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FBI raids Placer congressman's Washington residence

Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wednesday, 18 April 2007

More evidence of chaos in the financial, insurance and real estate financial cabal (FIRE) is news, however late, the the Virginia home of Rep. John Doolittle, R-Rocklin, was raided last Friday by the FBI. Investigators were looking for evidence of the congressman and his wife's connections with Jack Abramoff. They didn't have to look too far. According to The Hill, Kevin Ring, Doolittle's former chief of staff, left his office to work for Abramoff, who subsequently hired Doolittle's wife, Julie's consulting firm.

Awash in the wakes of great valley leaders

Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on Monday, 16 April 2007

Carol Whiteside, the former Modesto mayor who has guided the Great Valley Center since its inception 10 years ago, will step down as president of the Modesto-based think tank, she said Tuesday. Under her leadership, the Great Valley Center became the only organization muscling to boost the historically underachieving valley along its entire length, from Redding to Bakersfield..."The valley has changed and we've had quite a role in that change. I just feel like we've set in motion many of the things we wanted to start.

The other news

Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sunday, 15 April 2007

During the Easter weekend, the US and UK media were consumed with issues of “free speech.” If English is your language, you were bombarded with the Imus story in the US and the somewhat more complicated story in the UK about the 15 British naval personnel released from Iranian captivity. Both stories compelled high moral drama. Imus had insulted the race and gender of a women’s collegiate basketball team.

April 12, 2007: Day in the life of the north San Joaquin Valley

Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thursday, 12 April 2007

A strong, chilly wind is blowing in the north San Joaquin Valley today, stirring up an enormous amount of dust coming in part from graded but unfinished subdivisions, as the financial, insurance and real estate industry hunkers down for an explosion of mortgage default.

But, poetry aside, the news of the day is as gritty as the sight of tons of topsoil blowing away from the county.

Appellate Court overturns Merced Superior Court CEQA decision: Jaxon Mine must do new EIR

Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wednesday, 11 April 2007

MERCED (April 11, 2007) – The Court of Appeal for the State of California, Fifth District, ruled Tuesday in favor of a petition brought by San Joaquin Raptor Rescue Center, Protect Our Water and Le Grand Community Association against the Merced County Board of Supervisors and Jaxon Enterprises. In 2004, the County supervisors approved a badly flawed environmental impact report and conditional use permit for Jaxon Enterprises Mine near Le Grand to expand its mining operations.

The barn-door problem

Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tuesday, 10 April 2007

News that the national foreclosure rate is higher than at any time since the Great Depression is obviously not good. But, it has one positive side. It reveals the driving force of the whole finance, insurance and real estate sector of the economy, the "lending industry," as the Fresno Bee put it in the editorial below.

Blaming the victims

Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tuesday, 10 April 2007

"I hope the voters will understand when we put a tax measure on the ballot again we are spending every cent we have right now and it's not even scratching the surface," Spriggs said. -- Merced Sun-Star, 4-9-07

The MacDonald Affair

Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on Saturday, 31 March 2007

Having observed and commented on the corruption of local, state and federal environmental law in this region for nearly a decade, the recent hoopla surrounding Julia MacDonald, the deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks in the Department of Interior, is not news. We met MacDonald shortly after her appointment as aide to Judge Craig Manson, the assistant secretary of fish, wildlife and parks, in 2002. She urged us to get in touch. We think we have her card somewhere.

Hun to increase state water supply -- Read all about it!

Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tuesday, 27 March 2007

There is something about a governor that loves a dam. Maybe it's the ribbons. In any event, Our Hun is no different. But the justification for more off-stream storage of water in California is beginning to reach a stage we might call "officially sanctified lunacy." It based on the mathematical assumptions that benefit a very powerful handful of people: the Hun, parts of the Legislature and the editorial board of the McClatchy Chain.

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