9-13-08

 9-13-08Merced Sun-StarEnvironmentalists want judge to void water contractsThey say the agreements are based on faulty information and delta fish face threats...JOHN ELLIS, The Fresno Beehttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/451484.htmlEnvironmentalists want the federal government to cancel or renegotiate more than three dozen long-term water contracts in the Central Valley because they say they were drawn up using flawed data.If the request is approved by U.S. District Court Judge Oliver W. Wanger, agricultural users both north and south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta say it would likely mean less water for them.Some say the environmentalists' request has the potential to turn the state's intricately woven water world upside down.That's because some Sacramento River users say that if there's no federal contract, they should be able to reassert their longtime state water rights -- a claim that could devastate the Westlands Water District and even hurt the Friant Water Users Authority and other San Joaquin River water users.Wanger heard arguments Friday that the contracts should be rewritten because they were based on flawed environmental data regarding the effects of water pumping on a threatened fish that lives in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta."First there must be a decision as to how much water is needed for the Delta smelt, and that's what's the problem here," argued Jaime Crook, an attorney for the environmental groups. "They are signing 40-year contracts, and it's a significant commitment of water."Environmentalists say the population decline is driven largely by reduced water coming into the delta, and also because increased pumping for users south of the delta has helped wreck critical spawning areas and is damaging the smelt's overall habitat.Last year, Wanger threw out a key opinion on the effects of delta water pumping on the smelt. Data from that opinion -- which is being rewritten by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service -- was used to help craft the new 25- to 40-year contracts with the 42 different users.Environmentalists say the contracts should instead be based on the new smelt opinion, which is scheduled to be finished next year...Rudy Buendia III hasn't turned himself in and authorities are actively searching for him...SCOTT JASONhttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/451467.htmlFirm Build's manager, charged Wednesday with 15 felonies linked to the nonprofit's demise, remains in the wind. Rudy Buendia III still hasn't surrendered to officers.Buendia, also a Merced County planning commissioner, became a fugitive after he learned of his outstanding arrest warrants Thursday from his attorney...Buendia is one of two public officials charged with felonies from Firm Build's collapse in September 2007. For the moment, both will be able to remain on their appointed commissions, as the Board of Supervisors isn't planning any actions. Meantime, Firm Build's board president Patrick Bowman posted bail late Thursday. He's also a coordinator with the Merced County Office of Education and has been placed on administrative leave while the office conducts an internal investigation, MCOE spokesman Nathan Quevedo said Friday...Bowman, 41, earns $104,764 in his role as coordinator of the Workplace Learning Academy, which is under the Career and Alternative Education division. He's accused of seven felonies, including channeling $120,000 from MCOE to Firm Build for projects not connected to the school. He also allegedly violated conflict of interest laws because Firm Build, which contracted with his employer, worked on his personal home.Joe Cuellar, Firm Build's administrative manager, is charged with 15 felonies, including embezzlement and diversion of construction funds. He bailed himself out of Fresno County Jail... Created with taxpayer money, it relied heavily on contracts with the Housing Authority, the Merced County Office of Education and poor residents using city loans to renovate their homes.While overseeing Firm Build, Buendia, Cuellar and Bowman also gained power on various committees and boards tied to the nonprofit...Buendia served as a Housing Authority commissioner while he managed Firm Build, by then an independent organization. Also, three commissioners were on Firm Build's board when the Housing Authority gave the nonprofit a $300,000 loan. Investigators allege that about $100,000 remains unpaid.Buendia served on the commission from 2005 with his term ending earlier this year.Bowman was appointed in May to the Housing Authority commission by the Board of Supervisors in a divided vote.Supervisors Mike Nelson, Deidre Kelsey and John Pedrozo voted to appoint Bowman. Chairwoman Kathleen Crookham and Supervisor Jerry O'Banion dissented... Modesto BeeDiablo Grande: It's settledJudge's concern for creditors addressed; deal to close Oct. 2...TIM MORANhttp://www.modbee.com/local/story/428272.htmlDespite the drama of some last-minute negotiations and detail changes, a sale of the Diablo Grande resort and a settlement agreement spelling out how the sale proceeds will be distributed won the approval of a Sacramento bankruptcy court judge Friday.The judge also approved an emergency loan of $148,630 to keep the resort operating for the next two weeks.The assets of the 28,500-acre Diablo Grande resort in the hills of western Stanislaus County are being sold to World International, a corporation owned by Mexican nationals with experience in hotel and industrial development...The purchase price is $20 million, plus as much as $1 million to satisfy debts related to contracts, such as the one providing water service to the homes in Diablo Grande.The partnership that owns Diablo Grande filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March, after the housing market slump dried up cash flow for the development. Diablo Grande includes about 400 homes, two championship-level golf courses, vineyards and a winery...Laurus Corp., a Los Angeles real estate development company that specializes in luxury hotels, resorts and residential property, is acting as a consultant for World International...Laurus has declined comment on World International, saying it will issue a statement once the Diablo Grande sale closes.That closing is scheduled for Oct. 2.Judge Robert Bardwil had approved the sale Sept. 9, pending final language approval by creditors. Bardwil had serious reservations about the settlement agreement, however, and without the agreement, creditors said they wouldn't agree to the sale.Bardwil repeated his objections Friday, contending the agreement bypassed the regular bankruptcy process in distributing the sale money. In the agreement, the secured creditors set aside $850,000 for the unsecured creditors, money Bardwil said should be put in the bankruptcy estate.Lawyers scrambled to make last-minute changes to the settlement agreement during a recess Friday morning, to satisfy Bardwil's concerns. The creditor and debtor lawyers agreed to put the $850,000 into the bankruptcy estate, with the stipulation that it could not be used to pay professional services such as attorney fees and marketing for the property.The loan Bardwil approved, to be borrowed from J. Morton Davis, one of the Diablo Grande partners, would be used for water district payments, workers compensation, health insurance and payroll costs for the next two weeks. A hearing on more financing to get the resort to the Oct. 2 closing will be held Sept. 23 in the Sacramento bankruptcy court...The last remaining objector to the settlement agreement Friday was the West Stanislaus Fire District, which wanted assurances that agreements it had with the Diablo Grande partnership would be binding on the new owner.The agreements include that the developer would build a permanent fire station by the time the 500th building permit was issued; that housing would be provided for firefighters stationed at Diablo Grande; and that the district would be paid $125,000 when the temporary fire station was no longer needed...Bardwil said the fire district agreements are with the Diablo Grande partnership and not the new buyer. The settlement agreement leaves the district free to pursue reparations from the partnership, but it can't force the buyer to assume those obligations, Bardwil said.Merced County supes ignore development facts...ROBBY AVILLA, Stevinsonhttp://www.modbee.com/opinion/letters/story/428208.htmlFour of the five Merced County supervisors continue to ignore the facts about "new town" development with their approval of a zoning change for the Villages of Laguna San Luis. - Merced County is not going to bring in enough revenue from these developments to offset the costs of serving them. - Merced County does not need more housing. - These types of projects are not communities, they are bedrooms. They do not generate enough economic development to provide a viable community that can hire and employ its own people and they place added stress on our infrastructure, air quality and water resources.- To approve any new developments before a comprehensive water study is completed shows negligence.I am proud of my supervisor, Deidre Kelsey, for standing alone against this type of development.Sacramento BeeNitrogen called rising climate threat...Robert S. Boydhttp://www.sacbee.com/378/v-print/story/1232735.htmlWASHINGTON – Scientists are raising alarms about yet another threat to Earth's climate and human well-being. This time it's nitrogen, a common element essential to all life.For years, people have been bombarded with warnings about the harmful effects of carbon – especially in the form of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas widely blamed for global warming.Now, it's becoming clear that human activities, such as driving cars and raising crops, also are boosting nitrogen to dangerous levels – polluting air and water and damaging human health.An expanding flock of international scientists is concentrating on the nitrogen threat. There's a reactive nitrogen conference somewhere in the world almost every month."The public has learned a lot about carbon and its contribution to global change," said James Galloway, an authority on nitrogen at the University of Virginia. "However, they know less about nitrogen and its numerous impacts on environmental issues, including global change."Pure nitrogen is a colorless, odorless gas and the largest single component of Earth's atmosphere. Every breath you take is almost 80 percent nitrogen.However, about 1 percent of the stuff is so-called "reactive nitrogen." It combines with other elements, such as oxygen and hydrogen, to form hundreds of thousands of chemical compounds – some beneficial, some harmful.Many of these compounds are valuable in industry and agriculture. They preserve foods and wine, enhance oil production, make plastics and explosives, and fill automobile airbags. They form the building blocks of life: DNA, genes and proteins. Their biggest use is in synthetic fertilizers."We estimate that nitrogen fertilizers are currently responsible for feeding 48 percent of the world's population," Galloway said.On the other hand, reactive nitrogen has many negative effects. Its compounds create smog, cause cancer and respiratory disease, and befoul rivers, lakes and coastal waters. They create "dead zones" in the ocean, corrode roads and bridges, weaken the ozone shield and add another greenhouse gas to the already overburdened atmosphere."The challenge is to maximize the beneficial uses of reactive nitrogen while minimizing adverse environmental impacts," said a scientific advisory committee to the Environmental Protection Agency in a draft report on the problem.Experts say the most pressing need is to increase the availability of nitrogen fertilizer in poor countries and reduce its inefficient and wasteful use in U.S. factories and farms."Too much nitrogen is carried off of farmers' fields by rain and irrigation, spewed out of automobiles and factories into the air, and leached from septic tanks and sewage treatment facilities into rivers and groundwater," said Eric Davidson, a nitrogen expert at the Woods Hole Research Center in Massachusetts.Sacramento conservation group buys Yolo ranch land...Mary Lynne Vellingahttp://www.sacbee.com/101/v-print/story/1232860.htmlA Sacramento land preservation group announced Friday that it has bought a 1,682-acre ranch in Yolo County just across the Sacramento River from Sacramento International Airport.The purchase of the former Knaggs Ranch by the Sacramento Valley Conservancy, working with the Yolo Land Trust, ensures the property remains undeveloped. It also represents a potentially groundbreaking instance of cross-river cooperation between Yolo County and the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency, which helped fund the deal...Most of the land – renamed the Elkhorn Basin Ranch – will continue to be used for growing walnuts and other crops, said Aimee Rutledge, executive director of the Sacramento Valley Conservancy. But a portion of the acreage will be restored to the riparian forest that existed before it was chopped down in the 1970s......Sacramento Valley Conservancy is listed as the purchaser. The Yolo Land Trust holds conservation easements protecting the property from development, according to county records...While the property won't be used for flooding, representatives of the flood control agencies said they view it as an important part of the local flood control system. If the land were ever developed, the sandy farm levees would require extensive upgrades and could increase the flood risk across the river in North Natomas...Stockton RecordUC Merced moves ahead on medical school plans...The Recordhttp://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080913/A_NEWS/809130315/-1/A_NEWSMERCED - The University of California, Merced, has established a planning office and named Maria Pallavicini as vice provost for health sciences to finalize its proposal for a medical school that could open by 2013."When we received approval in May from the UC Board of Regents to continue planning for a medical school, our next step was to put in place leadership that will move our medical school proposal forward to completion," UC Merced Chancellor Steve Kang said.Pallavicini, who is dean of the School of Natural Sciences and has led the campus' medical school planning process, will function in a dual capacity for UC Merced, dividing her time serving as vice provost to continue plans to establish the School of Medicine and continuing to oversee the School of Natural Sciences...Kang and Pallavicini said there is much work to be accomplished in the coming months, particularly if the campus is to submit its full proposal to the regents in July as planned.To assist Pallavicini with medical school planning, UC Merced hired consultants from the Washington Advisory Group, which specializes in providing strategic advising services and management consulting to research universities, companies, governments and nonprofit organizations.The planning activities are supported by a gift provided by United Health Foundation. United Health gave $5 million each to UC Merced and UC Riverside in July 2006 to be provided over three years to assist in the development of medical education and health sciences-related programs in underserved areas of the state.Humane Society sues UC over egg reportGroup wants to know who funded study of Prop. 2...Reed Fujiihttp://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080913/A_BIZ/809130312/-1/A_NEWSProponents of Proposition 2, an initiative that could require more living space for egg-laying hens and other domestic animals, are suing the University of California for documents underlying the basis and funding of a UC study critical of the ballot measure.The Humane Society of the United States, a Washington-based animal advocacy group, recently filed suit in Yolo County Superior Court, claiming the university was making no effort to produce the documents six weeks after receiving the society's request and "could be purposefully delaying for political reasons," hoping to release the documents only after the Nov. 4 electionSteve Drown, chief campus counsel at UC Davis, said he was "a little perplexed by the lawsuit.""We have indicated to them and, in fact in our discussions with them, said that we would be responding to their public documents request," he said."I don't know that we've ever gotten a lawsuit when we are in the midst of identifying and responding to a request," Drown said. "We're just in the process of collecting the records."However, Humane Society counsel Jonathan Lovvorn said that before filing the lawsuit, the advocacy group had received none of the requested documents "or even an indication they were diligently searching."Drown said the university was engaged in a diligent and deliberate process to uncover all relevant documents while sorting out those that should not be disclosed, such as personnel records. That work should be completed well before Nov. 4, he said.He also noted the UC officials already said the study, released July 22, was funded solely by the university.Lovvorn said the Humane Society was concerned about the university's motivation in releasing a study on Proposition 2 so close to the election.While noting UC's funding claim, he said, "We saw that, too, but we really don't know what that means."He suggested a document review could show if any study funds came indirectly from the egg industry or other Proposition 2 opponents."The bottom line here is the voters are entitled to know everything there is to know about how this study came about, what the data shows and who funded," Lovvorn said.If approved, Proposition 2 would require certain farm animals be given space to extend their limbs or wings fully, lie down, stand up and turn around. Laying hens would have to have space to spread their wings without touching the sides of their cages or other hens.UC researchers said that could increase the cost of egg production 20 percent or more and require the industry to invest about $500 million in new housing for the chickens.That would effectively put them out of business, the study said. About half the eggs consumed in California are already produced outside the state, researchers noted. Those out-of-state producers - exempt from the costs imposed by Proposition 2 - could easily expand production and undercut California egg farmers.The study also suggested the ballot measure, if approved, would have little impact on the cost of eggs to California consumers.Contra Costa TimesBill for water fixes stuck in limbo...Mike Taugherhttp://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_10449867It contains about $30 million to help pay for the Contra Costa Water District's new intake, which will help the district draw cleaner water from the Delta, and more than $100 million to prepare for levee breaks and shore up levees that protect pipes that deliver water to the East Bay Municipal Utility District's 1.3 million customers.It also contains funding to link supply systems so that water can be better moved around and to clean up polluted groundwater in Southern California.Water officials say many of those projects could be done quickly and could even help if this winter is dry enough to turn a mild drought into a severe one...But with a threat from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that he will veto any bill that comes to his desk before there is a state budget, this bill and many others have not been sent to him.There is also some uncertainty about whether the governor would sign SB1XX, which was written by Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland.Last year, Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill because it did not contain money to build new dams or a canal around the Delta."Without them, this bill represents the same piecemeal approach that led us to the current crisis," he said in a veto message last OctoberSchwarzenegger's top water lieutenant, Department of Water Resources Director Lester Snow, said the governor did not make similar veto threats about the latest bill because it appeared lawmakers were seriously considering another water bond measure that could be used to fund new dams.That bond measure, however, is for all practical purposes too late for a November ballot, according to several observers close to the negotiations. Nevertheless, Snow said the administration would no doubt keep pushing for an agreement on a bond to place before voters.Snow said that if the drought worsens substantially next year, the governor could declare an emergency and seek expedited funding for key projects...Los Angeles TimesFederal inquiry could delay clean-trucks program at ports of L.A. and Long BeachThe Federal Maritime Commission releases a nine-page request for information that could push back the program's planned Oct. 1 start date...Ronald D. White and Louis Sahagunhttp://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-me-ports13-2008sep13,0,3008044,print.storyThe Federal Maritime Commission on Friday raised several questions about the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex's landmark clean-trucks program that appear likely to delay the plan's Oct. 1 start. The two ports, which make up the nation's busiest container cargo operation, received a voluminous set of questions about their plans to ban pre-1989 trucks in favor of newer, cleaner models. The agency could go to federal court to block implementation if it doesn't like the answers.At issue is the first effort by a major U.S. seaport to reduce diesel truck emissions by banning the oldest trucks that move cargo to and from the docks. The Port of Los Angeles program would require the creation of trucking companies or concessions to hire drivers who now operate as independent owner operators. Long Beach's program wouldn't require an employee mandate.Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Geraldine Knatz, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, tried to put the best face possible on the new obstacle. "We are confident that we are on our way to removing thousands of dirty trucks from our neighborhoods and roadways, reducing port truck diesel emissions by 80% in just four years," Villaraigosa said. Knatz described port officials as "intent on starting this program on Oct. 1 -- no one should underestimate our determination to move this critical initiative forward."The commission's nine-page letter contained more than 100 requests for information and documents. Many dealt with the effect of the ports' plan in comparison to a California Air Resources Board effort to rein in pollution at ports statewide.The commission's queries on key points of those plans sets off a process of response and assessment that could delay a decision on the pollution-reduction program until November or later. The maritime agency's letter surfaced days after a federal judge refused a temporary injunction requested by the American Trucking Assn. to block parts of the plan. In addition, a coalition of port terminal operators urged that the clean-trucks plan be delayed for up to three months to allow them more time to get ready.The letter was marked by a rare and strongly worded dissent by Commissioner Joseph E. Brennan."The commission is making a monumental mistake in delaying, yet again, the overall environmental plan that the cities of Los Angeles and Long Beach have developed to address serious health concerns and needed port expansion in the region," Brennan wrote.David Pettit, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the commission's questions "make it very clear that the entire clean-trucks program . . . is in play."Others applauded the commission's move."We hope that the ports will in a timely manner supply the information the [commission] requests, and that this will help the clean-truck program proceed next month minus the onerous concession plans," said American Trucking Assn. Chief Executive Bill Graves.Has the housing market hit bottom?Low prices and interest rates push some buyers off the fence. Experts warn of another wave of foreclosures...Peter Y. Honghttp://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-bottom13-2008sep13,0,1349958,print.storyWith mortgage interest rates edging down and the price of homes a good 30% below their peak in Southern California, Ryan Ratcliff made a decision on the minds of many: He decided to buy a house. ¶ Ratcliff, a University of San Diego economist who makes his living forecasting the housing market, hopes to close escrow next week on a three-bedroom house in a northern San Diego neighborhood known for its good schools. ¶ "I may not have exactly timed the bottom," said Ratcliff, who paid 25% less than what the foreclosed house sold for in 2006, "but I think we're close enough that I'm comfortable." ¶ Slowly, excruciatingly, buyers are beginning to return to the housing market. ¶ Home shoppers report competition for the cheapest foreclosures, and agents say business is picking up.But is the crisis over?Far from it, experts and economists say.Any market recovery "will be long and bumpy," said Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist of the California Assn. of Realtors. There probably will be false starts -- periods in which home prices flatten or even rise for a month or two, and then fall again.Many point to the last time the housing bubble burst in the early 1990s, when real estate lost 20% of its value in the first three years but then continued to bleed for four more years before beginning to rise.Still, there is no denying that activity has picked up in recent weeks and months. In July, the number of homes sold in Southern California was up from the same month a year ago, the first such increase in three years."Home prices are about to bottom," cheered Barron's magazine in a recent cover story. Popular business commentator Jim Cramer said much the same thing late last month on his CNBC television show.But whether the recent activity is a one-time spike driven by fire-sale prices on foreclosed houses or the beginning of a bottom can't be decided in a month.The rash of foreclosures, for example, may have created an opportunity for a mini-bubble of sorts, in which speculators and others rush in to buy homes that are perceived as very cheap.But the overall pressures on the economy and the housing market are serious -- and remain very much in place.A key problem is that despite the crash, prices remain historically high when compared with people's incomes. So even though home prices have come down, people can't afford to buy them...And as of July, there were so many houses on the market in California that it would take 6.7 months to sell them all, according to the Realtors association...California cities making the hardest-hit lists...Lauren Beale...L.A. Landhttp://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laland/2008/09/a-couple-of-out.htmlA couple of outfits tracking foreclosures and their various stages have statistical reports out today.Los Angeles County set Southern California and state records with more than 13,500 notice of default and notice of trustee sale recordings in August, according to Default Research, a provider of pre-foreclosure real estate data out of Mt. Pleasant, Penn. Since the numbers for the hardest-hit cities don't take size or population into account, they paint only part of the picture. Making the Default Research list, however, were Los Angeles with 2,227; Palmdale, 862;  Lancaster, 783; Long Beach, 506; Compton, 295; Pomona, 294, and Santa Clarita, 282.RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties, released its August report of foreclosure filings including default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. Of the 230 metro areas tracked, California cities accounted for eight of the top 10 for August foreclosure activity. Stockton ranked No. 1, with one in 50 households receiving a foreclosure filing. Then came Merced, Modesto, the Vallejo-Fairfield area and the Riverside-San Bernardino metro area. Also making the top 10 were Bakersfield, Salinas-Monterey and Sacramento in the eight to 10 spots.As bad as things are in California, Nevada had the highest state foreclosure rate for the 20th month in a row, according to RealtyTrac, with one in every 91 households receiving an August foreclosure filing. Here in California, we're No. 2 at one in every 130 households.Saving America's wildernessA package of bills that protects hundreds of thousands of pristine acres is necessary and welcome...Editorialhttp://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-wilderness13-2008sep13,0,5171825,print.storyOnce in awhile, the arguing, partisanship and deal making that mark business as usual in Washington produce something that nearly everyone can love. After years of discussion, a package of wilderness bills that would protect giant swaths of land across the nation -- including more than 700,000 acres in California -- is one of them.Designating lands as federal "wilderness areas" bans motorized vehicles and most road building, instead setting them aside for hiking, biking, tent camping, fishing and the like. In Los Angeles County, one of the bills identifies 40,000 acres in the vicinity of Magic Mountain, Pleasant View Ridge and Piru Creek for designation as permanent urban escapes. In addition, 190,000 acres would be set aside in the Riverside County desert, including the area of Joshua Tree National Park.Much of the proposed California wilderness already lies within national forests or is overseen by the Bureau of Land Management. But such lands are currently open to multiple uses, including logging, mining and other industry; in addition, the lands proposed for wilderness designation are increasingly hemmed in by development or by pressures to allow motorbikes and other off-road vehicles.Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) initially sought to preserve far more land -- about 800,000 acres in the Eastern Sierra alone. Legislators from both parties hammered out a considerably smaller package that contains compromises between industry and environmentalists. For example, after an outcry from the snowmobile industry in the Mammoth area, an 11,000-acre swath for snowmobile use was carved out in addition to 410,000 acres set aside as wilderness. A fourth wilderness zone, 77,000 acres, would be created in Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks.The package has been sent to the Senate floor and, considering the bipartisan process that produced it, is expected to have a relatively easy ride with few changes. Its success so far is a reflection of a changing consensus among Americans, who have grown increasingly aware that what once seemed like infinite, pristine open space is suffering as a result of development, global warming, population pressures and heavy recreational use. We are, in fact, loving our wilderness to death; this package of bills would be one way of restoring a measure of health to it.San Diego Union-TribuneRuling makes proposed Home Depot unlikely City tried to annex land for building...Liz Neelyhttp://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080913-9999-1ez13depot.htmlEl Cajon's two-year court battle with the county over a proposed Home Depot just east of the city may be over.The ruling issued by an Orange County Superior Court judge means it is unlikely the store will be built, although El Cajon could appeal the decision. In 2006, the city asked the San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO, to approve a plan to annex 14 acres of land into the city. Home Depot owns the land, and it must be transferred from the county to the city before building can begin. The proposal angered nearby residents and pitted the city and county against each other. The commission denied the request and El Cajon later sued, claiming LAFCO's decision was unfair because the land on East Main Street was “substantially surrounded” by El Cajon. The city and Home Depot argued that El Cajon was best prepared to provide police and fire protection and other essential services there. But LAFCO said state law gives the agency discretion to decide what “substantially surrounded” means... Judge Gail Andler, in a decision dated Sept. 5, ruled against El Cajon, which had asked the judge to set aside LAFCO's decision. The ruling states, in part, “that LAFCO's decision to deny annexation is supported by substantial evidence in the record.” El Cajon Mayor Mark Lewis said he had not seen the ruling but hoped the city would appeal because “there's no clear example of what those words (substantially surrounded) mean.” Many residents fought the proposal, arguing that a Home Depot didn't belong in their mostly residential neighborhood. Cliff Albert, who lives near the site, said, “It's gratifying that our voices were heard.” CNN MoneyAugust foreclosures hit another record highThere were 304,000 homes in some stage of default last month, and 91,000 families lost their homes...9-12-08http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/12/real_estate/foreclosures/index.htm?postversion=2008091209NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Foreclosures hit another record high in August: 304,000 homes were in default and 91,000 families lost their houses. More than 770,000 homes have been repossessed by lenders since August 2007, when the credit crunch took hold.The report from RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosures properties, is the latest in string of bad news for housing.Foreclosure filings of all kinds, including notices of defaults, notices of auctions and bank repossessions, grew 12% in August over July, and 27% compared with August 2007.The 27% jump over last August represents a more modest year-over-year increase than in previous months, but that's only because the housing crisis was already underway in August 2007, which saw a big spike in foreclosures. "In August 2008 the total number of U.S. properties that received foreclosure filings, as well as the national foreclosure rate, were both the highest we've seen in any month since we began issuing our report in January 2005," RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio said in a statement. Fannie Mae (FNM, Fortune 500) chief economist Doug Duncan isn't surprised by the swelling numbers. "It's been my view for a long time that foreclosures won't peak until the last three months of 2008," he said. And now that the nation in a recessionary economy, with job losses exceeding 400,000 a month, Duncan speculates that the foreclosure crisis may be drawn out even longer. "We've been saying that the foreclosure trend has not yet peaked," said Doug Robinson, a spokesman for the foreclosure prevention organization NeighborWorks America. "Before it was a subprime problem," he said. "Now, it's everybody's problem." Putting filings on holdThe August figures would have been worse, had it not been for new legislation passed in several states, including Maryland and Massachusetts, designed to make lenders wait before filing notices of default...Other states didn't fare as well. Nevada once again had the highest rate of filings in the nation. One of every 91 households, or 11,706 families, received a foreclosure notice of some kind during the month, and more than 4,000 others lost their homes.More than 101,000 Californians received foreclosure notices, which comes to about one in every 130 households, while more than 33,000 people there lost their homes. Arizona had the third-highest rate with one out of every 182 households in default...Eight of the top 10 worst performing metro areas were in California. Stockton, in the Central Valley, had the highest rate in the nation with one in every 50 households receiving a foreclosure filing during the month."You go up and down the central part of [California] and that's where you're seeing the carnage," said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac's director of marketing. Home sales are actually up in many of these cities, the prices have dropped, often precipitously. "What's selling is the bank owned properties," he said.  -------------------------------------------------------------CENTRAL VALLEY SAFE ENVIRONMENT NETWORKMISSION STATEMENT Central Valley Safe Environment Network is a coalition of organizations and individuals throughout the San Joaquin Valley that is committed to the concept of "Eco-Justice" -- the ecological defense of the natural resources and the people. To that end it is committed to the stewardship, and protection of the resources of the greater San Joaquin Valley, including air and water quality, the preservation of agricultural land, and the protection of wildlife and its habitat. In serving as a community resource and being action-oriented, CVSEN desires to continue to assure there will be a safe food chain, efficient use of natural resources and a healthy environment. CVSEN is also committed to public education regarding these various issues and it is committed to ensuring governmental compliance with federal and state law. CVSEN is composed of farmers, ranchers, city dwellers, environmentalists, ethnic, political,and religious groups, and other stakeholders.