Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

“TMZ has obtained a letter Warner Bros. sent to Charlie Sheen’s lawyer, stating Charlie was being terminated because he committed a felony involving ‘moral turpitude.’

“In the 11-page letter, obtained from sources connected to Charlie, Warner Bros. states, ‘Your client has been engaged in dangerously self-destructive conduct and appears to be very ill.’

“The letter then goes on to describe Charlie’s hijinks, including trashing the Plaza Hotel in NYC, coke binges, on-set failures because of drug fatigue, and diatribes against ‘Two and a Half Men’ creator Chuck Lorre.

“The letter also notes that Charlie derailed production when he went into rehab, and then he fired his sobriety coach. In fact, Warner Bros. claims it was so concerned about Charlie’s well-being, ‘Warner Bros. had an airplane waiting’ to take him to a treatment facility … but Charlie would have none of it.

“As for why Charlie got fired, the letter says there is a clause in his contract saying they can fire a performer who commits ‘a felony offense involving moral turpitude.’

“The letter says, ‘There is ample evidence supporting Warner Bros. reasonable good faith opinion that Mr. Sheen has committed felony offenses involving moral turpitude (including but not limited to furnishing of cocaine to others as part of the self-destructive lifestyle he has described publicly) that have ‘interfere[d] with his ability to fully and completely render all material services required’ under the agreement.’”

“In short, that’s why Charlie was fired.”

The rest of the article is here.

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The local “hard right” blogging contingent is pooping out.

I have observed traffic declines at the “hard right” blogs via Quantcast.com — not to mention the patently absurd posts of late. (“Are liberal men all fat boys? LOL” is the latest from our former supervisor and CABPRO founder Todd Juvinall — a real-life village idiot).

Now tea party advocate Barry Pruett, whose spouse is a staffer for our “hard right” congressman, said on his blog that he is taking a “leave of absence” from blogging to concentrate on other matters.

Blogging is tough work. In a county that’s purple politically, it’s also hard to grow your audience when you are “hard right.”

Barry seems to have local political aspirations. Having lost his last race in every precinct, I hope he’ll moderate his views. After all, most of us are centrists — and we’re the ones who swing the elections one way or the other.

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Szabo Vineyards plans to open a tasting room on Broad Street where Coldwell Banker had been located, according to its owner.

The opening date is set for this spring.

It is the latest example of the boom in downtown wine tasting rooms. Grass Valley now has 11 wines represented downtown. Nevada City’s tasting rooms include Nevada City Winery, Indian Springs and Clavey, as well as Carrington’s Fine Wines.

Szabo Vineyards is a small, family-owned operation that makes wines exclusively from grapes grown on its estate in Nevada City.

In 2005 Alex Szabo was named Conservationist of the Year by the Natural Resources Conservation Service of Nevada County for his viticulture practices and stewardship of the land.

The roots of the Szabo family lie in the town of Eger, Hungary, where there have been vineyards since Roman times and where they produce the famous Egri Bikaver (“Bull’s Blood”) wine.

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“Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), facing an ethics investigation stemming from an affair with a campaign aide, has announced that he won’t seek reelection. Ensign made the announcement Monday in Las Vegas.

“Just two months into the 112th Congress, Ensign is the eighth Senate incumbent to opt out of running for a new term, out of 33 seats up in 2012.

“The announcement is welcome news to national Republicans who have admitted the two-term Republican would be vulnerable in the race. GOP Rep. Dean Heller, who won three statewide elections as secretary of State, is considered the party’s best candidate to retain the seat.”

The rest of the article is here.

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Editor’s note: Here’s an excerpt from a letter from Greg Cook, owner of Friar Tuck’s Restaurant, seeking Nevada City’s support in improving communications during power outages. It is included in the agenda packet for Wednesday’s City Council meeting and shows how businesses are “held hostage” by the poor communications.

I am fully aware of the conflict of wires and trees, having lived here for 38 years, but the communications with PG&E are getting worse, and they need to attend to the public better.

For instance, on Saturday, I had about 80 reservations and was waiting to call folks until I heard more. PG&E said more info would be available by noon. At noon they said they didn’t know. Meanwhile, our voice mail picked up a bunch more reservation requests. I had staff on standby. People were really desperate. We don’t that many calls even on New Years Eve.

There is no reason why PG&E can’t provide better info. I understand during storms they are really busy, but someone must have known that power would be back on by dark Saturday.

I don’t know if it is the city’s position to request this of PG&E. I would be glad to be an information official for the town. In this time of modern communication, we should have easier access to important information.

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An emerging group of people in their 20s and 30s who have chosen farming as a career, the New York Times is reporting. Though the article focuses on Oregon, it is just as true in the Sierra foothills.

“Many shun industrial, mechanized farming and list punk rock, Karl Marx and the food journalist Michael Pollan as their influences. The Joneses say they and their peers are succeeding because of Oregon’s farmer-foodie culture, which demands grass-fed and pasture-raised meats,” according to the Times.

“People want to connect more than they can at their grocery store,” Tyler Jones, a livestock farmer, told the Times. “We had a couple who came down from Portland and asked if they could collect their own eggs. We said, ‘O.K., sure.’ They want to trust their producer, because there’s so little trust in food these days.”

“Garry Stephenson, coordinator of the Small Farms Program at Oregon State University, said he had not seen so much interest among young people in decades. ‘It’s kind of exciting,’ Mr. Stephenson said. ‘They’re young, they’re energetic and idealist, and they’re willing to make the sacrifices.’”

The rest of the article is here.

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Editor’s note: I’m republishing this article from late Friday in case you missed it. There are more than 60 comments, nearly all of them calling for some accountability from KVMR’s board. Again, the issue is not about expressing a political opinion; it is about using remarks that are perceived as racist. This is at odds with KVMR’s mission statement.

Three years ago, NPR apologized when newscaster Jean Cochran said on Valentine’s Day that President Bush was heading to Africa to visit the “dark continent.”

“I thought that we had wrested that comment along with ‘colored’ and other euphemisms for Africans or Afro-Americans,” wrote one listener, summing up how others felt. “Could you please report my comments to NPR management? I almost drove off the side of the road to start a protest!”

Added another: “This is simply an outdated reference as well as being outrageously offensive,” wrote another listener, Karrye Y. Braxton.

As NPR’s Ombudsman wrote: “Despite Cochran’s innocent use of the term, ‘the impact of the description still has racist overtones,’ said Arlene Morgan, who with Keith Woods is author of Authentic Voice: The Best Reporting on Race and Ethnicity. ‘So journalists today have to consider impact. Surely, the audience had to wonder why she thought the description of dark was accurate or appropriate.’” The details are here.

Well, local “hard right” political blogger and vocal tea party supporter George Rebane has used the term “Dark Continent” as well, in his latest commentary on KVMR. It came after a reference to “South LA.”

In criticizing a community partnership banking plan being discussed for Nevada City, which he dubbed “Worm Farm 2,” George wrote about where United Field Corp. has made inroads.

“Besides convincing the progressive elements of Nevada City, this corporation claims to have made inroads with other California cities like Santa Barbara, Oakland, San Francisco, Santa Monica, Sonoma County, South Los Angeles, and Ojai. Do we detect a pattern here?

“You did notice South LA thrown in there didn’t you? Well, on the Dark Continent this company is involved with something called DEEP – Developing Empowerment and Economic Prosperity – that does ‘social business incubation” using a ‘Hybrid Social Enterprise model’ for ‘sustainable development in Africa.’ Presumably, the successes from that region of buzzing entrepreneurial expansion will serve as templates for us to apply here in Nevada County.

When all is said and done, what could be finer than socialist banking coming to the Sierra?”

In the past, Rebane — who also writes a column for The Union — has been criticized for using the term “raghead.” He defended the term here in “Of Ragheads and Racism.”

What are KVMR’s standards for commentary and commentators?

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“From state legislatures to Congress to tea party rallies, a vocal backlash is rising against what are perceived as too-generous retirement benefits for state and local government workers. However, that widespread perception doesn’t match reality,” according to McClatchy Newspaper’s Washington D.C. bureau.

“A close look at state and local pension plans across the nation, and a comparison of them to those in the private sector, reveals a more complicated story. However, the short answer is that there’s simply no evidence that state pensions are the current burden to public finances that their critics claim.

“Pension contributions from state and local employers aren’t blowing up budgets. They amount to just 2.9 percent of state spending, on average, according to the National Association of State Retirement Administrators. The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College puts the figure a bit higher at 3.8 percent.”

The rest of the article is here.

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If you liked this past weekend’s Mardi Gras event in Nevada City, you might want to think twice about supporting any plans to farm out the police services, as some residents are proposing.

Without a city police force, it would cost many thousands of dollars for law enforcement to staff an event like the Mardi Gras parade. It’s doubtful that kind of money could be raised on top of the regular costs.

Other events that require police staffing include the Constitution Day Parade.

The costs for law enforcement already are a challenge for events such as the Fourth of July fireworks at the county fairgrounds. Many of the events build community spirit and attract visitors.

Some of the background is here.

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