Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

“Put this one in Rush Limbaugh’s greatest hits collection. Now he’s seeing liberal conspiracies in the new ‘Batman’ movie, ‘The Dark Knight Rises,’” the S.F. Chronicle is reporting.

“On his show this week, El Rushbo pointed out that the villain in the new flick, which opens Friday is called ‘Bane.’ As in it sounds like ‘Bain’…as in ‘Bain Capital,’ the sweet spot for the past many months of attacks from Obama supporters — and Romney’s fellow Republicans in the primary. Did we all forget that the pro-Gingrich super PAC paid to air a 27-minute documentary slamming Romney’s Bain tenure?

“But to Rush, it is only a liberal conspiracy. Said Rush:

“The villain in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is named Bane, B-a-n-e. What is the name of the venture capital firm that Romney ran and around which there’s now this make-believe controversy? Bain. The movie has been in the works for a long time. The release date’s been known, summer 2012 for a long time. Do you think that it is accidental that the name of the really vicious fire breathing four eyed whatever it is villain in this movie is named Bane?”’

“That said, there are (at least) two problems with Rush’s liberal conspiracy theory/way to kill three hours every morning:
1. The Bane character was created in 1992…about a year before Mitt Romney was even thinking of starting his unsuccessful Senate campaign in Massachusetts. He — Bane, not Romney — debuted in 1993.
2. The Bane character was created by a CONSERVATIVE, Chuck Dixon.”

The article is here.

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Is this how would-be Congresspeople act? Come on, Doug, grow up. I know you can do better. Attack issues, not people.

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•Howard Levine sent an email to The Union, Yubanet and Sierra Foothills Report.
•Jan Arbuckle leaked it to The Union (no press release to Yubanet or others).
•Lisa Swarthout leaked it to The Union (no press release to Yubanet or others).
•Jim Firth, who has pulled papers to run, followed up with Sierra Foothills Report after “sources” reported he would run.

The internet is changing the way we communicate. Are the candidates changing with the times? Or not.

Exit question: When Terry Lamphier beat John Spencer for supervisor in Grass Valley’s district, did The Union influence the outcome (or not).

Think about it.

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Fresh from “The Armed Man” (Sierra Master Chorale) and the Music Man (SierraStages) and Cirque de la Symphonie (Music in the Mountains), we snagged three tickets for our family to see the Cowboy Junkies at the Center for the Arts on Oct. 5. My wife and I last saw this Canadian band in June 1989 at the historic Moore Theater in Seattle (around the release of their “Trinity Session” album) while we were on a trip.

Think of all that’s changed between 1989 and now. We weren’t even married yet, let alone planning to settle in Nevada City!

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“South Africa’s beloved first black president, Nelson Mandela, is turning 94 years old on Wednesday in his home village of Qunu. The celebration, with his family, will include a birthday cake and his favorite dish of tripe with samp, or coarsely ground cornmeal,” as the L.A. Times reports.

“Schoolchildren and celebrities sang ‘Happy Birthday Madiba,’ as South Africans affectionately call the former leader, using his clan name. Millions of South Africans donated 67 minutes of their time to public service, one minute for each of the years he dedicated his life to service.

“Tributes poured in from around the world, while the Internet in South Africa lit up with birthday messages for Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison under the apartheid regime and emerged to become president in the country’s first democratic elections in 1994.”

The rest of the article is here.

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The Grass Valley City Council has now joined Nevada City and the California Governor’s office in endorsing tax increase proposals on the November 6 ballot.

The proposals come amid revenue shortfalls in government, brought on by the steep economic downturn. Grass Valley and Nevada City have been cutting costs.

Will voters step up and agree to increases, or will the initiatives fail from voter tax fatigue? Our county — with its vocal anti-government, anti-tax, “get off my land” ideologues — will be put to the test.

The proposals will test a community vs. an independent spirit. And they will test our trust of government in allocating the funds.

A fire-tax initiative in the south county— Measure B — failed in the June election. It received 60.87% of the votes but failed because passage required 66.7% of the votes to pass.

The proposed tax initiatives also are expected to influence partisan political elections — at the national, state and local offices.

Here’s a rundown of the proposals (which require a majority vote to pass, not the 66.7 percent threshold):

Proposition 30: Increases income and sales taxes to help balance the state budget (backed by Gov. Jerry Brown). The measure would increase the sales tax by a quarter-cent for four years and levies on the wealthy by one to three percentage points for seven years.

Proposition 38: Raises income taxes to pay for education and early childhood programs (backed by attorney Molly Munger). (See analysis in video below).

Nevada City: Raise the city’s sales tax by 3/8 of a percent to make up for funds lost from expiring grants for police and other departments. The sales tax hike is for five years.

Grass Valley: A 1/2 cent local general sales tax measure over a ten year period. Budget reductions have had a significant impact on City services to the community through the reduction in staffing and the use of degraded capital equipment.

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“Cal Fire expects to fully contain the Robbers Fire by July 21, according their latest numbers. The blaze is now 60% contained, with 2,650 acres burned,” according to FOX40.

“The incident commander said Tuesday night that the fire was ‘human caused.’

“FOX40 interviewed a man who said he near the area of Yankee Jims Road the day the fire started. He says he thinks he knows what started it.Be the first to know! Sign up for FOX40 breaking news alerts.

‘”I was actually down there with a few buddies of mine, and I saw a firework like shoot up in the air and next thing you know there’s like a tree on fire,’ said Ryan Heder.

“The cost of fighting the fire, from manpower to fueling engines and aircraft, has surpassed $8 million.

“Some evacuated residents will be able to go home Wednesday morning, the incident commander also announced. Brushy Creek and Yankee Jims community residents will be allowed to go home around 9 a.m.”

The rest of the article is here.

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