The Californian from Salinas, California • 17

Californian STATE FRIDAY, June 30.20003C Davis expected to sign budget today California Digest Compiled from nre reports Governor likely to cut millions earmarked for local projects By Steve Lawrence The Associated Press SACRAMENTO California will start a new fiscal year Saturday with a state budget in place, only the eighth time that has happened since 1977. Gov. Gray Davis planned to sign the $100.8 billion spending plan today after vetoing what is expected to be several hundred million dollars in appropriations added by lawmakers. His likely targets included $300 million in local district projects ranging from community swimming pools to a facelift for the business district in the mountain ing reserves exceeded certain levels. The bill protects the sales tax by allocating $2 billion to pay for the first two years of the vehicle license fee cut, ensuring that money will not be counted as part of the reserves.

The VLF cut will, for example, save the owner of a $10,000 car $65 next year. That savings will come in the form of a check from the state. Other tax breaks in the budget package include a child-care income tax credit for working parents and a teachers tax credit designed to ease the states gaping shortage of instructors. The teachers credit, which would vary according to time spent in the classroom, is whats left of Davis controversial proposal to exempt teachers from the state income tax. erates about $1 billion a year, most of which is currently used for programs other than transportation.

This will be the second consecutive year that the governor has signed the budget before the start of a new fiscal year, avoiding any question about the states ability to write checks. Lawmakers have frequently missed their June 15 constitutional deadline to approve a new budget, sometimes battling over the spending plans until August or even September. They missed the deadline again this year, as a dispute over tax cuts delayed Assembly approval until late last week. But that still left Davis enough time to sign the spending plan before the July 1 start of the new fiscal year. resort community of Crestline.

Davis said last week that he would sign the budget after vetoing enough to create a healthy" reserve fund. He didnt elaborate, but aides say he proposed a nearly $1.8 billion reserve when he made his revised budget proposals last month. The budget the Legislature approved reduced that reserve to $1.6 billion. Lawmakers tied the last strings of the budget package Thursday when they approved a bill demanded by Davis to ensure that the biggest tax cut adopted by lawmakers a 67.5 percent cut in the vehicle license fee would not trigger a quarter-cent reduction in the sales tax. When lawmakers approved the quarter-cent in 1991 they added language that said it would be repealed if the states year-end In approving the budget, lawmakers proposed hefty spending increases for schools, transportation, health care, housing and a number of other programs.

The budget includes $32.5 billion for public schools, about $300 million more than requested by the governor. Among other things, there is money to reward schools that improve student test scores, to help English learners and students who have fallen behind their classmate and money that schools can use as they wish. Lawmakers approved $2 billion to pay for the first year of Davis $5.3 billion traffic congestion relief program and then went further, earmarking all of the sales tax on gasoline for transportation programs for five more fiscal years, starting in 2001-02. The sales tax on gasoline gen THE ACES ON BRIDGE8 b.w, Experimental, low-cost insurance plan set to start Judgment is not upon all occasions required, but discretion always is Lord Chesterfield In todays interesting game, a plan that succeeds about two thirds of the time wins twice as often as it loses. However, he who provides for contingencies will avoid many of the projected losses.

If trumps split 3-2 (67 83 percent), South has an easy road to 10 tricks. He wins five trump tricks, two top spades, a spade ruff and two minor-suit aces. However, is it reasonable to bet all on a 2-1 shot after Easts preempt promises distribution? Whoever takes the direct route loses his game. He wins his top spades and ruffs his low spade in dummy. However, when he cashes dummys ace and queen of trumps, Easts discard brings bad news.

Facing a trump loser and problems with his diamond suit, he takes a desperate club finesse. When it loses, he suffers an extra penalty trick and goes two down. A more prudent approach guards against a 4-1 trump break. After winning his spade king. South leads a club to dummy's ace and ruffs a club.

Then he cashes dummys ace and queen of trumps. If both follow, he leads a spade to his ace and ruffs a spade. Then he can draw Wests last trump and claim 10 winners. When trumps prove to be 4-1, South ruffs another club and cashes his diamond and spade aces. With one high trump left in each hand, he crossruffs in the black suits, bringing his total to 10 tricks.

When the opponents advertise distribution, it is folly not to search for a contingency plan that succeeds against either normal or abnormal breaks. Los Padres Forest fire bums 150 acres LOS OLTVOS Flames feeding on 90-year-old stands of bush, brush and pine raged untamed Thursday in a remote section of Los Padres National Forest just east of Zaca Lake. About 150 acres had burned by dawn Thursday and 335 firefighters, aided by water-dropping air tanker and helicopter sorties, managed to contain, or surround, 45 percent of the blaze, U.S. Forest Service spokesman Earl Clayton said. Full containment was expected by 6 p.m, but Clayton said it would be Monday before it was controlled because of the steep, inaccessible terrain in the area 30 miles northwest of Santa Barbara.

No structures were threatened. There were two minor firefighter injuries. The cause of the blaze, reported at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, wasnt known. The area one mile east of tiny Zaca Lake has not burned in more than 90 years and there are dense thickets of vegetation.

Top of A executive resigns before time SAN FRANCISCO A top Bank of America executive resigned Thursday, more than a year before he was scheduled to leave the company now owned by NationsBank of North Carolina. Michael Murray was the last executive from the days before the NationsBank takeover 19 months ago and said he is leaving for personal and professional reasons. The 31-year banking veteran will leave his job as president of Bank of America Global Corporate and Investment Banking on July 31. Exreserve officer booked in car thefts SAN FRANCISCO A former San Francisco reserve police officer has been arrested on suspicion of stealing three unmarked police cars from an unlocked parking lot near the Hall of Justice. David Chand, 22, is accused of using the cars to pretend he was a police officer and even stopped a woman driving in Sunnyvale.

The woman reportedly got into an argument with one of Chand's friends earlier. All three cars were taken in the past month and have been recovered by police officers. City adopts bad dog pet ordinance BERKELEY City officials have approved a new spay-and-neuter ordinance that includes keeping a bad Jog list of unleashed and vicious canines at risk for reproducing unwanted puppies. Other components of the new law, passed Tuesday night, will increase license fees for unaltered pets. It also declares it a public nuisance for people to feed feral cats unless they can prove they are working to spay or neuter the animals.

The council had initially proposed setting a $75 fee for owners of unsterilized dogs. But after opposition from animal lovers, the council passed the milder measure which raises the fee for unaltered dogs from $15 to $30. Clinton to nominate Mineta for Cabinet WASHINGTON With 207 days left in office, President Clinton said Thursday that he would nominate Norman Y. Mineta, who represented Silicon Valley in Congress for 21 years, to be secretary of Commerce. If confirmed by the Senate, Mineta would be the first Asian-Ameri-can member ever to serve in a presidents Cabinet.

The barely half-year tenure open to him, unless he is renominated by the next president, lends an aura of symbolism to the appointment. Mineta is of Japanese-American heritage as a 10-year-old, he lived behind the barbed wire of a World War II internment camp in Wyoming and is fluent in the high-tech language of Silicon Valley. NORTH mm a A 65 A 10 7 4 AQ865 WEST EAST A 3 2 A QJ 10984 10 9 4 2 3 KJ83 9 4 3 10 9 7 SOUTH A A 7 8 7 6 5 A65 2 A 2 Vulnerable: North-South Dealer: West The bidding: West North East South Pass 1 2 A 3 Pass 4 All pass Pre-emptive Opening lead: Spade trey BID WITH THE ACES MW South holds: A QJ 10 9 8 4 3 9 10 9 7 North South 1 NT ANSWER: Four spades. No need for science. Blast to the game most likely to be best.

Send bndgt question or request for free copy of Accs Newsletter to The Acea. I1 0 Box 262J6 Sunrise FL ItJZO Include first-clds postage sUmp for rcpJv Copyright tono United Feature Syn (Scale Inc 1 -OJliL 2245 Stop The Violence Start With Yourself Legislature last year, will be administered by the California Automobile Assigned Risk Plan, a state-commissioned coalition of insurance companies. The agency also finds car insurance for problem drivers who would have difficulty getting it otherwise. Insurance company lobbyists and consumer advocates agree that all insured motorists may eventually benefit from the low-cost plan because the cost of uninsured motorist coverage will diminish. Thats because the likelihood of running into someone who doesnt have insurance will go down, Heller said.

Its the secret gift of this new plan. Meantime, officials from Connecticut, Illinois and New Jersey have asked consumer advocacy groups for data on whether significant numbers of people sign on to the new plan. Washington, Kentucky and Louisiana, which have considered similar programs, are also monitoring the programs success, CAARP regional director Richard Manning said. Theyre looking to see how well it does, how effectively it is presented to the public and how many people end up buying the insurance, he said. Although the low-cost policies will satisfy the minimum amount of auto insurance required by the state, it will not pay consumers for injury to themselves or damage to their own cars, regardless of who caused the accident.

But participating in this program will enable them to collect pain and suffering settlements if another driver is at fault, which uninsured motorists are prohibited from doing under a 1996 state law. The benefits of the policies include $10,000 in liability for one persons medical bills, as much as $20,000 to cover more than one person and $3,000 for damage. On the Internet: California Department of Insurance: http.www insurance ca gov The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights: http.www consumerwatchdog org Gilroy S3 l-sa2-70aS- How it works The Associated Press A breakdown of the eligibility guidelines for the low-cost insurance program- The consumer car cannot be worth more than 1 2,000. Participants must be at least 1 9 years old and have an annual income of no more than 1 50 percent of the federal poverty level. That figure can range from $12,525 for a single person to $42,975 for a family of eight.

Consumers must have had their drivers licenses for the preceding three years Participants cannot have more than one accident or one point for a moving violation during that time People at fault in recent accidents involving injury or death or criminal convictions are barred College students claimed as dependents on their parents tax returns are not eligible ums for a bare-bones policy now is 66-year-old Grace Luna, a retired union worker who lives in South Gate, a blue-collar community southeast of Los Angeles that is more than three-quarters Latina I believe its the best insurance thats ever come along, said Luna, who has already completed an application for the low-cost policy. "The insurance company Im with now, they are charging me more than $700 yearly, and the broker who handles my policy is charging me $150 yearly, and thats a heck of a lot of money for me, she said. Luna, who said she is disabled and survives on Supplemental Security Income, doesnt mind that her new insurance policy will provide only basic liability coverage and wont pay for damage to her car, even if an uninsured driver hits it. She said the policy she has now on her 1980 Chevrolet Citation offers the same coverage. And this is better, you know, because its so low-cost.

The program, approved by the 1 I Salinas V7S7-soss Program starts Saturday in San Francisco, LA. By Anthony Breznican The Associated Press LOS ANGELES An experimental plan to reduce the number of uninsured motorists by lowering coverage costs in Los Angeles and San Francisco begins Saturday with civic leaders across the nation watching to gauge whether it could succeed elsewhere. Californias mandatory proof-of-insurance law requires the owners of the states nearly 27 million vehicles to show they have coverage when they register with the Department of Motor Vehicles. Now many people who cant afford regular coverage will no longer have to make that unfair decision between breaking the law and getting to work, said Douglas Heller of the Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. Only drivers with relatively clean records are eligible for the four-year pilot program, which charges $450 annually for a bare-bones auto policy in Los Angeles County and $410 in the San Francisco area A 25 percent surcharge is added for unmarried, male drivers between the ages of 19 and 25.

Those costs can typically double or triple in high-risk, inner-city areas, where many residents risk illegally driving without insurance rather than pay potentially devastating premiums. Nearly 1.8 million vehicles out of 6 million in Los Angeles lack insurance, with nearly 80,000 uninsured vehicles out of 412,000 in San Francisco, according to Tim Hart, spokesman for the state Insurance Department. But we dont know how many of the people in those areas will qualify for the program, Hart said. Thats why its called an experiment Were waiting to see if this works. Participants must have clean driving records and meet numerous other guidelines to be eligible for the program, including maximum annual income restrictions One of those paying high premi- Meat inspector may have been alive when shooter returned to his factory The Associated Press SAN LEANDRO One of the three meat inspectors shot last week in a San Leandro sausage factory may have been alive when the gunman returned and shot her again.

Court records show the surveillance tapes in the Santos Linguisa factory recorded Jean-nie Hillery's arm moving after she was shot. The tapes show the gunman returning to the scene and firing more bullets at U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors Hillery and Tom Quadros and state Department of Food and Agriculture inspector Bill Shaline. Sausage factory owner Stuart Alexander, 39, has been charged in the deaths. He faces state and federal murder charges.

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