50° DNS FOG, 
Sponsored by:
Medal Standings
Rings Blog
-
Monday, October 06, 2008, 7:49 am
Dow plunges below 10,000
Wall Street tumbled Monday, joining a selloff around the world, as fears grew that the financial crisis will cascade through economies globally despite bailout efforts by the U.S. and other governments. The credit market remained under strain, and investors piled into government bonds. The Dow Jones industrials skidded more than 300 points and fell below 10,000 for the first time in four years.
The markets have come to the sobering realization that the Bush administration's $700 billion rescue plan won't work quickly to unfreeze the credit markets, and that many banks are still having difficulty gaining access to cash.
Over the weekend, governments across Europe rushed to prop up failing banks. The German government and financial industry agreed on a $68 billion bailout for commercial-property lender Hypo Real Estate Holding AG, while France's BNP Paribas agreed to acquire a 75 percent stake in Fortis's Belgium bank after a government rescue failed.
The governments of Germany, Ireland and Greece also said they would guarantee bank deposits.
The Federal Reserve also took fresh steps to help ease seized-up credit markets. The central bank said Monday it will begin paying interest on commercial banks' reserves and will expand its loan program to squeezed banks.
"These programs are going to be effective I believe," said Rob Lutts, chief investment officer at Cabot Money Management. "Shorter term we're in a very challenging environment that's going to take a while."
In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 336.43, or 3.26 percent, to 9,988.95, dropping below 10,000 for the first time since Oct. 29, 2004.
Broader indexes also tumbled. The Standard & Poor's 500 index shed 40.26, or 3.66 percent, to 1,058.97; and the Nasdaq composite index fell 77.35, or 3.97 percent, to 1,870.04. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies dropped 22.30, or 3.60 percent, to 597.10.
In Asia, the Nikkei 225 closed 4.25 percent lower. Europe's stock markets also declined, with the FTSE-100 down 3.24 percent, Germany's DAX down 5.28 percent, and France's CAC-40 down 5.60 percent.
The anxiety was again obvious in the credit markets. The yield on the three-month Treasury bill slipped to 0.38 percent from 0.50 percent late Friday. Demand for bills remains high because of their safety; investors are willing to take extremely low returns just to have their money in a secure place.
Investors also moved into longer-term Treasury bonds. The yield on the 10-year note fell to 3.52 percent from 3.60 percent late Friday. -
Monday, October 06, 2008, 7:09 am
Bus crash kills at least 10
At least 10 people died and dozens more were injured when a charter bus overturned near the Colusa County town of Williams on Sunday night, the CHP said.
CHP Sgt. Patrick Landreth said the accident was reported at 6:18 p.m. about six miles east of Interstate 5. The bus was traveling north from Sacramento on Lonestar Road, headed to Colusa Casino Resort.
About 60 miles into the drive, the bus "veered off the road, the driver lost control . . . spun out, rolled completely over and ended up on its wheels in a ditch," Landreth said.
Several passengers were thrown from or tossed around inside the bus while it rolled, Landreth said.
At least 38 passengers, as well as the driver, were taken to area hospitals, including Enloe Medical Center, Colusa Regional Medical Center, Mercy San Juan Medical Center, Sutter Roseville Medical Center, UC Davis Medical Center and Woodland Memorial Hospital, by helicopters and other means.
Firefighters used flashlights to search the tall grass near the overturned bus Sunday night for more possible bodies. The bus, which was covered in mud, had a crumpled roof and broken windows.
CHP officials told the Associated Press emergency responders were having trouble communicating with the passengers because many of them were of Laotian descent. -
Monday, October 06, 2008, 7:07 am
For The Firefighters
Legendary musician Kris Kristofferson serenaded fans at the Ukiah fairgrounds Sunday evening, adding his star power to an effort to support the volunteer firefighters who spent the summer battling the worst wildfire season in Mendocino County's history.
"I was glad to do something," said Kristofferson who owns a ranch on the Mendocino Coast and knows a thing or two about firefighting.
"I used to be a firefighter in Alaska" in about 1966, he said in an interview before the concert.
Kristofferson, Gene Parsons and Kitty Rose donated their talents while dozens of residents and businesses donated time and food to the "Lightning Jam" benefit concert and barbecue for volunteer fire departments.
Sunday's crowd clearly appreciated Kristofferson's appearance, especially when he sang his famous "Me and Bobby McGee."
Volunteer firefighters were among the first local responders when the June lightning storms ignited 129 fires in Mendocino County and more than 2,000 fires statewide.
For days, many of them fought the fires largely unassisted because firefighting agencies statewide were stretched thin by the number of fires.
The fires burned more than 53,000 acres in Mendocino County by mid-July and claimed the life of a volunteer firefighter who died of a suspected heart attack while working a fire line in the Anderson Valley.
"They are truly heroes and heroines," Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, told those gathered for an awards ceremony before the concert.
And, most of the time, they risk their lives for free.
The state will pay the volunteers and reimburse the departments for work on the lightning-complex fires, but usually they do not get paid. And they did not know they would be paid when they launched their attacks against the lightning fires, officials said.
The state's cost of firefighting in Mendocino County is estimated at $50.6 million. Costs statewide are estimated at $275 million, said Daniel Berlant, a spokesman with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Money from Sunday's benefit largely will go toward maintaining equipment and training new recruits.
The fires left much scorched earth, but also sparked a newfound sense of community and appreciation for the 750 men and women who volunteer to fight fires in Mendocino County.
"It's really galvanized the community," said county Supervisor Kendall Smith.
It also has generated more interest in joining volunteer fire departments, said Colin Wilson, chief of the Anderson Valley Volunteer Fire Department.
He said he's had six or seven recruits join the department since the summer's fires.
Sunday's concert was the idea of Thompson's local representative, Heidi Dickerson, who contacted Kristofferson five weeks ago through a friend.
Kristofferson readily agreed to do the concert while he was in the area for another performance. Local organizers then rounded up dozens of people and businesses who volunteered time and food. All that needed to be purchased was meat for the barbecue.
"This is a 100 percent benefit. That is rare everywhere," said local musician and benefit organizer Spencer Brewer.
You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or glenda.anderson@
pressdemocrat.com. -
Monday, October 06, 2008, 6:49 am
Change afoot at Sea Ranch
Residents of The Sea Ranch tour the lodge grounds last week to learn about the proposed expansion. (Photos by MARK ARONOFF / The Press Democrat)On an open meadow near an ocean bluff, tall two-by-fours and yellow ropes mark the proposed roof heights for an expanded and more luxurious lodge complex at The Sea Ranch.
The operators of Sea Ranch Lodge have placed the "story poles" just off Highway 1 to give design officials and residents a sense of the elevations of 44 lodging units that would be grouped in the meadow, plus another cluster of rooms nearby and a three-story main building that would replace the current lodge's rooms.
In all, the lodge would expand to 60 rooms from 20 today, plus offer a treatment spa and separate swimming pool.
The four-decade-old lodge is a landmark at The Sea Ranch, an exclusive 5,000-acre coastal development known for its stylish, weathered-wood-and-glass homes and for the historic battle over public access to its beaches. That battle helped spur the passage of a 1972 state initiative creating the California Coastal Commission, and eventually ended with limited access to the Sea Ranch's nine miles of coastline.
New lodging is rare along the Northern California coast, especially on such a prime piece of oceanfront property. While Sea Ranch residents are known for giving such plans careful scrutiny, the lodge proposal initially has received support as well as criticism.
"I wish those poles weren't quite as high," Martha "Dibby" Tyler, a Sea Ranch Association board member, told a lodge representative last week at the end of a 90-minute tour of the markers. She was pointing to the poles showing the height of the proposed three-story main building.
Tyler nonetheless acknowledged that the designers had done a sensitive and "pretty careful job" in their proposed placement of the lodging structures.
The lodge proposal, which was reviewed by The Sea Ranch's design committee over the weekend, would leave the original post office building but remove later additions and the nearby lodge rooms.
The units in the meadow would be grouped together at the scale of a typical Sea Ranch home, lodge representatives said. No cars or asphalt would enter the meadow. Instead, special carts would transport guests and their luggage along a path most likely built from crushed granite.
Passport Resorts, the lodge's operator and part owner, also operates Cavallo Point: The Lodge at the Golden Gate at the former Fort Baker near Sausalito, as well as properties in Big Sur, Maui and Fiji.
The company says it intends for its Sea Ranch project to receive at least a gold level in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification program, the second best of four designations, established by the U.S. Green Building Council.
A county planner said the lodge could expand to 100 units under existing provisions. But lodge officials said they have opted for quality over quantity.
"You've got to have every room be great," General Manager Greg Hagin told nearly a dozen residents during last week's tour. The rates for the nightly rooms would run in the low $300s, he said, compared with current rates starting in the high $100s.
Over the years, various Sea Ranch developers have put forth proposals to add more lodging, including some plans that were poorly received by residents.
Nonetheless, both the lodge operators and the residents say a 20-unit inn and restaurant is no longer economically viable there. The two groups also acknowledge that each side relies on the other. The residents frequent the restaurant and its bar, and the lodge enjoys their business.
"There's a strong desire to see a successful lodge," said Leigh Mueller, chairman of the Sea Ranch Association's board of directors.
Mueller said to date, most residents seem optimistic about the expansion. During the tour he noted that the units in the meadow wouldn't block the ocean view of the houses on the hillside east of the highway.
Among those on the tour was Bob Hartstock, the chairman of the Sea Ranch Association's planning committee. Speaking as a resident, Hartstock said that he would prefer that the project stay clear of the meadow's center and instead put more units to the south near the post office.
The current placement, he maintained, runs counter to the original approach by Sea Ranch designers to locate the houses on the meadow's edges.
"It's big," Hartstock said of the mass of units in the meadow. "It's very big."
But Peter Heinemann, managing principal of Passport Resorts, said with wetlands and restrictions on building near the bluffs, "physically you can't avoid going out in the meadow."
Still, he insisted, the proposed design is consistent with that used in the Sea Ranch's residential areas, and "we've left a huge amount of open space in the meadow."
As to the concern about the main lodge's height, Heinemann said that designers specifically added a third floor with three lodging rooms for the disabled in order to keep more units out of the meadow. Even so, an existing cypress hedgerow will screen the building from the highway and nearby homes.
"We're very much about an environmentally sensitive development," Heinemann said.
Dave Hardy, a county supervising planner, said the development could go before the Board of Zoning Adjustment by early next year.
You can reach Staff Writer Robert Digitale at 521-5285 or robert.digitale@pressdemocrat
.com -
Monday, October 06, 2008, 6:11 am
Horoscopes for October 6th
Today's birthday (Oct. 6). If you don't already have a home-based business, now is a good year to start. If you do already have one, build it up and make more money. Watch your spending, though. Don't go crazy just because it's deductible.
Aries: Today is a 7. Do you have a secret dream, or a career you'd like to pursue, but you've been afraid to try? Set aside those fears. Move boldly forward. March 21-April 19
Taurus: 7. A friend can help you achieve more than you ever thought possible. Ask for help from a person with an active imagination. April 20-May 20
Gemini: 7. Everybody seems to be asking for your advice. Tell them what they need to change, to achieve their stated goals. May 21-June 21
Cancer: 7. Celebrate a recent victory by allowing an expert to do something for you that you've been putting off. June 22-July 22
Leo: 7. You're inundated with more work than you can imagine. And that's the way you'll master this job. . July 23-Aug. 22
Virgo: 7. You can't do everything you have planned if you try to do it alone. Explain your vision for the future to somebody you love. Aug. 23-Sept. 22
Libra: 7. An idea that comes from home helps solve a problem at work. The other way around also promotes a favorable outcome. Sept. 23-Oct. 22
Scorpio: 7. The more you study, the luckier you'll get. Well, it isn't really luck, but it looks like that to the people you pass on the road to success. Oct. 23-Nov. 21
Sagittarius: 9. You could get a bonus. This could be money you had coming. It could be an inheritance, though that is less likely. Look around. Nov. 22-Dec. 21
Capricorn: 8. You're practical and pragmatic. People who have trouble making decisions, and there are plenty, rely heavily on you. Dec. 22-Jan. 19
Aquarius: 8. You have a few projects on your "to do" list that could be moneymakers. There's no promise you'll make a fortune; some will work, and some won't. Jan. 20-Feb. 18
Pisces: 6. You've done whatever you can for your friends. Now it's payback time. Allow them to help you solve a problem that's got you annoyed. It'll be fun. Feb. 19-March 20 -
Monday, October 06, 2008, 6:09 am
On the Agenda
TODAY
"How to Start a Business Module I" workshop with Janet Wentworth, 5:30-8:30 p.m., Small Business Development Center, 421 10th St., Santa Rosa. $15. 524-1770.
Toastmasters, Group No. 182, 7-9 p.m., Cattlemens, 2400 Midway Drive, Santa Rosa. Karen Baker, 703-4148.
TUESDAY
BNI business marketing program. One person per profession. No visitor's fee: BNI Referral Connections Chapter, 7-8:30 a.m., Marie Callender's, 2460 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa. Bob Cheal, 569-2640; BNI Business Building Network, 7-8:30 a.m., Sonoma Community Center, 276 E. Napa St., Sonoma. Hal Nickle, 815-8942, or Denise Costanzo, 935-1554; BNI Netwerx, 7-8:30 a.m., Apple Box, 224 B St., Petaluma. Roark Hoffman, 290-8808.
Santa Rosa Breakfast Club, 7:30-8:30 a.m., Willie Bird's Restaurant, 1150 South Santa Rosa Ave., Santa Rosa. Networking organization for business; up to three members per profession. www.SRBreakfastClub.com.
WEDNESDAY
Tipsters, 7:15-8:30 a.m., Marie Callender's, 2460 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa. Breakfast/business leads exchange group. Free breakfast for prospective members. Sharon Hamilton, 535-1989, or www.thetipsters.com.
Sonoma County Executives Association Breakfast Meeting, 7:15-8:30 a.m., Flamingo Resort Hotel, 2777 Fourth St., Santa Rosa. Professional business resources and referrals organization. Guests welcome. Dorothy Calegari, 578-0905, or
www.sonomacountyexecs.com.
2008 annual Labor and Employment Law Update, 7:30 a.m.-noon, Doubletree Hotel, One Doubletree Drive, Rohnert Park. Sponsored by the Sonoma County Employer Advisory Council. Speaker: Brandon R. Blevans. $65 members, $95 nonmembers. Valerie Nagle, 576-2015.
"Success Through Invention" workshop with Steve Schneider, 9 a.m.-noon, Small Business Development Center, 421 10th St., Santa Rosa. $50 advance, $60 door. 524-1770.
BNI Grapevine Networking Professionals, noon-1:30 p.m., Ca Bianca, 835 Second St., Santa Rosa. Free lunch for visitors. Reservations: John Kamola, 538-9012, ext. 201.
American Business Women's Association, 6:30 p.m., Cafe Bella, 3120 Lakeville Highway, Petaluma. Evelyn Silvers, 763-1801.
"The Field of Law: Is It For You?" seminar, 6:30-8 p.m., Empire College School of Law, 3035 Cleveland Ave., Santa Rosa. Speaker: Karen Tynan. 546-4000.
THURSDAY
BNI business marketing program. One person per profession. No visitor's fee: Redwood Business Alliance Chapter, 7-8:30 a.m., Hyatt Vineyard Creek Hotel and Spa, 170 Railroad St., Santa Rosa. Sue Costa, 328-0728. Referral Machine, 7-8:30 a.m., 2235 Mercury Way, Suite 100, Santa Rosa.
The Catholic Professional and Business Breakfast Club, 7-9:30 a.m., Hilton Hotel, 3555 Round Barn Blvd., Santa Rosa. Reservations: 523-8355.
2008 Going Green Conference, 7:30-11:45 a.m., Doubletree Hotel, One Doubletree Drive, Rohnert Park. Two panels of industry experts discuss top issues emerging in the field. $45. Linda Perkins, 521-5264.
"One Page Business Plan" workshop, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Small Business Development Center, 421 10th St., Santa Rosa. $50. 524-1770.
Small Business Capital Access Loan Programs Available workshop, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Little Theatre at Mendocino College, 1000 Hensley Creek Road, Ukiah. Sponsors: West Co., the Mendocino County Small Development Center, Mendocino Women's Business Center and the Economic Development & Financing Corp. www.WestCompany.org.
Christian Business Group, 12-1:30 p.m., Hunters Steakhouse, 3785 Cleveland Ave., Santa Rosa. Guests welcome. Matt Fannin, 524-7526.
Santa Rosa Lunch Bunch Toastmasters, 12:05-1:05 p.m., Santa Rosa City Hall, Room 11, 100 Santa Rosa Ave., Santa Rosa. Kerri Freschet, 578-5570.
Sebastopol Area Chamber of Commerce local business showcase, 4-7 p.m., Downtown Plaza, McKinley and Petaluma Avenue, Sebastopol. More than 65 businesses and community groups on hand. Karla Samples, 823-3032, ext. 103.
Society for Technical Communication, 6-8 p.m., Cisco Systems, Building 4, Green Valley Conference Room, 1435 N. McDowell Blvd., Petaluma. Includes a presentation for technical writers and editors. $2 members, $4 nonmembers. www.stc-northbay.org. -
Monday, October 06, 2008, 6:08 am
Strictly Business
Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz is leaving the social networking start-up to form another, continuing the recent string of high-level departures.
Moskovitz, 24, founded Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive, while both were students at Harvard.
Moskovitz, who oversaw engineering, plans to leave Facebook in about a month with Justin Rosenstein, a 25-year-old engineering manager who joined Facebook from Google in June 2007. They are teaming up to build software they hope will be "to your work life what Facebook.com is to your social life," according to a note on Rosenstein's Facebook page.
Moskovitz recruited Rosenstein to Facebook, and the two have worked together in recent months on software for business users. Social media is increasingly gaining traction inside businesses, which are experimenting to see if they can increase productivity and communication.
With more than 700 employees, more than 100 million users and ambitions of becoming a public company, four-year-old Facebook is no longer the college hangout it once was. Among the top seasoned managers the Palo Alto company has hired to shepherd its next stage of growth is former Google executive Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer. -
Monday, October 06, 2008, 6:07 am
Office politics
Checkout clerks can talk presidential politics with shoppers at Oliver's Market, but they can't wear Obama or McCain buttons.
State Farm workers can post bumper stickers and campaign stuff at their desks in the Rohnert Park regional office, but they can't debate co-workers about the candidates.
A new kind of workplace politics is in play with the presidential election just a month away. As the political season intensifies, workers and their employers face an increasingly delicate balancing act between free speech and allowable behavior.
"One of the big issues right now is just trying to keep workplace peace," said Susan Daniel, employment law professor at Empire College in Santa Rosa. "People have strong views about the election and what's happening. It's not that anyone wants to stifle First Amendment rights to free speech, but you want to keep the divisiveness out of the workplace."
Businesses rarely have specific guidelines on political speech. What workers can wear, say or do, however, is typically covered by guidelines prohibiting harassment and addressing workplace conduct, personnel directors and business consultants said.
Even with established ground rules, conversations in stores and offices can easily turn to politics, particularly with a riveting presidential race that has divided the nation.
"The stores are full of political talk, and for obvious reasons. There's a lot at stake," said Tom Scott, vice president and general manager for Oliver's Markets.
Supermarkets often are informal civic forums for news of the day. Much like barbershops and other places where community members gather regularly, markets attract diverse patrons with varying viewpoints.
"We serve an entire community and people of all political persuasions. They need to feel comfortable here," Scott said. "We don't give our employees any rules about not talking politics with customers. But if anyone was real overt with a hat or button or something like that, we'd ask them not to do that."
Some regular shoppers know and disagree with Scott's political views, which he wouldn't discuss for this article. But the customers keep coming back.
"They come up and give me a rough time and I give them a rough time back, but it's all in a good nature," he said.
State Farm offers a glimpse of how one employer oversees political speech in an office environment.
At the company's Rohnert Park regional office, employees are encouraged to vote and become informed about candidates and ballot measures. State Farm officials even put up voter-registration displays and host candidate forums.
"We certainly don't tell our people how to vote or who to support. But we encourage them to get involved," said Lonny Hoskins, North Bay spokesman for State Farm.
That includes displaying signs of support for political candidates in their personal workspace, but not vocal advocacy.
"If they want to put a button up in their cubicle, that's great. A bumper sticker is fine. They're free to do their individual expression as long as it doesn't infringe on someone else," Hoskins said. "We just don't want the solicitation-type stuff where they force their opinions on others."
Good judgment usually limits conflicts, but this year's presidential contest puts a premium on civility.
"Politics can be a very heated topic, and people can take offense quite easily. You say the wrong thing in front of the wrong person and it can have a lot of repercussions," said Sue Costa, North Bay district manager for Kelly Services, a staffing company that provides workers to area businesses.
In placing workers, Kelly reminds them to respect equipment and policies and use discretion in social conversations, particularly politics, Costa said.
"It's a sensitive issue, and it does sort of fall under the whole harassment area," she said.
Employers can control political speech with policies including:
Prohibiting active campaigning during business hours.
Restricting use of e-mail, phones and other company-owned devices to business purposes.
Specifying rules about what can be worn in the workplace.
"The employer is certainly entitled to keep the peace in the workplace," Daniel said. "You want to have a broad policy. But you've got to be consistent in enforcing it."
Exchange Bank, for instance, has dress and ethics codes to limit political advocacy, promotional campaigns and other activities not related to bank business.
"During campaigns this stuff always comes up. Their personal views are one issue. But you have to be the bank professional you are," said Nina Drake, the bank's human resources and training director. "You wouldn't want to do anything that would adversely affect the public trust of the bank."
Even in the most rigid business cultures, though, co-workers are only human and can't help but talk socially, said Lois Lang, organizational psychologist for Moss Adams, a business consulting firm with offices in Sonoma County.
"When it gets to religion, sex and politics, the most difficult one usually is politics, and things get heated pretty fast," she said.
When clashes arise, complaints often come from co-workers not involved, but bothered by the disruptions, Lang said.
"It makes other people around you angry when they see people spending a lot of time discussing things other than work. The other thing is it's an emotionally laden topic," Lang said.
Keeping politics out of the office is particularly difficult in presidential elections when there is great public interest and conversations about candidates carry over to the workplace, she said.
Four years ago, during the George W. Bush-John Kerry contest, several businesses called in Lang to help diffuse spirited political debates that affected workplace camaraderie. The Barack Obama-John McCain race can generate similar fervor, Lang said.
"I think it will be heating up, and I would be surprised if I didn't get a call in the next few weeks," she said.
You can reach Staff Writer Michael Coit at 521-5470 or mike.coit@pressdemocrat.com.
KEEPING THE PEACE ON THE JOB
During contentious political seasons, employers have options to ensure a pleasant environment for all workers by toning down political speech:
Prohibit active campaigning during business hours
Restrict use of e-mail, phones and other company-owned devices to business purposes
Specify rules about what can be worn in the workplace -
Monday, October 06, 2008, 5:57 am
No on K
Petaluma's new wastewater treatment plant is nearly finished after almost two decades of debate, engineering and construction.
The facility rising alongside Lakeville Highway will soon replace the city's 70-year-old plant. In addition to addressing sewage treatment needs for generations to come, the plant is a cornerstone of Petaluma's plan to use less drinking water for irrigation.
It's also key to the debate over Measure K, an unwise attempt to overturn water and sewer rate increases adopted in January 2007 by the Petaluma City Council.
The rate increases, about 11 percent annually over five years, will repay a $126 million state loan, cover operations at the plant and pay for capital improvements such as pipelines to deliver treated wastewater to city parks and golf courses.
Measure K proponents, led by former City Councilman Bryant Moynihan, argue that the city has ample revenue to pay for the plant and that it would be cheaper to meet irrigation needs by tapping wells for ground water.
Moynihan provided early warnings about the risk of allowing pay and benefits for local government employees to grow faster than the tax base that supports them. But, this time, his numbers don't add up.
Rolling rates back to 2006 levels, by his calculation, would provide $12 million a year in sewer fees. But interest payments on the city's loan are $14 million a year. Operating costs are another $8 million.
The loan, by the way, came with a 2.5 percent interest rate from a state revolving fund. So if Petaluma defaults, that means the money won't be there for another community's new treatment plant. To avoid a default, the city would be faced with cutting general fund expenses, which are predominantly police and fire.
The new plant will treat some wastewater to tertiary standards, so it can used for urban irrigation. Wastewater treated to secondary standards will be offered for agricultural irrigation or discharged into the Petaluma River.
Measure K backers advocate less expensive secondary treatment for all wastewater with more treated water offered for agricultural use, but city officials say the program is shrinking as contractors retire and their heirs give up farming and ranching.
As for tapping wells for irrigation, two recent drought years coupled with possible new restrictions on the Russian River underscore the wisdom of Petaluma's decision to use treated wastewater instead of drinking water.
No one likes paying more, and times certainly are tough. But Petaluma's rates are in the middle of the pack for Sonoma County, and that money will pay for a new treatment plant that will serve residents well for years to come.
The Press Democrat recommends a no vote on Measure K. -
Monday, October 06, 2008, 5:56 am
Letters to the Editor
A bumpy ride
EDITOR: With the announcement that California will run out of cash on Oct. 28 without a loan from the federal government, something has become very clear to me. That something is that governments -- from bankrupt Vallejo to cash-strapped Petaluma, Santa Rosa and Sonoma County, the state and federal governments -- have been spending carelessly beyond their means.
While home buyers were banking that house prices would continue to rise, the governments have been betting that tax revenues would continue to rise. Governments will have no choice but to cut spending and eliminate jobs and services. We, the people, need to support those government managers who effectively trim spending to match incomes. There are some very painful lessons to be learned, and our education is beginning now. Many of these lessons were learned during the Great Depression; however, the passage of time has erased them in many minds. Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy ride.
DICK VEGSUND
Santa Rosa
Social Security issue
EDITOR: As America's huge financial institutions teeter and our retirement portfolios shrink in value, there's one thing that we can really be grateful for: that we didn't cave in to the Republicans when they wanted to privatize Social Security.
Imagine what retirement would be like today if Americans had forsaken the modest but dependable Social Security safety net for the promise of great retirement wealth that the Republicans were promoting so shamelessly in 2005.
Did I say 2005? How about John McCain in 2008? In an interview with the Wall Street Journal (March 3), McCain affirmed that he "still backs a system of private retirement accounts," because, as he said July 3, the Social Security system was "an absolute disgrace" (because of the way it has been financed since 1935).
Isn't it high time that we rid ourselves of Republican economic know-it-alls and their discredited anti-regulatory mantras?
RICHARD CONRAD
Healdsburg
Short on details
EDITOR: That many breathed a sigh of relief at Sarah Palin's performance at Thursday's debate is, per se, evidence of her inadequacy to be vice-president.
This format was to her advantage, without her heels being held to the fire by canny interviewers. She was short on details and long on fillers, meaningless phrases which gave her more opportunity to be charming -- don't'cha know?
She evaded and avoided and spouted her folksiness and memorized script fragments. But can she think? Her father said in an interview that she was a fast learner, but the vice-presidency is not the place for on-the-job training.
Actuarial figures show that if elected, she has a one in six chance of becoming president. That's scary.
ERIN SHEFFIELD
Sebastopol
Deserve better?
EDITOR: I pained me, but I had to agree with what I read on Friday morning. There was indeed no winner in the vice presidential debate. But the paper neglected to mention the obvious loser, the American people. I'd like to think that we deserve better. But maybe we don't.
C.J. KENNEDY
Geyserville
Valley project
EDITOR: Have you ever wondered how the rich get richer? Here is but one local example:
On Oct. 14, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors will meet to decide whether billionaire developers Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke will be granted a considerably reduced agricultural preserve tax status under the Williamson Act for a commercial development amid the Knights Valley ag preserve. This precedent-setting project would include a public tasting room, office, retail store, parking lots and a 200-person event center. Building structures would stretch three-quarters of a mile. Where is agriculture in this project? It seems the developers want to have their cake and eat it, too.
By granting this reduced tax status to the developers, the supervisors would make a mockery of the Williamson Act, which is meant to keep land undeveloped and not promote retail buildings in an agricultural preserve. One need not look to Washington and Wall Street to see how the elite secure special and inappropriate privilege with our elected officials.
ELIZABETH FISHER
Knights Valley
Narrow thinking
EDITOR: I just received my newsletter from the Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa. I am quite upset that there's an article from the California Catholic Bishops urging support for Proposition 8 -- which would make "only marriage between a man and a woman valid or recognized in California."
I feel sad and baffled that the church I grew up in, the one that taught me that we should have love and compassion for all our neighbors, feels that allowing two people of the same gender to join together in a loving, committed union somehow diminishes the word "marriage."
As a married Catholic heterosexual, I want my gay brothers and sisters to know that I welcome them into this bond called marriage. What this world needs is more kindness, compassion, commitment and generosity -- not more limits, exclusions and rules. I'll be voting no on Proposition 8.
DONNA HOOVER
Sebastopol
Support Nau
EDITOR: I am disappointed but not surprised by your liberal bias in your endorsements for Petaluma City Council and your unfavorable commentary regarding incumbent Karen Nau ("A city's future," Sept. 28).
Nau has earned my respect and my vote for being a rare candidate and council member who stays in touch with the people of Petaluma and not with some advocacy group or organization with a short-sighted political agenda.
You are right. Nau was not on the council back then to oversee misappropriated and wasted city funds on Lafferty or diversion of funds from necessary Highway 101 overpasses/bypasses. But she is on the City Council now, and rather than go along blindly with her co-horts on the council, she signed the petition that puts the water rates initiative to the people she represents.
It is essential that the Petaluma City Council be a balanced representation of the community it serves. Therefore, I encourage other citizens seeking representation and a voice in their community to join me in voting for Karen Nau.
RENEE LOVATO EGER
Petaluma -
Monday, October 06, 2008, 5:55 am
Petaluma man hurt in fall from cliff
A Petaluma man was in serious condition Sunday after falling off a cliff over the Sacramento River early Sunday, according to Redding Police.
Jason Michael Carlsen, 23, of Petaluma was found seriously injured at the base of a cliff accessible only by boat.
Redding Police received a call at 9:26 a.m. for a man who had fallen, but were not given a specific location. Helicopters located Carlsen at 9:44 a.m. along the river's eastern shore, just north of the Highway 44 bridge.
A Shasta County Sheriff's Department boat reached Carlsen at 10:24 a.m., police said. He was taken by ambulance to Mercy Medical Center.
The case is under investigation.
-- Kerry Benefield -
Monday, October 06, 2008, 5:54 am
3 teens injured in rollover crash
Three Sonoma teens were injured in a single-car rollover on Burndale Road early Saturday, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Vanessa Carrillo, 15, was driving a 1985 Ford Thunderbird northbound when she lost control of the vehicle south of Hyde Burndale Road about 1 a.m., according to the CHP.
The speed limit is 55 mph, and with the road wet from rain, Carrillo was traveling at an unsafe speed for the conditions, according to investigators.
Investigators have not determined how fast she was driving, according to CHP Sgt. Elfido Montez. Alcohol was not a factor.
Carrillo was transported by ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with complaints of head and neck pain. Her condition was unavailable Sunday.
Passengers Nicholas Ryan Johnson, 16, and Charles Gregor, 18, also were transported to Memorial Hospital with complaints of pain. Their conditions were unavailable Sunday.
Under California law, teens who have had their driver's license for less than a year may not drive between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. or have passengers younger than 20, unless they are accompanied by someone 25 or older.
-- Kerry Benefield -
Monday, October 06, 2008, 5:53 am
2 accused of battery on police
Two Santa Rosa men were arrested on felony charges of battery against a police officer after a Sunday afternoon domestic violence call.
Two officers responded to the 1000 block of Aston Avenue around noon Sunday after dispatchers received a hang-up call on a domestic violence report.
Following an arrest, family members of the person arrested and the alleged victim began fighting, according to police. Officers attempted to stop the fight and were attacked, police said.
After one subject was felled by a Taser gun, another person attacked the officer. The person hit by the Taser then attacked the second officer, according to police.
Backup was called, and the arriving officers controlled the subjects, according to police. Two officers were injured, one suffering a dislocated shoulder.
Alberto Zavala, 19, and Gerardo Zavala, 40, both of Santa Rosa, were arrested on suspicion of resisting officers causing injury and felony battery against a peace officer.
-- Kerry Benefield
Where the candidates are this week:
Forum on Prop. 11 on redistricting at 7 p.m. today at Santa Rosa City Hall. Sponsored by League of Women Voters.
5th District Sonoma County supervisors candidates at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Graton Community Center. Sponsored by League of Women Voters.
Sonoma County supervisorial candidates in 1st, 3rd and 5th districts at 5 p.m. Thursday at Sonoma State University library. -
Monday, October 06, 2008, 5:52 am
Betty Wieboldt
Betty Wieboldt
Betty Jane Wieboldt loved to play cards, laugh with her sisters and travel in her RV.
The longtime Healdsburg resident died Sept. 27 of pneumonia. She was 87.
Wieboldt was born Nov. 7, 1920, in Oakland to Clara and Francis Hadapp. Her family soon moved to Alhambra, where her father opened a drapery store.
After graduation from Alhambra High School, she attended a community dance hosted for soldiers home on leave. There she met Irving "Swede" Wieboldt.
"They eloped to Yuma, Arizona," said Wieboldt's daughter, Patty Cade of Healdsburg. "All the other sisters had big fancy weddings. My father wasn't really the type to have that thing."
The pair eventually moved north to San Mateo, where they moved in with Swede Wieboldt's cousin so the foursome could save money to buy their own homes.
Betty Wieboldt took a job as a giftware buyer for a hardware store, a position she held for about 15 years, Cade said.
Summers and winter weekends were spent north at a family cabin on Fitch Mountain.
When Swede Wieboldt retired from the U.S. Postal Service in the early 1970s, the family moved north permanently.
Swede Wieboldt died shortly after the move, and Betty began spending time with Cliff Music, who also recently had lost a spouse, Cade said.
The pair spent the next two decades working together at Music's Healdsburg Paint Center and traveling throughout North America in a recreational vehicle.
"They went to Mexico in the wintertime, and in the summertime, they would go to Alaska," Cade said. "Mexico would be her favorite spot."
After Music died, Wieboldt took up Bunco, the social dice game, and spent time at the Healdsburg Senior Center.
She read romance novels, was a member of the Healdsburg Business and Professional Women's Association and tended her vegetable garden, Cade said.
She suffered a stroke in 2007, according to Cade.
In addition to Cade, Wieboldt is survived by daughter Fran Eggert of Oakhurst; sister Lois Moran of Arcadia; three grandsons and a great-grandson.
Graveside services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Oakmound Cemetery, 601 Piper St., Healdsburg.
Donations may be made to the Council on Aging, 209 Matheson St., Healdsburg, 95448, or the Healdsburg Senior Center, 133 Matheson St., Healdsburg, 95448.
-- Kerry Benefield -
Monday, October 06, 2008, 5:51 am
Absentee voting gets under way this week
More than 152,000 absentee ballots are at the main Santa Rosa post office this morning, ready for delivery to Sonoma County registered voters who have the next month to make their decisions.
Given intense voter interest -- especially with presidential, city council and county supervisorial elections crowding the ballot -- county election officials predict better than 90 percent of the county's 238,000 registered voters will cast ballots by Nov. 4.
"We had a record 89.4 percent turnout the last presidential election, so I think it is safe to say we will get over 90 percent this time," said County Clerk Janice Atkinson. "I can't remember an election when there was more interest than this one."
The percentage of voters casting absentee ballots in Sonoma County is traditionally among the highest in the state, and officials predict that well over 60 percent of the total vote will be delivered through the mail. But whether those ballots will be returned sooner or later is anybody's guess.
"We'd like to get them back as soon as possible because we have to verify every signature," Atkinson said. "But I don't know how we get past human nature to procrastinate."
Voters who signed up for regular receipt of absentee ballots should receive theirs by midweek. The county elections office received a record 5,200 requests from voters who wanted one-time-only absentee ballots for this election.
Voter information pamphlets from the state and county elections offices should arrive in the mail no later than this week or early next week. Because of a recent change in state law, each household with a registered voter will receive only one pamphlet on state issues and candidates instead of one for every registered voter.
This year, Sonoma County's absentee ballots have been redesigned with a separate mailing envelope added so that the voter signature does not appear on the outside when it is returned in the mail. Atkinson said privacy concerns for the security of voter signatures led the county to provide a separate return envelope.
Despite the healthy number of candidates and issues on the Nov. 4 ballot, the county elections office managed to fit it all on three cards in most cases, four cards in some.
The largest election ballot in county history involved nine cards.
On Election Day, the county will still open 306 polling places even though at least 60 percent of all ballots will be cast through the mail, said Gloria Colter, assistant registrar of voters. State law, she said, prevents county elections offices from consolidating precincts with more than 1,000 voters, a number that includes those who vote by mail.
In an effort to encourage early voting, Colter said, the county will open several locations on the Saturday and Sunday before the Nov. 4 where voters can drop off their absentee ballots.
Through a technicality in vote counting procedure, the absentee ballots received on Nov. 4 at the county elections office -- either by mail or dropped off at the polls -- are not counted until weeks after election night when officials conduct the official vote tally for the state.
All absentee ballots received before election day are the first votes counted, a procedure that election workers begin immediately upon closure of polling places. Absentees also are the first results released on election night.
"If you to make sure that your absentee ballot gets counted on election night, we encourage voters to get them in before election day," Colter said.
Atkinson said voters who treasure the "I Voted" stickers, usually obtained only at the polls, will now find them in their absentee ballots.
"Hopefully, getting that sticker in the mail removes the last obstacle to procrastinate on voting until election day," Atkinson said.
You can reach Staff Writer Bleys W. Rose at 521-5431 or bleys.rose@pressdemocrat.com.
Local Olympics Coverage
-
Newman storms back 9/13/2008
Gallery -
Bobby Peterson has the determination and will to beat anything 9/13/2008