Oil Companies Eye California’s Offshore Leases
The Senate’s vote this week to open more of the Gulf of Mexico to oil exploration raises the question of whether California’s moratorium on offshore drilling could someday end, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. And it casts a renewed spotlight on the energy reserves lying just beyond the state’s shore. The federal government estimates that California’s coastal waters could hold 10.13 billion barrels of oil. That’s almost the same amount believed to lie beneath the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which the Bush administration has pushed hard to open to exploration. It’s also enough to supply all the oil Americans consume for about 17 months. It would feed California’s total oil appetite for 15 years.
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Mortgage Default Notices Soar 67%
As the housing boom fades, a rising number of Californians are struggling to hold on to their homes, the Los Angeles Times reports. Lenders warned 20,752 homeowners in the second quarter that they were on the path to foreclosure because of missed payments, according to data Wednesday from DataQuick Information Systems in La Jolla. That was a jump of 67% from the year-earlier period, the fastest increase since DataQuick began tracking such default notices in 1992.
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City Workers Union Threatens 2-Day Strike
The Engineers and Architects Assn., which represents about 9,300 workers in city government, said Wednesday that it was preparing for a two-day strike on Aug. 22 and Aug. 23 unless the city sweetens its contract offer, the Los Angeles Times reports. The members of the union have rejected a three-year offer averaging about 2% annually in wage increases.
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Attorney General Backs Wal-Mart Opponents
In a rebuke of the city and Wal-Mart, state Attorney General Bill Lockyer has filed an amicus brief in favor of Save Our Community’s lawsuit against the Supercenter going up in south Rosemead, the Pasadena Star-News reports The brief was filed July 20 and made public Tuesday by Save Our Community. It supports the group’s assertion the environmental review of the project failed to fully disclose the effects the center’s construction and operation would have on the air quality of the surrounding area. It also alleges measures to reduce air pollution resulting from the project were not fully examined or imposed on Wal-Mart by the city.
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Board OKs Pasadena Homes Project
One of Pasadena’s largest residential projects has cleared another major hurdle on the way to construction, despite protests from a determined residents’ association, the Pasadena Satr-News reports. The board of zoning appeals on Tuesday unanimously upheld approval of the 820-unit Westgate development, certifying an environmental impact report (EIR) that concluded the project would have little effect on neighborhood streets. After the vote, board chair Guadalupe Flores said developer Sares-Regis’ voluntary agreement to pay about $2million in new fees was an acceptable trade-off for additional car trips the project will bring.
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Newport Beach Man Guilty in Mortgage Scam
A Newport Beach man pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges of wire fraud and money laundering after investigators uncovered a scheme that cost lenders more than $9 million, the Los Angeles Times reports. Kenneth Christopher Ketner, 57, ran Mortgage Capital Resource Corp., a company that offered home loans nationwide. The company obtained money from commercial lenders, but Ketner used the money to make car, credit card and boat payments.
