Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

Too many people like to bash government workers nowadays, so I was glad to see the county honor workers at the Rood Center.

The story from Yubanet is here.

Thanks to the government workers for all you do!

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No word in the local media, but some residents want the Nevada City Council to consider opening the doors to the Veteran’s Hall during big storms and sub-freezing weather to all who have no shelter.

They also recommend that police or a task force patrol known locations where people without shelter seek protection, such as under the bridge. People can be brought to the Veteran’s Hall.

The Council meets Wednesday.

“We should look at more alternatives, so no one will ever freeze to death in our city,” wrote Marianne Greenberg in her request to put the item on the agenda.

Homeless advocate Thomas Streicher also is seeking to discuss “community solidarity with the homeless.” He estimates an hour of discussion with six people.

Some neighbors of the Vet’s Hall are balking at the plan, so you can expect a robust discussion.

Also:

•Efforts continue to build a new courthouse on the existing site, though the odds seem long, as I’ve said all along. A feasibility study is expected to be completed by the end of March.

•The APPLE Center is seeking to continue leasing its facility at 412 Commercial Street for an eight month lease, with a month-to-month option thereafter. The group’s intention is to move to the Alpha Building when it opens in Nov. or Dec.

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“There’s a house back there somewhere.” This shot is from the West Shore of Lake Tahoe, where the snow is piled high. Another two feet is on the way this week.

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Editor’s note: Our local peace march stirred up some emotions. Here’s one in Washington D.C. in 1971, with Peter, Paul and Mary this past weekend:

Here’s the one from this past weekend in Grass Valley that “citizen journalist” Douglas Keachie posted here:

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Most California voters support a mix of spending cuts and increases in tax revenue to tackle a $26.6 billion deficit, a new Field and UC-Berkeley poll shows.

“The approach is backed by 52 percent of voters, according to a statewide survey by the University of California, Berkeley, and The Field Poll,” Bloomberg Business Week is reporting. “Governor Jerry Brown’s proposal to ease the deficit by retaining more than $9.3 billion of temporary tax increases won support from 58 percent.

“‘There is no great willingness on the part of voters to increase taxes as a way of dealing with the huge budget deficit,’ Mark DiCamillo and Mervin Field, directors of the Field Poll, said in a statement. ‘However, majorities do support of the idea of extending the temporary tax increases enacted by the state several years ago.’”

The rest of the article is here.

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“A filibuster-proof 64 senators on Friday sent a letter to President Obama, asking him to engage in serious discussions on a broad plan for long-term deficit reduction. Encouraging,” according to the Washington Post.

“But another letter went out this weekend, from the Tea Party Patriots to its supporters, and it highlights an ironic but distinct possibility: Even if centrists unite around a real plan, will the Tea Party or other conservatives kill the sort of deficit-cutting compromise — and there must be compromise for a long-term budget plan to pass, let alone for it to be durable — that those 64 senators envision?”

The rest of the article is here.

“Mark Meckler, co-founder and national coordinator of Tea Party Patriots, says a government shutdown could provide a necessary impetus for meaningful action on spending, particularly for party leaders who have been ‘entirely weak and without a spine’ to this point,” according to the National Review.

“All we’re asking them to do is keep their promises to the people who got them elected,” he tells National Review Online. “They couldn’t even cut $100 billion on their own bill.”

The rest of the article is here.

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“2011 has already been the most memorable year in ages and we haven’t even reached April yet,” according to The Economic Collapse blog.

“Revolutions have swept the Middle East, an unprecedented earthquake and tsunami have hit Japan, civil war has erupted in Libya, the price of oil has been soaring and the entire globe is teetering on the brink of economic collapse.  It seems like almost everything that can be shaken is being shaken.”

• War In Libya
• Revolutions In The Middle East
• The Japanese Earthquake And Tsunami
• The Japan Nuclear Crisis
• The Price Of Oil
• Food Inflation
• The European Sovereign Debt Crisis
• The Dying U.S. Dollar
• A New Oil Spill In The Gulf Of Mexico?
• The Derivatives Bubble#10 The Derivatives Bubble

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