-Headline News

Donald “Dony” Sawchuk is Plumas County’s new director of facility services. Sawchuk’s first day on the job was March 5. Photo by Debra Moore

  Angola. Afghanistan. Kosovo. Hawaii. Plumas County.

  What do they have in common? Donald “Dony” Sawchuk worked there.

  Sawchuk is Plumas County’s new director of facility services. He reported to work March 5 to oversee the maintenance of the county’s extensive holdings, which include three airports, 40 buildings and several parks, among other holdings.

  The Board of Supervisors selected Sawchuk, 51, from more than a dozen applicants.

Local animal trapper Geoff Foss attempts to coax a raccoon out of hiding March 14 after it spent the night inside the Lake Almanor Fly Fishing Co. Photo by Geoff Foss

  An unlikely — and surprisingly persistent — intruder wreaked havoc in a local business last week.

  On Wednesday, March 13, Tom Maumoynier, owner of Lake Almanor Fly Fishing Co., received an alarming phone call from a friend informing him that a break-in had occurred at his shop.

  He rushed over and immediately called the sheriff, who told him not to go inside until he got there. When the sheriff arrived, he and Maumoynier went inside and saw bloodstains on the register, scattered merchandise throughout the store and paw prints on the walls and floors. Whatever was in the store had fallen through one of the glass skylights, injuring itself along the way.

  Impassioned pleas during the public comment portion of the Plumas Unified School District’s regular board meeting March 7 appeared to do little to sway the board’s budgetary mind.

  Two speakers asked the board to reconsider proposed layoffs. The reduction of an elementary school principal position in Greenville, already a half-time position, was Indian Valley 7-11 committee member Lisa Smith’s concern.

  “This year promises to be an equally challenging year for public safety,” said Plumas County District Attorney David Hollister. “Though some signs of promise are now visible, our local and state economies continue to be challenged. We continue to encounter complex and challenging cases in our efforts to safeguard our community.

  On July 1 of this year Plumas County will begin to encounter the second part of Assembly Bill 109/Public Safety Realignment, whereupon most parole hearing and housing obligations — including those involving serious, violent and sex offenders — will be transferred from the state to the counties.