12-15-08

 12-15-08Merced Sun-StarOur View: Invest in universitiesCalifornia needs its youth to get four-year degrees if it wants to stay competitive.http://www.mercedsunstar.com/181/story/595039.htmlUniversity of California President Mark Yudof called it a "revolution" and one of the "smartest investments" in American history.He wants the United States to "do it again."Yudof was referring to President Abraham Lincoln's signing of the Morrill Act in 1862 -- during wartime, during difficult economic times. That act gave every state 30,000 acres of federal land to use or sell to build universities.Those land grants created a $7 million endowment that built 106 universities that remain with us today. One of them is the University of California system.Yudof made a pitch last week for President-elect Barack Obama to "rethink the federal role in higher education" and make a similar facilities investment to expand enrollment capacity and spread knowledge for a new century.In the 19th century, Americans called this kind of national investment "internal improvements."We need to rekindle that spirit.But you don't have to go back that far.The post-World War II period provides similar inspiration. Worried about a post-war return to Great Depression unemployment, Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman promoted large-scale investments to assure greater access to higher education. And states contributed, too.In California today, Yudof believes the state is living off the 1950s and 1960s legacy of Gov. Pat Brown and UC President Clark Kerr, who championed the research potential and low-cost quality education of public universities -- the notion, novel at the time, that every student should be entitled to a college education regardless of ability to pay.From 1948 to 1974, California made a major investment in higher education, which peaked in the late 1950s and early 1960s.That investment has declined since then.Today, the state complacently is riding on the investments of 50 years ago."I'm worried about it," Yudof said.The United States remains competitive in high-quality research -- and the University of California system, Yudof notes, has been stellar in attracting research grants.He expects that UC will continue to be a leader in basic and applied science research -- such as nanotechnology, stem cells, titanium, medical, desalinization, etc.Asked what UC should be doing to address pressing needs of the state, such as deep pockets of poverty and high levels of unemployment, Yudof didn't hesitate: "Help fix K-12 education."Too few California students graduate from high school, a problem Yudof described as "leakage."And this has ripple effects.Where California used to be a national leader, today it ranks in the bottom 10 states in the share of students getting a four-year college degree. The result is an erosion in upward mobility for individuals and an erosion of the state's economic competitiveness.To help with K-12 education, Yudof is holding brainstorming meetings. An initiative to put 1,000 new science and math teachers a year into California classrooms already is under way. He would like to see UC campuses be "creative places to try things."Yudof takes a long-view picture of things.Like Kerr 50 years ago, he is well placed to play a vital role nationally and in California to reverse the long period of disinvestment in higher education.What do you think? Comment on this editorial by going to www.mercedsunstar.com/opinion, then click on the editorial.Los Banos EnterpriseHighway 152 bypass could stall after its first phaseOfficials hope new president will help project get completed...Corey Pride...12-12-08http://www.losbanosenterprise.com/114/story/32565.htmlThe Highway 152 bypass may sit unfinished for years, according to an official with the Merced County Association of Governments.MCAG Executive Director Jesse Brown said between state, city and county dollars there is enough money -- $68 million to be exact -- to build the first phase of the bypass. The problem is another $150 million is needed to complete the project's second and third phases.Brown said with Regional Transportation Impact Fees the city and county can raise an additional $50 million, but the other $100 million necessary for the bypass will require a "state and federal solution." "We do not have $150 million," Brown said, adding that MCAG expects that the money will become available over time.The first phase of the bypass will start at Santa Fe Grade and end at Highway 165. When asked if the first phase will sit for years without the second and third being built, Brown responded, "It's a possibility."Despite the current recession, Brown and some Los Banos officials are encouraged by the statements being put out by the soon-to-be in power Obama administration."Clearly there's going to be some sort of stimulus package at the federal level," Brown said.Mayor Tommy Jones provided more detail."The No. 1 thing the president is talking about is he wants to create jobs by rebuilding the roads," Jones said. He said the Highway 152 bypass should be the perfect type of project to be given money by the Obama administration. Plus, Jones said, "Building the first phase will create pressure to get it done."Councilman Joe Sousa said he cannot predict what the federal or state governments will do as far as providing funding for the bypass.But, he said he knows the state and federal governments financial woes will not last forever.Sousa said he also knows the bypass is important to Los Baños' future. "Somebody's got to have some vision to get this project done," Sousa said. "If you leave this thing the way it is who's going to want to do commerce here?" Sousa and Jones are not worried about having a period of time where just the first phase is built. The men say it will divert some of the truck traffic from traveling straight through the middle of the city. Sousa said the first phase will particularly help with trucks traveling east on Highway 152 that have destinations to the north. Sousa also said criticism of the bypass demonstrates some people's reluctance to accept the process for getting the funding for the project. Sousa said he still believes it is critical that the city raise its RTIF. Without the increase, according to Sousa, MCAG will replace the bypass as its top priority in favor of another project in the county."The county will not wait around," Sousa said.Brown said "innovative thought" is going to be necessary to get the $100 million needed to complete the bypass. Brown said MCAG is looking at partnering with Madera and Santa Clara counties to buttress support at the state and federal level for money. He said the two counties will have incentive to assist Merced County because of the Highway 152 corridor's impact on highways 99 and 101. Modesto BeeRacetrack land on the marketMotorsports park project still alive, developer claims...Corinne Reilly, Merced Sun-Starhttp://www.modbee.com/local/v-print/story/533687.htmlMERCED -- The land on which Riverside Motorsports Park planned to build a massive, quarter-billion-dollar racetrack complex is up for sale. RMP also is months late in paying Merced County more than $300,000 in planning and legal fees. Others to whom RMP owes money have moved to seize the company's assets. These are the latest in a long series of developments that suggest the RMP project will never be built, and it now looks possible that Merced County taxpayers will end up footing some of the company's unpaid bills. But the small team of businessmen behind RMP says the project is still moving forward. Most of what RMP owes the county stems from a lawsuit filed against the county over the Board of Supervisors' 2006 decision to approve the RMP project. A judge ruled against the county and RMP in February, canceling RMP approvals on environmental grounds and awarding attorney and court fees to the lawsuit's plaintiffs, the California Farm Bureau Federation and two environmental groups. Under an order signed by the parties in September, RMP agreed to pay the plaintiffs $279,000 for their legal costs. The order stated that if RMP failed to pay within 60 days, Merced County would have to put up the money. RMP defaulted and on Nov. 24, the county cut two checks for $279,264 to the Farm Bureau and the attorneys who represented the environmental groups. Lawsuit clause signedThe county had insisted on some protection for taxpayers. As a condition of RMP's project approval, the county required the company's chief executive officer, John Condren, to sign an indemnity agreement saying RMP would cover the cost of any lawsuits stemming from the county's decision. That agreement still stands, and the county can use it to lay legal claim to RMP's assets. But whether RMP has anything left to claim is uncertain. Besides the $279,000, RMP owes $50,800 to the county counsel's office and the county public works department for time they spent reviewing and processing the company's proposal, county of- ficial said recently. They said the county has been demanding payment for sev- eral months. But the county isn't the only creditor that's been calling Condren, and at least one other party that RMP owes has moved to seize the company's assets, though it's had little success finding any. A law firm that used to represent RMP sued the company last year after Condren failed for months to pay an overdue $143,000 legal bill. The firm, Sacramento-based Somach, Simmons & Dunn, won a judgment against RMP for that amount in August. The firm has recovered about $600 by levying and emptying an RMP bank account, said Michael Vergara, an attorney with Somach, Simmons & Dunn. The firm also is looking to Merced County to recoup some of the money. Concerned about RMP's financial stability, the county told RMP this year that the company would have to prepay for certain services. RMP and the county set up a $50,000 trust account to satisfy the county's demand. Somach, Simmons & Dunn has tried to levy the trust. The county says it's empty. The law firm says it has proof the account held $44,000 when it first presented its seizure order. Somach, Simmons & Dunn has filed a claim against the county for $44,000. If it's denied, Vergara said, the firm will sue the county for the money. Somach, Simmons & Dunn hasn't found any other money in RMP's name to seize, Vergara said. "It looks like all that's left to pursue is their land," he said. That land -- where RMP planned to build its project -- is up for sale. Listed at $16.5 millionThe 1,289-acre property was listed Sept. 30, with an asking price of $16.5 million. But it's unclear how much equity RMP has in the property. The company has at least one mortgage on the land and it's behind on its property taxes, public records show. Condren didn't respond to interview requests. Steve Nasser, an investment banker and shareholder in RMP who is working to find funding for the project, acknowledged that RMP is out of cash and that its land is up for sale. But he said RMP still plans to build and is "incredibly close" to announcing financing deals that will keep the company alive. He said RMP put its land on the market as a backup measure in case the financing deals fall through and the company can't pay off its mortgage when the loan matures around the end of the year. "We're incredibly close," Nasser said. "We have all the pieces now. We have the money. We have the experienced senior track management people. We just need to get everyone to sign off on a few last details." For nearly a year RMP officials have been saying they are close to finishing financing deals for the project. Before that, Condren said the money to build RMP had been secured, some of his former partners have said. Nasser declined to name the latest potential investors and lenders. He added that RMP has scaled back blueprints for the project to four racetracks from eight. He said RMP intends to repay Merced County and that he thinks the company has equity in its property, though he couldn't say how much. Condren first proposed plans in 2003 for what he has billed as the world's largest motorsports facility.Fresno BeeState budget meltdown would have direct impact on Valley public works project...Jim Boren...12-13-08http://www.fresnobeehive.com/opinion/2008/12/state_budget_meltdown_would_ha.htmlState Treasurer Bill Lockyer says numerous public works projects already authorized across California would not be built because of the state's ongoing budget problem. With the state running out of cash, Lockyer said he will be unable to sell bonds needed to finance $5 billion in public works projects.Read today's editorial on this issue by clicking here.The Valley stands to lose approximately $175 million in school construction money if legislators don't immediately fix the state's cash position. That list includes $54 million for Chawanakee Unified in North Fork, $18 million for Fresno Unified and $15 million for Lindsay Unified, according to the treasurer's office.More than $200 million in transportation projects also could be halted in the Valley. That includes $92 million to widen Highway 198 in Kings County, and $37 million for bridges scheduled to be replaced in Merced County.ELAINE BETHEL-FINK: Casino an economic boon...Elaine Bethel-Finkhttp://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/wo/v-print/story/1074790.htmlThe proposed North Fork destination hotel and casino resort will immediately jump start our region's faltering economy by providing nearly $2.5 billion in economic activity over the next 20 years - if it's given a chance.At a time when our national economy is shedding more than 500,000 jobs a month, some officials have called our privately funded project a "once in a generation" economic development opportunity capable of generating more than 4,000 local jobs.Union leaders, contractors, engineering and construction firms have endorsed our project, based on the planned $250 million in construction outlays and 750 jobs that will help resuscitate the collapsed local building industry. Every jurisdiction and business chamber in Madera, as well as many surrounding ones, have embraced the $100 million a year in economic benefits our project will generate to help combat decades of unrelenting Central Valley poverty and despair.Companies throughout the Valley have become excited by the prospect of competing for $45 million to $50 million in annual vendor purchases belonging to the project. Nonprofit organizations have joined nearly 5,000 citizens in applauding our tribe's legally binding commitments to deliver $5 million a year in public safety, education, economic development, youth and recreation, infrastructure and other community project funding.The city of Madera, city of Chowchilla, Madera County, Madera Irrigation District, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S. Department of Interior, Caltrans, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the National Indian Gaming Commission and other agencies have served as co-operating agencies on the environmental impact statement being prepared by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to ensure that the North Fork project fits both the needs of our community and the environment.All these supporters and partners believe the project's contributions will strengthen the strained social fabric of our community by providing jobs, economic vitality and improved community services.Over the past five years, our tribe has worked diligently, transparently and collaboratively to advance this economic dream. Our strong legal and historical claims, adherence to the letter and spirit of the law, tradition and practice of partnership and development partner Station Casinos' solid reputation and commitment to the project have all contributed to the remarkable support and progress we've enjoyed so far.As a result, we're closer than ever to fulfilling this dream - exactly at a time when our region needs it more then ever. With some more hard work and good luck, we may even break ground in 2009 - an event that would immediately and positively stimulate the regional job market and economy.Yet much remains to be done.The San Joaquin Valley is a great place to live, work and play. We should know: The Western Mono people have enjoyed the bounty of this region for centuries.But life in the Valley has always had its challenges, even before the recent economic collapse. Native peoples, migrant workers and other immigrant populations have endured centuries of substandard conditions in our own backyard. Study after study has chronicled the serious obstacles facing hard-working, decent Valley citizens in putting food on the table, obtaining good-paying jobs, getting a decent education and buying - and more recently keeping - a home. And things have only gotten worse.Our project won't cure all these woes, especially when the bad economy is hurting even the normally recession-resistant gaming industry. Such conditions make it harder for us to build and turn a profit in the short term; but they also make it more important that we get started to help our local economy over the long term.It astounds us then to see some within our community still bent on tearing down perfectly good ideas and projects like ours without proposing any reasonable options.In such economic times, we have a simple question for those who oppose the kind of growth and opportunity represented by the North Fork project: What is your alternative plan for providing dignity and hope through employment? For keeping local businesses open and thriving? For offering essential public funding to neighborhoods and communities?Don't get us wrong, our tribe welcomes all forms of advice and constructive criticism - as long as it comes with a genuine interest in working together to address the needs of our region, not merely special interests.Much needs to be done to remedy the current economic mess. We must work together, and quickly, before things get worse. We must embrace solutions as big as the problems we face, solutions like the "once in a generation" North Fork project. We must put aside personal biases and agendas and do what's right for the Valley and nation. We must say "yes" to hope and opportunity and "no" to fear, greed and cynicism.We invite everyone to join our North Fork tribe in this "once in a generation" endeavor. Sacramento BeeDelta - Coming NextDec. 15, 2008: Court deadline for state and federal water agencies to submit new operating rules for Delta pumps to protect fish...Delta In The Spotlight...Delta Update...U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service...Sacramento Fish & Wildlife Office http://www.fws.gov/sacramento/Delta_popup.htmDec. 19, 2008: Bay-Delta Conservation Plan Steering Committee Meeting...Bay Delta Conservation Plan...CA.GOV Resources Agency http://www.resources.ca.gov/bdcp/Dec. 31, 2008: Deadline for Delta Vision Committee to submit final recommendations to governor and Legislature...Delta Vision...CA.GOV Delta Visionhttp://www.deltavision.ca.gov/Great Gallery of aerials taken just last month in the West Deltahttp://www.sacbee.com/1276/gallery/1462198.htmlWestern Farm PressLeaders must take bold action to secure safe water supply for all...Gabriele Ludwig, Sr. Manager Global Technical and Regulatory Affairs, Almond Board of Californiahttp://westernfarmpress.com/tree-nut-crops/almonds-water-1215/#An estimated 250,000 acres of almonds, fully one-third of the state’s planted acreage, have been affected by recent lawsuits related to the endangered Delta smelt and winter-run salmon in the Sacramento River.With reservoirs statewide reportedly at only about one-third of capacity and additional demands for urban and environmental surface water allocations on the horizon, even a normal rainfall year in 2009 and beyond will not alleviate the current crisis. The water woes affecting all users in California will only be alleviated by long-term vision and bold action by water officials and politicians in the state. These are near-term issues that require long-term solutions, willing leadership and significant investment to protect both ecological and human uses for water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Three studies released over the past several months have put plenty of ideas on the table for solving the state’s water crisis. All three studies, with their attendant proposals, are sure to play a role in how water policy and infrastructure is developed over the next several years. Two of those studies recommend, in the context of multiple necessary steps, building a peripheral canal around the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to improve Delta health and preserve the critical flow of surface water to urban, environmental and agricultural users. A third study says that farmers can grow more food, more profitably, if they switch to water-saving crops and change their irrigation strategies. The first of those studies, the Delta Vision Strategic Plan, released by Gov. Schwarzenegger’s blue ribbon panel in January 2008, offers a 12-point integrated solution for managing the Delta as a sustainable ecosystem that would support environmental and economic functions critical to the people of California. The report concludes that the Delta’s ecosystem is “not sustainable over the long term” and calls for several integrated actions that must be taken in the very near future to counter severe threats to the Delta and Suisun Marsh. Those actions focus on preparing for disasters in or around the Delta, protecting its ecosystem and water supply from urban encroachment, and starting work soon on short-term improvements to both the ecosystem and water supply system. The Delta Vision Plan calls for a dual-conveyance system from the Delta that includes a peripheral canal, but retains the option of pumping water from the Delta. More information on the Delta Vision Strategic Plan can be found at http://www.deltavision.ca.gov/DeltaVision-DraftTaskForceVision.shtml.A second report issued in July 2008 by a multi-disciplinary academic team from the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) and UC Davis also called the current scenario in the Delta unsustainable, and said a projected sea level rise, crumbling ancient levees, larger floods, and high earthquake potential will inevitably result in a dramatically altered Delta environment (increased salinity). The PPIC-UC Davis team said building a peripheral canal to carry water around the Delta is the “most promising strategy” to balance two critical policy goals: reviving a threatened ecosystem and ensuring a high-quality water supply for California’s residents. It concludes that while a peripheral canal and “dual conveyance” provide similar benefits to the Delta, the dual conveyance is the more costly solution. The full PPIC report can be found on the Web at http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/report/R_708EHR.pdf.A third, more controversial, study issued in September 2008 by the Pacific Institute of Oakland, a think tank focused on environmental issues, concluded that California farmers can grow more food and fiber with less water by shifting to less water-intensive crops and adopting advanced irrigation management techniques, thus requiring less water exports from the Delta. This report focuses on how to reduce agricultural water usage, rather than what infrastructure should be developed for the Delta. The report “More with Less: Agricultural Water Conservation and Efficiency in California – A Special Focus on the Delta,” said growers should be encouraged to focus water resources on high-value crops, rather than expending water on low-value crops such as rice, cotton, corn, wheat and alfalfa. It also provides policy recommendations to encourage the use of more efficient irrigation systems. It does not account, however, for market realities and economies that dictate what crops are grown in California; nor the fact that California farmers have already made great strides in water use efficiency the last 20 years. The report can be found on the Web at http://www.pacinst.org/reports/more_with_less_delta/index.htm.While all three of these studies offer starkly different visions for the future of the Delta and the state’s water supply, they at least offer food for thought for those tasked with making the bold decisions needed to protect the ecosystem of the Delta and secure a safe and abundant water supply for all Californians – including the 250,000 almond acres being affected by current water shortages, policy and lawsuits.Oroville MercuryState reviving drought water bank...HEATHER HACKINGhttp://www.orovillemr.com/news/ci_11233677NELSON -- Landowners in Northern California who are interested in selling water are talking with the state Department of Water Resources about the 2009 Drought Water Bank.The head of that program for the state, Teresa Geimer, gave an overview of those plans at a meeting of the Butte Basin Water Users Association in Nelson last week. The water bank has not been used since drought conditions in the early 1990s. The state is looking for up to 600,000 acre-feet of water, although with a grim water year, that amount is likely not to be reached. The transfers would be primarily from Northern California, Geimer said. Geimer said the water bank is for only one year and would be negotiated from willing buyers and sellers. Already, about 30 entities have notified the state to say they are interested; however, more can still join the program. The list of those interested has not been made public, she said. As in the past, many of those transfers will come from farmers who choose not to farm, or landowners choosing to plant less water-intensive crops. The rules are that no more than 20 percent of crops could be affected in each county. In Butte County, groundwater cannot be transferred outside the county without a permit, said Vickie Newlin, of the Butte County Department of Water and Resource Conservation. Also, landowners can't sell surface water outside the county and use groundwater without a permit. Newlin said there would not be enough time for water users to get through that permit process within the state's time line for the state Drought Water Bank. Water accounting is complicated, but any transactions will have rules for accounting for water losses during transfer, return flows, soil seepage and whether wells near waterways draw water from waterways. Barbara Vlamis of the Butte Environmental Council said the transfers could be a "catastrophe" to river tributaries, with shortages that wouldn't be seen until after the transfers. Geimer acknowledged that the program is not "risk free." Plus, as of last week, the state has said there is a 50 percent chance that water can't be transferred through a key Delta pumping plant."If it stays dry, there probably will be more capacity to move water in statewide facilities," Geimer said. There's much to still work out, including environmental issues. Butte County Water Commissioner and farmer David Skinner opined that looking at Lake Oroville right now, "it doesn't look like the water is there" for transfers. There was no discussion of prices for the sale of water. Those would be worked out through the process, Geimer said.The Redding Record-SearchlightHealthy salmon runs on other rivers raise questions about the Sacramento...Dylan Darling...12-14-08http://www.redding.com/news/2008/dec/14/healthy-salmon-runs-on-other-rivers-raise-about/Dismal salmon returns on the Sacramento River in recent years have most often been blamed on poor food conditions out in the Pacific Ocean.But while the Sacramento has continued to see declining returns this year, fall Chinook runs on the Klamath and Columbia rivers - the next two major river systems north - appear to be healthy."The only real weak link river next year looks like the Sacramento again," said Paul Heikkila, a commercial salmon fisherman in Coos Bay, Ore.That's caused critics, Heikkila among them, to wonder what's different with the Sacramento. They say the salmon from the three rivers have spent time in the same ocean water, so food supply at sea shouldn't be singled out as the problem. "It's the same ocean that is feeding the Klamath, the Columbia and everything else," said Dick Pool, president of Pro-Troll Fishing Products, a Concord company that sells salmon fishing gear.Pool and others contend that there must be something wrong with the Sacramento that is causing salmon returns to keep dropping."If you don't get the little fish to the ocean it doesn't make any difference what the ocean does," Heikkila said.Six years after a record salmon return of close to 500,000 fall-run Chinook salmon, the return at Coleman National Fish Hatchery near Anderson is down to about 14,000 fish.And that's with bans this year on off-shore commercial fishing and limited sports fishing along the river."If there had been a fishery (commercial and sport catch), we would have had little or nothing," said Scott Hamelberg, Coleman's manager.While it's too early to tell how runs on the three river systems fared this fall - scientists monitoring each are still tabulating data and it should be out in February - counts at hatcheries on the Klamath and Columbia rivers and a major fish ladder on the Snake River tell different tales.Contrasting the low runs recorded at Coleman, the fall-run Chinook count at Iron Gate Hatchery on the Klamath is only slightly off average, and at the fish ladder at the Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River, a major tributary to the Columbia, there's been a record run.This autumn, 9,847 chinook returned to Iron Gate, which is near the Oregon border in Siskiyou County, said Keith Pomeroy, the hatchery's manger."It's a little less than average," he said.At Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River in southeastern Washington, 16,628 chinook made the swim this fall, said Michelle DeHart, manager of the Fish Passage Center, a group that monitors fish runs on the Columbia, in Portland."That's an all-time record," DeHart said.The dam has been in place since 1975.Although the differing figures seem to support the theory that the dropping Sacramento salmon numbers must be caused by problems in the river, they actually could support the notion that ocean conditions are the culprit, said Doug Killam, a fisheries biologist with the state Department of Fish and Game in Red Bluff."Usually when one state is doing really good," he said, "the other state could be doing really bad," he said.While state and federal agencies that manage the fish on the three rivers are conducting studies into the cause of the Sacramento salmon crash, Killam said a direct cause has not been identified.Along with ocean conditions, discussions of the salmon decline often focus on the amount of water pulled from the Sacramento and its delta with the San Joaquin River for agriculture.Each year state and federal pumps draw about 6 million acre-feet - or enough water to submerge 6 million acres of land under a foot of water - from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.But, the pumping shouldn't get the blame, said Sarah Woolf, spokeswoman for Westlands Water District - the nation's largest water district, with more than 600,000 acres in western Fresno and Kings counties. The pumping is just a piece of the massive Central Valley Project, she said."It's a huge system and there are a lot of problems that need to be addressed," Woolf said. Power plants, urban wastewater systems and ship traffic could be contributing to the salmon problems on the Delta, Woolf said. As for diversions along the upper Sacramento, those used to pose problems for wayward salmon who got lost in the irrigation canals and never made it out to sea, said Jeff Sutton, general manager of the Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority. But most canals now have screens to keep fish out.The canal delivers water to 150,000 agricultural acres south of Red Bluff.Like Woolf, Sutton said there are a host of other factors along the river and in the ocean that should be considered in examining what is causing salmon numbers to drop."It shouldn't always be blamed on the projects," he said. Regardless of what's behind the Sacramento crash, fishermen fear it will continue next year and they'll again have to keep their nets and hooks out of the water."We expect widespread closures again," said Glen Spain, northwest regional director for the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations.Like many involved with the fishing industry, Spain blames harsh conditions on the Sacramento caused by too much pumping during the drought."The problem is (the young salmon) never survived to get to the ocean," Spain said. "This shouldn't have come to a surprise to anybody."Stockton RecordLodi sees renewed push for greenbelt...Daniel Thigpenhttp://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081215/A_NEWS/812150306/-1/A_NEWS06LODI - There was a time when Lodi had few allies in its bid to preserve farmland below its southernmost boundaries.Just two years ago - by some estimates, already more than a decade into the protracted discussions - local officials and landowners were at war over the greenbelt concept. Progress was far from sight.What a difference a couple of years makes.Today, property owners and Lodi officials are pushing a proposal seen as the best compromise to date. San Joaquin County leaders, who will have the ultimate say in the matter, in the coming weeks may consider whether to keep the progress going."It really has moved significantly farther ahead," said Pat Stockar, a cattle farmer and winegrape grower with land in the proposed greenbelt and who has been instrumental in negotiations. "It took really 15 years to get to this point."While there are several hurdles remaining, to be sure, there is a renewed momentum. Many attribute it to two things: property owners' latest proposal for the rural land in question, and Lodi's recent and enthusiastic commitment of nearly $500,000 to study it, even as the city faces fiscal uncertainty."That means they're serious about participating in this," said county Supervisor Leroy Ornellas, who in the past has criticized the city's reluctance to financially support the endeavor.Lodians have for years sought a permanent stretch of farmland between their city and Stockton to keep that city's urban growth at bay and maintain Lodi's small-town ambiance.Talks came to a head two years ago, when Lodi city leaders proposed the town include a section of Armstrong Road, just south of the city limits between Interstate 5 and Highway 99, in its planning boundaries and designate it as open space.That struck fear in the farmers and landowners along the rural corridor, who worried they'd lose property rights and millions of dollars in future development possibilities. In response, they proposed their own idea: a new land-use zoning that allows one residential building permit for every 5 acres owned in the area. Those permits would be used to build and sell homes on 1- to 5-acre lots.Supporters are lining up behind the proposal as the best - and some believe, final - option in the greenbelt ordeal. Landowners say such a zoning change would enhance agriculture-based tourism, such as wineries, that would benefit the region.In November, the City Council voted 4-1 to pay as much as $483,488 in planning costs to study the proposal. Because the land is unincorporated, county supervisors will soon decide whether to make that move.With the city willing to shoulder the costs, however, those chances seem likely, some say.Others are more cautious. Councilwoman Susan Hitchcock, one of the city's loudest greenbelt proponents, said the progress is promising, but she stressed there is no done deal.Contra Costa TimesEditorial: Don't fund train boondoggle...MediaNews editorialhttp://www.contracostatimes.com/opinion/ci_11219588THE STATE'S AND nation's economy are suffering from a severe credit crisis and recession. But that doesn't mean there's any shortage of federal government (taxpayer) cash to be doled out. In fact, there doesn't seem to be any limits to the largesse of those who can print money at will.Certainly, the state and nation could use some stimulus funds to accompany a massive credit rescue in an effort to prevent the recession from becoming a depression. However, that does not mean every public works project is worthy of federal funding. California's high-speed rail boondoggle is a case in point. True, voters did back a $9.95 billion bond measure to provide seed money for the $44 billion project. But there is no good reason for the federal government to toss in more money for a highly flawed adventure.There is no real business plan for the rail system. There are no realistic estimates of ridership, operating costs, capital outlays or total financing.We suspect that there is no accurate estimate of the total cost of the rail system. If it is like other big state construction projects, the cost could be way higher than the current $44 billion estimate.Originally, supporters of the high-speed rail from the Bay Area to Southern California hoped that one-third of the funding would come from the federal government, with one-third from private investors and one-third from the state.Now, with visions of unlimited federal bailout and stimulus money, the high-speed rail board hopes to get far more than a one-third share of funding from Washington. Perhaps the board is beginning to understand that private investment in a project with no business plan or chance of turning a profit is not likely anytime soon. So why not get in line for a chunk of stimulus money?Let's hope those handing out tens of billions of dollars of federal taxpayer funds have more common sense than supporters of the high-speed rail system.California could use stimulus funds in the form of public works financing. But there are other far more worthy projects, such as the BART extension to Santa Clara County.Voters there approved a one-eighth cent sales tax by the necessary two-thirds margin to raise money for the BART route. A willingness to pay extra taxes indicates a far greater commitment for a project than a vote to borrow money without paying any new taxes, as was the case with the rail bond measure.We urge those in Washington who will decide how to spend stimulus funds to direct money toward needed projects such as the BART extension and highway maintenance and repairs.Trying to stimulate the state's economy by financing the high-speed boondoggle express would be a grave mistake.Los Angeles TimesRoom for opportunity in commercial real estate slumpRising vacancies spur lower rents for tenants and discounted prices for investors who can get financing...Roger Vincenthttp://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-commercial15-2008dec15,0,3145942,print.storyLike housing, commercial real estate is in a slump -- one that may not bottom out for another year or two as the value of offices, warehouses and malls dwindles.Falling prices will create profitable opportunities for investors who can raise money to buy discounted property, Los Angeles real estate professionals said, but few buildings are selling and the market will suffer more before it gets better.Landlords' pain will be tenants' gain, however, as rising vacancies pressure owners into lowering rents. Shrinking employment will reduce demand for offices and dump more space on the market at discounted prices.Owners of all types of commercial real estate including hotels have been smacked by the international credit crunch and financial downturn, said Wayne Ratkovich, chairman of the Los Angeles branch of the Urban Land Institute, an industry trade group. And the grief is widespread."It's a pretty gloomy forecast no matter where you go," said Ratkovich, who is also a Los Angeles developer and landlord. "It's hard to find optimism out there."The bottom of the market is six to 12 months away, according to almost half of the respondents to a recent Urban Land survey. An additional third of the professionals including developers, lenders, brokers and architects were more bearish, guessing that the bottom could be as far away as two years. Only 2%, though, said it could take longer than two years to start turning around.Commercial real estate values became overinflated during the recent boom as publicly owned real estate investment trusts, pension funds and other buyers poured money into property acquisitions because they looked like surefire investments, industry observers said. Now fear has replaced greed as the motivating force. "There is a psychological component to all this," said Robert Gardner, managing director of real estate consulting firm Robert Charles Lesser & Co. "Exuberance on the upside is being compounded on the downside and markets will overshoot in the other direction." Worried lenders have practically locked their vaults for the time being, making financing for buying and building commercial projects extremely difficult to obtain. Funding is scarce even for comparatively modest deals of a few million dollars, unless buyers are willing to make substantial down payments. Large-scale property trades and developments look impossible."The mega deal is done" for the time being, Gardner said. Stalled at the starting line for lack of financing are such mega projects as the $3-billion Grand Avenue residential, retail and hotel complex in downtown Los Angeles and a $400- million luxury condominium tower on the edge of Century City.The $1-billion Park Fifth residential and hotel complex, another planned downtown Los Angeles mega development, is also on hold awaiting financing.Other large projects that were funded years ago, such as the $2.5-billion LA Live entertainment, hotel and residential center downtown, are under construction and expected to be completed. A $600-million hotel, residential and retail development being built at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood should be open next year.How those projects will fare upon completion remains to be seen, of course, but real estate industry veterans say a market correction, however painful, was due. The downturn prompted Los Angeles real estate broker Jerry Porter to recall previous commercial real estate slumps that followed sustained periods of escalating prices. A building boom in the 1980s when savings and loans' largess and favorable tax laws led to an oversupply of office space and other commercial buildings peaked when the economy started to cool in the late 1980s. Property prices and rents came down and stayed down well into the 1990s, when the Internet boom finally created thousands of new businesses and pushed real estate values up again. It was another bubble in the making, said Porter, chairman of Cresa Partners."Dot-com ideas were funded that didn't have any clear commercial merit," Porter said, but the rapid growth of new companies drove up office rents and pushed investors to pay ever-increasing amounts for properties to house them. Then, as in the mid-2000s, investors borrowed heavily to buy real estate on the assumption that there would always be a "greater fool" willing to pay more than they did when it came time to sell. In the boom that just ended, some investors paid more for existing buildings than it would cost to build a new one -- a warning sign of an overheating market. Those investors felt justified in their spending because land is a finite resource and new projects are difficult to get approved in dense urban areas such as Los Angeles, Porter said. But those rationalizations ring hollow now in the face of shrinking demand from tenants. "A lot of people overpaid," he said.After creeping up most of the decade, commercial rents started to slip this year, and experts predict that the slide will continue."Usually some markets perform better than others," said Delores Conway, director of the Casden Economic Forecast at USC, "but demand is weak everywhere."After years of gradual tightening in vacancy and rising rents, the market -- of which office space is by far the largest category -- reversed course swiftly in recent months, she said. The culprit, of course, was the meltdown of the credit industry and the ensuing economic havoc.Struggling white-collar companies have moved quickly to lay off employees, creating empty space in their offices. In a further effort to cut costs, many of those businesses are attempting to sublet their empty space at rates as much as 20% below typical market rents.Particularly hard hit by the infusion of cheap sublease space have been Orange County, where financial services and real estate companies vacated thousands of square feet, and the Westside, Los Angeles County's largest market, Conway said.Westside landlords asked for dramatically increasing rents in recent years because little space was available and some of the biggest landlords had purchased large groups of office buildings at the top of the sales market and needed high rents to make a profit.Many businesses abandoned the Westside for cheaper office space elsewhere, even if they had to leave pricey rented space behind and sublease it in an effort to cut their real estate costs. Now about a third of the available office space in West L.A. is sublease space, according to a Casden forecast released last week, Conway said. Vacancy has inched up to about 10% and broker Porter estimated that it might reach 15% over the next two years.Downtown Los Angeles, the county's second-largest market, is also under pressure from the economy and the consolidation or disappearance of some large financial firms such as Bear Stearns Cos. that kept offices there."Rising vacancy is a welcome relief to tenants and potential buyers," Conway said. "They can lease more reasonably and have more opportunities to own a building."L.A., Long Beach ports push projects despite rocky economyThe expansion would cut pollution, create jobs and prepare the complex for a shipping rebound, officials say...Ronald D. Whitehttp://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-fi-ports15-2008dec15,0,68099,print.storyUnion dockworkers are finding there isn't enough work to go around. Big cargo ships are joining the ranks of the unemployed. And yet, the people who run the nation's two largest container ports are convinced that now is the time to build for the future.And they're bracing for lots of objections.Los Angeles and Long Beach port officials see the signs of retrenchment in the shipping industry. The global economic downturn has cut the rates that some ships charge to carry cargo to less than $600 per 40-foot container from as much as $3,400 in 2007. Outside some of the world's busiest harbors -- Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai -- dozens of cargo vessels are idled with no goods to carry.At the Port of Los Angeles, 7.3 million containers moved across the docks from January through November, down more than 5%. The drop was bigger in Long Beach, with 6 million containers moving through the port, down about 10%.Still, after stalling for several years, some projects are reaching crucial stages, and the ports' directors say it's time to push them through.The more than $2 billion in projects in their capital improvement plans, officials say, would amount to an important economic stimulus package that would employ thousands of regional workers. The projects, they contend, would reduce the pollution endured by neighbors by using newer, greener technologies.The developments also would help prepare the harbor for when the global economy gets hot again. Port officials note that the harbor was unprepared for the boom that started in 2004, and that made the pollution even worse as ships idled their diesel engines offshore for as long as a week, waiting to be unloaded."After years of robust growth, we have a chance to take a breath and concentrate on some infrastructure projects," said Richard Steinke, executive director of the Port of Long Beach. "We can stimulate economic growth, put people back to work and position ourselves for the turnaround."With a slate of important projects, including the replacement of a cruise ship terminal that dates from the Kennedy administration, inching toward approval, Steinke's Los Angeles counterpart said she realized that this was a difficult time to move ahead."We are trying to implement the most far-reaching improvements ever, and we are trying to do that in a down year, with 2009 looking even worse. That makes it really tough," said Geraldine Knatz, executive director of the L.A. port.One of her most ambitious projects stems from the fact that the nation's busiest cargo port has devoted so much to blue-collar big-box work that its cruise facilities are considered to have a high "ick" factor among the passengers who embark and debark there.The early 1960s-era facility sits by a narrow channel "in an area filled with cranes and tankers and oily discharge. Passengers have nothing but a long wait of ugliness while they are there, breathing in continuous diesel fumes," said Judy Parker, vice president of sales and marketing for Worldview Travel, a travel agency with offices in California, Florida and New York.Perhaps worse, the biggest cruise ships find the space so tight that they have to reach the terminal by backing up.Parker is convinced that the cramped, unfriendly surroundings are part of why Los Angeles has lost cruise business. According to the Cruise Lines International Assn., Los Angeles ranks a distant fourth in the U.S. with only a 6% share of cruise embarkations."People have this image of how their ship will arrive in port, the wind in your hair, streamers flying, maybe a bottle of champagne, and here in Los Angeles you arrive creeping along in reverse. It's pretty hard to put your best face forward that way," Parker said.Knatz said building a new cruise terminal in the port's Outer Harbor will "allow us to minimize risk in handling the largest cruise ships" while creating more than 7,300 direct jobs and 17,700 indirect construction-related ones during the five- to seven-year building period. An additional 438 permanent jobs would be created at the facility while reducing pollution emissions.One of Long Beach's biggest undertakings is a 10-year, $750-million project that would combine two terminals that are too old, inefficient and dirty to meet the port's goals for pollution reduction and greater productivity.It would be the second-most-expensive development in the history of the No. 2 container port, largely because of measures proposed in the face of threatened lawsuits to force Long Beach and Los Angeles to clean up emissions tied to higher rates of asthma and cancer. Vessels would have to be able to plug into the electrical grid through a shore side connection and turn off their auxiliary diesel engines. The terminal equipment that moves and stacks cargo containers would have to operate on the cleanest energy. As planned, Middle Harbor would be permitted to emit no more than half of current pollution levels."It's an opportunity for us to provide for green growth by taking trucks off the road and reducing emissions even as we put people back to work," Steinke said.The projects at both ports are being fought by environmentalists and neighbors concerned about premature deaths and a higher incidence of asthma. Jesse N. Marquez, executive director of the Wilmington-based Coalition for a Safe Environment, said the ports' expansion projects weren't very green or forward-thinking. Both ports should be exploring the ability to load containers directly onto zero-pollution maglev trains that move on magnetic fields, he said."They're not modernizing at all," said Marquez, who lives four blocks from the Port of Los Angeles' Trapac container terminal.Further complicating the expansion picture: Both are landlord ports that derive their income from the rent their terminal operators and shipping lines pay. And more of those businesses are cutting back.Denmark-based A.P. Moller-Maersk, for example, not only is the world's biggest shipping line, it is the single biggest contributor to cargo business at the Port of Los Angeles. The company recently decided to pull most of its business from Tacoma, Wash., and some from Los Angeles while consolidating its operations in Seattle."We will have to determine what the overall impact will be, but Maersk is big in our overall volume numbers," Knatz said. "We will have to be judicious about our spending. It's not the best time to be trying to spend money."But some maritime experts say that the two ports and their communities would be best served by trying to forge ahead."These ports will have to become much cleaner and much more efficient in order to compete effectively, otherwise they will lose more business, and they have already lost some to Canada and Mexico and the Panama Canal," said Asar Ashaf, head of the Washington, D.C., office of the University of New Orleans' National Ports and Waterways Institute.John Husing, an Inland Empire economist who specializes in goods movement, said the U.S. economy "won't be down forever and global trade will come back. A lot of that trade will still enter the West Coast in spite of new competition.""Getting ready for that now, in a way that sharply reduces pollution, just makes good sense."Primary care doctors struggling to surviveRelatively low earnings, rising overhead and overwhelming patient loads are sending veteran physicians into early retirement and driving medical students into better-paying specialties...Lisa Girionhttp://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-doctors15-2008dec15,0,2626195,print.storyThe morning's last patient, a disabled woman on Medicare, trails her doctor into her office and confides that she doesn't have money for lunch. Tanyech Walford pulls out her billfold and hands her $3. It's money the doctor really doesn't have."I tell patients I'm broke, and they just chuckle," she said. "They don't believe me."Walford's fashionable medical suite in a sleek black-paneled building in Beverly Hills was hiding a grittier reality: She spent much of her lunch hour that day in her office opening mail -- hoping to find payment checks to help fill the gap between her expenses and her revenue.She hadn't drawn a paycheck for herself since February. On top of that, her practice has cost her $40,000 in personal savings and left her with $15,000 in credit card debt. Walford, 39, also owes $80,000 in medical school loans. She shops at Ross and other discount retailers, and rarely eats out or takes time off."I'm totally stressed out," Walford said. "How can I take care of my patients when I'm that stressed?"Walford is not alone in her struggle. Relatively low earnings, rising overhead and overwhelming patient loads are sending veteran primary care physicians into early retirement and driving medical students into better-paying specialties, creating what the New England Journal of Medicine recently called a crisis.Primary care doctors "should be able to leave work thinking not of their income, or of unanswered phone calls, or of test results that they might have overlooked," Boston physician and associate journal editor Thomas H. Lee wrote in the Nov. 12 issue. "They should go home thinking, 'This is what I was meant to do.' "But after five years, Walford couldn't hang on any longer. She closed her office nine days ago."It's sad," said Walford, who has shoulder-length wavy black hair, a cherubic smile and a slight lilt that betrays her Jamaican roots. "I worked really hard. It's a tragedy."The loss of a single physician thrusts hundreds of patients into medical limbo. But the effect is far broader. Experts say the pool of primary care physicians is insufficient to meet the needs of an aging population. Already, shortages make it difficult to see physicians in swaths of northern and rural California, as well as neighborhoods in South Central Los Angeles and other urban cores.Much of the problem lies in an endangered business model: the one- or two-physician general practice. Such practices are particularly difficult for primary care physicians to maintain because of their relatively slim and declining margins.In her best year, Walford grossed about $360,000, more than enough to cover her overhead and take home a tidy income. That stands in sharp contrast to this year, when her practice slid into the red.Small general practices afford doctors autonomy to practice medicine as they see fit and can produce strong doctor-patient bonds. But these physicians have little or no clout to leverage better payments with insurers; they have no economy of scale, which makes overhead more burdensome."It's very difficult, even in rich neighborhoods like Beverly Hills, to set up a solo practice," said Richard Scheffler, an economist at UC Berkeley. "The doctor has to pay rent, a nurse, have a bookkeeper, billing systems, computers. All of those fixed costs are very, very hard for a solo practitioner to have and survive."Dr. Jerry Connell kept his family practice going in Santa Rosa for 29 years. But he closed it in October because his income had slipped to $50,000 a year, even though he had 2,600 patients."I could make more with my Social Security and investments than I could by staying in practice," said Connell, 66.He didn't bother looking for a buyer because "no one in Sonoma County has been able to find a replacement in five years."Connell sold his equipment, but not to doctors. A biofuels company bought his scales and microscope. A veterinarian bought his laboratory equipment. And a tattoo salon bought his autoclave to sterilize needles.The economic slowdown is making matters worse. Physician revenues nationwide are falling as patients who have lost jobs or homes stop paying their bills and skip appointments."As people are tightening their belts, they are deferring things they think are a luxury or not absolutely necessary," said Long Beach physician Jeffrey Luther, president of the California Assn. of Family Physicians. "We see people putting off physicals and mammograms and blood tests because they just don't have the cash."Walford's patients began canceling in droves several months ago. Even those who need to monitor chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes stopped coming in. Of those who did come, many asked to be billed -- even for co-payments as small as $10 -- and then never paid."I love medicine," she said. "But they don't tell you this stuff in medical school. They tell you there's a shortage of doctors."Walford's 1,950-square-foot office, down the hall from the Armenian Consulate, was in a professional building on La Cienega Boulevard. Framed modern art and historic photographs lined the walls. Oriental rugs were scattered over blond wood floors, and table lamps cast a cozy glow.The office had four examination rooms and two waiting rooms -- one in the front and one in the back, for overflow. A couple of years ago, the space might have made sense. Walford was seeing 30 patients a day. In recent months, her patient load dropped to about 15; on bad days, 12.Walford was forced to cut her staff from three medical assistants to one. In the end, the two of them did it all -- answering telephones, scheduling appointments and filing charts.A naturalized citizen who emigrated from Jamaica as a girl, Walford grew up in Hyattsville, Md. She was inspired by a missionary doctor she heard speak while at the University of Maryland. The first member of her family to finish college, she attended medical school at the University of Virginia. A residency at Harbor-UCLA hospital brought her west.Many of her patients were very attached to her. Some, like Catherine Ingram, cried when they learned Walford was leaving. A retired nurse, Ingram, 65, had been coming to Walford for four years."I was just getting used to her . . . trusting her," Ingram said. "She's wonderful."In one of her last days in her practice, Walford saw Vincent and Eloise Hall, Malibu residents who own an auto parts distribution business in Compton. She checked Eloise's blood pressure, noted that she had lost 5 pounds and reminded her that she was due for a mammogram.After giving Vincent, 74, a flu shot, Walford noticed that his blood pressure was up. As they went through the medications he is on, she learned that he had stopped taking his blood pressure pills. She reminded him of their importance and lectured him about getting more exercise.Said Eloise Hall, 80: "She reminds me of our daughter."Angela Russ couldn't get a doctor to see her until she found Walford. The 54-year-old airline customer service representative has insurance, but other physicians demanded that she pay her annual $600 deductible upfront. Walford gave her a pay-as-you-go option.Primary care doctors struggling to surviveRelatively low earnings, rising overhead and overwhelming patient loads are sending veteran physicians into early retirement and driving medical students into better-paying specialties...Lisa Girionhttp://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-doctors15-2008dec15,0,2626195,print.storyThe morning's last patient, a disabled woman on Medicare, trails her doctor into her office and confides that she doesn't have money for lunch. Tanyech Walford pulls out her billfold and hands her $3. It's money the doctor really doesn't have."I tell patients I'm broke, and they just chuckle," she said. "They don't believe me."Walford's fashionable medical suite in a sleek black-paneled building in Beverly Hills was hiding a grittier reality: She spent much of her lunch hour that day in her office opening mail -- hoping to find payment checks to help fill the gap between her expenses and her revenue.She hadn't drawn a paycheck for herself since February. On top of that, her practice has cost her $40,000 in personal savings and left her with $15,000 in credit card debt. Walford, 39, also owes $80,000 in medical school loans. She shops at Ross and other discount retailers, and rarely eats out or takes time off."I'm totally stressed out," Walford said. "How can I take care of my patients when I'm that stressed?"Walford is not alone in her struggle. Relatively low earnings, rising overhead and overwhelming patient loads are sending veteran primary care physicians into early retirement and driving medical students into better-paying specialties, creating what the New England Journal of Medicine recently called a crisis.Primary care doctors "should be able to leave work thinking not of their income, or of unanswered phone calls, or of test results that they might have overlooked," Boston physician and associate journal editor Thomas H. Lee wrote in the Nov. 12 issue. "They should go home thinking, 'This is what I was meant to do.' "But after five years, Walford couldn't hang on any longer. She closed her office nine days ago."It's sad," said Walford, who has shoulder-length wavy black hair, a cherubic smile and a slight lilt that betrays her Jamaican roots. "I worked really hard. It's a tragedy."The loss of a single physician thrusts hundreds of patients into medical limbo. But the effect is far broader. Experts say the pool of primary care physicians is insufficient to meet the needs of an aging population. Already, shortages make it difficult to see physicians in swaths of northern and rural California, as well as neighborhoods in South Central Los Angeles and other urban cores.Much of the problem lies in an endangered business model: the one- or two-physician general practice. Such practices are particularly difficult for primary care physicians to maintain because of their relatively slim and declining margins.In her best year, Walford grossed about $360,000, more than enough to cover her overhead and take home a tidy income. That stands in sharp contrast to this year, when her practice slid into the red.Small general practices afford doctors autonomy to practice medicine as they see fit and can produce strong doctor-patient bonds. But these physicians have little or no clout to leverage better payments with insurers; they have no economy of scale, which makes overhead more burdensome."It's very difficult, even in rich neighborhoods like Beverly Hills, to set up a solo practice," said Richard Scheffler, an economist at UC Berkeley. "The doctor has to pay rent, a nurse, have a bookkeeper, billing systems, computers. All of those fixed costs are very, very hard for a solo practitioner to have and survive."Dr. Jerry Connell kept his family practice going in Santa Rosa for 29 years. But he closed it in October because his income had slipped to $50,000 a year, even though he had 2,600 patients."I could make more with my Social Security and investments than I could by staying in practice," said Connell, 66.He didn't bother looking for a buyer because "no one in Sonoma County has been able to find a replacement in five years."Connell sold his equipment, but not to doctors. A biofuels company bought his scales and microscope. A veterinarian bought his laboratory equipment. And a tattoo salon bought his autoclave to sterilize needles.The economic slowdown is making matters worse. Physician revenues nationwide are falling as patients who have lost jobs or homes stop paying their bills and skip appointments."As people are tightening their belts, they are deferring things they think are a luxury or not absolutely necessary," said Long Beach physician Jeffrey Luther, president of the California Assn. of Family Physicians. "We see people putting off physicals and mammograms and blood tests because they just don't have the cash."Walford's patients began canceling in droves several months ago. Even those who need to monitor chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes stopped coming in. Of those who did come, many asked to be billed -- even for co-payments as small as $10 -- and then never paid."I love medicine," she said. "But they don't tell you this stuff in medical school. They tell you there's a shortage of doctors."Walford's 1,950-square-foot office, down the hall from the Armenian Consulate, was in a professional building on La Cienega Boulevard. Framed modern art and historic photographs lined the walls. Oriental rugs were scattered over blond wood floors, and table lamps cast a cozy glow.The office had four examination rooms and two waiting rooms -- one in the front and one in the back, for overflow. A couple of years ago, the space might have made sense. Walford was seeing 30 patients a day. In recent months, her patient load dropped to about 15; on bad days, 12.Walford was forced to cut her staff from three medical assistants to one. In the end, the two of them did it all -- answering telephones, scheduling appointments and filing charts.A naturalized citizen who emigrated from Jamaica as a girl, Walford grew up in Hyattsville, Md. She was inspired by a missionary doctor she heard speak while at the University of Maryland. The first member of her family to finish college, she attended medical school at the University of Virginia. A residency at Harbor-UCLA hospital brought her west.Many of her patients were very attached to her. Some, like Catherine Ingram, cried when they learned Walford was leaving. A retired nurse, Ingram, 65, had been coming to Walford for four years."I was just getting used to her . . . trusting her," Ingram said. "She's wonderful."In one of her last days in her practice, Walford saw Vincent and Eloise Hall, Malibu residents who own an auto parts distribution business in Compton. She checked Eloise's blood pressure, noted that she had lost 5 pounds and reminded her that she was due for a mammogram.After giving Vincent, 74, a flu shot, Walford noticed that his blood pressure was up. As they went through the medications he is on, she learned that he had stopped taking his blood pressure pills. She reminded him of their importance and lectured him about getting more exercise.Said Eloise Hall, 80: "She reminds me of our daughter."Angela Russ couldn't get a doctor to see her until she found Walford. The 54-year-old airline customer service representative has insurance, but other physicians demanded that she pay her annual $600 deductible upfront. Walford gave her a pay-as-you-go option."I love her," Russ said.Beverly Hills medical offices, near the prestigious Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, command some of the highest rents in the nation. Walford's suite ran $7,900 a month. It cost her an additional $6,700 or so for payroll, workers' compensation, taxes, medical and liability insurance, utilities, continuing medical education fees and other expenses.But in the last few months, many patients failed to pay their bills. In September, she sent invoices to Medicare, Medi-Cal, private insurers and patients for $70,000. With negotiated discounts and government fee schedules, Walford, as a rule of thumb, expected to collect two-thirds of her billings, or about $45,000, that month. Instead, she got $14,000 -- less than her overhead. Walford fell behind on her rent. But she didn't bother dunning her patients."I can send patients to collections until the cows come home," she said. "I will never see that money."Many primary care physicians boost their income by offering Botox injections and other cosmetic procedures for cash. Walford couldn't afford the training.Others have abandoned poor and working-class patients altogether, opening so-called concierge practices that require clients to pay an annual retainer of $1,500 or more and to submit their own insurance claims. Her patients would not have supported that sort of practice.With debt mounting each month, Walford was forced to explore other options. She set her sights on large, stable practices near where she grew up. She sought a job -- one with a steady paycheck -- that would allow her to take vacations without worrying about who would cover for her. She longed to concentrate on patients rather than on billing and collections. And she wanted to live in a place where she could afford to buy a home in a couple of years.Early next month, Walford will join 200 physicians in a multi-office practice affiliated with Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Prince George's County, Md. Her base salary will be $115,000, plus bonuses based on the complexity and quality of care she delivers. Benefits include vacations, health insurance, a pension plan and paid continuing medical education.Walford couldn't find anyone to buy her practice and is still searching for someone to take over her lease. Dr. Peiman Berdjis, a friend with an office nearby on Wilshire, agreed to take the charts of the 2,000 patients she had seen over the years. Her patients can start seeing Berdjis or find another doctor.Walford said she sold her equipment for "pennies on the dollar" and gave her furniture to a couple who lost their home in the Sylmar wildfire. She stayed up until 4 one morning putting stamps on farewell letters to her patients."This is a relief," Walford said from her cellphone as she drove east toward her new practice. "I've been spent emotionally, financially, physically, and now I need to have someone else worry about the finances."I love her," Russ said.Beverly Hills medical offices, near the prestigious Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, command some of the highest rents in the nation. Walford's suite ran $7,900 a month. It cost her an additional $6,700 or so for payroll, workers' compensation, taxes, medical and liability insurance, utilities, continuing medical education fees and other expenses.But in the last few months, many patients failed to pay their bills. In September, she sent invoices to Medicare, Medi-Cal, private insurers and patients for $70,000. With negotiated discounts and government fee schedules, Walford, as a rule of thumb, expected to collect two-thirds of her billings, or about $45,000, that month. Instead, she got $14,000 -- less than her overhead. Walford fell behind on her rent. But she didn't bother dunning her patients."I can send patients to collections until the cows come home," she said. "I will never see that money."Many primary care physicians boost their income by offering Botox injections and other cosmetic procedures for cash. Walford couldn't afford the training.Others have abandoned poor and working-class patients altogether, opening so-called concierge practices that require clients to pay an annual retainer of $1,500 or more and to submit their own insurance claims. Her patients would not have supported that sort of practice.With debt mounting each month, Walford was forced to explore other options. She set her sights on large, stable practices near where she grew up. She sought a job -- one with a steady paycheck -- that would allow her to take vacations without worrying about who would cover for her. She longed to concentrate on patients rather than on billing and collections. And she wanted to live in a place where she could afford to buy a home in a couple of years.Early next month, Walford will join 200 physicians in a multi-office practice affiliated with Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Prince George's County, Md. Her base salary will be $115,000, plus bonuses based on the complexity and quality of care she delivers. Benefits include vacations, health insurance, a pension plan and paid continuing medical education.Walford couldn't find anyone to buy her practice and is still searching for someone to take over her lease. Dr. Peiman Berdjis, a friend with an office nearby on Wilshire, agreed to take the charts of the 2,000 patients she had seen over the years. Her patients can start seeing Berdjis or find another doctor.Walford said she sold her equipment for "pennies on the dollar" and gave her furniture to a couple who lost their home in the Sylmar wildfire. She stayed up until 4 one morning putting stamps on farewell letters to her patients."This is a relief," Walford said from her cellphone as she drove east toward her new practice. "I've been spent emotionally, financially, physically, and now I need to have someone else worry about the finances."Dreams dry up for homeowners in Lancaster's Westview EstatesUpset over water shortages and unfinished development, residents of the community are suing the developer for fraud, negligence and breach of contract...Ann M. Simmonshttp://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-westview15-2008dec15,0,3318407,print.storyThe first sign of trouble came almost immediately after Kurt and Michelle Dahlin moved into Lancaster's new Westview Estates in March 2007.The water slowed to a trickle midway through showering. The toilet tank took two hours to refill. The family often was forced to bathe at 4 a.m. -- before the neighbors awoke and the water flow became a dribble. Some days, there was no water at all.Things only got worse as more homeowners moved into the gated community on the outskirts of Lancaster. Complaints to New Jersey-based developer K. Hovnanian Homes, Los Angeles County water officials and Lancaster city representatives were met with excuses and finger-pointing, residents said in interviews.In September 2007, the developer halted construction after building only 35 of the 425 homes originally planned. Of those, just 23 were sold.A fight immediately ensued over who was to blame for stopping the development.The families who remain in Westview are angry. Residents said they thought they were buying into a luxury community in a coveted residential enclave. What they got was a suburban ghost town, with vacant homes and windblown tumbleweeds sweeping across empty lots.The Dahlins were among the first families to move in, purchasing a 2,600-foot home for $388,000."We bought into the vision, hook, line and sinker, but we don't ever see that coming to fruition," said Kurt Dahlin, 38, a project manager for an Internet security software company. His wife, Michelle, who saw this as her dream home, is "devastated," she said.The Dahlins and other Westview homeowners said they would like to sell but can't because of the real estate slump. Even worse, who would want to buy a home knowing there were problems with the water system?"Our position is that these homes should never have been sold," said Jamie Duarte, an attorney representing the Westview homeowners in suing K. Hovnanian Homes for fraud, negligence and breach of contract. The lawsuit alleges the developer knew of the water deficiencies but failed to disclose them.L.A. County, its Waterworks District 40 and the city of Lancaster are among other defendants named in the suit, which alleges that they failed to ensure that the developer installed a permanent water utility system and that it was fully functioning before issuing certificates of occupancy.Responding in writing to queries, Joseph M. Manisco, vice president and chief legal officer of K. Hovnanian Companies of California Inc., said the allegations against the developer were unfounded. He said L.A. County's water district had committed to provide water service to 133 homes that his company intended to construct in the first phase of the project.So the developer built 35 homes and installed a water distribution system to serve them, Manisco said. But after 23 of the homes were sold and occupancy permits granted, "the Water District abruptly, and without warning, withdrew its previous water service commitment, claiming that it had become unable to provide sufficient water pressure to the community," he wrote.Even though the water pressure problem was resolved, according to Manisco, his company has been denied occupancy permits for the remaining 12 homes since September 2007.In written remarks, Michael Moore, senior deputy county counsel for the L.A. County counsel's office, said the waterworks agency had informed the developer that before additional water meters could be issued, it would have to finish building "a groundwater well and facilities related to its operation."County officials said the developer stopped construction of the well in March 2008.Norm Hickling, Antelope Valley field deputy for Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, said his office initiated an investigation once it became aware of the problems.When the water system failed to pass Fire Department tests, the county installed a backup generator, boosters and pressure sensors, said Duarte, the homeowners' attorney.A small pump station also was erected about a quarter-mile away. Water pressure is stronger, but it's still inadequate, residents say. "It's hard to come home," said Michelle Dahlin. "Am I going to be able to wash dishes, flush my toilets . . . ?"Many homeowners blame the county for approving what they think is a substandard water system. But they also think the developer concealed the water problems.Excuses ran the gamut. Charles Dunn IV and his wife, Kelly, high-school teachers who moved into Westview in April 2007, were told that the water system was being tested. Miguel Mejia, a law enforcement official, and his family were told that the problem was ongoing construction. Ryan Idleman, a contractor who questioned why the spray function on the kitchen faucet was so weak during a walk-through of his new home, was assured that the water tank serving the community was still being filled up.Failure to disclose the water deficiencies, particularly to those homeowners who bought properties long after the problems were known, is what irks Kathy Turner.Turner bought a home on Mora Court, where today only five of 14 properties are occupied. At one stage, she and her two teenage daughters were forced to use bottled water to take sponge baths."It's been really disheartening," Turner said. "I've never felt settled because this has been hanging over us all the time."Darren Parker thought he had bought "a piece of heaven in the desert," when he paid $450,000 for a 3,200-square-foot home on Mora Court. He spent an additional $130,000 on upgrades, including a 40-foot sun deck.Today, a litter of puppies plays on the dry and barren patches of Parker's sprawling backyard. The extra sprinklers he installed could do little to save the lawn without adequate water. At one point, the family was using bottled water to flush the toilets."It's a day-to-day challenge," Parker said. "We're victims. No one wants to admit responsibility. They're trying to make us look like we're just looking for compensation. All we want is water."On West Dale, where vacant model homes stand, a sign beckons: "A home that is right for you, right this way."But these days only thieves seem to make the trip. An outdoor barbecue has been stolen from one model home, and the copper wiring snatched from the air-conditioning units of others. Only holes remain where nine fire hydrants once stood on undeveloped lots before vandals ripped them out.Frustration prompted some homeowners to let their properties slip into foreclosure.In July, Idleman and his wife, Christina, walked away from the four-bedroom, three-bathroom home they bought a year earlier."I'm a contractor," he said. "The economy is slowing down. I knew they weren't going to fix the water. I knew the tract wasn't going to get done. And I was paying $3,000 a month. . . I wasn't going to stay out here in this dud development."Idleman paid nearly $400,000 for the house next door to the Parkers'. Duarte said the bank was asking $209,000 but would be lucky if it could sell the property at all.Westview residents want L.A. County and Lancaster to revoke the certificates of occupancy issued to K. Hovnanian. This would compel the developer to refund homeowners' money, their attorney said."We consider ourselves prisoners in our homes," Kurt Dahlin said. "We can't sell [them]. We can't give them away."CNN MoneyU.S. homes lose $2 trillion in value in '08Home prices are have been hit hard, yet there is still no end in sight to the foreclosure crisis, according to Zillow.com...Les Christiehttp://money.cnn.com/2008/12/15/real_estate/underwater_borrowers_near_12million/index.htm?postversion=2008121511NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- American homeowners will collectively lose more than $2 trillion in home value by the end of 2008, according to a report released Monday.The real estate Web site Zillow.com calculated that home values have dropped 8.4% year-over-year during the first three quarters of 2008, compared with the same period of 2007.Some 11.7 million Americans are now "underwater," owing more on their mortgage balances than their homes are worth.Zillow collects home values and analyzes home price trends in 163 markets; all but 30 registered price drops over the nine months ended Sept. 30, compared with the same nine-month period of 2007."This year marked the acceleration of the market correction, and is likely to end with the eighth consecutive quarter of declines in home values," said Stan Humphries, Zillow's vice president of data and analytics. "Homeowners in most areas we cover are struggling with foreclosures pouring into the market, large amounts of negative equity and dropping home values."No bottom in sightOne piece of good news is that in some, although not all, of the markets hardest hit by the downturn, such as San Francisco, San Diego and Punta Gorda, Fla., home values are not falling as steeply as they were.Offsetting that cause for optimism, however, are growing economic problems, especially increased job losses. "When we look for a turnaround, we look for two or three consecutive quarters [of smaller price declines]," he said."We also want to see sales numbers pick up, inventories go down and improvements in foreclosure figures. Foreclosures really muddy the picture."The foreclosure picture is not likely to clear up in the coming months, according to Humphries. He expects to see more foreclosed, vacant homes added to already bulging inventories, sending prices spiraling down and putting more mortgage borrowers deeper underwater.Most of the subprime loans that will fail have already done so, but there are other toxic mortgage products whose default rates probably have not yet peaked. The number of option ARMs that fail, for instance, will continue to increase over the next few years according to Humphries. These loans allow homeowners to make minimum payments, which cause the loan principle to balloon. There are also lots of "liar loans" loans, which were issued without checking a borrower's assets or income, that are still going bad.Zillow's home value statistics closely track the foreclosure crisis; price declines are steepest in areas that have been hit hardest by foreclosures. The worst performing market in the nation was Stockton, Calif. The average home price there plunged 32.3% year-over-year to $210,179 in the first three quarters of 2008. Almost as bad were nearby Merced, down 31.2% to $167,282, and Modesto, was was off 30.4% to $197,368 in the same time period.Humphries expressed surprise that these areas are still performed so poorly."I would have thought that they would have produced some more positive trends by now," he said, "but we are seeing no slowdown."The best performing metropolitan area was Jacksonville N.C., where home values rose 4.9% year-over-year to $139,261 in the first three quarters of the year. Winston-Salem, N.C., also registered a gain, of 4.1% to $136,854. Anderson, S.C., prices climbed 3.5% to $101,816 and State College, Pa., went up by 3.4% to $206,995Builder confidence holds at historic lowsIndustry group says homebuilders' sentiment remained low in December as economic conditions deteriorate...Ben Rooneyhttp://money.cnn.com/2008/12/15/real_estate/builder_confidence/index.htm?postversion=2008121515NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Homebuilders' confidence remained at an all-time low in December as worsening economic conditions weighed on the housing market, a trade group said Monday.The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo housing market index for December was unchanged from November's seasonally adjusted reading of 9, the lowest recorded level since the index began in 1985. A reading below 50 indicates that builders who think home-sales conditions are poor outnumber those who think the environment is positive for sales. The index has been below 50 since May 2006."We have seen no improvement over the past month in terms of sales conditions for new homes," said NAHB chief economist David Crowe in a statement. "In fact, certain factors have gotten progressively worse, not the least of which is the job market, where massive layoffs are having a devastating effect on consumer confidence."The part of the index that measures current sales conditions fell one point to a reading of 8 in December. A year ago, that same index stood at 18.Looking ahead, the index that measures sales expectations for the next six months fell to 16 from 18 in the previous month. A year ago, it was 26.Traffic by prospective buyers was unchanged in December, with an index reading of 7, marking an all time low for the measure. Homebuilders' assessment of the housing markets in the Midwest and South deteriorated further in December while the index for the Northeast was unchanged. But the index for the West, which had been the weakest of the four regions last month, rebounded slightly in December. "The crisis continues," said Sandy Dunn, NAHB chairman, in a statement. "Buyers are afraid to move forward, and...there is almost no way to compete with the cut-rate product that is continually flooding the market from mounting foreclosures."More than 1 million homes have been lost to foreclosure since the housing crisis hit back in August 2007, according a report last week from RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosure properties. And foreclosures are expected to continue rising as the economy remains mired in recession. Earlier this month analysts at Credit Suisse forecast 8.1 million foreclosures by the end of 2012, accounting for 16% of all U.S. mortgages.In addition to the glut of foreclosed properties, which deters new construction and erodes the value of existing homes, the housing market is being drained of potential buyers by rising unemployment, according to Crowe. So far this year, the economy has lost nearly 2 million jobs, according to the Labor Department. "Builders are detecting the fact that we're in a recession," Crowe said. "Not only has it been bad for a year but it seems to be accelerating toward the negative."Meanwhile, the weak economy and the housing glut have driven home prices sharply lower this year. The real estate Web site Zillow.com said Monday that American homeowners will collectively lose more than $2 trillion in home value by the end of 2008.At the same time, credit conditions remain tight, making it difficult for willing buyers to take advantage of low prices, Crowe said.