California prisons object to expanding media access to inmates

California prison officials are opposing legislation that would increase media access to inmates, saying it would cost too much money to facilitate interviews.

In a letter dated Thursday, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said the bill would "create significant new costs and increase workload."

Emily Harris of Californians United for a Responsible Budget, which opposes heavy prison spending, said officials are overstating the costs in hopes of persuading budget-cutting lawmakers to scuttle the legislation.

"This is a last-minute effort to quash the bill," she said.

The bill has already passed the Assembly 47 to 22, and it was approved by a Senate committee last month.

Reporters are able to tour prisons and interview inmates during their visits, but they are not allowed to request interviews with specific inmates unless they arrange to meet them during visiting hours. That means high-profile criminals like Charles Manson and newsmakers like the inmates who organized a hunger strike to protest prison conditions are often beyond the reach of the media.

The legislation, sponsored by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), would change that, requiring officials to process interview requests within 48 hours. Officials would also need to notify the inmates' victims that an interview was taking place.

Similar legislation has circulated in the Capitol before. It was vetoed in 2006 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who said policies in place already allowed the "free flow of information from the prison environment into the outside world." He also said "it is important to avoid treating inmates as celebrities."

Ammiano said the prison system's opposition was disappointing.

“It comes down to transparency," he said. "We have a right to know how prisons are operating on the inside.”

Terry Thornton, a prison spokeswoman, said reporters have enough opportunities to see prisons from the inside. Most of the interview requests the department receives involve celebrity inmates or sensational crimes, not prison conditions, she said.

Officials allowed one interview request this year when it involved a federal inmate in state prison, costing $437, Thornton said. The department receives a couple of hundred interview requests each year, she said, and officials expect that number to increase if the legislation passes.

At that rate, 500 interviews would cost $218,500, about 0.002% of the department's $8.86-billion budget.

 -- Chris Megerian in Sacramento

twitter.com/chrismegerian

Photo: Pelican Bay State Prison, California's highest-security prison. Credit: John Burgess / Associated Press

Via LATimes

Agriculture is bright spot in California economy

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — There is a bright spot in the economy of California and elsewhere in the nation, and it is agriculture.

As counties across the Golden State begin releasing annual reports on crop revenues, they show prices earned for many commodities are setting records, and not just by a little.
Across Central California's San Joaquin Valley, the region with the highest farm revenues in the nation, gross crop values showed overall income increases of about 15 percent, a figure tempered as farmers struggle with higher fuel and feed costs.

"The American brand of agriculture is surging in popularity worldwide," said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, adding that net farm income nationwide reached an all-time high of more than $98 billion behind U.S. farm exports totaling $137.4 billion.

Vilsack said that the current drought is hurting growers across the Midwest, and many have predicted that shortages of feed corn will drive up the cost of everything from chickens to milk.

Still, demand for U.S. agricultural products worldwide is strong, and figures from the USDA show that the value of California's agricultural exports grew to $21.1 billion in 2011, up from $18.2 billion in 2010.

Prices reflect a growing demand for almonds in a region that produces 80 percent of the world's supply, and table grapes, which were competed for by both raisin packers and wineries that suffered weather-related shortages in 2011.

The higher revenues are coming as farmers expand almond and citrus production to meet export demands generated, in part, from key new trade agreements.

"Our agricultural economy is connected to the rest of the planet," said Dan Sumner, an agriculture economist at the University of California-Davis. "Poorer countries around the world are turning into middle-income countries and they want fruits and vegetables, which we do well here."

Even with a 38 percent drop in revenues from avocados, which produce every other year, the value of crops in coastal Ventura County decreased only 1 percent behind strong sales of strawberries, up 15 percent, and raspberries, up 11 percent from 2010.

In Tulare County, with more than 800 dairies, milk helped revenues rise 16 percent to $5.6 billion, its 2011 crop report says. Madera, San Joaquin and Kings counties also set records. Fresno County has not yet completed its 2011 crop report, but officials in the agricultural commissioner's office are expecting to continue the upward trend.

More than 12 percent of the nation's agricultural output comes from California, and most of that comes from the long and narrow San Joaquin Valley that stretches across the middle of the state. Table grapes, bulk wine grapes, raisins, dairies, almonds, pistachios, citrus and canning tomatoes dominate the landscape. And in the specialty crop realm, Stockton produces most the nation's domestic asparagus.

Yet in spite of its agricultural productivity, the valley has a growing hunger and poverty rate. As agriculture revenues have risen, the fortunes of those who work the fields have not. Recent reports show the poverty rate in Fresno County, which produces more than $5.6 billion in agricultural products, is at more than 25 percent, the second highest in the nation.
Four out of the 10 top metropolitan regions with the highest poverty rates are in the areas that last year set records for agriculture income.

"During this recession, and even before this recession, there has been a disconnect between the wealth of agriculture versus the poverty of the people who work in agriculture," said Carolina Farrell, executive director of the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment. "This has been a persistent trend highlighted by this increasing inequality."

via Businessweek.com

SB 1190 (Hancock) - WIC

US intelligence predicts poverty plumment by 2030

By KIMBERLY DOZIER
AP Intelligence Writer

ASPEN, Colo. -- Poverty across the planet will be virtually eliminated by 2030, with a rising middle class of some two billion people pushing for more rights and demanding more resources, the chief of the top U.S. intelligence analysis shop said Saturday.

If current trends continue, the 1 billion people who live on less than a dollar a day now will drop to half that number in roughly two decades, Christoper Kojm said.

"We see the rise of the global middle class going from one to two billion," Kojm said, in a preview of the National Intelligence Council's global forecast offered at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado. 

"Even if some of the most dire predictions of economic upheaval" in the coming years prove accurate, the intelligence council still sees "several hundred million people...entering the middle class," Kojm said.

The National Intelligence Council analyzes critical national security issues drawing from all U.S. intelligence agencies. The unclassified global forecast, which is due out by the end of the year, tries to "describe drivers of future behavior" to help government agencies from the White House to the State Department plan future policy and programs, Kojm said.

The rising middle class will have little tolerance of authoritarian regimes, combined with the economic resources and education needed to challenge them.

"Governance will be increasingly difficult in countries with rising incomes," he said, adding "middle-class people have middle-class values and aspirations" for greater individual empowerment and are now armed with social media and other technological tools to bring that about, including the overthrow of repressive governments.

Education levels are also rising, with graduation rates for women set to exceed that of men if current trends continue.

On the negative side, Kojm predicted food demand will rise by 50% in the next 18 years, though global population will only rise from 7.1 to 8.3 billion. Middle-class people want middle-class diets, which are heavy in meat, requiring more water and grain to produce, he said.

Adding to that, "nearly 50% of humanity will live in water-stressed regions by 2030," he said.

But Kojm also predicted that new technological developments could help close the gap between food and water shortages and need.

More people will migrate to cities, he said. Some 50% of the world lives in urban areas now, rising to 60% by 2030.

The growth of the Asian economies, such as China, is expected to continue, but Kojm said the rising median age of China's workers means it may be overtaken by countries with cheaper labor like India, Vietnam and Indonesia.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/28/4669552/us-intelligence-sees-poverty-plummet.html#storylink=cpy

via SacBee

Caltrans: LA freeway expansion project could improve public health

Expanding a major Los Angeles freeway in an area known for traffic-related air pollution could improve public health, according to a draft environmental impact report issued last month by the California Department of Transportation.

The project, known as the I-710 Corridor Project, could increase the number of lanes on the nearly 25-mile freeway, which runs north to south from East Los Angeles to Long Beach. Every day, it serves as a crucial route for 120,000 commuters and 30,000 trucks that use the freeway to transport goods from Southern California ports to nearly every corner of the country.

Caltrans said in its report that the project aims to resolve the freeway’s chronic congestion and reduce its high accident rate, especially as the region continues to grow.

“The project would improve air quality and public health, improve traffic safety, modernize the freeway design, and accommodate projected growth for population, employment, and economic activities related to goods movement,” the report stated.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority said the project could cost up to $7 billion.

Community advocates and residents who live along the I-710 corridor ­– 70 percent of whom are low-income and minorities, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ­– agree that the freeway needs improvements. But they were skeptical that they would see air quality improvements where they live.

“I’ve been in the area for a long time, and I’m especially concerned with health issues,” said Isella Ramirez, co-director of the Commerce-based East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice. “My family has suffered a lot of health impacts; it’s hard to see them fight against cancer and struggle with asthma. It’s important that that doesn’t continue to happen to families in this area and that we don’t multiply the effects just so that (businesses) can get their products in time to Chicago.”

Construction on the project is slated to begin in 2020, and several variations of the freeway expansion are being considered. The most large-scale option involves adding up to 10 lanes and four additional truck-only lanes. There is also a “no-build” option where scheduled improvements would be made without expanding the freeway.

The environmental impact report noted that public health would improve as a result of the freeway expansion partly because air quality would get better. Air pollution would be reduced “by improving traffic flow as well as the use of low/zero emission trucks, when the technology becomes available,” Judy Gish, a Caltrans spokeswoman, wrote in an email.

Some public health experts said the report lacked clarity when it came to its description of air quality improvements.

“The draft EIR (environmental impact report) for the I-710 corridor has thousands of pages, and Caltrans does not always make its underlying assumptions easy to understand,” Andrea Hricko, a professor of clinical preventive medicine at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine, wrote in an email. “The health risk analyses are confusing, with some of the alternatives for expansion showing increased PM (particulate matter pollution) levels, yet decreased health risks.”

USC researchers have looked closely at the health impacts of traffic-related air pollution on kids by tracking the health of thousands of children in Southern California for 20 years.

“The studies have shown that children growing up in communities with high particle pollution are more likely to have reduced lung function,” Hricko wrote in an email. “Children in communities with high ozone levels are more likely to miss more school through absences. 

… There are now lots of papers published on this topic, with results showing that children who live or go to school near busy roads and freeways are more likely to have asthma and reduced lung function.”

A March letter to Caltrans from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also raised concerns about the air quality impacts on communities near the 710 freeway, and on children’s health in particular.

“This project will result in a high level of community-wide impacts, in an area that is already heavily burdened from poor air quality related to the goods movement sector,” the letter said. “Because of the anticipated impacts from this project in this setting, it is critical that the EIS (environmental impact statement) include a robust analysis of the air quality, environmental justice, and children's health impacts that will result.”

The South Coast Air Quality Management District, which regulates Los Angeles air pollution along with the California Air Resources Board, said it could not yet fully evaluate the potential air quality impacts of the 710 corridor project because Caltrans has failed to supply the underlying documentation to support its analysis.

To address air quality concerns related to the project, the agency “would like to see and strongly support zero-emission transport technologies and need these technologies in this region to meet federal air quality goals,” Tina Cherry, a spokeswoman for the district wrote in an email.

Ramirez of the East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice said that she supports improvement to the 710 freeway, but she preferred some options over others.

“We are working hard to make sure that air quality is our number one priority for this improvement project and to me, that means not expanding the general purpose lanes,” Ramirez said. “It means let’s separate the trucks from the regular traffic, add four lanes for a freight corridor, and make them zero-emission. If we are going to depend on goods movement for the economic livelihood of these cities, at the very least, let’s be responsible about the health of the communities living directly in the clear vicinity of the 710.”

City of Commerce Councilwoman Denise Robles agreed that the freeway improvements needed to be balanced with residents’ well-being. In addition to air quality impacts, the report described other repercussions, including noise. Additionally, some houses in Commerce, Bell Gardens and Compton may need to be demolished and residents relocated to make way for the expansion.

“This project is needed because of traffic congestion. However, we need to ensure that the quality of life for our residents in Commerce and how they will be affected will be handled properly – everything from their houses, air quality, everything needs to be taken care of for them,” she said.

Robles said that if she could call the shots, she’d like to see more investment in public transportation.

“If I were the ultimate authority to come up with a solution, I would say, ‘Get more and better public transportation so we don’t need to continue to widen our roads for private cars,’” she said. “Then we can deal with the truck traffic as a separate issue. If we had better public transportation it would help out quite a bit.”

The first in a series of public meetings related to the draft environmental impact report will be held next Tuesday. The final day for public comment on the draft environmental report is Aug. 29.

“Community input is going to be a big element of the decision-making process,” said Caltrans’ Gish.

Bernice Yeung

Via California Watch

California health care reform goes into overdrive

By Kathy Robertson

Senior Staff Writer- Sacramento Business Journal

The U.S. Supreme Court decision to uphold most of the Affordable Care Act hasn’t changed much in California — except to put the reform effort into overdrive.

While the National Federation of Independent Business remains undeterred from efforts to unwind the law, health industry experts who spoke on a Business Journal panel Thursday see the court decision as a catalyst that will escalate change.

“We’re on a burning platform with a medical rescue system that does a good job repairing folks,” said Darryl Cardoza, CEO at Hill Physicians Medical Group. “When we created universal coverage, we poured gasoline on it — and that’s a good thing.”

There’s widespread support for expanded coverage, but look for fireworks as major decisions are made before California Health Benefit Exchange kicks off enrollment Oct. 1. 

The new insurance pool for individuals and small businesses is expected to launch Jan. 1, 2014 — and it’s unclear at this point what it will look like, who will be in it, and whether plans and providers will be winners or losers.

“The only thing predictable in health care is it lies ahead,” said Anne McLeod, senior vice president for health policy for the California Hospital Association. “It’s seismic change at a escalating rate.”

This raises questions about the aggressive timeline.

NFIB, the plaintiff in the lawsuit at the heart of the Supreme Court decision, still opposes the requirement that everybody buy insurance, but the group supports the notion of an insurance exchange.

(Click here to keep reading the whole story past the Storify article)

“The federal government is missing deadline after deadline. We are concerned (the California program) will be implemented in the right way. The concept of greater choice is a good thing, but it needs to be done right.”

via http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2012/08/02/health-care-reform-panel-what-now.html?page=all

California's budget greatly impacted by Facebook stock

UNDATED (CNN) -- Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has the fate of California's budget on his shoulders. Facebook stock plunged to an all-time low Thursday. But, it's not just investors feeling the pinch. California could lose hundreds of millions of dollars. 

The opening excitement has faded fast as Facebook's stock continues to tumble with hundreds of millions of dollars now at risk, according to a report this week from the legislative analyst's office. Governor brown's budget is based on a Facebook sales price of $35 a share, yet the stock closed at $20.04, well below the benchmark that California is banking on to bring in $1.9 billion. Jon Coupal with Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assoc. says, "We have to rely on steady, predictable sources of revenue and not believe that we're going to have pink unicorns pooping gold nuggets to solve the budget problem." 

The initial public offering from Facebook was supposed to generate big revenues from capital gains taxes that investors pay after they sell a stock, but it could end up being phantom revenue. Political analyst Kevin Riggs says, "We saw that last year. The governor depended on an assumed $4 billion in extra revenue to balance the budget. The $4 billion never materialized and so the budget was out of balance almost as soon as he signed it."

But the brown administration says, the stock price for Facebook is no reason to panic. H.D. Palmer with the California State Finance Department says, "The issue isn't where the Facebook stock is today. It's where it's going to be in November that counts." 

November is when the state expects Facebook employees to begin selling their shares, but a low sales price could be a critical hit to California's coffers. Also in November, the governor's tax initiative, Brown's Budget, assumes his tax measure will pass in November. 

If so, Facebook's shares will be taxed at a higher rate, but if it fails, California will have $400 million less than what's now on the books.

Via TodaysTHV.com