Opinion | ReallyRedding

September 21, 2009October 10, 2014

What can we do with Stillwater Business Park all by ourselves?

I wonder if the time hasn’t come to consider something a bit more radical for nascent Stillwater than just waiting around to see who might show up. Redding is in need of turning a retail economic base into a manufacturing base. We don’t need shopping malls, we need factories. Is there a natural resource here that we can leverage into a finished good? That was key to our past success in mining and lumber. What can we do now? Is it possible to turn our industrial park into something that produces value now and in the future? How about a center for renewable energy products? Maybe software, or games production? These things have great value, and basis elsewhere. But what if we put our minds and hearts into becoming the new nexus for these high value products? What can we offer if we WILL it to be?

I just don’t see why we have to wait for ‘something” to come along. We can make it happen. Just us. Local people working together. I believe that.

September 12, 2009

What is happiness, and how to get it.

The Shasta Association of REALTORS hosted speaker and author Edwin Edebiri on Wednesday. He talks about happiness.

He grew up in Nigeria and now lives in Corning. He is a professional speaker and self-titled Inspirator. He shared his research and thoughts on happiness with our REALTOR membership. A group hit hard by the downturn in the market. His words and ideas were indeed inspiring. What is happiness? How can you achieve it?
Edwin Edebiri
His talk was recorded for a Podcast. It runs about 50 minutes. I guarantee you’ll find it well worth your time. Edwin is an engaging and thoughtful speaker, with a dramatic style of presentation. He offers 10 ways to put his ideas into practice here as MP3 file you can click on to play, or left-click to save for your iPod.
Edwin Edebiri on happiness
Here is a link to the list of 10 things:
EdwinEdebiri PDF file of 10 things
My sincere thanks to Edwin Edebiri and the Shasta Association of REALTORS for this post.

September 11, 2009

Photographic reminder

Our hearts go out to the families of those killed in the 9/11 attack.
World Trade Center
This photo of Karry and me in New York is on my desk. It’s a daily reminder that every time you kiss or hug a loved one goodbye for even the most mundane separation, it may turn out to be the last time.

September 8, 2009

Local AT&T network is apparently overwhelmed. Warning.

At our staff meeting today, it came up how many people are suffering with bad AT&T service. Even text messages take much longer than they should. This is causing a lot of frustration among real estate agents who need to be timely. It was a loud chorus of unhappiness. I was thinking I was alone in having problems. No way. It got loud fast. All the AT&T users.

According to this NYT article, our local area is not alone. Apparently the Unlimited Data Plan is limited by actual ability to handle data. “Crushed, ” it says.

I came over from Sprint because the iPhone had some nice features. At first it was OK. But locally AT&T is now having severe problems. Sprint was MUCH BETTER even if their phones weren’t glamorous, and Verizon people at our meeting today report nothing but good results too. Be warned.

September 2, 2009

More evidence of our new local Harvest Economics

I never really thought of Redding as an agricultural community, but evidence of our new economic basis is popping up all over. I was surprised by this interesting little all-terrain dump truck on display inside a Redding Raley’s supermarket yesterday.
Redding agricultural equipment
The sign says Harvest Special. What in the world would you harvest with an ATV dumptruck?

Oh.
Yeah, that makes sense. This vehicle looks darn handy for packing in and out of those backcountry grows. Redding Yamaha knows their market. A marketplace fueled by agriculture, apparently.

August 27, 2009

Worst Persons in the World

They say there’s no “bad” publicity in the world of entertainers and celebrities. There’s only publicity. If true, Redding has been getting it in spades over the last few days. MSNBC’s Keith Olberman has been featuring our own Congressman Wally Herger as the Worst Person in the World, and now similarly features Herger’s congressional aide on national TV. Check out the latest:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

It’s nice to be noticed. Isn’t it? Well, isn’t it?? C’mon, now.

August 14, 2009

Really Red Planet magic

Not really Redding but a red planet meteor
So we have these two robots exploring another planet and one of them comes across this big rock lying exposed on a flat plain. Further examination reveals the rock to be a meteor made of iron. There it sits, perched rather improbably. What happened to the crater it must have left when it hit? Did it blow away, leaving only the meteor? It’s genuinely mysterious.

Okay this is not Really Redding, per se. But this is something we did. Are doing. This is happening today. We Reddingites, we Californians got together to send robots to another planet. Try saying it out loud. “We flew these robots to a distant Red Planet, and they wander around looking at stuff, and taking pictures for us.” Words fail, really. It’s amazing and awesome when you think about it. Which is probably not often.

Not often enough. It is still thrilling to me to be part of a species that explores places, and builds elaborate devices out of nothing but curiosity. We humans spend a lot of time talking about the mundane, but magic goes on all around us every day.

Not really Redding but a red planet meteor

This robotic mission to Mars is one of the most magical things ever to consider and learn from. It stands as a complete highlight moment of our entire civilization. Click HERE for more. There is a lot of drama there, even if it’s couched in science terms at JPL. See what’s happening with the other robot. It’s drama and magic. Mostly it goes on unnoticed by the many, like so much of the magic in our lives….

August 13, 2009September 1, 2018

Redding’s fire based economy

We have had economic change over the years, just like everywhere. Our area was once mining based, and then railroad based, and then logging based. Today we are more or less medical services, and retail-based. Except for the substantial part that is government-based. And a big part of that has become the fire-camp based economy.

To those who criticize the Stillwater Industrial Park, I ask: what’s your plan to provide jobs in the Northstate? The fire-camp based economy seems like a bit of a dead-end road. We’ve seen dead-end economic plans here before…

August 12, 2009

Kilarc reservoir is on the endangered list

We stopped in over at Kilarc Reservoir in eastern Shasta County for a look. It’s nice to get up out of the valley heat.

It’s a lovely picnic area and lake, maintained by PG&E, who run the electrical generation facility there. PG&E wants to abandon the project, which is one of the oldest in the county. They would demolish the reservoir, power house, and the dam on Cow Creek that feeds it.
Kilarc reservoir in eastern Shasta County
The plan strikes us as a bit sad. This has to be one of the cleanest possible ways to make electricity. It’s been here for years, and seems to have had proportionally small impact. No hydropower comes without cost, but some projects seem to have reasonable cost/benefits, especially when already in place. Imagine the power replaced with a coal fired plant, and it offers some perspective.
Kilarc reservoir in eastern Shasta County
On the way home, we stopped at a high country ranch we know. The owner let us pick some fruit. These apples are from trees more than 100 years old. Still productive. The people who planted that orchard 100 years ago are the same people who thought electricity made from falling water would be nice. 100 years later, they are still right about both.
Kilarc reservoir in eastern Shasta County

July 23, 2009June 27, 2014

Live Music by DJ at the Red Lion

Talk about unclear on the concept. I had just been reading Jim Dyar’s recent article about the Hot Start to the Cascade’s season and thinking that Redding’s really developing quite a live music scene. Then this sign on Hilltop Drive took it all back. Via cell-phone camera:

I like DJ’s as much as the next person, but if the only instrument you play is an MP3 file, you might not qualify as live music. Note to tourists driving by on Hilltop: This was probably a joke, see. We’re not like that, really. No, really.

If it isn’t live music, it’s dead music.