October 18, 1967 (16 pages)

Volume 42 Number 40 THU Bourboe dl Sree int idge, Union Hill, 10 Cents A Copy rass Valley, Red Dog, You Bet, Town Talk, Glenbrook, ook, Little York, Cherokee, Mooney ie, Seis, ole, Owe French ‘arr Meadows, Cedar Ri: Peardale, Summit City, Walloupa, Gouge Eye, Lime K hicage Park, We Christ Liberty orth Colaebie Columbia Bil, Brandy Flat, Scbesto Sebastopol, Quaker H un ey New indian Fi prikORy , CAL §T aq state! wit ARY B14 Corral, Rough and Ready, Graniteville, North San Juan, North BloomHill, Willow Valley, ill, Sailor Flat, Lake City, Selby Flat, Grizzly Newtown, Indian Flat, Bridgeport, Birchville, Moore's Flat, Orleans Flat, Published Wednesdays, Nevada City October 18, 1967 IT HAPPENED — Members of the Gold ment, jump on their fire bration in observance of at the Fair Grounds in Grass paticipate in the affair. Financial Woes Beset Irrigation District The Nevada Irrigation District is beset by financial woes, This was evident in a report to the board of directors by controller Weilbur W. Wells who advised the group that their account had been overdrawn in the amount amount of $100,000, Major cause of this situation Wells said stems from the fact that the district is unable to collect much of the money owed to it, He prefaced this point with the revelation that until the NID brings its accounting work up to date, none of the ac ts receivable. can be coll It will be the end of October before these books are in order, he estimated, Included in. the accounts receivable is about $65,000 from agricultural users, The district has also advanced funds from its general fund for inspections and construction for which igyill be reimbursed, he said,” The board took the California State Board of Health to task after hearing this report. NID has been ordered by the state agency to install $300,000 worth of chlorination equipment and many of them said that they did not feel this was necessary. Increased maintenance costs were given as one factor for the deficit, NID manager Edwin Koster said, "The district hadn't kept up with it for the past 10 years ago when I came here and we haven't kept up with it for the past 10 years, What is needed is a long term loan to keep the thing from falling to pieces." A moratorium on spending, suggested by board member C, Bruce McDonald was promptly backed by other board members, The Wells report listed total deposits at the bank of $116,153, Charged against this balance are warrants totaling $168,172, Continued on page 16 Flat Volunteer Fire Departengine in response to an alarm just as the celeire Prevention Week was getting under way Valley where over 100 firemen gathered to (Nuggetphoto). Peard Awarded Legion Of Merit At Ceremony FT, LEAVENWORTH, KAN.-Army Doctor (Lieutenant Colonel) William G. Peard son of Mr. and Mrs, Gerald E. Peard, 120 High St., Grass Valley, received the Legion of Merit during ceremonies at Ft, Leavenworth, Kan., Sept. 19. Presenting the award was Major General Michael S, Davison, commanding general of Ft, Leavenworth and commandant of the U. S. Army Command and General Staff College at the fort, Col. Peard received the award for exceptionally meritorious service during the period June 1966 to July 1967 while serving as commanding officer, 4th Infantry Division, in Vietnam, Col. Peard is a student at the U. S. Army Command and General Staff College, at Ft, Leavenworth, He entered the Army in January 1956, The colonel graduated in 1949 from Grass Valley High School, FREEWAY DEDICATED Ribbon-Cutting Furnishes Epilogue To Controversy The new Nevada City Freeway, long a subject of bitter controversy, columns upon columns of editorial criticism and a topic of many. heated discussions, emerged as victor today at a formal ceremony, marking the finish of the $5 million project, The freeway was investigated by a traffic survey made in 1947 along this stretch of highways 20 and 49, to determine ifthe traffic Grand Jury Indictment Set Aside Another grand jury indictment involving the alleged possession of marijuana has been set aside by Superior Court Judge Vernon Stoll, The indictment was set aside on the grounds ofimproper search, Robert Balter, 22, was arrested last August when marijuana allegedly was found among his possessions after he had voluntarily spent the night in jail, He was booked as a "Sleeper," Balter's attorney, John J. Wells of Sacramento asked dismissal of the charge, contending that Balter was not under arrest when he entered the jail. He said that the search of his client's clothing was not done in Balter's presence, and that he had not been properly informed of his rights. The attorney also said that the booking receipt for possessions surrendered did not list the alleged marijuana, Before setting aside the indictment, Judge Stoll said it would appear that Balter should have been notified of his rights, He said he could almost conclude from the reocrd this was not done, The judge was also critical that the alleged marijuana was not listed on the receipt for the defendant's possessions, Deputy Dist, Atty. Frank Francis countered earlier during the hearing that deputies had conducted an inventory in accordance with normal procedure, rather than a search, He said the defendant had voluntarily consented to give up his possessions, After the court hearing, Balter told a reporter that he had money, but had voluntarily slept Continued on page 16 was heavy enough to warrant the building of a freeway. The study was made by the State Division of Highways, Many pitfalls, however, beset the proposal, Among them wasa strike which stopped construction progress in its early stages, Then there was the death of the resident engineer in an auto accident when he took a vacation during the strike, Added to these woes was the financial collapse of the initial contractor, who was forced to pull out of the project last fall, resulting in a rush call for new bids, The climax to the freeway's troubles erupted when a bridge collapsed while it was being built, injuring 12 men, Then there was a dispute over the preservation of buildings which many citizens considered historical which resulted in a move to make this new freeway as esthetic as any in the state, Actual construction on the freeway began in January in 1965 to build fcyplanes of road east: of the existing two-lane road between Nevada City and Grass Valley. Norm J, Fadel was the original contractor, bidding $4,966,000, In July of. that year, the piledrivers staged a strike which shut down the job for two weeks, It was during this time. that the resident engineer was killed. Since then Arthur Nelson has been resident engineer of the project, In September, the contractor, due to financial woes pulled out of the job, then the State Highway Department took over the profect and readvertised for bids, Granite Construction Company was awarded the contract with a bid of $3,218,000. When Granite took over the work on the freeway was about 55 per cent completed, this put the total cost over $5 million when all biils, including change orders are figured, However, the original performance bond is expected to relieve the state of expenses above the original contract cost, When Granite came upon the scene, the firm had just 35 days to complete and open a short bridge on Broad Street across Deer Creek for local traffic, The bridge collapsed on Nov. 15, 1966, the day that thousands of Continued on page 16 SECTION ' { i i

Volume 42 Number 40 THU Bourboe dl Sree int idge, Union Hill, 10 Cents A Copy rass Valley, Red Dog, You Bet, Town Talk, Glenbrook, ook, Little York, Cherokee, Mooney ie, Seis, ole, Owe French ‘arr Meadows, Cedar Ri: Peardale, Summit City, Walloupa, Gouge Eye, Lime K hicage Park, We Christ Liberty orth Colaebie Columbia Bil, Brandy Flat, Scbesto Sebastopol, Quaker H un ey New indian Fi prikORy , CAL §T aq state! wit ARY B14 Corral, Rough and Ready, Graniteville, North San Juan, North BloomHill, Willow Valley, ill, Sailor Flat, Lake City, Selby Flat, Grizzly Newtown, Indian Flat, Bridgeport, Birchville, Moore's Flat, Orleans Flat, Published Wednesdays, Nevada City October 18, 1967 IT HAPPENED — Members of the Gold ment, jump on their fire bration in observance of at the Fair Grounds in Grass paticipate in the affair. Financial Woes Beset Irrigation District The Nevada Irrigation District is beset by financial woes, This was evident in a report to the board of directors by controller Weilbur W. Wells who advised the group that their account had been overdrawn in the amount amount of $100,000, Major cause of this situation Wells said stems from the fact that the district is unable to collect much of the money owed to it, He prefaced this point with the revelation that until the NID brings its accounting work up to date, none of the ac ts receivable. can be coll It will be the end of October before these books are in order, he estimated, Included in. the accounts receivable is about $65,000 from agricultural users, The district has also advanced funds from its general fund for inspections and construction for which igyill be reimbursed, he said,” The board took the California State Board of Health to task after hearing this report. NID has been ordered by the state agency to install $300,000 worth of chlorination equipment and many of them said that they did not feel this was necessary. Increased maintenance costs were given as one factor for the deficit, NID manager Edwin Koster said, "The district hadn't kept up with it for the past 10 years ago when I came here and we haven't kept up with it for the past 10 years, What is needed is a long term loan to keep the thing from falling to pieces." A moratorium on spending, suggested by board member C, Bruce McDonald was promptly backed by other board members, The Wells report listed total deposits at the bank of $116,153, Charged against this balance are warrants totaling $168,172, Continued on page 16 Flat Volunteer Fire Departengine in response to an alarm just as the celeire Prevention Week was getting under way Valley where over 100 firemen gathered to (Nuggetphoto). Peard Awarded Legion Of Merit At Ceremony FT, LEAVENWORTH, KAN.-Army Doctor (Lieutenant Colonel) William G. Peard son of Mr. and Mrs, Gerald E. Peard, 120 High St., Grass Valley, received the Legion of Merit during ceremonies at Ft, Leavenworth, Kan., Sept. 19. Presenting the award was Major General Michael S, Davison, commanding general of Ft, Leavenworth and commandant of the U. S. Army Command and General Staff College at the fort, Col. Peard received the award for exceptionally meritorious service during the period June 1966 to July 1967 while serving as commanding officer, 4th Infantry Division, in Vietnam, Col. Peard is a student at the U. S. Army Command and General Staff College, at Ft, Leavenworth, He entered the Army in January 1956, The colonel graduated in 1949 from Grass Valley High School, FREEWAY DEDICATED Ribbon-Cutting Furnishes Epilogue To Controversy The new Nevada City Freeway, long a subject of bitter controversy, columns upon columns of editorial criticism and a topic of many. heated discussions, emerged as victor today at a formal ceremony, marking the finish of the $5 million project, The freeway was investigated by a traffic survey made in 1947 along this stretch of highways 20

and 49, to determine ifthe traffic Grand Jury Indictment Set Aside Another grand jury indictment involving the alleged possession of marijuana has been set aside by Superior Court Judge Vernon Stoll, The indictment was set aside on the grounds ofimproper search, Robert Balter, 22, was arrested last August when marijuana allegedly was found among his possessions after he had voluntarily spent the night in jail, He was booked as a "Sleeper," Balter's attorney, John J. Wells of Sacramento asked dismissal of the charge, contending that Balter was not under arrest when he entered the jail. He said that the search of his client's clothing was not done in Balter's presence, and that he had not been properly informed of his rights. The attorney also said that the booking receipt for possessions surrendered did not list the alleged marijuana, Before setting aside the indictment, Judge Stoll said it would appear that Balter should have been notified of his rights, He said he could almost conclude from the reocrd this was not done, The judge was also critical that the alleged marijuana was not listed on the receipt for the defendant's possessions, Deputy Dist, Atty. Frank Francis countered earlier during the hearing that deputies had conducted an inventory in accordance with normal procedure, rather than a search, He said the defendant had voluntarily consented to give up his possessions, After the court hearing, Balter told a reporter that he had money, but had voluntarily slept Continued on page 16 was heavy enough to warrant the building of a freeway. The study was made by the State Division of Highways, Many pitfalls, however, beset the proposal, Among them wasa strike which stopped construction progress in its early stages, Then there was the death of the resident engineer in an auto accident when he took a vacation during the strike, Added to these woes was the financial collapse of the initial contractor, who was forced to pull out of the project last fall, resulting in a rush call for new bids, The climax to the freeway's troubles erupted when a bridge collapsed while it was being built, injuring 12 men, Then there was a dispute over the preservation of buildings which many citizens considered historical which resulted in a move to make this new freeway as esthetic as any in the state, Actual construction on the freeway began in January in 1965 to build fcyplanes of road east: of the existing two-lane road between Nevada City and Grass Valley. Norm J, Fadel was the original contractor, bidding $4,966,000, In July of. that year, the piledrivers staged a strike which shut down the job for two weeks, It was during this time. that the resident engineer was killed. Since then Arthur Nelson has been resident engineer of the project, In September, the contractor, due to financial woes pulled out of the job, then the State Highway Department took over the profect and readvertised for bids, Granite Construction Company was awarded the contract with a bid of $3,218,000. When Granite took over the work on the freeway was about 55 per cent completed, this put the total cost over $5 million when all biils, including change orders are figured, However, the original performance bond is expected to relieve the state of expenses above the original contract cost, When Granite came upon the scene, the firm had just 35 days to complete and open a short bridge on Broad Street across Deer Creek for local traffic, The bridge collapsed on Nov. 15, 1966, the day that thousands of Continued on page 16 SECTION ' { i i