Medicare
Bill Scuttles Visalia Surgical Hospital
Group Plans 198/Plaza Medical Campus
Visalia - A 3 year effort to build a private surgical hospital in Visalia is stalled this winter with passage of a new Medicare bill that bans new physician-owned surgery hospitals for 18 months. The measure also prohibits new partner physicians from joining a group in a project already underway, says Dr. Jim Billys, general partner in Visalia Surgery Hospital.
“Since we already applied with the state we figured our project was grandfathered but the provisions against new partners remains a significant issue for us.”
Billys says the group lost their 50% general partner in Fresno Surgery Center last year but had lined up a new partner on the $15 million project.
But with the passage of the Medicare bill in November 2003 and its provisions against new surgical centers, the project will remain shelved “until we can figure something out,” he shrugs.
Billys says the local docs new partner is National Surgical Hospital, Inc. based in Chicago. As many as 19 local physicians had at one time agreed to partner in the new 36,000 sq. ft. project.
Many of the patients coming to these hospitals nationwide were Medicare patients and the new bill - negotiated last fall behind closed doors in Congress - put a moratorium on physician-owned hospitals that critics said have a built in conflict of interest since physicians refer a patient to a hospital they own.
The moratorium affects both orthopedic and heart specialty hospitals that have grown rapidly in number in recent years including here in the valley.
Billys still has 3.7 acres tied up a Mission Oaks at Akers and 198 but escrow would have to close this summer if they were to retain the option of building there, sources say. Originally the group expected to be open around this time last year.
New Medical Campus
In the meantime, Billys medical group Orthopaedic Associates is moving forward on a 14 acre medical campus at Plaza and 198 where they plan to relocate the Orthopaedic Associates office from Willis Street and build additional medical offices. Billys group purchased the land from Jostens which was surplus to the printing company’s needs.
Billys says there are no plans to build the surgical hospital at the Plaza site because of the proximity to the airport and the flight path of airplanes. “That’s the same issue Kaweah Delta had when they looked at a Shirk location,” says Billys.
Instead, because Kaweah Delta is expanding Downtown - Orthopaedic will build a new 50,000 sq. ft. office along with a new spine center at the new campus on the northeast corner of Plaza and 198. Plans filed with the city this week show 4 buildings to be scattered on the 14 acres totaling 165,000 sq. ft. “We’ve had some discussion with some physicians on buying new offices out there,” says Billys.
Billys says the new orthopedic office could be open in 18 months.
Kaweah Delta would buy the existing Orthopaedic building on Willis since it’s in the way of its planned expansion downtown. The hospital’s new Support Service Center is right across the street from the Orthopaedic Associates office. That building was scheduled to begin construction this month but because of high bids, is expected to break ground next month.
Billys says the group of physicians would still like to build the 20 bed Visalia Surgery Hospital in the future although he says Kaweah Delta’s new Broadwick Pavilion has gone a long way to meeting the needs, he says for an upscale surgical facility in town. “I send a lot of patients there,” says Dr. Billys and “they report a high degree of satisfaction.” He says Kaweah Delta is “using our model” of improved patient care, high nurse to patient ratios, plush private rooms and comfortable surroundings in the new surgical wing at Kaweah Delta.
Billys is also a partner in the CAMS surgery center an outpatient surgical facility across the freeway from Kaweah Delta that includes some of the same physicians who are investing in the surgical hospital. Stays at CAMS are limited to less than 24 hours. He says it is likely that this facility would be moving to the new medical campus on Plaza in the future as well.
Plans submitted to the city will be heard by the city site plan committee this week. The project faces a rezoning issue at the city council since the land is zoned for Business Research Park that doesn’t allow medical use. The city has recently indicated that this zoning all over town would likely be discontinued.
Billys, in the fall of 2001, had a knock-down drag-out fight with Kaweah Delta over the proposed project with the city council approving the surgical hospital. Kaweah Delta feared the project would merely “skim the cream” of high dollar surgical procedures paid by well heeled patients while Kaweah Delta cares for a large number of under and non insured patients. Kaweah Delta officials claimed the hospital would have resulted “in a $3 million hit” on the district hospital’s bottom line.
Billys countered that the bed need in the community in the future will be about 800 beds and their hospital was for just 20 beds. He said Kaweah Delta feared the competition.
But the city did approve the project at the Akers and 198 office park owned by Bill Clark. Clark may now have to look for another tenant for the acreage.
City officials have been encouraging medical facilities to be build downtown with expansion of Kaweah Delta, but other medical uses on or near 198 have been recently approved.
Opening Urban
Boundary Sets Stage For
Continued Housing Boom
Visalia - Without much fanfare last month, the City of Visalia opened its urban development boundary allowing the filing of the next wave of subdivision maps that reflect plans for thousands of new homes around town in the next few years.
“It’s just kind of exploded,” says planner Steve Brandt with home builders flooding city hall with plans for tentative maps this past two weeks after the council opened the boundary in December.
Brandt says he expects 2004 to increase building activity “because there is new interest in multi family in town at the same time single family home demand remains strong. “We’ll have plenty of lots for the future.”
Builders are having trouble keeping up with demand for new homes here based in part on a very tight market for existing homes for sale, say local realtors.
Tulare County Association of Realtors figures show just 66 single family homes on the market at the end of December 2003 compared to 84 at the end of 2002 and 96 in December 2001. Realtors say that homes that would remain on the market for months are now getting quick offers if they are priced right.
The average home in our multiple listing service area is being sold in just 58 days compared to 103 days in 2001.
Within the entire MLS area that includes Tulare and Exeter besides Visalia, the number of sales per month has nearly doubled from 2000 when the Realtors Association recorded an average of 166 home sales per month to an average of 306 homes sold per month in 2003.
Fueling demand is continued low interest rates this winter which again just ticked down in recent days enabling home buyers to qualify for bigger homes or paying less per month for the home they want. “The 30 year fixed is back down to 5 and ½ to 5 and 3/4,” says Maaske.
Touring the town with a buyer, realtor Lane Fye says his buyer was looking for a home in the $200,000 range. “We could find only 8 existing homes in this range. When that didn’t work out we went to see models for homes that don’t yet exist.” Builders “work with realtors offering a commission the same as if they sold an existing home. The only problem - you don’t get paid until the house is built,” he says.
With low inventory, buyers scour all quadrants of the city for a new home and without exception the lots are pre-sold well before the home is built.
Rod Palmer, realtor with J. Heaton and president of the Tulare County Association of Realtors says demand is being fueled by “out of the area buyers” in many cases investors and some retirees.
Add the demand from people here who want to “move up” and throw in low interest rates and you have continuing boom for home builders.
Reversing a trend people often talk about are the folks who are leaving the coast because of the high cost of living and buying in the valley. “They can take their $200,000 home they bought in 1997 that is worth $500,000 today and sell it and come here and buy a $200,000 house and feel better off” with money in the bank, says Maaske. They may live here, work part time or pack into an RV and take off, he says.
Maaske says what he sees is about 5 buyers for every house and builders are about 8 to 12 months out on their sales of homes.
The realtors agree that the southwest part of Visalia is still very popular although without much inventory even after the expansion of the urban boundary in December, that because of the plan that keeps new homes away from the airport flight path.
The northwest side of Visalia has both good demand and land to expand. “We’re even seeing Fresno buyers who can purchase a home here $40,000 below what they can in Fresno and figure on commuting,” says Maaske.
The largest development in the northwest just opened for business at Shannon Ranch to be built by Centex that is building a massive planned community along Riggin.
One new growth area is expected to be the southwest part of Visalia where 160 acres of new land is coming into the city.
There is over 10,000 acres of land already developed within the city for residential use, just under 3000 available within the old boundary and now an additional 4000 acres have become available now that the city council approved the plan.
That doesn’t include several large general plan amendments in the works by Centex - a 247 unit single family project west of Roeben and a 700 unit McMillan home project at Shirk and Goshen Ave. Ennis Development hopes to add more homes at Lovers Lane and Caldwell on land not yet zoned for new homes. The upshot is that the number of new lots available may be significantly more than in the near future than current city zone maps would expect.
At the moment nobody is worried about a glut but if the market turns down - they will.
Large subdivision plans are being filed now for thousands of homes to be built by the half dozen larger builders who are selling product in each quadrant of the city.
“We’ve been discovered by more national builders in recent months,” says developer Harvey May and more are coming, he says. “We’re on their radar screen now,” given the rapid appreciation here, he says.
Just how rapid an appreciation? Title company owner Scott Collins gave predictions this week on real estate trends based on research he has just completed. He says the average home sold in Visalia in 2003 was up to $189,500 up from about $126,000 the year before. That’s an 89% increase.
Crime Down 4% In Visalia
Visalia - Visalia crime was down 4% in total crimes in 2003 compared to the year before. The police department released their year long crime report last week showing fewer homicides in 2003 - 9 versus 13 in 2002, compared to just 5 in 2000. Crimes against persons showed the biggest decline falling 19%. There was a 10% drop in aggravated assault. However, robbery was up 11%. Crimes against property dropped 3%. Despite the better numbers, Visalia has seen an increase in crime of 13% in 2002 compared to the year before.
Some crime categories are down this year and that’s good, says Sgt. Jim German of the Visalia PD. “But the town is growing and our calls for service are up,” notes German. Calls for service in 2003 reached 97,731 compared to 95,653 in 2002.
Despite a better record, crime in Visalia is generally above the national average based on 2002 statistics - about one third higher than the national FBI crime average.
Another way to measure is the California crime index per 100,000 population collected for the entire state. Visalia’s 2002 number was 2788 - the highest in our county (Tulare 1765) vs a state average of 1890. Exeter’s was 182 and Farmersville was 220. Los Angeles on the other hand was 2252 and Fresno County - 2682.
Visalia motor vehicle thefts remain high although slightly lower than last year but about double the national average. Rape cases in 2003 numbered 47 in Visalia - the same as 2002 and 51 in 2000. In 1999 there were 26 rapes.
The trend in burglaries is down slightly to 1081 from 1096 in 2002 - up from 880 in 2000 but lower than in 1993 when the town recorded 1126 burglaries. Most burglaries are considered to be carried out by drug offenders.
Commenting on the increases in robberies seen in town this past year - up 10% over the year before - German says “many of these robberies are committed on small businesses with the robber brandishing or simulating a weapon and getting a relatively small amount of money” in the process. Most of the time there isn’t violence, he notes. Most of the cases are drug or gang related, says German.
The 10 year trend shows arrests in Tulare County declining in many categories except for drug abuse (see chart). Statewide violent crimes have declined by almost one half between 1993 and 2002 according to FBI figures along with burglaries. Other categories have mostly declined by 30 to 40% over that time per 100,000 population.
Visalia is concerned enough about public safety to be proposing an increases in the sales tax locally of one quarter cent on the ballot in March looking for more officers. Just this month Sacramento is proposing to reduce property taxes in the city that in part go to public safety.
Besides the growth in people the town is growing in miles - asphalt - forcing patrolling officers to put more miles on their vehicles to get the job done.
DNA Test Nabs a Cattle Thief
By Miles Shuper
Woodlake - AWoodlake area man has been sentenced in the first successful cattle rustling conviction in which cattle DNA testing results were used in a California court.
Jerry George Baker, 57, was given a suspended four- year prison term, sentenced to one year in county jail and ordered to pay $22,000 in restitution to the five victim cattle ranchers.
State Brand Inspectors used DNA samples from Baker’s bull, a cow belonging to one of the victims and a calf which matched that cow to prove that the victim’s cow had been on Baker’s property for at least 10 months, according to brand inspector Joey Evans.
Evans said that to his knowledge the case against Baker was the first time DNA testing had been used in a California cattle rusting trial. He said a prior case in another county involved the use of cattle DNA and resulted in a guilty plea.
Steve Lyle, public affairs director of the California State Department of Agriculture, termed the use of DNA evidence as “an example of modern technology being used to fight a crime associated with the “Old West.”
Lyle said several other cases involving cattle DNA matching are in the judicial pipeline and he expects its use to grow.
Tulare County Superior Court Judge Joseph Kalashian sentenced Baker on 11 counts of grand theft cattle, one count of forgery, and one count of altering a brand. In addition to the suspended prison term, jail time and the restitution, Judge Joe Kalashian placed Baker on probation for 60 months. Baker was found guilty in a five-day jail trial last October.
The conviction ended a two and one-half year case which began in late July, 2001, when Evans, a state brand inspector was working the Visalia Livestock yard and noticed a suspicious brand. Evans suspected the brand a “dH” was actually a “dh” brand registered local cattle rancher John Rodgers. The lower case “h” had been altered to make an “H” The animal had been consigned for sale by Baker who was asked to provide backup paperwork to confirm his ownership. Baker later faxed a copy of a 1996 invoice which he said was original. Tests determined the fax had been altered with a dH brand from the original “L” brand on the original invoice.
Further investigation provided evidence that Baker had retained possession of animals belonging to Beresford corporation, whose ranch borders Baker’s Shilo Ranch. Altered brands were discovered and the Tulare County Sheriff’s department along with District Attorney investigator Kevin Bohl, and other members of the Agricultural Crime Task Force converged on Baker’s ranch in August, 2001 to inventory his herd in an effort to determine if there were any more irregulataries. Fourteen head of cattle were seized. Eleven head were found to have been the property of several ranchers, including Rodgers, Chris Lang, Pat Atherton, Billy Wells and Jorge Ramirez. Investigators said the livestock had been missing lengths of time from early 1998 to the summer of 1999, according to DNA test results.
Mooney Buzz...More Restaurants Coming
Visalia - The buzz on Mooney this new year — watch for more restaurants to locate on the south end of the boulevard. Packwood Creek developer Don Orosco is filing some plans with the city this week and planner Steve Brandt says they include “a couple of restaurants across the street from the new Olive Garden eatery.
Orosco’s broker, Walter Smith, says plans are being filed for a new food court just north of Krispi Kreme on the west side of Mooney that will include two national sit down restaurants and two “fast casual” restaurants similar to the Panda Express in the shopping center on the east side of Mooney. Smith said he couldn’t name names yet but that three of the four would be new to town and the remaining eatery would be a second location.
Informed speculation has it that developers are after several national chains that may be ready to come to Visalia including Outback Steakhouse, Chili’s, TJ Fridays, Logan’s Steakhouse and Macaroni Grill.
Besides Orosco, Texas developer Mike Karns, who now owns the old Target property, is also trying to get restaurants on his Mooney frontage and is working with some of the same tenants. Karns says he still has not decided whether to demolish the old Target building and put up a new shopping center or try to use the existing 90,000 sq. ft. building perhaps dividing it up for new tenants.
Karns did confirm he was working with Longs Drugs to relocate to his center from across the street at the Sequoia Mall got a cold reception from the city who want the site to be regional retail use.
One possible tenant believed to be working with Karns is Bally’s Gym to take part of the old Target building.
Back at the Packwood development, Smith confirms they are working with Sports Chalet for a new 40,000 sq. ft. store on the west side of Mooney. Aaron Brothers may take a spot next to Michael’s on the east side.
In other Mooney news, it now looks like Circuit City will stay where they are and remodel and expand at the existing center, says sources. Karns had said they were working with an electronics outlet on a new location there but not any longer.
Meanwhile, the new Olive Garden construction complete but won’t open until late March to give time for management to train workers and stock the pantry.
The possibility of four new restaurants coming to Visalia does offer new choices for the area but it also means the existing restaurants in town will have a tougher time filling their tables.
Two new restaurants are underway on West 198 including Cypress Grill at the Westlands shopping center next to Walgreens and a new Pizza Hut near Denny’s at Akers and 198. Owners of the Kmart shopping center are planning a new “food court” as well at County Center and Noble.
Auto Mall Court Cases Set For January 30/February9
The lawsuits against the city approval of a West 198 auto mall will be heard by Judge Paul Vortmann in coming weeks as Judge Pat O'Hara has declined to hear the local cases. Vortmann has scheduled one hearing for January 30 at 8:30 a.m. in his Dept. 7 court to hear arguments over whether the city's failure to amend the West Visalia Specific Plan approving the project means the city has to go back and amend their approvals.
Next Vortmann will hear the matter of whether the city was proper in rejecting the petition for a referendum by citizens in Visalia over the project. The city argues that the petition was not filed in a timely way even though enough Visalia voters signed the petition to force a ballot measure over the project. That hearing will be February 9th.
If the city loses either case, it is likely a vote will take place. If the citizens group loses both cases auto mall opponent Greg Collins who leads the Save Our Corridor group, says "we're done" and the project will likely break ground soon.
Ag Jobs Bill - Immigration Debate Goes On
President Bush on January 7 laid out a new plan that would permit 6 to 8 million unauthorized foreigners in the U.S. who have jobs to become temporary legal residents.
They would be guest workers with Bush putting forward the plan to match "willing foreign workers with willing US employers when no Americans can be found to fill those jobs." Bush said this was not amnesty since the workers would have to go home at the end of the program.
Farm and labor advocates are backing a different program - Ag Jobs being introduced in Congress this month. The Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits and Security Act of 2003 would back "earned legalization" allowing the undocumented worker to become a citizen. These workers who could show they have already worked in ag would need to put in at least 360 days of farm work over the next 6 years - 75 in each year following the adjusted status. Spouses and children of these workers could not be deported. There would be no cap of the number. Estimates run as high as 800,000 could apply including working in the livestock industry which had been excluded in earlier programs. Farmers could also qualify to set new guest workers from across the border if they agree to pay minimum wage and advertise the jobs to Americans. After three years in a program the foreigner can apply for immigrant visas.
But renewed interest in guest workers in the US has renewed a debate nationally and in California over the impact the large number of immigrants have had on life here. Among groups are many who claim that any kind of amnesty is wrong since it sanctions the breaking of the law - when others have followed the legal path to immigration in the US.
Groups like FAIR - Federation for American Immigration Reform - says the proposal means the volume of immigrants who decide to stay illegally in the US will continue to grow including their dependents helping to depress US wages and driving up the cost of welfare, healthcare and education, particularly here in California.
Sierra Club Battle
The debate has even hit well known California based environmental organization the Sierra Club this winter with an immigration coalition looking to win a majority on the groups' board of directors this spring.
The debate focused on ways to curb population growth to help protect its natural resources. The club voted in 1998 to remain neutral on immigration issues. But this issue is even hotter today.
The success of Selma farmer and author Victor Davis Hanson who authored the book Mexifornia crystalizes the debate among valley residents who see support for Ag Jobs both from the farmers and union leaders but wonder about the social consequences in our towns from runaway immigration.
Estimates are that 2.4 million immigrants came from Mexico to the US from 1986 to 1996 illegally and possibly double that illegally. Opinion surveys show most Americans want immigration reduced.
The question becomes - do the new guest worker proposals increase the likelihood of more immigrants for California or decrease it?
Hanson lays out some of the ironies this passage from Mexifornia.
"In the late 1990s, after reading dozens of stories in our local paper about a severe shortage of grape pickers - and then witnessing firsthand that the raisin harvest was a week or two behind because too many farmers were seeking too few workers - I once drove to the three largest shopping centers in Fresno. The labor pool there was astounding! There were easily two or three thousand healthy men and women under twenty - shopping, loitering, idling, chatting on cell phones and flirting at 2 p.m. on a summer weekday. Some had cultivated physiques with bulging muscles and were well tanned, appearing to my mind more than ready for the rough outdoors of the vineyard.
There were enough Americans withing a ten-mile vicinity who had the strength and health to pick all the grapes on seven or eight hundred acres of vineyard in a single day. But as Napoleon said of war, the will is to the material as three is to one. Not one of those young men and women works in the fields. Their parents may complain about how expensive their school clothes and electronic appurtenances are, but still unleash them to the malls, while the farmers gripe that nobody wants their wages to do hard, honest work, even as the Mexicans are happy to do what others will not, and thereby earn the money to buy what others purchase through parental subsidy.
Ban our yearly contingent of tough, lean Mexican immigrants completely from California tomorrow, and I think within a year or two the state would be almost paralyzed - much of its food decaying, its hotels dirty, its dishes unwashed, its lawns and shrubs weedy and unkempt. Remove the young Mexicans and our professional classes would learn rather quickly that fruit does not fall edible from trees, that the grass does indeed continue to grow, and that trenches do not open of their own accord like the Red Sea.
Dozens of agricultural magnates I know have never themselves - much less their children - picked any peaches from their thousands of trees, never sprayed organophosphates on their vast orchards, and never even mowed their own lawns. In the great debate now going on about immigration, it seems to me vital that critics of Mexican illegal aliens at least experiment - if only for forty-eight hours or so - with working at such helotage. They might serve as maids for a day at the Motel 6, or pick strawberries to understand the issues of stoop labor, its compensation, and why people who wish to work find in America work that Americans will not do. We must keep in mind that unlike the 1950s, when only the elite in our country had someone else tend their lawns and baby-sit their kids, now millions of the middle and upper-middle classes pay aliens for such services - a radical change in the American lifestyle made possible by the arrival of millions from Mexico in the last decades.
So at a personal level, whether the present massive immigration is good or bad sometimes depends on whether your lawn is being mowed cheaply, or you are mowing someone else's; whether you show up at the emergency room for thousands of dollars in free maternity care, or pay the highest state taxes in the country to provide care for someone who either cannot or will not acquire health insurance; whether you believe that we are all going to be fine because an illegal alien becomes valedictorian of his high school class, or that none of us will have a future when almost four out of every ten Hispanic students - natives, resident aliens and illegal immigrants alike - are believed never to finish the twelfth grade."
Fueling Growth Impacts Here
Not all growth in opposition is due to immigration although about one quarter of the new arrivals have been immigrants in the past ten years. But California foreign born population increased 37% from 1990 to 2000 and about half of California's students are immigrants or children of immigrants. Projections of increased population growth - to 49 million by 2025 - causes problems for everyone in shortages or water, open space, traffic congestion, crime, poverty and cost of government - all familiar issues here in the Golden State the impact on education is case in point where the districts are being forced to pass bond measures to build new school rooms. The cost to taxpayers to educate illegal immigrants is estimated to be $2.2 billion annually. The impact on emergency health care is just as great since about 45% of illegal immigrants have no health insurance.
Giant Sequoia National Monument Management Plan
By Peyton Ellas
The new Management Plan for the Giant Sequoia National Monument relies heavily on controlled, low-intensity fires, limits tree removal, maintains the existing road mileage, and encourages increased recreational use. The plan, released on January 16, also emphasizes grove restoration in its strategy to improve plantations of Giant Sequoias, other conifer forests, and aquatic and wildlife habitat, which have been seriously damaged in the last several decades.
The Giant Sequoia National Monument, created in a Proclamation by President Clinton on April 15, 2000, encompasses 327,769 acres including some of the largest groves of Giant Sequoia trees. The Management Plan, required in the Proclamation, must not only adhere to the Presidential directive, but also to the myriad other laws and government regulations concerning management of public lands.
Sequoia National Forest Supervisor Art Gaffrey released his final Record of Decision (ROD) from among six alternatives submitted through a process that included participation from scientists, environmental groups, logging and other private-use interests, and the public at large. The plan now enters its appeal stage, which could last as long as several months.
The plan contains four elements: protection of the forest communities from catastrophic fires that wipe out entire stands of trees; ecological restoration; recreation and human use; and transportation. Further, the Monument is divided into six Management Areas, each with their own specialized approaches. These range from the fairly developed Historic Hume Lake District, with its turn-of-the-century dam and mill site, to the Giant Sequoia groves which have had largely been untouched for 120 years.
Although the report states that "prescribed fire will be the preferred treatment method and will be considered first to meet ecological restoration and public safety objectives," Gaffrey's decision singles out the Camp Nelson area above Springville as one that is likely to require "mechanical treatments and tree removal" as a restoration and protection strategy. His plan includes a lengthy procedure to determine if tree removal or other mechanical methods such as moving thinned trees or moving fuels away from trees, would be chosen as the best protective strategy.
The standard by which this plan is to be measured is the condition of the forest prior to 1875, when logging and other human use began on an intensified level. During the first two decades, the plan would emphasize restoration of plantations started in the last 50 years to re-establish trees in logged or burned areas. In other areas, new stands would be established. Specific areas of restoration would range from 50-500 acres and would include improving natural waterways in the Monument as well.
Wildlife habitat restoration would be one of the emphasized goals in implementing the plan, which includes several provisions for adaptation and modification over the decades. This includes the existence of a permanent Scientific Advisory Board, which was mandated in the Proclamation.
The Plan also includes increased "development of recreation facilities to meet the increased demand" in the Monument. It "encourages expansion of overnight camping, picnicking, trailheads and interpretive opportunities," emphasizing education and focus on historical areas such as those around Hume Lake, the Tule River and Hot Springs.
An important question to environmentalists and private users of the Monument was how many more roads the new Plan would allow. Gaffrey opted for a moderate approach, calling for maintenance of the existing 900 miles or roads, or balancing the creation of new roads with removal of others.
Some environmental groups had called the existing level of road maintenance damaging and excessive, while the creation of new roads was deemed necessary by many off-road-vehicle users and by loggers. The "Modified Alternative 6" Gaffrey chose provides for "enjoyable and safe opportunities for riding off-highway vehicles, including snowmobiles, on designated roads within the Monument" but does not go beyond using the "approximately 640 miles available for riding OHVs and approximately 135 miles groomed for use in the winter."
The plan is currently available for review at the Forest Service's website: www.r5.fed.us/giant_sequoia/ or through contacting any Sequoia National Forest office.
Payrolls Fall In State As Jobless Recovery Continues
Payroll employment fell in December statewide according to a new EDD report released last week. For December the number of jobs in non-farm industries in California fell by 8400 for the month and by 32,500 since December 2002. The news puts a damper on hopes for a strong economic rebound in the Golden State this new year despite plenty of good economic growth data nationwide. It also calls in doubt projections that a major recovery in the state can help rescue Sacramento from their current fiscal troubles - trouble that increasingly is affecting local government.
EDD figures show long term decline in jobs in the state since 2000 with a loss of 310,000 jobs in the non-farm category. The study by the EDD doesn't include self employment where many of the underemployed have been putting their efforts in recent years. The EDD expects to guage how strong that economic sector is in a new report in coming months.
Mixed Picture
In Tulare and Kings counties the news for December was mixed with Tulare unemployment rate for December falling from 17% in December 2002 to 16.2% in December 2003. That is due, however, to a combination of factors including a shrinking labor force and a slight growth in employment - about 1100 jobs (includes self employed). But in the payroll category both farm and non-farm jobs are down from a year ago by about 1000. Farm jobs fell most because of the end of the harvest season.
The number of employed fell in both Tulare and Kings from November to December.
In Kings County the unemployment rate in December was 14.4% - better than a year ago when it was 15.1% In Kings there has been a slight uptick in non farm jobs year to date.
California unemployment rates for December fell to 6.1% compared to 6.6% a year ago. The EDD shows a better picture in the high tech world of Silicon Valley although no big hiring is reported.
Expectations for the new year were tempered by poor nationwide jobs reports released in recent weeks initially that sent interest rates down after its release at least helping fuel the home building industry in the state and locally which has been red hot.
The report, the UCLA Anderson Forecast released in December, suggested that California will experience some job growth in 2004 and 2005 but that it would be somewhat "limited and unevenly distributed." It found no evidence of predictions of a forecast of an increase of 8.2% GDP as seen in the third quarter of 2003. The report discussed the following projections.
"In an overview of California's economy, Senior Economist Tom Lieser states, "With stimulus coming from the improving national and world economies through 2004 and 2005, (non farm) employment is forecasted to increase 0.9% in 2004 and 2.1% in 2005." Put in perspective, the rate was 4.9% as recently are 2000."
"California's job gains will be concentrated in the services sector, particularly newly recombined Education and Health services sector, which, with more than a decade of steady growth, has experienced uninterrupted expansion longer than any other sector. Information services declined for ten consecutive quarters but began adding jobs in the third quarter of 2003 and is expected to continue to do so, albeit at a pace well-below the 11.2% seen in 2000. Growth has resumed in professional and business services as well."
"In contrast to the services sector, the manufacturing sector remains problematic for California. The steep decline in manufacturing in the state has slowed, but now new hiring is yet apparent. Most of the jobs lost in manufacturing will not return, particularly production jobs. By 2005, the UCLA Anderson Forecast expects to see modest new hiring in this area, but total employment in manufacturing will be lower than it is today."
"Taxable sales in California are the best proxy for consumer spending n the state and 2003 should ultimately be a positive surprise when all data are in. With improved growth in employment and earnings in 2004, look for an increase in sales growth of 5.0% in 2004 and 4.9% in 2005. Real estate prices should continue to rise in California, assuming mortgage rates remain "reasonable;" single digit rates are most likely over the next two years."
What's New
She'll be looking at Visalia from both sides now - famed folk singer Judy Collins will bring her amazing voice to the Fox Theatre February 15 in Visalia.
Aaron Brothers is the latest retailer to be looking for a location in Visalia - right next to the new Michael's Store location at Packwood Creek on the east side of Mooney. Michael's Store owns the smaller Aaron Brothers chain - about 158 stores strong that started in L.A. The company specializes in art and picture frames and art supplies. Packwood Creek will also get a new Sports Chalet store this summer. The Voice reported in December they were negotiating with the shopping center's owner.
Kaweah Delta Hospital hopes to land a new vascular surgeon for Visalia within the next few months, with older vascular surgeons expected to retire and some not taking call in the ER "it is one of our top priorities," says Visalia surgeon Vicky Gerken. The issue comes up every week, "since we are the diabetes capital of the US," says Gerken and renal failure a commonplace problem requiring vascular surgery. Another common occurrence, gunshot wounds to the mid section requiring a surgeon take blood vessels from the leg to patch them in the wounded area - a tough job requiring the skilled hands of a vascular surgeon. Gerken says they hope to announce a surgeon soon that can also do endo-vascular surgery - a new technique that can repair heart problems with far lower morbidity. The hospital also secured a new neurosurgeon but won't have him on duty until April. Gerken reports the good news at the hospital so far - the flu epidemic has abated for now.
Will our polluted skies keep us from landing a $1 billion Navy airwing? A January 15 LA Times story indicates a difficulty that NAS Lemoore may have in the upcoming solicitation for the new generation of jet fighters coming on line in the next few years. Local officials say it's the best chance for Kings County to improve its economic future. But the story says the Pentagon has asked for a waiver of the Clean Air Act to ensure national defense is not compromised. The issue came up in the recent addition of some F-14 fighters to the Lemoore base allowed only because California Air Force bases had closed and the pollution allotments were transferred to Lemoore. Also the Navy sent some aircraft that could have come to Lemoore to Virginia because that state was willing to shift industrial pollution allotments to the military. The story says that in December the Pentagon asked the White House to back it in seeking an exemption from the act.
Northside grocery store owner and developer Joe Gong has sent a letter to Visalia City Council asking them not to encourage a new Walmart supercenter near Riggin and Dinuba Highway as some council members have suggested. Gong says a supercenter selling groceries would put his plans for a new store on Dinuba Blvd. as well as his existing Fairway Market out of business. Council is looking for regional retail uses on the northside but are sympathetic to the local businessman.
At its January 12 city council meeting the council authorized the signing of a letter to the county asking to set up a joint task force to determine the feasibility of new office space near the proposed new city civic center on Burke and Goshen Ave. The letter says the city needs 120,000 to 200,000 sq. ft. The county is reportedly considering locating on south Mooney behind the existing building across from Mooney Grove. But the letter suggests a downtown location would be a better choice touting proximity to the new Transit Center and their client base. County officials are worried about the cost of such a venture but appear ready to take a look at it. Board chair Bill Sanders says he has an open mind.
Last chance to speak up about the Tulare County General Plan update at the public workshop. Tipton Memorial Hall January 22 at 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at 577 E. Spencer.
Governor budget impacts transportation projects. Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed to pull $1.12 billion from the state transportation fund and place it in the state general fund. That would postpone the proposed High Speed Rail bond set for an election now put off for 2006. Locally it places on hold the following road projects as well according to a report to TCAG this month: Road 80/Plaza Dr., Road 108, Caldwell Ave., Ave. 416, City of Tulare Transit Center, City of Visalia, Porterville, and County of Tulare Rehabilitation, City of Visalia Emergency pre-emption project, Reservation Road, and Betty Drive.
Supervisor Lali Moheno is frustrated with slow pace of adoption of alternative vehicles, low emission trucks and cars and hybrid vehicles by county staff. She has asked department heads to push for more clean air vehicles. The county does have a few hybrid cares as does the City of Visalia. Moheno points out there are many grants available for fleet owners to take advantage of converting to cleaner air vehicles.
The above stories are the property of The Valley Voice Newspaper and may not be reprinted without explicit permission in writing from the publisher.
January 21, 2004
