NC Media Watch

Sac Bee continues to struggle

Russ Steele

The Sacramento Business Journal has the story, 44 more jobs will eliminated in the next two weeks.  This follows February layoffs when the paper eliminated 32 jobs, including nine newsroom positions.  The Bee's staff has been cut in half since March 2008, down from 1,400 employees.

The Sacramento Bee is eliminating another 44 jobs, including another nine in the newsroom.

Like most newspapers, The Bee is struggling with a now long-standing slump in advertising. The latest cuts represent 6 percent of The Bee’s work force, and include positions throughout the building, said Bee spokeswoman Pam Dinsmore.

The question is what is the causing the slump. It is a poor economy? Too much competition from the Internet?  Too few readers to justify ad buys?  Your thoughts?

Mendocino Weekend

Russ Steele

Ellen and I spend the weekend camping at MacKerricher State Park with our youngest daughter Caitlin and her husband Travis Williams. We took the Airstream and they did some tent camping next to the trailer.  We had a great time cooking out and huddling around the campfire. No rain, but it was cold and a bid windy. It was slow posting as we had to use our cellphone connections.

When we arrived at MacKerricher it was a opportunity to chat with the Rangers. One of our favorites day use parks on the coast is Russian Gulch, it has some great hiking trails and during stormy weather there is blowhole, that fills with sea foam, like a giant foam covered latte. California tax payers just spent a million dollars upgrading the water system in the park, that will not get much use as the park is on the closure list at the end of next summer. 

We walked on the beach and had a picnic at the Pacific Star Winery, one of our favorite haunts.  The wines at the Pacific Star improve every year. It is a great place for whale watching, and this Saturday there was a wedding on the bluff over looking the ocean.  After tasting we bought several bottles and dug into our cheese, french bread, fruit and salami.

The only downer was the theft of our generator on Saturday night.  We used our Yamaha EF1000 it to charge the trailer, cellphone and computer batteries. We called the Rangers and they came of file a report, and discovered that three generators and a wallet were stolen that night.  In thirty years of National and State Park camping this was the first time we have has something stolen from a camp site.  A change of times.

Cost of CARB: Fuels prices start to fall, the question is why?

Russ Steele

The price of a barrel of crude is still about $100.00 but the price of gas and diesel are now flat or declining. Nevada County and California gas prices are starting to dip, while the US gas prices are essentially flat. On the other hand, US Diesel shows a sharp dip, while the Nevada County price show a smaller dip. US Diesel prices have started to decline.

The Court has ruled that CARB can go ahead with all the provision of AB32 except cap and trade. They have come up with other options for achieving their CO2 reduction goals, in addition to cap and trade. That means that CARB can now go forward with the Low Carbon Fuel Standard in 2012. We should see the a much larger departure between the US and CA price of gas. Stay tuned, as CARB is determined to destroy California’s economy trying to solve a non-existing problem.  There is no significant global warming from human CO2 emissions.

Here are the weekly charts.




I have not found any good reason for the delcline in fuel prices, other than the inventory is going up and people are drive less, and filling up less. That has a long term economic impact on many communities that depend on tourism and commuters.

Exit Question: Why are fuel prices calling?

Well, I can agree on some points, but not all.

 Russ Steele

Steven Frisch, Sierra Business Council CEO, has put forth some ideas on how to improve the California economy at the Sierra Foothills Report, where they are being discussed by Nevada County Liberals and others. Since most of the people who read this blog do not venture into liberal land very often, I decided to post Mr Frisch's ideas here for discussion. I have put my comments in [Brackets].  Please post your thought on these ideas in the Comments. 

Things we could do to improve California’s economy:

1) Establish an office of Economic Development to coordinate policy to encourage new business growth, within either the Governor’s office or the California Department of Business, Transportation and Housing. [We used to have one, it was called Trade and Commerce, until Arnold decided we did not need an economic development agency in California. It was through the T and A Rural Development Project that the ERC competed for  and won broadband grants totaling $245K. Yes, bring back Trade and Commerce, with a mission to have broadband in every home in California that wants it. ]

2) Encourage regional economic development planning that is based on the natural subregions of the state that have economies based on geographic, demographic and economic similarities, such as Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, the Central Valley, the Sierra Nevada, etc.
[I agree that each region has uniques needs and opportunities that should be nurtured.]

3) Adopt policies that create a more stable governance structure with predictable revenue and costs, such as multiple-year budgeting, performance based budgeting and an increased level of local control. [ I like the performance based part of the this proposal. That is something we have not had in government. We have hundreds of agencies with no performance measurements.  The Apple Center was one classic example of federal grant funding with no performance measurements.]

4) Adopt a sane regulatory reform process that reviews, adjusts and/or eliminates regulatory policies that are not working, while respecting the core needs that the policy was adopted to address. [Agree]

5) Increase investment in California’s critical infrastructure such as roads, bridges, water systems, energy networks, mass transit, etc. [Missing from this list is broadband.  Broadband and work from home programs have done more to reduce traffic congestion and CO2 than all the transit spending in Sacramento.  Spending money on mass transit has not produced the desired results, people are still driving to work, as we have pointed out on this blog many times. Building more transit is a waste of money, while building more broadband generates jobs and tax revenue.

6) Allow California corporations to calculate ‘wealth’ using a triple bottom line accounting system, measuring improvements in social and natural capital, along with final capital, so shareholders can hold corporations accountable but corporations are not held liable for not maximizing financial capital. [ I am sorry, but the stock holders could care less about the social and natural capital, they are only interested in in the real capital. We are not going to have a social capital stock market or a natural capital stock market. People buy stocks for one reason, to build wealth and they cannot spend the social and natural capital to buy food and energy.

7) Return control of non-essential state functions that can be more efficiently served at the local level to local government. [ I agree, right on!]

8 ) Reform the California Environmental Control Act to allow for streamlined permitting of projects that meet multiple local and state objectives. [ I agree, but do you really think the the left is going to give up their power structure for black mailing cooperation and local developers? ]

9) Improve California’s vocational and secondary education system to better prepare young people for entry-level jobs, particularly with dramatic improvements in math, technical, engineering and science education.  [To do what? I agree we need to improve math and science education at the secondary level as many students cannot cannot pass the college entry exams.   If your are not going to college in engineering or science, your are going to get a government job. Those are not wealth creating jobs, they are wealth consuming jobs.] 

10) Invest heavily in renewable, distributed, and locally generated energy. [Hogwash!  Solar and wind farms are becoming a blight on the land scape and are not producing the forecast levels of energy. Now, if we are talking nuclear pebble bed neighborhood power plants, we may have something here. If that is the case, then  we need a lot more nuclear engineers.]

11) Create local pools of capital for local business investment through community supported banks. [This assumes that local communities have individuals with local capital to invest. ]

I have not covered all the bases, and not all the issues. I think we all would like to improve the California economy.  Please comment on these ideas and my critique in the comments section. 

Scamed by the envrios again - public duped by Gasland movie

Russ  Steele

We have been having an on going discussion about the safety of fracking as portrayed in Gasland a An Oscar-nominated movie. Gasland, implies that fracking contaminates our water supply with chemicals.  That is not what John Strossel found out in his Fox News Investigation. He writes about it in a Reason On-line article.  Shale Gas Fracking - Who Can We Trust?

The movie Gasland implies that fracking contaminates our water supply with chemicals. In the movie, some homeowners are shown setting their tap water on fire. This got investigative report Strossel's attention, and he writes:

I've seen Michael Moore's movies and environmental documentaries, which I thought were nonsense. But Gasland is more convincing. I thought it merited discussion on my Fox Business show last week.
 
Unfortunately, Gasland producer Josh Fox turned down my invitation, as did representatives of the big national environmental groups that oppose fracking. I think I know why. The movie and the left's arguments against fracking are deceitful.

First, the movie implies that nasty chemicals get into the water table. That seems logical, since they shoot them down into gas wells. But it turns out that the shale gas wells are thousands of feet below the water table. Do the chemicals flow up—against gravity?

But then what's the explanation for the most dramatic part of the movie: tap water so laden with gas that people can set it on fire?

It turns out that has little to do with fracking. In many parts of America, there is enough methane in the ground to leak into people's well water. The best fire scene in the movie was shot in Colorado, where the filmmaker is in the kitchen of a man who lights his faucet. But Colorado investigators went to that man's house, checked out his well, and found that fracking had nothing to do with his water catching fire. His well-digger had drilled into a naturally occurring methane pocket.

What Strossel found out was that 40 percent of the wells in Pennsylvania have some sort of naturally occurring methane gas, so the fire in the faucet was not caused by fracking, yet that is what the movie is all about. Once again the left has used a fake documentary to dupe America.

The enviro's mission is to shut down oil and gas drilling, especially shale gas which in abundance is driving down the cost of natural gas, making alternative enegy highly uncompetitive without expensive subsidies.

Exit Question: Were you duped by Gasland?

Yes, it is weather, but record setting weather

Russ Steele

Several readers have written asking about May temperatures, and the month is not over yet.

So far 800 new May Low Temperatures have been set across the country. More details here.

Southern California is setting record lows:

• 17 May 11 - Long Beach Airport bottomed out at 49 degrees, breaking the 50-degree record set in 1964, according to the  National Weather Service.

UCLA recorded a low of 47 degrees, breaking the old record of 48 degrees set in 1953.
• At 42 degrees,  Lancaster tied a record set 1955, while Big Bear dropped to 25 degrees, breaking the previous record of 26 degrees set in 1995.
• In Ventura County, Camarillo dropped to 42 degrees, breaking the previous record of 43, a record that has stood since 1955.

Anthony Watts has the latest on the Western Snow Pack in this post: Western snow pack is well above normal, Squaw Valley sets new all time snow record

Stay Tuned

My God, we need some real Republican candidates

Russ Steele

The Polipundit has some thoughts on the current Republican candidate pool.  I do not agree a 100% all his analysis, but I am presenting it here for discussion. Where is he wrong and why?

While Republicans will probably keep the House and take over the Senate in 2012, their presidential candidates leave much to be desired. Is some surprise candidate going to jump in and save the party from this crop? Click Comments and discuss.

Meanwhile, here are the current candidates and the reason(s) why they’re unelectable, in no particular order:
Mitt Romney – too robotic
Tim Pawlenty – too milquetoast
John Thune – too soporific
Newt Gingrich – too gaffe-prone
Sarah Palin – too white-trash
Michelle Bachmann – too outspoken
Rick Santorum – too socially conservative
Gary Johnson – too high
Herman Cain – too outspoken
Rudy Giulani – too liberal
John Huntsman – too liberal
Mitch Daniels – too dull, too unambitious
And, fortunately, the following unappealing candidates have done us the favor of already dropping out – Haley Barbour (too fat, too Southern), Mike Huckabee (too liberal), Donald Trump (too crazy.)

Exit Question: Who will step in and save America from another Obama term? Answer in the comments.

Economic Resource Council to downsize - moving

Russ Steele

The ERC is downsizing and moving to a smaller office space at the Nevada County Contractor Assiciation Facility at 149 Crown Point Court, Grass Valley, CA.  They plan is to move next week.  They are hoping the phone (530-274-8455) and fax will stay the same, but if you cannot reach the ERC, then please call the Contractor's Association at 530-274-1919. 

California Consumer Confidence Down, Future Outlook Pessimistic

Russ Steele

The San Jose State's Survey and Policy Research Institute has published their latest poll on consumer confidence in California and the Silicon Valley.  The poll combines current conditions with future expectations and the picture is not very positive, except in Silicon Valley where there is some hiring going on by social media companies and social media want-a-be companies. 

April poll found that the overall "index of consumer sentiment," which combines attitudes about current conditions and future expectations, had dropped to 70.2 among Californians.

 California consumer confidence is down compared to six months ago, a new statewide survey by the Survey and Policy Research Institute at San José State University shows.
 
The overall Index of Consumer Sentiment, which combines assessments of current conditions and future expectations for personal finances and business conditions for the country as a whole, now stands at 70.2 among California residents. Index numbers below 100 indicate that negative perceptions outweigh positive. This represents a four- point drop from 74.4 in October 2010, and is only slightly higher than the 68.8 recorded last spring in March 2010.

The downward trend represents a mixed assessment, with perceptions of current economic conditions improving at the same time that expectations for the future are more negative. The Current Economic Conditions (CEC) Index now stands at 69.7, up 3.7 points since October. Expectations for the future, as measured by the Index of Consumer Expectations (ICE), have fallen 4.1 points over the same period, to 70.6 in April.

Nevada County skimmed over in "A Portrait of California"

Russ Steele

The American Human Development Project which analyzes states, with California being the third is a series of "Portraits" following Mississippi and Louisiana has published "A Portrait of California."  While the press release in the Sac Bee Capital Alert claims that this 179 page report covers virtually every corner of the state applying a 10-point scale of personal well-being, there are only five mentions of Nevada County. 

Using the search tools in Adobe Reader, I searched for references to Nevada County, to find out where our neighborhood registered on the Human Development Index? I could only find five references to Nevada County. For the most part we were lumped with Greater Sacramento in some development categories and rural Northern California in others. This was the most propionate mention of Nevada County. 

Given the many noneconomic benefits of work, it is clear that the California employment crisis has unleashed not just a flood of economic woes but also a world of pain for hundreds of thousands of families in the state. The employment rate is not expected to return to 2008 levels until 2013; the pain will be prolonged. California lost about 1 million jobs in the recession and continues to find itself near the top of the list in state unemployment rates. The unemployment rate at last count stood at 12.5 percent, effectively unchanged compared to one year prior; only Nevada had a higher rate. Although California’s economy is expected to grow modestly in the coming years, the state would need to create . 1.3 million jobs today to reduce unemployment to prerecession levels. Given that the working-age population of the state continues to grow, an even greater number of jobs will need to be created for an economic recovery that reaches ordinary people.

Full Portrait of California is here.