Political Notebook: Parra still center stage in Assembly race
She's termed out and is leaving politics (for now). But Nicole Parra, D-Hanford, continues to be the focus of attention in the race to succeed her in the state Assembly.
As promised, Parra recently cut a TV ad in support of Republican candidate Danny Gilmore. Democrats are trying to turn Gilmore's positive (a popular Democrat crossing party lines to endorse him) into a negative. Their candidate, Fran Florez -- mother of state Sen. Dean Florez, a longtime Parra rival -- cut a response ad pointing out that Gilmore and Parra weren't exactly holding hands and singing songs when they ran against each other two years ago.
Bee reporter Robert Rodriguez is putting together a story on how the troubled economy is affecting average Valley residents.
His focus is on what people have given up -- services such as those provided by the gardener, the hair stylist or the pool person and treats such as visits to restaurants, specialty vacations and the like.
No, honest, Rolling Stone is getting smaller. It's the whole saving paper thing. The Bee also has gone to a narrower format to use less newsprint. The stuff's expensive.
Rolling Stone's latest hits shelves this week. The issue has Obama on the cover, but when I checked the magazine's Web site today, the main photo was of McCain.
RS has done it before. Early readers will remember a newspaper format, tabloid style. I do.
She was installed as president earlier this year at the association's 100th annual conference in Long Beach. Her two-year term will last until 2010.
The association is a nonpartisan organization of county clerks, clerks to the board of supervisors, and registrars of voters serving in California's 58 counties.
Other officers are Gail Pellerin, the Santa Cruz County Clerk, who was named vice president; Cathy Darling, Shasta County's clerk, who was named treasurer; and Neal Kelley, the Orange County Registrar of Voters, who is secretary.
This story by ABC on the fall of WaMu is pretty shocking - and probably emblematic of the greed and recklessness that characterized lenders during the real estate boom.
Insiders say WaMu's execs ignored their own risk managers and adopted a policy of risky behavior. This disclosure comes on the heels of the AIG revelations - and shows there is plenty of blame to go around.
Political Notebook: Nader campaign to open Fresno office
UPDATE: Today's launch of the Fresno Ralph Nader for President office was changed from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Just two weeks ahead of the November 2000 election, Green Party candidate Ralph Nader made a Fresno campaign stop. This time around, Nader is running as an independent, and instead of a personal visit to the Valley, we'll likely have to make do with a local campaign office.
Local Nader staffers plan to hold a news conference today at 11 a.m. at 1470 N. Van Ness Avenue, to officially open the local Ralph Nader for President office.
It's one of four California offices -- the others are in Berkeley, Los Angeles and Sacramento -- as well as 18 others across the nation that are opening.
In addition, the Nader campaign says it plans to add nearly 50 field staff to its already active volunteer base, with the hope of winning votes in 49 of the nation's 50 states.
Nader, by now a perennial candidate -- either representing a third party or running as an independent -- is again attacking the two major parties in a beyond-longshot bid to win the presidency. He recently referred to the Republicans and Democrats as a "two-party dictatorship."
Political Notebook: Write-in candidate to challenge Radanovich
UPDATE: Leinau has officially qualified as a write-in candidate for the 19th Congressional District, according to the Madera County Clerk-Recorder's office.
Mariposa Republican George Radanovich has a Democratic Party challenger this year for his congressional seat.
But chances are, Radanovich doesn't even know it.
Longtime educator Peter Leinau is mounting a write-in challenge against the veteran legislator.
He recently submitted 93 signatures to the Madera County clerk and is waiting on their official verification. It takes 40 signatures from valid voters in the 19th Congressional District to qualify as a write-in candidate.
Not active in politics, Leinau says he was "shocked" that no Democrat officially challenged Radanovich, who this year is finishing up his seventh term in Congress.
"Something tipped me over the edge in August when I realized nobody was running," Leinau says. "This is too important."
So Leinau, who lives in rural Madera County between Oakhurst and Bass Lake, decided to step up and mount the write-in campaign. He speaks like a traditional Democrat, stressing long-term health-care reform and economic well-being.
He would have voted against the $700 billion financial rescue plan -- which Radanovich supported. Instead, he says, he would favor a more targeted, strategic approach to the problem, starting with homeowner mortgages.
Voters won't see Leinau's name on the Nov. 4 ballot. That means anybody who supports him will have to make the effort to write in his name. They also aren't likely to see much of him on the campaign trail. He plans to spend less than $1,000, and says he will talk to groups and anybody else who wants to listen -- if it doesn't interfere with his family and his job.
Says Leinau: "I'm imagining this more as a viral, word of mouth, voter-to-voter, network-to-network type of campaign."
Several gay rights groups will hold a rally in Visalia on Wednesday to oppose Proposition 8, which would amend the state constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The state Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in May when it overturned a 2000 proposition that sought to ban the practice. The rally will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. at the corner of South Mooney Boulevard and West Walnut Avenue.
Political Notebook: Does Fresno Mayor Alan Autry's endorsement matter?
Would Fresno Mayor Alan Autry's endorsement in the race to succeed him matter?
Autry was more than a little miffed last week at a broadside that Council Member Henry T. Perea and the Fresno Police Officers Association launched against Ashley Swearengin. And he hinted that it might propel him to take sides.
Autry has stayed neutral in the race, so far. But he was peeved that Perea and the FPOA were making an issue of 4-year-old report that Swearengin helped write. The report by the Regional Jobs Initiative, which Swearengin heads, suggested ways to help fund more job creation. Among the suggestions: cap public safety spending from the city's general fund and back fill it with a public safety tax.
The FPOA latched on to the spending cap and said it showed Swearengin was soft on funding police and fire services. FPOA is backing Perea. But FPOA President Jacky Parks was left stammering a bit when it was pointed out that Perea voted, without comment, to accept the very same report.
Autry is co-chair of the jobs initiative and was incensed that anyone would suggest he wanted to erode public safety spending. But if he jumped in and endorsed someone -- presumably Swearengin -- would it really swing any voters to her camp? Or propel more to Perea's side?
There's a bit of discussion on the point at Fresno Famous. The consensus there seems to be that Autry doesn't have much pull.
What do you think? Does the mayor's voice matter in this race?
At least five times a day for the past week I've been hearing achoo at various decibels and velocity, which reminds me that it's time to talk about the Big F in health-care -- Flu.
(Confession first: I didn't get a flu shot last year.) I meant to, but never made it to a clinic or to my doctor. (And full disclosure: I didn't get the flu.)
Public health nurses tell me I dodged a bullet."I believe if you don't get a flu shot, you're playing Russian roulette," says Peggy Richardson, a Fresno County public health nurse.
Richardson has 32 years experience and these statistics to back her up. Each year, 236,000 people are hospitalized for influenza in the United States and 36,000 die of its complications (pneumonia being one of the most common).
Scary numbers. But Richardson admits the flu shot remains a tough sell.
She's yet to completely bust the year-after-year myth that the influenza shot can cause the flu -- it doesn't, she promises. If you get sick after getting a shot, it's because the virus already was incubating inside your body. The shot takes two weeks to build a shield against the flu virus.
This year, there's a big push to get children (little germ factories) flu shots. For the first time, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the shot for children 6 months to 18 years. Last year, it recommended the vaccine for children 6 months to 59 months.
But concerns about Thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative in flu vaccine, make some parents hesitant to get their infants and toddlers immunized.
I'm not getting into the debate about vaccine safety for children here, I just want to pass along this information: There is Thimerosal-free vaccine available for children 3 years of age and younger and for pregnant women. Not only is it available, it's California law that they receive the preservative-free vaccine.
Parents also shouldn't hesitate to ask clinics and doctors to give older children the preservative-free shots, should they want them, I'm told.
As for me, I'm an adult. I'm healthy. Why should I get a shot?
Richardson's sigh over the telephone is louder than a sneeze. Do I want to feel miserable? Do I want to use up sick leave unnecessarily? Well, no. She's got me there.
For a list of flu-shot clinics offered by county health departments check out these links: Fresno County: Kings County:
This idea for helping the mortgage crisis isn't new, but is worth revisiting, according to one of my favorite financial sources.
He suggests splitting mortgages into two pieces. The senior piece would be secured by a first mortgage that a borrower can easily meet. The other piece would be a junior mortgage (also called a silent second) that carries no interest or payment schedule.
The second would be structured in such a way that the borrower and the holder of the junior note would split the proceeds when the property is sold or refinanced.
The junior piece could be offered to investors at a discount, and homeowners would have a new loan with payments they can afford and a reinvigorated motivation to stay in the house. The senior portion also would be an attractive investment that could be sold at no discount.
Yep. And we're writing about it. Story after story.
But what does it all mean? That's what everybody wants to know.
I don't believe the analysts have any clearer picture than the fellow who called early this morning and asked, "How's the stock market doing?"
I pulled up Yahoo! Finance. "Just 350 down," I said. "Just 350?" he aked. The conversation ended quickly after that, but it indicates people's concern. Will I be OK? Will my investments survive? Will the value of my home drop even more? Will I have a job?
As I write this, the market has jumped back in positive territory.
Alll this talk of recession and panic has a bonus: There's been interest shown in the stock market and financial matters by people who never would have cared before. And millions more who understand the ramifications of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the value of good credit and the power of a flush consumer is a good thing.
Expect a number of pocketbook stories from The Bee's business writing staff in the weeks to come. We'll try to put it in consumer-friendly perspective.
Business: Valley perspective on Mother's Cookies closing
Mother's Cookies, a Bay Area mainstay and institution for 92 years, has closed.
Its passing was noted by San Francisco Chronicle staff writer George Raine this week. He wrote that Mother's owner, the Archway & Mother's Cake and Cookie Co. of Battle Creek, Mich., was seeking bankrupcy protection for the Oakland cookie maker.
In the Web version of the his story, Raine discussed the manufacturer's humble start: "According to industry lore, the company was founded in 1914 by a newspaper vendor, N.M. Wheatley, as a one-person shop."
Raine interviewed one of 60 drivers in Northern California affected by the closure: Frank Makely, 59, of Fresno, an employee for the past nine years.
Makely didn't appear pleased. "The owners came in to get rid of us, to chew us up and spit us out," he told Raine. "This is part of the economic crunch, with the CEOs taking the money out and not putting more money into the company.
"I'm too old to get a driving job. Who would hire me?"
Bill McEwen: The Big Valley: Autry speaks on mayoral race; Cincy McCain, Barack Obama, Elgin Baylor, David Letterman
Welcome aboard. Post your comments below.
The Fresno mayoral race finally is heating up with Henry T. Perea saying Thursday that Ashley Swearengin is retreating on public safety funding.
Perea bases his claim on a Regional Jobs Initiative report from October of 2003 that proposed capping general fund spending on public safety and supplementing with a public safety tax.
Perea made the charge even though, as a City Council member, he three times has voted to fund the Regional Jobs Initiative headed by Swearengin.
And Perea faces a potential game-breaker with his attack. Popular Mayor Alan Autry, who hasn't endorsed either candidate, is intepreting Perea's play as an attack on his leadership. Autry also hints that he may endorse Swearengin for the nonpartisan mayor's job. Both are Republicans; Perea is a Democrat.
Said Autry on Thursday: "Accusations like this, if they continue, are making the choice for Fresno's next mayor very easy."
Autry was a founding co-chair of the Regional Jobs Initiative, a public-private partnership begun in 2003 that sought to bring 29,300 new jobs within five years to Fresno and Madera counties. At the end of 2007, the effort had added 17,100 jobs and leaders concended that the RJI would fall short of its target.
Earlier this week I wrote a column about the lack of a defining moment in the mayoral race.
Swearengin and Perea will square off tonight in a debate beginning at 7 o'clock in Fresno State's McLane Hall, north of the Kennel Bookstore. The debate is sponsored by the Smittcamp Honors College and the Fresno State Associated Students.
Political Notebook: Fresno County supervisors hit the road -- just not as much
Nearly every Fresno County department has taken its fair share of cuts this year. And this week it was the Board of Supervisors' turn.
Supervisors agreed to cut their travel expenses by $5,400. But they won't stop traveling.
Two supervisors will attend the week-long annual California State Association of Counties' meeting in San Diego. And Supervisor Susan Anderson will fly to Washington D.C. in February with a delegation of Fresno County leaders to lobby for more federal money for county projects.
Employee union leaders criticized the supervisors for not cutting back travel even further.
"You've got county employees out there who got pink slips, they're losing their jobs and here you are talking about traveling to San Diego and Washington D.C.," said Gene Garcia of SEIU Local 521. "We're in a budget crisis. You've got to set the tone."
About 7.2% of all mortgage loans in Fresno County were 90 days or more delinquent in August, a significant increase from 2.8% a year ago, according to First American CoreLogic, which tracks the data.
Housing prices fell 26% between August 2007 and last August. The current median of a house in Fresno County was $215,455. Nationally, prices fell 7.83%, CoreLogic reported.
The falling prices contributed to a boost in sales of 10.4% during the same period, bucking a nationwide trend. Nationally, sales are down 34%.
We were among the first into this housing mess. Are we going to be among the first out? What do you think?
Political Notebook: Pacific Ethanol Plant Blooming
It will be quite the bipartisan ribbon-cutting in Stockton on Friday, as former Fresno-area state legislator Bill Jones opens the state's largest ethanol facility. Jones, of course, is 100 percent Republican, a former state senator and secretary of state who has had statewide aspirations. Now, he is chairman of Pacific Ethanol, Inc. Joining Jones at the 10 a.m. opening will be Democratic Rep. Jerry McNerney of Pleasanton, now seeking reelection in what may be California's most competitive congressional race. McNerney's Republican opponent, Dean Andal, is not on the publicized guest list -- incumbency doth have its advantages. Kevin Herglotz, who once flacked for former Agriculture Secretary (and Modesto native) Ann Veneman, advises that the Stockton plant will process two million bushels of corn a year.
Business: How is your business coping with crisis?
The Fresno Bee business staff is working on a series of stories that have to do with how people are coping with the financial crisis.
The first is about how business owners are dealing with and adapting to the downturn in the economy. This could be as simple as cutting the electricity bill by eliminating unnecessary lighting or as complex as renegotiating contracts, finding new markets and adding money-saving innovation. Please send a brief description of your strategies to business@fresnobee.com.
Randall and Harriet Fawcett were introduced to Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture while students at Stanford University. A decade later, they asked him to design a house for them near Los Banos.
It was finished in 1961. The Fawcetts raised a family in the house, farmed the adjoining 80 acres and then died. Their daughters have now put the house up for sale - for $2.7 million.
Wright didn't build many houses in the Valley, and he wasn't particularly excited about the prospect of this one. Thumbing through photographs of the area, he told Randall Fawcett, "Not much beauty there."
Fawcett replied: "Actually, Mr. Wright, the Central Valley of California contains the most fertile agriculture land in the world. you should consider it an honor to build a house there."
So, he did. The orchards provided a never-ending supply of firewood, so he built a fireplace that was 12 feet high and six feet wide. The roof pitches up to frame the Coast Range while the house manages to blend in with the earth - a nod to the family's farming heritage, says Crosby Doe, the real estate agent.
Doe, of Beverly Hills, said the house would make a good private retreat or arts center. Doe specializes in the sale of artistic and historic properties.
Each award winner was presented with a Gold, Silver or Bronze certificate of recognition. Grunfos and LiDestri each won silver. The Valley companies will be honored formally Monday in Santa Clara.
"Because of workplace wellness, most employers are finding a ... business savings due to reductions in workers compensation, healthcare insurance rates, increased productivity and lower, long-term healthcare costs. In today's tough economic times, every business dollar saved counts," said Mike MeCey, a spokesman for the event, in an e-mail.
Political Notebook: Mayoral forum for Spanish-speaking voters canceled
A candidate forum to give Spanish-speaking voters a chance to learn more about Fresno mayoral candidates Henry T. Perea and Ashley Swearengin has been canceled. Organizers said there was a lack of interest by the candidates.
But organizers said they will still be at the Rainbow Ballroom at 1725 Broadway today from 5 to 7:30 p.m. to register voters and to distribute information about propositions on the Nov. 4 ballot.
The event was organized by Central California Legal Services, Centro La Familia, the Pan Valley Institute of the American Friends Committee and others.
Look for informational pickets at offices of the San Joaquin valley Air Pollution Control District on Thursday.
District employees are upset about "the high level of turnover and lack of retention of qualified and highly trained staff." They say wages are an average of 18% below comparable districts in California.
Contract talks have been going on since July, and the old contract expired at the end of September.
The Valley air district has one of the lower operating budgets in the state. Officials say the district gets more bang for the public's buck.
Officials also say the turnover is about 10%, which is considered average and desirable. They say salaries can't be the same as those in the Bay Area or Los Angeles.
Employees say it's time for higher wages to keep competent workers at the district.
The pickets are supposed to occur between noon and 1 p.m. in Bakersfield at 2700 M St.; Fresno at 1990 E. Gettysburg Ave., and Modesto at 4800 Enterprise Way.
Political Notebook: Parra still center stage in Assembly race
