Colfax Chronicles

One Year AgoAug. 21, 2008 – Placer County's exhibit at the 2008 California State Fair takes a whimsical approach to what makes the county such a special place.The exhibit's centerpiece is a 30-foot-tall tree with giant roots interspersed among large boulders. Under the tree's branches, children are enjoying fishing and other outdoor pastimes.Inside, fair visitors who venture through entrances created by the tree's roots will discover a magical world of gnomes.Colfax High School junior Rachel Fritz, who painted the murals, was one of the interns working on the project.Fritz is a student of Colfax High Art teacher Steve Coverston.10 Years AgoAug. 19, 1999 – After months of planning, the site plan for Colfax's proposed McDonald's Restaurant will face public scrutiny tonight.The Colfax Planning Commission will review the plan for the first time during a meeting scheduled at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 33 South Main Street.McDonald's representatives are hoping to obtain the commission's approval so they can begin construction next month. The proposed restaurant will be built on South Auburn Street near the westbound Interstate 80 off-ramp.City Planner Shelley Eisner is also asking the commission to accept a mitigation agreement, which will require McDonald's to construct and complete necessary westbound I-80 exit improvements.20 Years AgoAug. 22, 1989 – California Department of Forestry firefighters were kept busy Saturday afternoon with two large grass fires in opposite parts of Placer County, both started by humans.The first fire occurred just before noon off Live Oak Lane near Colfax and spread to about 10 acres before being doused. During its peak, the blaze threatened to engulf several homes in the area, said CDF dispatcher Paul Lasich.The dispatcher added that a resident started the fire with flying sparks from a cutting torch he was using on his car.50 Years AgoAug. 21, 1959 – Who was Jacob? Was he born in 1760, or did he visit this part of Placer County at the age of 60 in 1760?Those are some of the questions that James M. Easley, who with Mrs. Easley, makes his home here, would like to have answered. He recently found a chalk boulder in his yard that had been hauled there from the slide on the Southern Pacific main line during the winter of 1957-58. At that time Highway 40 was also covered with rocks and mud which had slid down from the mountainside.Easley's brother, who happened to be visiting here, noticing the boulder was cracked, took the edges by both hands and pulled down on the loose slab, exposing the following engravings: "DU AGE 60 JACOB AGE 60 1760 Age 60."The figures "60" are cut in the rock at several different places.75 Years AgoAug. 17, 1934 – Richard E. Collins of Redding, chairman of the State Board of Equalization and one of the leading sponsors of the Riley-Stewart tax relief plan, announced the board hopes to accomplish an additional 15 percent saving for California common property owners in next year's tax bills.Tax saving achieved this year for homeowners, farmers and other common property taxpayers under the Riley-Stewart plan totaled more than $40,000,000, Collins said, or an average of a 20 per cent reduction for all property owners."With the return of utility property to local tax rolls in January of next year, to be taxed on an absolute equality with common taxpayers," Collins stated, "California counties will be given a new source of taxable wealth which should materially relive the burden on the small property owner."-- Miranda Stanley uses back issues of the Colfax Record to compile the Colfax Chronicles.