Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

Tigers roam free with the Monks at Tiger Temple in western Thailand. One word of warning to guests from the Monks: Don’t wear red shirts:

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Today was filing deadline for the June 5 primary election, though it has been extended in some cases. There are now four candidates for District 1 supervisor:

Nate Beason
Sue McGuire
Al Bulf of Nevada City
Louis Meyer of Chicago Park (He filed today)

District 2
Ed Scofield

District 5
Richard Anderson

Nevada City Council
Robert Bergman
Terri Andersen
Three more seats are up for election. The deadline is being extended until March 14.

County Superior Court
Tom Anderson
George Smyrnos
Robert Tamietti
Scott Thomsen

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The petition to remove Rush Limbaugh from KNCO now has 1,000 signatures.

“Support the women in both our community and globally. This is not about conservative radio. Mr Limbaugh crossed a line and his show needs to be removed from KNCO. If you agree, please sign this petition. Thank you.”

I guess I’m not the only one who is tired of the political attacks and insults from the extreme right. If you want to debate politics, debate the issues.

KNCO is going to be forced to take notice, and I suspect this sentiment will spill over into this year’s elections — both local and national.

Despite attempts by the hard-right bloggers to denegrate them, people who are signing the petition include successful and influential citizens in our community.

In fact, I think the continued denigration is only leading to more signatures.

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I’ve said before that the local GOP Central Committee is controlled by a hard-right “old-guard” faction, and sure enough, it showed itself on Friday.

It’s a shame since most local GOP voters are moderates, and the results of this year’s elections are going to show that, I predict. The GOP Central Committee is out of touch with its own constituents.

Here’s the list of GOP candidates endorsed by the group:

U.S. Congress 4th District — Rep. Tom McClintock
State Senate 1st District — Sen. Ted Gaines
Nevada County Bd. of Supervisors District 2 — Ed Scofield
Nevada County Superior Court Judge — George Smyrnos

Ed Scofield is a GOPer who is running unopposed, so it’s good (and not surprising) to see the group backing him. (GOP Central Committee Treasurer Barry Pruett contributed $300 to Ed’s campaign, as reported previously).

Tom Anderson is a Democrat, so it’s no surprise that the GOP Central Committee is backing his opponent. (Though this is supposed to be a nonpartisan post, and his opponent is less experienced).

But here’s the clincher: The Central Committee took no position for the District 1 Supervisors race or the U.S. Congress District 1 race. How chicken is that? (Or a “lilly-livered varmint” as Yosemite Sam puts it).

Incumbent Nate Beason is a GOP moderate. His challenger is the TPP candidate Sue McGuire — far behind in fundraising, as of the latest campaign finance report.

Considering Beason’s experience and accomplishments, there’s no reason the group shouldn’t have endorsed him — except some of the GOP Central Committee members have axes to grind with Nate. I think it’s personal.

And for Congress, Doug LaMalfa is running against a more extreme right candidate Sam Aanestad. Aanestad’s campaign chairman is none other than Tom McClintock.

Nevada County conservatives, including Supervisor Hank Weston, Supervisor Ted Owens, Assessor Sue Horne, Grass Valley Councilwoman Yolanda Cookson and Grass Valley Vice-Mayor Jan Arbuckle, all are endorsing LaMalfa.

I also find it odd that the group went out of its way to endorse the hard-right candidate McClintock, because he’s largely exiting the district.

The leadership of the Repubulican Central Committee provides a clue:

Chairman Richard Ulery

1st Vice Chairman Carla Embertson

2nd Vice Chairman Greg Marks

Secretary Deborah Wilder

Treasurer Barry Pruett

Past Chairman Bill Neuharth

And the rest of the GOP Central Committee is here.

To receive the endorsement of the Nevada County Republican Party, candidates must receive the vote of a two-thirds supermajority of regular and ex-officio members of the Central Committee.

When Beason and LaMalfa win their races, as I expect they will, the local GOP Central Committee should justifiably have egg on its face. This group needs “new blood” to restore its credibility among the county’s registered Republicans.

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Emgold is seeking another 60- to 90-day extension for its stalled project to reopen the Idaho-Maryland Mine, according to an “agenda action sheet” for next week’s Grass Valley City Council meeting.

“We are approaching the 60 day time period indicated in my letter of November 23. 2011,” IMM chief executive David Watkinson writes in a letter to the City of Grass Valley.

“We expect financing activities, in the current market, may take another 60-90 days at this point in time.

“We ask the City’s patience, given we started the process in 2005, and it is not unusual or unreasonable to request time to raise funds. We will continue to keep you updated on our progress and appreciate your consideration of these matters.”

This comes after the applications for the project was put on hold for 60-90 days previously.

Grass Valley Planning Director Tom Last said in a memo that staff “believes this is a resonable request in light of the continued economic conditions. It is still evident that raising finances for small or large projects continues to be an issue.”

The documents, contained in the City Council agenda packet, are here: extensionrequest2

Let’s hope Grass Valley has a “plan B” for its economic revitalization besides this mine project. A “big box” store, such as a Target, is being discussed as well, according to my sources.

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