Opinion

At least 150 families in Plumas County are probably breathing a sigh of relief right now. They are the people whose livelihood depends on a paycheck from the Sierra Pacific Industries lumber mill in Quincy.

Sierra Pacific agreed to a settlement with the federal government last week that could cost the company more than $122 million in cash and land for its role in the 2007 Moonlight Fire. The fire burned 65,000 acres, including 45,000 acres in the Plumas and Lassen national forests.

Pansies, petunias and politicians, it’s enough flowery posing and artificial sweetness to make me want to yell at somebody to stop being so darn stupid, except that I know they do it on purpose, this pandering for the popular vote.

While you readers know I usually steer clear of politics, Senate Bill 1221 has me in a dither.

If passed, hunting bear and bobcat with dogs would be banned, and it would set a precedent that would likely extend to all hunting breeds, since that appears to be the goal of the Humane Society of the United States.

Why in the world would hospitals want to collaborate? Maybe to reduce costs, save money, improve services offered to the community, improve quality, better serve the residents of our county, survive ongoing and inevitable cuts to our reimbursement — all of the above, and much more.

I was mystified by Doug Lafferty’s comment in last week’s article entitled, “Hospital CAOs see ‘collaboration’ differently.” He is quoted as saying, “I don’t want to talk collaboration until we know what we need to collaborate on.” I am not sure what we are waiting for. I don’t need a community needs assessment to identify very real opportunities and specific items of collaboration. And, collaboration or cooperation doesn’t mean consolidation. It means working together to enhance the strength of each hospital so that we can continue to provide needed health care to our respective communities.

OR7, the lone grey wolf that wandered from Oregon into California last December, re-entered Plumas County Thursday, July 12, according to the California Department of Fish and Game.

The wide-ranging male wolf was in Lassen County June 22, moved into Plumas County June 25, and continued to move back and forth between the two counties.

Technical difficulties caused officials to lose track of him for several days. His collar was working, but the website used to collect the information was down.

According to the agency’s tracking, OR7 had entered Butte County from Plumas County by July 2.