Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

Editor’s note: The county’s Friday Memo provided this useful information:

Proper Care of Propane Tanks:

The following safety tips for proper care of propane tanks during severe winter weather have been developed with collaboration between Placer and Nevada Counties:

• Use a broom instead of a shovel when clearing snow off the tank or around
the exposed piping, regulator, gauges, or tubing. Don’t use a shovel or
anything with metal or hard plastic. Remove snow from the meter by hand.
Do not use a snow blower near the meter. Do not attempt to remove ice from
the meter.

• When clearing the roof, avoid shoveling snow onto exposed piping, the
regulator or the tank, as well as any meters that may be in use.

• Do not pile snow and ice over meters, valves and piping.

• Check regulator vents on the system to be sure they are free of snow or ice,
or water that could freeze. (A two-stage system has a regulator on the tank
and where the piping enters the building; a single regulator system is located
only on the tank.) If a regulator vent is clogged with ice or snow,
immediately contact your supplier.

• Check all gas appliance exhaust and combustion air vents, such as dryer or
furnace vents, to ensure they are clear of snow and ice. For homes above 5,000 feet of elevation that have an issue with propane gas, contact either your propane supplier or you local fire jurisdiction. For natural gas questions, contact your supplier. If you smell a gas odor, take the following steps:

• Leave immediately! Do not return until given permission by utility or
emergency officials.

• Do not use electric switches, phones or anything that can cause a spark.
Don’t turn lights on or off or use any other electrical switches, including
garage door openers.

• Don’t open any windows or doors other than the ones you pass through on
your way out.

• Go to a safe location and call 911.

• Alert your neighbors.

• Leave all repairs to trained professionals. Do not try to repair the leak
yourself.

Before a snow storm occurs:
• In areas where heavy snows are expected, cover the regulator, relief valves,
and fill valves with a protective cap or “dome.” This dome will keep out

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Here’s a small-town scooplet: Lynette’s Bridal Boutique at 233A Mill St. in downtown Grass Valley has been sold and reopened as the Off the Hook Bridal shop, its new owners confirmed on Friday.

They are Don and Laura Garton. “We have lived in the area since 1981,” Laura said. “We have already begun the transformation, and Lynnette is still in the shop.”

A new website has been launched too: “Our children went to Pleasant Valley School in Penn Valley, and we lived in Lake Wildwood for almost 20 years. Don worked for SPD Supermarkets for 20 years, and I was one of the first checkers hired by Raley’s when they opened in 1987. I have been a professional artists, wedding and event photographer in the area for many years and have had the honor of working with fantastic businesses in the area.”

Congratulations to the Gartons!

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“The news that unemployment dropped again amid signs that the economy is gaining steam arrives at a perilous moment for the GOP, which has fashioned much of its political message around the argument that President Obama’s policies suppress job growth,” according to the L.A. Times.

“According to the Labor Department, the jobless rate has dropped a full percentage point — to 8.8% — since November 2010, coincidentally when the GOP made its major gains in Congress and seized control of the House.

“Key Republicans reacted Friday by saying the numbers were good, but not good enough. But given the state of play on Capitol Hill, with a government shutdown looming and a Republican bloodthirst for more spending cuts, there was little more to say beyond that.”

The rest of the article is here.

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The Chronicle is reporting that PG&E’s upper management received less in total compensation during 2010 than in 2009, according to its proxy statement.

No bonuses in a year that included “a string of highly public problems — ranging from a failed ballot initiative to a deadly pipeline blast” makes sense.

But if you read further down, you find that CEO Peter Darbee and President Christopher Johns “still made more in base salary last year than they did during 2009,” as The Chronicle points out.

Darbee’s salary rose 4 percent to $1.2 million, while Johns’ salary increased 13 percent, to $672,500.

Some critics are calling for Darbee to be replaced.

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“It’s just a kid crying, and there are thousands of videos like that on youtube,” as the Asbury Park (N.J) Press reports. “But it’s what the boy is crying about that has made the video such a hit, even prompting a reply from Gov. Chris Christie.

“The video features 4-year-old twin brothers Jesse and Brandon Koczon talking about the governor of New Jersey and the governor of California, but Jesse is especially upset. ‘Cause everyone tells me I’m too small to be the governor of New Jersey,’ says Jesse when he’s asked why he’s crying.

“The video was posted to youtube.com on Feb. 14, but it was shot on Election Day in November 2009, said Dawn Koczon, the twins’ mother. The video was submitted to America’s Funniest Videos, where it won a $10,000 prize in December 2010.

“’Don’t worry Jesse, people gave plenty of reasons why I couldn’t be Governor, though being too small wasn’t one of them,’ Christie responded to Jesse on Twitter.

The rest of the article is here.

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Editor’s note: Here’s a campaign fundraising email from Tom McClintock from March 31. Lots of drama here: a battle for “the survival of our country,” no less.

Tom mentions the need to bolster his campaign war chest by “midnight” because “any potential challengers in 2012 will be looking at our campaign finance report to determine if they can mount a serious campaign against me.” My bet: 2012 won’t be as smooth sailing as last year. We’ll let you know what Tom reeled in when the report becomes public.

“Dear E-Team,

As I write this, we are fighting a pitched battle in Congress over the survival of our country.

We are now faced with a tremendous challenge of cutting a minimum of $100 billion in federal spending this year and passing a comprehensive budget for 2012 that will drastically reduce spending and reduce our deficit significantly.

In the first debate on the Continuing Resolution, I offered 42 of the 583 amendments to cut federal spending. However, only a small fraction of my amendments were adopted. The House finally adopted $61 billion in cuts, but this is not enough to make a dent in the deficit.

If we do not hold our ground on these spending reductions this year it will make 2012 budget fight that much harder to make any real impact on the federal deficit. I have spoken out the need to stand our ground and make deeper cuts now while we have the support of the American people.

The battle has only begun over the budget and I am committed to this fight.

With your support, I ran for Congress with the avowed aim of helping to revive American Founding principles as the center of the public policy debate, of helping to rebuild a governing majority dedicated to those principles, and ultimately of helping to restoring America’s moral authority, material abundance and martial strength which those principles make possible.

Your continued support as we begin this next election cycle is literally what makes my work in the House possible.

We are approaching a reporting deadline today. Any potential challengers in 2012 will be looking at our campaign finance report to determine if they can mount a serious campaign against me. Can you help by contributing by midnight tonight?

Your previous support has allowed me to be where I am today. Thank you for everything that you have done and continue to do.

Sincerely,

Tom McClintock”

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“As you can imagine, Fox News was all over the massive Tea Party rally on Capitol Hill today,” according to CrooksandLiars.com

“A small but vocal group of Tea Party activists gathered outside the Capitol on Thursday to urge House Republican leaders to hold the line and push for deeper spending cuts in the federal budget.

“Chanting, ‘Cut it or shut it’ and ‘We want less,’ the activists directed their ire at Senate Democrats, arguing that the cuts they have demanded are not ‘extreme,’ but necessary to right the nation’s fiscal ship.

“As you can see, there were at least 8 million people there! Give or take about 7.9998 million.

“Dave Weigel reports that there were about 200 in attendance, though he tartly adds: ‘If there’s much media focus on how small the rally was, I think that would miss the point. There was a total sense of victory on display.’

“Yeah, not to mention a total sense of having a strangely mixed message. The Tea Partiers wanted to blame the Democrats for shutting down the government — while simultaneously demanding a shutdown!”

The rest of the article is here.

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