| Click the button below to search for articles... View News Items from prior months... June 2021 July 2020 June 2016 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 July 2013 June 2013 March 2013 February 2013 November 2012 October 2012 August 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 November 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 October 2010 September 2010 February 2010 January 2010 | LETTERS OF INTEREST: Dear Editor, It is my pleasure to announce Sierra County Health Department and Eastern Plumas Health Care, Loyalton Campus in collaboration with St. Joesph’s Medical Center will be hosting a digital mobile mammography event in Loyalton on April 9th, 10th and 11th, 2012. St. Joseph’s Medical Center of Stockton “Mobile Mammography Program”, is the first mobile unit of its kind in Northern California, providing the latest in state of the art digital mammography services. The development of this program was made possible through a grant received by the, Susan G. Komen - For the Cure, Sacramento Valley Affiliate. In order for Sierra County women to receive their mammogram, they must receive an order from their health care provider by March 19th, 2012. Women can obtain these orders locally at the EPHC-Loyalton Clinic or through Robin Jaquez, NP at Sierra County Health Department. Orders will then be faxed to St. Joesph’s Medical Center in Stockton, and participants will be contacted by a representative from St. Joesph’s to schedule their mammography appointment. Due to the time required for each mammogram, we are unable to accept walk-ins. Participants who have private insurance, Medicare, Medi-Cal, or Family PACT coverage are covered for mammography services. Those who do not have health insurance may qualify for funding that pays for their mammogram. If not, a reduced fee for service rate is $80.00 Once the services are complete, all mammography screenings are read by licensed radiologists and results are sent to the patients and their physician within two to three weeks of their exam. For patients needing additional imaging following there screening, St. Joesph’s is also able to extend their care by offering the uninsured financial assistance through grants that the patient may qualify for. As my Master’s of Public Health (MPH) internship project, I want to create access to preventive screening in my home community through mobile mammography. This is a great opportunity for Sierra County women over 40 to obtain their annual mammogram and utilize preventive services right in their own backyard. Statistically, rural women are less likely to receive preventive screenings, more likely to be underinsured and be diagnosed with cancer in latent stages. Encourage your Sierra County grandmother, mother, sister, aunt or friend to get their mammogram, and let Sierra County be a county of healthy rural women. In health, Lisa Jaquez, Project Facilitator Sierra County Resident and MPH Candidate-2012, University of Arizona Dear Parents and Concerned Citizens: The Sierra County Arts Council was pleased to be able to offer art and music instruction in Loyalton and Downieville Schools through our Country Roots Artist in Schools Program last school year. This program is funded through a grant from the California Arts Council. With this funding we were able to bring artist residents into our schools including Randy Prichard into Loyalton Elementary and Middle Schools to teach music; and Katie O’Hara-Kelly, Peggy Daigle, Cathy Stewart and Kathy Fischer into Downieville Schools to teach music and art. We hope that some of you were able to see the results of this instruction at student performances and through art displays at our school sites. We were able to meet our funding requirements and match dollar-for-dollar our award of $3000 for last year making our entire budget $6000. We achieved our matching funds last year by raising money through our Country Roots Raffle of fine art, through funding from Sierra-Plumas Joint Unified School District, and through generous donations from private individuals and civic organizations. This spring we applied again for the Arts in Schools program and are pleased to announce that our efforts have been rewarded and we will receive an award of $6400 this year for our program. This means that our entire budget has been more than doubled to $12,800. We have expanded our music program into Loyalton High School and also expanded our program at Downieville Schools. Our challenge is to raise the matching funds for the Artists in Schools Program grant of $6400 and to bring arts education to every student in Sierra County. We have received generous donations from local artists for our raffle this year including artists Leland Cross, Virginia Jaquez, Darby Hayes, and B.J. Jordan. SPJUSD has generously offered us $2000 in support. We are confident that we will be able to raise the funding necessary to continue our program for this year and for many years to come. The California Arts Council Artists in Schools Program is supported through funding from the Art Lover License plate. In Sierra County we have always taken pride in community. In the face of drastic cutbacks to educational funding in our schools, we believe that by working together, much can still be accomplished to enhance arts education for all the children of Sierra County. We hope that you will consider making a donation to help with this worthy effort. Please make checks payable to: The Sierra County Arts Council at the address above. Thank you for your time and consideration and special thanks to our resident artists, our site administrators, our teachers, the board of the Sierra County Arts Council, SPJUSD and all the volunteers who helped to make this program possible. Yours truly, B.J. Jordan Executive Director Loretta Kirkpatrick Manager Consumer Affairs 1001 E Sunset Rd. Las Vegas, NV 89199-9655 August 24, 2011 Dear Ms. Kirkpatrick, ! Enclosed with this letter are 274 “Petition to oppose the Calpine/Sattley post office closure” signatures that have been gathered, in opposition response to the “Invitation for comments on the closure proposal to close the “Sattley, CA” post office and extend service by Highway Contract Route Service”. ! First of all, please correct your records as the “Sattley, CA” post office was closed years ago and was consolidated with the Calpine post office. It is now the Calpine/ Sattley, CA post office and is truly a community center, the heart of our town. ! We disagree with this proposal as it does not address the issue of Calpine being in a geographically isolated area with risky travel conditions especially in winter, to services rendered exclusively by the United States Postal Service (USPS), when those services already exist at the current Calpine/Sattley post office location. ! As stated in the RESPONSIVENESS TO COMMUNITY POSTAL NEEDS at paragraph 3, “We will continue to provide effective service through the Sierraville Main Post Office”; and at paragraph 8, “If this proposal is implemented, delivery and retail services will be provided by the Sierraville Post Office, an EAS-11 level office.” The Sierraville Post Office is nearly 20 miles round trip from Calpine. The Sierra Valley is located at 5000ʼ Elevation and is the largest Alpine Valley in the country, with wind, rain and snowstorms occurring frequently from Fall through Spring. ! If Calpine residents were to have to drive to Sierraville to access services rendered exclusively by USPS, this would pose a risk; especially in winter having to deal with the Sierra Valley snowstorms and drifting snow along the roadway. In an article posted on msnbc.com, “an elderly man died on snow-covered roads driving to the next closest post office 17 miles away”. The link is as follows: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35261157/ns/us_news-life/t/post-office-closings-upset- rural-communities/#. ! This is not a well thought out proposal, and would be particularly risky driving for our seniors who may not have a computer or the capability of computer skills or even internet access to pay bills online, etc. Rarely do I pay bills online, only if the payment might not be received in time by mailing it. This closure would also put more vehicles on the road vs. one USPS mail carrier, which would have to deliver to the Calpine proposed cluster boxes anyway. In the worst economy of our lifetime and with gasoline prices so high in addition to more air pollution from added vehicles on the roadway, this proposal is ill-conceived. ! The proposal document also states at paragraph 9, “Retail service is also available at the Clio post office an EAS-13 level office, located six miles away”. Please note that Clio is eleven miles one way, from Calpine over Calpine Summit; nearly double the mileage as stated in the document. ! In addition, new information has been obtained regarding the Sierraville post office; that it is on an “Expanded Access Study List” for closure. This new information was not listed on the June 29, 2011 “Proposal to Close the “Sattley, CA” Post Office”. The public meeting regarding the Sierraville closure has been scheduled for September 15, 2011 per David Rupert, USPS Communications in Denver CO. ! ! According to Mr. Rupert, USPS is exploring the possibility of delivering mail to Calpine via a delivery route out of Clio; if the Sierraville Post Office is closed. This new information is an even worse idea as that would put Calpine residents at even more risk by driving twenty two miles round trip from Calpine (elevation 5000ʼ) over Calpine Summit (elevation 5500ʼ) to Clio (elevation 4500ʼ) to access services already being rendered in Calpine, as that infrastructure is already in place. The area between Calpine and Clio is also a major deer migration area. Again, more vehicles on the road vs. one USPS delivery vehicle. Calpine Summit is a very winding road and can be treacherous in winter with numerous wintertime accidents. ! Mr. Rupert also noted a need for Congressional action: An authorization to move from a six day to five day delivery and the elimination of USPSʼs requirement to pre- fund the next 75 years of retiree health benefits in just 10 years. ! The Clio post office is only three miles away from the Graeagle post office and both are at the same elevation located within the Mohawk Valley. I also understand it is very costly to run the Clio post office. We are not proposing USPS close the Clio post office because of itʼs close proximity to Graeagle. But it just doesnʼt make sense for Calpine residents to have to drive 22 miles round trip over Calpine Summit and down to Clio for services rendered exclusively by USPS when the Calpine post office already exists! ! Not to mention the added expense of building and maintaining outdoor cluster boxes on Sierra County property and the added inconvenience and stress it poses for residents. Particularly seniors attempting to get to an outdoor cluster box picking up mail and medications in icy conditions, especially in inclement weather. Sierra County has even proposed reducing the rent to USPS. I for one would be more than willing to pay a rental fee for a box if that would help keep our post office open, and I know other residents would be willing also. And what about packages too big for a cluster box, what happens with those packages; would a Calpine resident have to drive 22 miles to Clio to pick up a package? Also not mentioned is the fact that residentʼs mailing addresses will change, and to what end? Will we also lose our ZIP Code if the Calpine office closes? Confusing the situation even more for everyone involved, and these questions go unanswered. ! In an article about the USPS closures Renee Brown who coordinated the Calpine meeting, callously stated about the Calpine closure "there were no other retail businesses open, so most people made regular 'trips to town' anyway". What town was she talking about, Sierraville? Clio? When I make a "trip to town" for shopping I go to Reno, Nevada once a month or less. That is an hour away, two hours round trip - I go to the Calpine post office frequently. ! In that same article, a statement reads about the Orovada NV post office, "It was later determined that the office would remain open, thanks to community input and a review of options". We request that common sense prevails here also and the same determination be made for the Calpine post office, that it remain open. ! I have a small business and use the Calpine post office exclusively for buying stamps, mailing bills, letters and insured parcels, registered parcels and certified mail, express mail, items I have to sign for and picking up mail at my box. There are at least 17 small businesses within the Calpine area that use USPS at the Calpine post office. ! And why are rural towns such as Calpine being specifically targeted? According to a Wall Street Journal article located at http://online.wsj.com/article/ SB10001424053111903999904576467921947248738.html, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe stated, “In many cases, the brick-and-mortar post office will change rather than vanish. Under a new “village post office concept,” the postal service will seek deals with grocery stores or gas stations in towns that are losing a post office to provide limited postal services.” Well, the USPS proposal eliminates the Calpine post office - we do not even have a grocery store or a gas station. Current Law created by an act of Congress states (emphasis added): TITLE 39--POSTAL SERVICE PART I--GENERAL CHAPTER 1--POSTAL POLICY AND DEFINITIONS Sec. 101. Postal policy (a) The United States Postal Service shall be operated as a basic and fundamental service provided to the people (Note: the people is inclusionary, not exclusionary) by the Government of the United States, authorized by the Constitution, created by Act of Congress, and supported by the people. The Postal Service shall have as its basic function the obligation to provide postal services to bind the Nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people. It shall provide prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas and shall render postal services to all communities. The costs of establishing and maintaining the Postal Service shall not be apportioned to impair the overall value of such service to the people.! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! (b) The Postal Service shall provide a maximum degree of effective and regular postal services to rural areas, communities, and small towns where post offices are not self-sustaining. No small post office shall be closed solely for operating at a deficit, it being the specific intent of the Congress that effective postal services be insured to residents of both urban and rural communities. ! Closing rural post offices which account for less than 1 percent of USPSʼs annual budget expenses, is not the answer. Quoting from a postal publication, “It is a known fact that 92 percent of all post offices lose money”. The savings are minimal both short term and long term, especially when considering all the costs of closing an office. In some cases, guidelines are not being followed, very little information shared, the process is being rushed and we have a mess. The seven largest postal Areas in this country cost twice as much to run as the 10,000 smallest post offices. An individual small post office was never established to make money. It was established to provide the same universal mailing service to everyone, equal justice under the law. We are not second-class citizens; we deserve access to the postal services that urban areas enjoy. ! In light of the new information that the Sierraville Post Office may now be closed, we request an extension of the comment period, especially when regarding there are no appeal rights for stations and branches after the decision is made. The petition specifically requests an additional meeting with the decision makers so they can see first hand geographically what the small rural town of Calpine is dealing with if our post office closes. ! In closing, local small town post offices are the lifeblood of communities such as ours; they serve the needs of and are the backbone of rural America. They are an integral part of the social, political and economic fabric of small communities. Closing the Calpine post office would do great harm to the residents of this small town; it would be another death knell to our community and will hurt attracting those that might like to live or do business here, particularly in these economically hard times. The post office binds the community and the nation together. Perhaps USPS can close an urban Post Office where mileage, weather and geographic isolation are not such issues; or cut an employee in Reno or Las Vegas.! Sincerely, Debbie and Ken McMaster Residents and post office box holders Calpine, CA 96124 cc: Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, USPS Congressman Tom McClintock, 4th District California Igor Birman, Congressman McClintockʼs Chief of Staff Tim Holabird, Congressman McClintockʼs Sierra County Field Representative Doug Watson Manager, Post Office Operations/A Reno NV Renee Brown Manager, Post Office Operations Las Vegas NV Terry Felix, Facilities Requirements Specialist Las Vegas NV David Rupert USPS Communications, Denver CO Sierra County Supervisor Bill Nunes ! ! Senator Gaines, On behalf of the Graeagle Merchants Association, we oppose the state's plan to close Plumas Eureka State Park, Plumas County’s only state park! Plumas Eureka State Park is an extremely vital economic component to Eastern Plumas County, an area dependent upon tourism and recreation. In the worst economy of our lifetimes, to shut down one of the biggest attractions in our entire area will adversely affect the Graeagle/Blairsden area, an area dependent upon tourism. Our entire area depends on tourism, from the golf courses, restaurants, the grocery store (only one), the gas station (only one) and the various retail shops. Without the tourism our area gets from the operation of Plumas Eureka State Park, our local merchants will suffer greatly. Cultural and heritage tourism, tourism directed toward experiencing the traditional and contemporary culture, arts and special character of a place, is among the fastest growing segment of the tourist market. Plumas Eureka State Park’s main draw (besides it’s incredible beauty), is it’s heritage. This state park attracts people to our area and allows the visitor to experience what it was like during the gold rush days of Plumas County. With a wonderful museum, a docent program with a working blacksmith shop, gold panning and interpretative programs, Plumas Eureka State Park enables it’s visitors to not only see the history, but to be part of it. People are able to really experience Plumas Eureka State Park, not just see it. Another very important factor is that the Graeagle area is very dependent upon the Reno/Sparks/Carson City population for our visitors. Without the state park as a draw, these people will go to Lake Tahoe and not spend money in our area. Graeagle also gets a tremendous draw from Sacramento, and if the park is closed, these visitors too will go elsewhere. Plans have been underway to reopen the historic ski hill in Plumas Eureka State Park, the birthplace of the world’s first ski races. If the park is closed, this too will have another negative impact on our area and the efforts put forth by the volunteers to get the ski hill opened. Reopening the ski hill within the park will greatly enhance the winter opportunities within our community, opportunities that are currently available only far away in Tahoe. A local ski area will mean opportunity for our schools to offer ski programs to our children. Locals will be able to ski locally and keep those recreation dollars within the community. Reopening the ski hill in Plumas Eureka State Park is vital to the heritage and economics of our area. The connection that our area has to California’s unique place in history should not be forgotten or closed. See the article below regarding the Historic Longboard Revival World Championship Ski Races. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-ecker/experience-skiing-history_b_799890.html The Graeagle Merchants Association has created a map of our area and Plumas Eureka State Park is a major component of this brochure. Without the park as a component of this publication, it appears a moot point to even create it. We are trying to promote our area, but if Plumas Eureka State Park is closed, one of our best resources available to promote is gone... Our area is a destination area! We are dependent upon destinations and the state is planning on closing one of the, if not the most visited destination in our entire area. To do so will have an incredible negative impact on our entire economy. Please take these comments seriously, and help the governor rethink the policy of closing this state park to help maintain the economic viability of Graeagle and Eastern Plumas County. Sincerely, Ken McMaster Chairman www.graeaglemerchants.com Mr. Ronald S. Sykes Chief, Traffic Operations Branch Department of Transportation District 3 703 B Street Marysville, CA 95901-0911 Re: Proposed speed limit increase, Loyalton, Sierra County Dear Mr. Sykes: I have lived at 116 Main Street (Highway 49) for 30 years, where my husband Craig and I have raised four children and where our oldest child and her husband now live with us with their four children, ages four and under. It is my understanding according to your letter of February 3, 2011, to the Loyalton City Council that Caltrans proposes to increase the speed limit from 25 mph to 35 mph. We live in the very area you propose to increase the speed limit—a neighborhood of nine homes, one vacant business, and one active business. My husband Craig (who is a City Council member) and I adamantly oppose any increase to the speed limit on High way 49 in Loyalton for several reasons. First, drivers already do not obey the speed limits on Main Street. Truckers and other drivers often only begin to take their foot off the gas as they are passing by our house. An increase in the speed limit would encourage them not to decelerate at all as they’re flying through town. The road is narrow, and homes are close to the highway. A speed increase would be dangerous to the people who live and walk on my street. Second, our end of Main Street is a path for children walking to school from the western side of town--especially from Hill Street and the trailer park (Hill St. and Main St.), where many small children live. These children cross Highway 49 to get to the elementary school, middle school, and high school, as well as the park; many of them cross at the Taylor Street corner or at the bridge. On snowy/icy road days or even days when the road is covered with sand, cars driving 35 miles an hour --or probably even faster--might not be able to stop in time for these children, who must walk in the road because the snow plows have pushed the snow up onto the sidewalks on our block. I am a teacher at Loyalton High School; I have lost several students to tragedies and pray I never have to experience another. Third, senior citizens also walk on Main Street past our home from the senior housing complex at the end of Hill Street--some in motorized carts because of their disabilities. They usually ride on the shoulder of the road because the ups and downs of the sidewalks make it hard for them to navigate the sidewalks. You might argue that other towns in the area have 35 mph speed limits. However, their highway situations are different than ours in Loyalton. In Sierraville the road is wider, with ditches on each side of the road, protecting pedestrians. In Portola Highway 70 is much wider and is absent of residences. There are many more residences on Main Street in Loyalton than businesses. The protection of children, seniors, and other citizens who walk on Main Street should weigh in much more heavily than the convenience of those who simply want to get through our town more quickly. We have never allowed our children to play in front of the house, but kids will be kids. One of our dogs was killed by a car years ago. God forbid that a child’s life would have to pay for someone else’s desire to speed through Loyalton. I trust that you will make a decision that benefits the lives of those who live in our community. I am also sending copies of this letter to Assemblyman Dan Logue, State Senator Ted Gaines, and Congressman Tom McClintock, as well as the Sierra County Board of Supervisors. Since Sierra County Sheriff John Evans and all school officials oppose such a change, I can only imagine that our county, state, and congressional representatives would as well. Sincerely, Janet Holm McHenry 530.993.4019 janetmchenry@live.com Published: 03/21/11 |