With Americans packing up for travel over the Memorial Day weekend, one coastal hot spot in Southern California is winning praise as the best U.S. beach in an annual ranking from a Florida professor.
San Diego's Coronado tops the list from "Dr. Beach," otherwise known as Stephen Leatherman, director of the laboratory for coastal research at Florida International University.
The 1.5-mile stretch of Coronado Beach is set against the historic Hotel del Coronado, on an island just across San Diego Bay from the city's downtown. It is reachable by ferry or water taxi.
"The beach is very flat, making it great for skim boarding and walking, and the sand has a silvery sheen because of the presence of mica," Leatherman's website said.
Coming in second on the list was Kahanamoku Beach in Waikiki on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. The Dr. Beach website describes the destination as benefiting from a shallow offshore reef that protects swimmers from big waves, making it ideal for children.
The other destinations on Leatherman's Top 10 list are: Main Beach in East Hampton, New York; St. George Island State Park on the Florida panhandle; Hamoa Beach in Maui, Hawaii; Coast Guard Beach in Cape Cod, Massachusetts; Waimanalo Bay Beach Park in Oahu, Hawaii; Cape Florida State Park in Key Biscayne, Florida; Beachwalker Park in Kiawah Island, South Carolina; and Cape Hatteras on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
Last year, the top destination on the list was Siesta Beach in Sarasota, Florida. The 2010 winner was Coopers Beach on New York's Long Island.
Leatherman has released his list of top coastal destinations every year since 1991. His criteria for judging a good beach include the width of the beach, the color of the sand, the slope, water temperature, frequency of rain, noise factors and the presence of lifeguards.
The full list for 2012 coastal destinations is available at Drbeach.org.
Source: www.calgarysun.com
California's Newest Exports: College Students - NBC Bay Area
California is undergoing a rather unusual trade-out. Decimated funding has led the state's higher education institutions, particularly the University of California, to accept fewer in-state students while admitting more out-of-state students. The reason is simple: out-of-state help to make up for reduced state funding.
For the 2011-2012 academic year, undergraduate in-state students paid $12,192; out-of-state undergraduates were charged $35,070, or a premium of $22,878. Moreover, there will be even more out-of-state students in the future. That's because UC has steadily increased the number of out-of-state admissions, leaving fewer slots for local residents.
Meanwhile, the state is witnessing an exodus of students to other states courtesy of a little known program, the Western Undergraduate Exchange. Under this program, 150 colleges and universities in 10 western states admit out-of-state students at no more than 150 percent of their in-state rate, a much better deal than UC provides. Unlike the struggling UC schools, most of the participating colleges outside of California have lots of room, plenty of course offerings, and can graduate students within the traditional four-year period, something that's becoming almost unheard of here because of dwindling resources.
As conditions have soured here, increasing numbers of California students have jumped on the out-of-state opportunity to get quality educations at reasonable costs. Over the past four years, the number has soared to nearly 10,000--14 times the number of out-of-state students who come here under the same program.
Underneath all of the movement is a burning issue for the state--the question of just how many college graduates we can provide to meet the state's needs. A 2012 study by the Public Policy Institute of California found that by 2025 California would require 41 percent of its work force to have four-year degrees.
At the time, the state was on a trajectory to provide degrees for 35 percent of the workforce. Moreover, recent reductions in-state acceptances coupled with higher tuition only increase the likelihood that the chasm between available jobs and properly educated workers will only grow in the coming years.
The result is a two-fold whammy for California. On the one hand, the state higher education system has become so limited that local students are going elsewhere in larger numbers, with no guaranty that they'll return.
On the other hand, admission of out-of-state (and nation) students does not assure that these will stay upon graduation. In fact those from outside the U.S. almost certainly will not stay here. Of the 32,000 out-of-state applications for 2012-2013, nearly 14,000 are from other countries.
With thousands of local students fleeing elsewhere, and thousands of replacements who will be here only until they receive their educations, there is much to fear about the capacity of the future workforce in California.
All this because of a ravaged higher education that must prop itself up by admitting those willing to pay more as locals head for greener education pastures.
It's yet another sign of public infrastructure in a downward spiral.
Larry Gerston teaches political science at San Jose State University and is the political analyst at NBC Bay Area.
Source: www.nbcbayarea.com
California smog threatens world's oldest trees - Newsday
Photo credit: AP | In this May 11, 2012 photo, Sequoia National Park air resource specialist Annie Esperanza explains how ozone diminishes the view from Beetle Rock in Sequoia National Park, Calif. A big city problem has settled in a big way in Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park, home of the giant Sequoias. Smog from the neighboring Central Valley is making it tougher for seedlings from the giants to take hold, and the needles of surrounding Jeffrey and Ponderosa pines are yellowing. (AP Photo/Tracie Cone)
SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, California - (AP) -- The California forest that is home to the biggest and oldest living things on earth, the giant Sequoia redwoods, also suffers a dubious distinction. It has the worst air pollution of any national park in the U.S.
"Ozone levels here are comparable to urban settings such as LA," said Emily Schrepf of the nonprofit advocacy group the National Park Conservation Association. "It's just not right."
Signs in visitor centers warn guests when it's not safe to hike. The government employment website warns job applicants that the workplace is unhealthy. And park workers are briefed every year on the lung and heart damage the pollution can cause.
Although weakened trees are more susceptible to drought and pests, the long-term impact on the pines and on the giant redwoods that have been around for 3,000 years and more is unclear.
"If this is happening in a national park that isn't even close to an urban area, what do you think is happening in your backyard?" said Annie Esperanza, a park scientist who has studied air quality there for 30 years.
It's a problem in a handful of the nation's 52 parks that are monitored constantly for ozone, including Joshua Tree National Park in California's Mojave Desert and North Carolina's Great Smoky Mountains National Park. But none is as severe as Sequoia and its neighbor, Kings Canyon.
While forest fires create some pollution, most comes from the San Joaquin Valley, the expanse of farmland that is home to California's two busiest north-south trucking highways, diesel freight train corridors, food processing plants and tens of thousands of diesel tractors.
Smog is created when the sun's rays hit pollutants such as oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds that are in motor vehicle exhaust, solvents, pesticides, gasoline vapors and decaying dairy manure.
"There is no simple answer to ozone pollution," said Thomas Cahill, a researcher at the University of California, Davis who studies air problem in Sequoia and across California.
Breathing ozone at high levels for even a short time can blister the lungs like UV rays blisters skin, scientists agree. The problem in quantifying exposure levels, however, is that some people suffer pulmonary damage at lower doses than others.
The only way to improve air in the park is to improve the San Joaquin air basin, something that so far has proved elusive given the myriad sources of pollution. Even with hundreds of millions of dollars spent to retrofit diesel engines and replace gasoline lawnmowers with electric ones, residents pay a federal fine for the region's failure to meet even minimal EPA ozone limits.
"We don't create a disproportionate amount of pollution; it's just that we have these natural challenges so that the pollution we do create can take literally weeks or months to clean out. It just builds up over time," said Jaime Holt, spokeswoman for the valley air district.
Already this year, the level of ozone in Sequoia park has exceeded federal health standards, even though it's early in the summer ozone season. During the June-to-September summer season last year, the park violated the National Ambient Air Quality standard at least 87 times, compared with 56 at Joshua Tree and 12 at Great Smoky Mountains.
"It's tragic that the National Park Service is known for clean air, and then you see a sign saying it's unhealthy to breathe," Esperanza said. "It's so contrary to the national parks idea."
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Follow Tracie Cone on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/TConeAP
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: www.newsday.com
California firefighter and family rescued after plane crash in Idaho - Contra Costa Times
Hours after their plane crashed on a steep and snowy mountainside in Idaho, a California firefighter, his wife and their daughter were airlifted to safety by National Guard rescuers.
The family was en route from California to Mountain Home, Idaho, when their Cessna 172 went down Saturday night, leaving them with head and back injuries, officials said.
One of them used a cellphone just after midnight to report that they had survived the crash.
A medical helicopter located the wreckage Sunday morning, but whiteout conditions prevented the aircraft crew from carrying out an immediate rescue, said Col. Tim Marsano of the Idaho National Guard.
Rescuers who walked through 6-foot snowdrifts and on 60-degree slopes reached the crash site first. They wrapped the family members in blankets and built a fire until a military helicopter could lift them out with a hoist.
"It was inhospitable for a landing," Marsano said. "The use of the helicopter was indispensable for this type of rescue operation."
The three were flown one at a time to a landing area about a half-mile from War Eagle Mountain in southwest Idaho's Owyhee County. They were later flown to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, where they remain in stable condition Monday.
It's unclear what caused the Cessna to go down. Photos taken by rescuers showed significant damage, including a broken front windshield.
Authorities identified the family
as Brian Brown of Wilton, Calif., his wife Jayann Brown, and their adult daughter, whose name was not immediately available. They declined to be interviewed Monday, said hospital spokeswoman Elizabeth Duncan.Brian Brown is a captain at the Cosumnes Community Services District Fire Department in Elk Grove, Calif. He is also Deputy Chief of Operation and Training with the nearby volunteer Wilton Fire Protection District.
Wilton Fire Chief Tom Dark said the couple was flying with their youngest daughter to Mountain Home to visit their oldest daughter. He was relieved they were in stable condition.
"That was our first concern, how he and the family were doing," said Dark. "Knowing what a good pilot he is, something had to have happened."
Dark said it was probably an unusual experience for Brown, a firefighter for more than two decades, to be on the other end of a rescue.
"When the shoe is on the other foot, it's kind of strange," he said.
Source: www.contracostatimes.com
California Water Service Group's President & CEO Peter C. Nelson to Succeed Retiring Chair Robert W. Foy - Yahoo Finance
SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwire -05/22/12)- California Water Service Group (CWT) today announced its Board of Directors' plan to combine the roles of Chairman and President & Chief Executive Officer and have President & Chief Executive Officer Peter C. Nelson succeed retiring Chairman Robert W. Foy, effective May 22, 2012. Douglas M. Brown will continue to serve as lead director.
Foy, a 35-year Board veteran who has reached retirement age for directors, expressed confidence in the decision: "Pete has demonstrated his leadership ability and we are confident that he will do a fine job as President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of the Board. It makes good business sense to streamline decision-making and capitalize on Pete's extensive experience and expertise."
Nelson was elected President & Chief Executive Officer of California Water Service Group in 1996. Prior to joining the company, he had increasingly responsible positions in engineering, construction management, marketing, corporate and diversification planning, finance, operations, and general management at Pacific Gas & Electric Company.
Nelson holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Davis, and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He serves as director of the California Chamber of Commerce and chairs the organization's Water Resources Committee. He is also a director of the California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy, a senior fellow of the American Leadership Forum, and an advisory council member at the Center for Public Utilities, New Mexico State University. Past affiliations include president of the National Association of Water Companies, director of the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency, and founding director of the Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Leadership Group.
Douglas M. Brown, who joined the California Water Service Group Board of Directors in 2001 and is currently the Dean of the Anderson School of Management at the University of New Mexico, will continue to serve as lead director.
California Water Service Group is the parent company of California Water Service Company, Washington Water Service Company, New Mexico Water Service Company, Hawaii Water Service Company, Inc., CWS Utility Services, and HWS Utility Services, LLC. Together these companies provide regulated and non-regulated water service to approximately 2 million people in more than 100 California, Washington, New Mexico and Hawaii communities. Group's common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CWT."
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 ("Act"). The forward-looking statements are intended to qualify under provisions of the federal securities laws for "safe harbor" treatment established by the Act. Forward-looking statements are based on currently available information, expectations, estimates, assumptions and projections, and management's judgment about the Company, the water utility industry and general economic conditions. Such words as expects, intends, plans, believes, estimates, assumes, anticipates, projects, predicts, forecasts or variations of such words or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. They are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may vary materially from what is contained in a forward-looking statement. Factors that may cause a result different than expected or anticipated include but are not limited to: governmental and regulatory commissions' decisions, including decisions on proper disposition of property; changes in regulatory commissions' policies and procedures; the timeliness of regulatory commissions' actions concerning rate relief; new legislation; changes in accounting valuations and estimates; the ability to satisfy requirements related to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other regulations on internal controls; electric power interruptions; increases in suppliers' prices and the availability of supplies including water and power; fluctuations in interest rates; changes in environmental compliance and water quality requirements; acquisitions and our ability to successfully integrate acquired companies; the ability to successfully implement business plans; changes in customer water use patterns; the impact of weather on water sales and operating results; access to sufficient capital on satisfactory terms; civil disturbances or terrorist threats or acts, or apprehension about the possible future occurrences of acts of this type; the involvement of the United States in war or other hostilities; restrictive covenants in or changes to the credit ratings on our current or future debt that could increase our financing costs or affect our ability to borrow, make payments on debt or pay dividends; and, other risks and unforeseen events. When considering forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the cautionary statements included in this paragraph. The Company assumes no obligation to provide public updates of forward-looking statements.
1720 North First Street
San Jose, CA 95112-4598
Shannon Dean
(310) 257-1435
Source: finance.yahoo.com
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