Related Articles: News, All

Top Stories: Feb. 9, 2010

Bad News From Blue Cross; Big Blaze Snuffed Out; Jobs vs. Journal

by Danny Wool on Feb 09, 2010
 Email  Print Share

Is Dolores Carr Softening Up?
Dolores Carr made headlines when she sent an email to her staff ordering them to stop bringing every criminal case before Judge Andrea Bryan. Bryan got on Carr's bad side when she ordered the release of Augustin Urribe, who was convicted of child molestation and sentenced to 38 years to life. She claimed that Deputy District Attorney Troy Benson, who prosecuted the case, engaged in "numerous acts of misconduct,” after an appellate court found that the DA's office withheld videotape evidence. Carr claims that this was only the most recent instance of Bryan issuing a questionable ruling.

Now the feisty Santa Clara County DA appears to be softening her stance on Bryan, possibly because of her upcoming reelection bid. Yesterday, county prosecutors announced that they were willing to have Bryan handle misdemeanors, even though the boycott is still in force for felonies. A spokesman for the DA's office even claimed that this was Carr's original intent: "There is a difference between misdemeanors and felonies; the legal issues in felonies are substantially more complex."

There is still, however, the problem of an email that Carr sent to her staff on January 22. "I have decided to exercise a challenge to Judge Bryan pursuant to C.C.P. 170.6 in all criminal matters." "All criminal matters" seems to imply misdemeanors too.

Meanwhile Carr's opponent in the election, Deputy District Attorney Jeff Rosen, is also critical of Bryan's decision regarding the Urribe case, but he is no less critical of his boss/opponent over her response. Rosen worries that it challenges the independence of the judiciary. Now it seems that even Carr could be leaning in that direction.
Read More at the Mercury News.


It Costs Money?
If you were to poll the people of Santa Clara, they'd overwhelming tell you they want a new stadium for the 49ers. In comes SurveyUSA to phrase the question a bit differently: "Are you willing to contribute $114 million of municipal funds to get that stadium built?" Suddenly, the focus shifts. People start doing the math in their heads. New taxes? Nope. Higher utility rates? Nope. So where does the money come from?

The city has an easy answer: redevelopment money, bond sales, a hotel room tax, and the city's utility tax. Out come the pencils, as people start doing more mental math. $114 million, eh? How much does that leave for other city projects? Not a lot. Suddenly the numbers shift. Instead of an overwhelming majority, now 54 percent oppose it. "Subsidizing an NFL stadium with public funds is simply a bad move and it's an even worse move in a bad economy," says Bill Bailey, treasurer of the anti-stadium group Santa Clara Plays Fair.

What about all the new jobs that the new stadium would create? Isn't that worth the initial investment? Stadium proponents say the number is 5,000. Stadium opponents respond with an analysis of the 5,000. Half of those jobs, they say, are actually part-time day jobs for when the 49ers are playing at home, and that comes to about twelve days a year. Suddenly, $114 million seems like an awful lot to pay for two weeks of ticket collecting and hotdog vending.

Supporters of the stadium argue that it's all about how the question is worded. Does it highlight the cost? Does it mislead people into thinking that their taxes are going up? We'll find out on the June 8 ballot.
Read More at CBS 5
Read More at the Business Journal.


Firefighters Battle Blaze in Empty Warehouse
Firefighters from San Jose and Santa Clara fought a huge fire yesterday in an abandoned warehouse at Dobbin Street and North King Road. Flames shot 30 feet into the air, and smoke from the blaze could be seen across the South Bay, though the prevailing winds kept the smoke from affecting nearby residential areas.

Firefighters arrived at the scene around 3:00 pm yesterday. Their initial concern was reports that the warehouse was inhabited by homeless people, but fire crews immediately searched the premises and found no evidence that it was inhabited.

By 4pm the fire was under control, though Captain Scott Kouns of the SJFD said that he expected his crews to remain on site "well into the night."
Read More at The Mercury News.


More Bad News from Anthem Blue Cross
Late last month, Anthem Blue Cross took a bite out of the reimbursements it offers physical, speech, and occupational therapists, reducing reimbursements rates from anywhere from $90-$140 per visit to a flat rate of $75. "Anthem regularly evaluates its reimbursement rates for all types of medical treatment and care," wrote Sally Kweskin, the health insurance companies Director of Corporate Communications. "We strive to balance the need to compensate providers fairly with the goal of keeping coverage as affordable as possible for our members."

"As affordable as possible for our members …" That hardly explains why Anthem has just announced that it would be raising premium rates by as much as 39 percent, starting March 1. It’s not that the insurer isn’t doing well. In fact, its parent company WellPoint Inc. just announced an eightfold increase in profits for the last three months of 2009. Total profits for the quarter--$2.7 billion.

This leaves Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius furious. In a letter to Anthem's president Leslie Margolin, she asks for a justification of the rate increase, pointing out that it is 15 times the rate of inflation. She went on to ask for a detailed breakdown of how the money would be spent, i.e., how much would go to cover actual health care and how much would go to lobbyists.

Sebelius ended her letter (delivered by fax): "At a time when health care costs are a critical threat to families as well as the nation's economy, I hope you appreciate the urgent nature of this request. I look forward to your prompt reply." Prompt reply forthcoming … maybe. It will likely not include the sentence: "We strive to balance the need to compensate providers fairly with the goal of keeping coverage as affordable as possible for our members."
Read More at CBS News.
Read More at SFGate.
Read More at the Huffington Post.


Steve Jobs Takes on the Wall Street Journal
Steve Jobs loves his secrecy just as much as he loves his publicity. Actually, he loves the delicate balance between the two, which allows Apple to control its message. The iPad release was a lot of hype, more because of the secrecy involved than the actual product itself, and access to the iPad is still being protected, except for a select few. One of those few is not Wall Street Journal editor Alan Murray.

Murray apparently used an iPad to tweet that … he was using an iPad. The problem is that he tweeted surreptitiously, while covering a media tour promoting the iPad. He may have even done this in Steve Jobs's presence.

Of course, that's all conjecture and rumor. What is known is that the tweet soon disappeared, and that Murray himself "can't" talk about what happened, as much as he would "love to." This only serves to feed the rumors that Jobs went ballistic on Murray, who later wrote: "I will say that Apple's general paranoia about news coverage is truly extraordinary—but that's not telling you anything you didn't already know."
Read More at NBC Bay Area.



by Danny Wool on Feb 09, 2010
 Email  Print Share