November 2008

11-1-08

 11-1-08Merced Sun-StarPublic NoticeFelix Torres Farm Worker Housing Center Seasonal and Year-Round Facilitieshttp://www.legalnotice.org/pl/mercedsun-star/ShowNotice.aspxINVITATION TO BID Felix Torres Farm Worker Housing Center Seasonal and Year-Round Facilities The Housing Authority of the County of Merced (HACM) and Brown Construction Company, Inc. (BCI), General Contractor/Construction Manager (GC/CM), License No.

11-2-08

 11-2-08Modesto BeeTuolumne project nearing completionHundreds of trees will be planted on site near Grayson...Ken Carlsonhttp://www.modbee.com/local/story/484483.htmlA group devoted to the Tuolumne River is looking to complete a project to restore the natural environment along the river near Grayson.For the past four years, the Tuolumne River Trust has led efforts on the 240-acre site to restore forest, river and wildlife habitat.

11-5-08

 11-5-08Merced Sun-StarCrookham's Merced Theatre donation not supported...Scott Jasonhttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/532334.htmlMerced County Supervisor Kathleen Crookham's plan to give $150,000 in county funds to the Merced Theatre Foundation failed Monday.Each supervisor is given a pot of cash at the start of the year to spend on projects that otherwise may be overlooked. Crookham saved her money up with plans to give it to the downtown theater restoration.

11-6-08

 11-6-08Merced Sun-StarWal-Mart sets Supercenter sights on Merced CountyThe chain filed an application to build a store in Livingston...JONAH OWEN LAMBhttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/533929.htmlAnother Wal-Mart may be coming to a town near you.Wal-Mart announced today it will apply with the city of Livingston to build a 162,797-square-foot Super Wal-Mart store, a company spokesman said.As part of the Blueberry Crossing Development, just off Highway 99, Wal-Mart would be the anchor store for a 317,000-s

11-8-08

  11-8-08Merced Sun-StarUC Merced releases draft of campus development plan...DANIELLE GAINEShttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/537671.htmlUC Merced has set lofty goals for its massive plot of land north of town: housing for more than 12,000 students, a sports complex and a research and development park.But it will be doing it with less space, according to planning documents released by the university."We are extremely pleased to provide this fresh and more comprehensive l

11-9-08

 11-9-08Modesto BeeUC Merced student hurt in lab blast...Rosalio Ahumadahttp://www.modbee.com/local/story/492796.htmlMERCED -- A graduate student was seriously injured with cuts and acid burns Saturday afternoon when his experiment exploded in a research laboratory inside the Science and Engineering building at the University of California at Merced.Eric Josephs suffered cuts to his hands and face from an exploding beaker that contained nitric acid and butanol, as well as burns to

11-10-08

  11-10-08Merced Sun-StarAnalyst: Central Valley's smog woes overblownBut officials reply that one violation affects many people...Mark Grossi, The Fresno Beehttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/539783.htmlThe San Joaquin Valley led the nation in ozone violations this year with 127, but no one person could have experienced all those bad-air days.That's because the total includes many days when only one or two cities had violations.

11-11-08

 11-11-08Merced Sun-StarMerced's County Bank sues to regain loan moneyThe 142-house development stands empty except for a few model homes...SCOTT JASONhttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/541043.htmlCounty Bank's bid to collect a $9 million construction loan it made to a local developer may be headed for trial.The local financial institution made a loan last year to finance Paseo, a Merced subdivision that fizzled as the housing market collapsed.County Bank

Now let us hope and get down to work

Here in Merced, the Obama campaign was as invisible to the general public as the on-going immigration raids. Obama-Biden lawn signs were greatly outnumbered by For Sale and For Rent signs in this national foreclosure-rate capital. Our local Democratic Party is dominated by a Blue Dog congressman and his plutocrat paymasters and has no community credibility. We did however notice frequent email invitations to local phone-bank events, where people here would call to help get the vote out in the battleground states.In any event, Obama wasn’t paying much attention to Merced.

11-12-08

   11-12-08Merced Sun-StarRiver restoration gets go-ahead...MICHAEL DOYLE, Sun-Star Washington Bureauhttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/268/story/542689.htmlWASHINGTON -- San Joaquin River restoration efforts, a roller-coaster ride if there ever was one, now have cleared what could be the last big hump prior to congressional approval.This week, negotiators resolved some final controversies over the bill's language.

11-13-08

 11-13-08Merced Sun-StarPollution costing Valley billionsPoor air quality also causes hundreds of deaths annually...MARK GROSSI, The Fresno Beehttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/268/story/544510.htmlThere's a new annual price tag for breathing dirty air in the San Joaquin Valley: $6.3 billion, mostly because more than 800 people die years earlier than they should.That's more fatalities due to bad air than car accidents, said nationally known economist Jane V.

11-14-08

 11-14-08Merced Sun-StarNeighbors, group file lawsuit over Atwater's sewer plansThey say environmental report was not thorough...JONAH OWEN LAMBhttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/546449.htmlATWATER -- Atwater's unused wastewater sludge reuse area -- the future home of the city's new wastewater treatment plant -- is nothing more than an empty field today.

An unfortunate "community" column

Catching up on his newspaper reading, one member of the Badlands Journal editorial board noticed this advertisement for the UC/Great Valley Center couched innocuously in the "community columnists'" section of Modesto's McClatchy Chain outlet.11-05-08Modesto BeeBut Suppose for the sake of argument the anti-science rant about the causes of global warming is correct.

11-15-08

 11-15-08Merced Sun-StarMerced County gets $7 million to fight home woesOur area gets about a quarter of what was requested...SCOTT JASONhttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/548554.htmlMerced County and its cities are eligible for up to $7 million to buy up foreclosed homes and demolish ones that have become eyesores, the state announced Friday.The money is part of a $3.9 billion Neighborhood Stabilization Program package passed by Congress during the summer

11-16-08

 11-16-08Badlands JournalAn unfortunate "community" column...Badlands Journal editorial board...11-14-08http://www.badlandsjournal.com/2008-11-14/006955Catching up on his newspaper reading, one member of the Badlands Journal editorial board noticed this advertisement for the UC/Great Valley Center couched innocuously in the "community columnists'" section of Modesto's McClatchy Chain outlet.11-05-08Modesto BeeBut Suppose for the sake of argument the anti-sc

A common story

A woman who works in a processing plant developed persistent pain in her knee. She kept working as long as she could but finally had to go to management and explain that she did not want to quit but that she had too much pain to do the work she was doing. A manager brought her into his office and told her to sign a form before going to the company doctor. She told the manager that she would need to take the form home and have a family member whose English was better read it. The manager told her to sign it then and there or be fired.

A common story

A woman who works in a processing plant developed persistent pain in her knee. She kept working as long as she could but finally had to go to management and explain that she did not want to quit but that she had too much pain to do the work she was doing. A manager brought her into his office and told her to sign a form before going to the company doctor. She told the manager that she would need to take the form home and have a family member whose English was better read it. The manager told her to sign it then and there or be fired.

11-17-08

 11-17-08Merced Sun-StarGustine's Mel Markville Sure Does Whine...Submitted by ElZorrohttp://sunspot.mercedsunstar.com/?q=node/5580Gustine candidates denounce election mailer...Written by News Staff...Saturday, November 15, 2008GUSTINE – An eleventh-hour election mailer targeting mayoral candidate Mark Melville was denounced by he and incumbent Mayor Rich Ford.The single-sheet, double-sided flyer called into question Melville’s consulting work for Pacific Holt Corporation

11-18-08

 11-18-08 Merced Sun-StarSan Joaquin River plan aims to appease districtsWaterway dispute finally settled after two decades...CAROL REITERhttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/552551.htmlA federal bill that would restore water flows and return salmon to the San Joaquin River had some local water districts worried.But amendments to the bill were agreed upon Monday, and those amendments should drown the worries of the districts.The bill will go before the Senat

Three on the economy

Three of the most interesting articles we've read on the economy this week have come from divergent sources: Paul Craig Roberts, former assistant US Treasurer and Wall Street Journal editor, and a theorist of supply-side economics; Mike Davis, on the editorial board of New Left Review and author of City of Quartz and Planet of Slums among other books; Dean Baker, editor at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, who has been warning the nation since 2002 about the danger of the speculative housing bubble.

11-20-08

 11-20-08Merced Sun-StarOur View: Help spend $270,000Supervisor Crookham is out of ideas for her 'special project funds.' How would you spend it?http://www.mercedsunstar.com/177/v-print/story/556550.htmlPoor Supervisor Kathleen Crookham.She's got $270,000 in "special project funds" that she's been saving up for years. She's got to spend all that money before her last meeting with the Merced County Board of Supervisors on Dec.

Cardoza, dumber than a derivative?

 Scrooge McMoney-Power takes credit for Christams break on some foreclosures in his districtStatement from Congressman Cardoza on Freddie and Fannie holiday moratorium‏From:  Dennis Cardoza (dennis.cardoza@congressnewsletter.net)  Sent: Fri 11/21/08 11:47 AMWASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Dennis Cardoza expressed his appreciation today that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae had enacted a temporary moratorium on foreclosures.“Obviously this is not a silver bullet or any kind of long-term fix to the housing cri

11-22-08

 11-22-08Merced Sun-StarPublice Notice...11-21-08Public Hearing - Merced County Planning CommissionTo amend the Circulation Chapter of the Merced County General Plan to include the SR152 Los Banos bypass project route.http://www.legalnotice.org/pl/mercedsun-star/ShowNotice.aspx"PUBLIC HEARING" A public hearing will be held by the Merced County Planning Commission on Wednesday, December 3, 2008 at 9:00 a.m., in the Board Room on the T

11-23-08

 11-23-08 Modesto BeeToo bad Congress has delayed vote on fixing the San Joaquin...Editorialhttp://www.modbee.com/opinion/story/509377.htmlIt would be nice to get judges and politicians out of the San Joaquin River and more salmon into it. Unfortunately, but predictably, that won't happen anytime soon.The U.S. Senate has decided to postpone action on a public lands bill that includes funding to restore the San Joaquin River from just north of Fresno to Merced.

11-24-08

 11-24-08Merced Sun-StarForeclosures make up an increasing share of resales as prices fall...Sanford Nax, The Fresno Beehttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/562745.htmlInvestors and first-time home buyers were out in force last month, snapping up foreclosures and driving up sales of existing homes, a market tracking company reported Thursday.Analysts say it is no coincidence that sales are soaring in regions where prices have plummeted.

11-26-08

 11-26-08Merced Sun-StarPublic NoticeNOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON THE DRAFT AMENDMENT #3 TO THE 2009 INTERIM FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM, RTP AMENDMENT #1 AND CORRESPONDING DRAFT CONFORMITY ANALYSIS NOTICEhttp://www.legalnotice.org/pl/mercedsun-star/ShowNotice.aspxNOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON THE DRAFT AMENDMENT #3 TO THE 2009 INTERIM FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM, RTP AMENDMENT #1 AND CORRESPONDING DRAFT CONFORMITY ANALYSIS

11-27-08

 11-27-08Merced Sun-StarArmy Corps of Engineers wants input on UC Merced changesSmaller footprint seeks to pass environmental challenges...DANIELLE GAINEShttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/567924.htmlThe public is invited to comment on environmental issues resulting from the expansion of the UC Merced campus at a meeting on campus Tuesday evening. The U.S.

11-28-08

 11-28-08Merced Sun-StarStill ticking...Scott Jason, Reporters' Notebookhttp://notebook.mercedsunstar.com/still_tickingI checked in with Mayor Ellie Wooten today to see whether 60 Minutes has come out to interview her about the area's foreclosure problem. She said she's still working out the details with the show's producers and expects them to head out soon. On a different topic, Wooten said she's heard half the town has been talking about running for mayor.

11-29-08

 11-29-08Merced Sun-StarNew city manager on job MondayForeclosures, Wal-Mart: There are plenty of issues for incoming boss to tackle...SCOTT JASONhttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/570216.htmlCity Manager John Bramble will take his seat alongside the City Council on Monday, beginning his command of Merced at a time of unprecedented challenges.The 62-year-old has said he's up for the job and signed a five-year contract at a $171,653 annual salary.

11-30-08

 11-30-08Fresno BeeValley casino future unsureVegas company faces financial struggles...Chris Collinshttp://www.fresnobee.com/local/v-printerfriendly/story/1042799.htmlThe Las Vegas company that wants to build a $250 million casino off Highway 99 near Madera is struggling financially and may have trouble lining up money to fund the project, gaming industry analysts say.Even worse, Station Casinos could file for bankruptcy, which would force th