Current PM2.5 AQI levels in the Folsom area have reached: 571 AQI (Beyond Index) on Saturday, August 28. That notification, received a few minutes ago, sums up the forecast pretty well. Placerville monitor show an AQI value of 641. Pollock Pines has a PurpleAir monitor showing an AQI of 1050 (data not as reliable as […]
Pascale Fusshoeller, editor
Pascale is one of YubaNet's co-founders and the editor.
PG&E’s new “fast trip” feature a cause of more frequent and longer power outages
In a late Friday afternoon email to customers, PG&E provided an explanation for the increased power outages occurring in the foothills these past few weeks. A new feature called “fast trip” is designed to “quickly and automatically turn off power if an object strikes a line or there is an issue with the equipment.” The […]
Public health: Promoting personal, community and economic well-being for 223 years
Public health starts with the concept that improving the health of the community’s most vulnerable residents improves the physical, economic and civic health of the community as a whole. Less suffering and greater well-being for the community makes people’s individual lives better. Next, public health practices change as scientific understanding evolves, putting into practice what […]
Laura Zieman: Relationships are ‘powerful’ tools in fighting COVID-19
It was late June 2020. COVID-19 cases were starting to double in Nevada County, Californians had been ordered to stay home, and protests against community health measures were growing more strident. Amid the alarm bells, County Public Health Department Director Jill Blake received a letter. “Thank you,” the sender wrote. The sender was a local […]
Charlene Weiss-Wenzl helps moms live through history
As a public health nurse for Nevada County, Charlene Weiss-Wenzl works with local mothers and their children – especially those who lack the resources to get health care on their own. Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, Weiss-Wenzl has seen how her clients, both parents and youngsters, have struggled as schools shut down, childcare […]
Jenn Tamo: OES recruit organized vaccination clinic in 27 days
When Jennifer Tamo was asked to take the lead in setting up a COVID-19 vaccination clinic for Nevada County early this year, the task seemed overwhelming. But by working as a team with many people who saw the urgency, keeping her eye on the goal and having a sense of grace toward others amid the […]
Kim Blix: ‘The squeaky wheel’ gets healthcare workers what they need to respond to COVID-19
In fall 2019, Kim Blix had been leading the emergency preparedness program for Nevada County’s Public Health Department only a few weeks when a string of power shut-offs began. High winds had raised the risk of wildfires, so Pacific Gas and Electric Co. repeatedly turned off electricity for days at a time to nearly a […]
Jill Blake: Public Health director supports her team & keeps them together amid pandemic’s challenges
Jill Blake has many responsibilities in leading the Public Health Department of Nevada County. Her team of 36 people has a budget of $10 million for the 2020-21 fiscal year. They work from the basic idea that the health of individual residents shapes the health of the whole community. So, they work with new mothers, […]
Dr. Glennah Trochet: Deputy health officer blames COVID-19 deaths on “bad” federal response
In the past 20 years, Nevada County’s deputy public health officer has seen several pandemics and national public health emergencies. But when COVID-19 exploded in early 2020, Dr. Glennah Trochet for the first time saw a federal response that she characterized as incompetent and at odds with standard practices proven to reduce disease. As a […]
Cindy Wilson: Head of county public health nursing feels families’ anguish amid COVID
Cynthia Wilson remembers learning of Nevada County’s first death from the novel coronavirus, reported on April 3, 2020. In that moment, the county director of public health nursing recalled thinking, “This is bad.” Until then, most local cases of COVID-19 had been in people who had picked up the virus overseas and came down sick […]
Nevada County’s Public Health Department reflects on a historic pandemic
As Nevada County and the world ground into our second pandemic year, YubaNet reached out to people working with the county Public Health Department to ask for their insights into their front-lines fight to keep this community as safe as they can from the novel coronavirus. “It’s been a transformative year,” said Nevada County Public […]
Sierra County bans all open flame fires on private lands
By a unanimous vote, the Sierra County Board of Supervisors banned “Building, maintaining, attending, or using outdoor fires, including campfires, bonfires, pit fires, tiki torches, portable stoves, or any other open flame fire, (but excluding propane barbecues used for cooking)” on all private property in the unincorporated area of Sierra County. The urgency ordinance goes […]
Commentary: Reopen Rally is like a double fault at match point
Editor’s note May 22, 2020 at 7:00 AM: The Executive Board of the Grass Valley Chamber met late yesterday, and in light of what they learned throughout the day, has rescinded their support of the ReOpen Rally event. May 21, 2020 – A group self-identified as ‘Reopen Nevada County’ is planning a rally this Friday […]