Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

Ted Owens said today in Truckee that he will not run for a third term on the county board of supervisors, according to my sources.

Owens said he is exploring opportunities in the private sector but stressed that his decision not to run does not mean he will be out of politics forever.

He thanked supporters and said it was a pleasure to serve.

Owens is a moderate Republican but is well regarded in his largely Democratic district because he is nonpartisan in his approach. The rumor that Owens would not run has been floating around for some weeks. (There are 3,848 registered Democrats and 2,804 registered Republicans in District 5, according to the Clerk-Recorder’s office).

At the same time, Truckee Mayor Richard Anderson said he will be running for Owens’ seat in the 5th District. The two were attending a luncheon at Dragonfly in Truckee.

Anderson is the publisher and editor of California Fly Fisher magazine and is president of Stoakes Anderson Inc., which also publishes the Aguabonita Books imprint. Prior to starting the magazine, he was employed as a consulting land economist and planner for about 10 years.

An avid outdoorsman, Anderson has been active in environmental issues, particularly those that involve fisheries, wildlife, and water quality. He has served on the boards of California Trout and the California Wildlife Foundation and is the recipient of California Trout’s President’s Award and Journalism Award, among others.

Anderson is a registered Democrat.

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“CNBC’s Rick Santelli, who is adored by many Tea Party followers, was asked by Squawk Box’s Joe Kernan this (week) if he would run for president of the United States,” according to Business Insider.

‘”I wouldn’t rule it out…I don’t know if the country is ready because if I did have the job I’d have one term and we’d do it my way!’

“Of course, Santelli danced around the question and told Kernan that he’s ‘not interested in getting into politics.’

“All of this follows a report by Politico’s Patrick Gavin about a website backed by a Nevada businessman called DraftSantelliForPresident2012.com that surfaced earlier this month.”

The rest of the article is here.

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The job description and application for Nevada City police chief is posted online on the city’s website. The deadline to apply is Dec. 23 and inteviews are set for Jan. 17 and 18:

•”Competitive candidates must have a minimum of 7 years professional law enforcement experience, a BS/BA in a related field, California POST Management Certificate or be able to attain within one year of hire, and a valid California driver’s license.

“Additionally, the ideal candidate will be a person with the following qualifications:

Is a respected leader in the organization and in the community that maintains ethical standards.

Enjoys and works well in a small town atmosphere.

Presents a professional approach in the face of challenges.

Total compensation: $48,000 annually for the part-time job.

The full job description is here.

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American Airlines parent filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this morning to reduce labor costs and shed its big debt load. “It was the last major airline to resist filing for Chapter 11 in an effort to shed contracts, a move that analysts said left it less nimble than many of its competitors,” as the New York Times reported.

There already are more than 100 “free” reports available on Google, including the major dailies and Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The press release is free on Business Wire.

But here’s the message you get at the website of the Dallas Morning News, American Airlines’ hometown city: Two scant paragraphs (after a “pop-up” ad) and then you run into a “pay wall.” It reads “get subscriber content access to read this story.”

The price ranges from $2.31 a week to $8.53 a week to continue reading. The “pay wall” was launched in March.

The Morning News is the lone major newspaper in the Dallas market, once one of the nation’s most competitive newspaper cities. The rival Dallas Times Herald closed in 1991. Throughout the ’90s the Morning News won numerous Pulitzers.

Most news has become a “commodity” nowadays, as American’s bankruptcy shows. Putting it behind a “pay wall” only sends readers to the competition. And there’s plenty of it.

Google’s aggregation site already is a “home” for news seekers. Now Facebook is inching closer to an IPO that it hopes will value the company at $100 billion, as reported here.

As the Dallas Morning News publisher Jim Moroney himself put it in 2009: “If The Dallas Morning News today put up a paywall over its content, people would go to The Fort Worth Star-Telegram.”

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