Press Release

1/24/19 LETTERS

Dear Potential Donor,
The Loyalton High School Booster Club is planning our 13th annual Crab Feed Fundraiser on March 23, 2019, where we also conduct an auction. This money is used to provide for athletic transportation, uniforms, tournament fees, and other expenses not covered by the school district.
If you can make a donation for our auction, we will help to promote your organization while raising much needed funds. Our auctioneers are excellent at promoting the products and services that are donated, and we are hopeful this is beneficial for the businesses as well as our Booster Club.
We appreciate your consideration. Loyalton High School athletes, parents, and school staff will greatly appreciate any donations you are able to make.
Sincerely,
Tom Jones
Loyalton High School Principal

Editor,
If you wern't sleeping in your chemistry class you would know that Carbon Dioxide is a stable, odorless, colorless, heat trapping gas that is produced by volcanoes and man. Humans make it by oxidizing coal, oil, natural gas, and an occasional ham sandwich. When you burn 1 gallon (about 6 pounds) of gas you create 19 pounds of Carbon Dioxide. It's not magic, it's chemistry. It's slowly heating up our planet with devastating effects. There ain't no place to hide.
On another note, I have been outed. I send similar letters to the newspapers in Reno, and they print 'em. I am very fortunate to pay taxes, reside and have friends in two communities. I tell my friends in Reno about the breathtaking sunsets, views, the wildlife and the rural way of life in Sierraville, And I tell my friends in Sierraville about the interesting activities offered by a medium sized city; theaters, museums, architecture, the university, and interesting people. I have the best of both worlds.
Don McKechnie
Sierraville

For the record
With regards to some past editorials. The use of the terms “liberal” and “voodoo economics” is not historically accurate. Voodoo economics is a 1980's term coined by George H Bush describing Ronald Reagan's supply side economic plan. Also known as Reaganomics or trickle down economics, give tax breaks to the rich (job creators) and the money will flow down to the rest of the populous. Neither of these men would be considered liberal. With the advantage of hindsight, perhaps George H Bush got this one right. If you do not count lobbyists, government contractors and bought off politicians most of this money has not trickled anywhere. The government has massive deficits and the wealth divide in this nation has increased dramatically since the 1980's. The “Tax Reform” accomplished last year moves us even farther down the voodoo economics road. Some still think this is a good thing. Just as a reference, during the term of Republican President Dwight D Eisenhower 1953-1961 (also not considered a liberal, socialist or Marxist) the maximum tax bracket for individuals was at 91% and the corporation tax bracket was over twice what it was before it was lowered in the 2018 Tax Reform. And, yes I know they had loop holes, but the effective rate was higher than today.
With regard to climate crisis denials, instead of arguing over sets of scientific facts, perhaps we should give some thought to the “what if's”. What if we heed the climate crisis warnings? We wean our economy off fossil fuels, a limited resource that will end someday anyway and that often has undesirable dependencies. We invest in a clean renewable energy infrastructure and develop the needed technologies. All of this activity take years, is a gradual change, creates jobs and would stimulate the economy. It would be an investment in the future like the one Eisenhower made when we implemented the Interstate Highway system. It is hard to imagine life without the Interstate. If by our efforts a climate crisis is avoided, life goes on (including for the climate crisis deniers) and our economy is based on a firmer long term foundation.
What if we remain paralyzed by climate crisis denial as we have been for decades? The big oil billionaires will be happier and our government will continue to be well lubed with their money and the bias it brings. If the crisis deniers are right and we continue to burn fossil fuels any warming, sea level rise, fires, super storms etc. will not be related to our activity. It is just another climate cycle, but we are still dependent on a limited fossil fuel resource that will run out sometime. As fossil fuel resources dwindle, those that are still dependent on oil will be fighting for what is left. Oh wait, we already do that, but it will get worse. What if the climate crisis deniers are wrong and we have done nothing? This is by far the worst case scenario. We all know the apocalyptic visions of what this future will bring. Instead of just watching the next episode of reality TV in Washington DC, we can look forward to our families having an actually bit part in a world totally out of control. Maybe a world to the point of being uninhabitable.
After stating these views perhaps I should seek shelter somewhere. I am sure a fire storm of political name calling and personal attacks are queuing up. These seem, too often, to go along with opinions on these topics. But unlike any prehistoric extinct creatures that we dig up, perhaps we have choices in how this all plays out. Indeed if this is a man-made problem, then a man-made solution may be possible. Maybe not. Maybe by the time we swing into action it will already be too late. Perhaps all we lack is a vision, agreement and will. Not to mention civility.
Michael Williams
Bassetts, CA

Dear Sierra Valley Residents,
Concerning The Sierra Hot Springs Development Proposal
I have read the Draft Initial Study and Master plan documents. I have read them several times.
I have a thorough understanding of 1) scope of the proposed development and 2) its impact, as described in the documents. While studying these documents I sought to identify benefits to the people living in Sierra Valley. I found none.
The proposed Master Plan is not by any stretch of the imagination a “reasonable amount of development” for Sierra Valley and its small communities. I support a right-sized approach, one that has no negative impact on our air quality, natural resources, traffic noise pollution, traffic congestion, water quality, wildfire dan-ger, cell phone and internet services.
The Sierra Hot Springs proposal is a large scale self-contained commercial development project whose goal is to keep all guests inside the Sierra Hot Springs compound for the entire duration of their stay. With the exception of gasoline and fire protection, everything that a guest needs will be located inside the Sierra Hot Springs compound. So, not a single guest dollar will be spent at Sierraville, Sattley or Loyalton small businesses.
Northstar, Squaw Valley and DisneyWorld have a similar business model. They maximize their revenue by ensuring that most guests remain on-site and spend until their stay is over. The town of Kings Beach on Lake Tahoe was a thriving community in the 1980s before Northstar was developed and sucked all the evening foot traffic away from Kings Beach restaurants.
Same thing happened to Tahoe City due to the development at Squaw Valley.
Think about it, Sierra Hot Springs will drain foot traffic from Sierraville, Loyalton and Sattley because guests that today, patronize our lodging, restaurants and markets, will disappear. They will eat at the Sierra Hot Springs restaurant, sleep in Sierra Hot Springs lodging and campgrounds, patronize the Sierra Hot Springs market etc. The only thing missing from these
plans is a gasoline station.
We will not get business from the Sierra Hot Springs 50+ employees either, because they will live within the compound. And, their jobs are not the type that provide a middle-class lifestyle where a person can raise a family, buy a car, a house and afford an occasional vacation. No, these are jobs where you lose your accommodation if you leave. These are jobs for cleaners, massage therapists, maintenance people, cooks, bus boys, bartenders and waiters. These are
jobs without benefits or a good career path. These are jobs for students from South America and elsewhere.
And, you can forget about guests leaving the compound for recreation - no, they will be spending their time and their money on yoga classes, meditation classes and other activities in one of the 5 new conference centers (misleadingly called workshops in the plans). Dearwater airstrip will become busier, thus increasing noise and air pollution over Sierra Valley. Private planes buzzing Sierraville from Dearwater are already a nuisance.
Guests will have lots of accommodation to choose from - the 60 unit hotel, 11 cabins, a dormitory, the RV/trailer park and the 7.5 acre 150+ person tent campground surrounding wetlands and sensitive habitat.
As each guest arrives, they will check into the Administrative office, where they will pay Sierra Hot Springs the appropriate fees for lodging. Guests will buy their provisions at the Sierra Hot Springs market and deli and fix their meals in the Sierra Hot Springs Communal Kitchen or at one of the open air cooking facilities in the campground. Many guests will eat their breakfast, lunch and dinner at the Sierra Hot Springs restaurant which seats 60 people. And, if the restaurant is at capacity, 40 guests will be seated on the restaurant's patio for their meal.
So despite looking diligently, I cannot find any benefits to Sierra Valley businesses. What I see is negative impact to Sierra Valley residents due to diminished air quality, traffic, noise, increased wildfire danger due to a new high voltage overhead electrical line, propane tanks,123 wood burning fireplaces and 716+ people driving to the compound, plus massive disruption due to 20+ years of construction 7 days a week.
I have about 91 concerns with the project. You can download them from shsprings.org.
A self-contained develoA

Submitted: 01/26/19
Article By: Sierra Booster