Nevada City Nugget

Election · Federal Demand

DOJ's 48-Hour Clock Runs Out; County Response Still Pending

The 48-hour deadline in the U.S. Justice Department's hand-delivered letter to the Nevada County Elections Office, which named 10 residents the department flags as likely non-citizens and demanded their ballots be set aside, lapses this weekend. As of YubaNet's last update Saturday afternoon, Registrar of Voters Armando Salud-Ambriz had said the office would review the list and respond, that it is following all applicable state and federal laws, and that a formal response was being prepared with county counsel and guidance from the Secretary of State. No county response had been published as of this morning.

The letters reached many California counties Friday. The Associated Press reported the demands cover roughly 20,000 voters statewide and requested sensitive information including Social Security numbers. Napa County's registrar said the letters aim to raise doubts about the election's integrity and that his office keeps counting; the state attorney general's office said Mendocino County received a list of people who did not live there; and Los Angeles County told a court that a preliminary review of 200 names found more than 40 percent had canceled registrations and nearly four in ten were born in the United States. The top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles warned that officials who knowingly process a non-citizen's ballot face "legal jeopardy."

Sources: YubaNet, updated Oct 24, 3:38 PM; Associated Press via ABC News, Oct 24

Conditions · Winter Ahead (updated 5 PM)

County Says Get Ready For An El Niño Winter; Rain Odds Rise For Late This Week

Nevada County officials are urging residents to prepare now for a possibly stormy winter, with forecasters watching a strong El Niño. County Fire Chief Mike Stewart and the Office of Emergency Services list the basics: sign up for Nevada County Alerts at ReadyNevadaCounty.org/EmergencyAlerts; clean gutters, trim limbs over roofs, and secure outdoor items; service woodstoves and practice generator safety; clear culverts on driveways and private roads; and keep a winter bag in the car and never drive through floodwater. The county provides free self-serve sand at sites listed at ReadyNevadaCounty.org/Sand; bring your own shovel and bags. Flooding, mudslides, or downed trees on county roads go to Public Works at (530) 265-1411; downed power lines go to 911 and PG&E.

The first test may come soon. National Weather Service Sacramento guidance relayed Saturday calls for dry weather through the weekend, isolated mountain showers north of Interstate 80 possible Monday through Thursday, temperatures slightly below normal and trending cooler, and increasing confidence in widespread precipitation late in the week, with timing and amounts still uncertain. Sunday morning's update, at 8:16 AM, holds highs slightly below normal into the week and cooler late in the week, adds breezy southwest winds Monday over the Sierra and southern Cascades with gusts of 30 to 40 mph, calls it mainly dry through midweek, and keeps good confidence in widespread precipitation by late week. PG&E's shutoff page, checked again this evening, still shows no event since October 17, and no red flag warning or new local fire appeared in YubaNet's log or fire page.

Sources: Nevada County via The Union, Oct 22; NWS Sacramento via YubaNet's Happening Now log, Oct 24 and Oct 25; PG&E newsroom; temperatures via OpenSnow, Oct 25.

County · Joint Powers

Resilience Project Board Cancels Wednesday Meeting

The governing board of the Resilience Project of Western Nevada County, on which Nevada City sits through Vice Mayor Gary Petersen, City Manager Carrie Wright, and alternate Council Member Micayla Sortland, has canceled its October 28 meeting at the Rood Center. The notice says no new date has been set and that one will be posted under the Brown Act.

Source: Resilience Project governing board notice, Nevada County Agenda Center

Regular Meeting

Nevada City City Council

Wednesday, October 28 at 6:30 PM · City Hall, Beryl P. Robinson Jr. Conference Room, 317 Broad St. · Posted Friday, October 23, per the Deputy City Clerk's certification · Agenda · Agenda with attachments

Presentations. Update on the Nevada City–Penzance sister city relationship and next steps.

Consent Agenda. 1. Approve action minutes of the October 14 regular meeting. 2. Award a construction contract to Telstar Instruments, not to exceed $125,971 plus a 10 percent contingency of $12,597, for the wastewater treatment plant's SCADA hardware and software upgrade. 3. ❖ Second reading and adoption of Ordinance 2026-07, adding water-efficient landscape and irrigation requirements (Chapter 17.83) citywide to match the state's model ordinance. 4. ❖ SYRCL's request for a $2,500 sponsorship or fee waiver, a $525 facility fee waiver, and a special-event street closure for the 2026 Wild & Scenic Film Festival. 5. ❖ Second reading and adoption of Ordinance 2026-06, amending the cannabis business tax (§5.06.050).

Business. 6. Approve a Regional Public Safety Dispatch Services Agreement among Nevada County, Grass Valley, Truckee, and Nevada City. 7. Resolution 2026-35 supporting Nevada Irrigation District's Proposition 4 dam safety and climate resilience grant application. 8. Presentation from the county's Transit Services Division on the Reenvisioning Transit comprehensive operations analysis. 9. ❖ Discussion and direction on changing the council's regular meeting start time and City Hall's public operating hours.

To attend or comment: in person at the meeting, three minutes per speaker, item by item; in writing to publiccomment@nevadacityca.gov until 3:00 PM on meeting day; watch live on the city's YouTube channel or cable channel 17 or 18. Zoom comment is no longer offered. Adjournment is set for 9:30 PM unless extended.

This Day In History

1854. At the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War, Britain, France, and the Ottoman Empire fought Russia, the engagement that produced the Charge of the Light Brigade. 1940. Benjamin Oliver Davis Sr. became the first African American general in the United States Army.

Source: timeanddate.com, On This Day

Niel's Knick Knacks

World Pasta Day. Observe it below, in the recipe, or at any Broad Street table with a view of the parking situation. National Greasy Foods Day. Falls, by cosmic scheduling, on the same Sunday; the paper takes no position on the order of operations. International Artist Day. A fine day for the CHAMP Gallery's call for exhibition partners, open through November 19. Visit a Cemetery Day. Gold Rush towns are well supplied, and the residents are excellent listeners.

Source: Checkiday

Hey Good Lookin', Whatcha Got Cookin'

Hunter's Moon Squash and Sage Rigatoni (a Nugget original). Halve and seed a small butternut squash, cut it into half-inch cubes, toss with olive oil, salt, and a pinch of red pepper flakes, and roast at 425° for 25 minutes until the edges brown. Meanwhile boil a pound of rigatoni in well-salted water and save a cup of the cooking water before draining. In a wide skillet, melt four tablespoons of butter over medium heat with a dozen sage leaves until the butter turns nut-brown and the leaves crisp, then add two sliced cloves of garlic for half a minute. Toss in the pasta, the squash, a handful of grated Parmesan, and splashes of the pasta water until glossy, finish with black pepper and a squeeze of lemon, and scatter toasted walnuts on top. Serves four, or two and tomorrow's lunch, which on World Pasta Day counts as planning ahead. Readers' own recipes are welcome through the house channel and run with credit and permission.