Sierra County Adult School is offering an Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) Course, Starting October 1st, 2019. Emergency Medical Responders are usually the First Responders to a medical or trauma event. They are able to do an emergency assessment and use life saving skills to intervene in a medical or trauma emergency until EMTs, Paramedics, Nurses or Doctors are able to get to the scene. The EMR Course is an entry level course that can help you decide if you want to pursue other health careers.
 
The Course is free except for the cost of the book which is “Emergency Medical Responder” by Chris LeBaudour, 11th Edition published by Pearson.
 
The Course will be held at Downieville School, Room 5 on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting, October 1st from 6PM to 9PM and ending November 26th, 2019. The instructor will be Frank Lang, NP,JD. The Course is open to everyone and our communities desperately need your help and your skill. You can also take this course if you just want to better understand your body and your health for personal or family reasons.
 
If you are interested in more information or have questions, please contact Frank Lang at 530-289-3644 or send an email to foekej@gmail.com. To register for the class call Wendy Jackson at 1-530-993-1660-180 or email at wjackson@spjusd.org.  You can also register online at sierracountyofficeofeducation.org.  We will also be doing an EMT Course starting in January, 2020.

California’s lead firefighters use innovative partnerships, fight fire with fire to prove forest health faster.
SACRAMENTO - The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) announced a historic partnership to improve forest management and reduce the risk of high-severity wildfires through the expanded use of prescribed fire. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) guiding this partnership includes prescribed fire training with experts and trainees from both organizations, forest management projects including thinning and prescribed fire in cooperation with a diversity of partners, and joint communications to improve the public’s understanding of prescribed fire.
 
This partnership, in recognition of a worsening wildfire crisis and the need to involve new stakeholders, is a first-of-its-kind collaboration between a state firefighting agency and an environmental nonprofit organization in California.
 
“Many of California’s forests are overgrown with brush and small trees and urgently need better forest management at greater pace and scale, including prescribed fire. We are set to increase efforts exponentially, especially through expanding the trained workforce,” said Mike Sweeney, Executive Director, The Nature Conservancy's California Chapter. “Together, we will make Sierra Nevada forests safer and healthier.”
 
“Forest Management including the use of prescribed fire is the way we will ensure Forest Resiliency and the health of our forests for future generations,” stated Chief Thom Porter, Director of CAL FIRE. “This partnership will help the State to increase pace and scale of Fuels Management to attain the goal of treating 500 thousand acres each year.”
 
High-severity wildfire is a significant threat to air quality, water quality, carbon storage, neighboring communities, and wildlife. TNC has been performing controlled burns across the U.S. for 56 years and has recently expanded operations around the world. Since 2010, TNC has run Training Exchanges (TREX) in California to expand and share expertise to use controlled burning to reduce wildfire risk and promote healthier, more resilient forests.
 
A recent scientific paper from the Nature Conservancy, Wildfires and Forest Resilience: the case for ecological forestry in the Sierra Nevada, cites over 130 scientific studies to make the scientific case for forest management including controlled burns as the best solution to combat megafires in California’s fire-adapted conifer forests.
 
About CAL FIRE: The men and women of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) are dedicated to the fire protection and stewardship of over 31 million acres of California's privately-owned wildlands. In addition, the Department provides varied emergency services in 36 of the State's 58 counties via contracts with local governments. Beyond its wildland fire fighting role, CAL FIRE is an "all-risk" department. The Department is always ready to respond - medical aids; hazardous material spills; swift-water rescues; search and rescue missions; civil disturbances; train wrecks; floods, earthquakes and more. To learn more, visit www.fire.ca.gov or follow @CAL_FIRE on Twitter.
 
About the Nature Conservancy: The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by science, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world's toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together. We are tackling climate change, conserving lands, waters, and oceans at unprecedented scale, and helping make cities more sustainable. Working in more than 65 countries, we use a collaborative approach that engages local communities, governments, the private sector, and other partners. To learn more, visit www.nature.org or follow @nature_press on Twitter.
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Online reservations and ticket sales are open for the 2019 Sierra Valley Art + Ag Trail to be held September 28. The Art + Ag Trail invites guests to visit 14 event sites this year – working ranches, market farms, historic buildings, a museum and the Sierra Valley Preserve – where local artists, barn quilts, history displays, farm animals and information about present-day and historic agricultural operations await.
This is the fourth year of this Sierra County Arts Council event. The Art + Ag Trail is a collaborative undertaking with creative contributions from the artists, the producers and many local organizations, history buffs, and other volunteers.
“Stop by one of the three Trailhead sites; pick up a map, a food list, an event passport; and off you go to explore the many assets of Sierra Valley at your own pace,” says event organizer, Kristi Jamason.
The three Trailhead sites – in Beckwourth, Vinton and Sierraville – will be open by 9:30 a.m. The remaining 11 sites are open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Passport, Prize Drawing & Dinner
Traveling the Sierra Valley Art + Ag Trail is free, but a donation of $20, which helps pay for the costs of putting on the event, will earn guests an event passport and 2 prize drawing tickets. The passport is a limited-edition booklet with color photos from Sierra Valley and places to collect stamps as guests travel the trail. Organizers have made small rubber stamps for every site and exhibitor along the trail to stamp visitor passports.
“The prize drawing is not your typical affair,” says Jamason. “The vast majority of the prizes are works contributed by participating artists. Our artists and exhibitors are quite generous, and it makes for a really special prize drawing.”
The prize drawing is held at 4:30 p.m., at the Sierra Valley Grange Hall after all the other event sites have closed. Following, is a grilled tri-tip dinner put on by the Plumas-Sierra Cattlemen’s Association. The dinner helps fund their scholarship program. A short live auction by local rancher-comedian Rick Roberti follows at 6 p.m. to benefit the Art + Ag Trail.
Passports, extra prize drawing tickets, and dinner can all be reserved online via the Reservations page of event website: SierraValleyArtAgTrail.org/reservations.
Art – Gyotaku to Pysanka and all points between
This year’s Art + Ag Trail will feature close to 50 local artists whose work spans many media – glass, fiber, pottery, stone, metal, wood, paint, jewelry, basketry, photography and more. Marty Flora makes prints by painting actual fish and impressing them on paper, canvas, and cloth (Gyotaku). Melissa Hays painstakingly waxes and dyes real eggs – many from her own birds – with intricate designs (Pysanky). Rand Nash turns thin strips of cedar and other woods into beautiful kayaks. Several artists work with recycled or reclaimed materials –tin cans, burned candles, and bits of lumber – turning them into attractive, functional items. There will be artists who work with precious metals and semi-precious stones, artisans who make botanicals from their own goats’ milk, flowers and herbs, artists who carve and decorate gourds, turn animal fiber into clothing and blankets, pine needles into baskets and so much more.
“Discovering the hidden artistic talents of our region was an inspiration for this event,” says Jamason. “And I had no idea. Every year, more amazing artists turn up, and I learn about art forms I never knew existed. It has been an act of discovery to put on the event, and I’m sure it will be equally so for those who travel the Trail.”
Agriculture – Barns and Beauty
Another inspiration for the Art + Ag Trail was the agricultural heritage of the region. The Sierra Valley Art + Ag Trail provides a rare opportunity to turn down the dirt lane and actually go to the grand historic barns sprinkled around Sierra Valley, where you can learn about the ranch and farm operations and see these huge barns built with hand-hewn timbers and wooden pegs a century or more ago. The event features cattle ranches, a sheep ranch, two market farms (one with a pumpkin patch), and many exhibitors with an agricultural theme, including FFA and High Sierra Heritage Fruit Preservation, where Jennifer Kennedy shares her expertise in caring for heritage fruit trees in our climate.
History – tranes, planes and… tennis?
The event features the history of the barns, as well as other industries and people from the region. The Milton Gottardi Museum in Loyalton has old logging equipment, household, retail and medical treasures, and a finely detailed miniature replica of pre-WWII Loyalton with an o-scale model train running through it. The event also features displays about historical figures with ties to Sierra Valley, such as botanists John and Sara Lemmon, explorer Jim Beckwourth and tennis star Alice Marble. The Sierraville School, which is a Trailhead for the event, was recently listed on the Register of Historic Places. Publisher Jan Buck will have a 70th anniversary of the Sierra Booster display set up at the Gottardi Museum site, featuring videos, photos and stories about the paper and her father, who was known for flinging newspapers from his airplane to subscribers in far-flung places.
Great Food – fare with local flair
Foodies on the Trail won’t be disappointed. Chef Sean Conry and the Feather River College Culinary Arts Program will be making several lunch entrees at Sierra Valley Farms using heritage pork from Beckwourth-based Sage Eggs & Ham. Harvey Farms will be making family-recipe Basque chorizo sausage, made with Harvey Farms lamb, instead of traditional pork. The Grange will be selling by-the-slice homemade apple pie featuring fruit from local trees throughout the day. Many of the restaurants around the Valley will also have Art + Ag Trail specials. A handout with food options and where to find them will be given out at Trailheads.
Friendly Farm Animals
Visitors will find many friendly farm animals along the Trail. According to his owner, Bonnie Hollitz, Eddie the mule thinks he’s a golden retriever. Sierra Valley Yaks like guests to feed them snacks. As does Diddly the alpaca who will nibble his kibble from your hand. There will be goats – Moe & Joe and Marshmallow. There’s Calamity Jane, a Scottish Highland cow, and Applejack the miniature horse. FFA of Loyalton will have farm animals in the outdoor yard of the Museum site in Loyalton and will be happy to share their experiences with husbandry.
Demonstrations & Activities
The Art + Ag Trail is not just a spectator sport, say organizers. Visitors can press cider at the Grange, spin wool with a drop spindle or weave with a rigid heddle loom at Harvey Ranch, lasso a roping dummy at Diamond G or the Goodwin Ranch, or try their hand at watercolor paints, collage, avian trivia, zucchini car racing, egg dying, felting a bar of soap and more. Guests will also find many fun fall games for the kids at the Lil’ Megs Pumpkin Patch site in Beckwourth.
More information about the event is available at SierraValleyArtAgTrail.org/ and through multiple daily posts on Facebook at facebook.com/SierraValleyArtAgTrail/.
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Sidebars:

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Trailheads
Three Trailhead sites are the place to start on the Sierra Valley Art + Ag Trail to pick up a printed map of all 14 event sites and more. Trailheads will be open by 9:30 a.m. on September 28.
Trailhead Locations:

• Sierraville School – 305 Lincoln Street, Sierraville, CA
• Sierra Valley Farms – 1329 County Road A-23, Beckwourth, CA
• Sierra Valley Grange Hall – 92202 Highway 70, Vinton, CA

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​Weather includes, hold your hat, … a snow forecast. J
 
Reno discussion:
 
·       Strong winds likely Sunday-Monday due to a cold front. Confidence increasing in first legit wind of the fall season with wind speeds higher and lasting for a longer duration than the front last week. This will be a significant fire weather concern + road and air travel impacts from wind. Winds may stay up all night for ridges, wind prone locations, and mountain valleys Saturday and Sunday nights. Sunday is the main day, but looks to remain quite windy into Monday. Fire weather concerns area-wide Sunday and for areas mainly near and south of US-50 on Monday. Areas of blowing dust possible.
·       Smoke issues remain near larger fires especially the Walker Fire assuming continued fire activity. Less certainty in the smoke forecast with lighter winds today. Next several days will depend on fire activity. Could see improvement early next week if enough rain/snow falls. 
·       Turning much colder Monday-Wednesday AM with frosts or freezes likely in typical areas, possible even in lower elevations. Scattered rain and dare I say snow showers, looking possible Monday-Tuesday.Potential is there for light snow accumulations Monday night into Tuesday AM above 7000 feet. Lower confidence, but a few embedded thunderstorms also possible.
 
CHANGES FROM PREVIOUS BRIEFING
 
·       High confidence in a strong wind event this weekend Sunday into Monday followed by a big cool down.

QUINCY, Calif. – For the 36th consecutive year, selected roads and off-highway vehicle trails in the Diamond Mountain Limited Vehicular Access Area will be closed to motorized vehicles before and during deer hunting season within Zone X-6A. The motor vehicle restriction goes into effect September 28 and continues through October 20, 2019.
Partners in this successful effort to provide a more primitive hunting experience include Plumas County Fish & Game Commission, California Department of Fish & Wildlife and Plumas National Forest. The motor vehicle restriction is due to the volume of vehicles in deer hunting areas during the deer season and the effects of motor vehicles on deer behavior.
While motorized vehicles are prohibited on all roads and trails in the area during this closure, some activities are exempt from the order. For the purposes of this Order, a wheelchair is not considered a motorized vehicle.
This area is outside of the Walker Fire closure.          
Please visit the Plumas National Forest’s website to view the forest closure order No. 05-11-02-19-05 and associated map, http://www.fs.usda.gov/plumas . See “Alerts & Warnings.”  If you need more information about the forest order, what activities are exempt, or would like to obtain a hard copy of the map, contact the Mt. Hough Ranger District at (530) 283-0555.                                 
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Motorists Should Treat Non-Working Signals as All-Way Stops
 
DISTRICT 3 — Caltrans is preparing for widespread power outages this summer and fall if PG&E cuts power during high-wind and red flag warning periods to reduce the risk of wildfire.
 
Motorists are reminded that the California Department of Motor Vehicle Driver Handbook mandates that non-working (dark) and flashing red traffic signals be treated as all-way stops during power outages. Drivers should proceed with caution through intersections and observe right-of-way rules.
 
“District 3 is home to many beautiful, natural resources and scenic views, although they can be fire risks,” said Caltrans District 3 Amarjeet S. Benipal. “We appreciate wildfire reduction efforts that help keep our communities and our state highways safe for everyone.”
 
Throughout District 3, traffic signals contain battery backups, which typically last 3 to 4 hours before becoming non-operational. Additional measures may be implemented at signals during power outages including generators or stop signs. However, motorists should be prepared for all-way stops at non-lighted signals during power outages.
 
To illustrate the safest way to navigate an intersection during times with no power, Caltrans Public Affairs developed a Caltrans News Flash, which can be viewed here: bit.ly/CT_News_Flash_211.
 
PG&E customers are also encouraged to sign up for electrical outage alerts and review current outage maps via its website.
 
Caltrans District 3 maintains more than 4,385 lanes miles of state highway in 11 Sacramento Valley and Northern Sierra counties. The department issues updates about road conditions on Twitter and on Facebook. For real-time traffic information, go to http://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/ or download the free Caltrans QuickMap app from the App Store or Google Play.
 

By Harold Pease, Ph. D



This Tuesday, September 17, is Constitution Day, arguably the most forgotten designated day in America.  The mainstream media will say nothing of it.  No parades or city council proclamations.  No three-day weekend, beer busts or barbecues in its favor.  It is as though it never happened.  Probably not one in ten can tell what happened this day in 1787; it has been forgotten so long.  
Still, this day the Constitutional Convention ended and the Constitution was sent to the states for ratification thus institutionalizing liberty in America more fully.  This positively affected everyone in the United States and is probably the most important day in our history—so special millions flood our borders illegally to benefit from it.  
For nearly six thousand years of recorded history governments, best described as regimental, dominated man.  Only for a few fleeting moments in the past has individual man had anything to say concerning the restrictions leveled on him. Under an occasional benevolent monarchy or an unconcerned king, man has, in rare instances, been left to himself and thus somewhat free.  And, even more rare were the instances when as in Athens, Rome or at Runnymede, the people, sometimes through persuasion and often by force, instituted changes allowing individual freedom to flourish for a brief time.  Our experiment with liberty was one of them.
Still, until 1787 man did not know how to harness government.  Liberty is, in fact, freedom from excessive government and the biggest enemy to individual liberty is, and has always been, government.  But the Constitutional Convention, ending on September 17, did just this.
We abolished kings forever in favor of presidents selected by the state legislatures (before the 17th Amendment) for a short, but defined, period of time.  We took away the president’s power to make decrees (even laws or rules) over us, allowing him, in a state of the union address to merely suggest changes, otherwise to sign or veto law made by the legislative branch.
The legislative branch, consisting of representatives for the states, (the U.S. Senate) to protect states’ rights from federal intrusion, and the peoples’ representatives (the House of Representative) to protect the people from federal intrusion, made ALL the law.  Both legislative branches from different perspectives, had to approve every law imposed upon the people and all law had to adhere to the constitutional list (Article I, Sec. 8, Cla. 1-18).  
Historically, the two areas most sensitive to the people were excessive taxation, as all monies expended were extracted from the people, and unpopular wars, as all injuries, deaths, and suffering was absorbed by the people.  Under the Constitution there can never be an unpopular war as the peoples’ representative (The House of Representatives) have total power over raising and funding the army.  They must consent to the war by declaration (because they provide blood and brawn for it) and they alone authorize the treasure for it (Art. 1, Sec. 8, Cla. 11).  “All bills for raising revenue shall originate” with them (Art. 1, Sec. 7, Cla. 1).  The Constitution, if followed as designed, ended for all time both unpopular taxes and war.  We became the first nation in history placing the people in charge of both.  Moreover, funding for war could not be extended for more than a two-year time period, thus requiring that the war remain the will of the people (Art. I, Sec. 8, Cla. 12).
The Constitution is marked by four divisions of power the first—and most important—being between the states and the federal government with fear of a national government dominant.  Our Founders, under a new concept called federalism, allowed two governments to co-exist, neither to be over or under the other, with primarily external issues governed by a federal government and internal issues by the states—like a marriage—equal partners.  All power not specifically listed in the Constitution remained with the states.  The federal government’s powers were listed in Article I, Section 8, Clauses 1-18 or what the states agreed to give them later, but anything thereafter added by amendment required 3/4th of the states to approve (Article V).  It was decidedly a limited government from the outset with few federal laws restricting the individual.

The other three divisions divided power at the federal level.  Separation of powers is basic to the Constitution with one body, the legislative branch, making federal law, another, the executive branch, enforcing it, and a third, the judicial branch, adjudicating it.  But none of these branches were to legislate, execute or adjudicate in a manner to erase or undermine the first division of power between the states and the federal government.  No Founding Father supported this. 
The Bill of Rights, demanded by the states as a condition of their ratification of the Constitution, further restricted the federal government.  Amendments thereafter 11-27, approved by 3/4th of the states, altered some parts of the Constitution.  Still, the federal government remains limited and on notice to remain subservient to the people. 
The Constitution remains an enemy to big government, largely supported by both political parties and liberals and conservatives alike, because big government is an enemy to individual liberty.  Perhaps this is the reason so few wish to honor it or bring attention to it on Constitution Day.  Americans might awaken to their extensive loss of liberty.

 
Dr. Harold Pease is a syndicated columnist and an expert on the United States Constitution. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He taught history and political science from this perspective for over 30 years at Taft College.  Newspapers have permission to publish this column. To read more of his weekly articles, please visit www.LibertyUnderFire.org.

AB 5 Spells the End for Independent Trucking in California

 (SACRAMENTO) — The California Senate approved Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5), a measure that will put tens of thousands of owner-operator truckers, who service agriculture, retail and other industry sectors, out of business. Despite efforts by the California Trucking Association (CTA) to amend the measure in a way that would protect independent truckers, Assembly Bill 5 by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) passed with an overwhelming 29-11 vote.
“AB 5 could have been amended to address worker misclassification issues, as well as protect the 70,000 predominantly minority-owned truckers currently operating as independent contractors,” said Shawn Yadon, CTA’s CEO. “There is no reason why protecting workers does not include defending the right of tens of thousands of drivers who have built their businesses around the independent owner-operator model, invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in their trucks and have operated their own businesses for decades.” 
Since the bill’s introduction, CTA has advocated for changes to AB 5, including requirements for operating authority, ownership of vehicles, exclusivity and transparency about pay. These changes would have set a clear criterion and established independence in a way that protected employees from misclassification without hurting entire sectors of the business community.
Instead, AB 5 proponents created a scenario in which they chose winners and losers by carving out some professions while excluding others. In an attempt to address some of the concerns of California’s owner-operators, AB 5 was amended to allow drivers working within the construction industry to continue operating as independent truckers for a two-year grace period. However, AB 5 will severely limit work opportunities for tens of thousands of independent owner-operators in other business sectors.
In California, more than 136,950 trucking companies remain primarily small, locally owned business with small fleets and independent drivers.
“AB 5 will have implications that will go beyond employment classification,” said Yadon, CTA’s CEO. “Like the rest of the nation, California is experiencing a shortage of truck drivers, this measure will aggravate the problem by removing thousands of drivers from rosters as many have indicated they will move to other states or seek a different line of work all together.”
AB 5 now heads to Governor Gavin Newsom for his signature. If signed into law, AB 5 would deny a significant segment of the trucking industry the ability to continue operating as independent owner-operators, forcing them to abandon the investments they have made in their vehicles and taking away their flexibility to set their own schedule and determine their own destiny for their business.
Governor Newsom has until October 13, 2019, to approve or veto this bill.
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 About the California Trucking Association
The California Trucking Association has been serving the commercial motor carrier industry in California, and the companies that provide products and services to the trucking industry, for 83 years. A critical and vital component of California’s economy, 78 percent of California communities depend solely on trucks to deliver their goods. Our carrier membership ranges from individual owner-operators, to small for-hire fleets, to the largest national and international carriers. Allied members of the California Trucking Association range from businesses involved with truck and trailer sales, parts and service, insurance, legal services and all other businesses that support the trucking industry.

 
 The California Trucking Association promotes leadership in the California motor carrier industry, advocates sound transportation policies to all levels of government, and works to maintain a safe, environmentally responsible and efficient California transportation goods

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Nevada City, Calif. – The Tahoe National Forest is looking to hire enthusiastic, highly motivated individuals for temporary seasonal positions as wildland firefighters.
Positions are available in hotshot/handcrews, helicopter helitack crews, engine crews, fuels management, fire lookout, and dispatch.
 
Duty Locations: Truckee, Sierraville, Loyalton, Soda Springs, Foresthill, Camptonville, Downieville, Grass Valley, Nevada City
For seasonal positions, submit applications September 16 through September 30, 2019.
For more information, go to the Tahoe National Forest webpagewww.fs.usda.gov/tahoe and click on Fire Hire tag. Or email us atTNFfirehire@gmail.com for information on temporary seasonal fire positions.