12-18-08

 12-18-08Merced Sun-StarRock company shuts down nearly a year after environmental ruling...CORINNE REILLYhttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/599991.htmlA Snelling rock mining company finally has been forced to shut down, nearly a year after a Merced County judge ruled that the company shouldn't be allowed to mine below ground without first thoroughly examining how that would affect the environment. Black Diamond Aggregates Inc., based in Modesto, supplies rock and gravel for use in construction projects. Before last year, the company's Snelling site only collected aggregate above ground. In 2006 it applied to expand its operation to include digging for rocks below grade. The Merced County Board of Supervisors approved Black Diamond's plans late that year, permitting the company to dig 25 feet to collect rocks and gravel. But two environmental groups quickly filed suit against the county over its decision.The groups, the San Joaquin Raptor Rescue Center and Protect Our Water, argued that under state environmental law, the county should have required Black Diamond to complete thorough studies on how its expansion would affect the area's environment. Instead, supervisors approved below-ground mining without detailed studies. Merced County Superior Court Presiding Judge John Kirihara sided with the environmental groups in a February ruling. But for reasons that aren't entirely clear, Kirihara waited until November to sign off on a final judgment barring Black Diamond from digging below ground. On Nov. 26, he formally ordered the company to stop digging until it undertakes environmental studies and wins new approvals from the county.Black Diamond tried to appeal the ban this month, but an appellate court so far has refused to intervene. Besides doing the studies and reapplying to the county -- a process that could take more than a year -- Black Diamond now appears to have few options. An attorney representing the company, Michael Mills, said it has now shut down its Snelling mine.No Black Diamond officials returned phone calls for comment Wednesday, but a county spokeswoman, Katie Albertson, said the company has taken steps to begin new environmental studies. She added that the case won't mean any expense for taxpayers, as Black Diamond agreed in 2006 to pay all legal expenses stemming from the expansion's approval.Marsha Burch, an attorney who represented the environmental groups, said the groups' lawsuit achieved its aim, even if it took far longer than hoped. "The whole point of (the state's environmental laws) is to find out before you start digging in the ground how that's going to affect the local landscape, the wildlife, the ground water," she said. "It looks like that's going to happen now, thanks to the courts."Will Vilsack benefit Valley?Cardoza says Obama also needs Western-agriculture expert...MICHAEL DOYLE, Sun-Star Washington Bureauhttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/599997.htmlWASHINGTON -- Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack will inherit a lumbering bureaucracy and have lots to learn about fruits and vegetables as the nation's next agriculture secretary.A conventional choice who still caught Capitol Hill by surprise, Vilsack is well-rooted in Midwestern commodities but not in the bounty from states such as California and Florida. Specialty crop growers consequently will keep lobbying to buttress the new farm chief with their allies.On Wednesday, President-elect Barack Obama played up Vilsack's agricultural expertise as he announced him as his choice to run the Agriculture Department."Obviously, if you don't know agriculture, you're not going to become governor of Iowa," Obama said at a news conference, adding that Vilsack has "also been forward-looking" in his policies.Because Congress already has set crop subsidies and other agricultural policies for the next five years, with a farm bill enacted in May over President George W. Bush's veto, Vilsack could be a low-visibility Cabinet secretary. Even so, he'll confront a difficult-to-manage agency that spends $89 billion a year.The Agriculture Department's systematic problems, identified by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, include: Subsidy abuse. The Agriculture Department paid crop subsidies totaling $1.1 billion in the names of 172,800 deceased individuals from 1999 to 2005. Critics decry the continuing payment of subsidies to wealthy farmers.Food dangers. Food safety-inspection staffing has declined steadily over the past decade despite budget increases, while the quantity of contaminated meat and poultry recalled by industry has increased sharply.Civil rights woes. Even after paying nearly $1 billion to minority farmers as a result of a class-action lawsuit, the department faces persistent discrimination complaints."I look forward to the challenge," Vilsack said Wednesday, adding that "farmers and ranchers deserve a secretary of agriculture that respects them."Vilsack stressed, in order, the importance of "improving profitability for farmers," the need for "sustainable practices" and fighting "global climate change," and the centrality of good nutrition in feeding programs.With its 17 agencies and 110,000 employees, the Agriculture Department poses administrative challenges. Frequently, deputy agriculture secretaries are selected to handle day-to-day management while the secretaries take on broader tasks. With the secretary's job spoken for, the lobbying for these crucial administrative positions probably will escalate.Karen Ross, the head of the California Association of Winegrape Growers, was in Washington meeting with farm organizations earlier this week, and numerous California farm groups are championing her to be the next deputy. Three of the past five deputy agriculture secretaries have come from California, reflecting the state's relative farm clout."If the Obama administration wants to provide balance, they will also need to have a Westerner who understands California agriculture," said Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced, a member of the House Agriculture Committee.Cardoza praised Vilsack as a moderate and "a fine choice," as did major national farm organizations."Overall, we're pleased, despite his not being from a specialty crop state," said Robert Guenther, the senior vice president of the United Fresh Produce Association. "As governor, he's demonstrated a firm grasp of agricultural issues." Vilsack, who turned 58 last week, served two four-year terms as the governor of Iowa. He made a short-lived run for president starting in November 2006 and later endorsed New York Sen. Hillary Clinton for the job. He went to college and law school in New York state and then moved to Iowa to join a law firm.He's more lawyer and politician than farmer. The law firm of Dorsey & Whitney, where Vilsack is an attorney but not a partner, describes him as having "more than 25 years of trial experience handling complex litigation and class actions with statewide and national implications." Still, his Midwestern background, political strengths and compelling personal history of being adopted at birth made him an early front-runner for the agriculture secretary's job. Seven of the last 10 agriculture secretaries were from the Midwest, one was from the South and two were from California.Vilsack's years in Iowa have made him a big fan of ethanol, the government-subsidized fuel that provides an additional market for corn. His adopted home state leads the nation in producing pork, corn, soybeans and eggs. However, fruit and vegetable production in just one modest-sized county in California's Central Valley -- San Joaquin -- was quadruple that of the entire state of Iowa. Critters abound this yearSome birds, coyotes and beavers are main problems for agriculture...CAROL REITERhttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/599996.htmlThe birds and the bees help out agriculture in Merced County, but they also affect the county's No. 1 industry in a big way. Sometimes in a big bad way.Bird species such as starlings, redwing blackbirds and pigeons, along with coyotes and beavers, are the main problems to agriculture here, and almost all of those species' numbers are on the rise.Wade Carlson, district supervisor for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services, said beavers especially are becoming more visible, especially to folks living in suburban areas around Merced. A big beaver dam can be seen near Olive Avenue and Highway 59, and beavers have been seen swimming across Lake Yosemite.Beavers are destructive to agriculture because they can block irrigation ditches and canals and take down trees in orchards. And they have no natural predators in the area, Carlson said."No one traps beavers in this area, and that was one way that their numbers were kept down in the past," Carlson said. But to trap the fur-bearing mammal, a permit has to be procured, and killing beavers in any way is against the law without that permit.But it's not just beavers that hurt growers and ranchers. Coyotes, long part of the area landscape, have moved to the outskirts of the city, and have gone from munching on lambs to eating pets.Carlson said coyotes are highly adaptable. When they live around people, they lose their natural fear. The dog-like mammals can range from about 40 pounds up to about 70, and often travel in pairs. They learn to eat pet food -- and sometimes pets."We've heard reports of coyotes getting aggressive," Carlson said. Pet owners should keep their pets in especially at nigh and make sure they are not easy prey.Cattlemen and sheep ranchers also can be hit hard by coyotes. Lambs are a favorite meal for the wily animals, and many sheep breeders use livestock protection dogs to keep the sheep safe.But many sheep, and most cattle, roam the range, Carlson said, and can be susceptible to coyote attacks."Cows giving birth are easy targets," Carlson said. Some coyotes will eat the newborn calf as it comes out of its mother, and because the mother cow can't get up, she's also sometimes attacked.The best defense against coyotes is a good offense, according to experts. Strong, tight fencing that keeps the animals out is a must, and if animals can be penned up at night, Carlson said, that's even better.It's not just mammals that are hard on ag folks. Birds are a particular problem for dairies. Starlings and pigeons not only eat the dairy cattle's feed, they also foul that same feed with their droppings. Those droppings can cause diseases in cattle, and dairy farmers work hard to keep their feed safe from the birds.Propane cannons are one way that dairies try to keep the birds on the move. The cannons go off at sporadic times, making a booming sound, and scare the birds away. Moving the cannons around the dairy also drives the birds away, Carlson said.Starlings and blackbirds, including redwing and tri-color blackbirds, also pose a problem for dairies. But because tri-colored blackbirds are considered a species of concern by the California Fish and Wildlife Service, Carlson said the birds can only be deterred, not killed.And it's not just destructive wildlife that are seeing their numbers spike. Bobcats, commonly found in the foothills, are being seen more and more in urban areas around Merced. They, too, are adaptable, and are fierce hunters of small rodents. They can also take down deer in the winter when food is scarce, but are more likely to dine on rabbits and squirrels.UC Merced's mascot is the bobcat, and the 30-pound bob-tailed animal is being seen more and more in the urban areas of Merced. The cats go where food is, as do coyotes, but tend to leave livestock alone.Carlson said bobcats occasionally will kill chickens or other poultry, but he hasn't heard too many complaints about that around Merced.Living with wildlife is going to continue to be the norm in the suburban areas around Merced, but most people won't be affected by the increasing numbers."These guys are here to stay," Carlson said. "These animals are very adaptable, and we need to learn to live with them, and not try to exterminate them."Modesto BeeJudge leans in favor of county in West Park suit...Tim Moranhttp://www.modbee.com/local/v-print/story/537198.htmlA Fresno County Superior Court judge signaled Tuesday he's inclined to agree with Stanislaus County that the massive West Park business park doesn't need an environmental impact report -- for now.West Park developers are proposing a 4,800-acre business and industrial park southeast of Patterson, which would include an inland port and a short-haul railroad linking the development to the Port of Oakland.Patterson sued the county in May, contending that the county Board of Supervisors' approval of a memorandum of understanding amounted to an approval of the project and required the environmental report before the vote.Patterson officials say the additional trains through the city would cause public safety problems by delaying emergency vehicles. It would also cause additional air pollution and traffic problems, they say.The lawsuit was moved to Fresno to avoid conflicts of interest with local judges.In a tentative ruling Tuesday, Judge Tyler D. Tharpe said the county memorandum did not constitute a project under the California Environmental Quality Act. A final ruling is expected by the middle of next week and the judge could reverse the tentative ruling. He heard arguments from both sides after issuing the tentative decision.The county argued that the memorandum was not a commitment to the West Park project. County staff as well as the five-member Board of Supervisors said at the time that the agreement was nonbinding, according to County Counsel John Doering.City: Circumstances make the caseThe purpose of preparing the memorandum, Doering said, was to determine if the project was feasible and to describe the project in enough detail to proceed with the environmental review.Patterson argued that events before and after the memorandum was approved show that the agreement was a binding commitment. City attorney George Logan pointed Wednesday to the county's application for state funding for the short-haul rail system as proof of a commitment to the project.In the meantime, the county has started the environmental review process for West Park. A preliminary report could be published by next summer.What the judge's final ruling will mean is unclear.Attorneys for the county and West Park feel that if the judge rules that the memorandum is not a project subject to the environmental review, that ends Patterson's lawsuit.Logan, however, contends that the circumstances around the memorandum also constitute a commitment to the project that would require the review. The city could pursue the lawsuit on that basis, he said.If the judge rules for Patterson, the memorandum would be thrown out, but the environmental review would continue, according to Doering, and would have little effect on the process.Logan contends that such a ruling would mean that the county would have to re-do everything it's done since West Park was chosen as the developer.If the lawsuit continues beyond next week, a hearing on the merits of the case is scheduled for the end of January.Fresno BeeValley pesticide use has plummetedLess acreage, high cost of production and fewer pests have led to fewer chemicals, state report says...Robert Rodriguezhttp://www.fresnobee.com/business/story/1083335.htmlDeclining acreage, high production costs and fewer bugs helped reduce pesticide use throughout the central San Joaquin Valley for the second straight year.Fresno County, the state's top agricultural producer and largest user of pesticides, recorded an 18% drop in 2007, according to the California Department of Pesticide Regulation's annual pesticide-use report released Wednesday. Other Valley counties also saw drops in pesticide use, including Tulare County, down 9.85%; Madera County, down 7.9%; and Kings County, down 10.6%. Pesticide use varies from year to year and the amount often depends on the types of crops being farmed, weather conditions and prevalence of pests or disease.Another factor in Fresno County's pesticide-use reduction is declining acreage and the high cost of fuel."The cost of transportation has made growers more conservative over what they are doing and how they are spending their money," said Carol Hafner, interim Fresno County agricultural commissioner. Two of the largest users of farm chemicals -- grapes and cotton -- were farmed on fewer acres last year. Cotton acreage shrunk by more than 35,000 acres and grapes reduced production by nearly 3,000 acres.Statewide, pesticide use also dropped for the second consecutive year. About 172 million pounds of pesticides were applied in 2007, a drop of 8.4%. Department of Pesticide Regulation director Mary-Ann Warmerdam said she was pleased with the overall drop and the state's efforts to promote pest control with methods of lower risk to the public health and environment.The department annually recognizes groups, government agencies and schools for using less-hazardous pest-management techniques and last year awarded $585,000 in grants to groups using such practices."I am especially encouraged to see an across-the-board drop in categories of pesticides with the greatest regulatory concern," Warmerdam said.Pesticides that are among the most toxic, including those identified as potential or known carcinogens, reproductive toxins and ground-water contaminants, all dropped in use.Among those chemicals are organophosphates and carbamate pesticides that declined 16%. Chemicals classified as reproductive toxins and probable or known carcinogens both declined by 10%. And use of chemicals classified as ground-water contaminants dropped 16%. Tulare VoiceBig Question: What If Racetrack Fails?http://www.valleyvoicenewspaper.com/tv/stories/2008/bigquestion.htmTulare - What if the Tulare Motor Sports Complex project is approved and then fails. Will the city be stuck with unexpected costs?Tulare residents repeatedly have asked this question as the 711-acre project has made its way through the approval process and it was raised again during the Planning Commission's public hearing last week. “I don't want to have Tulare saddled with any expenses from a failed project,” Tom Drilling, retired dentist and former Tulare mayor, told the commission.Lance Mouw, another Tulare resident, put it more bluntly: “The city has to cover its butt on this thing.”City Manager Darrel Pyle said the proposed 20-year development agreement, which the Planning Commission saw before its 5-2 vote of support, as well as other agreements still in the works are designed to protect the city from financial loss.While the city is not a financial partner in the project, under the development agreement the developer would not pay the city the estimated $26.6 million in development impact fees (DIFs) directly. Instead, the city would use portions of the annual transient occupancy tax and sales tax generated by the project to off-set the DIFS.'Unique' AgreementThe arrangement is “unique,” but not untried in Tulare, City Attorney Steve Kabot said. He explained the city had a similar, “highly successful” agreement with the outlet center when it was built in the mid-1990s.The agreement with the motor sports park developers addresses several “what ifs” regarding the DIFS:• If the sales and occupancy taxes are insufficient to cover the DIFS, then the city and developer will discuss the possibility of applying net property tax revenues and other revenues generated from the project to the amount owed.• If those additional revenues don't cover the costs, the developer must pay the remaining DIFs to the city within six months of the expiration or termination of the agreement.Another section of the agreement speaks to off-site public improvements required and states that since the city has no immediate plans or funds to build and pay for its share of the improvements, the developers will front all the costs and the city will “use its best efforts” to find the money to reimburse them, “but makes no guarantee of such reimbursement.'A list of possible funding sources for reimbursement is included, but specifically excludes the city's general fund, which pays for essential city services such as police, fire, streets and other services.The agreement also requires the developers to build a new city fire station on the motor sports complex property with the understanding the cost will become the responsibility of a community facilities district that will be created.Other portions of the development agreement state:• The parties do not intend to create a partnership, joint venture or any other joint business relationship by this agreement.• The obligations of the agreement are not dischargeable in bankruptcy.• If the developers transfer their right, title or interest in all or a portion of the property, the new owners assume responsibility for meeting the terms of the agreement.• In the event of a foreclosure, the foreclosing mortgagee is not obligated to construct or complete improvements required by the agreement, but must honor any defaults in payments by the developers to the city.One in Three“What if it [the motor sports complex] is built and fails? That's a risk we face in every community development we approve,” Pyle said.He and others said it is not part of the city's approval process to determine how likely it is a project will succeed.“One of three restaurants doesn't make it,” planning Commissioner Chuck Miguel said at the public hearing. “Do we stop approving restaurants…?”The chance of failure is possible at many stages of a project, many of which do not involve the city, Pyle said. Escrow could fail to close or a developer could fail to obtain real estate or construction financing and the project never gets off the ground, he said for example.Pyle and others note the Tulare Motor Sports Complex Limited Partnership has invested significant amounts of money in developing plans and on an environmental impact report that alone costs about $1 million.As with any other project, the developers will have to convince lenders and third party developers the project is feasible before they can proceed and “in every one of those instances, it's not the city that's at risk,” Pyle said. “I hear a lot of fear of risk. Is there risk? Yes, but it's others who are taking it.”The City Council was expected to take a closer look at all the agreements in connection with the project at a study session this week and is scheduled to make a final decision on the project after a public hearing scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 29, at the Tulare Senior Center, 201 North F St.Sacramento BeeState officials halt funds for public works projects...Tony Bizjakhttp://www.sacbee.com/capitolandcalifornia/v-print/story/1482339.htmlDeep in debt, state officials took the extraordinary step Wednesday of halting funds for thousands of public work projects statewide, including roads, levees, schools and prisons.State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, who voted his approval, called the action regrettable but necessary to preserve cash as the state general fund tumbles toward insolvency."You can't spend money that you don't have," Lockyer said. He and other members of the Pooled Money Investment Board lamented that until the state finds a long-term solution to its financial crisis, it will not be able to go to the bond markets to raise money to fix roads, bolster levees and rehab schools."I don't see anything to suggest we have an alternative, really," Mike Genest, the governor's finance director, said before voting with Lockyer and state Controller John Chiang to shut down funding.The investment board decision is a dramatic reversal from the heady days two years ago when California voters approved tens of billions of dollars in infrastructure bonds, and state officials were predicting a renaissance in public works projects.Now, amid a drastic economic downturn, lawmakers are struggling to close a ballooning $40 billion budget deficit projected between now and June 30, 2010.Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger blamed the Legislature."It's very sad that they have to pull the plug on the infrastructure bonds because I think that the whole idea of campaigning for two years to make the people vote for $42 billion in infrastructure bonds and all of a sudden we cannot sell the bonds," Schwarzenegger said."So now, we're going to lose probably 200-some thousand jobs and a lot of money, and those jobs will come to a grinding halt now. So it's terrible the kind of pain the Legislature's causing to the people of California."Without action that cuts expenses or raises revenue, the state could run out of cash as early as February, finance officials said.That cash flow predicament has left the state unable to sell bonds to finance projects since June.A Democratic $18 billion budget proposal Wednesday "begins to take the steps to address the shortfall," administration finance official H.D. Palmer said, but it falls short of resolving systemic budget problems.The state investment board will meet again in January, Lockyer said, to assess "the damage" from Wednesday's funding cut decision.State finance officials admitted they are still trying to put together a full accounting of projects that may be affected by the funding shutdown.Reports from around the state indicate 2,000 projects may be slowed or stalled, amounting to $16 billion in infrastructure improvements.Some are in the planning stages, but others, such as the Highway 65 bypass route skirting the city of Lincoln in Placer County, already are under construction and could face stoppage.Celia McAdam, head of the Placer County Transportation Planning Agency, said she is scrambling to find other funds, including expected federal economic stimulus money, and has her fingers crossed the state will help keep her project on track."We are committed to keep the project moving," McAdam said. "Caltrans does not want to see projects stopped, either. If I can come up with a strategy, I have confidence they will help take us through to the finish line."Lockyer and other members of the Pooled Money Investment Board predicted that unless the state balances its budget, the funding shut-off will further harm the economy and expose the state to lawsuits."The likelihood of contract breaches is probably 98 percent," Lockyer said.Potentially affected projects around Sacramento include rehabilitation work on Sacramento High School, emergency repairs at Walnut Grove Elementary School, emergency center improvements at the UC Davis Medical Center, and carpool lanes on Interstate 80 and Highway 50.Also at financial risk is a new levee on the lower Feather River in Yuba County and a planned bolstering of Folsom Dam for flood protection.Assemblyman Dan Logue, R-Linda, said the suspension of state funding for the Feather River levee project, already under construction, would put 40,000 people at risk in an area that has flooded twice in the past 25 years.In recent years, the county has permitted about 6,000 homes to be built alongside the levee in the Plumas Lake development. Logue said the county has sold $45 million in bonds to meet its matching requirement for the levee project and is depending on the state to fulfill its end of the bargain."This (could) put tens of thousands of people's lives at risk, and I believe the state will be liable if there is any damage," Logue said. "The state is responsible for those levees in the first place."Despite the potential impact on his county, Logue said he is not prepared to vote for a state budget that raises taxes."Businesses are leaving the state," he said. "There's going to be nobody left behind to create wealth, to pay for services."The funding shutdown also drew dire warnings from construction industry leaders."We are headed down a precipice now that in my mind makes the auto industry problem look pretty small," warned Jim Earp of the California Alliance for Jobs. State Treasurer Bill Lockyer's list of infrastructure projects in jeopardy due to the state budget crisishttp://media.sacbee.com/smedia/2008/12/16/16/12-16-08_PMIB_Master_List2.source.prod_affiliate.4.pdfMy View: UC admissions idea both wrong and costly...Doug Osehttp://www.sacbee.com/opinion/v-print/story/1481958.htmlHere we go again. Recently the UC Board of Regents considered a proposal to lower admission standards for incoming freshman. At the heart of the proposal is the elimination of the SAT Subject Tests and the establishment of a "holistic" admissions process called Entitled to Review.The concern is that eliminating subject tests removes a long-established path to admissions that has a proven record in predicting a student's readiness for success in college. Changing the current admissions policy to this new policy invites legal mischief. UCLA has been using "holistic" admissions practices of late and is now facing scrutiny for potential violations of Proposition 209, which outlawed college admissions based on race or ethnicity. Fortunately, a significant public outcry from students and others forced the regents to postpone making any decision until early 2009. Concerns about lower standards have fueled much of the admissions policy debate, but the costs associated with these changes have received considerably less attention. UC officials statewide reviewed the proposal last year and a December 2007 report showed that "divisions and committees listed a number of concerns, which included costs/resources" connected to the proposal. These higher costs were explicitly laid out during the September 2008 regents meeting when the board was informed that "UCOP (University of California Office of the President) costs … are anticipated to increase by at least $1 million annually."The regents were also informed that if the new admissions policy "achieves its goal of substantially increasing the number of students who apply to UC, both UCOP and campuses will see increased costs." The proposal for changing the admission policy must take account of the changing fiscal situation confronting UC. The global financial crisis has sent shock waves through the state budget and nothing is immune to spending cuts, including the state's higher education system. Gov. Schwarzenegger has proposed more than $65 million in additional cuts from the UC budget after previously slashing spending by $48 million.Making things worse, the UC endowment has lost $1 billion over the first nine months of 2008, and UC Treasurer Marie Berggren bluntly informed the regents during their November meeting, "It's going to get worse." The financial problems at UC are so severe that the regents warned in November that the university may have to cut freshman enrollment. There's also talk of a possible $215 million hike in student fees. The regents voted against the hike at their most recent meeting, but lawmakers in Sacramento may be forced to revisit the issue.It appears that one hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing.Prudent fiscal management would have UC on a cautious approach during these economic times, with a focus on core missions and competencies. Yet UC President Mark Yudof is recommending that the Board of Regents approve a new admissions policy that increases costs while lowering academic standards. This is a lose-lose situation: an admissions policy that dumbs-down academic standards in a costly exercise in social engineering while siphoning scarce resources from a cash-strapped system.Where will the money come from to pay for these new initiatives? The more closely one examines these proposed changes to the UC admissions policy, the worse it looks. Lower standards risk the university's legacy of academic excellence. Higher costs threaten the resources available for scholarly pursuit. The process dashes the hopes of applicants seeking admission to an institution that cannot afford to accept them. It is a trifecta of folly that must be rejected. Stockton RecordLode officials say septic rules tough for poor...Dana M. Nicholshttp://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081218/A_NEWS/812180310SAN ANDREAS - Rural Californians are balking at the cost of proposed state rules intended to force them to keep their septic tank discharges out of the water the rest of the state drinks.At the second in a series of 11 public workshops, officials and residents from the Mother Lode last week told state water pollution officials the proposed rules may actually make the problem worse, because low-income mountain residents afraid of big repair bills will simply ignore the rules and avoid contact with government agencies."In the neighborhoods I'm mentioning, there's not the economic wherewithal to fix them," Calaveras County Supervisor Steve Wilensky said of an area along a fork of the Mokelumne River where leaking septic systems are suspected of causing high E. coli concentrations in it.Wilensky said the average family income in the area is $26,000 a year. State regulators estimate it could cost $45,000 or more, depending on conditions, to replace a failing septic system.Arthur Baggett was the member of the State Water Resources Control Board who attended Tuesday's public workshop in San Andreas. Baggett said that AB885, the original bill adopted in 2000 to require statewide rules for septic systems, had language stating the Legislature's intent to financially help private property owners modernize their septic systems.But the Legislature never allocated any money for that, Baggett said.So now, the State Water Resources Control Board is following the requirement to put in place new rules that by 2010 will regulate discharges from home septic systems. The rule will hit virtually all rural residents by requiring at a minimum that the septics be inspected every five years at an estimated cost of $325 per inspection. Residents that have both a well and a septic will also have to check the well for contamination every five years, for another $325 or so.That's not the end of it. Tighter rules for new septic systems would also dramatically push up costs there, and possibly make many mountain lots that lack the required 2- or 3-feet soil depth unbuildable."This is going to be a really tough problem in Calaveras County," Supervisor Russ Thomas said. Thomas said in the Copperopolis area where he lives, there are thousands of lots with shallow soils that might not be able to install septic systems under the new rules. "If we don't get some relief from that particular requirement, it is going to be catastrophic," Thomas said.James Giannopoulos, assistant division chief for water quality at the State Water Resources Control Board, said the soil depth requirements are there because it is only after septic effluent slowly percolates through several feet of soil over a period of time that bacteria and viruses in the liquid are eliminated.Septic rulesA series of 11 public workshops on proposed pollution rules for home septic systems will be held at locations throughout California this month and in January. The State Water Resources Control Board is accepting written comments on the proposed rules until Feb. 9. The State Water Resources Control Board will hold a public hearing on proposed rules regulating septic systems at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 9 in the Byron Sher Auditorium, Cal EPA Building, 1001 I St., Sacramento.S.J. County, state see booming populations...Staff and wire reportshttp://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081218/A_NEWS/812180321/-1/A_NEWS06SACRAMENTO - California's population has topped 38 million, according to a new report from the state Department of Finance. And San Joaquin County continues to grow faster than the state average.The agency's demographics unit estimates that California's population grew by nearly 436,000, or 1.16 percent, in the 12 months between July 1, 2007, and July 1, 2008, reaching 38.1 million.San Joaquin County grew even faster during the past year, adding 10,197 new residents. The county's population a year ago was 675,463; it now stands at 685,660. That's a 1.5 percent growth rate.During the 2000 census, the county's population was listed at 563,598.Stockton, the county's largest city, has a population of 289,927, according to the state finance department's latest figures. It grew by 0.8 percent during the 12-month period.Los Angeles remains the state's most populous county with more than 10 million residents, but Placer County had the biggest percentage increase in population in the 12-month period. It grew by 2.6 percent.In addition to San Joaquin County, 18 other counties also had higher growth rates than the state as a whole: Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, Napa, Riverside, San Francisco, San Diego, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Sutter, Tulare, Yolo and Yuba all grew by more than 1.16 percent.Twenty-seven counties had lower rates of growth and 11 of them - Alpine, Amador, Inyo, Lassen, Mariposa, Mono, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Trinity and Tuolumne - actually lost population during the 12-month period, the report said.Amador fell by 0.2 percent, its population dropping from 38,002 to 37,943.Calaveras County grew by 0.6 percent, adding 277 new residents. Calaveras' population stands at 46,126.California has grown by nearly 4.3 million residents since the last national census in 2000.Track populationg rowth trends in California...Interactive Map...Sacramento Beehttp://www.sacbee.com/1098/v-print/story/1481982.htmlMerced CountyLast Updated by Phillip 17 hours agoJuly 1, 2008 Population: 256,114...Percent Growth from '07: 1.53%San Joaquin CountyLast Updated by Phillip 17 hours agoJuly 1, 2008 Population: 687,044...Percent Growth from '07: 1.17%Sacramento CountyLast Updated by Phillip 17 hours agoJuly 1, 2008 Population: 1,427,885Percent Growth from '07: 1.11%Fresno CountyLast Updated by Phillip 17 hours agoJuly 1, 2008 Population: 936,828...Percent Growth from '07: 1.68%San Francisco ChronicleAgriculture nominee draws praise...Kelly Zitohttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/18/MNDB14Q1NS.DTL&type=printablePresident-elect Barack Obama's selection of Tom Vilsack, a former governor of a heartland state and a strong supporter of alternative energy sources, as agriculture secretary drew praise Wednesday from both environmentalists and farmers - groups that don't often see eye to eye."Gov. Vilsack recognizes that farmers, ranchers and forest landowners have an important role to play in combatting climate change," Robert Bonnie, vice president of land, water and wildlife for the Environmental Defense Fund, said in a statement. "He is a strong supporter of a cap and trade program for greenhouse gases, carbon offsets and other measures to help stop global warming."If confirmed, Vilsack, 58, would oversee a federal agency with jurisdiction over school lunch programs, food safety regulations, trade negotiations, department-owned forestlands and crop subsidies, among other things.Historically, the agriculture industry - with its heavy uses of land, water, genetically modified crops and pesticides - has been seen as being at cross-purposes with environmentalists, who characterize those farming practices as harmful to fragile ecosystems and species.With his push in Iowa for more research into biofuels and wind energy as well as economic development of far-flung communities, Vilsack is something of a centrist - seemingly a prerequisite in an administration that puts a high value on building broad coalitions."The next secretary of agriculture is going to have to focus on environmental issues - what are the impacts of agriculture on global warming, particularly on the part of large animal operations, but also what are the solutions," said Ann Veneman, executive director of UNICEF and former agriculture secretary under President Bush. As the largest agricultural producer in the nation - $37 billion annually - and home to some of the trickiest environment-farming debates, California will loom large in any agricultural policy decisions.Over the past several years, no issue has taken on more prominence for farmers than water. California's Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta has become ground zero for a battle between environmentalists hoping to save a tiny species of fish from extinction and for the farmers who supply much of the country's fresh fruits and vegetables. Environmentalists want water pumping through the delta to cease or drop substantially; farmers say their industry will fail without an adequate water supply."There has to be a balance between what is done environmentally and what is done economically," said Tom Nassif, president of Western Growers, a trade group of 3,000 farmers in California and Arizona. "It's only when we don't take into account the economic impact of an environmental provision that we run into trouble - as we have in California with the delta smelt."Jack King, spokesman for another trade association, the California Farm Bureau Federation, hopes the incoming agriculture secretary can bring the two sides together."Yes, (Vilsack) is conservation-minded," King said, "But with the right touch, that can be helpful. If you give farmers incentives for green initiatives, for habitat preservation, for protecting land from development, it all fits together. We won't always agree with all sides, but if we can agree we have common interests, that will help."Vilsack is the latest former Democratic rival Obama has asked to join his administration. In 2006, Vilsack announced his bid for the presidency, but he dropped out in early 2007 before the primaries due to problems raising funds. He threw his support behind New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton but endorsed Obama after Clinton lost the long, bruising campaign for the Democratic nomination.Suit seeks to block Bush rules affecting wildlife...Thursday, December 18, 2008http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/12/18/state/n111813S17.DTL&type=printableConservation groups are suing the Bush administration to block last-minute rule changes they say would weaken protections for endangered species.Last week, the U.S. Interior Department issued revised regulations to eliminate some government reviews required to assess the environmental impacts of proposed dams, power plants and other projects.The rules, which go into effect next month, would also limit the use of the federal Endangered Species Act to combat global warming.The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in San Francisco federal court by groups including the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club.Interior Department officials would not comment on the lawsuit Thursday, but previously described the changes as "narrow."Ninth Circuit sides with science - and the law...Cindy Shogan, executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League in Washington, D.C.http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/18/EDC814PD8F.DTL&type=printableThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, based in San Francisco, recently ruled that that the federal government's Minerals Management Service illegally gave Shell Oil Co. the green light to drill for oil in the Beaufort Sea, off the north coast of Alaska. But the Institute for Energy Research, which wants the oil industry to face nothing but green lights on its way to generating new wealth, has said that the decision is an unwieldy impediment that "denies energy access to the people who rightfully own it." In the past eight years, the oil and gas industry has leased a staggering 4,338,172 acres in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas - an 848 percent increase over the eight years preceding the Bush administration. Just this week, the Bush administration moved forward on plans to offer the largest acreage yet proposed for drilling in the Arctic Ocean, a total of 73.4 million acres. These Arctic waters are being handed over with complete disregard to the impacts on threatened and endangered species - such as bowhead whales and polar bears - and the Inupiat people of Alaska's North Slope, who have lived for thousands of years off the bounty of the Arctic Ocean.In the Beaufort Sea, Shell planned to drill in the area where bowhead whales migrate and feed. Shell's own data from September 2007 reported thousands of whales in the leased area; on one day in particular, Shell estimated that 40 percent of the entire bowhead population was swimming in those waters. Without the endangered bowhead whale, the traditional Inupiat way of life would be extinct.As a result of the court's decision, the Minerals Management Service must now go back to study the impacts of drilling on the bowhead whale, other Arctic species and the Inupiat people. This mandate is no different from what is outlined in the federal Environmental Protection Act, which was signed into law nearly 40 years ago by President Richard Nixon. In the past eight years, the service has disregarded the law's directives, taking instead a no-holds-barred approach to oil and gas development in the Arctic Ocean. The Arctic region is a place defined by extremes. In the winter, the average temperature is minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit; in the summer, winter's blanket of snow and ice is replaced by a lush wonderland of renewal. These extremes come together to create one of the world's most dynamic, intact ecosystems.America's portion of the Arctic is unique in its ability to support life. In recent years, America's Arctic has shown alarming impacts from climate change. As sea ice melts at an accelerating pace, the wildlife of the region are showing increasing signs of suffering. Perhaps the most alarming part of these drastic changes is the fact that we don't really know how bad it could get if we continue business as usual - especially with additional impacts from oil and gas development. The Minerals Management Service has already estimated some of these impacts. The agency has said there is a 40 percent chance of a major oil spill in the Chukchi Sea alone, yet there are no oil recovery technologies that work in the Arctic Ocean's icy conditions. What is the oil industry's answer to this threat? "As a company, we could never afford an oil spill in the Arctic," Marvin Odum, president of Shell Oil Co. recently told Petroleum News. Not much comfort from an industry that averages one spill a day on the North Slope.The Arctic Ocean is so much more than the world's gas tank. After eight years of an administration that has seen little more than dollar signs in the Arctic's teaming waters, the court's decision is a hopeful sign that the oil industry will be held to a precautionary approach to development in the Arctic, one that prioritizes protection of the region's fragile ecosystem.Another view To read the opposing view, written by Thomas Pyle of the Institute for Energy Research, which appeared in Open Forum on Dec. 12, go to www.sfgate.com/ZFSHExxon Mobil slapped with $6.1M pollution fine...H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writerhttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/12/17/national/w121456S76.DTL&type=printableThe Exxon Mobil Corp. has agreed to pay an additional $6.1 million penalty after it reneged on a promise to cut air pollution from four refineries in California, Louisiana and Texas, the Justice Department said Wednesday.The payment stems from an agreement between the government and Exxon Mobil in 2005 — part of a broader push by Environmental Protection Agency to reduce air pollution from refineries — in which the company agreed to pay $14.4 million in civil penalties and community-related environmental projects, while also installing new air pollution controls at the refineries.But Justice and EPA officials said Wednesday that Exxon Mobil violated the agreement by not adequately reducing smokestack sulfur pollution at the refineries as it had promised to do.Exxon Mobil said in a statement that the company itself identified the ongoing sulfur emission problem and brought the matter to the EPA's attention."Environmental impacts associated with this item were very minor," Prem Nair, a spokeswoman for Exxon Mobil's offices in Fairfax, Va., wrote in an e-mail. She said the emission problems have been corrected and the company now meets the required EPA standard at the refineries in Beaumont and Baytown, Texas; Torrance, Calif., and Baton Rouge, La.But the Justice Department saw the matter as a bit more serious."The Department of Justice will not tolerate violation of our consent decrees," Assistant Attorney General Ronald Tenpas said in a statement. "The significant penalty in this case shows that noncompliance with settlement requirements will have serious consequences."Granta Y. Nakayama, assistant EPA administrator for enforcement and compliance, said the 2005 settlement "has resulted in major reductions in air emissions" from Exxon Mobil refineries "but we need full compliance to realize all the benefits of the settlement."The 2005 agreement was one of a number of settlements that covered companies and refineries nationwide. To date, the EPA said, 95 refineries in 28 states, accounting for 86 percent of the country's refining capacity have installed additional emission controls as part of the 2005 settlement or agreements patterned on it.At the time, Exxon Mobil denied it had violated any laws or clean air regulations but said the settlement was "in the best interest of the company and supports the continued trend of emission reductions" at its refineries.As part of the settlement, Exxon Mobil originally paid a civil fine of $7.7 million, promised to spend another $6.7 million on community environmental improvements, and said it was installing additional pollution controls at six refineries. Its two refineries at Joliet, Ill., and Billings, Mont., while part of the original settlement, were not involved in the latest penalty.In October, Exxon Mobil broke its own record for biggest U.S. quarterly profit, reporting earnings of $14.83 billion for the July-September period. The previous mark was Exxon Mobil's $11.68 billion profit in the second quarter of this year.Inside Bay AreaTracy approves deals for construction of more than 2,200 homes and swim center...Mike Martinez, San Joaquin Heraldhttp://www.insidebayarea.com/trivalleyherald/localnews/ci_11257321TRACY — After hours of testimony, the Tracy City Council on Tuesday night approved a housing project — one that still might never be built — and a developer agreement with more strings than a musical harp.In a series of unanimous votes, the council granted Surland Homes the right to build more than 2,250 homes as part of its Ellis Project in the southwest corner of the city, and it also approved a developer agreement that would include $10 million in cash and 16 acres of land which would be used to build a swim center.Tracy Mayor Brent Ives told those in attendance that he applauded them for their persistence and for helping to get the project "to this point.""Please understand that this may not be the end of it," he said. "There may be another shoe to fall on this one. ... We're taking every action we know to make this happen.''As part of the nearly 60-page agreement, local developer Les Serpa agrees to give the city $10 million within 30 days of the housing project site being annexed into the city limits by the San Joaquin Local Agency Formation Commission, which is charged with "orderly development ... to preserve agricultural land and to discourage urban sprawl."The city would also have two years to "accept" the property with the water park built on it or else the 16 acres would revert back to Serpa, who has already unveiled plans to build homes on the land.Serpa can start collecting home building permits in 2009, according to the agreement. The deal still has a few chances to go sideways. It's off entirely if the property for the proposed homes — between Corral Hollow and Lammers roads south of Valpico and north of the railroad tracks — isn't annexed into the city.Tracy attorney Mark Connolly, who has spoken out against the project several times in the past and successfully sued the city in 2006, when it violated a slow-growth measure he authored, said he hasn't decided if his group, Tracy Region Alliance for a Quality Community, is going to take legal action."That's our dilemma," Connolly said. "We can't decide whether we're going sue and block the project or let them fail on their own. We'll look back in two years, and we're not going to have an aquatics center or a pool and everyone is going to wonder what happened. If we challenge the EIR, everyone is going to point at us and say those evil TRAQC people shot it down."The deal was originally proposed in 2005, when Serpa offered to build the swimming center plus a $20 million payment to the city and 20 acres of land, in exchange for the rights to be first in line when home building permits become available again in 2011. It was scaled back when the city balked at giving Serpa more than 2,000 additional home building permits than he needed to complete the project.Santa Cruz SentinelVandals strike UC Santa Cruz in overnight rampage...J.M. BROWN - SENTINEL STAFF WRITERhttp://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_11260806SANTA CRUZ -- Vandals struck UC Santa Cruz overnight, damaging up to 20 university vehicles, breaking windows, spraying graffiti in residence halls, and laying down road spike strips.UCSC police believe the string of incidents occurred Wednesday shortly after midnight. No injuries were reported. Few students are present because the campus began its winter break Saturday. Some faculty and most staff are still working on campus in advance of the holiday closure. UCSC spokesman Jim Burns said there were no immediate suspects. However, he said graffiti messages expressed opposition to the prison system, law enforcement and campus growth.There was no immediate estimate on the financial toll of the damage."We issued this alert in order to heighten campus and public awareness about this destructive and dangerous vandalism and to ask for assistance in identifying the responsible individuals," Burns said of an afternoon announcement issued by campus officials Wednesday.The vandalism includes:• Broken windows at Kresge College's Owl's Nest Cafe and at University House.• Tires slashed and windows damaged on up to 20 vehicles, including Physical Plant trucks and an electric car at Kresge.• Damage to construction equipment at Porter College.• Graffiti in Porter College residence halls and the Core West Parking Structure.Road spikes designed to puncture tires were found on Meyer Drive, a road that leads to the chancellor's on-campus home and office. Police have inspected campus roads and believe they have recovered all of the spikes, but are urging drivers and bicyclists to use caution while traveling through campus. During the weekend, leaders of a former tree-sit demonstration opposed to UCSC's Long-Range Development Plan said they would continue their "resistance" but did not say what they intended to do. Two people closely associated with the 13-month protest -- which ended Saturday when the university felled nearly 60 trees to make way for a biomedical research center -- did not immediately return calls seeking comment about the vandalism.In August, animal-rights activists firebombed the off-campus home of a UCSC biomedical researcher and the vehicle of a colleague who lived on campus. Press officers for animal-rights activists who have claimed responsibility for recent vandalism against UCLA scientists also could not immediately be reached. Police asked for the public's help in identifying possible suspects. Anyone with information was asked to call detective Steve Garcia at 459-2231. Reports also may be made anonymously by calling 459-3847 or submitted online at http://www2.ucsc.edu/police/crime.html.Los Angeles TimesEnvironmentalists file 11th-hour lawsuit to block proposed lease sales in UtahThey contend that the Bush administration, in its haste, failed to comply with regulations requiring it to consider the sales' effect on air quality and other environmental factors...Nicholas Riccardihttp://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-na-drilling-utah18-2008dec18,0,5353384,print.storyReporting from Denver — Environmental groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday as a last-ditch effort to block the sale of leases for 110,000 acres of federal land in Utah that the Bush administration plans to auction off on Friday.Critics say the proposed lease sales are an 11th-hour attempt by the administration to leave its mark on the striking, energy-rich red-rock landscape of southern and eastern Utah.The auction was announced late on election day. The National Park Service, which is routinely consulted before such announcements, was taken by surprise. The park service later objected to dozens of the sales, but the Bureau of Land Management moved ahead to sell the majority of them.The lawsuit, filed by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, the Natural Resources Defense Council and five other environmental groups, contends that the Bush administration failed to comply with regulations requiring it to consider the sales' effect on air quality and other environmental factors."The Bush administration has rushed to get these leases out the door," said Sharon Buccino, an attorney for NRDC, at a Washington news conference. "In their midnight madness, BLM has failed to complete the analysis required by federal law to protect America's natural and historic treasures."BLM officials said they would not comment on the litigation. They have previously defended the sales as part of their obligation to open federal lands to energy development.The BLM has withdrawn some proposed leases that were next to Arches National Park, on a golf course in the town of Moab and beneath the rim of Nine-Mile Canyon, which is lined with ancient Native American rock art. But environmentalists argue that the remaining leases are adjacent to these sensitive areas, other national parks or in other regions that the federal government has declared "wilderness quality."Actor Robert Redford, speaking by video link at the news conference, called the sales a "moral crime."Rep. Brian Baird (D-Wash.), who grew up in red-rock country, called the auction "a final insult from an administration that has done so much to destroy our country."Buccino said that even if the sale goes forward Friday, companies should be on notice that the auctions may not be legally valid. There has been discussion that the Obama administration, which objects to the sale, could buy back the leases. But Buccino said taxpayer dollars should not have to be spent to undo the deals.More are moving out of California than inFor a fourth year in a row, residents moving to other states outnumber arrivals from other states, a trend that underscores the sour economy...David Piersonhttp://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-fi-leaving-california18-2008dec18,0,6914855,print.storyThey said, "Go west," but many Californians are going north and east.For the fourth year in a row, more residents left the Golden State than moved here from other states, according to a report released Wednesday by the California Department of Finance.The outflow -- last seen during the economic and social struggles of the 1990s -- started when it became too expensive for most people to buy homes in the state, and has kept going throughout the bust with the loss of so many jobs.The trend underscores the state's sour economy as layoffs continue, the fiscal strain on government grows and home values continue to decline.Though more births and rising international immigration helped boost California's population a modest 1.16% last year, the state continued its steady stream of domestic out-migration -- the movement to other states of people who live here.During the last fiscal year, 135,173 more people moved out of California than moved in from other states. Though just a drop in the bucket for a state of 38 million people, the trend remains significant because such declines usually occur when working Californians decide better opportunities lie elsewhere."I just gave up," said Grace Bryant, a former Glendora resident who fled to Texas after 18 months without consistent employment as a residential appraiser. "California is too much of a struggle."Like Bryant, many of those who left California went to Texas, according to truck rental company U-Haul International Inc.; other popular states were Nevada, Arizona and Washington.The company said that, as of late November, 0.5% more rentals were hired this year to leave the state than to move into it -- 0.2 percentage points higher than last year's figure.Before writing the state's obituary, however, critics might note that a study released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center bolsters the notion of California's high desirability, showing that most native Californians prefer to remain in the state.Though California is often depicted as a bastion for the rootless, 69% of native residents 18 and over still live here -- showing stability exceeded only by Texas, North Carolina and Georgia.Still, the departure for other states of so many residents is serious enough to concern policymakers, who worry about the drubbing that California is taking in the recession.The current spate of domestic out-migration began in 2005 after six years of continual domestic growth. The trend coincided with the developing housing bubble, which peaked in 2007 when median home values in Southern California reached $505,000."This was the epicenter of the housing meltdown," said John Husing of Economics & Politics Inc., a regional economic research firm. "People started leaving California because of housing prices -- particularly younger couples that just couldn't afford to buy a house."But then the bubble burst and Californians were faced with a new crisis -- joblessness.The state's 8.2% unemployment rate is 1.5 percentage points higher than the national rate.The Riverside, San Bernardino and Ontario area -- one of the areas hit worst by the real estate collapse -- features the highest unemployment rate of any large metropolitan area in the country at 9.5%.The Los Angeles, Long Beach and Santa Ana area is fifth-worst at 7.7%."I think [last year's out-migration] was because of the very high unemployment," Husing said. "That's what will be driving it now. There's no question we'll continue to see people leave."Fourteen years ago, California was in the middle of another job crisis. The aerospace industry had folded, jettisoning highly trained workers and crippling the local economy built around them.In 1994, 362,374 more people left the state than moved in. The decline would not reverse course until 1998.Husing said more people left California during that downturn compared with the current one because there were aerospace jobs in other states. But workers in construction, real estate and related fields hurt in the current downturn have no place to go."Where are you going to work in construction anywhere in the country now?" Husing said.Bryant, the residential appraiser who moved to Texas, said she did not want to leave California. She simply could no longer afford to stay."I miss Old Town Pasadena and the dog park in San Dimas," said Bryant, 51, whose sister and former husband also left Southern California for Frisco, a suburb of Dallas. "But what else am I going to miss? The traffic? Graffiti?"The string of out-migration has added fuel to a decades-old debate about California's perceived decline.In an article last month in the American magazine, urban historian Joel Kotkin contended that the loss of residents reflected a state in trouble. He blamed a Byzantine state government system, a failure to identify the housing crisis and a growing division between rich and poor."Today our Golden State appears headed, if not for imminent disaster, then toward an unanticipated, maddening and largely unnecessary mediocrity," Kotkin wrote.Historian and author Mike Davis, whose 1990 book "City of Quartz" seemed to foreshadow the social chaos that erupted with the 1992 L.A. riots, said he felt a similar undercurrent of anxiety today because of a dearth of reliable jobs."There's a very large population who are trapped with nowhere to go forward," Davis said.Husing dismissed the pessimism.The native Californian said the state had always priced out the working class and been an expensive place to do business, yet it continued to reinvent itself through innovation and entrepreneurship."It's the hallmark of the California economy," Husing said. "We attract risk takers. Immigrants from all over the world come here."San Diego Union-TribuneFederal agency rejects San Onofre toll road plan...Mike Leehttp://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2008/dec/18/bn18toll103632-san-onofre-toll-road/?zIndex=24532San  DIEGO — The Department of Commerce on Thursday upheld the California Coastal Commission's rejection of a proposed 16-mile toll road extension that would have cut through San Onofre State Beach. Federal officials determined there is at least one reasonable alternative to the project, and that lengthening state Route 241 is not essential to national security interests. The road would have started in Rancho Santa Margarita – part of southern Orange County – and ended near Camp Pendleton. The ruling is a major victory for surfers and environmentalists, who sustained a years-long campaign to defeat the proposal. They cited concerns about routing the highway through a nature reserve in Orange County and the San Onofre park, as well as road construction possibly damaging the world-famous Trestles surfing spot. The Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency of Orange County, which would have built the tollway, saw it as a way to relieve congestion on Interstate 5. Both sides argued fiercely over the proposal at two hearings in Del Mar earlier this year. The first was in front of the Coastal Commission, which ruled that the road was not consistent with the state's coastal zone management program. The transportation agency appealed to the Commerce Department, which has a say because part of the tollway would have crossed federal land. The department could have overrided the commission, likely spurring litigation from environmentalists. In a statement announcing its denial of the proposed project Thursday, the Commerce Department said the transportation agency may pursue another route for its proposed road. Since the Coastal Zone Management Act took effect in 1972, the Commerce Department has acted on 43 appeals, upholding 29 objections by state agencies and overriding 14. Washington PostConservation groups sue to stop Utah drilling plan...MATTHEW DALYhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/17/AR2008121702113_pf.htmlWASHINGTON -- Conservation groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday to block the Bush administration's last-minute sale of oil-and-gas drilling leases in Utah on spectacular scenery near national parks and ancient rock art panels.The Bureau of Land Management has scheduled an auction Friday to sell drilling leases covering more than 100,000 acres of wild land in eastern Utah.Actor Robert Redford, a longtime environmental activist, called the lease sale "morally criminal." Redford, who owns a home in Utah and hosts the annual Sundance Film Festival there, said the leasing issue is emotional for him, since he has spent much of his adult life in southern Utah, on foot and horseback."These lands do not belong to Bush and Cheney. It's our land _ public lands _ and the BLM is supposed to be protecting lands on our behalf," Redford said via satellite from Los Angeles during a news conference in Washington.President Bush "may be a lame duck," Redford added, "but he can still quack. I say: Stop it. Enough is enough."Sharon Buccino, a senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the Bush administration was rushing to approve the leases before leaving office next month."In their midnight maneuvering, BLM failed to complete the analysis required by federal law for the protection of America's natural and cultural treasures," she said.A spokeswoman for the BLM declined to comment.Buccino and other speakers said the land being considered for drilling is some of the most spectacular scenery in the country, including land near Nine Mile Canyon, Dinosaur National Monument and Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.The BLM has dropped more than half the parcels it originally proposed to lease, after the sales were criticized because of their proximity to national parks and ancient rock art panels. The National Park Service was among those that objected to the original plan.The BLM's final list for the Friday sale includes 132 parcels totaling about 164,000 acres.A Park Service spokesman said the final list reflects an agreement between the two agencies _ both of which are part of the Interior Department.Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash., called the lease sale "an early Christmas present to the oil and gas industry from a lame duck administration with one foot already out the door. Once these pristine wilderness lands are destroyed we can never get them back."Baird said he was not impressed that officials had scaled back the original plan to lease about 360,000 acres of public land for oil and gas development."It's a little bit like someone telling you they're going to rob only part of your house," Baird said. "It is a final insult from an administration that has done so much to destroy this country."Baird said he was confident the Obama administration would reverse the sales, but he said that was not guaranteed and should not be necessary.A spokesman for President-elect Obama declined immediate comment.Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar, named Wednesday as Obama's choice for Interior secretary, has not spoken publicly about the Utah lease plan.In his four years in the Senate, Salazar has been a champion for "responsible" energy production on public lands _ opposing efforts by the Bush administration to develop oil shale resources in the West and to open up Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but helping to broker a deal allowing more offshore production.Salazar has also been a vocal advocate of renewable energy, and the public lands he will oversee include some of the nation's largest sources of wind, solar and geothermal energy.Redford, who has worked with Salazar on environmental issues, called his nomination encouraging and said Salazar has sent signals he opposes drilling on sensitive lands."He didn't farm oil rigs," Redford said, referring to Salazar's past as a rancher in Colorado.New York TimesPraise and Criticism for Proposed Interior Secretary...John M. Borderhttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/18/us/politics/18salazar.html?sq=conservation&st=cse&scp=7&pagewanted=printWASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama’s choice to lead the Interior Department, Senator Ken Salazar of Colorado, said on Wednesday that his job would be to try to balance protection of public lands with the continued development of domestic sources of coal, oil and natural gas.His efforts in the past as a state and federal official to thread the difficult political needle between the environment and energy brought him decidedly mixed reviews from environmental groups on Wednesday, but cautious praise from energy and mining interests. As he deals with climate change, land and water issues, protection of endangered species and relations with American Indian tribes, Mr. Salazar will also have to try to manage an agency demoralized by years of scandal, political interference and mismanagement.Mr. Obama introduced Mr. Salazar and Tom Vilsack, the former Iowa governor chosen to be secretary of agriculture, at a news conference Wednesday in Chicago. He said their responsibility would be to exploit the United States’ bounty in a way that benefits all citizens and not just moneyed interests.“It’s time for a new kind of leadership in Washington that’s committed to using our lands in a responsible way to benefit all our families,” Mr. Obama said. “That means ensuring that even as we are promoting development where it makes sense, we are also fulfilling our obligation to protect our national treasures.”Mr. Salazar, wearing his customary ten-gallon hat and bolo tie, said his job would entail helping the nation address climate change through a technological “moon shot” on energy independence. That includes not just development of green energy sources like wind power, but also the continued domestic development of coal, oil and natural gas, fossil fuels that generate heat-trapping gases when they are burned.Environmental advocates offered mixed reviews of Mr. Salazar, 53, a first-term Democratic senator who served as head of Colorado’s natural resources department and the state’s attorney general. He was not the first choice of environmentalists, who openly pushed the appointment of Representative Raúl M. Grijalva, Democrat of Arizona, who has a strong record as a conservationist.Oil and mining interests praised Mr. Salazar’s record as a state official and as a senator, saying that he was not doctrinaire about the use of public lands for resource exploitation. “Nothing in his record suggests he’s an ideologue,” said Luke Popovich, spokesman for the National Mining Association. “Here’s a man who understands the issues, is open-minded and can see at least two sides of an issue.”Mr. Popovich noted approvingly that Mr. Salazar had tried to engineer a deal in the Senate under which mining companies and others could reclaim abandoned mines without fear of lawsuits. (The legislation is pending.) He also backed a compromise under which oil companies could drill for natural gas in limited parts of the Roan Plateau in northwestern Colorado, a plan that most environmental advocates opposed.Mr. Salazar is a fifth-generation Coloradan who grew up on a ranch near the New Mexico border. He has been a farmer, lawyer and small-business man, as well as a state and federal official.Pam Kiely, program director at Environment Colorado, said Mr. Salazar had been a champion of wilderness protection and strong water quality laws and a skeptic on oil shale development, a subject of controversy in the Mountain West. Ms. Kiely said she was unsure of his views on drilling in millions of acres of national forests and roadless areas.“We hope he continues to play a role in ensuring that as we develop our mineral rights in these incredibly sensitive areas we require industry to put in place safeguards that protect our health, environment, water and air quality,” Ms. Kiely said.Marc Smith, executive director of the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States, said in a statement that Mr. Salazar understood that energy security could be achieved only by making use of all domestic energy sources, including those found on and under public lands.“We are pleased that the president-elect has chosen someone who understands that there is a direct connection between federal lands and access to affordable, clean natural gas,” Mr. Smith said. While industry officials praised his moderation, Mr. Salazar drew strong criticism from some environmentalists. “He is a right-of-center Democrat who often favors industry and big agricultural interests in battles over global warming, fuel efficiency and endangered species,” said Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, which tracks endangered species and habitat issues.Daniel R. Patterson, a former official of the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management and now southwest regional director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, described Mr. Salazar as the most controversial of Mr. Obama’s cabinet appointees. “Salazar has a disturbingly weak conservation record, particularly on energy development, global warming, endangered wildlife and protecting scientific integrity,” said Mr. Patterson, who was elected last month to the Arizona House of Representatives from Tucson and supported Mr. Grijalva for the Interior Department job. “It’s no surprise oil and gas, mining, agribusiness and other polluting industries that have dominated Interior are supporting rancher Salazar — he’s their friend.”Even as Mr. Salazar navigates the department’s tricky political crosscurrents, he must also deal with calls to reverse dozens of decisions made in the Bush administration on endangered species and oil and gas leasing. He must do so with a management team weakened by the departure of dozens of demoralized career employees.CNN MoneyJobless claims fall - remain highNumber of people filing first-time unemployment claims slips to 554,000, Labor Department says...Kenneth Musantehttp://money.cnn.com/2008/12/18/news/economy/jobless_claims/index.htm?postversion=2008121810NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, according to a government report released Thursday. However the ranks of the jobless continued to swell.The Labor Department said that initial filings for state jobless benefits fell to 554,000 for the week ended Dec. 13. That was a decline of 21,000 from the 26-year high of a revised 575,000 claims a week earlier.A week ago, the government reported the highest number of jobless claims since Nov. 27, 1982 when initial filings hit 612,000.Economists were expecting jobless claims slip to 558,000, according to a poll by Briefing.com.But the reduction in filers "really was not enough to offset the significant gain we saw after the Thanksgiving holiday," said Andrew Gledhill, economist with Moody's Economy.com.Over the past four weeks, new unemployment claims have risen to an average of 543,750 a week, up 2,750 from the moving average of 541,000 reported last week.The number of people continuing to collect unemployment declined to 4.38 million in the week ended Dec. 6, the most recent data available. The measure was a decrease of 47,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4.31 millionOver the previous four weeks the number of people on unemployment averaged 4.23 million a week, the government said.The rash of unemployment claims shows no sign of slackening, according to Gledhill, and may hit the retail sector particularly hard as consumers reign in spending."Consumers are going to continue to find ways to cut spending any way they can," he said.The number of new jobless claims rose the most in Tennessee, rising by 12,170 due to layoffs in the manufacturing industry, the Labor Department said.Wisconsin saw jobless claims fall the most, by 8,593, due to fewer layoffs in the construction, manufacturing and service industries.Fed Ok's credit card crackdown Regulators approve a number of key protections for credit-card customers...Jessica Dicklerhttp://money.cnn.com/2008/12/18/pf/credit_card_rules/index.htm?postversion=2008121815NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Cash-strapped consumers got some welcome news on Thursday when regulators voted to rein in controversial credit card practices. The Federal Reserve Board, the Office of Thrift Supervision and the National Credit Union Administration, all approved the regulation, which is expected to take effect by July 2010.The rules prohibit banks from practices like raising the interest rates on pre-existing credit card balances unless a payment is over 30 days late, and applying payments in a way that maximizes interest penalties. They also mark an end to double-cycle billing, which averages out the balance from two previous bills. That means that consumers who carry a balance will no longer get hit with retroactive interest on their previous month's bill.Consumers will also be given a reasonable amount of time to make payments, and payments will be applied to higher-rate balances first, to reduce interest penalties and fees. Credit card statements will clearly list the time of day that a payment is due, and any changes to accounts will be in bold or listed separately.And, finally, no more universal defaults - a policy that allowed credit card issuers to increase the interest rate on one card if a customer missed a payment on another card."The new regulations will fundamentally alter the relationship that cardholders have with their banks and the way that banks communicate with cardholders," Edward Yingling, president and CEO of the American Bankers Association, said in a statement.Trouble keeping upIn the midst of a credit crunch, Americans have about $976.3 billion in revolving credit and 4.9% of all credit cards were delinquent in the third quarter, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve."The U.S. is experiencing the worst economic conditions in decades. Unprecedented debt loads are crushing many families," Linda Sherry, director of national priorities for Consumer Action, said in a statement. "Consumer Action is pleased that the Fed has taken this step to provide substantive protections to cardholders."Travis Plunkett, the legislative director for the Consumer Federation of America said new rules are "essential" at a time when "so many Americans are falling behind on their loans.""This industry has been mostly deregulated since the 1980s and we've seen the effects of that," said, Curtis Arnold, founder of CardRatings.com, a consumer advocacy group. "It hasn't worked."Representatives from the banking industry argue that while many of the changes are consumer friendly, there might be a downside to increased regulation that should not go unnoted."While the new rules are designed to increase protections for consumers, the Fed itself has recognized that they may result in increased costs for most card users and reduced credit availability, particularly for consumers with lower credit scores or limited credit history," Yingling said in the statement.Not only could card companies have to impose higher interest rates across the board to offset losses, but low introductory offers and zero-percent balance transfers are likely to be scaled back as well, explained Peter Garuccio, a spokesman for the American Bankers Association. In addition, "an overhaul of the market for credit cards of this magnitude will require time for full implementation," Yingling said. Some consumer advocates argue alternatively that these reforms don't go far enough, fast enough. The Board has given banks another year and a half to continue indiscriminate interest rate increases on consumers with historically high credit card balances. When they can least afford it, cardholders will be vulnerable to the piling on of unconscionably high finance charges. This may be the straw that breaks the camel's back," Sherry said.Plunkett, the consumer advocate, said he hopes Congress will pass more sweeping credit-card reforms next year that address a number of other "abusive practices" including "reckless lending to young people and high fees." Sen. Christopher Dodd and Rep. Carolyn Maloney have both proposed credit-card legislation that would impose even more constraints on issuers.Credit cards gone wild: Shocking rate hikeshttp://askfsb.blogs.fsb.cnn.com/2008/12/17/credit-cards-gone-wild/As credit card companies move to limit their risks, business owners face unpleasant surprises from their credit card providers.Q...Owen Kusolpaisit, Southhaven, Miss.I have a very small business and most of our debt is on credit cards. We had a 0% annual percentage rate until January 2009 that would go up to 7.99% thereafter. A few months ago my check got there a day late. The credit card company, Advanta, increased my APR to 7.99%. I just received my current statement and the APR jumped to 25.39%. When I called, a supervisor said it was done for economic reasons. How can they do that? Is it illegal? Can I report them?A...By Kathleen Ryan O’Connor, CNNMoney.com contributing writerRaising your interest rate at any time, for any reason, is perfectly legal - just check the terms and conditions on your card for the proof. But if it makes you feel any better, you have plenty of company.-----Faced with the same economic pressures as other companies affected by the ongoing recession and credit crunch, credit card companies are racing to protect themselves from the costs of more defaults by hiking interest rates and slashing credit limits, even for cardholders with excellent credit histories.Stories abound of customers waking up to find their cards less flexible and more expensive than ever before. But where a credit squeeze on an overextended shopaholic might be a blessing in disguise, credit cards are a critical source of financing for many small business owners. As bank loans and credit lines become ever-scarcer, entrepreneurs are left with fewer and fewer options.Experts warn that the pain won’t pass quickly. One prominent banking analyst, Meredith Whitney, predicts that pullback will wipe out a whopping $2 trillion in credit lines over the next 18 months.“Unfortunately, it’s a situation we are hearing from a lot of our members,” said Molly Brogan, vice-president of public affairs for the National Small Business Association, a Washington-based advocacy group. “There’s so little transparency in the credit card industry, so people just don’t know. [Small business owners] go in understanding they will have one deal, and then realize there are very few limits [on what credit card companies can do]. There’s not a lot of recourse small businesses can take.”An NSBA survey in April found that 44% of small business owners used a credit card to finance their business. “That’s more than any other source of financing, including bank loans and earnings,” Brogan said. “There’s a huge reliance on credit cards.”Even the chair of NSBA’s board, Marilyn Landis, discovered the hard way that she isn’t immune to rapid changes in the credit card market.Landis is president of Basic Business Concepts, a company that provides CFO services. Landis’ expansion of her Pittsburgh-based business turned into a major headache after the increased activity and travel expenses on her business credit cards prompted her issuer to lower her credit limit. She intended to pay off all the expenses within a year, but that plan became more difficult when her interest rate abruptly jumped from 3% to 27%.Plus, payment dates moved across the calendar seemingly at random each month, and the COO of her company was given the runaround while trying to make a payment over the phone. Landis was stunned at the difficulty she ran into with the card - “and I’m a finance person!” she said.Advanta said its right to raise interest rates at will is spelled out in the terms and conditions for its cards. On the company’s Web site, those terms include this catch-all phrase: “We may change any of your account terms, including rates and fees, at any time for any reason.”Advanta spokesman David Goodman said that each customer who receives a rate increase is notified in writing and given the opportunity to opt-out. If they exercise that right before a set deadline, they can continue paying down their existing balance at the old interest rate - even making just minimum payments - until the balance is zero. However, the credit line will be frozen, and once it’s paid off, the account is closed.How does the opt-out option work? Advanta isn’t saying. Goodman declined to offer details about the length of the deadline and whether cardholders need make their opt-out request in writing, by telephone, or in some other way. Consumer complaint boards on the Web are full of tales from Advanta consumers who say they never received any notice of their rate hike, and who are unaware of any opt-out clause.Forcing customers to accept higher rates or close their accounts is a way for credit card companies to triage their credit risks. The sour economy has directly hit their bottom lines: According to one analyst, delinquencies and default rates rose to all-time high in September for Advanta. Defaults on Advanta’s loans rose to 11.02% from 4.76% a year ago, and the delinquency rate rose to 6.47% from 3.22% a year ago, according to analyst Scott Valentin of Friedman Billings Ramsey & Co.Mike Haynie, a professor of entrepreneurship at Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Business, said all of this has a snowball effect.“A lot of people use those cards for inventory, and it’s a revolving kind of relationship between buying inventory or supplies,” he said. “When the credit card company takes away their ability to do that, it’s an instant hit on the bottom line. It’s particularly tough to swallow when it’s not because of a late payment or something like that but to reduce risk …There’s not a lot they can do.”When companies can’t borrow, their performance can suffer, which then leads to layoffs and production cutbacks. “It’s a vicious cycle,” Haynie said. “It’s scary, honestly.”Seasonal businesses can be particularly hard hit.Charles McCabe, CEO of People’s Income Tax and The Income Tax School in Richmond, Va., has seen his credit limits lowered and interest rates increased on both his business and personal American Express (AXP) cards.He tried to preserve what was left of the available credit on one card, about $15,000, by writing a check against it to deposit as cash into his business checking account, but “as soon as the check reached Amex for payment, they reduced my credit line down to the amount that was previously owed and rejected the $15,000 check,” he said.“Their reason was that my overall credit balances with all credit cards is too high,” McCabe said. “I explained that they are high at this time of year because I operate a multi-office tax business which is highly seasonal, and that the credit lines are paid down each year during tax season. I also pointed out that I have been an Amex customer for 37 years, since 1971, and have never been late or missed a payment. They said that those factors didn’t matter and their decision is based strictly on their criteria and could not be reversed.”Getting burned by credit isn’t a new problem for business owners. An over-reliance on consumer credit to bankroll his business almost cost Glenn Phillips his company in the downturn that followed the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.“The credit cards were just showing up, business and professional. We had good cash flow and I have great credit,” he said of the time before the downturn. “Just cheap, cheap, cheap money.”That caused Phillips to be overly optimistic, and when business slowed for his Birmingham, Ala., software company, he went from using credit cards to expand his business to using them just to keep it afloat.Phillips learned the hard way that when you really need the money is the precise moment the banks will start saying no. “I wasn’t disciplined,” he admitted.Phillips fought his way back from the brink of bankruptcy, at one point selling his home and renting a single room to live in to save money. Today, his revamped company, Forte Inc., is stronger than ever, winning awards from software giants such as Microsoft and employing a staff of eight.“The credit card game - if you are going to play that game, understand what is coming,” he said. 12-18-08 MeetingsJanuary 2009 City of Merced meetingshttp://www.cityofmerced.org/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=6909Jan  01 HOLIDAY – (CITY OFFICES CLOSED        05 CITY COUNCIL/REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, 7:00 PM         07  Planning Commission, 7:00 PM        15 MERCED COUNTY ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTS,            3:00 PM        19 HOLIDAY – (CITY OFFICES CLOSED)        20  CITY COUNCIL/REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, 7:00 PM         21  Planning Commission, 7:00 PM        22 LOCAL AGENCY FORMATION COMMISSION, 10:00 AM January 2009 Merced County Board of Supervisors meetingsJan    6        27 January 2009 MCAG meetingshttp://www.mcagov.org/govbrd.htmlJan  08 - Technical Planning Committee Meeting       09 - Citizens Advisory Committee Meeting       14 - Technical Review Board Meeting        15- Governing Board Meeting