9-18-09

 
9-18-09 
Merced Sun-Star
Act of Congress helps college students
Cardoza ensures that local campuses get extra help...DANIELLE GAINES. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/1063971.html
College students in the San Joaquin Valley can expect increased financial aid in the coming years, Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced, said Thursday.
The news came as the House of Representatives passed the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009, which includes an amendment from Cardoza that gives additional assistance to community colleges in his district, which stretches from Stockton to northern Fresno.
"Investing in our community colleges, especially the ones in areas with high unemployment, is a crucial part of any economic recovery plan," Cardoza said before the vote.
The act pushes private lenders out of the federal college loan business and significantly expands the government's own lending program, while expanding Pell grants to needy students.
Ending loan subsidies and turning control over to the government would save taxpayers an estimated $87 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Lawmakers would use that money to help make college more affordable, increasing the maximum Pell Grant by $1,400 to $6,900 over the next decade.
With Cardoza's amendment, community college students in regions with high unemployment rates -- such as Merced, Modesto and Stockton -- will receive priority consideration when they apply for federal grants.
The number of students in the 18th district expected to receive Pell Grants is projected to increase from 16,000 now to 26,000 by 2015, according to a press release from Cardoza's office.
"In order to combat the economic storm that has ravaged our community, it is imperative that we make significant investments in our educational system and in our students," Cardoza said in the release. "The amendment is important for our future, and is a step toward building a new foundation for prosperity across the Valley."
An amendment attached to the bill also removed all federal funding for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, a left-leaning advocacy group.
Designs for new building at UC Merced approved
Plans include research and instructional labs, offices...DANIELLE GAINES
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/1063980.html
Designs for the second science and engineering building at UC Merced were approved by the University of California Regents Committee on Grounds and Buildings on Wednesday evening.
The 101,900-square-foot building includes research and instructional labs, as well as offices and computational and wet labs on the upper levels.
The building is about half the size of the present building and will be located next door, Thomas Lollini, associate vice chancellor for physical planning design and construction, said.
Even the rooftop of S&E 2, as the building is called, will showcase advanced features. Solar research facilities and space for a solar electricity and water heating system will be perched there.
"It's going to be a really cool building," Lollini said.
Along with the other permanent buildings at the campus, S&E 2 will strive for an LEED Gold rating from the United States Green Building Council. (Six campus buildings have already been certified as LEED Gold and one has a LEED Silver standing. No other university in the U.S. has earned LEED Silver or better for every building on campus, UC Merced spokeswoman Patti Waid Istas said.)
The new building is just one of a flurry being constructed at the five-year-old campus. Work is well underway at the social sciences and management building, similar in size to the new engineering complex. That building is expected to be finished in the spring of 2011.
Construction crews are also working on a third phase of student housing, which will open next fall. The two four-story dorm buildings will have almost 160 new rooms with 315 beds and will be located in front of the Valley Terraces housing, now visible from Lake Road.
The university hopes to have the second science and engineering building opened for the 2014-15 academic year.
Longtime promoter says Merced Speedway isn't closed
Quest to find a successor to keep it running in the works...JAMES BURNS
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/1063981.html
The longtime promoter of the Merced Speedway says the track isn't closed.
It's just stuck in neutral.
Promoter Chuck Griffin said he will meet with three interested parties next week, with the hope of finding a suitable successor to present to the Merced County Fair Board on Oct. 31.
He's also trying to procure sponsors to stage an open race on Sept. 26.
"The track isn't closed. It's not closed," Griffin said adamantly, refuting claims by driver Randy Brewer and announcer Johnny Sass. "It's not going out of business.
"The story I told the drivers on Saturday was I was going to retire, but there were interested people who would take over. There's nothing firm right now. There are options. The track isn't closed. It's just closed this Saturday."
Griffin, who announced his retirement last Saturday after 26 years of promotion, remains under contract with the Fair Board until Oct. 31.
At that point, he said, the Fair Board will take bids on a new management team for the speedway.
Sass and Brewer told the Sun-Star on Wednesday that Griffin's retirement signaled the end of racing at the speedway, at least until the board met to discuss bids in October.
Not so, says Griffin.
The 75-year-old hopes he can forge a partnership with one or more of these interested parties before the Halloween meeting, so he can present the board with a viable replacement.
He declined to name the parties, adding that he hopes to stay on as a consultant and to assist in track maintenance.
He will also meet with potential financiers this weekend about an open race on Sept. 26.
"I've had people come to me wanting to put some money up to run an open show," Griffin said. "We'll find out by this weekend."
Griffin cited his age, his wife Marylee's health, a failing economy and a direct competitor in the Chowchilla Speedway as motivating factors behind his retirement.
Marylee is the track's manager, according to the speedway's Web site.
The two took over the promotion and management duties at the speedway in 1985.
"The problem is our economy, our town and another track 17 miles from here that run the same divisions we do," Griffin said.
"It's a no-win situation."
This past season proved problematic fiscally for the Griffins.
The speedway didn't make any money, Chuck said, and sponsorship hit an all-time low.
"This last year was worse," Griffin said. "I've had sponsors for 26 years with me and we'd have 24 to 26 races a year, but this year the sponsorships were way down.
"Basically, we might have broken even each week. There was no money made on it. Everything is getting so expensive -- all the safety people, the state requirements.
"It's been a tough year."
Loose Lips:
Database -- The gift that keeps on giving
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/1064002.html
State leaders take home six-figure salaries, are aided by full-time staffs and, of course, wield power.
But now, thanks to The Sac Bee, we can see what fringe benefits come with their high-profile gigs.
In a database that screams Lips' name, we can see what gifts state Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced, and Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani, D-Livingston, received in the past year.
Denham was name-checked in the story that accompanied the database. Except for Los Angeles Democratic Sen. Ron Calderon, Denham's relatives received gifts worth the most, totaling $1,471. We guess that's one way he can raise his profile in the upcoming lieutenant governor bid.
Nearly all of the gifts were tickets to basketball games.
Denham personally didn't take too many gifts and reimbursed companies when he did. As a result, he reported receiving no gifts in 2008. How honorable!
Galgiani, meanwhile, got an invite to Google's inaugural event in Washington D.C., worth $250. In March she dined with reps from California Poultry Federation at The Kitchen Restaurant.
For anyone looking to dine there this month, the menu includes farm-raised Australian bluefin tuna, range-fed beef tenderloin and slow-braised heirloom chicken. The tab came to $162.
But who said, "There's no such thing as a free lunch?" Certainly not state reps.
Hooray for Wal-Mart!
What marvelous timing it is to have the Wal-Mart distribution center hearings coinciding with the Merced City Council election.
Anyone voicing opposition to the project probably ought to wait out this cycle. Of course, not one candidate has sounded overly critical, even Mary-Michal Rawling, who works for the Merced/Mariposa County Asthma Coalition, which is against the project.
Rawling was quoted last week in Merced's weekly saying the project is virtually a done-deal.
Fine enough, but then she went on to pretty much extol Wal-Mart's virtues when it comes to the environment and the grand opportunity to have it investing in Merced.
Who knew?
Lips figures she may have already learned the finest art of a local politician -- speaking out of both sides of her mouth.
Play put before work
Lips heard Merced County Supe Deidre Kelsey was busy planning county CEO Dee Tatum's farewell party, leading us to wonder if there's been more emphasis on his send-off than on finding a replacement, which Tatum hoped would be picked around now so there'd be an overlap.
Turns out, Kelsey hasn't made as much progress at all. She's still trying to nail down the day and remained mum on the location. Maybe she's just hoping he'll Dee-retire one more time.
Modesto Bee
Feds to study Western river basins...SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN, Associated Press Writer
http://www.modbee.com/state/v-print/story/858692.html
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The Bureau of Reclamation announced plans Thursday to study three large river basins in the West to get a better handle on future supplies, projected demands and the potential impacts of climate change on water resources.
Reclamation Commissioner Michael Connor made the announcement while in New Mexico for a meeting of stakeholders from throughout the Colorado River basin, which is one of the basins that will be studied over the next two years as part of the agency's conservation initiative.
Studies also will be done on the Yakima River basin in Washington and the Milk and St. Mary River systems in Montana.
"We recognize that we need to get a better understanding of how climate change may impact water resources," Connor told The Associated Press during a telephone interview. "Really this is the first stage of gathering this information."
As part of the studies, the agency will develop projections for supply and demand throughout the basins and analyze how each basin's existing infrastructure and operations will perform in the face of changing conditions, including shifting precipitation patterns, temperature increases and growing demand.
Connor said endangered species will also be considered as the agency plans for future water needs.
The studies also will make recommendations on how the agency can improvement management in the basins, including dam operations and restoration efforts, to ensure there are adequate supplies in the future.
The Bureau of Reclamation is providing half of the funding for the studies. Participating state, tribal and local agencies will cover the rest.
Of the three studies, the Yakima basin is the most expensive, $2.6 million. The agency said $2 million will be spent on the Colorado basin and $700,000 will go toward the Montana project.
The agency also has made a funding request of about $4 million to study more basins next year.
The basin study program is competitive. Connor said his office received more than two dozen letters of interest that represented nearly $10 million in funding requests.
The proposals of the three basins to be studied first had the most promise to yield the best information, Connor said, pointing specifically to the Colorado River.
"The implications of climate change in the Colorado River basin are probably more significant than any other river basin," he said.
Different scientists have produced models forecasting the future flow of the Colorado, and all predict less water. The river flows for more than 1,400 miles and serves millions of people in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah.
While the studies progress, Connor said the Bureau of Reclamation will continue with projects aimed at conserving the West's water.
"We know whatever the impacts, better water management and more efficient use on the ground is going to help address these ultimate scenarios," he said.
Fresno Bee
AP IMPACT: Gov't stands by as mercury taints water...JASON DEAREN,Associated Press Writer
http://www.fresnobee.com/641/v-print/story/1642098.html
NEW IDRIA, Calif. Abandoned mercury mines throughout central California's rugged coastal mountains are polluting the state's major waterways, rendering fish unsafe to eat and risking the health of at least 100,000 impoverished people.
But an Associated Press investigation found that the federal government has tried to clean up fewer than a dozen of the hundreds of mines - and most cleanups have failed to stem the contamination.
Although the mining ceased decades ago, records and interviews show the vast majority of sites have not even been studied to assess the pollution, let alone been touched.
While millions live in the affected Delta region, the pollution disproportionately hurts the poor and immigrants who rely on local fish as part of their diet, according to a study conducted by University of California, Davis ecologist Fraser Shilling. His research found that 100,000 people, which he calls a conservative estimate, regularly eat tainted fish at levels deemed unsafe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"Tens of thousands of subsistence anglers and their (families) are consuming greater than 10 times the U.S. EPA recommended dose of mercury, which puts them at immediate risk of neurological and other harm," Shilling said.
But neither the state nor federal government has studied long-term health effects of mercury on the people who regularly eat fish from these waters.
The legacy of more than a century of mercury mining in California - which produced more of the silvery metal than anywhere else in the nation - harms people and the environment in myriad ways.
Near a derelict mine in this California ghost town, the water bubbling in a stream runs Day-Glo Orange and is devoid of life, carrying mercury toward a wildlife refuge and a popular fishing spot.
Far to the north, American Indians who live atop mine waste on the shores of one of the world's most mercury-polluted lakes have elevated levels of the heavy metal in their bodies and fears about their health.
And other mercury mines are the biggest sources of the pollution in San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the largest estuary on the Pacific Coast.
In all, this metal known as quicksilver has contaminated thousands of square miles of water and land in the northern half of the state.
Records and interviews show that federal regulators have conducted about 10 cleanups at major mercury mines with mixed results, while dozens of sites still foul the air, soil and water. The AP's review also found that the government is often loathe to assume cleanup costs and risk litigation from a failed project.
Mercury from mine waste travels up the food chain through bacteria, which converts it to methylmercury - a potent toxin that can permanently damage the brain and nervous system, especially in fetuses and children.
The federal government calls methylmercury one of the nation's most serious hazardous waste problems, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it is a possible carcinogen.
Mercury is considered most harmful to people when consumed in fish. People who regularly consume tainted fish are at risk of headaches, tingling, tremors and damage to the brain and nervous system, according to the CDC.
The toxin is less of a threat in drinking water, which is filtered and monitored more closely.
Mining in California ceased decades ago, leaving behind at least 550 mercury mines, though no one knows for sure how many. One U.S. Geological Survey scientist says the total may be as high as 2,000.
"Mercury tops the list as the most harmful invisible pollutant in the (state's) watershed," said Sejal Choksi of San Francisco Baykeeper, an environmental watchdog group for the bay. "It has such widespread impacts, and the regulatory agencies are just throwing up their hands."
In the 19th and 20th centuries, California produced up to 90 percent of the mercury in the U.S. and more than 220 million pounds of quicksilver were shipped around the world for gold mining, military munitions and thermometers. Much of the liquid mercury was sent to Sierra Nevada gold mines, where miners spilled tons of it into streams and soil to extract the precious ore.
"There's probably a water body near everybody in the state that has significant mercury contamination," said Dr. Rick Kreutzer, chief of the state Department of Public Health's Division of Environmental and Occupational Disease Control.
Government officials blame mining companies for shirking their financial responsibilities to clean the sites, either by filing for bankruptcy or changing ownership.
When the government does target a site, success is not guaranteed.
The Sulfur Bank Mine has made the nearby Clear Lake the most mercury-polluted lake in the world, despite the EPA spending about $40 million and two decades trying to keep mercury contamination from the water. Pollution still seeps beneath the earthen dam built by the former mine operator, Bradley Mining Co.
For years, Bradley Mining has fought the government's efforts to recoup cleanup costs. An attorney for the company didn't return calls seeking comment.
For the Elem Band of Pomo Indians, whose colony is next to the lake and shuttered mine, the mercury has made it unsafe to eat local fish.
Their colony was built in 1970 by the federal government over waste from the mine. Officials knew it was contaminated, but were not aware at the time how dangerous mercury was to people. The mine is now a Superfund site.
State blood tests on 44 volunteer adult tribe members in the 1990s found elevated levels of mercury. The average level was three times higher than found in people who do not eat tainted fish, but regulators said only one man was at immediate risk of brain damage or other harm.
Yet the EPA determined that the tribe's mercury levels were a serious enough threat for the agency to spend millions of dollars removing contaminated dirt from the colony's homes and roads.
Many have moved from the colony, leaving about 60 of what was once a community of more than 200 people.
As a child, Rozan Brown, 31, said she ate lake fish, swam in the turquoise waters of the mine waste pit and played on mercury-tainted mine waste piles.
"When I was pregnant, I drank the water," Brown said. "When I was breast-feeding, I worked as a laborer during some of the (mercury) cleanups."
The CDC says high levels of mercury can cause brain damage and mental retardation in children when passed from mother to fetus. Brown's son, Tiyal, has been diagnosed with autism. The CDC has found no link between mercury and autism, but agency spokesperson Dagny Olivares said in an e-mail, "Additional information is needed to fully evaluate the potential health threats."
At most abandoned mercury mines, especially ones in remote places, nothing gets done at all.
Twenty-seven years ago the EPA shut down New Idria Mine, once the second-largest mercury producer in North America. The mine and its towering blast furnace still sit untouched. Acidic runoff flows from hills of waste and miles of tunnels into a pool that smells like rotten eggs. The toxic brew turns nearby San Carlos Creek orange and kills aquatic life before flowing into the San Joaquin River.
"It's really hard living up here," said Kate Woods, 51, standing on a wooden bridge in front of her rural home, tucked amid the hills and cattle ranches just downstream of the mine. "It would be paradise here but for this damned orange creek."
Woods and her brother, Kemp, experience tremors in their hands and headaches, she said, blaming prolonged mercury exposure through water and dust. The EPA found mercury in the creek exceeding federal standards in 1997, records show. Field researchers sent a "high priority" referral to state water quality regulators, warning the mercury could be migrating into a popular fishing area and eventually to the Delta-Mendota Canal, "a drinking water conveyance to other parts of California."
Neither agency undertook the expensive cleanup, nor did they conduct the follow-up studies to find out if New Idria's mercury was the source of the contamination found downstream.
EPA officials said mines such as New Idria are a concern but are not always the agency's highest priority.
"We are here to protect the environment, and sometimes we do it better than other times," said Daniel Meer, EPA's assistant Superfund director for the region. "We can't start cleaning up everything all at once."
The EPA, with financial help from the mine owners, has covered up waste piles at two mines feeding pollution into Cache Creek to try to reduce the mercury flowing into the Delta, but no one has touched the other problem sites.
At least 13 other mine sites also pollute Cache Creek, and are responsible for 60 percent of the mercury in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, where thousands regularly catch and eat local fish, state water quality officials said.
"What can we do? We're evaluating that now," said Jerry Bruns, a mercury control official with the Central Valley Water Quality Control Board. "It's complicated, we can't just go in there and do whatever we want. There are Native American archaeological sites and different landowners."
A separate cluster of derelict mercury mines near San Jose has been called the largest source of the toxin in the San Francisco Bay's south end, where warning signs warn fishermen of the "poisonous mercury" polluting the water.
A solution to California's mercury pollution is nowhere near at hand, state and federal regulators say.
"It took a hundred years to occur," said the EPA's Meer. "And it may take a hundred years or more to solve."
Sacramento Bee
Mojave Desert solar thermal power project dropped...The Associated Press
http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/v-print/story/2190812.html
LUDLOW, Calif. -- BrightSource Energy Inc. said on Thursday it has dropped plans to build a solar thermal power facility in the eastern Mojave Desert where a U.S. senator wants to turn the land into a national monument.
The move was welcomed by environmentalists, who opposed the solar development on part of the Broadwell Dry Lake in San Bernardino County that is home to unique plants and animals.
Earlier this year, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she wants to preserve 500,000 desert acres from solar or wind facilities.
"We have ceased all activity at the Broadwell site. We will not build inside of a national monument," BrightSource spokesman Keely Wachs told the Los Angeles Times.
Environmentalists were concerned the 500-megawatt facility would encroach on the big horn mountain sheep and other wildlife that even led to a public dispute with Robert Kennedy Jr., a senior advisor at VantagePoint Venture Partners, which has a multimillion-dollar stake in BrightSource, according to David Myers, executive director of the Wildlands Conservancy.
Brightsource has other applications for solar projects pending with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
Sacramento County median home price down 53.5 percent from 2005 high...Jim Wasserman
http://www.sacbee.com/business/v-print/story/2191144.html
Last month, Sacramento County marked the fourth anniversary of its housing boom high with a median sales price of $180,000 – a whopping 53.5 percent less than in August 2005, property researcher MDA DataQuick said Thursday.
The county's August sales tally of 2,061 new and existing homes likewise fell well short of 3,800 in August 2005.
Now, four years later, these DataQuick numbers reveal the long, hard fall taken by the capital region, a descent defined by billions of dollars in lost home equity, more than 42,000 foreclosures and a marked slowdown in home sales.
A reversal of fortune that began in Sacramento County during the late summer of 2005, then quickly spread to seven other area counties, made Sacramento one of the first big U.S. housing markets to spin out of control. The aftermath still plays out in 2009.
"Everybody says buy a house. It's the best investment of your life," said Scott Seacrist, 30, who bought a small home in Sacramento's Elmhurst neighborhood in March 2006. "If I lived here 20 years, it would be the best investment."
Seacrist, like thousands of area buyers four years after the boom crested in Sacramento County, owns a home that's worth less than he paid.
"We love our house," said the married schoolteacher, noting that "it has a lot of charm." But a sustained housing downturn that came after moving in has provided its occasional bouts of anxiety.
No wonder, economists say.
"The bubble we saw was a once-in-a-century kind of event," said Dr. Sanjay Varshney, dean of the College of Business Administration at California State University, Sacramento. "You seldom see all the conditions in place simultaneously that allowed it."
DataQuick reported another month of uncertainty on the housing front. The researcher counted 3,375 closed escrows in August on new and existing homes in Amador, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties. That was down sharply from 3,815 in July and marked a third straight month of lower sales than the same time last year.
There were 3,998 closed escrows in August 2008, DataQuick reported.
The firm noted that sales similarly fell from July in the Bay Area and Southern California. Its analysts attributed the drop to "a thinning inventory of foreclosure properties and financial uncertainty among potential homebuyers."
For months, first-time buyers in the capital region have expressed increasing frustration at being outbid on a dwindling supply of bank repos.
"In Sacramento County, foreclosure resales were 50.4 percent of sales in August," said DataQuick analyst Andrew LePage. "That's the lowest since 43.8 percent in December 2007."
Would-be buyers are nervous, too, about jobs as capital-area unemployment has reached 11.8 percent. LePage said, "It's not as if the job market is creating huge demand."
Four years ago, such a bleak scenario seemed improbable to experts at all levels. But it became real as median sales prices peaked at $387,000 in Sacramento County – after doubling in four years – and then rolled backward. The median, a point where half sell for more and half less, has fallen by more than 50 percent in Sacramento, Sutter, Yuba and Amador counties and more than 40 percent in El Dorado, Placer and Yolo counties.
The steepest peak-to-trough mark in Sacramento County came in February, when the median price fell to $160,000, down 58.6 percent.
The smallest decline is 35 percent in Nevada County, where there are fewer new homes and the "lowest percentage of bank-owned homes in the region," said Linda Kaneko, executive with Paul Law Realty in Grass Valley.
DataQuick records show 2005 highs of $501,000 in Nevada County and $474,000 in Yolo County. Yuba County reached $351,500, while Placer County touched a boom high of $525,000. Sutter County peaked at $339,000. El Dorado County's high was $531,250. Amador County crested at $425,000.
Home Front: Sacramento-area home sales seeing falling to 1967 levels...Jim Wasserman
http://www.sacbee.com/736/v-print/story/2191397.html
The annual real estate forecast season opened this week with an estimate that the end of 2009 won't be much better than the beginning, and capital home builders will sell just 3,400 new houses, condos and town houses this year.
It's hardly a wonder that home builders say their powerful industry, so long accustomed to getting its way politically and economically, is in a depression, not a recession.
Such a sales number – shockingly low, projected by consultant Hanley Wood Market Intelligence – hasn't been heard in this region since the 1960s.
Home Front took out the history books to compare: In 1967, with President Lyndon Johnson in the White House, builders in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties started 3,544 single-family detached homes, according to the Construction Industry Research Board. It's likely they sold roughly the same.
This year, considering that 85 percent of sales regionally are single-family homes, they'll sell about 2,900. Add in the townhouses and condos and you get the 3,400.
"Sacramento can support about 8,500 sales a year," Hanley Wood's Sacramento analyst Kathryn Boyce told a gathering of about 75 to 80 area home-building industry reps. "We stole from the future quite a bit from the heyday when we had our special financing. If they had a pulse, we gave them a loan."
Stimulus aid for high-rise
Here's some better economic news. Federal stimulus funding is bringing $10 million to restore an empty residential high-rise at Seventh and I streets in downtown Sacramento.
"We were high-fiving each other. It's not every day you get $10 million in a competitive grant project," said Nick Chhotu, director of public housing at the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency. The money is headed to a thorough face-lift for the 12-story Riverview Apartments owned by SHRA. It's a senior complex built in the late 1970s at 626 I St. The building has been empty for two years.
Plans are to start construction late next year after getting up to $6 million more in federal funds. The building, with 108 rooms for people 62 and older, needs new windows, a new electrical system and new plumbing, a job that will run well into 2011, said Chhotu.
The Public Housing Capital funds are provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Mixed-use to cut driving
How much do residents of Sacramento's eastern suburbs and foothills love their cars? Plenty. They lead the region in driving, averaging 75 miles a day. But another forecast on the PowerPoint circuit last week suggests they'll be driving a lot less by 2035.
The next generation of drivers, in Placer County especially, will live in neighborhoods with a greater mix of uses, said Mike McKeever, chief of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments. He told a gathering of Urban Land Institute-Sacramento members that shopping, home and work will be closer together as cities like Roseville and Rocklin urbanize more.
El Dorado Hills and its environs will have "more jobs in the foothills to balance houses," McKeever said.
And look, too for still less driving in the Sacramento-West Sacramento core, he said.
Consultant on Net radio
Look who's talking now on Internet radio. It's long-time Sacramento-area building industry consultant John Schleimer. He has a new VoiceAmerica Talk Radio Network show, "Housing in America." The show debuts Monday at 2 p.m. PDT.
Schleimer, owner of Roseville-based Market Perspectives, will launch with a show on the federal government's Making Home Affordable loan modification program. Guests include a U.S. Treasury Department official and New York Times economics reporter Peter Goodman.
Guests on coming shows, running weekly at the same time, include economist Mark Zandi of Moody's Economy.com and National Association of Home Builders Chairman Joe Robson. The show streams live on the Internet. Details: Google VoiceAmerica and click on "hosts."
Capital Press
Water deal fails, but hope remains
Legislators ask governor to call a special session...WES SANDER
http://www.capitalpress.com/california/ws-Delta-Bills-091809 
After lawmakers went home last week without a deal, farm interests are expressing hope that California's water problems can still be fixed this year.
A complex package of legislation aimed at fixing the ecosystem of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta while improving water-supply reliability to the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California failed to attract sufficient votes by early on Sept. 12.
Legislators have asked Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to call a special session this fall to finish the process.
Danny Merkley, water resources director with the California Farm Bureau Federation, called it fortunate that the package failed, considering progress that still needs to be made. The tight deadline ultimately produced legislation that most stakeholders and lawmakers didn't fully understand, he said.
"This will give us a chance to get it right," Merkley said. "The process was so out of sorts, ... that very few people, if anybody, really knew what they were looking at. This is such a complex issue, with so many little details and nuances in it, that you can't be trying to cobble it together."
Farm interests say the biggest piece missing in the end was a bond measure to pay for it all, especially storage infrastructure.
A $12 billion bond introduced late in the process by Assemblywoman Ann Caballero, D-Salinas, came close to what Republicans wanted, especially in its allocation of $3 billion for new water storage, something Democrats had never before offered.
But negotiations to bridge the final gaps between Caballero's bond and one by Sen. Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto, failed to fully convince either side. Democrats remained leery of its size, while Republicans and farm interests said its design -- including a proposal to split the total into two bond measures, one going before voters next year, the second in 2014 -- would place too many obstacles in the way of infrastructure financing.
Beyond that, proposed water-use efficiency rules would compromise existing water rights, a non-starter for farm interests, Merkley said. And with limited time to craft a comprehensive water plan, adding that piece to the puzzle overloaded the process, he said.
"Water use efficiency and reporting are key," Merkley said. "But you're throwing a monkey wrench into (discussions of) water-supply reliability when you throw that in there."
Donn Zea, president of the Northern California Water Association, agreed that the process was overburdened.
"If we can set aside the tangential issues and get to the core challenges -- Delta management and restoration, the expansion of north state water supply and a more effective path to move water -- we can make historic progress," Zea said. "If the focus is again blurred by the need to reach beyond the critical problems, the process may be destined to repeat itself."
Manuel Cunha, president of the Nisei Farmers League in Fresno, called lawmakers irresponsible for failing to reach a solution while drought and environmental rules burden San Joaquin Valley agriculture.
"There was very, very poor collaboration on both sides," Cunha said. "I thought we had adults -- what we have is reckless juveniles in Sacramento that only care about their jobs."
But Tom Birmingham, general manager of Westlands Water District in the San Joaquin Valley, said solid progress had been made on creating a Delta plan and oversight council.
"I think the final outcome of those negotiations was a well-balanced, comprehensive solution," Birmingham said. "I don't consider the work that was done as having been done in vain."
Stockton Record
Public forum on Delta changes...The Record
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090918/A_NEWS/909189995/-1/A_NEWS14#STS=fzr56pvv.agp
STOCKTON - A public meeting on a proposed peripheral canal and a suite of other possible changes in the Delta will take place Tuesday.
The meeting is hosted by proponents of the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan, an effort by state and federal agencies, water contractors and some environmentalists to stabilize the Delta's declining estuary while also securing the water supply for two-thirds of California. Tuesday's meeting is scheduled for 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Stockton Memorial Civic Auditorium, 525 N. Center St.
To read more about the plan, or for more details about the meetings, visit baydeltaconservationplan.com or call (916) 231-9595.
A similar meeting will be held Sept. 29 at the Ryde Hotel in Walnut Grove.
San Francisco Chronicle
State revises standards for reusing wastewater...Kelly Zito
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/18/MN5P19DG5U.DTL&type=printable
Pam Hartwell-Herrero is making sure she washes her family's clothes when the olive tree, rhubarb and coffee berries in her front yard look thirsty.
Why?
Hartwell-Herrero and a team of fellow water conservation enthusiasts recently installed a "laundry to landscape" graywater system at her 1960s Fairfax bungalow. It took most of a day to attach a special valve, punch a hole in her garage wall and set up the pipes leading from her washing machine to the garden.
But now, every time Hartwell-Herrero fires up a load of whites, the plants perk up.
"It's hilarious," said Hartwell-Herrero, 40, executive director of Sustainable Fairfax. "With every load we run, my husband, daughter and I run outside to see the water going into the garden."
The idea of using graywater - defined in California as the wastewater from showers, bathroom sinks and washing machines - isn't a novel one. But last month, California followed Arizona, Texas and other states in adopting new graywater standards. Officials with the state Department of Housing and Community Development, which oversees graywater, changed the state code in the wake of recent legislation calling for a re-evaluation of graywater use and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's June proclamation of a statewide drought.
Whereas California property owners previously were required essentially to install costly mini leach fields (those are usually associated with septic systems) and obtain pricey permits, the new codes allow residents to install basic, relatively inexpensive graywater systems themselves with no permits.
Under the old regulations, a graywater system cost as much as $10,000, versus as little as $200 now.
To ensure safety, the water cannot stagnate, run into a neighbor's yard or directly touch fruits or vegetables. In addition, pipes must be several inches underground or under mulch- experts say that is better than burying the pipes deeper underground because rich topsoil is a far better filter of particles, soaps and other materials.
The previous codes "missed the mark in terms of using graywater as irrigation," said Doug Hensel, deputy director of codes and standards for the department. "Hopefully this will streamline the process and will be something else we can use to save water in California."
Amid a third dry year, widespread water rationing, a booming population and concerns about climate change, water use in California is being scrutinized like never before. Many in the environmental community, in particular, argue the state can save its way out of the water crisis by employing water conservation, recycling of graywater and capturing storm water that now runs down city sidewalks and ultimately to the ocean.
Hensel's agency estimates a typical household could save 22,000 gallons of water each year from a laundry graywater system alone.
That opportunity isn't lost on Bay Area consumers. Many are turning to Greywater Guerrillas, an Oakland volunteer outfit that, for the last decade, has advised homeowners on reusing water. Until now, much of the group's work technically fell on the wrong side of the law. Now the group hopes to reach a larger audience.
It was a Guerrillas' class that learned about and assembled Hartwell-Herrero's home system. The group has more classes planned this fall in Walnut Creek and Hopland (Mendocino County).
"We're definitely getting a lot more interest since the drought," said Laura Allen, co-founder of the group.
By some estimates there are already 1.7 million graywater systems at work in California - the vast majority without permits. Nationwide, there are about 8 million, according to Art Ludwig, a Santa Barbara environmental designer and leader in the graywater field.
Ludwig believes that number will only grow as more states grapple with the reality of water shortages, the problems posed by industrial agriculture and the shift toward what he describes as a more direct connection with the land and other precious resources.
"When you're in a city and your water comes from the Sierra or wherever, you don't necessarily care what you're pouring down the drain," Ludwig said. "But when you're doing graywater and watering your citrus tree, you care."
Chronicles of the hydraulic brotherhood
Californians React To Sean Hannity Spreading Misinformation About Water Crisis...Submitted by lgc_admin on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 09:01.
http://www.lloydgcarter.com/node/300
Hannity blamed President Obama for refusing to lift a series of federal mandates.
State water experts counted a total of 10 incorrect statements in Hannity’s broadcast.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRLog (Press Release) – Sep 17, 2009 – Fresno, CA...... Conservative talk show host Sean Hannity aired live from the San Joaquin Valley tonight to garner national attention for California’s water crisis. Instead of illustrating how  outrageous water speculation and irresponsible agricultural practices are adding to a natural drought, Hannity fueled partisan politics and blamed President Obama for refusing to lift a series of federal mandates and environmental rulings that order a small amount of water to be used to restore regional fisheries and protect the balance of the entire Northern California coastal ecosystem. State water experts counted a total of 10 incorrect statements in Hannity’s broadcast.
In June 2009, The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) ordered 5-7% of water flows into the valley (330,000 acre-feet) to be used to restore creeks and estuaries for chinhook salmon, which are being threatened with extinction. In addition to the salmon, the NMFS order will help boost populations of other threatened species - including sole, crab, herring, smelt, steelhead, sturgeon, bass, and killer whales. Regional commercial and sport fisheries have collapsed over the past 2 years, and an independent economic research firm estimates that recovery of the salmon fishery alone would create $5.7 billion in new economic activity for the state, and the creation of 94,000 new jobs.
“The water needed to save Pacific fisheries is a drop in the bucket compared to what is being lost with irresponsible irrigation techniques and business practices,” says Mike Hudson, President of the Small Boat Commercial Salmon Fishermen’s Association. “Local fisheries have completely collapsed and thousands of our lives have been destroyed, but Hannity ignores our families to promote his politics.”
Hannity made no mention of of a recent Pacific Institute report showing how simple, and cost-effective irrigation techniques could be adopted by valley farmers to save nearly 6 million acre-feet of water per year (over 18 times the amount re-routed by the NMFS order).  Nor did he address the growing practice of water speculation, in which rural land owners purchase subsidized water from the federal government and sell it for profit on the open market (Sandridge Partners, a Sunnyvale real estate company, recently sold 14,000 acre-feet of water out of the valley for $77 million). Finally, Hannity failed to explain why the Westlands Water District from which he broadcast from is sitting on nearly 275,000 acre-feet of water that it is not distributing.
Despite the drought and water restrictions, valley farms are full of bumper crops this year. Agricultural surpluses of water-intensive crops such as almonds, tomatoes, walnuts, and pecans are expected.
Zeke Grader of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Association extended an on-air invitation to Sean Hannity to visit the Pacific Northwest and interview the fishermen who have been without a livelihood for 2 years. “Certainly we can do both,” replied Hannity.
“It is unfortunate that Mr. Hannity has chosen to be a stooge for large land owners making a water grab so they can sell it to southern California for golf courses in the desert,” said Grader.
For complete detail of the misinformation told on Hannity’s broadcast, please see the attached list.
COMPLETE DETAIL OF MISINFORMATION ON HANNITY’S FRESNO BROADCAST
False. Hundreds of laborers appeared in the background, backed up for miles, holding signs and screaming chants in support of Hannity.
True. These are the same workers with the same signs that have been hired by large farm growers for the past couple of rallies. On April 14, 2009, the same organization sponsoring Hannity’s visit held a march that the United Farm Workers called a “grower-sponsored march, a grower-organized march, for water for growers....not a farmworkers' march." The New York Times reported "many of the protesters were paid by their employers to march in lieu of harvesting crops.”
F. The unemployment rate in the San Joaquin Valley is over 40% because farmers cannot grow crops due to a lack of water.
T. The State of California’s most recent employment data reports that Fresno County, the county in which Hannity filmed, has only 15% unemployment, compared to a 12.1% state average. Furthermore, farm jobs increased by 5.3% in the months immediate following the NMFS environmental ruling. Even before the global recession, the Western region of the county historically had the highest unemployment rate in the state. In 2000, before the drought and environmental restrictions, unemployment in the Western region was 32%.
F. The federal government has shut off the water pumps.
T. Most water is flowing through the valley. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that nearly 80% of the water from the ailing delta continues to flow directly into the valley. The local water district has a surplus of hundreds of thousands of acre-feet of water that it is not distributing.
F. The water restrictions were issued to protect only a 2” smelt.
T. A number of species threatened with extinction in this region are being protected by this regulation, including salmon, sole, crab, herring, steelhead, sturgeon, bass, and killer whales. The collapse of one of these fisheries alone is costing the state $5.7 billion and 94,000 jobs.
F. The federal government is choosing fish over people.
T. Protecting regional fisheries creates numerous jobs. Both fish and agriculture can prosper if growers adopted simple, cost-effective irrigation techniques. More responsible farming practices would save 18 times the amount of water being diverted for salmon.
F. The price of processed tomato goods and almonds are going to skyrocket across the nation.
T. This year is predicted to be a record-breaking harvest of processing tomatoes due to ideal weather conditions. Tomato production is up 15% from last year, with 11% more acres planted. Mike Montna, president and CEO of the California Tomato Growers Association, said this year’s processing-tomato harvest — now at the halfway point — is heading toward a record for the state. Almonds are in record-shattering surpluses as well, and a decrease in production would actually save the industry.
F. The NMFS ruling will require us to import more food from China.
T. Seafood is already the most imported food product in the United States. The NMFS estimates that 83% of all seafood consumed in America last year was imported from another country. Driving fisheries out of business will only increase food imports. On the other hand, 75% of California’s almonds are exported out of the United States.
F. This decision was made by a handful of environmentalists.
T. Restoring water to fisheries has been ordered for over 15 years, beginning in 1992 with a Congressional law (Central Valley Improvement Act). A recent independent review was “flabbergasted” that the law has been ignored. A team of government scientists in the Bush administration ordered for water to be rerouted to save fisheries as well, although that order was shelved by the Secretary of the Interior. An additional report was recently released and approved by the new administration.
F. Local residents are flocking to food banks and waiting all day for food.
T. The local CBS station reported that only ‘dozens of families’ showed up to the food bank.
Mike Hudson and Zeke Grader are experienced spokespeople and are available for both live and recorded interviews through the above media contact.
F. The area of Fresno County in which Hannity reported is a ‘natural breadbasket’ where agriculture flourishes.
T. Huron, CA receives an average of only 6.7 inches of rain a year, far less than what is needed to sustain agriculture.
Indybay
Sean Hannity Spreads Misinformation about California Water...Dan Bacher
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/09/18/18622343.php
Neo-conservative talk show host Sean Hannity aired live from the San Joaquin Valley last night to garner national attention for California’s "water crisis," falsely portraying the battle by a broad coalition of fishermen, conservationists, California Indian Tribes, Delta farmers and environmental justice activists to restore the Delta and Central Valley salmon as a conflict of "fish versus jobs."
Sean Hannity Spreads Misinformation about California Water
Burson-Marsteller PR Firm Hosts ‘Astroturf’ Rally at Expense of Pacific Ecosystem / Economy...Dan Bacher
Neo-conservative talk show host Sean Hannity aired live from the San Joaquin Valley last night to garner national attention for California’s "water crisis," falsely portraying the battle by a broad coalition of fishermen, conservationists, California Indian Tribes, Delta farmers and environmental justice activists to restore the Delta and Central Valley salmon as a conflict of "fish versus jobs."
The Burson-Marsteller PR Firm hosted an ‘Astroturf’ rally, funded by San Joaquin Valley corporate agribusiness, advocating extremist anti-environmental measures that will destroy the Pacific ecosystem and the economy of the California coast and Sacramento Valley that depend on the income generated by recreational and commercial salmon and other fisheries.
"Instead of illustrating how outrageous water speculation and irresponsible agricultural practices are adding to a natural drought, Hannity fueled partisan politics and blamed President Obama for refusing to lift a series of federal mandates and environmental rulings that order a small amount of water to be used to restore regional fisheries and protect the balance of the entire Northern California coastal ecosystem," according to a statement from fishing and environmental organizations. "State water experts counted a total of 10 incorrect statements in Hannity’s broadcast.
In June 2009, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in its "biological opinion" ordered 5-7% of water flows into the valley (330,000 acre-feet) to be used to restore creeks and estuaries for chinook salmon, now threatened are being threatened with extinction, according to the groups.
"In addition to the salmon, the NMFS order will help boost populations of other threatened species - including sole, crab, herring, smelt, steelhead, sturgeon, striped bass, and the southern resident population of killer whales (orcas)," the statement noted. "Regional commercial and sport fisheries have collapsed over the past 2 years and an independent economic research firm estimates that recovery of the salmon fishery alone would create $5.7 billion in new economic activity for the state, and the creation of 94,000 new jobs."
The closure of recreational and commercial salmon fishing off the California and Oregon coast in 2008 and 2009 has led to widespread economic devastation in coastal communities, spurring Representative Mike Thompson and Congress to pass legislation last year that provided $170 million disaster relief money for salmon fishing and related businesses. Dick Pool of Water for Fish emphasized that the shutdown has led to the loss of 23,000 jobs and $1.4 million to the state's economy annually, according to economic data compiled by the American Sportfishing Association (ASA).
“The water needed to save Pacific fisheries is a drop in the bucket compared to what is being lost with irresponsible irrigation techniques and business practices,” said Mike Hudson, President of the Small Boat Commercial Salmon Fishermen’s Association. “Local fisheries have completely collapsed and thousands of our lives have been destroyed, but Hannity ignores our families to promote his politics.”
True to his subservience to agribusiness, Hannity made no mention of of a recent Pacific Institute report showing how simple, and cost-effective irrigation techniques could be adopted by Valley farmers to save nearly 6 million acre-feet of water per year - over 18 times the amount re-routed by the NMFS order/
"Nor did he address the growing practice of water speculation, in which rural land owners purchase subsidized water from the federal government and sell it for profit on the open market (Sandridge Partners, a Sunnyvale real estate company, recently sold 14,000 acre-feet of water out of the valley for $77 million)," said Hudson. "Finally, Hannity failed to explain why the Westlands Water District from which he broadcast from is sitting on nearly 275,000 acre-feet of water that it is not distributing."
Hudson said that besides the drought and water restrictions, "Valley farms are full of bumper crops this year. Agricultural surpluses of water-intensive crops such as almonds, tomatoes, walnuts, and pecans are expected."
Zeke Grader of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA), who was interviewed by Hannity last night, extended an on-air invitation to Sean Hannity to visit the Pacific Northwest and interview the fishermen who have been without a livelihood for 2 years.
“Certainly we can do both,” replied Hannity.
“It is unfortunate that Mr. Hannity has chosen to be a stooge for large land owners making a water grab so they can sell it to southern California for golf courses in the desert,” said Grader.
The broadcast took place less than a week after a massive uprising by grassroots fishermen, conservationists, environmental justice advocates, northern California farmers and labor unions defeated a water bill package, pushed by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and other legislators, that would have served as a road map to the peripheral canal on the California Delta. The Conference Committee established by Steinberg and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass and a back door negotiating committee completely excluded the Delta, fishing, tribal and environmental justice communities.
For complete detail of the misinformation told on Hannity’s broadcast, please see the attached list.
COMPLETE DETAIL OF MISINFORMATION ON HANNITY’S FRESNO BROADCAST…
Contra Costa Times
Leaked memo: California could face major lawsuits if Schwarzenegger closes state parks...Paul Rogers
http://www.contracostatimes.com/environment/ci_13362829?nclick_check=1
California taxpayers could be on the hook for millions of dollars in damages if the Schwarzenegger administration moves ahead with plans to close as many as 100 state parks, according to an internal memo drafted by the state park department's attorneys.
"It is likely that state parks would be liable for breach of contract" with the 188 agreements the state has signed with private companies that provide concession services, from restaurants to boat rentals to gift shops in parks, the memo concluded.
Those concessions generated $89 million in gross sales last year.
Further, if people enter closed parks and are injured or start fires, the state "can be held responsible for dangerous conditions," the attorneys added, even if the park-goers were trespassing.
The memo, which was written earlier this month for state parks director Ruth Coleman and distributed to high-level parks managers, was leaked and obtained by a Sacramento-based environmental group, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which has posted the memo on its Web site.
The document could increase the growing public and political pressure on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to soften or abandon his plan to close up to 100 state parks as a budget saving measure. The parks closure list was expected out this week, but has been delayed.
Roy Stearns, a spokesman for the state parks department, declined to comment Thursday.
"We feel it is attorney-client privilege," Stearns said.
There are multiple reasons the closure list has been delayed, he said. State parks leaders are trying to close as few parks as possible, and are studying visitor numbers, revenue and complex staffing issues, including complying with union seniority guidelines. Stearns acknowledged the legal questions also have taken time.
"We've never done this before. I would hope we could have (the list) out by the end of the month," he said.
The legal headaches spelled out in the memo portray a Gordian knot of potential lawsuits.
If concessionaires sue over the park closures, the state could potentially have to repay them for lost sales.
"It is likely that state parks would be in breach of contract and (the) concessionaire would be entitled to the profits he or she would have received had the contract been performed for the remaining term of the contract," according to the memo.
Most of the companies are small businesses renting horses or tent cabins or running snack stands and gift shops, he said. Together they paid $11.9 million last year in royalties to the state.
Although none have threatened lawsuits, Harrison said, they are already raising the issue of asking the state to renegotiate their contracts. Other legal problems spelled out in the memo include the Endangered Species Act. The state might face fines by the federal government if poachers kill endangered salmon, condors or other animals on unpatrolled state park property, for example.
Further, the state also could be sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act. State parks settled a 1999 lawsuit by the California Council for the Blind and Californians for Disability Rights in which the agency agreed to make its entrances, paths, signs, restrooms and other facilities accessible to the disabled between June 2009 and 2016. If state parks missed the court-ordered deadlines, the plaintiffs would likely sue, and "it is unlikely state parks could use lack of funding as a defense to making parks accessible," the memo said.
The state may also be in violation of the California Coastal Act if it blocks public access to beaches. It even might be required by a court to write an time-consuming, costly environmental impact statement to close parks, the memo adds.
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility News Release (www.peer.org)
http://www.peer.org/news/print_detail.php?row_id=1242
For Immediate Release: September 15, 2009
Contact: Carol Goldberg (202) 265-7337
CALIFORNIA FINDS CLOSING PARKS NOT SO EASY — Liabilities, Lawsuits and Losses Threaten to Swallow Savings from Park Shutdowns
Sacramento — The looming shutdown of up to 100 California state park facilities is fraught with unexpected expenses, large financial uncertainties and a big basket of legal headaches, according to a state legal analysis posted today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Unanticipated problems include both short and long-term liabilities, increased risk of wildfires, marijuana plantations on unmonitored parklands and “increased danger to the public” due to absence of lifeguards and other protective services.
The extraordinary September 14, 2009 memo by the California Department of Parks and Recreation Legal Office analyzes “potential liabilities if units of the State Park System close, partially close, or are operated at reduced service levels.” The memo is being distributed as a guide to park managers for “mitigating risks.”
In sobering terms, the memo outlines an array of legal and fiscal thickets from park closings, including:

• Legal liabilities from “dangerous conditions” in unstaffed parks, deteriorating facilities and risks to adjoining property from occurrences such as wildfires. The memo concludes “From a liability standpoint, closing the parks would probably not benefit State Parks and could in fact increase its liability for dangerous condition of public property;”
• Contractual obligations from grants, land donations, concessionaire contracts and earmarked federal and state funds may leave the parks legally obligated to keep operating despite a claim of funding shortfalls; and
• Public safety dangers and legal claims from nuisance uses and trespass. The memo predicts that state losses from theft, encroachments and other unauthorized uses “will only increase if State Parks cannot take immediate and effective action….” 

“Closing parks may be far more expensive than keeping them open and operating,” stated California PEER Coordinator Karen Schambach. “Paradoxically, in order to avoid losses of life and property, California will need to spend its supposed savings to keep families out of beaches, parks and recreation areas.”
In addition to potential liabilities, the state legal memo concedes that the state may be vulnerable to lawsuits under the California Environmental Quality Act, the California Coastal Act and the federal Endangered Species Act, among other statutes. These suits could force the state to keep park units designated for closure open.
“It is clear that the consequences of park closures have not been thought out – a glaring oversight that is only going to make a bad situation worse,” added Schambach. “We have pointed out that there are ready alternatives to state park shutdowns if only the factions in Sacramento will set aside their turf wars.”
PEER is urging the state to tap California’s Off Highway Vehicle Trust Fund monies that are now limited to projects benefiting dirt bikes and other off-road vehicles, despite the fact that these vehicles generate just 17% of the $60 million of fuel tax revenue that goes to the OHV program. Significantly, none of the State Vehicular Recreation Areas (off-road parks) is slated for closure, and the OHV Division added 82 positions this year.
###
Read the state Parks & Recreation legal memo
See state checklist for park closure procedures
Look at available funds to avoid state park closings
TPMMuckraker
Feds Probing Gale Norton For Corruption: LAT...Zachary Roth...9-17-09
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/09/feds_
probing_gail_norton_for_corruption_lat.php
Did Gale Norton, President Bush's far-right interior secretary, illegally use her position to benefit an oil company that later hired her? Justice Department investigators want to know, reports the Los Angeles Times.
In a nutshell, here's what DOJ is looking into:
In January 2006, Norton's Interior Department awarded three oil shale leases on federal land in Colorado -- potentially worth hundreds of billions -- to a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell. Two months later, Norton resigned, saying she had no job lined up. But later that year, she was hired by Shell as in-house counsel.
The Feds are said to be looking at whether Norton broke either of two laws: One which prohibits federal employees from discussing employment with a company while that company is involved in dealings with the government that could benefit it; and a second, the "denial of honest services" law, which makes it a crime for a government official to "violate the public trust" by, for instance, giving contracts to friends or associates.
"If [Norton] had feelers out, or was in discussions with Shell in any way, she is absolutely forbidden from participating in any way from doing anything with Shell," a law enforcement official told the LA Times.
Conservatives may call this a political prosecution. But the probe was actually begun during the final months of the Bush administration, by the department's own inspector general. That was Earl Devaney, a respected veteran of government service who is now the watchdog for the stimulus funds. More recently, a criminal referral was made to the Justice Department, after the Interior investigators concluded that there was sufficient evidence of potential illegal activity.
A closer look at the decision to award Shell the leases helps explain why that conclusion might have been reached.
The story starts with Dick Cheney's energy task force, which recommended aggressive efforts to encourage private industry to develop ways to extract oil from shale rock. The Bureau of Land Management then issued six oil shale "research, development and demonstration" leases, which each granted access to up to 160 acres of federal land in the west, in order to develop shale programs.
Shell seems to have been hooked into the process almost from the start. It filed its first application for a lease just one day after the department issued its call for proposals in June 2005.
Then in August, Congress changed the law to allow companies to own more than one oil shale lease, which they had previously been prevented from doing. Although Interior Department officials said they did not notify potential bidders about the law change, Shell quickly filed two more applications. No other company applied for more than one lease. In early 2006 -- after recommendations by an interdisciplinary team involving officials form other government departments -- the interior department announced that it would award the three leases to Shell.
Critics had also charged that giving three leases to Shell defeated part of the purpose of the initiative, which was to allow companies to test different methods for the extraction process. Shell's three leases were for a variation of the same process.
Then, that December, Shell announced that it had hired Norton as in-house counsel to its unconventional fuels division, which includes oil shale. She remains in the job today.
This isn't the first time that Norton's interior department -- and potentially the secretary herself -- has been implicated in muck. Jack Abramoff funnelled $500,000 to a pro-industry group Norton founded, the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, calling it "our access to Norton." The group's director, Italia Federici, a former Norton aide, then used her access to Norton and Interior number 2, Steven Griles -- who she was dating -- to make sure that Abramoff was taken care of. Federici pleaded guilty in 2007 to tax evasion and obstruction of Congress. Griles did jail time after pleading guilty the same year to lying to investigators.
Norton had long been considered a potential subject of inquiry in connection to the same events, but has never been charged.
CNN Money
Jobless rate tops 12% in 5 states
California, Nevada and Rhode Island hit record-high unemployment rates, Labor Department says...Julianne Pepitone
http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/18/news/economy/state_
unemployment/index.htm?postversion=2009091813
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Five states posted jobless rates above 12% in August, according to federal data released Friday.
California, Nevada and Rhode Island each hit record-high rates, the Labor Department said.
Michigan led the nation in unemployment, with a rate of 15.2%, while Nevada was next at 13.2% and Rhode Island was third at 12.8%. California and Oregon were tied for the fourth spot, each with unemployment at 12.2%.
"The losses tend to be heavy in states that have a high concentration of manufacturing jobs or were hit hard by the housing bust," said Mark Vitner, economist at Wachovia.
In August, 27 states and the District of Columbia recorded month-over-month unemployment rate increases, while 16 states posted a decrease in unemployment and seven saw rates hold steady.
The total number of nonfarm jobs fell in 42 states and the District of Columbia, while 8 states saw an increase.
The state-by-state unemployment report for August came after the government reported earlier this month that American employers cut 216,000 jobs in August, sending the nationwide unemployment rate to 9.7% from 9.4% in July.
Lowest rates: North Dakota posted the lowest jobless rate in August, at 4.3%. It was followed by South Dakota, at 4.9%; Nebraska, with 5%; Utah, at 6%, and Virginia, at 6.5%.
"The states with the lowest rates tend to have fewer metropolitan areas," Wachovia's Vitner said. "When you consider how a city like Las Vegas dominates Nevada's economy, you can see how that weakness could devastate a state."
Biggest over-the-year increases: All states and the District of Columbia recorded statistically significant increases in their jobless rates from August 2008.
Michigan reported the largest unemployment rate increase over the year, at 6.6 percentage points.
Three other states saw rates climb more than 5 percentage points: Nevada's unemployment rate has climbed 6.2 points year over year, while Oregon's rate jumped 5.7 points, and Alabama's rate increased 5.2 points. West Virginia saw the fifth-largest annual increase of 4.8 percentage points.
Largest over-the-month increases: Six states posted statistically significant over-the-month unemployment rate increases in August.
New Mexico's was highest, at 0.5 percentage points, followed by New Jersey, New York and Oregon -- all three of which reported a 0.4 point increase.
California and Iowa each posted a 0.3 point increase over the month. The District of Columbia also reported a jump, of 0.5 percentage points.
Biggest over-the-month decreases: Four states reported statistically significant decreases in unemployment over the month.
Indiana's jobless rate dropped by 0.7 percentage point, Colorado's fell 0.5 percentage point, and Kansas and Virginia fell 0.4 point each.
On Wednesday, Congress will consider legislation that would extend unemployment benefits by 13 weeks for people who live in states with jobless rates higher than 8.5%
Some clouds in housing report gain
Overall increase in starts is tempered by downturn in single-family component...Les Christie
http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/17/real_estate/August_housing_
starts/index.htm?postversion=2009091714
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- New home building increased overall in August, a government report said Thursday, but the gain was clouded by a dip in new construction of single-family homes.
The Census Bureau reported Thursday that builders broke ground for 598,000 new homes during August, up 1.5% from a revised 589,000 in July. That matched a consensus analyst forecast compiled by Briefing.com.
Building permits rose 2.7% to 579,000 from a revised 564,000 in July.
A troubling aspect of the report was that starts of new single-family homes fell 3% in the month. Overall starts were higher due to a big gain in multi-family housing starts.
According to economist Jeff Rosen of Briefing.com, multi-family home starts tend to vary much more than those of single family homes. He places more importance on the drop in single families than what could be an anomalous rise in multi-family starts.
The housing starts report was the latest in a series of releases that indicate that the market may have bottomed. These include improvement in new home sales, existing home sales and housing prices.
On Wednesday, the National Association of Home Builders reported their index of homebuilder confidence had risen a point to 19, its highest level since May 2008.
Helping to boost demand for new homes has been the first-time homebuyer tax credit, which has enabled many builders to reduce their inventories of unsold homes.
"Many builders have not only reduced excess inventory, but now are actually reporting such low inventory that they need to start more homes to replace those they've just sold," said Brad Hunter, chief economist for Metrostudy, a real estate analytics firm.
Both starts and permits are still well off from their levels of a year ago. The number of starts is down 29.6% from 849,000 last August, and permits dropped 32.4% from 857,000 last year.
Foreclosure cloud: There are some other clouds on the horizon. Foreclosures continue to trouble many markets; another 76,000 homes were repossessed by banks in August. That was actually an improvement over recent months, but the expectation is that the rate of foreclosures will begin rising again.
That's because a great number of non-conventional mortgage loans, including interest-only mortgages and option ARMS, will reset over the next year or so, yielding substantial increases in the monthly mortgage payments for homeowners. Many people will not be able to afford the increases.
With interest-only loans, homeowners pay just the interest for a fixed number of months, usually 60, before they have to start paying off the mortgage at fully amortizing rates. There was an explosion of these mortgages issued in 2005, so many will reset in 2010.
Option ARMs are loans in which borrowers are permitted to make minimum payments every month, payments that are less than their monthly interest charges. Many borrowers use that option for as long as they can, but once the mortgage balance reaches between 110% and 125% of the original loan balance, the loans reset into a fully amortizing mortgage -- and payments rise steeply since the balances themselves have also gone up.
Real estate analysts predict a spike in these resetting loans, which might force another wave of homeowners into foreclosure.
The fear is that all these foreclosed homes will flood the market and drive down prices even more for existing homes, making it harder for new-home builders to compete.
According to real estate analyst Mike Larson of Weiss Research, builders might be more confident except for concern over the end of the first-time homebuyer's tax credit, which enables buyers who have not owned a home for the past three years to take as much as $8,000 off the federal taxes they pay.
That program lapses on Dec. 1, although Larson figures the odds of extending it at better than even. "Still, builders may be scaling back until they see what happens to that," he said.
FDIC: 'All options' to boost deposit fund
Chairman Sheila Bair says regulators will meet to discuss ways to replenish FDIC insurance funds depleted by a spike in bank failures.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/18/news/economy/FDIC_
Treasury.reut/index.htm
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- U.S. bank regulators will meet at the end of the month to explore options, including some that are not well-known, to replenish the dwindling fund that safeguards bank deposits, the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Friday.
Chairman Sheila Bair said the agency would put out for public comment the options to rebuild the fund -- which has been significantly drained by a sharp increase in bank failures -- including tapping the FDIC's line of credit with the Treasury.
"We are carefully considering all our options, including borrowing from Treasury," Bair said at a global finance summit in Washington.
She said the FDIC also had lesser-known alternatives for replenishing the fund, such as prepayments of assessments on banks and issuing a note. She did not give further details on those options.
So far this year 92 U.S. banks have failed, compared with 25 during all of last year and only three in 2007. Those failures have brought the balance of the insurance fund down to $10.4 billion from $45 billion a year ago. But the FDIC is careful to note that it has $42 billion in reserves to handle failures over the next year.
Bair's comments at Georgetown University touched on a range of topics, from her view that regulators should not have the option of extending "open-bank assistance" to troubled financial firms, to her concerns about accounting proposals that could imperil banks in times of stress.
She said she generally agrees with actions by the Financial Accounting Standards Board but is worried about a proposal to further extend "mark-to-market" accounting for bank loans.
"During periods of market stress, losses could be exacerbated," Bair said. "We don't need to deepen the crises."
FASB met last month to discuss whether to force companies to value nearly all financial instruments on their balance sheets, including loans, at market value, and to reflect them in earnings. Banks oppose such a change. FASB is expected to release a proposal in the first half of 2010.
Bair also took aim at proposed reforms to combat systemic risk. She said large financial institutions should not be allowed to believe they will receive government assistance if they run into trouble.
The Obama administration has proposed giving the FDIC authority to wind down troubled, large financial firms, but it also gives regulators the option to provide open-bank assistance on a temporary basis.
"So-called open-bank assistance ... should be prohibited," Bair said.
She said the FDIC's system for resolving failed depository banks is effective and should be extended to large financial firms. The change is especially crucial because the recent crisis has further concentrated the financial industry, and no firm can be considered too big to fail, she said.
"The process is harsh, it's painful, but it works," Bair said of the FDIC system. "Unless we enact reforms ... our system will be more, not less, fragile after this crisis."