Arnold, CA…Looking back I guess I had a bit of a different childhood. My father was a public school teacher and old school farmer. We had a dairy until I was in elementary school and then transitioned to beef cattle. I grew up on 70 acres at the edge of the foothills outside of Denair, […]
Murphys, CA…They should rename July 4th and call it Interdependence Day because too many people think they can do whatever they want on Independence Day with little regard for the health of their families and fellow citizens. On this July 4th a group of flag waving “patriots” marched down Main St. in Murphys, with not […]
Arnold, CA…Most of you are familiar with the 80/20 rule in economics espoused by Vilfredo Pareto. What is profound is that in the decades since his death it has been found that the 80/20 rule to be accurate in almost all areas. Take any subject even the taboo ones such as abortion, race & social […]
Arnold, CA…I have had a gnawing fear the last year that social media with all its benefits of instant gratification and at least the appearance of connectedness has a potentially catastrophic flaw. It has the ability to inspire mob like behavior almost instantly. Everything looks simple in a gif or a meme. Snippets of entire […]
Arnold, CA…We have been covering our little corners of small town America for over 15 years now. Over the last few years we have had the growing conviction like many of you that our society is in need. Our bonds as communities and countrymen are fraying and breaking. The things that ostensibly were designed to […]
Copperopolis, CA…Governor Gavin Newsom recently said, at the time of reporting on his budget shortfall, that the Federal Government has a moral and ethical obligation to give money to California to make up the state shortfall. Most would agree that the essence of ethics and morality is to keep your word and respect the rights […]
Arnold, CA…A bit of counter intuitive thinking for a Monday. While Covid 19 is real and is and will cause a significant number of deaths for us domestically as in other areas of the world. Our hunch is there may be a silver lining in that increased focus on disease transmission and self quarantining while […]
Copperopolis, CA…For over 40 years Prop. 13 has provided certainty to property owners. It protects homeowners, renters, small businesses and more from sudden tax increases we can’t afford. That same tax certainty provided by Prop. 13 has benefited our government as well by providing a stable and reliable stream of revenue. Now, measures are headed […]
Arnold, CA….Over the last few days one question has consumed us during the PSPS Outages & Kincade Fire debacles. Can PG&E survive this? No matter how we did our calculations financial, marketplace and political the answer was always no. We believe the highest revenue point PG&E will ever have was this past summer and over […]
Copperopolis, CA…I attended the recent Board of Supervisor meetings concerning commercial cannabis regulation. It was a hate fest with little good will and logic. Some thoughts: The problems with criminal activity relate to the black market grows, not the permitted ones. This was confirmed by the Sheriff and Ag Commissioner. The black market is created […]
San Andreas, CA…Calaveras County has a massive commercial marijuana expansion proposal in the works Oct. 1. Advocates are hoping you don’t catch on. If you think the Urgency Ordinance was a mess and Measure D was misleading, this proposal makes those two look benign Let’s take a look. The County and pro-commercial marijuana advocates are […]
Copperopolis, CA….September 17 is the 232nd anniversary of our wonderful US Constitution. For many thousands of years human slavery was normal – including in the United States. America was the first to claw its way out of the darkness of tyranny and put a solution down on paper. Our founding fathers possessed an incredible amount […]
Arnold, CA…No, it is not a rhetorical question. Right now it seems everything is racial and tensions are high with no end in sight. Politically it hasn’t been this racially charged since the 1960s. The horrific events recently from Gilroy to El Paso & Dayton have most of us looking internally more than a little. […]
Truckee, CA…In his Opinion piece in the March 24th edition of ThePineTree.Net, Rep. McClintock acknowledged, to my surprise, that, “No one denies that our planet is warming, carbon dioxide levels are increasing, and ocean levels are rising.” Of course, that’s not really true. There are many deniers, particularly politicians on the right, who claim global […]
Washington, DC…Abraham Lincoln told the story of boarding with the family of a Presbyterian minister on the night of the greatest meteor shower ever recorded in North America. He was awakened by the minister who shouted, “Arise Abraham, for the heavens are falling and the day of judgment has arrived.” But Lincoln noticed that despite […]
Washington, DC…Every nation has a natural right and responsibility to determine who is admitted to its borders. This is what defines a country and ultimately determines whether its culture, values and institutions will endure. The unique qualities that develop within each country’s borders naturally make some more desirable places to live than others. These differences […]
Arnold, CA…One of the things we love about covering small towns is that it matters much less where your political loyalties lie and more if a person tries to help his or her community thrive. In our rural and at times economically challenged counties communities it takes a community effort just to keep small towns […]
Copperopolis, CA…The cost of living is already too high in California, and the Gas and Car Tax hikes hurts working families that already struggle to pay bills. Estimates suggest the new increase in Gas Tax total will cost a typical family of four $779.20 or more per family, per year. This is about what a […]
Dorrington, CA…This is to reassure our customers, new and old that Abbott’s Snow Removal is ready for this 2018-19 snow season! It has come to our attention that people in Dorrington/Camp Connell have been getting phone calls from someone falsely representing our business stating that we are no longer offering services to our customers and […]
Angels Camp, CA…The Following letter has been sent to the President by Calaveras County Supervisor Dennis Mills. Dear Mr. President: I am writing to you on behalf of thousands of California citizens, farmers, business leaders, local and state elected officials, and even conservationists who are strongly opposed to a plan by the California State Water […]
