Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

Editor’s note: I came across this photo of county naturalist John Olmsted by local photographer Tony Finnerty this weekend. It captures John so well. He died earlier this month at age 73, as I reported previously. Tony’s photography is featured in Sierra FoodWineArt magazine. He’s an expert “shooter,” capturing events at The Center for the Arts, BriarPatch and the local farms.

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Here’s a small-town scoop: A brewery is planned for Nevada City called the “Ol’ Republic Brewery.”

It is being launched by Nevada City resident Jim Harte, a home brewing veteran for 28 years, who has won gold and bronze medals for his beers at the California State Fair.

The 3,200-square foot brewery is set to open this summer, Jim told me in an interview. “I can’t wait to get the doors open,” he said.

The brewery is going to be underneath SPD at 124 Argall Way. Ol’ Republic will provide some off sale of its brews, but it won’t be a restaurant. The idea is to BYOF (Bring Your Own Food, in this case) from the nearby deli or pizza parlor, Jim said. They will provide brew in the tap room.

Customers will fill a stainless steel, two-liter bottle — or growler — with the brew and return with it for a refill. (Growlers got their name based on the rumbling sound they made as CO2 escaped through the lid when beer was carried home in it).

“There’s only one thing I like more than making beer, and that’s knowing people love drinking the beer I make,” said Jim, who most recently was chief operating officer of Consentino Winery in St. Helena.

Jim had to jump some through some hoops to get the brewery going in Nevada City and had considered going to Grass Valley instead.

But some locals pitched in to keep the brewery on track.

It can be a sister business of sorts to BYOB Wine Seller on Zion Street, whose opening was first reported here.

Businesses such as BYOB and Ol’ Republic are good “mom and pops” for our town — unique for locals, not just tourists.

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Editor’s note: Landing the spy plane at Beale also will benefit our county, where airmen go for “R&R,” including our historic downtowns.

“The MC-12W spy plane mission will be based at Beale Air Force Base, bringing hundreds of new airmen and greater economic impact to the surrounding region,’ according to the Marysville Appeal Democrat.

“‘This should be a shot in the arm for the Yuba-Sutter area economically,’ said U.S. Rep. Wally Herger, R-Chico, whose office announced the mission’s placement Friday. ‘We are so excited.’

“With the first plane arriving in May, by July the base will have up to seven of 37 total ‘Liberty’ planes, while the others are deployed elsewhere. The planes fly at low and medium altitudes for reconnaissance and spy missions and are piloted, unlike the Global Hawks also based at Beale.

“The mission will require 555 enlisted airmen, and Herger said he would expect it will require new civilian support staff as well.”

The rest of the article is here.

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“Geraldine A. Ferraro, the former Queens congresswoman who strode onto a podium in 1984 to accept the Democratic nomination for vice president and to take her place in American history as the first woman nominated for national office by a major party, died Saturday in Boston,” the N.Y. Times reported on Sunday.

“She was 75 and lived in Manhattan.

“The cause was complications from multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that she had battled for 12 years, her family said in a statement. She died at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she had been undergoing treatment since Monday.

“‘If we can do this, we can do anything,’ Ms. Ferraro declared on a July evening to a cheering Democratic National Convention in San Francisco. And for a moment, for the Democratic Party and for an untold number of American women, anything seemed possible: a woman occupying the second-highest office in the land, a derailing of the Republican juggernaut led by President Ronald Reagan, a President Walter F. Mondale.”

The rest of the article is here.

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Facebook emails come in all shapes and sizes, and on Saturday I got one from Mandy Morello, my first.

Mandy grabbed headlines when she disassociated herself from the Tea Party Patriots “wing” of partiers and local co-founder Mark Meckler.

She covered the first Tea Party rally in Sacramento. Her report is here. “On Friday, Feb. 27 (2009), almost two hundred people gathered in a spontaneous citizens’ protest called the Sacramento Tea Party.”

Mandy asked me to post this event, so I said sure.

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I like local Chuck Shea — a former CABPRO board member, no less. Chuck runs the Parsonage B&B in Nevada City and often drives the horse-drawn carriage in front of the National Hotel. It’s a favorite family activity during the holidays.

Chuck has some strong opinions — about politics, City Hall, the business improvement district in Nevada City — but he never gets too personal about it.

Chuck also has a farm in Penn Valley — Wanderin’ Star Ranch — where he raises chickens. He sent me an email on Saturday: “We’re processing broiler chickens this week. All natural locally grown. No hormones/medications. Vacuum Packed.”

I called him up and ordered two. Just to keep Chuck honest politically, I decided to roast one his chickens with the Zuni Cafe recipe.

The S.F.-based Zuni is a favorite hangout of some “local lefties.” I used to meet Will Hearst — a big donor to Jerry Brown’s campaign — there for drinks.

The recipe calls for brining the chicken a day beforehand and cooking it at a high temperature. It came out perfectly, with a side of kale and fingerling potatoes.

Thanks Chuck and Susan!

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