Turkeys To The Rescue—Again

Turkeys To The Rescue—Again

If you haven’t heard it by now, wild pigs were introduced into the back country from the Capitan Grande Indian Reservation in 2006 and possibly other reservations. The pigs are spreading widely and have been spotted at Cuyamaca Lake, around Julian as they migrate up the San Diego River and are thought to be atop Palomar Mountain. If you are not aware how wild pigs live, they root around and tear up the ground causing extensive damage as if a giant rototiller had passed through and lead to extensive erosion. Their diet is very much like the wild turkeys, eating anything they can find but with the additional damage by the pigs. A true sportsman doesn’t consider the wild pigs as game and have no desire to hunt them. To hunt pigs you must have a California Hunting license and a pig tag for each one shot. Making people buy licenses for vermin such as the wild pigs is like having Obama making our troops buy combat licenses before they can battle the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Pretty soon the State of California will really get on the band wagon and require a costly tag for you to catch a mouse or rat or swat a pesky fly. The penalty for not complying will be severe (more money). In a rare sighting near Julian, a wild pig was seen rooting and foraging and was observed by a large flock of turkeys. When the turkeys saw that this new intruder was eating their same food source, they became incensed, swooped in with all their pecking ability until the pig met its demise. Once again wild turkeys might be Julian’s saving grace.

©2010 Eric Stamets

Motorcycle & Baby Carriage Lane In Town

Motorcycle & Baby Carriage Lane In Town

Some highway inspectors for Caltrans were still in Julian this fall checking on the new repaving job. After seeing the unexpected influx of visitors to Julian after many down years, in the interest of public safety, they will be marking a new lane on both sides of Main St. between A & D Streets in town to accommodate motorcycles and baby carriages. Allowing the baby carriages on the sidewalks has caused some pedestrian congestion and safety concerns. Gov. Schwarzenegger has suggested that some of them meet the minimum size to be required to register with the DMV and get a license plate. This is part of his plan to collect more money without raising taxes. Since the motorcycles and baby carriages travel through town at about the same speed, there is not expected to be any conflict with the shared lane unless a sleeping baby is at the stop sign right behind a Harley that is warming up.

©2009 Eric Stamets

Merriam Mountains Development

Merriam Mountains Development

Jan. 13, 2010 the Merriam Mountains development was reopened to consideration by Supervisor Ron Roberts request after being turned down in a tie vote. Did Roberts reopen this Pandora’s Box in order to vote no on it or to fulfill some obligation to somebody? The decision certainly should be made on facts. With current zoning for less that 400 houses, the development would put 2700 houses on the 2327 acre site but only 25% would be developed, including a 10 acre shopping center. This means in this rural setting each house would have a lot size of about 1/5 of an acre, in other words, not much of a yard. Fire is a major concern and so there is a requirement to have a 225’ vegetation safe zone around each house. If you live in Julian you probably know that ¼ of an acre is about 100’x100’. How can you have a 225’ clear space each way when the next house is 10’ away? And you can’t have a wood fence between the houses. There are no schools proposed (ah, those rural types home school anyway). So far the cost of only two fees have been released- $23 million in developers fees and $33 million in water fees , which comes to $20,740 per lot before a pad is even cut or roads put in. The crowning achievement in fire safety will be a 6’ masonry wall around the development to shield it from burning embers.
Jan. 14, 2010 a Sacramento County Superior Court judge struck down much of an agreement whereby the San Diego region got enough water from the Colorado River diverted from farmers in Imperial County for 300,000 houses. This is after the 20% reduction in usage mandated by the City of San Diego. If you’re down 300,000 houses worth of water, what’s the harm in adding 2700 more- it’s such a small number by comparison.

©2010 Eric Stamets

Lilly Drugs Stolen

Lilly Drugs Stolen

About three weeks ago the Eli Lilly & Co., a pharmaceutical manufacturer, suffered a $75 million loss when thieves broke into a warehouse and stole a tractor trailer full of drugs. Amazingly there were drug thefts in the U.S. totaling $184 million last year and $110 million so far this year. For some reason this is the first time these thefts have been generally publicized, probably due to the dollar amount of the single massive theft. You can read in the paper almost every day about banks and convenience stores, or for that matter, any kind of store being robbed just about every day in the more urban areas. Julian businesses should be on alert, that although it may be rare, it could happen here. In this economy, when it comes to robbery, apparently anything goes. Especially when it comes to selling prescription drugs. More than likely a company of Lilly’s size has insurance to cover their loss, but a real tussle between Lilly and the insurance company can be predicted. Lilly will ask for the $75 million loss in full, which is what someone without any drug coverage would have to pay. They will finally offer to settle for about half that amount, which is what a drug insurance plan might have to pay. The insurance company will stoutly refuse and offer to pay the actual cost of production of the drugs, which will probably be in the neighborhood of $51,000.

©2010 Eric Stamets

Iceland Volano

Iceland Volcano

On Mar 6, 2010, Iceland held a referendum on whether to pay guarantees made by their old government to U.K. and Dutch banks on a 3.8 billion Euro loan that went bad. 93% of the voters said, ”Heck, No!, we’re not bailing out any failed banks.” Now the Europeans are trying to see if maybe they can at least get the second shoe to drop. The recent volcanic eruption in Iceland that disrupted airlines cost them and collateral businesses billions in lost business has left many countries and businesses reeling. This time the Europeans are not waiting for a few Icelanders to vote. In keeping with the airlines’ policies, such as, if you use a Kleenex, you have to pay a fee, the European consensus is “It was Iceland’s volcano that caused all the problems so it’s their fault and this time they are going to pay.” The airlines will be sending representatives, all who seem to be named Vinnie, to Iceland from house to house and believe me, the Icelanders will pay if they know what’s good for them. All major credit cards will be accepted. If they have any pillows or blankets in their home, they will have to pay extra. Also any planes landing or taking off in Iceland will pay a volcano surcharge. When it’s all said and done the Icelanders will get back to the basics and not have fancy bank failures. If the volcano doesn’t melt all the ice, they can still export the product they’re best known for- ice.

©2010 Eric Stamets