Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

Here’s a small-town scoop: World-famous singer/songwriter Judy Collins is expected to come to Grass Valley this fall, according to my sources.

Collins is slated to perform in late September, courtesy of the Center for The Arts. This is another coup for the Center in landing world-class entertainers, such as Ani DiFranco, Kris Kristofferson (who has a place in Truckee), Paula Poundstone, Chubby Checker, The Kingston Trio, Ricki Lee Jones and Smothers Brothers.

Learning this brings back memories: I saw Collins perform at Carnegie Hall in New York in 1985 in her annual post-Thanksgiving concert. My girlfriend (then) and I flew up from Miami for the weekend on Eastern Airlines. I covered Eastern under Astronaut Frank Borman for the local paper and N.Y. Times, dictating stories via telephone!

I’ve been a fan of Collins’ forever. She has bridged generations, outlasting Eastern Airlines and Life magazine! She’s now 71 years old.

Collins’ planned appearance comes as the Center is working on a “facility master plan” to upgrade its facility at 314 W. Main Street to better serve as a regional performing arts center. Some of the “big name” performers have held their concerts at the Grass Valley Veterans Hall. The details of the master plan — part of the effort to enhance tourism — are here and here.

Judy Collins has thrilled audiences worldwide with her unique blend of interpretative folksongs and contemporary themes, as her website notes. Her career has spanned more than 50 years. A timeline is here.

“Judy Collins is also noted for her rendition of Joni Mitchell’s ‘Both Sides Now’ on her 1967 album, Wildflowers which has since been entered into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Winning ‘Song of the Year’ at the 1975 Grammy Awards was Judy’s version of ‘Send in the Clowns,’ a ballad written by Stephen Sondheim for the Broadway musical ‘A Little Night Music.’

At 71, Collins is still writing and performing. She plays 80 to 100 dates a year around the country.

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Editor’s note: Phone carriers are turning up the political heat in their marketing pitches nowadays. Here’s one from CREDO Mobile, billed as “America’s only progressive phone carrier,” targeting our vocal, hard right Congressman:

“WHY WOULD AT&T GIVE $17,500 TO REP. TOM MCCLINTOCK?

We just got a glimpse of Rep. McClintock’s radical right ideology when he voted to repeal affordable health care for uninsured Americans. And then again when he co-sponsored a bill that redefines rape and severely restricts women’s access to abortion services.

What next? Shrink Social Security benefits? Make it easier for corporate polluters to poison our air, water and food?

Maybe AT&T knows. After all, AT&T gave Rep. McClintock $17,500 from 2008-2010, with $12,500 of it just in the 2010 election cycle. It gets worse:

AT&T gave a whopping $386,000 to members — like Rep. McClintock — of the House Tea Party Caucus during the 2010 election cycle.

AT&T donated a total of $25,000 to Tea Party-backed Senators Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Pat Toomey and Marco Rubio in the 2010 election cycle.

AT&T also donated $10,000 to the ultra-right Senate Conservatives Fund.

Had enough yet? AT&T isn’t alone. Verizon Wireless also contributed thousands of dollars to the Tea Party-backed campaigns of Senators Rand Paul, Mike Lee and Marco Rubio, while also fighting against net neutrality.

Maybe it’s time you switched to CREDO Mobile, America’s only progressive phone company. We raise money — — more than $65 million since 1985 —— for progressive nonprofits like the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, Rainforest Action Network and Democracy Now. We’d never give a dime to Tea Party-backed politicians.

And our CREDO Action network of 1.5 million activists fights for progressive causes like marriage equality, strong climate change legislation and a woman’s right to choose.”

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Now that Hosni Mubarak has stepped down, ending his 30-year reign, here’s a look at where he went: Sharm el-Sheikh, a resort town on the Red Sea about 250 miles from the protests in Cairo. He has an estate there. He’s a peek at Sharm el-Sheikh, including a hotel being pitched to British tourists for “holiday”:

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Journalists run in packs, and the national media reports on reopening old gold mines in California is a case in point.

The Bee writes the story, the Washington Post republished it and the New York Times (which competes vigorously with the Post) writes its own story: “Old Mines Reopen in a Revival of California’s Gold Rush.” The article is here.

The national correspondents typically are generalists — this is more of a lifestyle story with a “Sutter Creek” dateline — so they are subject to spin.

“For its part, Emgold says its mine will be a ‘forward-thinking, environmentally responsible business,’ which will provide jobs and tax dollars for the local economy,” the Times writes.

“Water from the mine will be treated before it is returned to local creeks, the company says, and some of the mine’s waste rock will even be used to make another product: tile.

“And while the Gold Rush miners swarmed the region in a near-lawless crush, Mr. Watkinson says today’s deliberate pace of exploration, permitting and local approval — the Idaho-Maryland project has been in the works on and off for nearly two decades — has made the hunt for nuggets seem almost dull.”

Some observations:
•Water from the mine has to be treated before it is returned to the creek — by law. How it will be treated is the matter of debate, not if.
•The tile operation of the mine is on hiatus largely because of Emgold’s financial problems.
•The real tax benefits to the local economy are a subject of much debate. Many of the jobs will go to experts from out-of-town.
•The mine’s plans have been on hold because of its owner’s weak financial status, as well as a draft EIR that was widely criticized.

The story also said the mine is opposed by “some local activists,” when many “middle of the roaders,” nearby technology businesses and others also question the project. Some of the tech businesses, who use sensitive measuring devices, worry about vibrations from the blasting.

The article does mention concerns about traffic, noise and quality of life issues from the mine (in a single sentence), as well as responsibility for the clean-up.

It also quotes a member of the organized opposition group, but it would have been much better to quote regular citizens as well. (It’s why you pay to send a reporter all the way to the Sierra foothills from the East Coast). Another quibble: The article refers to the “Sierras,” when it’s the “Sierra” — a mistake that always exposes the rookies.

There also has been no hard-hitting local reporting on the issue — to the contrary, in fact — so the out-of-town journalists have no reporting to “crib from.”

To better inform the reader, missing Emgold’s challenged financial status, not mentioning that is has never mined an ounce of gold, and ignoring the flawed draft EIR is a major “hole” in the story.

You can expected it to be repeated, too, as other national media “latch” onto the reporting.

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Like many of you, we’ve flown Southwest Airlines for years for our short hops. We joke that it’s the “hitchhiker’s express.”

I used to write about Southwest for years, too, including its colorful founder Herb Kelleher, a chain-smoking, Wild Turkey-drinking Texas lawyer, who revolutionized the airline industry in the ’70s.

Now our new governor Jerry Brown is relying on the no-frills airlines, just as he did during his campaign. It sends a message — but also gets you close to your constituents.

“You’re the governor, aren’t you,” asked one passenger as Brown boarded Southwest flight 896 from Sacramento to Burbank, according to the S.F. Chronicle. “Nice to meet you. I work for you.”

Brown was flying solo — “peanuts, no entourage,” as The Chronicle’s Carla Marinucci wrote on her blog.

“And the Democratic governor was very much in budget-cutting mode, sitting in an everyman’s seat (he didn’t want to pay the $16 extra for Southwest’s ‘business select’ seating), no press aides, no entourage, no security — not even his chief adviser, wife Anne Gust Brown,” The Chronicle wrote.

“The people of California are good company,” Brown said.

The Chronicle blog report, complete with videos, is here.

(photo credit: Washington Post)

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