​On August 11, 2020, Sierra County Public Health received notification of a fifth positive COVID-19 test result for a resident of Sierra County. Under the direction of the Public Health COVID-19 Response Team, the symptomatic individual is isolating at home and the household is quarantining. Contact investigation is ongoing.  This is the third positive case within a week for Sierra County.
As you are aware, cases of COVID-19 continue to increase in our neighboring counties and cities where many of our residents work and shop.  With the opening of our schools just around the corner, this is not a time to let down our guard.
Every person has a role to play in limiting the spread of COVID-19:

1. Practice physical distancing of 6 feet from others.
2. Wash your hands with soap and water after you have been in a public place.
3. Wear a face covering when in businesses, at school, or unable to maintain 6 feet distance.
4. When feeling sick stay home.

 
LeTina Vanetti
Sierra County Public Health
Emergency Preparedness Coordinator

 
 
By Dr. Glenn Mollette 
 
Everybody has troubles. If you don't believe it then ask any American living in the year 2020.
 
Most of us are accustomed to having troubles occasionally. Some have more than others. Some people think that "some people" never have a problem. All people on some level have troubles. 

An old preacher friend of mine from Florida use to say "Glenn, on every level, there is a new devil." This is true. The poor have troubles. The rich have troubles. The famous have troubles. People in obscurity have troubles. Today, 2020 in almost every inch of the United States and with every person of the United States we have universal troubles. You've heard the plea for universal health care? Welcome to universal troubles in America. 
 
Every American in some way is impacted by Covid-19. You have had or have the disease. You know someone. You have heard of someone. Because of Covid-19 you may be unemployed. Your education is impacted. Your sports participation is wrecked at least for the Fall and probably winter. Students wonder every day if they will see the inside of a classroom in September or even longer. 
 
Every college town in American is on the brink of financial disaster. Can you imagine what it's going to do to South Bend if Notre Dame doesn't come back to campus? What about Gainesville, Florida, Lexington, Kentucky, Columbia, Missouri and just name any town that survives on 20,000 college students and families spending money in their town every day. You can add more to the expanded economic misery of this nation. 
 
So far America's Social Security and Government retirees financially have been okay due to the security of their checks. This pandemic does not have limitations or boundaries. Our nation continues to print off money that we do not have to keep afloat families, small businesses and state governments. I'm afraid the printer in the federal reserve is going to blow up about when it's time to print off my cash for my social security check later next year. 
 
From tourism, restaurants, small businesses or just having to wear a mask or social distance we've all to some extent experienced troubles in 2020. We can overcome many troubles in life. Some troubles are life changing. Dying or burying a loved one is forever.

I've had ups and downs and most of us have. They aren't fun. The pandemic for many of us has been a lifestyle change. A new normal. An inconvenience. We are having to do some things like wash our hands more, wear a mask and be a little distant from people. That's not killing us. It's when we take on the attitude, "I'm an American. I'm going to do what I want to do, when I want to do it and however, I feel like doing it," then, that attitude becomes part of our national trouble. 
 
Covid-19 is trouble enough. Americans are all in some way sharing in the troubles of this virus. Please, let's all work together to be part of the solution and not add to our national troubles. 

SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today issued a consumer alert warning about scams involving digital assets, such as cryptocurrencies. Recently, unscrupulous actors have impersonated well-known politicians, celebrities, and business executives on social media and YouTube channels in “giveaway” scams that falsely promised, for example, to double any digital assets sent to a specific digital asset wallet. These schemes are only the most recent example of attempts by scam artists to capitalize on novel technologies in order to rob Californians of their hard-earned savings.
“Fraudsters often rely on the excitement and mystery of innovation to persuade consumers and investors to offer up their cash in hopes of earning far more in return,” said Attorney General Becerra. “Their schemes take many forms, but these swindlers all have the same goal: to separate people from their money. Prior to purchasing or investing, you should always research the company and its claims. And remember, claims that are too good to be true usually are.”
Anyone considering investing in or purchasing digital assets should be aware of the following scams:
Fraudulent Coin Offerings: An Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is the cryptocurrency version of an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Be cautious of invitations to “invest early” in “the next Bitcoin” through an ICO. Scam artists have convinced people to invest in ICOs for cryptocurrencies that don’t work or don’t even exist. Some ICOs have been exposed as “pump and dump” schemes where promoters rev up publicity for an “exciting” new ICO using big name endorsements and social media, but then secretly cash out their stake before the buzz fades and the tokens plummet in value. 
Fake Exchanges and Wallets: As cryptocurrencies have grown more popular, nefarious actors have stolen millions by setting up fake exchanges and virtual wallets, and then disappearing with investors’ money. These scams have tricked users by offering low trading costs or promising quick and easy rewards. Do your research and be sure to use a reputable service that has a proven track record of redeeming customer withdrawals. Unlike traditional banks and exchanges, cryptocurrency deposits are not FDIC insured and currently have fewer regulatory safeguards.
Ponzi Schemes: A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent system that simply transfers money from recent investors to earlier investors, creating the illusion of a profitable enterprise. These schemes eventually collapse when new investments dry up. Digital assets have become a popular destination for Ponzi schemers in recent years. Typical hallmarks of Ponzi schemes include promises of high returns with little or no risk; promises of guaranteed income; secret formulas or strategies that will purportedly “beat” the market; reluctance to share written information about investment performance; and difficulties cashing out payments. 
Pyramid Schemes: Pyramid schemes are similar to Ponzi schemes and have proliferated under the guise of falsely profitable digital asset projects. These scams typically offer incentives to recruit new investors, creating a “pyramid” structure where a small percentage of investors at the very top of the recruiting chain enjoy most of the profits. Like Ponzi schemes, pyramid schemes typically collapse when new investors stop buying into the scheme, wiping out investors in the lower levels of the pyramid. Be on the lookout for supposed “investment opportunities” that depend on you to recruit or sell to other people in order to earn money.
Mining Scams: “Mining” is a way to create new bitcoins and similar cryptocurrencies without buying them, but it has become a very resource-intensive activity. Investors can purchase or rent computers that mine coins for a fixed price, but, as the difficulty of mining increases, the same investment returns increasingly smaller amounts of coins. Some mining promotions make bold claims regarding sky-high returns without being honest about the diminishing returns of mining. Others have been exposed as mere Ponzi schemes with no legitimate mining activity. Be extra careful and diligent in your research before you invest money in any cryptocurrency mining project.
Digital Assets as an Alternative Form of Payment: Be wary of accepting digital assets as payment in transactions for real estate and other real world assets. For now, it is always safer to insist on cash, even when the purchaser claims you will get more value by accepting cryptocurrency.
These are just some examples of the tactics scam artists have used to take advantage of the buzz around cryptocurrency and other digital assets. To avoid falling victim to digital asset scams, Attorney General Becerra urges investors to be especially wary of these red flags:

• Unrealistic profit claims, such as promises that a cryptocurrency will outperform the stock market or generate guaranteed fixed income;

• Vague and anonymous offerings, such as cryptocurrencies that lack a “white paper,” a real-world use, or an identifiable management team;

• Special deals or giveaways that appear to come from trusted public officials, executives, celebrities, or friends and family (speak with them before clicking on any links);

• Programs that reward recruitment of other investors;

• Offerings or deals that pressure you to invest right away;

• Exchanges and wallets that do not have a proven track record of securing customer deposits and honoring withdrawals; and

• Any claim or deal that just seems too good to be true.

Digital assets are new technologies that currently have fewer regulatory safeguards and higher volatility than many other investment products. The California Department of Justice is committed to safeguarding consumers and investors in this evolving market.
If you believe you have been the victim or target of a scam related to digital assets, please immediately file a complaint at http://‪www.oag.ca.gov/report.  

# # #

(Washington, DC) – Today, Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R-CA-01) and Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-20) announced the introduction of the Emergency Wildfire and Public Safety Act. This bipartisan bill will help protect the West from catastrophic wildfires by implementing wildfire prevention projects, sustaining healthier forests, and providing important energy and retrofitting assistance to businesses and residences to protect from future risks of wildfire. Original cosponsors of the legislation include Congressman Greg Gianforte (R-MT-At Large), Congressman Jim Costa (D-CA-16), Congressman Josh Harder (D-CA-10), Congressman John Garamendi (D-CA-03), Congressman TJ Cox (D-CA-21), and Congressman Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24). The Senate companion bill is being led by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Senator Steve Daines (R-MT).
“In Northern California, we have experienced two of the most destructive fires in California history, the Camp and Carr Fires, and many people are still struggling to recover,” said Congressman LaMalfa. “Proactively managing our forests is the best way to minimize the risk of wildfire in the West and protect our areas from further disaster. The Emergency Wildfire and Public Safety Act takes great steps to streamline forest management, like creating fuel breaks and three 75,000 acre wildfire risk reduction projects in the West, to make sure that our forests stay healthy and intact. I’m glad to spearhead this bill with Congressman Panetta in the House and Senators Daines and Feinstein in the Senate to refortify our forests and, in turn, increase public safety to the areas that are contending with wildfire season. Putting people to work in the forests right in our own back yard has many positive benefits.”
"Throughout the West, and especially in my district on the central coast of California, we regularly experience devastating wildfires that can result in the tragic loss of life and property, hundreds of millions of dollars in suppression costs, and prolonged power shutoffs.  As the fire season becomes longer and more intense, we not only need to be prepared, but we also need to be proactive to protect our homes, towns, and communities,"  said Congressman Panetta.  "Our bipartisan, bicameral legislation is needed now more than ever to help reduce wildfire risk in federal forests, improve best practices for addressing wildfire, and create more resilient communities and energy grids.”
"As Montanans know too well, severe wildfires have devastating consequences, from unhealthy air quality to the destruction of wildlife habitat to serious threats to life and livelihoods throughout the West.  Our bipartisan bill provides commonsense forest management reforms that reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires, protect public health and safety, and create good-paying timber jobs," Congressman Gianforte said.  "I’ll work with my Republican and Democratic colleagues to get this bill passed and signed into law, because Montanans want to enjoy our forests, not breathe them.”

"For years, California wildfires have ravaged our forests, destroyed communities and taken too many innocent lives.  This bill will help us find new and innovative ways to reduce these deadly fires,  provide modern infrastructure to protect communities, and improve the health of our forests by clearing the dead and dying trees that act as a catalyst to this devastation," said Congressman Costa.

"Now that every season is wildfire season it’s time to take more proactive steps to protect people and their homes," said Congressman Harder.  "Simple wildfire mitigation techniques will keep everyone safe - it’s common sense.”

"Climate change has only made wildfires in California more frequent and more severe.  Destructive fires in the last few years have taken lives, homes, and businesses.  We need to do more than be prepared, we need to be proactive. I’m glad to support this bipartisan, comprehensive approach to mitigate the risk of wildfires and protect our communities," said Congressman Carbajal.

"Some of the most destructive wildfires in California history have burned in the last four years. Wildfires, once a seasonal threat, are now quickly becoming an almost yearlong danger and our response must acknowledge this new reality," said Senator Feinstein.  "This bill will help adapt forest management across California, Montana and the West to the long-term effects of climate. Creating a market for biomass will provide energy while reducing the fuel that helps fires spread quickly.  Retrofitting homes with fire-resistant materials will make our communities more resilient. And helping critical facilities like hospitals become more energy-efficient will prepare them to cope with preventative power shutoffs.  This bipartisan bill will help adapt at-risk forests and communities to our new reality when it comes to climate change and fighting wildfire and I’m proud to introduce it today.”

"I am very happy to join Senator Feinstein in introducing this strong, commonsense forest management legislation,” Senator Daines said.  "This bill will speed up urgently needed projects to reduce wildfire risks, create good paying jobs in the forestry sector, and protect public health and safety.  I look forward to working closely with Senator Feinstein to pass this legislation and send it to the President’s desk, because we must manage our forests so they don’t manage us.”

"Many California forests, like forests across the western United States, are unhealthy and at significant risk of high-severity wildfire, insect and disease epidemics, and other threats. Increasing the pace and scale of forest management activities, including mechanical thinning and controlled burning, reduces the threat of catastrophic fire, protects lives and communities, and safeguards and enhances California’s essential water resources.  The bipartisan legislation, the Emergency Wildfire and Public Safety Act of 2020, will expedite forest management, accelerate post-fire restoration and reforestation, and remove hazardous fuel load from our national forests," said California Farm Bureau Federation President Jamie Johansson.

Specifically, the legislation would:

• Provide new authority for the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to work collaboratively with state partners in the West to implement wildfire prevention projects. Projects are restricted to areas most in need of restorative forest management.

• Allow disaster mitigation and preparedness funding to be used to reduce the wildfire risk posed by utility lines and expedite permitting for the installation of wildfire detection equipment (such as sensors, cameras, and other relevant equipment) and expand the use of satellite data to assist wildfire response.

• Create a program to incentivize the collection of woody biomass and help expand processing facilities to make biomass more economically viable.

• Create a forest workforce development program to train a new generation of workers to help address wildfire and forest health.

• Require the establishment of a fire center in the Western United States to train new firefighters and forestry professionals on the beneficial uses of prescribed fires, a far more cost-effective method of stopping fires than mechanical thinning or firefighting.

• Lift the current export ban on unprocessed timber from federal lands in the west for trees that are dead or dying, or if there is no demand in the United States.  California currently has nearly 150 million dead and dying trees on thousands of acres that are at risk of wildfire.

• Expand the Energy Department’s weatherization program to allow for the retrofit of homes to make them more resilient to wildfire through the use of fire-resistant building materials and other methods.

• Establish a new grant program to assist critical facilities like hospitals and police stations become more energy efficient and better adapted to function during power shutoffs.  The new program would also provide funding for the expanded use of distributed energy infrastructure, including microgrids.

Congressman Doug LaMalfa is a lifelong farmer representing California’s First Congressional District, including Butte, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou and Tehama Counties.


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​DURING DEPARTMENT MANAGER’S REPORTS at the Board of Supervisors’ meeting held through teleconference Tuesday, August 4th, Planning Director Tim Beals stated the long awaited completion of the grant guidelines for the recreation bond act was completed and felt the board should reopen discussions. Per capita funds of $450,000 is available to the county, adding it is similar to the Prop 40 grant where many Sierra County projects were completed.  
Beals reported he is working with Sheriff Mike Fisher and Deputy Director of Transportation Bryan Davey to complete signs to try to put notice out that ATV’s, UTV’s, and OHV’s are prohibited on county roads. He said he doesn’t expect the 4 x 6 signs to last long, but said they will be going up in the next 30 days at Long Valley, Dog Valley, Smithneck, Stampede, Henness Pass and any other county road that becomes an issue. Fisher said he feels that every time they go out and do enforcement the 2nd or 3rd ATV they contact is a DUI and the Dog Valley side is absolutely being overrun. Supervisor Lee Adams felt this was a CHP issue and Fisher stated he has had communication with the CHP out of Quincy and they have been going out and doing enforcement. Beals stated there were also speed limit issues. 
Beals talked about being overrun with solid waste on the westside. He said they have a contract with Intermountain Disposal for 38-39, cans and they are not even close to accommodating the need especially with restaurants now doing take out. He said they’ve had 30-40 bags just in Downieville over a weekend. Sharon stated she felt people would be seeking these rural areas for recreation for several years at least. She called this is our new reality and felt they needed to start planning for it. Beals didn’t know how they were going to deal with this, but looking to increase staff and their ability to respond.

​COVID-19 EMERGENCY UPDATE was during the Sierra County Board of Supervisors’ meeting Tuesday through teleconference. Public Health and Social Services Director Vickie Clark said the State report was optimistic the day before with the positivity rate down, hospitalizations and ICU were down 5%. Her staff has been working with the food bank to start doing it onsite at the Catholic Church in Loyalton again. Local verily testing was starting up again with Loyalton on Wednesday showing 11 registered.  Big point of concern statewide is lab time lags.  She is working closely with many businesses and have been receiving some complaints in the bar and liquor business. She spoke on the amount of visitors coming into the County and stated people are just going to come and it really is incumbent on us to support our businesses and make sure we are adhering to the guidelines.
Sierra County was recently assessed for $1.5 million for two years of funding. Clark stated her team is looking at ways to use that money. Public Health Officer Celia Sutton-Pado and Clark have been working hard with Human Resources to keep staff safe and healthy, working on protocols that entail staff do a self-monitoring screen everyday. Supervisor Sharon Dryden felt it was imperative we keep our employees safe. Clark said they are working with local schools and aiming to open in person at the end of this month.  
Planning Director Tim Beals spoke on behalf of the Office of Emergency Services and stated new signs are scheduled to be placed. Dryden felt they were more educational than the last ones. Beals said the PPE delivery was successful and thanked Sheriff Mike Fisher, Loyalton Mayor Sarah Jackson, Clark and her staff, Bryan Davey and Lee Brown and continued to extend thanks to Sierra Business Council, adding businesses were well represented. Gloves are not part of the PPE delivery, so Beals initiated a purchase for gloves.. He felt grant management and accounting people are being stretched to the max, adding sometimes getting the money is easier than managing it.  



A CONTRACT CHANGE ORDER to extend the date of completion for the Sierra Brooks Water Project to November 9, 2020 an 81-day time extension was approved unanimously during the Board of Supervisors’ meeting on Tuesday through teleconference. Planning Director Tim Beals said this change order came about when the well they drilled had to be converted from an alluvial well to a hard rock well. He stated this change in classification changed the pump testing, performance and pump design, which caused a significant delay in time. Beals said he was comfortable with the request and comfortable with the time frame, adding it is a no cost item. Supervisor Sharon Dryden who has this project in her district stated she was not happy about the extension but understood the delay and made the motion to approve.