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Favored Fresno-Merced bullet train route chosen
- Details
- Published on 12/01/2011 - 3:00 pm
- Written by Business Journal staff
The California High-Speed Rail Authority has announced its preferred "hybrid" 65-mile route from Merced to Fresno that generally follows Highway 99 north, veers east to miss Madera and connects with a Merced station.
A new staff report also recommends a downtown Fresno station on 18.5 acres near Chuckhansi Park, with the main station facility located at G and Mariposa streets in the Chinatown area.
The route is one of five alternatives for the Fresno-to-Merced section. It's called a hybrid alternative because it parrallels both the BNSF and Union Pacific existing rail alignments, and "provides the least environmental impacts ... is the least costly alternative, and has the fewest constructability issues," according to the report.
The authority board is expected to take action on the recommendation at its Dec. 13 meeting in Merced. The board will host a public comment period at the board meeting.
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Latest Local News
Written on 02/02/2012, 12:45 pm by
Congressman Jeff Denham (R-Atwater) plans to introduce an amendment to keep money in a House transportation bill from going toward California's high-speed...Written on 02/07/2012, 11:26 am by
Dozens of business students from California State University, Fresno will exercise their skills in design and real estate when the first Community Facility Challenge kicks off tomorrow in the Henry Madden Library on campus.
Put on by regional nonprofit agency the Northern California Community Loan Fund, the competition will have student teams of 6 to 8 students from Fresno State's Lyles College of Engineering, Craig School of Business and the Department of Art and Design finding ways to place new community facilities in the area.
The challenge begins tomorrow as Fresno State faculty, community leaders and judges representing local business and organizations take part in a planning workshop held from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Henry Madden Library.
Following that, around four or five student teams will spend the next few months working with staff members of the community-based organizations and municipalities that submitted applications on the proposed facilities, including the cities of San Joaquin, Livingston, Atwater and the Tule River Tribe in Porterville.
Together, they will prepare a feasibility analysis that takes into account design studies, construction schedules, budgets and funding sources needed to build the projects.
The teams will then submit a final written analysis for review by a panel of judges on April 11 before they appear for oral presentations on the projects on April 18.
On that day, the winning team will be awarded a $5,000 predevelopment grant from NCCLF to help jumpstart their project, all of which aims to benefit low-income families and communities.
"The whole concept is to provide students from many disciplines with the ability to work together on a particular, which they don't normally get to do," said Alice Rocha, business development loan officer with NCCLF. "The second is to provide municipalities and CBOs with an analysis so they can begin to get funding on their project."
More information is available at NCCLF's website or by contacting Rocha at arocha@ncclf.org or (559) 452-0327.
Established in 1987, NCCLF serves 46 Northern California communities with financial education and loans to spur housing developments, businesses and other projects that help the state's neediest residents overcome economic challenges.
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Written on 02/07/2012, 9:52 am by
A Fresno real estate broker was recently sentenced in federal court to 18 months in prison for failing to pay more than $200,000 in income taxes.
In a plea agreement, Brian Keith Cortez admitted to evading an assessment of his taxes from 2003 to 2006 on income from his Fresno real estate and mortgage brokerage businesses, Mortgage Express, Mortgage Express Inc., and Valley Investment Properties.
Cortez, 47, who owned and operated the Fresno branch of Mortgage Express and Mortgage Express Inc., provided home mortgage brokerage services as well as refinancing on mortgages and other services for securing financing on home purchases.
For each loan processed by the business, Cortez earned a 10 percent commission and a $200 fee — income that was not reported to the IRS following an investigation by the agency's Criminal Investigation Division.
Assistant United States Attorney Jeremy R. Jehangiri prosecuted the case.
The sentence by Chief United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii includes 18 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release and $199,160 in restitution.
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Written on 02/06/2012, 4:19 pm by
The California Department of Public Health has released a study finding that heat events, flooding and wildfires —events associated with anticipated future climate change — will impact Fresno County's minorities the greatest.
Fresno and Los Angeles counties were examined for the study.
The study also found areas with a predominantly minority population were more susceptible to heat stress because of a number of factors such as limited vegetation, open space, access to transportation to visit a cooling station and lower percentage of the population that owns an air conditioning unit in their house.
Minorities, according to the study, also are more likely to live in areas with high amounts of impervious surfaces like roads, parking lots, concrete and bricks, which can raise the temperature.
In Fresno County, 49 percent of the African-American population scored a four or higher for its climate change vulnerability score, with 5 being the greatest impact. Forty-five percent of Latinos and 26 percent of the whites scored a four or higher.
In Los Angeles County, 46 percent of African-Americans, 36 percent of Latinos and 30 percent of whites scored a four or higher.
Thirty-six percent of the population as a whole in Fresno County and 34 percent of the entire Los Angeles County population scored a four or higher.
The study concludes the area highest risk in the county centralizes in the city of Fresno and dissipates the farther away from the epicenter. Some of the exceptions include remote areas of west and south Fresno County, as well as Coalinga and Orange Cove.
Children and adults over 50 years old have a higher risk of mortality during heat waves.
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Written on 02/06/2012, 3:36 pm by
Thieves broke into a Clovis storage unit over the weekend and stole items used for the Adaptive Sports Program at Children’s Hospital Central California, which provides recreational and athletic experiences for children with disabilities, the hospital said in a statement.
All of the items were purchased with donated funds that took years to collect. The items stolen were used for water sports, and include:
Six life jackets
Ski ropes
A six-person tent that was used to provide privacy for medical support to participating children
Camping tables
A modified wakeboard used to accommodate children with disabilities
“This is a discouraging setback after working so hard to build up the program,” Dr. Jennifer Crocker, medical director of Children’s Hospital’s pediatric rehabilitation center said in the statement. “The children we serve through this program are already at a disadvantage, and it’s terrible that they are being taken advantage of in this way.”
The Adaptive Sports program is the only one of its kind in the Central Valley and is designed for individuals with physical and health impairments and conditions ranging from cerebral palsy to spinal cord injuries.
The items taken can be returned to the hospital or by calling (559) 353-6500.
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Written on 02/06/2012, 2:01 pm by
A new publication by Citi geared toward helping workers take advantage of government tax incentives will appear in Fresno and 25 other metropolitan markets throughout the country.
Money Matters, published in both English and Spanish, is a product of the financial services company's community support arm, Citi Community Development.
The publication promotes refunds like the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, which enables working people who earn $50,000 or less per year to keep more of their earnings through a tax refund.
"There are 20 percent of eligible taxpayers who are still not claiming the EITC, leaving billions of dollars on the table that could be used to increase family savings, invest in small business or prepare for college expense," said Citi CEO Vikram Pandit in a press release.
Money Matters also highlights the availability of free tax preparation services through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program of the Internal Revenue Service. It also include tips on stress-free tax filing, ways to save money and the benefits of having a bank account.
The publications were inserted into the full runs of local newspapers serving mainly ethnic and minority populations. The complete collection of publications is available at www.citicommunitydevelopment.com.
In California, the publication appears throughout Los Angeles, Orange County, Sacramento, Stockton, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and Santa Clara.
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Written on 02/06/2012, 1:45 pm by
The California Department of Housing and Community Development has made it official — a $1 million grant will benefit the Marjaree Mason Center in Fresno.
The Business Journal reported last month that the award would be used to install a heating and air condition system and remove lead-based paint at the center's 120-bed downtown shelter for women and children.
In addition to the Marjaree Mason Center award, the Fresno County Economic Opportunities Commission is receiving $288,329 to help maintain 20 shelter beds. The FCEOC operates the Sancturary Youth Shelter for young people.
In total, the state made awards of $23.1 million for 2,078 shelter spaces in the latest round of funding dedicated to emergency housing assistance.
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Written on 02/06/2012, 11:32 am by
San Diego-based California Bank & Trust, which has more than 100 branches across the state including two in Fresno, announced net income of $134.4 million for 2011, up 128 percent from 2010.
The increase was driven by greater demand for credit, the company said. Loan balances, excluding loans supported by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., increased by $111 million during the fourth quarter.
"Pipelines at the start of 2012 are fairly strong," wrote President and CEO David Blackford in a letter to customers.
The dramatic jump in annual net earnings was also fueld by a $159.4 million reduction in the provision for loan losses.
Total assets as of Dec. 31 stood at $10.9 billion, compared to $10.7 billion on the same date in 2010.
California Bank & Trust is an "autonomous subsidiary" of Salt Lake City-based Zions Bancorporation, a bank holding company with more than $50 billion in assets.
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Written on 02/06/2012, 11:04 am by
Valley Commerce Bancorp, parent company of Visalia's Valley Business Bank, announced earnings of $3.1 million (97 cents per share) for 2011 — up 41 percent from 2010.
In addition, fourth quarter net income was $783,000, compared to $764,000 in the fourth quarter of 2010.
In a statement, Allan W. Stone, president and CEO of Valley Commerce Bancorp, said 2011 was the most profitable year in the bank's 16-year history.
"Although the year over year improvement in earnings was mostly attributable to a reduction in the provision for loan losses, we feel that this was made possible by our dedicated efforts to identify, monitor and resolve the credit weaknesses that were an unfortunate reality of the recession," Stone said.
As of Dec. 31, 2011, total assets stood at about $366.5 million, compared to $341.4 million on the same date in 2010.
Valley Business Bank operates business banking centers in Visalia, Tulare and Fresno, with branch offices in Woodlake and Tipton.
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