Rain records, balloon hoo-ha and phony studies

Last month was a weather humdinger.

Total rainfall was 17.5 inches. What really made this January memorable was the rain beat-down that happened New Year’s Eve. It clogged culverts, toppled trees, created landslides and caused some local flooding and flooded out some communities along Highway 99.

It wasn’t the biggest monthly rain total. There were 17.57 inches of rain in January 1969, with 17.85 inches in January 1895 and 17.94 inches in January 2017.

After those totals, it only gets bigger — 18.4 inches in January 1916 and 18.5 inches in January 1914.

Even more impressive was the huge flood year of January 1997 when that month saw 19.22 inches. The South Fork of the American River was a raging torrent below the Mosquito Bridge. Near Chili Bar it took away a house and a propane tank, both floating down the river. Pat Lakey of the Mountain Democrat drove with Ray Nutting to Riverton, where standing on the road, they could feel pavement shake as boulders rolled down the South Fork.

The two real record setters were January 1909 with 24.35 inches of rain and January 1911 with 28.76 inches of rain.

Currently, more than 370 square miles of Sacramento County is within the 100-year flood plain.

With all the rain in January it was colder during the day than the 23-year average daytime temperature and warmer at night on account of the cloud cover.

The average high this January was 55.3 degrees compared to the 23-year average of 57.3 degrees. The overnight low was 40.8 degrees compared to the 23-year average of 37.2 degrees.

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• • The Chinese balloon has been something of a scandal, wandering all over the Strategic Air Command near Great Falls, Mont., and its associated missile silos. Ditto for Minot, N.D.

One has to wonder if the Biden administration wanted to keep mum about the high-altitude surveillance balloon. That ended when civilians spotted it from Billings, Mont., and told the local paper, which transmitted the even more impressive was the huge flood year of January 1997 .... the South fork of the a merican River was a raging torrent below the Mosquito Bridge. information to the Associated Press.

The Feb. 7 edition of the Wall Street Journal quoted Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of Northern Command of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, saying, “I will tell you we did not detect those threats (four earlier balloon incursions of shorter duration) and that’s a domain awareness gap that we have to figure out.”

The Chinese claimed it was a weather balloon gone off course. That’s what the U.S. said in 1960 when the Soviets shot down a U-2 spy plane flown by Francis Gary Powers. I remember that incident from my youth. It took Wall Street Journal columnist Gerard Baker to say what I didn’t remember about the incident — that the U.S. claimed it was on a mission to monitor weather conditions. The USSR kept pilot Powers in a labor camp for a year.

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We have a gas range cooktop with an exhaust hood that vents to the outside. I wouldn’t use anything else. My mother always had electric stovetops and I hated them. They were slow to boil and harder still to achieve a lower temperature without having something boil over.

Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberley Strassel Jan. 27 exposed how phony the studies were that led Richard Trumpka Jr. of the Consumer Products Safety Commission to suggest banning gas stoves.

The whole effort to ban gas stoves and range tops is traced back to climate groups seeking to ban all “combustion appliances” in the home.

Strassel wrote, “The stated goal of all these groups is killing gas stoves to ‘save’ the planet …. So, several years ago this cabal hit upon the idea of contradicting decades of science and ginning up hokey studies claiming gas stoves present a ‘health risk.’”

One study by the Rocky Mountain Institute was written by two of its staffers, neither of whom has a science degree. Another study by the New York University’s Institute for Policy Integrity claims gas stoves cause “dangerous n See Raffety, page A5 young family’s property tax bill would be more than double in the first year of homeownership without Prop. 13. All homeowners benefit from Proposition 13, which capped the tax rate at 1%.

Next, the foundation states assessment limits “interfere with efforts to change a property’s use.”

That’s a polite way of saying the land upon which your home rests is being “underutilized,” so perhaps you should be taxed out of it so it can be sold to someone who can build something deemed a better use, like a sales-tax-revenue-producing used car lot. No thanks.

Another myth is that acquisition value systems gradually “shift costs to newer, younger homeowners — the rising generation that [state] lawmakers want to keep in-state.” But under Prop. 13, all property taxes are based on the value at the time of purchase. All homeowners are taxed according to what they voluntarily pay for their property. Then they’re protected from unpredictable tax increases for as long as they own their home.

The worst thing that could happen to a young family is to be taxed out of a home they just purchased because their tax bill is based on the vagaries of the real estate market. Prop. 13 gives new homeowners the predictability of knowing what their tax bill will be years into the future as well as a reasonable 1% rate cap. And the real surprise of Proposition 13 is how it helps local government. Because Prop. 13 allows increases in assessed value of 2% per year and requires reassessment of property when it changes hands, it provides a stable, predictable and growing source of tax revenue to local governments. Property tax revenue has grown virtually every year since 1978 in percentages that exceed both inflation and population growth. Moreover, Prop. 13 provides a “shock absorber” effect during recessions when market values fall precipitously but assessed values — in the aggregate — fall slightly or not at all.

The good folks at the Tax Foundation should recall the words of Adam Smith who reminded us all, “The tax which each individual is bound to pay ought to be certain, and not arbitrary.” And that is a perfect description of Prop. 13.

Jon Coupal is president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

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Raffety

Continued from A4 levels of indoor air pollution.” That study was written by two lawyers and cited the Rocky Mountain Institute study.

A paid study in Consumer Reports claimed “alarming concern” with levels of nitrogen dioxide from gas stoves. This report was funded by a $375,000 donation from the Climate Imperative Foundation to Consumer Reports “specifically for research on gas stoves.”

Strassel ended her column by saying, “The left won’t stop until it has dictated what you drive, where you live and how you cook.”

Michael Raffety is a retired editor of the Mountain Democrat and a resident of the Placerville area.

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“I’ll better understand and help that individual because I know what goes on after we drop them off,” the Golden Sierra High School grad and Cool resident states in a U.C. Davis Health news release. And Palmiere recovered just in time to be released from the hospital to see his wife give birth to their baby boy.

Palmiere sustained second-and third-degree burns on his face, hands and upper body, according to U.C. Davis Health.

“At the time I didn’t feel a ton of pain because of the shock and adrenaline. I didn’t think I was even burned that bad,” recalls Palmiere. “It was surreal arriving at the U.C. Davis ER because I’ve dropped off patients in that room.”

Palmiere and another firefighter were conducting engine maintenance last fall in Placerville, where his crew had been stationed seasonally at the old juvenile hall on Fair Lane while the Mosquito Fire burned in north county.

The vehicle’s engine compartment ignited and Palmiere and his crew member attempted to put out the fire when an explosion occurred. The two suffered burns and were transported to U.C. Davis Medical Center for treatment.

His wife Lainey was 35 weeks pregnant and their son one month away from being delivered.

“Chaotic” is how Lainey describes the circumstances. “It was nuts but I just focused on staying calm and making sure everyone was healthy.”

Support from Austin’s family, friends and fellow firefighters and the burn center team at UC Davis Health kept the 32-year-old Cal Fire captain motivated during his recovery, which spanned weeks and two surgeries, the release states.

“The biggest challenge is different for each person,” states Tina Palmieri, chief burn surgeon. “Support is essential to recovery after burn injury. Burn survivor long-term physical and mental outcomes are linked to the amount and quality of support that they receive.”

Palmiere began walking independently three weeks after his injury and left the burn intensive care unit in less than 35 days after he was admitted. Days were left to spare to see the birth of his son — Colt Davis Palmiere. His given middle name in honor of the hospital that treated him.

“I took my time getting here but I’m changing diapers now,” Austin adds.

Trees Continued from A1 and disease, note Forest Service officials. Data shows that since 2020, California has experienced the driest and warmest years on record.

Trees killed by fire, herbicides or bears are not included in the mortality estimates, according to U.S. Forest Service Aerial Survey Program Manager Jeffrey Moore.

Without enough water, trees are susceptible to bark beetle attacks and disease. Their susceptibility rises when trees are crowded and temperatures are abnormally high. Even with the recent storms from atmospheric rivers, Forest Service staff say they expect increased tree mortality in forests until precipitation returns to normal or above normal for a few years.

“Forest health is a top priority for the Forest Service,” said Jennifer Eberlien, regional forester for the Pacific Southwest Region. “The agency’s 10-year strategy to address the wildfire crisis includes removal of dead and dying trees in the places where it poses the most immediate threats to communities. Working together, we can mitigate the risks of tree mortality and high-intensity wildfire by reducing the overabundance of living trees on the landscape.”

Forest Service leadership says they anticipate Californians directly benefiting from their 10-year wildfire crisis strategy with five new national priority landscapes selected in January to receive funding, joining two other landscapes selected last year.

Selected landscapes:

• Tahoe National Forest (313,000 acres)

• Stanislaus National Forest (245,000 acres)

• Plumas National Forest (285,000 acres)

• Trinity County (910,000 acres)

• Klamath River Basin (10 million acres)

• Sierra and Elko Fronts in California/ Nevada (3.4 million acres)

• Southern California national forests (4 million acres)

Most of these landscapes are in areas where severe to very severe tree mortality was detected this year. The Forest Service aims to collaborate with state, tribal and other partners to reduce wildfire exposure to communities and infrastructure within these zones.

Tree mortality is also being addressed by the California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, co-led by Eberlien and California Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot. Task force partners, including Cal Fire, continue to distribute state and federal funds to increase the pace and scale of forest health treatments.

“As we tackle California’s wildfire and forestry challenges, tree mortality remains a major concern for the state,” said Joe Tyler, Cal Fire director and chief. “And we’re seeing real results. In

Station 17 Continued from A1

COVID-19 response. Starting work on the project was uncertain but addition of a fifth on-duty firefighter made it even more necessary.

In spring of 2022, Ron Wood of American River Construction Consulting won the bid on the project and was selected project manager. A second bid process awarded the construction contract to Treehenge Construction Inc. Work on the expansion project officially began early January.

Improvements include upgrading and expanding all bathrooms and kitchen and reconfiguring the dorms, office spaces, storage and gym. Water, sewer and electrical utilities will be upgraded as needed.

Food

the past several years the partnerships underway have accelerated the rate of projects completed, and in 2022 alone we saw examples of where our combined forest resilience efforts made a difference in protecting lives, communities and our state’s natural resources.”

California legislators have proposed $1.2 billion as part of a $2.7 billion multi-year package to accelerate

The fire station will also see a front lobby expansion and handicap accessible parking area to better serve local residents.

Apparatus bay floors will be re-sloped with floor drains added and a water/oil separator. Fire officials note the fire station gets a lot of standing water in the apparatus bays during the winter due to snow melting off vehicles and water being tracked into the garage area.

“Although the project idea started small, there were challenges that resulted in a much more thorough process and will hopefully result in a better facility to support the Pollock Pines firefighters in their work,” wildfire resilience and forest health. The Forest Service estimates more than $500 million total in funding for wildfire-related projects in California through 2026. Current and future actions include thinning dense forests in strategic areas, spraying insecticide on barks of high-value trees, removing trees hazardous to public safety and ongoing monitoring of landscape conditions. states a press release from El Dorado County Fire.

Fire officials note Station 17 was last remodeled more than 30 years ago and has not had any significant upgrades since.

A sign hung out front of Station 17 notes that fire personnel have been temporarily relocated. Throughout construction a fire engine and medic unit will remain staffed in the area to respond to local emergencies, according to the press release.

Station 17 provides fire, rescue and EMS services to the communities of Pollock Pines, Camino, Sierra Springs, Strawberry and Kyburz with service into the Eldorado National Forest.