Thursday | May 23, 2013

California’s utilities, railroads to pay higher taxes

SACRAMENTO, 5/22/13 9:01pm

• Board of Equalization sets their property values

• Valued at $91.4 Billion

California’s lobbying and campaign finance database soon to be at your fingertips

SACRAMENTO, 5/22/13 9:00pm

• Secretary of State pledges to have it online by Labor Day

• “It's a quantum leap forward for transparency”

Free bonding workshop for small business set

FRESNO, 5/22/13 9:00pm

• Teaching small businesses how to get and increase bonds

• Will help in competing for government contracts – especially High-Speed Rail project

Six facts lost in the IRS scandal

NEW YORK CITY, N.Y., 5/22/13 12:25pm , by Kim Barker & Justin Elliott, ProPublica

• What else the government is doing – and not doing

• Parsing the definitions of words as finely as frog’s hair

$70 Million insurance rate reduction OK’d for SoCal drivers

LOS ANGELES, 5/22/13 10:40am

• Over one million motorists to have rates slashed

• Auto Club’s fourth rate reduction over the past nine years

Visalia schools going solar

VISALIA, 5/22/13 10:08am

• Panels will power 12 campuses

• Expected to save $15 Million in power costs

Less Memorial Day travel predicted

EMERYVILLE, 5/22/13 9:54am

• But over 4 Million Californians to expected to travel

• “Many are still caving into their pent-up desires to leave town”

“Interim” removed from CSU Stanislaus president’s title

LONG BEACH, 5/22/13 9:36am

• Joseph Sheley gets the job permanently

• “President Sheley is truly 'Made in the CSU'”

Fresno State gets new president

LONG BEACH, 5/22/13 9:29am

• Joseph Castro to succeed John Welty

• “He understands that the impact of Fresno State extends far beyond the boundaries of the campus”

U.S. workers forming better eating habits

SAN FRANCISCO, 5/22/13 8:50am

• Almost all are increasing intake of fruits and veggies

• Nearly three out of four read those nutrition labels

Tug of war seen in California home sales

TRUCKEE, 5/22/13 5:27am

• Sales of non-distressed homes cannot offset decline in distressed sales

• “We need to prepare for further declines in sales volume”

Republican wins Valley Senate seat

SACRAMENTO, 5/22/13 5:00am

• Voters pick Hanford cherry farmer

• Democrats split vote

AUDIO: Report shows smaller cities can save with smarter development

SACRAMENTO, 5/21/13 9:00pm

• Quantifies average fiscal impact of smart growth development

• “By building up not out we’re bringing in more tax revenue”

Central Valley gets two new Superior Court judges

SACRAMENTO, 5/21/13 1:14pm

• Antonio Reyes succeeds Gerald Sevier in Tulare County

• Denny Forland succeeds Gerald Hermansen in Butte County

Report: Medical treatment varies crazily in California

SACRAMENTO, 5/21/13 12:12pm

• Do you live in Tracy? Why you’re likely to undergo brachytherapy

• “Much of the variation in California cannot be explained by illness rates”

Nation cuts education spending for first time in 40 years

WASHINGTON, D.C., 5/21/13 7:33am

• Nationally, spending dropped 0.4 percent

• California's spending cuts were six times as large

Central Valley oil boomlet grows

KETTLEMAN CITY, 5/21/13 5:47am

• Taxes company to drill at two sites

• “We are extremely excited by the oil and gas potential”

Some workers strike UC Davis Hospital

DAVIS, 5/21/13 5:14am

• Protesting stalled labor talks

• Seven UC hospitals are being struck statewide

Tax preparer admits tax evasion

FRESNO, 5/21/13 4:47am

• Also structured more than $1 million of withdrawals from her bank accounts

• Now faces up to 15 years in prison

Tulare cousins sent to prison for taxpayer fraud

FRESNO, 5/20/13 10:00pm

• Defrauded 75 taxpayers of their tax refunds

• In addition to prison time, they have to repay their victims

Central Valley Community Bank’s acquisition of Visalia Community Bank OK’d

FRESNO, 5/20/13 9:21pm

• Government regulators sign off on the deal

• “Will provide long-term opportunities”

Former Fresno investment manager sentenced to prison

FRESNO, 5/20/13 9:13pm

• Defrauded investors of more than $3.3 million

• A Ponzi-like scheme for five years

AUDIO: Forget that resume, says career coach

BOTHELL, WASH., 5/20/13 9:00pm

• Why traditional job seeking tools are ineffective

• “Don’t think of yourself as a job searcher”

More concerns raised about new Bay Bridge structural integrity

SACRAMENTO, 5/20/13 9:00pm

• Lawmaker reacts to newspaper’s revelations

• “Everything needs to be laid out on the table and examined”

Student businesses to be featured at regional competition

FRESNO, 5/20/13 11:28am

• Five to be picked to compete nationally

• “This competition is really empowering for the high school students”

Central Valley getting its first battery electric transit buses

STOCKTON, 5/20/13 11:24am

• Stockton will use zero emission buses to help improve region's air quality

• “This is a major milestone”

The incredible shrinking plants

RENO, NEV., 5/20/13 11:11am

• Climate change blamed for smaller and smaller plants

• “Has implications for primary productivity”

California: Worst in nation for least-educated poor

SACRAMENTO, 5/20/13 10:56am

• Even poor Texas families have more education

• Sapping the state’s strengths – and pocketbook

Senators call for tighter control of energy swap markets

WASHINGTON, D.C., 5/20/13 8:56am

• Say oversight is lacking

• When $8 Billion is a mere trifle

Forecast: Rising GDP despite fiscal threats

WASHINGTON, D.C., 5/20/13 7:23am

• Measuring the impact of the Great Sequester

• “Predicting an improvement in the unemployment rate for this year and next year”

California food maker being bought by Minnesota company

LOS ANGELES, 5/20/13 5:03am

• Overhill Farms being acquired by Bellisio Foods

• Deal is valued at $80.9 Million

New algae may be biofuel breakthrough

DENVER, COLO., 5/20/13 4:50am

• Discovered in snowy Rocky Mountains

• “This may have implications for the commercial production … at northern latitudes”

Saturday News Briefs

STOCKTON, 5/17/13 9:00pm

• Grim financial times unrelenting for Stockton

• Huge Valley almond crop predicted

• And more…

Former union business manager and wife sentenced

SACRAMENTO, 5/17/13 12:53pm

• Convicted of misappropriation of union funds

• Ordered to repay union

More optimistic view given to California’s fiscal future

SACRAMENTO, 5/17/13 12:18pm

• Legislative Analyst sees more revenue than governor

• “We do not agree with the administration's view of the state's revenue situation”

Court clears the way for genetically modified alfalfa

SAN FRANCISCO, 5/17/13 11:28am

• Says USDA doesn’t have the power to declare it a pest plant

• Second court victor this week for Monsanto

Modesto Transfer and Storage joins Atlas Van Lines

MODESTO, 5/17/13 9:45am

• Part of company’s growth strategy

• “They have the best customer satisfaction ratings”

California’s unemployment rate drops to 9.0 percent

SACRAMENTO, 5/17/13 9:21am

• Nonfarm payroll jobs increase by 10,400 in April

• Central Valley sees declines in every county

Sacramento Kings sold to local group

SACRAMENTO, 5/17/13 8:12am

• Price tag said to be $535 Million

• Mayor says the deal is done

Pump prices zoom above $4 average across California

LOS ANGELES, 5/17/13 5:00am

• What Minnesota has over California

• “Pump prices are now feeling the effect of a wholesale spot price spike”

People in the News

SACRAMENTO, 5/16/13 9:00pm

• Exporting center gets new leader

• Marketing firm names key manager

• And more….

Five from Central Valley arrested in million-dollar mobile phone insurance scam

SACRAMENTO, 5/16/13 9:00pm

• More than 1,900 fraudulent insurance claims

• Stole IDs as well as phones

More bad news for California’s jobless

SACRAMENTO, 5/16/13 11:56am

• Unemployment insurance customer service center hours being cut

• Federal underfunding leads to reductions

Water group blasts Delta Plan

SANTA BARBARA, 5/16/13 11:45am

• Says it violates the California Environmental Quality Act

• “We find the Final Delta Plan utterly deficient”

New research says “Gen Y” shoppers are hiding in plain sight

SAN DIEGO, 5/16/13 10:38am

• They’re still flocking to brick-and-mortar stores, but…

• Retailers challenged to keep up with quickly changing preferences

Labor shortages threaten to derail economy

CHICAGO, ILL., 5/16/13 8:31am

• Even while millions remain jobless

• “Skill shortages a reality right now for some employers”