March 4, 1965 (24 pages)

y Se RENT RP RTI ET EDITORIAL ‘March 4, 1965 COMPLETE WATER TREATMENT PLANT COULD END THREAT ~ TO NID RECREATION PLANS The prospect of the loss of recieational benefits at the Nevada Irrigation District's newreservoirs is a disturbing one. The prospect of the continued delivery of unsafe drinking water to our growing numbers of suburban and urban users is equally disturbing. Unless the NID directors and the co.unty health officer can come to an agreement on a treatment system for domestic water, the county may have to face both of these situations. County Health Officer Dr. C . Jackson Rayburn told the NID many months ago that he would oppose water contact sports at the district's new reservoirs unless the district could provide com_ plete treatment for the water delivered for domestic use in the Twin Cities area. He reasoned that the quality of the water now being delivered was already questionable from the standpoint of health and water sports. at the reservoirs would further increase danger of danger of pollution. Shortly after this the NID ordered that a feasibility study be made of constructing a master plant that could supply completely treated water to both cities. ~ The~directors now have this study, but no action has been taken by the board to indicate that they plan to construct such a plant. Whenthe matter of a treatment plant was first discussed NID manager Edwin Koster said the cost of such a system could be amortized through increasés in water rates. He said that since the domestic users would be getting the benefits of the plant they should be the ones to finance it. Koster said recently that finances and methods of getting water to the plant and to the cities were now being studied. ! While this is going on Dr. Rayburn has been applying pressure on the state level in an attempt to get restrictions on recreation use at the reservoirs put into the district's Davis-Grunsky Act recreation grant. This is the only lever the county health officer has to use to push the district into providing safe drinking I water. He has indicated he intends to keep pushing until he gets results. The recreation facilities that the NID plans to build with its $4 million grant could become a major industry for this county and play a keyrole in the healthy economic growth of the area. But the healthy growth of the area also hinges on the availabilityof healthy drinking water. We feelitis time for the NID to stop thinking only in terms of delivering water tothe farmlands. The fact is that a sizable portion of the district's annual revenue comes from the sale of domestic water. The dual problems of recreation and healthcanbe resolved to the benefit of the county by the NID making a commitment to bring fully-treated water to this area. The sooner this is done the sooner the health of the people and of our growing recreation industry will be assured. IN THE FOOTHILLS VEIN GRASS VALLEY’S SUNDAY MEAT LAW IS ATTACKED AGAIN The Sunday meat sale controversy was stirred again in Grass Valley last week. The city ordinance which prevents the sale of meat on Sunday or after6 p.m. on weekdays stirred up a hornet's nest of protest some time ago, but it remained on the books. ’ Last week managers of two large chain stores asked the city to get rid of the ordinance, They said it was unfair and was causing a loss of city business to stores outside the city limits. Thecity council, remindful of the tempest caused by the matter last time, refused to act, although Councilwoman Margarette Meggs made a motion to recind the ordinance, : Instead the council suggested the matter be put to a vote of the people through the initiative procedure. It would take several months by this method to get the matter on the ballot. Another solution is to have a petition circulated and present it to the council which can then reject the ordinance on the basis of a verified petition. They can bring a petition around to our house when they are ready because we are of the belief that people should be able to shop whenever they please. No one has to sell meat on Sunday and no one has to shop for it on Sunday, but those who want to do either of these things should be allowed to do so and those who do not can stay home. ++ te teeeetett WE WERE ALARMED toread that a bill has been introduced in the Assembly to make a newsman who refuses to disclose his sources liable to contempt by a court, legislature or other administrative body. This is alarming for if the bill passes it will remove one of the major tools'a newsman has for getting at the news and presenting it to the public, For newsmen working in the field of government, the effect of such a law would be crippling. : This isnot a matter of trying to build up an empire of private privilege for the press under the guise of freedom of the press. It is simply a question of maintaining a tool whichis invaluable in operating a free and effective press. 2 PO ey LAST MONTH the county supervisors passed a motion toseek inclusion of a portion of old Highway 40 into the state scenic highway system. The strip is that portion of the summit road which will be returned to the county soon as a result of the construction of the new Donner ° Summit freeway. The supervisors hoped that by getting the road intothe scenic highway system some ¢tate funds might someday become available to aid in the’fnaintenance of that rugged stretch of road. : While this isa good thought, it seems that the basic purpose of the scenic highway system, that of preserving scenic corridors throughout the state, is being overlooked. The scenic highway system will not mean anything in the county until rules are set up to save those things which make these roads scenic. This matter has been in the hands of the planning commission for several months, but no ordinances to protect the scenic highways in the county have come out of the commission proceedings. We could wake up some morning and suddenly find out it is already too late, CALIFORNIA ---Don Hoagland THE SAD STORY OF HOW CARS BUILT FOR SPEED CAN’T MOVE An enterprising Sacramento TV station, channel 3, sent a mobile crew out to interview drivers who were hopelessly stalled in that city on Washington's birthday. The big tieup, the worst in anyone's memory, resulted from a flood of holiday weekend cars returning to the valley andthe Bay Area from Reno and the mountain ski areas, It took some drivers up to two hours to craw] through the state capital late Monday afternoon, Traffic conditions were aggravated by a crush of local traffic, which had invaded the downtown-for a number of special holiday sales, “What do you think of traffic conditions in Sacramento?” asked the young TV straight man, as he shoved a microphone into the window of a stalled car. “It stinks! It stinks, Period," shouted a totally exasperated driver. Another annoyed driver declared, “They should do something about this. They should get that new bridge built. They should speed up the new freeway." The TV announcer asked another driver, "Do you iniend to drive through Sacramento again when you come back from the mountains?" “There isn't much choice, is there?" the driver almost sobbed, To my mind, there is nothing more dramatically symbolic of the contradictions inherent in our auto-cratic society than a picture of a frustrated family trapped in a beautifully sleek vehicle built to go 110 on the level stalled in a monstrous traffic jam, Ourcars are built for speed and comfort, but ctrary to what they say, the highway builders-have not been and will not be able to eliminate the road deficiencies which frustrate the automobiles and their users, California adds about a half million new cars to its roads every year, We may be able torelieve a bottleneck here, but two or three new ones. always POp up somewhere else It's a losing battle, ‘ Perhaps it was too much to expect the driver who complained that he had nochoice but to drive through Sacramento to realize that a choice is available, He was after ek no mood to do any serious transportation planning. ee 2 _ — ba railroad? Next weekvin this space © speculating on how an integrated system ‘6 G96T ‘® YOR ***3a83NN Auno0D epeAen’

y Se RENT RP RTI ET EDITORIAL ‘March 4, 1965 COMPLETE WATER TREATMENT PLANT COULD END THREAT ~ TO NID RECREATION PLANS The prospect of the loss of recieational benefits at the Nevada Irrigation District's newreservoirs is a disturbing one. The prospect of the continued delivery of unsafe drinking water to our growing numbers of suburban and urban users is equally disturbing. Unless the NID directors and the co.unty health officer can come to an agreement on a treatment system for domestic water, the county may have to face both of these situations. County Health Officer Dr. C . Jackson Rayburn told the NID many months ago that he would oppose water contact sports at the district's new reservoirs unless the district could provide com_ plete treatment for the water delivered for domestic use in the Twin Cities area. He reasoned that the quality of the water now being delivered was already questionable from the standpoint of health and water sports. at the reservoirs would further increase danger of danger of pollution. Shortly after this the NID ordered that a feasibility study be made of constructing a master plant that could supply completely treated water to both cities. ~ The~directors now have this study, but no action has been taken by the board to indicate that they plan to construct such a plant. Whenthe matter of a treatment plant was first discussed NID manager Edwin Koster said the cost of such a system could be amortized through increasés in water rates. He said that since the domestic users would be getting the benefits of the plant they should be the ones to finance it. Koster said recently that finances and methods of getting water to the plant and to the cities were now being studied. ! While this is going on Dr. Rayburn has been applying pressure on the state level in an attempt to get restrictions on recreation use at the reservoirs put into the district's Davis-Grunsky Act recreation grant. This is the only lever the county health officer has to use to push the district into providing safe drinking I water. He has indicated he intends to keep pushing until he gets results. The recreation facilities that the NID plans to build with its $4 million grant could become a major industry for this county and play a keyrole in the healthy economic growth of the area. But the healthy growth of the area also hinges on the availabilityof healthy drinking water. We feelitis time for the NID to stop thinking only in terms of delivering water tothe farmlands. The fact is that a sizable portion of the district's annual revenue comes from the sale of domestic water. The dual problems of recreation and healthcanbe resolved to the benefit of the county by the NID making a commitment to bring fully-treated water to this area. The sooner this is done the sooner the health of the people and of our growing recreation industry will be assured. IN THE FOOTHILLS VEIN GRASS VALLEY’S SUNDAY MEAT LAW IS ATTACKED AGAIN The Sunday meat sale controversy was stirred again in Grass Valley last week. The city ordinance which prevents the sale of meat on Sunday or after6 p.m. on weekdays stirred up a hornet's nest of protest some time ago, but it remained on the books. ’ Last week managers of two large chain stores asked the city to get rid of the ordinance, They said it was unfair

and was causing a loss of city business to stores outside the city limits. Thecity council, remindful of the tempest caused by the matter last time, refused to act, although Councilwoman Margarette Meggs made a motion to recind the ordinance, : Instead the council suggested the matter be put to a vote of the people through the initiative procedure. It would take several months by this method to get the matter on the ballot. Another solution is to have a petition circulated and present it to the council which can then reject the ordinance on the basis of a verified petition. They can bring a petition around to our house when they are ready because we are of the belief that people should be able to shop whenever they please. No one has to sell meat on Sunday and no one has to shop for it on Sunday, but those who want to do either of these things should be allowed to do so and those who do not can stay home. ++ te teeeetett WE WERE ALARMED toread that a bill has been introduced in the Assembly to make a newsman who refuses to disclose his sources liable to contempt by a court, legislature or other administrative body. This is alarming for if the bill passes it will remove one of the major tools'a newsman has for getting at the news and presenting it to the public, For newsmen working in the field of government, the effect of such a law would be crippling. : This isnot a matter of trying to build up an empire of private privilege for the press under the guise of freedom of the press. It is simply a question of maintaining a tool whichis invaluable in operating a free and effective press. 2 PO ey LAST MONTH the county supervisors passed a motion toseek inclusion of a portion of old Highway 40 into the state scenic highway system. The strip is that portion of the summit road which will be returned to the county soon as a result of the construction of the new Donner ° Summit freeway. The supervisors hoped that by getting the road intothe scenic highway system some ¢tate funds might someday become available to aid in the’fnaintenance of that rugged stretch of road. : While this isa good thought, it seems that the basic purpose of the scenic highway system, that of preserving scenic corridors throughout the state, is being overlooked. The scenic highway system will not mean anything in the county until rules are set up to save those things which make these roads scenic. This matter has been in the hands of the planning commission for several months, but no ordinances to protect the scenic highways in the county have come out of the commission proceedings. We could wake up some morning and suddenly find out it is already too late, CALIFORNIA ---Don Hoagland THE SAD STORY OF HOW CARS BUILT FOR SPEED CAN’T MOVE An enterprising Sacramento TV station, channel 3, sent a mobile crew out to interview drivers who were hopelessly stalled in that city on Washington's birthday. The big tieup, the worst in anyone's memory, resulted from a flood of holiday weekend cars returning to the valley andthe Bay Area from Reno and the mountain ski areas, It took some drivers up to two hours to craw] through the state capital late Monday afternoon, Traffic conditions were aggravated by a crush of local traffic, which had invaded the downtown-for a number of special holiday sales, “What do you think of traffic conditions in Sacramento?” asked the young TV straight man, as he shoved a microphone into the window of a stalled car. “It stinks! It stinks, Period," shouted a totally exasperated driver. Another annoyed driver declared, “They should do something about this. They should get that new bridge built. They should speed up the new freeway." The TV announcer asked another driver, "Do you iniend to drive through Sacramento again when you come back from the mountains?" “There isn't much choice, is there?" the driver almost sobbed, To my mind, there is nothing more dramatically symbolic of the contradictions inherent in our auto-cratic society than a picture of a frustrated family trapped in a beautifully sleek vehicle built to go 110 on the level stalled in a monstrous traffic jam, Ourcars are built for speed and comfort, but ctrary to what they say, the highway builders-have not been and will not be able to eliminate the road deficiencies which frustrate the automobiles and their users, California adds about a half million new cars to its roads every year, We may be able torelieve a bottleneck here, but two or three new ones. always POp up somewhere else It's a losing battle, ‘ Perhaps it was too much to expect the driver who complained that he had nochoice but to drive through Sacramento to realize that a choice is available, He was after ek no mood to do any serious transportation planning. ee 2 _ — ba railroad? Next weekvin this space © speculating on how an integrated system ‘6 G96T ‘® YOR ***3a83NN Auno0D epeAen’