Category Archives: Government

Attorney General Kamala D. Harris Issues Consumer Alert Regarding Reports of Price Gouging During Wildfires

Kamala Harris Attorney General State of California
Kamala Harris Attorney General State of California

California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today issued a consumer alert on reports of price gouging by businesses, namely hotels, during the devastating wildfires that have swept our state. The Attorney General also issued a warning that the California Department of Justice is prepared to investigate and prosecute those that attempt to wrongfully profit from the destructive fires that are driving Californians out of their homes.

“As first responders fight to save communities from raging wildfires and thousands of Californians face devastation and hardship, it is exploitative and also unlawful for businesses to engage in price gouging,” said Attorney General Harris.

California’s anti-price gouging statute, Penal Code Section 396, becomes effective immediately after the Governor or a local official declares a state of emergency. Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in Calaveras and Amador counties on September 11, 2015, and in Lake and Napa counties on September 13, 2015.

California law generally prohibits charging a price that exceeds, by more than 10%, the price of an item before the declaration of emergency. This law applies to those who sell food, emergency supplies, medical supplies, building materials, and gasoline.  The law also applies to repair or reconstruction services, emergency cleanup services, transportation, freight and storage services, hotel accommodations, and rental housing.  Exceptions to this prohibition exist if, for example, the price of labor, goods, or materials have increased for the business.

Violations of the price gouging statute are subject to criminal prosecution that can result in one-year imprisonment in county jail and/or a fine of up to $10,000. Violators are also subject to civil enforcement actions including civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation, injunctive relief and mandatory restitution.  The Attorney General and local district attorneys can enforce the statute.

Anyone who has been the victim of price gouging, or who has information regarding potential price gouging, is encouraged to immediately file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office by going to theAttorney General’s website or by calling (800) 952-5225.

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Sierra Nevada Snowpack Is Virtually Gone; Water Content Now Is Only 5 Percent of Historic Average, Lowest Since 1950

Scott’s Flat Reservoir Sept 25, 2014. Lowest I’ve seen the reservoir since I’ve lived in Cascade Shores. Picture taken by John J. O’Dell off my deck in Cascade Shores.
Scott’s Flat Reservoir Sept 25, 2014. Lowest I’ve seen the reservoir since I’ve lived in Cascade Shores. Picture taken by John J. O’Dell off my deck in Cascade Shores.

 April 1, 2015

SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) found no snow whatsoever today during its manual survey for the media at 6,800 feet in the Sierra Nevada. This was the first time in 75 years of early-April measurements at the Phillips snow course that no snow was found there.

Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. observed the survey, which confirmed electronic readings showing the statewide snowpack with less water content today than any April 1st since 1950.

Attending the survey with Governor Brown was DWR Director Mark Cowin, who said Californians can expect to receive almost no water from the meager snowpack as it melts in the coming weeks.

“Today’s survey underscores the severity of California’s drought,” he said. “Water conservation must become a way of life during the worst drought in most Californians’ lifetimes.”

Today’s readings are historically significant, since the snowpack traditionally is at its peak by early April before it begins to melt. Electronic readings today found that the statewide snowpack holds only 1.4 inches of water content, just 5 percent of the historical average of 28.3 inches for April 1. The previous low for the date was 25 percent in 2014 and 1977.

The Phillips snow course, which has been surveyed since 1941, has averaged 66.5 inches in early-April measurements there. Four years ago today, the measured depth at Phillips was 124.4 inches. The deepest April 1st Phillips measurement was 150.7 inches in 1983, and the lowest previously was 1.04 inches in 1988. Photos of previous surveys at Phillips can be found here.Images from today’s survey will be posted at that link as soon as possible.

Electronic readings indicate the water content of the northern Sierra snowpack today is 1.4 inches, 5 percent of average for the date. The central and southern Sierra readings were 1.5 inches (5 percent of average) and 1.3 inches (5 percent) respectively.

Today’s manual survey was the fourth of the season conducted for the news media at the Phillips snow course just off Highway 50 near Sierra at Tahoe Road 90 miles east of Sacramento. When DWR conducted the first three manual surveys on December 30, January 29 and March 3, the statewide water content in the snowpack was 50 percent, 25 percent and 19 percent respectively of the historical averages for those dates. The decline reflects California’s significantly lower precipitation and the warming trend that made this winter the warmest in the state’s recorded history. What precipitation there was fell mostly as rain due to warmer temperatures.

In what were considered normal precipitation years, the snowpack supplied about 30 percent of California’s water needs as it melts in the spring and summer. The greater the snowpack water content, the greater the likelihood California’s reservoirs will receive ample runoff as the snowpack melts to meet the state’s water demand in the summer and fall.

Continue reading Sierra Nevada Snowpack Is Virtually Gone; Water Content Now Is Only 5 Percent of Historic Average, Lowest Since 1950

The Dirty Dozen Tax Scams For 2013

 

simplified-tax-form

 

Although the 2012 tax season is officially over, tax scams unfortunately are not, which is why the IRS issues an annual “Dirty Dozen” list that includes common tax scams affecting taxpayers.

Taxpayers should be aware of these tax scams so they can protect themselves against claims that sound too good to be true, and because taxpayers who buy into illegal tax scams can end up facing significant penalties and interest and even criminal prosecution.

Here are the tax scams that made the IRS “Dirty Dozen” list this filing season:

Continue reading The Dirty Dozen Tax Scams For 2013

Burning Permits Now Required In Nevada County Starting May 1st

httpv://youtu.be/4At3U_mVe7w
Residential Debris Burn Demonstration

Escaped residential debris burns continue to be a leading cause of fire suppression calls in Nevada County. Learning to safely and cleanly burn vegetation debris helps to minimize smoke emissions and allows firefighters time to respond to true emergencies. It is your responsibility to know and follow local and state burning regulations. Failure to follow these regulations is a misdemeanor offense and you may be fined and prosecuted for the expense of containing a wildfire.

Visit the Fire Safe Council website to:

Northern Sierra Air Quality

Burn Day Info

Western Nevada County 530-274-7928

Truckee 530-582-1027

 

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Three Easy Steps to Get Brush Chipped at Your House Year Round

Chipping

The Fire Safe Council of Nevada County will chip any brush that is cleared from defensible space of any permanent structure and/or 30’ from any roadside or driveway used for evacuation purposes. Any vegetation that grows past such limitations is beyond the boundaries of what we can chip.

Grant funding is very limited for the Chipping program. We need your support to keep the program functional.  The Fire Safe Council of Nevada County relies on a suggested donation of $75 per hour from chipping customers, membership dues and generous donations of local businesses and Nevada County residents to keep the program running.

To use the chipping program:

1. Create your piles to be chipped. See program requirements below.

2. Download the Defensible Space Chipping Application or contact the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County at (530) 272-1122 and leave your name, mailing address and phone number and a Defensible Space Chipping Application will be mailed to you.

3. After the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County receives your chipping application they will enter it on the appropriate neighborhood route. Chipping is completed on a six to eight week rotation throughout all the different neighborhoods. When you complete your piles for chipping and submit your chipping application will determine how long it will be before the chipper arives to complete your chipping. Sustaining members of the Fire Safe Council generally recieve chipping service within two weeks. If you would like to learn how to receive priority chipping please visit our membership page.

The Fire Safe Council of Nevada County is not able to chip:

  • Solid piles of leaves.
  • Pine needles.
  • Yard clippings.
  • Decaying wood.
  • Scotch Broom
  • Timber harvest projects.

Waste Management offers a “Green Waste Pick-Up” program to dispose of such materials. They can be contacted at (530) 274-3090.

Program Requirements:

  • Chipping piles need to be stacked along a road or driveway frontages which will allow the crew to work from the road or driveway.
  • Piles must be placed within 5 feet of chipper access.
  • Piles must be placed on the uphill side of road or driveway.
  • Piles must be free of roots/stumps, rocks and mud, poison oak, scotch broom and blackberries and other vines.
  • Piles must be stacked with the cut ends facing the same direction, pointing towards access route to piles.
  • All material chipped will be blown back onto the property or put in a pile where the brush was or.
  • The Fire Safe Council of Nevada County will provide service on a first-come, first–served basis.
  • The Fire Safe Council of Nevada County cannot clean up timber harvest projects or vacant lots.

Any more questions or concerns, please feel free to contact the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County (530) 272-1122.

 

For all your real estate needs
Email or call today:

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Civil Engineer
General Contractor
(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

DRE#00669941

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Resources for Current Fire Information

 

Resources For Current Fire Information

CAL FIRE Recorded Information Line For Nevada County, Yuba County and Placer County 530-823-4083

North San Juan Recorded Emergency Service Information 530-470-9713

Yubanet’s Fire Information Page  Click here

CAL Fire’s Incident Information online Click here

InciWeb Incident Information System  Click here

National Interagency Coordination Center Click here

Wildlandfire.com – A blog and information site updated by dispatchers and fire fighters on scene. Click here

Listen to KNCO live at 830am or on their website Click here
For all your real estate needs
Email or call today:

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Civil Engineer
General Contractor
(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

DRE#00669941

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NID System Improvements Coming to Cascade Shores, Nevada County

NID System Improvements Coming to Cascade Shores taken May 2012 taken with my cell phone Samsung Galaxy Note
NID System Improvements Coming to Cascade Shores taken May 2012 taken with my cell phone Samsung Galaxy Note

Residents of Cascade Shores east of Nevada City will be getting a larger, more reliable public water system, under actions taken Wednesday (May 23) by the Nevada Irrigation District Board of Directors.

The board voted to purchase 4400 feet of new eight-inch pipeline to replace deteriorating and undersized 4-inch and 6-inch main lines installed in the 1960s and 1970s by the developer of Cascade Shores. The new pipe will be purchased from low bidder Groeniger & Co. for $129,800.

The system improvement is planned along Cascade Loop, Cascade Drive and Artic Close and also includes nine new fire hydrants. NID maintenance crews are slated to begin installing the new pipeline in June.

The overall project is budgeted at $350,000 and is part of a systematic program to upgrade aging water infrastructure in four Nevada County residential communities developed in the 1960s and 1970s. An initial project was completed in Alta Sierra last year, an upgrade is now being completed in Lake of the Pines and an improvement at Lake Wildwood is planned for 2013.

Directors also awarded a $732,600 contract to T&S Construction, Inc. of Sacramento for construction of a new transmission main line along Highway 49 in North Auburn.

The water project will provide for more water and fire flow along the Highway 49 corridor from Locksley Lane to Quartz Drive. Work is expected to begin in June and be completed before winter.

Source: NID press release

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Civil Engineer
General Contractor
(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

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In Government, Two minus Two equals Two!

The Legislators Budget Process, somewhere there's an answer.
The Legislators Budget Process, somewhere there's an answer.

 
It seems that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has negotiated with Service Employees International Employees Union (SEIU) Local 1000, representing 95,000 state workers to eliminate two paid holidays, Lincoln’s Birthday and Columbus Day. However, if you think that’s going to help the budget, it will not because in lieu of the paid holidays, the state workers will get two “floating” personal days off with pay instead (read vacation)! Then there’s “Furlough Fridays”, going from two mandated days off per month to one day off. 

According to the Sacramento Bee , in further talks the two days mandated to be taken off, popularly known as the “Furlough Fridays” (approximately a 10% cut in pay) for state workers has been changed to eight hours of unpaid “flex time”off per month. This is good, because it will not dock the pay of the state workers so much (only a 5% cut in pay, and it will keep the state offices open through out the work week. Closing the state offices on two set Fridays has been a terrible burden on the small businesses and particularly restaurants around the capitol area.

The bad news is there are still eleven more other state bargaining units left to negotiate with! Let’s hope the Gov. uses a little different logic in his negotiations when it comes to eliminating holidays. Let’s see how this turns out.

The most telling information to come out recently is that the State Legislators themselves are not suffering during the budget crisis. They are still getting their $116,000 annual salary, their $173 per day for food and lodging and $400 a month for auto expense. Why should they be in a hurry to balance a budget?

Nevada County Free Discount Prescription Card

Prescription Card
Prescription Card

I was wandering around on the Internet the other day and what a surprise when I stumbled unto the fact that the county of Nevada County has a free prescription card. On reading further on the Nevada County website, it states that the card may be used by all county residents, regardless of age, income or existing health coverage. The National Association of Counties has made this available to all counties that want this discount prescription card and to our good fortune, the Nevada County Public Health Department decided to make this card available to us living in Nevada County. (The formal name of the card is “The National Association of Counties NACo Drug Discount Card or simply NACo discount card”)

There is no enrollment form, no membership fee and no restrictions or limits on frequency of use. Cardholders and their family members may use the card anytime their prescriptions are not covered by insurance. According to the County, savings average 20 percent, some discounts may be more, and some less, depending on the drug and quantity purchased. Cardholders are eligible for higher discounts on a three-month supply of some medications through mail service. If you have a pet, believe it or not, you can save on pet prescriptions at participating retail pharmacies. By the way, this is not an insurance card.

The card may be used at over 57,000 pharmacies nationwide, including most chain pharmacies and many independents. Wal-Mart participates in the program. In addition the program has a safety feature that alerts pharmacists when one drug may conflict with another medication the card holder is taking, if the prescriptions were obtained with the NACo discount card. The card program remains a useful option now that Medicare Part D has been implemented. For example, the card can be used when a Medicare Part D plan doesn’t cover a drug.

For information on obtaining a NACo discount card call 530–265-140 or go to 500 Crown Point Circle, Grass Valley, CA, If you do not live in Nevada County, check with your County Health Department and see if they have enrolled in this program.