10-1-09

 
10-1-09
Merced Sun-Star
Our View: 6-1 vote for Wal-Mart: 'Let's do it!'
Forget about lawsuits; the time has come to start building distribution center.
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/181/v-print/story/1088645.html
The perfect is the enemy of the good.
So wrote Gustave Flaubert, the French author and philosopher.
That's our take on the 6-1 Merced City Council vote in favor of the Wal-Mart distribution center.
Bravo, you half-dozen electeds who stood up for economic progress, more jobs and affordable prices for our area's consumers.
It would've been perfect to post a unanimous 7-0 vote. But in these days of angry rhetoric and fiery protests, Councilman John Carlisle's single holdout vote could only have been expected.
That the vote wasn't perfect doesn't mean it wasn't good.
And Carlisle, the most union-friendly guy on the council, took a principled stand on the issue. He's genuinely opposed to the distribution center, and so voted with both head and heart.
In any case, that's history.
Now we need to look and act ahead. The Sun-Star fully endorses the letter sent to the Merced Alliance for Responsible Growth (MARG) and the Merced Stop Wal-Mart Action Team by three separate chambers of commerce, a jobs coalition and a booster outfit.
These business-savvy groups implored the Wal-Mart opponents not to pull the trigger on a lawsuit: "We respectfully request that MARG reject calls from out-of-town, special-interest groups determined to exploit the legal system to deny our community the jobs it so desperately needs."
We concur.
All a lawsuit would do is delay the inevitable. All it would do is postpone the arrival of more jobs in our community. All it would do is line the pockets of contingency fee-based out-of-town attorneys. All it would do is prolong the recession.
Please use common sense and common decency, you anti-Wal-Mart forces, in deciding your next move.
And the possible number of jobs from the project, according to the Greater Merced Chamber, the Hispanic Chamber, the Merced County Chamber, the Merced County Jobs Coalition and the Merced County Boosters, has swelled to 1,200 from an original forecast of 900.
Sun-Star reporter Scott Jason quoted several local contractors and laborers ready and eager to sign up for the huge construction project.
The demand is there. The need is great. The benefits are clear. The downside is tolerable.
In the immortal words of Bluto Blutarsky in "Animal House:"
"Let's do it!"
Modesto Bee
Obama administration seeks review of delta's protections...Michael Doyle
http://www.modbee.com/local/v-print/story/876131.html
WASHINGTON -- The nation's most respected scientists should re-examine California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the controversial measures now protecting it, the Obama administration declared Wednesday.
In a nod to Central Valley residents and their increasingly angry congressional allies, the administration agreed to seek an independent review by the National Academy of Sciences. The study, announced at an often-heated public hearing Wednesday morning, would include a search for alternative environmental protections that might demand less sacrifice from farmers.
"This is a huge priority for the president and for me," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said. "We will do our part."
Salazar's promise, though, did not completely calm the Californians from both parties and many perspectives who are vehemently demanding more help with the state's water shortage.
"Our farmworkers are hurting," Orange Cove Mayor Victor Lopez shouted. "How in the hell can you pay your rent? How are you going to pay your mortgage? (And) we just keep talking and talking."
Lopez was one of more than 100 participants in the half-day California water session convened by the Interior Department.
Lawmakers, lobbyists and regulars gathered for the minisummit, which followed a similar program held in Sacramento in August.
The Obama administration used the Wednesday hearing as a way to air the myriad California water problems, as well as to offer some policy consolations.
In addition to the proposed National Academy of Sciences study, Salazar announced that a new "memorandum of understanding" would bind six different federal agencies in a collaborative California effort.
The effort will now include a new "Bay-Delta Leadership Committee," co-led by the Interior Department and the White House's Council on Environmental Quality. Salazar also made the rhetorical gesture of urging Gov. Schwarzenegger and the Legislature to convene a special session on California water policies.
Negotiators already are meeting privately in Sacramento, and a special state Senate session will be convened if a water package can be agreed upon, state legislators noted Wednesday.
The proposed study now being jointly requested by the Interior and Commerce departments will look anew at two "biological opinions" used in protecting endangered species such as smelt and salmon.
Irrigation deliveries at risk
Taken together, the two biological opinions by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service could cut irrigation deliveries by up to 30 percent. The sacrificed water is needed to protect habitat and several different fish regulated by the Endangered Species Act.
"At least some of the science is highly questionable," said Ron Jacobsma, general manager of the Friant Water Authority.
Salazar said he expects the new study would take six months or so. The National Academy of Sciences is an independent agency, conducting studies through the National Research Council, but it almost always complies with requests from Cabinet-level departments.
There's still high-level disagreement, though, over what policy changes, if any, might result from the new scientific study.
Salazar said he still stands by the biological opinions, and he dismissed the idea of reopening the formal "consultation" process through which federal agencies make environmental decisions.
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, by contrast, favors adjusting the decision-making if circumstances warrant. "The government is not infallible," she said.
Members of the San Joaquin Valley congressional delegation are likewise challenging federal decision-making.
"We are long past the point of (establishing) more committees," said Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced, noting that a previous Obama administration California "drought task force" did little.
Democratic Rep. Jim Costa of Fresno complained that the Obama administration has shortchanged California water projects, including a "Two Gates" proposal now expected to cost upward of $45 million.
Two Gates involves installing removable gates in the delta, between Stockton and Antioch, that would block smelt from swimming into giant pumps.
Another Two Gates project fan, Republican Rep. George Radanovich of Mariposa, described the "angst" felt by his constituents, while Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, angrily denounced the "radical extreme environmentalists" he says are allied with Bay Area lawmakers.
If the Bay Area residents want to protect the environment so much, Nunes said sarcastically, they should support tearing down O'Shaugnessy Dam and restoring Yosemite's Hetch Hetchy Valley.
Crows Landing cemetery search set for next week...Garth Stapley
http://www.modbee.com/local/v-print/story/876134.html
High-profile digging in the Antioch back yard of accused kidnappers delayed a search for pioneer graves at a former Crows Landing airfield.
Brian Damiata, who uses ground-penetrating radar to detect soil disturbances, was scheduled last week to begin looking for an estimated 25 graves, some as old as 130 years. But Damiata confirmed Tuesday that he had been busy helping decipher data while authorities dug in Phillip and Nancy Garrido's back yard.
Officials allege they abducted Jaycee Dugard in 1991 and held her for 18 years, and they were looking for connections to disappearances of two East Bay girls in 1988 and 1989.
Damiata also had trouble lining up equipment needed for the Crows Landing project, he said. Stanislaus County Deputy Executive Officer Keith Boggs said the search has been rescheduled for Monday and Tuesday.
Developer Gerry Kamilos of West Park LLC said he's paying $25,000 to $30,000 to look for graves on a former Navy airfield designated for his proposed 4,800-acre business and industrial park.
Sacramento Bee
Public Eye: City exempts major users from water-saving rules...Charles Piller
http://www.sacbee.com/626/v-print/story/2222070.html
The city of Sacramento apparently is above its own laws, having excused several city operations from the water-conservation rules that apply to local businesses and homes. In August, a Bee investigation found city government was among the most wasteful of Sacramento's major water users.
This week the city acknowledged that after a new water ordinance passed in May, the Utilities Department, Parks and Recreation and city golf courses were exempted from many of its provisions. They account for the vast majority of water used by city government. In exemption requests to Marty Hanneman, director of utilities, the departments cited budget problems and the need to keep grass green. Some said they could not comply with prohibitions, such as watering before 10 a.m. and after 6 p.m., due to short staffing or sub- standard equipment.
The city's response after the newspaper report? It added a property: the City Cemetery, which requested a waiver after The Bee exposed its wasteful practices. In last week's heat wave, its sprinklers ran at full blast in midafternoon. Water pooled on crypts and sidewalks.
The city's Natalie Birk, said the cemetery has one employee, down from two last year, who provides public access to the grave sites during the day and can't operate the manually con- trolled sprinklers after hours.
Hanneman, who enforces city water rules, said in an e-mail that the city plans gradually to improve park irrigation. A parks spokesperson said more than $1 million has been budgeted this year for such changes, part of an ongoing upgrade.
Stockton Record
Speaking truth to power and getting laughs...Michael Fitzgerald's Blog
http://blogs.recordnet.com/sr-mfitzgerald
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart skewers Sean Hannity's wingnut show on the Delta smelt here.
Stewart makes a terrific point. These farmers crying for the government to butt out so they can just farm in their libertairian, self-sufficient patriotic American way would be living in a desert if not for the federal and state dams and canals that supply their water. But check out the hilarious way Stewart puts it.
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Where The Riled Things Are...video
http://www.hulu.com/watch/99180/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-where-the-riled-things-are#s-p1-st-i1
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart skewers Sean Hannity's wingnut show on the Delta smelt...
San Francisco Chronicle
W.Va. meet led to Klamath dam removal, salmon aid...JEFF BARNARD, AP Environmental Writer
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/09/30/national/a040658D12.DTL&type=printable
The turning point toward removing four Klamath River dams in Oregon and California to restore struggling salmon runs came in the little Shenandoah Valley town of Shepherdstown, W.Va.
Michael Bogert, an aide to then-Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorn, summoned representatives of PacifiCorp and the governors of Oregon and California to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Conservation Training Center there in May 2008. They would find a way to peace in the Klamath after decades of battling over water, fish, power and farming.
"We relicense our hydro projects — that's the regular course of business," PacifiCorp Vice President and General Counsel Dean Brockbank recalled Wednesday after the Portland-based utility announced it had agreed to terms for removing the dams.
"In this case, Gov. (Ted) Kulongoski, Gov. (Arnold) Schwarzenegger, and at that time Secretary Kempthorn made it very clear from a public policy point of view that they did not want these dams relicensed. They wanted the dams removed as part of a larger (Klamath) basin settlement and restoration program.
"Once that became abundantly clear, we shifted our framework from relicensing to settlement involving a possible dam removal framework."
Kempthorn said from Washington, D.C., that he did not initially want the dams removed, but President George W. Bush wanted a resolution to the long-standing water crisis, and he was determined to find an agreement that would be a good business decision for PacifiCorp.
"I think that was an attitude change, maybe a game-changer," he said.
A key element was the federal government agreeing that some other entity besides PacifiCorp would take out the dams, Brockbank said.
"Up until that point, people talked aspirationally about taking dams out," he said. "But PacifiCorp was not going to take the dams out. One of our fundamental negotiating principles was someone else has got to take that burden on."
PacifiCorp has agreed to terms for removing four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath that produce enough power for 70,000 customers. If they actually come out sometime after 2020, it will open some 300 miles of river to salmon for the first time in a century. Conservation groups have characterized it as the biggest river restoration effort ever.
The utility, a unit of Omaha, Neb.-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc., is expected to sign the draft agreement by the end of the year.
The deal sets a cap of $450 million for dam removal. Oregon has agreed to a surcharge of $180 million on Oregon customers of PacifiCorp. California must still approve bonds to cover the rest. Meanwhile, PacifiCorp has agreed to spend $500,000 a year for the next 10 years on restoration of coho salmon habitat in California tributaries of the Klamath River.
The focus now shifts to getting farmers, American Indian tribes, salmon fishermen, conservation groups and others to sign onto a $1 billion proposal for restoring the Klamath Basin.
The draft agreement includes water and power assurances for irrigators in the upper basin, as well as continued farming on the Tule Lake and Lower Klamath national wildlife refuges — terms that have angered some conservation groups worried that they will limit water for fish and block the restoration of wetlands critical to improving water quality.
Charles Bonham, California director of Oregon Trout, said the support of everyone in the community is necessary for restoration to work.
"We want salmon to be met in Klamath Falls with open arms, not pitchforks," he said.
Federal marshals had to be called to Klamath Falls in 2001 to keep farmers from opening floodgates to the Klamath Reclamation Project, which had been closed so scarce water could be devoted to threatened salmon during a drought.
When the Bush administration restored irrigation the next year, tens of thousands of adult salmon died in the lower river, stranded by low water in warm pools where they were vulnerable to disease.
In 2006, poor returns to the Klamath forced authorities to practically shut down salmon fishing in the ocean off California and Oregon, triggering appropriations from Congress for millions of dollars in disaster assistance to fishermen.
"Society has been incurring great costs already outside the basin for these unresolved issues within the basin," said Mike Carrier, policy director for Kulongoski, the Democratic Oregon governor.
Not all tribes and conservation groups are happy with the way things are going.
"The (agreement) allows PacifiCorp to stall dam removal until a date when all naturally spawning salmon in the river could be dead," Hoopa Tribal Chairman Leonard Master said in a statement. "We cannot afford to wait that long."
Oregon Wild is fighting the deal's link to assurances of steady water supplies for a federal irrigation project and continued farming on two national wildlife refuges.
Opening the Klamath...Editorial
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/01/EDML19V308.DTL&type=printable
An agreement to demolish four dams on the upper Klamath River is nothing short of amazing. The project will be the largest such removal project on the planet, the risks and advantages are largely unproved, yet a contentious army of interest groups have ended a major fight in the Western water wars.
The removals, handled carefully, could set the stage for a broader change. Four dams on the Snake River in Washington state are being eyed for demolition, and soon fresh flows from Friant Dam near Fresno will fill long-dry sections of the San Joaquin River. These pillars of water policy are ripe for reappraisal.
For the Klamath dams, stretching across the California and Oregon border, the issue is plummeting salmon stocks. Despite a nearby fish hatchery, the dams have cut off 300 miles of fish-rearing habitat for the sake of irrigation and power generation. The fight began in 2002 when water diversions led to the death of 33,000 migrating fish. This year, California has banned open-water salmon fishing to protect salmon.
Ripping out the dams, sensibly, won't happen overnight. By 2020, after lengthy study and more approvals by the Interior Department, the demolition work could begin.
The issues are many. Oregon farmers want water from Klamath Lake at the top of the river. Tribes and fishing groups want steady flows and revived salmon runs, which could come from a dam-free Klamath. The dam's owner, PacifiCorp, will pay up to $200 million in ratepayer fees for removal, a better price than refitting the dams with fish-friendly ladders and other features.
Taking down the four medium-size structures will be an experiment. Sediment backed up for nearly a century behind the dam walls must be removed lest it run downriver to smother existing salmon-rearing areas. California voters will likely be asked to approve a $250 million bond measure to pay for other removal costs.
The biggest question of all: Will the restored stretch of river spur the return of salmon to the Klamath, once the third-most productive river after the Columbia and Sacramento? It's a question no one dared to dream of asking before the remarkable agreement reached this week.
Mercury News
State reveals detailed high-speed train plans from San Francisco to San Jose...Mike Rosenberg, San Mateo County Times
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_13455760?nclick_check=1
Love it or hate it, the California high-speed train will bolt through each neighborhood along the Caltrain tracks on either 20-foot high rail bridges, alongside the current railroad, or underground, according to state plans revealed Wednesday.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority released the much-anticipated "alternatives analysis," by far the most detailed view yet of how the massive project will forever transform the region from San Francisco to San Jose. The $40 billion bullet train will whisk passengers at speeds up to 125 mph along the Caltrain corridor and travel to Los Angeles, with service expected to begin late next decade.
The authority proposed three track alignment options: raised tracks on either open aerial structures similar to freeway overpasses or on filled-in berms, typically around 20 feet above street level; adding two tracks next to the existing Caltrain railroad; or underground tracks through either an enclosed tunnel or open trench. At no point will the tracks cross street intersections.
The rail authority will not select the actual track alignment until early 2011, and construction will start in late 2012. The configurations proposed Wednesday will give planners, city officials and residents options to study — and debate — for the next 1½ years.
In most cases the railroad would feature four side-by-side tracks, with two for electrified Caltrains and a pair for the bullet trains. The
expansion may result in taking property of homes and businesses through eminent domain, although high-speed train project manager Dominic Spaethling said they may consider stacking tracks, two-by-two, in especially tight areas such as Millbrae, San Mateo and Redwood City.
It is possible the rail line will rise and fall throughout the region depending on the needs of cities, although state engineering manager Tim Cobb said it would not resemble a roller coaster. He said planners hope to keep the elevation as consistent as possible, noting they can only raise every 100 feet of track by one foot.
Spaethling said the authority does not yet favor any of the particular alignments and will spend the rest of the year studying the three options based on factors such as feasibility, neighborhood impact and land use. Many cities favor the underground tracks but fear they will be too expensive.
Among the highlights of the report, the state said it is now considering Mountain View, in addition to Palo Alto and Redwood City, as host for the region's fourth high-speed rail station. Stops have already been cemented in San Francisco, San Jose and Millbrae, but a fourth mid-Peninsula station may be added.
Also, for several cities that hoped the train would be "out of sight, out of mind," the authority said it would study tunneling or trenching in communities such as Burlingame, Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Atherton.
Two of those cities, Menlo Park and Atherton, sued the rail authority last summer, and Palo Alto filed a legal brief in support of their lawsuit earlier this year. A Sacramento judge next week is expected to issue a disposition in that lawsuit.
"We're pleased that the authority is taking our comments seriously and that they're going to look at all options seriously," said Palo Alto Councilwoman Yoriko Kishimoto, who helped start a five-city consortium to ensure cities had a voice in the train-planning process.
Other cities in which below-ground tunneling or trenching will be studied include San Francisco, Millbrae, northern San Mateo, southern San Carlos, northern Redwood City, Mountain View, northern Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and San Jose.
Some cities received only one proposal and will not have their track elevations altered. Instead, planners will likely just add two tracks to the sides of their existing stretch of railroad. These sections include the railroad stretches between the Bayshore and South San Francisco Caltrain stations, most of San Bruno, from southern San Mateo to northern San Carlos, and from southern Sunnyvale to northern Santa Clara.
The authority said it will need to build elevated rail bridges or send its trains underground in northern San Mateo and near the Redwood City and San Jose Diridon Caltrain stations. The trains will need to run underground in most of northeastern San Francisco, as well.
More graphics: 
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_13455760?nclick_check=1
CNN Money
Home sales contracts in 7-month rally
Realtors' index rises 6.4% in August for 7th straight gain as tax credit deadline boosts activity...Les Christie
http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/01/real_estate/August_sales_
contracts/index.htm?postversion=2009100110
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Homebuyers signed more sales contracts in August than in any month this year, boosted by the looming expiration of a homebuyers' tax credit, according to an industry report released Thursday.
The August Pending Home Sales Index from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) surged 6.4%, the seventh straight month-over-month improvement in the indicator. The increase far exceeded economists' expectations -- a panel of analysts surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a 1% rise.
Pending home sales rose 3.2% in July.
Pending sales are considered a forward indicator of housing market health since contract signings precede actual closings, which typically occur two to three months later. August contract signings show up in October and November NAR statistics as existing home sales.
Housing markets have gained some ground recently as a tax credit for first-time homebuyers -- which is scheduled to expire Nov. 30 -- stimulated sales of starter, and other, homes.
"No doubt many first-time buyers are rushing to beat the deadline for the $8,000 tax credit, which expires at the end of next month," said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist.
One problem in extrapolating future closings from contract signings, however, is that there are continuing problems obtaining mortgages that may scuttle many deals, according to Yun.
"The rise in pending home sales shows buyers are returning to the market and signing contracts, but deals are not necessarily closing because of long delays related to short sales, and issues regarding complex new appraisal rules," he said.
Those issues also could also lead to some double counting of previous pending sales as buyers whose earlier deals fell through may return to the market and sign new contracts.
Still, the oversized gain in pending sales will surely translate into some increase in closings, and the report added to several other positive recent indicators that housing markets are at least stabilizing, if not in full-blown recovery.
Not all economic and housing indicators have been pointing up. Initial jobless claims climbed this week, according to a Labor Department report, after three weeks of declines.
Foreclosure filings are still well above normal and they threaten to go far higher as the terms of many toxic mortgages, such as interest-only loans and option ARMS, reset over the next six to 12 months and send the monthly mortgage payments of homeowners soaring.
Another housing market question mark is the status of the tax credit for first-time homebuyers, with the industry fearing that home sales could drop sharply if it's allowed to expire.
There are, however, several efforts in Congress to extend the credit and even to expand it to all homebuyers, not just first-timers. That could turbo-charge home sales if it goes through.
Jobless claims report is setback to recovery
Initial claims jump 17,000 to 551,000 after three straight weeks of declines, but easing is still seen...Julianne Pepitone
http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/01/news/economy/initial_jobless_
claims/index.htm?postversion=2009100110
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The number of first-time filers for unemployment insurance jumped last week, according to a government report issued Thursday, with the increase exceeding economists' forecasts.
There were 551,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended Sept. 26, up 17,000 from an upwardly revised 534,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said in a weekly report.
A consensus estimate of economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected 535,000 new claims.
"We've been holding in a similar pattern the past few weeks, and this could dash some hopes of a quicker recovery," said Adam York, analyst at Wells Fargo.
Ian Shepherdson of High Frequency Economics wrote in a research note that "a correction was overdue" after three consecutive declines in initial claims.
"Progress is slow," Shepherdson said. "There is still no sign of a near-term stabilization in employment."
The 4-week moving average of initial claims was 548,000, down 6,250 from the previous week's revised average of 554,250.
Continuing claims: The government said 6,090,000 people filed continuing claims in the week ended Sept. 19, the most recent data available. That was down 70,000 from the preceding week's ongoing claims.
The 4-week moving average for ongoing claims fell by 39,250 to 6,154,500 from the prior week's revised average of 6,193,750.
The initial claims number identifies those filing for their first week of unemployment benefits. Continuing claims reflect people filing each week after their initial claim until the end of their standard benefits, which usually last 26 weeks.
The figures do not include those who have moved to state or federal extensions, nor people whose benefits have expired.
State-by-state data: Two states reported a decline in initial claims of more than 1,000 for the week ended Sept. 19, the most recent data available. Claims in Kansas fell by 1,545, while Wisconsin's fell by 1,258.
A total of 12 states said that claims increased by more than 1,000. California reported the most new claims at 5,112.
Fewer layoffs: A separate report from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said its data showed stabilization in the job market.
Monthly layoff announcements fell in September to 66,404 job cuts, down 13% from August. That's the lowest level since March 2008, and the September figure was 30% lower than the same month a year ago, when employers announced 95,094 job cuts.
It was the fourth consecutive month in which job cuts declined from the year-ago level.
Outlook: Thursday's government report "shows we still have job losses to come this year," said Wells Fargo's York.
The rest of 2009's job losses won't come near the levels seen during mass layoffs in January and February, York said, and initial claims could fall below the 500,000 mark by year's end.
High Frequency Economics' Shepherdson wrote that better economic data in the third quarter should boost the job market.
"It would be very surprising not to see claims falling now," he said.