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COVER
STORY | CALENDAR
March 28, 2002
Satellite
TV Week ceases
Satellite TV Week, the Fortuna-based periodical that was once the
country's largest magazine for satellite television consumers,
is no more.
The magazine, a viewer's guide
for people with the older model, large satellite dishes, has
ceased operations and transferred its subscribers to its largest
competitor, OnSat magazine of Shelby, N.C.
Satellite TV Week was printed by Fortuna Communications, a subsidiary
of the Humboldt Group Inc., owned by Fortuna businessman Patrick
O'Dell. Other Humboldt Group properties include the Humboldt
Beacon and Humboldt Printing.
Both magazines were started
in the early 1980s when the satellite TV phenomenon was just
taking off. They jockeyed with each other for position for almost
20 years, said David Melton, news editor for OnSat.
"They have been the two
primary weekly competitors for a long period of time," he
said in a telephone conversation from North Carolina.
But the market for the large
satellite dishes, which use a platform known as C-Band, has been
shrinking for years. The introduction of satellite TV that uses
smaller dishes has cut the number of new C-Band subscribers to
almost nil.
"Sales of the big dishes
have dropped from 40,000 a month 10 years ago to just 100 a month
now," Melton said.
The new platforms, DirecTV and
the DISH Network, are much less willing to work with outside
magazines. Melton said both Satellite TV Week and OnSat
have had trouble reaching small-dish subscribers because the
companies behind the small-dish networks prohibit dealers from
releasing the names of their customers.
And if the magazines can't figure
out who's watching satellite television, they can't sell them
a subscription, Melton said.
"They have in essence created
a closed-door policy," Melton said.
There was only room for one
magazine in that shrinking pool of customers. Satellite TV
Week sold its list of subscribers to OnSat in late
January and published its last issue Feb. 17.
O'Dell did not return calls
for this report.
Federal Building sold
![[photo of Federal Building]](news0328-federalbldg.jpg) Another
of the large unreinforced masonry buildings in downtown Eureka
has been sold.
The Federal Building, located
on the corner of 5th and H streets, was auctioned off by the
federal General Services Administration. Bidding ended Feb. 11,
when John North of Pleasanton entered the winning bid of $820,000.
North has gotten quite a chunk
of real estate -- the building has almost 24,000 square feet
of office space. But it comes with a host of conditions: Several
federal agencies have three-year leases in the building, including
the U.S. District Court and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration. The U.S. Post Office is also still operating
on the ground floor.
That's bound to be problematic
for the new owner because the building is in need of an earthquake
retrofit. It is constructed of unreinforced masonry, notoriously
susceptible to failure during earthquakes. A retrofit normally
necessitates moving the tenants out of a space to install structural
reinforcements.
And the fun doesn't stop there:
There is also asbestos and lead paint removal that needs to be
done.
The federal estimate for all
that work? Around $8 million.
And demolition isn't likely
to be an option: The building is listed on the Historic Register
and any major plans must go through the State Historic Preservation
Office.
North did not return calls for
this report.
More smokies
on the way
Drivers may be looking at more
traffic tickets by Memorial Day when the speed limit along the
Highway 101 Eureka-Arcata corridor drops from 60 to 50 mph. The
California Highway Patrol has received additional funds to increase
its patrol of that section of highway by eight hours a day.
"That stretch is staffed
24 hours a day now, typically," said Mike Cipriano, CHP
public affairs officer. Three officers on eight-hour shifts patrol
Highway 101 from just north of the Eureka Slough bridge to the
Mad River bridge in McKinleyville. They are also responsible
to patrol Highway 299 to Redwood Creek. However the majority
of their time is spent between Eureka and Giuntoli Lane in Arcata,
according to Cipriano.
The extra funds will allow for
a second patrol car at different times throughout the day.
"They may be used in peak
drive time or sometime in the middle of the day when drivers
may be more tempted to speed," Cipriano said.
CHP will be aided by new radar
guns that measure and display a vehicle's speed that will be
installed in permanent, not mobile, signs by Caltrans. The signs
will be placed along the north- and south-bound lanes near the
more dangerous Highway 101 intersections of Indianola and the
Bayside Cutoff, where the accident rate is two to three times
the state average.
There is only one other section
of roadway in the state that has similar warning signs, according
to Caltrans District Director Rick Knapp.
"There's a section of northern
I-5, north of Yreka, where there are tight curves that vehicles
don't anticipate." Trucks particularly were leaving the
roadway with increasing regularity until Caltrans installed permanent
radar guns that reduced the number of accidents.
State Sen. Wesley Chesbro plans
to introduce legislation to double the traffic fines in the new
safety corridor, but that penalty would not go into effect by
the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
The Arcata City Council last
week approved the Caltrans plan to lower the speed limits and
add signage and flashing lights. The council also asked that
Caltrans consider lowering the speed limit to 50 through the
city up to the Mad River bridge.
Caltrans has not received the
written request from the city, Knapp said, but when it does,
it will have to be considered separately from the current plan,
which has already been approved by the Eureka City Council and
the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors and concerns a specific
five-mile stretch of highway.
Knapp said residents continue
to suggest closing the medians to cross traffic entirely or allowing
only U-turns, but those options have been considered and rejected
at this time. Studies show that closing the median would create
12 percent more traffic in the corridor -- the equivalent of
5,000-6,000 more cars per day --require drivers to travel two
to eight miles out of their way for each trip. And U-turns cannot
accommodate most trucks.
A traffic signal at Indianola
is another frequent suggestion to reduce injury accidents, but
in order to allow adequate "green time" for cross traffic,
the intersection would have to be expanded to six lanes -- a
complicated proposal, Knapp said.
"History has shown that
addition of traffic signals typically increases the number of
collisions, although it may reduce severity, due to pulsating
traffic, rear-enders and red-light runners."
Is railroad
suitor for real?
An Illinois developer has expressed
an interest in buying some of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad
line -- but his desire may be hard to realize.
Ted Niemeyer of Wonderlake,
Ill., appeared before the board of the North Coast Railroad Authority
March 20 to discuss the possibility of acquiring all or portions
of the Northwestern Pacific corridor.
It remains unclear what Niemeyer
is interested in buying, said Max Bridges, executive officer
for the NCRA.
"We did not get a lot of
details, other than that he was interested in purchasing all
or a portion of the line," Bridges said.
Purchasing the railroad line
could be problematic. It is owned by several public entities,
including Marin County, the NCRA, the Northwestern Railroad Authority
and the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District.
Ownership of the southern end of the line is in flux, as recently
introduced legislation would create a Sonoma-Marin rail district
to consolidate ownership.
The Northern end of the line
(from Healdsburg north) is owned entirely by the NCRA, so purchasing
this section of line would be simpler. Niemeyer suggested as
much at the March 20 meeting, according to a March 25 NCRA press
release.
"His [Niemeyer's] first
public statements were about taking over the entire line, but
his latest statements seem to indicate that he may only be interested
in acquiring the line from Willits north," said NCRA board
chairman Dave Ripple.
But even if only the northern
end of the line were bought, serious questions remain. How would
Niemeyer find the funding to rehabilitate the line? Would legislation
be required to authorize a sale? How would he run a railroad
line that many feel will require continued subsidy?
"I can't get a fix on exactly
what Niemeyer does want," Ripple said in the press release.
"The only thing that seems certain is that Niemeyer feels
strongly that he can raise large sums of money to take over all
or part of the North Coast rail corridor."
Senior elections
next month
The March 5 primary has passed
and the Nov. 5 general election is still months away, but politically
aware seniors have a legislative election in their near future.
The California Senior Legislature, a 21-year-old legislative
advocacy organization, will hold elections April 29 to May 2.
The Senior Legislature, a project
of the Area Agency on Aging, consists of elected representatives
from across the state. Assemblymembers and senators meet once
a year in Sacramento to discuss concerns facing their constituents
-- and ways those concerns might be addressed. The top 10 issues
are presented to the state Legislature as potential laws.
The Senior Legislature has no
official power, but its meetings aren't busywork. Many of the
laws governing nursing homes and prohibiting elder abuse started
as proposals drafted by the Senior Legislature.
"Actually, most of that
type of legislation originated in the Senior Legislature,"
said Chris Martinek, a spokesperson for the Area Agency on Aging.
Both the Senior Senate and Assembly
seats for our area are being contested this year. James Garvey
of Rio Dell is challenging incumbent Senior Sen. Mary Dennison
of Eureka. Senior Assemblymember Thea Gast of Arcata faces challenger
Jerry McCrea of Eureka.
The election will consist of
forums followed by balloting. The forums will take place in locations
across Humboldt and Del Norte counties, starting with the McKinleyville
Senior Center April 29. For more information on the forums or
candidates call 442-3763.
BLM seeking
advice
It's your land, so you might
as well have a say in what happens to it. The federal Bureau
of Land Management is looking for citizen advisers to help it
make decisions regarding use and conservation of its public land
holdings in northwest California.
Resource advisory councils are
made up of individuals with a stake in the BLM's land. That includes
those who are interested in livestock grazing, recreational off-road
vehicle use, environmental protection, wild horses, historical
preservation, backpacking, Native American interests and elected
officials.
Nominations for the council
must be received by April 22. For more information, call (530)
252-5332.
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