When California cows come home, they may be coming to a different state: Other states are trying tol lure Golden State dairy farmers.
From the LAT's Ricardo Lopez: "Seizing on the plight of the state's dairy industry, which is beset by high feed costs and low milk prices, nearly a dozen states are courting Golden State dairy farmers. The pitch: cheaper farm land, lower taxes, fewer environmental regulations and higher prices for their milk."
"At the World Ag Expo, a behemoth trade show held in Tulare County last month, nine states had recruitment booths on the ground's Dairy Center."
"South Dakota sent its governor, Dennis Daugaard, to make a personal appeal for his state. Ag officials there estimate that a single dairy cow creates $15,000 worth of economic activity annually through feed, vet bills and the like. That translates into jobs and revenue for hard-pressed rural areas."
Bond insurers may be having second doubts about how hard a look they took at Stockton's CalPERS debt. A judge could decide today on the city's bankruptcy.
From Calpensions' Ed Mendel: "The insurers, including the backer of a $125 million pension bond, would have to pay bondholders millions under a city proposal to cut general fund bond payments and continue making full payments to its largest creditor, CalPERS."
"Assured Guaranty and National Public Finance Guarantee argued during a three-day trial last week that Stockton failed to meet the requirement for “good faith” negotiations with creditors before filing for bankruptcy last June, temporarily staying debt collection."
"The city argued that pensions are needed to remain competitive in the job marketplace and retain police, that labor has been hit by cuts in pay and retiree health car and that not paying CalPERS would trigger termination and a $1 billion payment."
California's bullet-train project finally got some positive news, a welcome change after a drumbeat of criticism.
From Christina Villacorte in the LA Daily News: "Poised to break ground on the nation's first bullet train this summer, the California High-Speed Rail Authority is riding high on a report from a congressional watchdog that found its ridership and revenue forecasts "reasonable" even while pointing out its cost estimates could be improved and its funding remains uncertain."
"Several critics of the project weren't swayed by the audit conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, however, and vowed to keep up their opposition."
"In the report released Friday, the GAO, an independent and nonpartisan agency that works for Congress, found the authority's ridership and revenue forecasts "reasonable for current purposes."
The eternal rivarly between Los Angeles and San Francisco is extending to skyscrapers, and in that department L.A. may ultimately have the edge.
From Aaron Kinney in the San Mateo County Times: "Starry-eyed city leaders boast that the $4.2 billion Transbay Transit Center planned for South of Market will include the tallest building on the West Coast, but they've left out one crucial detail: a tower in Los Angeles that is poised to stretch 30 feet higher."
"Mayor Ed Lee and other city officials this week celebrated the $192 million acquisition of a property at the corner of First and Mission streets where two developers will erect the 1,070-foot-tall Transbay Transit Tower by 2017. The office tower will become the tallest building in San Francisco, eclipsing the iconic Transamerica Pyramid, built in 1972."
"But the elegantly tapered skyscraper's western dominion will apparently be short-lived, if it ever comes to pass. Korean Air is planning an ambitious hotel and office tower in downtown Los Angeles that will rise 1,100 feet, including a 100-foot stainless steel spire. The new Wilshire Grand is also slated to open in 2017."
The sequester was supposed to hit all the feds, no exceptions. Well, not quite.
From the Washinton Post's David A. Fahrenthold: "Last week, President Obama signed a spending bill that gave the Agriculture Department’s food inspectors what everybody else wanted: a get-out-of-the-sequester card. Their program got $55 million in new money, which replaced almost all of what the sequester took."
"There’s a story there, about how power and lobbying can still make money appear in Washington, even in this age of austerity. It started with sharp political theater."
"Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack insisted that the sequester would force him to shut down all U.S. meat production on at least 11 days."