Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

Apple has released a cool new commercial for the iPad 2. Listen to the verbs.

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In January of last year, I wrote “Will Noor’s grave at Loma Rica become a business park?”

“Fans of Noor, one of the world’s most famous racehorses, are angry that the thoroughbred’s grave at Loma Rica Ranch in our county may wind up as a business park and are preparing to protest,” it read.

Since then, the Daily Racing Form, the bible of horseracing, and L.A. Times has followed my report. See “Effort to honor racehorse buried at Loma Rica now national news” here.

The Union, with its long running pro-development focus, has largely ignored this famous racehorse’s fate amid its giddy reporting of the Loma Rica housing project: See “Noor fan upset that The Union won’t run her letter” here.

Now the heartwarming story of Noor is headed to a happy ending: A plan is well underway to move Noor from the proposed Grass Valley housing development — highly controversial in its latest incarnation — to “Old Friends,” a Kentucky facility for retired thoroughbreds.

“If all goes well, it will be as early as the last two weeks of August,” thoroughbred-horse lover Charlotte Farmer, who has been spearheading the effort from the start, told me.

An agreement has quietly been signed between the great-great-grandson of Noor’s owner — Charles Howard — and the developer of the Loma Rica project, whose land is owned by the Getty Trust.

Hanson Bros. Owner Jeff Hanson has volunteered to operate the equipment to help exhume Noor’s remains as a goodwill gesture, Farmer said. The excavation of Noor’s remains — a delicate process — is estimated to take about 10 hours.

Then they will be put in a handsomely stained wooden box, with Howard’s famous “triangle H” symbol on it. (Howard also owned Seabiscuit). The box will be driven from Grass Valley to Georgetown, Kentucky, and buried at “Old Friend’s” cemetery.

OLD FRIENDS

Old Friends began as a retirement and rescue facility for thoroughbred racehorses. When news broke of the inconceivable death of Kentucky Derby winner Ferdinand in a slaughterhouse in Japan nine years ago, the discovery gave even more impetus to the nonprofit animal-rescue group, its website said.

“We went from getting five emails a day to hundreds,” said President and founder Michael Blowen on the website. “We knew such a death must never happen again.”

Blowen is spearheading the effort to raise the $5,663 needed to provide Noor with a resting place befitting of such a champion. (People who want to donate to the effort can send money to “Old Friends” with a check designated as “For Noor,” according to Farmer.)

In addition, fans of Zenyatta — one of the world’s most famous racehorses — have joined the effort through the website Zenyatta.com.

Zenyatta’s trainer John Shirreffs worked at Loma Rica with the Loma Rica Ranch manager, Henry Freitas. “Trainer of $5 million thoroughbred slept in horse barn” is here.

Freitas’ daughter, Roxann, still lives in the area and drives by the old ranch.

I’m pleased to report such a happy ending is in the works for Noor, though it’s pitiful our community couldn’t provide a proper resting place for such a champion here in Grass Valley.

The internet and self-publishing is changing the way we communicate.

Noor at 17-hands high

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Instead of exploring Citizens Banks woes in-depth, The Union chose to run a one-source story, liberally quoting its chief executive, on Wednesday.

Sure, it’s important to present Citizen’s side. But what about probing the other side?

“That was my retirement,” a longtime local who was an optimistic investor in Citizens told me at the KNCO/Kane’s Penny Pitch this weekend, noting glumly that he had lost almost all of the money.

It’s why our local newspaper is such a journalistic rag, with weak-kneed management, and why our citizens should demand more (including the local investors who lost money in Citizens).

Check out “Official: Citizens profitable in ‘core operations’ here and ask yourself if this is a balanced story. Come on.

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Editor’s note: This event is posted on the local Tea Party’s website. It’s an inside glimpse at grassroots right-wing politics in small foothill towns — frame complex issues as “We the People” vs. the “enviros” and get people agitated (a term Tom McClintock likes to use). For context, The Union’s editor/publisher was the one who first introduced me to 16 to One Mine President Mike Miller and his ongoing tale of woes. Why isn’t the Tea Party asking the water regulators to present their side?

“Next Evening Meeting: Wednesday, June 29
Esterly Hall, 336 Crown Point Plaza, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Esterly Hall is off Whispering Pines, behind Nev. Co. Assoc. of Realtors.
Another very interesting meeting on the evening of Wednesday June 29

Guest Speakers;
Assemblyman Dan Logue
Third Assembly District

Mike Miller, President
Original 16 to One Mine

The Original 16 to One Mine in Alleghany is about an hours drive from Nevada City, and is the last operating gold mine in Northern California. It was incorporated 1911 and has been in operation since 1896.

Several weeks ago, I got a call from Mike Miller, President of the Original 16 to One Mine asking if we could help him with some serious problems he was having with our State government. The California Regional Water Control Board has been suing the mine over the quality of the water that the mine releases and runs into the nearby Kanaka River. This suit has been going on for at least ten years. Mike has reams of documents that show that his water is as clean as any water in Kanaka Creek and beyond. But, government agencies, run by bureaucrats, just keep forcing the mine to spend money on lawsuits that they cannot afford. They are now down to 3 employees instead of the 15 that they need. This is part of a story about government overreach and the power they exert on us and our economy.

After I called Assemblyman Dan Logue, he immediately called Mike to discuss the problem. Then he had a meeting with Mike in Sacramento so they could discuss how to proceed. Assemblyman Logue has taken up the 16 to One Mine issue, and he will tell us what he and his staff are trying to do to help his constituents.

Like many government agencies in California, it appears that the California Water Control Board is determined to stop all mining and lumber companies from creating jobs for our communities. This country and our county was built by farmers, ranchers, miners, contractors, loggers and trucking companies. Each of these industries has been attacked by the government with frivolous lawsuits and over-burdensome regulations. You have seen it happening here in Nevada County as construction has virtually stopped and businesses are forced to close. This is not somebody else’s problem, it ours!

The 60+ residents of Alleghany come to Nevada County to spend the money they earn. This is another reason that you need to know what is happening to our neighbors.

We found Mike’s story to be very disturbing, but not surprising. Please bring your friends and neighbors to this meeting.

Admission is free. Coffee and refreshments will be served. Copies of “A More Perfect Union” video will also be for sale.”

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“AUSTIN (The Borowitz Report) – Texas Governor Rick Perry announced his bid for the Republican presidential nomination today, unveiling his official campaign slogan, ‘What Harm Could a Governor from Texas Do?,’” according to the tongue-in-cheek Borowitz Report.

“In throwing his hat into the ring, Gov. Perry explained his earlier reluctance to run: ‘I promised the people of Texas I would destroy the state by 2012, and now it looks like we’re on track to do that.’

“Gov. Perry said that he hoped to bring down the cost of the federal government the same way he reined in costs in Texas, ‘by making the state no longer habitable for human life as we know it.’

“He said that his plan to eliminate the states one by one was picking up steam, with support from Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Florida Governor Rick Scott.

“As President, Gov. Perry promised, he would push a three-part agenda: ‘Eliminate education, eliminate healthcare, and pray for Rapture.’”

The rest of the article is here.

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Editor’s note: Dan Logue is such a grandstander he might as well have built a car in the Nevada City Soapbox Derby and then bragged about it in the newspaper. (How much of that money will actually wind up improving Pioneer Park, though?) In Sacramento politics, it was a Democrat, state Controller John Chiang, who decided California lawmakers must forfeit their pay until they pass a balanced budget. While much of the pundits have focused on the Democrats, I wonder if Chiang will force the Republican lawmakers to get off the “No” pot and do something. It reflects that a growing number of Californians are independent minded voters, registered as DTS, who swing the elections. They’ll applaud this and Chiang and Jerry Brown know it. Good going John Chiang!

“Adding a fresh twist to the California budget saga, California lawmakers must forfeit their pay from June 15 until they pass a balanced budget, a state official ruled Tuesday.

“The decision by state Controller John Chiang (D) was a first test of November’s voter-approved Proposition 25, which mandates that state legislators pass a balanced budget by June 15 or lose their pay for each day of delay.

“In fact, the Democrat-controlled Legislature did pass a budget by the June 15 deadline – the first on-time state budget in 25 years. But Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed it, saying it was filled with gimmicks

“Controller Chiang in effect agreed Tuesday, saying the budget did not balance expenditures and revenues and therefore did not meet the requirements of Prop. 25.

“Several political analysts say Chiang made the harder of two choices, alientating his fellow Democrats and putting political pressure squarely on them.

“’John Chiang made a gutsy but popular decision today,’ says Robert Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies. ‘He recognized that this budget really wasn’t balanced and was only strung together to meet the deadline

‘He will not be a welcome guest in the Capitol, but most of the state will applaud this move since most Californians don’t believe the legislators should be paid for anything they do.

“The decision is sure to face a legal challenge from Democratic lawmakers, who say the law does not adequately define a ‘balanced budget.’

The rest of the article is here.

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