Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

Here is the schedule of county candidate forums from the League of Women Voters:

*April 21, Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Clerk-Recorder
Supervisor District 3

*May 11, Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Treasurer-Tax Collector
Assessor

Both forums are at the Community Room of the Superintendent of Schools, 112 Nevada City Highway (junction of Ridge Road and Nevada City Highway).

May 11 is our 18th wedding anniversary. We hope to make the other one, though.

We hope you can make all of them. Let’s hope the forums are more inclusive than the Tea Party Patriot/The Union/KNCO forum.

Let’s hope the questions are more probing too than some of the pablum dished out at the Tea Party forum. Some candidates are responding to the questions posed here over the weekend. We’ll publish them soon.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Jim Pagliaroni, a longtime professional baseball player who was a teammate of Reggie Jackson and Catfish Hunter on the A’s, has passed away in Grass Valley. He was 72.

Pagliaroni, known as “Pag,” was only 17 when he made his professional debut with the Boston Red Sox in 1955 as a catcher.

Jim also played for the Pittsburg Pirates, Oakland Athletics and Seattle Pilots until 1969. Pag played with Willie Stargell and Roberto Clemente on the Pirates.

During his 11 year career, Pagliaroni played in 849 games, accumulating 622 hits in 2465 at bats for a .252 career batting average, along with 90 home runs and 326 runs batted in, according to Wikipedia.

More details are here.

Pagliaroni led National League catchers with a .997 fielding percentage in 1966. He caught two no-hitters during his career (Bill Monbouquette in 1962 and Catfish Hunter’s perfect game in 1968).

(I collected baseball cards as a youth, and I have one of Jim.) The Pagliaroni’s had lived near Memorial Park in Grass Valley since the early ’70s. Our family’s prayers go out to Jim and his family. Jim’s death is another reminder of all the talented people in our community.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

I told my son we could go on one last ride at Disneyland on Monday night as we headed toward the exit. Poor guy, I didn’t tell him it was “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” until we got there.

But he turned out loving it: His eyes got pretty wide when the robot (AKA “animatronics”) of Honest Abe got out of the chair and stared right at him.

You can also learn things at Disneyland, not just be entertained: In 1955, the place was built by engineers, or “imagineers.”

When I thought New Orleans was burning in “Pirates of the Caribbean” as a child, my cousin would tap me on the shoulder to turn around and see the flashing red paper that, well, looked like fire. Gee, thanks. It’s more sophisticated now, with rides that spray a smell into the air to create a certain mood.

Disneyland also honors “heros,” which my son is learning about in grade school.

Many of them were pictured in the same exhibit as “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln”: Our President, Bill Gates, Lance Armstrong (who’s coming to the foothills next month); our new Supreme Court Justice Sonia Maria Sotomayor and Amelia Earhart. Here are some of their photos. (Notice how Barack Obama and Bill Gates are pictured side-by-side). We spent a quite a while in there.

I found some of this display somewhat ironic, considering Walt Disney’s political views. But times are changing, even at Disneyland – and all for the better of course. We’re very lucky to be raising a child in a more open-minded era, as I’ve written before.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Here’s this blog’s version of “Meet your Merchant” (not a hooka shop, mind you): Stucki Jewelers, a longtime family owned business in downtown Grass Valley, also is opening Stucki Engravers down the street at 124 Mill Street on Monday.

It is the latest example of our downtowns becoming more “real,” as I’ve written before. The recession has helped improve the mix of stores geared toward locals, not just visitors.

Besides Stucki, Summer Thyme’s Deli is opening at new outlet at BookTown at 134 S. Auburn Street. A wine tasting bar, featuring wines from four local wineries, will open this summer.

Over in Nevada City, Nevada City Seafood opened on South Pine St. this weekend.

““Nevada City used to be a ‘real’ town. There was a (full-fledged) grocery store, a hardware store, a barber, a whole host of services necessary for everyday life right here in our little town,” said Owner Eric Juell. “We hope that we can embellish on this fine heritage and bring back to downtown a few of the small town services that we used to enjoy.”

Here’s to downtowns geared to locals and tourists. (BTW, comments are allowed below).

Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Criticism about the use of aluminum bats in prep baseball is mounting throughout California as the season continues.

In Northern California, Marin Catholic decided to use wood bats for the rest of the season after their pitcher was struck in the head by a line drive off a metal bat. Nine other teams in the league agreed to follow suit.

A major statewide high school tournament, which begins this week in Orange County, will ban metal bats.

Nevada Union High and Bear River High and their leagues still use metal bats, but many players and coaches prefer wood ones.

Despite the safety concerns, metal bats last longer and the ball jumps off them faster. Metal bats have been used in high schools since the ’70s.

The NCAA and National Federation of High School Associations are tightening the standards for metal bats but not batting them. Wood bats are used in professional baseball.

The details are here.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

The Union has profiled the Hot Spot Smoke Shop, on Colfax Avenue in Grass Valley in its latest “meet your merchant” installment.

“A rack of Hustler and Playboy magazines stands by its door,” it reads. “Hookahs, rolling papers and glass and wooden pipes like shelves in a case.”

But unlike “1 dead in trailer fire in south county,” you cannot comment on the hooka story. I’ve noticed this feature (or lack of it) before – but only on the “meet your merchant” stories.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

“This chamber has no windows and no doors,” states the ominous voice in Disneyland’s Haunted House, as you walk into the mansion.

The voiceover sounds just like the latest Carly Fiorina “attack video” on Barbara Boxer, dubbed “Hot Air” – both in tone and style. The videos are generating much buzz on the campaign trail.

As it turns out, the “ghost tour” narrator of the Haunted House – Hollywood legend Paul Frees – is dead. But the voiceover of the Fiorina video, actor Robert Davi, uses the same tone and style. Davi was a villain in James Bond movie.

The Fiorina videos (including the previous “Demon Sheep Ad”) is created by Hollywood-based adman Fred Davis, whom Time magazine describes as “a rare blow-dried Republican in liberal Los Angeles.”

It shows the continued intersection of Hollywood and politics, which had its root in Nixon’s “Checker’s speech.” The Internet will only amplify the trend, as shown by the Fiorina-camp videos.

A Paul Frees video is here:

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »