<img class="fr-dib" src="https://imgix.cosmicjs.com/55bf1ca0-848c-11ee-962a-5d7b9c281fe2-IMG_9488.jpg" alt="IMG_9488.jpg">SIERRA COUNTY &#x2014; For nearly seven years, Jason LaChance (pronounced &#x201C;La-Shaunce&#x201D;) has been commuting from his residence in Truckee to the Sierra and Nevada County Superior Courts to preside over cases as the appointed Court Commissioner. Putting the miles on his Toyota Tacoma, a sense of calm envelopes him like a warm blanket when crossing into Sierra County. In this same calm spirit, he dons the black robe, leaves his chambers, and takes his place on the bench, fulfilling his role as a judicial officer. If LaChance could snap his fingers and instantly relocate himself, his wife of 23 years, and their incredible daughters to take up residence in Sierraville &#x2013; he would. One day. One day. He finds Sierra County is the place where he can &#x201C;breathe.&#x201D; Folks in these mountains and the valley absolutely understand his yearning to &#x201C;breathe&#x201D; in our parts. It only takes one drive to Grass Valley or Reno, and most of us cannot wait to return to our little paradise.With LaChance growing up hunting a...

Commissioner LaChance Runs For Sierra County Judge Seat

It seemed Kevin Kiley did not have Congressional duties to perform, so he put in his oar on Governor Newsom&#x2019;s two particular laws signed over two weekends ago.Kevin Kiley was an educator before becoming the Congressman for California District 3, Sierra County&#x2019;s district for Congress. I have a different view as an educator from what the Congressman put forth. For one thing, students are portrayed in a very negative light, with the Congressman saying that, &#x201C;Students are now free to talk back, disobey instructions and otherwise cause chaos in the classroom&#x201D;. This is a blanket accusation of students behavior and the skills of teachers who teach in said classrooms. And, &#x201C;It will make it harder to recruit teachers and further erode the quality of education in California&#x201D;.Keeping up with what really is a block to recruiting and retaining teachers is the support system and tax structure that allows rich districts with money to pay living wages (without the teacher dipping into their own pocket...

This Citizen's View

In my first &#x201C;This Citizen&#x2019;s View&#x201D; writing, I jumped right into the deep end. My premise to even be so bold as to write monthly with my thoughts is to have others engage in some way with what is, to my mind, important thinking and discussion. The things I think important to discuss will come in the next columns. I appreciate the opportunity from the Mountain Messenger Team. We are all citizens. We may claim citizenship in the more local or the more global of contexts. It all relates back to our place and our connections. We are so very fortunate, as is said many times over in this most fortunate of print papers, to be here and to come, come back and go out from here, Sierra County, the Sierra-Nevada Mountain Range. Our experiences are unique and shared but also diverse. This is what I hope to explore here.One of the things that I think about is how those who have grown up here have gone out from here. Folks younger than myself, schooled in the ways of Sierra County by living and by atte...

Our human events seem to get exponentially faster for us personally as age advances. It feels that, as slow as it seems problems are solved, more problems pile up behind at a sonic boom level. Feet have given way to animals bearing us across land to human-made vehicles, and then into the air.It is tempting to take the short cut when traveling. Short cuts have their purpose. Maybe we will reach our goal more quickly. Or, there will be unforeseen barriers. We may not be familiar already with the terrain. So, we put a certain amount of trust in guides, who know the territory. More and more, it is electronic, A-I types of tools we use for our movements. Gone is the paper map with creases and tears. It may not be an up-to-date map. Those roads are changing all the time with rerouting and closures. The guide is now Google maps which has its own troubles keeping up. It has improved, as we experienced on a long trip up the west coast to Canada. We still had our share of turn-around maneuvers.T...

<img src="https://cdn.cosmicjs.com/6f8874b0-cf15-11ed-96c3-ab3134a4c131-UnofficialAlpineLiftChair.jpg" style="width: 652px;" class="fr-fil fr-dib">The top of Alpine Bowl chair looks pretty well snowed in.What makes a beautiful day on the slopes? Sunshine, cold temperatures, not much wind, plenty of trails topped with winter snow conditions, and not many people on the hill. I think that would describe today at Alpine Meadows, just right. Daytime temperatures increased from the early morning readings that were below 20 degrees to the high 20&#x2019;s and mid-thirties. Winds were light this morning, but they have increased significantly this afternoon.Groomed slopes were generally well executed and a joy to ski this morning. Off-piste varied from firm winter skier pack to a hard chunky surface that must have received too much sun yesterday. Wolverine remained un-groomed today, but Sunspot, Solar Flare, and Alpine Bowl were nicely groomed. Tower 19 fit into the more firm chunky description while Pygmy Forest (it really does not exist at this point in time as the short trees are under snow) was winter skier pack.Palisades joined Pygmy Forest...

Fishing the Morning