6-15-09
6-15-09
Badland Journal
When East is East and West is West, who pays the bills?...Badlands Journal editorial board
http://www.badlandsjournal.com/
As the inveterate, hairy-chested managing editor of the Sun-Star heads off to embeddedment in Iraq again (because a female reporter went twice!), Tom Frazier asks real questions about a local issue: Who is paying for the Michelle Obama event? While the Imperial Tharp is Inshalla-ing to a fair-the-well about his upcoming war junket, Frazier is calling out the imaginary “feral dogs” of the press to find out what happened. Yo, Frazier, there are no feral dogs of the local press. They all been bought by UC Merced so long ago few still remember the UC inserts that once a month paid the bills back in the late 1990s. And the tame dogs of the local press are all bouncing their heads off the pavement and crying “Inshalla.” We would believe in Tharp’s conversion to Islam if he were going to what Genl. Petraeus even calls “the graveyard of empires,” Afghanistan.
But who cares where Tharp goes at all? Presumably McClatchy and the University of California – just as long as the Sun-Star doesn’t provide the answers to the embarrassing questions Frazier is asking.
And where was the Real Mr. UC Merced, Bob Carpenter? The Badlands Journal editorial board never agreed with Mr. Carpenter, and Mr. Carpenter never agreed with us, but we never denied the irreplaceable role he played in bringing UC to Merced – one part guts, the other part determination. What failure of civic grace was involved in his absence from the podium that day? You can’t make up the dystopic, post-speculative real estate bubble the presently conditions our human reality here in Merced.
Was it because he was a Republican? True, that was an answer given by the Condit operation when Odessa Johnson, a Modesto school teacher, was given the nod for a seat on the UC Regents over Carpenter. Johnson did not appear during the final period of struggle for the campus siting to be any sort of booster for the campus. So, where was Johnson that day, an African-American academic success story who exemplifies perfectly everything Mrs. Obama was trying to communicate to that graduating class? What pig-headed uncivil act was behind her absence?
Frazier is raising serious questions. Meanwhile, the Imperial Boy Editor, at the direction of McClatchy, a media conglomerate trading on Friday at 71 cents a share on the New York Stock Exchange, is lurching off to Iraq again, Iraq, the graveyard of a cowardly, lying media oligopoly embedded with its war-profiteering bankers.
Kipling Tharp ain’t, and we aren’t in the middle of the 19th century any more.
Badlands Journal editorial board
6-13-09
Merced Sun-Star
Tom Frazier: Party's over -- who paid the bill?...Tom Frazier
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/463/v-print/story/898442.html
The Sun-Star's coverage of the first four-year UC Merced class' graduation was impressive -- until the lights went out...
How serious? Who paid the bills?...
6-12-09
Merced Sun-Star
Time to head to war again…Mike Tharp
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/360/story/898432-p2.html
Yeah -- why would a member of AARP qualified for Social Security grab the same olive-drab duffel bag -- one that's been to five other wars -- pack it full and fly back to Iraq?
Sir Edmund Hillary's answer about climbing Everest? Because it's there?
Partly true.
Because McClatchy's foreign editor Roy Gutman asked again, after a rotation last summer?
For sure.
Because Corinne Reilly, our county reporter, has now been to Baghdad twice and done a stellar job both times?
You bet. An editor's got to lead from the front.
To bear witness for Mercedians about a war they're paying for, especially the six KIAs from our county and the 12,000 to 14,000 Mercedian veterans?...
Merced Sun-Star
Officials angle for West Side water…John Ellis, The Fresno Bee
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/901194.html
Federal officials are running the massive pumps of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta at low levels to protect the endangered delta smelt, but the move could keep west-side agriculture from getting its promised annual water allocation.
Tom Birmingham, general manager of the Westlands Water District, said the pumping reductions are unnecessary, but environmentalists say the actions are necessary to protect the smelt.
"A substantial portion [of delta smelt] -- in excess of 90% -- are outside the influence of the pumps," Birmingham said. "From our perspective, the restrictions are unnecessary to avoid jeopardy to the species." Quantcast
Despite the concern, west-side water officials are confident they can get their promised federal water allotment through increased pumping in July.
Early this year, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officials announced that Westlands and other water contractors south of the delta would receive no water this year.
Above-average precipitation in March bumped that to 10%.
But under a new set of rules governing management of the smelt that was announced last December, delta pumping can be affected in May and June if the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service believes the fish are near the pumps or are at risk of being sucked into and killed by their operation.
The updated rules -- known as a biological opinion -- were drafted after U.S. District Judge Oliver W. Wanger invalidated earlier regulations because they did not comply with the federal Endangered Species Act.
Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Al Donner said a large number of juvenile smelt have been killed this month by the pumps' operation, necessitating pumping decisions that protect the species.
Pumping restrictions end June 30, however, and officials such as those with Westlands who depend on federal water allocations are working on a plan to make up for the low amount of water being pumped this month.
There are two pumps at the southern end of the delta -- one for the State Water Project and another for the federal Central Valley Project.
Birmingham said approval will be sought to move federal water through the state pumps, which are larger and can move more water than the federal pumps. In addition, he said there is a good amount of water in both the Folsom and Shasta reservoirs, which are key reservoirs for federal water.
Even though most of the snow runoff will have occurred July 1, Birmingham believes that Westlands can not only get its promised 10% allocation, but surpass it.
Still, Westlands is unhappy about the effects of the new smelt management plan.
Westlands spokeswoman Sarah Woolf said 300,000 acre-feet of state and federal water went into the ocean in March to satisfy the new smelt requirements.
By mid-May, the amount was 459,000 acre-feet.
California agriculture uses about 30 million acre-feet of water per year, federal officials said.
Each acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons, or a 12- to 18-month supply of water for an average family.
In a recent ruling by Wanger, the federal government was instructed to explain their weekly decisions to set the flow rates at the delta pumps.
The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Westlands and the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority over the updated smelt management plan.
West side water officials haven't liked what they have heard so far.
Birmingham, of the Westlands Water District, said the Endangered Species Act does not prohibit incidental killing of smelt. It only prohibits operations that could cause jeopardy to the species.
Of the pumping reductions, he said, "there has been no explanation this is necessary."
California's new foreclosure rules start today...JIM WASSERMAN, The Sacramento Bee
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/901060.html
SACRAMENTO -- After a severe economic storm of more than 365,000 California foreclosures since early 2007, the state's long-awaited 90-day foreclosure moratorium law goes into effect today.
But it doesn't mean foreclosures will stop.
Supporters acknowledge the state is likely to see thousands more foreclosures before the crisis subsides. The law, indeed, goes into effect as lenders are ramping up repossessions following expiration of earlier moratoriums, according to housing trackers.
But the California Foreclosure Prevention Act, passed as Assembly Bill X2 7 by lawmakers in February and signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, raises a new hurdle in the foreclosure process.
Backers say it will make lenders try harder to keep borrowers in homes. Starting today, loan servicers must prove to the state they have comprehensive loan modification programs in place -- or be denied rights to foreclose on their own schedules.
"You have voluntary programs that they don't have to do," said state Assemblyman Ted Lieu, a Torrance Democrat who was the author of the bill. "This creates an enforcement mechanism to force them to do it. The hammer is the 90-day foreclosure moratorium, which they all hate." The law will largely press lenders to follow the Obama administration's Making Home Affordable Program that began in March.
That encourages lenders to cut interest rates or rewrite loans to 40-year terms to get payments below 38 percent of a borrower's monthly income. Other options include reducing principal and tacking missed payments to the back of the loan. Under the law, California officials also can encourage short sales or deeds in lieu -- options in which banks accept less than owed -- for borrowers who want to leave or don't qualify for modifications.
"The vast majority of large servicers should have no trouble complying. They have already complied with similar requirements at the federal level," said Dustin Hobbs, spokesman for the California Mortgage Bankers Association.
As the nation's first statewide moratorium law of its kind, according to Lieu, hopes are it will "slow down the rate of foreclosures." "For some people there's not much that can be done," said the lawmaker. "But there are a fair number of people on the bubble ... if they can get some assistance, they can stay in their home."
Updated Database: Merced County foreclosures...Source: RealtyTrac, Inc.
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/326/story/734539.html?appSession=355313795531064
Results for Merced County, California
The RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report counts the total number of properties with at least one foreclosure filing - default notice, auction notice or bank repossession - reported during each month. The report also displays a foreclosure rate and a comparison to the previous month and a year ago. For more information, click on the Help link in the upper right corner of this page or visit www.RealtyTrac.com. To search for national foreclosure properties use the ZIP Code search widget below.
April
2009
1,280
1,503
1,257
2
March
2009
1,503
1,125
912
1
February
2009
1,125
1,401
727
3
January
2009
1,401
1,816
663
1
December
2008
1,816
1,065
812
1
November
2008
1,065
790
729
1
October
2008
790
1,351
941
3
September
2008
1,351
1,527
1,137
1
August
2008
1,527
1,115
945
2
July
2008
1,115
1,056
710
1
June
2008
1,056
1,005
564
2
May
2008
1,005
1,257
684
4
Our View: Water is next on the list
After passing a new budget, governor wants to tackle fixes to the state's outdated hydration system...Editorial
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/177/v-print/story/901087.html
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told The Fresno Bee's editorial board last week that he will put all of his attention on solving the state's water crisis just as soon as California's budget crisis is done.
We support his priorities, although we're not sure there will be a budget passed in two weeks as he has predicted. But it would be good for the state if the financial crisis gets solved that quickly.
It would be a huge accomplishment if Schwarzenegger can pass a budget that's not balanced with gimmicks and then pull the varied water interests together to pass a long-term water plan for California.
The only thing bigger than the state's $24.3 billion budget gap is the political gap between farmers, urban interests and environmentalists over how we should solve our water problem. Getting a comprehensive water deal would be a legacy project for Schwarzenegger's governorship.
Most recently, the National Marine Fisheries Service issued a decision that could limit water deliveries from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta so that endangered fish can be protected. But that decision could increase the political pressure on the governor and legislators to produce a comprehensive water plan.
In addition, the lack of water could hurt the state's big cities, including Los Angeles and San Diego, and leaders of those cities are pushing for a water deal. When Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was the Assembly speaker, he sided with environmentalists in blocking the construction of more dams. Now Villaraigosa is concerned about how the lack of water storage will impact his city's residents.
More political pressure has come from farmers and farmworkers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. The lack of water is driving up the unemployment rates in some of California's poorest communities. The impact on farmworkers is concerning lawmakers who normally side with environmentalists on water issues.
The need is clear. We must have surface storage, expanded underground water banking and dramatic increases in conservation.
Schwarzenegger says he can negotiate a water plan that has those elements.
If he solves the water problem, his gubernatorial tenure would be a successful one. We hope we can cheer a comprehensive water plan by the time he leaves office.
What do you think? Comment on this editorial by going to mercedsunstar.com/opinion, then click on the editorial.
Modesto Bee
Conservation among keys to coping with water woes...MIKE STARK, Associated Press Writer
http://www.modbee.com/state/v-print/story/744204.html
PARK CITY, Utah -- The old quip in the West that whiskey's for drinkin' and water's for fightin' is a tired cliche by now but still rings true.
Only these days, there's more people with a stake in the water fight and a dwindling supply to go around.
Quenching the growing demand for water in the warming West will require a bigger push for conservation, innovative technology and a rethinking of supply and demand, Western governors and water experts said Sunday.
About 600 people gathered in Park City for the first day of the Western Governors' Association meeting.
The three-day meeting focuses on key issues that affect states throughout the West, including water use, climate change and energy. This year - with several cabinet members from the Obama administration and a record attendance - the political landscape has shifted and there's a renewed urgency for swapping ideas and working together, attendees said.
"This is kind of where it all begins," said Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, WGA's outgoing chairman,
The governors approved several resolutions Sunday, including one calling for a national policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"Global warming poses a serious threat to the Western economy, public health and environment," the resolution said.
Sunday's main discussion, which included Canadian officials and experts from the Middle East and Australia, focused on managing water amid changing climate conditions.
"As governors and premiers of the West, we're all challenged by this," said Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter.
Although many of the controversies in the West center around urbanization, natural resources and energy development, water - and often the lack of it - comes up again and again.
"Water is connected to all those things," said Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, an environmental think tank based in Oakland, Calif.
Gleick, one of four panelists who spoke Sunday, said there's evidence of intensified water disputes, ecosystem collapse in some places and a population growth that's driving a sometimes-fractured water management system.
States can no longer rely on simply building more storage capacity, which can be expensive and "politically challenging," he said. The West needs to consider other supply options such as rainwater, use of treated wastewater and desalination plants, Gleick said.
Climate change - which will alter precipitation and the timing of mountain snow melt - also needs to be incorporated into all water management decisions, he said.
Ritter said the region needs to do more to protect the water that's already available.
"Conservation has to become an ethic in the West," he said.
Inevitably, though, there will be hard decisions to make about who gets water and who doesn't, said Doug Miell, an Australian water consultant and former leader of an irrigation council during some of the country's worst drought conditions.
"The bad news is there's no silver bullet," said Miell, who advocated for more information gathering and sharing among resource managers.
Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, the incoming WGA chairman, agreed that water needs to be better measured, moved more efficiently and conserved on a larger scale.
"Those of us who are managing water in the West know how important this is," he said.
Monday's agenda includes a session about tapping the West's renewable energy potential. Scheduled speakers include Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
An afternoon session on climate change is expected to include Robert Zoellick, president of The World Bank and Nancy Sutley, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
San Francisco Chronicle
Groups: US moved too fast on gray wolf de-listing...JOHN FLESHER, AP Environmental Writer
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/06/15/national/a101316D36.DTL&type=printable
Traverse City, Mich. (AP) -- Environmental groups say they are suing the federal government over its decision to remove gray wolves in the upper Great Lakes region from the endangered species list.
The Center for Biological Diversity and four other groups said they were preparing Monday to file their suit in federal court in Washington.
They contend the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acted too hastily last month when it removed federal protections from the estimated 4,000 wolves in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The wildlife agency says the wolves have recovered from the brink of extinction and are capable of surviving under state management.
Opponents also sued earlier this month over the government's removal of wolves in the northern Rockies from the endangered list.
New York Times
Misguided Budget Cuts...Editorial
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/15/opinion/15mon2.html?sq=wetlands&st=cse&scp=2&pagewanted=print
Facing record deficits, the White House is understandably seeking places to cut the federal budget. May we suggest that there are better things to cut than the conservation programs in the farm bill? If farm programs have to bear a proportionate share of the cuts — and they should — there are far-less-deserving farm subsidies that could be chopped without serious harm to anyone except a few well-off farmers.
The 2008 farm bill was a mediocre piece of work tailored, as always, to the needs of big agriculture. Congress earmarked much of the $307 billion, five-year price tag for subsidies that have been around since the New Deal and tend to reward big producers of big row crops like corn, soybeans and wheat.
The good news was that Congress (at the urging of President Bush, who was reform-minded on agriculture) also authorized a $4 billion increase in programs aimed at helping to preserve wetlands, open space and habitat for wildlife. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has targeted several of these programs for $600 million in cuts.
Mr. Vilsack says he selected them only because his department does not have the administrative capacity to distribute the extra money. That lame explanation has so far impressed no one; last week, a House subcommittee rejected the administration’s proposed cuts, leaving the conservation programs largely intact. But dangers lie ahead in the Senate, historically less enthusiastic than the House about conservation spending.
Except for during the Bush years, the Agriculture Department’s environmental programs have always been vulnerable to budget cuts. It is depressing to see the Obama administration revert to old patterns, especially when there are better candidates for the budgetary blade. The most obvious of these is the indefensible program of “direct payments” — subsidies amounting to $5 billion a year based on acreage and past production that flow automatically to farmers in good times and bad.
A modest 10 percent cut in those payments would have little impact on the great majority of farmers. It would give Mr. Vilsack most of the $600 million in cuts he says he needs. It would not hurt the environment. This is clearly the way to go.
Bloomberg.com
U.S. Homebuilder Confidence Unexpectedly Fell in June (Update1)...Shobhana Chandra
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aSGFRjuouGCU
June 15 (Bloomberg) -- Confidence among U.S. homebuilders fell unexpectedly in June, indicating that a recovery from the housing slump will be slow to develop.
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo index of builder confidence decreased to 15 this month from 16 in May, the Washington-based NAHB said today. A reading below 50 means most respondents view conditions as poor.
Builders from Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. to Toll Brothers Inc. continue to report losses as foreclosures mount, worsening the glut of unsold properties and driving down prices at the same time that borrowing costs are rising. Still, other reports show demand is starting to stabilize, which may eventually help residential construction become less of a drag on the economy.
“The housing recovery will be fairly modest and gradual,” said James O’Sullivan, a senior economist at UBS Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut, one of two economists in the Bloomberg survey to accurately forecast the homebuilder index. Rising mortgage rates, increases in household savings and the lingering effects of the credit crunch will hinder a recovery, he said.
The Standard and Poor’s Supercomposite Homebuilding Index fell 2.5 percent to 202.48 at 1:40 p.m. in New York. The gauge has fallen 4.4 percent since the start of this year.
The builder confidence index was forecast to increase to 17 this month, according to the median estimate of 40 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Projections ranged from 15 to 20.
Index Details
The index, which fell to a record low of 8 in January, averaged 16 in 2008. It was first published in January 1985.
The confidence survey asks builders to characterize current sales as “good,” “fair” or “poor” and to gauge prospective buyers’ traffic. It also asks participants to gauge the outlook for the next six months.
The builder group’s index of current single-family home sales held at 14 for a second month. The gauge of buyer traffic stayed at 13 for the third straight time. A measure of sales expectations for the next six months dropped to 26 from 27, the first decrease since February.
“The housing market continues to bump along trying to find a bottom,” David Crowe, chief economist at NAHB, said in a statement. “Builders are taking their cue from consumers, who remain uncertain about the economy and their own situation.”
Builder confidence fell in the South, the country’s largest housing market, sliding to 15 this month from 18 in May. It gained in the remaining three regions, led by the West, where it rose to 14 from 12. The Northeast increased to 20 from 19, while the Midwest showed a gain to 15 from 14.
Borrowing Costs
While rising unemployment is keeping buyers cautious, home sales may be past the worst declines. Figures from the National Association of Realtors showed the number of Americans signing contracts to buy previously owned homes rose 6.7 percent in April, the fourth increase in five months.
Meanwhile, borrowing costs are climbing from record-low levels. The average rate on a 30-year home loan surged to 5.57 percent in the week ended June 5, the highest since November, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Mortgage delinquencies and foreclosure rates in the first quarter rose to the highest level since records began in 1972, figures from the mortgage bankers group showed in May.
Toll Brothers, the largest luxury homebuilder, and Hovnanian, New Jersey’s biggest builder, this month reported quarterly losses as revenue plunged. Still, both businesses narrowed their losses from a year earlier.
“With interest rates near historic lows and housing affordability near historic highs, it appears that some buyers are beginning to re-enter the new-home market,” Robert Toll, chairman and chief executive officer of Toll, said in a June 3 statement.