Photo by Cyndi Baird
Pictured from left to right are: College of Siskiyous Administration of Justice Program Director Glenn White, Siskiyou County Sheriff Jon Lopey and (right) Mark Baird, who was honored with the “Top Cadet” placing first in his class held last fall.
Jan. 17, 2012
Published Siskiyou Daily News
Mark Baird, vice-president of Scott Valley Protect Our Water, was honored on Jan. 13th with the “Top Cadet Award” for his outstanding performance during the College of the Siskiyous Administration of Justice Program Level III Course. He finished first in the class. Glenn White is the course program director.
Siskiyou County Sheriff Jon Lopey presented a Sheriff’s Commendation to Baird and praised him: “Your efforts are truly exemplary and your scholarship, skill, tenacity, leadership, and demonstrated commitment to the class, stringent class requirements, and fellow students reflect great credit upon you, your instructors, and the Administration of Justice Program. Congratulations for a job well done!”
Mark Baird, who is an airline pilot and flies quite often around the world, said he will now apply to become a reserve deputy for Siskiyou County. Juggling the class with his other careers and responsibilities was intense and Mark appreciates his wife, Cyndi, for her tremendous support. The Bairds also own KSYC radio, in Yreka, and a ranch in Quartz Valley.
When Sheriff Lopey mentioned Mark’s “tenacity” he hit the nail on the head. Mark is in his late 50s, but never quits learning or challenging himself. He is a major motivator within Scott Valley POW and the movement to save our water from government regulations strangling business and our rights. Congratulations Mark. We are so proud of you.
Several of the organizers of the Defend Rural America event held last October, in Yreka, are planning monthly events hosted in counties throughout Northern California.
Sheriff Lopey will kick-off this string of Support Rural America Sheriff events on Sat. Feb. 25. He is sending out invitations to the sheriffs who attended last October, and if I know him, will be inviting other sheriffs as well. We will likely end up with a large panel of sheriffs.
Modoc County has set its date for April 21st in Alturas. Doug Knox and the Independent Tea Party are sponsoring the event, which will not only feature the sheriffs’ panel, but Wyoming attorney Karen Budd-Falen has been invited and agreed to attend.
Trinity County will hold its Support Rural America Sheriff event on Sat. May 19th in Weaverville. Herk Shriner is a leader in the Trinity Tea Party Patriots and will set the agenda.
As more county dates are set, I will announce them. Guess I will need to set up a “page” on Pie N Politics.com and Liz Bowen.com for easy access to information on these sheriff events.
We also have a website called “Support Rural America.com.” Right now, you can view the environmental destruction from blowing of Condit Dam in Washington is at the top. But if you scroll down, just a little, you can click on the youtube video from the Sheriffs’ Panel held during the October event. This is in interactive site and you can post your own statements or articles. Erin Ryan, of the Redding Tea Party, is keeping it up-to-date.
For those who decry the Tea Parties, I would say they are not going away. The Tea Parties are major supporters of county sheriffs and are co-sponsoring these meetings.
Well-known Arizona Sheriff Richard Mack is headlining a Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association Convention in Las Vegas Jan. 29-31. Sheriff Lopey and Trinity Co. Sheriff Bruce Haney are headed that way. Sheriff Lopey and Sheriff Dean Wilson, of Del Norte County, serve on the nationwide board of directors of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. These sheriffs are finding they have the same issues and are standing together. And it is up to us to “support our local sheriff!”
Reminder: Attend one of the Farmageddon events that will be held this weekend. On Friday, Jan. 20, the Siskiyou Water Users Association will show this movie at the Greenhorn Grange in Yreka. Time is 6:30 p.m. Please bring a dessert to share. Learn more on our website: Pie N Politics.com.
On Sat. Jan. 21, Scott Valley POW will host the Farmageddon movie at the Scott Valley Grange in Greenview. Time is 6:30 p.m. Bring a dessert to share for Pie N Politics afterwards.
Wolf in Siskiyou
A Canadian wolf from an Oregon pack traveled through western Siskiyou recently. Wolf reintroduction or migration is an emotional issue as seen at the Board of Supervisors meeting last week. I am not a wolf hater, but I sure would hate to meet up with one. The biggest reason I’m against any wolves in Siskiyou is that even the wildlife experts admit there is not enough of natural prey in California to maintain a wolf pack. We already have significant amount of predators in lions, bears and coyotes. So naturally, wolves will be eating our livestock, pets and possibly us; and they are a very real threat.
Leo Bergeron said it best: No wolves should be allowed in Siskiyou County.
Liz Bowen is a native of Siskiyou County. She writes biographies and free lances. Check out: Liz Bowen.com
Jan. 10, 2012
Published Siskiyou Daily News
Yreka, CA
Jan. 10, 2012
Awareness is growing. Government over-regulations are destructive to business and society. Did you know more than 44,000 new laws were enacted in the U.S. at the beginning of 2012? How can more restrictions make our lives better?
Yes, here is Siskiyou County we feel the heavy hand and economic havoc from government agencies: county, state and federal. As most of you who read my column know, I am taking a stand for our Constitution. It is an amazing document and is the law of our land.
Recently, I was interviewed on a radio show, called America Betrayed with John Clark, and Rattlesnake Ray from Arizona joined us. I explained the “new” watershed-wide Permit situation demanded by State Dept. of Fish and Game, last year, which would have drastically affected our right to our irrigation water. Rattlesnake Ray quickly understood and explained a similar situation in Arizona.
So Siskiyou County is not alone. Rural America is under assault by bureaucracies that fully expect to thrive on the backs of the landowner and tax payer.
For more understanding of this insidiousness, please attend an eye-opening movie called Farmageddon. Admission is free. Seating will be first-come-first-serve. It will be shown twice in Siskiyou County.
Farmageddon features instances where family-owned farms and ranches have been assaulted and or destroyed by government agencies, officials and unfair regulations. The movie also shows how more and more “people” are finding ways to stand together.
Siskiyou Water Users Association, Scott Valley Protect Our Water, Greenhorn Grange, Scott Valley Grange, Save Rural America and FREE Rural America are sponsoring this event. For a synopsis and more info, check out: www. pienpolitics.com and click on the page tab at the top that says “Farmageddon.”
On Jan. 20, Farmageddon will be shown at the Greenhorn Grange at 6:30 p.m. in Yreka. There will be time for questions a after the movie shows. Debbie Bacigalupi will lead the discussion.
In Greenview, Farmageddon will be presented for Scott Valley POW’s meeting on Jan. 21 at 6:30 p.m. Come early as we will also have a brief POW meeting.
The dates for Farmageddon were set to follow Mt. Shasta Cal-Trout’s meeting on Klamath Dam removal on Jan. 19. But organizer, Curtis Knight, called Dan Dorsey just before Christmas and said Cal-Trout canceled the meeting. Dan was disappointed, since he had contacted many organizations and elected officials asking them to attend the meeting and “ask the tough questions.”
For those of you who do not know, Cal-Trout is a Greenie group and Curtis Knight is one of the signers of the KBRA, called Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, as one of the “stakeholders.” Just to let you know, Siskiyou County wasn’t allowed to be a “stakeholder.” And the KBRA will include the removal of the four hydro-electric dams, which the Siskiyou Water Users, Scott Valley POW, Granges and Tea Parties are trying to save. It is outrageous that Cal-Trout was a stakeholder and the County of Siskiyou was not.
More anti-business activity: I was wrong on one item. District 5 Supervisor Marcia Armstrong emailed to tell me that she never voted against Keith Darrah. I thought the Board of Supervisors had already voted, once, against Darrah on his appeal of County Planning Director Terry Barber’s Stop Order (of construction work paving his Truck Village parking lot.) The Board did not make the vote to uphold Barber and the Siskiyou County Planning Commission’s decision until Dec. 29; and yes, Armstrong was not in attendance.
It was over a year ago, when the Planning Commission voted against Mr. Darrah and he appealed, which began this unique Judicial Procedure by the county. An unusual twist to that meeting is when a witness saw four Commissioners discussing Darrah’s documents after the meeting was adjourned for lunch. This is a clear violation of the Brown Act. After noticing they were being watched, the Commissioners left the meeting room in twos. The witness made a citizen’s complaint to the Yreka Police Dept. In follow-up by the YPD, three of the four Commissioners admitted to discussing the item outside of the meeting. Hum, wonder what happens next on that one?
And I couldn’t believe it when Supervisors Ed Valenzuela and Jim Cook stated on Dec. 29 that all Darrah had to do was get a Reclamation Plan for the construction site. Hello, is anyone staying on task? Darrah was never accused of needing a Reclamation Plan for paving a parking lot because under state law, it isn’t needed. A construction project is not a surface gravel mine. Darrah has an approved Reclamation Plan for his permitted gravel mine.
A new Reclamation Plan was not discussed during the 8 days of hearings. Most of the issues alleged are just smoke and mirrors and have cost the county over $312,000 — all because “good ol’ boys” and agencies want to over-regulate business.
Liz Bowen writes biographies and free lances. She has updated her website Liz Bowen.com
Jan. 2, 2012
Published in Siskiyou Daily News
Yreka, CA.
Jan. 2, 2012
Liz Writes Life
Rain last week was a welcome sight. It even rained in Callahan. So I decided to check the carrots and see if they survived the frosty temperatures in December. It was in the low teens for several weeks and dropped to zero just before Christmas. I grabbed my shovel, because there was still a frozen crust on the ground. But the five carrots that were tossed up are good and crunchy. Whew!
It was cold enough to wilt the carrot tops that were sticking up from extra soil I pulled up adding protection – last fall – but I really would have liked to had layered flakes of old alfalfa hay for even more insulation. That means I gotta get some old alfalfa hay bales.
Three gardening catalogues arrived, already, in the mail – one before Christmas. No I am not in the mood to garden right now or even dream of gardening, but I decided to start at the back of the “Territorial Seed Company” catalogue and take a gander. All the supplies, tools and natural fertilizers just look like work. My one constant desire is to figure out cheap and easy ways to extend the season or start the season. It is so frustrating here, in Scott Valley, everything ripens at the same time. The cantaloupes were late this year as were the tomatoes. I would really like to enjoy both earlier in July. Making cold frames or putting up small greenhouse is the likely the answer.
Then, I read about the Arctic Beauty Kiwi. It is supposed to survive down to zone 3, which should make it here. I didn’t realize kiwi is a vine that can grow up to 20 feet, so you can also landscape with it on trellises or fences. The plants are durable, hardy and relatively disease free, according to the catalogue. They prefer a part-sun location and produce slightly fragrant small flowers in early summer. This variety doesn’t need peeling like the ones we purchase in grocery stores as the skin is smooth. Both a male and female plant is necessary to produce fruit. Hum, if I could figure out where to put them, these would be fun. Ops, they ripen in September – like everything else!
I wrote up a long comment after the hearing on Dec. 29 and it is posted on Pie N Politics.com. Just look for “Keith Darrah” in the category list in the right column and click. It will come up. Or you can find the December calendar on the left side and click Dec. 30.
Yes, the four supervisors in attendance voted against Keith Darrah. District 5 Supervisor Marcia Armstrong was not in attendance, but has continually voted against Darrah. And, yes, Mr. Darrah filed a lawsuit, last fall, naming County Planning Director Terry Barber, past County Supervisor LaVada Erickson, a state employee from SMARA (the mining agency), and County of Siskiyou.
At the beginning of the hearing last Thursday, Darrah’s attorney Darren Mercier alleged the proper amount of time to “notice” the hearing had not been met. Those of us who were trying to find out when and where the hearing would be, agreed it was difficult to find the information before 2 p.m. the day before. We are looking into a possible Brown Act violation.
Surprisingly, it was a new state attorney from SMARA who narrowed Darrah’s alleged violation to this: In doing his construction work of paving his parking lot, the state attorney said Darrah “co-mingled” material from the “construction” parcel with material from the “surface gravel mine,” which is on the adjoining parcel.
The county Planning Dept. claims that 95 percent of the material from the construction project (paving the parking lot) was co-mingled with 5 percent of material from surface gravel mine. Apparently, “co-mingling” is a no-no.
Keep in mind that it is legal to sell material from a construction site, according to Terry Barber’s testimony during the hearing. I heard her say it.
It is also legal to sell material from a surface gravel mine, which is under a permit. Darrah’s surface gravel mine was under a legitimate Permit!
Yep, all the allegations by the county during 8 days of hearings were really just smoke and mirrors. The state attorney finally provided the one real alleged violation? And the supervisors have spent $300,000 for two private attorneys to prosecute this case. A huge waste of our money.
For those who have not sat through these hearings, it is difficult to fathom the depths of this cover-up.
This case should never have taken place. Darrah never should have been out of business for 3 years. His 20-plus employees should still be working and the county should be receiving tax revenue from his business. Siskiyou County cannot afford for the “good ol’ boys” to rule the business community.
Liz Bowen writes biographies and free lances. Check out her website: www .lizbowen .com
(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) Minka Disbrow, 100, shows a photo of her, right, and daughter Ruth Lee taken the day they first reunited in 2006. 
By Amy Taxin Associated Press / January 3, 2012
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