NEWS & UPDATES

RJI Documents
At A Glance

RJI Cluster Contacts

(PDF, 45.62 KB)

RJI Fact Sheet

(PDF, 40.54 KB)

Making Sense of Clusters - Brookings Institution Report

(PDF, 827.15 KB)

Annual Meeting 04.22.09

Annual Meeting 03.28.08

Annual Meeting 03.02.07

Final RJI Implementation Plan

Proposed Action Plan for the Economic Recovery of the Valley

(PPT [Powerpoint Show] 1.96 MB)

Annual Meeting 02.21.06

Mid-Year Meeting 07.21.05

Annual Meeting 01.27.05

Visitors Bureau names Eben president, CEO

The Fresno Bee

After serving in an interim capacity since January, Jeff Eben has been hired as president and chief executive officer of the Fresno City and County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Eben was selected in part because he understands that tourism can be a major industry for the Fresno area, said Stan Oken, a bureau member.

Eben said the city and county need to forge a closer relationship with the nearby national parks, better promote niche agriculture and other niche tourist markets, and offer convention packages that include an extra night at the beginning or the end.

Eben's annual salary is about $95,000.

By Tracy Correa / The Fresno Bee

At a time when many workers are seeing pay cuts or even losing their jobs, 113 employees at a Fresno food-processing plant got a huge surprise Thursday: an extra paycheck.

It was a gift from LiDestri Foods Inc. owner Giovanni "John" LiDestri back in New York state. He wanted to share his excitement after learning he would be inducted into the Rochester Business Hall of Fame.

More than 700 LiDestri Foods workers in Fresno, New Jersey and New York received two checks this payday. LiDestri said it was the least he could do to thank the employees who have helped the company succeed.

"I thought it was a great honor. I thought I needed to share this," said LiDestri. "I needed to do something more than to say thank you. So, I decided, it's a great excuse to do something nice."

At 63, he said, "I am a stage in my life where material things don't mean that much."

The extra money made Janie Sanchez, a production relief worker in Fresno, smile through tears. "I read this letter," she said, referring to a letter from LiDestri attached to the envelope with the bonus check.

He wrote: "No, you are not seeing double. No, we did not have a computer glitch. Yes, you are getting a double paycheck."

It went on to say: "I know most of you will want to thank me for this gesture, but I have said it a thousand times and I will say it again, that the 'thank yous' should go from me to you because, after all, the only thing I contribute is the vision, and you on the other hand, do all the hard work."

Sanchez said she will give the extra money to her husband, who is building his dream motorcycle before a scheduled amputation of his leg next month. He suffered complications from knee surgery and has other health problems.

LiDestri Foods manufactures sauces, dips and salsas under labels including Newman's Own, Francesco Rinaldi and Sante Fe Salsa.

Giovanni LiDestri, who got his start at 16 working as a bottle washer for Ragu, has owned the company for 30 years. LiDestri operated a plant in Selma from 1992 to 2003, when it expanded and moved to Fresno. The 200,000-square-foot plant and warehouse is on Temperance Avenue south of Kings Canyon Road.

The company's other plants are in Fairport, N.Y. -- the company's headquarters, near Rochester -- Dundee, N.Y., and Pennsauken, N.J.

< Only a handful of people high up in the company were in the loop. Even the human resources managers at the company's four plants were kept in the dark until Thursday morning, said Monica Draper, human resources manager at the southeast Fresno plant.

Draper was told not to open the FedEx packages containing paychecks until instructed to do so by telephone Thursday. "Is this our final paycheck?" was the first thing that came to mind, she said.

By 10:30 a.m., she was allowed to open the payroll packages -- and learn the secret. Within a few minutes, she told plant manager Willie Bynum. They called in the eight managers on duty. "There were high-fives," Draper said. "A lot of smiles."

Scott Speck, a master mechanic who has worked at LiDestri for 11 years, said it didn't surprise him that "John," as they all call him, would do such a thing. After all, workers also receive Fourth of July bonuses -- $4 for every month they have worked at LiDestri. "John's a great guy. He's very generous," Speck said.

Company officials wouldn't say how much they handed out in total. In Fresno, everyone from forklift drivers to sanitation workers to managers received the bonuses. Pay at the Fresno plant ranges from $10 to $25 an hour.

Employees were signing a giant card Thursday to thank LiDestri. The messages they wrote were simple. Said one: "Thanks John."

The Fresno Bee

A recent survey about Fresno found that people like the area's national parks, fresh produce and easy commute. But they were not fond of the lousy air quality, crime and poor job opportunities.

The online survey was spearheaded by the Fresno County Convention and Visitors Bureau and was done with the support of Decipher Inc. and The Fresno Bee. More than 1,000 people responded to the survey, which was designed to provide a better picture of what people think about the region.

It will also be used to develop a brand for the region.

Of those who took the online survey, most were female, highly educated and between the ages of 35 and 55.

Along with listing their likes and dislikes about Fresno, survey participants found a few reasons to brag about the area, including its access and location, its proximity to attractions, its conservativeness, its diversity and its friendliness.

When asked whether Fresno has a negative image, an overwhelming number -- 86% -- said yes. But 75% also believe that the negative image can be overcome, and 44% think the image is improving.

The region's self-esteem, however, did not rate very high. Only 7% said the region had a high self-esteem, 48% said it was average and 45% said it was low.

By Sanford Nax / The Fresno Bee

This recession is so severe that businesses should hoard cash, put thoughts of expanding aside and focus on just surviving--yet they also need to prepare to capitalize on the opportunities that arise when the economy recovers.

That was the central theme of Wednesday's annual meeting of Regional Jobs Initiative, appropriately titled "Planting the Seed for a New Economy."

The RJI started as a grass-roots effort to lower the area's unemployment rate and create jobs in five years. A half-decade later, business leaders and participants have decided to keep going. They say they believe in the collaboration and innovation that the initiative spawned.

"Rethink, reposition and renew," Mike Dozier told a packed audience at TorNino's in Fresno. Dozier is interim director of the Office of Community and Economic Development at Fresno State and an RJI leader.

In 2003, the initiative started with the goal of creating 25,000 to 35,000 jobs by 2008 by focusing efforts on 12 industry clusters, such as manufacturing and arts and culture.

By the end of 2007, the region had added 17,100 jobs in those clusters. The recession has hit in force, and there have been some setbacks; but Dozier still calls the initiative a success.

"We are ahead of other regions just because of [the innovation and collaboration], and we are doing it at all levels," he said.

Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin co-founded RJI when she headed the Office of Community and Economic Development at Fresno State. She appeared at the annual meeting to encourage continued innovation and collaboration among businesses, education and government.

Swearengin said businesses and agencies that once were rivals now work together toward a common goal.

"That was a major breakthrough, embracing collaboration," she said. "If we collaborate, we save money and do a better job."

She encouraged the transitioning RJI to focus on developing a workforce to match the new realities, to create more research and development centers, to offer sales and marketing support, and to build up business infrastructures and advocacy.

She highlighted the Central Valley Business Incubator, the water technology research and incubation program at Fresno State and the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, also at Fresno State, as shining stars in the new economy.

But first, the Valley has to get through this recession.

Brad Triebsch, a partner in the Central Valley Fund, told business leaders to "hunder down" for the next 18 to 36 months

Companies should postpone all but the most essential expenditures, renegotiate contracts with supplieres, delay expansions, conserve cash and cut back where they can, he told about 200 people who attended the annual meeting.

Triebsch, who was part of a panel discussion, suggested businesses emphasize retaining customers through good service because that costs less than adding new ones.

"Protect your vital core of business at all costs," Triebsch said. "If you make it through, there will be more opportunity when you come out at the end."

Dan Doyle, president of Central Valley Community Bank, said that loan volume has increased, despite what many people think.

He said the 322 banks in California--most of which are community leaders--issued more loans in the first quarter than in the same period last year. Loan volume at Central Valley Community Bank increased 11% during that period.

But loans to certain industry segments, such as construction, have declined, Doyle said.

"Develop a survival plan," he said. "These are the times we find out who the good managers are."

Central Valley Business Times
April 7, 2009

• Broadens from its original objectives
• ‘The real benefit of the RJI is collaboration’


Fresno’s Regional Jobs Initiative will see a change in emphasis as it marks its fifth anniversary and comes under the helm of Mike Dozier, director of the Office of Community and Economic Development at 
California State University, Fresno.

Originally focused on bringing jobs to the Fresno County area, RJI has seen its mission widen to take on more challenges, he says.


“The real benefit of the RJI is collaboration,” says Mr. Dozier.

He says the RJI in the years ahead will be working not just on jobs but also infrastructure improvements ranging from land use and planning to the high-speed rail plan.

“There will be a whole different area that has not been looked at before – the human side of things – everything from education, workforce development, welfare, food stamps,” he adds.

Mr. Dozier says the broad outlines of the new goals will be part of RJI’s fifth annual meeting, co‐presented by the Economic Development Corporation serving Fresno County.

The April 22 meeting is expected to bring together more than 200 local business executives, the public and community leaders from throughout Fresno County.

As the keynote speaker, Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin (former executive director of RJI) will focus on the future of economic development and RJI’s fundamental role within the region.

As many of you know, the RJI we’ve known for the last five years is in a transitional period. As a result, business and community leaders are in the process of shaping the future of RJI’s Industry Clusters.

We want you to be part of this important process and need your input. Our goal is to provide collaborative value within the clusters to make a strong impact in the community.

To gather your input efficiently and quickly, please complete a brief 10-minute survey. We appreciate your participation and support.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please complete a survey for each cluster in which you participated.


RJI Clean Energy Cluster

RJI Construction Cluster

RJI Food Processing Cluster

RJI Healthcare Cluster

RJI Information Processing: Call Center Cluster

RJI Logistics & Distribution Cluster

RJI Manufacturing Cluster

RJI Public Sector Cluster

RJI Tourism Cluster

RJI Software Development Cluster

RJI Water Technology Cluster

Remember to mark April 22 on your calendar for RJI's Annual Event.

We look forward to serving you.

Sincerely,

Mike Dozier
Executive Director | Regional Jobs Initiative

Office of Community and Economic Development
California State University, Fresno
559.294.6021

By Bethany Clough / The Fresno Bee

Hundreds of small-business owners and employees on Thursday descended upon workshops designed to help businesses thrive.

Representatives of new and established businesses said that despite the daunting economy they were determined to survive and expressed optimism about the future at the city of Fresno's first-ever Small Business Development Day.

Mike Zertuche said he came looking for information to increase business. He works in outside sales for Johnstone Supply in Fresno, which sells heating and air conditioning parts and equipment at the wholesale level and is doing OK despite the recession.

"Our attitude is that we're not going to participate in the recession," Zertuche said.

The event at the Fresno Convention Center's Exhibit Hall offered informational booths and free workshops in marketing, writing business plans, contracting with government agencies and other topics.

"Small businesses are the backbone of our economy," said Angela Vasquez of the Downtown and Community Revitalization Department. If they thrive, the economy thrives, she said.

Historically, small businesses have generated between 60% and 80% of all new jobs, according to the Small Business Administration.

Andy McTavish, area manager for Gaskets-N-More, which sells commercial kitchen hardware, said his company is trying to do more than survive.

He was checking out financing options for buying new equipment and expanding the business.

The company currently manufactures its products in Las Vegas, but McTavish said he hopes to bring some manufacturing here and eventually hire new employees, he said.

Optimism was shared by fledgling businesses, too.

Catering by Joe is just a few weeks old. The Fresno business, founded by Joe Velasquez, offers all kinds of ethnic catering and American food, along with DJ services and table-and-chair rentals for everything from weddings to small luncheons.

"It's scary," he said of starting a business in this economy.

On Thursday, he was learning how to deal with taxes and to market his company to set it apart from competitors. He said he has struggled with how to let customers know he can cook various ethnic foods -- without handing them a gigantic menu.

Despite his obstacles, Velasquez constantly smiled while talking about his company.

"Even with the economy being so bad, I am looking forward to the challenge," he said.

By Ken Robison / The Fresno Bee

For a few hours Wednesday, Clovis was in the international spotlight.

Thousands of biking enthusiasts, fun-and-sun lovers and Lance Armstrong fans descended on downtown Clovis for the Tour of California, which finished its fourth stage in Old Town.

Officials said 35,000 to 50,000 people turned out on a sunny day as Mark Cavendish won a sprint down Pollasky Avenue. Even more watched on television or the Internet as the event was shown all over the world.

The final sprint came after the peloton -- the main body of cyclists -- caught up to a three-man breakaway that had run most of the race ahead of the pack. That's when the Columbia-Highroad team unleased sprinter Cavendish, who edged past Tom Boonen of the Quick Step team in a photo finish.

Levi Leipheimer of Astana finished safely in the bunch to keep the leader's gold jersey.

Today's Stage 5 starts in Visalia at 10 a.m. and finishes in Paso Robles. The Tour of California, which began in Sacramento, ends Sunday in Escondido.

The mood was festive in Clovis as spectators lined the streets leading into Old Town and mobbed the area near the finish line.

Ed Borjas, wife Mona and daughter Yvonne of Clovis arrived on Pollasky Avenue at 6 a.m. and parked their fold-up chairs near the finish line.

Borjas, a furniture maker, had taken the Clovis race organizers' entreaty to "take the day off" from work.

When he heard the race was coming to his town, and that Armstrong was racing, Borjas asked for the day off weeks ago.

"I'm a big fan of Lance Armstrong," he said. "What he's been through. He fought cancer and beat it. Won the Tour de France. He's a great role model, what he did for cancer."

Indeed, Armstrong was the most visible presence in Clovis on Wednesday. Hundreds of spectators wore yellow T-shirts bearing his "Livestrong" logo. Numerous booths on side streets were devoted to fighting cancer or supporting cancer patients and survivors.

"That's the mystique of Lance Armstrong," said Bob Wover, a postal driver from Winnipeg, Canada. "All of us know someone who has had cancer or died from it."

Wover and his friends left Winnipeg -- where the low temperature Wednesday was 18 degrees below zero -- and landed in San Francisco on Sunday. They're following the Tour of California all the way to Southern California.

"I like the way cycling as a sport is growing in North America," he said. "OK, they whiz by really fast, but who cares. It's a chance to see Lance in person.

"And [bicycling] is good for us as a people -- a healthy endeavor, good exercise, gets us outdoors."

Tina Chandler of Clovis had a seat in the sun in Clovis to watch the finish. Husband Jeff was in the snow near Bass Lake.

"That was exactly the sprint finish I wanted," she said. "I'm a Cavendish fan."

Jeff Chandler drove into the foothills through North Fork, parked his truck, hopped on his bike and joined a group of spectators watching the riders finish their King of the Mountain climb over Crane Valley Road.

He then drove down the mountain, hoping to see the finish.

"As I was getting off 168 at Fowler, I could see the helicopters crossing Herndon," Jeff said. "I knew I didn't make it."

But he wasn't crying about missing the final sprint.

"[Tina] likes the finish and I like to see them go up the mountains. I never got to see that before. I got to see them go by once today, but twice would have been better."

Rusty Smith and his wife, Laurie, from Meridian, Idaho, parked their RV in Fresno and cycled to Clovis for the race. Rusty Smith, 55, races on a circuit for men older than 50.

Taking a few sips in the wine garden, he was eager for a sprint finish.

"There's nothing in the world like a half-dozen riders barreling down a straightaway," Smith said. "These guys take the sport to a different level."

From a vantage point in the courtyard of Giovanni's Caffe Italiano, Jeff Moore of Madera County and friends Dan Darby and Rob Pearson had a fine view of the large-screen television at Pollasky and Fifth.

"This country has changed. There are more cyclists on the roads," Moore said. "Lance has done that.

"We're cyclists, and we've ridden the same route down from Spring Valley School. This is a great place to ride."

On Wednesday, it was also a great place to watch -- especially near the finish line in a front-row seat secured at 6 a.m.

"It's one of those things you get to see maybe once in a lifetime," Ed Borjas said. "It was quite an experience for me.

"Worth every minute I came out for."

And did he get to see his hero, Armstrong? Like most folks, Borjas wasn't sure.

"I was looking hard, but they go by so fast," he said. "You wink and you miss him."

Visalia Times-Delta | Tulare Advance-Register
By Victor Garcia

TULARE - Lt. Gov. John Garamendi and others discussed the importance of a medical school in the Valley with the small crowd that gathered at Tulare Community Auditorium this week.

The Central Valley Community Forum "Medical Education in the Valley: Long Term Solutions" on Tuesday included two medical professionals, a high school senior interested in a medical career, Tulare's high school district superintendent and a Valley businessman.

There are 30 percent fewer general-practice physicians in the Valley than the California average, and about 50 percent fewer specialty physicians, Garamendi said.

He said the lack of physicians in the Valley hurts the economy in two ways.

"Businesses will not locate where there isn't good health care," he said. "[And] over $800 million leaves the San Joaquin Valley to drive to Los Angeles or San Francisco where health care is available."

Part of the solution for more medical professionals in the Valley is a medical school at University of California, Merced, he said.

There wasn't much interest in a UC Merced medical school by UC officials until recently, he said. That changed under the UC's current chancellor, Mark Yudof.

A Washington Advisory Group report, which is Yudof's focus, has a three-phase approach to a medical school at UC Merced, said retired Fresno businessman Peter Weber, who is a member on the Valley Coalition for the UC Merced Medical School.

Phase one would be a pre-med program at UC Merced that could start next year, he said. Phase two would be a partnership with University of California, Davis, where UC Merced's medical school branch would actually be in Davis. Phase three would be a full-fledged program at UC Merced by 2020.

Weber said the Valley needs to speak with one voice to make Garamendi's medical school proposal happen.

"With the lieutenant governor's support we need to make our voice heard to the UC Regents and create a sense of urgency to get this done," he said.

By Brad Branan / The Fresno Bee

A 2002 master development plan for Fresno has failed to make good on promises to curb urban sprawl, public records and interviews show.

Experts say sprawl -- poorly planned development scattered far from the city's heart -- could add to some of Fresno's biggest problems by creating more traffic and air pollution, depriving core neighborhoods of development and straining the city's budget for road maintenance.

The city's latest general plan, a blueprint approved in November 2002 for growth through 2025, brought promises to control the problem, which has been a concern for decades.

Mayor Alan Autry said at the time that the plan was a "defining moment in the history of our city," marking "the day when our city's leaders said 'no' to continuing urban sprawl."

But experts say the plan was flawed from the beginning, allowing construction of housing projects on agricultural land on the city's fringe, isolated from jobs and shopping.

In addition, the City Council has routinely approved developer requests for exceptions to the plan or the city's zoning code, city records show.

Experts say such case-by-case tinkering with development plans only worsens sprawl.

From January 2003 through June 2008, the council approved about 400 zone changes or general plan amendments and denied just four.

The approvals included more than 300 projects around the city's edges -- in most cases allowing more intense development. The Bee analysis excluded zoning changes requested before 2003.

Over those 5 1/2 years, the city let developers convert more than 11 square miles around Fresno's edges for residential, commercial and other types of development. That includes two of the biggest projects approved in recent years: Copper River Ranch subdivision, which added a square mile to Fresno's northern tip, and the Fancher Creek development, which converted almost a square mile on the southeastern side.

Despite the promises of 2002, "It looks like business as usual," said Hal Tokmakian, a former Fresno County planning director and professor emeritus of planning at California State University, Fresno. Tokmakian and several other planning experts reviewed the city's land-use decisions at The Bee's request.

Nick Yovino, Fresno's recently retired planning director, disagrees with their assessment. Most of the land-use changes were rezones allowed under the general plan, said Yovino, who wrote it. Plan amendments have made for more "judicious use" of land, he said.

"The plan is working exactly as it should," Yovino said.

But Tokmakian and other critics said the plan was flawed to begin with -- and that the repeated amendments prove the point.

Among similar-sized cities in California, the few that amend their plans more than Fresno have decided to start over and make new development plans.

In Fresno, the "plan is cockeyed," said Tokmakian, who taught Yovino when he was a student at Fresno State. The plan fails because it doesn't work well with the city's zoning code, which is based on planning ideas from the 1950s, he said.

Others contend that sprawl is a sign that Fresno's traditionally cozy relationship with developers has not changed.

Fresno completed the development plan the same year federal authorities were wrapping up cases from Operation Rezone, which ensnared former City Council members for accepting bribes for land-use decisions. Since then, critics contend, legal money from developers -- service fees and campaign contributions -- has continued to tilt the system in their favor.

Crowded edges

On Fresno's western edge, subdivisions are starting to fill the landscape, standing alongside orchards and farms, many of them dilapidated. Roads are lined with signs advertising new homes.

Converting farmland into subdivisions has been a dominant building pattern in the central San Joaquin Valley. Several experts who reviewed land-use changes since the plan was approved found that the pattern of sprawl has continued.

Fresno has approved conversions for more than 140 single-family housing projects around the city's edge, including Copper River Ranch and Fancher Creek, since the 2002 plan was adopted.

The decisions created sprawl by replacing farmland with isolated housing tracts often distant from shopping and work, experts said.

"They're turning agricultural districts into low-density housing, which by most people's definition is sprawl," said Rob Wassmer, a public-policy professor at California State University, Sacramento. Wassmer has written extensively about sprawl in the West, including a report that found Fresno was one of nine California metro areas with the biggest increases in sprawl in the 1990s.

His assessment of Fresno's record in the last six years: "It doesn't look like there's been a concentrated effort to stop sprawl."

Fresno's recent land-use decisions look like "piecemeal zoning -- they're dealing with each project in isolation," said Reid Ewing, research professor at the National Center for Smart Growth at the University of Maryland. He pointed to a list of residential subdivisions approved without commercial projects to serve them.

Carol Whiteside, founder of the Great Valley Center, a Modesto think tank focused on growth issues, sees a similar pattern in the city's development decisions.

"They seem very opportunistic, based on landowner desires and without a goal in mind," she said. "The problem with plan amendments is that they're done without looking at the big picture."

City defends record

Yovino disagrees. He said the development plan checked sprawl by approving only a slight increase in the city's "sphere of influence" -- the zone of unincorporated land around the city designated for future annexation.

The area covers 50 square miles, potentially expanding the city by 45% to accommodate an anticipated 60% increase in population by 2025, Yovino said.

By contrast, Sacramento expects to vote on a development plan this year that would keep all but 1% of future growth in its existing city, said Jim McDonald, a senior planner in Sacramento. As part of a nationally recognized effort to curb sprawl, cities in the Sacramento region have agreed to limit suburban growth.

Fresno officials also have touted their development plan as a sprawl-control measure.

"The very first thing we must do to prevent sprawl is to implement the city's general plan," City Council Member and mayoral candidate Henry T. Perea said earlier this year.

"The key in controlling sprawl in Fresno is to continue to follow the 2025 general plan," Council Member Jerry Duncan said when he was running for mayor.

But some council members are reticent about the land-use changes they've approved since adopting the plan. Perea, for example, failed to respond to repeated requests for an interview.

Duncan and Council Member Brian Calhoun said the plan needs to accommodate growth, not prevent it. Said Calhoun: "People are going to move here unless we put up a fence. And we have to have an economy."

"If our goal was to 'stop sprawl,' that would involve a new general plan," Duncan said. "We needed single-family housing. We didn't want to stop the housing industry."

But Council Member Mike Dages, who represents southeast Fresno, said land-use changes have undermined the plan.

"There is sprawl, no doubt about it. We've also taken productive farmland," he said. "We haven't put our foot down and said, 'Developers, you are going to build here.' "

Asked why he supported most of the changes, Dages said he tended to view each decision in isolation, without seeing the big picture. He faults the Planning and Development Department for not providing the council with more comprehensive information about all the changes.

Fresno has received praise for some of its efforts to control sprawl. In October 2006, the city reduced the lot-size minimum for single-family homes from 6,000 to 5,000 square feet, a move expected to lead to more efficient land use.

The city also hired an internationally known planner, Peter Calthorpe, to come up with a blueprint for the Southeast Growth Area. The city hopes to direct 120,000 new residents by 2050 to the now-unincorporated area south of Clovis and east of Sanger. The plan differs from other fringe development because it would have places to live, work and shop.

Paying for sprawl

One of the fastest-growing parts of Fresno lies west of Highway 99. Builders like the relatively low cost of land. Residents can afford a home they couldn't buy in other areas.

Living on the edge of town comes at a cost, though -- longer commutes, for one. In the last year, rising gasoline prices have made commuting much more expensive.

Holly Rodriguez, 23, has felt the pain since buying a home in a new subdivision at Polk and Clinton avenues last year. Rodriguez and her husband couldn't afford a home near the insurance company where she works in north Fresno.

"It's about a 35-minute drive," she said of her daily commute. "There's a lot of stop signs along the way. There's a lot of traffic."

Rodriguez and other west side residents said area roads aren't built for all the traffic. There are too many potholes and stop signs, not enough traffic signals or sidewalks. Narrow and deteriorating rural roads carry urban traffic.

The city, Fresno County and others have formed a committee to identify transportation needs on the west side.

But Fresno has limited funding for road improvements and other infrastructure. Former City Council Member Tom Boyajian, who was the only member to vote against the development plan, said he was opposed because the city wasn't bringing in enough revenue to pay for improvements needed to serve new development.

City officials have acknowledged that projected revenue will fall short of the needs created by the plan.

For instance, the city has estimated the cost of needed street improvements at around $4 billion. But street fees approved by the city last year are expected to raise just $415 million.

State law prevents the city from using the fees to fix streets that are already deficient, according to a study commissioned by the city. Sections of some of Fresno's busiest roads -- Herndon, Shaw, Bullard, Ashlan and Shields avenues -- can only be fixed with other transportation funding.

Sprawl and smog

Driving is tied to another effect of sprawl -- dirty air. People driving longer distances create more vehicle emissions.

Two years ago, the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District became the first agency in the state to create an air rule for new development. The district charges a fee to developers for new buildings on the edges of cities.

Vehicle emissions have gone down because of improved technology and stricter state requirements, said Tom Jordan, a district administrator.

But reductions would have been greater if not for fringe development, which leads to more driving.

In Fresno County and across the air district, the number of miles driven by all motorists is expected to increase at a greater rate than population growth, an indication of sprawl, Jordan said.

In three court cases, a group of Valley doctors accused Fresno of not paying enough attention to air quality when approving development. Concerned about respiratory illnesses, Medical Advocates for Healthy Air challenged the city's approval of the master development plan, and the Fancher Creek and Copper River Ranch projects.

The city settled the cases, agreeing to perform transportation studies and make improvements, such as installing emission-control devices on city buses, among other things.

Kevin Hamilton of Medical Advocates was surprised to learn that the city has approved so much development on the edges of Fresno. He also was upset, he said, because the decisions contradict his understanding of the development plan's goals.

"With all of the public health problems, it makes sense for them to stick to the plan," said Hamilton, director of special population services at Sequoia Community Health Centers.

... and poverty

Researchers link poverty to sprawl, because continued suburban development means less investment in the inner city.

Fresno has the nation's highest rate of concentrated poverty, The Brookings Institution found in reports in 2005 and this year. When one of the authors, Alan Berube, presented his findings in Fresno two years ago, he pointed to the city's development pattern as a central reason for poverty.

While the city's poorest neighborhoods are on the south side, Berube said, most of the city's new development has been on the north side, where new housing is aimed at upper-income residents.

Fresno's development plan calls for revitalization of the city's core, which covers an area generally between Chestnut and West avenues, and Ashlan and Jensen avenues. The city has offered incentives to attract builders to the core, such as lower street fees.

But with a few exceptions, residential builders haven't been interested in the urban core, said Michael Prandini, president and CEO of the Building Industry Association of Fresno/Madera Counties. Land costs more, isn't available in large parcels, and homebuyers don't want to live there, he said.

Developers won't build much in Fresno's core until all other land is developed, and that's only if the city sticks to its planned growth boundary, he said.

What went wrong?

Boyajian and other critics said they're not surprised sprawl continues under Fresno's development plan.

Before leaving office in 2006, Boyajian served on the City Council when three former council members were convicted in the federal Operation Rezone bribery and fraud cases. The influence of developer money is more pervasive now, even if it's legal, Boyajian said.

That's because the city's rapid growth has made development more lucrative, he said.

From January 2002 through May 2008, real-estate developers and subdividers donated $565,000 to the campaigns of City Council members and Mayor Autry, far more than any other group, according to a Bee analysis.

The next leading donor group, public officials, contributed less than $200,000 during the same period.

Some of the top donors -- Granville Homes, homebuilder Robert McCaffrey and Bonadelle Homes -- also were some of the top beneficiaries of land-use changes, each receiving at least several council approvals in the last six years.

Some City Council members said the donations didn't influence their votes.

"Bob McCaffrey has been very generous with me, but does that mean I would vote for his project? No," Calhoun said.

Council Member Dages, however, said campaign contributions influence the council, including himself.

"It shouldn't, but it does," he said. "Most politicians will tell you it doesn't. But if someone writes you a $3,600 check, you feel an obligation to them."

Dages said he wouldn't vote for a project just because the developer contributed to his campaign, but he would "listen more" to the developer's proposal.

Council members often rely on recommendations from the Planning and Development Department, and bias exists there, too, some say.

Until 2003, it was just called the Development Department. And the department has been funded by development fees for years -- $13 million in the current budget.

"As long as the fuel is growth, guess which way the car is going to go?" said Fresno environmental attorney Richard Harriman. "The fees create a bias in favor of the client -- the developer."

But Yovino said the funding only makes the department run "like a business" and doesn't influence planning decisions.

Plan problems

Planning experts provide another reason for the city's failure to better manage growth -- flaws in the development plan and the zoning code.

Plan amendments have contributed to fringe growth. Of the 110 amendments approved through June, 82 were for projects around the city's edges.

The Bee surveyed planning departments in the state's 20 largest cities, except Los Angeles. In an average year, only Sacramento, Bakersfield and San Jose approve plan amendments more often than Fresno.

In its guidebook on development plans, the state Governor's Office of Planning and Research says "frequent piecemeal amendments" to a plan can indicate "major defects." Cities should consider plan revisions in such cases.

Sacramento, Bakersfield and San Jose are all updating their development plans, and expect to approve them in the next two years.

"If you amend the plan too much, it loses its meaning," said McDonald, the Sacramento planner. "It encourages people to come in and amend the plan."

Fresno's plan needs to change, said Tokmakian, the former Fresno County planning director.

The plan tries to be too specific about what kinds of development should be built on individual pieces of property, he said.

The plan should regulate development through policy, not a map, he said.

Almost all of the plan amendments were needed because proposed development differed from the plan map, Yovino conceded. But having a detailed map allows the city to better plan for infrastructure needs, he said.

The city's zoning code also needs updating, Tokmakian said, because it was approved in 1960 and likely doesn't "translate the goals of the plan effectively." The zoning code is the law cities use to regulate land use.

Yovino said the city has made many amendments to the zoning code since adopting the development plan. Holding up the development plan for a new zoning code would have taken too long.

The result, according to Tokmakian, is that Fresno uses a system incapable of bringing promised change. Instead, the city continues "the same pattern of piecemeal changes on the fringes, concentrating on open space," he said.

The reporter can be reached at bbranan@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6679.

By Sanford Nax / The Fresno Bee

The number of people receiving job-training and placement services through Goodwill Industries increased 52% through July compared with the same period last year, said Sally Wooden, director of public relations and development.

More of them are older than traditional students, leading organizers to conclude that they were laid off from their last job. The jobless rate in Fresno County last month was 9.7%, up more than two percentage points from a year earlier.

"We're seeing an increase in the average age" of clients, said Linda Hightower, Goodwill's marketing and resource coordinator.

Other organizations are reporting similar trends. Valley community colleges reported jumps in fall semester enrollments, the Career Advancement Academy at Fresno City College tripled participation over six months and the state Labor and Workforce Development Agency, responding to demand, is targeting laid-off workers from hard-hit industries such as construction, mortgage lending and real-estate financing.

Gov. Schwarzenegger has committed $10.5 million to help displaced construction and finance workers "talent transfer" to other careers, said Paul Feist, a spokesman for the Workforce Development Agency.

"What can I do?" is a common question for people unexpectedly thrust into the job market. The Employment Development Department offers possible answers. It has on its Web site lists of careers that require similar skills.

Real-estate appraisers, for example, have similar skills to buyers for wholesalers and retailers. Or they can become claims examiners, cost estimators, customer service representatives or licensing examiners and inspectors.

Getting new skills

In Fresno, the Career Advancement Academy at Fresno City College offers 18-week and 27-week training for entry-level jobs in automotive, welding and computer-aided manufacturing. The academy also incorporates a strong dose of English and math tailored to the specific program.

From there, students can get a job and move up through the ranks, or advance to more detailed programs at the college. The objective: provide jobs in industries with a shortage of workers, said Vicki Pontius, academy director.

"Skilled technicians are retiring, and high schools are dropping vocational programs," she said. "We've worked with business and industry to determine what kind of skills are necessary."

Welders, executive secretaries, truck drivers and industrial machinery mechanics are some of the workers needed in the Valley, according to the state Employment Development Department.

Matching skills to the available work force is key. The issue is not a shortage of jobs, said Blake Konczal, director of the Fresno County Workforce Investment Board, but rather finding employees who have the necessary skills.

"It's work to find employees," said Michael Kelton, chief executive officer of Inland Star, a Fresno warehouse and shipping center. "It's almost a constant deal."

Goodwill programs expand

Students in Goodwill's new Industrial Technology program have visited Inland Star and other businesses as part of their coursework. The agency started the Industrial Technology training to complement its office technology, retail sales and janitorial programs in May.

The course equips people to work in the warehouse and distribution industry, which is expanding in the Valley. Students learn how to load pallets, pick orders (by pretending to assemble parts for an airplane), and navigate an assembly line.

That industry is growing because businesses that ship by private-parcel service can reach much of California within a day's drive from the Fresno and Visalia region. The training was requested by experts who work with Goodwill.

"We wanted to add a class that would offer the most opportunities," Hightower said.

Paul Whitley, 39, and Landale Hill, 25, enrolled in the Industrial Technology program because the work appeals to them. "It looked interesting," said Whitley, who will be one of seven graduates of the first class. He said he is picking up some additional social skills along the way.

Hill said he doesn't want a desk job, so the activity of a warehouse interests him.

"It keeps me on my feet and keeps me moving," he said. "There is a lot more to being in a warehouse than I thought. It is a living and breathing entity."

More information
WHERE TO GO

• Goodwill Industries of the San Joaquin Valley Inc., 6437 N. Blackstone Ave, Fresno; 559-224-0162; http://www.goodwill-sjv.org.
• Career Advancement Academy, Applied Technology Center, Fresno City College; 499-6024; Orientations: 11 a.m. Wednesdays, Room T100.
• Employment Development Department, http://www.edd.cahwnet.gov/. More people are seeking out training programs in the central San Joaquin Valley as the tough economy forces companies to downsize.

The Fresno Bee

Cycling star Lance Armstrong announced this morning at the Interbike trade show in Las Vegas that he will participate in the 2009 Amgen Tour of California, putting him on course to ride through the Valley in February.

The Tour of California, an 800-mile course that runs Feb. 14-22, is the largest and most prestigious road race in the United States. Merced will host the start of Stage 5 on Feb. 18, which ends in downtown Clovis. Stage 6 on Feb. 19 goes from Visalia to Paso Robles.

The Tour of California will be the second race the seven-time Tour de France attempts in his comeback from retirement. Armstrong announced Wednesday that he would also ride in the Jan. 20-25 Tour Down Under in Australia.

The Fresno Bee

The Fresno Regional Foundation is offering $80,000 in grants to public agencies and private groups to help improve air quality in the San Joaquin Valley.

The foundation invites organizations -- particularly in low-income communities -- to apply for grants that will be awarded for one year and range from $1,000 to $20,000.

The application deadline is 5 p.m. Oct. 9. Details: www.fresnoregfoundation.org.

On Sunday, September 21, "Your Business", a weekly MSNBC program ran a story on a local entrepreneur who was forced to go out of business.

The five minute video is worth viewing with commentary from a bankruptcy attorney and the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Fresno State on the challenges faced by many entrepreneurs seeking to achieve their dream.

You can view the video at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/26819314#26819314.

FresnoStateNews.com

Private equity-fund manager Bob Grady of the San Francisco-based Carlyle Group, will discuss how private equity/venture capital can transform regional economies such as the Central Valley during the third annual Central Valley Venture Conference.

Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, the luncheon speaker, will talk about the state’s role in assisting with the region’s economic recovery.

The conference is sponsored by the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at California State University, Fresno, the Central Valley Fund, city of Clovis and Central Valley Business Incubator. It will be held 8:30 a.m.-3:45 p.m. Oct. 17 at the Rex Phebus Veterans Memorial Building in Clovis.

The event also will feature panel discussions on investment banking and how to raise equity capital, building world-class companies in the Central Valley and which investment sectors locally are ripe for investment over the next five years.

Up to five Valley businesses will be selected to present to panels of investors that are actively seeking investment opportunities and the panelists will select a Best of Show entrepreneur. Businesses interested in presenting should submit up to a three-page executive summary by Oct. 3 to Craig Scharton, CEO of the incubator, at craig@cvbi.org.

The conference also will feature panels representing many of Northern California’s angel investor groups and venture capital funds.

Advance registration is $65 and seating is limited. On-site registration is $75. A reception will be held after the conference. More information and advance registration are available at the Lyles Center Web site below.

The evening of Oct. 16, the Central Valley Business Incubator hosts its annual stock exchange dinner. Tickets for both events can be purchased for $100 and are available through the Lyles Center.

For more information, contact Nancy Kobata at the Lyles Center, 559.347.3921.

FresnoStateNews.com

The campus radio station at California State University, Fresno – 90.7 KFSR – will air “The Maddy Forum,” a 30-minute weekly public affairs radio program on issues impacting Central California, beginning this month. It will air Saturdays at 1 p.m. and be rebroadcast Sundays at 11 a.m. The program launches Saturday, Sept. 20.

The first program will be on “Air Quality in the San Joaquin Valley: Clear Skies Ahead?” Guests will be:

• Pete Weber, chair of the Air Quality Work Group of the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley
• DeeDee D'Adamo, member of the California Air Resources Board

By Sanford Nax / The Fresno Bee

Fresno County's unemployment rate fell from double digits in August as the harvest peaked, but real estate and construction woes still are a drag on the local economy.

The jobless rate fell to 9.7% from 10.1% in July, thanks in large part to 3,900 more farm jobs and 1,400 more manufacturing payrolls, mostly in food processing, the state Employment Development Department reported Friday.

That boost helped offset yearly declines in construction and real estate, which were down 4.7% and 6.7%, respectively, between August 2007 and last month. The loss of those jobs is starting to trickle through other segments of the local economy. Restaurant employment, for example, is down 1.3%, or about 300 jobs, since August 2007.

Fresno County's unemployment rate remains higher than the statewide average of 7.7% and the national rate of 6.1%. But it is lower than Tulare County's rate of 10.6% -- which, in turn, was a decrease from 10.9% in July.

A severe downturn in the housing market prompted builders and others to lay off workers. In addition, title companies and mortgage firms slashed payrolls as they downsized to accommodate the slowing market that began in 2006.

Home prices have fallen and foreclosures have flooded the marketplace, factors that are sparking sales. The number of transactions in Fresno and Clovis in August topped 500 for the third consecutive month and mortgage lenders are reporting more business, even in this tough lending environment.

Some lenders are even starting to hire again, albeit not at the same pace as when the real estate market was at its zenith in 2004 and 2005. Richard Barnes, owner of Resource Lenders in Fresno, said he had reduced his staff to four-day workweeks, but stronger sales activity over the last six months has prompted him to add a fifth day -- and to hire five more people.

His company is processing 200 loans per month -- not as many as the 550 to 600 it was completing at the height of the market but more than the 80 to 90 per month at its nadir.

Foreclosures make up 70% of the purchases, so many of the loans are FHA products that can be used to buy and rehabilitate the distressed properties.

"We're back in business," Barnes said.

The reporter can be reached at snax@fresnobee.com or (559)441-6495.

FresnoStateNews.com

California State University, Fresno will host “California’s Water: A Town Hall Meeting” at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 2 in the Leon S. and Pete P. Peters Educational Center, within the Student Recreation Center.

Huell Howser, a host for public television’s “California’s Water” and “California’s Gold,” and will emcee the event, which will focus on the drought, water conservation, water shortages, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, agriculture and endangered species.

Sharing their perspectives will be Fresno Bee reporter Mark Grossi; Timothy Quinn, executive director for the Association of California Water Agencies; Chris Campbell of the Fresno Chamber of Commerce; and Dr. David Zoldoske, director of the California Water Institute at Fresno State and water policy adviser for the California State University system.

This will be Howser’s second visit to Fresno State this year. In May, he came to the International Center for Water Technology on campus to film a segment for “California’s Water.” Howser explored the new Claude Laval Water Energy Technology Lab (WET) and heard first-hand how Fresno State is involved in the development of programs and technologies that help make water use more efficient.

The event is sponsored by Fresno State, the Association of California Water Agencies, California Latino Water Coalition, Friant Water Authority and Kern County Water Agency.

Admission is free and the event is open to the public. Space is limited and RSVPs are requested online at www.acwa.com or by calling 916.669.2762.

The California Economic Strategy Panel will hold a forum, “Clean Technology and the Green Economy: Growing Products, Services, Businesses and Jobs in California’s Value Chain,” in Fresno on Sept. 18. The event will be held at the Holiday Inn Fresno Airport from 9 a.m. to noon. It features remarks by Labor and Workforce Development Agency Secretary Victoria Bradshaw, chair of the California Economic Development Strategy Panel, as well as a general discussion of economic growth opportunities.

Here is a link to a draft monograph on clean technology and the green economy: http://www.labor.ca.gov/panel/pdf/DRAFT_Green_Economy_031708.pdf

PhysOrg.com

(AP) -- Technology appears to be one of the least hard-hit sectors in an economy beset by unemployment at a five-year high. The Labor Department reported Friday that companies slashed their payrolls by 84,000 jobs last month, sending the country's unemployment rate to 6.1 percent from 5.7 percent in July. --More--

Editorial / The Fresno Bee

Fresno County is one step closer to inviting the homeless to take their place at the table.

The city and county of Fresno have agreed to a goal that would end chronic homelessness in 10 years. That's a commendable, resolute -- do-able -- goal. Remarkably, in this contentious political climate, the plan was approved unanimously -- both the Fresno County Board of Supervisors and the Fresno City Council, showed hearty support.

We are not alone in this struggle. Cities nationwide face the same tangled issue, but progress is being made.

It is encouraging to hear from Phillip Mangano, executive director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, a national partnership that works with government and the private sector to address homeless issues. He said Fresno joins with more than 500 communities nationwide that have adopted similar plans.

"With this plan," he told The Bee, "you can move beyond process to progress, beyond funding to investment, and beyond managing the issue of homelessness to ending a national disgrace."

Fresno is ready for that. Though there is no foolproof template to serve all the needs of the homeless, it is prudent to follow the experiences of other cities who are having success. The Fresno blueprint calls for housing first, then adding other services as needed.

Mayor Alan Autry has stumbled awkwardly in his leadership on this issue, even coming to verbal blows with Judge Oliver Wanger when he smacked Fresno for its dealings with the homeless in the past.

Today, Autry says this plan would correct "a moral and social wrong."

This time, he's right. For decades, managing the homeless in a comprehensive way here has been patchwork, clumsy and sometimes illegal. Charities did much of the heavy lifting; but they cannot not meet everyone's needs.

Hundreds of people were left to survive in encampments under bridges, wander the streets and sleep in the doorways of closed businesses downtown.

A temporary stop-gap has the homeless sheltered in storage sheds, which makes many people shudder at the thought. However, this makeshift situation kept a few more people out of the bad weather while a more comprehensive plan was devised.

The numbers make sense. Housing a chronically homeless person and providing basic supportive services costs between $13,000 and $25,000 a year. Trying to ignore them doesn't pencil out: Left alone, the homeless can consume up to $150,000 a year in medical and legal services.

We look forward to a transparent process as this ambitious goal is realized. County Supervisor Judy Case made an excellent point when she called for "quantifying" the results of our efforts. This is no time to do something just to do something. This is a time to use proven methods to get real results.

Perhaps within a few years, all people in danger of becoming homeless will know there is a table waiting for them.

Tell us what you think. Comment on this editorial by going to http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion, then click on the editorial.

Business Briefs, The Fresno Bee

The city of Fresno made significant progress on the latest Milken Institute list of America's "Top Performing Cities," which grades cities according to job creation.

Fresno climbed from No. 66 in 2008 to No. 47 last year, based on improvements in technology, energy and trade sectors.

"The Milken Institute is a respected think tank that measures a community's overall economic health," said Mayor Alan Autry. "The findings in this survey underscore the fact that collectively our community and region are headed in the right direction."

Merced and Visalia fell, from No. 63 to No. 73 and No. 45 to No. 64, respectively. Las Vegas, which had one of the most booming economies until 2006, fell with a thud, plummeting from No. 9 in 2007 to No. 75 a year later.

Nicola Cabibbo, head of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, to anchor the university's first solar symposium

MERCED - Amid concerns about rising gas prices and the growing need for environmentally friendly alternatives to fossil fuels, the University of California, Merced, will host a solar symposium, "Solar Energy: Today and Tomorrow," at 8 a.m. Friday, Sept. 26.

The symposium, jointly sponsored by the UC Merced Energy Research Institute (UCMERI) and the Dan David Foundation, was designed to promote public knowledge regarding present and future solar energy technologies, and to examine the current state of the solar energy industry.

Nicola Cabibbo, Italian physicist, professor at La Sapienza University of Rome, and president of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, will present the keynote address. He will provide insight into how solar technology is being implemented in Europe and describe how advances in solar technology can help to shape the global energy discussion.

The symposium will include expert presenters:

• Sarah Kurtz, principal scientist, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
• Martha Krebs, deputy director for Energy Research and Development for the California Energy Commission
• Arno A. Penzias, venture partner, New Enterprise Associates, and Nobel laureate
• Jeff Wright, dean of UC Merced's School of Engineering and director of UCMERI
• Roland Winston, professor in UC Merced's schools of Natural Sciences and Engineering and Presidential Chair holder
• David Kelley, professor for UC Merced's School of Natural Sciences
  The symposium will culminate with a dinner honoring Sarah Kurtz and Jerry Olson of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
  
  In March 2007, Kurtz and Olson were honored with the prestigious Dan David Prize Laureate for their work toward the development of concentration solar power systems using multi-junction solar cells. Kurtz donated her portion of the prize, $225,000, to establish the Dan David Solar Endowment Fund at UC Merced. The gift is set up as an endowed fellowship to provide financial support for graduate students interested in studying solar energy.
  
  The Dan David Prize was founded in 2001 by businessman and philanthropist Dan David and is headquartered at Tel Aviv University. Three prizes of $1 million each are awarded annually for achievements having an outstanding scientific, technological, cultural or social impact on our world. Each year fields are chosen within the three Time Dimensions - Past, Present and Future. The laureates for a given year are chosen from these fields.
  
  The symposium is free and open to the public. For more information and to register online, visit https://eng.ucmerced.edu/sett.
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  09.06.2008
  'I wept': One woman's view of poverty, hope
  
  

  By Amy Chubb / Fresno Bee Op-Ed
  
  On a hot, muggy Fresno morning, I rode with Linda Gleason, a consultant to a newly formed, almost-nonprofit called Fresno Street Saints. We were followed by Darrin Person from Fresno Unified School District. She is responsible for the district's mentoring program.
  
  I am a part of the Fresno Works for Better Health Advocacy Center, funded by the California Endowment. My job is to find ways of alleviating poverty through policy changes. I have spent more than a year roaming streets, talking to people and writing papers, all with the hope of appealing to policy makers. But with dysfunctional state and federal governments, services to the poor are always first on the chopping block.
  
  When Linda explained to me this was a tour of southwest Fresno, I inwardly groaned. Please, no more traveling up and down streets, pointing out where poor people live.
  
  That day was different, and for me, a life-changing experience. I saw places I didn't know existed, and from a human rights lens, places that should not exist at all. People in poverty are hidden, in tents, in projects and on the street, scared and hopeless.
  
  We arrived at Bigby Villa, a project in southwest Fresno, where the notorious Villa Posse gang originated. Fifty-four members were arrested a couple of weeks ago under a federal indictment, leaving some 150 members still on the streets and looking for new members to fill the void. Despite its serene appearance, Bigby Villa is dangerous.
  
  We were met by Brian King, the chief executive officer and founder of Fresno Street Saints. He is a radically reformed, south Chicago-based gang leader, who is passionate about what he does.
  
  Inside the apartment's center complex, the room was filled with children eating breakfast, the same kids who would be back for lunch. Brian introduced the children he called "stars" and "future leaders."
  
  Meals are served 10 times a week by the Fresno Street Saints, which also started grief counseling and a mentoring program.
  
  I met The Magnificent Seven, named after the movie, and comprising seven pastors who are working with Fresno Street Saints. Everyone involved stresses education and leadership, and is gang members to get out and ensuring recruiting in Bigby Villa won't happen.
  
  Southwest Fresno is their home. I learned through their actions that Fresno Street Saints are dedicating their lives to saving children and repairing broken families. They believe the children can accomplish anything.
  
  George Roberson, who leads the education programs at Bigby, explained one family has eight children being raised by the eldest sibling, who is enrolled in Fresno Street Saints' summer youth program. Other children are being raised by aunts and grandmothers.
  
  On went the tour. Brian drove Linda's truck. We stopped on G Street, home to one of many encampments. Drug users and those trying to stay clean and sober are divided by the street. On the user side of the street, children stood around the concrete barrier above Highway 99. I wondered if they attended school, or even got a showers. I saw no adults, presuming they were sleeping off last night's high.
  
  We met Edward, who came out to the truck with his arms open, ready for a hug. He lives in two tents strung together by a tarp and protected from the street by a barricade covered with religious pictures and American flags. He readily accepts responsibility for his mistakes. He has lost four children to Child Protective Services. He said drugs screwed him up. "I'm not going to lose this one," he said, his visibly pregnant wife sitting in a sagging chair. Both are clean and sober.
  
  He enthusiastically explained he had some programs to complete, like anger-management classes. In two months, he and his wife would have their own apartment. He allowed me to tour his home, showing me how he set up a shower and a small tub. I had no idea where toilet facilities were and didn't ask.
  
  As we got ready to leave, he hugged us all and hoped God would bless us. It was God and Fresno Street Saints who saved him, he said.
  
  Sitting in the truck, ready to leave, hot and emotionally overwhelmed, I wept. For the children who have been lost to gang violence. For the children dependent on the good graces of others. For Edward. For the Fresno Street Saints staff and everything they had taken on. Brian cried. Linda cried.
  
  Edward came to the window and knocked. I rolled it down, and he reached in and hugged me. Looking squarely into my eyes, he said, "We will be OK. You will be OK."
  
  What I saw that morning were the faces of children who matter, who deserve to have hope for a future, without living in poverty. I saw competent and dedicated community leaders invested in their neighborhood. And that is where the solutions start.
  
  In Fresno, being bombarded by poverty statistics is tiring. Compassion fatigue and complacency sets in. Regardless of whether personal choice or circumstances land people into poverty, it's as unacceptable as it is inhumane.
  
  If you are weary of poverty statistics, read to a child. Donate your time, food and good, used clothing. Mentor.
  
  But like the Fresno Street Saints, do something.
  
  Amy Chubb is executive director of Fresno Works for Better Health Advocacy Center.

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  09.06.2008
  10 finalists picked for $250,000 prize
  
  

  The Fresno Bee
  
  A business plan competition offering $250,000 to the top contestant has narrowed the field by choosing its 10 finalists.
  
  The finalists for the "Start It Up: Fresno's $250,000 Entrepreneur Challenge" are:
  
  *Big Happie Hair, a Fresno-based maker and marketer of the "Bumpits" hair accessory product.
  
  *Central California School of Pharmacy, a Fresno-based pharmacist training institution.
  
  *CommunityMarketplace.org, a Fresno-based Web site that links local businesses with charitable giving.
  
  *Compliance Innovations LLC, a Columbia, S.C.-based company developing an electronic vehicle license plate identification system.
  
  *eMotion, a Chicago-based maker of communication devices.
  
  *Kosher Renaissance, a San Luis Obispo-based maker of dairy oversight and maintenance products.
  
  *Revival Diversified Industries LLC, a Visalia-based glass scrap recycling company.
  
  *SafeCoach Inc., a Los Angeles-based maker of technology aimed at reducing workplace back injuries.
  
  *SeniorCare Organization Systems LLC, a Clovis-based health-care advisory and advocacy company.
  
  *Vine Global Solutions Inc., a Fresno-based e-commerce solutions company.
  
  The finalists will present their business plans to judges in Fresno on Oct. 3. The winner, to be announced Oct. 4, will receive $100,000 in cash and $150,000 in in-kind services and will locate in Fresno.
  
  The competition is held by the Lyles Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at California State University, Fresno, the city of Fresno Economic Development Department, the Fresno Redevelopment Agency, Fresno State's Craig School of Business and Table Mountain Rancheria.

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  09.05.2008
  West Hills College enrollment up 20 percent from one year ago
  
  

  LateUpdate.com
  
  On only the second day of the fall semester, West Hills Community College District is reporting a 20 percent increase in enrollment from one year ago.
  
  More than 5,500 students are enrolled so far this semester compared to 4,600 one year ago today, according to Chancellor Frank Gornick.
  
  Students have until this Friday, the end of the first week of classes, to enroll without special permission.
  
  During the second week of classes, instructor permission is required.
  
  Students can apply for admission and register for classes online 24/7 at westhillscollege.com or they can visit the four West Hills College locations:
  

  • West Hills College Coalinga, 300 Cherry Lane, Coalinga, (559) 934-2000
  • West Hills College Lemoore, 555 College Ave., Lemoore (559) 925-3000
  • North District Center, Firebaugh, 1511 Ninth Street, Firebaugh (559) 659-1473
  • Naval Air Station Lemoore, 824 Hancock Circle, Lemoore (559) 925-3350.
  West Hills Community College District serves the west side of the San Joaquin Valley and is part of the California Community College System. Its two colleges, West Hills College Coalinga, which includes North District Center, Firebaugh, and West Hills College Lemoore, serve more than 6,000 students on campus and online each semester.
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  09.04.2008
  EOC gets lending boost:
  New private fund in Fresno can offer additional capital.
  
  

  By Jeff St. John / The Fresno Bee
  
  Back in early 2007, Zia Thea Xiong turned to the Fresno County Economic Opportunities Commission for a lifeline -- a $20,000, no-interest loan that allowed him to stay in business after a Valley-wide freeze devastated his vegetable crops.
  
  "I had to pay my workers," Xiong, a 47-year-old former refugee from Laos, said as he led a recent tour of his revitalized and newly expanded 77-acre farm east of Fresno.
  
  Like many farmers who turned to the emergency freeze loans backed by the city of Fresno and handled by the EOC, Xiong said he wouldn't have been able to wait the months it would have taken to secure a loan from a bank or other lender.
  
  But at least Xiong, who went to a bank in 2003 for the $50,000 loan that helped him get his farm started, had a traditional loan as an option.
  
  Many of his fellow Southeast Asian refugees lack bank accounts or collateral that are bare-minimum requirements for borrowing startup capital from banks and other traditional lending sources, said Salam Nalia, associate executive director of the EOC.
  
  Since the mid-1990s, the EOC's microloan program has served to bridge that requirement gap. Started to help refugees, the lending program -- more akin to microloan networks set up in Third World countries than the traditional lending used by most Americans -- has expanded to serve more than 300 clients getting an average loan of about $7,000 out of a revolving pool of about $2 million, Nalia said.
  
  But with the formation of the Fresno Community Development Financial Institution, a new private lending fund aimed at helping economically disadvantaged people enter the economic mainstream, the EOC soon will be able to boost that lending significantly, he said.
  
  "Its purpose is for low-income people to build or accumulate assets," said Nalia, who is chief executive of the new CDFI. The goal is the same that the EOC's microloan program has had all along, but with some important added benefits, he said.
  
  First, he's hoping the CDFI will bring a new pool of money to the EOC's coffers, in the form of a $1 million grant from the U.S. Treasury Department that his organization is seeking. Given that the EOC's current pool of $2 million is almost completely loaned out, that would help expand the number of clients the organization could help.
  
  Second, the CDFI would be able to loan significantly larger amounts of money to borrowers planning more capital-intensive projects, such as construction of shopping centers or affordable housing projects in lower-income neighborhoods, Nalia said.
  
  Both changes could help those who have been turned away from the EOC for lack of funds or loan limitations, said Maishing Xiong, business plan specialist for the commission. So far this year, 68 people have expressed interest in getting a loan, but the EOC has been able to make only about 36 loans, she said.
  
  Lafield Phetvixay, program assistant with the EOC, said the 32 who were turned away likely won't get their businesses off the ground -- because many face nearly impassable obstacles to getting a bank loan.
  
  Traditional lenders "ask for bank statements, but many of these people have never had a bank statement in their lives," he said. "They may not have any experience working in this country, and they often have no credit or credit score."
  
  In fact, most of the commission's clients operate on a cash basis, said Phetvixay, whose job includes making trips out to clients' homes, farms and places of business to collect monthly loan payments. Most EOC loans charge interest a few points above prime rates -- about 7% so far this year -- though the one-time-only freeze relief loans from the city of Fresno in 2007 were interest-free, he said.
  
  About two-thirds of the EOC current borrowers are farmers like Xiong, Phetvixay said. But they also include other businesses such as auto mechanics or retail store operators.
  
  Abdelhamed Ali, who moved to Fresno from Yemen, took out a $15,000 microloan in 2005 to open his first tobacco and general convenience store in southeast Fresno. With that store making enough money to pay back the loan, Ali took out another $15,000 loan to open a second store earlier this year.
  
  "This was my first stop," he said of the EOC.
  
  Nalia said that's common among the borrowers who come to the EOC for help. His staff works closely with borrowers who lack credit scores and other more traditional measurements of their creditworthiness to determine whether they're a good risk.
  
  "As long as he or she is employing people and has a good business plan, we're willing to talk," he said.
  
  With a default rate of less than 1% on the loans the EOC has made since 1994, Nalia also expects that banks will be willing to talk with clients of the new CDFI program -- particularly since most banks are seeking to make sound loans in lower-income communities to meet federal Community Reinvestment Act lending guidelines.
  
  "There are billions in CRA funds that we want to access and bring into this area," Nalia said.
  
  The reporter can be reached at jeffstjohn@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6637.

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  09.02.2008
  Smittcamp program adds stature to Fresno State
  
  

  By Doug Hoagland / The Fresno Bee
  
  A decade ago, some high school counselors believed that talented students were wasting their time going to Fresno State. Counselors at Fresno's Bullard High, for example, didn't want to hand out applications for the university's brand-new Smittcamp Family Honors College -- even though the program was offering full-ride scholarships worth thousands of dollars, said Smittcamp director Stephen Rodemeyer.
  
  Today, Smittcamp enjoys statewide recognition and a strong academic reputation, officials say. Almost 500 students applied for 58 slots in the 10th Smittcamp class that started school last week.
  
  Smittcamp junior Derrick Reimer said he was raised to think Fresno State is a good school, so applying for the honors program was an easy decision.
  
  "I wanted to be close to my family," said the 19-year-old from Reedley, who lives at home. "I didn't want to go into debt, and I wanted to help my parents with the cost of college as much as I could."
  
  Using honors programs to attract top students to state universities is a national trend; Fresno State is one of 16 schools in the 23-campus California State University system with such a program.
  
  "It is perhaps our most prestigious 'flagship' in a system filled with an abundance of excellent honors programs," CSU Bakersfield professor Michael Flachmann, chairman of the CSU Honors Consortium, said in an e-mail. The Smittcamp program is well organized, has strong financial support and enjoys stability under its original director, Flachmann said.
  
  Other Valley campuses also have honors programs. Fresno City College started one in the late 1980s, and Fresno Pacific University is scheduled to launch a program this year.
  
  Fresno State's program is named for Fresno farmer and businessman Earl Smittcamp, his wife, Muriel, and their children. A $1 million gift from the elder Smittcamps started the honors college in 1999.
  
  Smittcamp students are nicknamed Smitties, and about 200 are now in the program, while nearly 300 have graduated. Smittcamp students receive scholarships covering in-state registration and fees, plus dorm room charges. This year's freshmen will get $32,000 in scholarship aid over four years.
  
  Since 1999, about 20 have been asked to leave the program for not maintaining GPA minimums, which start at 3.0 for freshmen and rise in later years, director Rodemeyer said.
  
  Smittcamp students say they are a varied group.
  
  They're not at all "bookish," said Jack Welter, a 20-year-old criminology major from Fort Bragg who hopes one day to work in Washington, D.C.
  
  But the program has attracted exceptionally bright students such as 18-year-old senior Leo Vydro of Fresno, who graduated from Central Valley Christian Academy at 15. Vydro is applying to medical schools.
  
  Eighty percent of applicants come from the region even though the program annually sends recruiting letters to 4,000 to 6,000 top high school seniors throughout the state. The program has no goal of admitting a certain number of Valley students, but 50 of the 58 freshmen this year list hometowns between Lodi and Bakersfield.
  
  One of those freshmen is Ismail "Izzy" Ali, a graduate of Fresno's Edison High. He also was accepted at three UC campuses: Berkeley, Los Angeles and San Diego. But he said in an e-mail that he chose Fresno State because it was close to home and the scholarship made it free.
  
  The Smittcamp program has no complete records on where its graduates now live, but Rodemeyer believes many stay in the Valley or return after graduate school because "Valley roots run deep."
  
  One who returned is Raj Singh Badhesha of Sanger, a 2005 Smittcamp graduate. After earning a law degree at the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, Badhesha will soon start with a Fresno firm. The 25-year-old believes the Smittcamp program will help retain "the best and brightest in Fresno."
  
  Rodemeyer agrees, although he admitted that he can't prove that with numbers.
  
  "But we do know we're getting them to go to school here and enriching the university," he said. "That's the first step."
  
  But some Smittcamp graduates must leave the area to pursue their careers, said program alumnus Neil Gibson, 26, who got a master's degree in international relations from Johns Hopkins University, lives in the Washington, D.C., area and works as an international investment specialist for the Department of Commerce.
  
  Careers in finance lead to New York, while public policy work is centered in Washington, Gibson said in an e-mail.
  
  When Smittcamp graduates venture from Fresno and the Valley, they might find the honors program carries less weight with employers, said Susan Miller, a job counselor and owner of California Career Services in Los Angeles.
  
  In Los Angeles, many business executives went to UCLA or the University of Southern California, and they might hire from those schools unless a Smittcamp graduate can point to one-of-a-kind college training, Miller said.
  
  "But it could be totally different in your area because the program is well known," she said.
  
  In one Fresno family, a son's decision to join the Smittcamp program pleased his mother -- though it wasn't the son's first choice.
  
  Robert Granata, an 18-year-old Smittcamp freshman from Bullard, wanted to attend UC Berkeley, but his mother, Charity Granata, asked him to think about Fresno State.
  
  Attitudes at his high school about Fresno State changed over the decade. Bullard counselors now encourage students who are considering Fresno State, said head counselor Linda Knabke.
  
  Charity Granata said she wanted her son to remain close during college, and she also liked what she heard about the Smittcamp program. Smaller classes. Early academic counseling. A community of motivated students within the larger university.
  
  When Robert Granata was accepted at UC Berkeley, his mother didn't tell him not to go. But she was happy when he chose Fresno State.
  
  Said Charity Granata: "I'm really pleased about it and I think he's pleased."
  
  The reporter can be reached at dhoagland@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6354.

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  09.02.2008
  State legislators switch to driving hybrid vehicles
  
  

  By Jessica Schley / Visalia Times-Delta, Sacramento Bureau
  
  SACRAMENTO — The hybrid hype has hit the state Capitol, where many lawmakers are driving dual-powered hybrid-electric vehicles to improve their image as both hip and eco-friendly.
  
  To date, 47 of 80 assemblymen have made the switch to hybrids, and 16 out of 40 senators have also converted.
  
  "We all used to drive SUVs. I had an Eddie Bauer," said former Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, who now drives a 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid. "Now the hybrids are the cool thing to drive. It's fashionable."
  
  He revised the Assembly policy of providing cars to lawmakers to offer them incentives to drive hybrids, which combine electric technology with internal combustion engines, and are designed to maximize efficiency and power.
  
  Lawmakers pay subsidized rates to lease the cars from the Assembly, which discounts the payments for hybrids. Up to 90 percent of the net rate is subsidized out of lawmakers' office operational accounts, but they must pay at least ten percent out their own pockets.
  
  "I'm going to give you a sales pitch for my hybrid," said Assemblywoman Anna Caballero, D-Salinas, who drives a 2007 Prius. "I love it more than any car I've ever driven. Taxpayers pay for our stipend and our gas, and this saves us money, so not only do I feel good driving it for the environment, I feel good because I'm helping Californians," she said.
  
  Assemblyman Bill Maze, R-Visalia, drives a 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid, which he said barely gets better mileage than his previous Chevrolet Trailblazer because he spends most of the time on the highway in his large four-county district.
  
  "In the type of driving I do, you don't even know it [is a hybrid] because we do very, very little city driving" when electric power kicks in, Maze said.
  
  "I live on a ranch, my driveway is dirt. I have to have an SUV. But my next SUV will be a hybrid," said Senator Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, who drives a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Maldonado, who wears cowboy boots with his tailor-made suits, feels he needs to drive a car that reflects what his constituents drive. "People have to feel they relate to their legislator. I don't want to alienate anyone," he said.
  
  Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, feels the same way. He doesn't drive a hybrid, but his 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe is a flex fuel vehicle. "The simple explanation is that I drive what my voters drive. When there are finally flex fuel stations, I will use them. I'm still waiting," he said.
  
  Senators don't get the same discount as the assemblymen for hybrids, but as Senator Jeff Denham, R-Merced, pointed out, "we shouldn't need an incentive."
  
  More Democrats drive the hybrids than Republicans, but that doesn't matter to Denham. "I felt it was the right thing to do personally," he said. "The technology has improved to the point where it's very comfortable to drive them. You can get any car as a hybrid now, without compromising one's style or safety."
  
  So what came first, the hybrid or the hype? Why do legislators feel the urge to drive the fancy new gas savers?
  
  "The best incentive on earth for legislators is public opinion and gas prices," said Greg Schmidt, executive officer of the Senate Rules Committee.

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  08.27.2008
  Valley counties still rank among the poorest in the United States:
  But Kings County shows a surprising drop in its poverty rate.
  
  

  By Russell Clemings / The Fresno Bee
  
  In good economic times or bad, the story never changes in the central San Joaquin Valley -- on average, its residents are among the poorest in California and the nation.
  
  New data from the U.S. Census Bureau drove that point home Tuesday.
  
  In 2007, the bureau's American Community Survey listed Tulare County as having a higher percentage of people living in poverty than any other California county of the 40 for which data were available. Almost 24% of that county's residents lived in households where the income was below poverty level. Second worse in the state was Imperial County, with nearly 22%.
  
  Only five U.S. counties with 250,000 or more people ranked higher in poverty. Three were along the border between Texas and Mexico, one was the Bronx in New York City, and the fifth was Philadelphia County, Pa.
  
  Other Valley counties fared little better in the state rankings. Fresno County was in fourth place, with 20% of its people -- one in five -- living in poverty last year.
  
  Merced's rate was 19.4% and Madera was 14.5%. The one bright spot in the data was Kings County, where the estimated poverty rate dropped from 21.3% in 2005 to 15.1% last year.
  
  Jay Salyer, economic development manager for the Kings County Economic Development Corporation, was mystified by that county's numbers, despite what he called strong hiring by local businesses.
  
  "That's a big decrease," he said. "I really don't have anything right now that I could put my finger on to say this is what happened."
  
  In each of the other central San Joaquin Valley counties, the year-to-year changes appeared to be below the level of statistical significance.
  
  Wells Fargo senior economist Gary Schlossberg said the bleak numbers may simply reflect the region's mix of jobs, which tend to be low-paying, and its labor force, which is less likely to consist of U.S. citizens or other legal residents.
  
  "To the extent that you are drawing in more agribusiness workers or even undocumented construction workers, that could be having an effect," he said.
  
  The definition of poverty varies by household size and number of children, as well as the month that the household was surveyed. In the case of a family of four, including two children, surveyed in January 2007, poverty would be defined as an annual income of less than $20,435.
  
  In a separate report Tuesday, the Census Bureau said that despite little change in poverty rates, the number of Americans without health insurance declined from 47 million in 2006 to 45.7 million in 2007. Year-to-year changes by state were not provided, but comparing the 2004-05 period with 2006-07, California showed no significant difference.
  
  The percentage of people covered by health insurance provided by employers actually declined between 2006 and 2007, but the number covered by government-provided insurance such as Medicare or Medicaid/MediCal rose.
  
  The reporter can be reached at rclemings@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6371.

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  08.26.2008
  North Fresno campus blooms:
  Willow International heads to college status.
  
  

  By Doug Hoagland / The Fresno Bee
  
  A year-old mini-campus in northeast Fresno already is so popular that it's breaking enrollment projections and might soon become an independent community college, officials say.
  
  The campus is called Willow International Center, named for the intersection where it opened in the summer of 2007. Officials will seek state approval to turn it from a college center into an independent college as early as the fall of 2011. Enrollment for the fall semester, which began last week, already is over 5,000.
  
  Community college enrollments typically soar during economic downturns, and Willow International also is attracting high school graduates who live in nearby high-growth neighborhoods, officials say.
  
  The campus would become the third public college in the Fresno metro area, joining Fresno State and Fresno City College.
  
  In a region known for high concentrations of poverty, another college could produce more skilled workers capable of pumping money into the local economy, college officials say.
  
  They have plans to add programs for people who want to work in the growing alternative-energy industry, for example.
  
  "A third college would say to outside businesses thinking about locating here, 'They have potential,' " said Willow International biology instructor Tom Mester.
  
  Businesses already here also need trained workers, said Michael Lukens, a spokesman for the Regional Jobs Initiative, a public-private partnership that tries to create jobs in the San Joaquin Valley.
  
  "There are a number of jobs in the Fresno region that are unfilled because the company can't find a qualified worker," Lukens said. "Anything that helps to address the training needs of both employers and employees is a positive step for this area."
  
  Willow International is one of several centers in the Fresno-based State Center Community College District, which also runs City College, Reedley College and centers in Madera, Oakhurst and Clovis.
  
  Most of the instructors and students at the Clovis Center moved to Willow International when it opened in 2007.
  
  State Center trustees wanted to ensure that City College would not lose popular programs that attract high enrollments once Willow International opened, said trustee Phil Forhan of Fresno. So trustees committed to offering registered-nurse training and other health programs only at City College, Forhan said.
  
  Willow International sits in a fast-growing suburban area on the border between northeast Fresno and northwest Clovis.
  
  "I knew once we got out there that the thing would explode," State Center Chancellor Tom Crow said.
  
  The campus had nearly 5,500 students as of Monday, an 18% increase from last year. State Center officials hadn't expected Willow International to have 5,000 students until 2010.
  
  The rapid growth hasn't drained students from other State Center campuses, Crow said. Enrollments are up at all State Center campuses, officials said.
  
  Crow said Willow International -- like other State Center campuses -- is getting many students in their mid- to late 20s who have "been through the school of hard knocks" and want more than minimum-wage jobs.
  
  Emmerich Menyhay of Clovis, a 26-year-old former waiter re-entering college to become a veterinarian, said he chose Willow International because he wanted a "low-key" atmosphere. Instead, he said, he found it "flooded" with people. Still, Menyhay believes it was easier to get classes there than on a bigger campus.
  
  Other students picked the campus because of proximity. Alex Pippin, 21, of Clovis spent three semesters at City College, a 20-mile round trip from his home, and then decided to transfer to Willow International, an eight-mile round trip.
  
  Despite finding crowded campus parking lots last week, Pippin said parking is "heaven" compared to City College, where parking is even tighter. More than 700 additional parking spots are scheduled to open at Willow International in early 2009.
  
  The campus also is building a second 80,000-square-foot academic building that will add 1,000 more classroom and laboratory seats when it's completed in 2010.
  
  New tech-oriented programs in solar and wind power might be offered then, in addition to the general education courses that now allow students to earn an associate's degree, said Terry Kershaw, a vice chancellor who oversees Willow International.
  
  Campus officials will consult with alternative energy industries, determine what jobs need to be filled and then develop curricula for new programs, Kershaw said.
  
  One program, for example, might produce solar panel installers.
  
  A Northern California businessman whose company specializes in solar power systems believes that trained workers will find jobs in the field.
  
  "It seems that people are continuing to respond to concerns about rising energy costs and their uneasiness about environmental degradation," said Daniel Flanigan of California Solar Electric Co. in Grass Valley. "They see solar as a way to hedge against increasing costs of energy."
  
  Courses also could be added to train licensed vocational nurses who want to become registered nurses, but Kershaw doesn't see that as a threat to City College's nursing program.
  
  Getting state approval to upgrade from a center to a college isn't guaranteed and the process might stretch beyond 2011. What the new college will be called, however, will be decided this fall.
  
  State Center trustees are scheduled to pick a name at their Oct. 7 meeting. Public suggestions so far include Clovis Community College, Copper River College, Fresno City College North and Mother Willow Community College.
  
  The reporter can be reached at dhoagland@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6354.

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  08.25.2008
  Technology committee ventures out from Clovis:
  City-funded TC3 will become nonprofit group.
  
  

  By Marc Benjamin / The Fresno Bee
  
  A technology committee funded by the city of Clovis to attract high-tech business is getting ready to venture out on its own.
  
  The city-funded program is going to become a nonprofit group under the name Technopolis Clovis Core Committee. The group is known as TC3 in Clovis.
  
  Funding for the technology program will come from the city in the form of in-kind services from city staff, who will help conduct meetings.
  
  Consultant Nancy Key, who helped direct the program for the past three years, no longer will be involved in the program after her contract with the city expired at the end of June.
  
  In commenting to the council earlier this month, Key said: "We have made somewhat of a name for ourselves, but we have struggled [with] ... a good way of telling people why they want to be a part of it."
  
  The city spent about $315,000 in the past three years trying to connect with other local technology-related groups. The committee is comprised of technology-savvy residents working to help attract new high-tech jobs to the area and introduce residents to high-tech concepts.
  
  Committee members were invited last year to Barcelona, Spain, to address the International Association of Science Parks conference. The Clovis committee addressed the gathering about assisting people with their ideas and creating a knowledge-based community. The group also has organized several local technology forums.
  
  Committee members want to move the program forward as a non-profit group with limited help from city staff. City officials expect staff time to cost a few thousand dollars each year.
  
  "There seems to be a strong sense from the committee to continue to meet," said Michael Dozier, Clovis economic and community development director.
  
  The committee will continue working with groups such as the Regional Jobs Initiative, California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley, Central Valley Business Incubator, the Water and Energy Technology incubator at Fresno State, the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and State Center Community College District.
  
  "We have moved beyond planning, and now we can start putting programs in place," said Craig Scharton, an active TC3 committee member and chief executive officer of the Central Valley Business Incubator.
  
  While the technology committee has not created new jobs, Scharton said Clovis is well ahead of other communities in attracting high-tech because it has not strayed from its goal.
  
  "If you look at Clovis' successes, they take a longer-range view," Scharton said. "I think the next two or three years will be exciting for Clovis, but it would not have happened without the first three years of figuring this out."
  
  The amount of volunteer time donated by committee members -- business owners, teachers, professors and high-tech professionals -- has impressed Tim Stearns, executive director of the Lyles Center.
  
  "I think the key stakeholders are there, and I think Clovis is well positioned to become a community that can reach up and grab the next rung in technology development," he said.
  
  Mayor Bob Whalen said the technology program is starting to catch the ear of business people. He said a software firm learned about TC3 and is looking at Clovis for a possible site.
  
  "Regardless of whether they will move here, people are talking about it and it's getting Clovis more of a look from tech companies," Whalen said. "Hopefully, it will directly manifest itself in high-paying jobs for the city of Clovis."
  
  The reporter can be reached at mbenjamin@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6166.

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  08.24.2008
  Time to see progress on Measure C:
  In economic downturn, county can use the jobs.
  
  

  Fresno Bee Editorial
  
  It's been almost two years since Fresno County voters passed an extension of Measure C to fund road, transit and other transportation needs. There hasn't been much progress, and a Fresno City Council member is asking why. We'd like to know the answer, too.
  
  Council Member Brian Calhoun is upset that work on the proposed Veterans Boulevard isn't proceeding more rapidly. The project -- a four-mile, six-lane diagonal connector stretching southwest from Herndon and Polk avenues to Grantland and Gettysburg avenues -- has been on the books for a quarter-century but is still unfinished.
  
  The city says work is under way. The Fresno County Transportation Authority, which administers Measure C funding, says Veterans Boulevard isn't at the top of the priority list. But there isn't much evidence that even higher-priority projects are moving very rapidly.
  
  We understand that there are many hoops planners and engineers must jump through on such projects -- engineering studies, environmental reviews and the like. But we also understand that we're not talking major innovations here. Nothing has to be invented to build modern roads -- we've been doing it for decades. The technology is as off-the-shelf as it gets.
  
  Nor should funding the various mass transit projects envisioned in Measure C be an epic task.
  
  There's a real risk here. Voters in this area have shown repeatedly that they're willing to tax themselves when the purpose is clear, the benefits of the tax are enumerated specifically and the promises are kept. We've seen that now twice with Measure C, twice with a library tax and with the zoo tax county voters passed in 2004.
  
  But if government agencies charged with gathering and spending those taxes are seen as failing to keep promises -- well, forget going to that well again.
  
  Calhoun got some of what he wanted Tuesday, when his council colleagues agreed to direct city staff to update them on Measure C projects. That's a good start. But Fresno isn't the only city in the county, and the county itself has many projects planned for its areas. How are all those efforts progressing?
  
  There may be an even greater urgency to Measure C projects involving transit with the current crunch in gas prices. Valley residents, like their fellow Americans, are driving their cars less, and seeking efficient and affordable alternatives.
  
  And the longer we wait to build the various projects approved under Measure C, the more costly they will be.
  
  There is another big reason for Measure C projects to move expeditiously: In a time of economic unease, in a region noted for high unemployment, the county can certainly use the jobs.
  
  The county, the cities and the county Transportation Authority all need to move into a higher gear on Measure C projects.
  
  Tell us what you think. Comment on this editorial by going to http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion, then click on the editorial.

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  08.22.2008
  Fresno Co. goes for the green
  
  

  By Kerri Ginis / The Fresno Bee
  
  Fresno County is trying to do its part to protect the environment by encouraging more of its 7,000 employees to car-pool to work, conserve electricity and recycle aluminum cans and plastic water bottles.
  
  On Thursday, the county held a "Go Green Fresno County" event -- kicking off a new package of environmental policies that strive to reduce air pollution, limit traffic congestion and decrease energy consumption.
  
  More than 1,000 employees attended the kickoff. The county set up booths for employees to learn more about what they can do to protect the environment.
  
  Judy Dlugonski, a secretary in the Public Defender's Office, said she has recently noticed more of her co-workers making an effort to recycle and conserve energy.
  
  "This is a real hot topic right now," she said. "A lot of us are interested in applying more of these things at work."
  
  Each employee received a green cloth grocery bag containing an energy-efficient light bulb and a reusable water bottle. The county also raffled off two bikes and two scooters. But officials made sure it was a paperless raffle by using computers to enter employee names.
  
  "This is a great event, but it's just the start," said Board of Supervisors Chairman Henry Perea, who along with Supervisor Judy Case spearheaded the county effort. "We're in the process of changing the county mindset."
  
  Fresno County is not the first to tackle this issue. Nearly two-thirds of cities and counties in the state -- including the city of Fresno -- have already put similar policies in place, said Cara Martinson, a legislative analyst with the California State Association of Counties.
  
  "There's been a tremendous groundswell in light of the public awareness of the issue," Martinson said. "I think what a lot of county governments have been doing is seeing what resources they consume and what they can do to cut back."
  
  The next step for Fresno County is to put recycling bins in every county department, Perea said.
  
  Many employees say they also are trying to car-pool to work more. Others -- particularly those who commute from the South Valley -- are using van pools. Temo Ortiz, who works for a van-pool program, said he knows of at least 40 to 50 county employees who use the service.
  
  Thursday's event -- which included a free lunch for all employees -- was paid for by sponsors, including Table Mountain Rancheria and Granville Homes. Granville even brought an electric car for employees to check out.
  
  "This really has got us more motivated," said Silvia Rodriguez, an accountant for the county. "I think it's awesome to get everyone together and share the resources that are available."
  
  The reporter can be reached at kginis@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6317.

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  08.22.2008
  Hwy. 99 plan could get waivers:
  Federal interstate standards might be eased, Caltrans says.
  
  

  By Russell Clemings / The Fresno Bee
  
  State highway officials now believe they could get interstate highway standards waived for most of Highway 99 if the San Joaquin Valley's main artery were converted to an interstate highway.
  
  Estimates from 2005 said $14 billion to $19 billion would be needed to widen shoulders and raise bridges to interstate standards. But after discussions with the Federal Highway Administration, state officials now think they can win waivers for all but about $1 billion of those fixes.
  
  D. Alan McCuen, San Joaquin Valley coordinator for the California Department of Transportation district planning office, said $1 billion is "our best judgment," but the agency is confident it could get "a significant number" of waivers approved.
  
  "This was gentlemen talking around a table without any technical data going with it," McCuen said. "But we're proceeding accordingly based upon those discussions."
  
  The $1 billion would come on top of an estimated $6 billion in improvements that Caltrans is planning regardless of the interstate status question. Some of those projects are under way, such as the widening in the Fairmead area of Madera County. Others are to be funded by Proposition 1B, approved in 2006.
  
  McCuen's statements came during a meeting of local officials called by two Valley congressmen, Democrat Jim Costa of Fresno and Republican Devin Nunes of Visalia, to rekindle support for the interstate conversion.
  
  The latest effort to win interstate designation for Highway 99 began four years ago but has met with resistance from some Valley officials who fear that the cost would be high and the economic benefit minimal.
  
  McCuen said that a consultant is expected to finish work next month on a report gauging the cost-effectiveness of a conversion, which would most likely change Highway 99 to either Interstate 7 or Interstate 9.
  
  The reporter can be reached at rclemings@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6371.

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  08.21.2008
  More people turn to transit:
  It's the brightest result from recent gas price increases.
  
  

  Fresno Bee Editorial
  
  The best news in local transportation matters is not the recent decline in gas prices, welcome as that is. The real cheering should be for an impressive increase in train ridership in the Valley and the prospect of faster, more efficient bus service in Fresno in the near future.
  
  The San Joaquins, Amtrak's Valley passenger train service, saw ridership jump by 32% in July, compared with July 2007. Last month marked the first time that more than 100,000 riders boarded the San Joaquins in a single month. The figures make the San Joaquins the fifth-most heavily traveled train route in the nation.
  
  And the city of Fresno is moving ahead with plans for a "bus rapid transit" system that will offer riders express buses and other attractive features.
  
  The system uses special corridors, and sometimes dedicated lanes, to run buses along heavily traveled routes. As in conventional light rail systems, the wheeled buses use special platforms at most stops.
  
  Federal money is needed to help get the project rolling. With a new draft master plan in hand, Fresno is ready to ask the Federal Transit Administration for funding. City transit planners believe that, once the money is secured -- they think it will take $35 million to $37 million for starters -- the buses could be running along a downtown/Kings Canyon Road/Clovis Avenue route in two years. Other routes would follow.
  
  Sooner would be better, since demand for alternatives to individual vehicles is likely to continue to grow.
  
  It's that demand for alternatives that's also fueling the rise in Amtrak ridership. Nationwide, it's up 14% over the same time last year, with record numbers of passengers everywhere. And that's on a system that has many failings, including frequent delays. In spite of Amtrak's shortcomings -- and despite Bush administration efforts to kill the system -- people are choosing the train in record numbers.
  
  There may not be room for a lot more improvement in California, however, unless the Schwarzenegger administration gets more aggressive about using Proposition 1B funds for new rolling stock. Some Amtrak trains in the state are already experiencing standing-room only crowds. The process for getting new cars into service is lengthy; we should be moving in that direction right now.
  
  The shift to alternative means of transportation, however small, is a welcome trend, because we'll never go back to the days of cheap oil and gasoline. There will be temporary swings in the price of oil, as now, but world demand will continue to outpace production, driving prices higher and higher.
  
  We have a limited window in which to reduce our demand for oil by shifting to more efficient means of transportation. Trains and buses are going to be a big part of that, and it's good to see more and more people getting that message.
  
  Tell us what you think. Comment on this editorial by going to http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion, then click on the editorial.

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  08.19.2008
  JIM COSTA:
  A balanced way to solve our energy crisis
  
  

  Fresno Bee Op-Ed
  
  The past two months, Americans have been stuck watching a fiercely partisan debate over energy policy. While both sides have some valid ideas, we know Harry Potter can't wave his magic wand and wish the energy crisis away. A shouting match between Democrats and Republicans won't solve the problem either.
  
  We need a bipartisan approach to find solutions that can and will make a difference. Earlier this summer, we organized such a group. Congressman John Peterson, R-Pennsylvania; Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii; Dan Burton, R-Indiana; and I gathered together like-minded representatives from around the nation to develop an energy bill, which was introduced last month.
  
  This bill uses many of the energy tools in our toolbox to not only drill for more domestic oil and gas, but to transition our fossil-fuel economy to alternative and renewable sources.
  
  The National Conservation, Environment and Energy Independence Act is a comprehensive energy package that first removes the existing moratoria on oil and natural gas production in the outer continental shelf for waters 25 miles offshore and beyond. For waters that are 25-50 miles from shore, the bill gives states the right to opt out and remove those areas from leasing. The bill prohibits leasing within 25 miles of a coastline. States will receive 30% of the royalties from oil and gas production.
  
  This legislation uses the royalties generated by the offshore oil and gas production to fund energy conservation, as well as the development of alternative fuels and renewable-energy technologies, making it a balanced package. For example, 15% of the royalty funds will go to the Renewable Energy Reserve fund, created within the bill. Another 5% will pay for research and development regarding carbon capture and sequestration, as well as the reprocessing or disposal of nuclear waste -- which is the key to the increased safe use of nuclear power.
  
  The bill also extends numerous existing tax incentives for cleaner energy production and conservation, including solar and wind power, energy-efficiency measures and alternative-fuel vehicles.
  
  In addition, the bill modifies the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to today's refining capabilities by exchanging 10% (about 70 million barrels) of the reserve's content and dedicates funds received from the exchange ($1.4 billion estimated) to existing conservation, energy research and development and energy-assistance programs.
  
  The use of fossil fuels will change, and in the future, our children and grandchildren will likely rely on multiple energy sources.
  
  Solar power is improving, and with the ample sunshine in our Valley, we will benefit greatly from solar energy. During the last session of Congress, I co-sponsored the Solar Energy Research and Advancement Act, which establishes a research and development program to provide lower-cost and more viable thermal energy storage technologies. This legislation also establishes a competitive grant program to create and strengthen the solar-industry work force and assist in commercial application of direct solar renewable-energy sources.
  
  Solar is not the only renewable-energy source that will thrive in our Valley. Already Kern County is one of the state's main producers of wind energy -- and that's expected only to grow. We also have dairy farmers and utility companies partnering to generate electricity using the methane gas from their farms.
  
  We can also reduce the demand for oil by improving the fuel economy of our automobiles. Last session, Congress established a single Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard for automakers of 35 miles per gallon by model year 2020. More funding for the development of electric and hydrogen-fueled cars will only improve this number. The development of high-speed rail systems in California and elsewhere in America is also key to improving air quality for our Valley.
  
  We need to step out of the current energy crisis and end the partisan bickering. A combination of increasing our own domestic supply and reducing demand will lower energy costs and create new jobs, getting us through a transition period during the next 20 years.
  
  It is also vital that our nation move toward clean and renewable sources of energy. This is a big test for our country and its leadership that we cannot afford to fail.
  
  Jim Costa of Fresno represents the 20th Congressional District.

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  08.18.2008
  Major gift from William Lyles will benefit College of Engineering at Fresno State
  
  

  FresnoStateNews.com
  
  The College of Engineering at California State University, Fresno will take a major step forward in educating more students in the Central Valley for careers in engineering and construction management thanks to a major commitment from William Lyles, President and CEO of Lyles Diversified Inc.
  
  Lyles, his family and their companies have committed a $10 million gift and the University agrees to seek an additional $10 million in support for the College of Engineering in the coming years. The total impact over time will be $20 million for the college.
  
  “The Central Valley has been a great place for our family,” said William Lyles. “We’ve watched the region grow and change through the years and we believe it is essential that the Valley transform its economy in the coming years. A critical part of that transformation will be more well-educated engineers to support this growth. It is our hope that this gift will encourage and inspire others to help in this important effort.”
  
  The Lyles family members are longtime supporters of Fresno State, and have assisted numerous projects at the university. Thanks to the Lyles family, entrepreneurs have a chance to translate their visions into business reality through the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Students, faculty and visiting performers enjoy playing the Elizabeth Lyles pipe organ in the Concert Hall in the Music Building.
  
  Numerous programs on campus have been expanded and sustained due to the generosity of the Lyles family, which has provided major gifts to the Craig School of Business, including its Business Associates program and its Family Business Institute; the Kremen School of Education and Human Development; the College of Arts and Humanities; the Henry Madden Library; the Bulldog Foundation; and the Save Mart Center.
  
  Fresno State President Dr. John D. Welty said the Lyles gift will play a major role in developing the College of Engineering to meet the region’s growing needs while increasing its appeal to faculty and students.
  
  “This investment will transform the College of Engineering,” Welty added. “In recognition of this commitment, I will ask the California State University Board of Trustees to name the college the Lyles College of Engineering.”
  
  Welty said the Lyles’ gift acknowledges the importance of the College of Engineering in developing the region’s burgeoning growth, which is driving the area’s economy. Long-recognized as one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world, the Central Valley is transitioning toward engineering and technological growth as keys to continued economic health and sustainability.
  
  The Central Valley offers an ideal location to apply emerging technologies, engineering innovations and leading edge construction management strategies. To support this new era, the College of Engineering must attract, educate and retain bright, talented leaders in the various engineering specialties and make community connections while they are here so that they stay in the region, Welty said.
  
  Dr. Michael Jenkins, dean of the College of Engineering, said, “This partnering with Bill Lyles will transform Fresno State’s College of Engineering by allowing us to educate and train our share of critically needed engineers and construction managers for the nation and the world.
  
  “Although we have been offering courses in engineering at Fresno State since the 1920s, gifts such as this will significantly alter our college and are critical to fueling the evolution of this region that we call the New California. The generosity of this gift is inspiring and we hope that it motivates others to join us in our efforts,” said Jenkins.
  
  The Engineering College has seen a steady enrollment growth over the past five years, but current national trends indicate a need to increase engineering and construction management degrees to meet demand.
  
  Jenkins said the Lyles gift will allow the college to do that by advancing student academic excellence and scholarship, enhancing laboratories and equipment and promoting faculty excellence.
  
  William Lyles is a third generation engineer. His companies have been involved in construction, real estate and development, underground pipeline and utility construction, heavy concrete and mechanical construction.
  
  He is a long-time member of the university's President's Circle and a member of the Board of Governors for the California State University, Fresno Foundation. In 1999, he was awarded one of the university's highest honors – the California State University, Fresno Foundation Service Award. His combination of philanthropy and service was recognized by Fresno State in 2001, when an honorary doctorate of humane letters was conferred on him by the California State University trustees.

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  08.18.2008
  PG&E deal brings good news on solar
  
  

  Sacramento Bee Editorial / SacBee.com
  
  Can solar power prove itself to be a cost-effective source of electricity?
  
  The prospects grew brighter last Thursday when Pacific Gas and Electric announced two contracts that will lead to the nation's first large-scale photovoltaic plants.
  
  One of the deals, with OptiSolar, would generate 550 megawatts from a 9.5-square-mile solar farm that the company plans to build in San Luis Obispo County. The other would involve 250 megawatts from SunPower Corp. on another 3.5-square-mile chunk of San Luis Obispo land.
  
  Together, these plants would generate enough clean electricity to power 239,000 homes. PG&E and the other companies aren't disclosing the rates the utility would pay. But PG&E says the deals would not affect rates its Northern California customers pay. The PG&E deal is significant on several fronts:
  
  

  • It's good news for Sacramento. OptiSolar recently announced plans for a factory at McClellan Park that will employ 50 people. Anything that helps OptiSolar also helps its plans to expand to 500 employees here.
  • It suggests that producing photovoltaic energy – silicon-type panels that convert sunlight directly into electricity – is coming down in price. Utilities purchasing solar on a large scale have generally gone with solar thermal technology, in which liquid is heated and then used to power a turbine.
  • It will greatly increase PG&E's portfolio of renewable power. Utilities are under a state mandate to get 20 percent of their energy from renewables by 2010. PG&E says the new deals will get the utility to 24 percent by 2013, up from 11.4 percent in 2007.
  
  California's laws, including its renewable standard and its 2006 law to reduce greenhouse gases, deserve credit for the ongoing push toward cleaner energy sources.
  
  But it's too soon to celebrate. Congress needs to reauthorize several tax credits for renewable energy for PG&E's deals to pencil out. The sooner Congress extends these credits, the sooner Californians can be powering more homes with the rays of the sun.
  
  
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  08.16.2008
  Fresno County jobless rate in double digits:
  Losses spreading to retail, restaurant employment.
  
  

  By Jeff St. John / The Fresno Bee
  
  Fresno County's unemployment rate rose to double digits in July, as growth in farm, health-care, transportation and government jobs failed to outpace losses in the construction, real estate, retail and hospitality sectors.
  
  The county's July unemployment rate rose to 10.1%, up from 9.7% in June and 8.3% in the same month last year, according to the state Employment Development Department.
  
  That is the highest jobless rate for the month since 12.1% in July 2004, before the start of the construction boom that helped drive down unemployment to longtime lows.
  
  The bursting of the housing bubble last year had the opposite effect, as first construction jobs -- down 1,900, or 8.8%, from last year -- then real estate-related jobs -- down 300, or 6.5% -- faltered.
  
  July's jobs report shows that the job losses are beginning to show up in other places as consumer spending slows. Retail sales lost 100 jobs, a 0.3% decline, from July 2007 to last month, and restaurants lost 200 jobs, a 0.9% decline, over the same time period, for example.
  
  "As you see unemployment grow, you're going to see an impact in the retail arena," as well as in other sectors dependent on consumer spending, said Steve Geil, president of the Economic Development Corp. serving Fresno County. "That's just the way it is."
  
  In fact, while 2,900 farm jobs were added in Fresno County between July 2007 and last month, nonfarm employment fell by 400 jobs, or 0.1%. At the same time period, unemployment rolls rose to 45,000 in July, up 25.3% from the same month last year.
  
  Some central San Joaquin Valley counties fared worse than Fresno County. Tulare County's unemployment rate was 10.9% in July, up from 8.9% in the same month last year, and Merced County's was 12.1%, up from 9.9%.
  
  Others fared slightly better. Madera County's July rate was 9.5%, up from 7.5% the year before, and Kings County's July rate was 9.9%, up from 8.1%.
  
  The state as a whole also saw unemployment rise to 7.3% in July, up from 5.4% the year before, as it lost 179,000 jobs over the same time period, 93,000 of them since June.
  
  Kerry Kiley, regional operations manager for staffing firm Adecco in Pleasanton, said the economic slowdown hit the Bay Area harder than the Central Valley at first, based on her experiences managing job placements in both regions.
  
  But "at this point the Central Valley has definitely caught up and surpassed what I've seen in the Bay Area," she said, with losses concentrated in construction and financial services.
  
  Doug Heffner, owner of Integrity Lending Group in Fresno, said that job losses for real estate financial services such as mortgage brokers and title companies are being followed by layoffs at banks, as the nation's financial giants respond to increasingly large losses related to their exposure to the housing market.
  
  That appears to be the case statewide, where construction has led job losses from July 2007 to last month, but financial activities saw the largest job losses from June to July, the state Employment Development Department reported.
  
  "I believe you're going to see some more" jobs lost in financial services, Heffner said. "We're into it at least until next spring at the earliest."
  
  Kiley said she hasn't seen retailers cut jobs on a large scale yet. But she said she is waiting to see how the busy back-to-school shopping season plays out before making predictions.
  
  While traffic at Fashion Fair Mall is about the same as it was this time last year, year-to-date sales have slipped about 4% compared with last year, indicating people are spending less when they shop, said Mo Bagunu, senior manager.
  
  Still, things are going pretty well, and stores at the mall are hiring, he said.
  
  "Back to school is starting to hit full wave right now, and a lot of our retailers have hired for back to school, and also prepping for the holiday season," he said.
  
  Restaurants are suffering a bit more from the weak economy and rising gasoline and food prices, said Dan Conway, spokesman for the California Restaurant Association.
  
  "We're having to pay more for food" as well, he said, not to mention "the cost of business these days, between higher energy prices and minimum wage increases, things like that."
  
  The reporter can be reached at jeffstjohn@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6637.

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  08.16.2008
  Juicy harvest:
  Valley apple growers see green from bounty of red fruit.
  
  

  By Dennis Pollock / The Fresno Bee
  
  California's apple production is up this year after a disappointing showing last year, and the timing of this year's harvest should put the state industry in the catbird seat, industry leaders say.
  
  The state has a window of opportunity for all its varieties before Washington starts its apple harvest, and Chile won't be into the market until next spring, said Alex Ott, executive director of the California Apple Commission in Fresno.
  
  "That works well, because we have the only fresh apples available," Ott said.
  
  Apples are a $114 million crop in California, led by San Joaquin County at $40 million, Kern County at $22 million and Fresno County at $12 million.
  
  In Madera County, Gala apples have been harvested in recent days at the farm where Lance Shebelut also grows Fuji and Cripps Pink apples, along with peaches, Asian pears and almonds.
  
  Shebelut said he is pleased with the quality of the Galas, but less enamored of the size. They're the smallest he has seen in 20 years, he said.
  
  By contrast, there are reports that Granny Smiths grown elsewhere are sizing nicely and could result in 1.9 million 40-pound boxes. They're the No. 1 variety for the state.
  
  Overall, projections call for a total of 3.18 million boxes of fresh apples, 780,000 more than the 2007 crop that fell victim to what Ott called "terrible" weather conditions that included intense heat.
  
  The Gala, the state's No. 2 apple, is the first variety harvested. And to give the state's Galas -- and sometimes its Fujis and pinks -- a boost to color, Shebelut and other growers use an overhead sprinkling system when temperatures edge into the 90s.
  
  The redder color can bring more green to the farmers who sell those varieties, but with the Granny Smith there's less need to tweak Mother Nature. That green is good.
  
  Ott said prices for Galas are in the $40 range per box, an improvement from previous years.
  
  Apples are grown from as far south as San Diego to as far north as Ukiah. Most of the crop is grown from Sacramento south to Kern County.
  
  California exports up to 30% of its apples. Canada is the largest foreign customer. Nearly 36% of the state's apples are consumed in California, and the rest are shipped to other states.
  
  Shebelut, who works as a field quality control manager for Trinity Fruit Sales in Fresno, said he once had 500 acres of apples. Now he is down to 160.
  
  "It's a very expensive crop -- one of the most difficult because it has to be hand-pruned, hand-thinned and hand-picked," he said.
  
  In the early 1990s, Ott said, California's fresh apple market totaled about 10 million boxes. Today, he said, the industry is between 3 million and 4 million, "a more comfortable niche." The state also produces about the same amount of apples for processing.
  
  The reporter can be reached at dpollock@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6364.

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  08.15.2008
  Rail bill must move forward:
  Governor should sign measure so new version gets on the ballot in time.
  
  

  Fresno Bee Editorial
  
  A measure to strengthen the high-speed rail bond initiative on the November ballot finally passed the state Assembly, but it won't be going to the governor's desk right away. That's because Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is holding firm to his pledge to veto any bill that comes to him before the Legislature passes a budget.
  
  He means to keep that pledge in this case even though he's on the record in strong support of high-speed rail.
  
  "The governor will continue to work with the Legislature to get the improved high-speed rail language on the ballot," Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear told the Associated Press on Monday, when AB 3034 was still hung up in the Assembly. "There will be one high-speed rail initiative on the ballot, and the governor will be out campaigning for that."
  
  Except he won't make an exception to his pledge for this crucial bill. We think he ought to rethink that position, and soon.
  
  AB 3034, by Assembly Member Cathleen Galgiani, D-Stockton, makes several changes in the original Proposition 1, the $9.9 billion high-speed rail bond. There would be a greater level of accountability, and the authority that will build the rail system must come up with an updated business plan that includes new ridership estimates and expected sources of federal and private funding that will be needed, along with the state bond funds, to construct the project.
  
  The bill would also make it possible for funds to be spent on segments of the proposed system other than the "spine," the Los Angeles to San Francisco corridor through the Valley.
  
  Those are all changes the governor demanded. The Legislature has obliged -- haltingly, and much later than it might have acted -- but the bill is ready now. Galgiani has held it up so it won't face a veto threat, but it could move quickly if the governor signals he is willing to sign it.
  
  Because of deadlines for ballot language, the original Proposition 1 would likely be scrubbed and replaced by Proposition 1a, reflecting the changes in AB 3034. But that has to happen soon. The official deadline is Saturday, though rail backers believe there could be a window of up to two weeks to make the change.
  
  The high-speed rail system is one of the most important public works projects ever proposed in California, a state once noted for its ability to think big and act wisely to protect the opportunities and prosperity of future generations. The benefits would be enormous: Tens of thousands of new, high-paying jobs, economic development in ancillary industries, cleaner air, less reliance on oil for fuel, and a faster, cheaper way for business people, families and tourists to get around the Golden State.
  
  High-speed rail makes sense in every direction, and that's why it's important for the governor to do the right thing, and move this process along. We understand -- and share -- his anger and frustration with the dysfunctional budget process, but that can't be allowed to torpedo other worthy efforts.
  
  Tell us what you think. Comment on this editorial by going to http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion, then click on the editorial.

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  08.12.2008
  Fresno poverty numbers improve:
  Study shows drop in concentration of working poort between 1999, 2005.
  
  

  By Kerri Ginis / The Fresno Bee
  
  A new report confirms a much-noticed finding that Fresno is home to the most concentrated urban poverty in the country -- but also finds that the city has made gains in recent years.
  
  The housing boom and general upswing in the economy that Fresno experienced during the first half of this decade led to a 4-point drop in the percentage of poor people living in the city's poorest neighborhoods, according to the report being released today by the Brookings Institution.
  
  In 1999, 34% of the working poor were concentrated in impoverished neighborhoods primarily in southeast and west Fresno. By 2005, that had declined to 30%.
  
  But researchers warn the improvements could quickly erode given the current economic downturn.
  
  "As the economy turns another corner here that could spell trouble for the region," said Alan Berube, co-author of the Washington D.C.-based Brookings Institution report. "But I think what this shows is that [poverty] is not an intractable problem. At least in the context of a decent economy, low-income families can live in somewhat better neighborhoods."
  
  This is the second Brookings report in three years to highlight Fresno's high concentration of poverty. In 2005, using census data, the Brookings Institution said Fresno had the highest concentration of poverty among the 50 largest cities in the United States. That influential report was widely cited by politicians and others and spurred efforts to try to improve the plight of the city's impoverished residents.
  
  The most recent analysis, using federal tax data, shows the concentration of people living in poverty increased in many other parts of the country. But Fresno and other cities in the western U.S., including San Diego, Riverside and Los Angeles, showed decreases in the concentration of the working poor. The Sacramento-Roseville region had no areas that met the definition of concentrated working-poor neighborhoods.
  
  "What we are showing in the analysis is that the concentrated working-poverty rate is related to the overall economic performance," Berube said. Fresno's economy performed well through 2005 "and that seemed to alleviate some of the problem."
  
  Researchers looked at the number of people living in high-poverty ZIP codes who received the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (or EITC) in 1999 and 2005. Families eligible for the credit typically have incomes below $30,000, Berube said.
  
  The analysis found that the number of Fresno neighborhoods in which at least 40% of tax filers received the tax credit declined from 16 to 12. There are two explanations for the decline: Either people who lived in those neighborhoods moved elsewhere or people in those neighborhoods began earning too much money to be eligible for the EITC.
  
  "I suspect it has more to do with people earning more money than they did in 1999 because of the improved economic standards," Berube said.
  
  But even with that small improvement, some agencies and individuals who work closely with Fresno's working poor say they don't see much change in the concentration of Fresno's poor neighborhoods. Many say the "Tale of Two Cities," which Mayor Alan Autry dubbed Fresno's gapping economic divide during his 2000 election campaign, hasn't gone away.
  
  "I think this community doesn't recognize the depth and breadth of poverty that exists here," said Amy Chubb, executive director of Fresno Works for Better Health Advocacy Center, an organization working to alleviate poverty.
  
  Chubb said residents are still living in tents, in unsanitary conditions without running water, just blocks from downtown. She said the lack of education, limited job training, and low wages are contributing to the city's high poverty rate.
  
  "It's hard for me to believe that in the 21st century we have people living in Third World conditions like this," she said.
  
  Others agree and said not enough is being done to lift people out of poverty. The Fresno Metro Ministry -- a multifaith organization that promotes social, economic and environmental justice -- said the concentration of the poor may actually be increasing.
  
  Many people are having to move in with relatives because their low-income apartments have been sold or the rents increased. Others have lost jobs because of the citrus freeze last year. And this year's drought is forcing more people to move into friends' and relatives' homes.
  
  "We're seeing more concentration of people in smaller places," said Edie Jessup, Metro Ministry's hunger and nutrition manager. "We still have huge issues to take care of."
  
  City officials say they know there is more work to do, but they believe they have made strides in helping poorer residents.
  
  Mayor Alan Autry said the city has invested $47 million to put curbs, sidewalks and gutters in neighborhoods throughout southwest Fresno. The city also put an empowerment zone in place to give businesses financial incentives to move into some of the poorer areas of the city.
  
  In addition, the city has dedicated more police to tackling the gang problem in these neighborhoods, opened community centers and a regional sports complex.
  
  "We are better off by every measure now than we were 8 to 10 years ago," Mayor Alan Autry said. "More things are in place ... to get through these difficult times. We won't take a giant step backwards."
  
  City officials must look at long-term ways to improve people's lives -- even during tough economic times, said Manuel Pastor, an economist and geography professor from the University of Southern California who has studied Fresno's poverty issues.
  
  Pastor said Fresno needs to diversify its economy, improve job training and increase access to education, health care and jobs that pay more than minimum wage.
  
  "If you want the Fresno economy to turn around in a long-lasting and fundamental way, your basic asset is your people -- making sure they're well trained and well treated," Pastor said. "Then you have a region that is ripe for thriving in any type of economy."
  
  The reporter can be reached at kginis@fresnobee.com or(559) 441-6317.

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  08.07.2008
  Fresno's $250K national business competition ends with 100-plus entries
  
  

  LateUpdate.com
  
  After receiving more than 100 applications right up to the last minute of the official entry period, which closed at 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 31st, Fresno is one step closer to finding the winner of its first national business plan competition: Start It Up: Fresno’s $250K Entrepreneur Challenge.
  
  Since Start It Up officially kicked off on June 1, the competition’s organizers have fielded numerous phone calls from potential applicants nationwide. This, coupled with the overwhelming number of e-mails received and the more than 100,000 hits to the contest website over the two-month entry period, affirms what Start It Up organizers and supporters have believed all along – across the country entrepreneurs see Fresno as a viable location for starting a new business.
  
  It’s not surprising that Start It Up has generated such high interest among aspiring entrepreneurs when you consider the $250K grand prize – 100K in cash and $150K of in-kind services – and the criteria for participation. Unlike college business plan competitions, Start It Up is a winner-take-all challenge that was open to all U.S. residents 18 years or older.
  
  “We are so pleased and overwhelmed at the responses we’ve received,” said Dr. Tim Stearns, Executive Director of the Lyles Center. “Now that the entry period is closed, we are very excited to begin the process of choosing our 10 finalists and ultimately helping to turn one talented entrepreneur’s business dreams into a reality right here in Fresno.”
  
  The top 10 finalists will be brought to Fresno for a two-day competition, October 2-3, 2008, where they will present their business plans before a panel of distinguished judges. Then, during halftime at the Fresno State Bulldog football game on October 4, 2008, the Start It Up winner will be announced in front of 40,000 spectators.
  
  The competition is a collaborative effort between the Lyles Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at California State University, Fresno, the City of Fresno Economic Development Department, the Fresno Redevelopment Agency, Craig School of Business at California State University, Fresno, and Table Mountain Rancheria.

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  08.05.2008
  State can't become divided over routes for rail
  
  

  Fresno Bee Editorial
  
  The continued warring between supporters of high-speed rail will result in just one outcome if they don't regain their focus: Everyone will lose. It's imperative to agree on a good system now, and keep working to make the system great later.
  
  The debate that's hung on for years is whether the small section of the rail line taking passengers from the Valley to the Bay Area should go over the Altamont or Pacheco passes. It's not going to matter if the system doesn't get started.
  
  The groups that should be partners keep lobbing burning arrows at each other, and if they don't watch out, they may find they have torched the enthusiasm of supporters caught in the crossfire.
  
  In time, the exciting high-speed rail system will serve all the state very well, but for now, supporters need to steel their points of agreement, band together and get this project started. That begins with a united front to pass Proposition 1, which will be on the November ballot. This proposal will authorize $9.9 billion in state borrowing to jump-start the 800-mile rail.
  
  High gas prices and concerns about air quality are stimulating even car-loving voters to view mass transit in a new way, providing an excellent opportunity for passage of the measure. A recent Field Poll showed Proposition 1 leading 56% to 30%, with 14% undecided. The initiative requires a simple majority to pass.
  
  This is clearly a moment in time where Californians are believing that uncommon times call for uncommon solutions, and the supporters of high-speed rail should be gleeful. Right now, voters are eager to try something new if it means loosening the noose foreign oil dependence has looped around their necks. High-speed rail touches all of our hot political spots right now: It would improve the environment, our national security and our economy by providing thousands of well-paying jobs -- just what California needs during such dire economic times.
  
  This is not risky business, but a proven strategy for success. During the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration built thousands of miles of roads, nearly 1,000 airports, 124,000 bridges, parks, schools and government buildings, and employed millions of Americans in that devastating economic time. California doesn't have to wait for the feds to tell us what to do; we are wise enough to stimulate our own economy.
  
  There will be enough resistance to rail coming from people getting rich off competing industries; those who stand to profit if high-speed rail dies. And there will always be negative people whose imaginations cannot fathom such a forward-thinking amenity for California -- even though it's being done beautifully and successfully elsewhere.
  
  This is not the time for partners to fight each other -- it's time to charge ahead together.
  
  Tell us what you think. Comment on this editorial by going to http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion, then click on the editorial.

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  08.05.2008
  The North Face to Host 1 Megawatt Solar Energy System
  
  

  http://www.solarbuzz.com/News/NewsNAPR1167.htm
  
  System integrator, EI Solutions is partnering with The North Face ®, the world’s premier supplier of authentic, innovative and technically advanced outdoor apparel, equipment and footwear, to design, build and install a 1MW solar electricity system at its West Coast distribution center located in Visalia, California.
  
  Scheduled to be completed by the end of this year, the system will be financed, owned and operated by San Francisco-based Recurrent Energy, the pioneer in Solar as a ServiceSM. 100% of the electricity will be sold to The North Face under a Power Purchase Agreement. EI Solutions’ innovative design calls for construction of the new system over a storm water retention area located on the property, allowing for its dual use and providing a buffer to adjacent properties.
  
  By protecting the retention function of the area, the design negates the need for a new draining system while at the same time providing a clean, noise-free use of the land.
  
  Another key feature in the system’s design is the use of RayTracker™ GC single-axis solar trackers, on which 5,445 Suntech photovoltaic (PV) panels will be mounted. By tracking the sun as it moves across the sky, RayTracker will keep the mounted PV panels focused on the sun’s rays, thereby maximizing the amount of energy produced by each panel and increasing the system’s return on investment.
  
  The new ground-mounted system will be located adjacent to VF Corporations’ (The North Face’s parent company) 800,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art distribution center.
  
  “We are deeply committed to exploring new and creative solutions for energy reduction,” said Steve Rendle, President, The North Face. “Through our partnership with El Solutions and Recurrent Energy, we have achieved a tremendously innovative design that will yield above-average energy production, emission reduction, and financial savings.”
  
  “The North Face is a company that, along with its commitment to social responsibility and the environment, is well known for its innovative use of technology in its products,” said Andrew Beebe, president or EI Solutions. “We’re excited to work with them, along with Recurrent Energy, to design and build a system that’s not only economical, but also one that incorporates the latest technology and land-use techniques, thus enabling higher efficiency and having a greater overall impact.”
  
  According to national metric data provided by the Environmental Protection Agency, the solar system - owned and operated by Recurrent Energy - is expected to reduce carbon emissions by over 1,300 metric tons annually, which is equivalent to removing close to 250 automobiles from operation for one year or preserving over 11 acres of forest.

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  08.02.2008
  Bus rapid transit may suit Fresno
  
  

  By Lee Brand / The Fresno Bee Op-Ed
  
  As a young boy growing up in Fresno, I looked forward to taking trips to downtown Fresno. Our only transportation was the bus. In the early 1960s, downtown was the hub of culture and commerce, with all of the movie theaters and major retailers. Unfortunately, most of these venues disappeared into history as the downtown started a slow decline in the late 1960s.
  
  Our bus system was once a major transportation mode for many people in Fresno. Urban sprawl and our dependence on automobiles have relegated our buses to a mandated public-transportation system for the poor. Many empty buses with colorful advertising move across our city on a daily basis. Unfortunately, these buses follow an antiquated grid system.
  
  With gas now approaching $5 a gallon, ridership has shown a small increase. We are not, however, even close to our potential. Our bus transportation system known as FAX (Fresno Area Express) could be a viable alternative for all of us to use. Some critics say we should be exploring light rail mass transit. Cost is the major problem. With an estimated cost of about $50 million a mile, light rail is very expensive. Measure C money would not put a dent into the overall cost of a citywide light-rail grid. Fresno does not qualify for federal grant assistance for light rail.
  
  Lacking a central business district like San Francisco has made public transportation planning much more problematic. There are solutions. The 2025 General Plan identifies activity centers (for example, downtown, River Park, California State University, Fresno) and linking people between these centers. In a few months, a Transportation System Management study will examine trip-generation origins and destinations in Fresno. This software modeling will also serve as a foundation for a revised FAX grid system that more closely conforms to driving patterns in Fresno.
  
  Currently, most people in Fresno, particularly North Fresno, do not see our FAX transportation system as an alternative mode of transportation. Rising fuel prices, the development of a revised FAX transportation grid and new technologies in bus transit can dramatically increase ridership on FAX.
  
  The bus fleet has more than half of its vehicles converted to a more fuel-efficient compressed natural gas. These buses also emit considerably less pollutants than older buses. Getting thousands of Fresno citizens to use the bus transportation system would have a profound impact on improving our air quality.
  
  One of the new technologies in mass transit is "bus rapid transit" (BRT). It is currently being successfully used in cities like Las Vegas and Los Angeles. BRT uses longer buses capable of carrying up to 85 passengers. They have a lower profile design that will make it easier and faster to load and unload passengers. Fares are paid at attractive, new stations.
  
  The key to getting more people to ride on buses is moving people faster. BRT is designed to operate on dedicated (e.g. diamond lane) corridors. The buses use technology that can alter traffic-light timing as they approach intersections and have automated scheduling and dispatch systems. BRT is usually used on fixed routes with fewer stops. The BRT concept would dramatically reduce travel times, provide more direct routes between destination points and be a palatable alternative to automobiles. BRT has been described as "light rail on wheels."
  
  Park-and-ride centers could effectively tie into a restructured FAX transportation grid linking activity centers. Model urban developments like the planned Southeast Growth Area will utilize integrated transportation modes and park-and-ride centers. You could walk, take a bike or your car for a short ride to a park-and-ride center and take a bus from there.
  
  The success of a new FAX grid system and new technology like BRT will require a major marketing effort to convince people to ride public transportation. We are all creatures of habit, and changing our daily routines will not be easy. The private sector can encourage employees to use mass transit and also help raise revenues through plans that can include naming rights to new stations. We have the resources to fund a basic level BRT system within two years, operating routes on Kings Canyon Road and Blackstone Avenue. In future years, BRT routes can be incrementally expanded.
  
  The global energy crisis is the catalyst that is dramatically changing the transportation paradigm in America. In Fresno, we study everything to death. The complex problems that we face will require bold, innovative policies and action to meet future challenges.
  
  Lee Brand is the council member-elect to represent District 6 on the Fresno City Council. He is a former member of the Planning Commission.

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  08.01.2008
  USDA grant to help Fresno State organic farming initiative
  
  

  FresnoStateNews.com
  
  A $250,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture grant will boost organic agricultural research and education at California State University, Fresno beyond a greenhouse and a small plot for vegetables certified earlier this year.
  
  The student-operated Rue and Gwen Gibson Farm Market at Barstow and Chestnut avenues sells student-produced organic vegetables and greenhouse-grown organic herb and vegetable seedlings for use by home gardeners.
  
  The three-year award is from the USDA’s Hispanic-Serving Institution Education Grant Program. It will establish Fresno State’s organic farming initiative under the Sustainable Agroecosystems and Efficient Resource Management program housed within the College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology.
  
  Dr. Sajeemas Pasakdee, soil scientist/agronomist in the California Agricultural Technology Institute at Fresno State, and Dr. Ganesan Srinivasan, director of the university’s farm operations, will be the principal investigators for the grant. Pasakdee has expertise and training in sustainable agriculture and organic farming, while Srinivasan has extensive experience in international agriculture and sustainable farming systems in the developing world.
  
  “This grant is most timely and will help us expand our capacity to do research and train students in organic farming and sustainable agriculture,” said Pasakdee. In addition to teaching and research at Fresno State, she is an environmental representative on the California Department of Food and Agriculture Organic Product Advisory Committee.
  
  Srinivasan said the project helps fulfill “Fresno State’s commitment to promoting sustainable and environmentally friendly farming practices in its campus farm."
  
  U.S sales of organic food and beverages grew from $1 billion in 1990 to over $20 billion in 2007, with double-digit annual growth projected for the next decade. California leads the nation with more than 500,000 acres certified for organic production.
  
  Fresno State’s organic agricultural program has been in the planning stages since 2004. In February, California Certified Organic Farmers certification was received for the greenhouse under the supervision of Calliope Correia, university Horticulture Enterprise manager, and Dr. John Bushoven, a plant science professor.
  
  “This provides us with a year-round production facility for organic seedlings of various herbs and vegetables that we sell at the Gibson Farm Market and plant on our farm,” Srinivasan said. “This summer, we had limited production of organic bell peppers, green beans and zucchini that were sold in the market.”
  
  Organic crop production plans include additional acreage adjacent to Campus Pointe, a mixed-used development being constructed on Chestnut Avenue, Srinivasan said. He explained that before farmland can be certified for organic production, there must be a minimum three-year transition when no chemical pesticides or synthetic fertilizers are applied.
  
  In 2004, Dr. James Farrar and Dr. Dave Goorahoo, of Fresno State’s Department of Plant Science, initiated a .8 acre plot for organic vegetable production, where recent plant science graduate student Namratha Reddy conducted thesis research. The land recently was certified for organic production.
  
  USDA’s competitive grants program helps Hispanic-serving institutions such as Fresno State to conduct higher-education programs in food and agricultural sciences, Pasakdee said. The aim is to attract outstanding students and train them to enhance the nation's food and agricultural scientific and professional work force upon graduation.
  
  In addition to the organic agriculture initiative, Pasakdee is conducting a research project, “Developing Best Management Practices for the Application of Food Processing By-products on California Farmlands.”

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