Salmon Make a Comeback in Central Valley Rivers by Matt Weiser of Sacbee November 13, 2010

Salmon make a comeback in Central
Valley rivers

mweiser@sacbee.com

Published Saturday, Nov. 13, 2010

Salmon are returning to Central Valley rivers and streams in impressive numbers this fall,
restoring hope that years of shortages and fishing closures are over.
It's a dramatic turnaround from last year, when the Central Valley fall chinook salmon run
hit a historic low. Scientists blamed poor ocean conditions and a century of habitat
degradation in freshwater spawning areas.
It got so bad that federal officials closed commercial fishing in 2008 and 2009, taking
California salmon off dinner menus for the first time ever.
Now the fish are surging back. The numbers are not nearly as robust as in decades past. But
ocean conditions have improved, and myriad small habitat projects are starting to bear fruit.
Bryon Harris, 26, saw the results. He was walking along Auburn Ravine in Lincoln recently
with a friend. The stream runs through Placer County before emptying into the Sacramento
River via the Natomas Cross Canal.
"We hear this flopping and it sounded like the rocks were crashing," said Harris. "We look
over and there's a big old salmon right there … and there's a few more trapped in there,
trying to make it. It was jaw-dropping, almost."
The salmon made it that far because this is the first year in decades that a number of small,
seasonal diversion dams have been removed from the stream. As a result, 3-foot salmon
have been seen thrashing upstream behind mini-malls and housing tracts in suburban
Lincoln.
The volunteer group Save Auburn Ravine Salmon and Steelhead persuaded landowners –
with a nudge from law enforcement – to remove the irrigation dams. Federal law requires
removal between Oct. 15 and April 15 so salmon can pass. But before they were reminded
this year, many owners either didn't know or forgot.
"I've fished the Auburn Ravine for 10 years at least, and I've never seen a salmon in there,
ever," said Harris. "I was shocked."
The Central Valley's major salmon hatcheries are reporting big increases in spawning fish
compared with last year. This includes hatcheries on Battle Creek and the Feather River,
among the biggest contributors to the population.
"We're very pleased with the run," said Brett Galyean, deputy manager at Coleman National
Fish Hatchery on Battle Creek, operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "It's just been
a good year."
Salmon make a comeback in Central Valley rivers - Sacramento Sports - Kings, 49ers, Ra... Page 1 of 3
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/11/13/v-print/3181995/salmon-make-a-comeback-in-central... 11/13/2010
The Shasta County hatchery, the Central Valley's biggest producer, has spawned about
16,000 chinook so far. That compares with about 6,500 last year.
The Feather River hatchery in Butte County, operated by the California Department of Fish
and Game, had spawned about 2,600 salmon as of Nov. 6. That is about double last year's
count at the same time.
The Mokelumne River hatchery, a smaller producer in San Joaquin County, had spawned just
over 700 fish as of the same date, or five times more than in 2009.
Nimbus Hatchery on the American River opened just two weeks ago and doesn't have
comparative results yet.
"The run to date is encouraging," said Doug Demko, president and biologist at FISHBIO, a
consulting firm based in Oakdale that monitors the run. "We've seen improvements in ocean
conditions the last few years, so we expect next year we're going to see even more fish
back."
Scientists studying the salmon crash that began in 2007 placed blame largely on poor ocean
health. Salmon in the ocean that year found little to eat, and many died.
The problem was a shift in a Pacific upwelling current that normally drives deep water to the
surface, fertilizing a crop of tiny zooplankton at the base of the food chain.
That upwelling current is back, visible in the abundance of whales and dolphins that tourists
enjoyed off the Monterey coast this summer.
Scientists say poor freshwater habitat and inadequate flows also contributed to the salmon
crash. This, plus the abundance of homogenized hatchery fish, created a weak population
vulnerable to ocean changes.
Federal officials last year imposed new rules to improve water flows on rivers and in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Efforts are also under way to restore creeks that are still
good habitat, but have not seen big salmon numbers in many years.
These small waterways include not only Auburn Ravine but also Dry Creek, which flows
through Roseville and North Sacramento and empties into the American River near Natomas.
The creek saw hundreds of spawning salmon in past years before their numbers plunged
with the rest of the region. Now it seems to be rebounding.
"We're hopeful," said Gregg Bates of the Dry Creek Conservancy, which coordinated a
volunteer salmon survey on Friday. "It doesn't look to me like we're going to reach the
numbers we had four years ago. But if we saw 50 to 100, that would be pretty exciting."
The salmon that Bryon Harris saw in Auburn Ravine was halted by the Lincoln Gauging
Station, an antiquated flow-measuring device that blocks the flow like a dam.
His friend, Carlos Hernandez, jumped into the creek and managed to grab one of the
exhausted salmon. He lifted it over the small dam, and it swam on.
"It's sad to see those fish get stuck right there," Harris said. "The fish was big, man. It was
bigger than a skateboard. It really opened my eyes."
The Nevada Irrigation District owns the gauging station and plans to begin modifications
next year so salmon can pass, said General Manager Ron Nelson. Then it plans the same at
Hemphill Dam, a larger structure upstream.
"It's pretty cool to be hearing about the possibility of fish being up there," said Nelson.
"We're kind of jazzed about that. This is a good deal, I think, for everybody."

Big Ag cries big tears; salmon run dries up

Viewpoints: Big Ag cries big tears; salmon run dries up
By Larry Collins

Special to The Bee
Published: Saturday, Nov. 6, 2010 - 10:00 pm | Page 5E

I've been a California commercial fisherman for almost three decades. For most of that time, Chinook salmon constituted 70 percent or more of my business. Salmon gave me a prosperous living, and they supported the communities that I called home. They fed my family – and helped feed America. I'm proud to be a salmon fisherman, proud to be part of a venerable tradition based on a sustainable – and delicious – resource.
Then in the past few years, everything changed. California's 2008 and 2009 salmon seasons were closed following a catastrophic crash in the stocks. In the area where I fish, we were allowed eight days of fishing this year. Obviously, it's tough to make a living working one week a year.
For the first four days of this year's "season," weather kept our fleet on shore. In the remaining four days, I caught one salmon.
What caused this disaster? Lack of water. Diversions from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta south to corporate farms have deprived salmon of water they need in their spawning streams. Further, huge government-run Delta pumps that send taxpayer-subsidized water south destroy great numbers of young salmon trying to migrate downriver to the ocean.
The biological facts are bad enough. Even worse are the power plays of Big Agribusiness. Faced with modest restrictions on subsidized water deliveries to protect fish, Big Ag bleated like an old sheep, claiming economic ruin. Politicians rewarded their calculated hysteria, augmenting their supplies with "emergency" deliveries.
Foremost among the corporate crybabies is Westlands Water District, at 600,000 acres the country's largest irrigation district. Westlands is a junior water rights holder, meaning it's legally the last in line for water during drought. Only a few hundred corporate entities make up this agricultural empire – plus a battery of lawyers working to overcome their junior water right status.
From all the wailing, you'd have thought Westlands was in worse shape than the salmon fishing ports. But – surprise! Westlands not only had enough water for their crops – they had leftovers. In fact, they had a 2010 surplus of about 450,000 acre-feet, enough water to supply 1.8 million urbanites for one year. So, they decided to trade 150,000 acre-feet to the Metropolitan Water District and generate $30 million of benefit for themselves.
In other words, Westlands is receiving subsidized water at low rates, then peddling it to cities to generate a windfall. Meanwhile, salmon – a public resource – are going belly-up, fishermen are going bankrupt and the communities that depend on commercial fishing, recreational angling and seafood processing are hollowing out.
Wonder why west-side corporate farmers fight against reasonable water policy? While crying "wolf" over water, they continue to plant more orchard crops, which require plentiful irrigation. They then use these plantings to justify their demands for more water. But their real agenda isn't crop security: It's control over the water. They'd like to be middlemen in the transfer of subsidized water from the Delta to southland cities. They dream of the day when all they'll have to do is watch the water flow and listen to the "ka-ching" of the cash registers.
Salmon are resilient, but they can't live on sunlight alone. They need water, and we should give it to them. Salmon fishing is one of America's most regulated industries. Fishermen understand the necessity for resource protection – but we demand a level playing field. The regulations that apply to us must also apply to the westside's water buccaneers. It's a matter of law and fairness.
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee.

Whitman's Lack of Basic Humanity toward Her Maid Ought to Prevent Her from Being Elected Governor of the Great State of California

Meg Whitman claims to have unknowingly hired Ms. Santillan and employed her for nine years ... for NINE years. And then, when she found out she was an undocumented immigrant, Whitman insensitively fired her and threw her out of the house. Hiring an undocumented immigrant is not what is so revealing about Whitman. It is the inhumane manner in which she disposed of a nine year employee without ceremony or sensitivity to the human being who had worked satisfactorily in her employ for nine years. What kind of a human being disposes of another human like a used Kleenex when her status is discovered and Whitman’s fear for her reputation was foremost in her mind?

What does this firing reveal about what kind of a person Meg Whitman is? It reveals Whitman is a person who puts self-aggrandizement above personal relationships, even relationships of a nine year’s duration. The rapid and uncompromising firing of Nicandra Diaz-Santillan reflects very poorly on the kind of person Whitman is. Whitman’s attack on this maid is the classic corporatist’s attack that seeks to blame the victim and shoot the messenger. She makes ad hominem attacks against Allred and Brown and alleges Brown’s campaign manipulation, admittedly without proof (appeal to belief). She did not come to grips with her own error by taking responsibility and suppressed the event and circumstances from voters because “it never came up”. The whole affair is truly shameful and a revealing performance by the ethically impaired Whitman.

Now she wants to take a lie detector test which proves her campaign knows this event is potentially lethal – she looks like a naive hypocrite and has, perhaps mortally, offended Hispanics.


In a state in which 33% of the population and 20% of the registered voters are Hispanic, Whitman’s actions reveal a lack of astuteness to the reactions of Hispanics to her action. Whitman’s awkwardness, to use a kind word, in treating her maid shows the potential for awkwardness in dealing with other segments of the general population of California if elected Governor.

If Whitman did not know her maid was undocumented, she definitely should have known. Because a large segment of the voters will clearly focus on and analyze her personal behavior toward her maid, Whitman has demonstrated a high degree of insensitivity and a lack of political savvy toward this group. Whitman's behavior here is already dominating the election.

A person who is asking Californians to elect her governor, ought to definitely have the insight and perspicuity to know that treating her former employee like a piece of trash to be jettisoned at will to preserve her tough on immigration stance with the Far Right will definitely hurt her electability with the general population.

If she lacks this insight, if she lacks this political acumen, then she should definitely not be elected Governor. Whitman's lack of essential humanity ought to deny her the Governorship of the great state of California.

The Lunacy Expressed by Some Republicans Like Glen Beck and Limbaugh is Viewed by Some As Acceptable Behavior for an Estranged and Alienated Minority

The lunacy expressed by some Republicans like Glen Beck and Limbaugh is viewed by some as acceptable behavior for an estranged and alienated minority party. Some, however, within the party believe the paranoid fringe’s behavior is further evidence of a party in freefall.

Even many Democrats are concerned the Republican Party is so self-serving, the well-being of country has become secondary to the party. When the loyal opposition is no longer loyal to the country, there is no opposition and the party in power has no balancing check on it, and having no check, it actions may become extreme and the nation may suffer.

Even Democrats, again, want the Republican Party to once again to stand for something, assert itself and become something more than The Party of No, of Me at the Expense of the Nation, the Party of Whites and the Rich.

Even Democrats, Again, Want the Republican Party to Once Again to Stand for Something

The lunacy expressed by some Republicans like Glen Beck and Limbaugh is viewed by some as acceptable behavior for an estranged and alienated minority party. Some, however, within the party believe the paranoid fringe’s behavior is further evidence of a party in freefall. Even many Democrats are concerned the Republican Party is so self-serving, the well-being of country has become secondary to the party. When the loyal opposition is no longer loyal to the country, there is no opposition and the party in power has no balancing check on it, and having no check, it actions may become extreme and the nation may suffer. Even Democrats, again, want the Republican Party to once again to stand for something, assert itself and become something more than The Party of No, of Me at the Expense of the Nation, the Party of Whites and the Rich.

The Greatest Enemy of the United States is the Republican Party

As long as the Republican Party is the Party of No, the Party of Against, and as long as it is willing to allow publicity seeking attack dogs like Rush and Glen to become the spokesmen for the Party and, as long as the party has no internal leadership to steer it away from the unethical and the criminal, the Republican Party will continue to put the party before the country, and we will have aberrant behavior like that directed at President Obama, simply because he is not a Republican.

Many Americans believe that the Republican Party not Al Quaida or the Taliban is the greatest enemy of the United States because it undermines, smears and vilifies the normal, the American, for its own benefit. The Party was once a party of conservatives and now it is, at best, a party of radicals, and at worst a party of terrorists. It is a party so out of control it cannot even control itself. It is capitalizing on the general frustration and anger and diminished world standing foisted on the United States by the Bush Administration and that frustration and outrage is being harnessed into this radical and terrorist leaning party. The Republican Party is really scary because it is so out of control, so willing to go to any extreme to gain that nebulous something that MAY give it some legitimacy in its own eyes. It is consuming itself by its own lack of leadership, its radicalism and willingness to go to any extreme to once again achieve some legitimacy in its own eyes.
If the Republican Party was not so dangerous, it was simply be pathetic.

ONLY THE PEOPLE CAN HOLD BUSH AND CHENEY ACCOUNTABLE

President Obama was elected to be President of the United States, and has a moral and legal obligation to uphold the law of the land, but he has so much to do that HE alone cannot hold the criminal Bush Administration accountable as well as clean up the catastrophic mess they left us.

The people, not the Obama Administration, must find a way to bring charges against the Bushites before the United Nations International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, and try them on a world stage. If they are innocent, then they will be so proven in a court of law. Many citizens of the world believe they are guilty and a trial will convict them or lift the cloud of suspicion. All meaningful change in government starts with the people so the people must begin this movement at the grassroots level.

If the rule of common law is to remain supreme, all people must be treated equally. The Bushites – Cheney, Rumsfeldt, Addington, Feith, Perle, Wolfowitz, Ashcroft, Wu and the rest of the Neocons - are guilty of multiple felonies and crimes against humanity, torture, lied us into a war by manipulating intelligence resulting in the deaths of four thousand plus Americans and over two million dark-skinned people in the Arab world. They lied, orchestrated cover-ups, politicized government agencies, fired federal prosecutors who would not politicize their offices, outed CIA agents, violated basic civilized conventions and disregarded the Geneva Convention - the list of their crimes is endless - and behaved like a defiant mafia. A person who sells crack can possibly be sent to jail for his entire life. These elected officials are guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity and must be adjudicated in a court of law. President Obama must oversee the bringing to justice of these people; the people, acting judiciously and within the confines of common law, must see that justice is served.

The Charter of the International Commission of Inquiry on the Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration, A Project of Not in Our Name Statement of Conscience states:

"When the possibility of far-reaching war crimes and crimes against humanity exists, people of conscience have a solemn responsibility to inquire into the nature and scope of these acts and to determine if they do in fact rise to the level of war crimes ."


Unless these politicians are tried in a court of law, then the US is no longer a nation of laws and the criminal element has destroyed our system of common law and assaulted the US Constitution. Only the people using the power of a free society can purify our system of government.

.

TOP FIVE HEALTH CARE LIES AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT THEM.

Lie #1: President Obama wants to euthanize your grandma!!!
The truth: These accusations—of "death panels" and forced euthanasia—are, of course, flatly untrue. As an article from the Associated Press puts it: "No 'death panel' in health care bill."1 What's the real deal? Reform legislation includes a provision, supported by the AARP, to offer senior citizens access to a professional medical counselor who will provide them with information on preparing a living will and other issues facing older Americans.2
If you'd like to read the actual section of the legislation that spawned these outrageous claims (Section 1233 of H.R. 3200) for yourself, here it is. It's pretty boring stuff, which is why the accusations that it creates "death panels" is so absurd. But don't take our word for it, read it yourself.
________________________________________

Lie #2: Democrats are going to outlaw private insurance and force you into a government plan!!!
The truth: With reform, choices will increase, not decrease. Obama's reform plans will create a health insurance exchange, a one-stop shopping marketplace for affordable, high-quality insurance options.3 Included in the exchange is the public health insurance option—a nationwide plan with a broad network of providers—that will operate alongside private insurance companies, injecting competition into the market to drive quality up and costs down.4 If you're happy with your coverage and doctors, you can keep them.5 But the new public plan will expand choices to millions of businesses or individuals who choose to opt into it, including many who simply can't afford health care now.
________________________________________

Lie #3: President Obama wants to implement Soviet-style rationing!!!
The truth: Health care reform will expand access to high-quality health insurance, and give individuals, families, and businesses more choices for coverage. Right now, big corporations decide whether to give you coverage, what doctors you get to see, and whether a particular procedure or medicine is covered—that is rationed care. And a big part of reform is to stop that.

Health care reform will do away with some of the most nefarious aspects of this rationing: discrimination for pre-existing conditions, insurers that cancel coverage when you get sick, gender discrimination, and lifetime and yearly limits on coverage.6 And outside of that, as noted above, reform will increase insurance options, not force anyone into a rationed situation.
________________________________________

Lie #4: Obama is secretly plotting to cut senior citizens' Medicare benefits!!!
The truth: Health care reform plans will not reduce Medicare benefits.7 Reform includes savings from Medicare that are unrelated to patient care—in fact, the savings comes from cutting billions of dollars in overpayments to insurance companies and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.8
________________________________________

Lie #5: Obama's health care plan will bankrupt America!!!
The truth: We need health care reform now in order to prevent bankruptcy—to control spiraling costs that affect individuals, families, small businesses, and the American economy. Right now, we spend more than $2 trillion dollars a year on health care.9 The average family premium is projected to rise to over $22,000 in the next decade10—and each year, nearly a million people face bankruptcy because of medical expenses.11 Reform, with an affordable, high-quality public option that can spur competition, is necessary to bring down skyrocketing costs. Also, President Obama's reform plans would be fully paid for over 10 years and not add a penny to the deficit.12
________________________________________

The Southern Strategy Used by the Right Is An Attack on Obama

The Southern Strategy being used by the Republican Party to blatantly attacking President Obama’s Blackness is manifesting itself in many ways. Saying at demonstrations at Town Meetings, “Give us back our country” is an Atwaterism that really says give us back our country from a Black President. The despicability factor of the Republican fringes indeed has no lower limit.

The issue is that the entire Republican Party’s attack on President Obama is really an attack on the American people because he is trying to pass a health reform passage that benefits all Americans, stabilize our economy which was disabilized in large part by the Bush Administration appointing insiders to oversight committees and agencies which allowed Wall Street to pick the US Treasury and the people clean, and he is trying to re-establish the position of the United States in the world as a world partner not the neocons view that the United States has a responsibility to lead the world at any cost to any nation.

Most people can see clearly the self-serving, obstructionist behavior and further marginalize a GOP that is almost already over the horizon.

The GOP fringe behavior further weakens the effectiveness of our government because we need a strong, ethical GOP as the voice of the loyal opposition; the GOP obviously cares more about the party than it does about the country and its people.

Sacramento Bee Endorses Jennifer Montgomery for Placer County Board of Supervisors

Montgomery for Placer Supervisor
Published: Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008 | Page 12A


Voters in Placer County's Fifth Supervisorial District have a clear choice in this election:
Do they want to re-elect Bruce Kranz, who, while highly engaged, has defied his constituents at times and has shown questionable judgment on numerous development and planning projects?
If not, if they want more productive representation in their county government, they should elect Jennifer Montgomery to the seat.
Montgomery hasn't held elected office before, but throughout this campaign, she has demonstrated the kind of temperament, vision and listening skills that would make her an excellent supervisor. The Fifth District needs that kind of leader.
The stakes couldn't be higher. This district includes many of this region's natural wonders – Lake Tahoe and Donner Summit among them – as well as numerous small communities, such as Colfax, Weimar and Bowman. In coming years, these communities will need to plan economic development with a sensitivity toward this district's heritage and delicate environment, and they'll need a supervisor who hears what they say.
The owner of a housecleaning service in Serene Lakes, Montgomery understands the challenges small businesses face, but she also is concerned about resort projects and other development that could be inappropriate for the area. She has an interest in improving transit and high-speed Internet service – two ideas that would help Fifth District residents become less dependent on car commuting.
Kranz, by contrast, too often seems seems deaf to constituent concerns. The most recent example is at Tahoe, where Kings Beach residents spent years on a transportation plan that would make their town center more friendly to pedestrians and bicyclists.
Instead of supporting that plan or working to improve it, Kranz used his seat on the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency to push for a four-lane road with signal lights. Such a project would have served motorists passing through Kings Beach instead of the people living there.
Not only that, but Kranz defied his colleagues on the Placer Board of Supervisors after they voted 4-1 to support the pedestrian-friendly plan.
Kranz said he wouldn't take their support to the TRPA board. After he made that comment, the supervisors removed him from the Tahoe planning agency and appointed an alternate.
Kranz has shown a blind side on other issues. In a choice that seemed ripe for possible conflict, he appointed a Realtor, Michelle Ollar-Burris, to the county's planning commission. Only after The Bee revealed that she had split properties in possible violation of state law did Kranz remove her from the commission.
Kranz also refused to support the region's Blueprint planning principles with his vote on the Placer Ranch project. In addition, he has used his position to whip up unfounded fears that the Placer County Conservation Plan could result in "an increased risk of wildfire to the area."
Kranz hasn't earned a second term in office. That's why Bob Houston – whom we endorsed in the primary – is supporting Montgomery instead of Kranz. So are many other Fifth District leaders. Voters should join them on Nov. 4 to vote for Jennifer Montgomery.

Comment: 1
•
alcamus39 wrote on 10/21/2008 09:00:46 AM:
Jennifer Montgomery will shift the balance of power of the BOS from backdoor, good ole boyism to an enlighted view of the modern world and how to live in it. She is the best person to run for office in Placer County in the last fifty years. She is the real, the sterling, the true.

Proposition 8 Supporter Pervert Jesus' Teachings

Voting to take away marriage rights from one segment of the population in the name of religious beliefs restricts the term “religion” to only those communities who wish to retain the power to preach to the world that the God they worship approves of their lives but not of the lives of others."
It is religious people who put their own narrow sguints above the public good and try to legislate from the pulpit that give fundamentalists such a bad name. They twist the teachings of Jesus to fit their own small-minded, tunnel vision.
Where in the Bible is one utterance by Jesus condemning homosexuality? Jesus embraced lepers and prostitutes; he certainly would embrace and love all his people. Only shallow, smug, self-serving people would ever dream of supporting an outrage such as Proposition 8. These people have the audacity and stupidity to call themselves Christians. Jesus would writhe in pain understanding what they are trying to do in his name. These people cheapen and bebase the teachings of Jesus Christ and constitute one of the sorriest offshots of Jesus' teachings and, more importantly, a perversion of his teachings.

Elect Jennifer Montgomery to District 5 Placer County Board of Supervisors

Placer County is very close to being a true Paradise. Its major flaw is its extreme politics. Four simple actions could make Placer County that Paradise. If Jennifer Montgomery is elected to the Placer County Board of Supervisors, Elaine Rowen and John Vodonick are put on the Sierra College Board, and Charlie Brown is elected to Congress, then all minuses become pluses. They will bring to Placer County honesty, intelligence, balance and moderation, all virtues admired by the Ancient Greeks and the thinking people of Placer County.

What Will Drexel University Cost Placer County? Much.

While we politicize Sierra College and allow it to deteriorate to a laughable state, the last thing we need is to allow another college, Drexel University, to be used as a ploy by Angelo Tsakopolous to allow him to develop hundreds of agricultural acres in Placer County to enrich himself. He is slowly advertising Drexel's Graduate School in Sacramento, he is smoozing our gullible Placer Board of Supervisors to change zoning so he can donate 600 acres to the university as the price of doing business in Placer County and developing the other thousands of acres he owns. People must wake up.
People must wake up and protect our beautiful county. Call the Placer County BOS and tell them not to allow AngeloTsakopolous to build this university on agricultural lands. This is a mega giveaway to a mega land speculator with the blessings of the BOS who have had an unpleasant history of dealing with Angelo Tsakopolous, who donates thousands of dollars to back Doolittle Stooge Jerry Simmons in a failed attempt to unseat Supervisor Robert Weygandt so he (Angelo) could more easily take control of Sierra College AND build his Drexel University, thereby controlling two colleges in Placer County.
First, the people must stop this land grab, and, secondly, get rid of Aaron Klein and Scott Leslie, Doolittle stooges on the Sierra College Board of Trustees, and elect John Vodonick and Elaine Rowen and then read Terry Davis's column in the AJ about all these nefarious machinations.