Climate education in Nevada County schools

What's taught about climate science & climate change in Nevada County schools - and is it science-aligned, or antiscience?

Here's what I've got so far; if you know folks who could clue me in further...?

* K-8

• at Seven Hills Middle School
  

* High Schools

• at Bitney College Preparatory High School (home)
  
• at Nevada Union High School (home), Earth Sciences (TBD other fields)
  
• at Bear River High School (home)
  
• TBD: at Ghidotti Early College High School (home) (Madigan, Kirwan)
  

* Community College

• At Sierra College (home), Nevada County Campus
  ESCI 0010 - Introduction to Earth Science (DeCourten)
  GEOG 0001 - Physical Geography (Cox)
  GEOG 0004 - Weather and Climate (DeCourten)
  INT 0001 - Environment/Human Impact (DeCourten & Day)

My climate blog's posts touching on climate education can be found here (link).

At City Council meeting tonight: Nevada County Pedestrian Improvement Plan

Thanks to KNCO News, I learned that tonight's Nevada City City Council meeting will include "a presentation of the Nevada County Pedestrian Master Plan"; but as a pedestrian who provided input, I noticed it didn't reflect my concerns.

Local blog commenters' argument tree? Anyone?

Once again yesterday, I spent too much time commenting at Jeff Pelline's blog, reiterating old points and having others reiterate theirs. This is tedious and counterproductive (and irksome) for the commenter, and has got to be nearly as tedious for the reader; so IMO it's time to innovate.
---
Jan. 24 update: I got zero interest (in helping to work on this) from other commenters (maybe some like spending their day that way?), so am putting this project on the back burner.

Nevada County nonprofits at risk - Oct 15 deadline

(no, this isn't about CABPRO...)

Come October 15, the roster of small Nevada County nonprofits is going to shrink, if the folks behind these groups don't hurry up and file an annual return - even just a 990-N - with the IRS.

It used to be that small nonprofits didn't have to file a yearly return; but in 2006 that changed, with passage of The Pension Protection Act. Now all tax-exempt organizations - except for churches and church-related organizations - have to file at least a simple 990-N, and if they don't do so for three consecutive years, their nonprofit status gets revoked.

The deadline was originally back in May, but there's a one-time extension to Oct 15.

From the Topeka Capital-Journal:

"since the law changed, every exempt organization has to file a 990 of some type," [IRS spokesman Michael] Devine said. "The important thing is that if you are an exempt organization, especially a small one, you have to file a 990 in order to stay in compliance with the law or your status is going to be revoked."

The IRS has each state's list of endangered nonprofits.
California's list: Excel, PDF

I browsed through it & came up with these Grass Valley and Nevada City nonprofits:
(there are many more - I just used Excel Viewer, which wouldn't sort by town, so missed some - and I didn't check for Penn Valley, Colfax, etc; and is it possible that even orgs not on the IRS list may be endangered?)

• Air-Pac Of Nevada County
  
• Alzheimer Family Support Group Of Western Nevada County
  
• Blue Planet Discovery Incorporated
  
• Canine Council
  
• Cascade Shores Homeowners Association
  
• Chris Harada Productions
  
• Compassionate Action - Accion Compasivo
  
• Disabled American Veterans
  
• Friends Of Spenceville
  
• Key Club (Bear River, Nevada Union)
  
• Nevada City Business And Professional Womens Club
  
• Nevada County Property Rights Committee
  
• Nevada County Sheriffs Search & Rescue Inc
  
• Nevada County Taxpayers Association
• Sierra Jazz Society
• Several fire district groups
  

If you know the people running these orgs, you might notify them, in case the IRS notification didn't reach them.

If your nonprofit is at risk, how do you make things right with the IRS?
FDL Reporter explains:

"Organizations required to file Form 990-N need only visit the IRS website, fill in the required information on the 990-N form and electronically file it. Tax-exempt groups eligible to file Form 990-EZ must file their delinquent annual information returns by Oct. 15 and pay a compliance fee."

The IRS page to visit:
IRS Announces One-Time Filing Relief for Small Exempt Organizations That Failed to File for Three Consecutive Years

Some Truckee groups (there are plenty) -

• Barn Owls Unlimited
  
• Tahoe Center for a Sustainable Future
  
• Sierra Housing Development Corp.
  
• Sierra Human Resources Association
  
• Sierra Public Media Corp.
  
• Truckee Babe Ruth Baseball League
  
• Truckee Nordic Club
  
• Truckee Sportsmen's Association
  
• Truckee Tahoe Airmens Association
  

Videos of Assessor candidates Kleinhans and Horne from Apr 1 forum

Update: shortened video URLs are:
http://bit.ly/2010_04_01_NCAssessors1
http://bit.ly/2010_04_01_NCAssessors2
I've given these to KNCO's Bob Breck so he can provide them with KNCO's podcast.

The Assessor's race segment - featuring candidates Rolf Kleinhans and Sue Horne - is missing from KNCO's podcast of the April 1 candidates' forum(*), Jeff Pelline reported.

But I caught it - all but the first second or two(?), of Ms. Horne's statement - on video, and have posted it on YouTube in two 5+ min. parts - the candidates' initial statements, and the Q&A.

Initial statements:


Q&A:


I thought it brought out some real differences between the candidates.

Also - Jeff Pelline has asked some further candidate questions; with luck we'll get answers.

Tea Party Apr 1 Candidates Forum, cursory report

Updated (added report Apr 1; see also the Assessor's race videos posted Apr 3).

The event was at 6pm, at the Vets Hall in GV. It was shockingly sedate.

Financials:
The TPPs were asking that attendees donate $5 to defray expenses; "All proceeds, after expenses, will go to the five veterans groups that use the facility. Our expenses include the rental of the building, insurance and permits and printing of programs." I'm not sure a) how much the expenses were, or b) how much KNCO contributed - didn't hear back from Bob Breck. The Union publisher Jeff Ackerman told me The Union contributed no $$, just publicity: "We got the word out that the candidates will be there (all of them, by the way) and that it would be a great chance to hear what they have to say before you vote."
(Also - anyone know whether past candidate forums - put on by the LWV or other orgs - have asked attendees to pay?)

Attendance report:
About 150 people showed up; the TPP folks had been encouraged to wear red shirts, but maybe one in 8 people were wearing red. [Some attendees by name deleted.]

Format:
Two tables onstage, one for the candidates and one for the panel of question askers - Ackerman and Kleist from The Union, and Whitten and Breck from KNCO. All Qs were from The Union or KNCO. All candidates for a given office got time to make an initial statement, then the same Q would be asked of each candidate in turn; the turns rotated.
(Does anyone recall if, at other forums, audience members have had a chance to ask questions?)
It was, or was to be, broadcast on KNCO.

Random, not particularly substantive observations:
* The candidates were articulate.
* Diaz v. Pruett for recorder was the only race with tension to it. (One of the two seems tense by nature.)
* A substantial number were unopposed.
* John Spencer hails from Long Beach, some decades back; opponent Lamphier wants to hold evening discussions so working folk can attend.
* Neither DA Clifford Newell nor sheriff Keith Royal favors the "legalize pot" proposition, for reasons that strike your correspondent as shaky - "It won't kill the black market"; "when your neighbor's pot is ready for harvest, it[the smell] will run you out of your house".(*)(*)
* One candidate for Treasurer/Tax Collector seemed head and shoulders above the others.
* Barry Pruett is not related to Bob Pruett of the Sac. branch of the Tobacco Institute, and Jeff Ackerman is not related to southern California attorneys Dick Ackerman (former R-Tustin) or Rich Ackerman (Focus on the Family, Citizens for Better Government, Capitol Resource Institute, etc); I asked them.

Favorite line:
Penn Valley Supe Hank Weston's observation that the job doesn't end at 5pm, it continues while you're shopping - and "It's tough when you're trying to buy a good steak and you get a question about sewage".

Department of You Get What You Pay For (except, we do pay)

Yubanet ran an announcement for a free Public Health Department-sponsored H1N1 vaccination clinic in GV yesterday afternoon. The word "free" sounded appealing, as did not being laid up with the flu, so I went, signed in, & got my arm disinfected and then jabbed.

The "disinfecting" was just one gentle dab ("we don't want to spread the bacteria around" was the explanation I recall hearing, when I asked) and from the way the arm looked afterward ("weepy", with vaccine-colored tears) and feels today (zero soreness), the vaccine all ended up on the outside.

I hope she managed to put the vaccine on the inside of everyone else - its highest and best use probably isn't as moisturizer.

Nevada County Nature wiki (nascent)

Today for displacement activity I created a Nevada County Nature wiki, and populated it with one large and one small mushroom.

I envision it as a thumbnail-photo field guide, linking to existing web writeups on the species in question. And I hope others will contribute, because I'm not planning on devoting much time to it.
(Feel free to replace the rainbow photo with something less dark...)

(I'd originally started with a Nevada County Calif wiki, then realized that this was biting off way more than I intended to chew; but if someone else wants to take that on, I think you can just start editing.)

We here are blessed, journalistically speaking

For the moment, we in Nevada County are indeed fortunate. We have:

• Two local newspapers, The Union and the Nevada City Advocate;
  
• One former newspaper editor, Jeff Pelline, since repurposed to great effect;
  
• One forum hosting constructive community dialogue, the chez Pelline comments;
  
• One progressive news site, Yubanet;
  
• Citizen journalism from Sierra Voices host Don Pelton and occasionally me;
• Back-fence coverage from Dixie and dcain;
  
• One kitchen-sink local aggregator, Nevada County Voices;
• One nexus of local contrarian commentary, the Steele-Rebane-CABPRO axis;
• Two radio stations, KNCO and KVMR;
• The public-figure vanguard dipping a toe into constructive online community dialogue - Sierra College trustee Aaron Klein and Clerk-Recorder candidate Barry Pruett;


• The prospect of even more riches - looking out, I see reps from the Mountain Messenger and Nevada City Free Press teetering at the edge of the pool. (Jump! Jump!)
  

And we have no shortage of news to cover, since our public-figure cultural spectrum ranges from MayorReinette Senum and APPLE-NC to the Meckler-headed Tea Party Patriots and aforementioned CABPRO folks.


It's enough to make your head spin.

p.s. what did I miss?

SPD's Customer Appreciation Day is tomorrow, Xmas eve

Just thought I'd mention it in case you, like I, couldn't remember.

(The eggnog is good. The wings is good. The festive spirit is good...)

SacBee story today reporting Citizens Bank among the troubled

Some California banks struggle despite bailout

Locally ["among the eight that either halted or never made a dividend payment to the Treasury"], Nevada City-based Citizens Bancorp of Northern California received $10.4 million in TARP money in 2008.

Since then, it replaced its president in July, "deferred" its $140,000 dividend payment to the Treasury in August and restated its prior financial results in September.

Though Citizens had a $363,000 profit for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, its loss for the first nine months of 2009 is $1.7 million.

Chief executive Gary Gall said Citizens will defer another $140,000 dividend payment to the Treasury this quarter. "Right now it's wise for us to preserve our capital," he said.

Citizens thinks it has now set aside enough money for future loan losses, while working to resolve past-due loans and selling its foreclosed properties, Gall said.

NevCity "parking fines monies" Union story, add'l info

Let's shed a little more light.

The Union ran a story in today's paper - titled Nevada City cash missing again — this time it's parking fines - which also addressed Nevada City's TRAN ("tax and revenue anticipation note"), money loaned to Nevada City from Nevada County's reserve fund -

In light of the poor economy and concerns about the city's stability in the future, supervisors requested the review [of Nevada County Treasurer and Tax Collector Chris Dabis's practice of making TRAN loans to our towns].

“Right now, with the way the economy is, I think everyone is concerned about everything. Things are going to get tough. It's like the beginning of a bad storm,” said District 3 Supervisor John Spencer [- implicitly - and, presumably in the meeting today, explicitly - questioning Dabis's actions].

Not mentioned in the story: Dabis is challenging Spencer for his County Supervisor seat. (from here)

And, regarding the parking fine money (which went into the general fund - "The funds aren't missing, Albaugh said") - I wish I'd had a Flip to capture Barbara Coffman's response when I asked her about this.

I guess I'm buying one.

Knock knock: In Nevada County, it ain't the Avon Lady

... more like the ovine lady, or a portion thereof.

(this isn't news anymore, being 2 weeks old, but - particularly for city-folk who don't have a feel for our local culture - I did want to document it. Beware: photo below.)

News sources report that on the night of Oct 30, a severed sheep's head showed up on the doorstep of CA District 4 Democratic candidate Charlie Brown's campaign headquarters in Grass Valley.

Police were, of course, investigating.



Photo from Calitics (where it's a goat), story from The Union (where it's a sheep).


(And in other news, we have a new President-Elect. Good news: this one comes with a brain that isn't still shrink-wrapped - and is still attached.)

The Union's blogs - soon on NCVoices

Next-day update: this isn't the whole story

It turns out The Union's blogs now have RSS feeds, which is excellent news (if not exactly new; when did they get them?). Kudos to Jeff Pelline for opening up the walled garden.
(and auxiliary kudos for recently taking Russ Steele to task for using his official position on the ERC as a soapbox for flat-earth preaching)

I'll be adding these blogs to Nevada County Voices soon.
(originally mistyped "Nevada County Vices", which frames our home turf in a different way...)

Synchronicity

edited*, to make clear that this isn't the fault of the "new regime".

It turns out that, while I had my brain to the grindstone over on the Assignment Zero crowdsourcing homestretch*, working on a piece extolling the rich harvest of low-hanging local fruit that's likely overripe for the picking by citizen journalist watchdogs, the Nevada County Grand Jury was releasing a report (PDF on county website, HTML on NCDocuments) slamming Nevada City's government for decades of mismanagement far above and beyond the norm - "...so unusual and so extreme in dollars, personnel, customer service, and efficiency, that it is difficult to quantify."

So, yeah. What I said.

It stems from lack of oversight; and it manifests in lack of oversight.


But the drinking water is great. Thank you Chris.

Electric bicycle report: Comparing the Giant Suede to the UrbanMover Sprite

*
Xtreme Outfitters here in town sells Giant bikes, and - for a couple more days* - has a Giant Suede electric bike on the premises. I went over there today and was able to take the Suede for a test ride. It was surprising how different it felt; for handling I prefer my Sprite, although the Suede will likelymay* do better on our hills.

Both the Suede(E?) and the Sprite* have a NiMH battery.

Suede Pros

• Price - $1000, vs the Sprite's $1200-plus-shipping (since nobody up here sells them yet)


• More powerful battery(36v, vs 24v for UM Sprite) and motor(240w, vs 200w for Sprite)(In UK UrbanMover's motor is 200w, but U.S. distributor says 'the US specification does have a 250watt motor' * )


• Controls - on the handlebar you get an on/off switch, and a high/med(?)/low power, and a 'cruise' (didn't try anything but on/low) - vs. for the Sprite the on/off is via key in the battery, and there is no high-vs.-low.


• Apparently 8 gears, vs 6 for Sprite


• Specs say max range (on flat ground...) is 30 miles if you pedal, vs Sprite's 18


• Nice treehugger coloring - silver and manzanita-green.


• Sturdier stand - a bilateral stand that you rock the bike back onto, as opposed to the Sprite's somewhat marginal kickstand.


• The convenience of having sales/support/service/assembly from a local bike store

?

• Suede's tires are kevlar lined; Sprite's are puncture resistant. (equivalent?)

Suede Cons

• Handling. It just feels clunkier; partly it's because of the marshmallow-soft upright-style seat, which wobbles a bit as you pedal; partly (I think) it's because the motor is in the front wheel, vs. rear wheel for the Sprite. And it seemed like this changed the bike's turning dynamics, in a counterintuitive (thus unstable) way - it's likely that this is something you can get used to, but beware of this behavior if you're taking a test ride.
  (This was how it felt to me; your mileage may vary.)


• Battery removal/insertion...

I came away from the experience glad I owned the Sprite; but the real question will be hardiness of the respective bikes in our area. This past weekend someone told me he'd been warned off electric bikes years ago because (he was told) the motors burn out on our hills; if this caveat still applies, the Suede(if 36v vs 24v battery makes a difference) or Schwinn* (if 400 watt vs 250 watt motor makes a difference) may be the better choice.

Calling all electrical whizzes - I am hopelessly confused on what this all means...
(and to make things even more interesting, Electric Bikes Northwest reports that wattage specs aren't necessarily comparable for different brands of electric bicycles.)