Nevada County Air Airport covers an area of 117 acres (47 ha) at an elevation of 3,152 feet (961 m) above mean sea level. It has one asphalt paved runway designated 7/25 which measures 4,350 by 75 feet (1,326 x 23 m)  For those that are pilots, GOO is the National Inventory of Airports designator for Nevada Count Airport. In 1995, over $5 million was invested in improvements at the airport. Over 30,000 take-offs occur each year.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=buYZzj-ORmA

According to MyNevadaCounty.com “Nevada County Airport is home to the California Division of Forestry (CDF) Grass Valley Air Attack Base. This center of wild land fire fighting from the air is the permanent location for two Grumman S-2 Air Tankers that drop fire retardant, and an air attack lead plane that coordinates the efforts of the tankers. Aircraft from Nevada County Airport are on standby, ready at a moment’s notice, to respond to fires throughout the foothills and mountains. When larger fires occur nearer to the airport, many other fire fighting aircraft use the airport as a base for fuel and supplies.

Search & Rescue and Medi-Vac aircraft also use the airport year round for public safety missions.

Aircraft used in law enforcement are a common site at the Nevada County Airport. The California Highway Patrol, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Department, and the FBI are only a few of the State and Federal agencies that have used our airport facilities.”

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
Looking for property in Nevada County
Go to JohnODellRealty.com

According to the video, the pot grower grossed over $1,900,000. More people die from using tobacco than any other drug on the market. Somehow, we don’t seem to be raiding too many tobacco growers. The number two killer drug is alcohol. One in ten deaths in Europe is alcohol related and one in twenty five world wide are alcohol related.  As far as I know, we’re also not doing drug raids on bars.
Death rate extrapolations for USA for Smoking 440,000 per year, 36,666 per month, 8,461 per week, 1,205 per day, 50 per hour. Note: this automatic extrapolation calculation uses the deaths statistic: 440,000 annual deaths each year are smoking-associated (CDC)  Average number of years of life lost because of smoking, 12 years.

Source: WrongDiagnosis.com

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ctd--dipNOs

In 2000, 85,000 deaths were alcohol related and 17,000 deaths for all illicit drugs. In 2006, 38,396 persons died of drug-induced causes in the United States. This category includes not only deaths from dependent and non-dependent use of legal or illegal drugs, but also poisoning from medically prescribed and other drugs. It excludes unintentional injuries, homicides, and other causes indirectly related to drug use, as well as newborn deaths due to the mother’s drug use.”  Seems like the war on drugs isn’t working.

Source DrugWarFacts.org

I almost lost a son to drugs, so I know the pain and suffering that drugs can do to a family. So I am not a fan of any drug on the market, including tobacco, alcohol or marijuana.  However, it seems extremely meaningless to continue to fight a losing drug war when we take a blind eye to the number one and number two killer drugs. The money spent on drug wars could be used much more efficiently to cure  people who have a drug addiction, be it tobacco or any other drug on or off the market. Prohibition did not work, why do we think we can win the war on drugs?

As Carl Jung said: Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism.

What do you think?

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
Questions about Real Estate?
Call 530-263-1091

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReH7wBAOoPc

The good news is that sales volume picked up 7 percent.   In November of 2007 to November of 2008, 839 homes had been sold.  From November 2008 to November 2009 897 homes were sold, an increase of 7 percent.

The average sales price in November 2008 was $395,609. In November 2009 the average sales price was $316,859.  This is a decrease of $78,650 or a 20 percent drop in average sales price.  The amount of active listings also dropped 7 percent.

Sales bya few key areas:

 Nevada City area sales increased 17 percent and average sales price dropped 22 percent. The average sales price in November 2009 was $364,800 compared to a year ago of $468,895.

Lake Wildwood sales increased 11 percent and the average sales price dropped 14 percent to an average sales price of $316,216 compared to last year’s average sales price of $368,366.

Lake of the Pines sales decreased 3 percent and the average sales price dropped 20 percent to an average sales price of $313,188 compared to $368,366 last year.

Alta Sierra sales increased 20 percent and the average sales price dropped 26 percent to an average sales price of $305,537 compared to last year’s average sales price of $410,415.

Grass Valley’s sales decreased 3 percent and the average sales price dropped 16 percent to an average sales price of $267,024 compared to last year’s average sales price of $318,072.

Penn Valley sales decreased 10 percent and the average sales price dropped 12 percent to an average sales price of $319,370 compared to last year’s average sales price of $361,450.

Peardale/Chicago Park sales decreased 2 percent and the average sales price decreased 20 percent with an average sales price of $382,940 compared to last year’s average sales price of $476,855.

There are other areas of the county which I have not mentioned. If you are interested in any particular area that is not in the list above, write or call me and I will give you the stats.

John O’Dell
Broker

Scotts Flat Lake about 8 am this morning December 7, 2009 (from my deck)

We’ve finally had a real snow fall in Nevada County last night and early this morning. We’ve also had the power go out in Cascade Shores, (where I live), last night for about 4 hours.

I measured the amount of snowfall this morning on my back deck after it stopped snowing and it came in at 11 inches. The pictures tell the rest of the story.

Looking down Broad Street Nevada City December 7, 2009

Another shot from my deck

Starting to Clear Scotts Flat Lake 12:30 pm December 7, 2009

The Grass Valley’s Group parent company, French media technology company Thomson has breached its debt covenants and has been in talks throughout most of 2009 with creditors.

Thomson now plans to ask creditors to vote on a restructuring plan on 21 December.

This plan will be based on the terms agreed by many of its senior creditors in July.

Chief executive Frederic Rose said: “After 10 months of constructive discussions with a majority of our creditors, I am satisfied that we have now a clear timetable for closing our debt restructuring. [Safeguard] allows us to provide clarity and certainty to our employees, customers, suppliers and shareholders.”

Safeguard is the French equivalent of Chapter 11 and prevents anyone that is owed money by the company from attempting to call in debts or instigate winding up proceedings.

Thomson said that it has enough available liquidity to be able to continue to operate under normal conditions during this period.

Various parts of its business, including broadcast equipment manufacturer Grass Valley, have been put up for sale in an effort to help with debts.

The Grass Valley sale was expected to have been completed by September but a ‘challenging’ market has delayed the process.

Thomson also owns Technicolor, the parent company of the Soho visual effects facility Moving Picture Company.

Source: Broadcast

November 15, 2009

I took this picture from my deck yesterday looking at Scotts Flat Lake. It has its own eco-system and generates a fog over itself. The nice thing is my house is at 3,700 elevation and the fog usually never gets all the way up here.  Wish I could say the same thing about snow sometimes.

A couple of weeks ago I saw a black bear scooting across the road at 8:30 at night. Fortunately, he just crossed the road and we missed each other. Not so fortunately for my son, he was traveling along the same road and hit a black bear a couple of days ago.  He doesn’t how badly hurt the bear was, but he has a large dent on the left side of his car. I’ve heard that there has been a high rate of deaths of deers and bears this year from car accidents, be careful, espcially at night.

If you have been reading my blogs, you know that I bought out my franchise and am no longer Realty World, The O’Dell Realty Group.  I’ve gone back to O’Dell Realty. It sounds simple, but I’ve had to order new signs, inform the Department of Real Estate, change checking accounts and it goes on. This coming week everything will be in order and I’m back to your local home town realty.

In other news, California Land Title Company, in business in Nevada County for thirty eight years closed its doors Friday.  The recession has affected all of the title companies, downsizing their offices and the number of employees.

American Black Bear

Coming home late from the office the other night, late enough that it was pitch dark, I saw a black bear crossing Banner Mountain Quaker road.  Fortunately, I was driving slowly so I did not hit the bear and I got a good look at him. What a beautiful animal, big, with huge feet.  From the back, other than its feet, it looked like a giant long haired black dog.

Black bears are fairly common in Nevada County and every once in a while they get a little ornery. One of my neighbors had his garbage can pilfered several times, dumping garbage all over the road. So he thought well, I’ll just strap the cover down and the bear will not be able to get into the garbage can. The next morning, he found his garbage can down the side of the mountain with big claw marks on the can. The solution was to put the garbage out first thing in the morning instead of the night before garbage was to be picked up.

The American Black Bears are from 5-6 feet in length and about 2.5 to 3 foot tall. They can stand as high as 7 tall which would be enough to scare anyone away. They can weigh as much 600 pounds for the male and about 400 pounds for the female. There have been reports of a male bear that weighed 880 pounds, but that is unusual.

Most of the time, they are as scared of you as you might be scared of them, so they tend to run when approached by humans.  However, be careful if you come across of a female with cubs, then it is different story. They’re out to protect their cubs at which point they can become aggressive.  If it’s any consolation, there are only 56 documented cases of black bears killing humans in the United States in the last 100 years.

According to Wikipedia

“The cubs are generally born in January or February. They are very small, about 283 to 397 grams (10 to 14 oz), and are blind, nearly hairless, and helpless when born. Two to three cubs are most common, though up to four and even five cubs have been documented. First-time mothers typically have only a single cub. The mother nurses the cubs with rich milk, and by spring thaw, when the bears start leaving their dens, the cubs are fur-balls of energy, inquisitive and playful. By this time, they are about 2 to 4 kilograms (4 to 8 lb). When their mother senses danger, she grunts to the cubs to climb high up a tree. They are weaned between July and September of their first year and stay with the mother through the first winter. The cubs become independent during their second summer (when they are 1.5 years old). At this time, the sow goes into estrus again.

Cub survival is totally dependent on the skill of the mother in teaching her cubs what and where to eat, how to forage, where to den, and when and where to seek shelter from heat or danger.”

There have been numerous sightings of black bears in the Cascade Shores Subdivision, in which I live.  I had one standing on the road in front of my house last year during the night. Have you seen any black bears around your house or had some experience with them?

Contributed By Paul August

The Auburn 49er Fire could have been much worse. 60 homes burned. It was headed for Lake of the Pines. In 1991, the Oakland hills fire destroyed 3,354 homes, 25 people died and hundreds were injured.

What happened in Oakland and Auburn could happen here in Grass Valley and Nevada City. At the start of the Yuba Fire last month, I stood on my deck in North San Juan and watched a tidal wave of billowing black smoke explode miles into the sky. It was scary.

This North San Juan area gets hit with a catastrophic fire every thirty years. My wife Muriel left this home for a day trip to Tahoe back in 1960. “When I left it was green and beautiful. When I came back it was ash and charred wood.” The home survived. The trees didn’t.

The wind decides the fire. Fortunately, the Yuba Fire wind blew gently, and not in our direction. In the Auburn fire, however, gusts of wind pushed the fire forward and it surged beyond all fire defenses.

In Oakland, Santa Ana winds blew in from the south, swirling, gusting and fanning flames that engulfed house after house. No air tankers were available that first day to fight a city fire.

The home owner’s best fire defense is to clear 100 feet around your house. But even that’s no guarantee against a tidal wave of flame and their falling embers. I’ve seen homes with stucco walls and tile roofs burn as fire licked under the eaves and through the wooden front door.

The only house to survive in one Oakland hills neighborhood was a cement home built by a Vietnam refugee who vowed never to lose his home to fire again. He didn’t. But ash, dust and reconstruction noise surrounded his home for years. There’s no escaping the after effects.

Home owners need to prepare for the consequences of a fire. For those with well water, if the electrical wires burn down and there’s no electricity, the pump in the well won’t work – no water. If the driveway is blocked by fire, be sure to have a secondary plan of escape.

And get to know your local fire department, especially if you’re in a rural area with volunteer firefighters. In one Oakland neighborhood, the fire department saved one home owned by a firefighter who fought flames in another part of town. They saved his home although others around it were destroyed.

We had big fires up here in 1960 and 1989. 30 years later is about 2020. Be prepared.

Paul August is a freelance writer and singer. His latest CD, “Welcome to Nevada City, God’s Country,” is available through cdbaby.com

Image is copyrighted and may not be reproduced

If You Want to Enter an Exhibit, You Can Still Enter On-Line

The deadline to enter an exhibit (or two) in this year’s Nevada County Fair has been extended for another week.

Nevada County residents interested in entering a still exhibit in one of the many exhibit categories can enter on-line, using the Fair’s on-line entry system, until Friday, July 24 at 5 pm. There is no on-line entry fee! Simply log-on to the Fair’s website at Nevada County Fair, and follow the step-by-step process.

Complete descriptions of all categories are also available online in the Fair’s Competition Handbook.

This year’s Nevada County Fair is August 12 – 16. For more information, call the Fair Office at 530-273-6217 or visit Nevada County Fair

By Wendy Oaks
Nevada County Fair Grounds