Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

News10 is reporting this: “ROSEVILLE, CA – Roseville police have arrested a 17-year-old boy who admitted throwing a container of creamed spinach that severely burned a fast food employee.

“News10 provided the youth’s name to Roseville police Tuesday night
after receiving an anonymous tip from someone claiming knowledge of the
incident.

“News10 also contacted the youth just after 11 p.m. to ask him about the
attack. He denied any knowledge, but apparently had a change of heart
overnight and called Roseville police Wednesday morning to arrange to
turn himself in.

“Police spokeswoman Dee Dee Gunther said police had not attempted to
contact the youth prior to his phone call to them. The tip was
‘extremely helpful,’ she said.

“Gunther said the youth surrendered to police Wednesday morning and was
booked at 11:30 a.m. on a felony charge of battery causing great bodily
injury. He was released to the custody of his parents.

“It was unclear what charges, if any, the other three teens in the car would face.

News10 is not identifying the youth because of his age. He is a senior at Nevada Union High School in Grass Valley.”

More details are here.

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“About Me: Representative, 4th District, California”

Russ Steele is crowing on his blog that Tom McClintock has a blog on The Union. It is here. Do you think he needs a better photo? LOL.

Exit question: Why just Tom? The Union has handed our congressman a great p.r. tool but without balance. This is becoming a familiar refrain.

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I’ve been keeping you up to date with the government’s plans to unwind itself from bailouts, at GM and Citi, for example. Here’s another big one, reported in Wall St. Journal this afternoon: “The U.S. government is aiming to sell at least $15 billion of its shares in American International Group Inc. in the first of several stock offerings to investors starting in the first quarter of 2011, according to people familiar with the matter.

“The insurer could sell $2 billion to $3 billion in new shares alongside the government in the first sale, which would bring the total size of the stock offering to at least $17 billion, the people said.

“Late Wednesday in a regulatory filing, the insurer released new details about how the government will untangle itself from its investment, which it rescued from the brink of collapse in 2008. The agreement allows the Treasury to dictate the terms and frequency of any sales of new AIG shares until the government’s ownership falls from over 90%—which it will hold when its preferred shares are converted to common—to under 33%.”

More details are here.

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The dropout rate at Nevada Joint Union High School district has jumped, though it mirrors a statewide trend, according to data from the State Department of Education. The numbers aren’t encouraging.

Some blame them on education cutbacks, larger classrooms, fewer teachers, less parental involvement and other factors. The recession only adds to the pressure on parents, teachers and administrators.

I’d like to add a cautionary note to the figures, however: They can be increased if a student departs the district to go to a charter school or home schooling, for example. There also is a new, more accurate method of tracking the data compared with the past.

In addition, the dropout figures at the two main high schools — Nevada Union and Bear River — remained low. NU had nine dropouts (up from two) and Bear River had three (down from four). Nevada Adult had 79 dropouts, however, and Silver Springs had 25 dropouts, Sierra Mountain High had 12. (There is more than meets the eye to the Nevada Adult results, I suspect, and I’m checking with them).

For the year 2008-09, 141 students dropped out of NJUHSD, with an enrollment of 3,868 in the high school district, or a 14.1 percent derived dropout rate, according to the data. (“Derived” is an estimate of the percent of students who will drop out in a four-year period.). Details are here and here.

For the year 2007-08, 42 students dropped out at NJUHSD, with an enrollment of 3,942, or a much lower derived rate of just 4.1 percent, the data shows.

For the year 2006-07, 46 students dropped out, with an enrollment of 3,970, or 4.7 percent, according to the data.

Derived dropout rates statewide were higher, at 21.7 percent, up from 18.9 percent the previous year, according to the data.

The high-school dropout rate is a concern that some readers have expressed here, including Chico State University Professor Tony Waters, has brought up in previous posts. I have not read any accounts of this in the local media.

A state press release on the figures is here.

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“Gov.-elect Jerry Brown hosts a gathering of state lawmakers today to jump-start the discussion on the bad budget situation they will inherit when he takes office early next month,” as the Sacramento Bee is reporting.

“All 120 state legislators and 1,200 local officials were invited to the 10.m. forum. It is unclear how many have RSVPed, though all four legislative leaders — Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Senate GOP leader Bob Dutton, Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez and Assembly GOP leader Connie Conway — will be at the 10 a.m. event at Memorial Hall.”

More details are here.

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