Original Story: komonews.com
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Four of the nearly 50 self-driving cars now rolling around California have gotten into accidents since September, when the state began issuing permits for companies to test them on public roads.
Two accidents happened while the cars were in control; in the other two, the person who still must be behind the wheel was driving, a person familiar with the accident reports told The Associated Press. A Grand Rapids car accident lawyer is following this story closely.
Three involved Lexus SUVs that Google Inc. outfitted with sensors and computing power in its aggressive effort to develop "autonomous driving," a goal the tech giant shares with traditional automakers. The parts supplier Delphi Automotive had the other accident with one of its two test vehicles.
Google and Delphi said their cars were not at fault in any accidents, which the companies said were minor.
Since September, any accident must be reported to the state Department of Motor Vehicles. The agency said there have been four, but would not comment about fault or anything else, citing California law that collision reports are confidential.
The person familiar with the accident reports said the cars were in self-driving mode in two of the four accidents, all of which involved speeds of less than 10 mph. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the reports publicly. A Charleston transportation lawyer is reviewing the details of this case.
Five other companies have testing permits. In response to questions from the AP, all said they had no accidents. In all, 48 cars are licensed to test on public roads.
The fact that neither the companies nor the state have revealed the accidents troubles some who say the public should have information to monitor the rollout of technology that its own developers acknowledge is imperfect. A Chicago truck accident lawyer is following this story closely.
John Simpson, a longtime critic of Google as privacy project director of the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog, pointed out that the company's ultimate goal is a car without a steering wheel or pedals. That would mean a person has no power to intervene if a car lost control, making it "even more important that the details of any accidents be made public - so people know what the heck's going on." A Chicago car accident attorney represents clients injured in a car accident due to the negligence of others.
A chief selling point for self-driving cars is safety. Their cameras, radar and laser sensors give them a far more detailed understanding of their surroundings than humans have. Their reaction times also should be faster. Cars could be programmed to adjust if they sense a crash coming - move a few feet, tighten the seat belts, honk the horn or flash the lights in hope of alerting a distracted driver.
A higher priority so far is teaching them to avoid causing a serious accident that could set public and political acceptance of the technology back years, said Raj Rajkumar, a pioneer of the technology with Carnegie Mellon University.
In the October accident involving Delphi, the front of its 2014 Audi SQ5 was moderately damaged when, as it waited to make a left turn, another car broadsided it, according to an accident report the company shared with AP. The car was not in self-driving mode, Delphi spokeswoman Kristen Kinley said.
Google, which has 23 Lexus SUVs, would not discuss its three accidents in detail.
The accidents are not Google's first: In a briefing with reporters a year ago, the leader of Google's self-driving car program acknowledged three others between when the company first sent cars onto public roads six years ago - without the state's official permission - and May 2014.
In a written statement, Google said that since September, cars driving on streets near its headquarters in Mountain View had "a handful of minor fender-benders, light damage, no injuries, so far caused by human error and inattention." A Chicago auto accident lawyer represents victims facing personal injury claims due to auto accidents.
Google said that while safety is paramount some accidents can be expected, given that its cars have gone "the equivalent of over 15 years of typical human driving" since fall. That would be approximately 140,000 miles. Google said its cars have gone over 700,000 miles in self-driving mode since they first hit the road in 2009.
The national rate for reported "property-damage-only crashes" is about 0.3 per 100,000 miles driven, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
In that context, Google's three in about 140,000 miles may seem high. As the company pointed out, however, perhaps 5 million minor accidents are not reported to authorities each year, so it is hard to gauge how typical Google's experience is.
Three other states have passed laws welcoming self-driving cars onto their roads. Regulators in Nevada, Michigan and Florida said they were not aware of any accidents.
As self-driving cars proliferate, other issues will arise that human drivers have dealt with for decades, notably who's liable for an accident. Each test car is required to have $5 million insurance.
Interest in accidents will remain high, especially if the self-driving car is at fault, said Bryant Walker Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina who has written extensively on the technology.
"For a lot of reasons," Smith said, "more might be expected of these test vehicles and of the companies that are deploying them and the drivers that are supervising them than we might expect of a 17-year-old driver in a 10-year-old car."
Showing posts with label california. Show all posts
Showing posts with label california. Show all posts
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Friday, September 5, 2014
CALIFORNIA'S 100-YEAR DROUGHT
Original Story: USAToday.com
California is in the third year of one of the state's worst droughts in the past century, one that's led to fierce wildfires, water shortages and restrictions, and potentially staggering agricultural losses.
The dryness in California is only part of a longer-term, 15-year drought across most of the Western USA, one that bioclimatologist Park Williams said is notable because "more area in the West has persistently been in drought during the past 15 years than in any other 15-year period since the 1150s and 1160s" — that's more than 850 years ago.
"When considering the West as a whole, we are currently in the midst of a historically relevant megadrought," said Williams, a professor at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University in New York.
Megadroughts are what Cornell University scientist Toby Ault calls the "great white sharks of climate: powerful, dangerous and hard to detect before it's too late. They have happened in the past, and they are still out there, lurking in what is possible for the future, even without climate change." Ault goes so far as to call megadroughts "a threat to civilization."
WHAT IS A MEGADROUGHT?
Megadroughts are defined more by their duration than their severity. They are extreme dry spells that can last for a decade or longer, according to research meteorologist Martin Hoerling of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Megadroughts have parched the West, including present-day California, long before Europeans settled the region in the 1800s.
Most of the USA's droughts of the past century, even the infamous 1930s Dust Bowl that forced migrations of Oklahomans and others from the Plains, "were exceeded in severity and duration multiple times by droughts during the preceding 2,000 years," the National Climate Assessment reported this year.
The difference now, of course, is the Western USA is home to more than 70 million people who weren't here for previous megadroughts. The implications are far more daunting.
Overall, "the nature of the beast is that drought is cyclical, and these long periods of drought have been commonplace in the past," according to Mark Svoboda, a climatologist at the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Neb. "We are simply much more vulnerable today than at any time in the past. People can't just pick up and leave to the degree they did in the past."
Ault agrees that this long-term Western dry spell could be classified as a megadrought. "But this is not as bad as it could get," he warned.
How do scientists know how wet or dry it was centuries ago? Though no weather records exist before the late 1800s, scientists can examine paleoclimatic "proxy data," such as tree rings and lake sediment, to find out how much — or little — rain fell hundreds or even thousands of years ago.
At the most simplistic level, tree rings are wider during wet years and narrower during dry years.
"Prolonged droughts — some of which lasted more than a century — brought thriving civilizations, such as the ancestral Pueblo (Native Americans) of the Four Corners region, to starvation, migration and finally collapse, " Lynn Ingram, a geologist at the University of California-Berkeley, wrote in her recent book The West Without Water.
Ault says decade-long droughts happen once or twice a century in the Western USA, but much worse droughts, ones that last for multiple decades, occur once or twice per millennium.
Has California reached megadrought status? Not yet: "This one wouldn't stand out as a megadrought," Hoerling said. Even so, "this is the state's worst consecutive three years for precipitation in 119 years of records," he said.
As of Aug. 28, 100% of the state of California was considered to be in a drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. More than 58% is in "exceptional" drought, the worst level. Record warmth has fueled the drought as the state sees its hottest year since records began in 1895, the National Climatic Data Center reports.
Because of the dryness, Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown declared a statewide drought emergency this year. Since then, reservoir storage levels have continued to drop, and as of late August, they were down to about 59% of the historical average.
Regulations restricting outdoor water use were put in place in late July for the entire state. People aren't allowed to hose down driveways and sidewalks, nor are they allowed to water lawns and landscapes (if there is excess runoff). There are reports of wells running dry in central California.
About 1,000 more wildfires than usual have charred the state, including some unusual ones in the spring.
The drought is likely to inflict $2.2 billion in losses on the agricultural industry, according to a July study from the University of California-Davis.
HOW BAD CAN IT GET IN CALIFORNIA?
"If California suffered something like a multi-decade drought," University of Arizona climate scientist Gregg Garfin said, "the best-case scenario would be some combination of conservation, technological improvements (such as desalinization plants), multi-state cooperation on the drought, economic-based water transfers from agriculture to urban areas and other things like that to get humans through the drought.
"But there would be consequences for ecosystems and agriculture," he said.
"In the worst-case scenario, there might be out-migration and/or ghost towns," Garfin said. As a way to avoid this, "we could simply suck down more and more groundwater, which would have its own set of ramifications for local aquifers and the environment."
Even in the worst case of severe multi-decade drought, "it is hard for me to imagine people and businesses being banned from moving into urban areas of California," he said.
"We have much better resilience now than in the 'ghost town days,' with the ability to drill deeper, along with various ways of importing water and trading for water," Garfin said. "A more subtle way of restricting people (not banning them) is what Santa Fe has done — where new housing developments must either come with their own new source of water, or they must offset the water through conservation."
Overall, if the drought worsened, "we'd have to learn how to use water more efficiently," Ault said. "This is a glimpse of the future."
ROLE OF CLIMATE CHANGE
What role does climate change play in this drought or in future droughts?
Scientists such as Hoerling and Ault say they don't have the tools to tease out how much of this specific drought might be attributed to climate change.
"As of now, probably very little of the California drought can be attributed to climate change with any certainty," said tree-ring scientist Edward Cook of Lamont-Doherty.
Overall, past droughts have probably been due to subtle changes in water temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Cooler water temperatures — known as La Niñas — tend to produce drier conditions in the West.
Droughts in North America's "Medieval Warm Period" (roughly 950-1250) were associated with high temperatures in the Southwest and were probably caused by persistently cool La Niña-like conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Since 2000, the dominant climate pattern has been La Niña.
Hoerling noted that some computer models from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations science panel, show that California could actually see more, not less, winter rain and snow because of climate change.
However, overall rising temperatures would tend to favor more droughts, University of Arizona scientist Jonathan Overpeck said.
"It's been anomalously hot recently, which was not likely to have occurred without global warming," Overpeck said. "The odds are only going up that we could have a megadrought as the Earth warms."
Trends toward warmer temperatures could lead to a long-term dry spell in the region, according to a 2004 study led by Cook in the journal Science.
What's troubling is that the 20th century — during which time California's population increased from about 1.5 million to almost 40 million — may well have been an outlier, an unusually wet century: "Overall, the 20th century experienced less drought than most of the preceding four to 20 centuries," the Science study said.
Ault continues to investigate the relationship between climate change and megadroughts and the likelihood that an even more severe megadrought might hit in the next hundred years in the Southwest — one that's worse than any other drought in the past 1,000 years.
Specifically because of global warming, Ault says, the chances of the Southwestern USA experiencing a decade-long drought is at least 50% (but may be closer to 80%-90%), and the chances of a three-decade-long megadrought range from 20% to 50% over the next century. Ault is writing a study about this that will be published in a forthcoming issue of the American Meteorological Society's Journal of Climate.
"For the Southwestern U.S., I'm not optimistic about avoiding real megadroughts," Ault said. "As we add greenhouse gases into the atmosphere — and we haven't put the brakes on stopping this — we are weighting the dice for megadrought conditions.
"The risks would be lower if we didn't warm the planet as much as is expected to occur, but they aren't zero, because we know these things happen naturally," he said.
This is serious stuff: "Megadroughts are a threat to civilization," Ault said at an American Geophysical Union conference this year. "They could possibly be even worse than anything experienced by any humans who have lived in that part of the world for the last few thousand years."
California is in the third year of one of the state's worst droughts in the past century, one that's led to fierce wildfires, water shortages and restrictions, and potentially staggering agricultural losses.
The dryness in California is only part of a longer-term, 15-year drought across most of the Western USA, one that bioclimatologist Park Williams said is notable because "more area in the West has persistently been in drought during the past 15 years than in any other 15-year period since the 1150s and 1160s" — that's more than 850 years ago.
"When considering the West as a whole, we are currently in the midst of a historically relevant megadrought," said Williams, a professor at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University in New York.
Megadroughts are what Cornell University scientist Toby Ault calls the "great white sharks of climate: powerful, dangerous and hard to detect before it's too late. They have happened in the past, and they are still out there, lurking in what is possible for the future, even without climate change." Ault goes so far as to call megadroughts "a threat to civilization."
WHAT IS A MEGADROUGHT?
Megadroughts are defined more by their duration than their severity. They are extreme dry spells that can last for a decade or longer, according to research meteorologist Martin Hoerling of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Megadroughts have parched the West, including present-day California, long before Europeans settled the region in the 1800s.
Most of the USA's droughts of the past century, even the infamous 1930s Dust Bowl that forced migrations of Oklahomans and others from the Plains, "were exceeded in severity and duration multiple times by droughts during the preceding 2,000 years," the National Climate Assessment reported this year.
The difference now, of course, is the Western USA is home to more than 70 million people who weren't here for previous megadroughts. The implications are far more daunting.
Overall, "the nature of the beast is that drought is cyclical, and these long periods of drought have been commonplace in the past," according to Mark Svoboda, a climatologist at the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Neb. "We are simply much more vulnerable today than at any time in the past. People can't just pick up and leave to the degree they did in the past."
Ault agrees that this long-term Western dry spell could be classified as a megadrought. "But this is not as bad as it could get," he warned.
How do scientists know how wet or dry it was centuries ago? Though no weather records exist before the late 1800s, scientists can examine paleoclimatic "proxy data," such as tree rings and lake sediment, to find out how much — or little — rain fell hundreds or even thousands of years ago.
At the most simplistic level, tree rings are wider during wet years and narrower during dry years.
"Prolonged droughts — some of which lasted more than a century — brought thriving civilizations, such as the ancestral Pueblo (Native Americans) of the Four Corners region, to starvation, migration and finally collapse, " Lynn Ingram, a geologist at the University of California-Berkeley, wrote in her recent book The West Without Water.
Ault says decade-long droughts happen once or twice a century in the Western USA, but much worse droughts, ones that last for multiple decades, occur once or twice per millennium.
Has California reached megadrought status? Not yet: "This one wouldn't stand out as a megadrought," Hoerling said. Even so, "this is the state's worst consecutive three years for precipitation in 119 years of records," he said.
As of Aug. 28, 100% of the state of California was considered to be in a drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. More than 58% is in "exceptional" drought, the worst level. Record warmth has fueled the drought as the state sees its hottest year since records began in 1895, the National Climatic Data Center reports.
Because of the dryness, Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown declared a statewide drought emergency this year. Since then, reservoir storage levels have continued to drop, and as of late August, they were down to about 59% of the historical average.
Regulations restricting outdoor water use were put in place in late July for the entire state. People aren't allowed to hose down driveways and sidewalks, nor are they allowed to water lawns and landscapes (if there is excess runoff). There are reports of wells running dry in central California.
About 1,000 more wildfires than usual have charred the state, including some unusual ones in the spring.
The drought is likely to inflict $2.2 billion in losses on the agricultural industry, according to a July study from the University of California-Davis.
HOW BAD CAN IT GET IN CALIFORNIA?
"If California suffered something like a multi-decade drought," University of Arizona climate scientist Gregg Garfin said, "the best-case scenario would be some combination of conservation, technological improvements (such as desalinization plants), multi-state cooperation on the drought, economic-based water transfers from agriculture to urban areas and other things like that to get humans through the drought.
"But there would be consequences for ecosystems and agriculture," he said.
"In the worst-case scenario, there might be out-migration and/or ghost towns," Garfin said. As a way to avoid this, "we could simply suck down more and more groundwater, which would have its own set of ramifications for local aquifers and the environment."
Even in the worst case of severe multi-decade drought, "it is hard for me to imagine people and businesses being banned from moving into urban areas of California," he said.
"We have much better resilience now than in the 'ghost town days,' with the ability to drill deeper, along with various ways of importing water and trading for water," Garfin said. "A more subtle way of restricting people (not banning them) is what Santa Fe has done — where new housing developments must either come with their own new source of water, or they must offset the water through conservation."
Overall, if the drought worsened, "we'd have to learn how to use water more efficiently," Ault said. "This is a glimpse of the future."
ROLE OF CLIMATE CHANGE
What role does climate change play in this drought or in future droughts?
Scientists such as Hoerling and Ault say they don't have the tools to tease out how much of this specific drought might be attributed to climate change.
"As of now, probably very little of the California drought can be attributed to climate change with any certainty," said tree-ring scientist Edward Cook of Lamont-Doherty.
Overall, past droughts have probably been due to subtle changes in water temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Cooler water temperatures — known as La Niñas — tend to produce drier conditions in the West.
Droughts in North America's "Medieval Warm Period" (roughly 950-1250) were associated with high temperatures in the Southwest and were probably caused by persistently cool La Niña-like conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Since 2000, the dominant climate pattern has been La Niña.
Hoerling noted that some computer models from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations science panel, show that California could actually see more, not less, winter rain and snow because of climate change.
However, overall rising temperatures would tend to favor more droughts, University of Arizona scientist Jonathan Overpeck said.
"It's been anomalously hot recently, which was not likely to have occurred without global warming," Overpeck said. "The odds are only going up that we could have a megadrought as the Earth warms."
Trends toward warmer temperatures could lead to a long-term dry spell in the region, according to a 2004 study led by Cook in the journal Science.
What's troubling is that the 20th century — during which time California's population increased from about 1.5 million to almost 40 million — may well have been an outlier, an unusually wet century: "Overall, the 20th century experienced less drought than most of the preceding four to 20 centuries," the Science study said.
Ault continues to investigate the relationship between climate change and megadroughts and the likelihood that an even more severe megadrought might hit in the next hundred years in the Southwest — one that's worse than any other drought in the past 1,000 years.
Specifically because of global warming, Ault says, the chances of the Southwestern USA experiencing a decade-long drought is at least 50% (but may be closer to 80%-90%), and the chances of a three-decade-long megadrought range from 20% to 50% over the next century. Ault is writing a study about this that will be published in a forthcoming issue of the American Meteorological Society's Journal of Climate.
"For the Southwestern U.S., I'm not optimistic about avoiding real megadroughts," Ault said. "As we add greenhouse gases into the atmosphere — and we haven't put the brakes on stopping this — we are weighting the dice for megadrought conditions.
"The risks would be lower if we didn't warm the planet as much as is expected to occur, but they aren't zero, because we know these things happen naturally," he said.
This is serious stuff: "Megadroughts are a threat to civilization," Ault said at an American Geophysical Union conference this year. "They could possibly be even worse than anything experienced by any humans who have lived in that part of the world for the last few thousand years."
Friday, October 19, 2012
New Business Startups Face Greater Challenges in Bay Area
story first appeared on mercurynews.com
Relatively expensive housing, coupled with the high cost of living and doing business in the Bay Area, has made the nine-county region less hospitable to new companies than other big urban centers in California, according to a study released Thursday that urges improvements in what it describes as this area's burdensome regulatory climate.
Some businesses, like convenience stores and party stores have fared relatively well. Many of these type of businesses have a beer cave display cooler that meets their customers' needs in a special way.
Jon Haveman, chief economist with the Bay Area Council's Economic Institute, which produced the report said regulations need to be eased when trying to start a new venture.
The Bay Area lags major rivals such as Los Angeles and San Diego in jobs created by startup companies, the study determined.
The strengths of the region are reflected in household income and other factors, the report stated. The region has increasingly specialized in high-value industries such as professional, scientific and technical services, along with information services and products.
The report also determined that the migration of businesses into -- or the defection from -- the Bay Area has relatively little impact on the region's job market.
On average, only 2.3 percent of new jobs created in the Bay Area in a given year is the result of companies that came from other parts of California, other states or other countries. Similarly, only 3.7 percent of the jobs that vanish in a year are the result of firms defecting from the Bay Area.
Instead, 55 percent of the new jobs created in the Bay Area every year result from companies that were already located in the Bay Area. And 66 percent of the job losses in a typical year come from companies that were already operating in the nine-county region.
Relatively expensive housing, coupled with the high cost of living and doing business in the Bay Area, has made the nine-county region less hospitable to new companies than other big urban centers in California, according to a study released Thursday that urges improvements in what it describes as this area's burdensome regulatory climate.
Some businesses, like convenience stores and party stores have fared relatively well. Many of these type of businesses have a beer cave display cooler that meets their customers' needs in a special way.
Jon Haveman, chief economist with the Bay Area Council's Economic Institute, which produced the report said regulations need to be eased when trying to start a new venture.
The Bay Area lags major rivals such as Los Angeles and San Diego in jobs created by startup companies, the study determined.
The strengths of the region are reflected in household income and other factors, the report stated. The region has increasingly specialized in high-value industries such as professional, scientific and technical services, along with information services and products.
The report also determined that the migration of businesses into -- or the defection from -- the Bay Area has relatively little impact on the region's job market.
On average, only 2.3 percent of new jobs created in the Bay Area in a given year is the result of companies that came from other parts of California, other states or other countries. Similarly, only 3.7 percent of the jobs that vanish in a year are the result of firms defecting from the Bay Area.
Instead, 55 percent of the new jobs created in the Bay Area every year result from companies that were already located in the Bay Area. And 66 percent of the job losses in a typical year come from companies that were already operating in the nine-county region.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Third California City Files for Bankruptcy
Story first reported from CNN.com
A California city filed for bankruptcy Wednesday, the third in the Golden State to do so in recent weeks, stoking experts' concerns that other cities could follow suit.
The city of San Bernardino, with more than 200,000 residents on the eastern tip of greater Los Angeles, "filed an emergency petition for Chapter 9 Bankruptcy" with a regional U.S. bankruptcy court, according to a news release from the city's interim manager.
The other two to file recently were Stockton, with around 300,000 residents, according to 2010 U.S. census data, and Mammoth Lakes, a resort town, where visitors and seasonal residents outnumber the just over 8,000 permanent inhabitants.
Many municipalities in the Golden State and around the nation are struggling to cover their costs as the economic malaise continues to hurt tax revenue streams, experts said. This will lead to more municipal bankruptcies, which have been rare until now.
"This is not the end. This is the beginning," Peter Navarro, business professor at University of California, Irvine, told CNN recently. "As cities see it can be done and is being done, it will give them the idea to do it."
Eric Hoffman, an analyst at Moody's Investor Service agreed, saying more city bankruptcies are likely in California and throughout the nation.
Cities have also struggled from budget changes made on the state level. Because of massive budget shortfalls, Gov. Jerry Brown and the state legislature made changes to vehicle tax money and redevelopment agencies that stripped locales of hundreds of millions in state funding.
San Bernardino said it will continue to provide services during the bankruptcy phase.
"There will be no immediate service reductions or changes in service to the community as a result of the filing," interim city manager Andrea Travis-Miller said Wednesday. But "reductions may occur" in the future.
In a prior statement Travis-Miller hinted the city may continue to "negotiate in good faith with its creditors."
In early July, Miller and finance director Jason Simpson issued a report stating that the city was facing insolvency and its expenditures were projected to exceed revenues by $45 million. The city's general fund reserves had been as high as $19 million in 2001 but are now depleted, the report said.
"The city has reached a breaking point," the report said.
Some $10 million to $16 million in annual revenue has evaporated in recent years as taxable sales dried up and property values plummeted in the city, the report said.
Mammoth Lakes sought protection July 2 after a property developer won a $43 million court judgment against the resort town. Experts say this filing should not be lumped in with the other two California municipal bankruptcies since it was an unusual circumstance.
Stockton, however, filed for bankruptcy in late June after three months of mediation when creditors failed to close a $26 million budget shortfall. The city had already addressed $90 million in deficits over the past three years, mainly through reducing services and employee compensation.
Both Stockton's and San Bernardino's fiscal troubles are due in large part to the massive housing downturn and recession that swept across California. Both towns were hit particularly hard by the foreclosure crisis, which left numerous abandoned homes and reduced property values in its wake. That led to lower property tax revenues, critical to supporting public services.
While some areas of the Golden State are starting to recover, the regions containing those two towns are not, said Chris McKenna, executive director of the League of California Cities.
By filing for bankruptcy, cities will be able to keep police and firefighters on the street and possibly keep some parks and libraries open while they work out their finances, he said.
A California city filed for bankruptcy Wednesday, the third in the Golden State to do so in recent weeks, stoking experts' concerns that other cities could follow suit.
The city of San Bernardino, with more than 200,000 residents on the eastern tip of greater Los Angeles, "filed an emergency petition for Chapter 9 Bankruptcy" with a regional U.S. bankruptcy court, according to a news release from the city's interim manager.
The other two to file recently were Stockton, with around 300,000 residents, according to 2010 U.S. census data, and Mammoth Lakes, a resort town, where visitors and seasonal residents outnumber the just over 8,000 permanent inhabitants.
Many municipalities in the Golden State and around the nation are struggling to cover their costs as the economic malaise continues to hurt tax revenue streams, experts said. This will lead to more municipal bankruptcies, which have been rare until now.
"This is not the end. This is the beginning," Peter Navarro, business professor at University of California, Irvine, told CNN recently. "As cities see it can be done and is being done, it will give them the idea to do it."
Eric Hoffman, an analyst at Moody's Investor Service agreed, saying more city bankruptcies are likely in California and throughout the nation.
Cities have also struggled from budget changes made on the state level. Because of massive budget shortfalls, Gov. Jerry Brown and the state legislature made changes to vehicle tax money and redevelopment agencies that stripped locales of hundreds of millions in state funding.
San Bernardino said it will continue to provide services during the bankruptcy phase.
"There will be no immediate service reductions or changes in service to the community as a result of the filing," interim city manager Andrea Travis-Miller said Wednesday. But "reductions may occur" in the future.
In a prior statement Travis-Miller hinted the city may continue to "negotiate in good faith with its creditors."
In early July, Miller and finance director Jason Simpson issued a report stating that the city was facing insolvency and its expenditures were projected to exceed revenues by $45 million. The city's general fund reserves had been as high as $19 million in 2001 but are now depleted, the report said.
"The city has reached a breaking point," the report said.
Some $10 million to $16 million in annual revenue has evaporated in recent years as taxable sales dried up and property values plummeted in the city, the report said.
Mammoth Lakes sought protection July 2 after a property developer won a $43 million court judgment against the resort town. Experts say this filing should not be lumped in with the other two California municipal bankruptcies since it was an unusual circumstance.
Stockton, however, filed for bankruptcy in late June after three months of mediation when creditors failed to close a $26 million budget shortfall. The city had already addressed $90 million in deficits over the past three years, mainly through reducing services and employee compensation.
Both Stockton's and San Bernardino's fiscal troubles are due in large part to the massive housing downturn and recession that swept across California. Both towns were hit particularly hard by the foreclosure crisis, which left numerous abandoned homes and reduced property values in its wake. That led to lower property tax revenues, critical to supporting public services.
While some areas of the Golden State are starting to recover, the regions containing those two towns are not, said Chris McKenna, executive director of the League of California Cities.
By filing for bankruptcy, cities will be able to keep police and firefighters on the street and possibly keep some parks and libraries open while they work out their finances, he said.
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Tuesday, May 8, 2012
California Nuclear Plant Out of Service
Story first appeared in The Washington Post.
The utility that runs the San Onofre nuclear power plant in California says over 1,300 damaged tubes in its ailing steam generators will be taken out of service.
The seaside plant between San Diego and Los Angeles has been offline for more than three months while investigators probe why hundreds of tubes in the virtually new equipment have eroded rapidly. Power Plant Expert Witnesses are also on hand to assist in the investigations.
The figures released Tuesday come just days after a Southern California Edison executive said the company hopes to restart at least one of the twin reactors next month.
Federal regulators say there is no timetable for a restart, while activists charge the plant is unsafe.
Each of the four generators has nearly 10,000 tubes that carry radioactive water. The number retired is well within the limit allowed to continue operation.
For more national and worldwide related business news, visit the Peak News Room blog.
For local and Michigan business related news, visit the Michigan Business News blog.
For healthcare and medical related news, visit the Healthcare and Medical blog.
For law related news, visit the Nation of Law blog.
For real estate and home related news, visit the Commercial and Residential Real Estate blog.
For technology and electronics related news, visit the Electronics America blog.
For organic SEO and web optimization related news, visit the SEO Done Right blog.
The utility that runs the San Onofre nuclear power plant in California says over 1,300 damaged tubes in its ailing steam generators will be taken out of service.
The seaside plant between San Diego and Los Angeles has been offline for more than three months while investigators probe why hundreds of tubes in the virtually new equipment have eroded rapidly. Power Plant Expert Witnesses are also on hand to assist in the investigations.
The figures released Tuesday come just days after a Southern California Edison executive said the company hopes to restart at least one of the twin reactors next month.
Federal regulators say there is no timetable for a restart, while activists charge the plant is unsafe.
Each of the four generators has nearly 10,000 tubes that carry radioactive water. The number retired is well within the limit allowed to continue operation.
For more national and worldwide related business news, visit the Peak News Room blog.
For local and Michigan business related news, visit the Michigan Business News blog.
For healthcare and medical related news, visit the Healthcare and Medical blog.
For law related news, visit the Nation of Law blog.
For real estate and home related news, visit the Commercial and Residential Real Estate blog.
For technology and electronics related news, visit the Electronics America blog.
For organic SEO and web optimization related news, visit the SEO Done Right blog.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
California Utilizing Wind Power
First appeared in Mercury News
California now gets about 5 percent of its electricity from
wind power, according to data released Tuesday by the California Wind Energy
Association.
The majority of California's electricity -- 42 percent --
comes from natural gas, followed by nuclear power and hydropower. According to
2010 figures from the California Energy Commission, wind made up 4.7 percent of
the state's electricity mix and solar was 0.3 percent.
But in 2011, wind projects that generate 921 megawatts --
enough electricity for more than 400,000 homes -- were installed across the
state, which the wind association says should put it above the
long-sought-after 5 percent threshold. California has set an ambitious goal of
getting 33 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020, and utilities
are increasingly signing contracts for renewable projects.
"2011 was a banner year for wind generation in
California," said Nancy Rader, executive director of CalWEA, based in
Berkeley. "Wind has come a long way and is helping to drive California
closer to reaching its goal of 33 percent renewable energy."
In California, the vast majority of wind turbines are
clustered in three regions: the Altamont Pass between Livermore and Tracy,
Tehachapi near Bakersfield and the San Gorgonio Pass near Palm Springs. While
solar panels are visible on homes across the state, massive wind farms tucked
away in windy mountain passes that many Californians never see produce much
more energy.
"California is one of the strongest wind markets in the
nation," said Mark Tholke, vice president of Origination for EnXco, which
has several wind projects in Solano County. "The wind industry has been
quietly chugging along as the workhorse of renewable energy for the last
several years."
NextEra, a Florida-based energy company that has several
wind projects nationwide, is in the process of "repowering" hundreds
of wind turbines along the Altamont Pass in eastern Alameda and Contra Costa
counties.
Nearly 2,000 wind turbines in the Altamont Pass are being
replaced with about 100 huge state-of-the-art turbines that, at 430 feet, stand
taller than the tallest coast redwood trees. Each of the new turbines,
manufactured by Siemens, generates 2.3 megawatts of electricity. NextEra's
repowering project will be done in three phases and is scheduled to be
completed by 2015.
Other projects are in the pipeline, including Iberdrola
Renewables plans for a 200 megawatt Tule Wind Power Project for eastern San
Diego County.
Much of the growth in wind power is because of the federal
production tax credit, or PTC. The PTC gives a tax credit for electricity
production from utility-scale wind turbines but is scheduled to sunset at the
end of 2012. While several wind projects across the country should come online
in 2012, developers have been reluctant to go forward with plans for 2013 and
beyond over fears the credit will not be extended.
"Wind supports 400 manufacturing facilities in 43
states," said Ellen Carey of the American Wind Energy Association.
"The production tax credit enjoys bipartisan support, and we have reason
to be optimistic."
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Solar-Power Plant Gets U.S. Approval
The Wall Street Journal
A proposal to build the world's biggest solar-thermal power plant in the Southern California desert got the go-ahead Monday from the Obama administration, which used the announcement to bolster its message that renewable energy creates jobs.
The $6 billion project is being developed by Solar Trust of America, a joint venture between Germany's Solar Millennium AG and privately held Ferrostaal AG on 7,025 acres of federally owned land near Blythe, Calif. The approval clears the way for the developers to seek federal grants and loan guarantees.
The Obama administration has been criticized over the past year for hurting job creation by holding up coal-mining permits and suspending deep-water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico after the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
The Obama administration said the Blythe solar-power project will create 1,066 jobs at the peak of construction and almost 300 permanent jobs to operate the facility.
The project is the sixth solar-energy installation approved for public lands. The Interior Department said in total the projects could generate as much as 2,800 megawatts of electricity, enough to power two million homes. California regulators have approved or plan to approve a total of nine solar-thermal power plants for the state.
State and federal regulators pledged last year to work together to fast-track approval for a raft of large solar-power projects to enable developers to meet a Dec. 31 deadline required to take advantage of federal financial incentives.
The Interior Department's action on the Blythe project coincides with the final days of a hard-fought battle in California over a ballot proposal that would suspend a 2006 state law that required action to cut the state's greenhouse-gas emissions.
The federal approval allows Solar Trust to start construction on the plant this year and take advantage of government incentives that would reduce the cost of the project. In order to receive cash grants in exchange for unused tax credits, a popular but expiring program, companies must break ground on projects or spend 5% of construction costs by year end.
The estimated cost of the first two units of the Blythe plant is $3 billion.
The company could be eligible for a $900 million cash grant for the first two units from the U.S. Energy Department and the U.S. Treasury Department in lieu of a tax credit.
Unlike familiar photovoltaic solar panels, solar-thermal plants utilize curved mirrors that direct the sun's heat to a central tube in which steam is generated to drive turbines.
Driving demand for solar energy is a California state mandate that requires utilities to get one-third of their power from renewable sources by 2020. The mandate is part of the state's climate law. Advocates of solar power say the planned projects could create thousands of jobs in the economically hard-hit state.
Solar Trust is awaiting approval from the Energy Department for a federal loan guarantee for the first two of four total units. Deutsche Bank AG and Citigroup Inc. are working with Solar Trust to obtain project-equity and tax-equity investment, said Bill Keegan, a spokesman for Solar Trust of America.
The $6 billion project is being developed by Solar Trust of America, a joint venture between Germany's Solar Millennium AG and privately held Ferrostaal AG on 7,025 acres of federally owned land near Blythe, Calif. The approval clears the way for the developers to seek federal grants and loan guarantees.
The Obama administration has been criticized over the past year for hurting job creation by holding up coal-mining permits and suspending deep-water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico after the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
The Obama administration said the Blythe solar-power project will create 1,066 jobs at the peak of construction and almost 300 permanent jobs to operate the facility.
The project is the sixth solar-energy installation approved for public lands. The Interior Department said in total the projects could generate as much as 2,800 megawatts of electricity, enough to power two million homes. California regulators have approved or plan to approve a total of nine solar-thermal power plants for the state.
State and federal regulators pledged last year to work together to fast-track approval for a raft of large solar-power projects to enable developers to meet a Dec. 31 deadline required to take advantage of federal financial incentives.
The Interior Department's action on the Blythe project coincides with the final days of a hard-fought battle in California over a ballot proposal that would suspend a 2006 state law that required action to cut the state's greenhouse-gas emissions.
The federal approval allows Solar Trust to start construction on the plant this year and take advantage of government incentives that would reduce the cost of the project. In order to receive cash grants in exchange for unused tax credits, a popular but expiring program, companies must break ground on projects or spend 5% of construction costs by year end.
The estimated cost of the first two units of the Blythe plant is $3 billion.
The company could be eligible for a $900 million cash grant for the first two units from the U.S. Energy Department and the U.S. Treasury Department in lieu of a tax credit.
Unlike familiar photovoltaic solar panels, solar-thermal plants utilize curved mirrors that direct the sun's heat to a central tube in which steam is generated to drive turbines.
Driving demand for solar energy is a California state mandate that requires utilities to get one-third of their power from renewable sources by 2020. The mandate is part of the state's climate law. Advocates of solar power say the planned projects could create thousands of jobs in the economically hard-hit state.
Solar Trust is awaiting approval from the Energy Department for a federal loan guarantee for the first two of four total units. Deutsche Bank AG and Citigroup Inc. are working with Solar Trust to obtain project-equity and tax-equity investment, said Bill Keegan, a spokesman for Solar Trust of America.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Nurses strike gets under way at Children's Hospital Oakland
Mercury News
About 100 nurses picketed Tuesday morning outside Children's Hospital Oakland in the opening salvo of a strike planned to last three days and involve nearly 800 union members.
The hospital remained mostly operational, with 125 contract nurses brought in to work 12-hour shifts. A handful of elective surgeries were postponed, but otherwise patient services were at "near normal" levels, hospital Chief Nursing Officer Nancy Shibata said.
Hospital officials declined to say how much the strike accommodations would cost, but union officials estimated the figure to be $1 million, including pay, housing and meals for the temporary workers.
The primary point of dispute between the hospital and the nurses is health care benefits. Nurses union officials are rejecting what they call "take-aways" that could cost members up to $4,000 a year.
Costs for the hospital to insure its employees, meanwhile, have risen $17 million, or 80 percent, in the last five years, Shibata said, with premiums up $5.5 million in the last year alone in California health insurance quotes.
The California Nurses Association is arguing that as health care providers, nurses know better than anyone how important coverage is. With several local unions being forced to make health care concessions in recent contracts, "It's up to us to draw a line and make that stop," said Susan Segal, who has worked at the hospital more than two decades and was elected to represent the union in negotiations.
"To begin with, we're nurses," Segal said. "We understand the impact on people's life that health care has. People need it, and traditionally, nurses have not had to contribute (to their premiums)."
Nurses at Children's Hospital are already behind industry trends, Segal said, because most nurses elsewhere get free treatment at the hospitals where they work, an option not available to those who work in a center that serves only children.
Shibata, however, said that while nurses in the rest of the country have endured furloughs and pay cuts, Children's Hospital nurses received raises of 5 percent and 6 percent each of the last three years under a contract they signed before the recession began. Beyond that, she added, federal health care reform, while offering the benefit of keeping more people covered under more situations, has proved more expensive to the hospital's bottom line.
"Insurance is covering dependents until they're 27," she said. "And there's no caps on treating chronic illness. Those may be good things, but they're not free."
Negotiations began in May and the existing contract between the hospital and the union expired in July. Officials said teams from the two sides have met almost 30 times to negotiate with health care being the sticking point.
The union last offered the hospital a contract proposal Sept. 29. The hospital had neither accepted the deal nor offered a counter when the union announced its strike plans two days later.
When the strike ends Thursday, the hospital will "welcome our employees back," Shibata said. The next negotiating step will be for the hospital to either accept the union's plan or offer a new proposal. Shibata said a new proposal is already in the works and should be finalized soon.
"We'll look at anything they propose," union negotiator Martha Kuhl said. "It doesn't mean we'll accept it, but we'll look at it."
The hospital remained mostly operational, with 125 contract nurses brought in to work 12-hour shifts. A handful of elective surgeries were postponed, but otherwise patient services were at "near normal" levels, hospital Chief Nursing Officer Nancy Shibata said.
Hospital officials declined to say how much the strike accommodations would cost, but union officials estimated the figure to be $1 million, including pay, housing and meals for the temporary workers.
The primary point of dispute between the hospital and the nurses is health care benefits. Nurses union officials are rejecting what they call "take-aways" that could cost members up to $4,000 a year.
Costs for the hospital to insure its employees, meanwhile, have risen $17 million, or 80 percent, in the last five years, Shibata said, with premiums up $5.5 million in the last year alone in California health insurance quotes.
The California Nurses Association is arguing that as health care providers, nurses know better than anyone how important coverage is. With several local unions being forced to make health care concessions in recent contracts, "It's up to us to draw a line and make that stop," said Susan Segal, who has worked at the hospital more than two decades and was elected to represent the union in negotiations.
"To begin with, we're nurses," Segal said. "We understand the impact on people's life that health care has. People need it, and traditionally, nurses have not had to contribute (to their premiums)."
Nurses at Children's Hospital are already behind industry trends, Segal said, because most nurses elsewhere get free treatment at the hospitals where they work, an option not available to those who work in a center that serves only children.
Shibata, however, said that while nurses in the rest of the country have endured furloughs and pay cuts, Children's Hospital nurses received raises of 5 percent and 6 percent each of the last three years under a contract they signed before the recession began. Beyond that, she added, federal health care reform, while offering the benefit of keeping more people covered under more situations, has proved more expensive to the hospital's bottom line.
"Insurance is covering dependents until they're 27," she said. "And there's no caps on treating chronic illness. Those may be good things, but they're not free."
Negotiations began in May and the existing contract between the hospital and the union expired in July. Officials said teams from the two sides have met almost 30 times to negotiate with health care being the sticking point.
The union last offered the hospital a contract proposal Sept. 29. The hospital had neither accepted the deal nor offered a counter when the union announced its strike plans two days later.
When the strike ends Thursday, the hospital will "welcome our employees back," Shibata said. The next negotiating step will be for the hospital to either accept the union's plan or offer a new proposal. Shibata said a new proposal is already in the works and should be finalized soon.
"We'll look at anything they propose," union negotiator Martha Kuhl said. "It doesn't mean we'll accept it, but we'll look at it."
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Target Grants $32,500 To Salvation Army
Inland Empire
The Salvation Army’s Hospitality House, which moved into a newly-renovated building in February, will soon see even more improvements, because a grant awarded by Target Corporation has recently increased to $32,500.
“We are grateful to be able to do even more to serve our homeless children and families, said Capt. Stephen Ball, director of the San Bernardino Corps of the Salvation Army.
The initial $25,000 grant awarded in 2009 allowed The Salvation Army to create an attractive media center and computer lab as it was renovating the new shelter building at 925 W. Tenth Street. These two rooms are primarily used by school-age children during a tutoring program, and as they complete their homework.
The grant required The Salvation Army use the money to renovate a library, media center or other educational facility.
Target actually awarded this grant to the Sierra del Mar Division (San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego and Imperial counties) of The Salvation Army, which in turn awarded it to the San Bernardino Corps.
Target also awarded similar $25,000 grants last year to each of the 39 other geographical divisions of The Salvation Army’s worldwide ministry, some of which did not spend all of their grant funds. When more money became available, The Salvation Army reallocated some of it to the Hospitality House project in San Bernardino.
Capt. Ball said this additional $7,500 will allow the San Bernardino Corps to replace the doors on the media center and computer lab, renovate the adjacent bathroom with shower enclosures, and purchase additional books, educational software and educational DVDs for children.
“The new doors will have small viewing windows for better safety and supervision, and will replace old wooden doors that were left in place during the building renovation,” Capt. Ball said.
“Additional California bathroom renovation will widen the doorways making them easier to access,” he said. “We weren’t able to do much with these two bathrooms last year because renovating the bathrooms in the guest rooms was a higher priority. We will replace a drinking fountain in the center as well.”
The original $25,000 grant allowed The Salvation Army to equip two poorly-lit rooms with good lighting, attractive tables and chairs for study and television viewing and eight computer stations, Capt. Ball said.
About the Salvation Army San Bernardino Corps
The Salvation Army may be able to provide emergency services including food; lodging for homeless or displaced families; clothing and furniture; assistance with rent or mortgage and transportation when funds are available. The Salvation Army Team Radio Network assists rescue workers and evacuees in such disasters as fires.
“We are grateful to be able to do even more to serve our homeless children and families, said Capt. Stephen Ball, director of the San Bernardino Corps of the Salvation Army.
The initial $25,000 grant awarded in 2009 allowed The Salvation Army to create an attractive media center and computer lab as it was renovating the new shelter building at 925 W. Tenth Street. These two rooms are primarily used by school-age children during a tutoring program, and as they complete their homework.
The grant required The Salvation Army use the money to renovate a library, media center or other educational facility.
Target actually awarded this grant to the Sierra del Mar Division (San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego and Imperial counties) of The Salvation Army, which in turn awarded it to the San Bernardino Corps.
Target also awarded similar $25,000 grants last year to each of the 39 other geographical divisions of The Salvation Army’s worldwide ministry, some of which did not spend all of their grant funds. When more money became available, The Salvation Army reallocated some of it to the Hospitality House project in San Bernardino.
Capt. Ball said this additional $7,500 will allow the San Bernardino Corps to replace the doors on the media center and computer lab, renovate the adjacent bathroom with shower enclosures, and purchase additional books, educational software and educational DVDs for children.
“The new doors will have small viewing windows for better safety and supervision, and will replace old wooden doors that were left in place during the building renovation,” Capt. Ball said.
“Additional California bathroom renovation will widen the doorways making them easier to access,” he said. “We weren’t able to do much with these two bathrooms last year because renovating the bathrooms in the guest rooms was a higher priority. We will replace a drinking fountain in the center as well.”
The original $25,000 grant allowed The Salvation Army to equip two poorly-lit rooms with good lighting, attractive tables and chairs for study and television viewing and eight computer stations, Capt. Ball said.
About the Salvation Army San Bernardino Corps
The Salvation Army may be able to provide emergency services including food; lodging for homeless or displaced families; clothing and furniture; assistance with rent or mortgage and transportation when funds are available. The Salvation Army Team Radio Network assists rescue workers and evacuees in such disasters as fires.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Health Insurance Market Moves Ahead in California
The Wall Street Journal
California passed legislation creating a health-insurance marketplace, a move set to be echoed across the country as states take steps to implement federal law.
Millions of Americans around the U.S. are expected to eventually purchase their coverage through such exchanges, which will offer health plans to individuals and some small businesses.
The California legislature on Wednesday passed the second of two related bills to set up the exchange, putting the state at the forefront of efforts nationwide and creating a blueprint that will likely influence other states. Under the national health-care overhaul law passed in March, states are supposed to set up exchanges, or their residents will be offered a federal version.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has said he supported implementing the federal law, is expected to sign the bills.
Many aspects of the exchange are mandated under the federal law, so many features of California's model will be included in those adopted by other states. The exchange is expected to offer insurance through a website that will provide standardized and detailed information about plans, so consumers can compare them. It will have a toll-free number, and will set up a program of live helpers, or navigators, to help explain plans to consumers.
Millions of Americans around the U.S. are expected to eventually purchase their coverage through such exchanges, which will offer health plans to individuals and some small businesses.
The California legislature on Wednesday passed the second of two related bills to set up the exchange, putting the state at the forefront of efforts nationwide and creating a blueprint that will likely influence other states. Under the national health-care overhaul law passed in March, states are supposed to set up exchanges, or their residents will be offered a federal version.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has said he supported implementing the federal law, is expected to sign the bills.
Many aspects of the exchange are mandated under the federal law, so many features of California's model will be included in those adopted by other states. The exchange is expected to offer insurance through a website that will provide standardized and detailed information about plans, so consumers can compare them. It will have a toll-free number, and will set up a program of live helpers, or navigators, to help explain plans to consumers.
The exchanges aren't required to be fully up and running until January 2014, when key provisions of the new federal health law kick in, although some exchange operations may start earlier. Following federal requirements, the California exchange will sell insurance in five categories, ranging from rich "platinum"-level benefits to a plan for young people offering catastrophic coverage.It will also link eligible Californians to federal subsidies that would help pay for their coverage, or to government programs such as Medicaid.
Rising insurance premiums in California and elsewhere helped generate the political momentum for a health overhaul. California's Department of Insurance said Wednesday it will allow premium rate hikes from WellPoint Inc.'s Anthem Blue Cross and nonprofit Blue Shield of California to go forward. Anthem will raise rates about 14% on average on its individual policy-holders. That's a sharp drop from an earlier proposed rate hike that made the company a lightning rod, and was withdrawn. Blue Shield's individual-market increase will average around 19%.
If it becomes law as expected, California's legislation would make it the first state to enact a full exchange since the national law passed. At least one state, Iowa, is crafting a new information-only marketplace, while Massachusetts and Utah had pre-existing exchanges.
The initiative will be "precedent-setting," said Jon Kingsdale, a consultant who headed the agency that runs the Massachusetts exchange.
California's exchange may be the largest one established by a single state. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley projected that as many as 8.3 million people might be eligible for plans through the exchange, including individuals and 3.8 million through small employers.
The federal law says businesses with up to 100 employees can purchase coverage through the exchanges, and states can raise that cutoff in 2017. The availability through the exchange of subsidies for some people who are sole proprietors, and tax credits for certain small businesses, should be lures for those that qualify, said Scott Hauge, president of Small Business California, an advocacy group, and an insurance agent.
Still, said Marti Fisher, policy advocate for the California Chamber of Commerce, which opposed the exchange bills, the details of the exchange's plans, such as pricing, benefit design and access to care, will affect whether companies choose to purchase them. "We don't know how it will play out," she said.
At the national level, analysts have projected that under the overhaul some small businesses may ultimately drop their coverage if employees make little enough to qualify for government programs or subsidies.
The California exchange would be governed by a new board, which will be given robust authority, including the power to selectively contract with insurers giving California health insurance quotes to offer plans within the exchange. That provision drew opposition from some health insurers. "Health plans are concerned that an appointed board could decide to limit choice to the disadvantage of consumers," said Patrick Johnston, chief executive of the California Association of Health Plans.
Bill Monning, chairman of the California Assembly's health committee, said the selective contracting would enable the exchange to act as a "filter, or a fiduciary representative of all Californians," and ensure that health plans offered represent the best quality and value.
Nonprofit Blue Shield of California supported the bills, and a spokesman said it was "pleased" by the passage. A spokeswoman for WellPoint Inc., which had opposed the legislation, declined to comment.
Monday, July 19, 2010
VC Funding Gaining Steam in California
LA Times
Investment reached almost $4 billon in the state during the second quarter, a 51% gain from a year earlier and the most since the third quarter of 2008.
Venture capitalists are quietly reasserting themselves in what is one of the few bright spots for the California economy.
Venture capital investment reached almost $4 billon in California during the second quarter of this year, a 51% gain from the same period last year and the most since the third quarter of 2008. The number of companies they are funding also rose — up more than 8% to 296 compared with a year earlier, according to Dow Jones VentureSource, which collected the data.
Eventually this will mean jobs for California.
"The venture industry creates a lot of jobs because they are funding companies that are starting up almost from scratch," said Jessica Canning, global research director for Dow Jones VentureSource in San Francisco.
Venture capital investment is approaching its pre-recession levels, she said.
"This is good news," said Stephen Levy, chief economist and director of the Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy in Palo Alto. "The investment will turn into jobs as some of these companies become successful."
Levy cautioned that the venture capital investment numbers represent a leading indicator for job growth and that the effects of the funding would take many months if not years to play out, "but as a first step it is very positive and probably along with the revival of business at the ports is the best economic signal going on for California."
Any upward eddy in jobs is of crucial importance to California, which some economists fear could fall into a double-dip recession.
On Friday, the California Employment Development Department said the state's jobs climate stagnated in June as part-time federal census workers lost their jobs and about 400,000 out-of-work people lost their unemployment benefits.
Although the monthly, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate crept down a tenth of a percentage point to 12.3%, the economy lost 27,600 jobs, the state said. California's unemployment rate was 11.6% in June 2009. Nationally, it hit 9.5% last month. Los Angeles' seasonally adjusted rate was unchanged from May at 12.2%.
The money venture capitalists poured into California in the second quarter accounted for slightly more than 51% of the $7.7 billion in venture capital put to work in 744 deals for U.S.-based companies in the period. The California money went into 296 deals.
The national funding was the highest quarterly total for capital invested since $8.4 billion was put into 699 deals during the third quarter of 2008.
Canning said signs of a resurgent venture capital industry also bode well for the national economy.
The investments demonstrated growing confidence in the financial markets — stock offerings is one of the methods venture capitalist use to capture profits from their investments. The investment also reflects a healthy corporate environment, she said.
"While initial public stock offering are the all-stars of the business, mergers and acquisition are the lifeblood for venture capitalists," Canning said. "Venture capital is impressed with the current round of corporate profits and believes that will give big companies the ammunition to make acquisitions."
Historically, venture capital investment has leaned toward technology and healthcare companies, -- which could help offset higher California health insurance quotes -- but the data for the latest quarter demonstrates that the funding is increasingly going to the energy sector — especially companies that supply the budding electric vehicle business and its infrastructure and renewable energy businesses, Canning said.
In California, renewable energy accounted for just 21 of the deals — not even 10% of the total — but represented $1 billion, or about a quarter, of the money invested, Canning said.
The San Francisco Bay Area, which dominated venture capital business in the state and the nation, had seven renewable energy deals, raising about $800 million. The biggest was a $350-million investment by VantagePoint Venture Partners, Morgan Stanley and other firms in Better Place, a Palo Alto provider of electric vehicle support infrastructure, Canning said.
California's renewable energy industry could be one of the biggest job providers, she said.
"This is a very young industry, essentially what the Internet was in 1998. The potential for that industry to grow is significant. We are just starting to scratch the surface," Canning said.
The second quarter was the first time that renewable and alternative energy venture capital investment in Northern California topped that for either healthcare or technology in total dollars, Canning said.
Venture capital investment in the Los Angeles metropolitan area represented a much smaller slice of the pie compared with the funds that get placed in the Bay Area, she said. The Los Angeles area accounted for $278 million in investment in 31 companies during the quarter, up from $111 million placed with 25 businesses a year earlier.
The Southern California deals also tend to be consumer-oriented businesses, such as the $31 million Insight Venture Partners put into HauteLook, an online private shopping club based in Los Angeles, Canning said.
Regardless of the industry, Levy said that the improved outlook for venture capital investment "debunks the idea that no body wants to do business in California. We continue to get half of a rising tide. This will take awhile but some success at these companies will lead to steady job growth."
Venture capitalists are quietly reasserting themselves in what is one of the few bright spots for the California economy.
Venture capital investment reached almost $4 billon in California during the second quarter of this year, a 51% gain from the same period last year and the most since the third quarter of 2008. The number of companies they are funding also rose — up more than 8% to 296 compared with a year earlier, according to Dow Jones VentureSource, which collected the data.
Eventually this will mean jobs for California.
"The venture industry creates a lot of jobs because they are funding companies that are starting up almost from scratch," said Jessica Canning, global research director for Dow Jones VentureSource in San Francisco.
Venture capital investment is approaching its pre-recession levels, she said.
"This is good news," said Stephen Levy, chief economist and director of the Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy in Palo Alto. "The investment will turn into jobs as some of these companies become successful."
Levy cautioned that the venture capital investment numbers represent a leading indicator for job growth and that the effects of the funding would take many months if not years to play out, "but as a first step it is very positive and probably along with the revival of business at the ports is the best economic signal going on for California."
Any upward eddy in jobs is of crucial importance to California, which some economists fear could fall into a double-dip recession.
On Friday, the California Employment Development Department said the state's jobs climate stagnated in June as part-time federal census workers lost their jobs and about 400,000 out-of-work people lost their unemployment benefits.
Although the monthly, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate crept down a tenth of a percentage point to 12.3%, the economy lost 27,600 jobs, the state said. California's unemployment rate was 11.6% in June 2009. Nationally, it hit 9.5% last month. Los Angeles' seasonally adjusted rate was unchanged from May at 12.2%.
The money venture capitalists poured into California in the second quarter accounted for slightly more than 51% of the $7.7 billion in venture capital put to work in 744 deals for U.S.-based companies in the period. The California money went into 296 deals.
The national funding was the highest quarterly total for capital invested since $8.4 billion was put into 699 deals during the third quarter of 2008.
Canning said signs of a resurgent venture capital industry also bode well for the national economy.
The investments demonstrated growing confidence in the financial markets — stock offerings is one of the methods venture capitalist use to capture profits from their investments. The investment also reflects a healthy corporate environment, she said.
"While initial public stock offering are the all-stars of the business, mergers and acquisition are the lifeblood for venture capitalists," Canning said. "Venture capital is impressed with the current round of corporate profits and believes that will give big companies the ammunition to make acquisitions."
Historically, venture capital investment has leaned toward technology and healthcare companies, -- which could help offset higher California health insurance quotes -- but the data for the latest quarter demonstrates that the funding is increasingly going to the energy sector — especially companies that supply the budding electric vehicle business and its infrastructure and renewable energy businesses, Canning said.
In California, renewable energy accounted for just 21 of the deals — not even 10% of the total — but represented $1 billion, or about a quarter, of the money invested, Canning said.
The San Francisco Bay Area, which dominated venture capital business in the state and the nation, had seven renewable energy deals, raising about $800 million. The biggest was a $350-million investment by VantagePoint Venture Partners, Morgan Stanley and other firms in Better Place, a Palo Alto provider of electric vehicle support infrastructure, Canning said.
California's renewable energy industry could be one of the biggest job providers, she said.
"This is a very young industry, essentially what the Internet was in 1998. The potential for that industry to grow is significant. We are just starting to scratch the surface," Canning said.
The second quarter was the first time that renewable and alternative energy venture capital investment in Northern California topped that for either healthcare or technology in total dollars, Canning said.
Venture capital investment in the Los Angeles metropolitan area represented a much smaller slice of the pie compared with the funds that get placed in the Bay Area, she said. The Los Angeles area accounted for $278 million in investment in 31 companies during the quarter, up from $111 million placed with 25 businesses a year earlier.
The Southern California deals also tend to be consumer-oriented businesses, such as the $31 million Insight Venture Partners put into HauteLook, an online private shopping club based in Los Angeles, Canning said.
Regardless of the industry, Levy said that the improved outlook for venture capital investment "debunks the idea that no body wants to do business in California. We continue to get half of a rising tide. This will take awhile but some success at these companies will lead to steady job growth."
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
California Lenders Pitch `Budget-Impasse' Loans to Workers Facing Pay Cut
Bloomberg
Banks and credit unions will offer zero-interest loans and other assistance to the 200,000 California government employees who may see their pay reduced to the minimum wage as a result of the state’s budget stalemate.
The Golden 1 Credit Union, a lender that caters to state workers, will offer zero-interest loans to customers whose pay falls because of the stalled spending plan, according to a July 2 statement. About 1,100 legislative aides and gubernatorial appointees whose pay was stopped on July 1 already have access to so-called budget-impasse loans, said Donna A. Bland, the company’s chief financial officer.
“We’re trying to show our support for our state-employee members,” Bland said in a telephone interview. Golden 1, based in Sacramento, the state capital, describes itself as the sixth- largest credit union in the nation with about $7 billion in assets.
Bank of America Corp., the biggest U.S. lender by assets, will waive fees and offer emergency credit-line increases and mortgage-payment help to customers whose California pay is cut, said Colleen Haggerty, a spokeswoman for the company, based in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“We could survive off our savings for a little while, but it would be a real burden on us,” said Chava Yniquez, a 49- year-old technician in the Senate printing office who has used Golden 1 budget-impasse loans in the past. “It’s a lifeline.”
California’s Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and its Democrat-led Legislature are at odds over how to close a $19.1 billion deficit for the fiscal year that began July 1. The state has passed its budget by the start of the fiscal year only 10 times in the past 34 years.
Court Backs Governor
The Schwarzenegger administration won a Sacramento state appellate court decision on July 2 upholding an order compelling state Controller John Chiang to reduce employee pay until a budget is passed. That order affects about 200,000 state employees who work under civil-service contracts, according to the state Personnel Administration Department.
Reducing workers’ wages can’t be done until the state overhauls its payroll system, Chiang, a Democrat, said July 2 in a statement. He is running for re-election in November.
“I will move quickly to ask the courts to definitively resolve the issue of whether our current payroll system is capable of complying with the minimum-wage order,” he said.
Budget-impasse loans have been around since at least 1992, when Golden 1 first offered them. The credit union made the loans available to about 850 customers during the last budget stalemate, in 2008, and they could be especially helpful in meeting new California health insurance quotes.
55,000 Potential Borrowers
Golden 1 said as many as 55,000 of its customers may participate this year, if state-employee pay is cut to the federal minimum wage, currently $7.25 an hour. Flyers that tout the program are being distributed in its 84 offices, carrying a message that says “balancing the state’s budget doesn’t have to affect your own.”
Other institutions offering similar loans include San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co., the fourth-largest U.S. bank by deposits, and Sacramento’s Schools Financial Credit Union. The zero-interest loans are available only to current customers whose pay is deposited directly into their accounts, said Nathan Schmidt, vice president of marketing at Schools.
“It’s the philosophy of credit unions helping people,” Schmidt said in a telephone interview. “Eventually the state will pass a budget.”
Impasse lending isn’t limited to the Golden State. PSECU, a credit union based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, offered state workers the zero percent loans last year, according to its website. This year, the Pennsylvania Legislature passed its budget on time for the first time in eight years.
“California has a whole lot of experience in this, year in and year out,” Patrick Keefe, a spokesman for the Credit Union National Association in Washington, said in a telephone interview.
The Golden 1 Credit Union, a lender that caters to state workers, will offer zero-interest loans to customers whose pay falls because of the stalled spending plan, according to a July 2 statement. About 1,100 legislative aides and gubernatorial appointees whose pay was stopped on July 1 already have access to so-called budget-impasse loans, said Donna A. Bland, the company’s chief financial officer.
“We’re trying to show our support for our state-employee members,” Bland said in a telephone interview. Golden 1, based in Sacramento, the state capital, describes itself as the sixth- largest credit union in the nation with about $7 billion in assets.
Bank of America Corp., the biggest U.S. lender by assets, will waive fees and offer emergency credit-line increases and mortgage-payment help to customers whose California pay is cut, said Colleen Haggerty, a spokeswoman for the company, based in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“We could survive off our savings for a little while, but it would be a real burden on us,” said Chava Yniquez, a 49- year-old technician in the Senate printing office who has used Golden 1 budget-impasse loans in the past. “It’s a lifeline.”
California’s Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and its Democrat-led Legislature are at odds over how to close a $19.1 billion deficit for the fiscal year that began July 1. The state has passed its budget by the start of the fiscal year only 10 times in the past 34 years.
Court Backs Governor
The Schwarzenegger administration won a Sacramento state appellate court decision on July 2 upholding an order compelling state Controller John Chiang to reduce employee pay until a budget is passed. That order affects about 200,000 state employees who work under civil-service contracts, according to the state Personnel Administration Department.
Reducing workers’ wages can’t be done until the state overhauls its payroll system, Chiang, a Democrat, said July 2 in a statement. He is running for re-election in November.
“I will move quickly to ask the courts to definitively resolve the issue of whether our current payroll system is capable of complying with the minimum-wage order,” he said.
Budget-impasse loans have been around since at least 1992, when Golden 1 first offered them. The credit union made the loans available to about 850 customers during the last budget stalemate, in 2008, and they could be especially helpful in meeting new California health insurance quotes.
55,000 Potential Borrowers
Golden 1 said as many as 55,000 of its customers may participate this year, if state-employee pay is cut to the federal minimum wage, currently $7.25 an hour. Flyers that tout the program are being distributed in its 84 offices, carrying a message that says “balancing the state’s budget doesn’t have to affect your own.”
Other institutions offering similar loans include San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co., the fourth-largest U.S. bank by deposits, and Sacramento’s Schools Financial Credit Union. The zero-interest loans are available only to current customers whose pay is deposited directly into their accounts, said Nathan Schmidt, vice president of marketing at Schools.
“It’s the philosophy of credit unions helping people,” Schmidt said in a telephone interview. “Eventually the state will pass a budget.”
Impasse lending isn’t limited to the Golden State. PSECU, a credit union based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, offered state workers the zero percent loans last year, according to its website. This year, the Pennsylvania Legislature passed its budget on time for the first time in eight years.
“California has a whole lot of experience in this, year in and year out,” Patrick Keefe, a spokesman for the Credit Union National Association in Washington, said in a telephone interview.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Aetna of California Withdraws Proposed Insurance Rate Increase
California health insurance provider Aetna has withdrawn a proposed rate increase after an independent review found mistakes in the company's calculations to justify boosting the rates on 65,000 policyholders' plans by an average of 19 percent.
Aetna's shares fell over 2 percent after substantial mathematical errors were discovered by a California regulator. The proposal was incorrectly multiplied when converting the monthly premium into an annual one. The No. 3 U.S. health insurance provider attributed the error to a "simple human error".
According to the California Department of Insurance, Aetna's California health insurance proposal would have increased insurance rates by an average of 19 percent. The mathematical mistakes were a result of inflated rate hikes, however it remains a question as to how far off the rates were because the company withdrew the proposed increase before the review was completed.
The review that prevented Aetna Inc.'s hike was part of a broader regulatory initiative by California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. Earlier this month Poizner ordered reviews of all rate increases for individual health insurance plans at California's four biggest insurers.
The four major insurers dominate 90 percent of the market for California individual health insurance policies regulated by Department of Insurance.
In April, WellPoint's Anthem division withdrew its proposed filing to hike rates by an average of 25 percent in California. Democrats had strongly disapproved the insurer's relentless proposal as they rallied to enact the health reform law.
President Barack Obama targeted Anthem's rate increase as a primary example of a failing health care system. He emphasized to health insurance executives that they should discontinue massive rate hikes. Executives counter claimed that many rises were unavoidable because the new health law requires them to offer more attractive insurance benefits.
"I have decided to take the exceptional step to post future filings on the Department of Insurance's website," California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner claimed. "Given that two of the four major health insurers have provided rate filings containing math errors, I believe an additional level of transparency is warranted," Poizner added.
In the state of California, insurers are required to spend 70 cents of every dollar collected in health insurance premiums on medical benefits.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Decision Upheld to Bar California Nurses' Strike
Sacramento Bee
The California Nurses Association vowed to continue its fight with the University of California over staffing levels, saying it won't be deterred by a San Francisco judge's ruling Friday that bars nurses from staging a one-day strike.
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Peter J. Busch prohibited the union from staging strikes at the university's five medical centers until at least Sept. 30, when the current contract between the union and the university ends.
Two days before the union was to stage a June 10 walkout at UC-run hospitals, Busch intervened by issuing a temporary restraining order requested by the state Public Employment Relations Board on behalf of the university.
On Friday, the judge made his ruling permanent, saying that there was reasonable cause for PERB to believe that a strike would violate state labor laws.
The CNA walkout was intended to protest what the union said are unsafe nurse staffing levels – a charge the university denies.
At the center of the dispute is whether the university is complying with state-mandated nurse-to-patient ratios, which require at least one nurse for every five patients – and even more for patients with higher levels of need.
The dispute over staffing levels has long been a sticking point in negotiations.
"I'm hopeful that because of the judge's ruling, the CNA will sit down at the table so we can work out a really good contract for the nurses. We can do this in earnest instead of posturing," said Carol Robinson, chief nursing officer for UC Davis Medical Center.
The CNA represents nearly 11,000 registered nurses employed by the university, including 1,800 at the UC Davis Medical Center.
University officials commended the judge's decision, but the setback upset union officials.
"We're going to continue fighting for proper staffing levels. We're not going to stop," said Beth Keane, the CNA's lead negotiator for the union's university labor contracts.
She said the union plans to file complaints with the state Department of Public Health. The state agency, however, has yet to act on a complaint filed by the union in November over staffing levels at the UC Davis Medical Center.
The university said it had already spent $8.4 million preparing for a possible walkout by nurses.
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Peter J. Busch prohibited the union from staging strikes at the university's five medical centers until at least Sept. 30, when the current contract between the union and the university ends.
Two days before the union was to stage a June 10 walkout at UC-run hospitals, Busch intervened by issuing a temporary restraining order requested by the state Public Employment Relations Board on behalf of the university.
On Friday, the judge made his ruling permanent, saying that there was reasonable cause for PERB to believe that a strike would violate state labor laws.
The CNA walkout was intended to protest what the union said are unsafe nurse staffing levels – a charge the university denies.
At the center of the dispute is whether the university is complying with state-mandated nurse-to-patient ratios, which require at least one nurse for every five patients – and even more for patients with higher levels of need.
The dispute over staffing levels has long been a sticking point in negotiations.
"I'm hopeful that because of the judge's ruling, the CNA will sit down at the table so we can work out a really good contract for the nurses. We can do this in earnest instead of posturing," said Carol Robinson, chief nursing officer for UC Davis Medical Center.
The CNA represents nearly 11,000 registered nurses employed by the university, including 1,800 at the UC Davis Medical Center.
University officials commended the judge's decision, but the setback upset union officials.
"We're going to continue fighting for proper staffing levels. We're not going to stop," said Beth Keane, the CNA's lead negotiator for the union's university labor contracts.
She said the union plans to file complaints with the state Department of Public Health. The state agency, however, has yet to act on a complaint filed by the union in November over staffing levels at the UC Davis Medical Center.
The university said it had already spent $8.4 million preparing for a possible walkout by nurses.
Monday, June 7, 2010
CA Ready to take First Steps on Health Care Reform
Mercury News
SACRAMENTO — The debate over national health care reform has moved to the California Legislature, which this week will begin taking the initial steps to implement the complex series of overhauls prescribed by the federal government.
More than 20 bills have been introduced and as many as a dozen might be voted on this week as lawmakers face a deadline to pass bills out of their house of origin.
Because of California's sheer size, its implementation of the new law could serve as a model for other states. The state has 8.2 million uninsured residents, nearly equivalent to the population of New Jersey. The number has ballooned in recent years as Californians lost jobs and health insurance due to the recession.
The bills seek to enact reforms signed into law by President Barack Obama in March. Among other changes, they would prohibit health insurers from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions and create an exchange through which individuals could buy insurance.
A separate bill would take state reforms further than federal requirements by making insurance companies obtain state approval before raising their fees.
The bills are considered works in progress that will change over the course of the legislative session, as the state learns more from the federal government about specific requirements in the law.
Republican lawmakers say the flurry of legislative activity is premature because upcoming elections could shift the balance of power in Congress and result in a repeal of the federal reforms. They also say the exchange, a marketplace through which individuals and small-business owners can buy health insurance at affordable rates, could lead to higher insurance rates because fees will be imposed on insurers to recoup its operational costs.
Despite resistance from members of his own party, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has made health care reform a priority. He introduced his own plan in 2007, but it failed, in part because of concerns about runaway costs to the state in future years.
The Republican governor threw his support behind the national reform plan in April, and his office has been meeting with lawmakers to work through the details.
One of the first steps is to establish an exchange. The idea is to create a consumer-friendly website that could be used to compare California health insurance quotes and buy health insurance plans, similar to the packages offered by employers. It also would serve as a place to screen whether an individual is eligible for Medi-Cal, the state's health insurance program for the poor, or other state services. The state would use federal money to run the exchange. It would create a new entity to operate it or work with a nonprofit organization, said Jennifer Kent, Schwarzenegger's deputy legislative secretary.
More than 20 bills have been introduced and as many as a dozen might be voted on this week as lawmakers face a deadline to pass bills out of their house of origin.
Because of California's sheer size, its implementation of the new law could serve as a model for other states. The state has 8.2 million uninsured residents, nearly equivalent to the population of New Jersey. The number has ballooned in recent years as Californians lost jobs and health insurance due to the recession.
The bills seek to enact reforms signed into law by President Barack Obama in March. Among other changes, they would prohibit health insurers from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions and create an exchange through which individuals could buy insurance.
A separate bill would take state reforms further than federal requirements by making insurance companies obtain state approval before raising their fees.
The bills are considered works in progress that will change over the course of the legislative session, as the state learns more from the federal government about specific requirements in the law.
Republican lawmakers say the flurry of legislative activity is premature because upcoming elections could shift the balance of power in Congress and result in a repeal of the federal reforms. They also say the exchange, a marketplace through which individuals and small-business owners can buy health insurance at affordable rates, could lead to higher insurance rates because fees will be imposed on insurers to recoup its operational costs.
Despite resistance from members of his own party, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has made health care reform a priority. He introduced his own plan in 2007, but it failed, in part because of concerns about runaway costs to the state in future years.
The Republican governor threw his support behind the national reform plan in April, and his office has been meeting with lawmakers to work through the details.
One of the first steps is to establish an exchange. The idea is to create a consumer-friendly website that could be used to compare California health insurance quotes and buy health insurance plans, similar to the packages offered by employers. It also would serve as a place to screen whether an individual is eligible for Medi-Cal, the state's health insurance program for the poor, or other state services. The state would use federal money to run the exchange. It would create a new entity to operate it or work with a nonprofit organization, said Jennifer Kent, Schwarzenegger's deputy legislative secretary.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
City of Maywood California Loses Insurance Coverage
LA Times
Citing the city's failure to hire a new city manager as well as recent officer-involved shootings, Maywood's California health insurance agency has terminated coverage because it views the municipality as too high a risk, according to city officials.
In a notice delivered to the city last week, the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority said it would end all general liability and workers' compensation coverage effective July 1, according to Interim City Manager Angela Spaccia.
"This termination potentially puts the city in the position where it cannot continue to operate its police department and provide other city services," a statement on the city's website announced.
The history of the Maywood-Cudahy Police Department has made it difficult for the city to obtain insurance coverage, officials say. Last year the state attorney general's office found widespread overuse of force and other gross misconduct. The department has reorganized in an effort to address those issues.
Since 2006, liability claims have gone down from $12 million to $266,000, Spaccia said. "The chief has made huge progress."
There have been at least two officer-involved shootings since the start of the year, according to the department. In April, officers shot and killed a knife-wielding man who was stabbing a woman, authorities said. In May officers shot and wounded a man, but the circumstances surrounding that shooting were not released. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is investigating the shootings.
In the workers' compensation case, an officer was hospitalized May 1 after a drunk driver crashed into her police cruiser, according to authorities.
The city has also been without a permanent city manager for more than a year. Officials say that some candidates have turned down job offers, while others have failed to meet qualifications for the position.
Calls made to the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority for comment were not returned Friday.
Maywood officials in recent months have been considering a plan to create a joint law enforcement agency with the city of Bell. The loss of insurance coverage added new impetus to those discussions, Spaccia said, as Maywood might find it easier to receive new California health insurance quotes and regain its coverage through such a partnership.
In a notice delivered to the city last week, the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority said it would end all general liability and workers' compensation coverage effective July 1, according to Interim City Manager Angela Spaccia.
"This termination potentially puts the city in the position where it cannot continue to operate its police department and provide other city services," a statement on the city's website announced.
The history of the Maywood-Cudahy Police Department has made it difficult for the city to obtain insurance coverage, officials say. Last year the state attorney general's office found widespread overuse of force and other gross misconduct. The department has reorganized in an effort to address those issues.
Since 2006, liability claims have gone down from $12 million to $266,000, Spaccia said. "The chief has made huge progress."
There have been at least two officer-involved shootings since the start of the year, according to the department. In April, officers shot and killed a knife-wielding man who was stabbing a woman, authorities said. In May officers shot and wounded a man, but the circumstances surrounding that shooting were not released. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is investigating the shootings.
In the workers' compensation case, an officer was hospitalized May 1 after a drunk driver crashed into her police cruiser, according to authorities.
The city has also been without a permanent city manager for more than a year. Officials say that some candidates have turned down job offers, while others have failed to meet qualifications for the position.
Calls made to the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority for comment were not returned Friday.
Maywood officials in recent months have been considering a plan to create a joint law enforcement agency with the city of Bell. The loss of insurance coverage added new impetus to those discussions, Spaccia said, as Maywood might find it easier to receive new California health insurance quotes and regain its coverage through such a partnership.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Nurses in Minnesota, California set Strike Dates
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — Thousands of nurses in Minnesota and California on Friday announced plans to walk off the job for a single day next month if they don't reach contract agreements with hospitals.
The nurses — 12,000 in the Minneapolis area and nearly 13,000 at hospitals across California — both set June 10 as a strike date. The walkout stands to be the largest in U.S. history.
Nurses in California say low staffing levels are their main concern. In Minnesota, nurses cited that along with pay and pension issues in authorizing a strike last week. On Friday, the Minnesota nurses said filing notice of intent to strike was necessary to get the hospitals to move on negotiations.
"There is no way to meaningfully negotiate when one side doesn't show up," Nellie Munn, a registered nurse at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis and a negotiator, said.
Maureen Schriner, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota hospitals, said the strike notice "clearly shows the union is interested only in a strike and has demonstrated that it does not want to negotiate in good faith."
She said the hospitals would detail their plans to respond to a walkout next week. "The hospitals will take the steps necessary to maintain patient safety," she said.
The two sides are scheduled to meet with federal mediators Wednesday and next Friday.
A strike would affect thousands of patients at 14 hospitals in Minnesota, but it wouldn't affect two of the largest Twin Cities hospitals, Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis and Regions Hospital in St. Paul, nor two large suburban hospitals that don't have union nurses or a contract up for renewal.
In California, National Nurses United bargaining director Jill Furillo said the one-day strike on June 10 would involve nurses from all University of California hospitals, Citrus Valley Medical Center in Covina, San Pedro Hospital and Olympia Medical Center in Los Angeles.
The union says there isn't enough staff to treat patients, requiring more attention from nurses. UC spokeswoman Leslie Sepuka dismissed that, saying safety is a top concern and the hospitals follow the law.
California law requires hospitals to maintain specific staffing levels in different areas of the hospital. For example, one nurse must be present for every two critically ill patients.
UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center oncology nurse Manny Punzalan said on weekends, evenings and lunch breaks, nurses frequently double up on their patient load because there are no nurses dedicated to cover breaks at many UC hospitals.
Last month at UCLA, an intensive care nurse assigned to one critical patient took on two more critical patients so a fellow nurse could take a lunch break, Punzalan said.
During the break, one patient went into atrial fibrillation, which means their heart stopped pumping properly, requiring immediate attention.
"All the other nurses jumped in and helped that patient, but you can imagine a time when other nurses are busy" in a critical care unit, said Punzalan.
The nurses — 12,000 in the Minneapolis area and nearly 13,000 at hospitals across California — both set June 10 as a strike date. The walkout stands to be the largest in U.S. history.
Nurses in California say low staffing levels are their main concern. In Minnesota, nurses cited that along with pay and pension issues in authorizing a strike last week. On Friday, the Minnesota nurses said filing notice of intent to strike was necessary to get the hospitals to move on negotiations.
"There is no way to meaningfully negotiate when one side doesn't show up," Nellie Munn, a registered nurse at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis and a negotiator, said.
Maureen Schriner, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota hospitals, said the strike notice "clearly shows the union is interested only in a strike and has demonstrated that it does not want to negotiate in good faith."
She said the hospitals would detail their plans to respond to a walkout next week. "The hospitals will take the steps necessary to maintain patient safety," she said.
The two sides are scheduled to meet with federal mediators Wednesday and next Friday.
A strike would affect thousands of patients at 14 hospitals in Minnesota, but it wouldn't affect two of the largest Twin Cities hospitals, Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis and Regions Hospital in St. Paul, nor two large suburban hospitals that don't have union nurses or a contract up for renewal.
In California, National Nurses United bargaining director Jill Furillo said the one-day strike on June 10 would involve nurses from all University of California hospitals, Citrus Valley Medical Center in Covina, San Pedro Hospital and Olympia Medical Center in Los Angeles.
The union says there isn't enough staff to treat patients, requiring more attention from nurses. UC spokeswoman Leslie Sepuka dismissed that, saying safety is a top concern and the hospitals follow the law.
California law requires hospitals to maintain specific staffing levels in different areas of the hospital. For example, one nurse must be present for every two critically ill patients.
UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center oncology nurse Manny Punzalan said on weekends, evenings and lunch breaks, nurses frequently double up on their patient load because there are no nurses dedicated to cover breaks at many UC hospitals.
Last month at UCLA, an intensive care nurse assigned to one critical patient took on two more critical patients so a fellow nurse could take a lunch break, Punzalan said.
During the break, one patient went into atrial fibrillation, which means their heart stopped pumping properly, requiring immediate attention.
"All the other nurses jumped in and helped that patient, but you can imagine a time when other nurses are busy" in a critical care unit, said Punzalan.
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