After closing Mill Street last year to support downtown businesses amid COVID-19 restrictions, Grass Valley will now make further traffic tweaks to improve safety.
Read Lorraine’s Lowdown
Lorraine Jewett
The Front Yard of the home next to Maria’s Restaurant is always extravagantly decorated for major holidays. New among this year’s Christmas decorations are the Grinch and canine companion Max. “We started in July hand painting a six-foot tall Grinch,” says homeowner Elizabeth Poston, who knows a thing about fabulous yards as owner of Living Outdoors Landscapes (http://www.LivingOutdoorsLandscape.com
). “The Grinch is depicted stealing lights and decorations and has stumbled across some snazzy ornaments, ripe for the plucking.” Elizabeth’s 8-year-old daughter and painter-helper Maggie lobbied to include the Grinch’s sidekick, Max the Dog. Perhaps Cindy Lou Who will join the cast next year…?
While Grass Valley is not currently considering Nevada City-style enforcement mechanisms to combat the coronavirus spread, it is adopting similar efforts to highlight businesses compliant with COVID-19 mandates.
According to City Manager Tim Kiser, the city is offering a display certification for businesses that comply with restrictions that correspond to the county’s current tier designation.
“They can put that up in their window to let people know that they are complying with the state orders,” Kiser said. “Hopefully, it helps our shoppers discern which businesses are and are not compliant.”
The program, which began last Friday, has already seen interest, with staff printing certifications and doing inspections already.
Special to The Union
Two Local Best Buddies are all over the news. Kaleb Bentham and his rescue pit bull “Buddy” made international headlines after a 350-pound bear grabbed the dog and tried to drag him away. It happened the day before Thanksgiving near Kaleb’s You Bet Road home. Kaleb tackled the bear and punched it until it released Buddy, then rushed his beloved dog to a local veterinary hospital. The 90-pound dog had surgery lasting several hours, and Buddy is expected to make a full recovery…
The Training Tower that’s been under construction since September at the Sierra College-Nevada County Campus was finished last week. The tower is four-stories high, which allows students enrolled in the community college’s 20-week Fire Academy to practice rappelling, ladder training, and more. “The tower is a Class A-type training simulator that burns wood and typical home-type construction materials in the burn room,” says NCC Operations Supervisor and Project Manager Don