April

James Berardi resigned as Superintendent of the Sierra-Plumas Joint Unified School (SPJUSD), continued to serve as the Superintendent of the Sierra County Office of Education, and was appointed Principal-Teacher at the school in Downieville. As a result, the School Board began an intensive search for a new SPJUSD Superintendent.

Seasonal hiring was reported to be the primary focus of district rangers for the USFS. While being able to fill the Public Service Officer position vacated by Heather Newell’s retirement, the Camptonville office has yet to hire a front desk person, and, as it stands, the office will only be staffed two days a week this summer.David O'Donnell at age 8, tasked to stack planks.

On The Mountain Messenger’s back page of history, David O’Donnell told his story of “What Makes A Man Become A Miner.” Also, we learned how, in 1933, the USFS established camps in Sierra City, Downieville, and Indian Valley to house the 500 men they would be paying $1 a day to build trails and roads within the national forest.

To the great delight of locals, Feather Ortiz reopened La Cocina de Oro in Downieville for the 2023 season.

The Nevada Irrigation District reported its snow water survey revealed the snowpack contains almost twice the water content normally found at this time of year.

With the North Yuba River running high and cold, rafting operators who provided customers with full-body wetsuits began running trips from Goodyears Bar to Indian Valley.

The Sacramento Kings beat the Golden State Warriors in their first playoff game in 17 years.

Near the end of the month, the Sierra Valley Grange was finally able to present its 35th annual Cowboy Poetry and Music Show at its historic hall in Vinton.

May

Unfortunately, after winning the first two games of their playoff-off series against the Golden State Warriors, the Sacramento Kings were eliminated from the playoffs in game seven, 100-120.

By combining a $60 per improved parcel tax assessment and a 2.5% increase in Sierra County’s Transient Occupancy Tax, Downieville and Sierra City were able to welcome a new paramedic, Tegan Harrington, to provide emergency medical services to all of western Sierra County.

Camptonville’s popular annual Plant Sale and Market took place at the Lost Nugget Market Field.

The price of eggs fell significantly, over 70% from the same time in 2022, as chicken breeders replenished their stock in the wake of losses due to bird flu earlier in the year.

A series of significant rain storms continued to arrive at lower elevations while adding snow to the 12’ snowpack on Gold Lake Highway. Traffic delays imposed by January’s storms continued to afflict motorists using CA-70 between the Greenville Wye (just west of Quincy and Jarbo Gap in Butte County.Downieville annual Clean-Up Day volunteers

The Downieville Improvement Group (DIG) held its annual Clean-Up Day, and Sierra City Mercantile opened for its eighth season.

On his way back to the office after buying a sack lunch from John Perez’s food trailer, the editor of this newspaper fell off the porch in front of the Downieville Grocery store and broke his femur. He would spend the next six weeks in Grass Valley recovering from his injury.

June

Ryan Steinwert, an intern for The Mountain Messenger, took over the editorship of the paper while the previous editor was valiantly learning how to walk with a titanium rod in his leg.

Romano’s Farmers Market reopened at the Sierra Valley Farms in Beckwourth.

The high schools in Downieville and Loyalton graduated 26 seniors.

Gold Lake Highway reopened. More rain, but no snow arrived on the western slope.

The volume of water flowing in North Yuba River was roughly five times more than seen in 2022, and Katie O’Hara Kelly, our North Yuba Naturalist, wrote, “It’s amazing to see.”

Lynn Zanetta shared “How I Survived Snowmageddon 2023” with our readers.

The 127th Annual Cherry Festival was held in North San Juan on June 24th.

A 69-year-old woman who had been camping near Goose Lake went missing for over two days before being spotted by a National Guard helicopter. Suffering from dehydration and some hypothermia, she was quickly taken to a Reno hospital.

Tim Beals ended his illustrious, 50-year career with Sierra County.