5-4-09
5-4-09
Badlands Journal
Education to Elegance with a Sprit of Tradition...Badlands Journal editorial board.
http://www.badlandsjournal.com/2009-05-03/007213
The now famous UC Merced Valentine campaign to invite First Lady Michelle Obama to speak at the May 16 commencement exercises featured the following legend, found at this link:
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-story_images/story/684187.html
Education to Elegance with a Sprit of Tradition
UC Merced Commencment May 16, 2009
Since, as we say in the press, this message had pass through many sets of eyes, we wondered if "sprit" had an academic meaning that has escaped us all these years. However, the only definition we could find was:
sprit: a spar that crosses a fore-and-aft sail diagonally. (Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary)
Some have voiced suspicions that the campaign to get Mme. Obama to speak at UC Merced was not perhaps as innocent and student-led as it has been presented in the article below and many others in Sonny Star, Merced's own gigolo press. With finance, insurance and real estate in the wastewaster facility, Sonny Star's only got one wealthy dame left to escort, UC Merced. But, the "sprit" is evidence that UC Merced Bobcatflak Central probably didn't have much to do with the illiterate valentine. Larry Salinas, bobcatflak honcho, knows the difference between "spirit" and "sprit" and would not, as it can be speculated the students did, rely wholly on his computer's spell checker for electronic verification.
Blaming a printer for a spelling error ranks up there in the hierarchy of futile pursuits along with trying to discipline a "chiewawa."
Well-mannered Sonny Star did its best to conceal the "sprit" by not displaying it on the page, but it did provide the link cited above. Sonny Star limited its coverage, beyond the obligatory quotes, to oogling about the invitation as if it were a fashion gown the First Lady might wear to rural events.
"...and First Lady Michelle Obama dazzled the audience
by appearing in an elegant but understated rustic sprit."
The price for this visit is $700,000 according to Sonny Star, $800,000 according to local TV, and can be counted on to rise toward the Magic Million-Dollar Mark as we, with true sprit, count down the last 13 days.
Plutocracy is becoming a stranger form of government every day, here in the national capital of foreclosure rates with 21-percent unemployment.
Badlands Journal editorial board
2-11-09
Merced Sun-Star
UC Merced students invite First Lady Michelle Obama to speak at graduation
Hundreds on campus enlisted in Valentine's card campaign...DANIELLE GAINES
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/684187.html
The blue of the background is just a shade or two off from the dress she wore at the August Democratic National Convention.
The pearl necklace on the front of the Valentine's Day card is draped in the shape of a heart -- classic and elegant.
The drawing of the graduation cap in the middle of the string of white pearls may strike the only dissonant note on the glossy card cover.
But does it stand out more than a vision of first lady Michelle Obama speaking at UC Merced?
These students hope not. A group of nearly 100 student leaders at the college campus have been working diligently on a campaign to bring the first lady to Merced for the 2009 graduation ceremony.
They printed 2,000 Valentine's Day cards with the pearl-and-heart design. All of them will be addressed by hand "to incorporate as many personal touches as possible," student body president Yaasha Sabba said. They have collected nearly 700 signed cards so far.
Two other students, Sam Fong and Efferman Ezell, have spent hours crafting personalized letters to big players in the Obamas' lives. People such as Michelle Obama's brother and Charles Ogletree, Merced native and mentor to both Obamas at Harvard Law School. (Ogletree delivered the keynote address at the campus' opening ceremony in 2005.)
All three of the activists are among the 415 students of the class of 2009, the first group of students to attend UC Merced for all four years of their undergraduate educations.
A speech by Obama would, for the three men and several hundred others on campus, be the perfect sendoff, they said.
The Associated Students on campus passed a resolution at its meeting last week to court Michelle Obama as commencement speaker.
"First lady Michelle Obama is uniquely able to prepare the graduating inaugural class to face the severe economic, health care, and educational crises in both the San Joaquin Valley and America because of her successes and experiences on making an impact in the community," Fong and Sabba wrote in the resolution.
"Michelle Obama is the ideal choice to inspire passion and service from students and San Joaquin Valley residents alike to create the foundation for the future successes of the Valley."
Sabba said the goal in bringing Obama to Merced is much broader than hearing a memorable keynote address at his graduation.
He and others said there were dozens of compelling reasons to bring Obama to campus, not the least being the economic crisis.
"Here we are, we have our inaugural graduating class, and they are going into a job market where they aren't necessarily going to be employed," Sabba said. "Bringing the first lady here is about benefiting the university and benefiting the community."
Ezell, another student leader behind the project, said Obama's appearance at commencement would shine a light on issues in the Valley. "If she comes here, then all eyes will be on us," Ezell said. "All eyes will be on the Central Valley."
Ezell said an Obama appearance would lure lawmakers from across the state who would see the issues and progress of the campus and the community.
Students also said the first family represents a precedent-setting culture of change -- as do the students at UC Merced, some of whom enrolled before the college was much of anything at all. "All of the students here are pioneers in one way or the other," Sabba said.
James Barnes, the university's coordinator of orientation and learning assistance, took the time to write a long and sincere note.
Barnes, who has for the past two years handed each and every diploma over to the deans at commencement, said he thought of the graduating students when he wrote the note.
"Many of these first four-year graduates represent our country's immigrant and first-generation families," Barnes wrote. "It would be a fitting tribute to these students given your own achievements of firsts."
Barnes said he had confidence the student movement could bring Obama to town.
"Why not shoot for the moon?" Barnes said after he wrote the note. "I think the (Obama) administration would be benefited to see our university. I would hope that they would maybe spend a day here, tour around a little bit, to see the needs of our community."
Uriel Ramirez, a 21-year-old senior from Yuba City, added that the diversity of UC Merced -- often touted as the most diverse campus in the University of California system -- mirrors the diversity of the members of the Obama administration.
Making that point won't be hard.
"If she just looks at the names on the envelopes, she will see our diversity," Ramirez said.
Ramirez also said the progress at UC Merced is the living, breathing example of President Obama's plans for regeneration of the higher education system.
"I think we represent her husband's goals," Ramirez said. "He wants to build more universities with advanced technologies and create more environmental protections. It would be an honor for Michelle Obama to come here as keynote speaker."
Fong said the Valentine's card is just one event in a larger "Dear Michelle" campaign. In addition to sending the letters to Obama family members and friends, Fong said the students are planning to find world records to conquer, dedicating their feat to Michelle Obama.
Ezell said community members can also come to a booth outside the library building on campus to sign the cards, which will be mailed out today.
"We can do big things, even though we are a small community," Sabba said. "Small communities are the infrastructure of the United States."
The commencement of the first four-year class at UC Merced will be held May 16 on the campus quad. Calls to the office of the first lady to check her availability on that date weren't immediately returned Tuesday.
Reporter Danielle Gaines can be reached at (209) 385-2407 or dgaines@mercedsun-star.com.
Influence of UC Merced in town...Badlands Journal editorial board...4-29-09
http://www.badlandsjournal.com/2009-04-29/007207
"It ain't even skin deep." Badlands Journal editorial board member
Sign seen outside a G Street market: "Chiewawas for sale."
We find this sign is evidence of the continuing vitality of the authentic culture of the San Joaquin Valley, despite a decade of pretentious university Bobcatflak. Why should we spell the name of the little dog with megalomanic aspiration like some state in Mexico? Spelling, as our Founding Fathers frequently taught us, ought to be a matter of individual choice and an expression of personal character.
Merced Sun-Star
First Class: Southern California transplant has learned to love Merced, university...DANIELLE GAINES...5-4-09
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/825748.html
Heather Orrell lives by the calendar application on her Mac computer...
First Class: Athletics is up and running at UC Merced...DANIELLE GAINES...5-2-09
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/823788.html
Four years ago UC Merced senior Michael Oliveira spent many of his Saturday nights working at the campus library...
Michael Fincher: Spring a busy time on UC Merced campus...5-2-09
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/115/v-print/story/823785.html
UC Merced has new artwork on campus -- a statue of Boomer the Bobcat and a metal structure named "Beginnings."...
Around Town: MERCED Bands Needed...5-2-09
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/377/v-print/story/823754.html
The organizers of the Cap & Town festival are looking for bands to volunteer to entertain the crowds in downtown Merced on May 15 when Michelle Obama comes to visit Merced. UC Merced is expecting the first lady's appearance will draw around 25,000 visitors to Merced and all types of bands are being sought. For more information, call, (209) 388-1090 or e-mail stage@artsmerced.org. The organizers are also still looking for area groups, clubs and organizations that want to hold a fundraising food fest at an off-site location. For more information on the food booths, call (209) 385-6978 or e-mail chavezj@cityofmerced.org.
First Class: Students have had a chance to start Greek life on campus
Fraternity, sorority groups are small but growing...DANIELLE GAINES...5-1-09
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/821897.html
Aaron Hill is a true gentleman. Born and raised in San Jose, his demeanor is calm, cool and polite.
Not what some might envision as the founder and president of a Greek fraternity at UC Merced...
Cost of UC Merced graduation soars to $700,000...SCOTT JASON...5-1-09
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/821888.html
UC Merced's commencement budget has ballooned from $100,000 to $700,000 after first lady Michelle Obama accepted the invitation to give the keynote address…
Army Corps approves UC Merced wetlands expansion...The Associated Press...5-1-09
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/280/v-print/story/822565.html
After eight years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says UC Merced can move ahead with expansion plans on a wetlands...
UC Gets Go-Ahead...Friday May 1, 2009
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/305/story/821679.html
MERCED The University of California at Merced has been given the green light to begin its expansion...
UC Merced gets approval for expansion into wetlands...Thursday Apr 30, 2009
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/275/story/820608.html
The state’s newest University of California campus in Merced has been given the green light to begin its expansion after years of environmental wrangling and consultation over the campus̵...
UC Merced pioneers have put down a few roots...Thursday Apr 30, 2009
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/819833.html
Matt Lyons had never stepped foot in Merced until move-in day at UC Merced four years ago. The San Diego native never really thought about what college would be like after he got accepted -- he jus...
Residents giddy about first lady's visit to UC Merced...Wednesday Apr 29, 2009
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/220/story/817360.html
Shanitha Scoggins, owner of Tuluz' Beauty Salon downtown, is on the list of people looking to snag tickets to UC Merced's graduation ceremony, when first lady Michelle Obama will deliver the commen...
UC Merced, city abuzz with preparations for first lady...Tuesday Apr 28, 2009
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/815309.html
UC Merced’s commencement might have been a modest event with plenty of room for mom, dad and everyone else…
Fresno Bee
Wolves no longer protected in northern Rockies...MATTHEW BROWN - Associated Press Writer
http://www.fresnobee.com/641/v-print/story/1375222.html
BILLINGS, Mont. Wolves in parts of the northern Rockies and the Great Lakes region come off the endangered species list on Monday, opening them to public hunts in some states for the first time in decades.
Federal officials say the population of gray wolves in those areas has recovered and is large enough to survive on its own. The animals were listed as endangered in 1974, after they had been wiped out across the lower 48 states by hunting and government-sponsored poisoning.
"We've exceeded our recovery goals for nine consecutive years, and we fully expect those trends will continue," said Seth Willey, regional recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Denver.
With the delisting, state wildlife agencies will have full control over the animals. States such as Idaho and Montana plan to resume hunting the animals this fall, but no hunting has been proposed in the Great Lakes region.
Ranchers and livestock groups, particularly in the Rockies, have pushed to strip the endangered status in hopes that hunting will keep the population in check.
About 300 wolves in Wyoming will remain on the list because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rejected the state's plan for a "predator zone" where wolves could be shot on sight. Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal and a coalition of livestock and hunting groups have announced a lawsuit against the federal government over the decision.
Freudenthal, a Democrat, claimed "political expediency" was behind the rejection of his state's wolf plan.
Wolves were taken off the endangered list in the northern Rockies - including Wyoming - for about five months last year. After environmentalists sued, a federal judge in Montana restored the protections and cited Wyoming's predator zone as a main reason. In the Great Lakes, the animal was off the list beginning in 2007 until a judge in Washington last September ordered them protected again.
Environmental and animal rights groups have also said they planned to sue over the delisting, claiming that there are still not enough wolves to guarantee their survival. The groups point to Idaho's plan to kill up to 100 wolves believed to have killed elk.
"We understand that hunting is part of wildlife policy in the West," said Anne Carlson with the Western Wolf Coalition. "(But) wolves should be managed like native wildlife and not as pests to be exterminated."
The delisting review began under the administration of President George W. Bush and the proposal was upheld by President Barack Obama's administration after an internal review. In a recent letter to several members of Congress, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar wrote that he was "confident that science justifies the delisting of the gray wolf."
Willey said his agency projected there would be between 973 and 1302 wolves in the northern Rockies under state management, a number well above the 300 wolves set as the original benchmark for the animal's recovery.
More than 1,300 wolves roam the mountains of Montana and Idaho and an estimated 4,000 live in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Pending home sales up 3.2 percent in March...ALAN ZIBEL - AP Real Estate Writer
http://www.fresnobee.com/559/v-print/story/1376747.html
WASHINGTON - There was another ray of hope Monday for the distressed housing market: the National Association of Realtors said the volume of signed contracts to buy previously occupied homes rose for the second month in a row.
Homebuyers taking advantage of bargain prices, low interest rates and a tax credit for first-time buyers pushed the seasonally adjusted index of pending sales up by 3.2 percent to 84.6 in March.
The results not only beat analysts' flat expectations, but were also 1.1 percent above last year's levels, the first time that has happened since December.
"After nearly three years of freefall, housing activity may have found a floor," wrote Paul Dales, U.S. economist with Capital Economics in Toronto.
The index tracks signed contracts to purchase previously occupied homes. Typically there is a one- to two-month lag between a contract and a done deal, so the index is a barometer for future home sales.
Hopes have been growing that home sales, while still severely depressed, may be finally showing signs of life. Sales of newly built homes were flat in March while sales of existing homes edged down slightly.
But it's not all bright news out there.
Home prices are expected to keep falling for at least another year, though at a slowing pace. Tens of thousands of homes are tied up in the foreclosure process and not yet for sale. Plus, mounting job losses may keep many buyers from signing a contract for a home.
The Realtors estimate about half of existing home sales are now foreclosures and other must-sell transactions.
Nevertheless, many real estate agents are counting on an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers as their best hope for boosting flagging sales. That incentive was included in the economic stimulus package passed earlier this year.
"This increase could be the leading edge of first-time buyers responding to very favorable affordability conditions," and the tax credit, Lawrence Yun, the Realtors' chief economist, said in a statement. "We need several months of sustained growth to demonstrate a recovery in housing, which is necessary for the overall economy to turn around."
Pending sales were up 8.5 percent in the South and nearly 4 percent in the West. They fell 5.7 percent in the Northeast and 1 percent in the Midwest.
Construction spending, pending home sales rise...MARTIN CRUTSINGER - AP Economics Writer
http://www.fresnobee.com/559/v-print/story/1376768.html
WASHINGTON - Construction spending and pending home sales both were better than expected in March, hopeful signs that those battered industries may be stabilizing.
The Commerce Department reported Monday that construction spending increased 0.3 percent in March, the best showing since a similar rise last September. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected spending to drop 1.5 percent for a sixth straight monthly decline.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors said its index of pending home sales rose 3.2 percent to 84.6 in March, the second monthly increase after it hit a record low in January. The pending sales index also is 1.1 percent above last year's levels. Typically, there is a one- to two-month lag between a contract and a done deal, so the index is a barometer for future home sales.
Economists called the new data faint glimmers of hope that construction activity may be stabilizing, although at very low levels.
"Things certainly look a bit less bad than in the dark days at the turn of the year," Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a research note.
The economic news triggered a rally on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average added about 180 points in midday trading and broader indices also rose.
However, economists cautioned that the construction rebound could be temporary, given all the problems facing the industry as a severe financial crisis has made it hard for builders to obtain financing.
Spending on private residential projects fell 4.2 percent in March, the latest in a series of declines that began three years ago when the housing bubble burst with disastrous effects for the home industry and the overall economy.
Nonresidential construction rose 2.7 percent in March, the biggest advance in nine months. It marked the second straight increase and was led by gains in office construction, hotels and power plants.
Government building activity also showed strength in March, rising 1.1 percent. A 1.3 percent gain in state and local activity offset a 1.7 percent drop in spending on federal projects. The rise in state and local activity could be early signs of the impact of the $787 billion economic stimulus bill that Congress passed in February in an effort to get money to the states for "shovel ready" building projects.
The various changes left total construction spending at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $969.7 billion in March. Even with the unexpected increase, building activity is 11.1 percent below year-ago levels, reflecting the country's steep recession.
With the financial sector embroiled in its worst crisis in seven decades, banks have tightened their loan standards, making it harder to get financing for shopping centers and other commercial projects.
The Federal Reserve will release results on Thursday of "stress tests" for the nation's 19 largest banks, providing guidance on which banks may need more government support to withstand a more severe recession. The banks that need more capital will be given six months to raise it on their own and if they are unable to do so, the government will step in with support from the $700 billion financial rescue fund.
The initial stress test results showed that Wells Fargo & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. would need to raise more capital, sources have told The Associated Press. Investors also have grown concerned about regional banks that carry risky loans on their books in such areas as mortgages, credit cards and commercial real estate.
Many analysts are worried the commercial real estate market could topple into the worst crisis since the last great property bust of the early 1990s. Delinquency rates on loans for hotels, offices, retail and industrial buildings have risen sharply in recent months and are likely to soar through the end of 2010 as companies lay off workers, downsize or close.
Economists, however, are more hopeful that the three-year slide in housing could be nearing a bottom although they don't see a significant rebound for some time.
New home sales have plunged 74 percent from their peak in July 2005. Sales of new homes hit a record low in January, posted an increase in February and then edged down 0.6 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 356,000 units.
Analysts said it appears the steep slide in new home sales is bottoming out. Prices, however are still falling. The median price of a new home sold in March dropped to $201,400, a 12 percent decline from a year earlier.
The demand for new homes appears to be recovering faster than that for previously occupied homes. In March, sales of existing homes fell 3 percent to an annual rate of 4.57 million from a downwardly revised pace of 4.71 homes in February, the National Association of Realtors reported.
Stockton Record
Delta landowners heading to court
Dozens refuse state access for survey...Alex Breitler
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090504/A_NEWS/905040321
Three dozen Delta landowners are headed to court after refusing state water officials' requests to access their lands as part of a peripheral canal study.
The state Department of Water Resources in the fall sent landowners a sort of permission slip, but about half refused to sign.
What the state is asking for, one farmer said, is a double insult: to drill holes, dig pits and intrude on private property for an environmental review that could lead to construction of a canal - an endgame for the Delta, in his eyes.
"First, you're basically letting them interrupt your farming operation, and then they come out and cut you off at the knees (with a canal). Supporting something like that runs against the grain for everyone," said 56-year-old Steve Coldani, whose family has farmed Terminous Tract west of Lodi since the 1920s. Coldani is a trustee for Reclamation District 548, one of 13 defendants in San Joaquin County.
Last summer, Water Resources sent about 1,000 initial letters to landowners on the west and east sides of the Delta, where canal routes have been considered. In October, the state asked for access to 126 properties, the first in at least two waves of requests.
They were resisted, however, and face-to-face meetings failed to appease landowners.
So the state Attorney General's Office has petitioned judges in five Delta counties for court orders granting access to these lands. Any further delay "may result in continued degradation of habitat for fisheries and may reduce the reliability of water deliveries in the state of California," reads one such petition filed in San Joaquin County Superior Court.
These documents detail the tactics over which farmers are fuming:
» Net-wielding biologists would canvass properties in search of everything from tiny shrimp to giant garter snakes. They would build small traps to be checked daily, and they would use motor boats, kayaks or all-terrain vehicles to get around. Surveys could take place day or night, according to Water Resources court documents.
» Geologists would drill 8-inch holes anywhere from 5 feet to 200 feet underground to explore soil conditions. Using backhoes, they would dig test pits measuring 20 feet long, 4 feet wide and 12 feet deep. Any drilling or digging near levees makes farmers nervous.
» Surveyors would plant wooden stakes and iron pipes for aerial photographs. Still others would search for historic artifacts, take photos of the properties, or observe boaters or fishermen.
Water Resources spokesman Matt Notley said officials are making the process as easy as they can. They dug up data from past studies so that fewer lands would need surveying, he said. Also, not all of the actions described in these documents will need to be performed on all properties.
And while many critics believe a peripheral canal is a predetermined outcome of all this work, Notley said that's not true.
"We're just at a data-gathering stage," Notley said. The information will be used later to make a decision.
Attorneys representing 12 of the 13 San Joaquin County landowners say the work points squarely at a canal and call the proposed surveys "physically invasive," threatening farms and levee stability.
The attorneys argue that the state has sidestepped environmental law and failed to seek permission from reclamation districts, which oversee flood protection on each Delta island.
Also, the surveys - which could continue through 2011 - are intrusive enough to qualify as a taking of property under eminent domain law, requiring greater compensation for landowners than the $500 per parcel that the state has offered, Stockton attorney Thomas Keeling argued in a court document.
"Our view is they are running roughshod over the law," Stockton attorney Dante Nomellini, also representing landowners, said.
In a January letter to Nomellini, Water Resources attorney David A. Sandino said "temporary and limited entry onto property is necessary" to get the information needed to decide whether to build a canal. He disagreed that the surveys would be akin to a "taking" of land under the law.
The surveys are part of the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan, a complex mesh of water conveyance and habitat restoration strategies that will purportedly stabilize the state's water supply while aiding fish.
The 13 San Joaquin cases are set to be heard June 29 in Superior Court.
The defendants
A list of Delta landowners and entities in San Joaquin County that have refused state access to their land and face court action as a result:
• Zuckerman Mandeville Inc.
• Heritage Land Co.
• Greenlaw Grupe Jr. Operating Co. (owns farmland on Elmwood Tract)
• CWC LLC
• James Harvey
• Jack Klein Trust Partnership
• Tuscany Research Institute (a nonprofit wetland restoration group with a field station on Mandeville Island)
• Reclamation District 548 (Terminous Tract)
• Estate of Frank Ormonde
• Thompson & Folger Co.
• Cotta Properties Inc.
• Reclamation District 2029 (Empire Tract)
• Clavius Land Co. (McDonald Island)
San Francisco Chronicle
Peninsula cities want high-speed rail tunnel...Michael Cabanatuan
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/04/BAUL17CVOV.DTL&type=printable
When Caltrans planned to build a bypass around unstable Devil's Slide in the 1990s, residents of the San Mateo County coast urged officials to dig a tunnel instead. Their "Think Tunnel" campaign prevailed and the tunnel is under construction.
Now, on the bay side of the Peninsula, some residents and officials are imploring transportation officials to contemplate a tunnel when they build the high-speed rail line between San Francisco and San Jose along the Caltrain route.
Peninsula voters backed the high-speed rail bond measure with about 60 percent support. But some cities and residents are objecting to the use of the Caltrain route - unless the authority puts the trains underground.
"Below-ground is quiet," said Steve Emslie, deputy city manager for Palo Alto, which is supporting a lawsuit against the rail authority and joining a coalition of cities fighting for a tunnel. "It's not as visually intrusive. And it would allow the city to connect over the right of way."
The push for a tunnel emerged during a recent series of public hearings to start environmental studies for the Peninsula stretch of the high-speed rail system. Larry Klein, a Palo Alto city councilman, said that residents and city officials understood the fast trains, expected to travel at speeds up to 125 mph between San Francisco and San Jose, would use the Caltrain route.
But it became clear during community meetings, he said, that the authority was considering building an elevated concrete platform wide enough to hold at least four tracks. The 18- to 20-foot tall platform, he said, would become an ugly wall separating the community, and would spew noise from the trains into surrounding neighborhoods. The issue, he said, has created concerns, especially for those living near the railroad tracks.
"I think most people in our community support high-speed rail," he said. "But they want it done the right way."
Palo Alto's City Council voted to file a friend of the court brief supporting a suit by neighbors Menlo Park and Atherton challenging the authority's choice of a route between the Bay Area and the Central Valley. The authority, in 2007, chose to send the trains over Pacheco Pass instead of the Altamont Pass. The Altamont route would have used a rail bridge alongside the Dumbarton Bridge to connect with the Peninsula. The suit, which accuses the authority of not following environmental laws in making its decision, is scheduled for trial in Sacramento County at the end of the month.
The Caltrain board, which owns the right of way and runs the commuter rail line, is working with the High Speed Rail Authority to determine how both the commuter line and high-speed trains will use the route. But Menlo Park, Atherton and Palo Alto are also attempting to enlist other cities in a coalition to make sure tunneling is seriously considered.
Rosanne Foust, Redwood City mayor, said her city chose not to join the coalition, preferring to see how the rail authority plans to bring speedy trains through town before staking out a position.
"We don't have all the information yet," she said. "How could we possibly make that kind of decision? I think we have to be open to all options."
Rod Diridon, High Speed Rail Authority board member, said all possible options for running fast trains down the Peninsula will be studied. But he said that tunneling is extremely costly, that it could affect underground water in some locations, and that it could also interfere with plans to electrify and otherwise modernize Caltrain.
"All of the alternatives have to be carefully considered," he said.
High-speed rail officials say it's too early in the planning process to say whether the tracks - which must be separated from automobile traffic and protected from trespassers - will travel at ground level, underground or on an elevated structure, or in some combination.
Now that Peninsula cities have made their concerns - and desire for a tunnel - known, the authority will discuss options over the next few months but no decisions about how the fast trains will travel down the Peninsula are expected for at least another year, authority officials said.
"We're at the beginning of that process - the very, very beginning," said Tony Daniels, project manager for the High Speed Rail Authority. "Nothing has been ruled out."
Inside Bay Area
Sierra wolverine may have come from Idaho...Associated Press
http://www.insidebayarea.com/trivalleyherald/localnews/ci_12285972
TRUCKEE — A wolverine spotted two straight winters in the northern Sierra Nevada most likely came from Idaho, according to a study.
The findings of 10 federal, state and university scientists, published in the latest edition of Northwest Science, show the predator is most closely related to the Rocky Mountain population.
Researchers said the results show a 73 percent confidence level in the conclusion the animal most likely came from Idaho.
By comparison, the wolverine had less than a five percent probability of belonging to most other North American wolverine populations evaluated.
The wolverine's discovery on national forest land north of Truckee a year ago surprised scientists, who feared the elusive animal was driven out of the Sierra long ago by human activity.
Wolverines previously had not been spotted in California for 86 years.
"We still can't be sure how this animal came to the Tahoe National Forest," said Bill Zielinski, one of the study's authors and a research ecologist at the Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Research Station.
"But this peer-reviewed study shows that other scientists agreed with our interpretation that it likely traveled here from the Rockies," he added.
Zielinski said the animal would have traveled more than 400 miles to reach the Sierra if it naturally dispersed from the nearest Rocky Mountain population.
If the wolverine was accidentally or deliberately transplanted, he said, it would have more likely originated from an area where wolverines are more common and legally trapped, such as Alaska or the Yukon.
The wolverine was caught on research cameras late this past winter on private timber land — only 15 miles away from where it was spotted the previous winter.
Scientists confirmed it was the same animal through DNA form hair samples collected at camera stations used for wildlife surveys on Sierra Pacific Industries land.