KVMR News

Order number CAC08000-26-05 was issued by BLM's Mother Lode Field Office and goes into effect on Friday, May 22nd.United States District Judge William B. Shubb ruled that Rise Grass Valley is violating the Clean Water Act by discharging arsenic, iron, and manganese from the Idaho-Maryland Mine into Wolf Creek without a permit.

Seth David Cotten of Nevada City was booked into Wayne Brown Correctional Facility in the early morning hours of May 19th and remains the primary suspect in the murder of Jeremy Norton.Unit forester for CalFire's Nevada Yuba Placer Unit, Steve Garcia, says the lack of snowpack at elevation is among his biggest concerns.Register for Nevada County Alerts at NevadaCountyCA.gov/Emergency-Alerts.

Resolution No. 2026-08 authorized Annual Contributions to the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe in the Amount of $2,500 over the next 3 years for a total $7500.

Learn more about the County's new emergency alert system, Nevada County Alerts, which is replacing the CodeRED notification system on the county's website. Nevada County residents are encouraged to sign up for before the official test on May 28th. You can do that at ReadyNevadaCounty.org/EmergencyAlerts.

Pacific Gas and Electric will begin inspecting a 2.5 mile section of Nevada County natural gas pipeline in June. The utility says there will be no impact on regional customers. Voting is underway for the June 2 Primary Election. California residents can still register to vote online or check their voter registration status at registertovote.ca.gov.  

In a May 7 Memorandum Decision and Order, Nevada County Superior Court Judge S. Robert Tice-Raskin wrote that Nevada County, by clear and convincing evidence, established that the Idaho-Maryland Mine Corporation abandoned any vested mining right by 1963.

The Fire Safe Council of Nevada County Vice Chair of the Board, Steve Eubanks, spoke with KVMR on Wednesday afternoon following the organizations special meeting.Grass Valley Library Adult Programming Coordinator Brittany Blake tells us about the special “wired-less” grab-n-go bags the library has created for Nevada County's annual Screen Free Week. 

The Sierra Express Bicycle Club has launched a community survey to assess bicycling and e-biking conditions across Western Nevada County. The Western Nevada County Bicycle Transportation & Recreation Survey results will be used inform local planning decisions.

Anyone who still hasn't received your Voter Information Guides should call the Nevada County Elections office at (530) 265-1298. They can also be reached by email at elections.mail@NevadaCountyCA.gov. Nevada County is celebrating Screen-Free Week, May 4th through the 10th. The Nevada County Offline Oasis lists opportunities for screen-free activities and health information about the impact of screens.

Jamie Jones, Executive Director of the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County, and her husband, Christopher Wackerly, the organization's Director of Field Operations, were indicted by a Nevada County criminal grand jury on more than two dozen felony charges including embezzlement, grand theft, money laundering, mortgage fraud, insurance fraud, perjury and forgery.Foothill Fire celebrated May Day at the Nevada City Odd Fellows Oustomah Lodge #16 with a Festival of Revolutionary Joy. You can follow their work on their blog: foothillfire.noblogs.org The Wildfire-Ready Coalition of Nevada County's Wildfire-Ready Festival & Expo at Western Gateway Park featured multiple speakers and over 40 exhibits.

Armando Salud-Ambriz, Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters for Nevada County says the best way to fight misinformation is to increase transparency. His office is leveraging technologies like streaming cameras to give voters more opportunities to observe ballot processing.

Cláudio Mendonça spoke with two of the festival organizers, Marni Marshall and Christian Gutt, to learn what's new this year.

Learn more about the SR20 closure on the Caltrans website.The Nevada County Democrats hosted a public forum for down-ballot races at the Miners Foundry in Nevada City. Listen to the entire forum on the KVMR News podcast.

On Monday, April 27th, the Nevada County Democrats organized a forum at the Miners Foundry Cultural Center in Nevada City to hear from down ballot candidates including those running for Nevada City City Council, Nevada County Superintendent of Schools, and California's 3rd Congressional District.

Sierra College's Nevada County Campus celebrated its 30 year anniversary by sharing the contents of a time capsule buried in 1996. Items included a wooden apple, a couple of hats, a t-shirt, and lots of newspaper articles.  

The new center at 590 Searls Avenue in Nevada City will help survivors of crime by offering access to various law enforcement agencies and other services in one place.

The Warm Weather Clothing Swap will take place on Saturday, April 25th from 2 - 3:30 p.m. at the Madelyn Helling LibraryThe second meeting of the Wolf Creek Alliance's Empire Mine Community Assessment Project will take place today, Tuesday, April 21st at 6:30 p.m.

Learn about the Forest Service Reorganization on the USDA's website.Learn more about KVMRx online and sign up to play on Skream Radio here.

Located at 626 S. Auburn Street in Grass Valley, the cluster of 11 cottages was formerly used as a mix of vacation rentals and housing.

Nevada County has a new opt-in emergency alert system. It's called Nevada County Alerts and it replaces CodeRED.

Melissa Hannebrink, owner of Quietech, a local computer technical support, training, and repair shop visited the KVMR studios to talk with News Director Cláudio Mendonça about A.I. and the upcoming Senior Protection & Scam Prevention Expo.

The FBI's most recent Internet Crime Report says Americans lost nearly $21 billion to scammers in 2025. Just this month, an elderly Grass Valley woman was swindled out of $40K in cash by someone posing as an employee of her bank. Melissa Hannebrink, a local computer business owner wants to help people stay safe through education. She's organized the upcoming ScamExpo.

Nevada County Sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 call in the area of Yellow Pine Lane off Graniteville Rd around noon on Saturday and encountered a deceased adult man later identified as 45-year-old Jeremy Norton, of Nevada City. There are currently no suspects in custody and the the investigation remains active.

On this inaugural Local News Day, your community radio newsroom speaks to two local high schoolers about their effort to bring local news back to their Grass Valley campus. The goal of Local News Day - connect people with trusted, local newsrooms that serve their communities. Ada, a freshman at Nevada Union High School, and Tori, a sophomore, are setting out to do just that.

According to the 2026 T.R.U.T.H. presentation, only 18 of the total 2,916 local jail bookings involved ICE in some way. 

In recognition of National Public Health Week, KVMR News brings you a look at Nevada County's Public Health Department. We hear from Community Health Analyst Shannon Harney about extensive efforts to expand the county's oral health program. For more information about the free oral health program or to register for a spot of the clinic, adults with active Medi-Cal can call: (530) 265-1450 or email Shannon.Harney@nevadacountyca.gov

NID's proposed rate increase will help pay for the Scotts Flat Reservoir spillway replacement. Learn more about the rate increase on NID's water rates page. For Public Health Week KVMR News checked in with Nevada County Community Health Analyst Shannon Harney.

NID hydrologists say the historic heat has sharply reduced this year's snowpack. The district's snowpack typically reaches its seasonal peak in late March or early April but the recent snow survey measured just 15 percent of average for this time of year.

NASA successfully launched the Artemis II mission on Wednesday. KVMR Broadcaster and Science educator Al Stahler discusses the historic event with Cláudio Mendonça.

The 16 bed facility will cost around $23,000,000 and will be located behind the Wayne Brown Correctional Facility on the Nevada County Administrative Center campus in Nevada City. 

Lisa Redfern and Rose Murphy have created over a dozen free, self-guided walking tours focusing on local history. Tour topics range from “Women, Saints, and Sinners” to “From Bandits to Badges”. And three tours in Grass Valley and one in Nevada City focus on the areas' once thriving China Towns. Redfern and Murphy take KVMR News to the start of the “Grass Valley Chinatown” tour. 

Nevada County was counted among the thousands of No Kings 3 demonstration sites organized across the country. Although no official tally is yet available, multiple sources are estimating the total attendance to be around 8 million. Standing Dead - Overstocked. Overgrown. Overdue. premiered at the Don Baggett Theater on Saturday. The film screening and panel discussion were organized by the Wildfire Ready Coalition Nevada County.

On Saturday, March 28th, after the debut of Standing Dead - Overstocked. Overgrown. Overdue., a panel of 5 sat down to discuss wildfire in Nevada County. The panel included fire scientist Jo Ann Fites-Kaufman of the The Wildfire Ready Coalition of Nevada County, Bill Jacks, executive Director of Terra Fuego, Zeke Lunder, founder of The Lookout, Jason Moghaddas, forester and fire ecologist with Spatial Informatics Group, and Mike Sherman, former Superintendent of the Plumas Interagency Hotshot Crew based in Quincy California.

Warm spring weather is coaxing thousands of tulips into flowering earlier than expected at the at the Crystal Hermitage Gardens at Ananda Village. Tulip Festival organizers are encouraging people to visit early if they want to experience "Peak Bloom."The construction fence around the new Condon skatepark came down early last week. Members of Grass Valley's skate community shared their thoughts with KVMR's Claudio Mendonca. 

K9 Riggs served with the Davis Police Department until 2021 before joining the NCSO in 2024.If acquired the Cedar Ridge Preserve could eventually add 140 acres to Empire Mine State Historic Park. Learn more by contacting Bear Yuba Land Trust's Executive director Erin Tarr at (530) 272-5994 x 205

The Five Lakes Closure Area is a 1/2 mile from the crash site. At this time going into or being in the Five Lakes Closure Area including National Forest System Trail 16E13, commonly known as the Five Lakes Trail, is prohibited. The body of 19-year-old Brian Marcellino Gallardo of Petaluma was recovered from the Truckee River near Floriston.

Caltrans says the Yuba Pass Separation Overhead Bridge Project will keep east and westbound I-80 to one lane in each direction from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. each workday until April 15th. Motorists traveling the I-80 Sierra corridor should expect delays.For the past three decades the United States has been trending down when it comes to high school reading levels. This year Nevada County's largest high school received previously unavailable testing data that confirmed over half of the school's 9th graders were reading below grade level. Nevada Union's librarian speaks about the reading struggle ripple effect and how this isn't a problem confined to the school campus. In an attempt to bolster a community of reading, the county library has a new resource available to residents. We hear from the project's creator, the Adult Programming Coordinator at the Grass Valley Library branch. 

The Yuba Watershed Institute and the Nevada County Office of Emergency Services have been awarded more than $3,000,000 to reduce wildfire fuels in the South Yuba River Canyon. 

Kiley says his decision is an attempt to move away from partisanship.BLM plans to burn piles on about 250 acres in the area of Jackass Flats Road, Silverthorne Lane, and Kadaheska Way east of North Columbia in Nevada County. Burning operations are expected to continue until June.

The Nevada Irrigation District is proposing raising rates in a series of annual increases over the next five years. KVMR's April Glaser recently spoke with Greg Jones, NID's Assistant General Manager to learn more. Read NID's 2026 Cost of Service Study here.

The list of local candidates who will appear on the ballot for the June 2nd Statewide Direct Primary Election has been finalized and can be seen on the Nevada County Elections Office Website.S.T.A.N.D.S will regularly report to the Nevada Joint Union High School District Board of Trustees about campus culture and advise them on policy.

STANDS, the Student Team for Awareness, Neutrality and District Safety will serve as a bridge between the student body and the Board of Trustees.KVMR News correspondent April Glaser spoke with UC Merced's Dr. Safeeq Khan to learn what the lower than average Sierra snowpack means for foothill communities in 2026.

The Board of Supervisors of Nevada County voted 4-1 on Tuesday to continue the discussion on the proposed RV Ordinance. The law, as written, would have created a "path to compliance" for people already living in travel trailers and other recreational vehicles and would have codified the requirements for property owners interested in allowing someone to live in an RV on their property. 

Molly Starr, Haven Caravelli, Dakota Graham, and Faith Aleila Escoto were honored with awards at at Nevada County's third annual Women's History Month celebration. Placer County Public Health reported four confirmed measles cases in the first week of March. EdSource - an organization focused on covering education in California - reports 16 counties have now fallen below the vaccination herd immunity threshold for measles which means an increased risk of future outbreaks. Nevada County is one of those 16.

Under California Elections Code, if an eligible incumbent doesn't file nomination papers by the close of the filing period, the nomination period is automatically extended for five days to allow other candidates to enter the race. The filing period has been extended for the Nevada City City Council race, the County Auditor-Controller race, the County Superintendent of Schools race, and the County Treasurer-Tax Collector race.Nevada City Mayor Adam Klein's pasty landed closer to the target than the one tossed by Grass Valley Mayor Hilary Hodge.Around 300 people marched for peace from the Rood Center in Nevada City to the Brunswick Basin in Grass Valley. 

Luis Estrada brings decades of experience in mission-driven media, community engagement, and nonprofit development to KVMR.Tonight's Town Hall will focus on the fuels treatment efforts for Nevada City's Sugarloaf, Old Airport, and Hirshman's Pond parcels.  

Although the design for the Downtown Grass Valley Roundabout has been finalized and funding has been secured, the project continues to be the topic of discussion for many. KVMR's Cláudio Mendonça spoke with City Engineer Bjorn Jones about some people's concerns.

The Down Payment Assistance Program aims to help moderate-income households in buying their first home by loaning eligible applicants up to $50,000. 

Visitors to the Rood Center on Friday afternoon were met at the entrance by Ferrera and Rocher, two puppies available for adoption at Sammie's Friends Animal Shelter.SYRCL Scientists continue to monitor the turbidity of the Yuba River near the New Colgate Powerhouse.  Nevada City Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Lynn Skrukrud spoke with KVMR's Kelley Rees to share how her organization shapes policy and what event's they're gearing up for,

Crews continue to clean up almost two weeks after a pipe failure above the Colgate Powerhouse sent a torrent of water down the hillside into the Yuba River.The 12th annual Nevada City Chinese Lunar New Year Parade and Festival will kick off at noon in downtown Nevada City. 

Sage A. Wilson of Grass Valley was discovered just before 1 p.m. on February 23rd by someone walking in the wooded area between Sutton Way and Brunswick Road. Police say no foul play is suspected.The Nevada County Elections Office is hiring temporary Elections staff and Vote Center workers for the upcoming June 2nd Statewide Direct Primary Election.