Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

Editor’s note: Reinette Senum’s talks from time to time on becoming the first woman to cross Alaska alone is worth attending. Now Reinette has posted her videos on YouTube from the arduous trek. This is just one example of the amazing people in our area and a stark reminder that most of the challenges in life are, well, nonpartisan. Once in a while, I will post profiles like this, hoping to shine a light on what can bring us together, not divide us. Thanks to Reinette for sharing this.

“In 1994, Reinette Senum would become the first woman to cross Alaska alone,” according to the YouTube videos. “Skiing 600 miles, cutting down 3 trees and building a canoe, to complete her journey by paddling an additional 900 miles.

“It would be two years after Reinette completed her trek that she would discover the journey had actually begun a century before. Upon finding her birth mother, Jane Funston, and that she had already died, Reinette would discover her Great Grandfather, General Frederick Funston, had completed the same journey exactly 100 years before, in 1894, and at the exact same age, 27.

“Not only did he start his journey on Reinette’s birthday, April 10th, but he also snowshoed down the Yukon River, shot and killed a sled dog to eat, and completed his trek in his own hand built canoe.”

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“With four 14-0 votes, the California Citizens Redistricting Commission has released its first round of draft maps for Congressional, State Assembly, State Senate and Board of Equalization districts,” according to a press statement.

“Now a Citizens Commission is drawing districts in a transparent process, adhering to a rank-ordered set of criteria that is designed to produce sensible and fair districts. The Commission has asked the public to join them on this journey and has held 23 input hearings throughout the state, receiving testimony from 1,533 Californians. Thousands more have submitted testimony online, by fax and in the mail.”

What does it mean to our district? In the first draft, at least, most of our county becomes part of Wally Herger’s district. Tom McClintock goes “south” — well not all the way back to Thousand Oaks — come 2012. (See maps below.)

A video that provides background is here.

“Incumbents lose, Democrats win with redistricting proposal” is here.

“A new redistricting proposal in California would draw nearly half the state’s congressional incumbents into districts with one another and significantly expand Democrats’ ability to win seats in the Golden State in 2012 and beyond,” the Post reports.

The Bee report is here.

More maps are here.

(Click for larger image)

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