California News

The California Report, KQED Public Radio
  • The Less-Glorious Fourth

    For decades, parades and fireworks have been staple festivities for Independence Day. But the battered economy is taking the boom-dazzle out of many celebrations across California, as cash-strapped cities and civic groups pull back on their plans or cancel them altogether.

  • California Microbreweries are Hopping Today

    The Fourth of July is the day when the largest amount of beer is consumed across America. One Bay Area microbrewer talks about the process and the poetry of his craft.

  • State Ready to Issue IOUs

    This afternoon, printing presses in Sacramento are scheduled to roll out State of California warrants -- promises to pay creditors in October for money the state owes now. It's happened only twice before since the Great Depression.

  • Furloughs Spread to Ivory Towers

    The California State University system has proposed furloughs for its workforce. Professors, administrators and Cal State staff are trying to figure out how they'd do 10 percent less work in an academic environment.

San Francisco Chronicle
  • Fourth of July

    Fourth of...

  • One killed, seven wounded in East Oakland

    A man was shot to death on a street in East Oakland early this morning and seven other people were wounded, authorities said. The shootings occurred on the 8300 block of International Boulevard, near 83rd street, Oakland police said. The deceased victim has...

  • Frank Keenan, staff aide in Congress, dies

    Frank Keenan, a former congressional staff member and an early advocate of broadcasting sessions of Congress, died June 27 at Washington Hospital Center of a pulmonary embolism. He was 85. Mr. Keenan, a longtime D.C. resident, began his career on Capitol...

Oakland Tribune
SacBee -- Bee State News
  • Eviction order angers boat owners


    Monty Betty gazes across Lake Oroville on Friday from his houseboat, one of the largest on the lake. Saying he'd need a year to build a trailer to remove the boat from the lake, Betty declared: "The state's gonna have to back off. We're all going to boycott the move."

    OROVILLE - Emotions are running high on Lake Oroville this Fourth of July among more than 800 boat owners who have received eviction notices.

    The boaters feel they are caught in the crossfire between the state Department of Parks and Recreation and Bidwell Canyon Marina management.

    Frank Moothart,who built the marina 40 years ago and has managed it through FunTime FullTime, learned in February that his lease was not being extended. On June 26, he told the boat owners to have their vessels off the lake by Aug. 1.

    That prompted the state on Wednesday to serve Moothart with a breach of contract notice.

    The disagreement has sent ripples of worry disrupting what otherwise could have been a restful weekend on the water.

    Bay Area resident Frank Pisa has leased a buoy at the marina for his houseboat since 1970, and members of his extended family have seven other houseboats there.

    "This is supposed to be a relaxing place to get away from the stress of work," said Pisa, who thinks the Aug. 1 deadline for everyone to remove boats from the water is unrealistic and unfair.

    Moving a boat can cost from $3,000 to more than $45,000,depending on its size and how far it will be moved, according to Nick Parker of T. Park Marine.

    After six years of saving, Terry O'Malley of Brentwood, Contra Costa County, and his father-in-law Matt Minter of Marysville purchased their first houseboat from FunTime four months ago. "So, we're really pleased," O'Malley said sarcastically.

    Neither knows why they're being asked to leave, but Minter thinks Moothart is angry " because he's basically got to walk away from everything." Pisa and other boat owners want to know: "Why Aug. 1?"

    In a second letter June 30, Moothart told boat owners the marina assets must be removed from the lake by the end of December. By then the water level will be low enough that boat ramps will be out of the water, making it impossible to remove marina facilities, Moothart said. So he requested that vessels be removed by Aug. 1.

    State officials deny giving Moothart a December deadline for removing his facilities. "We cannot ask someone to do something that is impossible," said Robert Foster, state park district supervisor for the Northern Buttes area.

    Foster says Moothart is required under his current contract to provide marina services, including docks, buoys, a fuel station and store, until Dec. 1.

    But because the state wants $3.5 million in upgrades to the marina, extending the existing lease was not an option, said Foster. The money is necessary to modernize the marina facilities to comply with state regulations.

    There's a laundry list of different regulatory codes that new contract holders will have to meet, said Steve Feazel, a state parks sector superintendent.

    Applications for the new 30-year contract are due to the state Aug. 12, Foster said. And anyone willing to provide $3.5 million upfront toward new facilities is eligible to apply, including Moothart.

    But Moothart thinks the millions in upgrades are unreasonable and unnecessary.

    "This is a perfectly fine marina," said the 90-year-old Moothart, who built a $600,000 restaurant in 2001 and says new cables are put in every month.

    Many marina customers agree, including Placerville resident Jim Ahrens, who hopes the state will work with Moothart to keep the boats floating.

    "It's not a five-star hotel," Ahrens said. "It's a simple, lovely place." For now state officials are "doing all they can" to prevent Moothart from enforcing the Aug. 1 eviction, Foster said.

    While it's up to each individual whether to pull a boat out of the marina, state officials are not requiring anyone to remove boats and have given Moothart until July 30 to rescind his eviction demand.

    Doing everything possible to keep boats in the water seems to be the only action everyone involved can agree on.

    "We have to reach a middle ground to protect the boat owners," Moothart said.

    While an official plan for implementing thenew30-year agreement cannot be outlined until the contract is approved in September, fliers already are circulating among boat owners - some protesting the eviction and others petitioning for an extension of Moothart's contract. It may be a while before the waters are stilled.


    Bidwell Canyon Marina management was served with a breach of contract notice this week for the Lake Oroville facility. Operator Frank Moothart told boat owners to remove their vessels by Aug. 1 after learning his contract would not be extended.

    Frank Moothart, 90, insists Bidwell Canyon "is a perfectly fine marina," noting that he added a $600,000 restaurant in 2001.

  • Liberian refugees mix farming, music for rich life in Capay Valley


    Patience Tarlesson, 16, and members of her family practice the singing and dancing of the Chedepo-Grebo people of southeastern Liberia on Thursday. The Liberian refugees are presenting a feast of gratitude this weekend to thank neighbors who have welcomed them with open arms.

    On summer evenings in the Capay Valley, the sound of West African drumming and chanting rolls across the fields and orchards, as children dance beneath a towering oak.

    Two years ago this month the Tarlesson family – an extended clan of Liberian refugees – settled near the town of Guinda on a 50-acre farm.

    They cleared the brush with machetes, planted African tomatoes and eggplants, and wowed the locals at the Guinda Grange Hall with the singing and dancing of the Chedepo-Grebo people of southeastern Liberia.

    "This is our homeland now," said Roosevelt Tarlesson, the family's patriarch and grandfather. "We are here to stay."

    The valley's organic farmers were quick to offer friendship and assistance, he said. They helped the Tarlessons with irrigation and crops that would do well in the arid heat.

    "They needed a translation between farming in Liberia," a wet, tropical nation, "and farming here," said Paul Muller, one of the owners of neighboring Full Belly Farm.

    This weekend the Tarlessons are thanking their neighbors with a feast of African cuisine and traditional dances.

    Roosevelt Tarlesson also wants to show off what he calls "pure organic" agriculture, Liberian style. That means hand-planting with simple tools, the work propelled by drumming and singing.

    "I want the farmers to come see whether a tractor is faster than the Chedepo-Grebo people planting," he said with a smile.

    Activities all day today and Sunday are free and open to the public. The main events are from 4-6 p.m. Sunday, 7090 Highway 16, Guinda.

    A performance for children follows at 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Esparto library, 17065 Yolo Ave.

    Earlier this week, the family practiced as a blazing sun descended in the west.

    In the shade of a big oak tree, a dozen children and teenagers wearing bright wraps and beaded anklets sang and danced to the mesmerizing rhythms of the djembe and kroboto, West African drums made of wood and skin.

    They performed the chikola, a hunters' dance in which a series of teenage boys approach a group of villagers and boast of their feats killing lions and elephants.

    In another dance, young women mimicked the planting of seeds with wooden hand tools.

    Dust covered the dancers' feet and sweat poured from the face of master drummer Benjamin Ofori, the children's musical instructor and choreographer.

    They danced against a backdrop of hay bales, tomato fields and oak-studded hillsides.

    Many of the children grew up in a refugee camp and didn't learn traditional dance until they moved to California.

    "We haven't seen people dancing like this, so we are learning it here," said Patience Tarlesson, 16, a junior at Esparto High School.

    Roosevelt Tarlesson came to the United States in 1976. In 2005, 26 family members – his mother, daughter, grandchildren, nieces and nephews – arrived on a plane in Oakland.

    They had survived for years in the jungle and in a refugee camp in Ivory Coast after fleeing war-torn Liberia, a country settled by freed American slaves beginning in 1822.

    After decades of relative stability, the nation on the west coast of Africa was upended by a military coup in 1980 and a prolonged civil war.

    The Tarlessons were driven from their homeland, where farming was a way of life.

    For two years, the family lived in Vacaville. Then a local benefactor, real-estate agent Paul McGuire, bought the Guinda property with two houses and leased it to the Tarlessons.

    Roosevelt Tarlesson said the family hopes to make the farm self-sufficient and buy it.

    This year is their first full crop. They are raising goats, sheep and chickens and growing African vegetable varieties, which they plan to ship to urban markets.

    Muller recalled when the Tarlesson family first visited Fully Belly Farm's lush fields and orchards along Cache Creek.

    Eliza Tarlesson, the family's 80-year-old great-grandmother, surprised him by singing a song of blessing and happiness, he said.

    The same mix of music and agriculture continues on the Tarlesson farm, he said.

    "I haven't seen many farmers dance like they do," Muller said. "It shows how you can live and be happy on a piece of beautiful farmland."


    Patriarch Roosevelt Tarlesson conducts business for the family farm near Guinda. Two years ago the Tarlessons settled near Guinda on a 50-acre farm that they hope to make self-sufficient and buy.

    Drummer Benjamin Ofori leads a traditional Liberian dance. The family has wowed the locals with its singing and dancing.

    Abigirl Toe, 4, follows the lead of her older siblings in traditional Liberian dancing on Thursday at the Tarlesson family's farm near Guinda. A prolonged civil war drove family members from Liberia, which was settled by freed American slaves beginning in 1822.

  • UC Merced commencement cost more than $1 million

    MERCED – The total cost for May's commencement ceremony at UC Merced – with a keynote address by first lady Michelle Obama – has finally been tallied: $1,047,338.82.

    Private contributions of more than $185,000 (including donations and free labor) added to $500,000 in unrestricted interest earnings on a private endowment fund, managed by the UC Office of the President, have helped offset the cost of the event.

    The balance will be covered by nonstate dollars from campus sources and offset by any additional donations that may be made, spokeswoman Patti Waid Istas said Thursday.

    – Merced Sun-Star

San Jose Mercury News
Los Angeles Times
  • L.A. aims to limit Jackson crowd

    Only 17,500 will get tickets for the service at Staples Center. Authorities warn others to stay away.

    Facing overwhelming demand for tickets to Michael Jackson's memorial service, officials are warning those who do not win seats for Tuesday morning's Staples Center event to stay away as police plan a massive deployment around the downtown arena.


  • Investigators focus on five Jackson doctors

    They want to know who prescribed drugs for the singer, especially the powerful sedative Diprivan.

    Investigators are focusing on at least five doctors who prescribed drugs to Michael Jackson as they try to unravel the circumstances surrounding the pop star's death, according to law enforcement sources.


  • L.A. County to restrict swimming at 3 lakes

    Beaches will be closed Mondays through Wednesdays until Sept. 7 at Castaic Lake State Recreation Area, Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park and Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area.

    Budget cuts have forced Los Angeles County parks officials to restrict swimming at three lakes this summer.


San Diego Union-Tribune
  • Area's planners are not too busy during recession

    Here's a clear sign that new-home construction in San Diego County won't be rebounding anytime soon: abbreviated agendas for the region's planning commissions.

  • Guiding others on familiar path

    The students taking notes in a City Heights citizenship class this week were as diverse as San Diego itself, born in countries ranging from Colombia to Vietnam. An older woman from Lebanon, a first-time student, sat near the front. At a table in the rear, a group of African Muslim women sat facing one another, their heads covered by silky hijab.

  • On the last day: pain and one final delivery

    For John Hine Jr., the final indignity came June 9. On the last day that Hine was allowed to sell new Dodge vehicles under the franchise agreement that Chrysler LLC moved to void in May, a car hauler pulled up to his Mission Valley dealership and deposited two gleaming Journey crossovers and a Challenger coupe.

Fresno Bee
KPCC, Southern California Public Radio
  • LA city prepares for Michael Jackson Memorial

    The city of Los Angeles is preparing for thousands of people to attend the memorial for pop star Michael Jackson on Tuesday at Staples Center. With Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and City Council President Eric Garcetti out of town, Council President Pro Tem Jan Perry is acting mayor. KPCC's Alex Cohen spoke with Perry about the preparations for the memorial.

  • Camera crews, fans, vendors jockey for position, tickets outside Staples Center

    Television cameras from as far away as New Zealand formed the biggest crowd down on Chick Hearn Plaza at the L.A. Live complex, as news outlets broadcast plans for Michael Jackson?s memorial next Tuesday. But KPCC?s Molly Peterson says the few fans and souvenir vendors were enthusiastic.

  • Camera crews, fans, vendors jockey for position, tickets outside Staples Center

    Television cameras from as far away as New Zealand formed the biggest crowd down on Chick Hearn Plaza at the L.A. Live complex, as news outlets broadcast plans for Michael Jackson?s memorial next Tuesday. But KPCC?s Molly Peterson says the few fans and souvenir vendors were enthusiastic.

KPBS, San Diego Public Radio
  • No Fines Yet For Water Wasting

    A month into mandatory conservation, San Diego?s water department is receiving hundreds of calls to its water waste hotline. But KPBS reporter Katie Orr says no one has been fined yet.

  • Parking in S.D. Not Free on the Third

    You can still get a ticket today if you don't pay for a parking meter in the city of San Diego.

  • 11-Year-Old Boy Steps into Tijuana's Bullfight Ring

    <p>An 11-year-old boy will be featured at Tijuana's Sunday afternoon bullfight. KPBS Reporter Amy Isackson reached Michelito Lagravere and his father at their home in southern Mexico's Yucatan and spoke with them about how Michelito got his start.</p>

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