Bill McEwen
Bee readers have a lot to say about my June 24 column on the hypocrisy of Bay Area environmentalists who depict San Joaquin Valley residents as ignorant hillbillies making a mess of the desert and the Delta with their irrigated farms.
Here is a sampling of e-mail reaction:
"I was so happy to see your article. I know I'm not alone, but I've been saying the same thing for years. The people in San Francisco would have a whole different point of view on water and fish if they took down O'Shaughnessy Dam.
"My first knowledge of the dam was a picture of my dad as a young man sitting on the newly constructed O'Shaughnessy. He has the saddest look on his face. It looks like he had lost his best friend. My dad spent a lot of years in Yosemite as a young man and worked for Mr. & Mrs. Curry. He spent his off time hiking Yosemite and Half Dome before they had ropes and cables.
"Since then my husband and I have been there. I was extremely impressed by the beauty of the area and the shame of having a dam in that beautiful valley. I would love to see more articles about taking down the dam. I would also like to see Pelosi, Miller, Feinsten and Boxer eat their words."
Corky Harmon
"Your readers however should keep in mind that almost nowhere else in the Bay Area gets its water from Hetch Hetchy, and the East Bay MUD and other private providers are dependent on the Delta. Perhaps you should ask Green Party member Medea Benjamin if Feinstein's opposition to restoring Hetch Hetchy is one of the reasons Benjamin ran against Feinstein."
Avery Ray Colter
Bay Point, CA
"RE: your column on San Francisco and Hetch Hetchy.
"I was recently in San Francisco and stayed at the Fairmont. I also visited several restaurants. What astounded me was the amount of water that was being wasted everywhere I went.
"The Fairmont is supposed to be a Four Star establishment. They had 1960 era type shower heads that put out 3 times as much water as my shower head at home. Additionally, both rooms had toilets that could not be considered "low flow" by any measure. However, to their credit, the Fairmont did have a beautiful sign, crafted out of bamboo praising the Fairmont's water conservation efforts regarding towels. (How much bamboo is grown in San Francisco? Adding in the burned lettering, the cardboard backing and glue, what was the 'carbon footprint' of that beautiful little sign?)
"As for the restaurants, not all, but many of them had restrooms that had water wasting toilets AND, if you can believe it, faucets that dripped and/or had trickles of water flowing at a constant rate.These were not hole in the wall type restaurants, several of them were pricey San Francisco landmarks."
Y. Nichols
"I am so on board. How do we get this ball rolling? I am an avid hiker and have made lots of trips to this area, and have always been dismayed by San Francisco's pure hypocrisy. A national treasure in a national park ruined for one city's gain while we all lose."
Benjamin D. Speechly
"Thank you for your informed piece. We west-side farmers have had a target on our back for the last 20 years while Bay Area industries (like Chevron) and virtually all of the cities do more contaminating and water-abusing in a month than we do in a year. The enviros are using a good and well intended law, the Endangered Species Act, like a scalpel to cut up their targets while giving their friends and major funders a pass.
Stephen Patricio
President
Westside Produce
Firebaugh
Here's a sampling of my e-mail bag in response to Tuesday's column on the difficulty of balancing California's budget:
"Your statement in the last paragraph says it all. 'Voter approval of expensive pet projects.' Illustration: My wife and I are on a pension (strs). We have a car with 96 thousand miles on it and it works fine for us. If I go out one day and buy a $40,000 GMC pickup saying to wife 'we can make the payments ok' and then she thinks she needs a new car and she goes out and buys a new Buick at $40,000 and says I think we can make the payments, barely. What happens when we suddenly get a $7,000 bill for dental work which is not covered by insurance. Our budget is out of whack.
"Same as California. Propositions after propositions have been passed by the public and no one seems to ask where we are going to get the money to pay back the bonds that finance these propositions. Biggest example is the high speed rail initiative for 9 billion dollars (to start with). State is broke. So do we raise taxes and put more burdens on the taxpayers and businesses or do we cut services? Or both?
"Seems to me that is where we are today and it 'ain't' going to be easy to fix."
Chuck Hollingsworth, Fresno.
"Read with amusement your column on balancing the budget written on June 16th. The problem is you are looking at the budget just the way our law makers do. All you can do to balance the budget is cut and more cuts.
"Here is a novel approach. Why do we not encourage businesses, which drive the tax base, to return back to California? Our state is one of the most expensive in the country to do business so most leave. Environmental laws, the highest workers comp insurance in the country, restrictions, fees, and just all around stupid regulations keep new businesses out and existing ones leaving or closing up due to high taxes. Here are just a couple of common-sense answers to drive businesses in our state.
"1. True workers comp insurance reforms. For what I pay in workers comp insurance per employee I could fully ensure their entire families with health insurance. Talked to a customer a few days ago who just laid off almost his entire work force due to workers comp costs. His costs were 5 times higher in California then in Tennessee where he is moving his business. You want health care reform get rid if workers comp and just use health insurance to cover any injuries that may occur.
"2. Get rid of half of the environmentalists. (Not all because there is a need for a BALANCED environmental plan in the state) Example: There is new laws going into effect shortly that will outlaw any and all camping and recreational use in out Sierra National Forests. Thousands of miles of trails used by horse back riders, back packers and OHV users will be closed. This means millions of dollars that would be generated by these groups will now be lost. In comparison Utah, Idaho and other states have working plans and maintained trail systems. They have towns in the mountain areas that have built connecting trail systems allowing people to ride from one town to the next, spend the night and then ride to the next. This is generating millions of dollars yearly in sales and rentals of ATV,s motel bookings, food, gas, trinket sales, ETC. They want people to come, we want them all to leave.
"3. Smog rules. Currently you can not smog a vehicle if there have been any modifications at all done. What does this matter as long as the vehicle still passes the strict smog requirements. If you want to spend a couple thousand dollars on a new intake system and chip on your car or truck and it not only increases gas mileage but burns cleaner, why should you not be allowed to. It will still pass smog, will decrease dependency on foreign oil, and drive business, hence driving the tax base.
"4. Legalize marijuana. What? Now wont this drive most conservatives crazy but it should be. I have never smoked the stuff and even if legal still would not but from what I read and see there is less harm from this stuff than from Alcohol. Find a way to tax it and legalize it.
"5. Turn on the water to the west side and get farm income back into the states budget. At some point we need to start thinking of the well being of our people as well as a fish.
"I could go on, as could most business people, on finding ways to balance the budget. But it would have to be a total change in our ultra-liberal, business is bad thinking that is going on in Sacramento and start getting businesses to return to our state. There is a reason foreign auto makers do not come to California with their good paying jobs, there is a reason that businesses are leaving the state in record numbers and there is a reason that the few that are staying are laying off employees and outsourcing to other areas (even your employer The Fresno Bee laid off employees and outsourced to foreign countries). We really need to explore these problems and fix what is really ailing the state."
Bob Wilson, Fresno
"I read with interest and really enjoyed your column on the difficult task of balancing our state budget, reprinted in the Merced Sun Star Wednesday, June 17th. Many of us, as you stated too, are concerned about how to trim our state government expenses to be in tune with revenues and income.
"While your article covered a broad range of budget items, I was looking for your comments and insights on how reducing the unit costs of public sector employment can be the real key to stabilizing not only the state budget, but budgets for our cities and counties as well.
"Perhaps my intuitive sense about all this is wrong. I believe that no amount of taxes or fee increases will solve the budget problem long term. Isn't the core problem that public sector workers simply make too much money? There does not appear to be a set of checks and balances to keep the unit cost of public sector labor competitive. What would happen to state budget deficits if the legislature cut overall pay by 5-10%? Would that make a big reduction in the budget deficit? I am not sure we need to cut jobs, we just need to cut back the ever growing unit cost of public employment. Do we really think there will be enough money to build a high speed rail project if the fully burdened cost of a traffic control flagman is over $50/hour?
"The paper today (Sun Star) reported that in Sacramento a legislative budget committee rejected by 6-4 vote (along party lines) the Governor's recommended 5% pay cut proposal for workers. Earlier I was stunned to read that the governor's recommendation to reduce paid holidays from 14 per year to "just" 12 days was rejected! Oh my God, 14 days holiday per year. Boy do I feel like a chump, I only get 6 days per year, 7 days if July 4th falls mid week.
"I wonder how much we could reduce the budget deficit if retirement benefits were reduced. The 3% at 50 retirement formula for many state workers is embarrassing. We can no longer afford these over generous health benefits (I had to pay cash for my kids braces and drive old cars) and higher pay for public workers then private sector workers doing similar work, etc. It is no longer just anecdotal evidence on government worker pay. They make considerable more than private sector workers. The question is why we allow this to continue.
"Merced is one of the poorest counties in the state yet our top county administrator and the president of local community college make more in annual pay than the established pay for governor. (I have heard that Arnold Schwarzenegger takes no pay). What I find so disheartening about the budget debate is that almost every worker in the private sector has taken a pay cut during this most severe recession we are now enduring, either in the form of lower hours worked, less overtime, reduced sales or commission, reduced benefits or even loss of job. In our company we all took a 10% cut back in October just to save everyone's job and help the company survive through a tough economic period. What have public sector workers given up? Instead of terminating the music program, closing the library or firing the janitor, would teachers be willing to take a pay cut? Yet all we hear is whining and crying. The unions are no help on this (their mantra: last hired, first fired. Take a pay cut? Not only no, but hell no!). But the real problem is lack of leadership. You can't ask the rank and file workers to take a pay cut if the boss isn't sharing in the pain. We need our leaders to take some initiative and reduce pay of administrators, Cal State and UC presidents, their staffs, etc, etc. But what did they do? Gave pay raises to staff and then raised tuition fees. The outlook doesn't look too good right now, perhaps we are doomed."
Tom Siverly, Merced
"I enjoyed your article very much and I'm sure the balancing of the budget is very difficult especially with all the political pulls on our reps.I don't know if you thought about cutting waste out of the education budget. I expect several billions could be cut without effecting the overall education of our children by consolidating school districts.
"It made sense in the days of the horse drawn buggy to have all these small school districts in each county. But in today's world with the computer, we could probably have one or two districts for the whole state. At the very least one district for each county would suffice.
"Another place to cut in education would be to get rid of the teacher in-service days and put the in-service info on line for teachers to peruse during their prep periods or in the evenings. Another idea, require teachers to retire after 30 years of teaching, there is a lot of 'dead wood' in the teaching profession hanging on to their jobs so as to squeeze as much out of the retirement system as possible!"
Ben Pickford
"You are limiting your cuts. But here is the real answer. Any new money will be used to raise the pay and benefits of Gov Employees. Here is the bottom line our form of gov doesn't work that is why the Feds are need bankruptcy and 11 trillion in debt going on 15. The taxes in cal are destroying the lives and retirement of many so the others can live and retire like they want. The housing crisis is a symptom of the illness not the disease.Oh by the way, Ca is getting 55 billion from the stimulus."
Dan Carter
Anyone want to join the discussion?
Former state lawmaker Bill Leonard, a conservative known for his thoughtful approach to leadership and respected by liberals, is pitching a solution to the state budget mess.
"If the Legislature wants to reject the Governor's cuts, they could simply re-adopt the 2004-05 spending plan," Leonard wrote in his weekly electronic newsletter. "2004 was a pretty good time in California. Housing was booming and the economy was growing. General Fund revenues were about $78 billion, and most reasonable people did not think the state budget signed in the summer of 2004 was austere."
Buttressing Leonard's proposal: the state has about the same number of prisoners, K-14 students and people on public assistance as it did in 2004.
"I was amazed at how close the numbers were," says Leonard, who is now a member of the Board of Equalization.
But, with Democrats dominating the Assembly and Senate and reluctant to close the $24 billion deficit with budget cuts, there is little chance of Leonard's proposal being adopted.
In addition, salaries of teachers and state employees are considerably higher than they were in five years ago. And, as Assembly Member Juan Arambula, D-Fresno, points out, state voters have passed several bonds since 2004. Interest on the bonds totals billions of dollars and is an additional burden on the general fund. The state also is paying an extra $2 billion a year in prison costs related to federal court orders.
"It's not unusual that Mr. Leonard would try this approach. I think that even the governor had talked about to returning back to certain years' level of spending," Arambula says.
"But we can't go back and undo some of these things."
Post your comments below.
My column today in The Bee is about the challenge of producing a balanced state budget in the midst of the deep recession.
Lawmakers right now are working to find about $24 billion in cuts and/or revenue increases. Using the budget balancer on the Los Angeles Times Web site, I came up with this:
CUTS
Education
*Cut K-12 and community colleges to the Proposition 98 limits.............$5.3 billion
*Cut support to the CSU and University of California systems.............. $1.5 billion
Total......................................................................................................$6.8 billion
Human services
*Limit in-home nursing services to the most disabled poor, elderly. . . . .$300 million
*Cut supplemental income benefits to poor, blind, and disabled to
the federal minimum of $830 a month.....................................................$250 million
*Reduce pay of in-home service workers to minimum wage....................$115 million
*Crack down on in-home-service fraud......................................................$15 million
Total........................................................................................................$680 million
Health
*Eliminate dental coverage and other services not required by
federal law...............................................................................................$150 million
*Step up anti-fraud efforts..........................................................................$50 million
Total.........................................................................................................$200 million
Law enforcement
*End substance abuse, vocational and rehabilitation programs...............$790 million
*Turn 19,000 illegal immigrants in prison over to federal authorities
for deportation ........................................................................................$180 million
*Early release of prisoners without violent crimes or sex offenses on
their records............................................................................................$120 million
*Reduce prison time for parole violations..................................................$95 million
Total......................................................................................................$1.185 billion
One-time fixes
*Borrow local government revenue; repay in 3 years with interest................$2 billion
*Sell "last resort" workers' comp fund to private operators............................$1 billion
*Accelerate 2010 tax withholding to this year..............................................$2.3 billion
*Apply local share of state gas tax to transportation bonds.......................$740 million
*Move juvenile justice earmark into general fund.......................................$250 million
Total..........................................................................................................$6.29 billion
State workers
*Reduce health benefits.............................................................................$130 million
Total...........................................................................................................$130 million
General government
*Eliminate Office of Emergency Services...................................................$130 million
*Cut legislative budget in half....................................................................$120 million
*Allow new off-shore drilling for oil.............................................................$100 million
*Require parks to operate solely on increased user fees............................$70 million
*Eliminate 33 boards and commissions........................................................$50 million
Total...........................................................................................................$470 million
Total cuts................................................................................................$15.735 billion
Tax increases
*3% state tax withholding for independent contractors.....................................$2 billion
*Keep Prop.13 but allow assessments to rise on commercial properties..........$2 billion
*Raise state cigarette tax by $1.50 a pack....................................................$1.2 billion
*Extend sales tax to services and admission to sports events.......................$1.1 billion
*Charge extraction tax on oil pumped from California land and waters........$855 million
*Increase alcohol tax by a nickel a drink......................................................$585 million
*Raise the corporate tax rate.......................................................................$470 million
Total tax increases......................................................................................$8.26 billion
Cuts and tax increases............................................................................$23.995 billion
Post comments below.
Public officials rely on enterprise zones to rebuild depressed areas and create jobs for the unemployed and underemployed.
But do the zones, which offer offer tax breaks to employers, increase employment?
The Public Policy Institute of California, in a report issued this month, says that the state's 42 enterprise zones, "on average . . . have no effect on business creation or job growth."
In addition, the institute found that "little is required of the state or its local zones in the way of evaluation, and previous research studies of the program's effects have had methodological problems, yielding suspect results."
The California Association for Local Economic Development disagrees. Last year, the association of economic development professionals lobbied to create more enterprise zones as a way of stimulating the state's slumping economy.
You can read the Public Policy Institute's full report here.
Several weeks ago, I wrote about the dismal state of the Oklahoma City bombing victims memorial, which is in front of the Sisk Building in downtown Fresno.
I asked readers to be on the lookout for the memorial's bronze plaque, which was believed to have been swiped by vandals and sold for scrap.
The plaque, it turned out, was being stored by a federal government employee who spied the plaque in a pile of junk on the Mariposa Mall. In addition, Fresno County officials promised to restore the memorial coinciding with the re-opening of the Sisk building, which is being renovated.
More good news: Tim Willems and Frank Willems, owners of
W-N Art Bronze Co. in northwest Fresno, are refurbishing the plaque free of charge. They saw a picture of it in The Bee and recognized it as their work.
I'll post another picture of the plaque after the Willemses work their magic on it.
I'm moving the discussion about renaming the renovated $60 million Old Administration Building at Fresno City College from the newspaper to this blog.
The columns I wrote about giving the historic building a name more relevant to students and the community at large brought many suggestions.
Of course, my offer of a free lunch to the reader who submitted the best name probably stirred interest as well.
If you missed it, I picked "Tribute Hall" as the winner. It was submitted by Ken Mayo, a Fresno City College graduate and All-American football player for the Rams in the 1960s.
I also liked "Heritage Hall" and "Inspiration Hall." Sadly, officials with the State Center Community College District say that the building's name will remain as is: the Old Administration Building.
But, as Dan Waterhouse of Fresno points out, the building only got that name after it was closed in the 1970s.
"The use of "OAB" started after the building was closed -- the name has no historic significance.," writes Waterhouse. "However, the name that students and faculty used to refer to the building in the 1960s and 1970s does have significance and should be considered: 'Old Main.' "
What do you think? Am I tipping at windmills? Or does the building deserve a new -- and better -- name after being restored by district taxpayers?
Add Mae Laborde to the list of Fresno natives making it big in Hollywood.
And, before writing anything more, I should probably point out that she just celebrated her 100th birthday.
Her name might not be familiar, but I bet her face is. She has been on Bill Maher's cable show and MAD TV. She has done commercials and is ripping up the Internet in a spoof on converting an analog television set over to digital using a converter box.
Laborde was just another pretty face in Santa Monica until Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez did a column about her, zeroing in on the fact that she was still driving the mean streets of LA in her 90s.
Until then, her closest brush with show business was keeping the books for the Lawrence Welk show. Anyway, a Hollywood talent agent read the column, went to see Laborde -- and a star was born.
Now, the Fresno connection: According to Laborde's Wikipedia bio -- it's a stub -- "A native of Fresno, Laborde arrived in Los Angeles at the height of the Great Depression, meeting her husband, Nicholas Laborde, when he was the conductor on Los Angeles' old Red Car trolley line that she used to take home from work."
The connection is thin, I know, but Fresnans typically claim anybody who has stopped here on their way to Yosemite as one of their own.
So, eat your heart out, Kevin Federline, Fresno has produced a celebrity who is actually cashing a Hollywood paycheck she's earned.
To read a recent Lopez column about Laborde, click here.
Go here to view her accepting a Hulu award for her digital-conversion spoof.
The Tour of California succeeded beyond expectations when it rolled into the Valley for starts or finishes in Modesto, Merced, Clovis and Visalia.
The cylists showed why they are the best in the world, businesses got a boost, fans turned out in droves and cancer survivors like Tim Bruno had a chance to see their hero, Lance Armstrong.
I wrote about Bruno, pictured above, showing off his Armstrong-inspired "Livestrong" tatto, in my Thursday column. The column is now on Armstrong's Livestrong Foundation Web site.
On Friday, Bruno e-mailed me this message:
"Thank you so much for the time you took to interview me. I am continually humbled when I realize how big of a deal it is to be a cancer survivor and you really brought it out in that article.
"Anyway, on a side note, I drove to Visalia the next day, Feb. 19th and saw Lance in person! I didn't get to meet him or get an autograph, but I was right in front of him as he exited his motor home to get ready for Stage 5. Giant smile, signing autographs, and obviously enjoyed what he was doing immensely. I envied him!
"Thanks again, it was a day I won't soon forget."
Thanks, Tim, for inspiring others battling cancer and other diseases. You, too, are a hero.
Everywhere I go, people ask the same question: "Did she get to meet Lance?"
"She" is Lisa Burnett, the remarkable mother of four children I wrote about this week. Burnett, a former Fresno Bee sportswriter has incurable ovarian cancer, but is doing everything she can to survive until researchers find a cure.
"Lance" is that fellow Armstrong, the greatest cyclist ever, a cancer survivor who returned to the sport after a three-year layoff to raise awareness about the disease.
Thursday morning, before the start of the fifth stage of the Tour of California, Armstrong walked out of his trailer in Visalia, extended his hand and said, "Hi, I'm Lance Armstrong."
Burnett, accompanied by her husband Allen, said, "I know."
Continue reading "Yes, she met Lance Armstrong" »
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Lloyd Carter, a state deputy attorney general and former newspaper reporter, knows the power and importance of words.
That's why it was surprising and disappointing to hear him stereotype farm workers as uneducated drug-dealing welfare recipients in an interview with KMPH (Channel 26) television last week.
Asked about the impact of the water shortage in the San Joaquin Valley, Carter said:
"They're not even American citizens for starters. Do you thnk we should employ illegal aliens? What parent raises thier child to be a farm worker? These kids are the least educated people in America or the southwest corner of this Valley. They turn to lives of crime. They go on welfare. They get into drug trafficking and they join gangs."
Carter deservedly found himself in a political firestorm. People on the left and the right criticized him for unfairly -- and inaccurately -- portraying farm workers.
He has since offered apologies for his remarks. The following was taken from Carter's Web site:
"On the evening of February 4, prior to a debate on water isues, I gave a brief interview to a KMPH Channel 26 TV reporter which aired in edited fashion later that night.
"My comments were directed at the exploitation of farmworkers in the southwestern corner of the valley, which is the poorest place in America but, as worded, implied that ALL farmworkers turn to lives of crime or gangs, which is obviously not true. My remarks were intended to focus on the social costs of exploiting an immigrant worker population which is denied adequate pay, housing and education.
"I now realize I made a terrible mistake in the way I expressed myself and I humbly apologize to all who were offended.
"I have a long reputation of supporting environmental and social justice for farmworkers, who put food on our tables every day in America.
"An apology aired on Channel 26 the next night. Again, I painfully realize my comments offended many people and I truly regret the error. It will not happen again. I am sick about this."
Carter is a good man who had a bad day. But his original remarks -- seized upon by people who were genuinely outraged and for political purposes by some stakeholders in California's polarized water wars -- will be difficult for him to live down.
Continue reading "The Big Valley: Carter, Limbaugh, Contact Lens TV, Steroids, Leno" »
If you haven't seen "Gran Torino" yet, do so before the movie leaves town.
Gran Torino is one of Clint Eastwood's best efforts -- even if the people who decide Academy Awards nominations don't think so -- and it offers clear insight into the Hmong-American experience.
This is an important film, especially for people in the San Joaquin Valley.
Continue reading "The Big Valley: Eastwood, Tillman, Leno, Limbaugh" »
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People packed the Hall of Records chambers Tuesday to protest a recommendation that Fresno County close its parks system. County Administrative Officer John Navarrette recommended the closure as a cost-saving measure.
But the parks debate was delayed a week because some supervisors thought that the item hadn't been properly noticed on the Supervisors agenda. The possibility that the parks might be shuttered was buried in the supporting documents attached to the agenda put out last week.
But the some supervisors did voice their opinions, with Chairwoman Susan Anderson repeating her previously announced opposition to parks closure. Supervisor Phil Larson also indicated that he didn't think closing the parks was a good idea.
So, parks supporters will have to return next week if they want to be heard. Also on next week's agenda: discussion of whether to allow gravel mining at Lost Lake Park.
Continue reading "The Big Valley: Parks, Stockton, Limbaugh, Cheerleaders" »
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Finanicaly strapped Fresno County will talk about closing its public parks during Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting.
The proposal is a bad idea because the estimated savings -- $1.7 million over 18 months -- are minimal and the closure would hurt people who rely on the parks for inexpensive recreation and entertainment.
Post your thoughts on the possible park closure and offer your suggestions on ways for the country to save money at the bottom of this blog.
Continue reading "The Big Valley: County parks, Obama, Limbaugh, Leno" »
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Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg wants to limit the amount of legislation members can introduce this year in an effort to keep lawmakers focused on the state's budget.
He told The Bee's Capitol Burea that he wants to cap the number at 15 for each member of the Assembly and the Senate. That sounds like a high number to me -- but it is a reduction from current limits. Right now, senators can introduce 50 bills over two years and assembly members are allowed 40.
But the limit isn't enforced. For example, former Democratic Assembly Member Sally Lieber, authored 58 measures in 2007-08, plus four nonbinding resolutions, according to The Sacramento Bee.
Continue reading "The Big Valley: Steinberg, Kerkorian, Burris, Palin, Letterman" »
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Fresno has caught "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" fever, with 3,500 volunteers signing on to build a new home for one lucky family.
Everyone, it seems, except Twyla Stanislawsky, who questions why City Hall is bending over backwards to satisfy the producers of the popular ABC reality series. Stanislawsky, a retired social worker, says she's all for helping people, but thinks that city shouldn't suspend ordinances so that constructions occurs 24 hours a day.
You can read the column, which upset some readers, by clicking here.
The column brought this reaction from Stephen Bradford of Fresno:
"I read you article this morning about the retired social worker complaining about the upcoming "Extreme Makeover" possible doing business in her neighborhood.
"If she watches the show she would see the producers typical pick a very deserving family to be given this life-altering gift. It is not just someone who is poor or sick. These people, regardless off age or race, are selected from a list of very giving people. Doesn't she have better things to do with her retirement than spend hours at City Hall trying make the officials see how selfish she really is? I for one will be front and center when the show presents this new gift to a well-deserving family and will be yelling, 'Move that bus.' If Twyla has issues with the noise and cameras, I will be happy to pitch in a couple hundred dollars and send her to Disneyland for the week!
Continue reading "The Big Valley: Extreme Makeover, Feinstein, Coulter, Leno" »
Fresno Mayor Alan Autry leaves office on Tuesday, but he can be seen in a movie now available on Comcast's On-Demand Feature.
It's "Southern Comfort," directed by the esteemed Walter Hill and starring Keith Carradine, Fred Ward, Powers Boothe and Peter Coyote.
The 1981 flick is set in a Louisiana swamp and focuses on a National Guard unit that upsets the locals while the soldiers are on a training exercise. The idea behind the movie is to mimic the experience of American soliders during the Vietnam War.
Autry -- billed as Carlos Brown -- plays Cpl. 'Coach' Bowden. A few years ago, he told me a funny story about the movie. Even though the plot calls for the National Guardsmen to live off the land, the soldiers who began the film fit and trim appear many pounds heavier at film's end.
Autry explained that movie's caterer put out a good spread every day -- and the actors packed on weight eating up the Cajun grub.
Many reviewers say the movie is worth a look and give it three stars.
Continue reading "The Big Valley: Check out Autry in "Southern Comfort"" »
Ashley Swearengin, our super serious mayor-elect, does have a funny bone.
Hoping to lighten things up the other day, I opened an interview with her by asking, "When will you start your radio show?"
Not missing a beat, she answered: "I will leave the radio business to my husband."
That would be sports-yakker Paul Swearengin, who runs the two local ESPN affiliates -- 790 AM and 1430 AM.
Alan Autry, who is Fresno mayor until Jan. 6, started a daily talk show on 1300 AM recently.
Continue reading "The Big Valley: Swearengin, Stein, Stevens, Obama, Leno, Edison" »
Mayor-elect Ashley Swearengin talks about some of the changes she is bringing to City Hall in my Thursday column.
Read about a man who bought 10,000 copies of the "Obama wins" edition of the Bellingam (Wash.) Herald here. Hint: He thinks the newspapers will be worth a fortune someday.
Continue reading "The Big Valley: Swearengin will shake up City Hall" »
Here's the wrap-up on how the people in the endorsement business did with Tuesday's election. For the record: I'm not a member of The Bee's Editorial Board.
The Bee's Editorial Board made recommendations on a total of 29 races and issues, and voters agreed with those picks in 21 instances.
The high-profile Editorial Board recommendations backed by the voters included Barack Obama for president, Ashley Swearengin for Fresno mayor and approval of high-speed rail in California, state legislative redistricting reform and children's hospital bonds.
But voters disagreed with the Editorial Board by passing the gay-marriage ban, new standards for confining farm animals and a victims' rights package.
Voters also disagreed with the Editorial Board in two of the three Fresno Unified School District Board of Trustee races by favoring Larry Moore for the Roosevelt High area seat and Carol Mills in the Fresno High district.
Voters also preferred Jim Kelley for a Fresno Superior Court judgeship over The Bee's recommendation of Douglas Treisman.
Next up is the Lincoln Club of Fresno County, which endorses only Republicans and focuses on economic growth and tax issues. Voters agreed with 11 of the club's 17 recommendations.
The club took stands on 10 state propositions, and came out on the winning end six times -- opposing more lenient drug-sentencing laws, law-enforcement earmarks and the two clean-energy proposals, and favoring redistricting reform and veterans' housing bonds.
The club went 1-for-3 in the Fresno Unified races, recommending Janet Ryan and opposing Moore and Mills.
The Lincoln Club also scored with its Danny Gilmore endorsement for the 30th Assembly seat and recommending against Henry T. Perea for mayor.
For the first time I also included the California Democratic Party's picks. The party made 15 endorsements for voters in the part of the Tower District where I reside.
The Dems went 7-for-12 on the state propositions, scored in two races in which incumbent Democrats were overwhelming favorites (Jim Costa's congressional seat, Juan Arambula's Assembly seat) and lost the Fresno mayoral race. In total, voters agreed with the Dems 9 of 15 times.
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- The Big Valley: County parks, Obama, Limbaugh, Leno
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