Chris Gilbert

Photograph Source: U.S. Marines 24MEU by Lance Cpl. Allison White – Public Domain Earthquakes interrupt everyday life, but not history.

The Nevada County campus of Sierra College is going to need another Executive Dean. Karen O'Hara says she's heading back to her home town in Alaska where she'll be the director of Kenai Peninsula College, starting August third. It's a three-campus unit of the University of Alaska. And there are also personal reasons, with her mother in poor health and her wanting to help her father take care of her. O'Hara has also been serving on the Board of Directors of Foothills Compassionate Care. O'Hara has been Executive Dean for about four years. She says she's loved living here and also indicates an expansion of the college's role during that time…

Before their first meeting of the new fiscal year, Wednesday evening, a new member of the Nevada City City Council was sworn in. Micayla Sortland replaces Lou Ceci, who only wanted to serve for one term…

Over a year after they approved a pilot metered parking project, the Nevada City City Council received an update from staff on how it's working at its Wednesday night meeting. The project has included replacing coin-only meters at the Commercial Street lot with a meter kiosk, which allows additional payment methods. And the Council appeared to be in support of more changes. That includes discontinuing five on-street smart meters. The old Commercial Street coin meters would be placed elsewhere, including on Spring Street. And City Engineer Bryan McAlister also promoted a permit parking program for employees…

There is now priority consideration for future wildfire prevention grant funding from CAL FIRE for Nevada City, Nevada County, and Truckee. They've been placed on a special Fire Risk Reduction Community List by the California Board of Forestry. Nevada City's OES Community Outreach Officer, Evan McLenithan, mentioned the good news on a recent “KNCO: Insight”. He credited a strong dedication and collaboration for making the designation possible…

With school out, the Grass Valley Office of the California Highway Patrol is reporting increased unsafe and illegal driving of so-called e-moto's. That's the lightweight, high-performance two-wheeled electric vehicle also described as an electric dirt bike. Officer Sean Armacher says they're not allowed on public streets or roads. He mentioned a recent incident on Gold Flat Road, with two juveniles riding one vehicle…

In response to what many consider a national mental health crisis for young people, 4-H is bringing first aid Zoom trainings to Nevada County, as well as Placer, Sutter, and Yuba Counties. The regional coordinator is Matt Rodgriguez…

A major water pipeline extension project for the Nevada Irrigation District could also provide better fire protection for residents in the Rough and Ready area. The district's Director of Engineering, Gabe Aronow, told the Penn Valley Fire Protection Board, at their recent meeting, that there's the potential for placing fire hydrants at thousand-foot intervals and also providing connections to treated, potable water. That would also eliminate the need for wells at property owners' expense…

We've just received details regarding two major-injury accidents that occurred in Nevada County over the weekend. CHP Officer Sean Armacher says the first one occurred late Friday afternoon. He says a motorcycle being driven by 32-year-old Michela Brenneman of Grass Valley was heading eastbound on Tyler Foote Crossing Road, approaching the driver of a Toyota Prius, identified as 51-year-old Dharana Knowles of North San Juan…

November local ballots are often much busier, compared to primary ballots. And that's again the case this year. The candidacy filing period is underway, with a greater variety of races expected to be listed, with school, fire protection, pubic utility, and water districts also being included. That's in addition to races for the Grass Valley City Council and Truckee Town Councils. Assistant County Clerk-Recorder Corey O'Hayre says you need to file through the cities for those two races. But, otherwise, you can inquire about what you need to do to run through his office, either online or in-person…