This Saturday, June 9, is National Get Outdoors Day. There is no more beautiful place to get outdoors than right here in Plumas County. Numerous studies show that outdoor activity is good for you. A 2009 study found that the closer you live to nature, the healthier you’re likely to be. Getting outside can help you maintain a healthy body weight and thereby help stave off chronic health problems like diabetes, stroke and heart disease.
In 2004 there were 13 foreclosures in Plumas County. In 2012 there were 294 foreclosures in Plumas County. Property values and tax revenues are still going down, meaning less money for schools and county services: teachers laid off, one-third of the county employees laid off or gone, no visitors bureau, library hours cut, the list keeps growing. As long as foreclosures continue all these things will get worse and our local economy will continue to suffer: restaurants and stores will close and more people will have to move away to get jobs.
When it comes to finances, Plumas County can’t seem to catch a break lately.
We are facing a potential $1.5 million budget deficit. And we will be tackling the problem without the aid of a chief financial officer or an elected auditor. The Board of Supervisors is scrambling to meet the challenge. But it is going to be a major challenge that likely will leave the county — and county workers — with more cutbacks and reduced services.
A rattlesnake was just a foot away from my face last week.
It was so close I could reach out and touch it. Which means (gulp) it could reach out and touch me.
But I wasn’t scared. More like intrigued.
As the big venomous viper slithered, pulsed and began to coil, I realized this could be one of those “bucket list” moments. I was about to scratch “Deadly Snake Encounter” off my list.
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