Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

This event is mentioned in the Summer issue of Sierra FoodWineArt, and here is the press release:

The Nevada City Chamber of Commerce and the Sierra Vintners are proud to announce their first collaboration in presenting the upcoming Nevada City Uncorked, Wine & Food Experience, Saturday, August 6, 2011 from 1-4pm in historic downtown Nevada City. 

Enjoy a robust sampling of local Foothill wines and food from 20 wineries and restaurants.  From vintage cabs and buttery chardonnays to delicious crepes and creative California cuisine, there is something for everyone.

Visit local businesses, tour historic locations like the National Hotel and Emma Nevada House, chat with merchants, and learn the history of our charming town all the while enjoying the very best of wine and food from the Foothills.  Locations are all within walking distance on Spring, Pine, Broad and Commercial Streets. 

Participating merchants, restaurants and wineries include:  Friar Tucks, Chacewater, Las Katarinas, Utopian Stone, Emma Nevada House, the National Hotel, The Old 5 Mile House, Matteo’s Public, Jerrigan’s Taphouse, Jim E’s Catering, Emily’s Catering & Cakes, Treats, Indian Springs, Nevada City Winery, JJ Jackson, Deer Creek Inn, Nevada City Classic Cafe, The Stonehouse, Nevada City Marketplace, Coufos Cellars, Avanguardia Wines, Pilot Peak Winery, Lucchesi Vineyards & Winery, Bent Metal Winery, Solune Winegrowers, Double Oak Vineyards & Winery, Double Oak Vineyards & Winery, BYOB, Fox Barrel Cider Company and more. 

Tickets are $30adv/$40day of and $25 for Wine Club members (wine club members should contact their respective winery for their reduced ticket). This includes a commemorative wine glass to use at each wine tasting plus 5 food tickets. Attendees can purchase additional food tickets for 2/$5 or 5/$10.  Must be 21 or older to purchase tickets. 

Check In and Pick Up Your Wine Glass and food tickets at The Stonehouse, 107 Sacramento Street, Nevada City, Open at Noon.  Enjoy live music, art, food and wine while there.  

Purchase tickets online at http://www.sierravintners.com.  For questions contact the Chamber Office at 530-265-2692 or info@nevadacitychamber.com

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“California’s cannabis growers are on a collision course with legalized hemp,” according to the Sacramento News & Review.

“A new bill from San Francisco state Sen. Mark Leno seeks to authorize an eight-year, five-county pilot project to grow fields of hemp, marijuana’s sober cousin. But fields of industrial hemp can actually ruin marijuana crops, stuff like Blue Dream, Grand Daddy Purple and Sour Tsunami. (Tom McClintock is supporting a similar bill in Congress, HR 1831. Yolo County doesn’t want to be part of the legislation).

‘“The [possible] passage of Sen. Leno’s hemp bill is not good news for California’s medical marijuana industry,” explained Dale Gieringer, California coordinator for National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, in an email. He explained that hemp pollen can contaminate other cannabis plants, in some cases 100 miles away.

“Senate Bill 676, which recently made it out of committee with a unanimous vote, would authorize hemp grows in nearby Yolo County, in addition to San Joaquin, Kern, Kings and Imperial counties. “While these are mainly downwind from California’s prime marijuana growing regions,” Gieringer noted, “a stray east wind could pollute the crop.”

“Pot cultivators say they must maintain constant vigilance against all pollen. Even in an all-indoor grow, female plants can suddenly go hermaphroditic, pollinate and ruin an entire $100,000 crop.”

The rest of the article is here.

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Editor’s note: Even a Rasmussen poll, normally held up by the tea party to make a point, shows that most voters would opt for a congressional candidate who balances spending cuts with tax hikes over one who’s totally opposed to any tax increases. Is Tom McClintock listening?

“Both major political parties are looking to next year’s elections to resolve the nation’s budget stalemate, and for now most voters would opt for a congressional candidate who balances spending cuts with tax hikes over one who’s totally opposed to any tax increases.
 
“Fifty-six percent (56%) of Likely U.S. Voters would be more likely to support a candidate for Congress who said that a balanced approach including spending cuts and increased tax revenue is needed to reduce the federal debt. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 34% would be more likely to favor a candidate who promised to vote against all tax hikes. 

“Given the dividing lines in the current political debate, the partisan split is predictable, but Democrats are more passionate about their position than Republicans are. Fifty-four percent (54%) of Republicans would prefer a candidate who is against all tax increases. Seventy-seven percent (77%) of Democrats – and 56% of voters not affiliated with either of the major parties – would favor a candidate who supports a mix of spending cuts and increased taxes.”

The rest of the article is here.

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The Nevada City Council on Wednesday is expected to vote whether to uphold or reject the appeal of allowing a meditation center in a single-family residential neighborhood.

The Mountain Stream Meditation Center is at 710 Zion St. in Nevada City. It will include the meditation center and – yup – up to 24 parking spaces (16 permanent plus 8 “overflow.”) The agenda and packet material is here.

“R1″ neighborhoods are supposed to be meant for single-family dwellings. However, the zone allows for “uses of the recreational, educational, religious, cultural or public service type” with the granting of a use permit by the planning commission.

Though “R1,” the Piety Hill district is described as “both stable residential neighborhoods and the main service commercial concentration of the city,” according to City Hall. Okey-dokey.

The public hearing is expected to be emotional and heated. Letters submitted with the packet support the meditation center because, for example, “it’s an ideal transition space” between residential and commercial. Two real-estate agents are going to bat for the planning commission decision too.

This discussion comes amid a debate about whether B&Bs should be allowed in residential neighborhoods in Nevada City.

I have yet to see few, if any, elected or appointed public official consistently stand up for “R1″ neighborhoods in Nevada City. “Buyer beware” if you buy a home in an “R1″ neighborhood here.

If I had to bet, I’d predict the approval will be upheld by a narrow margin, without any clear direction about the sanctity of “R1″ neighborhoods, which historically have made towns throughout California so unique. That’s changing though, here and elsewhere, brought on by the slumping economy and professional neighborhood “planners.”

I suspect this is going to be another one of those “wiggle worm,” “feel good” decisions by the Council. The appellants, who apparently are going to be charged on a “pay as you go” basis for filing an appeal, will walk away with the feeling you “can’t fight City Hall.”

And in Nevada City, that’s often the case.

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“The toughest legislative negotiations always resemble those old movies in which a terrified and helpless damsel lies bound to the railroad tracks,” according to the New York Times.

“Odds remain good that because of the immense pressure for action on all involved, the pattern will repeat itself this week on raising the debt limit and averting a default by the United States government. But Washington’s capacity to recreate that narrative arc faces an unusually demanding test.

“One set of reasons involves the continuing evolution of the American political culture in ways that make bipartisan compromise more difficult. In 2008, Barack Obama, as a presidential candidate, made changing that culture a signature objective; if anything, it has grown more dysfunctional during his presidency.

“Another set involves specific near-term circumstances and the characters attempting to resolve the crisis.

“The House speaker, John A. Boehner, has lived through many political storms during two decades in Congress. His relatively inexperienced leadership team, and the ideologically ardent freshmen in his caucus, have not.”

The rest of the article is here.

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