Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro says US allegations that a Washington couple spied for Cuba are a "ridiculous tale".
In an editorial, he questioned the timing of their arrest - days after the Organisation of American States lifted Cuba's 1962 expulsion from the group.
The couple, retired state department official Walter Kendall Myers and his wife, are accused of having passed on information to Cuba for three decades.
The pair, both in their 70s, face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.
In his article, Mr Castro described the case as an "espionage comic strip".
He admitted that he had meet the Myers in Mexico in 1995 - as the US alleges - but went on to say that he had met thousands of US citizens in his life for all sorts of reasons.
Sting operation
The former president wrote: "The confrontation with the United States is ideological and has nothing to do with the security of that country."
Mr Myers worked at the State Department from 1977 until 2007
The couple, he added, had followed "imperatives of their own conscience and deserve, in my judgement, all the honours of the world".
Washington DC residents Walter Myers, 72, and Gwendolyn Myers, 71, are accused of acting as illegal agents for Cuba and wire fraud.
Their arrest, announced on Friday, followed a sting operation by the FBI.
The US justice department says Mr Myers was first approached by the Cuban government in 1978, and that he and his wife agreed to provide information to Cuban intelligence.
Mrs Myers' preferred method of passing on secrets was to exchange shopping trolleys in a grocery store, it said.
Fidel Castro, 82, has not been seen in public since July 2006 and ceded power to his brother in February 2008.
However comments by him appear frequently in Cuba's state-run press.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
Plan to double infra spending to 9% of GDP
The government is planning a raft of new measures to pitchfork investment in infrastructure to about 9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) over the next five years – double the current level of 4.5 per cent.
The measures would include steps to make it attractive for banks to lend to long gestation infrastructure projects, develop a deeper bond market powered with tax breaks and incentivise insurance companies park funds in infrastructure firms by investing in debt instruments.
An estimated investment of $500 billion (Rs 23 lakh crore) is required to upgrade roads, highways, ports and airports in the next five years, about 10 times the current level. A senior government official, who did not wish to be identified, told Hindustan Times that the objective was to hit the 9 per cent figure by 2014.
The increasing hesitation of banks to lend to infrastructure projects have rung alarm bells in the government as several projects could get delayed by several months.
Finance Ministry data show that banks are charging interest rates of more than 15 per cent for infrastructure projects, up about 2 points in the past two years. Banks are also stipulating variable interest rates, even while construction is on, exposing the projects to severe interest rate risks.
“The objective is to ensure that banks lend at a stable rate for infrastructure projects,” said the official.
“There is an urgent need to ensure a stable lending regime for infrastcuture projects at about 12 per cent. The average effective rate of lending is currently at around 14 per cent,” said Vinayak Chatterjee, Chairman, Feedback Ventures, an
infrastructure consulting firm. The government is also planning to put in place an effective monitoring mechanism with stringent penal and regulatory powers to ensure timely execution of projects.
The measures would include steps to make it attractive for banks to lend to long gestation infrastructure projects, develop a deeper bond market powered with tax breaks and incentivise insurance companies park funds in infrastructure firms by investing in debt instruments.
An estimated investment of $500 billion (Rs 23 lakh crore) is required to upgrade roads, highways, ports and airports in the next five years, about 10 times the current level. A senior government official, who did not wish to be identified, told Hindustan Times that the objective was to hit the 9 per cent figure by 2014.
The increasing hesitation of banks to lend to infrastructure projects have rung alarm bells in the government as several projects could get delayed by several months.
Finance Ministry data show that banks are charging interest rates of more than 15 per cent for infrastructure projects, up about 2 points in the past two years. Banks are also stipulating variable interest rates, even while construction is on, exposing the projects to severe interest rate risks.
“The objective is to ensure that banks lend at a stable rate for infrastructure projects,” said the official.
“There is an urgent need to ensure a stable lending regime for infrastcuture projects at about 12 per cent. The average effective rate of lending is currently at around 14 per cent,” said Vinayak Chatterjee, Chairman, Feedback Ventures, an
infrastructure consulting firm. The government is also planning to put in place an effective monitoring mechanism with stringent penal and regulatory powers to ensure timely execution of projects.
India’s largest SEZ in limbo
The future of India’s largest free-trade zone, the 10,000-hectare Mumbai Special Economic Zone (MSEZ) in Maharashtra’s Raigad district, appeared to be in jeopardy on Friday after the Supreme Court refused to give MSEZ — promoted by Mukesh Ambani (52) and expected to cost Rs 40,000 crore — more time to acquire land for the project.
At one-third the size of Mumbai, MSEZ was to be built on a site close to the new international airport as well as the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. It was also to be connected to the metropolis by India’s most ambitious sea bridge, the 22.5-km Trans-Harbour Sealink.
First cleared in 2005, only 20 per cent of the land — occupied by 45 villages comprising mostly paddy farmers — has been acquired despite getting two extensions for the acquisition by a government board. The remaining land was not acquired because of opposition from villagers.
This could seriously impact the SEZ’s fate. The acquisition process must end between June 9 and July 26, leaving MSEZ virtually no time to wrap it up.
An MSEZ spokesperson only said “the company would decide on a course of action later”.
Ambani, through Sea King Infrastructure, is also developing the Navi Mumbai SEZ with City and Industrial Development Corporation as a partner. MSEZ adjoins it at its southern end.
The road ahead
There are two possible scenarios. The project could be scrapped or Ambani, who’s worth an estimated $20.8 billion (Rs 1.04 lakh crore), could try to rescue it.
That would almost certainly jack up the cost to Rs 50,000 crore, said an independent analyst, requesting anonymity.
The land acquired so far — at Rs 10 lakh per acre for fertile land and Rs 5 lakh per acre for unproductive land — is in the Uran and Pen talukas and is not contiguous. Because it is acquired in patches scattered apart from each other, the company cannot even go ahead with the first 2,126-hectare phase.
There are other regulatory problems. The government’s Board of Approvals cannot grant it full approval unless 90 per cent of the land has been acquired.
Even if MSEZ goes ahead, it would have to pay higher rates for the remaining land due to the vehement opposition from villagers who would be displaced by the project.
In a state-run referendum in September 2008, land-owners in 22 villages were said to have opposed the land acquisition. The government has not yet formally revealed the result
MSEZ petitioned the Supreme Court against a Bombay High Court order that refused to stay the land acquisition. On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the high court order. A stay would have allowed MSEZ to go beyond the acquisition deadline.
The SEZ Board of Approvals can still extend the deadline, though.
A bench headed by Justice B Sudarshan Reddy came down hard on MSEZ. It wondered why the company moved the high court only on May 22, 2009, when it knew that the deadline expired less than a month. “You moved the court around May 22 and you expect that the matter will be decided… You pressurised the high court to pass the order, which it refused to do so… What is going on in this country?” the bench said.
The deadlock over the deadline stems from the fact that the Maharashtra government had invoked the Land Acquisition Act (1894) for MSEZ. As per this law, the transfer of ownership must be completed within three years or the entire process lapses.
This means that the state would no longer be required to acquire the remaining land, forcing MSEZ to approach land-owners individually and convince them to part with their property. The price for each property would then have to be negotiated individually.
State officials are tightlipped over what could happen next. “The law is clear. I don’t remember when the procedure lapses. The matter is sub-judice,” said JP Dange, forest secretary in charge of the acquisition.
State to the rescue? Unlikely
Sources said the government could technically still announce land transfers, despite farmers’ protests, if procedures like hearings before the collector are over. The other alternative could be to amend the law. Both seem unlikely.
The Democratic Front government, stung by electoral reverses in Raigad in the recent Lok Sabha elections, is reluctant to do anything remotely unpopular. The Assembly elections are just three months away.
“We have no plan to amend the law. I am yet to see the apex court ruling, but our government stands by the policy that land should not be forced from farmers,” said Revenue Minister Patangrao Kadam. Chief Secretary Johny Joseph said: “We will work within the framework of the law.”
Ulka Mahajan, of the Anti-Globalisation Front that is at forefront of the anti-SEZ protests, said: “We are happy that the Supreme Court rejected [MSEZ’s] plea. This is victory for farmers. We hope the government gets the message.”
In court, MSEZ counsels Shanti Bhushan and PP Rao said if they were not given more time, farmers who had sold their property would be affected, not to mention the whole project would be in jeopardy. The lawyers pointed out that those who had sold their property would lose out on the “attractive” rehabilitation schemes, which included jobs in the SEZ as well as an option to buy the equivalent of 12.5 per cent of their land holdings elsewhere at a subsidised price.
On behalf of the farmers, senior counsel Rakesh Dwivedi said the project was “unworkable”.
At one-third the size of Mumbai, MSEZ was to be built on a site close to the new international airport as well as the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. It was also to be connected to the metropolis by India’s most ambitious sea bridge, the 22.5-km Trans-Harbour Sealink.
First cleared in 2005, only 20 per cent of the land — occupied by 45 villages comprising mostly paddy farmers — has been acquired despite getting two extensions for the acquisition by a government board. The remaining land was not acquired because of opposition from villagers.
This could seriously impact the SEZ’s fate. The acquisition process must end between June 9 and July 26, leaving MSEZ virtually no time to wrap it up.
An MSEZ spokesperson only said “the company would decide on a course of action later”.
Ambani, through Sea King Infrastructure, is also developing the Navi Mumbai SEZ with City and Industrial Development Corporation as a partner. MSEZ adjoins it at its southern end.
The road ahead
There are two possible scenarios. The project could be scrapped or Ambani, who’s worth an estimated $20.8 billion (Rs 1.04 lakh crore), could try to rescue it.
That would almost certainly jack up the cost to Rs 50,000 crore, said an independent analyst, requesting anonymity.
The land acquired so far — at Rs 10 lakh per acre for fertile land and Rs 5 lakh per acre for unproductive land — is in the Uran and Pen talukas and is not contiguous. Because it is acquired in patches scattered apart from each other, the company cannot even go ahead with the first 2,126-hectare phase.
There are other regulatory problems. The government’s Board of Approvals cannot grant it full approval unless 90 per cent of the land has been acquired.
Even if MSEZ goes ahead, it would have to pay higher rates for the remaining land due to the vehement opposition from villagers who would be displaced by the project.
In a state-run referendum in September 2008, land-owners in 22 villages were said to have opposed the land acquisition. The government has not yet formally revealed the result
MSEZ petitioned the Supreme Court against a Bombay High Court order that refused to stay the land acquisition. On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the high court order. A stay would have allowed MSEZ to go beyond the acquisition deadline.
The SEZ Board of Approvals can still extend the deadline, though.
A bench headed by Justice B Sudarshan Reddy came down hard on MSEZ. It wondered why the company moved the high court only on May 22, 2009, when it knew that the deadline expired less than a month. “You moved the court around May 22 and you expect that the matter will be decided… You pressurised the high court to pass the order, which it refused to do so… What is going on in this country?” the bench said.
The deadlock over the deadline stems from the fact that the Maharashtra government had invoked the Land Acquisition Act (1894) for MSEZ. As per this law, the transfer of ownership must be completed within three years or the entire process lapses.
This means that the state would no longer be required to acquire the remaining land, forcing MSEZ to approach land-owners individually and convince them to part with their property. The price for each property would then have to be negotiated individually.
State officials are tightlipped over what could happen next. “The law is clear. I don’t remember when the procedure lapses. The matter is sub-judice,” said JP Dange, forest secretary in charge of the acquisition.
State to the rescue? Unlikely
Sources said the government could technically still announce land transfers, despite farmers’ protests, if procedures like hearings before the collector are over. The other alternative could be to amend the law. Both seem unlikely.
The Democratic Front government, stung by electoral reverses in Raigad in the recent Lok Sabha elections, is reluctant to do anything remotely unpopular. The Assembly elections are just three months away.
“We have no plan to amend the law. I am yet to see the apex court ruling, but our government stands by the policy that land should not be forced from farmers,” said Revenue Minister Patangrao Kadam. Chief Secretary Johny Joseph said: “We will work within the framework of the law.”
Ulka Mahajan, of the Anti-Globalisation Front that is at forefront of the anti-SEZ protests, said: “We are happy that the Supreme Court rejected [MSEZ’s] plea. This is victory for farmers. We hope the government gets the message.”
In court, MSEZ counsels Shanti Bhushan and PP Rao said if they were not given more time, farmers who had sold their property would be affected, not to mention the whole project would be in jeopardy. The lawyers pointed out that those who had sold their property would lose out on the “attractive” rehabilitation schemes, which included jobs in the SEZ as well as an option to buy the equivalent of 12.5 per cent of their land holdings elsewhere at a subsidised price.
On behalf of the farmers, senior counsel Rakesh Dwivedi said the project was “unworkable”.
Flat-tailed horned lizard is between a rock and extinction
As the sun rose over a wind-swept stretch of desert just east of Palm Springs, Cameron Barrows tramped over a series of dunes, identifying animal tracks in the sand -- kangaroo rat, shovel-nosed snake, cottontail, pocket mouse, sidewinder rattlesnake.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Endangered species: An article in Tuesday's Section A about the legal battle to protect the flat-tailed horned lizard said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had agreed to reconsider the Tehachapi slender salamander for listing as an endangered species. It is the first action the agency has taken on the salamander. —
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It took nearly two hours to find what he was looking for in the desolate patch framed by Interstate 10, two golf courses, retirement homes, country clubs and stores: fresh tracks of a flat-tailed horned lizard, one of the rarest and most legally contested reptiles in the United States.
"This is the last corner in the Coachella Valley that still has a population of these lizards," said Barrows, a research ecologist at UC Riverside and an expert on the secretive creature with a face that resembles the parched and thorny landscape it prefers. "Nearly all of its habitat in this region has been lost since 1970."
In the latest chapter in a long-running battle to keep the lizard safe from urban encroachment, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reconsider its earlier decisions not to list it as an endangered species.
Environmentalists were elated by the ruling, which rejected a Bush administration policy they said favored development and corporate interests at the expense of the flat-tailed horned lizard and scores of other fragile plants and animals.
"This is the third time in 15 years since the lizard was first proposed for listing that a court has told the Fish and Wildlife Service to go back and review its refusal to protect it," Kara Gillon, senior staff attorney with Defenders of Wildlife, said in a statement. "We're hoping the third time is the charm. These lizards are running out of time."
The flat-tailed horned lizard is only the latest creature in recent weeks to be reconsidered for special federal protection. In response to lawsuits and petitions, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has also agreed to reconsider the Tehachapi slender salamander and critical habitat for the Sonoma County population of California tiger salamander.
Over the years, federal wildlife authorities insisted that the flat-tailed horned lizard was simply hard to find and, as a result, difficult to classify as threatened by extinction.
But biologists contend the lizard continues to decline throughout its historic range in Arizona, California and Baja California. In the Coachella Valley, it has been pushed into the tiny refuge by the growing desert metropolis that stretches from Palm Springs to the Salton Sea.
A century ago, the lizard was widespread and dynamic, moving east and west with changes in climate and the availability of sand in what was then a wide-open, treeless landscape. The first waves of significant habitat loss occurred in the 1930s, '40s and '50s as a result of a boom in agriculture.
Later, its historic haunts were fragmented and destroyed by roads, off-road vehicles, light industry, suburban tracts, condominiums and commercial centers. In the Palm Springs area -- the western edges of its range -- some populations were stranded by development and disappeared.
Today, the sole remnant of the population clings to existence in a pocket of dunes, creosote and salt bush within the Coachella Valley National Wildlife Refuge, where a new, unanticipated danger threatens its future. Power poles and exotic palm trees favored by landscapers have become perches used by small falcons to spot prey and launch hunting sorties.
As a result, "flat-tailed horned lizards are no longer found on the edges of their last habitat," Barrows said. "I've suggested that the surrounding palm trees be trimmed in the spring to keep small predatory birds from nesting in them."
Striding across a trio of dunes while scanning the ground for signs of the lizard, he said, "This animal is hard to find even in the best of times. So we count their tracks, which requires a lot of patience and training."
A full day of searching on a recent Saturday yielded six tracks.
The lizard -- 3 1/2 inches long and a voracious consumer of harvester ants -- has been the focus of court battles since it was first proposed for listing in 1993.
Now, in response to legal challenges brought by a coalition of environmental groups -- the Tucson Herpetological Society, Defenders of Wildlife, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Horned Lizard Conservation Society and the Sierra Club -- the 9th Circuit Court has ordered the agency to think again about the lizard's survival.
In the meantime, it shares the sun-scorched refuge with another unique and controversial representative of Coachella Valley desert life also threatened with extinction: the fringe-toed lizard, a small reptile with a patchwork of brick-like markings and feet shaped so it can "swim" through loose sand.
Judging from the number of tracks the lizards leave etched in the sand, there many more fringe-toed lizards.
"Will the flat-tailed horned lizard survive? We don't know," said Allan Muth, a plaintiff in the lawsuit and director of the Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center, south of Palm Desert.
"Small, isolated populations tend to wink out. That's why there is so much importance attached to this case."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Endangered species: An article in Tuesday's Section A about the legal battle to protect the flat-tailed horned lizard said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had agreed to reconsider the Tehachapi slender salamander for listing as an endangered species. It is the first action the agency has taken on the salamander. —
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It took nearly two hours to find what he was looking for in the desolate patch framed by Interstate 10, two golf courses, retirement homes, country clubs and stores: fresh tracks of a flat-tailed horned lizard, one of the rarest and most legally contested reptiles in the United States.
"This is the last corner in the Coachella Valley that still has a population of these lizards," said Barrows, a research ecologist at UC Riverside and an expert on the secretive creature with a face that resembles the parched and thorny landscape it prefers. "Nearly all of its habitat in this region has been lost since 1970."
In the latest chapter in a long-running battle to keep the lizard safe from urban encroachment, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reconsider its earlier decisions not to list it as an endangered species.
Environmentalists were elated by the ruling, which rejected a Bush administration policy they said favored development and corporate interests at the expense of the flat-tailed horned lizard and scores of other fragile plants and animals.
"This is the third time in 15 years since the lizard was first proposed for listing that a court has told the Fish and Wildlife Service to go back and review its refusal to protect it," Kara Gillon, senior staff attorney with Defenders of Wildlife, said in a statement. "We're hoping the third time is the charm. These lizards are running out of time."
The flat-tailed horned lizard is only the latest creature in recent weeks to be reconsidered for special federal protection. In response to lawsuits and petitions, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has also agreed to reconsider the Tehachapi slender salamander and critical habitat for the Sonoma County population of California tiger salamander.
Over the years, federal wildlife authorities insisted that the flat-tailed horned lizard was simply hard to find and, as a result, difficult to classify as threatened by extinction.
But biologists contend the lizard continues to decline throughout its historic range in Arizona, California and Baja California. In the Coachella Valley, it has been pushed into the tiny refuge by the growing desert metropolis that stretches from Palm Springs to the Salton Sea.
A century ago, the lizard was widespread and dynamic, moving east and west with changes in climate and the availability of sand in what was then a wide-open, treeless landscape. The first waves of significant habitat loss occurred in the 1930s, '40s and '50s as a result of a boom in agriculture.
Later, its historic haunts were fragmented and destroyed by roads, off-road vehicles, light industry, suburban tracts, condominiums and commercial centers. In the Palm Springs area -- the western edges of its range -- some populations were stranded by development and disappeared.
Today, the sole remnant of the population clings to existence in a pocket of dunes, creosote and salt bush within the Coachella Valley National Wildlife Refuge, where a new, unanticipated danger threatens its future. Power poles and exotic palm trees favored by landscapers have become perches used by small falcons to spot prey and launch hunting sorties.
As a result, "flat-tailed horned lizards are no longer found on the edges of their last habitat," Barrows said. "I've suggested that the surrounding palm trees be trimmed in the spring to keep small predatory birds from nesting in them."
Striding across a trio of dunes while scanning the ground for signs of the lizard, he said, "This animal is hard to find even in the best of times. So we count their tracks, which requires a lot of patience and training."
A full day of searching on a recent Saturday yielded six tracks.
The lizard -- 3 1/2 inches long and a voracious consumer of harvester ants -- has been the focus of court battles since it was first proposed for listing in 1993.
Now, in response to legal challenges brought by a coalition of environmental groups -- the Tucson Herpetological Society, Defenders of Wildlife, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Horned Lizard Conservation Society and the Sierra Club -- the 9th Circuit Court has ordered the agency to think again about the lizard's survival.
In the meantime, it shares the sun-scorched refuge with another unique and controversial representative of Coachella Valley desert life also threatened with extinction: the fringe-toed lizard, a small reptile with a patchwork of brick-like markings and feet shaped so it can "swim" through loose sand.
Judging from the number of tracks the lizards leave etched in the sand, there many more fringe-toed lizards.
"Will the flat-tailed horned lizard survive? We don't know," said Allan Muth, a plaintiff in the lawsuit and director of the Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center, south of Palm Desert.
"Small, isolated populations tend to wink out. That's why there is so much importance attached to this case."
Temecula denied annexation of land intended for gravel quarry
Temecula's efforts to derail a proposed gravel mine near a pristine environmental reserve just outside of town were dealt a severe setback Thursday when officials voted against letting the city annex the land.
The 5-2 vote came after 10 hours of contentious public debate in which hundreds of avocado farmers, scientists, doctors, Native Americans and ordinary citizens tried to convince members of the Local Agency Formation Commission that an open pit quarry would spell disaster for southwest Riverside County.
Opponents said the mine would ruin the region's air quality, sever the last remaining wildlife corridor linking inland California to the coast, increase truck traffic and cause irreparable harm to the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve.
"We are citizens from all walks of life joining together to protect Temecula's southwest hills from being scarred for life," Barbara Wilder said. "The opposition has made it clear that it's all about them. This land should not be handed over to them for a commercial venture. Open spaces are rare and declining daily."
Mark Macarro, chairman of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, told commissioners the annexation would protect the place where tribal tradition says the Earth was created and the tribe was born.
"This is our Eden," he said. "We cannot re-create where the world was created. There is only one Eden."
Liberty Quarry, owned by Granite Construction, has been on the drawing board for more than three years. The mile long, 1,000-foot-deep quarry would be one of the largest operations of its kind in the state, producing 5 million tons of gravel a year with annual revenues expected to top $60 million. An estimated 1,400 trucks would come and go each day.
Temecula had hoped to annex 5,000 acres that included the mining site and put a stop to the plans.
Proponents of the 415-acre quarry, which include cities like Banning, labor unions, mining interests and those hoping to sell their homes to Granite, say the hazards have been grossly exaggerated by those who simply don't want the gravel mine in their backyards. They also say the fast-growing region needs gravel and that it's better to have it nearby and accessible rather than trucking it in from remote areas.
"Locally generated aggregate is actually a green industry," said Gregg Albright, deputy secretary for environmental policy for the state Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. "The further you have to drive, the more greenhouse gases you emit."
Redlands economist John Husing also spoke Thursday in support of the quarry. He said the economic effect on the community wouldn't be especially great with only 277 jobs created but added that the growth of the area would boost demand for gravel. Ultimately, he said, such decisions require regional solutions.
Other backers derided opponents as environmental extremists more concerned with animals than people.
"If you have ever gone to the quarry site, you would see it's just a pile of rocks," Bob Kowell said. "If we only build things based on emotions, we will never go anywhere and our country will go downhill."
When it came time to vote, only commissioners Bob Buster and John Tavaglione supported annexation. Both men are also county supervisors.
Buster seemed especially troubled by the proposed mine.
"This isn't a small mine; it's a mega-mine. This is the introduction of a huge new land use in one of the most fragile areas we have," he said. "This will be right at the entrance to Temecula, right on the front doorstep. Can we cut Temecula out of the decision-making process?"
Despite their disappointment with the vote, opponents of the mine were heartened by the support of Buster and Tavaglione. In the months ahead, it will be the Board of Supervisors who ultimately decide whether the mine goes in.
"We will just go to the next phase now," said Kathleen Hamilton, president of Save Our Southwest Hills, which began efforts to oppose the quarry. "I think we will have a good chance with the Board of Supervisors."
The 5-2 vote came after 10 hours of contentious public debate in which hundreds of avocado farmers, scientists, doctors, Native Americans and ordinary citizens tried to convince members of the Local Agency Formation Commission that an open pit quarry would spell disaster for southwest Riverside County.
Opponents said the mine would ruin the region's air quality, sever the last remaining wildlife corridor linking inland California to the coast, increase truck traffic and cause irreparable harm to the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve.
"We are citizens from all walks of life joining together to protect Temecula's southwest hills from being scarred for life," Barbara Wilder said. "The opposition has made it clear that it's all about them. This land should not be handed over to them for a commercial venture. Open spaces are rare and declining daily."
Mark Macarro, chairman of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, told commissioners the annexation would protect the place where tribal tradition says the Earth was created and the tribe was born.
"This is our Eden," he said. "We cannot re-create where the world was created. There is only one Eden."
Liberty Quarry, owned by Granite Construction, has been on the drawing board for more than three years. The mile long, 1,000-foot-deep quarry would be one of the largest operations of its kind in the state, producing 5 million tons of gravel a year with annual revenues expected to top $60 million. An estimated 1,400 trucks would come and go each day.
Temecula had hoped to annex 5,000 acres that included the mining site and put a stop to the plans.
Proponents of the 415-acre quarry, which include cities like Banning, labor unions, mining interests and those hoping to sell their homes to Granite, say the hazards have been grossly exaggerated by those who simply don't want the gravel mine in their backyards. They also say the fast-growing region needs gravel and that it's better to have it nearby and accessible rather than trucking it in from remote areas.
"Locally generated aggregate is actually a green industry," said Gregg Albright, deputy secretary for environmental policy for the state Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. "The further you have to drive, the more greenhouse gases you emit."
Redlands economist John Husing also spoke Thursday in support of the quarry. He said the economic effect on the community wouldn't be especially great with only 277 jobs created but added that the growth of the area would boost demand for gravel. Ultimately, he said, such decisions require regional solutions.
Other backers derided opponents as environmental extremists more concerned with animals than people.
"If you have ever gone to the quarry site, you would see it's just a pile of rocks," Bob Kowell said. "If we only build things based on emotions, we will never go anywhere and our country will go downhill."
When it came time to vote, only commissioners Bob Buster and John Tavaglione supported annexation. Both men are also county supervisors.
Buster seemed especially troubled by the proposed mine.
"This isn't a small mine; it's a mega-mine. This is the introduction of a huge new land use in one of the most fragile areas we have," he said. "This will be right at the entrance to Temecula, right on the front doorstep. Can we cut Temecula out of the decision-making process?"
Despite their disappointment with the vote, opponents of the mine were heartened by the support of Buster and Tavaglione. In the months ahead, it will be the Board of Supervisors who ultimately decide whether the mine goes in.
"We will just go to the next phase now," said Kathleen Hamilton, president of Save Our Southwest Hills, which began efforts to oppose the quarry. "I think we will have a good chance with the Board of Supervisors."
Veteran LAPD detective arrested in 1986 killing
A well-regarded, veteran Los Angeles Police Department detective was arrested today in connection with the 1986 slaying of her ex-boyfriend's wife, marking one of the few times in the department's history that one of its own officers has been accused of murder.
Stephanie Ilene Lazarus, 49, was arrested this morning at 8 while working at Parker Center, the LAPD's downtown headquarters. Police allege that Lazarus beat and fatally shot Sherri Rae Rasmussen, a hospital nursing director, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
It's very bittersweet. Our goal is to always bring people to justice, but this is somebody we know," said Deputy Chief Charlie Beck, who oversees the detective bureau.
Rasmussen's badly beaten body was found by her husband in the living room of the couple's Van Nuys condominium on Feb. 24, 1986. Shortly after the slaying, two men robbed another woman in the area at gun point and homicide detectives came to believe the pair had killed Rasmussen when she came upon them burglarizing her home, according to news reports. Rasmussen's parents, newspapers reported, offered a $10,000 reward for the men's capture.
The search for the two men led nowhere. Like thousands of other homicides from the period, the case remained open and was left to collect dust on department storage shelves as detectives struggled to keep pace with L.A.'s dramatic surge in murders and violent crimes.
But with homicides in the city falling to historic lows, LAPD detectives have had unusual freedom in recent months to revisit cold cases. Detectives returned to the Rasmussen killing, testing DNA material allegedly left by the killer. The tests showed that it belonged to a woman, disproving the theory that the victim had been killed by a man.
The original case file, Beck said, contained a reference to Lazarus, who was known at the time to have had a romantic relationship with the victim's husband, John Ruetten. When suspicion fell on an LAPD cop, the case took on sensitive and explosive tones inside the LAPD. Only a small circle of detectives and high-ranking officials were made aware of the investigation, in order to minimize the chances that word would leak to Lazarus that the Rasmussen case had been reopened.
Last week, undercover officers surreptitiously trailed Lazarus as she did errands one day, waiting until she discarded a coffee cup, straw or something else with her saliva on it, Beck said.
Her saliva sample was sent to a lab for comparison with DNA evidence Rasmussen's killer left at the crime scene. The genetic code in the two samples matched conclusively, police allege.
Lazarus was not pursued as a suspect at the time of Rasmussen's slaying, police said. There is no indication that any other active or retired LAPD officer knew about Lazarus's alleged role in the killing, Beck said.
Lazarus joined the department in 1983, LAPD records show. After several years as a rank-and-file patrol officer in the San Fernando Valley, she was promoted to detective and, in 2006, won a high-profile assignment to a unit dedicated to tracking stolen artwork. There are references in department publications to Lazarus earning commendation from the public for her work.
She hardly shunned the spotlight. In a recent LA Weekly article profiling Lazarus and her partner, Don Hrycyk, she joked that all she knew about art was that it "hangs on the wall," and added, "after working here and seeing all the phony art, I said, 'I can do that.' " Lazarus, who has an adopted 5-year-old daughter, according to Beck, told the newspaper that she had started taking oil-painting classes and had first become interested in art when she visited Europe as a teenager. Last year, she gave interviews to reporters after helping to capture two men convicted of a string of thefts of bronze statues and sculptures in the Wilshire area and in Beverly Hills.
A black-and-white photograph taken for a magazine profile in 2007 shows a petite, relaxed-looking Lazarus with curly hair leaning against a wall, her hands informally stuck in civilian clothes.
Until her death, Rasmussen was director of critical care nursing at Glendale Adventist Medical Center and her slaying stunned colleagues, who referred to her as a vital member of the medical staff, according to news reports. She had reportedly stayed home from work the day she was killed after straining her back in an aerobics class. In an article about the family's reward, her father said Rasmussen had entered college at 16 and had taught for a period at UCLA.
Stephanie Ilene Lazarus, 49, was arrested this morning at 8 while working at Parker Center, the LAPD's downtown headquarters. Police allege that Lazarus beat and fatally shot Sherri Rae Rasmussen, a hospital nursing director, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
It's very bittersweet. Our goal is to always bring people to justice, but this is somebody we know," said Deputy Chief Charlie Beck, who oversees the detective bureau.
Rasmussen's badly beaten body was found by her husband in the living room of the couple's Van Nuys condominium on Feb. 24, 1986. Shortly after the slaying, two men robbed another woman in the area at gun point and homicide detectives came to believe the pair had killed Rasmussen when she came upon them burglarizing her home, according to news reports. Rasmussen's parents, newspapers reported, offered a $10,000 reward for the men's capture.
The search for the two men led nowhere. Like thousands of other homicides from the period, the case remained open and was left to collect dust on department storage shelves as detectives struggled to keep pace with L.A.'s dramatic surge in murders and violent crimes.
But with homicides in the city falling to historic lows, LAPD detectives have had unusual freedom in recent months to revisit cold cases. Detectives returned to the Rasmussen killing, testing DNA material allegedly left by the killer. The tests showed that it belonged to a woman, disproving the theory that the victim had been killed by a man.
The original case file, Beck said, contained a reference to Lazarus, who was known at the time to have had a romantic relationship with the victim's husband, John Ruetten. When suspicion fell on an LAPD cop, the case took on sensitive and explosive tones inside the LAPD. Only a small circle of detectives and high-ranking officials were made aware of the investigation, in order to minimize the chances that word would leak to Lazarus that the Rasmussen case had been reopened.
Last week, undercover officers surreptitiously trailed Lazarus as she did errands one day, waiting until she discarded a coffee cup, straw or something else with her saliva on it, Beck said.
Her saliva sample was sent to a lab for comparison with DNA evidence Rasmussen's killer left at the crime scene. The genetic code in the two samples matched conclusively, police allege.
Lazarus was not pursued as a suspect at the time of Rasmussen's slaying, police said. There is no indication that any other active or retired LAPD officer knew about Lazarus's alleged role in the killing, Beck said.
Lazarus joined the department in 1983, LAPD records show. After several years as a rank-and-file patrol officer in the San Fernando Valley, she was promoted to detective and, in 2006, won a high-profile assignment to a unit dedicated to tracking stolen artwork. There are references in department publications to Lazarus earning commendation from the public for her work.
She hardly shunned the spotlight. In a recent LA Weekly article profiling Lazarus and her partner, Don Hrycyk, she joked that all she knew about art was that it "hangs on the wall," and added, "after working here and seeing all the phony art, I said, 'I can do that.' " Lazarus, who has an adopted 5-year-old daughter, according to Beck, told the newspaper that she had started taking oil-painting classes and had first become interested in art when she visited Europe as a teenager. Last year, she gave interviews to reporters after helping to capture two men convicted of a string of thefts of bronze statues and sculptures in the Wilshire area and in Beverly Hills.
A black-and-white photograph taken for a magazine profile in 2007 shows a petite, relaxed-looking Lazarus with curly hair leaning against a wall, her hands informally stuck in civilian clothes.
Until her death, Rasmussen was director of critical care nursing at Glendale Adventist Medical Center and her slaying stunned colleagues, who referred to her as a vital member of the medical staff, according to news reports. She had reportedly stayed home from work the day she was killed after straining her back in an aerobics class. In an article about the family's reward, her father said Rasmussen had entered college at 16 and had taught for a period at UCLA.
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