May 8, 2012

Published in Siskiyou Daily News

Gorgeous morning it is this Monday, May 7. Finally, the Fowler lilac is blooming. This is the start my brother brought me from his visit (several years ago) to the ranch our great-grandparents Fowler owned at the turn of the last century. He found where the house sat and even initials “A.J.” that grandpa Andrew Jackson Fowler must have carved in a tree and had grown over a foot tall — as the tree grew. That ranch was down west of Red Bluff, so I hope the lilac likes the cooler temps up here in the mountains.

Speaking of great-grandparents, Peggy Whipple has started her Scott Valley Genealogy Group classes again and will help those of us wading through the Internet looking for ancestors. The next class will be May 21 at the Etna Library meeting room at 1 p.m. Bring your laptop computers if you would like. It is free.

If it gets hot this week, I will be scrambling to irrigate. The Oriental poppies are over two-feet tall and ready to pop. I did get a flower bed cleaned out and was ruthless removing extra Shasta daisies and diascia.  Well, I tried to be ruthless. The delphinium made it through the long cold spell, we had last winter, and the dianthus are eight-inches tall and will soon be blooming in pretty hot pink.

Need to irrigate the lettuces. The volunteer ones are about five inches tall and the newest batch are about a half inch. The recent peas I planted are not up yet.

Sheriff Jon Lopey and his wife, Maxine, were at the Dr. Paul R. Houser meeting last night in Klamath Falls. Afterwards, a bunch of us ate a great dinner at Black Bear diner. The Prime Rib was excellent. So, I was chatting with Maxine and she said she had already cut some rhubarb. I mentioned I was surprised how tall mine had grown already. So this morning I went up and cut some rhubarb. Last week, I purchased strawberries, grown down in Redding, and froze them. So I think I will make some strawberry-rhubarb jam and share it with the sheriffs that attend the next Support Rural America.com Sheriffs Event in Trinity Co. on May 19.

This Sheriffs Event is in Weaverville at 2 p.m. at the Mt. Chapel Church on Martin Rd. Doors open at noon and there is seating for 400. Check out Pie N Politics.com — Sheriffs & SRA page for more info. Admission is free. Sheriff Lopey will be attending.

I had a nice visit with Tehama Sheriff Dave Hencratt at the Team Roping Jack Pot before the Pleasure Park Rodeo in Etna last weekend. Sheriff Hencratt plans on attending on May 19 in Trinity and has at least 7 sheriffs set for his panel at the Tehama Co. Sheriffs Event on June 23 in Red Bluff.

Dr. Paul R. Houser

An enthusiastic group heard Paul R. Houser, Ph.D. share why he filed a legal “whistleblower” complaint against the federal government for terminating his employment. Dr. Houser was invited to Siskiyou County by the Cal-Ore Bi-State Alliance. His parents live in Portland, so he flew into Portland and they drove down with him. They are a very kind and gentle family. His father is a Ph.D. who is retired, I think, from teaching. He shared his fabulous photography with us.

Dr. Houser was hired in 2011 as the top-ranking science advisor over integrity by the Bureau of Reclamation. His job was to vet science used for projects. But after he cited significant flaws, Dr. Houser received reprisals within the agency. He was told not to document his concerns on the science and process being used to remove the Klamath dams. Because he would not change his report, he was asked to resign or be terminated. After soul-searching, Dr. Houser decided he had to do what is right.

“Scientific integrity is crucial,” said Dr. Houser, adding that science is a Public Trust issue. He is also concerned for the “next person” who will be hired as the integrity advisor over the federal government’s science. “I believe there many scientists totally scared” to come out and disagree with government officials.

“The government is trying to make an example out of me to keep everyone quite,” he added.

But, honesty rides long and hard with Dr. Houser, so he did not back down resulting in being fired. He is still not backing down. His whistleblower complaint is moving forward, because it has merit. And after his allegations, Dept. of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced he could not make a decision on removal of the Klamath dams.

I will share specifics from Dr. Houser meetings next week. Photos are up on Pie N Politics.com. Hopefully, next week I will also get to why I like Rick Bosetti for State Assembly District 1.

Liz Bowen writes biographies, freelances and blogs. Check out for garden photos: Liz Bowen.com

May 1, 2012

Next week Dr. Paul R. Houser will be here speaking in Klamath Falls and Siskiyou County. Dr. Houser is a renowned scientist hired in early 2011 to check the “integrity” of the environmental assessments by federal government agencies on the Klamath dam removal. He cited significant concerns and even alleged fraud in some instances.

As a result, Dr. Houser was fired. He reluctantly filed a “whistleblower” complaint with the federal government and then wrote a letter asking for support to the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors.

To show appreciation of Dr. Houser, the Cal-Ore Bi-State Alliance contacted Dr. Houser and invited him to Siskiyou County. When I interviewed Dr. Houser, he said that he didn’t know of the turmoil here regarding dam destruction. He didn’t know the Siskiyou Co. Water Users Assoc. has been working diligently to expose the fraud and to offer sensible alternatives to aid salmon.

Please show support for “integrity” and attend one of the meetings with Dr. Houser. Admission is free, but we will be passing the donation can to pay for the rent of the buildings.

In Klamath Falls, Dr. Houser will speak on Sunday, May 6^th at 5 p .m. at the Triad School.

In Siskiyou, Dr. Houser will speak on Monday, May 7 at the Siskiyou Golden Fairground’s Flower Building at 6: 30 p.m.

On Tuesday morning, May 8, Dr. Houser will address the Siskiyou Board of Supervisors. Check with the county clerk for the time, or Pie N Politics.com under “Red Hot Issues” page tab. On Tuesday night, May 8, Dr. Houser will speak at the Yreka Tea Party at 6:30 p.m.

Debbie Bacigalupi spear-headed making a youtube video called “Fish or Foul on the Klamath” and an interview with Dr. Houser is included. You can find it at Pie N Politics.com. Look at the top of the site for the page tab named “youtube.”

Just under that video is an amazingly accurate 4 minute video called “If I wanted America to fail …” and it is worth watching as well. I hope you check them both out.

Activities

The Modoc Support Rural America Sheriffs’ Event was super. Siskiyou Sheriff Jon Lopey participated on the Sheriffs Panel after speaking the day before at the California Eagle Forum in Sacramento. Modoc Sheriff Mike Poindexter hosted the event and led the panel discussion after Wyoming attorney Karen Budd-Falen spoke on private property rights. I will try to get photos and articles on this event up on Liz Bowen.com and Pie N Politics.com this week. A big thanks for organizing the event goes to Doug Knox and the Modoc Independent Tea Party.

The next SRA Sheriff’s Event will be in Trinity County on May 19 in Weaverville.

65^th Annual Rodeo

This Sunday, May 6, the 65^th Scott Valley Pleasure Park Rodeo will be held at the Etna arena. It will be quite a weekend as the California High School Rodeo District 1 Finals will be held at the Etna rodeo grounds on Fri., May 4 at 5 p.m. and Sat. May 5 in the morning. Then in the afternoon, a Jackpot Team Roping will be held. These events are free to the public.

On Sunday morning, Bernard Dowling will lead the Etna Rodeo Parade as Grand Marshal. Yep, it was time for Bernard to be so honored. And he complained, just like others, that he “wasn’t old enough” to be Grand Marshal. But let’s see, I looked it up and his dad, Ken Dowling, was Grand Marshal in 1981. I’ll bet his dad was younger then, than Bern is now. But it is hard for our generation to admit that we are now — the older generation!

Kelly Carter was crowned 2012 Pleasure Park Rodeo Queen by 2011 Queen Cricket Postma last week after the contest. Congratulations Kelly, she really put some time and work in preparing her horse. Check out Liz Bowen.com as I have posted two lists: One of all the Parade Grand Marshals and one of the SVPP Rodeo Queens over the years.

For more info on the rodeo, call Laurie Tippet at 530-598-6359.

Garden

Finally got weeds pulled and hoed in about half of the garden last week and spent two days irrigating. The peas did not germinate well. So I will soak some peas and replant that row. The garlic perked right up after watering and I hope the hard frost on April 27^th didn’t kill the peach blossoms.

An old friend and Klamath River gold miner Stan Meager emailed me several of his stories that were published in mining magazines. I posted them on a special page on my Liz Bowen.com website. They are quite fun and I really like his western poem. Check out the page tab on top “Stan Meager’s gold.”

Next week, I’ll talk about why I am voting for Rick Bosetti for Dist. 1 Assembly.

Liz Bowen writes biographies, blogs and freelances. Contact her at 530-467-3515.