San Bernardino Victims Petition Trump to Fix Healthcare Roadblocks BY BRIAN ROSS, MEGAN CHRISTIE, JOSH MARGOLIN, PAUL BLAKE Feb 8, 2017, 4:11 PM ET A group of San Bernardino terror attack victims has created a petition calling on President Donald Trump to compel local officials to approve medical care that they say has been delayed or outright denied. San Bernardino Survivors Speak Out, a support and advocacy group organized by those who survived, has been arguing that San Bernardino County officials are delaying treatments, saying today that the county “insists on using” a review process that “continues to delay/deny care.” “Because injuries are work-related, private insurance refuses to cover treatment and survivors are required to go through the County’s self -administered workers comp, and utilization review (UR),” the group wrote on the petition that is posted to the White House website. “The State of California stated that treatments can be approved by the County instead of UR. But the County insists on using UR and continues to delay/deny care,” the group said. Asked about these claims, San Bernardino County Spokesman David Wert said, “employees who are injured on the job, especially those who are the victims of terror, deserve the best in care without delays or red tape, and in no instance has the county delayed or denied necessary care.” “In the December 2 cases, [utilization review] decisions have been rendered within two to three days,” Wert said. “Many denials were caused by a lack of information provided by employees’ doctors.” Wert added that the county had assigned case managers to the victims, which “have focused on ensuring the treating physicians submit paperwork for utilization review in a timely manner,” and said that this has resulted in “a sharp decrease in the number of survivors reporting delays or denials.” Wert said that of the 775 treatments requested by victims of the Dec. 2015 attack, the utilization review had denied about 12 percent. Only one-third of those denied claims, he said, were appealed. The victim’s petition calls on Trump to, “issue an executive order making it illegal for the County of San Bernardino to use UR for survivors AND mandating the County to approve, retroactively and in the future, ALL treatment for Dec. 2 survivors.”
Transcript
San Bernardino Victims Petition Trump to Fix Healthcare Roadblocks
BY BRIAN ROSS, MEGAN CHRISTIE, JOSH MARGOLIN, PAUL BLAKE
Feb 8, 2017, 4:11 PM ET
A group of San Bernardino terror attack victims has created a petition calling on President Donald Trump to compel local officials to approve medical care that they say has been delayed or outright denied.
San Bernardino Survivors Speak Out, a support and advocacy group organized by those who survived, has been arguing that San Bernardino County officials are delaying treatments, saying today that the county “insists on using” a review process that “continues to delay/deny care.”
“Because injuries are work-related, private insurance refuses to cover treatment and survivors are required to go through the County’s self-administered workers comp, and utilization review (UR),” the group wrote on the petition that is posted to the White House
website. “The State of California stated that treatments can be approved by the County instead of UR. But the County insists on using UR and continues to delay/deny care,” the group said.
Asked about these claims, San Bernardino County Spokesman David Wert said, “employees who are injured on the job, especially those who are the victims of terror, deserve the best in care without delays or red tape, and in no instance has the county delayed or denied necessary care.”
“In the December 2 cases, [utilization review] decisions have been rendered within two to three days,” Wert said. “Many denials were caused by a lack of information provided by employees’ doctors.”
Wert added that the county had assigned case managers to the victims, which “have focused on ensuring the treating physicians submit paperwork for utilization review in a timely manner,” and said that this has resulted in “a sharp decrease in the number of survivors reporting delays or denials.”
Wert said that of the 775 treatments requested by victims of the Dec. 2015 attack, the utilization review had denied about 12 percent. Only one-third of those denied claims, he said, were appealed.
The victim’s petition calls on Trump to, “issue an executive order making it illegal for the County of San Bernardino to use UR for survivors AND mandating the County to approve, retroactively and in the future, ALL treatment for Dec. 2 survivors.”
But even if the petition grabs the president’s attention, he may not have the authority to compel local officials to handle the victims cases differently.
“The difficulties of these survivors may be real, but the President has no authority simply to order local jurisdictions to do his bidding,” Kent Greenfield, a law professor at Boston College, told ABC News.
Regardless of whether Trump can force change, Amanda Gaspard, a victim of the attack and member of the support group, told ABC News in a phone interview on Wednesday that she hopes the petition brings greater attention to their frustrations with the workers compensation process.
“The current White House administration may not know what is happening to the survivors. We are trying to raise awareness... To put it on [Trump’s] radar. To put it hopefully on the national radar of senators and congressman,” she said.
In December, Gaspard, told ABC News how frustrations over receiving treatment had added
to her suffering. Gaspard was struck twice in the leg during the assault that left 14 people dead and 22 others injured.
She said that she had struggled to have a surgery approved despite still having the shrapnel from the two bullets embedded one year out from the attack.
Other survivors pointed to difficulties getting medication and physical therapy.
One of Gaspard’s surgeries was approved shortly after she spoke out, however the advocacy group said in January that the county “has failed to expedite the workers comp process,” and has been slow in providing information to a firm that it hired last month to accelerate the process. Gaspard says another surgery is pending.
At the time, a county spokesman pointed to a computer system that had to be reconfigured in explaining the delay, and said that the firm handling the workers compensation process had not been able to reach some of the survivors.
The petition, which was posted to the White House website on Jan. 23, will need to garner 100,000 signatures within 30 days of going live. If it does so, the White House will issue an official response, according to the official petition site.
San Bernardino terrorist attack survivors seek help from President Trump
By Jim Steinberg, The Sun
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
SAN BERNARDINO >> Survivors of the Dec. 2, 2015, terrorist attack are seeking help from President DonaldTrump.
The group has started a petition to ask the president to issue an executive order making it illegal for SanBernardino County to use what’s called a “utilization review” for survivors and mandate that the countyapprove, retroactively and in the future, all treatment for attack survivors.
Utilization review is a process by which independent doctors review treatment proposals made by patients’physicians, David Wert, a county spokesman, said.
Fourteen people were killed and 22 were wounded on Dec. 2, 2015, during a combined holiday and trainingevent at Inland Regional Center.
The gunshot survivors and many of those who attended the training event but were not shot have been sufferingfrom an array of psychological and physical disorders.
The petition seeking Trump’s help needs at least 100,000 signatures by Feb. 22 to get a response from the WhiteHouse, says the group’s sbsurvivors.com website.
“This isn’t about politics. We are just trying to raise awareness at a national level,” said Amanda Gaspard, 32, aformer environmental health specialist for San Bernardino County.
The petition reads: “The County of San Bernardino has delayed/denied medical treatment, physical therapy,antibiotics, medications, and mental health care to survivors of the Dec. 2, 2015, terrorist attack. Becauseinjuries are workrelated, private insurance refuses to cover treatment and survivors are required to go throughthe County’s selfadministered workers compensation, and utilization review (UR).”
That allegation has been denied by San Bernardino County officials.
“The State of California stated that treatments can be approved by the County instead of UR. But the Countyinsists on using UR and continues to delay/deny care,” says the petition, posted on the sbsurvivors.com website.
The survivors are requesting people sign the petition on their behalf. After signing, you must check your emailaccount — the White House will send an email to confirm your signature. You must confirm your signature or itwill not be counted.
The survivors also ask that supporters share the petition link via email and social media with friends, family,colleagues and other contacts.
The link to the petition is: petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/requirecountysanbernardinoapprovepaymedicalcaresurvivorsdecember22015terroristattack
Gaspard, who now stays with her parents in southwestern New Hampshire, lives with constant leg pain aftertaking two bullets in her upper right thigh. One exited through the knee, but the other is still lodged in her thigh,along with many bullet fragments, she said Wednesday.
Additionally, there are “hundreds of pieces of (bullet fragment) shrapnel in me ... right leg, left leg, right arm ...and skull between my right eye and ear,” Gaspard said in an telephone interview.
Like many other shooting victims, Gaspard said she has battled for payments to fund her physical therapy, visitswith a psychologist and leg surgeries.
On Wednesday, San Bernardino County defended its record of taking care of the Dec. 2 victims.
“Employees who are injured on the job, especially those who are the victims of terror, deserve the best in carewithout delays or red tape, and in no instance has the county delayed or denied necessary care,” Wert said.
“The statemandated utilization review process requires decisions on proposed treatments to be rendered withinfive days. In the December cases, decisions have been rendered within two to three days,” he said.
“The delays that have occurred were caused by the treating caregiver failing to provide justification for theproposed treatments. Many denials were caused by a lack of information provided by employees’ doctors. If anemployee’s doctor fails to provide information, utilization review has no choice but to issue a denial. Treatmentcan be reconsidered once the treating physician submits the necessary information,” Wert said in a statement.
“To ensure the December 2 survivors get the attention they deserve, the county assigned contract case managersto each of the survivors still undergoing treatment. These case managers have focused on ensuring the treatingphysicians submit paperwork for utilization review in a timely manner, and since these case managers havecome on board the county has noticed a sharp decrease in the number of survivors reporting delays or denials.Some of the most vocal critics have sent notes to the county telling us they are now getting the treatment theydesire,” he said in the statement.
“Yes, the state did say that the county could bypass utilization review, which would take medical decisions outof the hands of doctors and place them in the hands of county risk managers. The state has also said that itrequires employers to have utilization review plans to protect injured workers from being taken advantage of bytheir care providers through excessive, inappropriate and harmful treatment.
“The county maintains utilization review has served our employees well based on the following: 775 treatmentshave been requested on behalf of the December 2 victims, and only 12 percent were denied by utilization reviewdoctors. Of that 12 percent, only about onethird were appealed to the state. State physicians upheld 32 of the 33denials that were appealed to them, proving that the denials were based on sound medical review, not anyonetrying to save money,” the county’s statement said.
In order to walk without extreme pain, Gaspard said she needs bone and cartilage transplants in her leg.
This week, she was approved for a third surgery, and she was told it must be done by March 18.
But no money has been allocated to the surgery.
For an exploratory hospital procedure, Gaspard said it took her from August to December to get funding, and itwas only $3,500.
This third procedure “will be much more expensive,” she said.
According to published reports, first responders to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks struggled years later to be fundedfor needed medical and psychological services, Gaspard said.
2/9/2017 San Bernardino terrorist attack survivors seek help from President Trump
And there are more recent survivors, such as those from the Orlando nightclub attack on June 12, 2016, whichkilled 49 and wounded more than 50, she said.
Given the number of Americans that have not recovered from domestic terrorist attacks, Gaspard said it wasimportant to broaden recognition of the problem by going to the White House.
“We are not making a political statement, we are asking for help,” she said.
Former aide to former San Bernardino County supervisor testified at Colonies trial
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
SAN BERNARDINO >> A former top aide to former San BernardinoCounty Supervisor Neil Derry took the witness stand Tuesday at theColonies corruption trial to testify about a political action committeein which he said he was unknowingly named executive director.
Steven Hauer, former deputy chief of staff for Derry, testified abouthis more than 20year friendship with defendant Jim Erwin, whom
Hauer said he met when the two were county sheriff’s deputies.
Prior to Derry’s election to Third District county supervisor in 2008, Hauer and Erwin worked on Derry’scampaign, with Erwin helping raise money and Hauer posting campaign signs.
Hauer said his father wanted to contribute to Derry’s campaign, and Erwin asked if he could contribute half toDerry’s campaign and half to Erwin’s political action committee.
When district attorney investigators informed Hauer that he was listed as executive director on Erwin’sCommittee for Effective Government PAC, it caught him by surprise. And Hauer was really sore when helearned someone signed his name to a memo to the PAC’s treasurer in September 2008 authorizing a $5,000payment from the PAC to Erwin for consulting services.
Hauer denied having any knowledge of being listed as the executive director for Erwin’s PAC, or of his namebeing signed to the document. He also said he never saw the PAC’s bylaws or attended any meetings of the PAC.
Once Derry was elected, he hired Erwin as his chief of staff and Hauer, per Erwin’s recommendation, forconstituent services. Hauer was subsequently promoted to Derry’s deputy chief of staff.
Hauer’s testimony strikes a familiar chord with evidence prosecutors have presented at trial over the last twoweeks regarding political action committees allegedly controlled by the defendants or by others under thedirection of the defendants, and of select individuals whose names were unknowingly signed on to the PACs asofficers.
Erwin, Rancho Cucamonga developer Jeff Burum, former county Supervisor Paul Biane, and Mark Kirk, formerchief of staff for former county Supervisor Gary Ovitt, were indicted in May 2011.
They stand accused of conspiring to fix a $102 million settlement between the county and Rancho Cucamongabased investor group Colonies Partners LP., of which Burum is a comanaging partner, in November 2006. Thesettlement, in Colonies’ favor, ended a nearly 5year legal battle over flood control improvements at a 434acreresidential and commercial development in Upland, Colonies at San Antonio and Colonies crossroads,respectively.
Prosecutors allege Burum paid the other three defendants and former Board of Supervisors Chairman BillPostmus a total of $400,000 in bribes within a year of the settlement. The alleged bribes, according to
prosecutors, were funneled into sham political action committees secretly controlled by the defendants or othersunder their direction.
All four defendants deny any wrongdoing.
In March 2011, Postmus, who prosecutors originally eyed as a defendant, entered into a plea agreement,pleading guilty to 10 felonies in connection with the Colonies case and a companion corruption case in which hewas convicted of corruption at the Assessor’s Office, where he and his executive staff engaged in illegal politicalactivities at taxpayer expense.
Postmus has agreed to testify against the defendants at trial in exchange for having all but two of his felonycharges dismissed.
The other political action committees prosecutors are alleging received bribes from Burum include SanBernardino County Young Republicans, the only PAC that existed prior to the Colonies settlement and whichprosecutors allege Biane directed most of the expenditures, Kirk’s Alliance for Ethical Government PAC, andPostmus’ Inland Empire PAC and Conservatives for a Republican Majority PAC, both of which received$50,000 contributions from Colonies Partners in June 2007.
All the other PACs received $100,000 contributions from Colonies Partners, which the defendants maintain werelegal and publicly reported per state law.
Erwin’s attorney, Rajan Maline, questioned Hauer about his agreement with Erwin to work on Derry’s campaign that he hung signs for Derry and was aware of Erwin’s involvement in raising money for the campaign.
“Did Mr. Erwin tell you about his PAC?” Maline asked Hauer, to which he replied, “No.”
“But you knew he was supporting Derry, correct?” Maline asked.
“Yes,” Hauer replied.
When asked by Maline if any meetings of PAC officers were held to discuss such work, Hauer said “No.”
Testimony resumes Wednesday before Judge Michael A. Smith.
Hesperia man will not testify against deputies charged with assaulting him
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
SAN BERNARDINO >> With trial set to begin Feb. 21 for three SanBernardino County sheriff’s deputies accused of assaulting a manfollowing a chase through the High Desert, their alleged victim hasrefused to testify against them.
Francis Pusok, 32, of Hesperia, appeared on Wednesday before JudgeDwight W. Moore in San Bernardino Superior Court, taking thewitness stand with his attorney, Jim Terrell. Pusok pleaded the FifthAmendment, a Constitutional law allowing witnesses to refuse totestify in court if the information they provide could be selfincriminating.
Moore asked Pusok if it was his intention to answer no questions at trial regarding the beating incident thatoccurred on April 9, 2015 in Hesperia, to which Pusok replied, “Yes.”
“He has nothing to gain from testifying at that trial, nothing at all,” Terrell said after Wednesday’s hearing. Hesaid anything Pusok would testify to at the trial of deputies Nicholas Downey, Michael Phelps and CharlesFoster could be used against him at his own trial.
Pusok, a convicted felon with a long history of criminal offenses, has been charged with 11 felonies and threemisdemeanors in connection with the 3hour pursuit through Apple Valley and Hesperia that culminated with thedeputies repeatedly punching and kicking him. The incident was captured on video by an NBC news crewhovering overhead in a helicopter.
Prosecutor Robert Bulloch said following Wednesday’s hearing that he wasn’t surprised by Pusok exercising hisConstitutional right not to testify.
“It’s not a situation that has been unanticipated. He didn’t testify at the preliminary hearing, and it was the sameissue at that point in time,” Bulloch said. “We’ll just have to build our case. The video speaks for itself.”
In September 2015, the District Attorney’s Office charged each of the three deputies with one felony count ofassault by a public officer. They face a maximum sentence of 16 months in prison if convicted.
All three deputies have pleaded not guilty.
In other case developments Wednesday, Bulloch and defense attorneys battled it out over whether to allowinformation about Pusok’s criminal history and incidents of resisting arrest to be disclosed to the jury.
Bulloch argued that the information, if allowed in as evidence, would be prejudicial to a jury, while defenseattorneys argued that such information would help the jury understand why the deputies acted so aggressivelywhen detaining Pusok.
“I think the confines of what this case is about should narrow the parameters of what’s relevant for purposes ofthis trial,” Bulloch said. “Otherwise, without any limitations, without any understanding of what exactly they’reseeking to put in here, we have 43 witnesses of (Pusok’s) prior misconduct.”
Downey’s attorney, Michael Schwartz, said the evidence would show the jury the kind of person Pusok is —that he had a propensity to resist arrest — which is exactly what happened on April 9, 2015.
“You have situations where an alleged victim is acting consistent with how they acted in the past, and the juryshould realize... it wasn’t in a vacuum. This is who he is,” Schwartz said.
Moore called the situation a “can of worms.” He said the question was not what transgressions Pusok committedin the past, but what knowledge deputies had about Pusok’s past. He said he would allow in only evidence thatshowed the defendants’ knowledge of Pusok’s criminal history and incidents of resisting arrest.
Flight paths in and out of Ontario Airport to change slightly
By Liset Márquez, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
ONTARIO >> As a flight controller overseeing the Inland Empireskies, Mike Taylor is no stranger to challenges when issuing complexdirections to pilots as they descend onto the flight path for OntarioInternational Airport.
That path, which follows the Cajon Pass — and several SanBernardino County communities to the east — some 9,000 feet abovethe ground, is taxing because of the surrounding terrain and windconditions, Taylor said.
Under a new program by the Federal Aviation Administration, pilotswould follow a more direct and programmed flight path into Ontario, he said.
“It’s a lot safer and more stable,” Taylor said.
The FAA held a briefing Tuesday night at Ontario Airport to discuss the Southern California Metroplex project,which aims to improve the flow of air traffic in and out of the region.
The project replaces dozens of conventional air routes with ones that are based on cuttingedge satellitenavigation, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said.
This will allow the FAA to not only build more direct routes but separate routes that might converge or occupythe same airspace, a common occurrence in the region, he said.
“This creates a more efficient system and reduces pilotcontroller communications,” he said.
The Metroplex project, which includes ONT and five other airports, is projected to result in $7.8 million inannual fuel savings, and 2.7 million gallons in annual savings for all six airports, according to the FAA’sSouthern California Metroplex study team.
At Ontario, one notable change will be departures to the northwest, which were determined to be inefficient.With the new system, pilots will follow a more segregated route structure after departure, allowing for moreunrestricted climbs, the FAA said.
While the flight path change is minimal at Ontario, it will provide a more precise approach. Some areas willexperience slight noise decreases, while others slight noise increases, Gregor said.
In the past, traditional routes were built on groundbased navigation aids, such as beacons, that were planted onthe ground, he said. The problem with this conventional system was that it limits available flight paths, Gregorsaid.
New technology will eliminate complex climbs and descents.
“On the arrival side, for example, we can create descents in which aircraft essentially glide down on idle or nearidle power to their final approaches,” Gregor said. “Because engines aren’t spooling up and air brakes aren’tbeing deployed, the plane makes less noise. And gliding down on idle power means less fuel is burned, which inturn means fewer CO2 is being released into the environment.”
Gregor said the new system won’t be used all the time. That’s because some aircraft are still not equipped tohandle the satellite technology, and in some cases the pilots have not received the proper training to fly theroutes, Gregor said.
Other factors for controllers directing aircraft might be due to weather, safety or the sequence of flights at thattime.
SAN BERNARDINO >> A master plan for Theater Square got unanimous City Council approval Wednesday,moving the city toward the sale and development of 25,000 square feet of restaurant and retail spacesurrounding Regal Cinema.
The sale is expected to bring in $10 million, used to finance the demolition and future development of CarouselMall, across the street, and to create a focal point for downtown.
In all, the Fransen Co. and AECOM plan to bring in 350,000 square feet of retail, up to 750 residential units, a175room hotel, a charter school and a cultural element such as a museum.
But those will be built one step at a time, through the year 2020, with each phase intended to bring both moneyand a market for future developments, developer John Fransen said.
“(Regal) is the success story upon which we build,” Fransen said.
Council members all expressed their enthusiasm for the project, which they said could be a catalyst for renewedvibrancy downtown — and, because of that, throughout the city.
“I’m excited about this project,” said Councilwoman Virginia Marquez, whose downtown ward includes theTheater Square area, on the northwest corner of Fourth and E streets. “It’s going to be a gamechanger once it’sfinished and will show the world the city is capable of extraordinary things.”
The city has made big plans for downtown in the past and been disappointed.
But veterans of city government reminded the public that skeptics have sometimes been proved wrong.
When the city was wooing Regal Cinema in 2011, critics said it was a poor investment that might not attractmore businesses, Councilman Fred Shorett reminded the public.
“Congratulations, Mayor Morris,” Shorett said, referring to Pat Morris, who was mayor at that time. “You wereright, and I’m glad we stuck with you on Regal.”
The demise of the redevelopment agency, a statewide action, hamstrung efforts to attract businesses at the sametime as Regal, but it’s now listed as one of the chain’s topperforming theaters.
That creates an opportunity that businesses will see, said Vaughan Davies of AECOM.
“These beautiful plazas can fill the 800,000 hungry mouths that come to Regal Cinema,” he said.
The team estimates construction will begin within the next 24 to 36 months.
The project is mixeduse, combining housing with businesses, a trend designers say will attract younger usersand mix well with Cal State San Bernardino.
Not just millennials but AARP members appreciate the ability to live downtown, close to doctors, transit andother services, resident Marven Norman said.
“Having eyes on the street is crucial to making people feel safe, and so to the success of the project,” Normansaid. “... I’m very excited.”
The plan passed 50, with Councilmen John Valdivia and Jim Mulvihill absent.
There no plans to demolish the adjacent Harris or Andreson buildings, which are both privately owned.
The meeting was originally scheduled for Monday, but had to be rescheduled because the agenda was not postedoutside City Hall 72 hours before the meeting as required by the Brown Act.
Adelanto Mayor Rich Kerr also hinted at a few othereconomic-driving projects in the pipeline, including thelong-awaited build-out of the Adelanto Towne Center.
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ADELANTO - City officials are in negotiations on a "bonding issue" to usedevelopment impact fees, and not public taxpayer dollars, to re-pave more roadsand generally bolster its infrastructure, the city's mayor said.
"We've already done the preliminary survey of the roads - about 30 of them thatneed to be either repaved or made into a (non-dirt) road," Mayor Rich Kerr saidlast Thursday, "and especially on the north-south corridors on the west side,moving out past the airport there to get the emergency response (firedepartment) to the housing a lot faster."
Adelanto's north side, in particular, is burdened by roads that have fallen intodisrepair, making the oldest portion of the city a chief concern, city spokesmanMichael Stevens said last month.
Adelanto crews perform pothole and road repairs two to three times each weekon all of the city's major roads, which equates to three tons of asphalt laid eachday, according to Stevens.
But the plan to utilize development impact fees - which appears in its infancystages and without much specifics - to make more significant progress on thecity's infrastructure, as Kerr described, would help off-set the city's currentinability to proactively address its roads since budgetary concerns still loom.
Speaking before the groundbreaking of the HDO Industrial Park, the largest inthe city's history, Kerr also hinted at a few other economic-driving projects inthe pipeline, including the long-awaited build-out of the Adelanto TowneCenter.
Situated on the southwest corner of Highway 395 and Mojave Drive, the center'sdevelopment had once hinged on Target as its would-be anchor, but that fellthrough.
However, Kerr said that the 280,000-square-foot center, owned by Lewis RetailCenters, was moving closer to fruition after Lewis submitted plans to the cityeven as an anchor - there are three unidentified stores in the running - had notyet signed a deal.
2/9/2017 Adelanto eyes development fee plan to pay for infrastructure
"They're still going to build, they're going to go with a small anchor if they haveto and still build because it's been years and years," Kerr said. "They're just sittingthere paying taxes on the land. They're losing money so, they're not dumbpeople, they know what they're doing."
Adelanto is also preparing to craft a new general plan that will be shaped by theCity Council's vision for the city, including the plan for Highway 395, housingand a gated community likely to be called Rancho Adelanto.
In addressing goals to keep more tax revenue on the west side of Highway 395,and provide incentive for residents to drive less to Victorville, Kerr said the citywas in talks with Ace Hardware, Papa John's Pizza and Jimmy John'sSandwiches.
In May,
, as well as a new Circle K on Highway 18 and Aster Road,although there have since been no formal public briefings on those disclosures.
VICTORVILLE - Councilwoman Blanca Gomez's second choice for thePlanning Commission was rejected because of a split vote during Tuesday night'sCity Council meeting.
Gomez, who was elected in November, has been serving on the Council a littleover two months. She appointed resident Ramiro Rodriguez, who is also anational representative for the American Charro Association, to the Planning
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But Gomez failed to get the needed majority vote to approve Rodriguez'sappointment. Gomez and Councilman Jim Kennedy voted for Rodriguez, butMayor Gloria Garcia and Mayor Pro Tem Jim Cox dissented and CouncilmanEric Negrete abstained.
Under the Council's rules, abstentions go with the majority vote. But in this casethere was no majority vote, which meant Rodriguez's appointment was rejected.
Gomez asked Garcia and Cox why they voted no.
"You can comment if you like. If not, then we can just begin to assume," Gomezsaid.
Garcia responded by saying "it is not required to answer" during the meeting.
On Wednesday, Garcia told the Daily Press it was actually easy to explain.
"Her choices are not ones we could actually approve. Her last choice wassomeone who still lived in Hesperia," Garcia said. "If she were to presentsomeone with a background that best fits the qualifications, no one would have aproblem and we'd approve her choices."
When Council members scrutinized Gomez's first appointment, of failedHesperia Council candidate Anthony Rhoades in December, Gomez described itas undue resistance and compared the Council's longer tenured members to"Olympians, winning medal after medal and I'm the beginner."
The rest of the Council said there were long-time residents who had been moreinvested in Victorville who were worthy of consideration for the role; it wasn'tpersonal.
"Appointing someone to the Victorville Planning Commission is one of the mostimportant decisions a Councilmember can make," Negrete said. "I appreciate theapplications of Councilmember Gomez's two previous proposed PlanningCommissioners. While there was nothing personal about the decision not tovote for their appointments, we continue to offer Councilmember Gomezsupport to find the appropriate individual."
2/9/2017 Gomez's second choice for Victorville Planning Commission nixed in split vote
Negrete also said there is an established process for getting things doneefficiently in local government that typically involves "working with yourcolleagues" and that Gomez "has already stated that she doesn't care about 3-2votes or 4-1 votes."
Therefore, this appointment may take longer than normal.
"We are hopeful that Councilmember Gomez will select a PlanningCommissioner who has been actively involved in the community for some timeand has some understanding of real estate and land use issues," Negrete said.
The Daily Press reached out Gomez on Wednesday, but she did not immediatelyrespond to requests for comment.
Garcia and Victorville spokesperson Sue Jones said Gomez can continue tosubmit appointees to the Council for consideration and the work of the PlanningCommission will continue uninterrupted.
"According to Council rules and procedures, the Planning Commissioner thatwas appointed by outgoing Councilmember (Ryan) McEachron would stay onthe Planning Commission for 90 days or until a new Commissioner is appointedby newly-elected Councilmember Gomez and approved by a majority of the CityCouncil," Jones said.
HESPERIA - With little funding for improvements and a main arterial roadwaythat is often congested with over 14,000 vehicles each day, the Council isexploring options to bring relief to commuters.
After discussing several road project alternatives for the Ranchero RoadWidening Project, the City Council gave direction to staff to explore thepossibility of widening the road from Kern to Topaz avenues in Hesperia.
During Tuesday's Council meeting, it was discovered the estimated cost of theproposed 1-mile project - alternative No. 1 - is approximately $400,000 andwould include an additional lane in each direction, with a turn pocket at theintersection of Maple Avenue.
This configuration is similar to the intersection of Seventh Avenue andRanchero Road, east of the proposed project. Work on alternative No. 1 couldbegin as early as July or August and be completed before the beginning of the2018 school year, city staff said.
Staff was also given direction to begin research on alternative No. 2, whichincludes parcel acquisition and cost factors in the project that would see the all-encompassing Ranchero Corridor Project split into additional phases.
This project would include turn pockets along the length of the roadway,including Maple and Cottonwood avenues, which would not include trafficsignals.
Alternative No. 2 has a price tag of $4.9 million, not including the price ofadding traffic signals at Maple and Cottonwood avenues at $500,000 perintersection.
The Council said staff will have the opportunity to work with San BernardinoCounty Transportation Authority to determine if funding is available for thefiscal year that begins in July.
After witnessing traffic on Ranchero Road often backed up over a mile, theCouncil agreed the widening project is a priority.
The original Ranchero Corridor Project consists of several improvements withinthe 5-mile stretch of roadway, including construction of the railroad underpassnear Santa Fe Avenue, which was completed in 2013, and the RancheroInterstate 15 Interchange that was unveiled in 2015.
Mayor Paul Russ said the proposed roadway project does not include therequired work on the two-lane aqueduct bridge that is located about 1,000 feeteast of the proposed project.
2/8/2017 Hesperia City Council mulls Ranchero Road improvements
Russ said the cost of the state-required aqueduct improvement, which includeswidening and increasing the height of the bridge, will cost nearly $15 million.
Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227, [email protected] or on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz.
VICTORVILLE >> A shuttered Coco’s restaurant was destroyed by alatenight fire Wednesday, and authorities are investigating the causeof the blaze.
“(The building) is known to house some transients and it’s somethingthat we’re looking into but right now we don’t know why the firestarted,” said Eric Sherwin, spokesman for the San Bernardino CountyFire Department. No one was hurt in the fire.
The fire was first reported just before 10 p.m. at the former restaurantlocated in the 15500 block of Park Avenue, Sherwin said.
It took two dozen firefighters about half an hour to knock down the blaze.
Initial reports to fire officials said a nearby hotel was on fire, said Sherwin, but arriving fire crews soondetermined it was the vacant restaurant that was ablaze.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
63yearold Rancho Cucamonga man accused of runninghome drug operationBy BEATRIZ VALENZUELA20170209 07:17:56
A 63yearold Rancho Cucamonga probationer who was allegedly foundwith methamphetamine, cocaine and about 5 pounds of marijuana in hishome is expected to be in court Thursday.
Robert Tennent is scheduled to be in West Valley Superior Court inRancho Cucamonga to answer to drug charges and for a probationrevocation hearing, according to jail records.
Tennant was arrested Monday after deputies and San Bernardino Countyprobation officers conducted a compliance check at his home in the 9100 block of Jadeite Avenue, according toa sheriff’s statement.
During the initial search of Tennant’s home, probation officers reportedly found a small amount ofmethamphetamine inside his bedroom, officials said. Officers then asked Rancho Cucamonga deputies to assistwith a more thorough search of the home.
Authorities recovered 11 ounces of methamphetamine, 16 grams of cocaine individually packaged for sale,more than 5 pounds of marijuana, a digital scale, several rounds of ammunition and baggies typically used topackage narcotics, according to the press release.
Tennent was arrested and booked into West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga on suspicion ofpossession of methamphetamine for sale, possession of cocaine for sale and possession of marijuana for sale.He is being held without bail.
Double homicide in Muscoy under investigation by SanBernardino police, Sheriff’s DepartmentBy BEATRIZ E. VALENZUELA and DOUG SAUNDERS20170208 12:53:50
A peculiar chain of events led sheriff’s deputies Wednesday morning,Feb. 8 to a Muscoy home where two men were found shot to deathinside.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department received a call shortlybefore 10 a.m. from an address on Universal Avenue, saying someonehad been shot. The investigation led them to Muscoy, where they foundtwo bodies inside a residence in the 2800 block of June Street.
“We were asked to assist with a shooting in Muscoy,” said Lt. MikeMadden, San Bernardino Police spokesman.
Officers were searching for a potential witness around 10:30 a.m. at a location on Universal Avenue nearUniversity Parkway, Madden said.
Earlier reports had the shooting on Darby Street, however officials say a suspect was found on Darby Street.
Sheriff’s officials said Roberto Lopez, 28, of Muscoy, who deputies considered a person of interest, was takento Sheriff’s Headquarters, questioned by detectives and arrested for suspicion of the two deaths, according to anews release.
Lopez was booked into Central Detention Center in San Bernardino on two counts of murder.
A motive for the shooting was not released.
It’s unclear what transpired inside the home, but some people who believed one of the victims was a relativewere at the scene trying to get answers from deputies.
“I want to know if my brother is in there,” Janet Fuentes said. “I just want to know if he’s ok.”
Fuentes said her brother has been staying at the home with his friend, and many times she’s brought him foodto the home where the two men were found.
Sheriff’s officials said it’s too early in the investigation to positively identify the victims.
“It’s the coroners responsibility to positively identify homicide victims,” sheriff’s spokeswoman Cindy Bachmansaid. “Once they’ve been identified and their nextofkin have been notified then the names of the deceased willbe released.”
Man rescued off Mt. Baldy finally reunited with dog he had toleave behindBy JOHN M. BLODGETT20170208 19:35:33
With a broken leg, five broken ribs and a punctured lung, WarrenMuldoon sat on a ledge above a 40foot waterfall in a remote canyon onMount Baldy. It was about noon Feb. 1, and he’d already fallen down foursmaller waterfalls in an attempt to reach safety after getting lost whilehiking down from the summit.
He looked up to his dog Dakota, who looked down at him from a shelfabout 30 feet above. She’d fallen twice with him and was too scared to goany farther.
Muldoon was freezing. No one knew where he was — there was no cellcoverage. His phone was broken and waterlogged anyhow.
"That’s it, Lord, I think I’m going to die," the 62yearold Christian man from Whittier recalled thinking.
VIDEO: Man and dog reunite after harrowing experience
Suddenly, he looked to the valley below. A group of people were looking up at him. He yelled and waved, andone man ran closer. He was still far away, and they couldn’t hear one another over the sound of falling water, sothe man signed a question with his hands: Do you need a helicopter? Muldoon nodded yes.
That exchange set in motion Muldoon’s hoist rescue by a San Bernardino County sheriff’s helicopter shortlybefore 1:45 p.m. "My dog’s down there," he said he told his rescuers, but they said they had to worry about him,because he was hypothermic — Muldoon’s body temperature was 88 degrees — and they could lose him.
Dakota watched them fly away toward Loma Linda University Medical Center.
"I could see Dakota just standing there looking at me," Muldoon said. "It just broke my heart to leave her."
When Muldoon left home about 6 a.m. Wednesday, he told his wife, Connie, of his plan to hike the Ski Hut Trailto Mount Baldy summit, so she would know where he’d be and when to expect him home.
"Usually, when he goes to the top, he’s gone for quite a few hours," she said.
About 4:50 p.m. Connie Muldoon was thinking her husband and Dakota should be home soon when a socialworker at Loma Linda University Medical Center called and said Warren Muldoon was there being treated forinjuries.
Connie Muldoon rushed to the hospital, not knowing the full story. After she arrived at her husband’s bedside,she learned about his rescue — and that Dakota had been left behind.
Dakota, a 3yearold German shepherd mix, had belonged to their son James since she was 3 months old. Henamed her after North Dakota, where years before James Muldoon was stationed in the Air Force.
"(Dakota) was the one thing that he absolutely loved," Connie Muldoon said. "He would have laid his life downfor that dog."
Last Aug. 9, while riding his motorcycle in Whittier, James Muldoon, 32, was struck by a car that ran a red light.He was placed in critical care, his brain severely injured and many bones broken. His condition was grim, andsoon deteriorated.
Some time before the collision, James Muldoon asked his parents if they could care for Dakota should anythinghappen to him.
On Aug. 17, James Muldoon died, and the Muldoons took over Dakota’s parenting.
Connie Muldoon broke down by her husband’s bedside after hearing that Dakota was alone and lost on themountain.
"She’s the last piece that I have of my son," Connie Muldoon said. "I wasn’t ready to say goodbye."
• • •
Warren Muldoon and Dakota go everywhere together, he said, often running or hiking. Side by side, they’vesummited Mount Baldy many times, but Wednesday was the first time they had done so in the snow.
They reached the top with no problem, Muldoon said. But on the descent, the wind kicked up, covering the trailand the tracks they made on the ascent. He took a wrong turn, and it got worse from there.
The spikes he wore on his hiking boots didn’t stop him from tumbling. Dakota stumbled too, as she followedhim. Muldoon knew they were in trouble, and decided to follow the sound of running water in hopes of finding away down.
They reached a little stream, which turned into a big stream, which turned into waterfalls. Man and dog felldown the first waterfall and then the second. Muldoon fell down the third waterfall, breaking his ribs. Dakotawas too scared to follow.
"Dakota, you gotta come with me," Muldoon recalled saying. "I can’t leave you here." The rocks were tooslippery for him to go back to her.
After pleading with Dakota for about 15 minutes, Muldoon felt he had to press on without her. Scared, cold andresigned, he moved forward and soon came upon another waterfall.
"I said (to myself), this is bad, this is real bad, but I couldn’t go (back) up," he recalled. "So I got on my butt, andI just went down so fast and my foot hit the rock in the water and I heard (my leg) snap."
Muldoon crawled over to the ledge where he thought he would die.
That Wednesday night, Connie Muldoon posted to Facebook about Dakota’s plight. Please watch for her, shewrote. The post went locally viral, shared among various group pages and even Craigslist.
The following morning, Meg Moran of Yorba Linda was on Facebook, catching up on community news, whenshe learned about the lost dog. "(My husband Patrick) spends every weekend hiking and I spend everyweekend doing dog rescue," Meg Moran said. "I knew we were the perfect people to jump into action."
Patrick Moran browsed the Angeles National Forest website, where he found the log entry for WarrenMuldoon’s rescue. Something didn’t look right to him, he said — the GPS coordinates didn’t match the locationdescription.
"Having been on the mountain over a hundred times myself, I know it like the back of my hand," he said.
Moran wanted to help find the dog but didn’t want to be hasty.
"I want to know all the details before I start putting out (on social media) where something is, because you couldwander around in that snow forever and not find her," he said.
Moran asked his wife to find someone via Facebook he could speak with and get a better idea of where Dakotamight be. Within a few hours, she found Connie Muldoon’s phone number and learned that Warren Muldoonwas at Loma Linda University Medical Center.
Moran couldn’t reach Connie Muldoon, but he soon had her husband on the phone from his hospital bed andpressed him for details. It turned out he knew exactly where Warren Muldoon and Dakota had fallen — SanAntonio Canyon — because he had rappelled there before.
"It’s a technical area," he said. "You better know your stuff."
He told Muldoon that his wrong turn was a common error hikers make in whiteout conditions, leading to adrainage with no safe trail, and that Dakota was likely still trapped there.
Moran hung up and logged into Facebook. He cut and pasted a post to numerous hiking groups and pages:Dakota was probably between the second and third waterfalls in San Antonio Canyon. He also posted photosConnie Muldoon provided of Dakota hiking with her husband and standing next to her son.
Chris Simpson, an experienced mountaineer, soon sent Moran a message saying he would go look for Dakota.
Simpson recapped what happened next in a Facebook post.
"I headed up Ski Hut Trail at around 4:30 p.m. and called out for the dog," he wrote. "With no luck, I called itquits after 2 hrs or so."
On his descent he saw a familiar face on the other side of the waterfalls. It was Ricardo Soria Jr. of Glendora,another experienced hiker who not only was also looking for Dakota but had just seen her.
"I made it past the second tier (of the falls) where I peered over a ledge and let out a few whistles," Soriarecounted in a post to Instagram. "Within moments, a set of eyes popped up."
Problem was, there was "a pretty technical rock section in between him and the dog," Simpson wrote.
Simpson continued: "I reached the falls area where I met a San Bernardino Search and Rescue volunteer(John Bishop) who was shining his light on the second tier of the falls when it picked up a reflection of 2 eyes.(Ricardo) confirmed it was Dakota."
Simpson and Bishop hatched a plan to reach Dakota — Soria "headed back for the car knowing that they had itunder control" — and after gearing up they climbed up toward her.
"I was the first to reach her and offered up a fresh package of salami which she downed in one bite," Simpsonwrote.
Dakota was too scared to jump the short distance from the snow slope where she stood, so Simpson lured hercloser with the empty salami package until he "was able to bear hug her and set her on flat ground," he wrote.
The two men tied a safety rope to Dakota and escorted her off the mountainside.
• • •
Connie Muldoon was visiting her husband at the hospital the evening of Feb. 2 when she learned Dakota wassafe and being fed and watered at Mt. Baldy Lodge.
"She broke down when she heard they found Dakota," Warren Muldoon said.
Connie Muldoon’s friend Melissa Vosberg of Long Beach offered to retrieve Dakota and take her to aveterinarian. The vet hydrated the dog intravenously and stapled a cut on a hind paw. Dakota was bruised, buther blood work checked out and no bones were broken.
Vosberg brought Dakota home about 1:15 a.m. Friday.
"Oh my goodness, she was a sight for sore eyes," Connie Muldoon said. "She was a little skittish, but she wasreally happy to be home and just loved on."
Health complications delayed Warren Muldoon and Dakota’s reunion. At first, he expected to go home Saturdayor Sunday, but bleeding in his chest kept him in the hospital. After seeing Dakota acting restless at home,confused about her companion’s absence, Connie Muldoon got the OK to bring in Dakota for a visit at WarrenMuldoon’s hospital wing Wednesday.
"You won’t ever go hiking with me ever again" will you, Warren Muldoon asked a tailwagging, bodywrigglingDakota shortly after noon. " ‘I ain’t getting out of the car,’ " he responded on her behalf. Quietly, he said,"That was a bad day."
Dakota bounced back and forth between her humans. She licked at the compression bandage that wrapped thecast on Warren Muldoon’s lower left leg, and happily ate crackers that nurses brought as snacks.
"This is the famous dog we’ve been hearing about," they said.
Two days after his rescue, Warren Muldoon readily accepted responsibility for his and Dakota’s ordeal.
"I was just way over my element," he admitted. "I ended up in a spot I shouldn’t have been."
On Wednesday he was thankful for the people who risked their own safety to save both of them, and happythey both were alive.
"I truly don’t know how I’d live the rest of my life if she died up there," he said.
Rents ticked up across Southern California in the fourth quarter of2016 as limited vacancies kept demand high, according to propertydata firm Reis Inc.
In all, 2016 marked the sixth straight year of steady rent hikes in theregion, reports by Reis and others show. Apartment rents are up 15 to25 percent since 2011.
Orange County tenants paid the 10th highest apartment rent amongkey U.S. metro areas in the final quarter of 2016, with landlordsasking an average of $1,799 a month for a vacant unit, property data
firm Reis Inc. reported.
The monthly rent increased $44 from a year earlier, an increase of 2.5 percent.
Los Angeles County tenants paid the 11thhighest rent among the 82 major U.S. metro areas covered by Reis.The average asking rent there was $1,775 a month, up $85 a month or 5 percent year over year.
In the Inland Empire counties of Riverside and San Bernardino, asking rents were $1,262 a month in the fourthquarter of 2016, an increase of $59 a month or 4.9 percent from a year earlier, Reis figures show. The averagerent paid there ranked 24th highest among the 82 U.S. metros Reis tracks.
Nationwide, average apartment rents increased $47 to $1,304 a month, a 3.7 percent yearoveryear rent hike.
Rent hikes throughout Southern California have been sustained by low vacancies. Vacancy rates in the regionhave held steadily at 4 percent or less for the past five years.
The Inland Empire’s vacancy rate was 2.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016, Reis reported. Vacancies stoodat 3.3 percent in Los Angeles County last quarter and in 3.2 percent in Orange County.
By comparison, the U.S. vacancy rate was 4.1 percent.
Vacancies remained low despite new apartment construction, noted Reis Chief Economist Victor Calanog. Insome cases, landlords are offering rent concessions – such as a movein allowance, a freemonth’s rent orreduced deposits – to keep vacancy rates low. Still, “effective” rents, or the amount collected after concessions,increased in 67 of the 82 markets Reis tracks.
“The most expensive superstar markets like New York, San Francisco and San Jose are the ones registeringdeclines in effective rents,” Calanog wrote.
In Southern California, however, effective rents are rising almost as fast as asking rents. The average effectiverent in Orange County, for example, was $1,762 a month, up 2.3 percent. In Los Angeles County, effective rents
averaged $1,652 a month, up 3.9 percent, while in the Inland Empire effective rents averaged $1,227 a month,up 5 percent.
New York, San Francisco and Silicon Valley had the highest asking rents among metro areas tracked, accordingto Reis. The cheapest rents were in Tulsa, Okla., Oklahoma City, Okla., and Wichita, Kan., where average rentswere a fifth the amount paid in New York City.
Since ACA went into effect, the number of the state’s uninsured adults have beensignificantly reduced.
Mental health and Substance Use Disorder Treatment
The ACA established that mental health and substance use disorders can becovered under Essential Health Benefits (EHB). That allowed millions Medi-Calenrollees to access those services.
Public Hospitals and Health Systems
Through the ACA, low-income Californians were offered an unprecedentedexpansion of insurance coverage. This shifted the focus from emergency care topreventative care, which is must less expensive.
Medicaid Eligibility
Since 2013, Medicaid has received three million new beneficiaries. The ACAmatching funds allowed counties to increase its workforce, improve systems andinnovate solutions for better outcomes.
Public Safety
Many counties are using the ACA Medicaid Expansion to address issues such ascriminal justice recidivism and chronic homelessness.
Two counties, San Mateo and Riverside began using ACA funds last week through the California
Section 1115 Waivers. Riverside County has expanded and improved treatment for low-income
residents struggling with substance use disorder. Set to go into effect this month, Medi-Cal patients
will be covered for a wider range of drug and alcohol treatment options not previously allowed under
federal law.
According to CA Fwd Policy Consultant Kathy Jett, the repeal of the ACA without a robust replacement
will have far reaching effects beyond basic healthcare. “It’s important to know that counties are using
funds from the ACA to reduce the impact specific populations have on the criminal justice system, such
as the mentally ill and those with substance abuse disorders,” said Jett.
CA Fwd’s Justice System Change Initiative (J-SCI) is working with four California counties, including
Riverside County, to lower jail populations. Through its jail studies, J-SCI has found that the mentally ill
generally stay in jail longer and are booked more often for lesser crimes.
The leaders of the six organizations have offered to work with the Congressional delegation to seek
solutions to maintain the state’s safety net and ensure healthcare for millions of Californians.
Californians are paying billions for power they don't needWe're using less electricity. Some power plants have even shut down. So why do state officials keep approving new ones?
By IVAN PENN (HTTP://WWW.LATIMES.COM/LABIOIVANPENNSTAFF.HTML) and RYAN MENEZES (HTTP://WWW.LATIMES.COM/LABIORYANMENEZESSTAFF.HTML) |
Reporting from Yuba City, Calif.
FEB. 5, 2017
Read the story View the graphic (/projects/lafielectricitycapacitygraphic/)
he bucolic orchards of Sutter County north of Sacramento had
never seen anything like it: a visiting governor and a media swarm
— all to christen the first major natural gas power plant in California in
more than a decade.
At its 2001 launch, the Sutter Energy Center was hailed as the nation’s
cleanest power plant. It generated electricity while using less water and
natural gas than older designs.
A year ago, however, the $300million plant closed indefinitely, just 15
years into an expected 30 to 40year lifespan. The power it produces is no
longer needed — in large part because state regulators approved the
construction of a plant just 40 miles away in Colusa that opened in 2010.
“We are building more power plants in California than ever before. Our goal is to makeCalifornia energy self–sufficient.” Gov. Gray Davis at the opening of Sutter Energy Centerin 2001. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Sutter Energy Center has been offline since 2016, after just 15 years of an expected 30 to40year lifespan. (David Butow / For The Times)
Two other large and efficient power plants in California also are facing
closure decades ahead of schedule. Like Sutter, there is little need for their
electricity.
California has a big — and growing — glut of power, an investigation by the
Los Angeles Times has found. The state’s power plants are on track to be
able to produce at least 21% more electricity than it needs by 2020, based
on official estimates. And that doesn’t even count the soaring production of
electricity by rooftop solar panels that has added to the surplus.
ADVERTISEMENT
To cover the expense of new plants whose power isn’t needed — Colusa, for
example, has operated far below capacity since opening — Californians are
paying a higher premium to switch on lights or turn on electric stoves. In
recent years, the gap between what Californians pay versus the rest of the
country has nearly doubled to about 50%.
This translates into a staggering bill. Although California uses 2.6% less
electricity annually from the power grid now than in 2008, residential and
business customers together pay $6.8 billion more for power than they did
then. The added cost to customers will total many billions of dollars over
the next two decades, because regulators have approved higher rates for
years to come so utilities can recoup the expense of building and
maintaining the new plants, transmission lines and related equipment,
even if their power isn’t needed.
How this came about is a tale of what critics call misguided and inept
decisionmaking by state utility regulators, who have ignored repeated
warnings going back a decade about a looming power glut.
“In California, we’re blinding ourselves to the facts,” said Loretta Lynch, a
former president of the California Public Utilities Commission, who along
with consumer advocacy groups has fought to stop building plants. “We’re
awash in power at a premium price.”
California regulators have for years allowed power companies to go on a
building spree, vastly expanding the potential electricity supply in the
state. Indeed, even as electricity demand has fallen since 2008, California’s
new plants have boosted its capacity enough to power all of the homes in a
city the size of Los Angeles — six times over. Additional plants approved by
regulators will begin producing more electricity in the next few years.
The missteps of regulators have been compounded by the selfinterest of
California utilities, Lynch and other critics contend. Utilities are typically
guaranteed a rate of return of about 10.5% for the cost of each new plant
regardless of need. This creates a major incentive to keep construction
going: Utilities can make more money building new plants than by buying
and reselling readily available electricity from existing plants run by
competitors.
Regulators acknowledge the state has too much power but say they are
being prudent. The investment, they maintain, is needed in case of an
emergency — like a power plant going down unexpectedly, a heat wave
blanketing the region or a wildfire taking down part of the transmission
network.
“We overbuilt the system because that was the way we provided that
degree of reliability,” explained Michael Picker, president of the California
Public Utilities Commission. “Redundancy is important to reliability.”
Some of the excess capacity, he noted, is in preparation for the retirement
of older, inefficient power plants over the next several years. The state is
building many new plants to try to meet California environmental
standards requiring 50% clean energy by 2030, he said.
In addition, he said, some municipalities — such as the Los Angeles
Department of Water and Power — want to maintain their own separate
systems, which leads to inefficiencies and redundancies. “These are all
issues that people are willing to pay for,” Picker said.
Critics agree that some excess capacity is needed. And, in fact, state
regulations require a 15% cushion. California surpasses that mark and is on
pace to exceed it by 6 percentage points in the next three years, according
to the Western Electricity Coordinating Council, which tracks capacity and
reliability. In the past, the group has estimated the surplus would be even
higher.
Michael Picker, current president of California’s Public Utilities Commission, said the state’s excess power supply is a strategic decision to ensure reliability. Loretta Lynch, who held the
same position from 2002 to 2005, has been a critic of overbuilding since she chaired the regulatory agency. (Associated Press)
Even the 15% goal is “pretty rich,” said Robert McCullough of Oregon
based McCullough Research, who has studied California’s excess electric
capacity for both utilities and regulators. “Traditionally, 10% is just fine.
Below 7% is white knuckle. We are a long way from whiteknuckle time” in
California.
Contrary to Picker’s assertion, critics say, customers aren’t aware that too
much capacity means higher rates. “The winners are the energy
companies,” Lynch said. “The losers are businesses and families.”
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Sutter Energy Center, now closed, made money only if Calpine Corp. found customers forthe plant's power. Other large, natural gas plants in the state also face early closures. (DavidButow / For The Times)
Colusa Generating Station opened in 2010. Pacific Gas & Electric will charge ratepayersmore than $700 million over the plant's lifespan, to cover its operating costs and the profitguaranteed to public utility companies. (Rich Pedroncelli / AP)
“California has this tradition of astonishingly bad decisions,” said
McCullough, the energy consultant. “They build and charge the ratepayers.
There’s nothing dishonest about it. There’s nothing complicated. It’s just
bad planning.”
— Robert McCullough, energy consultant
The saga of two plants — Sutter Energy and Colusa — helps explain in a
microcosm how California came to have too much energy, and is paying a
high price for it.
Sutter was built in 2001 by Houstonbased Calpine, which owns 81 power
plants in 18 states.
Independents like Calpine don’t have a captive audience of residential
customers like regulated utilities do. Instead, they sell their electricity
under contract or into the electricity market, and make money only if they
“California has this tradition of astonishingly bad decisions.
View the interactive graphic (/projects/lafielectricitycapacitygraphic/)
(/projects/lafielectricitycapacitygraphic/)(/projects/lafielectricitycapacitygraphic/)(/projects/lafielectricitycapacitygraphic/) California’s energy supply: From blackoutsto glut (/projects/lafielectricitycapacitygraphic/)
can find customers for their power.
Sutter had the capacity to produce enough electricity to power roughly
400,000 homes. Calpine operated Sutter at an average of 50% of capacity
in its early years — enough to make a profit.
But then Pacific Gas & Electric Co., a regulated, investorowned utility,
came along with a proposal to build Colusa.
It was not long after a statewide heat wave, and PG&E argued in its 2007
request seeking PUC approval that it needed the ability to generate more
power. Colusa — a plant almost identical in size and technology to Sutter —
was the only largescale project that could be finished quickly, PG&E said.
More than a halfdozen opponents, including representatives of
independent power plants, a municipal utilities group and consumer
advocates filed objections questioning the utility company. Wasn’t there a
more economical alternative? Did California need the plant at all?
They expressed concern that Colusa could be very expensive longterm for
customers if it turned out that its power wasn’t needed.
That’s because public utilities such as PG&E operate on a different model.
If electricity sales don’t cover
the operating and
construction costs of an
independent power plant, it
can’t continue to run for long.
And if the independent plant
closes, the owner — and not
ratepayers — bears the burden
of the cost.
In contrast, publicly regulated
utilities such as PG&E operate
under more accommodating
rules. Most of their revenue
comes from electric rates
approved by regulators that
are set at a level to guarantee
the utility recovers all costs for
operating the electric system
as well as the cost of building
or buying a power plant —
plus their guaranteed profit.
Protesters argued Colusa was unnecessary. The state’s excess production
capacity by 2010, the year Colusa was slated to come online, was projected
to be almost 25% — 10 percentage points higher than state regulatory
The looming oversupply, they asserted, meant that consumers would get
stuck with much of the bill for Colusa no matter how little customers
needed its electricity.
And the bill would be steep. Colusa would cost PG&E $673 million to build.
To be paid off, the plant will have to operate until 2040. Over its lifetime,
regulators calculated that PG&E will be allowed to charge more than $700
million to its customers to cover not just the construction cost but its
operating costs and its profit.
Pacific Gas & Electric's Colusa Generating Station has operated at well below its generating capacity — just 47%in its first five years. (Rich Pedroncelli / AP)
The urgent push by PG&E “seems unwarranted and inappropriate, and
potentially costly to ratepayers,” wrote Daniel Douglass, a lawyer for
industry groups that represent independent power producers.
The California Municipal Utilities Assn. — whose members buy power
from public utilities and then distribute that power to their customers —
also complained in a filing that PG&E’s application appeared to avoid the
issue of how Colusa’s cost would be shared if it ultimately sat idle. PG&E’s
“application is confusing and contradicting as to whether or not PG&E
proposes to have the issue of stranded cost recovery addressed,” wrote
Scott Blaising, a lawyer representing the association. (“Stranded cost” is
industry jargon for investment in an unneeded plant.)
The arguments over Colusa echoed warnings that had been made for years
by Lynch, the former PUC commissioner.
A proconsumer lawyer appointed PUC president in 2000 by Gov. Gray
Davis, Lynch consistently argued as early as 2003 against building more
power plants.
“I was like, ‘What the hell are we doing?’ ” recalled Lynch.
She often butted heads with other commissioners and utilities who pushed
for more plants and more reserves. Midway though her term, the governor
replaced her as president — with a former utility company executive.
One key battle was fought over how much reserve capacity was needed to
guard against blackouts. Lynch sought to limit excess capacity to 9% of the
state’s electricity needs. But in January 2004, over her objections, the PUC
approved a gradual increase to 15% by 2008.
“We’ve created an extraordinarily complex system that gives you a carrot at
every turn,” Lynch said. “I’m a harsh critic because this is intentionally
complex to make money on the ratepayer’s back.”
With Lynch no longer on the PUC, the commissioners voted 50 in June
2008 to let PG&E build Colusa. The rationale: The plant was needed,
notwithstanding arguments that there was a surplus of electricity being
produced in the market.
PG&E began churning out power at Colusa in 2010. For the nearby Sutter
plant, that marked the beginning of the end as its electricity sales
plummeted.
In the years that followed, Sutter’s production slumped to about a quarter
of its capacity, or just half the rate it had operated previously.
(/projects/lafielectricitycapacitygraphic/)California’s energy supply: Fromblackouts to glut (/projects/lafielectricitycapacitygraphic/)
and its construction would lead to higher electricity rates for consumers —on top of the 28% increase the PUC had allowed for PG&E over the
previous five years.
The PUC was caught in a “time warp,” she argued, in approving new
plants as electricity use fell. “Our obligation is to ensure that our decisions
have a legitimate factual basis and that ratepayers’ interest are protected.”
Her protests were ignored. By a 4to1 vote, with Grueneich the lone
dissenter, the commissioners approved the building of the plant.
Consumer advocates then went to court to stop the project, resulting in a
rare victory against the PUC. In February 2014, the California Court of
Appeals overturned the commission, ruling there was no evidence the
plant was needed.
Recent efforts to get courts to block several other PUCapproved plants
have failed, however, so the projects are moving forward.
Contact the reporters (mailto:[email protected];[email protected]?subject=The Power Boom). Formore coverage follow @ivanlpenn (https://twitter.com/ivanlpenn) and
@ryanvmenezes (https://twitter.com/ryanvmenezes)
Times data editor Ben Welsh contributed to this report. Illustrations by Eben McCue. Graphics by Priya
Krishnakumar and Paul Duginski. Produced by Lily Mihalik
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (http://www.dailybulletin.com)
LA County women are getting healthier, study finds, but poverty and homelessness rise
By Susan Abram, Los Angeles Daily News
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
More of Los Angeles County’s women now have medical insurance,are employed, don’t smoke and are less likely to die of breast canceror heart disease, according to a report released Wednesday. But anincreased number also live in poverty, are homeless and havedifficulty accessing health care.
The concluding message behind the data compiled in a triennial reportby the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is that whilemany gains have been made for women in the last several years, somechallenges remain, including in education, wages and domesticviolence, among other factors.
All have an effect on women and their health in Los Angeles County, officials said during a news conference indowntown Los Angeles.
In many ways, women in L.A. County fare better than their national and statewide counterparts. But a closerlook into the county’s ethnic communities reveals that a solution for one group may not work for others.
“About a quarter of our women don’t complete highs school, and that sets them up to be obese or have diabetesand have chronic conditions compared to those with higher education,” said Cynthia Harding of the publichealth department. “The importance of this report it is it highlights some of these inequities across our county,even though we’re seeing gains in the health of women.”
• RELATED STORY: Sexually transmitted diseases surge in California
For example, black women in L.A. County face challenges that impact their health, such as a higher level ofpoverty, unemployment, discrimination and trauma from living in unsafe neighborhoods.
Among Latina women, 14 percent have no medical insurance.
Asian women have the longest life expectancy among all races but are less likely to access health care or to havehad mammograms in the last two years compared with women from other groups.
White women have high rates of high school and college graduation, the highest median employment earningsand lowest poverty rates but have the highest rates of depression, suicide mortality and Alzheimer’s disease.
• RELATED STORY: Diabetes crisis grips Southern California
For the first time, the study examined American Indian/Alaskan Native women and found they were more likelyto have higher rates of obesity and coronary heart disease and diabetes compared with those in other groups.
“They are also more likely to report their health as being fair or poor, smoke cigarettes and seriously think aboutcommitting suicide,” according to the study.
“There are a couple of places where the data are sobering,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, the newly appointed directorfor the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
At least one in four black and white women experience physical and/or sexual violence by a partner, forexample, more so than Latinas and Asians.
“I think we need to place attention in the number of women experiencing violence,” Ferrer added. “You have thehighest rates across the board. This has a detrimental effect on women and their families.”
The report also found:
• Homelessness among L.A. County’s women increased in the last several years. More than 14,000 women werehomeless in 2016, much of it as a result of a lack of affordable housing.
• 53 percent of women in Los Angeles County live below an annual income of $23,760 or 200 percent below thefederal poverty line.
• The rate of colorectal cancer screenings among women 50 to 74 years old remains below the Healthy Peopletarget of 71 percent.
• Hospitalizations and emergency room visits for assault injuries is up to four times greater for black womencompared with Los Angeles County women overall.
• The percent of uninsured women in Los Angeles County has decreased from 26 percent in 2011 to 10 percentin 2015.
That more have health coverage is promising, health officials said, but Latinas, AfricanAmerican and Asianwomen continue to struggle with accessing that care for multiple reasons, including transportation, navigatingthe health system, and finding physicians and health care workers who understand the nuances of differentcultures, leaders in women’s health said.
But it’s even more complex for AfricanAmerican women, who make up 9 percent of Los Angeles County’spopulation, but suffer from the highest poverty rate and are more likely to be homeless, said Sonya YoungAadam, chief executive officer for the California Black Women’s Health Project.
“In L.A. County, one size doesn’t fit all,” said Melinda CorderoBargaza, associate director for Vision yCompromiso, an organization that trains promotoras, or health promoters, to work in the community.
“But there’s an opportunity for all these community partners to come together,” she added.
At Valley Community Healthcare in North Hollywood, chief medical officer Dr. Roger Peeks said he has seen avast improvement in the number of women who have health coverage. But he acknowledges that access can bestill be an issue.
Still, he noted the Affordable Care Act’s emphasis on preventative care means that he’s seeing patients withdiabetes and high blood pressure come to the center more frequently, and fewer of them are in crisis.
“We’re doing a lot to decrease the noshow rate” among patients, Peeks said.
In December, Los Angeles County Supervisors Hilda Solis and Sheila Kuehl authored and passed a fiveyearInitiative on Women and Girls that looks at education, employment and health.
