THE UNION Articles on
Miscellaneous Topics -- October
Party politics and local elections, Harold Berliner, October 31, 2005
Is surgery really required for fire safety?, Virginia Moran, October 27, 2005
NID rate increases undecided, Dave Moller, October 27, 2005
Nevada County's top money man retires, David Mirhadi, October 25, 2005
NID to review rate hikes, Dave Moller, October 24, 2005
New leader for economic council, Brittany Retherford, October 13, 2005
A matter of time, Trina Kleist, October 13, 2005
Fire response times in Nevada County, Trina Kleist, October 13, 2005
NID rate increase on horizon, Dave Moller, October 12, 2005
New look, new life for 7 Hills area, Brittany Retherford, October 11, 2005
BID plots future in Nevada City, Becky Trout, October 11, 2005
Other Voices: Party politics and local elections
By Harold Berliner
October 31, 2005
Party politics are an important part of our state and national government. They allow people to express, through the ballot box, differences in ideas of what government should or should not do. Political parties have certain "guiding principles" that are shared by voters who are satisfied with their cause, or mostly satisfied. Sometimes voters cast their ballots for what they consider the lesser of two evils, forgetting G.K. Chesterton's warning: "Whenever you choose the lesser of two evils, don't forget you have chosen evil.
Local elections are far different from state or national. This is particularly so in Nevada County, for a variety of reasons.
Here, "guiding principles" have little or nothing to do with the problems local government face. Fixing streets, enforcing local laws, planning or otherwise, approving or disapproving projects for land development are just some. Laws relating to animals, bicycles, noise and business enterprises are a few of many others.
Nevada County is a community of people with varied needs and desires. Some are relatively wealthy landowners who are still divided on environmental and other local issues. Some have modest homes and are also divided in a number of ways.
Most people are concerned with their own home properties, if they own homes. Renters are frequently looking for ways to have "affordable housing." Some of our residents have well-paid employment; others are not so fortunate. However, these people cannot easily be defined by party politics. Each has his or her own special problems, needs and desires.
We find the same local needs in users of the public schools, Sierra College, NID and church goers.
For these reasons, the injection of party politics tends to keep local government and voters separated in thinking of their own needs and desires. Party politics get in the way of our figuring out local problems that have nothing at all to do with state or national problems.
Therefore, it would be helpful if our local Democratic and Republican committees refrain from mixing local candidates - who really understand local issues - with those people who are more devoted to national or state politics, to the detriment of doing the already very complex job of taking care of the multitude of very different and difficult local problems which are very important to all of us. Another issue of party politics is that it confuses tasks, and some people simply don't vote in local elections. None of what was said does away with the good of party politics where it has its very important place in larger spheres of government, it just shouldn't intrude on local issues.
Harold Berliner is a resident of Nevada City
Is surgery really required for fire safety?
By Virginia Moran
October 27, 2005
Imagine you are at the doctor's office, and the doctor explains you may have to go in for surgery to remove a few body organs. Of course, you're alarmed.
"Which body organs?" you ask.
"Don't worry about it because you'll be a lot better afterward," the doctor says patting your hand.
You implore for more detail and exclaim, "It better not be my kidneys because these filter waste from my body, and it better not be my liver because it rids my bloodstream of toxins. ..."
Your voice invariably cracks and you quickly glance around, looking for the medical degree on the wall and then note if the door is unlocked. The doctor tells you once again not to worry and then admits he/she doesn't really know what those various body organs do but to trust him/her. You'll be fine without them. You cannot get out of the place fast enough.
This is an analogy for what the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection is doing with our ecosystems via the "fuels reduction" programs.
This is relevant because CDF is soliciting public comments on the proposed rule to implement a 100-foot fire-clearing zone around buildings or structures. Currently, the limit is 30 feet. All landowners and homeowners should review this document and submit comments, as this ruling could affect you.
Some of the various terms used to describe our native habitat include: "fuels," "vegetation" and "brush." CDF is prescribing surgery but it doesn't know which of the "organs" have to be removed. It is not even sure what the individual "organs" (i.e. plants) do in the ecosystem.
For instance, let's take the typical patch of vegetation in the foothills. We have manzanita (Arctostaphylos), deerbrush (Ceanothus integerrimus), dogtail grass (Cynosurus echinatus), and coffeeberry (Rhamnus tomentella). I am going to talk about just three of these "organs" of our ecosystems.
Manzanita is in the heath family. It is not a particularly fire prone shrub. It self-prunes and its side branches (ladder fuels) are naturally shed. Many wildlife species rely on manzanita for food and cover. Manzanitas are broken down into roughly two types - those with burls and those without.
If you clear manzanita that does not have a burl, you may permanently eliminate it because it cannot resprout from the burl. It has to come back from seed. (Growing from seed is not necessarily an easy thing. Resprouting is generally easier).
Our main manzanita species in the foothills does not have a burl (Arctostaphylos viscida). Many times, what replaces manzanita in our foothills is Scotch broom and weeds, such as mullein, and, by the way, Scotch broom is terribly fire prone.
Deerbrush is one of our native lilacs and it fixes nitrogen in the soil, and considering our sterile clay soils, this function is very important. Deerbrush, per its name, is also extremely important to wildlife.
Dogtail grass has the funny little bent "dogtail" at the top of the stem. It is not native and was introduced from Europe. It has done very well here. (The foothills are dominated by introduced plants; unfortunately, many of them fire prone and many of them love it when areas are cleared). I just described three "organs" of our ecosystems - and each "organ" or plant makes up the "body" or eco-system that then hopefully functions to serve all life.
Healthy ecosystem functioning means clean water, stable slopes, natural flood control via wetlands, minimized erosion, and the most basic of functions, food and cover for wildlife (generally ignored by CDF), and perhaps the most overlooked ecosystem function of plants - oxygen. Plants produce oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis and, well, we would all be blue in the face without them.
The way in which CDF approaches fire clearing is not ecologically sound. CDF has no interest in learning about the "organs." The downside to this is we may start performing surgery on our lands not knowing just exactly how the land will respond. We will enter a never-ending destructive game of whacking it down, it grows back, we wack it down again, it grows back and maybe we even start spraying herbicides, and it goes on and on.
You may end up with property now ecologically depauperate (i.e., no longer capable of performing ecosystem services) and full of weeds. Congratulations. You're fire safe now.
As you review the proposed rule, I also suggest you consider the following:
• Liability: If clearing actions required by CDF result in degradation of your property by erosion or if, in the course of clearing, you take out a sensitive plant or animal species or damage a riparian area, who is liable if you violate an environmental regulation (which are generally designed to protect ecosystem functions)?
• infringement on private property rights.
• the burden these requirements will pose for you.
As far as I know, CDF does not employ botanists, fire ecologists or plant ecologists, yet what they are attempting to do is fiddle with the already threatened ecology of California. There could be serious consequences from this. As I have said, and I will say again, we need an integrated approach that combines fire-safe building materials (cement shingles/metal roofing, etc.), placement of gravity fed water tanks along one-way roads, and ecologically sound clearing standards that include consideration of all the "body organs" and the incredibly important functions they serve for all life, including our own.
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Virginia Moran is a plant ecologist and has created Citizens for Fire Safety Sanity. You can reach her through her Web site at www.ecooutreach.com
Board may hold off making final decision on hikes until December
By Dave Moller, davem@theunion.com
October 27, 2005
Water users will see rate increases next year from the Nevada Irrigation District, but how much is still uncertain.
NID's board was ready to increase average treated water rates 9 percent and raw water bills 7 percent earlier this month. The increases were for the second year of a five-year plan to help the district meet operating costs purely through revenue.
But concerns over public perception of annual rate increases, coupled with $73 million in reserves the district enjoys, brought directors back to the table Wednesday.
Director John Drew said the board will continue to look at a 9 percent average increase but will also look at cost cutting and dipping into the reserves to balance the district's $42 million budget for 2006.
According to district numbers, the proposed sliding-scale increase would bring average bills for a 5/8-inch metered home from about $31 a month to a bit more than $33. The average bill on a 3/4-inch meter would go from about $38.50 to $41.
District General Manager Ron Nelson suggested tying the rate increases to the consumer price index, which would be a 3 to 3.3 percent hike.
But Director Scott Miller said that would wreak havoc with the district's five-year plan to get revenues to pay for operations while using the reserves to rebuild facilities. Past rates were tied to the index and put NID in a position where there wasn't enough money to plan for future building projects or to balance the budget.
"You've got to stay the course a little bit, so it has validity," Miller said. He said the rate increases might seem onerous to some, "but we're doing it for a reason."
Director George Leipzig said, "I favor a rate increase, but I find this excessive." Leipzig suggested a simple 5 percent increase across the board.
"We're not in dire straits," Leipzig said. "I think we should live with a more moderate increase."
Board members also learned from outgoing Finance Director Tess Andrews that the $73 million in reserves is not cash that can be spent tomorrow.
About $9.6 million in the reserves is used for day-to-day working capital, Andrews said. Another $21.6 million is restricted by law for things like debt service and the system improvement fund for treated water services.
Another $17 million is designated for raw water system improvements, maintenance and watersheds. About $26 million more is set aside for dam failures, insurance, medical claims, relicensing hydroelectric dams and balancing the budget.
The situation will come up again next month, but directors said they would be reluctant to make any firm decisions on the rates and budget until December, when Andrews returns from vacation.
To contact senior staff writer Dave Moller, e-mail davem@theunion.com or call 477-4237.
Nevada County's top money man retires
Bruce Bielefelt described as 'solid as a rock'
By David Mirhadi, davidm@theunion.com
October 25, 2005
Bruce Bielefelt, the elected official responsible for ensuring Nevada County has enough money to pay its bills, has announced his retirement effective Dec. 31.
Bielefelt, 65, the county's auditor-controller, announced his retirement in a letter to the board earlier this month.
Bielefelt, who is on a medical leave of absence, is in the middle of his fifth term as the county's top accountant. He is responsible for auditing and ensuring the fiscal viability of a $150 million budget.
While Bielefelt might not be familiar to many Nevada County residents, his name graces the checks paid out to more than 1,250 county employees and 15,000 vendors that do business with Nevada County managers and departments.
When Bielefelt's office is in the headlines, it's probably not going to be for a good reason.
"When something goes (fiscally) wrong, I'm front and center," he said.
Bielefelt said he is most proud of presiding over his office during the transition to computerized accounting systems.
He came to Nevada County as the assistant auditor-controller in 1977 after a stint as a senior accountant for the city of Sacramento.
Bielefelt is a key partner in annual budget sessions each spring and helped rookie Supervisor Nate Beason on the county's budget subcommittee this year.
"He was very knowledgeable and thorough, and very cooperative," said Beason, who represents District 1. "He's been a longtime faithful employee and a very tough guardian of the public purse."
District 2 supervisor Sue Horne, who has worked with Bielefelt through several budget sessions, said Bielefelt has been "solid as a rock."
"He's been absolutely critical and has done a tremendous job" in his capacity.
The board has not decided how to fill the remaining 11 months of Bielefelt's tenure.
Though the decision isn't his to make, Bielefelt said Marcia Salter, the county's assistant auditor-controller, would make a good choice to fill out Bielefelt's remaining term, which expires Jan. 1, 2007.
With the county on firm financial footing and a solid 20-person staff behind him, Bielefelt said he's leaving his office in good hands, low profile and all.
"It's a perfect time to leave," he said.
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To contact staff writer David Mirhadi, e-mail davidm@theunion.com or call 477-4229.
Agency will take 2nd look at planned fee increases
By Dave Moller, davem@theunion.com
October 24, 2005
Concerned with public perception, Nevada Irrigation District board members may reconsider another pending rate increase at Wednesday's 9 a.m. meeting.
"We're taking a fresh look at the budget and the rates to see if there's another way to deal with it," said Ron Nelson, NID's general manager. "I'm trying to give us other ways of carving this thing up."
At the board's first public hearing on the budget and rates Oct. 12, average increases of 9 percent for treated water and 7 percent for raw water were proposed. The board also proposed raising fees to help balance the 2006 budget.
The water rate increases would take the average monthly bill for a 5/8-inch meter from $34 to $37. Those with a 3/4-inch meter would go from about $41 to $45.
But the agenda for the meeting contains a provision for continuing the budget and rates hearing to Dec. 14. If board members vote to do that, it would give them plenty of time to review options, Nelson said.
The board is also concerned that the public may not understand raising rates for the 26th time in 28 years while it enjoys $73 million in reserves and working capital. NID officials said $57 million of that is earmarked for projects for the district's aging infrastructure.
That leaves about $16 million, of which $9.1 million is needed to balance this year's budget. Board members said they need to educate the public about the need to have the large amount of reserves.
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To contact senior staff writer Dave Moller, e-mail davem@theunion.com or call 477-4237.
New leader for economic council
Brittany Retherford
October 13, 2005
Chuck Neeley brings freshness to the job of president of a Nevada County nonprofit that is dedicated to boosting the area's economy, says an organization representative.
The nonprofit, the Economic Resource Council, which has just two paid staff and is managed by a volunteer board of directors, has been searching for a president since July when longtime former president Larry Burkhardt announced plans to become president of a similar organization in Greeley, Colo.
Neeley was hired as his replacement after the board interviewed more than 30 candidates, said Gil Mathews, the board chair-elect.
"The features that really moved him to the top were a long experience with management, good solid financial background, and he is a member of the community," Mathews said. He also brings a fresh perspective to an organization that has been around for the past 10 years, he said.
"All of us to an extent become stale. We are going to capitalize on (his new perspective)."
Neeley is a new resident in the community, having just retired from 11 years on active duty with the Air Force in Hawaii. He and his wife purchased a home three years ago in the county, Neeley said.
After his retirement, Neeley said, "I decided I wanted to move immediately to my eventual retirement community, which was here."
That's when he began searching for a job that would give him the opportunity to contribute to the area, he said.
In an interview Monday with The Union, Neeley refrained from sharing specific ideas about ways to help bring more jobs to the area, saying he first wanted to get to know the local business leaders to better understand the priorities. He did say that in the past, the focus of the ERC has been on what is called "product exporters," businesses that provide a service or a product outside the county. This can range from the high-tech industry to glass blowers.
He said his first step would be to look at ways to enhance these types of industries. "It appears at first glance that there are a number of business that would like to expand, and I'd like to look at that, initially."
He opted out of giving an opinion on the proposed reopening of the Idaho-Maryland Mine in Grass Valley, a closely monitored and controversial project.
"We are concerned about job creation, so whether that is the right additive can be debated in many forms, but we definitely believe that controlled job creation is important," he said.On whether the building of more affordable housing in the county should be a priority for the ERC to promote, Neeley said, "I don't know if we would weigh in on whether it is a good thing or not. But we would weigh in empirically on what the impact of having affordable housing or not having affordable housing is as far as what happens to the work force."
www.ncerc.org. Job openings are posted there, along with a service directory and furniture exchange and other information important to job seekers and business owners.
More about the ERC and available opportunities can be found on its Web site at
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To contact staff writer Brittany Retherford, e-mail brittanyr@theunion.com or call 477-4247.
Trina Kleist,
trinak@theunion.com
October 13, 2005
Little roads, big trees and bigger mountains attract people to Western Nevada County, but those features also pose challenges for rural fire districts trying to respond to emergencies in a timely manner.
Throughout the area, fire districts have set goals of responding to emergencies within three to 10 minutes.
But difficulties that extend the actual response time include the lack of paid staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week; budget constraints that result in unstaffed stations; reliance on volunteer firefighters; the distances responders must travel; narrow or poorly maintained roads conditions; and poorly marked streets and addresses.
"Generally, fire departments don't have the funds or the tax base to have fire stations at such distances to provide a five-minute response time," which is considered standard in urban areas, said Tony Clarabut, fire chief for the Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
"It's a reality of living in a rural environment. Don't expect city services. We don't have the density" to support them, Clarabut said.
Instead, rural fire districts have created a network of mutual aid agreements, shared equipment and shared training exercises to improve response times and the skills of their firefighters, local fire chiefs said.
Even so, tight budgets make it difficult for local fire districts to hire enough paid firefighters to staff their stations 24 hours a day, seven days a week. At the Peardale-Chicago Park Fire Protection District, two staffers man the main station during the days, though often not at the same time. More firefighters are hired part time during fire season.
Most nights, however, the main station is staffed by a firefighter who does so in exchange for room and board at the station's new sleeping quarters, Chief Jim Bierwagen said. He isn't there at all two to three nights each week.
Volunteers form the core of most districts' fire crews. But rising home prices and ever-higher training requirements - including hundreds of hours of training just to get certified, plus weekly ongoing training - are making it harder for fire districts to recruit and maintain their volunteer firefighters.
Yet a trained volunteer may not be able to respond to a fire; he or she may be at work or out of town. Local chiefs estimate they must train at least three people to be assured of having one volunteer respond at any given time. At Peardale-Chicago Park, Bierwagen tries to keep 15 volunteers on call but has operated with as few as nine, he said.
"If it's night time and there's nobody on duty, volunteers have to get to the station, get the engine warmed up, get into their gear," Bierwagen said. "That eats up five or six minutes. If there's any amount of travel time, the clock keeps ticking."
Travel times get even longer when emergency crews must navigate unmarked roads and look for unmarked addresses.
Those difficulties are pushing rural fire districts to consider expanding their full-time staff, local fire chiefs said. Yet the cost to do so is prohibitive.
Bierwagen would have to pay an additional $300,000 to $400,000 for enough people to staff the main station with two people, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. His entire budget this year is $285,000, he said.
Local fire districts have had mixed success in asking their residents to pony up the money required to increase staff, improve facilities and replace aging equipment.
"How much are people in a district like ours willing to pay to have a minimal staff?" Bierwagen said. "At some point in time, we'll be asking them that question."
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To contact staff writer Trina Kleist, e-mail trinak@theunion.com or call 477-4231.
Fire response times in Nevada County
Trina Kleist
October 13, 2005
In Western Nevada County's rural areas, most firefighters get to blazes within nine minutes or less of the first call to 911, when response times are averaged over the number of calls in a year.
The following information was provided by fire districts for a January 2005 report to the Local Area Formation Commission of Nevada County and is from fiscal year 2003.District Target Response Times (minutes): Average Minimum Sq. Mi. Served
Grass Valley 5 3 5
Nevada City 3 3 1.5
Higgins Area 5-8 6.5 90
Nevada County Consolidated 4-8 6.44 143
North San Juan Less than 10 less than 10 70
Ophir Hill 5 5 9
Peardale-Chicago Park 5 8
Penn Valley 4-8 9 92Rough & Ready 5 5 8.9
Washington 7 12 2.5-Trina Kleist
By Dave Moller,
davem@theunion.com
October 12, 2005
Another rate increase looms over Nevada Irrigation District water users as officials meet this morning to begin finalizing the 2006 budget.
It would be the 26th time in 28 years that directors increased prices to run NID, which is in the second year of a five-year plan to raise treated water rates about 9 percent yearly to meet expenses. Raw water rates for irrigation could go up 7 percent in the plan.
That means a family home with a regular 5/8-inch meter would see its monthly water bill rise from $34 to $37. Those with a 3/4-inch meter would see an increase from about $41 to $45. Raw water bills vary widely.
NID is dedicated to saving most of its $72 million in reserves for future projects to shore up its aging reservoir, canal and flume delivery system. District staffers are proposing to use $9.1 million of reserves to shore up this year's $42 million operations and management budget, according to Assistant General Manager Tim Crough.
Last year, directors used about $13 million to balance the budget. The goal with the five-year plan is get revenue high enough so that directors do not have to dip into the reserves for the 2010 budget.
The district is also working on relicensing of its hydroelectric facilities, an expected $10 million expense spread out until the 2013 federal deadline.
Fees increases are also proposed this year. Earlier proposals had most fees increasing about 4 percent across the board.
But a fee to hook up a house includes a capacity fee increase that would drive the overall connection up 15 to 18 percent. A small homeowner's connection fee would go to around $6,900 from $6,000, with a large house full hookup fee rising to $10,900 from $10,000.
The board meets in the NID director's room at 1063 West Main St. in Grass Valley.• 2002 Š 3 percent for treated and raw water.
• 2003 Š 5 percent for treated and raw water.
• 2004 Š 5 to 9 percent for treated and 7 percent for raw water.
• 2005 Š 9 percent for treated and 8 percent for raw water.
• 2006 Š Proposed 9 percent treated and 7 percent raw water.
New look, new life for 7 Hills area
Brittany Retherford
October 11, 2005
Staff writer
Several new businesses that have recently popped up in Nevada City’s Seven Hills business district promise to give residents more options during shopping trips or on the way home from a gym or yoga workout.
The additions also signal changes coming to the area, which encompasses the Argall Way and Searls Avenue corridors and is known by many as “the place where the locals shop.”
Some of the new stores include a stationary shop, Words on Paper; a take-out pizza parlor, Larry and Lena’s Take & Bake Pizza; and a pet grooming salon, Bubbles and Bows. Also, the Nevada County Hearing Aid Center has a new owner, Allan Krosner, and Keeling’s Finishing Tough Rugs and Flooring has expanded its store on the back side of SPD.
Larry Martin, co-owner of Larry and Lena’s, said that this parlor is actually a franchise owned by his friends Russ and Jamie Yoekum. The target opening date is Nov. 1, he said.
“It is a great location,” he said. “People get done with the gym, and they will have a fresh salad bar to go to. Everything is pretty much to go.”
Julie Hiramatsu, the owner of Words on Paper, is also pleased with the location.
“It’s so easy to drive around, park, and go wherever,” she said. Hiramatsu started Odyssey Books in Grass Valley, selling it after nine years. Her new store sells paper from Japan in addition to cards, books, journals and writing utensils. “A handwritten note just means so much,” she said as to the reason she opened this shop.
Hiramatsu’s store is typically the kind that might be more likely found in the downtown, said Duane Stawser, co-owner of the Tour of Nevada City Bicycle Shop and a Nevada City Chamber of Commerce board member.
It’s also these kinds of businesses that will give the area more diversity and make it appealing to a wider variety of shoppers. To supplement the changes that will come with the new businesses, the area is also getting a bit of a facelift.
“I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings, but it has been kind of a rundown strip mall look,” Stawser said.
“It’s dark. ‘It’s creepy,’ as one lady put it a few years ago.”
To lighten the area up a bit, three more old-fashioned street lights will be installed — hopefully by mid-November. In addition, the three crosswalks on Argall Way will be enhanced with bricks, he said.
And while these updates might seem new to many, Stawser said he and other area business owners are merely working from a study of the area that was finished 20 years ago.
“Fifteen to 20 grand was spent on a study that never happened, and a lot of us just got a hold of that.”
Why are the changes going on now? Stawser also had an easy answer to that.
“The new people seem to have a little fresh energy; we have a reason to put the effort in now.”
To contact staff writer Brittany Retherford, e-mail brittanyr@theunion.com or call 477-4247.
BID plots future in Nevada City
By Becky Trout,
beckyt@theunion.com
October 11, 2005
For months, plans to establish a mandatory business association in central Nevada City was the talk of the town. Now, the association, called the Business Improvement District, has just pulled off its first project since its June inception - placing historic photos in downtown Nevada City business windows.
"Things are going well," said Wyn Spiller of Nevada City Winery, a volunteer with the district who recently left the board due to time obligations.
Another businesswoman, Janet Windus, has also resigned because her store, Summerwood, has closed.
Much more is planned, said Pat Dyer, a member of the district's advisory board and owner of Utopian Stone.
Know & Go
What:
General meeting for Nevada City's Business Improvement District
When: 7 to 9 a.m. today
Where: Nevada City City Hall, 317 Broad St.The district is working to collect fees for the first year, which are due in January, Dyer said.
beckyt@theunion.com or call 477-4234.
Each business within the district's boundaries, roughly Spring to Commercial streets, must pay a fee from $100 to $500 per year, depending on the type of business.
Since June, the district has operated with money donated by area businesses and individuals, which they have used for planning and for organizing the photographic installation, Dyer said.
With the infusion of about $42,000 of annual dues, the district has been batting around project ideas, trying to decide which ones to tackle first, Dyer said.
Working with the city, the district would like to make it easier to navigate around Nevada City, perhaps with additional signs, Dyer said. Bench installation is another idea that has considerable support, but it has also raised concerns.
Eight bench-friendly spots have been identified, Dyer said.
"Benches could go a long way toward making the town a little more user friendly," he said.
A marquee touting upcoming events could also be installed, Dyer said.
The district might send out postcards, informing area residents what Nevada City has for them, he said.
The district's formation was controversial, Dyer acknowledged, but many former opponents have decided to help out, he said.
Tom Coleman, a leader of the opposition, could not be reached Monday.
The district is holding a meeting this morning to discuss invoices, marketing and an e-mail directory.
To contact staff writer Becky Trout, e-mail