Laura Petersen

Since 1996, Monique Ehrgood, owner of Miner Moe’s Pizza in Nevada City has picked up trash four times a year along a section of road between Nevada City Highway and Banner Lava Cap. For 28 years, Ehrgood and the Miner Moe’s team have served as volunteers in Nevada County’s Adopt-A-Road program committed to keeping an […]

Third grade students eagerly raised their hands to share what they knew about compost and food waste before assembling into small groups to collectively participate in an activity. After the lesson, they were all smiles as they helped themselves to a healthy snack of carrots, green and orange peppers, broccoli, cherry tomatoes and hummus. “We’re […]

Ben Martin remembers the day the music stopped in Truckee. It was four years ago. The Covid-19 pandemic was sending alarms that reverberated throughout the mountain community. Students could no longer attend in-person lessons at Tahoe Truckee School of Music and live music performances came to an abrupt halt at downtown venues. “It impacted us […]

When the Covid-19 pandemic struck four years ago it threatened the economic viability of Nevada County that is intricately tied to safe neighborhoods, arts, culture, outdoor recreation, digital technology and a vibrant network of creative entrepreneurs. Following guidelines to social distance, people went outdoors en masse seeking refuge on local trails, parks and rivers. With […]

During the Covid-19 pandemic, volunteers and staff at Interfaith Food Ministry (IFM) found themselves faced with a barrage of challenges to feed the region’s food insecure. Overnight, IFM had to make the switch from being a walk-in food distribution center to a strictly drive-through facility. With a statewide lockdown in place and masking and social […]

Editor’s Note: This is the first article in a series examining the impacts of Nevada County’s Community Resiliency Grants four years after the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic lock down. Four years ago this month, Covid-19 pandemic lockdown threatened many local gathering places, performing arts venues and community centers. Some worried Nevada County would never be the […]

NEVADA COUNTY, Calif. February 24, 2024 – People of all ages and backgrounds in Nevada County facing a behavioral health or emotional crisis now have access to professional services wherever they are, day or night. After months of preparation, Nevada County has launched a new 24/7 Mobile Crisis Team staffed with crisis specialists to meet […]

NEVADA COUNTY, Calif. February 21, 2024 – In a few weeks, Samantha Vivo, 23, and her partner Kaleb Yager, 28, are due to have a baby girl named Stevvi (pronounced Stevie). This is the couple’s first child. Together since December 2022, the couple has been checking all the boxes in preparation, like getting maternity photos […]

During Black History Month, Nevada County will recognize the Nevada City homesite of two prominent 19th century African American pioneers who were nearly forgotten. Members of the Nevada County Historical Landmarks Commission have installed a new marker at the homesite of Jennie Correll Carter and Dennis Drummond Carter on a small triangular lot at the […]

NEVADA COUNTY, Calif. December 28, 2023 – As the year comes to a close, local community stakeholders are celebrating a safer and cleaner river canyon, improved trails and more modern amenities thanks to a shared commitment from Nevada County and community partners to strengthen sustainable tourism while addressing the pressures from climate impacts and growing […]

Nevada City – This January, Sierra Commons will launch a new five-week course to teach food entrepreneurs the skills they need to bring their products to market and become a thriving brand.  Early Bird Registration is now open for the course called the Food Entrepreneur Accelerator.  The student cohort will take a deep dive with […]

December 4, 2023 – From Castle Peak to the headwaters of the South Yuba River, Van Norden Meadow and Serene Lakes, Donner Summit is a recreationist’s dream. With miles and miles of hiking and biking trails, including the Pacific Crest Trail, world class granite walls for climbing and six ski resorts, visitors have access to […]

NEVADA COUNTY, Calif. November 9, 2023 – When emergency personnel get a call for help in the river canyon on North Bloomfield Road, first responders in fire trucks and ambulances find themselves in a bind. It’s impossible for firetrucks and ambulances to navigate a sharp hairpin turn at the bottom of the road on the […]

Nevada City has been awarded a grant from Sierra Nevada Conservancy to develop an environmentally sound fuels treatment plan for 32 parcels and 348 acres of public and private lands, which will help protect 960 homes, Nevada City’s sewage treatment plant, three schools, St. Canice event center, the popular Deer Creek Tribute Trail and popular suspension bridge from the threat of wildfire.

When a plane flies overhead, Vicky Reeder looks apprehensively at the October sky. In August, a small wildfire burned two miles away from the home she shares with her husband Brian McFarren, three miles from downtown Nevada City at the west end of the Deer Creek Tribute Trail. “We were all worried about it because […]

California’s largest wildfire of 2022, the Mosquito Fire, had burned more than 76,000 acres near Foresthill in the foothills of Placer and El Dorado counties. The blaze, 90% contained as of Friday morning, raged through bone-dry forests and forced thousands of people to flee their communities, some within just a few short hours. Thousands of […]

Grass Valley – Beginning June 1, eligible nonprofit and cooperative organizations can apply for BriarPatch Food Co-op’s competitive 2022 Round Up at the Register fundraising program, previously known as CAUSE.    Since 2015, BriarPatch shoppers have raised more than $250,000 for nonprofit organizations through the program. In the past, the program supported organizations working to build trails, […]

Krysta and Tyler Blake moved to their family home on Ponderosa Way in 2019. At the time, the six-acre property was dense with vegetation. “You couldn’t see through that before,” said Tyler pointing to the far end of his backyard to a line of heritage manzanita that now provides a privacy buffer from McCourtney Road. […]

September 7, 2020 – The local community can support Federal Recognition and Cultural Revitalization efforts of the Nevada City Rancheria during a virtual event featuring live music, art and history on Sept. 12, 2020. California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project (CHIRP) is co-hosting the fundraiser, “Lyla June & MaMuse: A Night of Music & Art”, co-sponsored […]

Grass Valley February 6, 2020 – The Just Enough Regional History Course, a five session audio-visual presentation by Archaeologist, Historian, Hiking Guide and Author Hank Meals is coming to audiences at the Banner Guild on Feb. 13. Meals first presented his series to history lovers who filled the North Columbia Schoolhouse Cultural Center on the […]