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We shouldn't be surprised that city of Fresno's leaders didn't know there would be problems with redevelopment law as they were trying to help Donald Trump put together the Running Horse deal. From Mayor Alan Autry on down, this administration isn't very good with details. Now it seems the Autry administration is trying to divert the blame for the Running Horse problems to the city's Redevelopment Agency. That's not good.
Clearly, Redevelopment Agency officials have bungled this issue, too But let's get past the blame game, and get this deal done in a way that makes this a better city. The finger-pointing at City Hall isn't helpful. There are a lot of people collecting taxpayer-financed paychecks who should be very embarrassed.
The public doesn't care if the Redevelopment Agency is under the City Council, or Autry's administration. Residents see this as another City Hall failure. But this mess again raises the issue that Redevelopment should be under the administration, and not the council. The current arrangement creates an environment of unaccountability. The Running Horse issue is just more evidence that there are structural problems in Fresno's Redevelopment process.
Here's our editorial today giving The Bee's opinion on this issue.
This is part of the editorial:
City officials and Trump representatives alike seemed surprised when they learned that it would be difficult -- if not impossible -- to turn the project site in southwest Fresno into a redevelopment area. That's difficult to fathom. Much of the Running Horse land is rural, but the law allows no more than 20% of any redevelopment area to be undeveloped. In addition, the designated area must be clearly blighted.
It's hard to imagine that city staffers and Trump's legions of high-paid experts didn't know that.
Mayor Alan Autry and City Manager Andy Souza complained that the Redevelopment Agency didn't alert them to the potential obstacle until it was too late. Come on. The agency prepared a map back in 2003 -- when Autry was mayor and Souza was assistant city manager -- that indicated it was unlikely the area could legally be designated for redevelopment.
Singling out the Redevelopment Agency as somehow to blame for the latest collapse of the Running Horse deal suggests that the agency and its director, Marlene Murphy, are being set up to take the fall if the deal is permanently killed. That's unfair, to put it mildly.
It was distressing to hear that Robin Roberts of "Good Morning America" has breast cancer and will be having surgery on Friday. But it is good to hear she caught it early. Ironically, she found the lump the same day that the TV show did a tribute to Joel Siegel, who recently died of cancer.
It was interesting to hear that the cancer was detected by a sonogram, not the mammogram. Her doctor ordered both tests in her case. That's new information for me; I didn't know they were both very useful, especially in young women. Roberts is also one of the 80% of women with no family history of breast cancer.
Reason enough to make that appointment, if you haven't this year. I wish Robin well in her healing process.
Generally, I'm a news junkie, checking updates throughout the day, staying on top of what's going on in the world. But this past week, while on vacation, I stayed off the computer as much as possible.  That's because, like blogger Heather McLane, I wanted to get through the latest Harry Potter book without having the ending spoiled for me.
Unlike my 13-year-old daughter, Alyssa, I can't get through a 750-plus page book in 5 hours. It took me until last night to finish it.
While I don't plan to post any spoilers here, out of respect for those who are still reading, it's now safe for me to return to the World Wide Web without fear of accidentally seeing news I don't want to see.
(Photo: This was me and my 4-year-old little wizard at the bookstore on Friday night, awaiting the midnight release of the last Harry Potter book. We went with my daughter Alyssa and her mom, Yolanda.)
In the category of unintended consequences comes this story from Sara Steffens of the Oroville Mercury-Register. It seems that when it was determined to be safer to put our children in the back seat facing the rear, the incidents of children's deaths from being accidentally left in cars spiked drastically.
She found that between 1990 and 1992, before airbags became popular, 11 children died of hyperthermia after being left in cars. In 2003 and 2005, when parents had learned to buckle children in the backseat, deaths spiked to 119. This is particularly critical issue in the Valley, where the summer temperatures are extreme and cars can go from comfortable to deadly within minutes. Fortunately, There are two monitor sensors in development that could solve the problem. One device developed by NASA combines a car seat presence sensor with a key chain fob that beeps when the driver moves too far from the vehicle. A similar product, the ChildMinder, links a "Smart" chest clip to a keychain alarm. It's not yet available, either, but pre-orders are being taken online (www.babyalert.info)
Well, this is comforting. Computer hackers employed by Secretary of State Debra Bowen were able to break into just about every type of voting machine used in the state and take control of their systems -- even altering vote counts in some cases, according to a story in the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Chron's John Wildermuth wrote: "The researchers 'were able to bypass physical and software security in every machine they tested,' said Secretary of State Debra Bowen, who authorized the 'top to bottom review' of every voting system certified by the state.
"Neither Bowen nor the investigators were willing to say exactly how vulnerable California elections are to computer hackers, especially because the team of computer experts from the UC system had top-of-the-line security information plus more time and better access to the voting machines than would-be vote thieves likely would have."
Well, that's some comfort, I guess. Paper trails, anyone?
Poor people, children, the elderly, the environment -- all of these will get hit hard when the Legislature finally gets around to passing a budget. But one group of Californians won't suffer -- the legislators themselves. In all the wrangling over what to cut and what to keep in the budget, according to a Sacramento Bee story by Jim Sanders, one untouchable item is $15 million to increase staff for Assembly and Senate members.
"Even when state coffers are bare and legislators are fighting over funding for public services from transit to prisons, the Legislature's own budget rises, year after year -- automatically," Sanders writes.
"The number of lawmakers -- 120 -- never changes, but their spending has jumped by 41% since 2000, a rate higher than the general fund's 32% increase since then. The state's average annual rate of inflation was 2.9% during the same period."
And here I was thinking that "taking care of your own" applied to constituents.
I don't know about you, but I'm tiring of this Running Horse saga in which billionaire developer Donald Trump has announced a half-dozen times that he's either going to buy the bankrupt project or he's pulling out of it. Maybe this is what you get when you negotiate such a complicated deal in public.
Now it appears that part of the project won't qualify for redevelopment status.That's crucial to making the deal work. City officials now say the area has too much bare land and not enough blight to qualify for redevelopment status. Putting the surrounding property into a redevelopment area was among conditions that Trump demanded.
That's too bad. Someone needs to get the project out of bankruptcy. But the deal has to meet the rules and stand up to scrutiny. Just get a fair deal done and spare us all the drama.
For all those thousands of Valley folks who entertain, feed, host and attend school with foreign students and visitors every year, take a look at this heartwarming story of the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who brought his entire security detail of a dozen men to the home of an elderly Novato woman.
He's here on official business to see the governor, but first he wanted to meet with his host mom, who changed his life when he stayed in her home as an exchange student 40 years ago.
Here is an excerpt from the Marin Indepedent Journal:
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon came to a quiet Novato neighborhood Thursday with a personal, rather than diplomatic, agenda. Joined by a dozen security men, he came to see the Marin family that hosted him as a student more than 40 years ago.
"It's my second home where I dreamt of returning as a diplomat," Ban said of the blue two-story house at 817 Reichert Ave. where he spent eight days with the Patterson family in 1962. "Coming back as secretary-general of the U.N. I cannot explain how much I'm feeling."
For his first trip to California in his new United Nations role, Ban will meet with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and address a crowd of a thousand at a forum sponsored by the World Affairs Council.
But first, he came to see Libba Patterson of Novato.
Patterson was working for the Red Cross at Hamilton Field when she was offered the opportunity to host an 18-year-old exchange student from South Korea. She and her late husband Robert kept in touch with Ban over the years and even visited him two years ago.
"Can you believe she's 90 years old?" Ban asked a throng of reporters. "You look so pretty and young."
Is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's magazine-cover environmentalism working for him? Maybe not. Despite his relentless efforts to paint hismelf green, Californians' approval rate for his handling of environmental issues fell by 8 points, from 55% in January to 47% today, according to a new survey from the non-partisan Public Policy Insitute of California.
The survey also found that "Significantly more San Joaquin Valley residents (35%) than residents statewide (25%) identify air pollution as a very serious health threat to them and their families."
And in a clear message to the governing board of the Valley air district, "Valley residents (76%) and likely voters (80%) overwhelmingly favor the addition of professionals with knowledge of health and environmental issues to the board of their regional air district. Republicans (82%), Democrats (79%) and independents (78%) are similarly supportive, and support for this proposal is high in the North (75%) and South (77%) SJV regions, and across racial/ethnic (80% whites, 71% Latinos) and all demographic groups."
Like today's featured letter writer in The Bee, Tom L. Carroll, we had our first experience with Operation Cleanup this year. We had a little better experience that he did. I would start staking out the curb with binoculars if I had to keep cleaning up after people like Tom did. There's no excuse for the nonsense that happened to him. I appreciated the service and it worked out fine on our street. It was pretty hilarious, however, watching our neighbors' pile on the curb, expanding and contracting during the week before the pickup. They put out some pretty nice stuff, patio furniture, a fireplace tool set and some other cool things. So day by day, the junk just disappeared from their curb. On the day the trash pickup actually happened, there was almost nothing left!
The subject of who has the right to go through your trash can get far more complex, however. In my e-mail today was a tip from Al Tompkins of the Poynter Institute on the privacy issues connected to trash. What if, for example, identity thieves, reporters -- or the cops -- decide to go through your trash on the curb? And while they are at it, what if they find some incriminating items that may or may not be yours?
From a story by Monica Bradbury of the Anchorage Press: " For Jack Beltz, however, people looking through his trash turned out to be a major problem. Especially when those people were the cops and his trash included, according to court documents, one empty container of Coleman fuel, one empty acetone can, hundreds of matchbook covers with the striker plates removed, seven empty containers of HEET, twelve empty bottles of cold allergy tablets, stained coffee filters, stained tubing and stained latex gloves -- all items used to make methamphetamine.
Beltz, a Wasilla resident, and his attorney thought the evidence should be thrown out -- the Alaska State Trooper and Palmer Police officer involved didn't have a warrant, after all. A judge in Palmer agreed. But when the State brought the case to Alaska's Court of Appeals, that judge's decision was overturned. It's not illegal for someone -- anyone -- to go through another person's trash without a warrant."
Robert Heinlein, the great science fiction writer, was born 100 years ago this month. A nice commentary in the Wall Street Journal offers some insight into this talented man, and raises some of the issues I've wrestled with as I read -- with great enthusiasm -- his many books over the years.
Heinlein's earliest works, like "Rocket Ship Galileo," "Double Star," "Between Planets," were "boys books," written for, well, boys like me.
His more serious works, written later, examined social and cultural issues in great detail, and with great wit. He flirted with leftist politics as a young man, but became an icon of American libertarians in his later years. I never bought into the whole libertarian catechism -- I still laugh at the recollection of a friend who once described libertarians, with a snort, as "Republicans who smoke dope."
But that never detracted from my great enjoyment of Robert Heinlein's work. Now that I've been made aware of his centennial, I may just pull some of those volumes off the shelves and give them another read.
Fresnans must be getting tired of just sitting in the seats at the movies these days. I've been to two movies in the last couple of weeks and I got more than I paid for in my ticket price. Talk about added value for your money -- you get John Travolta, Michael Moore, Michelle Pfeiffer -- and public policy, too! Well, OK!
I caught a screening of "Sicko" and afterward, Will Tranquilli of Fresno was on the aisle passing out flyers titled "Sickened by Sicko?" He was polite, but freely willing to talk about the issue with anyone who asked. His message was, don't let the HMOs buy off our next president. "Ask the presidential candidates to promise not take campaign money from any corporate PACs, lobbyists or executives of HMOs, big health insurers and drug companies," he flyer said. At the bottom, the flyer said, "Paid for by MoveOn.org Political Action, http://pol.moveon.org."
A week or so later, my husband and I caught a Sunday matinee of the movie "Hairspray" and Randy Breugman, Fresno's fire chief, actually appears on the big screen (when the machines are all working right!) He does a commercial encouraging people to upgrade their fire protection to include sprinklers.
There was also a little activist for the arts in the audience. The music for "Hairspray" is infectious, and there were a lot of adults whose feet and hands were tapping. Well, it was just all too much for little Max Rosenthal, who was there with his mother, Aviva, an artist and writer.
Max jumped up and danced his heart out up and down the aisles, unable to contain his enthusiasm. I was up in the stadium seating, and his mom was in the first row. But I could see the silhouette of that little curly head bouncing all over the place. He was just doing what we all wished we could do. Aviva said Max has always been a natural dancer, who just has to move when the music starts. She and Max were kicked out of "Chicago" by when Max was 2 because all that great music and movement was just too much for his little dancing feet. He had to join in. Max hasn't had dancing lessons, but his aunt was a professional dancer, so it might be in his blood.
Get ready, Fresno officials, Max is one powerful spokesman for the arts. A lot of public policy discussions put folks to sleep on the dais. That will never happen when Max is in the house.
State Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, has just released this statement in the wake of Tuesday's hearing in Sacramento on gender equity. He titled it: "Hearing Outcome? What should CSU do?"
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM
The CSU should remove the University's legal counsel as the Title IX compliance officer and create a new independent office of gender equity that reports directly to the CSU Trustees.
The CSU should develop an emergency Gender Equity and Title IX training regime, ensuring that all appropriate staff receive training prior to the commencement of the 2008-09 school year. Appropriate staff includes all athletic department personnel and executive level university management.
The CSU should require mandatory gender equity committee on each campus to meet quarterly in an open and public forum, subject to the open meetings laws of the Brown Act. Members of the committee should be representative of all aspects of the campus community including appointees from the administration, academic senate, athletics department and student government.
The CSU should require an administrative structure where gender equity complaints go directly to the CSU Office of Gender Equity rather than through an individual campus's human resources administrative structure.
The CSU should require new monitoring and data collection processes that will capture data on the facility use, scheduling, coaching experience and salary.
The CSU should tie job performance of University presidents and top administrators to campus compliance with all three Title IX goals as outlined in the California NOW consent decree. This information will be used for consideration of raises and promotions within the university system.
The CSU should require gender equity investigations to be conducted under stricter rules of evidence gathering, including the requirement that all statements are made under and penalty of perjury. The CSU should further require that the complainant, as well as the persons being investigated, have the right to record any statement made in this process in order to ensure availability for future proceedings as well as accuracy.
California State University, Fresno
Fresno State should immediately "un-recess" the Gender Equity Committee at CSU Fresno and have quarterly meetings of the committee. Additionally, all meetings should be public, with the committee keeping minutes that are available to the public.
LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL(s)
Create State Government Position, the Office of Gender Equity in Academics in the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General.
Require the California State University to create an Office of Gender Equity that reports directly to the Trustees.
Require the University of California to create an Office of Gender Equity that reports directly to the Regents.
Require each campus to have a Gender Equity and Title IX compliance officer that reports directly to the Office of Gender Equity in the respective university system. This individual shall not hold any other position or responsibilities within the University system.
Require and implement annual mandatory Gender Equity and Title IX training for all athletic department personnel and executive level university management.
Specific Requirements Under California Law: codify the requirements of the Cal-NOW consent decree as the exclusive means to comply with Title IX pursuant to California Law.
Participation: 5%
Expenditures: 10%
Scholarships: 5%
Plan for Compliance: require each campus to write a plan and make it public that outlines how they intend to reach the participation, expenditure, and scholarship goals required by law, as well as all other issues of parity in athletics.
Certification of Status of Compliance: each university campus must certify the status of compliance with "California Title IX" to the Attorney General on an annual basis. The certification shall be made by the head of each university campus and shall be made under penalty of perjury. The Office of the Attorney General shall make the certifications available to the public, and shall publish the certifications on an appropriate website.
Compliance Plan: any university not in compliance in any given year must submit a compliance plan to the Office of the Attorney General within 30-days of the certification of non-compliance.
Statement of Compliance or Non-Compliance: based upon the status certification of compliance with the Office of the Attorney General, each university campus must include a statement of compliance or non-compliance on all correspondence, promotional materials (irrespective of media type), and recruiting materials related to athletics. For Example: "CSU Fresno is a California Title IX Non-Complaint University", or "CSU Fresno is a California Title IX Compliant University."
Receivership: any university that fails to certify compliance with "California Title IX" requirements for two consecutive years may have up to 20% of their athletic department budget placed into receivership by the Office of Gender Equity in Academics under the Attorney General. The Office of the Attorney General would then be empowered to make appropriate adjustments in an effort to obtain compliance with the requirements of "California Title IX."
Complaints: the Attorney General's Office shall develop a process to receive and investigate complaints of gender inequity in academics. Additionally, the Office of the Attorney General shall receive copies of all complaints made at each individual campus and shall monitor the status of those complaints and subsequent investigations. The Office of the Attorney General shall have broad jurisdiction to investigate any complaint of gender inequity in academics, irrespective of where a complaint was filed, if at all.
Investigations and Statements: all statements made during investigations of gender inequity and academics shall be made under penalty of perjury. Any individual providing a statement under such an investigation shall have the right to record the interview and any statements made.
Dean Florez
Two days after a Fresno County Superior Court jury awarded former Fresno State volleyball coach Lindy Vivas a $5.85 million verdict in her discrimination case against Fresno State, the chancellor of the university system told me in a telephone call that he wanted to settle the case, but Vivas and her lawyer would not budge from her demand for $4.1 million. That conversation with Charles B. Reed, the chancellor of the California State University system, was July 11.
Now I learn that Reed's contention to me was not accurate. In a special legislative hearing Tuesday in Sacramento, it was revealed that Vivas offered to settle for $1.75 million. It could have even been less, because that was where the negotiations were to begin. Fresno State started at $15,000 and the negotiations never progressed from there.
Reed also told the Senate committee that the jury's verdict was improper and the jury "was essentially trying to punish the CSU."
The problem with that line of thinking is Reed and Fresno State officials rolled the dice instead of settling the case. You never know what a jury will do, so it makes sense for both sides to try and settle before trial. Fresno State and CSU decided to go to court and it will cost them.
The jury award could get reduced by a judge or thrown out altogether. But that's another gamble.
Maybe, maybe not, but the picture is bleak. Here's what we said in an editorial published today:
"California's proposed high-speed rail system is on life support, and the governor and Legislature have issued a 'do not resuscitate' order. If the project is killed, it will be an appalling betrayal of the state's residents, and a legacy of shame that should attach itself to our so-called 'leaders' until the end of history."
Democrats in the Assembly wiped out $55 million in funding for the project -- along with more than $1 billion in other transit funds -- in what so far has been a vain attempt to win at least minimal Republican support for a budget deal in the state Senate. The governor has made no effort to move the project forward, despite his fine words in this commentary written for The Bee and published in May.
California, once a progressive beacon to the world, has lost the capacity to think beyond its own nose. What a terrible shame.
To the tune of "That Old Time Religion"
(chorus)
We just love to build those highways,
We just love to build those highways,
We just love to build those highways,
Let's build some more today.
They were good in the 1950s,
They were good in the 1950s,
They were good in the 1950s,
Who needs a stinkin' train?
Yeah, ol' Arnold loves his Hummers,
Yeah, ol' Arnold loves his Hummers,
Yeah, ol' Arnold loves his Hummers,
He never rides a train.
Let them build their trains in China,
Let them build their trains in China,
Let them build their trains in China,
We sure don't need 'em here.
We will put our faith in Caltrans,
We will put our faith in Caltrans,
We will put our faith in Caltrans,
And pave this paradise.
We just love to build those highways,
We just love to build those highways,
We just love to build those highways,
Let's build some more today.
I got an e-mail today from Stuart Bernstein in New York, telling me the good news about Dinuba native Manuel Muñoz, author of "The Faith Healer of Olive Avenue," a collection of short stories published by Algonquin Books. According to the Irish Times, he is among six finalists for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Prize, which carries a prize of about 35,000 euros. Right now, that's about $48,300.
Manuel Muñoz' work last appeared in The Bee on May 6, when he wrote a commentary for us titled " Life Lessons from a Woman of her Word," a story about a Cornell professor who took special pains to convince his family that he should pursue graduate studies on the East Coast. His first collection of short stories, "Zigzagger," was published by Northwestern University Press in 2003. Muñoz graduated from Harvard University and received his master's degree in fine arts in creative writing at Cornell. He now lives in New York City, where he is at work on a novel. If you like his work, he will be coming to Reedley on Oct. 11 for a reading.
State Sen. Dean Florez's office says San Joaquin Valley residents wanting to watch the Senate's gender equity hearing on Tuesday can catch it on Comcast Cable, which carries the California Channel on Channel 14. The hearing will run from 10 a.m. until about 1 p.m. You also can watch a webcast here from the Cal Channel.
As mentioned in an earlier blog posting today, the Senate is holding a hearing on gender equity in California's public universities Tuesday morning. Florez chairs the special committee that was just created by Senate leaders. CSU Chancellor Charles Reed and Fresno State President John Welty are scheduled to testify at the Sacramento hearing.
There is a lot of buzz in the community about the River Park curfew for teens, but I got an unexpected call on the topic the other day from a senior citizen. She noted that in our editorial, there was a comment about there being senior centers here. She wanted to laugh at that. It is nothing but a shell, she says, with nothing interesting to do there. Clovis' center is great, she said; Visalia is also good but it was her opinion that Fresno was sadly lacking by comparison. Why is that, she wonders. I did a quick check online and found a lot of classes scheduled to meet there.When I called the center, the receptionist said in addition to classrooms, there is a room where seniors can hang out, play dominoes, put together puzzles, talk. She said the Red Hats meet there regularly. Is anyone else a fan or a foe of this center?
To find out about the class schedule, call 457-6000 and ask for the Senior Center at Manchester. The hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The schedule also is online.
The State Senate will hold a hearing on gender equity in California's public universities Tuesday, and the big question is whether something substantive will come out of the session. If it's just theatrics, I hope the hearing is very short. We don't need political grandstanding. Gender discrimination remains a huge problem, as we have found at Fresno State, and this hearing could be useful if it comes up with real solutions.
It won't help if Fresno State and California State University officials continue to say there isn't a problem. That's been their public stance so far, and it's become very tiresome. No one believes that's true, and I don't think they believe it themselves.
CSU Chancellor Charles Reed and Fresno State President John Welty should go to the hearing prepared to say how they are going to fix the problem, and not say everything is fine. Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, the committee chairman, should ask tough, probing questions, but not use the hearing to play gotcha.
Florez, D-Shafter, asked for the committee to be established after a Fresno County Superior Court jury awarded former Fresno State volleyball coach Lindy Vivas $5.85 million in her discrimination suit against the university. Fresno State faces two other discrimination suits in the coming months. Vivas will also testify at the Sacramento hearing.
This hearing has taken on added significance because of a huge gender-equity settlement in the UC system. Karen Moe Humphreys, a former Olympic gold medal swimmer, will receive more than $3.5 million to settle her discrimination case against UC Berkeley. Do you think the UC Regents had the Vivas settlement on their minds when they agreed to settle the case with Moe, who was a coach and administrator at UC Berkeley?
These cases aren't isolated incidents and the taxpayers are on the hook for millions of dollars because university officials allow discrimination against women. We should fix this because it's the right thing to do. But if that isn't reason enough for our leaders, they should be concerned about paying out so much money in lawsuits.
I'm tired of presidential candidates zipping into the San Joaquin Valley and only meeting with people who pay to see them at fund-raisers. Gone are the days of the political rallies where you could take your children to see presidential candidates -- introducing them to democracy in a very direct way.
Now most of us only see the candidates in TV ads, news coverage or campaign mailers sent to our homes. My column today talks about this impersonal way of campaigning and praises the Fresno City Council for inviting the candidates to Fresno for a presidential town hall meeting.
Now that would generate interest in next year's election. In the past, rallies built enthusiasm for the candidates, and I'm convinced they drove up voter turnout. We could use that today. But there's only an occasional event where the public is invited.
Here's a portion of today's column discussing the benefits of a presidential town hall meeting in Fresno:
The town hall concept was the idea of Council Member Brian Calhoun, who said the region deserves more attention than generic stump speeches. He'd like to see a major discussion of the immigration issues by the presidential candidates.
Calhoun is right. The Valley is ground zero in the immigration reform battle. This is where the issue collides.
Debate immigration here
We have conservative Republicans who say the problem can be easily solved by just shutting down our border with Mexico. We have farmers who don't want immigration reform to block their supply of cheap labor. We have politicians complaining that illegal immigrants are overwhelming our schools, hospitals and other public facilities. We have activists who say the undocumented should be accepted and given a path to citizenship that would take them out of the shadows of illegality.
It all comes together in the Valley. Every argument for and against immigration reform has been made here. What better place for the presidential candidates to explain their plans to reform the immigration system?
The next time you see a member of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors -- Bob Waterston, Judy Case, Susan Anderson, Phil Larson, Henry Perea -- tell them the county has plenty of money if the board would only spend it properly. Here's The Bee's editorial from today pointing out that the board has not been straightforward with taxpayers when it says the county has severe financial problems.
Ask the supervisors why they are giving 60% of the county's employees pay raises exceeding 10% if the sheriff is threatening to lay off deputies, and the district attorney is saying she can't prosecute cases? Ask them why they are giving out huge raises when they claim that there may not be enough money coming in to balance the budget.
Wake up taxpayers. This is one of the great political spin jobs of the century.
A dark thread that is running through this discussion about the River Park curfew is a deep-seated hostility from "the elders" against young people in general. That's typical. And it's pretty hilarious when it's coming from the Baby Boomers, especially the ones who grew up in the 60s and 70s.
This is a generation I belong to -- a group that holds a place in history for being among the most outrageous teens. Though we were a diverse group, just like today's teens, we made the newspapers for horrifying our parents by going without bras; preferring long, unkempt hairstyles; shutting down campuses with protests against the Vietnam War; taking drugs like today's teens eat Skittles; attacking police and referring to them as "pigs;" celebrating promiscuity as "free love" and worshipping musicians who glorified all the above. One of the generational slogans was "Don't Trust Anyone Over 30." And now some of these same people think it's fine to clamp down on teens, who just want to meet their friends and drink fruit smoothies with protein boosts?
Can it be true that these are the same folks who are now upset at a little coarse language, the sight of some baggy jeans or a strap from a little thong underwear? At least, today's kids are wearing underwear!
That's why I love getting older. It is so much fun seeing what goes around when it comes around. Jump in on the River Park discussion. It's fun. Our editorial is here.
My blog is here. Jim Boren's blogging here. Mike Osegueda is blogging here.
State Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, just sent me an email confirming that his hearing on gender equity and Title IX compliance in the California's public universities will begin at 10 a.m. Tuesday. The hearing is in response to the $5.85 million verdict against Fresno State in the Lindy Vivas discrimination case.
The Senate wants to determine if there's widespread violations of gender-equity laws that could put the state in jeopardy of paying out similar amounts. Florez is chairman of the comittee.
The hearing will be in Room 3191 of State Capitol. It will be carried on the Cal Channel, according to Florez. He said witnesses will include Fresno State President John Welty and Charles B. Reed, chancellor of the California State University system. Vivas also is expected to testify.
Other committee members are Sens. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Rosa, and Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento.
The committee will have a lot of material to consider. This is from today's Los Angeles Times:
Karen Moe Humphreys, a former Olympic gold medal swimmer who became a coach and administrator at UC Berkeley, will receive more than $3.5 million to settle a gender discrimination lawsuit she brought against the university, the UC Board of Regents agreed Thursday.
Humphreys, who worked at UC Berkeley from 1978 until she was laid off in 2004, alleged that she lost her job in retaliation for complaining about the treatment of women by the university's athletic department.
Under the agreement, Humphreys will be reinstated and then retire in January when she reaches 30 years with the university. She said the $3.5 million will go entirely to cover her attorney fees and legal costs.
We're constantly told that young people spend money and retailers are doing everything they can to bring them to their stores. Conversely, my age group -- baby boomers -- is reportedly losing favor with retailers. Maybe they figure we're going to die off soon and the young people have many more years to buy stuff.
So it strikes us as odd that the River Park shopping center in north Fresno doesn't want teens hanging out there. Aren't they alienating a lot of future customers? Here's our editorial on the subject. What do you think?
The River Park folks say they had to take this action because of disturbances caused by the young people, and they had no choice other than banning those under 18 who aren't accompanied by a parent or guardian.
They also wrote a letter to the editor responding to our editorial. It will run in the paper tomorrow. I'm posting it here right now:
You aren't the only one who is confused. It seems there is quite a bit of confusion surrounding the new Six/18 policy at River Park. Allow me to clarify:
First and foremost this idea that anyone will be detained or that there will be some sort of "Holding pen for "violators"" is ridiculous. This idea seems to have originated with some of the broadcast media and been perpetuated in print. Please let the public know that you have made an error on this point. I think it is serving to create a lot of unnecessary angst.
While we have no objection to a difference of opinion about this new policy we would like to have a discussion that is based on the facts as they exist and were disseminated.
River Park will simply have a phone available and chairs to wait in should a teen choose to use it to call a parent to join them or pick them up from the Center. Please don't add sinister overtones where there are none.
This new policy is intended to maintain River Park as the safe, fun, family-friendly venue that it has always been.
Amy Glines
Publicist/River Park
I checked the San Joaquin Valley Library System Web site just a few minutes ago.  As of this morning, 531 people are on the reserved waiting list for the new Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," which comes out Saturday. Another 112 people are on the waiting list for the audio CD version of the book, which consists of 17 discs.
According to Canadian Press, a record 2 million people worldwide have already preordered Deathly Hallows from Amazon, and millions more books are expected to sell within the first 24 hours of its release to shatter previous Potter records.
I'm still looking for suggestions on which local bookstore has the best pre-release festivities on Friday night, leading up to the midnight sale. Let me know where you'll be.
The editorial board met with Fresno Chaffee Zoo director Lewis Greene on Tuesday to talk about the master plan for the zoo. Read our editorial about it here. There is a meeting tonight on that issue and I encourage everyone who digs the zoo to hear about the plans. They are very exciting. Take a look at the maps here.
Beyond all the cool animal exhibits, there are ideas for a restaurant that overlooks the grasslands. The model is from the Emmen Zoo in the Netherlands. Here is another one in Amsterdam. One of my many longings for Fresno for awhile has been a restaurant with a view. Most places we travel in this country and elsewhere, there are usually cool destination restaurants with views. In San Francisco, of course, they are everywhere and absolutely every beach town has a restaurant with a view. One of my favorite all time memories is a lunch we enjoyed in Bratislava, Slovakia. There's a revolving restaurant in a communications tower on top of a hill. The view is spectacular. They also have a restaurant on top of their signature city bridge, which spans the Danube. )
Right now, Fresno has, um, just one that I can think of that's open to the public. That's at the Copper River Country Club (they make a very nice Sunday brunch).
That bites. We need more.
The California Senate on Tuesday formed a committee to investigate gender discrimination in the athletic programs of the state's public universities. State Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, asked for the committee after a Fresno County Superior Court jury awarded former Fresno State volleyball coach Lindy Vivas $5.85 million in her discrimination suit against the university. Florez will chair the committee and has already said that he will call Fresno State President John Welty to testify.
University officials denied any discrimination in the Vivas firing and said they did not renew her contract because of poor performance. The university says it plans to appeal the verdict.
Florez's move to have committee hearings on gender equity and Title IX compliance has the backing of Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, who issued this statement on Tuesday:
"It's sad to see that more than 30 years after this landmark legislation was passed, there are those who would reverse the gains made by women in sport, and in fact, in society. Title IX embodies the values of inclusion and equality that ought to be fostered by our public universities. The Members of this Legislature are committed to ensuring that is and continues to be the case."
Other committee members are Sens. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Rosa, and Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento.
The full press release from Florez's office follows:
For Immediate Release Jennifer Hanson
July 17, 2007 916-651-4016
Title IX review panel receives Senate approval
Formal recognition means Florez can begin investigation of CSUF sex discrimination case
SACRAMENTO - The California State Senate today formally approved the formation of a committee to investigate gender discrimination in university athletic programs and abuses of Title IX, designed to create gender equity in college athletics, as the Valley continues to reel from a nearly $6 million jury verdict against California State University, Fresno.
Last week a jury agreed that former CSUF volleyball coach Lindy Vivas was let go over her advocacy on behalf of Title IX, as well as the perception that she is a lesbian. The award was $2 million more than she had sought, reflecting the degree to which they empathized with her experience at the school.
In the wake of that news, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-East Bay) announced the formation of the Senate Select Committee on Gender Discrimination and Title IX Implementation, with Senator Dean Florez (D-Shafter) serving as its chair. Committee members are expected to include Senators Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Rosa) and Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento).
Florez, who has questioned whether CSUF would be better served by new leadership given the recent verdict and other serious claims pending, is eager to call CSUF president John Welty to Sacramento to testify on how the situation at his school's athletic department devolved to this point. He and other committee members will also inquire about the university's plan going forward to prevent additional acts of discrimination.
"Many of our country's great Olympians got their opportunity to train and compete at the top level - without having to sacrifice education - because of Title IX," Florez said. "For my daughter and thousands of little girls like her with big dreams of their own, I have no intention of seeing Title IX eroded on my watch."
Perata and other legislative leaders expressed a firm resolve to explore whether a pattern of discriminatory behavior toward women in athletics exists at the state's public universities, or if the ruling against CSUF and Welty represent an isolated situation. The size of the verdict and two additional sex discrimination lawsuits pending against CSUF factored heavily in the legislators' call for hearings and further review.
"It's sad to see that more than 30 years after this landmark legislation was passed, there are those who would reverse the gains made by women in sport, and in fact, in society," Perata said in announcing the committee. "Title IX embodies the values of inclusion and equality that ought to be fostered by our public universities. The Members of this Legislature are committed to ensuring that is and continues to be the case."
Here are the committee's official duties:
Nature, Scope and Purpose
The proposed select committee is entitled the "Senate Select Committee on Gender Discrimination and Title IX Implementation." The committee will have jurisdiction to review gender discrimination as well as compliance with Title IX at California's higher education institutions.
In particular the committee proposes to investigate the following issues and topics:
Review the culture that has fostered at CSUF that has resulted in at least three formal gender discrimination lawsuits. The committee will also review the extent that these lawsuits have demonstrated a pattern of gender discrimination under the current college administration.
In particular the committee will focus on the 1994 investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights that found that Fresno State's athletic program had violated Title IX provisions.
The committee will also look at the university's "corrective action plan" as a result of the Dept of Ed's investigation and how it was implemented - or not implemented - and who is/was responsible for it implementation.
Review the history and the extent of all settlements - including "secret settlements" and jury verdicts related to gender discrimination at CSUF and CSU system-wide.
In particular, the committee will review the amount of taxpayer money that has been spent to litigate and settle gender discrimination claims. It will also look at the extent that the university's policies and practices have served to increase the amount of liability of taxpayer dollars.
Better understand how CSUF and the CSU system have responded in the aftermath of settlements and jury verdicts associated with gender discrimination lawsuits and/or complaints. What policies have been put into place as a result.
A complete review of, and a better understanding of, the implementation of Title IX. This will include whether CSUF and the CSU system have implemented Title IX according to the letter and spirit of the law and whether any laws have been broken and by whom.
How CSUF and the CSU system intend to change the culture of discrimination against women which has been affirmed by a jury. The committee will try to better understanding why a jury could make such findings of fact in the Vivas case.
Review the training and the management systems that are in place to detect and address complaints of gender discrimination.
At the conclusion of this investigation the committee intends to realize the following:
Provide much needed pubic attention to the issue of gender discrimination as a means to create greater transparency throughout our public institutions.
We hope to instill a sense of confidence that this type of discrimination claims will be taken seriously and that those who violate the spirit and letter of the law will be held accountable for their actions.
Promote a culture of gender equality at California's universities.
Ensure that all leaders at CSU are trained in identifying and addressing issues of gender discrimination.
The development of management policies and procedures that have the effect of creating a culture free from gender discrimination - even if that means that certain individuals should no longer hold position of authority within the CSU system.
The committee intends to accomplish the above by:
Conducting a series of public hearings.
Call upon leaders at CSUF and the CSU system to testify as to their understanding of the implementation of Title IX as well as other issues related to gender discrimination.
Hear first-hand testimony from individuals who have been discriminated against or who have experienced gender discrimination at CSUF or other CSU campuses.
Hear from the US Department of Education's civil rights division and review investigative documents related to the 1994 report findings
Request and review appropriate internal and external documents, faxes, e-mails and other supporting materials.
Editorial cartoonist Michael Ramirez weighs in on the recent news of the Los Angeles archdiocese's $660 million settlement with more than 500 alleged victims of clergy sex abuse, the largest-ever U.S. payout.
Today's editorial page offers an interactive view of the Old Administration Building at Fresno City College and efforts to restore the historic structure. Click here to read the editorial, see photos of the building and hear those who went to school there talk about it.
Construction on the building began in 1915 and opened the next year. It was the first permanent structure on what was then the Fresno Normal School campus, the predecessor of Fresno State. It served generations of students, faculty and staff. The building has not been used since 1976 after being shuttered because it didn't meet earthquake safety standards.
Now it's being restored. It will cost about $41 million, with $30 million coming from a bond measure that voters have already passed. The state will help. But more money will be needed. Fresno City College faculty and staff are raising $1 million, and the community still must raise about $4 million.
Take a look at this interactive project and tell us what you think.
Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez said Assembly Democrats will offer a state budget on Wednesday that will protect Valley constituents, including allocating money to save the Williamson Act. This provision allows farmland to be assessed at farmland value for tax purposes instead of its potential as housing tracts or some other use.
State funding for the program was once at risk because Gov. Schwarzenegger did not include it in his budget. But the Legislature did and it appears that the governor is coming around on the issue -- if we ever get a budget.
Núñez is trying to put pressure on Assembly Minority Leader Mike Villines of Clovis to pass the budget. Villines and GOP members in the Assembly say they won't vote for a budget until more spending cuts are made. The speaker has called a budget vote for Wednesday.
"Let Mr. Villines and his members explain to their constituents that their conservative ideology is more important than the practical needs of their constituents," Núñez said in a phone interview with me a few minutes ago.
Assembly Democrats also released this statement:
Speaker Núñez says the 2007/08 budget to be voted on Wednesday is similar to the revised spending plan produced by Republican Governor Schwarzenegger in May. However, Speaker Núñez says the legislature's modified version includes a higher emergency reserve and a lower operating deficit than the Governor's proposal. The budget to be voted on Wednesday is balanced, does NOT include any new taxes and does include a $2.1-billion reserve.
Here are links to audio of Speaker Núñez talking with reporters. The links were provided by the speaker's office.
Speaker Núñez says the Assembly and Senate have scheduled votes on a budget for this Wednesday.
Speaker Núñez says GOP lawmakers are demanding budget cuts that Democrats can not support.
Speaker says he's not sure if GOP Governor Schwarzenegger can persuade GOP lawmakers to vote for a budget.
Speaker says GOP lawmakers have refused to state publicly what spending cuts they want.
Should we be surprised that nearly 29% of teenage drivers participating in a survey said they send text messages while driving a car? Frankly, I'm stunned that the percentage is so low. Teens text all the time, so the fact that 7 out of 10 don't text while driving is the big surprise to me.
This story in the Riverside newspaper said the Seventeen Magazine/AAA survey asked 1,000 16- and 17-year olds whether they sent text messages while driving. It was part of a study about their driving habits.
Students interviewed by the newspaper wonder what the big deal is. "It's just like texting in class," one student said. "You don't have to look at your phone while you do it."
Another student said talking on the phone while driving was more dangerous than text messaging, according to the story in the Riverside Press-Enterprise.
There you have it. Straight from the text messengers themselves.
Consider how this will change driving as they get older and most people on the road will be text messaging. No more fliiping someone off during an episode of road rage. You text message the jerk. How civilized.
Russ Minick, my colleague who usually edits all the letters, is away from the office this week, so I'm substituting for him. It's always interesting to read everything that comes in, and I have a couple of observations...
You know how I'm always encouraging folks, especially women, to write in? Well, gosh, work with us. Do you know how many good letters I had to file because they didn't follow the rules? Dozens! I hate that! Put your full name, phone number and address on the letter, and keep it 200 words or less. If you don't follow the basic guidelines, even the best letter probably won't get read. And please, don't just copy things off the Internet and sign your own name to it. Those letters get a one-way express ticket to a popular place known as Recyclebin USA.
The hot topics of letters I got in the mail today are the River Park controversy and the Lindy Vivas verdict. In Saturday's Bee, teen Nora Walker already jumped in on the River Park problem. We'll spend today confirming those new letters (making sure they are authentic) and you'll see them in the paper starting Wednesday. On Tuesday, we've got letters on the following issues: English first, gun safety, unmarried couples having children, the younger generation, the dead turkey controversy.
Enjoy!
Stop complaining about state government and start putting pressure on the people who make the decisions -- the so-called "Big Five." If you want changes, write, phone or email these leaders who call the shots in Sacramento:
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Assembly Speaker Fabián Núñez of Los Angeles
Assembly Minority Leader Mike Villines of Clovis
Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata of Oakland
Senate Minority Leader Dick Ackerman of Irvine.
My column today even offers you a sample letter that you might write to the governor and legislative leaders.
Here's the sample letter:
Dear Big Five Member:
As a California resident concerned about the lack of action on the state's most serious problems, I'm asking you to put aside your coziness with special interests and your loyalty to your political party.
The problems in this state are not Democratic problems or Republican problems. They are problems that citizens must deal with every day, and things don't seem to be getting better in California.
Our public schools are crowded, our children aren't performing well and their teachers complain about spending more time testing than teaching.
When I drive to Los Angeles, the freeways are like parking lots and they are so beat up that I'm sure I will need an alignment on my car when I finally get there.
My children have asthma, and it is especially bad during the summer. The Valley air district just delayed cleaning up our air for another decade. My children will be adults before government helps them breathe clean air.
My daughter had an asthma attack and we went to the emergency room. We sat there for hours behind dozens of others needing medical attention. The nurse said it was because the state won't solve the health-care crisis.
A police officer told me that prison overcrowding will force the state to release felons back into my neighborhood because the Legislature won't deal with the prison crisis.
The parks we used to go to aren't being maintained anymore. I was told it's because government has to make cuts to pay for the pension increases and other goodies you've given public employee unions.
Then I hear you folks figured out how to get your expense checks even when you're on holiday. I don't have an expense account and the two jobs I'm working at barely pay all my bills.
I wish you were in my shoes just once. Then maybe you'd see how playing politician does not help those of us who actually must deal with the problems you ignore.
I have to go back to work now. Thanks for listening.
Sincerely, Your loyal constituent.
I am so offended by River Park's new 6/18 program, I hardly know where to start. Simply, it's a new rule that no one under 18 can come to the Shops at River Park on Friday or Saturday nights after 6 p.m. without a parent or guardian.
The disrespectful message this sends to our community's young people is patently inexcusable. This has "Idiots!" written all over it. Worldwide, young people are socializing, shopping, dancing and eating in malls, downtowns, plazas and piazzas. But in Fresno, it's just too much for us.
I cannot even begin to imagine the reaction of the international students (who will be arriving in Fresno in about three weeks) when I tell them about this one. It's been tough enough to explain why Americans consider it less dangerous to drive a car at 16 than to drink a glass of wine or dance in a club. But when I tell them they cannot even buy a T-shirt alone at the city's most popular shopping center until they are 18, it's literally going to be the laugh heard round the world.
I recently blogged about the FBI, entrusting people as young as 16 with top secret state documents - hey, they'd better not come to Fresno. We don't even trust them with a Jamba Juice! Now aren't we cosmopolitan!
The Valley's young people should not take this insult quietly. It's time to write, blog, flame and use your voices and your purchasing power to send a message to the owners of River Park. We encourage your blog postings, commentaries and letters to the editor right here to start and I'll put up more information as we get it. Send letters to the editor here. Send longer commentaries up to 750 words here . And, of course, you can post blog comments here as well.
Another splendid technological fix for a vexing problem has burst upon the scene. A story in The Bee's Business section today describes a new device that will dispense a measured amount of toilet paper to the user after a simple pass at a motion sensor. The aim is to reduce waste.
Thus an age-old question is answered: How much toilet paper is enough? The story says Americans use twice as much per -- uh -- sitting as Europeans. I'm not sure how to interpret that. Do Americans use too much? Do Europeans use too little? Should we just drop this right now?
In any case, the pros at Kimberly Clark Professional have determined that the right amount of paper is five sheets. Five sheets? Doesn't sound like much -- but then I'm an American and not a European. And don't needs vary from visit to visit? Isn't toilet paper often one of those deals where, as Deep Purple once sang, "Too Much is Not Enough"? Am I done yet?
There's been an exhaustive debate in our community recently over the propriety of illegal file sharing and other methods of using technology to get around paying for creative works. For some, the concept of it being illegal doesn't seem to matter. John Zelezny, a lawyer and author of "Communications Law: Liberties, Restraints, and the Modern Media," explained the law very well in this Vision commentary a few weeks ago.
I'm redirecting your attention to Zelezny's piece because there's been a lot of misunderstanding about this issue. Take a look at what Zelezny has to say, and let us know what you think of file sharing, the current state of the law and how to protect creative people's intellectual property.
Way to step up! I'm often complaining about the lack of women's voices on the Opinion pages, and les femmes are definitely in the house in today's section. Of nine letters to the editor, at least six are from women. Nice going! The topics include presidential pardons, service to veterans, equality for women, local radio and ethics and justice. Now there's a wide-ranging discussion. I am often encouraging women to speak up and today, it was good to see such a rich conversation. Thanks for writing!
State Sen. Dean Florez has persuaded Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata to set up a committee to investigate gender equity in California's public universities. It comes in the aftermath of a $5.85 million Superior Court verdict against Fresno State for sexual discrimination for firing volleyball coach Lindy Vivas.
Florez, a Democrat from Shafter, will chair this special committee. The Senate Rules Committee is scheduled to formally establish the committee next week. Florez, said he wants Fresno State President John Welty to explain to senators "how the situation at his school's athletic department devolved to this point."
The back story is Florez is frustrated with the university response to the verdict. He believes that Welty and Charles Reed, chancellor of the California State University system, have not adequately explained to the public how the hostile environment toward women was created in the Fresno State athletic departemnt and what they are doing to ensure that the taxpayers don't have to pay out more money because of similar problems at Fresno State.
Florez issued this news release today:
SACRAMENTO - As the shockwaves over a nearly $6 million verdict against California State University, Fresno, for sex discrimination reverberated in the Capitol halls, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-East Bay) today announced the formation of the Senate Select Committee on Gender Discrimination and Title IX Implementation.
This week a jury agreed that former CSUF volleyball coach Lindy Vivas was let go over her advocacy on behalf of Title IX - designed to create gender equity in college athletics - as well as the perception that she is a lesbian. The award was $2 million more than she had sought, reflecting the degree to which they empathized with her experience at the school.
Perata and other legislative leaders expressed a firm resolve to explore whether a pattern of discriminatory behavior toward women in athletics exists at the state's public universities, or if the ruling against CSUF and its president, John Welty, represent an isolated situation. The size of the verdict and two additional sex discrimination lawsuits pending against CSUF factored heavily in the legislators' call for hearings and further review.
"It's sad to see that more than 30 years after this landmark legislation was passed, there are those who would reverse the gains made by women in sport, and in fact, in society," Perata said in announcing the committee. "Title IX embodies the values of inclusion and equality that ought to be fostered by our public universities. The Members of this Legislature are committed to ensuring that is and continues to be the case."
The newly-formed committee is expected to be approved by Senate Rules Committee next week and will be chaired by Senator Dean Florez (D-Shafter), whose Central Valley district includes CSU Fresno. Committee members are expected to include Senators Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Rosa) and Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento).
Florez, who has questioned whether CSUF would be better served by new leadership given the recent verdict and other serious claims pending, is eager to call Welty to Sacramento to testify on how the situation at his school's athletic department devolved to this point. He and other committee members will also inquire about the university's plan going forward to prevent additional acts of discrimination.
"We have no place in society in today's day and age for the type of disturbing behavior reported at Fresno State," Florez said. "I look forward to hearing directly from Mr. Welty and his superiors in the university system how they intend to create a new discourse."
In next Sunday's Vision section, there will be a fascinating article by Ted Gup, author of "Nation of Secrets: The Threat to Democracy and the American Way of Life" that outlines how obsessed America has become with secrecy.
"Today the nation's obsession with secrecy is redefining public and private institutions and taking a toll on the lives of ordinary citizens, " he writes. "Excessive secrecy is at the root of multiple scandals -- the phantom weapons of mass destruction, the collapse of Enron, the tragedies traced to Firestone tires and the arthritis drug Vioxx, Vice President Dick Cheney's "classified" documents calamity and more. In this self-proclaimed "Information Age," our country is on the brink of becoming a secretocracy, a place where the right to know is being replaced by the need to know."
Yet in a recent USA Today story by Kevin Johnson, we read that the FBI is providing top-secret clearances to 50 District of Columbia students this summer. The move is part of a recruiting effort to identify future agents and analysts for the fast-growing bureau. The story says that in this program the federal government that grants access to students, some as young as 16, for paid research and clerical positions. A top-secret clearance provides access to guarded government information. It is the same clearance level granted to select state and local police officials for their increased dealings with the bureau in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Have they gone wacky up there? Do you really believe there is such a thing as a "secret" to the MySpace generation? They are all about getting more information out there faster -- and to as many people as possible, with video whenever remotely possible.
If these so-called "secrets" are flimsy enough to be trusted to someone who cannot be legally trusted to handle a sip from a strawberry daiquiri, why are these documents stamped "top secret" in the first place?
Once again, we just have to wonder, "What the heck are they snorting in D.C.?"
On the Web site for the Eye-Q Trail of 2 Cities race, organizers have included the new route for the 13.1-mile course this year. 
The race will now begin and end in Woodward Park, goes east out Shepherd Avenue almost to Sunnyside, loops around on some trails in Clovis, and then goes back down Shepherd returning to the park. Unlike previous years, none of the race will take place south of Herndon.
Only 116 days remain before this year's half-marathon. And the Web site is still promising a full marathon in 2008.
I just got off the telephone with Charles B. Reed, the chancellor of the California State University system. The topic, of course, was the Lindy Vivas case and the $5.85 million verdict a Fresno County Superior Court jury handed Vivas Monday in her discrimination case against Fresno State. Fresno State is part of the CSU system.
Reed said he wanted to settle the case with the former volleyball coach, but Vivas and her legal team would not budge from their demand for $4.1 million. That made it impossible to settle, he said. Reed said it was the correct decision to go to court in the Vivas case. He said the law is on the university's side and the verdict will be appealed.
He also defended the university's lawyer in this case, Dawn Theodora. I and others have said that the university's defense was very weak, and that falls on Theodora's trial performance. "Dawn Theodora had never lost a case," Reed said. "She's no rookie." He said he received e-mails every night of the trial from Theodora keeping him apprised of the case as it unfolded.
Reed said: "We put our best foot forward, but the jury emotionally bought one side of the story." There was "one huge amount of emotional business going on in Fresno" during the Vivas trial.
Asked what impact the Vivas verdict will have on two upcoming discrimination cases against Fresno State, Reed said he didn't know. But then he said, "Is Fresno the right venue for the other cases?"
He didn't say whether the university will ask for a change of venue in the trials brought by former associate athletic director Diane Milutinovich and former women's basketball coach Stacy Johnson-Klein. It is highly unlikely that a judge would grant a change of venue in these cases, even if that request is made by the university.
I think Reed should settle the cases for one big reason: Scott Johnson. The former Fresno State athletic director was a key witness for the defense in the Vivas case and he will be on the stand again in the next two cases if they go to trial. Johnson has zero credibility on these issues. He has already cost the taxpayers a potential $5.85 million. How much more will the taxpayers be on the hook for in the next two trials?
Remember, Johnson was in charge of an athletic department that held a party that participants called, "Ugly Women Athletes Day."
And jurors are expected to believe Johnson when he tells them that there was no sexual discrimination when he was athletic director, and the moves against the three women who filed the cases against the university were proper?
Be sure to read today's editorial on the health care mess in the California prisons. As I read E.J. Schultz' piece in Sunday's paper on the shoddy health care being given to prisoners at the two women's prisons in Chowchilla, it struck me that this is another example of the state dumping its problems into the Valley. So, you've got a bunch of sick prisoners and nowhere to put them. Dump them in the San Joaquin Valley. Someday, we have to stop allowing this to happen. Someday our representatives have to stand up and say, those patients do not come to my back yard without funding for state-of-the-art care.
When something horrible happens in that prison hospital involving a death from some awful disease that was mismanaged, you know the datelines on the news stories are not going to be Marin or Newport Beach. It's going to be CHOWCHILLA, Madera County. And the maps in newspapers and on TV will spot the location right here. You don't have to be a public relations executive to figure out that people associating "prisons/Madera/crisis" is not going to add up to a good image for us.
And when folks write about prisons, it's not going to be the great innovations going on there, the remarkable state of the art progress being made there. It's going to be about overcrowding, neglect and substandard care. Thanks a lot, superheroes. We really needed that.
I think all the stories related to pathetic prison management should carry the dateline SACRAMENTO.
There's been a lot of kerfuffle lately over the safety of leafy green vegetables in the state and nation. Just today we published a commentary by Stephen Patricio, chairman of Western Growers in Los Banos, about industry efforts to address safety concerns. State Sen. Dean Florez is pushing for legislation that would establish a regulatory regime to do the same thing, and growers object.
That sort of controversy is not unusual. But in China, they have a different approach. Seems a top food and drug official, Zheng Xioayou, was caught taking more than $800,000 in cash in return for approving phony medicines. That sort of white-collar crime would probably get him one to three years at a posh federal country club/penitentiary in this country. But in China, it bought him a date with a |
