It’s Pie Baking Thursday – the day when ovens all over Manton are filled with apple pies that will be sold Saturday at the Manton Apple Festival. Volunteers have already spent weeks peeling and coring apples, making filling, rolling out crusts, and assembling these delicious works of art. You’re coming up, right? Of course you are. If you get a pie with a bite taken out of it, it was baked in my kitchen. Quality control.
Lassen Peak from the trail
View of some oil the fire damaged areas off in the distance.
We passed two other hikers – a couple gals from Holland. Living below sea level, they were not used to the altitude, but were still enjoying the beautiful day. Easy little 4 miler – 2 straight downhill, two straight up. Then we drove through the park to the Hwy 44 entrance and had dinner at Pioneer Pizza in Shingletown. It was remarkably good. We scarfed our patty melts and fries out in the beer garden under the tall trees and went home happy and stuffed.
Patty melts and adult beverages
Photo – Red Bluff Daily News
Strom is a former Assistant District Attorney in Tehama County and rabid anti-cannabis crusader who set up a couple medical patients big time in 2004. She spirited their attorneys into judge’s chambers where she told them she was dropping charges because their clients were bring arrested in the courtroom at that moment on federal charges. You can read the sordid tale here if you want to become nauseated.
The Byrons’ story is long and complex. When Code Enforcement came to their place to serve their abatement notice, there were no plants. When CE came back a week later for re-inspection, the officers couldn’t tell the Byrons where the alleged plants were, although two dead strays were found in a compost pile. they should have been able to walk or drive to where the cannabis was. They wouldn’t or couldn’t. The Byrons made more than sufficient attempts to rectify the “nuisance” in the allotted time frame but were stonewalled at every turn in order to obtain the maximum fine for the county. It was impossible for them to comply. They spoke with CE every day, trying to get the information they needed. It was not forthcoming. The Byrons own 3 separate parcels with tenants, but they were willing to abate any plants if CE would just tell them where they were. You don’t get to see CE’s evidence until your hearing. Due process anyone?
So, after 30 days, they received the maximum fine of $30,000. They sued the county. After 3 years, interest has increased the total to $36,000 and now they’ve added on the county’s legal costs, too, so they are at over $70,000.
Deputy County Counsel Daniel Klausner was flustered and unprepared for the hearing last week in the board chambers. Their hearing was the very last item on the afternoon agenda and was the only hearing not presented by Code Enforcement, but by an actual lawyer. Klausner asked for a recess so he could figure out exactly what he wanted to say, even though he had been sitting there for almost 2 hours while the other cases were heard.
He whined a little and begged the board not to consider any evidence submitted by the Byrons. Well, of course not. What evidence do the Byrons have? Glad you asked, Strawman. Honestly, more than I have had a chance to look at myself. I’ll run through a couple points, though. There are three transcripts of the County’s recording of the hearings. One was created by the official clerk, the other two by professional transcription firms paid for by the Byrons. Interestingly, the County’s transcript is missing key parts that the other two transcripts and the official recording both include. The Byrons have all the transcripts and the recordings and have submitted them to the board for perusal.
Liz Merry was born in Brooklyn, raised in the Bronx, then transplanted to the Jersey Shore. She moved to Chico in 1984 and married her comedy partner, Aaron Standish, in 1990. They have lived in Manton since 1994.
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