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October 13, 2005
FIX NIXED: The North Coast Railroad Authority's dreams of
freight trains chugging up and down Humboldt, Mendocino and Sonoma
counties were set back last week when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
vetoed a bill that called for a reallocation of $5.5 million
to clean up the ailing Northwestern Pacific Railroad. State Sen.
Wes Chesbro, the bill's sponsor, railed against Schwarzenegger,
saying that the veto indicates "how out of touch this Governor
is and how little he cares about the North Coast." That
could be true, but a number of critics have said that the railroad
is a lost cause anyway. Senate Bill 792 would have reallocated
NCRA grant money that was slated to repay a federal loan, to
instead be used to complete an environmental cleanup and provide
$1.5 million for administrative and operating costs. By law,
the NCRA is required to maintain the 315 miles of track.
BEWARE THE ALGAE: Every year in the warm summer and autumn months,
algae blooms on Copco and Iron Gate reservoirs --- 190 river miles
from the mouth of the Klamath --- and spreads like an antifreeze
spill across the surface. It's brightest green along the shore,
and less so in the middle, says Craig Tucker, Klamath Campaign
coordinator for the Karuk and Yurok tribes. The Klamath Campaign
seeks to have four out of the six hydroelectric dams on the Klamath
River torn down to allow fish passage to former spawning grounds.
Initially, says Tucker, the tribes were focusing on the effects
on fish from the algae, which blooms and then, as it dies, sucks
oxygen out of the water. They blame this oxygen-deprived water,
in part, for the numerous fish kills that happen almost yearly
downriver. But after sampling the algae on the reservoirs earlier
this year, their concerns turned toward the algae's potential
harm to humans. "Turns out, there are hundreds of species
of blue-green algae," says Tucker. Some of the species are
harmless --- even sold in health food stores. "And some are
highly toxic." In August, samples showed high levels of
a particularly nasty algae, Microcystis aeruginosa, which
secretes a toxin that can cause everything from severe eye irritation
to kidney damage, liver failure and death. The amount of this
algae in the reservoirs exceeded the World Health Organization's
standard for recreational use by 400-fold, said Tucker, and the
levels of the actual toxin exceeded the WHO's "tolerable
daily intake" by up to 217 times --- "among the highest
recorded in the United States," said Susan Corum, the Karuk
Tribe's water resources coordinator, in a news release issued
jointly on Sept. 30 by the tribe, the North Coast Regional Water
Quality Control Board and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Some of the algae has washed downriver. "While the algae
doesn't do well in moving water, the toxin [it secretes] does,"
says Tucker. The tribe is waiting for results from sampling to
determine the toxin levels, though Tucker says it's difficult
to test for the molecules in-river. In the meantime, the tribe,
water board and EPA are warning people to avoid swimming or otherwise
contacting water where the algae is blooming.
DRINK, DRIVE, LIE, LOSE YOUR
LICENSE: Your doctor's license
that is. McKinleyville physician Robert Mott, 54, stands to be
stripped of his medical license by the California Medical Board
for alcohol abuse and incidents that occurred in 2004. Last August,
when a California Highway Patrol Officer pulled over Mott in
Del Norte County, the physician reportedly told the officer he
was not drunk, but had taken too much Wellbutrin, an antidepressant
medication. When Mott was brought to the hospital for a blood
test, he allegedly attempted to escape. He was eventually restrained
and his blood alcohol level was found to be more than twice the
legal limit. No drugs were found in his system. He was taken
to an in-patient detox center where he admitted to frequent binge
drinking and using marijuana. In another case that occurred about
two months before the DUI, Mott was caught snooping around an
Arcata resident's backyard at 5 a.m., which led to his arrest
and charges of prowling and stalking. But far worse than his
other alleged offenses, Mott is accused by the medical board
of gross negligence in the treatment of a patient who came to
him complaining of chest pains in March 2004 while he was working
as an emergency room physician at Mad River Community Hospital
in Arcata. Mott misdiagnosed the woman, 68, with acid reflux.
She died two days later, shortly after another doctor discovered
that the she had severe heart problems. Sadly, it doesn't end
there, Mott allegedly lied again when he told the medical board
that he suggested that the patient be admitted to the hospital
and that she refused. Reports indicate that the offer was never
made. Mott received his Physician and Surgeon's Certificate in
1980 and it will expire Feb. 28, 2006, unless renewed. The state
medical board filed an official accusation against Mott on June
13. On Tuesday, a receptionist at Mott's McKinleyville Family
Practice Medical Clinic declined to say whether or not Mott is
still seeing patients. Mad River Community Hospital confirmed
that Mott still has privileges to admit patients to the hospital,
but he is no longer an emergency room physician there.
RNS FIGHT PROPS: Nurses with the California Nurses Association
distressed by two of Gov. Schwarzenegger's special election initiatives,
Props. 75 and 78, embarked on a 32-city "Nurses Say Vote
No in November" tour Monday. They started in Eureka --- a fitting
launch, given that it's the home of Rob Arkley, one of Schwarzenegger's
hefty financial backers and the owner of Security National Servicing
Corp. "The campaign estimates that 97 percent of the donations
to Prop. 75 come from billionaires, multi-millionaires or corporations,
which is Schwarzenegger's traditional base," said the CNA
news release announcing the nurses' tour. The CNA says Prop.
75 --- dubbed "paycheck protection" by the governor's camp ---
would "stifle the voices of nurses in healthcare policy
and political debates," and that Prop. 78 "undercuts
efforts to expand patient access to expensive prescription drugs."
Under Prop. 75, public employee unions --- largely Democratic in
base --- would have to get permission from each member before they
could use that member's dues for political campaigns. It would
restrict nurses, teachers, police and firefighters unions. In
an editorial in Tuesday's San Francisco Chronicle, Susan
Solomon and Susan Cieutat credit Arkley and other select financial
heavies with getting the "deceptive measure" on the
ballot in order to "make it easier for the governor and
his Big Business pals to cut school funding, health care and
public safety." In September, when Schwarzenegger announced
Prop. 75, he said the use of public employee union members' dues
to support causes or candidates is "not a contribution.
That is a tax." The nurses on tour say that pooling their
money is the only way they can amass enough clout to fight for
causes and candidates. The Chronicle's Tuesday editorial
put it this way: "By targeting workers, the balance of power
in the political process would further shift to big corporations,
which already outspend workers 24-1, according to the nonpartisan
Center for Responsive Politics." But, but... Arkley's also
a philanthropist! (Security National owns the Eureka Reporter.)
EX-PALCO EXEC MOVIN' ON UP:
Former Pacific Lumber Co. executive
Jim Branham was named last week as the first executive officer
of the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, an agency created by Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger earlier this year. The conservancy is the largest
in California with 25 million acres (that's bigger than most
states), stretching across 22 counties from the eastern Oregon
border to Kern County (Humboldt is not included). In 2003, Branham,
50, left Palco's government affairs department after four years
with the lumber company to become the undersecretary of the California
Environmental Protection Agency. Environmental groups including
the Sierra Club harshly criticized Schwarzenegger's appointment
of Branham to the position. Of his two-year stint in Sacramento,
his superior, Cal/EPA Secretary Alan C. Lloyd, praised Branham's
work and said that he demonstrated a "strong commitment
to the Governor's Environmental Action Plan" and projected
that Branham will share Schwarzenegger's "vision for a sustainable
Sierra Nevada." Conservancy Chairman Mike Chrisman stated
that he could think of no one better qualified than Branham for
the new position. Before working for Palco, Branham was an aide
to republican Senator Jim Nielsen from 1978 to 1991. He later
served as Chief Deputy Director at the California Department
of Forestry. Branham received a Bachelor of Arts in Political
Science from California State University, Chico.
GOT POT?: After leaving an Alameda County medical marijuana
club, a 24-year-old Garberville woman was forced from her Volvo
at gunpoint by a ski mask-clad man late last month, according
to media reports. What someone from the pot plenteous hamlet
of Garberville was doing at a San Leandro cannabis club remains
unclear, as the woman, whose name is being withheld, was reluctant
to cooperate with police after the incident --- the crime was reported
by witnesses. In a Sept. 29 article in the San Leandro Times,
Alameda County Sheriff's Department spokesman Lt. Dale Amaral
called the medical cannabis dispensary "an absolute magnet
for every thug in the nine Bay Area counties." The unidentified
woman's car was recovered two blocks away from where it was stolen.
According to reports, she chose not to pursue a criminal complaint.
A call to Lt. Amaral was not returned before deadline.
CORRECTION: A story in last week's `Weekly Wrap" ("Fortuna
First," Oct. 6) misstated the outcome of the grand jury's
legal action against Fortuna City Councilmember Debi August.
The case was not "dropped" by the District Attorney's
Office, it was dismissed by Judge John Feeney after grand jury
documents that had not previously been disclosed to August's
attorneys surfaced. The Journal regrets the error.
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The end of the boom?
Humboldt's housing prices
may skyrocket no more
by HANK
SIMS
Back in 2003, when Bob and Ginny
Felter were scanning the market for a good fixer-upper to inhabit
for a few years, the Humboldt County real estate market was a
much different beast than it is today.
Back then, single-family homes
were coveted. Real estate agents representing would-be buyers
used all their talents to get advance word on properties that
might be moving onto the market. When a new property hit the
county's Multiple Listing Service, they were often sold within
hours, sometimes after a bidding war that drove up the price
by tens of thousands of dollars.
The Felters found what they
were looking for --- a two-bedroom home in a good Arcata neighborhood,
just a short walk from the Humboldt State University campus.
With the help of an on-the-ball agent, they were able to snatch
it up right after it went on the market, despite the fact that
there were "five or six people" in line before them,
Ginny Felter said Monday.
After completing repairs and
adding a mother-in-law unit, the Felters were ready to sell the
house this summer. This time, things weren't quite as quick.
The house stayed on the market for about a month (it just went
into escrow last week). And rather than sitting back and letting
bidders jack up the asking price, the Felters actually had to
come down to meet a low bid.
Ginny Felter, who will be moving
with her husband to a new home they built in McKinleyville, said
that despite having to knock off about 5 percent of their asking
price, they were happy to get the home sold.
"I'm not saying that's
going to happen today and tomorrow, but the history of markets
is that they have ups and downs," she said. "We would
much rather be selling on the upside than the downside."
The Felters may have done just
that --- barely.
According to a new study being
prepared by economist Erick Eschker --- director of the Humboldt
Index of Economic Activity --- the era of soaring prices that has
typified the Humboldt County market over the last few years may
soon come to an end. And there are mounting signs that the market
may have, in fact, already reached its peak.
In an interview from Chicago,
where he is working as a research economist for the American
Medical Association, Eschker said that while he was still waiting
for recent data from the Humboldt Association of Realtors to
finalize his study, a careful analysis of home prices and rental
rates over the last 15 years shows that between 2002 and 2004,
the rapid rise in home prices was likely rooted in unsustainable
market speculation, not economic fundamentals.
In the forthcoming study, Escher
compares the median home price with the average annual rent paid
for a home in the county. Dividing price by rents yields a ratio
roughly similar to the "price-earnings" ratio used
to judge stocks and other investments. The evidence showed that
since 2002 people have been paying more for homes than this rough
measure of returns would seem to justify.
"Rents have gone up in
Humboldt County over the last few years, and prices have gone
up," he said. "But what people use is that ratio. In
the last 15 years, that ratio typically averaged about 16 --- all
the way up until 2002. Then, in the last two years, it has averaged
about 20."
Eschker said that, somewhat
surprisingly, the pattern mirrors what has happened in major
urban boom markets such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami ---
areas that some economists fear may be experiencing "bubbles"
in the real estate market that could be on the verge of bursting.
"Basically, what I found
is that what's happening with the very hot markets is the same
thing that's happening in Humboldt County," Eschker said.
"Humboldt County is on the coast, so it might experience
the same kind of bubble effect as other communities on the east
and west coasts. On the other hand, it's very rural. But the
first factor, I've found, has dominated."
Eschker cautioned that he had
yet to see data for the first few months of 2005. But there are
indications out there that the Felters' experience is simply
one example of a hot sellers' market that seems to be quickly
cooling.
According to the most recent
figures released by the Humboldt Association of Realtors, the
median price for a single-family home in Humboldt County dropped
three months in a row during the summer, traditionally one of
the busiest times in the real estate market. In June, the median
home price was $333,000 --- nearly twice what it had been three years
previous. In July, it dropped to $320,000. In August, it fell
again, to $319,000.
Perhaps more importantly, there
are more sellers out there right now than there have been in
the last three years, according to Dean Kessler, co-owner of
Eureka's RMK Realty Services. Kessler said that according to
the statistics he keeps, there are twice as many local properties
on the market as there were at this time last year.
Kessler said that the most basic
economic law --- supply and demand --- would predict that this rush of
property onto the market would tend to depress prices. He has
already seen this happening in certain instances, he said.
"When you have more inventory
and the same number of buyers looking --- in order to move the inventory,
sellers are finding that they have to lower the price in order
to be competitive," he said.
For his part, Kessler said that
he didn't expect prices to crash. He cited a recent report released
by the California Association of Realtors that predicted statewide
home values would continue to increase in the coming year, only
at a slower rate than they had done in the past.
But Eschker was not so sanguine.
He said that although bubbles in any market were difficult to
identify, except in retrospect, he believed that home prices
in Humboldt County, like other "hot" markets over the
last few years, could possibly be headed for a fall.
"It's hard to tell when
you're in a bubble, and it's also hard to tell what happens afterwards,"
he said. "What may happen --- and I'm just guessing, here --- is
that you might have a one-time, little drop in values and then
a long, long period of stagnation."
Eschker said that California
experienced a similar period of stagnation in the early '90s.
But other places, such as Japan --- and certainly other markets,
like the stock exchange --- have famously experienced more dramatic
corrections. The Humboldt County real estate market is not immune
to such crashes, Eschker warned.
"[Prices] could come down
30 percent," he said. "That's certainly possible."
When it is finished --- perhaps
as soon as next week --- Eschker's study will be posted on the website
of the Humboldt Index of Economic Activity: www.humboldt.edu/~indexhum.
TOP
9 Questions for
Abdul Aziz
by HANK
SIMS
Dr. Abdul Aziz (photo below),
a native of Pakistan, is a retired professor of business administration
at Humboldt State University. In recent years, he has lead discussion
groups on Islam, to which all are invited, at the Arcata Library,
Sundays from 1 to 2 p.m.
Aziz spoke with the Journal
on Monday, five days after the beginning of the Muslim holy month
of Ramadan.
 1.
How many people generally attend your lecture series?
The average is eight. Sometimes
there are 20; there have been two occasions where were only two.
2. What sort of people come?
Generally, they are people who
are interested in specific topics. For example, on the day I
taught about Ramadan and fasting, there were some people who
wanted to know what the benefits of fasting were. Then, when
I talked about prayers, there were people who were interested
in praying to God and the different ways of praying. However,
there are some who just show up as a matter of curiosity. They
don't ask many questions, but they listen.
Photo by Bob Doran
3. What prompted you to start
holding these talks?
My objective was to minimize
the lack of knowledge about Islam. On the TV, particularly, we
keep hearing people say things about Islam which have nothing
to do with Islam. Misrepresentation of Islam is a big problem.
So I thought if I taught people what Islam is, perhaps our community
would better understand the Muslim community over here.
I have been talking about those
things which relate to the community --- the Bible and the Koran,
how Jews are mentioned in the Koran, how Christians are mentioned
in the Koran. What are the similarities, particularly among these
Abrahamic religions, which have the same source --- the Jewish people?
But I've also tried to make
the point that the other religions may not look Abrahamic, but
they have the same type of teachings. My objective has been to
bring about some type of understanding about the uniformity of
religion.
4. What do you find is the
most common misunderstanding about Islam?
This terrorism problem. Some
people think that Islam, in its inherent nature, is violent.
That's what they tell me they're hearing in their churches, or
from people on TV.
I try to explain to them that
if we want to think about a religion, we should go to the scripture.
The Koran is the basic scripture of Islam, and from the Koran
I try to show them that these are the instructions regarding
the behavior of Muslims toward non-Muslims. There we find out
that the treatment is basically benign --- that is, we should try
to treat all human beings equally well, whether they belong to
our religion or some other religion. We should not try to force
our opinion on people of other religions. That's what the Koran
says.
So if somebody is doing violence
at this time, it's not that the religion itself is violent, but
it is because some people have gone away from the religion. This
has happened in all religions.
5. There's a sort of movement
within the Islamic world --- a fundamentalist, violent movement --- but
you're saying that these are people who have moved away from
Islam, is that right?
Yes. These people have tried
to interpret Islam according to what they think the political
agenda of the Muslim world at this time should be. They think
the political agenda of the Muslim world should be to get rid
of the West, to get rid of Israel, etc. So they think, how do
we get rid of them? And they think that this is the one way,
terrorism. So they try to interpret the Koran so that they can
justify terrorism.
Whereas the Koran itself gives
us means of getting some bully off the back: That is, through
being a good person, through preaching good and through offering
the teachings of the Koran. So Koran teaches us how we can make
another person who is persecuting us a friend of ours.
6. Are you observing Ramadan?
Yes, I am.
7. It's one month of the
year, every year of your life how does Ramadan differ from the
rest of daily life?
See, I don't try to do very
strenuous work during the month of Ramadan --- yard work, etc. --- I
would try to minimize that. Other than that, it's just normal.
I go to my work, I do the work as it done. But basically, I am
supposed to worship more.
The fasting among Muslims [during
Ramadan] is regulated. The rules and regulations are very clearly
stated in the Koran: That you cannot eat [during the day], you
cannot drink, you cannot have conjugal relations with a spouse,
you cannot smoke, you can not have anything that provides nutrition.
That you should give more alms.
8. Do you feel that it's
a sacred month? Do you feel closer to sacred things during the
month?
Yes. During Ramadan, when I
worship more, I try to keep myself away from mundane types of
things which would make me talk more, something like that. I
feel closer to God.
9. I'm sorry --- am I making
you break that?
No, it's no problem! We are
talking about something purposeful.
TOP
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