Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

On the same day the county celebrated National Crime Victims’ Rights Week in a candlelight vigil, we learned this: A Grass Valley man charged with gross vehicular manslaughter was released from custody after a county superior court judge sliced his bail from $100,000 to $25,000. Edward Anderson allegedly was driving drunk when he struck a [...]

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The world is a much different place than when most of us were growing up. Watching TV at the dinner table was a treat for me: We set up some TV trays and sat in front of the black-and-white tube. Color was commonplace, but we had an old Zenith 19-inch set. We watched shows such [...]

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A day spa called “Spoiled Spa” is opening in Pine Creek Shopping Center as early as next month, next to Jamba Juice, sources say. Call it a “twofer”: an economic bright spot and a small-town scooplet. The contractors, including Gallup Construction, are finishing up the interior. It’s always good to see busy contractors and new [...]

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Here’s something you might not have heard about: The newspaper wars in Vail, pitting The Union’s sister paper the Vail Daily against a well-financed startup, are getting much uglier. And the battle could impact overall revenue at the Swift newspaper chain. The Vail Mountaineer — started by the Vail Daily’s former owner and founder, no [...]

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Some 50 million retirees, including the ones in our county, will receive a one-time payment of $250 in May as part of the “stimulus” package enacted in February. People who get their Social Security or other benefits electronically will get this payment electronically, and others will get a check. The goal is to get Americans [...]

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Some Nevada City residents launched a Web site on Thursday that invites people to sign an online petition to protest truck detours through their town. The site was developed by “Care 2,” started by a Bay Area entrepreneur in 1998. “Care2 grew out of my apartment a long time ago,” said Randy Paynter, chief executive [...]

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A group of Nevada City residents now has launched a Web site “20 and 49 is not 80″ to protest truck detours on highways 49 and 20 through their town and get people to sign an online petition. The Web site is here. The online petition had 19 signatures as it launched, but its goal [...]

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The other day I wrote about how local the “tea party tax” protestors had turned to Facebook to generate support. They plan to march in the July Fourth parade in Grass Valley. This is another good example of turning to social networking sites to grow grassroots political support. It sparked a passionate but mostly civil [...]

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Despite budget constraints, investment in human services programs is critical to state and local economies, according to a new report now being shared with county supervisors, legislative members and others. Though not well publicized, the report looks at the impact of the recession on human services programs, counties’ shrinking ability to provide the services and [...]

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Twitter has grown like gangbusters in recent months, but “twitter quitters” could pose a roadblock to long-term growth, according to a new report. More than 60 percent of U.S. Twitter users fail to return the following month, Nielson said. “People are signing up in droves, and Twitter’s unique audience is up over 100 percent in [...]

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