Local News

San Francisco Chronicle
  • Berkeley meet to air Helios energy lab plans

    The public will have its first chance to comment on plans for a sprawling new laboratory in Berkeley's Strawberry Canyon at a meeting Wednesday night. The meeting will allow the public to learn more about the Helios Energy Research Facility, a 144,000-square-...

  • Whitman edges in on California governor race

    Former eBay Inc. chief executive Meg Whitman has edged closer to a run for California governor, with a spokesman confirming Monday that she has resigned from three corporate boards. Whitman spokesman Henry Gomez said the Atherton resident stepped down from...

  • Drunken driving arrests down over New Year's

    Drunken driving arrests plunged 17 percent during the New Year's holiday compared with last year, the California Highway Patrol said Monday. Officers arrested 1,456 motorists statewide over the five-day period ending Sunday, compared with 1,759 for the same...

Oakland Tribune
SacBee -- Our Region
  • 24-karat advice: Beware


    John Appelbaum weighs jewelry recently at Sacramento Loan and Jewelry. He said he has seen an increase in people who want to sell their jewelry or other precious metal as prices have gone up and tough economic times provide a motivation to raise cash.

    It could be California's second Gold Rush.

    The skyrocketing price of gold has people mining their jewelry boxes for every bit of the precious metal to sell for cash. Prices have gone from $416 an ounce on New Year's Eve five years ago to as high as just above $1,000 in 2008. The price hovered at $853 an ounce Monday.

    People are cashing in at local pawnshops. Some are responding to TV commercials offering cash for gold mailed in pre-addressed envelopes.

    What's a gold digger to do?

    Be careful.

    That's the warning from reputable gold dealers and consumer advocates.

    "People who send away jewelry without checking on the company are really running a huge risk," said Barry Goggin, president of the local Better Business Bureau.

    David Adelman, president of the National Pawnbrokers Association, admits he's a little biased but said, "At least when you walk into a pawnshop, you face the person you're dealing with."

    Many pawnbrokers – who are licensed and regulated by the state of California – hire gemologists, who can determine if jewelry is more valuable sold as-is or melted down, according to Jan Schneider, legislative chair with the Collateral Loan and Second Hand Dealers Association of California.

    Earl Dempsey at California Loan and Jewelry in downtown Sacramento said finding the best price for gold takes research.

    But a pawnbroker will give you an immediate assessment – and money instantly – he said.

    Michael Gusky, who owns GoldFellow, a gold-buying business based in suburban Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said a large percentage of his business comes from customers who send him their gold via FedEx.

    Gusky posts his prices online, unlike most other mail-in dealers.

    "If you don't sell to us, use us anyway. I'm here to make a profit, but if we can help people achieve a higher price, that's fine."

    Tips for cashing in gold jewelry:

    • Don't expect a pure gold price because jewelry is not pure and contains other metals.

    • Jewelry with stones is less valuable to gold dealers because stones have to be removed. Pieces with valuable gemstones shouldn't be sent through the mail. Deal with a local business and consider an appraiser.

    • Check out companies that are popping up in television commercials offering to buy gold. Make sure you understand policies, such as how to get any jewelry returned if you're not satisfied with the price. If you ship to those companies, take photographs, insure the package and get a tracking number from your shipper.

    • Pawnbrokers will be able to give you a melted down value and a finished piece value for jewelry, including those with stones.

  • Delta canal plan likely to land in court, experts agree

    The Schwarzenegger administration's plan to fast-track construction of a water canal around the Delta leans on an old interpretation of state water law from a bygone era.

    Valid or not, supporters and critics agree the plan is more likely to fast-track its way into court.

    "The simplest thing to predict is that somebody will sue to block this on any number of potential grounds," said Gregory Weber, an expert on water law at McGeorge School of Law. "My guess is that it will be years before these matters are resolved and any construction actually were to take place."

    On Friday, a committee of administration officials released a long-awaited plan to improve water supply and habitat in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Its most controversial element: By 2011, start building a giant canal to divert the Sacramento River around the estuary.

    Mike Chrisman, chairman of the committee and secretary of the state's Natural Resources Agency, which oversees the Department of Water Resources, said the state already has legal authority to build the canal. It doesn't need approval, he said, from lawmakers or California voters.

    But he said the administration will work with the Legislature on a funding plan and related habitat restoration projects.

    "We're going to have to sit down and work through this whole process with the Legislature as we move along," he said. "But it's going to be quite a challenge for us, at least in the short term."

    Lawmakers from both parties Monday expressed frustration that they are expected to cooperate on some aspects of Delta restoration but could be denied a role in its most controversial aspect – the canal.

    "The health of the Delta is too important to bypass the people's representatives," said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento.

    Senate minority leader Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto, criticized the plan from another perspective. He asked why the administration set a date for a new canal, but not for new dams.

    The administration's claim to authority rests largely in a 1984 opinion by then-Attorney General John Van de Kamp.

    He wrote that the state has authority to build a Delta canal and to issue bonds to pay for it under two earlier laws: the Burns-Porter Act of 1960, which authorized the State Water Project, and the State Central Valley Project Act of 1933. Both were approved by voters.

    But the opinion refers to a specific canal project proposed in 1984. Its bearing on today's proposal remains unclear. Chrisman's committee proposes both an earthen canal completely isolated from the Delta, and a "through-Delta" canal built by reinforcing existing levees.

    "Existing legislation gives DWR a fair amount of independent authority to act. It is very broad language," said Cliff Schulz, a senior attorney at Kronick Moskovitz in Sacramento who has built his career on California water law.

    But Schulz, whose clients include state water contractors who are prepared to pay for the canal, said that hardly ends the discussion. "What my clients know and what I know, after being involved with this for 40 years, is that it's hard to imagine there won't be some litigation over this," he said.

    Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, a leader on Delta issues, said both the Legislature and voters should demand an oversight role. "It's not possible to break ground in 2011 without running roughshod over everybody except the water exporters. It's just the wrong way to approach this," she said.

    McGeorge professor Weber also said a ballot initiative may be necessary, partly because the public's 1982 vote against the canal carries no weight today. That vote did not change state water law, he said. It merely rejected a specific canal design proposed then.

  • Power remains out for many in south Sacramento

    About a 100 customers are without power this morning because of a high-speed crash that took out a power pole in south Sacramento.

    Those customers were among thousands without power overnight. Power was restored to about 1,100 customers about 6:30 a.m. today.

    A Chevy Camero crashed into a pole at 7:39 p.m. Monday near Florin Road and McCurdy Lane, an online California Highway Patrol report states.

    The car is believed to have been driving about 85 mph and was participating in street racing when the crash occurred, said Chris Capra, a Sacramento Municipal Utilities District public information officer.

    No one was hurt in the collision.

    The crash initially knocked out power to about 6,400 customers, but SMUD crews rerouted the circuit and restored power to about 5,200 of those customers within an hour, Capra said. The remaining 1,200 customers remained without power despite "feverish" work throughout the night by repair crews, he said.

    Power to the final 100 customers is estimated to be restored by about 8 a.m.

    Capra said replacing a pole like the one damaged Monday night takes about 10 to 12 hours.

    "It's a big pole, and these are like mini-construction projects," he said, adding that a it takes about four to six hours to replace a smaller power pole. "Since this one is bigger and carries more load, there's a lot more work to be done with it."

    Commercial and residential customers are affected by the outage, which is near the busy intersection of Florin and Power Inn roads.

San Jose Mercury News
Marin Independent Journal
Santa Rosa Press Democrat
  • Friends send best wishes to classmate hit by truck

    Students at Slater Middle School in Santa Rosa write get-well notes on a giant card to Cruz Pineda, 13, who was hit, along with her sister, at a Yulupa Avenue bus stop.

  • Coping with second chance, sudden loss of life

    One year later, families still dealing with repercussions of heart attacks that changed one man's life and ended another.

  • Driver has list of DUI, drug offenses

    A Santa Rosa man arrested in a suspected drunken driving crash that seriously injured two teen-aged sisters waiting at a bus stop has a lengthy criminal record in Sonoma County marked with drugs, alcohol and three drunken-driving convictions.

Napa Valley Register
  • The role of faith in lighting the right path

    As we reflect on the past year, there is no doubt that religion, faith and belief have played a major role in world, national and statewide politics.

  • Lessons from father

    Dear editor, I would like to say a few things of why I hold our government to high standards of always being proud of America, like my dad did.

  • Much bigger than a single tree

    Dear editor, The Register frequently publishes letters and articles about trees. Letters mourn the loss of street and park land trees. Articles discuss trees in the residential landscape or describe their imminent demise.

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