9-25-08

 9-25-08Merced Sun-StarAgriculture briefs: Water woes mount on Central Valley farmshttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/469470.htmlFarmers throughout the state continue to cope with water shortages.In the San Joaquin Valley growers have fallowed some of their land. Farmers used well water to supplement the loss of canal water, but that increased costs, as they needed to pump the water out of the ground. Expenses increased as the water table fell, requiring more energy to pump it.Luckily, prices farmers earn for most crops were higher, helping offset some of the increased water cost.California budget not as bad as feared for Merced County cities, schoolsUC Merced insulated from state budget hardships...DANIELLE GAINES, SCOTT JASON AND VICTOR PATTONhttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/469465.htmlCITIES: In passing a state budget, the legislators didn't resort to an all-out raid on city money as many feared. Joining a campaign with other cities, Merced's City Council had passed a resolution during the standoff asking the state "to cut up its local government credit cards and deal with the budget deficit in a straightforward way."...Merced, and other Valley cities, are watching flat revenue lines go into a decline. The city is tapping about $4 million from its reserves to make ends meet, he said. City leaders could use the extra funds one more year before they begin "scraping dirt," Marshall said...COUNTY: "We have been very conservative with this budget. We are being very prudent -- not just for this year, but for the next year and for the next three years," said county CEO Dee Tatum. He noted that the county can absorb drastic cuts once, but it can't continue to fund ongoing services with one-time reserves...UC MERCED: The UC Merced campus was shielded by the rest of the University of California system from some financial hardship, said Mary Miller, Merced's vice chancellor for administration. "Sometimes there is competition, but they are really standing behind us even though it is not easy for them," she said. "It really signifies that we are one university."Funding for the system remained essentially flat with the new budget, though nearly $100 million that had been proposed to be cut earlier in the funding debates was reinstated.A chief contribution from other schools in the system to the Merced campus was the reorganization of funds to cover additional funding for 700 of the campus' 800 or so new students. The final 2008-2009 state-funded operating budget for the UC system is $3.256 billion with an additional $204 million in lease-revenue bond funding for building projects at six campuses, not including Merced. Local administrators said they will begin seeking their own lease-revenue bond funding for the planned Science and Engineering 2 building. Funding for student housing comes from student fees, so a new housing project will continue as expected... Valley suffering from shortage of physicians for telemedicine programsLeaders of project at UC Merced say pay is an issue...BARBARA ANDERSON, The Fresno Beehttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/469471.htmlFor years, health advocates have been banking on long-distance medicine as a way to help address a critical shortage of specialists in Merced County and the central San Joaquin Valley. But even as the state pumps more money into telemedicine, a problem is becoming clear: Many specialists don't want to see patients who lack private insurance, even through a high-tech hookup."It's difficult to pay the specialists who need to see the patients," said Jennifer Smith, who manages a telemedicine project at the UC Merced. "And it's also just that telemedicine is new. There's not a lot of specialists who have this equipment themselves." Potential to help Nobody doubts the potential of telemedicine. Clinics across the Valley increasingly are giving it a try...More centers are on the way. In November 2006, voters approved Proposition 1D, a bond measure that provides $200 million over two years to expand the University of California medical schools and telemedicine programs...Not a cure-all Even as telemedicine becomes more available, however, the technology has not yet shown it can make up for a statewide doctor shortage. State health officials say that by 2015 there will be 17,000 fewer physicians than needed across California.In the Valley, the shortage of doctors with specialty training is especially acute. There are only 43 specialists for every 100,000 Valley residents. The statewide average is 87."Telemedicine doesn't create more specialists," said Tom Nesbitt, director of the Center for Health and Technology at UC Davis. "What it can do is redistribute the knowledge of specialists over a larger geographic area." There's little to entice specialists to take time out of busy urban practices to connect with patients hundreds of miles away in small towns. Telemedicine isn't lucrative. Unlike many states, California covers this type of examination, but it doesn't pay doctors much.Most patients in small Valley towns receive Medi-Cal, the federal-state insurance for the poor. The government insurance doesn't pay as well as private insurance, and doctors balk at seeing Medi-Cal patients because of the meager payments.This has been the stumbling block to finding specialists for telemedicine projects in the Valley.It's been difficult recruiting doctors for six proposed sites, said Jennifer Smith, the telemedicine project manager at the UC Merced."We're scouting for physicians who are willing and able to see these patients," she said.Find-a-Doc Many telemedicine centers turn to doctors associated with university medical centers to treat patients rather than those in private practice...Making it workTo make telemedicine work, the United States needs a system for reimbursing doctors for the service that makes their time worthwhile, said Nesbitt of UC Davis."We're trying to apply telemedicine over a broken model of health care," he said...Farm bill to help Merced CollegeUC Merced not eligible; Stanislaus State and Fresno State should qualify...MICHAEL DOYLE, Sun-Star Washington Bureauhttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/469473.htmlWASHINGTON -- Central Valley colleges with large Latino populations -- like Merced College -- could soon be tapping into fresh farm bill funding.In a new twist on ethnically targeted federal aid, the Agriculture Department on Wednesday began preparing plans for distributing potentially millions of dollars to eligible colleges and universities. Some Valley schools, in particular, stand to benefit.Stanislaus State and Fresno State, two California State University campuses with agricultural majors and student bodies that are more than 25 percent Latino, both appear ripe for the new funding. So do some of the Valley's community colleges, including Merced College, which shares similar demographics and farm-related majors."It's tremendous," Mark Bender, the endowed chair of the Agriculture Studies Department at Stanislaus State, said Wednesday. "It does promote a great deal of innovation, especially to serve under-represented populations." Existing Education Department grant programs already fund what are called Latino-serving institutions. These are schools with student bodies that are at least 25 percent Latino. About 260 schools nationwide have won the designation, with Valley participants ranging from the two state universities to Modesto Junior College and the College of the Sequoias.These existing Education Department grants have paid for tutoring, faculty training, lab equipment purchase and more...The Agriculture Department has had a smaller grant program serving some of the same colleges. With this year's $296 billion farm bill, Congress significantly boosted the Agriculture Department's investment.The bill establishes the new Latino-Serving Agricultural Colleges and Universities. These are defined as Latino-serving institutions that offer associate's or bachelor's degrees in "agriculture-related fields." The farm bill offers the eligible schools an array of undergraduate forestry scholarships, institution-building assistance and research grants. The farm bill does not always spell out precisely how much money will be provided, although one existing grant fund is doubled from $20 million to $40 million...Key questions remain, though, including who gets the money expected to start flowing next spring or summer.Stanislaus State and Fresno State definitely fit the bill, with their large Latino populations and well-subscribed agriculture-related majors. So do the likes of Merced College, where 38 percent of the students are Latino and associate degrees can range from horse management to horticulture...The UC Merced and UC Davis campuses are not eligible for the new programs, because they are already part of an existing land grant college system. COMMENTSHow discriminatory and utterly racist, only for Mexicans. What about the rest of the ethnic groups interested in this as well? They get cut off at the start, it appears, for favoritism of one race only. :: 09/25/08 8:15am - daverayHave faith in Central Valley banks...Richard S. Cupp, CEO of County Bank...Commentary http://www.mercedsunstar.com/177/story/469464.htmlMake no mistake about it, Wall Street and our nation's financial markets are in a state of crisis.But during a time like this it is important to remember that what happens on Wall Street does not necessarily reflect what is happening on Main Street.Do not be misled by the fabrications and imaginations of a few would-be naysayers. The Valley's community banks are not among those Wall Street firms lining up for a government bailout.Valley newspapers been filled with stories about multibillion-dollar federal bailouts and esoteric terms like "mortgage-backed securities" and "credit-default swaps," however, the problems facing the likes of Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and AIG, to name just a few, are not the same as our Valley community banks.What many Valley residents want to know is how this Wall Street financial crisis affects them, their neighbors and their communities.In a word, the answer is "credit" -- the availability of funding for small businesses and corporations and homeowners and homebuyers alike.Uncertainty in the financial markets was, and still is, limiting the amount of money banks are willing to lend borrowers, no matter how strong their credit may be.The credit market has come to a near halt, in part because of the unknown value of failing mortgage-linked securities. That is the reason why you are reading news stories about this financial crisis being our nation's worst since the Great Depression.The Treasury Department and Federal Reserve Bank, in cooperation with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our congressional leaders on Capitol Hill, are acting to restore the free-flowing credit that our financial system relies upon to operate effectively.Without a free-flowing credit market, our American financial system would grind to a standstill.What will be the outcome of this government bailout on Main Street -- and throughout the Valley?The government's goal is to restore confidence in our nation's financial markets and to save the retirement savings and other investments of Americans who have already seen the values of their homes plummet and the cost of everyday goods and services rise.But what you are also witnessing is the end of loose lending practices, free and easy credit and loans that are beyond their borrowers' means.All banks, from Wall Street to Main Street, will be much more discerning when it comes to lending...This is where your local community banks can help. We are here to help you...Community banks exist to invest in the communities that they serve. That is what makes them different from the large national banks.While our government works to stabilize our national economy, consider how you can help stabilize your community's economy -- support your local merchants, growers, and tradesmen, look for opportunities to strengthen your neighborhoods and local nonprofit organizations and believe in your local community banks' ability to serve your financial needs.Together we will stabilize and strengthen the Valley's economy.Modesto BeeStudy subtly aimed at getting more water for environment...JAMES E. O'BANION, chairman of the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority. http://www.modbee.com/opinion/community/story/441485.htmlThe Pacific Institute study detailing agricultural water use in California ignores some very important facts and reaches misleading conclusions that appear to be aimed at something other than maximizing the beneficial use of water by farmers. California farmers are already growing more food and fiber with less water, and they're getting even better at it. The problem with relying on water exported from the Sacramento- San Joaquin Delta is simple -- reliability. It won't matter what crop choice or irrigation system is used if the allocation of delta water to farmers is reduced to zero. One fact continuously misrepresented by study co-author Peter Gleick is the amount of water leaving the delta and how it is used ("Study sees more profit in drier farms," Sept. 8, Page A-1). Looking at the Sept. 15 data from the state's Delta Operations Summary, the total water flow into the delta is 13,000 cubic feet per second. Of that, only 3,350 cfs is being exported for agriculture, urban and environmental uses south of the delta; another 3,350 cfs is being used in-delta; and, 6,300 cfs (about half of the water flowing through the delta) is being forced out to the ocean for water quality-environmental purposes. In other words, while only 25 percent of the water released from upstream reservoirs is being exported today, a full 50 percent of the water released from reservoirs is being routed to the ocean in the name of the environment. This summer was even worse. In order to comply with the decision of federal Judge Oliver Wanger, total export pumping in June was limited to around 2,200 cfs, while flows wasted to the ocean averaged about 7,700 cfs. That's about 3.5 to 1.The problem is that food doesn't come from the supermarkets. If we can't honestly assess our situation and devise real solutions, then nuts, fruits and milk could disappear from supermarket shelves. These high-value foods require water to produce.Farmers are businessmen and businesswomen. At the end of the day, the farmer needs to make a profit in order to meet a goal that should be tops on the list of all Americans: feeding the people of California and the United States. Gleick's estimate of water conservation is grossly overreaching, especially since he doesn't consider improvements already achieved by agriculture alone over the past 10 to 20 years.He estimates that an additional 3.4 million acre-feet can be manufactured from crop changes and improvements in irrigation systems, then an additional 3.9 million acre-feet can be found if we just force a small fraction of irrigated agriculture with drainage problems out of business. (Gee, what could be simpler?) While there might be some additional gains available in some of these areas, let's keep this in perspective: 7.5 million acre-feet is about double the amount of water exported from the delta this year for agriculture, urban and environmental uses combined. As my granddaughter would say, "Get real!"For the sake of our local economies and to ensure that safe, reliable food arrives on America's tables, don't farms deserve a reliable portion of the water available from California's rivers and reservoirs? Do we really think that importing all our food from other countries meets the solemn commitment made over generations to our families?In our great free-market economy, shouldn't we let farmers choose which crops they should grow with their limited resources to meet the demands of consumers? As we read these kinds of reports, it is easy to see an organization's agenda to grab water from agriculture and dedicate more to the environment. That may be a justifiable debate -- let's at least be honest about it.Reid, Ensign say nuclear waste rail plan unsafe...ERICA WERNER, Associated Press Writerhttp://www.modbee.com/state_wire/story/440938.htmlFederal officials insisted Wednesday that transporting thousands of tons of radioactive waste by rail to Nevada can be done safely. Nevada Sens. Harry Reid and John Ensign strongly disagreed.Testifying at a hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee, Reid, D-Nev., called the Energy Department's plans for shipping spent nuclear fuel to Yucca Mountain "grossly incomplete.""Their draft transportation plan is barely a crude sketch of the comprehensive planning that should actually be done for a massive nuclear waste shipping campaign," Reid said.Ensign said: "I have bad news for those of you with working nuclear reactors in your states who think that the opening of Yucca will rid your state of nuclear waste - you're wrong."Instead the result would be dangerously transporting waste through states around the country to Nevada, said Ensign, R-Nev.In Nevada the Energy Department is planning a rail line along the "Caliente Corridor," a 300-plus mile east-west route from Caliente near the Utah line to the nuclear dump site 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.Ward Sproat, the Energy Department official in charge of the Yucca Mountain project, countered that since the early 1960s, more than 3,000 shipments of spent nuclear fuel have taken place in the United States without an accident resulting in the release of harmful radioactive material."That record testifies to the safety" of the department's plans to use trains to ship more than 70,000 tons of spent fuel from commercial reactors and defense activities, Sproat said.The committee's chairman, Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, gently questioned that contention."Spent radioactive fuel has a dangerous element in that it would live for thousands of years, and if you can get into an accident some day, it may leak," Inouye said...Sproat said that the earliest shipping could begin is 2020 - the department's current best-case opening date for Yucca Mountain - because the Energy Department needs approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to do it.The commission is weighing whether to grant the Energy Department a license to open the dump.Michael Weber, director of the commission's Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, acknowledged under questioning from Ensign that the casks planned to transport the waste had not been subjected to physical testing to show whether they could survive a severe accident, such as a terrorist attack or plane crash.Computer modeling has been used and the casks have been shown to be safe, Weber said...The period for shipping waste to the repository could span up to 50 years, with 190 to 317 rail casks shipped each year on trains carrying three to five casks, according to the Energy Department Web site...Fresno BeeMadera project gets go-aheadTesoro Viejo is expected to bring 5,000 homes...Russell Clemingshttp://www.fresnobee.com/263/v-printerfriendly/story/892515.html New home construction in the central San Joaquin Valley may be deep in the doldrums. But yet another builder is already preparing for a resurgence in southeast Madera County's Rio Mesa area. On a unanimous vote, the Madera County Planning Commission recommended approval late Tuesday of the McCaffrey Group's plan to develop 1,579 acres of farmland lying mostly east of Highway 41 and south of Avenue 15. The Tesoro Viejo project -- in which McCaffrey will partner with two other Fresno builders, Gary McDonald and Lyles Diversified -- is expected to bring about 5,000 homes along with offices and stores to what is now mostly rolling pasture north of the San Joaquin River."We have embarked upon this project as a legacy project, a unique new community, an asset for Madera County," McCaffrey Group President Bob McCaffrey told the commission. "If you will, a place of destination, which we hope to see completed by our children." His project is just one of more than a half-dozen working their way through the planning process in the Rio Mesa area, envisioned as the eventual home of 100,000 people. Bakersfield-based Castle & Cooke has already won approval for Gateway Village, a new town on 2,062 acres west of Highway 41 at Avenue 12. And just last month, Fresno developer John Kesterson won the commission's blessing for North Fork Village, a 2,200-acre development on Millerton Lake's north shore...McCaffrey's project didn't escape opposition. The Chawanakee Unified School District, which would include most of the project's area, maintains that McCaffrey and his partners haven't set aside enough land for schools...McCaffrey attorney John Sanger characterized Krupp's comments as a disagreement over what state law requires from builders regarding schools. That was enough for one commissioner, Larry Wright, who said: "We can't hold up a project because he doesn't go above and beyond what is required." A resident of the Sumner Hill subdivision, a gated tract bisecting the Tesoro Viejo land, called attention to a proposed contract between the county and the developers. One provision could obligate the county to condemn land for a route from the project to the river. Sumner Hill residents fought a lawsuit, now on appeal, over the developers' efforts to route a trail through their subdivision. Others commenting raised concerns about the project's water supply and the presence of Native American remains and other archaeological sites, mainly in the San Joaquin River bottom...Calif. bond would launch bullet train project...STEVE LAWRENCEhttp://www.fresnobee.com/550/v-printerfriendly/story/892313.htmlA century and a half after California built its first railroad, the Golden State may be about to launch the most ambitious rail project undertaken by any state - a nearly 800-mile system of bullet trains that can top 200 mph. On Nov. 4, California voters will decide whether to authorize the sale of $9.9 billion in state bonds to help pay for a high-speed rail line linking Anaheim, Los Angeles, Fresno and San Francisco. Planners say it would be the first leg of a system that would complement air travel and eventually include stations in Sacramento, San Diego and Oakland. Planners say the first trains could be running within six years in some corridors and that the entire 800 miles of track could be completed by 2020 if sufficient financing is available...Despite the lack of organized opposition, the project faces some potential problems that could weaken support. The state's poor economy and seemingly endless budget deficits could discourage voters from agreeing to take on more debt, although supporters tout the project as a way to create jobs. Paying off the bonds over 30 years with interest would cost about $19.4 billion, according to the state Legislative Analyst's Office.Also, the primary route chosen to carry trains through the coastal mountains from the Central Valley to the San Francisco Bay area, the Pacheco Pass southeast of San Jose, has drawn criticism from environmentalists who say it would encourage sprawl. One group, the Planning and Conservation League, has filed a lawsuit arguing that a more urban and northerly route through the Altamont Pass would be the better choice.There also is the possibility some voters will be confused when they receive two somewhat different analyses of the proposition in voter guides sent out by the secretary of state's office...Supporters, citing use of high-speed rail in Europe and Asia, tout it as a proven way to supplement highways and air travel, ease oil use and air pollution and fight global warming as California's population climbs toward 60 million by the middle of this century. But opponents label the project a boondoggle and say the bond money would be better used for water projects, to expand the state's highway system or to spend more on existing commuter rail service. They warn of big cost overruns, contending the price tag could hit $90 billion...Tina Andolina, legislative director for the Planning and Conservation League, said the environmental group supports development of high-speed rail but felt a court challenge was necessary because the group opposes using the Pacheco Pass as the primary route between the Central Valley and the San Francisco Bay area. The lawsuit, filed in August in Sacramento County Superior Court, says the environmental impact report that supported the route's selection was inadequate. It asks the court to block any steps toward developing the rail system until the authority adopts an acceptable EIR.Morshed said the authority picked the less-developed Pacheco Pass because it would be a faster and more direct route to Southern California and avoid fights with cities in the Altamont corridor over construction of multiple tracks for high-speed rail.Despite the lawsuit, an Oakland-based group that includes several environmental organizations, including the Planning and Conservation League, has endorsed the bond measure. "If Proposition 1a doesn't pass it would be the death knell for high-speed rail for at least a decade and probably forever because it's just going to get too expensive to build," said Stuart Cohen, executive director of the group, the Transportation and Land Use Coalition. Report: More factory farming but oversight lags...ERICA WERNERhttp://www.fresnobee.com/384/v-printerfriendly/story/889474.htmlSome huge livestock farms produce more raw waste than cities as large as Philadelphia or Houston. But federal regulators are failing to control pollution from the gigantic operations or assess health risks from the enormous quantities of manure they produce, according to congressional investigators. The Government Accountability Office report was being released Wednesday to a House committee hearing on federal oversight of factory farms.The conclusions fueled concerns about a proposed Environmental Protection Agency rule change that would eliminate one of the few federal oversight mechanisms over air and water pollution from big farms.The rule would do away with a requirement for farms to report to federal, state and local officials when air emissions of hazardous substances like ammonia and hydrogen sulfide exceed certain levels. EPA proposed the rule change in December, arguing that the requirement created an unnecessary burden for farms and that the emission release reports usually weren't needed or acted upon. "It is unclear to us" how EPA reached that determination, the GAO said, noting that a national association representing emergency responders has said in comments to EPA that the reports are needed."This GAO study confirms that the Bush administration's plan to exempt industrial-sized animal feeding operations from emissions reporting requirements is nothing more than a favor to big agribusiness," said Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee...The GAO report said that no federal agency collects data on the number, size and location of "Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations," as the big farms are known. Using more general Agriculture Department data for large farms as a proxy, GAO said that the number of large farms that raise animals increased 234 percent from about 3,600 in 1982 to about 12,000 in 2002. The number of animals on the farms also increased, and with them the amount of animal waste, which can be prodigious. The report said that a large farm with 800,000 hogs or a beef cattle farm with 140,000 head of cattle could each produce over 1.6 million tons of manure per year - 1 1/2 times more than the annual sanitary waste produced by the city of Philadelphia, and slightly more than the 1.4 million tons produced annually by the city of Houston.EPA doesn't limit the amount of air pollution this waste can emit, and a rule it produced in 2003 to require permits for waste discharges into water was partly overturned in court. EPA has been reworking the water discharge rule for several years but has not yet finalized it. States are moving on their own in absence of federal guidelines, the GAO found. Officials in California, Idaho, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and North Dakota reported developing state air regulations for certain pollutants emitted by factory farms. Sacramento BeeEditorial: A key bill to help in Delta disasterGOVERNOR SHOULD SIGN MEASURE TO MAKE BOND FUNDS AVAILABLE NOWhttp://www.sacbee.com/110/v-print/story/1263751.htmlMore than 1,100 miles of levees curve through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta – a set of fortifications that is comparable in length to one-fourth of the Great Wall of China.Unlike the Great Wall, however, most of the Delta's levees are built on unstable, peat-filled soil. Many have foundations below sea level. If an earthquake were to strike this region, numerous levees could crumble at once, allowing salt water to rush into an estuary that provides drinking water for 22 million people in California.Geologists say it's not a matter of if such a disaster will occur. The question is when it will happen. That means the state can't just make long-term plans for coping with temblors and sea level rise in the Delta. It also needs a short-term plan for a disaster that could happen tomorrow.During this session of the Legislature, lawmakers passed Senate Bill X2 1, a bill that would allocate nearly $821 million in bond funds that voters approved through Propositions 84 and 1E and previous bond measures.About one-sixth of this money – $135 million – would go to safeguarding the Delta's most vulnerable levees and financing an emergency response. One big need is for the state Department of Water Resources to stockpile adequate rock and store it in key locations, so contractors can quickly respond and repair a levee breech.Authored by Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, SB X2 1 would fund a range of projects – some with less urgency than Delta levee protection. Overall, however, it's a bill the governor should sign.Money from SB X2 1 could be used immediately to clean up polluted groundwater basins, making them fit to be used for storage. It would fund collaborations between farms and urban areas to conserve water, providing immediate relief from the drought.It would build salinity barriers and improve habitat in the Delta, reducing conflicts between fish and water pumping. Lastly, it would fast-track needed studies of other water storage projects, allowing the public and policymakers to know if such projects are cost-effective.Last year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a version of this bill, largely because big water interests wanted to hold it hostage for an agreement on proposed new reservoirs. This year, those same San Joaquin Valley water interests are at it again, trying to block expenditures from previous voter-approved water bonds so they can pressure lawmakers into a larger deal.Schwarzenegger catered to these interests last year. He shouldn't repeat that mistake. If an earthquake were to strike the Delta tomorrow, the Department of Water Resources and local agencies would be unprepared to respond to the resulting water crisis.Schwarzenegger has been a leader in improving flood control across the Central Valley. Now he has money at his fingertips to mitigate a Delta disaster. He shouldn't allow it to be hijacked as part a larger political calculation.State's home builders expect worst year since 1954...Jim Wassermanhttp://www.sacbee.com/103/v-print/story/1263997.htmlFor most of 2008, it has seemed that California's home building industry could hardly scale back its expectations further. But it did just that on Wednesday.The Construction Industry Research Board has downsized estimated home starts in California this year to 70,000. A month ago, it estimated construction would begin on 75,000 homes this year.The board now predicts California builders will start only 74,000 residences in 2009.Housing permits peaked at 212,960 in 2004 before the real estate market began a decline. The downturn has gathered speed, forcing widespread layoffs and financial difficulties in a building industry competing with discounted bank repos. Builders say this will be their least productive year since the state began keeping records in 1954."In essence, the industry has come to a standstill, with minimal indication of improvement during the balance of the year," said Alan Nevin, chief economist for the California Building Industry Association, in a statement...On Wednesday, he said, "We have been taken aback by the dramatic cutback in single-family home production in California."...Stockton RecordNew home sales plummet in August, prices tumble...September 25, 2008 10:26 AMhttp://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080925/A_NEWS/80925005WASHINGTON (AP) — New home sales tumbled in August to the slowest pace in 17 years, while the average sales price fell by the largest amount on record, demonstrating the depth of the problem that Washington is trying to solve. The Commerce Department said today that new homes sales fell by 11.5 percent in August to a seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of 460,000 units, the slowest sales pace since January 1991. It was a much bigger sales decline than the small 1 percent drop that economists had been expecting. The average price of a new home sold in August dropped by a record amount of 11.8 percent to $263,900, compared to the July average of $299,100. The median price was also down, falling 5.5 percent to $221,900. The big drop in new home sales followed news Wednesday that sales of existing homes were down 2.2 percent in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.91 million units. Both segments of the market remain under pressure from the steepest housing downturn in decades. That housing slump has contributed to a record surge in mortgage defaults, leading to billions of dollars in losses by financial firms and spawning a severe credit crisis that is threatening to send the country into a steep recession...The report on new home sales showed that business was off in every region of the country except the Midwest, which posted a 7.2 percent increase. Sales plunged by 36.1 percent in the West and were down 31.9 percent in the Northeast. Sales fell a more modest 2.1 percent in the South.Behind closed doorsSecrecy in Delta College audit will ensure full public disclosure...Editorialhttp://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080925/A_OPINION01/809250322/-1/A_OPINIONState auditors will work behind the scenes as they try to determine how San Joaquin Delta College spent the $250 million bond money approved by voters four years ago.This private work will result in what officials from the state Controller's Office say will be a very public report. In fact, some public hearings may take place during the investigation.Two members of the citizen oversight committee object to the private protocol. They want the audit conducted in full view of the public, and on first blush, that seems reasonable.It's not. The auditors' reasoning is simple: They want to get as much information as possible. And they want as much accuracy as possible.Interviewing people in public could hamper those goals. When it's over, we may find out why the district has only about $66 million of the $250 million left. Why there are enormous differences between what was promised and what will happen. And who is responsible for the shortcomings.When the tough questions are finally asked, the auditors worry that in a public setting, those being questioned would hedge their answers. There also is the worry that others to be interviewed will know what was said beforehand.Think of it as the routine practice of a judge excluding witnesses from the courtroom until it is their turn to testify.The Record supports public disclosure and the public's business being done in the open. Delta College trustees have repeatedly taken lightly the provisions of the Ralph M. Brown Act, the state's open meetings law. They as much as admitted they had done so in responding to a grand jury report that accused them of just such violations.But an audit is different. And as long as the results are fully disclosed, the public's right to know is sustained.San Francisco ChronicleU.S. agency wants gray wolf delisting voided...Jim Robbins, New York Times...9-24-08http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/24/MNH9133QOL.DTL&type=printableThe federal agency that removed the gray wolf from the endangered species list in March has changed its mind and is asking a federal judge to vacate that decision.The request, by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, follows a temporary order by Judge Donald Molloy of U.S. District Court in Missoula, Mont., against the service's March decision to remove the wolf from the list. At the time, the agency said the wolf population in the Northern Rockies was fully recovered.The temporary order stopped a plan to allow hunting of the wolves in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming until a lawsuit by environmentalists challenging the wolves' removal from the endangered species list could be heard.On Monday, the Fish and Wildlife Service asked Molloy to vacate the delisting and allow officials to reconsider their finding and further study the issue."We are going to take a look at everything again and address the concerns expressed to us by the judge and everyone else," said Sharon Rose, a spokeswoman for the service's Mountain Prairie Office.Environmentalists were pleased by the agency's action. "We're delighted by the request to redo the plan," said Louisa Wilcox of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "It clearly reflects the fact that there were problems with the plan."The environmentalists' lawsuit, filed in July, said among other things that a plan to control the wolf population relied too heavily on killing the animals, rather than on nonlethal means of control. The reconsideration of the listing was not related to a recently announced decline in the wolf population in the Rockies. Wildlife officials counted 1,455 animals this summer, down from 1,545 a year ago. It was the first drop in more than 10 years, and officials said they were not sure why.Feds urge ports to delay clean truck program...DAISY NGUYEN, Associated Press Writerhttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/09/24/financial/f162321D61.DTL&hw=ports&sn=001&sc=1000Federal authorities said Wednesday they are investigating whether a plan to ban older trucks from entering the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach imposes unfair regulations and fees on truckers and shippers.The Federal Maritime Commission said certain aspects of the clean truck program might violate the Shipping Act, which prohibits ports from giving "unreasonable preferences or imposing any undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage." It urged port authorities to delay implementing the program, which is scheduled to begin Oct. 1, until the details of the plan have been properly evaluated.The ports vowed to proceed with the program."We believe that the practices that the commission proposes to investigate are essential to the health, security and safety of the ports, and those who work and live near the ports," officials from both facilities said in a joint statement. "We are certain that these safety and security practices will be found reasonable and lawful under the Shipping Act."The cities of Los Angeles and Long Beach passed plans earlier this year aimed at reducing truck emissions at the nation's busiest cargo container complex by as much as 80 percent. The plan would replace 16,800 trucks built before 1989 with newer, cleaner-running models and require trucks to meet tougher 2007 federal emissions standards by 2012. A $35 cargo fee will be assessed to help pay for the new vehicles.The American Trucking Associations, which represents 37,000 trucking companies, sought a court order to stop the program but a federal judge denied the request and an appeals court on Wednesday upheld the ruling.The industry group said it does not oppose efforts to clean up the air but objects to costly regulations on truckers. They include a Long Beach requirement that trucking companies dispatch only drivers who have undergone a security background check and obtained a federal Transportation Worker Identification Credential. The Los Angeles plan requires the nearly 17,000 independent truckers who work at the port to eventually become employees of trucking companies.The federal commission said it will look into the restricted access, cargo fees and other measures associated with the program."We do think that (the commission) is correct in saying that both ports may be violating the Shipping Act," said Clayton Boyce, a spokesman for the truckers association.The two ports handle about 40 percent of the nation's imported goods.Contra Costa TimesEnvironmentalists intend to sue San Francisco over red-legged frogs at Pacifica golf course...Julia Scott, San Mateo County Timeshttp://www.contracostatimes.com/environment/ci_10552235?nclick_check=1PACIFICA — An environmental group concerned over the alleged destruction of the California red-legged frog at Sharp Park Golf Course filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the city of San Francisco on Wednesday for violations of the Endangered Species Act. The Center for Biological Diversity says the city of San Francisco continues to kill threatened red-legged frog eggs as they develop each year in seasonal wetlands along the fairways of Sharp Park Golf Course, which the city owns even though it is located in Pacifica.The environmental group also alleges that the ongoing operations at the golf course are threatening the San Francisco garter snake, an endangered species. The red-legged frog is listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.The center took the opportunity to speak out against a city consultant's recent recommendation to invest $18.5 million of private capital into restoring the 18-hole Sharp Park Golf Course to its original design by well-known golf course architect Alister MacKenzie — a design that would involve moving four holes back to the ocean side of Highway 1 and replacing them with multi-purpose playing fields at their present location on the east side of the highway.Instead, Center for Biological Diversity spokesman Jeff Miller said the seaside property ought to be restored to a more "natural condition" than a golf course.He pointed to Mori Point next door, a Golden Gate National Recreation Area property known for its small, recovering population of San Francisco garter snakes. And he noted that the flooding conditions that cause the seasonal wetlands to form around a lagoon on the golf course aren't likely to stop until the problem — an old pumping system and poor drainage — is fixed. In the meantime, the city's solution has been to drain the wetlands — especially one called Horse Stable Pond — to levels below that which frog eggs can survive just as they are preparing to hatch into tadpoles, Miller said. "We think the golf course, as it's currently being managed, is not consistent with protection of these species," he said. "We think there's way more people who like to hike, picnic and do other recreational activities (in this area). The question is, is golf the highest use for this area right now?"...There is some dispute over how profitable Sharp Park has been for the city in recent years. Only 35,000 rounds were played in 2007, half of the number in 2003, according to the city consultant's report. Each round of golf costs more than the revenues it generates. And yet the golf course's projected profit for the current fiscal year stands at close to $500,000... Miller said Sharp Park is actually losing money when taking into account the fact that San Francisco pours money into Sharp Park from its general fund each year... The claim filed on Wednesday says the city has continued to illegally drain Horse Stable Pond — which is near a year-round lagoon, Laguna Salada — even after the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife sent them a letter in 2005 describing how the activity was killing red-legged frog eggs.A 2008 report on wildlife populations at Sharp Park describes finding several egg masses stranded on cattails above the water level at Horse Stable Pond. The same report mentions "the potential for mortality" to San Francisco garter snakes living along the edges of Laguna Salada "from mowing, crushing by carts and people," although there is no proof that lawnmowers are tearing apart the snakes, as the Center's claim suggests... Los Angeles TimesU.S. housing price decline sets record...Alex Veiga, The Associated Presshttp://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-homes25-2008sep25,0,7366587,print.storyWASHINGTON — Sales of existing homes in the West climbed higher in August versus a year ago, bucking a national trend as buyers snatched up sharply discounted foreclosed properties in California, Arizona and Nevada, according to two reports Wednesday.About 106,000 existing homes and condos were sold last month in the 13-state region. Without adjusting for seasonal factors, that number is up about 1% from the same month last year and flat versus July's figures, according to the National Assn. of Realtors.The median price in the West slumped almost 24% from a year ago to $251,600, the association said.Nationally, existing home sales declined 15% from August last year, on an unadjusted basis, and the median price tumbled 9.5% to $203,100.In the Western region, states such as California and Arizona remain saddled with bank-owned homes, many of them bought during the housing boom with risky loans that have led to the current U.S. financial crisis.But heavy discounting has been gradually luring buyers in recent months, and August continued that trend...Four metropolitan areas -- Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Phoenix -- were among the top five markets with the steepest median home price declines in the nation last month, according to the Associated Press-Re/Max Monthly Housing Report, released Wednesday. The data includes all home sales recorded by all local agents, regardless of company affiliation...California beaches again rate high in water qualityA Heal the Bay survey credits drought and monitoring. But Los Angeles and Long Beach waters are among the worst, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed funds for water-quality programs...Tami Abdollahhttp://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-beaches26-2008sep26,0,2111119,print.storyCalifornia beaches received high marks for water quality for a second consecutive year, according to a report released today by an environmental group.At the same time, public health officials and environmentalists learned that nearly $1 million in state funding for water-quality monitoring programs was cut this week in a line-item veto by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger."It would have been a good news story," said Heal the Bay President Mark Gold, whose organization released the annual report. "Here we have arguably the most successful water-quality monitoring program in the entire state of California, and Gov. Schwarzenegger, with his blue pencil, decided to eliminate funding."..Of the state's 514 beaches, 91% received A or B grades, which mean excellent or very good water quality, according to the California Summer Beach Report Card.The Santa Monica-based group reported water quality grades from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Environmentalists attributed the higher marks primarily to a second consecutive year of drought, which reduced urban runoff into waterways. Runoff is the biggest source of ocean pollution.Los Angeles County beaches received the lowest marks in the state, with nearly one in five beaches receiving F grades. Malibu's famed Surfrider received a D. Long Beach had the most polluted beaches, according to the report. Nearly half its 25 monitored beaches received C to F...Excluding Los Angeles County, nearly 97% of the state's 405 beaches received A or B grades, with only six locations receiving failing marks.San Diego County, which has had to close its beaches eight times this summer because of sewage spills near the Tijuana River, received the highest marks in the state with 100% A or B grades. The state fully funds San Diego County's monitoring program...WaMu stock plunges to lowest level since the '80s...Money & Co.http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2008/09/shares-of-washi.htmlShares of Washington Mutual Inc. have plummeted today, and this time no one can blame "short sellers."WaMu was down 46 cents, or 20%, to $1.80 at about 11:10 a.m. PDT. The stock earlier fell as low as $1.51, its cheapest level since the 1980s.The Seattle thrift giant reportedly has been shopping itself to potential buyers since ousting Kerry Killinger as chief executive Sept. 7. But as Bloomberg reports:WaMu’s options may be dwindling as potential bidders shy away from making an offer because it’s not clear how much the proposed $700-billion U.S. bank rescue package will benefit the lender. WaMu has failed to attract a bid from at least five banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., in the week since it put itself up for sale. WaMu next approached Carlyle Group and Blackstone Group LP, two people briefed on the matter said. Those talks are preliminary, and hinge on the government’s role in helping WaMu, which faces an estimated $19 billion in bad loans, the people said, speaking anonymously because the discussions are private.Credit-rating firms are putting more pressure on WaMu to strike a deal. Standard & Poor’s on Wednesday cut the company’s debt rating for the second time in nine days, to CCC from BB-minus. A rating of CCC means a company has a high likelihood of defaulting on its debt.WaMu is the nation’s largest thrift, with $182 billion in deposits.Short sellers have been betting heavily this year on the company’s demise, as noted here. But WaMu is one of more than 900 stocks that have been protected from further short selling since Monday, under a temporary ban imposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.So the stock today is being driven down by genuine investors who don’t want to take a chance on holding it, even at these pocket-change prices.New York TimesSolar Projects Draw New Opposition...PETER MALONEYhttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/business/businessspecial2/24shrike.html?_r=1&sq=endangered%20species&st=cse&oref=slogin&scp=8&pagewanted=printWHAT’S not to like about solar power? Sunlight is clean, quiet and abundant. If enough of it were harnessed and turned into electricity, it could be the solution to the energy crisis. But surprisingly, solar power projects are running into mounting opposition — and not from hard-nosed, coal-fired naysayers, but from environmentalists. The opposition is particularly strong in Southern California. Aside from abundant sunshine and virtually cloudless skies, the California desert has altitude, so there is less atmospheric interference for the sun’s rays, as well as broad swaths of level land for installing equipment, and proximity to large, electricity-hungry cities. But it is also home to the Mojave ground squirrel, the desert tortoise and the burrowing owl, and to human residents who describe themselves as desert survivors and who are unhappy about the proliferation of solar projects planned for their home turf... The United States Bureau of Land Management said it had applications for solar power projects that would cover 78,490 acres in the area around the Charpieds’ farm, which abuts Joshua Tree National Park. For the entire United States, the total number of applications is far greater, growing from zero less than two years ago to more than 125 projects with a combined electrical potential of 70,000 megawatts, the equivalent of the electrical capacity of about 70 large coal-fired power plants. Investors, developers and speculators filed so many applications with the bureau that in May it declared a moratorium on new ones. On July 2, overwhelmed by protests, it reversed itself and ended the moratorium. The land rush is being driven in large part by a California law that calls for 20 percent of the state’s electricity to come from renewable resources by 2010. This sudden flood of solar power projects not only caught the staff of the Bureau of Land Management off guard, it also surprised some environmentalists. “Many community groups are up in arms” about the projects planned in the Mojave Desert and Coachella Valley regions, said D’Anne Albers, the California desert associate for Defenders of Wildlife, citing plans by OptiSolar, BrightSource Energy and FPL Energy.Jim Harvey, a founder of the Alliance for Responsible Energy Policy, an environmental group in Joshua Tree, said: “Our position is that none of this is needed. We support renewable energy, and we support California’s renewable energy targets, but we think it can be done through rooftop solar.” Mr. Harvey said that if Germany, which is as far north as the Canadian city of Calgary, could have a successful solar power program that relies heavily on rooftops, so could the United States. Germany’s solar program works, he said, because the government offers so-called feed-in tariffs — fixed-rate payments for electricity generated from solar panels... In addition to obstructing views and disrupting habitats, large solar power projects take a toll on the desert’s scarce water supply, environmentalists like Mr. Harvey said. Mirrors and solar panels have to be washed, and some solar projects incorporate steam turbines, which require even more water. In addition, some solar projects call for grading the land and spraying it with chemicals to inhibit dust or plant growth that can reduce the efficiency of solar panels. Others require backup generators powered by fossil fuels. These environmentalists favor “distributed generation,” like solar panels on rooftops, and they argue that the leadership of national environmental organizations such as the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council has gone in the wrong direction. Terry Frewin, the chairman of the Sierra Club’s California/Nevada desert committee, wrote to the club’s executive director, Carl Pope, in July, criticizing him for backing large-scale solar projects. “Remote solar arrays destroy all native resources on site, and have indirect and irreversible impacts on surrounding wildernesses,” Mr. Frewin wrote. He urged the Sierra Club to embrace distributed generation as an alternative to the “industrial renewable” option.Carl Zichella, Western renewable projects director for the Sierra Club, said in response to the letter, “We don’t take a back seat to anyone in caring for the desert.” But he said the group’s position was unchanged... Washington Mutual May Be on Block...ERIC DASH and ANDREW ROSS SORKINhttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/25/business/25wamu.html?ref=business&pagewanted=printFederal regulators are moving quickly to broker a deal for Washington Mutual as the savings-and-loan comes under mounting financial pressure, according to people briefed on the talks. Even as Washington moves to bail out financial institutions, the fortunes of Washington Mutual have spiraled downward. On Wednesday, Standard & Poor’s, a major credit rating agency, downgraded Washington Mutual’s debt further into junk territory, citing the increased chance that the company might have to be split up to facilitate a sale. Washington Mutual insists that it is well-capitalized and has adequate access to funding and noted “the rating actions do not affect the safety of customer deposits, which are insured up to the limits allowed” by the federal government. Brad Russell, a Washington Mutual spokesman, declined to comment on speculation about a possible sale. Still, shares fell 94 cents, or 29 percent, to $2.26 a share on Wednesday, leaving them down 83 percent this year.The government’s entrance suggests the sales process may be entering a new phase after the bank struggled to find an interested buyer. Washington Mutual had vowed that it could remain independent, but it quietly hired Goldman Sachs early last week to identify potential bidders.Among the banks that have expressed interest in buying all or part of Washington Mutual are Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, Banco Santander, and Wells Fargo. It is unclear what form of assistance federal regulators will now offer. Analysts suggest that Washington Mutual, which plunged into the subprime mortgage and credit card business over the last few years, could rack up more losses totaling $30 billion or more.CNN MoneyWaMu plunges as buyout hopes dimDespite reports that Washington Mutual is seeking a buyer, skepticism grows about whether a deal will happen following bank bailout agreement and more credit downgrades...Aaron Smithhttp://money.cnn.com/2008/09/25/news/companies/wamu/index.htm?postversion=2008092514NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Washington Mutual's stock plunged Thursday despite reports that the company was actively looking for a buyer.Shares of WaMu (WM, Fortune 500) were down more than 20% in afternoon trading, suggesting that the endgame for the embattled savings and loan may be rapidly approaching following ratings agency downgrades. At one point, the stock had fallen as much as 30%.Earlier Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported that WaMu has approached private equity firms Carlyle Group and Blackstone Group (BX) about a potential takeover of the firm.Separately, The New York Times reported that federal regulators are also rushing to broker a deal as financial pressures mount on the firm.The Times said that Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500), British bank HSBC (HBC), Spanish bank Banco Santander (STD) and Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) have shown interest in bidding for all or part of WaMu.But one fund manager said the fact that WaMu's stock plummeted in the afternoon following a 13% rise in pre-market trading Thursday morning may be a sign that WaMu is having a difficult time convincing anyone to buy it."Obviously, it appears that [the bidding process] is not going well," said Christopher Wiles, who helps oversee about $30 billion at Allegiant Asset Management, including finance stocks. His fund does not own shares of WaMu.The slide in WaMu's stock was also in stark contrast to what most other bank stocks were doing following the news that Congress had come to an agreement on the framework for a bank bailout plan. Shares of other battered banks, such as Wachovia (WB, Fortune 500), Citigroup and Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500), soared Thursday afternoon.Spokespersons for WaMu, Carlyle, Blackstone, JPMorgan Chase, HSBC and Citigroup refused to comment about the reports.A spokeswoman for the FDIC, the government agency that insures bank deposits and is in charge of taking over failed banks, would also not comment about whether it was helping WaMu find a buyer.WaMu has been hit by a series of credit downgrades in the past month, which has increased the urgency on the company to find a buyer. The credit agency Standard & Poor's downgraded WaMu on Wednesday, lowering the firm from junk status to an even lower junk status.Rating agency DBRS also downgraded WaMu on Wednesday, lowering the holding company's credit rating to junk bond status but keeping the firm's banking business at investment grade status."They do have a very strong retail franchise," said DBRS analyst Steve Picarillo, referring to WaMu's nearly 2300 branches across the nation. WaMu has been one of the most hard-hit companies during the financial crisis. The company is the nation's largest savings & loan. As a result, much of its assets are tied up in mortgages, many of which have gone sour as housing prices fell.But Picarillo said that WaMu's survival isn't entirely dependent on its retail business or even on a potential buyer. He said the firm could benefit from the bank bailout, which will involve a massive government investment in toxic mortgage-related holdings.WaMu's stock has plunged 83% this year and the company has reported three consecutive quarterly losses. Analysts expect WaMu to lose money again in the third quarter and to post losses for the full year as well as for 2009.Key lawmakers: We have a planMain players in bailout talks agree on principles to protect taxpayers and ensure oversight. House Republicans balk...Tami Luhbyhttp://money.cnn.com/2008/09/25/news/economy/deal_reached/index.htm?postversion=2008092515NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A group of key lawmakers reached agreement Thursday on a counterproposal to the Bush administration's $700 billion financial bailout plan, but a final deal has not been set.Congressional negotiators agreed to a set of principles on revisions to the rescue plan, which calls for the Treasury Department to buy up bad mortgage securities from banks in an effort to get them to lend again.The proposal will help homeowners, curb executive pay packages at participating firms and provide oversight of Treasury's actions, said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., a key architect of the congressional effort. He did not provide details and said lawmakers will sit down with Treasury officials to discuss it."As I made clear in the meeting this morning, I was not authorized by my colleagues to make any agreement on behalf of House Republicans," said Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., the top Republican on the House Financial Services Committee. "There was progress on many issues, but no agreement other than to continue discussions."Details started dribbling out in the hours before lawmakers were to gather at the White House with President Bush and presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain.Congress will make $250 billion available immediately with $100 billion available, if needed, without requiring additional congressional approval, said two senior Democratic aides familiar with the negotiations. The second half of $350 billion would then become available by a special approval of Congress. Lawmakers also said the congressional proposal calls for the government to receive stock warrants of participating companies, the Wall Street Journal said. Administration officials said they were pleased that progress is being made."We'll want to hear from Secretary Paulson, and take a look at the details," said Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman. "We look forward to a good discussion at the meeting this afternoon."The provisions that Congress wants to add to the administration's plan should make Americans "legitimately feel better about the overall approach," said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who heads the House Financial Services Committee.Taxpayers would be protected under the congressional version of the bailout, Bachus said at the press conference. Congress' additions to the proposal call for the Treasury to be "reimbursed for their expenditures," he said.Lawmakers said they wanted to send a message to the markets to calm down. Wall Street heard the message, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average up more than 300 points after the agreement was announced. It then settled back to a gain of 210 points.Seeking consensusAdministration officials have spent countless hours this week behind closed doors with and in public hearings before Congress. Lawmakers were hoping to have a deal agreeable to both parties hammered out before Thursday's meeting at the White House...The administration and Congress appeared to move closer to a deal on Wednesday. Acknowledging that many Americans are furious at the idea that their tax money would go to bail out Wall Street, Paulson said in hearings that he was open to capping executive compensation at firms that participate in the bailout plan. He also indicated the final rescue plan would include more help for struggling homeowners.But he said he did not support allowing bankruptcy judges to modify mortgage terms, which Democrats and many community advocates are pushing as the best way to help stem the tide of foreclosures.Meanwhile, the hard work of negotiating final legislation continues, with officials saying time is of the essence. Banks are still clamping down on their lending, and investors hang on every word out of Washington...Financial TimesUS ‘will lose financial superpower status’...Bertrand Benoit in Berlin http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1d6a4f3a-8aee-11dd-b634-0000779fd18c.htmlThe US is poised to lose its role as a global financial “superpower” in the wake of the financial crisis, Peer Steinbrück, German finance minister, said on Thursday as he called for a regulatory crackdown on financial markets.“The US will lose its status as the superpower of the world financial system. This world will become multipolar” with the emergence of stronger, better capitalised centres in Asia and Europe, Mr Steinbrück told the German parliament. “The world will never be the same again.”Mr Steinbrück launched a biting attack at the US government for resisting calls for stricter regulations of financial markets even after the subprime crisis erupted last summer, for which he said Washington was partly responsible.In language that went much further than recent comments by Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, Mr Steinbrück said tougher capital market rules were an urgent necessity.“Crisis management alone will not rebuild the lost confidence,” he said. “We must civilise financial markets, and not just through moral appeals against excess and speculation. Self-regulation is no longer sufficient.”The US belief in “laisser-faire capitalism; the notion that markets should be as free as possible from regulation; these arguments were wrong and dangerous,” he said. “This largely under-regulated system is collapsing today.”The US had failed in its oversight of investment banks, Mr Steinbrück said, adding that the crisis was an indictment of the US two-tier banking system and its “weak, divided financial oversight.”He pointed the finger at Washington for failing to take seriously proposals Berlin had made as it chaired the Group of Eight industrial nations last year. These proposals, he said, “elicited mockery at best or were seen as a typical example of Germans’ know-better attitude.”By contrast, Mr Steinbrück praised the US crisis management, including the government’s planned $700bn rescue package for the financial sector. Washington, he said, had earned credits for acting not just in the US interest but also in the interest of other nations.Yet he reiterated Germany’s refusal to mount a similar rescue operation using taxpayers’ money to acquire toxic assets. “This crisis originated in the US and is mainly hitting the US,” he said. In Europe and Germany, such a package would be “neither sensible nor necessary.”Unlike the US two-tier banking system, he said, Germany’s three-pillar system had weathered the storm. The network of savings banks, much derided in the past by US critics, had provided business with more credit in the first half of this year than in the same period last year.“In Germany, the three-pillar system has acted as a stabilising factor,” he said, and was continuing to provide the economy with sufficient liquidity. Yet he said the crisis had been a warning to the state-owned Landesbanks, which now needed to rethink their business models and consolidate.Mr Steinbrück put forward eight proposals to help resolve the current crisis and prevent future financial meltdowns on a similar scale.Among these were a ban on “purely speculative short-selling”; a crackdown on variable pay for bank managers, which had encouraged reckless risk-taking; a ban on banks scrutinising more than 80 per cent of the debt they hold; international standards making bank managers personally responsible for the consequences of their trades; and increased co-operation between European supervisors, culminating in the long term in a European supervisory system...Bail-out cost ‘impossible’ to estimate...James Politi in Washington...9-24-08http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/78ecb166-8a46-11dd-a76a-0000779fd18c.htmlThe cost of the Treasury plan to save the US financial system from collapse cannot be estimated because it is too vague, Peter Orszag, head of the Congressional Budget Office, told legislators on Wednesday.At a hearing before the House budget committee, Mr Orszag said: ”The secretary would have the authority to purchase virtually any asset, at any price, and sell it at any future date; the lack of specificity regarding how that authority would be implemented makes it impossible at this point to provide a quantitative analysis of the net cost to the federal government.”But Mr Orszag added that the CBO, which analyses the cost of legislation on a non-partisan basis, expected the Treasury to ”fully use” the $700bn authority in the fiscal year of 2009 it is demanding. Over time, he said, the government would recover some of that money, but the extent to which this would happen could not be estimated.His comments could further inflame opposition to the Treasury plan on Capitol Hill, where both Democratic and Republican politicians have expressed anger at the prospect of giving a ”blank cheque” to the government.”This is a no-doc request here,” said Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate banking committee, on Wednesday on the Senate floor, adding that a lot of work needed to be done to rework the proposal...Asia TimesGulf states covet Asian farms...Brian McCartan http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/JI26Ae01.htmlCHIANG MAI - Once committed largely to perceived safe-haven investments in the United States, Gulf nations are now looking to send their petrodollar surpluses towards a more exotic global destination: Southeast Asian farmland. Last month, two high-level Kuwaiti delegations toured Southeast Asia's food-producing countryside, looking to invest in agricultural lands and agro-business partnerships on a contract farming basis. Those visits came amid similar regional overtures from other Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Most of the deals are still in the negotiation stages and provisionally appear to involve leasing rather than outright purchasing of agricultural lands, where Gulf state companies payto rent the land, provide inputs and contractually agree to buy the produce. Such an arrangement would be similar to the contract farming deals China has recently cut across the region, including in Myanmar and Laos. It's unclear if the Gulf state-invested produce would be purchased at a fixed future rate or prevailing market prices, and what percentage would be paid to local farmers who actually work the lands. What is clear is a pressing Middle Eastern need to shore up the region's shaky food security. The Gulf Research Center (GRC), a Dubai-based think-tank, in May highlighted the declining agricultural production by the Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) six member states and the wider region's increasing financial exposure to spiraling food prices. A GRC report that month specifically called on the GCC nations - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE - to develop links with foreign countries with abundant arable land. Higher global food prices are a key contributor to escalating inflation in the Middle East, which suffers from a lack of fertile land and consistent water supplies. The region's surging oil wealth is meanwhile attracting ever-larger influxes of immigrants, who are putting further strain on already import-intensive food supplies. The region's population could rise to 39 million in 2010, from 35 million in 2006, and surge to 58 million by 2030 if current demographic trends continue, the GRC forecast. The population of the six member countries was 30 million in 2000. Gulf states already import between 60% and 90% of their food requirements, amounting to a total bill of US$10 billion per year. Saudi Arabia is the largest importer, followed closely by Kuwait and the UAE, according to the GRC. Meanwhile, world food prices surged to record highs earlier this year. Costs for cereals such as rice, the Gulf's main staple, have recently declined, but remain three times higher than the past decade's moving average. For example, the price of rice imported from India and Pakistan has risen by 70% on average. The average price of food in Qatar rose 19% during the first three months of this year, more than three times the same period last year. Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have all recorded similar increases. Prices in Kuwait have not risen as high, mainly due to its lower reliance on the US dollar as a trading currency, but the oil-rich nation is firmly in search of greener pastures for its petrodollar investments... 9-25-08MeetingsMCAG October Calendarhttp://www.mcagov.org/October 2 - Technical Planning Committee MeetingOctober 3 - Citizens Advisory Committee MeetingOctober 8 - Technical Review Board MeetingOctober 16 - Governing Board Meeting City of Merced Ocober Calendarhttp://www.cityofmerced.org/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=6663October      06 CITY COUNCIL MEETING, 7:00 PM                 08 PLANNING COMMISSION, 7:00 PM                 16 MERCED COUNTY ASSOCIATION OF                       GOVERNMENTS, 3:00 PM                 20 CITY COUNCIL MEETING, 7:00 PM                 22 PLANNING COMMISSION, 7:00 PM                 23 LOCAL AGENCY FORMATION COMMISSION,                     10:00 AM Merced County Board of Supervisors October Calendarhttp://www.co.merced.ca.us/bos/pdfs/bos_calendar.pdfOctober            October 7, 2008            Board Meeting            October 21, 2008            Board Meeting      Merced County Hearing Officer October Calendarhttp://www.co.merced.ca.us/planning/pdf/schedule.pdfMonday, October 6, 2008 Monday, October 20, 2008 Merced County Planning Commission October Calendarhttp://www.co.merced.ca.us/planning/pdf/schedule.pdfWednesday, October 8, 2008 Wednesday, October 22, 2008                                                       -------------------------------------------------------------CENTRAL VALLEY SAFE ENVIRONMENT NETWORKMISSION STATEMENTCentral 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.