Pinole completes sale of two shopping centers to former partner - San Jose Mercury News
Pinole has sold two city-owned shopping centers, but what will happen to the more than $12 million in proceeds is unclear.
The Pinole Vista Crossing and Pinole Valley shopping centers were developed in partnership by the Pinole Redevelopment Agency and the shopping center's operator, The Kivelstadt Group of San Francisco. The ventures date to the early 1990s and the early 2000s, respectively.
In February 2011, as state officials worked to dissolve all redevelopment agencies, the Pinole Redevelopment Agency transferred ownership of most of its real estate holdings, including the two shopping centers, to the city.
The city successfully sought judicial "validation" in court to try to stave off future challenges to the transfer of the properties, but it is unclear whether the validation will protect the city if the state seeks to "claw back" the properties. Under Section 860 of the California Code of Civil Procedure, a public agency can obtain a court judgment that a transaction is valid, legal and binding.
In July, state legislators approved, and Gov. Jerry Brown signed, Assembly Bill ABX1 26, eliminating California's 400-odd redevelopment agencies.
The California Supreme Court upheld the state action in December.
On Feb. 1, redevelopment agencies statewide disbanded.
On April 20, state Controller John Chiang wrote a letter to all the state's public agencies ordering them to reverse all transfers of assets from
their redevelopment agencies made after Jan. 1, and to turn over those assets to the successor agencies of the former redevelopment agencies.Exempted from the reversal order were contracts signed before June 28, 2011 to sell or otherwise encumber such assets to third parties.
Pinole signed contracts to sell the shopping centers to TKG in December.
The sale of Pinole Valley -- or more precisely, of Pinole's equity in the heavily mortgaged shopping center -- closed May 3.
In an email later that day, City Attorney Ben Reyes opined that Chiang was not properly applying the law that abolished the redevelopment agencies.
"Like many of my city attorney colleagues, I believe that Mr. Chiang ... lacks the authority to order a blanket reversal of transfer of properties without first undertaking a more comprehensive review and audit of the transfers at the local level," Reyes wrote.
The sale of Pinole Vista Crossing closed Tuesday.
Pinole's proceeds of the sales are about $2.5 million from Pinole Valley and $10.2 million from Pinole Vista Crossing.
The city has deposited the proceeds in a separate account until the legal issues are clarified or concluded, Reyes said.
Contact Tom Lochner at 510-262-2760.
Joshi quits, Modi’s hold reaffirmed? - Daily Pioneer
Well-placed sources said the Gujarat Chief Minister suspected Joshi’s hand in anti-Modi write-ups in BJP and RSS mouthpieces as well as putting up anonymous hoardings and banners in Delhi and Ahmedabad rooting for the RSS leader and hitting out at Modi.
While the Joshi camp had firmly denied any hand in the poster war and blamed it on mischief makers, this gave Modi an opportunity to settle scores with his long-time bete noire. Sources even claimed that Modi threatened to resign as Chief Minister if Joshi was not removed.
Modi had forced Joshi out from the BJP National Executive recently as part of a compromise with party president Nitin Gadkari. Modi agreed to attend the National Executive in Mumbai on May 24-25 only after Gadkari persuaded Joshi to put in his papers.
While BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar claimed Joshi had quit the party, sources close to the RSS pracharak disputed the claim, saying he had only relinquished his assignment in UP. “Sanjay Joshi has requested BJP president Nitin Gadkari to relieve him from the party. And his request has been accepted by the party president,” Prakash Javadekar said on Friday without elaborating on the reasons for his resignation. “This is factually not correct. Joshi has just requested the party president to release him of all official assignments of the party,” sources close to the pracharak claimed.
Joshi was handling the BJP’s election programme for the forthcoming local bodies polls in Uttar Pradesh. The developments possibly hint at a Gadkari-Modi alignment to ensure a greater role for the Gujarat Chief Minister in national politics.
The moves of the RSS, which has backed Joshi, will be closely watched, as Gadkari has to cross a few more hurdles to get an extension as party chief. Some reports said that Joshi is likely to be rehabilitated by the RSS as general secretary of its affiliate unit, Bharatiya Itihaas Parishad.
The last few weeks have seen hectic parleying in the BJP. Party organ Kamal Sandesh made a scathing yet veiled attack on Modi for arm-twisting party leadership, a view also articulated by parivar ideologue Devendra Swaroop in his write-up in RSS’ Panchjanya. The editorial in another RSS publication Tarun Bharat, a Marathi daily from Nagpur and Mumbai, too criticised Modi for becoming bigger than the party.
On Friday, even Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi hit out at Modi, without taking his name, and said no one should try to hijack the party and force a decision on it.
Salpingidis feels Greece soul power - UEFA
Having come off the bench to score the equaliser in their 1-1 Group A draw against co-hosts Poland, Dimitris Salpingidis saluted his ten-man Greece side's resilience, while team-mate Kostas Katsouranis was sufficiently reassured by their second-half showing to predict that the Greeks would make it through the UEFA EURO 2012 group stage.
Dimitris Salpingidis, Greece forward
We are not satisfied, because the second half of the match was a completely different game. We had a lot of bad moments in the first half and a lot of bad luck; however, during the second half we did our best, we put our soul into it. The moment we missed the penalty proves exactly what I said, we could have won. Unfortunately, we got a draw, one point, and we'll carry on. Both of our upcoming games are difficult, Russia and against the Czech Republic. We will try to do our best and if we manage to qualify, we will all be very happy.
Were we disappointing in the first half? This happens a lot in football, and it happened to our team today. However, what you have to do is to never give up trying. Even if you can't play as you have planned, you have to try hard, and that's exactly what we all did.
Kostas Katsouranis, Greece midfielder
The first 20 minutes were a bad start for us: the Polish started the match very aggressively. Though we knew that they are very strong down the right, that's where they created most of the trouble for us, and I think we're all responsible for that, since we did not manage to keep them away from that flank, as we had planned. They missed chances, which was a warning for us, but we finally conceded a goal. I’m not saying that it is the left-back's [José Holebas] fault; we know that we're all responsible, since we did not perform well in defence on that wing. However we came around after that. We played very well, and I believe we deserved to win for the remaining 70 minutes. I think we will qualify - we've got what it takes.
Grammys reinstate best Latin jazz album - BBC News
Grammy organisers have reinstated the best Latin jazz album prize as part of changes to next year's awards.
The Recording Academy cut the category last year, sparking protests from Latin musicians who later sued over the move.
However, a Supreme Court judge rejected the claim in support of the organisers in April.
"I don't hold anything against the Latin jazz community for the passion that they have for their music," academy president Neil Portnow said.
He added: "Every year we diligently examine our Awards structure, including evaluating proposals, to develop an overall guiding vision and ensure that it remains a balanced and viable process.
"The community put a good proposal together this year, and we see the results of that."
Last year's changes saw the best Latin jazz album prize consolidated into the best jazz instrumental category, making the musicians compete against a larger group of artists across a broader range.
Four musicians, led by percussionist Bobby Sanabria, had argued the removal had a detrimental effect on their careers.
Other changes to next year's ceremony include the introduction of new awards for best urban contemporary album and best classical compendium "involving a mixture of classical subgenres".
The best Latin pop, rock or urban album honour will be split into two categories - best Latin pop and best Latin rock, urban or alternative.
However, the best Banda or Norteno album and best regional Mexican or Tejan album have been combined into one award, best regional Mexican music album.
A music educator of the year award has also been established to recognise those "who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education".
Nominations for next year's awards will be broadcast live in the US on 5 December, with the ceremony itself on 10 February.
More York families struggle with debt (From York Press) - The Press in York
More York families struggle with debt
3:59pm Friday 8th June 2012 in News 
SQUEEZED households in York are struggling to make ends meet, according to new figures from a leading debt advice charity.
Figures from the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) show that York residents contacting the charity for help last year were an average of £11 short of the amount needed to cover their basic living expenses, much less debt repayments, each month. The charity is warning that many are at risk of falling into serious debt.
A total of 792 people in the York area contacted the CCCS helpline in 2011 for advice on dealing with credit cards, store cards, payday loans and other kinds of unsecured debt. On average they owed £18,162 - above the UK average of £17,983.
The city’s Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) said the figures backed up their experiences.
CAB debt worker Kevin Butler said: “We have as high a demand now as we have ever had and we do all we can to help. What we have found is that until a few years ago the typical client was someone on a low income, someone not working or a single person with children. But for the last couple of years the people coming in have gone up the social scale. We now see more professionals, couples that are both working with families. People who have jobs are really struggling.
“In the vast majority of cases it’s because of a change in circumstances but there’s a sizeable minority of people who may be don’t work as many hours or have had cuts in overtime and that coupled with the rise in living costs have now tipped them over the edge.”
Delroy Corinaldi, CCCS director of external affairs, said: "Households in York are under relentless pressure from a combination of low wage growth and the rising cost of living. As the financial squeeze continues to tighten, many more people in York are at risk of falling into serious debt.
“FThe most important step you can take is to seek free advice as soon as you start to fall behind."
CCCS provides free and confidential debt advice at 0800 138 1111 and anonymous online debt counselling tool, CCCS Debt Remedy, at www.cccs.co.uk To contact York CAB call 08444 111444, visit www.adviceguide.org.uk or visit drop in sessions at Blossom Street on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9.30am - midday.
Where is the vision? - The Daily Star
Whatever the Congress speaks, it sounds like an evangelist's outpouring. The party was no different a few days ago at its meeting of some 100 delegates, comprising Working Committee members and state presidents. The party again acted like a preacher who wanted to stir up feelings of revival. It cannot be done by merely attacking the opponents. There have to be answers to the questions on the ever-rising prices and the never-ending scams.
The delegates and other supporters who return to their field have to tell the people among whom they live or work what are the replies they have brought back. There have been scams costing the exchequer billions of rupees and inordinate delays in taking steps to stop the down-sliding economy. Still, there is no official explanation.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's slogan, "we will overcome," or Congress president Sonia Gandhi's attack for levelling baseless charges will not do. The party men are not gullible as they have been in the past. They want proof and measure it against their living conditions.
The overconfidence, rather arrogance, that the Congress leaders effuse, particularly the seemingly humble Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, has not gone down well. People have not been taken in by the promises. The government's performance is pretty poor. True, the general elections are still two years away. Yet this period is not long enough for the government to take pertinent steps which would perk the economy and the life of the voters.
Somehow, I was expecting drastic changes in the cabinet, a bigger role for Rahul Gandhi, and innovative economic policies to give the message of a new resolve and new measures to reflect a better way of governance. The hedging because of impending presidential election is understandable. Yet the delegates and others cannot say that the paralysis of government is because the party wants first to install its own person at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The Congress has missed a great opportunity if it had anything up its sleeve. I am confirmed in my view that the party is bereft of ideas and does not know how to control prices or to facilitate more production in factories and fields. It seems to have lost its way.
The seemingly alternative Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is neither here nor there. The criticism of the ruling party, with a pinch of parochialism, completes the BJP's story from A to Z. Lately, it has smelt power. It believes that the people''s alienation with the Congress will divert them to the BJP. But when its own house is not in order, how can it expect to net the catch it wants?
That the RSS will continue to dominate it is not something the party can wish away even if the bulk of it wants to have a different image. One, it cannot deny the parenthood because the RSS gave birth to the Jana Sangh, later renamed as the BJP, to be the organisation's political arm. Two, the party does not have any cadre of its own. The leadership, drawn from the middle class, does not like the smell of sweat of the pracharaks (the RSS preachers). But they are their main strength.
The BJP has never been a party in the real sense. It was a reaction to the ousting of old Jana Sangh members by the Janata Party which wanted them to make their promise to cut off links with the RSS good. And the RSS on its part has kept the BJP under its control. Even a tall person like Atal Behari Vajpayee had to wear khaki knickers and stand at attention in the RSS organised drills to show who the boss was. That is the reason why the RSS leaders chip-chop the party in the way they want and whenever they want. BJP chief Nitin Gadkari is the RSS choice; and even when he was not to the liking of veteran L.K. Avani or the opposition leader in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, Gadkari was reappointed.
Such an imposition is maybe disliked by some members who feel that by this time they have won recognition on their own. Yet they never challenge the RSS because they have seen that a few who did went out unsung and unwept. Since their differences are never over the ideology, they continue to be a part of the big family.
The RSS knows whom to project and when. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has started behaving as if he will be the prime minister when the BJP forms the government after the 2014 general elections. The RSS has criticised the party for having too many persons harbouring the ambition of becoming prime minister. Maybe it feels that it is too early to project Modi. Maybe, it believes that his name will daunt many liberals sitting on the fence thinking of voting for the BJP.
But what the RSS doesn't seem to realise is that Modi's candidature will divide the nation, which does not accept him in any shape after what he did to the Muslims in Gujarat. He is yet to clear himself from the various cases filed against him. That the Supreme Court misjudged the credentials of former IB chief R.K. Raghavan when it appointed him as head of the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which has exonerated Modi, does not mean that the mistake cannot be rectified. His report is anything but unbiased. The RSS should wait till Modi is exonerated.
The unhappiness of Advani is understandable because he led the oustees from the Janata Party to assemble them under the umbrella of the BJP. He finds the RSS, which he served as a loyal soldier, has not allowed him to become the opposition leader of the house, the Lok Sabha. In fact, he owes it to the BJP parliament members who rehabilitated him by creating the position of chairman of the parliamentary party.
The people's dilemma is that both national parties, the Congress and the BJP, riven as they are with groupism and ambitions, do not qualify to lead the nation. How I wish there was some party, even though small, that had the vision to retrieve the country and take it forward.
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