just pulled a word out of the air. [but they have been picked on] What about Mexican's, blacks, vegetarians, hippies, the coporate elite.... You know thinking about it everyone has been picked on.

The question now is who is doing the picking?

Look in the mirror and ask that person if they are the purist; the most upstanding citizen; an honorable human being; never lied, never stole anything, never had bad thoughts about anyone... I know the answer. NO... NO ONE IS!!!!!

So what is the fuss about? You really got nothing better to do? Your pitiful life is that boring you have to screw it up for everyone else? Point it at yourself and pull the trigger. Give yourself and us a break.

The below article was the last nerve I could take:
BOISE, Idaho – Barack Obama's campaign promise to scrap the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy gave Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach hope. Now the aviator is wondering if the president will deliver in time to save his 18-year Air Force career.
The winner of nine air medals for distinguished service in flight, including one for heroism the night U.S. forces captured Baghdad International Airport in 2003, Fehrenbach is in the process of getting kicked out of the military a year after an acquaintance told his bosses he was gay.
He thought he could hang on until the government eliminated the military's policy forcing gays and lesbians to keep their sexual orientation secret, but now he isn't so sure.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090528/ap_on_re_us/us_gay_aviator

I go back to: WHO CARES if you are gay or not? Keep your sexual orientation to yourself because I do not care and what relevancy does it have to anything?

Oh. Those religiosos are the ones who need to clean their own noses and dust from the pantry as they have high ranking prests that go for young chior boys. Now that's just wrong.Technorati Tags: gay, sexual, who cares, grow up, marriage

Thoughts and ideas to ponder

2009-03-29T12:21:00.001-07:00

I received an email from a fellow student of a post production school in Burbank, and the content was quite interesting and some of the things I agree with all my heart; however, I do know that these little thoughts have been plastered around the internet, posted to many other places, and passed around the work area, but has anyone really looked into what they truly mean and compared it to the blight we are currently in?

Being a minority only makes you a victim of numbers, nothing else.

The only things I can think of that are truly discriminatory are things like:

United Negro College Fund
Jet Magazine
Black Entertainment Television
Miss Black America

Try to have things like [below] and see what happens. Jesse Jackson will be knocking down your door:

United Caucasian College Fund
Cloud Magazine
White Entertainment Television
Miss White America

I agree with this one a little but my take on it is below it (not italic):

Guns do not make you a killer. I think killing makes you a killer. You can kill someone with a baseball bat or a car, but no one is trying to ban you from driving to the ball game.
Guns do not make you a killer. I think killing makes you a killer. But having a gun just makes it easier for you to kill without any guts, glory, or pride—the chicken shit way out; you want to kill someone, do it with your bare hands, if you can, and face that person eye to eye. I guarantee you 90% of shooting deaths would stop. So I still say BAN the FUCKING GUNS. Why do you think you need one?

Oh you say only criminals will have guns then. Having a gun makes you a criminal.

It can get stolen
It gets into the wrong hands and kids get killed
Honestly, what chance do you think you would ever really need it? If you live in a bad part of town then MOVE!

I worked with a freak that wanted to carry a concealed weapon just to make himself feel more powerful and better than anyone else he knew or met—He, to me, was more dangerous than any robber. Robbers use the gun to intimidate, This guy would use the gun to kill just so he can say he killed and make an excuse he was in danger just to get away with the killing—people like him should not have a gun, but they gave it to him anyway only because the governing body was made up of people like him.

If you think you might become a victim then it is your fault for making yourself one.

Meet neighbors and start a neighborhood watch.
Don't flaunt your belongings
Change your routine, patterns, and lifestyle every now and then.
Don't like the area MOVE.
Don't blame anyone but yourself. LOCKS are for honest people.

Yes. There is a small percent that is truly robbed, but is a gun the answer? You have no idea when it will happen: the subway, city streets, in your home at dinner, while you are sleeping, taking a shower, in your car, in a store. When do you have access to your weapon in any of those situations other than a criminal or an officer? One? maybe two situations? Oh yeah, owning a gun is only to protect you in your home.

BOTTOM LINE: Guns are for chicken shit, small brained, little dicked, pansy assed, morons that need something to hide behind.

If you feel homosexuality is wrong, it is not a phobia, it is your opinion.

I have the right 'NOT' to be tolerant of others because they are different, weird, or tick me off.

When 70% of the people who get arrested are black, in cities where 70% of the population is black, that is not racial profiling; it is the Law of Probability.

If you are selling me a milkshake, a newspaper, or a hotel room, you must do it in English! As a matter of fact , if you want to be an American citizen, you should have to speak English!

I have no problem with you speaking your own language, but not to me, unless of course I speak to you in your language, which is me trying to be more open and a human being and not closed minded, but you still should speak English in Americas to us Americans first.

My father and grandfather didn't die in vain so you can leave the countries you were born in to come over and disrespect ours.

You are in America. You want to practice your religion, your faith, your beliefs, than do it where you came from or in your basement; don't force me to be tolerant or understanding, I didn't invite you. We will change over time, forcing us to change makes it worse for you, not us.
The same goes for America. Stay out of other countries business. They didn't invite us.

The police should have every right to shoot you if you threaten them after they tell you to stop. If you can't understand the word "freeze" or "stop" in English, [see the above lines].

And why is it you are here in America, not knowing the language, and are a criminal? Go back to where you came from and waste their time and money.

You are disrespecting my and my forefathers beliefs and all the men and women who fought to give us our rights and freedoms [see the above lines].

Just because you were not born in this country, that you should be able to qualify for any special loan programs, government sponsored bank loans, or tax breaks, and so forth just so you can open a hotel, coffee shop, trinket store, any other business, or go to school when I am struggleing to make my mortgage payment or send my kids to college.

We did not go to the aid of certain foreign countries and risk our lives in wars to defend their freedoms, so that decades later they could come over here and tell us our constitution is a living document; and open to their interpretations.

I don't hate the rich; I don't pity the poor. I do hate inconciderate people either poor or rich.

Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and the Oil Companies have every right to keep every penny they make and continue to make more. If you don't like it then go and invent the next operating system and put your name on the building, or stop driving, find your own fossle fuels, don't create the situation where you need to travel—no one is telling you you have to go somewhere—live next to where you work, do something but stop complaining.

It doesn't take a whole village to raise a child right, but it do es take a parent to stand up to the kid and smack their little behinds when necessary, and say 'NO!'

Tattoos and piercing are fine, if you want them, but please don't pretend they are a political statement. And, please, stay home until that new lip ring heals. I don't want to look at your ugly infected mouth as you serve me French fries!

Most black people here in America were not born in Africa; so why do we call them 'African-Americans?" I don't go around saying I am a European-American because my great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was from Europe. And there are black people in other countries. Do they still get called African-Americans? Or do they call them African-English? African-Italians? African-Canadians?

Now the end of this email is went on about God and the dollar and so forth, but the last lines were about God giving us a sense of humor to see a joke.

Now I disagree with this. If someone has the desire, the need, the time to post such ideas and thoughts but then state at the end it was all a joke they are either someone trying to make light of Americans and their strong closed minded beliefs, or they are just too stupid to realized that they just disrespected themselves and all their forefathers hard work and lives.

This is no joke.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

It is Still F'd Up But...

2008-11-05T16:41:00.001-08:00

Wow. I had no idea that it could have happened. I mean I wanted it to happen, but never thought it would.

He may not be the best choice, but America was fed up with the Busch regime. I know I was. Oh my gosh people, and you still wanted him? I don't understand. I don't get it. You want to be poor, no jobs, no environment, no security, no foreign friends. no future.

Of course it is NOT his fault; he is not completely to blame. It's not like he has any control or anything. Wait... If he doesn't then what is the big deal who is President? But it seems to me that it does matter, so it is his fault.

Anyway. I am so fed up with people saying crap that they have no idea what they are talking about. WHY do you want McCain? WHY?

I can hear why some don't want Obama. Terrorist, Muslim, Black, and so forth, but do you have proof? Real knowledge of these claims? NO. You don't. Just what you see on your brainwashing shows.

Terrorist: What facts do you have? Has he been convicted? Just because he is known to have associated with someone who claims to be a terrorist that makes him a terrorist? So then I guess you have gay tendencies, you're a thief, a killer, a liar, a slob, or anything else negative about people, because you know you have one in the family or you have a friend that is one, or they know someone who is. So are you, by way of guilt by association. So look in the mirror before calling people names.

Muslim: Hmm. And being Christian is any better? I know better than that. All religions have their issues.

BUZZ WORDS
these buzz words are truly held by the holder and that is all—they are opinions only and hold no truths to them.

Just because you BELIEVE something does not make it true. (I believe the world is flat.)
Just because you THINK that something should be, does not mean it to fact. (I think the world is flat)
Just because you HOPE, doesn't mean anything. (I hope the world is flat)

I read that someone is worried because the world is happy about our new president. This person thinks that our enemies are happy that we voted in Obama. The FACTS are: the rest of the world is happy that the tyrant is out of office, and maybe we will keep our nose in our own business. The rest of the world is not our business. in some ways it is, but if we want to have the right to have a say, then instead of the President of the United States doing something about it, we need to have a President of the World. That way something can be done with respect to all involved and concerned.

More on this FACT is that no matter who is president, we still have the best and most powerful protection in the world. Not just with technology, but wioth the people that are in it. American soldiers. So, if someone wants to start some shit, we will finish it. And if you think Obama will cut funding for the military, then guess what? We have the militia, the reserves, and the American people. We will not give up. I don't care who the President is.

Obama was not my first choice, I will be honest, nor was he my choice when it was between him and McCain. Because yes, I read into the Muslim crap, the terrorists connections, the Pastor of his church, but I looked at McCain and the Busch regime, and said, you know what, this guy is a change, and we need change, for the better or for the worse, either way, we cannot stay on the same path that we have been on for years.

I'd rather take my chances with Obama than another 4 years of the crap we have been living with.

And if Obama steers us wrong like some of you say he will, I know for a fact that he will not last very long, so what the heck does it matter?

Give him a shot. What do you have to lose? Honestly. Nothing. You've lived through worse and you know you will again. So except it, shut up, and move on. At least be grown up enough to watch and see what happens. If it does, then you can say "I told you so." Until then....

America the F'd Up

2008-10-30T09:19:00.001-07:00

Has anyone looked outside their own world, their own bubble, their own measly little existence on this planet?

I find it hard to put in words what this nation has come to. and this election is ripping the fabric of our society into shreds—if there ever was any to begin with.

To be honest, neither one of these candidates is really suited for th job, neither one of them is going to help the country, neither one of them does not understand the American people; they only know their world and what they think we want them to promise us.

Come on. Be honest with yourself for the first time. Take your immoral or moral stick out of your ass and tell the truth.

Yes, we are upset. But are you upset because you might lose what you've gotten used to? Or upset for a truly caring reason for someone or something other than your own self?

When you wash away the layers of defenses, opinions, feelings, beliefs, brainwashing you have gone through all your life, and the self centered, looking after number one attitudes, you will realize that the time you live on this planet is nothing compared to how long this planet has been here.

My point. In 5 - 10 years, if not sooner, all this BS you people are yapping about will mean NOTHING. If you do not believe me look into the history books and into your own past. There is at least one thing in your life you thought was going to be the end all, the life changing thing you could not live without. The old saying "Time heals all wounds." Does come to fruition.

And for once in your life, please, please, before talking out of your ass about something you do not know about, get your facts straight and get your information from more than just one source.

BUZZ WORDS: (these buzz words are for you to ponder there true meaning, the facts behind them, and do they hold up today.
UNITED WE STAND

(it is BS and used by people to hide behind and pretend to be patriotic without really understanding what it means to be patriotic)

Fun Week Here (sarcasim)

2008-10-23T09:14:00.001-07:00

Well, I guess we have some good news about our little (big) town, or is it?

Nevada County selected for historic conference

BY JEFF PELLINE STAFF WRITER,
Western Nevada County has been chosen for a four-day historic preservation conference in 2010 that is expected to draw more than 400 people, one of the largest local conferences in years.

The event is an economic and cultural coup for the county. The California Preservation Foundation, founded 31 years ago with 1,500 members, is the state’s leading voice for historic preservation.

“We want to get out to parts of the state that are interesting and away from urban areas,” Cindy Heitzman, executive director of the San Francisco-based Preservation
Foundation, told The Union. She also pointed to the county’s “tremendous history.”

“Our conferences take into consideration all the local needs. We create programs around local issues, such as heritage tourism and preserving community identity,” Heitzman said.

It is the Preservation Foundation’s first conference in a rural area. The event typically includes 25 to 40 different workshops and study tours. It was held in Napa this year, Hollywood last year and Sacramento in 2006.

The conference is expected to use a wide range of local venues: the Empire Mine, Northstar Mining Museum, Julia Morgan House, Grass Valley Veterans Memorial Building, Bridgeport, Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park, Miners Foundry, Nevada Theatre, Center for the Arts, Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum, among other spots, said Gil Mathew, president of the Nevada County Economic Resource Council.

A trip to Truckee for railroad enthusiasts is expected to be offered as well.
The four-day conference planned for May 2010 also is expected to provide an economic boost. Between 200 and 240 local motel and hotel rooms will be required for the conference, Mathew said.

“The area is rich in historic preservation possibilities and has a significant amount of activity already,” Mathew said.

During the next five years, California Preservation Foundation said it is committed it increasing its membership in numbers and diversity; increasing its funding base; and increasing advocacy efforts at a local and statewide level. It also plans to establish a legal defense fund for California’s “most endangered properties.”

The local effort to land the conference was spearheaded by Mathew; Mary Ann Mueller, president of Grass Valley/Nevada County Chamber of Commerce; and Penelope Curtis, former director of the county Arts Council, when it existed, Mathew said.

I guess it could be worse people coming to visit. Just hope they don't find it too nice and start moving more people up.

We had a little excitement in town. Or what some people think is exciting.

Standoff ends in arrest

BY DAVID MIRHADI AND DAVE MOLLER STAFF WRITERS,
Grass Valley police arrested a 40-year-old fugitive late Wednesday evening, peacefully ending a 7-hour standoff at an area motel after the man walked out of a room. The standoff ended at about 8:50 p.m. when Fred Hickler, 40, was taken into custody without incident at a hotel in the 1200 block of East Main Street.

An arraignment is scheduled for Fred Hickler today in Nevada County Superior Court. He faces a felony escape charge after breaking out of a federal prison in Riverside County a week ago and a warrant stemming from a San Bernardino strong-arm robbery committed afterward.

Police worked for hours to coax Hickler out of a room at the Holiday Lodge Motel on East Main Street, where he had been since 1:30 p.m. Police were notified that Hickler was in the area by the U.S. Marshal’s office earlier in the day, Grass Valley Police Capt. Rex Marks said.

Hickler was found with no weapons. He surrendered at 8:50 p.m., walking backward out of the motel room, dressed in a white shirt and jeans, his hands held above his head. A large dog could be heard barking, but it was unclear whether the dog accompanied Hickler.

Authorities had been communicating with Hickler’s relatives during the lengthy negotiation process. “It seemed to be the magic time for him to make a decision for his surrender,” Marks said when it was all over. “It was a successful event.”

Officers had been prepared to used force, if needed. Members of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Detail, clad in camouflage and armed with high-powered guns, at times appeared to take positions to fire their weapons. “We were prepared in any circumstance to use what was necessary, but this was the best outcome,” Marks said.

Hickler was at the Holiday Lodge with his girlfriend, Elaine Joyce Robinson, 34, who was taken into custody earlier in the day, Capt. Ron Smith of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said. She has connections to the area, he added.

‘Nothing like this’
Officers initially approached Robinson outside a room at the motel on East Main Street near Dorsey Drive and arrested her, Marks said. Hickler was not a registered guest, and Salazar would not disclose the name under which the room was registered.

In the hours before Hickler’s arrest, scores of people stopped to inquire about the standoff, which closed East Main Street between Dorsey Drive and Presley Way.

During the afternoon, a California Highway Patrol helicopter briefly hovered overhead, as well as at least one news helicopter.

Yeah. Channel 3. How I found out about it. http://www.kcra.com/video/17783385/index.html

Motel patrons were evacuated from their rooms more than two hours into the standoff.
Ray Padgett, of Riverside, said he was in Grass Valley to install cellular telephone towers. “I wasn’t supposed to be here looking at all the stuff around us,” Padgett said. The scene also attracted onlookers.

“I started watching, and I haven’t stopped. It’s compelling,” said Jeanie Berg, of Grass Valley, who stood nearby for hours with her son.

WOW. Get a life. And make sure it's your own.

“Nothing like this happens here. It’s Grass Valley,” agreed area resident Danny Staley.

Yes it does. Where were you several years ago? People have short memories.

One of the comments on theunion.com site was: Great job GVPD
What this person does not understand is criminals on the run have already made their mind up whether they are going in peaceful or not. GVPD did nothing outstanding other than cover the area and let him know he had nowhere to go. The fugitive was in charge of the situation. He either lives or dies, but the real answer is does anyone else as he does it?

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Roundabout Revisited

2008-09-22T14:36:00.001-07:00

So I see they are working on the roundabout.

I truly do not care since I do not live in town anymore, but I am still adamant that a roundabout there is a very bad idea. Very Bad.

Yes, Roundabouts work in Europe and the can also work in RURAL roads, such as near Sierra College and Briar Patch.

Why does it work there and not were they are building one now?

Why the roundabout works at Sierra College NC Campus

the roads connecting to the roundabout are single lane roads
there are no roads connecting to those roads in the nearby vicinity only entrances to parking lots.
the traffic so far is very very light.

Why the roundabout does not work at Sierra College NC Campus

It is too small.

Why the roundabout will NOT work at Idaho-Maryland Road and East Main Street

The biggest reason is: it too busy of an intersection
There are issues connected with the above reason, such as,

traffic will stifle
people do not know how to go through roundabouts, so this is not where you want to teach them at a VERY busy intersection
no one will slow down
no one will give right away to anyone
no one on the side streets such as Eureka will be able to pull into traffic because there will be a constant barage of cars from both directions. (this is happening even before the roundabout and is due to the stop light near the post office, which is another stupid idea)

Let's see how the development is going.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008
$2.4 million roundabout expected by late October

Construction of a $2.4 million roundabout at one of Grass Valley's busiest intersections - Idaho-Maryland Road and East Main Street - could get underway next month and end in October at a lower than expected cost.

The Grass Valley City Council is expected to award a bid for the roundabout at tonight's meeting, said Tim Kiser, the city's director of Public Works. Hansen Bros. Enterprises of Grass Valley has submitted a bid of $1.4 million for construction phase of the project, apparently the lowest of six bids. The highest bid of $2.1 million was offered by a Chico construction firm.

"We really got a good bid at $1.4 million," Kiser said. "Most of the work will be done at night to avoid traffic impacts during the day."

City officials hope the work can start July 1, Kiser said. If that happens, the construction schedule of 80 working days puts completion at Oct. 20.

Drivers will be routed into the roundabout in phases to get them acclimated to the different intersection layout, Kiser said.

Roundabouts use yield signs at corners to feed traffic into a constant left turning circle, with no stop signs involved. A smaller roundabout has been built at Sierra College at the intersection of Sierra College Drive and Litton Springs Road.

The middle of the Idaho-Maryland roundabout circle is slated to have trees and decorative additions for esthetics. Roundabout designers say placing things in the middle of the circle stops confusion, as well as preventing motorists from driving over the top of them.

The city recently bought 3,255 square feet of land for $82,000 from Hills Flat Lumber to have more room to build the roundabout, which will also accept and direct traffic for the Golden Center Freeway in Grass Valley. Caltrans is expected to work on highway improvements to go along with the roundabout.

>dogbert wrote:

Roundabouts work very well in Europe. Hope the drivers here can get the hang of em. I like them because they keep you moving and don't require power like signals do. And they don't malfunction like lights sometimes do. DB

DOGBERT!! They won't. People still have not learned how to DRIVE. So please, do not expect anyone to learn how to navigate through a roundabout.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Wheels set in motion for East Main roundabout
The contract for the roundabout at East Main Street and Idaho-Maryland Road in Grass Valley was approved Tuesday night, and motorists should expect construction work to begin soon at the busy intersection.

The Grass Valley City Council accepted a bid of $1.4 million from local contractors Hansen Bros. Enterprises, which was $500,000 less than what the city thought the project would cost to construct.

The city hopes the firm can start July 1 and complete the project in the 80 days allotted, or around late October, said Public Works Director Tim Kiser. Most work will be done at night to avoid confusion and traffic congestion.

Construction crews will funnel drivers into the project in phases to familiarize them with the roundabout as it's being built, Kiser said.

The project will include trees and mining memorabilia in the middle to catch motorists' attention and make them realize they can't drive over it. The design also will provide entrance and exit ramps for the adjacent Golden Center Freeway.

The roundabout is a free-flowing alternative to signals, where drivers pull up to an intersection with yield signs that direct them into a constant circle of traffic going left. There already are several roundabouts in Nevada County, including one at the entrance to Sierra College in Grass Valley and two in Truckee.

Rounded intersections have been in the United States since 1904, when the Columbus Circle was built in New York City, according to the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences. The Columbus Circle and others began to pop up in the eastern United States but fell out of favor by the 1960s because they allowed drivers to turn left or right into them, causing traffic tie-ups and confusion.

Experts at the Road Research Laboratory in the United Kingdom came up with the concept of the modern roundabout, when they realized drivers couldn't turn into oncoming traffic to make them work. The British decided to use splitter islands to force motorists into the roundabout, which eliminated the turn into oncoming traffic and forced drivers to yield to traffic from the left.

Once that design was implemented in 1966, roundabouts flourished around the world, particularly in Europe, where there are 15,000 in France alone. There are more than 600 roundabouts in the United States with plans for more, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

RetiredUSA wrote:

there they go again...and putting mining stuff in the round about? Brilliant idea, so people won't pay attention and cause more accidents, i hate those round about things....no one makes signals, been almost hit several times.so were paying our taxes for the city people (management) to make these type of things.......can't wait till the wife retires and move out of state.

The independent wrote:

Dorsey will be built instead of important monies being used on Hwy 49 which has far more traffic. So on the money, gotta wonder how many times who came up with the cost for the intersection, overestimating 1/2 million dollars. It would be good to know, after its built, what it's true cost was. Including the multiple times it was designed......

MDE wrote:

I think that working at night is a really good idea, except for the people who live near there. This will be a bad idea along the lines of moving the post office to Bennett and Main. I think the monies should be going to Dorsey Drive. That would also have lessened the use of that intersection.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Council OKs new fees to pay for road projects
New traffic fees approved by the Grass Valley City Council Tuesday night will help pay for road projects to help manage future growth.
The fees will fund 15 major regional road projects that are expected to cost $72.6 million or more.
"No one likes to raise fees," said Councilman Chauncey Poston. "We all know we haven't collected enough fees" for roads. "It's doing something in a more holistic way with the county."
In May, the city proposed a new set of traffic impact fees to help offset the cost of road projects that are needed because of new development.
The council brought them back for revisal Tuesday, with a new set of fees to coincide with ones adopted by the county earlier this month.
The fees from Grass Valley and the county will all go into the same pot to build 15 projects in Grass Valley, Nevada City and Nevada County, said Grass Valley Public Works Director Tim Kiser.
Nevada City is expected to discuss the traffic impact fees in upcoming weeks.
The money will help pay for nine projects in the Grass Valley area, including the Dorsey Drive interchange at the Golden Center Freeway.
The project is expected to help improve traffic flow to the hospital and schools, as well as reduce the traffic bottlenecks in the Brunswick Basin, though critics claim it is unnecessary.
Under state law, developers pay only for their share of a development, and officials use formulas based on vehicle trips per residence or square footage of a business to calculate that share.
The city must pay about $15.1 million toward the $33 million interchange.
Officials hope to raise part of the money through a half-cent citywide sales tax initiative to supplement $18.1 million that the state has set aside for the project, according to county transportation officials.
Though an initiative is planned for the November ballot, some observers are predicting it will be postponed, largely because of the ill-timing due to an economic slump.
Among other transportation projects compiled by Nevada County Transportation Commission and listed by priority are:
• The roundabout at the intersection of Idaho-Maryland Road, East Main Street and the Golden Center Freeway in Grass Valley.
• Brunswick Road and Loma Rica Road intersection improvements.
• Ridge Road and Gold Flat Road interchange in Nevada City.
• Brunswick Road southbound ramp onto the Golden Center Freeway in Grass Valley.
• Highway 49 and Combie Raid intersection in the county
• East Main Street and Bennett Street area in Grass Valley.
• McKnight Way interchange.
• Highway 20 and Pleasant Valley Road intersection.
• Northbound ramp onto the Golden Center Freeway from Idaho-Maryland Road.
• Eastbound ramp onto the Golden Center Freeway from McCourtney Road.
• Dorsey Drive extension from Sutton Way to Brunswick Road.

Friday, August 22, 2008
New Longs Drugs proposed for Idaho-Maryland intersection
A new Longs Drugs store for one of the county’s busiest intersections will be pitched at a City of Grass Valley meeting Tuesday, The Union has learned.

The city’s Development Review Committee will consider an application to build an almost 14,000 square-foot Longs store at the corner of Idaho-Maryland Road and West Main Street.

The plan includes a drive-through window and a 2,200 square-foot delivery dock located at 115 Idaho-Maryland Drive.

The store would be on the old location of Hills Flat Lumber at the corner that is under construction for a roundabout to ease congestion. The $1.4 million roundabout, with trees and mining memorabilia in the middle, is expected to be completed in October.

It would be the fourth large chain drugstore in the Grass Valley area, including an existing Longs, a Rite-Aid and a proposed Walgreens in nearby Glenbrook Basin.
The large number of drugstores in such a small region reflects the demographics of the area’s older population.

Real-estate sources said last week that such a plan was in the works on the Pardini family’s former Hills Flat Lumber business, but wondered if the pending sale of Longs to CVS Caremark would upset the deal.

Last week, Longs Drugs said it would be sold to CVS Caremark for $2.7 billion.
The existing Longs in Glenbrook Basin and the one on Combie Road are expected to be rebranded as CVS pharmacies next year, a spokesman said.

The committee meeting will begin at 9 a.m. at the Hullender Community Room in the basement of City Hall.

Baja wrote:

It's this simple... a "drive-thru' is not allowed at this location. The site is zoned "NC", drive-thurs are not allowed in the "NC" zoning district. There is no basis for a variance to allow a drive-thur at this site.

When the Walgreens project was reviewed city staff, some planning commissioners and some city council members said they could not do much to make the Walgreens better or to stop the "drive-thur" becasue it was zoned "C", not "NC". Thus they approved the Walgreens drive-thur at one of the worst intersections in GV.

Two members of the city council that are now running for re-election said they couldn't stop the Walgreens drive-thur becasue the property was zoned "C", not "NC". The proposed Long's site IS zoned "NC" and the "drive-thur" is not allowed... will they keep their word to the voters, will those council members seeking re-election keep their word?

DDD420 wrote:

WHAT?????Are you kidding me? They are removing the Longs we have to replace with another drugstore, just to move another Longs down the street, then they turn around and complain about the drug problem we have in the community,what is wrong with these people? It's stupid enough we are getting a Walgreens right across the street from Rite Aid and CVS.I can think of a few things off hand that would be better for our community Trader Joes, Ross for example. Does any one know where to go to suggest such places for GV?

raidervick wrote:

Are ya friggon nuts? As if we need another drugstore! Not to mention all the traffic problems it would create in an already busy as heck intersection. If GV approves this they are stupider than I thought, & will prove how greedy everyone already thinks they are!

Nevadacitybob wrote:

Trader Joe's ?

HealingFrog wrote:

It's amazing how many drugs Americans are hooked on. Try a healthier lifestyle instead of making the drug company stockholders so rich!

Annonymous2 wrote:

I suggest that every member of the planning department make a field trip to the current Long's. It has to be the worst store I have ever stepped foot into. Their customer service is awful and so are their prices. You know what would go great where the old Hills Flat is....nothing!!! Let's try that for a while. Hey, just because there is open space doesn't mean it needs to be filled!

Baja wrote:

Let's see...the site is zoned "N/C", guess what? This use is not what is allowed in the N/C zoning.

Remember during the Walgreens review process members of the planning staff, planning commission and a few council members said (it's on tape folks) they couldn't do much to make the Walgreens project better because it was zoned C-2, not zoned N/C. They said if it was zoned N/C that it would be a whole different thing.

Now is the time for the city staff, commission and the council to keep their word on the proposed Long's project. Will we see a big attempt to flip-flop from the positions they took during the Walgreen's project review? Will they keep their word?

There is an election comming up, two city council members that are running for re-election stated during the Walgreens project review that they would uphold the adopted rules for the N/C zoning district. If they want to get re-elected they can start by keeping their word to the community.

OU812 wrote:

Once Hills Flat moved over to RR Avenue, the intersecton of I-M and Main became tolerable. Now that CVS (Long's) will occupy that place, I guess the traffic will return. Of course, the cure-all will be the roundabout, but I pitty pedestrians trying to navigate across the revamped intersection.

Now, the guessing game will be 'who will move in to the soon-to-be vacated Long's on Sutton?' Perhaps one of the businesses on Freeman Lane/McKnight looking for expansion? Maybe Calif. Organics will reconsider their possible move to Broad St. Furniture?

Tuesday, August 26, 2008
A full decade around the roundabout
It's been 10 years since Truckee's first roundabout, and new ones are still popping up.

Doesn't mean they work.

The town's initial roundabout was built on the western entrance to downtown Truckee in 1998, and the circular intersections have since appeared on Brockway Road, Highway 89 - both north and south - and elsewhere as a part of new development and growing traffic. And as the town continues to grow, even more roundabouts are planned to aid intersections and replace stop lights, Truckee officials said.

"I know when we built the first one, there was a lot of skepticism," said Dan Wilkins, Truckee's director of public works. "After about a year, we heard a lot of comments from skeptics who overcame their skepticism." From a technical standpoint, both Wilkins and Truckee police Sgt. Jason Litchie said they are working.

"They're considerably safer, and that's especially true on Highway 89 south," Litchie said. "They've greatly improved traffic flow, and we used to get a couple very serious collisions their every few months, and now we have zero."

Litchie said the main benefit is that roundabouts make people slow down.

THEY DON'T WORK to slow people down. People still go through them too fast.

Wilkins said the biggest issue is the learning curve - getting used to a type of intersection still relatively new to the country.

"The whole element of lack of familiarity goes away, but because we get so many first-time visitors on our roadways we have a constant lack of familiarity," Wilkins said.

Local resident John Gotgart, who said he likes the roundabouts, had a similar observation. "I don't think they're bad, it's just a lot of people don't know how to operate the things - that's the problem," he said. "But I like that they keep things moving."

Sometimes you need to slow things down or stop them, to let people know they are the the rulers of the road. You have pedestrians, bicyclist, and so forth.

The damn city planners for any city design cities for cars NOT people. but it is the people who inhabit them.

But John Fraser, a downtown business owner, said he hasn't come around to them yet. "I think they're a pain in the neck. They certainly confuse people," Fraser said.

Cyclists have also had to figure out the best way through a roundabout, said Dan Warren, a local bicycle commuter. "It was initially daunting figuring out where we were supposed to be," Warren said. "We've found we have to establish the lane as our own going through - once you do that, it works well."

Jim Sayer, a former Truckee resident and cycling advocate, said there are fewer points of conflict in a roundabout than an intersection with signals.

"For drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians, once they get used to it, it's a lot easier to get through," said Sayer, executive director of Adventure Cycling Association. "And you don't have to wait for a signal."

With roundabouts reducing both the number of accidents and their severity, Wilkins said Truckee will continue to add roundabouts at intersections in need.

As new development brings more traffic, roundabouts could appear on Donner Pass Road between downtown and Interstate 80, at Donner Pass Road and Coldstream, and on the other side of the overpass, at Brockway and Highway 267, accessing the Hilltop development, at Pioneer Trail, and Highway 89 south and Donner Pass Road, Wilkins said.

"They're a work in progress and I think with every new roundabout we learn a little more whether it be on landscaping or lane widths," Wilkins said.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008
City’s deficit swells to $650,000
Grass Valley is $650,000 short in its general fund budget and will need to find ways to balance it amid declining tax revenues.

The situation is worsened by the lack of a state budget and the uncertainty of its impact on the city, said City Administrator Dan Holler Tuesday night at the City Council meeting.

“There were a lot of uncertainties in our property tax and sales tax projections,” Holler said.

Original projections caused a $215,000 deficit when the budget was adopted earlier this year, but now the shortfall has grown to $650,000 as tax revenues continue to come in at a slower rate than predicted. Slow movement in the housing market and a general decline in consumer spending have caused tax revenues to drop, Holler said.

About $200,000 of the shortfall will be taken care of by decreased employee expenses, Holler said. In the last week, three full-time public works employees were laid off and another worker had his hours cut.

In the last three years, the city has lost 17 positions, going from 140 to 123, Holler said. In addition, several police and fire department employees will be retiring or leaving by the end of the year.

One police sergeant will probably be replaced by a street patrolman and the fire chief spot will also probably be refilled by a regular fireman, Holler said.

Other cost-cutting options include a modified hiring freeze, reduction in spending, a reduced work week at City Hall and shutting down City Hall up to one day per week.
“Do we need to be open from 8 to 5?,” Holler asked rhetorically.

Three years down the road, the city might find itself leaner but more efficient, Holler said. He expects staff members to come back with recommendations in 60 days to make up the remaining $400,000 general fund deficit.

Upcoming negotiations with city bargaining units will have to take the Grass Valley’s fiscal status into play, “and that will make it more difficult,” Holler said.

Meanwhile, a plan to issue $5 million in redevelopment bonds for cooperative construction projects was approved by the Grass Valley City Council Tuesday night.
The bonds have been used for downtown infrastructure projects in the past, such as storm drainage.

“We want to start talking with property owners about streets, sidewalks, water, sewer and drainage issues,” said City Administrator Dan Holler. “We want to partner to reinvest in neighborhoods,” which include Colfax Avenue, South Auburn Street, downtown, the Idaho-Maryland Road — East Main Street area and infrastructure in general.

“We need their input and what they need to make their businesses more profitable,” Holler said. “We’re looking for on-the-ground projects with partners.”

Projects will be picked with priorities for readiness, participation of the property owner, benefits to the public and investment return, according to city documents.
“Five million won’t go far. The question is who is ready and can we leverage that investment?” Holler said. “Hopefully we’ll get four or five projects.”

The council approved a ceiling of $9 million in redevelopment bonds, with $5 million in new ones to be issued and more than $3 million in rebuilding bonds the city holds for refinancing.

Some ideas are circulating for the bonds in each of the areas, Holler said. The downtown area needs parking spots, and the city will look at using part of the money to handle parking.

“There are vacant buildings on Colfax Avenue. How do we deal with that whole area?” Holler said.

The Idaho-Maryland area around the under-construction roundabout with Sears, and the proposed Longs offer potential, Holler said. The vacant lot left on East Main Street, where Weaver Auto and Truck Center was before moving to Idaho-Maryland Road, could also be promising, he said.

A new bus transfer station on Tinloy Street between Bennett and Bank streets also is a possible project, Holler said.

The concept from the Nevada County Transportation Commission for a turnout for Gold Country Stage buses and shelters for riders also could serve as a kickoff to the Wolf Creek Trail project, Holler said.

The site already has been studied with federal funding and could possibly become a reality if the city’s bonds are used, but the early cost estimate is $2 million, said Dan Landon, executive director of the transportation commission.

The Tinloy Avenue site would mean easy access for busses and riders going into downtown, Landon said. The transfer site at Church and Neal streets is tight and does not provide enough room for all busses at times, he added.

Blogzilla wrote:
Douglas MacDock wrote: "I bet the city wishes they could get the money back they squandered on that lawsuit against the mine owners. What was it? 1.6 mill?"

Let's get facts straight, the lawsuit is against Newmont minging, not the folks at the Idaho-Maryland as inferred. If that was not your intention, I appoligize whole-heartedly.

Yes they, the City, "squandered" their money on a lawsuit which if they can do it over again and take Newmont's original offer, they would have an up to date sewage facility. Instead, they are dragging this on to where there will be no winner. The City created/exposed the mess, now they/we are paying for it.

Back to the deficit. Let's start cooperating with industry instead of fighting it. It's good buisness for Grass Valley.

Argonaut wrote:
Hey Lighthouse I almost forgot, thanks for the stock tip yesterday. I bought 100,000 shares of Emgold for 6.5 cents and made $2000 on it today. Thanks for the “Heads Up”.

Argonaut wrote:
Lighthouse you’re right that poor transportation systems and high costs are obstacles to starting any project. But a good ore body can more than overcome those obstacles. Remember that Nevada County was the highest gold producing county in the state and Grass Valley was the highest producing district in Nevada County. The value of the ore left in the Idaho-Maryland is likely in the billions of dollars. So why not get a piece of that if it can be done responsibly.

lighthouse1 wrote:
News flash. Heavy industry of any signficance is NOT coming back here for a variety of reasons; mainly the lack of a modern transportation system and high costs. Nostalgia cannot overcome economics, financial, environmental and logistical realities. Sorry.

Factguy wrote:
Wake up people. We need all types of new industry in this city and county to counter this downward economic spiral that our state and country are in. Sure, light industry and hi-tech are good, but the fact is that hi-tech peaked when Grass Valley Group employed 1200 people, and the small companies formed since do not employ many people and their growth has not kept pace with the increasing population. Light industry helps, but again these are small companies, and ERC has not been able to attract those types of businesses here. This area used to have heavy industry, and it needs it again. Environmental regulations, inspections, financial bonding, and modern technology prevent the toxic problems that occurred in the past so a mine would be safe.

lighthouse1 wrote:
All the nostalgia, the optimism, the wishing, hoping, praying, fair booths, employees in key government positions, media and PR campaigns in the world can't change the fundamental flaws in the financial, operational, logistical plans and the many environmental obstacles here. Any objective observer would conclude there is virtually no one interested in investing in Emgold. While gold has nearly doubled in that time, and they have touted a supposed fortune in gold and a world changing tile technology, the underlying stock price of this shell company has become near worthless today. The fact that the stock has gone from about $1/share to 6.5 CENTS since this highly touted project has been on the table is not generally considered a good sign... Wake up.

Douglas MacDock wrote:
I bet the city wishes they could get the money back they squandered on that lawsuit against the mine owners. What was it? 1.6 mill?

Blogzilla wrote:
rantorator, that is exactly how the mine has anything to do with the subject of this article. This is a project that is already on the table, we should work with them to insure it is a responsible project but when all is said and done, allow them to move forward. I know that goes against the small handful of people that oppose it but this is the kind of project that can give a hugh boost to the local coffer. In the meantime, other industry/businesses can step up to the plate and do their part too. We need to create jobs so the money stays here.

Argonaut wrote:
Right on Ranterator!! I believe I read somewhere that the state entitlement programs were 1/3 of the state budget. If that’s true, it’s more the reason we need industry. The money has to come from somewhere. No wonder the state can’t resolve the budget!!
9/10/2008 4:26 PM PDT on theunion.com
Recommend

ranterator wrote:
I'm not quite sure how the mine has anything to do with Grass Valley getting yet more bonds to go further into debt...They talk like government employees retiring is a good thing;How much are they going to pay these people in monthly retirement payments?Medical insurance?How dare the economy slow down all these cities,counties and the states ability to hire their friends and spend even more money that isn't even theirs to begin with.They might as well open up a mine shaft and throw the money on in...

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Dogs, Nevada County Fair, and Nevada Union Class of '83 Reunion

2008-07-17T12:08:00.001-07:00

Dogs
Been a while since I have posted, Been busy editing, writing, editing, and ... life.

Well the new place is great other than the dogs that bark. "Why do you people insist on having dogs and not taking care of them?" Hope you don't have children; they probably are just as loud and obnoxious as the dog, if you do.

No street lights, no freeway noise, no late night noise—other than the dogs.

I hate dogs, but I hate dog owners even more—well.. those that do not take care of their dogs, those that let them bark for hours on end.. It's just like people. I mean, It's not your fault you're a moronic, inbred, idiot. It's your parents; it was passed down to you.

Nevada County Fair
So I see it is $8.00 to get into the fair. Wow. There really is not that much to see that we did not see last year. I can see my freinds on the street for free—the last few times I went, I saw no one I knew, most were from out of town. I can get cheaper and better beer, food, and drinks—"Oh but, you're supporting an organization."—The organizations I support, I give directly to them, either with money or services, so don't give me none of that support BS.

I remember when it was a quarter to get in... Yeah, yeah, some remember when it was free, well they are probably dead. What's my point? $8.00 for locals. Please... Do something like they do for Disneyland. Locals get a discount.

I know, it won't work. I did not go last year, but I will be going this year. My sister and her family are coming up from AZ. this gives me a reason to show off the fairgrounds—Hey, I never said I hated it, I just don't agree with the price!!!

25 year HS Reunion
I have been handed the video presentation to get in order. But like with everything else someone else plans, there is no organization, no plan, and no cooperation.

I wasn't planning on going. I may not be able to go, I may be in Hollywood editing. But we will see.

I am wanting to see some of the people that I have not seen in many years.

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Grass Valley Curse and Beyond

2007-11-17T12:30:00.001-08:00

History
The curse has been an issue since I came to the area in 1978—Yes, I are a graduate of Nevada Union, and I have many fond memories but I also have some that I wish to forget—let me just say I am not a big fan or a proud supporter of my alma mater.

That said I have been gathering information and data, not scientifically mind you, but personal scientific data (huh?) ANYWAY, the data covers businesses, people, government, and events. And there have been many changes and not many are good—granted this this curse that I have bestowed upon Grass Valley, is really a phenomenon that happens in every city in every part of the world, but I am only interested in my little corner known as Nevada County.

What is the Curse?
As a customer, we have the need, desire, and right to be treated, served, and listened to with great respect--this is known as CUSTOMER SERVICE; we also have the need for products we purchase to be of the utmost quality either in flavor, portions, and price as in the food industry; or durability, price, and it does what it was promised it would do, as would be the case in the retail industry.

The curse is when an establishment, either in the food industry or retail, has one of the criteria in low standards that as a customer is difficult to keep patronizing the establishment. Most places that deserve the curse are places with two or more marks against them, for me, the biggest mark is Customer Service. If a company has great food or products but the service is below standard, then they have the CURSE.

My motto is "Customer Service is more important, to me, than price." And I stand by that with absolute conviction.

Now understand that each business's criteria is dynamic--it changes depending on the products and services they provide.

Cursed List
Although the restaurant list is based, and yes biased, upon whether a place is vegetarian friendly, there are reasons other than that which are explained, and understand that we do not frequent many places in the area due to them not being vegetarian friendly, so this is not a complete list of curse places in the area, so you may not see McDonald's on this list, if they are in fact cursed or not; we don't know as we have not been there in over 20 years, so your list may be different than ours for different reasons.

Amigo's & Co.
Margarita's

We go maybe twice a year and realize maybe we shouldn't have (prices)

Chevy's

service & food choices

Maria's
Chili's

food choices (they deleted their veggie items)

Villa Venenzia

prices

Miner Moes

prices, atmosphere, and cleanliness--absolutely terrible (good pizza though)

Cirino's NC
Subway
Tortilla grill

One of my burritos had meat in it as I was putting salsa in it.

Recommendations
Not many restaurants in Nevada County stay at a specific level of service and quality--of course employees come and go, understandable, but the peaks and valley's are so extreme.

I used to recommend places, but I realized I was changing it every month, this place that was once great now sucks.

The basic problem for me is there are not many vegetarian friendly places or understand what vegetarianism is. Just because you put veggies in soup does not mean it is vegetarian--the broth has chicken in it. And just because you have a veggie burrito, does not mean it is vegetarian--the beans have lard, you cooked the veggies on the same grill with meat juice....

We used to visit Chili's and Chevy's, but not anymore.

So I have no recommendations here. We go through this for some lunch dates with my wife and dinner's for celebrations. Mostly we just stay home and cook--tastes better.

The problem with making recommendations is that everyone is different. For example if I recommended Pete's Pub Style Pizza, some may find it over priced and too extravagant for a pizza, and some may find the seating availability to be tiny.

But the biggest problem is when we find a place and fall in love with every aspect of the business over time our tastes or the establishments business practices change and we are back to looking for a new place to go. Our list of places we like to go to is dynamic. "Today the sandwich, or whatever, is not as good as it was yesterday, and this is happening a little too often." That is when you know it is time to either tell them or stop patronizing them.

Standouts
After the spewing of not recommending anyone, I will highly recommend these places as they a places that we have been to over the years have stayed consistent with their prices, quality, and service.

Friar Tucks
Wonderful III Chinese
Bubba's Bagels
Jamba Juice
Julie's Hot Dog Haven & sandwich Express
Pete's Pub style Pizza
Original Petes
South Pine Cafe-Grass Valley
Carino's Italian Grill

Actually just been twice and thankfully Chevy's (I know, I would never go again, but we were with other people) was a 45 minute wait and next door was Carino's WOW!

Beyond
Some of the above mentioned places are out of our county. And the next issue will contain other places than restaurants.

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A Place in Our Heart

2007-11-10T08:11:00.001-08:00

We still have a place in our heart for Grass Valley; do not get us misunderstood. We despise the government (Grass Valley city and its supervisors), all the contractors building on the fertile and beautiful land, and the residence that let it happen and then visit those places.

Heck, at some point in time I do believe I was never going to shop in the Glenbrook shopping center for what hey did the the lake, but all that passes in time.

Oh well, people are an odd species. Wonder what the universe was thinking of? Of course we may have been left here and not expected to live.

If I had power, money, and the fortitude, I would gather all the land and make this a sactuary, but alas, most of the prisrine landscape has been ravaged. Just like the song by the eagles and counting crows

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We Have Moved

2007-11-10T07:54:00.001-08:00

Yes, We have moved to a new home.

Due to many reasons like noise, asshole neighbors with their dogs, thumper music, obnoxious and inconsiderate children, sirens, and the fact that the house got too expensive to pay for--yes we bit it in the increase of mortgage rates--we got rid of the house we were in for 15 years and moved to a more civilized area in the county.

although we still care about what happens with the city and its outlying regions, we are becoming numb to any changes that are going on, since we do not see it 24 / 7, it does not concern us as much as it used to.

Funny when you think about it and I know how people feel now. (If it is not in my back yard or effects me in any negative way, I do not have the time or the effort to worry about it--this is the reason that the dorsy drive interchange is not a popular vote as it only effects 5% of the population. the other 95% do not see spending the money. yet, if it is built, as with the movie saying and it is true "IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME."

People will use it.
It will save time for the ambulances.
the traffic on East Main and Idaho Maryland Intersection will be 50% less

no need to spend money on a round-a-bout, which is a joke, a band-aid to the real problem.

But again, we are no longer in the thick of the city, and at this point do not care about its government, people, or the community.

Let them destroy it. We have moved on.

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June 28, 2005: ASSHOLES - People in General

2007-04-11T14:01:00.000-07:00

Thumper (music?) in the world
Can someone explain the purpose of "rap, hip-hop, or electronica" how dare I call it music, to be played so loud? I do not get it.

I do not care if white people want to listen to black people disrespecting the whites--kind of like a Raiders Fan wearing or painting his house in Denver Broncos colors, or a King's fan with a car colored in the Lakers colors--you want to be an idiot fine, but listen to it at a reasonable level when in a neighborhood and your own home.

Freeway, night clubs, ball games fine, turn it up, but going through a someone's neighborhood or your own, be courteous and turn it down, because people do not want to listen to the low thud of the bass, which carries further than the high end. You can hear the crap a 1/2 mile away. Why, what is the purpose? It is not cool.

And what is it with the lawnmower engine in their cars now? It gives you 2 or 3 more HP? BIG WHOOP. Where do you have to go to need that. I thought Stealth and sneakery were the ways of criminals. And by the way, thanks for spending lots of money for MY entertainment. Yeah, the hub caps, rims, paint job, lights, chrome, colors lights in the wheels, under the car. You do not see it when you are driving, how does it give you pleasure? People look at you, that is what you want? Does it get you laid? People pay to look? Do you become smarter? NO!!! I do not get it. No wonder you work at fast food places or clean toilets for a living instead of actually doing something productive with your life, if you work at all.

Respect - Courtesy - Consideration
What is up with the lack of respect or thought given to others by people today? You see it on the road, in line at the grocery story, at restaurants, but mainly on the road. And you know the worst ones? The well to do lunk heads that drive around in their BIG SUV's with the "United We Stand" or "Support Our Troops" sticker ribbons on the back. So that is what america or being an american is--an asshole, jerk, stuck up, self centered, cut you off, get out of my way or run you over, lazy, meat eating every meal, super-sized consumer?

Then they should level the whole fucking country, because we all deserve it. It's not just about being an american--Oh I used to be proud during the Olympics and other events, but now, calling attention to yourself as an american is like saying "Hey, I'm an ass hole that does not care about you or anything for that matter; come here and let me rob you, kick you, take everything you have, step on you, and then laugh at your for being so stupid."

American's do not care about anything but their own survival, existence, and future.

Arrogance
No one is perfect, I do not say I am, but I do allot of thinking about the world, people, my future, past, and how I think things can be fixed--and none of them are based on any of my own ideas, it is based on history, fact, and my own experiences.

Now when it comes to reminding or showing people the better way or how stupid they are, I will do it without hesitation. Yet there is this instructor at the Vocational school I recently attended and she was saying why, what is the use?

I took her words and agreed, yes, ones that have their mind made up will never change, even when you prove them wrong. I know, I have been there. But, it does feel good, and they know they are wrong, but are arrogant and self absorbed to admit it, thus, making themselves look even more stupid and giving me another reason to eliminate stupid people.

But we were discussing the differences between confusing and misleading an audience and the fact that a bored audience will never return, but a confused one will.

She gave me this attitude that "confusion and misleading are two different things."
I said "Confusion is a form of misleading. Not that you want to confuse them to frustration, but a little confusion, is misleading."

She disagreed and tried to ridicule me in front of the class and get the last word in. I looked it up and confusion, under the thesaurus, has misled as a synonym. I emailed her this and said "Sometimes the student is correct." No word back on it and probably not.

Can't choose your neighbors

2007-01-15T10:53:00.000-08:00

Original Post: October 16, 2006

The lack of consideration and respect for the privacy and quiet of close neighbors is really astounding. People think nothing of running their roto tillers, leaf blowers, playing rock music at loud levels and hammering away at their home renovations on the weekends by 7:45 or 8 a.m.

I am wondering whether the city has an ordinance prohibiting loud noise before a certain time in the morning. I know there is something regarding noise after a certain hour at night. Since neighbors cannot take it upon themselves to control noise levels and show a blatant lack of consideration toward others, maybe we need an ordinance instated and enforced. Who can I contact to find out about this?

H. Woodum

Nevada City

Anonymous reply:
I so agree w/ you. I have a neighbor that uses her leaf blower at 6am sometimes! Another neighbor who is working on his house & starts hammering at 7am. Even if there isn't a noise ordinance for this early in the morning, what happened to being considerate? Oh I forgot, those kinds of people are a dying breed!

Anonymous reply:
Buy some ear plugs they are not expensive. I guess you would prefer to have all the brush and garbage around you. Lets see with that brings fire danger and rats. Get a life find something worth getting upset over.

Obviously an asshole with no respect for others--must be a me me thing.

Anonymous reply:
Ever thought that maybe the leaf blowing could be done at a more appropriate time, like I don't know, 8am?

Anonymous reply
Get a life, put some ear plugs in. While I think there should be certain respects paid to your neighbors. Sometimes people only have a little time to get projects done around there house. When you work five or six days a week time is at a premium, and you have to make hay while the sun shines. But go and find a way to put an end to it somehow, that seems to be what you people like to do. Go back down south!

Another inconsiderate asshole that need to be taught a lesson

Anonymous reply:
Good Luck! Any call or letter to Grass Valley is a waste of time. We called about traffic (speeding) on our street. It was 6 days before they returned our call. Last year we reported a paving contractor dumping oil in the field behind our house. Three weeks later we got an email from the city saying they wouldn't even look at it until we filled out the right form. Government workers have a job for life and they know it. Not one of them would last a week in the private sector (they would have to actually perform work). What's really funny is they all get a raise next year.

Well more jerks like that and other people responded saying they would like respect as well, it went on and on. but I posted this. And for those that don't get it, the world is not yours alone.

What you do not understand is it is not about sleeping in, it is about respect, consideration, and being neighborly to your neighborhood, such as, the noise level, and not just when but what--music and construction for example. Some people are already up, but would like to sit and listen to the natural noises (some peace and quiet in a world with a demand for constant noise: music, engines, dogs, pounding, kids screaming, and so forth. Also the same thing goes for the evening.

Also one should think about the smells they emit from their house, like BBQ'ing after 9 pm and stinking up the neighborhood. The amount of light that comes from their yard after 10 pm. The dogs barking constantly--shut them up. Dogs are a farm animal, just like a horse, leave them on the farm. We have 23 dogs in a 150 circle around us. some have 3 and 4 dogs--this is recent.

What ever happened to being neighborly? What ever happened to thinking about others? Those stickers that read "United We Stand" is a bunch of hot air.

I understand the need to be selfish, disrespectful, and a jerk that is why I do not complain on July 4th and New Years when my neighbors are out and up till all hours--they have been somewhat ok most of the year, I give them this time to do what ever they feel they need to.

So Called Friends

2007-01-15T09:00:00.000-08:00

Monday, January 15, 2007

Last February a friend—or so I thought—got upset and took it personally when his emails to me bounced back. I had just installed a spam blocker on my private email to block spam, junk, and those annoying fwd's that people send about angels, chain-letters, and jokes.

I also just took over the operation of our high school class website and made some changes with the assistance of one of the class organizers that we would not post phone numbers or addresses onto the website. Why do we need them? Most relationships are already made—a few new ones could be done, but the best way to correspond would be email—it is the best way to keep one's privacy. Why have your address or phone number available to anyone? And most people had it removed from the list anyway—we did.

Date: Thu, 9 Feb 2006 20:57:14 -0800
To: John
Subject: Re: updating info
Hey, I do not deal with addresses, only email, websites, and a city and state.
You will want to send the addresses to whom ever deals with them. I do not know who that is—no one ever told me. I toss them.
-gerry

-- -- -- -- --
From: John
Date: February 10, 2006 11:02:26 AM PST
To: gerry
Subject: Re: updating info
Then you are not really maintaining the class web site like I used to and like you claimed you were going to. We do not currently have anyone else maintaining addresses for classmates and I really don't see why you don't.

This is the first I've heard of you tossing the addresses I forward to you, so it's nice to know that I'm wasting my time and the classmates are wasting their time trying to keep everyone up to date. If you can't be bothered doing the web site right why do you bother at all?

I'll see if someone who actually gives a shit wants to do a web site for the class reunion.

Not that this is the time nor the place, but I would like to respond to his surly and uneducated accusations.

1) He is correct that I am not maintaining it like he did—I actually worked on it
everyday, where he just did it once a week or less.
2) I was never informed of keeping addresses for people. I was also told there was someone, don't remember the name, that kept a database of all classmates contact info.
3) As for the waste of time. I have no idea why that pressure was put on me when all I was given was the website control, and I had to download the pages from the old site to get them, plus the list was incomplete and 90% of the people did not have
information.

Also, this is about the time that an email I sent was about two months old about people giving us current info, and with little to no response—I began to find the website to be a waste of time.

I was not told that I was in charge of everyone's contact info.

He is obviously on medication or some sort of drug that limits his ability to think� and reason with reality when he accuses me of being bothered and not giving a shit about the site—this lets me know he has never been to the site to see what I do on a daily basis—so who is the asshole now?

he then sends me a fwd message about some political crud and it gets bounced back to him

Feb 9, 2006
Gerry, this email bounced back, any idea why? John
From: gerry
Date: Thu, 9 Feb 2006 20:54:26 -0800
To: John
Subject: Re: Delivery failure
Yeah, it is spam, and I have spam blocker on, which I have set to ignore and refuse things like these—yes, even from known people like you, my aunt, and others. I do not like being on a list of so many people. The then they will send me crud like that, and then I have 40 people sending me the same thing 40 times.
- gerry

Send to this email address now, since you sent this to my new email address it has now been flagged and logged that this is spam, so you may not get through with the editor address. Take all of them out except this one now. I can reset it, but then it opens it up for those that I have already set and then the spam comes pouring in and I have to redo everything, so I won't and the best thing would be to send to this one—again, take any other addresses you have for us and toss them. they either do not exist or are now attune to your spamming. HA.

From: John
Date: February 10, 2006 11:01:45 AM PST
To: gerry
Subject: Re: Delivery failure
Gerry,
don’t worry, I won’t bother you any more as I won’t send you anything at all and you can just go f**k yourself. If emails from “friends” are spam then I guess we’re not friends and emailing you is just a waste of my time.

Now did he take the "attuned to your spamming" wrong? Does he not have any clue?

I tell everyone that sends fwd's, jokes, and crap to me not to send it to me. A personal note on how you are doing, about you, or a family member is acceptable, not bullshit emails that tie up bandwidth and have no meaning.

One would only hope that people you give your personal email address to would respect my privacy. When fwd's go out it goes out to people in their address list that I don't know, and then it goes out to people in their address book, and so on and so on, and eventually getting intercepted by a spammer.

Yes, I did a test on a suspected friend and made an email address I only used with them, in two days time, I started getting email from places I never heard of. And yes, it was an email on one of my domains, not a hotmail or yahoo type account. So in a time when spam, identity theft, and privacy are such a heated issue, why the f**k do people still send crap to their so-called-friends? A true friend would not do that to you.
Posted by GV resident at Monday, January 15, 2007

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The Grass Valley Curse Revisited

2007-01-08T11:13:00.000-08:00

Introduction
I first posted about the Grass Valley Curse on December 12, 2003 on my CSU Chico web site and then reposted it on March 27, 2006 to my new Blogger site--eek the word blogger again.

Anyway, I have been gathering new data and have been bouncing that data off of several people and discussing the ramifications of the whole thing, and what we came up with is that this curse that I have bestowed upon Grass Valley, is really a phenomenon that happens in every city in every part of the world.

Now I can believe that to some extent, but I do believe that there are places that this CURSE--Hex, Jinx, or what ever it is that one can call when the longevity, quality, and service of places changes drastically like the weather, and this city, the city of Grass Valley, California, has more than its share.

What is the curse?
As a customer, we have the need, desire, and right to be treated, served, and listened to with great respect--this is known as CUSTOMER SERVICE; we also have the need for products we purchase to be of the utmost quality either in flavor, portions, and price as in the food industry; or durability, price, and it does what it was promised it would do, as would be the case in the retail industry.

The curse is when an establishment, either in the food industry or retail, has one of the criteria in low standards that as a customer is difficult to keep patronizing the establishment. Most places that deserve the curse are places with two or more marks against them, for me, the biggest mark is Customer Service. If a company has great food or products but the service is below standard, then they have the CURSE.

My motto is "Customer Service is more important, to me, that price." And I stand by that with absolute conviction.

Now understand that each business's criteria is dynamic--it changes depending on the products and services they provide.

The Data
One of the people I was referring to that we exchanged data about the towns, cities, and places we have experienced was none other than my mother, who decided to stay with us for 4 months before heading back to Needles, California. She said at the onslaught of this debate--I do not like the word debate, because when all is said and done, the topic of the debate is still unresolved and waiting to be debated upon by a new group of idealists who see one side and not the others.

My mother said that Grass Valley is no different than Needles, Bullhead City or Los Angeles for that matter, and I told her she was wrong. "We have the same kind of lazy people where I live just like you do." She says. In fact she also said that her area was actually worse because there were more of that kind than here. "Our lazy people don't work and yours do." "Well they may go to work, but that does not mean that they do work. And most cases they make this curse in Grass Valley what it is--terrible service and quality." I told her. She even went as far as saying that their welfare and low income people out number ours. I laughed.

What was learned?
She came from working at Jack-in-the-Box for 15 years and her store was taken over by a new owner who had no idea what she was doing and made the work environment an unpleasant time. I told my mother to quit and come stay with us, and she did. She then applied to the JIB in GV--I told her not to; I told her to get a better class of work. She felt comfortable working at JIB. So She started as a shift manager--proving she knew what she was doing--and tried to get the store up to grade A quality as she did with the Needles store for her 15 years. But she told me that I was right about the laziness in this town--the lack of self -motivated people that can do a job that they can feel proud of.

She quit after two weeks unable to handle to immaturity in the employees and the management. "There is no pride in doing a good job no matter how small it is. How do these people think they will survive in the real world if that cannot do a simple job like clean the dining room or be pleasant to the customers? They will be stuck in a dead end low paying job that no matter how high they raise the minimum wage, they will always be minimum wage!"

Business Opportunity
One of our better known locations that we frequent that did not have the curse was the Afternoon Deli. We took my mother there a few times and noticed that it was up for sale. Mom wanted to run it and knew she could. Well long story short; we put our offer in but were undercut by a cash offer. Needles to say we were distraught. My mom packed up and went back to Needles and we have never been back to the Afternoon Deli to see what they have changed or have stayed the same. We have heard a few bad things about it, but as for first hand knowledge, we will have to try it again some day, but every time we try, they are closed.

Cursed List
Although the restaurant list is based, and yes biased, upon whether a place is vegetarian friendly, there are reasons other than that which are explained, and understand that we do not frequent many places in the area due to them not being vegetarian friendly, so this is not a complete list of curse places in the area, so you may not see McDonald's on this list, if they are in fact cursed or not; we don't know as we have not been there in over 20 years, so your list may be different than ours for different reasons.

        •         Amigo's
        •         Margarita's
        •         Chevy's (chain)
        •         Maria's
        •         Chili's (chain--will not go anymore)
        •         Villa Venenzia
•        Miner Moes
                Prices, atmosphere, and cleanliness--absolutely terrible (good pizza though)
•        Cirino's NC
•        Subway

Recommendations
The problem with making recommendations is that everyone is different. For example if I recommended Pete's Pub Style Pizza, some may find it over priced and too extravagant for a pizza, and some may find the seating availability to be tiny. If I were to recommend The Tortilla Grill, some may find it too spicy, to extravagant, or too busy at lunch time.

But the biggest problem is when we find a place and fall in love with every aspect of the business over time our tastes or the establishments business practices change and we are back to looking for a new place to go. Our list of places we like to go to is dynamic. "Today the sandwich, or whatever, is not as good as it was yesterday, and this is happening a little too often." That is when you know it is time to either tell them or stop patronizing them.

Neighborhood Hoodlums Update
Weaver Auto has moved!!! Yes they finally took their lack of community and love of the almighty dollar and moved it down the street--not far enough for me, but enough that we do not hear their loud annoying intercom in the area.

Another continuing annoyance is with dogs and their owners, mainly the dogs that bark at all hours and for no reason. On August 22, 2006, there was a fire--I did not start it--at a house that was home to five (5) large dogs that barked at all hours and echoed through the neighborhood--I apparently was one of a few that it bothered, could actually hear it, or did anything about it. I went to the animal control and they said to document it for ten days, record it if I can, and then they will prosecute. The day the house burned down was the day I was taking my notes and video to the animal control--how ironic...

Well now I do not have to stress over those dogs, but there are 32 dogs in a 200 yard radius from my home. Yes, too many, way too many, and most back, yap, and howl when the owners are home, and some between 11 - 2 in the morning.

Movie patrons and theaters
I have not been to a movie in a long time. I prefer the sanctity of my own living room, anyway, most movies do not deserve the right to be seen on a big screen. You've got mail? NO. Gladiator? YES!

Del Oro used to be the best theater to go to now it is run down and shabby, the sound system sucks. It is the only theater in town with Coliseum style seating--no one in your way of the movie--which explains why I dislike the other theaters in town--YOU CANNOT SEE!

Beyond the terrible theaters in town, it is the movie patrons that ruin the movie experience as well. Yes, I know you get that elsewhere, but here it runs rabid. No one knows what movie etiquette is around here: they have their cell phones, they make food package noise, they get up and down throughout the movie, and they talk during it as well. You know what? Leave your phone at home, do not eat during a movie (never understood why), SIT DOWN, and SHUT THE FUCK UP!

Now you know why I'd rather watch them at home on the big screen tv. (don't even get me started on HDTV, LCD TV's, and Plasma TV's--Stay away from them until they get it right, maybe 2 - 5 years down the road.)

Traffic Circle is Focus of Meeting

2006-12-12T09:41:00.000-08:00

This aerial depiction of the roundabout proposed for the intersection of East Main Street and Idaho-Maryland Road shows the Golden Center Freeway to the left. Grass Valley planners expect the roundabout to ease the occasional congestion at the intersection.

By Dave Moller, December 11, 2006

The proposed roundabout for one of Grass Valley's busiest intersections and the makeup of the City Council will be the main topics during a workshop and meeting Tuesday.

The roundabout planned to eliminate stop signs at Idaho-Maryland Road and East Main Street will be the subject of a public workshop at City Hall at 4 p.m., prior to the 7 p.m. regular meeting. People can view a model of the roundabout, photos of how roundabouts work in other locations and hear explanations of how to drive through them from the San Jose designer of the project.

I don't care how they work in other locations, they ddo not work here, not where it is planned anyway.

The roundabout is seen as an answer to the constant backups at the intersection. The city's original proposal for signal lights at the intersection was nixed by California Department of Transportation officials who feared green lights would send streams of vehicles into "the weave," a short section of the Golden Center Freeway where vehicles are both entering and exiting the freeway.

What they don't understand is the constant flow of traffic that will be heading onto the freeway. Forget the green-light effect, which we see coming from the post office now The cars lined up, about 70% of them, are heading onto the freeway, without a stop sign that limits one car with space in between, you will have no space in between cars, a constant line heading onto the freeway, as well as, toward downtown on East Main.

PEOPLE OPEN YOUR EYES!!!

Cars wait in line as they head eastbound Friday afternoon on East Main Street at the Idaho-Maryland Road intersection. This is the proposed location for the roundabout that the Grass Valley City Council will discuss Tuesday in a meeting. The current roundabout project was expected to cost about $1.5 million, but that could increase.

City Engineer Tim Kiser said Friday he is assuming the cost eventually will be higher because the most recent design called for a larger roundabout than first conceived. Rising construction costs nationally also could make the project pricier. Kiser said in a recent memo to the council the city may have to increase development traffic fees to pay the difference.

After the workshop, the council will hear a roundabout update during its regular session. However, the makeup of the city council is the first thing on the regular meeting agenda.

Also on tap are:

• A discussion of a Grass Valley Gateway Monument program.

• Presentation of a report on traffic solutions on Ridge Road for the proposed Ridge Meadows subdivision.
Great, more cars, people, crime, and noise the city cannot handle what it has already.

• The city redevelopment agency's annual report.

To contact Senior Staff Writer Dave Moller, e-mail davem@theunion.com or call 477-4237.

Politics and Money. Both are power. Both control you.

2006-12-01T09:18:00.000-08:00

Yes, that is right. The city government, the council members, the building department, and other entities are trying to make this little foothill rustic town into a prosperous middle size community.

Hey, nothing wrong with that, if you have the space to do it in. Making this a middle size city is really making us an LA type city. Crime, number of people per square mile, noise, trash, and you know all the crud that comes with a big city.

Traffic: Quality of life or growth--REBUTTLE

2006-03-29T09:25:00.000-08:00

Tough questions
The back-up that stirs the debate usually clears in 45 minutes. It is a scene of success and frustration: more jobs are available and more cars are on the road.

Incorrect. One who has ever been in the area between 3 pm and 6, knows that is last for 3 hours.

The delay that’s causing the uproar would be a wish-come-true on Market Street in San Francisco or Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles.

One cannot compare the differences like that. You must compare them respectively. Our 10 to 20 minute delays are similar to their 40 to an hour delays. Any other correlation is an incorrect fact--it is all relative not speculation.

The conflict about traffic raises questions with no easy answers:
Is rising traffic caused by new businesses or new people?

Duh.. Both.

Must jobs come at the expense of the area’s precious rural lifestyle?

No. We have 200 + years of history to see what happens to growth in other cities, why make the same mistakes, unless the same people are here that did it to those others, just to increase their bank accounts.

Is it reasonable to expect to drive through Grass Valley without waiting for traffic?

YES! Understanding that a few times there might be, but on a constant basis and for no reason other than not having another outlet for the traffic to go--that is not reasonable.

How much should new and growing businesses pay to soften the impact of growth?

What? So monetary reimbursement to whom? The locals that deal with the overgrowing traffic? Hmm, a few hundred bucks is going to make me feel better? A few thousand and I will live with the traffic? NOT! The money goes to the city and and we still deal with the traffic. I cannot believe that people will take money to replace their dead loved ones.
How does giving money to the city help the traffic problem for these businesses. OH. I see an under-the-table business deal. It's all corrupt to begin with.

Why should the businesses pay when the city wants their tax dollars and other fees from them. The city is the one allowing the businesses in, the city should pay for an on ramp on Dorsey to relieve the traffic.

Do residential and commercial developments in the rest of western Nevada County pay their fair share of the costs of growth in Grass Valley, the area’s economic hub?

Again... The city is responsible for allowing them to build. The city cannot handle any more growth with out leveling the place and starting over--It Is A Small Town.

While debate about the answers pounds on, the Grass Valley City Council will consider a resolution to lift its traffic standards for the intersection so that the six planned developments can go forward without restrictions.

People are so afraid to admit that we cannot handle any more development because:
1) It is turning down all kinds of money--the big issue.
2) The liberals will step in and say it is unconstitutional or something that we cannot keep people out.
3) It personally does not impact them where they live--just like any CEO, President of the US, General, or any governing body that controls the rest of their constituents--they have no idea what it is like on the front lines. Does the GV city council live in GV or Nevada City? What about the planning commission? Most are probably from SF or LA anyway, if not, they sure do act like they came from a big city.
Hey, I understand the world's population is growing at an exponential growth and people need a place to live, look at the city now. Everyday. On holidays. The fair. You will have twice as many vehicles on the road. We can barely handle what we have. Can we handle twice as many? NO!

Seeking relief
Those restrictions would lift the moment the City Council signs a contract to replace the intersection with a single-lane roundabout, currently seen as the most viable solution to congestion.

Viable? You are in need of a lobotomy. Get outside and actually see the problem. People will not back track from HUGHES, SIERRA COLLEGE, DORSEY, and even JOERSCHKE to head into BRUNSWICK to catch the freeway--they would rather sit in traffic and and take, what they think is, the shortest way.

I have backtracked and gotten on the freeway and off at East Main and Idaho-Maryland, much quicker than my wife did when she took the short route down East Main. The only trouble then, is to get through the intersection, but most people know when to take their turn--I hate that intersection because of all he traffic.

As I have mentioned before in an earlier blog, most of the vehicles are getting on the freeway; and they come from the roads I mentioned earlier. We need an on ramp at DORSEY!! Not a round-a-bout, which is just a band aid for now, and one that we will be dealing with for ever if it is ever built. A waste of money, time, and effort. And it will NOT solve anything.

Keoni Allen is building three of the projects affected by the traffic resolution. He warned the restrictions on the projects will spread the word that Grass Valley is anti-business.
“We’re starting to collapse our economy,” said Allen, who owns Sierra Foothills Construction Co. and is president of the Nevada County Contractors Association.

OOOH, there is where the REAL debate and motivation is MONEY!!!

We must burn down our forests. We must ruin our water. We must ruin our quality of life. ALL IN THE NAME OF MONEY!!

Kill the environment so we can live. Not for very long. Do any of you ever pay attention in history classes? We are making the same fucking mistakes as our grandfather's did worrying about your personal financial future.

Jim Moule, who is moving his paint and glass store on East Main, said his project keeps sales tax revenue in the city. “We just want the people to shop here instead of going to Roseville,” he said.

Well said Jim, however you forgot one thing. 75% of all businesses in GRASS VALLEY are set up and designed for TOURISTS, or the well payed city government people and its many corrupted departments--they can afford to go the these restaurants, shop at these over priced stores. Don't even get me started on Truckee. There are only a few local places that actually are for the locals. The Fair, Victorian Summer, Victorian Christmas, and a few other events are NOT.

But Steve Enos, a former city councilman who opposes lifting traffic restrictions, said the city risks turning into a Roseville clone if it allows businesses to expand without first improving the infrastructure to handle traffic.
In addition, CCAT leader Grant Cattaneo criticized the city for failing to build projects in recent years that could have addressed growing traffic. “We want traffic fixes as we grow,” Cattaneo wrote in a memorandum. He cited an earlier CCAT newsletter that said, in part, “An environment that continues providing favors to a few is wrong.”

Wow, maybe there are some smart people out there. But will their small voice actually be heard or listened to?

Letter to the city of Grass Valley and its Departments

2006-03-29T09:24:00.000-08:00

Sent to them on January 3, 2006

Grass Valley City Council, Planning Commission, and other City Government Departments...

I am wondering where the engineers received their degrees, or schooling, that you hired to do the studies and design of recent and future projects in Grass Valley. I ask this because I have no degree in engineering, but I am smart enough to know that the city is too small to do things that you have done and are planning to do.

Let's start with the stop light on the corner of Richardson and East Main: There is not enough traffic to warrant a stop light, I have been through that intersection, in all four directions, quicker when there was only a stop sign. The stoplight now increases the time it takes me to get off Eureka Street--instead of a space between cars, which the stop sign created, the vehicles are now nonstop resulting from the green light letting 10 - 20 cars through one after another.

I will give you a good mark that connecting the two roads at the Richardson and East Main intersection was a smart idea--it did ease the traffic troubles near the Post Office; however, the Post Office should not have been located there to begin with. Look at it this way: you have a city with roughly 11,000 residence, at 2000 census numbers; but we know that there are many more people that travel through the city in a given day--two million at 2000 census. So why would you locate a business that will be frequented by 75% of the population in a small area and only give it less than 20 parking spots?

This round-a-bout is another idiotic idea, which is a continuation of the stoplight at Richardson and East Main. Not only is there nonstop traffic from the light, as I mentioned before, now you want nonstop traffic from that intersection. What are you people thinking? There is a time and a place for round-a-bouts, but this is NOT one of them. Slow the people down.

This is a small town, a tourist town and if you have ever been in other tourist towns they do not have fast flowing traffic. Has anyone sat at that intersection for more than 5 minutes? Have you sat there over a week period, maybe even a month, all day, all night? I live near by; it is a main thoroughfare in the city. Instead of doing you so call "quick fixes," why not take the time and do it right the first time? Save some money, time, and not get stuck with bad ideas that have to be torn down. Build the Dorsy Drive On-and Off ramps. That will alleviate 50% or more of the traffic that drives down East Main Street to get to the freeway.

I want to mention this new hotel and shopping area you are planning--I like the idea, but it is not being planned or though out properly. What are you going to do with the traffic from and to Colfax Avenue? Seems as if you are creating another traffic problem, as you did with the post office.

I find it funny that you want to hire a service to do cold calls to 400 - 500 residence to survey them on how you are doing. First off 500 people does not make a good survey since there are 11,000 people in the city (at 2000 census numbers); this comes out to be less than half a percentage of the population. You want to survey less than half a percentage of the population to get an accurate idea of how you are doing? Wow, you really don't want to know do you? Why bother at all?

Secondly, if you were to make yourself more accessible to us residence by having a booth at the Friday night market with surveys and questionnaires, if you were to make yourself accessible on the internet--Borrow The Union's survey template, post it in the paper, wait a second, you were able to send us the news about the city, why not put it in a flyer that we mail back or drop by? Wow that would have gotten everyone.

Lastly and not as important, but why put your residence through a time-consuming phone call when they might not have the time when the call is made by some stranger from out of town?

As for the town meetings you have, well, the room is not big enough for the entire city to show up, nor do you wish them to (not very friendly or open on your part). And not everyone gets to speak their mind or get a turn--I know I have been there. So the viability for me to have said this in person was not at all possible nor would I have had the chance to say everything I have in this letter.

I am an educated person, and one who would have thought there were some educated people at the city, but apparently not, and the only way I that uneducated people understand things are little words and to the point, and there is no other way to ask and say this: You are all a bunch of self-indulging, money hungry, glory seeking idiots that are ruining this city for your own pleasure. Of course, most of the residence are just as stupid and are blind to your diabolical treading.

Gerry Davenport
Resident of Grass Valley since 1979
Nevada Union 1979 - 1983
Sierra College 1999 - 2001
SCU Chico 2002 - 2004

Welcome to Roseville in the Mountains

2006-03-27T16:18:00.000-08:00

Well the city passed the Round-a-bout project, so anyone wanting to buy a house in Grass Valley close to town?

Yes, we are selling and getting out. We have had it with the place. Oh it is a nice neighborhood, it was, but if you do not mind barking dogs, noisy cars, jerk neighbors that play loud rap crap, and the inability to get out onto the road, then this is the place for you.

Welcome to Roseville in the mountains!!!

The Grass Valley Curse

2006-03-27T16:15:00.000-08:00

Posted Originally on December 12, 2003

Introduction.
When I first came up here in 1979 I remember going to several restaurants that were absolutely horrible; specifically, Round Table Pizza, which is a chain restaurant and one would expect it to be the same at every location--wrong! The Grass Valley location was bad. I remember a friend inviting us to Sacramento, and he suggested Round Table for dinner. I told him “I do not like RTP.” He replied with “You cannot judge their pizza because of the GV location.” So we went, and I was amazed at the quality and freshness of Round Table Pizza in Sacramento.

More...
Round Table is not the only restaurant that has this curse; there are many local restaurants that have it as well, although most may start off with good intentions and have a decent quality about them, in time, they begin to go bad--the food is crap, the service sucks, and the price is outrageous.

Why?
I have worked in the food industry in Grass Valley and in other locations, and what I have witnessed is the laziness of the workers in Grass Valley--the non-caring and noncommittal attitude that most exhibit, which effects the entire operation. Restaurants that exhibit these signs eventually go out of business, but there are those that people still patronize because they do not know any better.

Positive note.
Not all restaurants in the Grass Valley, Nevada City, and beyond are under this curse, but most of them are. Although we only frequent a few restaurants anymore, there are restaurants that we do not go to that do not have the curse--we have tried most that cater to or say they cater to the vegetarian diet and avoid those that do not.

Recommendations
The list is not a complete list of all the restaurants in the area but of ones we choose to patronize because of their operation--great food, wonderful service, and not that pricey. LATEST UPDATE: November 2005--things do change.
        •         Afternoon Deli
        •         Round Table (not often)
        •         Subsational

Cursed
This again is not a complete list of cursed restaurants in the area, but ones that we wish would change their food quality, upgrade their service, and lower their prices--they do not have all these curses, but all have at least one, which makes it impossible to patronize a horrible business.
        •         Amigo's
        •         Margarita's
        •         Chevy's
        •         Maria's
        •         Chili's (will not go anymore)
        •         Villa Venenzia

Winds of Change
Recently, I would say since July of 2003, we have been going to Round Table Pizza for their “Lunch Club” specials. Interesting enough I ordered a “pan” personal size and it came out as “thin” and they realized this and gave me a card for a free “Lunch Club.” When I used it again, there were several employees that noticed I was back and had the “pan” crust. I am impressed at the service and attention that this group of employees is giving--(update November 2005) has it happened since, no.

Neighborhood Hoodlums
This cannot go unsaid, unwritten, or kept silent. Weaver Auto and Jeep, or what ever the heck their name is, is just a few block away and they have this LOUD speaker system they use to page their sales personal. We have asked them to turn it down, but they refuse. They are rude, unneighborly, and have no care for their community. (my letter and their reply to be posted soon)

Movie patrons and theaters
Del Oro used to be the best theater to go to now it is run down and shabby, the sound system sucks. It is the only theater in town with Coliseum style seating--no one in your way of the movie--which explains why I dislike the other theaters in town--YOU CANNOT SEE!

Beyond the terrible theaters in town, it is the movie patrons that ruin the movie experience as well. Yes, I know you get that elsewhere, but here it runs rabid No one know what movie etiquette is around here: they have their cell phones, they make food package noise, they get up and down throughout the movie, and they talk during. You know what? Leave your phone at home, do not eat during a movie (never understood why), SIT DOWN, and SHUT UP!