The Sacramento Bee from Sacramento, California • 2

The Sacramento Bee Final Tuesday December 6 1988 A3 CAPITOL STATE NEWS fft's unanimous: Roberti retains Senate post litti7 1-sn DAN WALTERS Sandbox games vs real life leagues have shown in me" Roberti told reporters after the vote "I hope to carry their confidence as well the confidence of the voters in my district to doing our very best to address the policy needs of the state of California" Earlier in the day the Senate Republican Caucus voted to retain Senate Minority Leader Ken Maddy of Fresno in his post as well as Sen John Doolittle of Rocklin as caucus chairman Sen Robert Beverly R-Manhattan Beach was selected by the GOP caucus to Join the powerful Senate Rules Committee Beverly a well-respected moderate replaces retired Sen Jim Ellis R-San Diego on the panel "I've always worked well with both sides of the aisle and I think I will continue to" Beverly said of his new position on the Democratic controlled committee which frequently finds Itself at the center of political and issue controversies Only two freshman members Join the Senate for the new session San Diego Republican Larry Stirling moved up from the Assembly to replace Ellis and Republican William Leonard of Redlands also left the Assembly to replace retired Sen HL Richardson By Jon Matthews Bee Capitol Bureau Without a word of debate Democrat David Roberti of Los Angeles was unanimously retained Monday for a fifth term as Senate president pro tem The widely anticipated return of Roberti to the Senate's top post came only minutes after new and re-elected membeis were sworn in for the 1989-90 legislative session The oath of office was administered by state Supreme Court Chief Justice Malcolm Lucas before a chamber crowded with relatives and well-wishers Only half of the Senate's 40 members were sworn in to begin their new four-year terms the other 20 senators are not up for re-election until 1990 Democrats continue to hold their 24-15 edge over Republicans in the Senate with one independent Quentin Kopp of San Francisco in the remaining seat Roberti 49 has been Senate leader for eight years He quickly was granted another two-year term on a 39-0 vote with one senator absent In the only statement prior to the vote Sen Alfred Alquist D-San Jose said Roberti had served "diligently and well" "I'm gratified by the confidence my col insurance business in California inspired the introduction of three bills Monday Sen Alan Robbins D-Van Nuys followed through on a promise to introduce that would severely fine insurance companies that stop renewing auto policies in the wake of the initiative Robbins' measure Senate Bill 103 would force insurers to renew all auto policies that expire between Dec 5 1988 and June 4 1989 or pay a fine of 50 percent of the value of each non-renewed policy Companies also would have to reimburse former customers who had to pay more for new policies And Roberti introduced his own bill that would require companies to keep their auto in- surance in the state or forfeit their permission to sell any insurance in California In addition Roberti introduced another measure that would establish an office of consumer advocate under the attorney general that would represent consumer interests in Department of Insurance or judicial hearings On a local note Doolittle introduced a bill to create a three-county flood control district for Sacramento Sutter and Placer counties The bill is similar to one defeated last year but which Doolittle said had broad support Rich Kushman of The Bee Capitol Bureau: contributed to this story After the opening ceremonies senators wasted no time getting down to business They debated and passed a routine bill by Sen Robert Presley D-Riverside to make technical changes to the state's courthouse-construction and trial-court funding laws The Senate then adjourned until Jan 3 when the work of the 1989-90 session formally begins "It can be a good year in the Senate and we're going to try to make it one" Roberti said The Democratic-controlled Senate has engaged in some ferocious political battles with Republican Gov Deukmejian Senators also have complained about the effect of Assembly leadership struggles on legislation But Roberti declared that he wants cooperation next year "We want to work with the Assembly as well as the governor There are a lot of unaddressed needs in this state" he said Roberti listed a number of issues he feels will be on the agenda next year including the fight against illegal drugs and gangs and insurance reform Proposition 103 and the moves by some insurance companies to limit or end their auto The California Legislature reconvened Monday and more or less took up where it left off three months ago: preoccupied by internal power struggles Willie Brown was re-elected as speaker of the Assembly and David Roberti as president pro tern of the Senate signaling a continuation of the Capitol's status quo even in light of widespread public dissatisfaction with the Legislature and a still-developing FBI investigation into Capitol corruption Brown's re-election notwithstanding there were still squabbles within both party caucuses that bubbled to the surface providing grist for the news mills to grind into accounts of the opening ceremonies But a more important if largely overlooked event occurred in the Capitol on Monday The Legislature's own fiscal adviser the legislative analyst's office delivered to lawmakers a thoughtful report on the state of California's economy I -R I i I 1 7 0 1 1 A 4 1 i i 4 1 I 1 I 4 4 I i I i 1 i 1 0 1 1:: New state prison opens in Chuckawalla Valley Associated Press Painting may aid hunt for girl Sacramento artist gives Hayward police help in kidnapping BLYTHE The California De- partment of Corrections on Monday opened a new prison likely to reso- nate through a system that already echoes with such familiar names as San Quentin and Folsom ban quentin ana ioisom By Gretchen Kell Bee San Francisco Bureau i 4 '''g A 4 0441045 ii W' 'It'i' 1 '-1 3'' 1 If -tt 1 li: 1 r' a Chuckawalla Valley State Prison opened its gates at 9 am to a bus carrying the new prison's first 38 inmates from the California Institute for Men in Chino Calif said Lt Peters a prison spokeswoman "We anticipate having 300 by the end of December" she said Chuckawalla is a medium-level security facility designed to ultimately hold 2000 male prisoners It is California's 18th state prison Peters said and cost $133 million Two of the prison's four indepen-tent facilities are ready for occupation each holding about 500 inmates with the other two scheduled for completion by February 1989 It was politely worded But between the lines the report delivered a serious warning to legislators and others responsible for public policy in California: The economy while humming along nicely now has some potential problems that should be addressed before they develop into full-blown crises What's occurred in California during the last decade is a true economic miracle that puts to shame the "Massachusetts miracle" claimed by its governor Michael Dukakis when he was running for president la) back before Christmas" But Garecht added that she won't continue to rely on the Kevin Collins Foundation in San Francisco for help in finding Michaela Initially the Garecht family signed a release allowing the foundation to distribute fliers with Michaela's picture on them Co-founder David Collins whose young son Kevin disappeared from San Francisco several years ago said the group distributed 1 million such fliers with the help of a child protection group and the public Next Collins said that he had hoped to put Michaela's picture on some 200 billboards nationwide in a national missing child awareness campaign But after seeing the slogan for the billboards Sharon Garecht said she turned down the offer One slogan says "If you assume she's dead she is" and the other "First assume she's alive" "She can read She wouldn't want to see it" said Garecht explaining that the words might scare Michaela If she saw them from a car window Garecht also said she's upset that the foundation has received far fewer phone calls from people with leads than received by the Hayward Police Department Collins said he respects the Garecht family's decision to sever its ties with the foundation but feels it was a mistake and that the family should rely more on people who have gone through similar Associated Press Hayward police released the painting of the kidnapper by Sacramentan Michaela Garecht blond hair a bit and to turn the eyes from hazel to blue "We mixed up a blue color" said Stewart "and she thought it looked good" Police believe the suspect is a slender white man in his 20s with shoulder-length dirty-blond hair and a pockmarked face "Hopefully (the portrait) will narrow the field a little bit" said Hayward Police Lt Chuck Breazeale "Without color (the sketch) is very general" On Nov 19 next-door neighbors Michaela and Katarina took their scooters to a grocery store three blocks from home to buy a snack A man snatched blond blue-eyed Michaela in the store's parking lot after luring her toward his car Then he forced her into his vehicle and sped off Sharon Garecht said Monday that she believes her daughter is alive and that it's just a matter of time before police sifting through some 2000 leads crack the case "Now we have a wait and see attitude" said Garecht "It's not that (the police) have no leads They have lots and lots and it's a matter of going through thousands of bits of information" Garecht said she would be watching the filming Monday in Hayward of a TV segment on Michaela's kidnapping for the NBC show "Unsolved Mysteries" The program re-enacts crimes in hopes the public might help solve them She said she hopes the episode will be aired "in time to get (Michae An oil painting by a Sacramento artist of 9-year-old Michaela Garecht's kidnapper offered police new hope Monday as they began their third week in search of the missing Hayward girl "I was reluctant to even paint it it unnerved me to even look at the picture of the guy" said Valerie Stewart a portraiture teacher who used a black-and-white police composite drawing of the abductor to palet his likeness on an I I- by 14- inch canvas But she was affirmative when her husband Folsom Police Detective Ernie Stewart asked her to Improve upon the crudely drawn sketch imprinted on a flier about Michaela that arrived in the mail "I sensed the value it might be" she said So did Folsom Police Chief Hal Barker who after seeing the lifelike portrait on Friday immediately called the Hayward Police Department That night he sent the Stewarts to Hayward with the painting and some art supplies to meet with Katarina Rodriquez 9 a friend of Michaela's who witnessed the abduction "Obviously my reaction was to help solve the kidnapping" said Barker "(The portrait) looks like a person It's so real" Valerie Stewart said an articulate Katarina touched the painting with her finger and asked for only minor changes to darken the man's Al so 1a 4 "-lafotft 4 "My feeling is this: I'm a victim my wife is a victim" he said "We went through this how freaked and paranoid we were in the early days The only thing that saved us was the people around (us) ezto los AR Joss 4 006 woo u0A JOIN US for breakfast with SANTA at MACY'S SUNRISE MALL Dec 10 and Dec 17 8 AM CLOWN-CANDY GOODIES FOR ALL Res 962-3333 st 1 7 sm-a --arsaa-aaaa 02 air -I' "I don't think (the Qarechts) are getting that Some people advising them might be hurting them I think to reject a national billboard campaign is a mistake There are a lot of things we could have done" S'a If se: 309 1-t- 24 a M''ZT77 A1Aa( STARTS TODAY! KUM -710x-mi California has absorbed more than 4 million new people into its economy and lowered unemployment to near-record lows As the gateway to the Pacific Rim California has seen its trade and service sectors explode with activity even as manufacturing has somewhat stagnated And California's employment is rapidly dispersing out of the central cities and into the sun belt of rapidly growing suburbs That very growth both of population and economic activity has sparked an anti-growth reaction in heavily impacted communities The potential impediments to continued prosperity for California as listed in the legislative analyst's report include: transportation gridlock inadequate water supplies strains on such infrastructure facilities as schools trash disposal sites and sewage treatment plants inadequate training for potential workers high housing costs lifestyle degradation and limits on taxes and spending that retard government's ability to respond to the other needs Take for example labor force trends As baby boomers begin retiring out of the California work force in two decades there are serious potential shortages of trainable labor because of high dropout rates among black and Hispanic youngsters who are growing portions of the state's population We could ironically have a burgeoning population and a labor shortage unless the public schools do a much better job of dealing with non-Anglo youngsters "California faces an imposing task in meeting the challenges to the state's economic future" the analyst's office told the Legislature And while some steps have been taken "generally speaking despite the importance and urgency of the challenges at hand relatively little has been done thus far to address them" E2E2FXPA' TIVE STEM EA CR AR sa: MAW wimp SIK Ilk 1 ANN: t- 1 VA i ILML -op I Ittvor Mink WA -101 AWIMMAIIIMIL AM611tagiAllat l'ti'-'-" ---13' AIMILIMILIL 'Od Iv I WORLD'S MOST INTELLIGENT CREATIVE AUTOFOCUS SLR The MAXXUM 70001 is the fastest and most innovative autofocusing 35mm SLR It features the Creative Expansion Card System the wodd's only software system which allows you to reprogram the camera for special effects III Accepts optional Creative Expansion Cards for virtually unlimited creative possibilities It (0 II AF integrated multi-patterned exposure system with spot metering capability '1-----1 I IgilteW-- 1111 Predictive Autofocus calculates subject iI 11011 ill movement for continuous precise focusing at up to 3 frames per second lik 1 I El Advanced At Multi-Program Selection mi Complete with A ril 9 Minolta's 2 year USA limited wa rra ntow Body Minolta's 2 year USA limited till 1 I k0 warranty Body Only 14 NSOHOFFS SAVE ON FALL'S FINEST FASHIONS! I 4 he analyst's office is not the first authority to recognize the complexity of policy issues facing California There's been a veritable flood of reports from public and private groups in the last year all of which outline in inescapable detail what's needed to be done Nor is it the first to note that the lead time for dealing with these issues is long and thus the need for rapid action is great Doing something to deal with the aforementioned potential labor shortage in 2010 for example would require radical change in the public education system within the next two or three years "Regardless of the exact actions eventually undertaken one thing is clear because California is so rapidly urbanizing and undergoing so many other significant changes now is the time for making and implementing plans for accommodating the state's future economic growth" the report concluded The sooner and more effectively this job is undertaken the better will be Cali fornia's future economic performance living standards and overall quality" Agairst those stakes tlfe political games in the Capitol look pretty pet ty don't they? 4 IF Yes almost all dresses sportswear separates suits jackets sweaters blouses pants and skirts from our early Fall collections go on sale today at 30 savings Come early for the best selection! 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