Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

On Wednesday, The Union ran a short story about the Sustainability Center in Nevada City opening — long after its grand opening. There were no photos, and it was a brief article, given the impact. You can hear the sighs up and down Broad Street. Worse, none of its staff members, the editor/publisher or its [...]

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Ken Lewis, chief executive of Bank of America, is the latest Wall Street chief to be unseated by the credit crisis. Lewis’ acquisition of Merrill Lynch is under fire from regulators and shareholders alike. The others who lost their jobs include Charles Prince of Citigroup, Richard Fuld of Lehman Bros., Kennedy Thompson of Wachovia and [...]

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We love our dog Whiskey, now approaching her first year. Her hip dysplasia is a lingering concern that we will deal with, as I’ve written before. Meanwhile, thanks to her medicine, she has become the “$6 million dollar puppy.” Just one dose in the morning — call it Ibuprofen for puppies — and she is [...]

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I embrace change — always have. But when my son’s Kuk Sool Won instructor said on Wednesday that boys and girls “spar” against each other if they’re 11 years and younger, I remembered what I was taught: Boys weren’t supposed to hit girls. Times have changed for my 7-year-old son, a blue belt, and his [...]

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I caught a 6-minute interview with film-maker Michael Moore on CNBC this week, where he discussed his views on his new film “Capitalism: A Love Story.” Moore, a multi-millionaire in his own right, also was asked how he invests his own money. “I have my money in a savings account and a few savings bonds,” [...]

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Here’s a small-town, economic brightspot: Nevada City Gas, which has been closed much of the year, is expected to reopen soon, according to a new sign. It is a classic gas station, providing old-fashioned customer service, including cleaning your windshield and pumping your gas. The station closed briefly before when gas got so expensive that [...]

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Whatever you think about John and Julie Doolittle — just named unindicted co-conspirators in a corruption case against a former aide — Mrs. Doolittle turned out to be an omniscient smart-phone shopper. When I met Julie more than two years ago, she showed me the brand new iPhone that she had just bought — a [...]

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Reader Doug Keachie posted this comment about theunion.com’s story on John Doolittle that was posted just after 1 p.m. on Tuesday on its front door being unpublished later in the day: “And The Union carries on famously: Doolittle named co-conspirator in indictment The Union staff This story has been unpublished and is no longer available.” [...]

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The term unindicted co-conspirator became familiarized in 1974 when Richard Nixon was named as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in indictments related to Watergate. Now John Doolittle, as well as his wife, is being named an unindicted co-conspirator in the corruption case against a former aide, Kevin Ring, according to the Sacramento Bee. Let’s be clear: Neither [...]

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The Secret Service is investigating a poll on Facebook that asked “Should Obama be killed?” The poll offered four choices: No, Maybe, Yes, and Yes if he cuts my health care. Facebook has since disabled the poll. Details are here (on a “beta” blog site of The Washington Post). More sad commentary on our times. [...]

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