By now you've heard about the violent attacks by counter-protesters last Sunday in our beautiful downtown Nevada City. I must admit it broke my heart. It was painful to see our community torn in two by a jacked up, flag draped gang, tearing through a non-threatening peaceful protest of local families, women, and young people beating tambourines and pots and pans.

These tough guys draped themselves in ‘Thin Blue Line’ flags, as if in support of police,- but in reality they made our law enforcement's job even more impossible than it already is. Even police chief, Chad Ellis, said so. In the middle of a pandemic when everything is so fragile, these guys decided to play fight club in the middle of our historic Broad Street.

These thugs actually threw a city council member off her bike to the ground, and she sustained injuries. And these self identified ‘Patriots’ justified their actions by screaming down everyone in their path, (with their unmasked mouths I might add), “Get out of OUR town! You don’t belong here!”

It is strange to me because every one of those marching peacefully that day was from HERE. Where did this idea come from that everyone who disagrees with us is now so foreign that we can’t possibly believe that they could be our neighbors? When did this happen to us?

Covid is not just a disease of the body, but it’s also a sickness of the mind, and the soul.

Moved by these events to speak out, fifth generation Nevada City resident, Richard Baker, whose family has been in Nevada County since the 1840’s, shares his heartfelt thoughts on how Sunday’s turn of events has affected him and his relationship to his community.

Now, it doesn’t take a genius to walk around and see the big changes being made to our downtowns. The roll back of indoor restaurant dining due to the out of control coronavirus has put all restaurants in a fight to survive. Thanks to the Cities, County, and the Environmental Health Department, it looks like this summer our businesses have a workable solution. The outdoor dining is a creative fix and it has tons of community support. Our Nevada County looks darn near European with its festive patios and people feeling safe to come out again.

So it’s a bit surprising to see flyers in the windows of a handful of businesses saying they will not close their indoor dining, despite the State’s Public Health order, the Cities making outdoor dining accommodations for them, and the free PPE from the County. They are claiming some kind of ‘constitutional rights’ to do as they please during a national health emergency.

This claim of ‘rights’ is xeroxed on fliers in their windows. The flier states, “We are a Constitutionally Compliant Business. We are not infringing on anyone’s inalienable rights. By law, we do not follow any of the Governor’s, mayors, health departments, or other Government agency orders or suggestions pertaining to social distancing or mask wearing. Your health is YOUR responsibility” Signed by the Constitutional Law Group of San Antonio, Texas.

Turns out, this so called ‘Law Group’s’ leader, Rick Martin, has never passed the BAR, and is not licensed to give legal advice in California OR TEXAS. In fact, not one single ‘lawyer’ included on Rick’s website is licensed to practice law ANYWHERE. But a pesky law degree, passing the BAR or holding a license to practice law doesn’t stand in the way of this group. To quote their webpage, “A "BAR" attorney has sworn an oath to defend the COURT. A Constitutional Assistance of Counsel has made no such oath.” Sounds legit!

Giving unlicensed legal advice while representing themselves as lawyers is actually illegal.

So why are spokespersons for Texas lawyers going door to door to our local Nevada County businesses trying to con them with misguided advice to risk the health of themselves and their customers? Especially when what they are preaching isn’t democracy but anarchy.

Now, there is no doubt that our small business owners are holding on for dear life. No one wants to see anyone lose their credibility, their business license, or god forbid, their liquor license. But these so-called 'Constitutional advisors’ are outright ignoring the Supreme Court’s ruling of Jacobson v Massachusetts, where the Court ruled that when there is a public emergency, states can enact rules and laws to protect its citizens. This rule has been in place since 1905!

So we’re left with a lot of questions. Who is encouraging these businesses to risk it all and die on this hill, based the dubious legal advice of unqualified lawyers with ulterior motives? Are these poor businesses being used as political pawns in a game played by outsiders who don’t care about them one bit? Who benefits by encouraging our local businesses to risk it all and splinter away from their own community?

As the first year of the Trump Administration and the 114th Congress wraps up its first chaotic year, let’s look forward to what positive change we CAN bring about in the year ahead.

This is the year of the 2018 midterm elections. Front and center on the agenda is the seat of incumbent Congressman, Doug LaMalfa. In 2017, LaMalfa served as a guaranteed rubber stamp for Representative Paul Ryan and the GOP lead congress. LaMalfa predictably voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act; voted to shrink Bears Ears and other national monuments; voted to allow mining pollution to be released into waterways; voted to cut funding to medicare, meals on wheels, and planned parenthood; and voted to give corporations a massive tax cut they didn’t need, adding one point five trillion dollars to the federal deficit.

Thankfully we have the November elections and four qualified candidates running for LaMalfa’s seat. Frontrunners Jessica Holcombe of Auburn, and Quincy’s, Marty Walters, both have strong backgrounds in law and business development. New candidate, Audrey Denney, has made a career in teaching agriculture and is president of the board of an international human rights organization. All are supporters of job creation through education and vocational training, healthcare for all, climate science, and government transparency. All pledge to cross the aisles and work with opposing viewpoints. The candidates are making the rounds now, listening to voters and talking about their plans to bring jobs and opportunity to our district.

The first 2018 election that needs your vote is the Primary election on June 5. California’s primary system is different than most states. Our Primary system changed in 2010, and now is a nonpartisan blanket primary where the top two vote winners, regardless of political party, advance to the general election on November 6. Only two other states, Washington and Nebraska, use this open primary system. So if you want to send a message to Washington on how you feel about the job they’re doing, June 5th is your first chance, even if you are registered as ‘no-party-preference’. Then mark your calendars to vote again on November 6, when the general election will determine who will go on to the House of Representatives.

You can register to vote online anytime at registertovote.ca.gov. To vote in the Primaries, be sure to register by May 21st. Even if you miss the deadline, you can still register conditionally and VOTE at your county elections office up until June 5. Get online at registertovote.ca.gov today. There you can make sure your registration is still up to date, change your party preference, or request a mail-in ballot. Then mark your calendar. Vote in person on June 5 from 7am to 8pm, or mail-in your ballot from the comfort of your couch anytime until June 5.

Did you know 16 and 17 year olds can pre-register to vote, right now? By pre-registering, they are automatically registered to vote on the day they turn 18. Let’s all make a point of getting our kids involved in our democracy early. After all, the decisions made today affect their lives in the future.

Remember your vote is your voice. Be heard.

Here in California, District One is unique for its size and demographics. It consists of eleven counties making up a vast tract of land, a fifth of the state, yet it makes up only 3 percent of its population. Unlike its dense and diversified urban neighbors, 86 percent of the population here is white, with 20 percent living below the poverty line. In the far-North unemployment rates can run as high as 16 percent. A remarkable 18 percent of its sparse, rural population lives on Disability. One half of the population depends on Obamacare or Medi-Cal for their health coverage. One third of households living below the poverty line are run by single moms with children.

And while the region struggles economically and socially, in November District One voted overwhelmingly for the billionaire Donald Trump. Being left behind by the new economy, rural Californians are seeking new, disruptive ways of governing in hopes of bringing prosperity to the region. But with broken campaign promises piling up, and the GOP’s commitment to defund healthcare, education, economic stimulus, and forest services that so many in our district depend on, it begs to ask - Is this the right plan for us?

Congressman Doug LaMalfa blames the high unemployment rates in his district on government environmental protections and overreach on public lands. He has voted repeatedly to allow corporations unchecked industrial abuse of forests and water in trade for job stimulus. However, recent census data highlights the diminished role timber and mining play in our local economy, making up only 4 percent of employment district-wide. But it’s not regulations holding us back, it’s growing automation, advancements in technology, and foreign competition that’s slowing local timber and mining job growth.

Instead, California’s protected beauty and resources have proven to be a job creator. While timber and mining sectors continue to downsize, hospitality, construction, and real estate jobs in the District dominate the economy, making up 45 percent of employers. We need leadership that develops a modern rural economy, one built on transportation, telecommuting, medical services, green energy and small businesses.

Candidates running for Congress in 2018 are looking to the future to leverage the area’s natural resources for job development, without having to sell off public lands to the highest bidder. Expect from these congressional candidates a fresh approach on job creation instead of the same old cry to deregulate to benefit the few. We need fresh proposals to ignite a new rural economy.

Be sure to register and vote in 2018. And find us on Facebook, Itunes and Soundcloud.

This is California District One Media.

This week the House began debate on the optimistically named, “Resilient Federal Forests Act”, otherwise known as the “Westerman Bill”. It is the least discussed bill that most directly impacts our daily lives here in District One. Presented as a ‘Common Sense Forest Protection Bill’, it does little, if anything to protect our forests. Instead it is littered with loopholes and exceptions, essentially giving free reign to unchecked, abusive land practices for generations at a time. It guts environmental protections and current forest management policy, making them strictly ‘optional’’. Here are just a few of the bill’s highlights:

It requires the Bureau of Land Management to offer for sale at least 500 million board feet of timber from Oregon and California public lands, even when the maximum sustainable yield is much lower than that. It allows logging and salvage projects under 15 square miles to avoid detailed environmental review. Fifteen square miles is the size of the city of Oroville. And these same permissions would be allowed nationwide for logging, grazing, ‘livestock infrastructure construction’ (think pig barns and their reclaiming ponds), and herbicide application under the guise of ‘wildfire risk mitigation’. As long as it’s under 15 square miles, they are free to do as they please.

And once a timber or mining project is underway, under the House bill, it can remain unchallenged and unchanged for a generation. If passed, these projects could double their maximum duration without public review from 10 to 20 years. And Big Timber wins big as the bill reallocates money from forest stewardship and restoration, and instead funds the administration of the sale of even more timber contracts.

Congressman Doug LaMalfa, whose constituents are most directly affected by this draconian bill, is likely to vote Yes on it, for the short term benefit of potential job growth. But technology and biotech have forever changed the way we log in California. It’s automation and foreign competition that is the job killer in the timber industry, not the tired excuse of environmental protections.

While the fire season is well underway, and Governor Jerry Brown has declared a State of Emergency, it is important to look at our forest management practices. There is room for improvement and we can adjust policies that simply didn’t work out in our collective best interests. And no one wants the government to tell us what we can do with our personal property. But surely there is some middle ground here that can prevent us from returning to the bad-old days of the 70’s, when thick polluted air and clear cutting the landscape was the norm. Surely we can avoid this irreversible over-correction.

Be sure to register and vote in 2018

Welcome to California District One Media. I’m Tony West. This is your weekly watchdog news report on your District One elected officials in Congress. Here’s the latest.

Last time we reported on The Healthy California Act, or SB 562, a popular and serious contender for a viable affordable healthcare system covering all Californians. It’s cleared the State Senate, and has been under review by the Assembly.

SB 562 creates a trust fund for all healthcare funding under a Single Payer system, with everyone in one payment plan; patients, doctors, and hospitals. One payment network where everyone is covered, where no one is without coverage, where treatment is available to everyone. With the repeal of the Affordable Care Act looming on a national scale, the reality of millions of Californians having their Medicare stripped away has made SB 562 a popular bill with the public across party lines.

This week, the bill faced a striking blow, which threatens to kill the bill in the Assembly all together. California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon announced that he would “hold” the bill in the Rules Committee, effectively killing the bill for at least the rest of 2017.

While state democrats hold the super majority in Sacramento, it’s baffling that Speaker Rendon would vote against a bill that is a part of his own party’s platform. But it should be reported that Anthony Rendon has accepted nearly a quarter of a million dollars in campaign contributions from the health and insurance sectors. This calls into question his motivations on singlehandedly stopping the measure in it’s tracks.

Our own District One Assemblyman, Brian Dahle, has been quoting false claims the bill will cost the state $400 billion and businesses will pay a 15 percent payroll tax. In fact, the University of Massachusetts states that single payer health care will cost $331 billion, a cost savings over the $385 billion Californian’s currently pay for healthcare every year. Small businesses making under $2 million a year won’t even be affected.

Healthcare advocates and citizen lobbyists are calling on all Californian’s to contact their State Assembly representatives and tell them you want the bill to go to the Floor for a vote. Contact information for your representatives can be found on Facebook Town hall, and online at legislature.ca.gov.

Be heard! Be sure to register and vote in 2018.

In District One, one in seven people depend on Obamacare for their healthcare and nearly one third have pre-existing conditions now protected. In Washington, thirteen republicans are working behind closed doors fast tracking a modified version of the disastrous Trumpcare bill, that will strip healthcare away from twenty-three million Americans. But here in California, a statewide movement for a single payer healthcare system has emerged. And it’s the most fiscally responsible way to provide equitable coverage to all Californians. It’s called the Healthy California Act, or SB 562. And it’s got momentum.

The bill has passed the State Senate and is now in front of the State Assembly.

Most of us understand that the single payer system (like Medicare) is not a government run program (like the VA). It’s a method of paying for medical care. With Single-Payer, insurance company profits are removed from equation, leaving decisions on healthcare to patients and their doctors. It creates a trust fund for all healthcare funding, with a governing board of representatives from all stakeholders to pay the bills. Doctors would no longer need billing experts, or have to argue with insurance bureaucrats about getting paid. Under Single Payer, everyone is in one plan, patients, doctors, and hospitals. One network that includes everyone, giving the patients greater choices, not fewer.

State Senator, Ted Gaines, voted against the bill, saying, “"California's boondoggle of a healthcare bill needs to be stopped" and “How will we pay for it?” - But Gaines’ “Sky is Falling” hyperbole ignores the fact that Californian’s already spend $385 billion a year on healthcare. And a suggested 2.3 percent sales tax increase on non-essential items, which includes safeguards for the poor and small businesses, is easily balanced by no longer needing to pay monthly insurance payments, co-pays, or high deductibles. And because there is no profit motive for the monies paid into the healthcare fund, Californian’s will have access to more services like, dental, vision, chiropractic, acupuncture, mental health and more.

While Ted Gaines fights to protect insurance company CEO’s bottom lines, lobbyists are spending millions to defeat the act through lobbying, social media campaigns and ad buys. Gaines alone has received a quarter of a million dollars in campaign contributions from the Health Insurance sector. Corporate interests and politicians aside, citizen lobbyists are campaigning in record numbers in support of Single Payer, through phone, email, and public rallies in Sacramento.

Remember your vote is your voice. Be heard. Be sure to register and vote in 2018.

Welcome to California District One Media. I’m Tony West. This is your weekly watchdog news report on your District One elected officials in Congress. Here’s the latest.

In Washington this week, presidential scandals are grinding the government’s gears to a halt. But between the headlines, the big news is the release of the congressional budget office’s report on the Trump budget. The CBO score was issued after the House GOP rushed the vote and passed it along party lines without knowing its financial reality.

Welcome to California District One Media. I’m Tony West. This is your weekly watchdog news report on your District One elected officials in Congress. Here’s the latest.

A recent Gallup poll shows Donald Trump’s approval rating of his first 100 days in office at a record low of only thirty-seven percent, an approval rating lower than any president in modern U.S. history.

On Wednesday, Senator Feinstein demanded the Senate Judiciary Committee hold hearings to assess President Trump's decision to fire FBI Director James Comey. Both Senators Harris and Feinstein continue to call for an independent counsel. But despite the endless investigations and controversy involving the new president, FiveThirtyEight.com rates Congressman Doug LaMalfa’s “TrumpScore” a one hundred percent voting match inline with the Trump administration.

This week, LaMalfa voted for a spending increase of one hundred and twenty MILLION dollars to protect the Trump family’s travels around the world. After only one hundred and twenty-two days in office, the president has spent a record twenty-five percent of his time visiting Trump properties at a cost to the taxpayers of $3 million dollars per trip. LaMalfa’s vote allows the President to continue his weekly weekend golf trips to Trump properties, the first lady’s continued residency at Trump Tower, and the Trump son’s business travels worldwide.

This week, the nation was rocked by the chaotic firing of FBI Director, James Comey. The Senate, House, and FBI are all investigating mounting evidence of President Trump’s ties to Russian organized crime and interference in the 2016 election. There was bipartisan uproar at the President’s poorly timed firing of the very man investigating him, resulting in demands from both sides of the aisle for a special investigator. CNN confirms a US court in Virginia has issued Grand Jury subpoenas into Michael Flynn’s financial dealings. Growing implications of racketeering and money laundering are being reported, and answers to many questions could be found in Trump’s own tax returns.

So back here in District One it begs to ask, where do our representatives in Washington stand on the Trump scandals?