Water:
*California governor declares state in drought -- After two years of below-average rainfall in California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a statewide drought on Wednesday. The proclamation in an executive order allows water officials to more rapidly shift water around California, one of the nation's top farm states that also has wilderness areas prone to wildfires. Reuters 6/4/08
*Drunken boating not driver's license offense -- Drunken boating is both dangerous and criminal, but it isn't grounds for losing your license to drive a car.That was the verdict Tuesday from a state appeals court in Los Angeles, which found no legal basis for the Department of Motor Vehicles' practice of suspending the driver's license of anyone convicted of boating under the influence. California law treats drunken boating much the same as drunken driving, apart from the fact that recreational boaters don't need licenses. SF Chronicle 6/4/08
Tourism:
California Sees No Rush Of Gay-Wedding Bookings -- As California prepares to lift its ban on same-sex marriages, hotel proprietors are wondering where all the matrimony-minded gay couples are. Hotel chains, small inns and wedding venues also report a surprisingly small number of gay-wedding reservations. San Francisco, which many expect to be ground zero for gay marriages, hasn't seen a deluge of hotel or travel bookings, says a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau. Wall Street Journal 6/4/08
Ports:
*Slowing economy forces Oakland port job cuts -- The slumping American economy is forcing the Port of Oakland to cut operating expenses and trim 60 to 70 jobs.Imports are fewer and exports have increased at the West Coast ports as the U.S. dollar has weakened, and the growth in traffic that industry experts uniformly forecast in a healthier economy just a few years ago is not materializing. The Board of Port Commissioners issued a notice Tuesday that there will be layoffs, satisfying a state law for notification in plant closures or other large reductions in force. SF Chronicle 6/4/08
Mass Transit:
*No more free rides -- 'Spare the Air' program abandoned -- The Bay Area program that offered a free pass to everyone who rode buses, ferries and trains during smoggy summer days has been canceled, the result of dwindling federal funds, its high cost, and record gas prices that are boosting transit ridership anyway. The free rides, which began in 2004, were part of "Spare the Air," a public outreach effort run by two government agencies: the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. CC Times 6/4/08
Contest of finesse for cable car bell ringers -- The champion of the world faced all comers at high noon in Union Square, where ringing a bell has nothing to do with yanking on a piece of rope.Yanking on the rope, in fact, is for losers. Amateurs, tourists and Quasimodo yank. In the world of big-time cable car bell ringing, there is no yanking, only flicking. Sometimes there is feathering, wiggling, vibrating and fluttering.. SF Chronicle 6/4/08
Drivers are facing difficult decisions -- Kwong is among commuters who find themselves betwixt and between: car drivers by habit, but willing lately to give transit a try if it makes life a little easier. The problem is – with this week's Jekyll and Hyde traffic patterns caused by the closure of a mile-plus of I-5 – it's hard to know which mode is better. Traffic was surprisingly light Monday, and although Tuesday brought more congestion, traffic generally was not worse than heavy commute days. But there have been repeated flare-ups, some of them intense and in unexpected places. Sacramento Bee 6/4/08
Running out of gas on purpose -- The Patrol contracts with tow truck drivers to monitor the area’s freeways and help out stranded motorists. If they come across a motorist who’s run out of gas, the tow truck operators give them a free gallon of gas so that they can get to a station to fill up. It’s a sign of the times—and the high price of fuel—that people have started to abuse the program. Tow truck drivers have reported several repeat offenders, and have noted that some of them seem to be factoring the time it takes into their daily commute to work. “We’ve seen guys doing it going to work and coming back from work,” said Bill Luna from Sierra Hart Towing. Automobile Magazine 6/4/08
Infrastructure:
Prop. 99 wins easily, 98 trounced -- Proposition 98 would have banned governments from taking any private property for redevelopment, and also would have phased out rent control. Proposition 98 was the second attempt in two years to rein in perceived excesses of government use of eminent domain. It would have barred governments from using their power to take property from unwilling sellers to hand over to private developers. Sacramento Bee 6/4/08
Governor Schwarzenegger Announces Appointments -- Lucetta Dunn, 55, of Coto de Caza, has been appointed to the California Transportation Commission. Augustin R. Jimenez, 55, of Carmichael, has been appointed deputy secretary and general counsel for the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. Imperial Valley News 6/4/08
High-speed rail:
*Union Pacific Railroad balks at selling land for bullet train -- Possibly complicating efforts to build a high-speed rail system in California, Union Pacific Railroad has told the state's High-Speed Rail Authority it won't sell its rights-of-way for the planned 700-mile bullet train network. aIn a letter dated May 13, an executive for the Omaha-based freight hauler wrote that the company "does not feel it is Union Pacific's best interest to have any proposed alignment located on Union Pacific's rights-of-way."
Trouble for high-speed rail in California? -- Union Pacific has told the California High-Speed Rail Authority that it doesn’t want to share its right-of-way with bullet trains. That’s a big problem, as the authority was planning to install tracks adjacent to the U.P. in several locations throughout the state, including parts of So Cal. It’s also a problem for political reasons. In November, voters are being asked by the rail authority to approve nearly $10 billion in bonds to help finance the project. Authority officials say it will cost $40 billion to build the rail line between the Bay Area and Southern California, although project watchdogs have said the true price will be many billions more. LA Times blog 6/4/08
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