CVS chain gives makeover to former Longs drugstores in Sacramento area

The country's largest drugstore chain is sinking new roots in the West, transforming 541 former Longs Drugs into CVS Pharmacy stores.

At least 50 are in the Sacramento region.

The Woonsocket, R.I.-based CVS Caremark Corp. purchased the Longs chain in 2008, expanding its presence into California, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii.

"The big thing is customers will be working with the same staff," said Jill Gridley, district manager for the Sacramento region.

CVS rehired 98 percent of the employees, including pharmacists, who had worked for Longs, she said.

Without closing any stores or disrupting the business day, CVS has been remodeling and restocking the Longs stores and will be finished for a November promotional splash, Gridley said.

The company, which just opened its 7,000th store, has become expert at converting stores while doing business because it has grown primarily through acquisitions, she said. The company bought 1,300 Eckerd Stores in 2004.

The first CVS opened in 1963 in Lowell, Mass., and the early ones were called Consumer Value Stores.

For shoppers, cosmetic changes include the company's trademark wall-to-wall carpeting and in most stores, shelving stacked no higher than 60 inches.

The lower shelving is designed to give core customers � women, average height of 5 feet 3 inches � a better view of the inventory, she said.

In the CVS store on K Street in midtown Sacramento, Gridley showed off the expanded grocery section and a photo center with sit-down computers for projects as extensive as a photo calendar or as quick as a single photo.

The drugstore will also offer customers a chance to sign up for cards that generate rebates. Last year, the company paid back $1.8 billion to 55 million card holders, Gridley said.

Like other drugstores, CVS is expanding on-site health clinics, which have nurse practitioners who can do some vaccinations and take care of minor ailments.

At least 500 of the stores have the centers.

In the Sacramento market, CVS is up against Rite Aid, with 22 stores in the city of Sacramento, and the Walgreen Co., with 30 stores in the area.

Compared with other retail stores, drugstores are faring better during the recession because they provide necessities, analysts say.

CVS Caremark Corp. reported $24.9 billion in net revenue in the second quarter of this year, an increase from the $21.1 billion reported during the same quarter of 2008.

The company fills 17 percent of the nation's prescriptions, according to Morningstar Inc., which tracks CVS.

Gridley said the company would likely expand in California by building new stores, but she could not say when.

Source Sac Bee

Sacramento Arts Festival

Friday, Oct 2 12:00p to 9:00p

at Sacramento Convention Center, Sacramento, CA

Price: $7.50 adults, $6.50 seniors, kids under 12 free

Phone: (805) 461-6700

Age Suitability: All Ages

Don’t miss the best art & craft show of the year—the 12th annual Sacramento Arts Festival! Meet 225 of America’s best contemporary craftspeople & fine artists offering more than 15,000 original works in all price ranges. Shop for fine clothing and jewelry, paintings, watercolors, sculpture, woodwork, glass, pottery, photography & mixed media. Shop for yourself, your home and for one-of-a-kind holiday gifts. Feast along Restaurant Row and catch great live jazz & blues entertainment.

Source Sac Bee

Slide Show: Sacramento Kings players' salaries

While Kings player salaries can be found at various Internet sites, there is widespread misinformation regarding the exact figures. Through extensive research, The Bee has finalized -- and ranked -- the down-to-the-dollar reality of the team's payroll. Check back periodically for updates and improvements.

Sacramento Kings players' salaries: finalized and ranked

Source Sac Bee

Tweet-tweet goes Schwarzenegger, a big Twitter user

If you're not on Twitter, you probably missed the following details of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's life:

• A little adventure just now when my plane made an emergency landing. All's ok, though.

• Having breakfast earlier at a local joint in Sac getting ready for another day of negotiations.

• If I couldn't find 1 hr for fitness, I would feel like a loser.

Schwarzenegger still delivers a weekly radio address and sends press releases. But he seems most obsessed with communicating in 140 characters or fewer via Twitter.

Since joining the social networking site last year, the governor has drawn 1.15 million followers. He visited Twitter headquarters in San Francisco last month and started a Web site that solicits ideas via Twitter. He even used it to wish his son Patrick a happy 16th birthday last week, calling him "a true stud."

Schwarzenegger now ranks fourth in the Twitter world among politicians, after President Barack Obama, former Vice President Al Gore and Sen. John McCain.

Like many elected officials, Schwarzenegger uses Twitter to promote his official activities. He posts photos of himself meeting with firefighters or dining with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. He solicits advice – and sometimes acts upon it, as in the case of one follower who said he should autograph used state vehicles to turn them into collectors' items.

Schwarzenegger is not actually doing any of this himself.

He does not carry a BlackBerry, the communications device through which most of his "tweets" are posted. Instead, he tells his personal assistants – usually the tech-savvy Daniel Ketchell or Clay Russell – to post what he wants, according to Schwarzenegger press secretary Aaron McLear.

While some believe the governor's press office has more control over the Twitter feed than it lets on, McLear insists that is not the case.

"Every single post is directed by the governor," McLear said.

As proof, McLear offered one incident from June 19, when the governor told his Twitter audience that his private plane had to make an emergency landing during his commute flight home to Los Angeles. The governor had an aide post a picture of his plane on the tarmac surrounded by three fire engines.

Schwarzenegger also uses video to display a mischievous side. One in particular landed on national news networks – a 27-second spot of Schwarzenegger waving a giant knife in July before telling followers that they gave him great ideas.

The governor intended for the clip to be humorous, as if the camera caught him in the middle of his everyday big-knife-waving routine.

Of course, critics also use Twitter. Social-services advocates took offense as the video came during tense budget talks in which Schwarzenegger sought deep cuts.

Health Access, which represents low-income Californians, wrote: The video adds insult to injury, literally.

Days later, Schwarzenegger told reporters, "You've got to have a little sense of humor. That's me. You sent a governor to Sacramento, not El Stiffo."

David Burch of TubeMogul Inc., which tracks online data, said Schwarzenegger has more Twitter followers than all 49 other governors combined, mostly due to his celebrity status. (The Twitter leader is actor Ashton Kutcher, who has 3.65 million followers.)

"He's using his celebrity in interesting ways, such as with the knife video, having fun with it and interacting with people," said Burch, a self-described early Twitter adopter. "Compared to any other politician, I'd say he's really savvy with it."

Burch said that if he had any criticism, it would be that Schwarzenegger's Twitter page "sometimes feels staged." It's considered a Twitter faux pas to have someone else write your posts and shoot your video, he noted.

"The whole thing is, it's supposed to be you unfiltered," Burch said. "If it's your PR person, that's lame. He sort of straddles that and makes up for it by interacting with people."

University of Maryland researchers released a study last week of 6,000 Twitter posts by members of Congress and found that most information was self-promotional or just press releases in a new form.

"In many cases, we saw politicians thinking they can gain a way to get their message directly across to citizens," said Jennifer Golbeck, a University of Maryland assistant professor of information studies who led the study. "I don't know that it really works."

She said one of the best uses of Twitter is to engage followers, as Schwarzenegger does, but most Congress members don't do so.

When Schwarzenegger launched his Twitter-based Web site, MyIdea4CA.com, seven of the top 10 ideas had to do with marijuana legalization or reducing prison time for drug offenses. The most popular idea remains "legalize and tax marijuana, end the war on drugs."

Barbara O'Connor, a communications professor at California State University, Sacramento, said that while Schwarzenegger has found a new niche, he must be mindful that it is only one segment of those he represents.

"Keep in mind who's on Twitter – we still have a digital divide and the age range on Twitter is younger than for other mediums," O'Connor said. "We still have an extensive digital divide in California related to income and race. What you get in Twitter suggestions is going to be skewed accordingly."

State legislators also have taken to Twitter. Many posts are brief statements of their views. And then there was what Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, noted during the budget vote: Just ate a healthy muffin ... maybe 1000 calories.

Muffins might not be enough for Schwarzenegger, who recently posted this on his own diet: My favorite food is a good NY steak ... It is also my favorite food to cook, normally on the BBQ.

Without Twitter, we might never have known.

Source Sac Bee

Potluck!!

COOL CREAM: Cold Stone Creamery invites you to the World's Largest Ice Cream Social, a benefit for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America. Customers will receive a 3-ounce serving of ice cream, brownie, fudge and sprinkles in exchange for a donation to the charity.

When: 5-8 p.m. Thursday

Where: Any participating Cold Stone Creamery

Cost: Donation

Information: www.coldstonecreamery.com

GO FOR PIZZA: Jason Jonas, a pizza expert at Whole Foods Market, will teach you how to craft your favorite pizza, calzones and more.

When: 11:30 a.m. Saturday

Where: Whole Foods Market, 4315 Arden Way, Sacramento

Cost: $25

Information: This hands-on class is open to ages 14 and older. A complete list of the store's cooking classes can be found on the Sacramento store Web page at www.wholefoodsmarket.com. (916) 488-2800

THESE KIDS COOK: Children from Auburn, Sacramento and other locales around the region will compete in the Save Mart Kids Cook-Off Finals. Sandra Lee, star of "Semi-Homemade Cooking" on the Food Network, will present awards to contestants ages 9 to 13.

When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday

Where: Lucky Food Service Pavilion in Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, 1001 Fairgrounds Drive, Vallejo

Cost: Buy tickets online, where everyone pays the kids price of $29.99. One-day parking is $15.

Information: www.sixflags/ discoverykingdom

TASTE LAND PARK: Enjoy wine, food and music, and connect with the community at the ninth annual Taste of Land Park.

When: Sunday

Where: 17th Street between 11th and 13th avenues in Sacramento

Cost: $30 in advance, $35 at the door

Information: www.landpark.org or (916) 496-7322

JUICE, SYRUP OR SAUCE? Master food preservers will demonstrate the art and science of safe canning, freezing and drying techniques.

When: 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday

Where: Cooperative Extension Office, 311 Fair Lane, Placerville

Cost: Free

Information: (530) 621-5506

VEGGIE DELIGHT: Shankari Easwaran shares her family's secrets for authentic vegetarian Indian cuisine. Learn about basic traditional ingredients and the importance of using whole spices.

When: 6 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op Community Learning Center, 1914 Alhambra Blvd.

Cost: $35 for co-op members; $45 for nonmembers

Information: (916) 455-2667 or www.sacfoodcoop.com. Parking is limited. Please do not park in the co-op lot. Go to the Web site for a more extensive list of classes.

DEFEAT YEAST: Rebecca Wise shows you how to conquer candida with dietary changes and supplements that will help you gain a healthy balance.

When: 6 p.m. next Wednesday

Where: Whole Foods Market, 1001 Galleria Blvd., Roseville

Cost: Free

Information: A complete list of the store's food classes can be found on the Roseville store page at www.wholefoodsmarket.com. (916) 781-5300

Source Sac Bee

$18 million Sacramento community center opens Saturday

The gleaming new George Sim Community and Event Center, which opens Saturday, is being heralded by the city of Sacramento as the next generation of community centers.

The $18 million project added 15,500 square feet to the small existing 1960s-era center. In addition, behind the new community center, a 15,700-square-foot event center was built for basketball, volleyball and other sports.

"It's a community center for the 21st century," said Councilman Kevin McCarty.

The community center includes meeting space, a fitness center, an industrial kitchen and an automated library machine. The center is a high-tech, eco-friendly shot-in-the arm for the community, McCarty said.

A grand opening of the center is planned for Saturday with a parade at 10 a.m., ribbon cutting at 11 a.m., and lunch and children's activities at noon. Sacramento residents can tour the facility at 6207 Logan St. until 4 p.m.


Source Sac Bee

Home Front: Sacramento-area home sales seeing falling to 1967 levels

The annual real estate forecast season opened this week with an estimate that the end of 2009 won't be much better than the beginning, and capital home builders will sell just 3,400 new houses, condos and town houses this year.

It's hardly a wonder that home builders say their powerful industry, so long accustomed to getting its way politically and economically, is in a depression, not a recession.

Such a sales number – shockingly low, projected by consultant Hanley Wood Market Intelligence – hasn't been heard in this region since the 1960s.

Home Front took out the history books to compare: In 1967, with President Lyndon Johnson in the White House, builders in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties started 3,544 single-family detached homes, according to the Construction Industry Research Board. It's likely they sold roughly the same.

This year, considering that 85 percent of sales regionally are single-family homes, they'll sell about 2,900. Add in the townhouses and condos and you get the 3,400.

"Sacramento can support about 8,500 sales a year," Hanley Wood's Sacramento analyst Kathryn Boyce told a gathering of about 75 to 80 area home-building industry reps. "We stole from the future quite a bit from the heyday when we had our special financing. If they had a pulse, we gave them a loan."

Stimulus aid for high-rise

Here's some better economic news. Federal stimulus funding is bringing $10 million to restore an empty residential high-rise at Seventh and I streets in downtown Sacramento.

"We were high-fiving each other. It's not every day you get $10 million in a competitive grant project," said Nick Chhotu, director of public housing at the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency. The money is headed to a thorough face-lift for the 12-story Riverview Apartments owned by SHRA. It's a senior complex built in the late 1970s at 626 I St. The building has been empty for two years.

Plans are to start construction late next year after getting up to $6 million more in federal funds. The building, with 108 rooms for people 62 and older, needs new windows, a new electrical system and new plumbing, a job that will run well into 2011, said Chhotu.

The Public Housing Capital funds are provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Mixed-use to cut driving

How much do residents of Sacramento's eastern suburbs and foothills love their cars? Plenty. They lead the region in driving, averaging 75 miles a day. But another forecast on the PowerPoint circuit last week suggests they'll be driving a lot less by 2035.

The next generation of drivers, in Placer County especially, will live in neighborhoods with a greater mix of uses, said Mike McKeever, chief of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments. He told a gathering of Urban Land Institute-Sacramento members that shopping, home and work will be closer together as cities like Roseville and Rocklin urbanize more.

El Dorado Hills and its environs will have "more jobs in the foothills to balance houses," McKeever said.

And look, too for still less driving in the Sacramento-West Sacramento core, he said.

Consultant on Net radio

Look who's talking now on Internet radio. It's long-time Sacramento-area building industry consultant John Schleimer. He has a new VoiceAmerica Talk Radio Network show, "Housing in America." The show debuts Monday at 2 p.m. PDT.

Schleimer, owner of Roseville-based Market Perspectives, will launch with a show on the federal government's Making Home Affordable loan modification program. Guests include a U.S. Treasury Department official and New York Times economics reporter Peter Goodman.

Guests on coming shows, running weekly at the same time, include economist Mark Zandi of Moody's Economy.com and National Association of Home Builders Chairman Joe Robson. The show streams live on the Internet. Details: Google VoiceAmerica and click on "hosts."

Source Sac Bee

Sacramento County median home price down 53.5 percent from 2005 high

Last month, Sacramento County marked the fourth anniversary of its housing boom high with a median sales price of $180,000 – a whopping 53.5 percent less than in August 2005, property researcher MDA DataQuick said Thursday.

The county's August sales tally of 2,061 new and existing homes likewise fell well short of 3,800 in August 2005.

Now, four years later, these DataQuick numbers reveal the long, hard fall taken by the capital region, a descent defined by billions of dollars in lost home equity, more than 42,000 foreclosures and a marked slowdown in home sales.

A reversal of fortune that began in Sacramento County during the late summer of 2005, then quickly spread to seven other area counties, made Sacramento one of the first big U.S. housing markets to spin out of control. The aftermath still plays out in 2009.

"Everybody says buy a house. It's the best investment of your life," said Scott Seacrist, 30, who bought a small home in Sacramento's Elmhurst neighborhood in March 2006. "If I lived here 20 years, it would be the best investment."

Seacrist, like thousands of area buyers four years after the boom crested in Sacramento County, owns a home that's worth less than he paid.

"We love our house," said the married schoolteacher, noting that "it has a lot of charm." But a sustained housing downturn that came after moving in has provided its occasional bouts of anxiety.

No wonder, economists say.

"The bubble we saw was a once-in-a-century kind of event," said Dr. Sanjay Varshney, dean of the College of Business Administration at California State University, Sacramento. "You seldom see all the conditions in place simultaneously that allowed it."

DataQuick reported another month of uncertainty on the housing front. The researcher counted 3,375 closed escrows in August on new and existing homes in Amador, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties. That was down sharply from 3,815 in July and marked a third straight month of lower sales than the same time last year.

There were 3,998 closed escrows in August 2008, DataQuick reported.

The firm noted that sales similarly fell from July in the Bay Area and Southern California. Its analysts attributed the drop to "a thinning inventory of foreclosure properties and financial uncertainty among potential homebuyers."

For months, first-time buyers in the capital region have expressed increasing frustration at being outbid on a dwindling supply of bank repos.

"In Sacramento County, foreclosure resales were 50.4 percent of sales in August," said DataQuick analyst Andrew LePage. "That's the lowest since 43.8 percent in December 2007."

Would-be buyers are nervous, too, about jobs as capital-area unemployment has reached 11.8 percent. LePage said, "It's not as if the job market is creating huge demand."

Four years ago, such a bleak scenario seemed improbable to experts at all levels. But it became real as median sales prices peaked at $387,000 in Sacramento County – after doubling in four years – and then rolled backward. The median, a point where half sell for more and half less, has fallen by more than 50 percent in Sacramento, Sutter, Yuba and Amador counties and more than 40 percent in El Dorado, Placer and Yolo counties.

The steepest peak-to-trough mark in Sacramento County came in February, when the median price fell to $160,000, down 58.6 percent.

The smallest decline is 35 percent in Nevada County, where there are fewer new homes and the "lowest percentage of bank-owned homes in the region," said Linda Kaneko, executive with Paul Law Realty in Grass Valley.

DataQuick records show 2005 highs of $501,000 in Nevada County and $474,000 in Yolo County. Yuba County reached $351,500, while Placer County touched a boom high of $525,000. Sutter County peaked at $339,000. El Dorado County's high was $531,250. Amador County crested at $425,000.

Source Sac Bee

Sutter Health affiliate transferring 200 jobs to Sacramento

A Sutter Health affiliate in the Bay Area will transfer 200 positions to Sacramento over the next 17 months, with the first jobs expected to come to the city in January.

Palo Alto Medical Foundation is combining services with Sacramento-based Sutter Connect, which provides administrative services to Sutter Health medical foundations across Northern California.

The move is expected to save the Palo Alto-based foundation $100 million over the next 10 years, officials said.

Palo Alto officials called the move a "difficult decision" but said the state of the economy and the debate over national health care reform forced their hand. "It is imperative that we look for ways to reduce our costs so we are able to deliver high-quality health care at an affordable price," David Druker, chief executive officer, said in a statement.

The not-for-profit Palo Alto Medical Foundation operates medical centers and clinics in four Bay Area counties, employing 4,500 people and serving more than 635,000 patients.

Nearly 150 jobs in patient accounting and managed care claims services are out of the foundation's Sunnyvale offices, with the remainder moving from Santa Cruz and Mountain View. Officials say they will be offered comparable positions at Sutter Connect.

Employees will relocate in phases and will receive relocation assistance. Those who do not make the move will be offered transition services, money to retrain and a severance, officials said.


Source Sac Bee

Wine Buzz: Fill 'er up with house at OneSpeed

The cat's out of the bag when it comes to the wine at OneSpeed, the popular new east Sacramento restaurant. And that's to say: The house wine at OneSpeed is literally poured from a plastic bag.

Save the corkscrew for another time. There's no bottle, box or even a screwcap with OneSpeed's house wine. And customers already can't get enough, going through 15 bags – that's nearly 20 gallons – of house wine each week.

Don't be surprised when wine in a bag comes to a restaurant near you. Because of the wines' low cost and environmental friendliness, the concept's spreading to other local restaurants.

"I'm absolutely pleased that people are accepting it," says Rick Mahan, owner of OneSpeed. "The fun part is when they find out it comes from a bag. It blows their mind."

OneSpeed's house red and white wines were conceived by Jeff Hansen of AH Wines, a company that develops wines for clients such as Mahan. Peltier Station in Lodi produces the wines, which are pumped into plastic bags and sent to OneSpeed.

OneSpeed receives its house wines in 5 liter bags, which are placed in a wood cabinet behind the bar. When an order's up, the wine flows from the bag's spout and into a carafe or tumbler.

"It's the same exact bag you'd find in a box of Franzia or Gallo," says Hansen. "They're made of a material that's impermeable and doesn't impart any off flavors.

"We are so far behind the rest of the world in delivery vessels for wine," adds Hansen. "In Europe, they deliver wine in cans and plastic bottles and Tetra Pak. Something new comes up here, and people act like it's the most cutting-edge thing."

The financial bottom line is especially tasty for both Mahan and OneSpeed's thirsty clientele. The absence of bottling means the wines can be produced for less than $1 per glass. The wines then sell at OneSpeed for $3.75 per glass, or $18 for a 1-liter carafe.

Another bonus: No wine gets wasted by spoilage. Bags keep oxygen out of wine better than bottles, and wine in a bag can stay fresh for months.

The lack of bottles may also appeal to those with eco-friendly tendencies. And keeping with the "slow food" ethos of championing local producers, Mahan was adamant about partnering with a nearby winery.

"(Local sourcing) is an important consideration in most of the things I bring into my restaurants," says Mahan, who also owns The Waterboy in midtown.

"I'd had some good examples of French and Portuguese (bagged wine) and knew it was possible. I just had to find the right winery."

But can wine from a bag really taste any good? Sure, but just don't expect much more than a simple, food-friendly wine.

OneSpeed's house red is a blend of barbera, cabernet sauvignon, zinfandel and petite sirah. Plenty of berry flavors figure in this straightforward, medium-bodied wine that's meant to go with one of OneSpeed's pizzas.

"I loved the idea of having a carafe of wine in our pizza joint," says Mahan. "But I didn't want a fat zinfandel. I wanted the wine to be food-friendly."

OneSpeed's house white wine balances Lodi's fruitiness with a firm acidic backbone. Unoaked chardonnay, pinot grigio and vermentino are mixed into this fairly refreshing blend, and would pair well with OneSpeed's salads.

"The vermentino was the kicker," says Hansen. "It has a nice flinty character that brings some structure to the wine, but it's also clean and crisp."

Hansen aims to take this bagged-wine concept nationwide. OneSpeed for now serves as the prototype, and its proprietary wine in a bag is now served at such local brew pubs as River City Brewing Co. and Rubicon Brewing Co.

More Sacramento-area restaurants are expected to serve OneSpeed's bagged wine soon.

But back at OneSpeed, the business for wine in a bag keeps booming.

"Most of the skeptics have been converted," says Mahan. "I'm doubly pleased that people are accepting it."

Source Sac Bee

New meltdown looms as Sacramento-area commercial vacancy rate rises

From an unfinished shopping mall in Elk Grove to the ghostly quiet office parks of South Placer, the slump that has overtaken commercial real estate could rival the meltdown in the housing market.

Across the Sacramento region, vacancy rates have soared while rents and property values have plummeted, leaving many landlords struggling to pay their mortgages. A few are in bankruptcy protection.

Sacramento's troubles are worse than most, according to national analysts, but the threat looms across the entire country. With the national economy seemingly poised for a recovery, some experts fear the recession could be prolonged if commercial loans go bust like residential mortgages.

"It's very analogous to what happened with the residential market," said Mark Friedman, a prominent Sacramento commercial developer. "Money was cheap, growth was rapid, and we built a lot more product than we needed."

Others, though, say the problems in commercial don't run as deep. Most developers didn't borrow as recklessly as homeowners and are able to cushion themselves against falling revenue streams.

"People were so highly leveraged in their homes – they were borrowing against them to buy their big-screen TVs or whatever," said Mitch Derenzo, chief financial officer at American River Bank of Sacramento. "It doesn't appear that the commercial side is so highly leveraged."

But no one doubts that the problems in commercial real estate are serious. American River just reported a second-quarter loss of $704,000, its first loss in 25 years. Derenzo said the main culprit was a big leap in nonperforming commercial real estate loans – that is, mortgages that have been delinquent for at least 90 days.

So far, defaults and foreclosures on commercial loans have lagged behind the pace in the residential sector. But the most severe problems in commercial real estate lie ahead.

About $2 trillion worth of commercial mortgages worldwide are coming due in the next four years, Deutsche Bank says in a recent report. Because property values have slumped so much, hard-bitten bankers are telling borrowers to put up more cash if they want to roll over those maturing loans – a requirement that could push many property owners to the brink.

"The scale of the potential problem is formidable," says Deutsche Bank. Commercial delinquencies are already at 4.1 percent and will rise to as much as 7 percent by December, the bank says. By contrast, 9.2 percent of residential mortgages are delinquent, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The California Mortgage Bankers Association said only 0.26 percent of the state's commercial property loans were delinquent in the second quarter. But market watchers say the statistics don't reflect the true problem because banks are generally being more flexible than they've been with homeowners.

In many cases, banks are extending loan maturities to avoid branding a mortgage as delinquent, analysts say – a practice known in some circles as "pretend and extend."

Bankers say they're merely taking a proactive approach to keep a bad situation from turning worse.

"You've bought yourself some time to try and improve the cash flow of that property," said Steve Fleming, chief executive at River City Bank. "I think it's fairly common practice in the industry today."

Some prominent developers haven't been able to cut deals with lenders. Kobra Properties, the Roseville firm led by Jack in the Box restaurant owner Abe Alizadeh, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last November with debts of more than $300 million.

A key factor in Kobra's trouble: the loss of big tenants like defunct electronics chain Circuit City, according to court filings by Alizadeh.

Another victim of the downturn is Opus West Corp. of Phoenix, developer of major office parks in South Placer, the Broadstone shopping complex in Folsom and the huge Natomas Gateway office-retail center. It filed for Chapter 11 in July under a $1 billion mountain of debt.

Source Sac Bee

Carmichael woman, 98, conquers Facebook

Marjorie Loyd is 98. She uses a walker. She can't hear that well. And her macular degeneration makes it difficult to read the print on a computer screen.

Still, the Carmichael resident has linked to 19 friends on Facebook since joining the social networking site two weeks ago.

"I don't think there's anything in life that takes the place of people and friends," Loyd said. "I love people, and I love contact with people."

More than 250 million people use Facebook, said spokeswoman Elizabeth Linder. The fastest-growing demographic are those 35 and older, but the company doesn't break out how many users are 98.

Loyd was born in Tennessee on Oct. 18, 1910. Her family had a horse and buggy, a party-line telephone shared with a handful of neighbors, and an outhouse. Loyd can still remember that junior high school day when her family received indoor plumbing.

With surprising speed, Loyd now wheels a walker through her senior residential facility, where she is known by name to everyone who passes. Inside her spacious apartment, she settles onto a chair in front of a laptop, on which the 18-point font is enlarged 150 percent. Loyd e-mails, writes letters in Microsoft Word and reaches out with Facebook.

Her 66-year-old daughter in Richmond, Va., joined Facebook a few days after she did.

Loyd said she joined to keep tabs on her former pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Sacramento.

The Rev. David Thompson said he was blown away when he received a friend request from Loyd in his e-mail inbox.

"I suggested to her that it would be a good idea, but I didn't expect her to follow through with it," Thompson said.

Loyd learned to use a computer three years ago, at age 95. She had just stopped driving and wanted to stay linked with family and friends. Her husband, long-time Sacramento physician Herlan Loyd, had died in 2001.

She had a friend at church pick out a laptop with a good screen, and after several quick tutorials, taught herself how to use it.

When her eyes deteriorated so much it was difficult to read the letters, Loyd hired a computer specialist to enlarge fonts on the display and put icons on the desktop so they would be easily accessible.

She swapped out the keyboard letters with larger-lettered keys herself.

"It's kind of humbling because every time I learn something, I learn I have a lot more to learn," Loyd said.

Loyd has frequently defied expectations. Before many women ran businesses, she owned a used typewriter company in Chicago to support her siblings after their father died. This was just as electric versions were being launched.

Now, even in her tenth decade, Loyd travels every odd-numbered year. She has a trip planned next month to visit family in Tennessee and then plans to celebrate her 99th birthday at the Long Island home of one of her eight grandchildren. She booked her airline ticket online.

She also continues to confront hurdles as they come. When she can't read something on the computer, she hits the print button and places the printout in a closed-circuit television machine that magnifies letters via a video camera.

That's how Loyd reads the Wall Street Journal every day and her subscription to Forbes magazine.

"It's amazing," said Thompson. "She finds ways to do everything."

Source Sac Bee

Rockin' and rollin' on the river

All right, music lovers: Take a hike. Go jump in the river. Or better yet, take a whitewater ride down the river.

Consider those a prelude to two days of really fine Americana roots, blues, jazz – and whatever moves the players – at next weekend's American River Music Festival.

I was there last year (this is the third annual event) and did all those things, and I'm going back. I even agreed to be a judge at next Friday night's open-mike event in which two acts will win a spot on the mainstage schedule as "tweeners" (between-act performances, one Saturday and the other Sunday).

The festival is the work of American River Music, a nonprofit whose mission is "to teach, inspire and enjoy music." The organization's goal is to raise money to foster music in schools, but so far the festival has failed to show a profit, says organizer Matt Semonsen. He holds hope that growing popularity will lead to actual fundraising soon.

"Each year has been really wonderful," Semonsen said in a recent telephone interview. "I get the distinct impression from people (who have attended both previous festivals) that it's building.

"It's hard to get a new festival off the ground – especially in these times – but we're encouraged."

Early advance ticket sales were ahead of last year's at the same time, he said, and many were returning buyers from 2008.

"I'm pretty pleased with that," he said, but "a small stream is still a small stream until it becomes a big stream."

Organizationally, the festival is still run by volunteers – 125 of them to put on the three-day event.

The festival will be larger this year in several ways, Semonsen said. "We've expanded the number of musicians and the choices in the evening time. There are nine different places where music takes place in the community," he said.

Music is presented on the mainstage from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Music performances and workshops are scheduled before and after each day's mainstage concerts.

For the first time this year, there will be a gospel component to the festival – an 11:30 a.m. Sunday performance by the eight-piece outfit Fret Not. The group has performed since 1994 and does much of its work in prison ministry. They are "the inmates' favorite band inside San Quentin," Semonsen said. They play old-time, traditional roots gospel like that heard in African American and rural churches.

Among the better-known performers at this year's festival are Eliza Gilkyson and Nina Gerber performing together and Americana singer-songwriter Jimmy LaFave and band. Danny Schmidt, an Austin, Texas, singer-songwriter who won the prestigious Kerrville New Folk award in 2007, has drawn comparisons to the late Townes Van Zandt and to Leonard Cohen. He is the only solo act to command the mainstage.

Other highlights include:

• Handful of Luvin': Saturday night's closing act is a young quartet from Seattle with such influences as gypsy, folk, funk and rock.

• Twilight Hotel: Smart songs and gorgeous voices meld in this alt-folk duo from Winnipeg, Canada. Twilight Hotel is nominated for a 2009 Juno (the Canadian equivalent of the Grammy Award) for roots album of the year for "Highway Prayer" – buy it at the festival.

• City Folk: This trio (Keith Greeninger, Kimball Hurd and Roger Feuer) was a household name in the Bay Area in the 1990s and a popular festival act. The group disbanded in 1995 but has recently reunited and will perform at 3 p.m. Sunday, leading into the festival's closing act – the Skinny Singers, featuring Jackie Greene and Tim Bluhm (of Mother Hips, which performs tonight at The Palms in Winters).

"It's a very nice mixture of music," Semonsen said. "A little bit of blues, some rock (not today's definition of rock), great folk, gospel, indie, dance band. … It just goes on and on."

There is a vibe to the festival – relaxed air, good music, friendly crowd – that organizers continue to cultivate. Bigger should only be better, Semonsen said.

Source Sac Bee

New cuts may put Sacramento County health department in 'survival mode'

Sacramento County health officials are bracing for more than a swine flu outbreak as the Board of Supervisors holds hearings this week to discuss further budget cuts.

The Public Health Department stands to lose $750,000 more in general fund money for the year. That means the public health budget would drop from about $47.4 million at the start of last fiscal year to $40 million after the latest round of cuts, said Glennah Trochet, the county's public health officer.

"We're in survival mode," Trochet said, predicting: "There are some diseases we won't investigate at all or will have to investigate retroactively. ... We will be regretful we weren't able to act more quickly."

Drops in property tax, sales tax and state revenue, combined with the board's decision to shift more money to the Sheriff's Department, means the county needs to cut an additional $54.5 million from this year's budget.

Possible cuts to public health include:

• Three people who work on communicable diseases and the control of sexually transmitted diseases, including an epidemiologist

• Two microbiologists from the public health lab

• Reduced hours for public health staff

• Reduction or elimination of contracts with community-based organizations testing high-risk populations for HIV

• Reduction or elimination of programs that help prevent child mortality

One-time federal funds for H1N1 – also known as swine flu – may allow the department to temporarily keep several positions, but the department has lost considerable resources in the past two years, officials said.

If the cuts go through as proposed, field nursing staff will have dropped from 54 positions in fiscal year 2007-08 to 29 this year; bioterrorism preparedness will be down to nine from 14; and childhood disability prevention programs will have lost almost eight positions leaving 24, according to figures the department provided.

The public health officials say the department provides critical services such as containing the spread of disease, testing for gonorrhea and HIV, preparing and handling bioterrorism incidents, providing field nurses and more.

The public health lab processes most tuberculosis swabs and tests for rabies and other communicable diseases, said Anthony Gonzalez, the lab's director.

The lab already lost two support staff and a lab technician in June.

Why should the average Joe care?

"I think that Joe should be aware the way a public health system manages infectious disease is by information and data collection. And that starts in the lab," Gonzalez said. "A lot of Joe's safety and health starts with specimens coming in here."

More cuts could slow turnaround time in the nearly 80,000 specimens processed annually, he said.

Reduced hours for staff who work on communicable and sexually transmitted diseases could mean "400 incidents will be delayed in being considered or will not be acted upon," which in turn could result in the spread of disease, according to public health documents.

Despite board hearings on the proposed cuts, no one seems optimistic alternatives will be found.

"It's going to be tough to mitigate cuts to anything," said Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan.

The county could appropriate more money for public health if swine flu sweeps the region, but the money has to come from somewhere else, she said.

"I'm hesitant to throw more money at that and have it turn out not to be that severe."

Source Sac Bee

Free Mortgage Protection Program For First-Time Buyers

Under this FREE program provide your qualified buyer up to $1,500 a month for up to six months in the event of job loss to help pay the mortgage; a $750 monthly benefit also is available for a qualified co-buyer. There is no cost to you! See below for program qualifications.

In order to qualify for the Mortgage Protection Program, applicants must:

• Be a first-time home buyer - someone who has not owned property in the last three years (includes co-buyer)
• Open escrow April 2, 2009, or later, and close on or before December 31, 2009 (purchase agreement cannot be dated before April 2, 2009)
• Use a California REALTOR in the transaction
• Purchase the property in California
• Be a W-2 employee (cannot be self-employed)

If you would like more information or have any questions please contact Brodie Stephens or Sami Siddiqui at www.localhomelink.com

Source California Association or Realtors

Increased Home Prices in Some Cities

A number of American cities posted increased home prices during the second quarter.

This represents the first quarterly improvement since 2006. The numbers are encouraging, although overall prices are still substantially lower than a year ago.Among those cities reported as showing improvement, in the Case-Shiller 20 city index –

Cleveland - 4.2%
San Francisco - 3.8%
Minneapolis - 3.1%
Washington DC - 2.8%
Dallas - 2.7%
Boston - 2.6%
Denver - 2.5%
San Diego 1.6%
Atlanta - 1.5%

Also tracked as showing some improvement were Los Angeles, Chicago and Phoenix with 1.1% improvement. Portland, Charlotte, Miami, New York, and Seattle logged minor gains.

Likely helping the housing markets is the government economic stimulus effort, including an $8,000 first-time homebuyers tax credit. Many first time or entry-level buyers have been helped by the program.In some metropolitan housing markets, feeding frenzies, multiple offers, and bidding wars are taking place while home-buyers become concerned the market bottom has been reached, and prices may go up once again.There is an article at money.cnn.com which goes into depth about these latest numbers. It can be accessed as follows:

http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/25/real_estate/June_CaseShiller/index.htm?postversion=2009082510

Bay Bridge repair forces longer closure

The Bay Bridge will remain closed until at least Wednesday morning as crews work nonstop to repair what's been described as a "significant" crack in the bridge's east span near Yerba Buena Island.

The bridge had been shut in both directions since Thursday night as part of a major seismic project, and had been expected to reopen for today's morning commute.

However, the surprise discovery Saturday of a large crack in a steel beam forced emergency repairs requiring the bridge to remain closed.

"Our new target is 5 a.m. Wednesday," said John Goodwin of the Bay Area's Metropolitan Transportation Commission on Monday evening.

He declined to say how confident officials were of meeting the new deadline. "We're 100 percent confident we will give 100 percent effort to reach that goal," he said.

Commuters and others traveling into San Francisco can expect delays today on other bridges and crowds on BART and bay ferries, officials said.

"We know this is going to be a major inconvenience for Bay Area commuters, but this should not overshadow the tremendous work that was completed this weekend," Caltrans Director Randell Iwasaki said.

The bridge is the most heavily used in the state, typically handling 248,000 vehicles a day, Caltrans officials said.

Bay Area officials made a point of saying workers and other travelers should be able to get into San Francisco.

"Our advice is to take transit and be patient," Goodwin said. "You'll get there. The city is open for business."

The bridge had been closed through the Labor Day weekend to allow crews to cut away a 300-foot section of the bridge and slide a new section into its place, at an angle, linking to a new detour route at Yerba Buena Island.

The detour section will be used for the next four years while work continues on a new east span to replace the existing bridge. The new section is scheduled to open in 2013. The existing East Bay span will be demolished.

The project is part of a statewide seismic upgrade program initiated after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged a section of the east span.

The seismic work, overseen by Rancho Cordova contractor C.C. Myers, remained on schedule to be finished by this morning. Myers is also handling the repair job.

State bridge inspectors on Saturday found a significant crack halfway through a 2-inch-thick beam called an eyebar on the bridge's cantilever section. An eyebar is a straight bar with a hole at each end connecting to other bridge parts.

The crack was not related to the weekend work, officials said, and appears to have occurred since a 2007 inspection. Officials said the crack was serious enough to have required a bridge closure had the bridge not already been closed for the seismic project.

"We are fortunate this was discovered when so many experienced contractors and skilled workers were on the scene, able to respond immediately," said Bob Alvarado of the California Transportation Commission.

Support pieces were rush-ordered Saturday from an Arizona company. The pieces were manufactured and sent to the Bay Area on Sunday.

"This repair had to be designed on the fly," Goodwin said. "They are having to fit the pieces together."

The stress load at that section of the bridge had been taken up safely by seven similar beams, officials said, but the damaged beam needs to be fixed. The repair essentially involves placing a metal splint around the broken piece.

Caltrans officials warned drivers that when the bridge reopens, speed limits at Yerba Buena Island will be reduced from 50 to 40 mph to accommodate two turns on the detour route.

Those two turns allow space for construction crews to build the new bridge directly toward the island's tunnel.

Unlike the existing east span, which is a double-deck bridge, the new bridge will be a set of side-by-side bridges, and will include a single suspension tower.

Source Sac Bee

Update: Sacramento police arrest 17 at 'safe ground' homeless camp

Sacramento police arrested 17 homeless residents at their "safe ground" campsite this morning, including one advocate for the homeless.

Rev. David Moss, a Methodist Minister, was taken into custody along with other campers, charged with illegal camping, Sacramento police Sgt. Norm Leong said.

A press release by Loaves & Fishes early morning claimed Sister Libby Fernandez, executive director of the Loaves & Fishes homeless services group, was arrested together with other campers. But later Sacramento police clarified that she was only detained for a short period when police arrived to search the camp.

Only those who had been previously cited for illegal camping and who police have evidence to show for having camped there for more than 24 hours were taken into custody, police said.

Sacramento police said they were responding to complaints from neighbors, including an elderly man whose house is adjacent to the site. The man, Pedro Hernandez, 71, has told The Bee that campers have insulted him, left trash in the area and generally disrupted his life.

Fernandez said she has slept at the site periodically but never in the presence of officers. She said that she and others plan to continue to occupy the property until the city stops issuing ordinances and establishes a legal camping site with basic services such as running water and garbage pickup.

"They want to stand tall and bring this to court for a solution," said Fernandez.

"We know that making an arrest is not a solution for the homeless issue," Leong said. "But we have to enforce the city ordinance, to protect the rights of the neighboring residents and businesses."

Leong said those who were arrested were taken to the Sacramento County Jail and will be booked and probably released later in the day.

Joan Burke, advocacy director for Loaves and Fishes, was present during the arrests and characterized the scene as "very sad."

"They are arresting a nun and a minister who are here to help poor people," Burke said. "They are arresting people whose crime' is being poor."

Officers arrived at the campsite about 7:30 a.m.

The action followed a police search early Wednesday, when officers cut a lock, walked onto the C Street property and issued citations for illegal camping. They also seized 32 tents, sleeping bags, cots and other items as evidence. The property is owned by Attorney Mark Merin, who had given permission for campers to live at the site.

Civil rights and religious leaders, business people and others who support the campers were planning their strategy following Wednesday's citations. One plan is to challenge in court a city ordinance that prevents people from camping in non-designated areas for more than 24 hours at a time.

However, Hernandez, who lives next to the homeless camp, earlier told The Bee that the campers have caused him problems.

"I have had vertigo in the last few days," said Hernandez in an earlier interview. He suffers from diabetes and heart problems. "My mind is filled with anger and resentment."

Tuesday morning, he was jarred by the sound of his new neighbors hurling curse words, Hernandez told The Bee. "They yelled vile words," Hernandez said. "When they saw me, they quieted down."

Source Sac Bee