Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

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The local hard right blogs are blaming democrats for a chart that shows “economic stress” — high unemployment, foreclosures and bankruptcies — dominating our state.

The chart, from the AP, is here:
1. Imperial County, Calif., 32.39
2. Lyon County, Nev., 27.56
 
3. Nye County, Nev., 25.91
 
4. Merced County, Calif., 25.37  
5. Yuma County, Ariz., 25.34
 
6. Sutter County, Calif., 25.24 
7. Yuba County, Calif., 24.93  
8. San Benito County, Calif., 24.42  
9. Clark County, Nev., 24.03
 
10. San Joaquin County, Calif., 23.91  
11. Lake County, Calif., 23.72
12. Stanislaus County, Calif., 23.41
13. Tulare County, Calif., 21.60
14. Siskiyou County, Calif., 21.35
15. Madera County, Calif., 21.23
16. Kern County, Calif., 21.22
17. Fresno County, Calif., 21.13
18. Riverside County, Calif., 21.03
19. Calaveras County, Calif., 20.91
20. Flagler County, Fla., 20.7

“No, California does not have a systemic or structural problem (besides Democrats). It is just a coincidence. LOL,” writes local tea party advocate Barry Pruett on Russ Steele’s blog.

“And the people elected democrats! Suicide!” writes CABPRO Founder Todd Juvinall.

But a closer look reveals just the opposite: The counties with the highest unemployment often are represented by Republicans, not Democrats.

It also suggests that the recession had a greater impact on counties that were not diversified much beyond agriculture and extraction industries, as reader Michael Anderson has observed.

As for the politics, consider the state Assembly, for example. You have our own District 3 (Dan Logue); District 2 (Jim Nielsen); District 25 (Kristin Olsen); District 28 (Bill Berryhill); District 29 (Linda Halderman); District 30 (David Valadao); District 32 (Shannon Grove) and District 34 (Connie Conway). All of them are Republicans.

To be sure, District 80 (Manuel Perez) and District 28 (Luis Alejo) are represented by Democrats. So is district 17 (Cathleen Galgiani). In her case, however, she’s working hard to get the high-speed rail project going — a sign of diversification in the Central Valley.

The state senate analysis provides similar results: The highest unemployment counties are represented by Republicans. The list includes Doug LaMalfa (district 4), Tom Berryhill (14), Jean Fuller (18) and Anthony Cannella (12). The senate map is here.

Can the Republicans who dominate the counties with high unemployment put their ideology aside and come up with pragmatic ways to help their constituents? Can they work across the aisle or just “pound sand,” as our Assemblyman Dan Logue tends to do? Or will they isolate themselves further? Unemployment should be a nonpartisan issue, not an ideological one.

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“Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was expected to step aside Thursday evening, the head of the country’s ruling National Democratic Party said. His departure would fulfill the principal demand of protesters who have gathered in central Cairo’s Tahrir Square for more than two weeks,” the Wall Street Journal is reporting, as well as other media outlets.

“CIA director Leon Panetta, while cautioning that the agency has received reports that “possibly” Mubarak would resign, told the House Intelligence Committee that the Egyptian president is likely to begin turning over more of his powers to Vice President Suleiman to direct the country and to oversee the transition process. A former intelligence director, Suleiman has close ties to U.S. intelligence.”

The rest of the article is here.

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More new businesses are coming to historic downtown Grass Valley and Nevada City, a sign of economic resurgence. The expansion shows that despite the recession, our historic downtowns are a “palette” for business to grow and thrive. Here’s a rundown:

In Grass Valley:

•Union Square Events Center. The former location of the Grass Valley Wine Co. at 151 Mill Street expects to provide wine, beer, live music, munchies and catering by Jim E’s Club 141. The wineries are expected to include Naggiar and Montoliva for wine tasting.

•Swenson’s Outdoors’ women’s and children wear is going where Florio’s Olive Oil used to be at 123 Mill Street. Swenson’s will keep its other location at 105 W. Main. Expect the new store to open on Mill Street in about two weeks.

•Grass Valley Wine Co. is expected to open in a new location in early March at 128 Mill St. in the old JordanWood location. It will include the longest sit-down tasting room bar in town and tables for groups. The wineries will include Bent Metal, Pilot Peak and Solune.

In Nevada City:

•Sprout A cool new women’s clothing store called “Sprout” is planned for 228 Broad St., where Country Collectibles had been. The women’s clothing, assessory and gift store will be run by Roi Lynn Arnold and her daughter, who manage the successful and popular Contrast and Contrast Outlet jewelry and accessory stores on Commercial Street.

The new store, meant to compliment the existing ones, is expected to open in the spring.

•Crazy Cow Yogurt The famed Chief Crazy Horse Inn Saloon in Nevada City this spring is expected to re-open as Crazy Cow Yogurt, run by the son of the saloon’s founder, I have learned.

With a tagline “Your twist on frozen yogurt,” Crazy Cow will offer self-serve frozen yogurt and treats, a popular idea as proven by Culture Shock Yogurt in Grass Valley. It also will offer snacks, prepared sandwiches and salads from deli cases. The location is at 230 Commercial St. in the historic downtown.

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Blogs and new independent voices are reshaping the media landscape, including in our neck of the woods.

“Great stuff but old news — about a week now” is what one reader wrote in the comments section of The Union’s reporting on the AGMGEN bike race coming to town in Thursday’s edition.

Last Friday, this blog was the first to report the news, based on comments made at a tourism meeting in Grass Valley, with follow-up from some well-placed sources.

Just for kicks, I reposted the article on Monday, since I expected the official announcement this week. I also posted that announcement (what we call “press release” journalism) ahead of the local media on Wednesday — including maps and video.

Local resident Don Pelton’s blog, “Sierra Voices,” was instrumental in providing information about the now-aborted plan to outsource management of our library system. Resident Anna Haynes’ “NC Voices” aggregation site is a “one stop shop” for the new voices.

At CNET in San Francisco we built a business from scratch, scooping the competition — in this case the business section of daily newspapers and weekly trade publications. They agreed to “embargoes” instead of digging it up as we did. People came to us first.

The business grew and grew. CNET has since been sold to CBS, and most of us are now doing what we want — a pleasant place to be in life.

In the case of the AMGEN bike race, the local media had a full week to follow-up but didn’t. Why? In the past, there has been no competition, creating a monopoly like mindset.

But the internet is changing the way we communicate, and more people are coming to realize that. I notice more and more comments like the one “Great stuff but old news.”

It’s a troubling time for print newspapers, who are struggling to adapt in a rapidly changing world. I read a print version of The Union that was sitting on a table at Fudenjuice on Thursday, while my son had a drink. It was thin.

Is there a business in all this, just like at CNET? Yes. You could build a business online or you could “reverse publish” the content — including the wonderful reader comments here — and sell ads around it. Nowadays, the “content is king” — unique, local content .

In the venture capitalist business, it’s called “disruption.” Wired has organized a conference called Disruption. “We live in an era of relentless change,” it reads. “New technologies and businesses emerge almost overnight.”

“Advertising, retail, manufacturing, media, financial services, travel — no matter what business you’re in, you’ve felt, or about to feel, the shockwave that disruption brings.”

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“Tea party Republicans came to power promising to solve America’s problems, but in the early going they’ve focused on firing up their hard-right base with frivolous bills,” writes AlterNet.

It provides a look at some of the “silliest” bills. The article is here and an excerpt is below.

1. Georgia Bill Would Ban Drivers’ Licenses “CBS’ Atlanta affiliate reports that George state Rep. Bobby Franklin, R-Marietta, introduced a bill that would do away with drivers’ licenses, arguing that they ‘are a throw back to oppressive times.’”

2. Forcing Science Teachers to ‘Question’ Evolution. “According to Think Progress, Oklahoma lawmaker Sally Kern’s bill ‘would require the state and local authorities to ‘assist teachers to find more effective ways to present the science curriculum where it addresses scientific controversies’ … but the only topics mentioned in the bill as contestable are ‘biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning.’”

3. Let’s Use Tax Dollars to Finance Anti-Government Militias! “Think Progress reports that, ‘in a nod to extremism, Montana state Rep. Wendy Warburton (R) is introducing a bill to … creat[e] what she dubs ‘home guards’ to provide services in case major emergencies.’”

4. Texas ‘Birther’ Offers Bill Criminalizing Health-Care Reform “State Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, really, really doesn’t like the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed by Congress last year. In fact, he likes it so little that he’s offered up a bill that would make it a felony – punishable by up to five years in prison – for a federal official to implement the law duly passed by the United States Congress last year.”

5. Health-Care Mandates Are Unconstitutional, So Let’s Force Everyone to Buy Guns “Taegan Goddard reports, ‘five South Dakota lawmakers have introduced legislation that would require any adult 21 or older to buy a firearm ‘sufficient to provide for their ordinary self-defense.’”

6. Slew of Birther Bills “Texas’ Leo Berman also introduced a ‘Birther bill’ requiring presidential (and vice presidential) candidates to provide a ‘long-form’ birth certificate in order to appear on the ballot. Berman explained to the Lubbock Avalanche Journal that the bill is needed ‘because we have a president whom the American people don’t know whether he was born in Kenya or some other place.’”

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