Vacation

Will be on vacation through the 25th . . .

Wine Notes #12: Argyle 2004 Nuthouse Pinot

Argyle Nuthouse Pinot Noir 2004: This wine arrived via winery list sales-retail distribution will begin in the spring. The wine is still closed and very young (being FedExed two weeks earlier is probably not the best thing for the wine either). At this point in its development, the key features are the good structure of the wine and its very creamy texture and mouthfeel. The wine felt very alcoholic on the first night, befitting its 14.5% ABV. However, the alcohol was much less noticable after 24 hours, pointing to how the wine will develop. As might be expected, blackfruits are the dominant flavors at this point, although there is room for this to change.

Arcadia bumps up retention efforts

Facing the loss of numerous department managers within the past year, City Manager Bill Kelly has worked with Arcadia's City Council to offer an expanded benefits package for employees. New benefits will include a supplemental longevity pay schedule and retirement health care benefits for spouses. Full story

More zombie props?

The campaign forces behind Propositions 86 (tobacco taxes) and Proposition 90 (eminent domain/regulatory takings/etc.) have vowed to return again. They are apparently undaunted by the experience of the parental notification campaign-after Proposition 73 failed in 2005, they gave it another shot in 2006, producing Proposition 85. And it failed again. I don't see any reason to believe how either of these Propositions would fare better the next time around, outside of radically reducing their respective scope. Full story

Bill Lockyer managed the impossible?

His treasurer campaign raised nearly $300,000 more than he spent to win the office. This leaves him with a campaign chest of more than $10 million. Full story

Be wary of CA negociants?

Fresh off of hyping up the glories of negociant wine, the LA Times conducts a panel tasting of 21 current California offerings. The panel recorded that "many were undrinkable."
Full story

Election wrap-up

So, everything else aside, what were my goals?

Pass 1A and 1B
Defeat 90

All three were accomplished with room to spare. Thank you Cali! Life is good . . .

"There's nothing sadder than sipping goopy Australian shiraz with a room of depressed ACLU lawyers and child molesters"

Humorist Joel Stein on the sadness that is the No on Prop 83 and Angelides victory parties

Step up, get your $23!

Well, much less than that for us apartment dwellers, no doubt.
Hearings were held in Rosemead to determine what amount Edison should refund to its customers. Under PUC rules, Edison can collect additional profits if its customer service numbers are good (aka "Performance-Based Rate-Making"). Perhaps unsurprisingly, the 37-employee unit in charge of the surveys conducted mass fraud to boost those numbers. As a result, Edison collected $48 million more in profits than it should have. The Utility Reform Network (TURN) is asking the PUC for another $70 million in penalties. Full San Gabriel Valley Tribune story

A question for our conspiracy-minded friends

Wheels within wheels . . . was last week's small rise in gas prices:
A) Manipulated by those controlling prices to their own political benefit to show that they don't actually control price or
B) Proof that such a cabal does not in fact exist?
You make the call!
Full story

Montebello scales back plans

According to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Montebello's City Council is in the process of scaling back its plans with the Alameda Corridor-East Construction Authority. Montebello had originally planned to fund a $200 million trench in which rail lines would be lowered under four crossings. ACE pledged $65 million if Montebello could come up with the balance (ACE's traffic studies in 1997 found that Montebello merited only one grade separation under the approved formula, which measured service grades and overall traffic amongst other factors). Additional funding has not materialized, so ACE is redirecting the funding to other ready-to-go separations. Full story

Wine Notes #11: Anderson Valley Pinot

2004 Londer Vineyards Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
This Pinot received a 92 from Wine Spectator, earning it a Highly Recommended citation when combined with its $29 price tag. The first glass tended towards red fruit, although black fruits dominated after some time in the decanter. A bit of vanilla followed. The finish is nice and long, and taste and bouquet are excellent. My chief problem with this wine is that the no less than 15% ABV is not integrated well-on the whole the wine sufferes from being somewhat too hot. It's not enough to ruin the experience, but it makes the wine seem a bit unbalanced.

"As far as torture goes . . . it seems like a pretty efficient method"

Chalk this up as another thing which is simply wrong yet possessed of gravitas: watch a FOX correspondent get waterboarded. Full story and vid

Public pensions in doubt?

The New York Times reports that state and local governments are increasingly searching for loopholes to cut the cost of their pensions. Traditionally, pensions were regarded as sacrosant obligations that could not be breached. Full story

Because defiling Facebook wasn't enough

Fresh off of YoungFeds.org, your government is hard at work co-opting and inevitably proving worthless (wait for it) Wikipedia. The government has created a new system, Intellipedia, to share information between intelligence agencies using Wikipedia's proprietary software. Full story

Update

So, yes, the forthcoming election has kept me rather busy, hence the lack of new posts this week. It's a tragedy, but life progresses nonetheless.

In place of actual news items, I'm offering my prognostications on the forthcoming election. Cherish and wait to see how they turn out . . .

At the federal level:

The overwhelming trend in the punditry is towards predicting an almost Democratic victory in the House with some chance of a Senate swing. Tradesports has the Republicans down to about a 1 in 4 chance of keeping the House. This is ridiculously low. Yes, Republicans are facing many hard races this cycle. Democrats have certainly gained from the multitude of resignations-the Foley, Ney, and DeLay districts, to mention a few, favor challengers. However, the special election to replace the Dukester in North County San Diego shows that while these replacement races are close, they can still end favorably for the Republican side. In terms of the general climate, there are many close races across the country. However, any swings in momentum will preserve numerous incumbents. My prediction? The punditry has good reasons to favor a Democrat takeover in the House, but I'd put my money on a GOP retention. Blessed are the cartographers . . . As far as the Senate, without a gripping new issue, the bar is too high for the Democrats here. It won't happen. Period. In '08, if things don't change, maybe. But not this year.

Here in Cali:

Nothing much will change in terms of federal and state legislative districts. One or two marginal districts, perhaps. But nothing of any real importance-Republicans will still have a 1/3rd or greater minority which gives them input on the budget, and that's really the only key question in this state.

As far as statewide offices, Schwarzenegger is a shoo-in for re-election. Tradesports' ask was something like 99 for a payout of 100 on the guv. Sorry Phil, this race is over. The most interesting election is for Lt. Governor, with a close race. My money is on Garamendi though. Lockyer almost certainly has Treasurer sown up. Chiang will probably take Controller, although that race will be a bit closer. Poizner will probably trounce Cruz for Insurance Commissioner. Secretary of State is a toss-up, while Attorney General almost certainly goes to Brown as well. The result? Republicans will probably move from 2 constitutional offices to 3, although as many as 5 are possible.

For the ballot measures . . .

Propositions 1A-1E: Pretty much in the bag. 1C may have some troubles, but at least three of the five here will pass. These bonds are popular and will get needed things built. Voters are sympathetic to this.

Proposition 83: Regardless of the flaws it may have, expect a 70% or more Yes vote.

Proposition 84: Running behind the 1A-1E package. Voters like parks, but it's not part of the official package and is further down the ballot. 50-50 chances.

Proposition 85: Very close-I'm thinking No, but lukewarm Democratic turnover could put it over the top.

Propositions 86, 87, and 88: After voting for bonds, voters will not be in the mood for new taxes. 86 has the best chance, but 87 and 88 are basically dead in the water.

Proposition 89: Voters have not been supportive of campaign reform in the past. Don't expect this to change in '06.

Proposition 90: Probably the most interesting question in California for 2006. If voters have enough energy at the end of the ballot to read down to the fiscal impact summary, it will fail. If they're tired of voting and want to vote No on everything at certain point (esp. following 86-89), it will fail. If they only read the part about eminent domain . . . it will pass.

So wrong

But too funny all the same . . .

Priceless letters

I guess the folks at the Tribune don't always want to take the time to write their own Letters to the Editor? Today's (Saturday's) edition includes this priceless gem:

"Lastly, as to candidates for office, if you believe you are better off now than you were six years ago, you need to vote Republican.

Conversely, if you are worse off than you were six years ago, you ought to vote a straight Democratic ticket."

Got that, undecided voters? Full story

IRS Politics

The IRS has decided to delay the mailing of certain notices and will also postpone collections enforcement until after the election and the holidays for New Orleans residents. Commissioner Mark Everson has admitted that the decision was political in nature. As he put it, "We are very sensitive to political perceptions." Full story

Rate your realtor

AgentQOS.com of Whittier allows consumers to rate their real estate agents. Full story

"Some people do not belong in the classroom, OK?"

The new LA schools chief almost seems to be spoiling for a fight with the teachers' union. The union's reponse? "He's also going to have to understand that a major cause of problems at schools are principals and assistant principals who are not team builders or team leaders." So the deficiencies of individual instructors lie at the feet of a lack of team building and leadership? I'm sure that will be a winning message with parents frustrated with poor education. Full story

New builder sales technique: auctions

Rising unsold inventories are causing builders to look at auctions as a necessary evil for clearing back inventories. Full story

Drinkers of cheap CA swill, rejoice!

According to the Sacramento Bee, the 2005 has set a new record for California, at just under 3.8 million tons. Spot prices have dropped in many regions for varietals. The largest impact is anticipated to occur with discount (under $10 brands). Unfortunately, no large impact is forseen on premium brands. Full story

Drew University at King/Drew to loose accrediting

The loss of federal funds for the hopsital has caused the group responsible for accredition of medical graduate schools to revoke the associated medical graduate school's standing. Full story

City of LA looses 1/3 of potential ticket revenue

According to the Los Angeles Daily News, over $160 million in parking tickets and citations go uncollected. This is equal to about 1/3 of the value of all citations. A handful of motorists have racked up over $5,000 in fines, with the leader coming in at over $10,000 in upaid tickets. Full story

SF Chronicle welcomes chance to use 'Campaign' and 'Orgy' in same lede

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, campaign spending in California has now topped $500 million. Just over half of this is being spent on ballot measures. Full story

Wine Notes #10: Walla Walla

Owen Roe Sharecropper's 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon: So yes, the label reads Pinot Noir, but this review really is of the Cab. For some reason a Cab label could not be found . . .

Owen Roe produces the wine from Washington vineyard grapes. The company uses a co-operative growing arrangement under which the grapes are provided to the winery, which handles bottling and distribution. I imagine that this arrangement helps to keep costs down as less financing would be involved-the winery then splits the proceeds with the growers once the bottles are sold.

The result is a delicious Cabernet at a reasonable cost (a smidgeon over $20, depending upon the retailer). The wine is full, and ready to drink young. Lots of sumptuous fruit, and a good nose.
Owen Roe

AQMD sued by environmentalists over power plants

Environmental groups are suing the South Coast Air Quality Management District over new regulations on power plants and air pollution credits which are involved in the construction of 6 new power plants. This includes one gas-fired plant to be build in the City of Industry. Full story in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune

MTA Decree Lifts

US Judge Terry Hatter has lifted the consent decree on the MTA. The decree was adopted in 1996. The MTA overcame opposition from the Bus Riders' Union. The lifting of the decree will allow for the beginning of a rationalization of services and fares. Full story

Tribes fight back

California's tribes have pumped $1 million into Tony Strickland's campaign for Controller against John Chiang. This is most likely backlash against the Democratic party for the Legislature's earlier refusal to agree to gaming compacts negotiated by the Governor, due to labor opposition. Full story

Pelosi generates $50 million

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Nancy Pelosi has generated about $50 million for Democrats this election cycle. Given that the combined cost to date of all House campaigns is about $700 million according to the article, this is quite an accomplishment. Full story

Schrag on slate mailers

Peter Schrag writes about this year's crop of slate mailers, or, to use his term, "democracy for dummies." Full story

Kidnappings on the rise in Tijuana

The Los Angeles Times documents the sad rise in daylight kidnappings and murder in Tijuana. Full story

Unsurprisingly, Feinstein confident of victory

So confident, in fact, that she's given away $1 million to other Democratic Senate candidates in tight races. Recipients include candidates in Missouri, Virginia, and Montana, raises that are critical pickups for Democrats in this cycle. Full San Gabriel Valley Tribune story

TV manufacturing comes to Ontario

Syntax-Brillian is opening the nation's first high-definition, flat-panel TV manufacturing facility in Ontario. Full story

LA football dealt another setback

According to the Los Angeles Times, estimates for the renovation or construction of an NFL stadium in LA are now equal to $1 billion. That is $200 million more than an estimate from the spring of 2005. The main culprit, as everywhere, is the rising cost of basic construction materials and commodities. Full story

Greater weight consumes one billion gallons annually

A University of Illinois study compared vehicle gas mileage for drivers of the average weight in 1960 to drivers of contemporary weights. The result? The researchers estimate that about an additional 938 million gallons of gasoline are consumed annually due to the difference. This comes out of a total of about 140 billion gallons consumed annually in the US. Full story

Wine Notes #9: A bargain Pinot

At $8 or less per bottle at most California retail locations (of course, I've seen at high as $15, or what one should be paying for the same brand's Carneros district Pinot), the Robert Mondavi Coastal Selection Pinot is a great bargain. Nice flavors, very accessible, and again, a great value for the price. I have one or two bottles of this a month, and although there can be significant bottle variation, on the whole it performs quite well.
Robert Mondavi Private Selection

Amusing internal battles

The national NAACP has decided to support Proposition 86, placing it at odds with the California chapter. I suppose they were not thrilled by press coverage revealing that the CA NAACP president, Alice Huffman, has received $100,000 from Philip Morris through her consulting firm, while the NAACP itself had received $75,000 over three years. Full Capitol Weekly story

Light rail to LAX

The Los Angeles Times rounds up MTA's new proposed path for running light rail service directly to LAX. The proposed route would be a new line running along Crenshaw Blvd. The line could be ready as early as 2015 if the $1 billion needed to finance it can be found. Full story

Skelton on the November ballot

George Skelton offers his wisdom on the fiscal measures on the November ballot. Of the bi-partisan bond package (1B-1E), Skelton says:
"Any Californian who doesn't vote for these bonds might as well just pack up and move to Nevada, Idaho or Mississippi. And business owners should take their jobs and employees with them.
Because soon it's going to be impossible to get to work in urban areas. Freeways will be impassable. Rails impractical. Moreover, public schools will be depressingly overcrowded. Housing unaffordable for the working stiff."
He then proceeds to recommend that voters defeat the interest-group written 84, 87, 88, and 89.
Full story

Government big enough for its own Facebook

According to Stephen Barr's Federal Diary column in WaPo, a new social networking site named Youngfeds.org is being launched. The site will feature blogs, message boards, and video, although user profiles and networking as seen in facebook/myspace will be a future addition. Full story

48 vulnerable seats?

The non-partisan Cook Political Report believes that 48 GOP-controlled House seats are in play. This is up from 18 in January. However, on why this is less important than it seems, let me repeat the most important quotation in the Los Angeles Times' coverage:
"It's one thing to be close," said Scott Lasley, a political scientist at Western Kentucky University, who is tracking the contest between Lewis and Democrat Mike Weaver. "It's another to defeat an incumbent."
Full story

Panama to expand canal

Panama held a plebiscite on Sunday which approved the expansion of the 50-mile canal. The key is to upgrade the facilities to accomodate the larger vessels increasingly in common use. As built today, the canal can only handle vessels up to about 4,000 TEUs. The widened canal will be navigatable for vessels up to 8,000 TEUs, the current standard for new container ships. The issue for Panama will be that by the time the canal improvements are finished (scheduled for eight years from now), the 10,000 TEU ship will be becoming the norm. Full story

More absentee voting news

The New York Times writes about how the increasing popularity of absentee voting is changing the schedule and nature of the political campaign. The key short-term changes are the way in which this early turnout requires a longer campaign, meaning a more costly one. Full story

Money and politics

The New York Times has a fascinating look at the politics of West Virginia, and the determination of one man, Don Blakenship (CEO of the state's largest coal company), to turn it red. Blakenship has spent over $6 million in the past three years in order to bolster the GOP, and it seems to be working. Full story

SF Chronicle on workers' comp

The San Francisco Chronicle's article on workers' compensation has some interesting perspectives on the issue. They acknowledge the 60% cut in system cost, while focusing on patients who may have received delayed treatment. The key here is that the total number of cases in which this is true does not seem to exceed 5%. Full story

Wine Notes #8: From Chile with pride

Today's selection is the 2004 Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon (yes the label is for 2003). Montes is located central Chile. The 2003 vintage received 90 pts., so the $15 being asked at Costco for the 2004 seemed quite reasonable. The finish had far too much excessive alcohol initially, courtesy of the 14% ABV, although this problem diminished quickly.
The wine succeeds in being inoffensive in almost all regards, although this leaves it without many distinguishing features. Some complexity and an unexpectedly long finish were present.
Vina Montes

Voters are not cynical enough

That is the only possible explanation for today's "Money talks" article in the Los Angeles Times. The Times reveals that in fact endorsements for ballot initiatives are often obtained through monetary exchanges, not ideological niceties. One would think that this would have to be the default assumption by now? Full story

Pressing political updates

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune would like you to know that neither David Dreier nor Gary Miller are terribly threatened by the coming election; Dreier has a large lead over his challenger and has the largest campaign chest of any House candidate ($2.3 million), while Miller is running unopposed.

That's what that smell is

The New York Times takes a look at the cost-cutting measures that have lead to increasingly filthy aircraft, discomforting to passengers and crews. Best anecdote: before customer complaints mounted, Delta carried out "deep cleaning" of its aircraft only once every 15 to 18 months. The industry standard is considered to be once every 30 days. Full story

"Blood-stained equipment"

The final report on the failures of King/Drew is out, and the Los Angeles Times has the details.

Hard hitting style journalism

The New York Times Style section investigates the keggers of junior Republicans in DC

"Few people are likely to feel much sympathy"

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, refining profits are down significantly over the past year. Full story

Bush: No Pull Out Until 'Mission is Complete'

Some lede writer has fun with the President's weekly radio address. Full story

"How long is it going to take before the Samaritan says, 'Hey, maybe we ought to patrol this road,' "

An update on Democratic attempts to rehone their message to close the "God gap" Full story in the Washington Post

More records

According to the Mercury News, demand for absentee ballots indicates that for the first time more people will vote by absentee ballot than cast votes at a polling place on election day. Full story

California sets record of distinction

According to the Washington Post, assuming that all funds raised are spent, the fight over Proposition 87 will be the most expensive political proposition in the nation's history. $107 million has been raised to date. The record for expenditures is $93 million for the legalization of reservation gaming in California in 1998. Full story

Radio show backfires?

From the LA Times:
"Only days after urging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to renounce questionable sexual comments made to high school students by a Republican assemblywoman, Democratic challenger Phil Angelides sat through a morning radio talk show Thursday without objecting to a series of dubious gags about sex, ethnicity and an elderly female guest."
The excuse you ask? "Angelides said his performance was not inconsistent with his earlier comments about Schwarzenegger. He defended it as being within the context of a comedy-based radio show." Hasn't he lived in California long enough to know that our are politics are comedy-based to, at least at their finest?
Some of the jokes Phil let slide?
"an earlier African American guest was described as a "tall glass of chocolate milk" while Angelides was in the station"
"Angelides' appearance came after a segment in which a 20-year-old African American man named Master agreed to kiss a 72-year-old white woman named Sara to win a ticket to an upcoming promotional event at Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion in Holmby Hills."
"Carolla made a joke about a "May-casket" romance, playing off "May-December," and said Sara had a case of "jungle fever," a pejorative reference to white women attracted to black men."
"An anonymous voice-over also alluded to Angelides' ethnic background with a sexual innuendo."
"You get a Hacky Sack and a dime bag and a moped, you're into any community college," Carolla said, then added after Angelides said 300,000 students have dropped out over the cost: "That's because their stepdad kicked them out of the garage and they had to get a job."
"If you can't afford junior college…. ," Carolla cut in. "I'm going to ask that once you're elected, Phil Angelides, you change it to 'junior, junior college' just to bring a shame element to it because I feel like it's a graveyard that stupid people go to to die."
Full story

Security clearance revocation rising

The number of active duty military personnel being stripped of their security clearances due to debt and poor fiscal health is rising dramatically, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. Although the Army refused to provide data, information from the other services shows that the number of personnel deprived of their clearances rose from less than 300 in 2002 to over 2,600 in 2005. This has prevented needed manpower from being deployed to overseas duty. Full story

Desert justice

From the Press-Enterprise:
"A Corona woman accused of exposing herself to a 14-year-old boy will not be tried for indecent exposure because the law against such behavior applies only to men, a visiting judge in Riverside County has ruled. " The specific statue punishes any person who "exposes his person." The District Attorney's office later realized that the penal code specifies that masculine pronouns apply to the feminine and neuter as well, and plans to appeal the ruling on these grounds. At trial, their strategy was to argue that the judge's interpretation of the statute was unconstitutional. While that might be used to invalidate a statute (for example, in the 1970s when the New Jersey Supreme Court held that the common law crime of being a common scold was not enforcable because of its gender specitivity), but it seems hard to believe that this argument could justify widening its criminal application. Full story

LA Times compilation of Angelides anecdotes

My personal favorite: "Once, when staffers were choosing a shredder for the office, two sources said, Angelides — then traveling on the East Coast — insisted that aides express mail him samples of minced paper to make sure they were sufficiently pulverized."
Full Los Angeles Times story

Heard of Phil?

Following up on his revelation that Brentwood has fallen hard for Arnold (contributing almost twice as much to his campaign in hard money), Steve Lopez finds that Angelides is seriously lacking in star power and draw. The lede joke says it all, though: "I'm out here on the stump with Phil Angelides. You've heard of him, right?" Also revealing: the campaign booked him to visit a small college class, you know, less than 3 weeks before the election. Full column in the Los Angeles Times

A delightful Times romp

One has to appreciate an op-ed exploring concepts of loss in real estate sales that ends with lines like "Extreme libertarians and fundamentalists make conservative Republicans look moderate."
Full story in the Los Angeles Times

Alhambra Council transition

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune opines on the terming out of two invaluable Alhambra councilmembers, Mark Paulson and Paul Talbot. Full story

The art of political wagering

Stephen Moore writes about the joys and numbers of online wagering on elections. Full story in the WSJ

Parisian Mayor: This wine is too good for us

The city of Paris is in the process of auctioning off its extensive collection of premier and grand cru wines. The current Socialist Mayor believes that the wine is too valuable to drink at public events, and as such should be liquidated. Full story

Desperation sets in

The Angelides campaign is trying to ratchet up years-old character complaints against Schwarzenegger in order to regain some electoral traction. Without the benefit of any new disclosures, however, this seems unlikely to go anywhere. Background Sacramento Bee story, Sacramento Bee story on Angelides' negative comments on talk radio (bonus quotation: You're not going to get me to make out with anyone)

CIA recruiting from Azusa Pacific

Full San Gabriel Valley Tribune story

Jay-Z and Bud

Jay-Z will be the new co-brand director for Budweiser Select. Full story

Governing Newark is hard work . . . really

The New York Times features an interesting article detailing the difficulties of governing one of the nation's toughest cities. Full story

Chinese auto exports to US delayed

The New York Times reports that Chinese exports of cars to the US, which had been predicted to start as early as next year, won't start until at least 2009. Full story

"It's how they express them"

Capitol Weekly covers a topic of vital import-the fate of humor and bluster in next year's Assembly.

Lobbying 101

Capitol Weekly offers a quick round-up on the basics of lobbying success

"Angelides Under a Bus"

The LA Times critiques Democratic leaders such as Fabian Nunez and Don Perata for their tepid support for Phil Angelides, and their photo-op moments with Schwarzenegger. The Times also argues that this behavior is threatening down-ticket Democrats in increasingly competitive races. Of course, the irony here is that down-ticket Democrats in question are themselves moving away from Angelides as fast as possible, publicly rejecting some of his messages. And then, of course, one should keep in mind that the Times itself did functionally the same thing by endorsing Arnold and then endorsing Lockyer, Brown, and Garamendi. (Yes, they endorsed Republican Steve Poizner, but Cruz Bustamante's precense in the race makes that a special case) Full story
Capitol Weekly follows up on this theme by exploring whether or not Schwarzenegger has coattails

Homeowners in trouble

According to the Los Angeles Times, default notices have more than doubled in the July-September period of this year vs. 2005, for a total of more than 26,000 notices being mailed in the state. Almost as worringly, the rate of those who entered default and actually lost their homes tripled, from 6% to 19%. On the positive side, defaults have not risen to 1996 levels, when nearly 60,000 homes entered default in one quarter. Illustratory vignette:
"Just Wednesday morning, Zhang dealt with a Lancaster resident who had taken out a $310,000 adjustable-rate mortgage with a starter interest rate of 5.4% and a monthly payment of $1,050. In July, the interest rate climbed to 8.5% and the monthly payment jumped to $2,306. A year-end adjustment will send the monthly payment to $2,744."
Favorite quotation from an agent:
"We were putting buyers in homes with loans they could not afford to sustain over the long haul," said Bob Casagrand, a San Diego real estate agent. "If you're a marginal buyer with an adjustable mortgage, you're rolling the dice on the future."
Full story

Lewis tops list

Rep. Jerry Lewis tops the list of lawmakers receiving the most cash from registered lobbyists. Lewis raised over $700,000 between January 1999 and December 2005. Full Los Angeles Times Story Full list

A welcome distraction from the real world

The New York Times Fashion section covers the increasingly risque trend in female Halloween costumes. Full story

WSJ Polling not good for Congress

Only 16% of respondents approve of Congress; dissaproval has climbed to 75%. The approval number is tied for the worst ever recorded in the 17-yr old WSJ/NBC poll. Democrats enjoy a 15% lead on the question of which party voters want to control Congress (52%-37%). Amongst decided independents, Democrats have a 2-1 advantage (50%-25%). The Republican party was rated positively by 32% of respondents, while 49% had a negative view, setting a new record for the poll. Democrats were viewed positively by 37% and negatively by 35%. Full story

How you know the housing market is bad

The California Association of Realtors is predicting a rough road ahead

Proposition 90 vs the bonds

The Los Angeles Times has a great article highlighting the negative impacts Proposition 90 will have an infrastructure construction here in California. Full story

Is India running out of labor?

The New York Times compiles evidence that is beginning to be seen, at least in the informational technology sector. Full article

Things you can't have

The New York Times provides valuable information on the latest luxury aircraft hitting the market. Full story

Education a non-issue on the campaign trail

Staff write Howard Blum argues in the Los Angeles Times that Schwarzenegger's record on education has helped him weather attacks from the California Teachers Association and Angelides on the issue. Full story

Sonoma County Chardonnay grapes in trouble

Sonoma County's Chardonnay harvest is threatened this year by the onrest of botrytis, or bunch rot, due to recent wet weather. Damages could reach nearly $5 million at the present grape price of $1,600/ton. Full story

Red light cameras grow

The city of Los Angeles is adding an additional 22 red light cameras to its existing ten. Full Los Angeles Times story

Caltrans dispute continues to grow

The Orange County treasurer-tax collector, Chriss Street, believes that Caltrans is depriving the county of backtaxes on properties bought and sold using eminent domain. Street alleges that a Caltrans regulation implementing a state law on the subject, and in the process eliminating almost situations in which back taxes would be paid, is illegal. The regulation was not reviewed by the Office of Administrative Law before taking affect, as is the custom. Street has asked to Office to review the law now in order to establish its legality. Street has also contacted all other tax collectors using the California Association of County Treasurers and Tax Collectors to join him in this effort.

Bonnie Garcia, Arnold in the press again

This time, Garcia has garnered attention for allegedly saying that she would not kick the Governor out of her bed which addressing an economics class atLa Quinata High School. AP via Monterey County Herald

City of Industry building own power plant

The city is embarking on the construction of a $250 million power plant to prevent blackouts from damaging the industries located in the municipality. The plant could spool up to full power in about 10 minutes, and would provide up to 50 megawatts. Full San Gabriel Valley Tribune story

Target adds Diamond Bar location

The store will be 130,000 sq ft in size, just above the average of 126,000. San Gabriel Valley Tribune story

"Teens' Dancing Is Freaking Out the Adults"

The Los Angeles Times proves once again that its good for a laugh

Financial District to get new tower

Downtown revitalization continues, as plans are reported of a new $300 million tower. Full story

Actors get audited?

Shockingly enough, yes. Wesley Snipes has been indicted for failure to pay $12 million in back taxes and for failing to file tax returns for six years. Full LA Times story

"Arnold Schwarzenegger is a leader that s right for California, right now"

San Gabriel Valley Tribune editorial

Letter to the editor, RE: page program

http://www.sgvtribune.com/yourview/ci_4501758
As a former House page (2001-02), it was disheartening to read your editorial calling for the termination of the congressional page program.

Being nominated to serve by Rep. Curt Weldon was one of the greatest honors I could imagine, and the year of working in the House remains the defining experience of my life. I encouraged my sister to following in my footsteps, and she did, receiving a nomination to serve during 2003-04 from Rep. Tom Tancredo. When the time comes in a few years, I will encourage my brother to seek an appointment as well.

As noted in your editorial, the Foley scandal follows the Crane/Studds misdeeds of 1983, making it the first charge of misconduct in 23 years. This suggests that Congress has eliminated abuses almost entirely and is still worthy of the public trust. The program's worth is further demonstrated by the fact that no pages, current or former, have stepped forward to condemn the program or to suggest its end.

If Congress abolishes pages, they will not be brought back. The program may need reform, but a centuries-old tradition of great value should not be eliminated out of hand because it is the easy solution.

Wine Notes #7

Tonight we have the 2001 Argyle Brut. The Brut posesses a long yet crisp structure. Notes include fruits and minerals. The yeast fermentation and bottle aging really pays off here. I can see why Wine Spectator bestowed a 90 here.
Argyle Winery

Napa/Sonoma wine tastings changing

According to the Los Angeles Times, Napa and Sonoma wineries are changing their tasting patterns to incorporate food pairing, as opposed to generic cheese and crackers repastes. Full story

More non-news

The California GOP has written off Senate candidate Richard Mountjoy, self described "biblical constructionist". Mountjoy has $21,000 in the bank, compared to Feinstein's $8 million. Polls show put his support at less than 30% of registered voters. As the Los Angeles Times notes, this makes two election cycles in a row where the GOP senate candidate was unable to run TV advertising.

A moving story

Not California related, but of great interest none the less. The Los Angeles Times has a great article about how the Internet is helping North Korean defectors escape from China to South Korea. Full story

"Democrats seem to be fielding an uncommonly high number of uncommonly good-looking candidates."

"The beauty gap between the parties, some on Capitol Hill muse, could even be a factor in who controls Congress after Election Day.
Democratic operatives do not publicly say that they went out of their way this year to recruit candidates with a high hotness quotient. Privately, however, they acknowledge that, as they focused on finding the most dynamic politicians to challenge vulnerable Republicans, it did not escape their notice that some of the most attractive prospects were indeed often quite attractive."
This follows the great LA Times stories this morning . . . good day indeed. Full story

Chivas coming to Pomona?

According to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Chivas USA is interested in locating a training facility on the Cal Poly campus in Pomona. Chivas currently shares the Home Depot Center with the LA Galaxy and other non-soccer sports and events. Having their own facility would give them greater flexibility in training and other areas. Interestingly, if the facility is built in Pomona and proves to be successful, this could pave the way for the eventual construction of a full stadium.
Chivas USA is a sister team to Mexico's Club Deportivo Guadalajera, and the region's demographics are certainly favorable to Chivas moving to the San Gabriel Valley. Pomona alone had nearly 100,000 Latino residents in the 2000 Census. The San Gabriel Valley and Inland Empire demographics are favorable as well, and this will only grow with time.
San Gabriel Valley Tribune articles:
Chivas Looks to Pomona, Pomona greets sports center with 'open arms'

Series wrap-up

The NY Times wraps up its series of stories on religious exemptions from various laws and regulations with an editorial calling for their curtailment or elimination. Full editorial

Schwarzenegger pushes cooperation on emissions markets

Governor Schwarzenegger visited New York to discuss implementation of California's global warming law. In particular, the Governor is interested in merging the to-be-created Califorina trading system with a similar project being launched in the Northeast under the leadership of NY Governor Pataki. Full SF Chronicle story

Wine bargains!

California's ongoing trade glut is fueling a growth in cheaper and better negotiant wines. Major wineries don't want to damage their brands by ramping up production beyond what the market will bear, and it is difficult to finance the storage of large quantities of juice. Marquee names rumored to be in the business include Caymus and Joseph Phelps. Look to Costco for more upscale offerings, including Stag's Leap district wines, and to Trader Joe's for more downmarket offerings. Full story

Caltrans land issue grows

Fallout emerges from the Orange County Register story about Caltrans' land holdings.
Orange County officials want to form local committees to determine whether or not Caltrans property should remain in the states possession or be sold. Full story
Meanwhile, BTH Secretary Sunne Wright McPeak, head of Caltrans' parent agency, issues a press release defending Caltrans' record. Full story

Measure 37 Lessons

The SF Chronicle reports on how the outcome of Oregon's Measure 37 is being used by both the Yes and No campaigns on California's Proposition 90. Full story

Bus fare dispute

In the LA Daily News . . . bus fares will be a contentious issue. The decree constraining MTA expires soon, unless a motion to extend it is granted at a hearing on Thursday. The Bus Riders Union is also lobbying City Hall in an attempt to force Villariagosa to block MTA board action on the subject. MTA faces a $1.8 billion operating deficit within a decade. Full story

Film down, TV up in LA

Results are in for media production in LA for 3Q06 . . . film is down by 5%, but television is up by more than 15%. Full story in the Daily News

Where change would come

The LA Times had another insightful piece this morning, pointing out that if control of Congress changes it will mostly take place as a result of the defeat of moderate and conservative Republicans alike in the North East. Full story

Secrets in the line of succession

In a rule change in 2003, the House amended its rules to set the order for succession in case a vacancy occurs in the office of the Speaker. The Speaker himself lists the order of succession for the entirety of the House. The paper is kept at the Office of the Clerk, and is not public. Full story

News that isn't

Rick Santorum's campaign in Pennsylvania is endangered. Really. The LA Times is ahead of the news cycle on that one . . . Some fun and light amusement included, though. Supposedely some of Santorum's English fans are prepared to cross the Atlantic to campaign for him, although no details are given. Desparation also shows in the voice of his supporters.
The article quotes Colin Hanna of conservative group Let Freedom Ring as saying that "If Rick Santorum were to lose, it would be cited as a turning point in the social conservative movement." At the article's end, Hanna is quoted as saying that the election's outcome hinges upon which group of supporters is more motivated to go to the polls. Any guesses there? As a reminder, Governor Ed Rendell is also on the ballot, which will push up Democratic turnout across the state. Of course, Santorum's prior campaigns have been tought too, which is why his 5 point deficit in the polls (he's polling 41% or so) is not quite considered lethal. Full story

"He looks like a cross between actor Wilford Brimley and Jabba the Hutt"

WaPo profiles Dennis Hastert

Radar Online ranks your Congress

The list ranks the 10 dumbest members of Congress. Coming in at #1 is Katherine Harris. Full story

Pay to play on the ballot

Dan Walters writes about the continuing practice of "pay-to-play" in the world of ballot initiatives. Full column

Oil tax fight reaches $100 million

The $4 billion oil tax, Proposition 87, has spurred over $100 million in campaign fundraising. Full story

"Most people don't read footnotes"

Dan Weintraub writes that as accounting rules change, public knowledge and interest in future health care liabilities for retired public employees is rising. The state's tab alone is estimated at over $40 billion. He explores the expample of Rohnert Park in Sonoma County, where the 44,000 resident town owes over $50 million in health care benefits alone. To cover the gap, the city would need to spend about $4.6 million/yr out of a budget of less than $30 million. Full column

"One bipartisan leader"

The Sacramento Bee joined the LA Times in endorsing Schwarzenegger's re-election. Although the Bee pronounces itself sympathetic to Angelides' ideals and his forthrightness on future budget difficulties, it deams his inability to reach the public directly or build supporting coalitions a fatal weakness in a state with many diverging interests. Full editorial

RNC cutting DeWine, others to concentrate resources

The Republican National Committee is cutting its financing of marginal races for the House and Senate in order to hold the line for their majorities. The latest victim of this is Senator Mike DeWine of Ohio. Fortunately for the Senator, he has sufficient money in the bank to run his campaign without much outside aide. Others are not so lucky. Full story

Coast Guard arms the Great Lakes

Despite local opposition, the Coast Guard has mounted machine guns plying the five Great Lakes as a counter-terror measure. Interestingly, doing so required negotiations with Canada, as the treaty ending the War of 1812 placed severe limitations on allowable armarments in those waters. Full story

Snow Blazes New Trail

Tony Snow is drawing some attention for his reshaping of the role of the press secretary. One of these changes involves campaigning. He has been raising money for Republican candidates, acting as a draw at fundraisers. Full story

Caltrans as slumlord?

An Orange County Register investigation alleges that Caltrans is in fact the largest slumlord in California. The cause? Aquisition of property for projects that were never built. Over 1/3rd of Caltrans' land inventory was purchased over 30 years ago. Of course, one needs to note here that some of this is for projects that Caltrans intended to build at that time and still may happen or be utilized for transportation capacity (i.e.: the large chunks of right-of-way land Caltrans owns for the 710 completion, the failure to complete that having more to do with litigation and politics than Caltrans). Full story

More redistricting fallout

Republican consultant Tony Quinn reiterates the point that California's redistricting is helping to protect the GOP majority in the House. Full story

Important Political Gossip

Is the 39-yr old Mayor's new 20-yr old girlfriend drinking . . . illegally? The SF Chronicle wants to know!

Measure L Heats Up

The campaign against Measure L on the November ballot in Diamond Bar is heating up. Measure L introduces a parcel tax to pay for the construction and operation of a new library facility. The No campaign has had several letters to the editor (San Gabriel Valley Tribune) published recently in response to a recent Tribune story.
To publicize their views, the campaign's Chairman, Allen Wilson, has started his own blog, No Library Tax.

Married households now in the minority

Married households have slid to just under 50% of the total number with or without children. Five years ago, married households made up 52% of all households. Full story

Arnold's appeal to drive downticket Republican wins?

The Governor's dominance Angelides and his popularity seem to be helping downticket Republicans by driving down Democratic turnout. The failure of the Mountjoy senate campaign also deprives Democrats of one reason to vote. Not to mention the fact that the state's gerrymander eliminates any compelling need to vote in federal elections. Full story

Initiatives seek to reign in judges

One of the marquee themes of state ballot initiatives this year, besides eminent domain, are propositions in South Dakota, Montana, Colorado, and Oregon that seek to limit discretion and independence amongst the judiciary and in the case of Oregon makes changes to their selection. Full story

CA Looses $52B/Year

California now receives less than 80% of taxes paid into the federal treasury back. 1/5th goes to other states. California ranks 44th in the nation in this regard. Full column

"Arnold Schwarzenegger has been a solid, pragmatic governor who has steered a moderate course for California. He deserves a sequel."

LA Times endorses Arnold for re-election

Wine Notes #6: Back to Napa

Tonight's selection: 2001 Freemark Abbey Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Possessed of a nice, dark, and very pleasing color. Looks positively gorgeous in the glass. This is a very fruity Cabernet. Medium finish that lingers on the palate nicely. Mostly cherry flavors, the oak is present but kept to a minimum. Thank you Liquorama for stocking this one.
Freemark Abbey

CA NAACP Scandal?

Alice Huffman, President of NAACP's California organization, received payments from various interest groups (big tobacco, telecos, big pharma) at the same time she sterred the NAACP to support legislation favoring these interests. Full story

High Turnout=Higher Initative Costs

Voter enthusiasm for Arnold, various ballot fights this year, and the rise in absentee voting will all contribute to an increase in voter turnout in 2006 vs. prior years. This, in turn, will drive up the number of qualifying signatures needed for ballot measures, also raising the cost. Full story

No on 89

The LA Times has come out against Proposition 89. The editorial board points out that the proposition fails in that 1) it attempts to finance a public good for all Californians only through taxing businesses and 2) creates an unlevel playing field for ballot campaigns by restraining only corporate contributions. Full story

Enthusiasm Vs. Machine

The NY Times posits that the midterms will come down to whether or not Democratic enthusiasm can defeat the vaunted Republican GOTV operation. Full story

Yes, the Feds watch MySpace

A 14-yr old Sacramento teen, Julia Wilson, was interviewed by the Secret Service over a picture she posted on her MySpace profile which included the words "Kill Bush." Full story

Wiccan Rights

The VA refuses to allow the pentacle to be placed on the grave of Wiccan veterans; an application to allow its use has been pending since 1997. Veterans have filed lawsuit to force th VA to act. Full story

Religion Fights Global Warming

More coverage of one of the hottest current trend stories . . . congregations across the country are increasing fighting global warming, etc., including through the upgrading of their physical plant to use solar power they generate. Full story

The Tridentine Rite is coming back?

The Pope is in the process of drafting an initiative to allow for much wider use of the Tridentine Mass as opposed to the Novus Ordo rite. WaPo article

NYT Shocked By Economics

The NY Times ran a piece today expressing a bit of shock that prices have not declined in the market for electricity, despite deregulation, in proportion to declines in the deregulated prices for other commodities (ie: phone service). This would seem to be ignoring two things: 1) electricity is competitive practically nowhere in California and this is mirrored in many other states, 2) new capacity is difficult to build and therefore hasn't, and 3) demand for the commodity has skyrocketed. Hardly surprising that these pressures have failed to reduce prices and indeed put upward pressure on them . . . Full story

Gay Marriage Issuing Waning in Salience?

Even though same-sex marriage bans are on the ballot in 8 states this year, and most will probably pass, recent polling seems to indicate that few if any will impact other races within the states in question. Full story

Abstinence Education and the ACLU

New religion in the public square debates . . . how far can "secularized" versions of religious dogma (in this case, abstinence) go without crossing the line in public schools? WaPo story

Azusa Arouses Public Opposition over Redevelopment Plans

Azusa has given its redevelopment agency the authority to use eminent domain over the areas immediately surrounding the future Gold Line station site. Many businesses are angered by this move. Full story

SGVEP Awards Gala in the Tribune

Full story

Isn't unsurprising news fun?

According to the Washington, D.C. group the Tax Foundation, California is 45th out of our 50 states for the negative impact of taxes on business. California ranks wells in terms of property tax and unemployment insurance taxes, but fared poorly in sales, corporate, and personal income taxes.
Full story

Air America Enters Chapter 11

Sinking under the weight of $40 million in losses in 3 years, bank accounts frozen by creditors, and extensive unpaid debts, Air America Radio has filed for bankruptcy.
Tribune writeup

A good satire revisited

Revisiting an old topic: another economic argument against charitable giving, and an examination of the reasons for giving. Full story

Guide to the Guide

A satirical guide to the CA voting guide

Rising Use of Trackers

The LA Times writes about the increasing scrutiny candidates face as they campaign, with opposition supporters using ever-cheaper video equipment to record their every gaffe. Full story

Follow the Cruz

A few months ago, Steve Lopez talked Insurance Commissioner hopeful Cruz Bustamante into agreeing to return campaign money from the insurance industry he would be regulating. The LA Times follows up on this, and finds that although some steps have been taken, Cruz's accounts have not been totally purified.

More on Proposition 90

The LA Times follows the SF Chronicle with its own look at the financing of Proposition 90. Full story

LA Times Says No on 90

Given their coverage on eminent domain, this is a somewhat surprising, but still welcome development. Full story

Here are the other newspapers that have also editorialized against 90:

Los Angeles Daily News, (10/10/06)
Sonoma Index-Tribune, (10/10/06)
Fresno Bee, (10/9/06)
Santa Maria Times, (10/8/06)
Modesto Bee, (10/6/06)
Palm Springs Desert Sun, (10/6/06)
Milpitas Post, (10/5/06)
San Francisco Examiner, (10/5/06)
Woodland Daily Democrat, (10/4/06)
San Francisco Bay Guardian, (10/4/06)
Paradise Post, (10/3/06)
San Jose Mercury News, (10/2/06)
Pasadena Star News, (9/27/06)
Whittier Daily News, (9/27/06)
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, (9/27/06)
Riverside Press-Enterprise, (9/25/06)
Gilroy Dispatch, (9/22/06)
Sacramento Bee, (9/16/06)
Napa Valley Register, (9/14/06) Mountain View Voice, (9/08/06)
Santa Rosa Press Democrat, (9/11/06)
Torrance Daily Breeze, (8/23/06)
San Diego Union-Tribune, (8/22/06)

Silly Ads

This morning's radio programming had two conflicting and therefore amusing ads following each other by a few minutes.
The first, sponsored by the California Teachers' Association (CTA) and others, propped up Proposition 1D from the bond package, describing all of the wonderful benefits it would bring (highlights: reduced class sizes, getting rid of absbestos, safer playgrounds).
Soon comes another ad, sponsored by "California's Workers" (who could that be?) slamming the Governor for lacking any strategy for improving education, amongst other things. Like, say, Proposition 1D?

Redistricting Protects

Bruce Reed over at slate covers the story of how redistricting is protecting the delicate Republican majority in the House. Bonus California relevance: as Reed points out, Democratic sinking of Proposition 77 last year guarantees that even a Democratic sweep nationwide probably won't net them a single state in California. Full story

AQMD Moves AQMP

The SC Air Quality Management District has put out its draft Air Quality Management Plan. More updates to come on this. Of particular interest . . . AQMD wants builders/developers to start paying up for emissions from construction and future vehicular traffic. AQMD staff have expressed this sentiment before in regards to MTA's proposed Congestion Mitigation Fee. Full Story

Death of Cursive

WaPo covers the death of handwriting. Full story

Wine Notes #5: Triple Review

So, yes it has been some time. But, to make up for it, there shall be three wine reviews. In tonight's review: 2004 Archery Summit Premier Cuvee, 2004 Benton Lane Estate, 2003 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Artemis Cabernet Savignon.


2004 Archery Summit Premier Cuvee
The problem here is that the alcohol (13.9%) has a way of overpowering the balance of the cuvee. Once one sees past the alcohol and the accompanying hot finish, the wine stands in good stead. Should get a bit better with age.




2004 Benton Lane Estate Pinot Noir
This got a 90 from Wine Spectator, and I have to wonder why. It is similar to the 2003, which was excellent for the price range, but the 2004 has excessive sugar. Kind of like drinking liquid Pepsi? I'm sure this appeals to some part of the population, but it doesn't make for good Pinot. Stick to the 2003 and wait for next year. I will be sampling this again to make sure that bottle variation didn't destroy this sample.


2003 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Artemis Cabernet Sauvignon
Although some perceive this as more of a weakeness for the SLWC brand than an asset, it is quite wonderful and comes at a very nice price break for quality Cab. Subtle and wonderful.

More problems for Airbus

Problems continue for Airbus . . . Corporate parent EADS ousted their 3-month CEO. This can only mean more good times for Boeing, which has been resurgent in the past few years. Full story

More religion news

The NYT series continues; today's installment focuses on tax exemptions and other monetary issues. Full story

Ratkovich in the news

The Ratkovich Co. will soon begin work on a new 351 unit condominium complex in Alhambra. Prices will start in the 400ks. Full story

It Has Been Filed

The anticipated challenge to the LA schools bill was filed today. Full story

Math education reform

Dan Walters' column highlights changes and reforms in the teaching of mathematics.

Debate Summarized

Dan Weintraub offers his summary of Saturday's debate. Key truism: Political debates, like the campaigns they highlight, have become largely irrelevant to the voting public.

Save the Pets

Under a new federal law, states must give FEMA a pet evacuation plan before being eligible to receive federal emergency preparedness funds.
Full story

State to loose $1.5B in annaul revenues

California is currently appealing a decision that holds the state's collection of tax from entities, primarily LLC partnerships, without locations in California to be unconstitutional. Assuming that the decision is not overturned, California will loose about $1.5 billion in annual revenues. To put this into context, it will widen next year's projected defecit of $5 billion by 30%. In addition, the state would have to pay out billions of dollars in refunds for taxes collected in prior years, going back to 2001.
Full story

More Religion News

Following yesterday's analysis of religious exemptions from regulation, today's Times includes an article focusing on this relationship in the context of employment law. Full story

Main Series Stories This Week

In the LA Times: Russia is dying, rather literally. If current trends continue, Russia's population will shrink to only a bit over 50 million by 2080. Compare this to the growing population of its neighbor and main strategic rival, China.

In the SF Chronicle: The Chronicle is running a series on sex trafficking, which seems to frequently end in California. Link is to the current installment.

Champagne Culture In LA

The Times writes up the emergence of higher forms of champagne-swilling in LA's trendier establishments. Higher prices and higher quality are emerging more regularly on the menu.

Full story

Religious Exemptions and Government Regulation

Good, long story discussing the growing plethora of regulatory and tax exemptions available to religious organizations.

Full story

Related discussion in Slate

Economist Roundup

The NYT has a roundup of a new consensus emerging amongst the nation's economists, who are increasingly unified in their support for higher energy taxes. Most prominent convert: Alan Greenspan. The current focus is on the gasoline excise tax.

While transportation advocates and others have cited the need to raise the excise tax on gasoline for quite a while (cf: inflation, increased vehicle fuel economy pinching revenues, and the coming bankruptcy of the Highway Trust Fund), the new consensus includes national security and other arguments to justify the increase.

Full story

"How Office Politics and Real Politics Can Mix"

In a great soft piece in today's business section, the NY Times discovers that managers really don't appreciate political debates at work.

NY Times Story

Azusa Gun Club Forced Out

The San Gabriel Valley Gun Club in Azusa is being forced to relocate due to rezoning by the city (the land is now designated as open space). As happens with these things, people moved next to the gun club and decided to complain about the "nuisance."

Tribune article

Debate fails to change dynamic

From the media coverage, it seems that while Saturday night's debate between the Governor and challenger Angelides had a few rhetorical sparks, nothing emerged to change the underlying dynamic. Which I should hope you are all familiar with by now . . .

LA Times coverage

SGV Tribune coverage

Army Outflanks Rumsfeld

According to the NY Times, the Secretary is breaking with precedent and allowing the Army to take its budget requests directly the Office of Management and Budget, instead of filtering them through his office. This is a huge internal victory for the Army, and may presage expanded growth in the service and attendant funding. Also of note: this direct request may upend the current military budget distribution, which has had static allocations between the services for over 50 years now.

NY Times Story

Older background story from Slate's Fred Kaplan

Proposition 90 Web

The SF Chronicle delves into the web of financing used by New York-based Howard Rich to channel 90% of the cash coming into the Yes on 90 campaign. Full story

Shocking News Update From WaPo

As it turns out, bills passed by Congress have . . . loopholes. Yes, indeed. Turns out that there is enough legislative wiggle room in the border fence bill to give the Bush administration a partial win for its "virtual" fence.

Full story

Designer Kitties!

A company in San Diego is making allergy-free kitties for $4,000/cat.

Full story

Evangelical Movement Fears Loosing Youth

According to the NY Times, evangelical Christian ministries are increasingly concerned about loosing the support of the nation's youth. Most of the blame is placed upon the current cultural mores. Unsurprisingly, little attention is paid to how the movement's connection to various causes that make any association with it embarrassing to many youth could be driving down participation. Think messages of strident anti-homosexuality, anti-evolution, and Jerry Falwell. Not an image likely to help them.

Full story

Times Focuses on Board of Supervisors

The LA Times uses the King/Drew closing to examine the problems the Board of Supervisors has in managing the county. Full story

Unsurprising Poll Results: Arnold Up By 17%

According to the LA Times' polling data, the governor has now surged ahead to a 50%-33% lead. Full story

Am I Reading The Onion or The NYT?

Every once in a while, one comes across an article that sparks this question. NYT's real estate section had a piece this morning that verges on Onion territory. The subject is the pickiness of children in real estate, and their tendency to make mean, hurtful comments about the inferior properties of others. Let's go to the article: "Children, once assumed to be oblivious to the nuances of real estate, now know what is prized and what is not, and often feel free to comment on what they observe." The best, however, is the caption on the accompanying photo: "Henry Friedman took his classmates on a house tour." Glad to now that's part of the news that's fit to print.

Full story

Industry Wins City of the Year

Full Tribune story

Most Unsurprising Business News Trend of the Day

The LA Times details how retiree healthcare benefits are being cut back, and premiums raised, as prices high (according to a Kaiser Foundation, study, the increase was as much as 10.4% from 04 to 05). Full story

"Doesn't seem clean or fair"

The Tribune takes aim at Proposition 89

Additionally, the LA Times has a lengthy article detailing some of the specific impacts of the measure and the politics behind it.

Lawsuit Ruling Clears Way For City of Industry

The City of Industry prevailed in state appellate court, demonstrating that it did not intend to build a dam or bypass road on a parcel of several thousand acres in Orange County. Brea had sued Industry in order to block a dam or bypass road. Industry is now decided what to do with the land, which it purchased in the 1970s. Industry owns thousands of acres in three different counties.

Full Trib article

Wine Notes #4: Double the Fun!

So, two wines to cover today.

Tonight's wine: Joseph Drouhin Laforet Pinot Noir '05

No doubt still young to be drinking this, but eh, that's what everyday wines are for (this wine is currently going for $13 @ BevMo). Nicely complex, and expresses the region well. Huzzah for Burgundy! Makes for a nice Pinot Noir. Sorry, no image currently available.




Yesterday's wine: Louis Jadot Pommard AOC 2001

Strong minerality and earthiness, but quite pleasing overall. Makes for a most delicious drink. This wine drinks very well for its relatively young age.

New Biggest Waste of Hard Cash

Movie producer and real estate heir Stephan Bing donated $40 million to Prop 87. Why is this a waste you ask? 87's opponents have been on the air for weeks now and struck some hard blows against the measure. Even if gas prices have receded a bit by November, the high cost compared to historic prices will surely make voters hestitant about pulling the lever for 87. And, of course, one would be remiss to ignore the fact that with $40 million in the bank, one could finance some of the technological innovation sought by 87.

SacBee coverage

NIMBY Bites Gun Club

A classic story highlighted in the Tribune today. Some folks decided to build homes next to the San Gabriel Valley Gun Club in Azusa. Some other folks decided to buy these homes. These folks decided that the city had "outgrown" the gun club and that it was now an untenable nuisance to the community. Shocking really.

Full story

Wine Notes #3

J Vineyards 2004 Russian River Pinot Noir
jwine.com

Definetely purchase this one in the store--the list online is about over $30, but the going retail seems to be $20.

Picture will be uploaded when Blogger decides to work properly.

Pulled this out of the cellar on a whim. This Pinot is a classic expression of Sonoma--more powerful and somewhat less complex than Burgundy, but not taking these to Napa levels. Excellent fruit flavors, accompanied by excellent texture.

Wine Notes #2

Here are some notes on a wine we served tonight, the Clos Pegase 2002 Mitsuko's Vineyard Merlot. Not usually a big fan of California Merlot, but the BevMo clearance price of $16 made it quite an attractive buy.

Although not a terribly complex wine, this Merlot is a tasty and delicious quaff that goes down nicely. As to be expected, big, rich fruit flavors dominate. Again, even sitting in the bottle uncorked for a while, and then sitting in the glass, added a great deal. Highly recommended, particularly if you can get it at a reasonable price.

Unions Throw $25 Million Down Drain

Trying to create their special election glory, many of California's unions are teaming up once again to create a unified campaign against the Governor's re-election. Given how the Angelides campaign is floundering, its difficult to see how this could be anything more than burning $25 million in the public square. The special election campaign was better funded, had great press visibility, and had some potent issues. That won't be the case this time around. Full story

Happy News

The lack of new industrial space has been, and will continue to be a significant problem, for the San Gabriel Valley. One city doing something about this phenomenon is the City of Irwindale, which today opened a new 85,000 sq. ft. business park. My thanks to the Tribune and Rodney Tanaka for taking the time to write about critically important developments like this, even if they lack some of the flash of other stories.

Irwindale Economic Development manager Elaine Cullen on the project:

"Any new space that can come on the market in Irwindale for industrial uses is positive no matter what size it is," she said. "We have such a shortage. Our vacancy rate is less than 1 percent, which doesn't leave a lot of space to bring in new companies or for existing companies to expand."

Full story

Today's Big Headline . . . Rosemead Recall Fails

Councilmembers Taylor and Imperial held off challengers by a 59-41 margin to retain their seats on the city council.

Most memorable quotation from this mess:

"Public service is like a bikini: it's not a right, it's a privilege," said recall proponent Caroline Kunikoa. "And no one should be wearing one for 32 years."

Full story

Random Interesting News

I guess some people are a bit too concerned about their self-image . . . turns out Caltrans searches Blogger.com for mentions of Caltrans. The IP they used is out in San Bernardino.

Sales Decline

SoCal homes sales are down 25% vs. figures from a year ago, while prices rise less than 3%. Full story

Red Line advances

Rep. Waxman is successfully pushing his Red Line legislation through the House and Senate, allowing for the tunneling to eventually take place, according to the LA Times. House approval is expected tomorrow. As noted by the article, financing is still spotty, but this step still needs to be taken before anything can happen. Full story

The Wal-Mart draw never fails

The LA Times weighs in with its over coverage of the Rosemead special election. Full story

Homeless Accord

Not really SGV news, but of significant regional interest. According to the LA Times, the LAPD and ACLU have reached an agreement limiting the times and locations for homeless tent encampments downtown. Full story

If you wondered why traffic was bad yesterday . . .

Gas main break shuts down 57 South

Was in a meeting including Caltrans staff when they get this call. I imagine this is about the least favorite part of their job.

SB 927 and Container Fees

Interestingly enough, yesterday's link to the Trib SB 927 editorial on container fees seems to have prompted a rush of traffic redirected from Google and Blogger searches for the topic (thank you SiteMeter!). In the spirit of this public interest, I thought I would throw in a few thoughts on why our good Governor should sign this landmark legislation:

1) Creating a dedicated trade infrastructure (goods movement) funding stream is imperative. Out of the $30/TEU fee (that's $60 for the box on most trucks you see), $20 will go to support trade infrastructure projects. This is a huge policy landmark, and puts California way out in front of the feds on a key issue. Hopefully this will spur action in DC, or at least help California compete for category funds by demonstrating that the impacts are bad enough to require localized fees.
2) This should be seen as part of a broader investment package including Props. 1A and 1B. Although this legislation would be terribly unfair if it occured by itself and placed all fiscal responsibility on the beneficial owner of cargo (ie: retailers), the public is also making a costly investment in similar project categories using income and sales tax revenue. In this light, this seems like a fair distribution of financial responsibility.
3) As shown by SCAG's Port and Modal Elasticity study by Rob Leachman, if investment is done right, the returns will be extremely cost efficient. Even if no improvements are made, volumes will decline slightly while trans-loading will increase a bit (trans-loading generates far more economic benefits for our region than cargo simply passing through on the freeways). Also, given capacity restraints at other ports, diversion doesn't seem to be a significant future problem. Do you think the port of Seattle will tolerate 5 million TEUs in volume say five years from now?
4) The $500 million or so in fees SB 927 represents seems to be a relatively low cost given the total value of imports. According to the USDOT, the West Coast imported about $226 billion in goods in 2003, or which nearly 70% came in through San Pedro Bay, totalling as much as $186 billion in goods. In that light, $500 million is about a quarter of a percent increase in cost.
5) This proposal has been around at least 18 months by my reckoning, during which different shippers and importers have talked about putting together a voluntary MOU. While this would be vastly preferable and would probably have eliminated the siphoning off of dollars to pay for port security and air quality mitigation, it hasn't happened. Given the length of time involved, something would need to have at least started coming together for this to be a plausible alternative.
6) About 2/3rds of the goods coming in through the goes to consumers spread across the nation who are not contributing to impact mitigation at our ports. Since retailers will pass this cost increase along, it represents a way of getting around that problem.

OK, well that's all for now.

Trib rounds up supervisorial spending

For those who like to read about how an office budget gets spent . . . Full story

Romero Bill Before the Gov

The Times writes up Senator Romero's SB 1513 today, which has passed the Legislature and is pending at the Governor's desk. SB 1513 would instruct the BT&H to develop an international trade policy for California, and could lead to the reopening of foreign trade offices under certain conditions. Full story

$4B works to keep environmentalists onboard for the bond

According to Capitol Weekly, the $4B transit component in Prop 1B is keeping environmentalists on the sidelines. Also noteworthy . . . much of their attention is also being grabbed by Prop 90.

Rosemead Contest to be settled soon

As a reminder, the Rosemead recall election will be taking place on Tuesday.

A New Study, A New Feature

The Trib's excellent Kevin Smith reports on a study in the Journal of Labor Research which finds that social drinking can improve one's earnings. Specifically, male drinkers earn 10% more than non-drinkers, while female drinkers boost their earnings by 14%. (Full article)

In honor of this development, we'll be adding short notes on different wines from time to time. Today's feature is:

Smoking Loon 2005 California Chardonnay

Strong reminder to a recently tasted 2005 Yellow Tail. However, the oaking was significantly reduced, allowing for a much better rounded quaff. The wine was decanted and consumed over a long enough period of time that there was a noticable strengthening and maturity after an hour or so. If you're going to drink wine like this, the $20 Riedel Vivant decanter at Target is a necessary investment, helping the wine quite a bit. Very light feel on the palate. 13.8% ABV. Von's carries Smoking Loon's lineup for under $10/btl.

Press Conference Coverage

The SGVEP worked with the Coalition for Clear Roads and Clean Air to organize a press conference in support of Propositions 1A and 1B. Read the Tribune's coverage here.

Tribune Supports SB 927

The Tribune urged Governor Schwarzenegger to support SB 927, which is the gut-and-amend version of Senator Lowenthal's SB 760 container fee bill. Full editorial

Glendora Land Swap Fight Heats Up

The campaign to defeat Measure A on the Glendora ballot gained intensity, as it hosted a 400-person rally. Trib article

Lockyer Sues Rosemead/Wal-Mart

In a July 20 brief, Attorney General Bill Lockyer joined with the Save Our Community group's lawsuit against the city of Rosemead and Wal-Mart. Lockyer alleges that the environmental review documents for the project are inadequate in documenting impacts on air quality. Full Trib article

Free MTA rides for a week?

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has asked MTA staff to determine the cost of offering a free transit week on regional bus and rail lines. MTA ridership is up 7.3% versus last year, from 1.5 million in June 2005 to 1.6 million this June. Part of that increase is due to the nearly 20,000 daily boarding on the Orange Line. The mayor notes that a similar program up in the Bay Area caused a 10% spike in ridership during the free week, although the article does not detail whether or not this was sustained. Full story

More of the noxious but legal from Rep. Lewis

Jerry Lewis is back in the papers again. It turns that not only did he and his wife invest in the Security Bank of California, so did his campaign committee, to the tune of $25,000. This came on the same day the Lewises made their $22,000 investment. Full story

CA Assn. of Realtors is afraid of the market

Which means you should be too. California Association of Realtors chief economist, Leslie Appleton-Young, is no longer using the term "soft landing" to describe the market's future. The Association is dropping its sale forecast from a 2% decline in sales this year to a 16.8% decline. The new term: "a fairly significant shakeout".

Of course, irrational exuberance still rules for those hoping to get into the market. The Department of Real Estate reports that in May the number of agents in the state broke 500,000 for the first time, leaving one agent for every 55 adults. Full LA Times story

Of course, for those of us looking to break into the market, it will take some pretty significant price declines to cancel out the comparatively higher interest rates.

In related news, a Diamond Bar man was found guilty in the November 1st shooting of a real estate agent going door to door to drum up business. The shooter claimed he confused the agent with a man he had had a previous altercation with, thinking this justified the use of his shotgun. Full SGV Tribune story

Restaurant Thefts on the rise in the other Valley

According to the LA Times, the San Fernando Valley has seen rapid growth in the number of armed robberies of local eateries, perhaps triggered by tighter bank security measures. Full story

Arnold Says I'm Not Bush

Governor Schwarzenegger drew a clear distinction between himself and President Bush when he directed the state to loan $150 million to the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, created by voters through Proposition 71 in 2004 (59% yes vote). The CIRM was created to fund stem cell research using bond money, which is currently held up in court. Full story

LA Times Covers Rapid Increase In Rent

We've all seen numerous stories about the continued and rapid increase in the cost of residential property. The Times takes a different tact today, writing about the rapid recent rise in the cost of rental housing. Full story

Contribute, or no referral

Beverly Hills workers' comp attorney Lawrence Stern has landed in the papers for threatening in a June 26 e-mail to not refer his clients to doctors who had failed to contribute at least $2,500 to the election campaign of Phil Angelides. Stern urged the recipients of the e-mail (known as Agreed Medical Examiners) to "stand shoulder to shoulder and to reach into their pockets, if necessary sell their Mercedes or not buy a new one for another year and help us get rid of Arnold". Full story

P3/HOT Update

CW Managing Editor John Howard updates us on public-private partnership and high-occupancy tolling legislation and projects. Particular item of interest: Australian investment firm Macquarie, which has financed toll projects worldwide, has retained Capitol Strategies as its Sacramento lobbyists, despite some public comments by one of its executives at last year's Mobility 21 conference that indicated California was not of interest to the company due to significant legal barriers. Full story

List of players

CW lists the key transportation players in Sacramento. Unfortunately, none of them is from the SGV. Full list

Lowenthal Opines Too

Senator Alan Lowenthal has a goods-movement related editorial in Capitol Weekly as well, outlining some of our problems (worst congestion, high housing pricies, severe under investment in infrastructure, etc.) and listing the good works the legislature has done to correct this deficiency (Prop 1A and the bonds). Lowenthal also puts in a plug for his container fee bill (SB 760) under the make the polluter pay rubric. Full story

Oropeza Editorial

Jenny Oropeza editorializes on the danger of diesel emissions. Full story