Editor's Notes: Water agency's suit looks to be in community's interests
We have more research, reporting and thinking to do before we take an official stand on the lawsuit filed by Yuba County Water Agency against the National Marine Fisheries Service and US Army Corps of Engineers, but it sure looks like the YCWA believes it is acting in the best interests of this community.
The point of contention is over the latest NMFS biological opinion concerning Yuba River hydro projects.
There are lots of things we'd rather see the money spent on rather than on legal fees. But it seems like the legal system is the only path forward — YCWA officials say faulty science was used in creation of the opinion, and that the federal agency has been all but deaf to protests. It's unclear why.
What is clear is that the opinion, if left in place, would have effects on this community potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars. It's worth paying attention to.
Thumbs Up: A strong middle class is a good thing, whether it's here at home or anywhere around the globe. A story on Wednesday by Ryan McCarthy noted that rice crops in Yuba-Sutter were valued at $228 million in 2011, and that total should be expanding as China and India import more to feed growing middle classes. Local agriculturists, as well as all local businesses and residents benefit.
Thumbs Up: I haven't seen the Grand Canyon yet, and I'm going to go there one of these days. My wife hasn't been to Disneyland, and that's on the must-do list. Beyond those items, I don't feel like we need big destinations for a vacation. I'm happy with pleasant weather, a hike, maybe a little canoeing, some good local brews or wines, some fun places to eat good food. Relaxing. Yuba-Sutter has all those things and more.
Jackie Sillman and her bunch at the Y-S Chamber of Commerce are spot on about working to capture more tourism dollars. As a newcomer, I'm telling you, there are lots of people who could be happy vacationing here, or at least stopping over.
(And congrats to Sillman, who is starting the year as chairwoman of the chamber's board of directors.)
Thumbs Up: Forgive our editorializing headline ("Check out the library — it's still relevant"), but of course they're still relevant — or they're regaining relevance. It seemed, 10 years ago, libraries could fade away (as well as newspapers), because you could go to the Internet and find a little something about everything.
Interestingly, lots of people still use them. You might want to read something long — a whole magazine, a local daily newspaper, an entire book. And libraries are good for all of that. You can even check books out digitally. That story we printed also quoted a user who said he was going to the library simply because of the environment: it's a place dedicated to reading and study. Long live libraries (and newspapers).
Finally: We're officially here — me, my wife and the dogs. We wrapped up things in our old south-central Oregon town last weekend, doing a little plumbing, some painting, steaming the carpet and getting the place ready to put on the rental market … and moving the last of our belongings through the snow.
Moving yourself is an interesting study of evolution. You start out thoughtfully sorting what goes to Goodwill, what you'll haul off for recycling, and what you want to take along with you, and you carefully wrap things and box them and stack the taped and labeled boxes in orderly fashion in the truck or trailer. And at the end, you quit caring. You don't want to spend time deciding, so you take everything. You throw stuff into open boxes and sling them into the trailer. You cram whatever's left into the nooks and crannies. Toward the end of a move out of a cold, icy place, the only things you're careful about are not getting stuck and keeping the bottle of ibuprofen handy.
Goodbye, pipe-freezing weather.
Hello, palm trees.
