The Tribune from San Luis Obispo, California • 4

THE TRIBUNE FROM PAGE ONE Wednesday April 4 aoo'i A4 Homes From Page A1 Experts: China on shaky legal ground To make up the cost difference dty staffers have proposed to seek extra state money collect additional funds from Cal Poly for serving its students for free and increase rates by five cents per trip in 2002 transit is so important I feel that the public perception of our transit system as a good reliable method is said Howell Marx like to see if employing First Transit will improve All of SLO current bus drivers win be offered jobs with First Transit said Don Swain the regional just east on Los Osos Valley Road and a nearby Costco has been proposed To accommodate new traffic from that development the road may be widened to six lanes According to city staff the soonest construction might begin on expanding die overpass is 2004 In a separate action the council gave a threeyear $54 million contract to run the SLO Transit bus service to First Transit Inc The unanimous vote meant dropping Laidlaw Transit Services the current contractor image has suffered from two collisions with pedestrians and financial troubles in its parent company Laidlaw Inc The city raised its expectations for the new contract emphasizing a series of rewards and penalties intended to guarantee service and safety in its bus service That and rising fuel costs drove up foe cost of the service which will be 40 percent higher tion is the location of the US plane when it was disabled by file collision: over international waters or the territory of China US officials are saying that the spy plane was about 65 miles east of China's coast "If thafs true that is going to said Laurence Heifer a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles "Beyond 12 miles is considered international waters under terms of the Law of the Sea treaty accepted by most countries and there is no prohibition on spying (from there) If you're over Chinese territory they (the Chinese) do have sovereign However China previously hasD confounded neighboring nations 7 including Vietnam and file Philip-s pines by claiming sovereignty over the entire South China Sea 1 a position termed by Barry Carter a professor of 1 international law at Georgetown University and former member om file National Security Council ii other nation accepts such ai claim" Carter said adding thatr the US routinely permits Russian trawlers with sophisticated elecw tronic gear to patrol waters be-T yond 12 miles of the Norfolk Va naval base day between a US Navy EP-3 reconnaissance plane and a Chinese F-8 fighter jet and the key questions of sovereign immunity and national authority is quite different from fix Bush administration's perspective US military authorities fix example said the American crew radioed a mayday before landing China disputes this assertion and dies the failure to send a distress signal as justification for entering the plane once it landed and for detaining file crew Chinese President Jiang Zemin charged Tuesday that file United States violated international law when file American plane entered Chinese airspace without signaling for help and then landed at Lingshui Airport on Hainan Island And a spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry directly disputed the US position that the Navy plane is sovereign US territory immune from entry by the Chinese Tf fins plane is sovereign American territory how did it land in said Zhu Bangzao He asserted that China the right to investigate file whole incident as well as the plane that caused Most American legal experts however agreed that a key ques Crippled planes SHOULD BE AIDED NOT RAIDED By Robert Jackson Los Angblu Times WASHINGTON Chinese ok firials appear to have no legal basis for detaining crew members or seizing electronic equipment on the UJS spy plane that landed in southern China after a midair collision several American experts in international law said Tuesday Accidents in international air or sea traffic even those involving military vessels generally require nations to assist the victims and keep hands off the stricken planes or ships file experts said "If a government plane or ship goes down within fire territory of another country it is entitled to sovereign commented Phillip Trimble a University of California Los Angeles professor of international law course" he added Chinese would say they give consent to our plane landing at their base" Indeed the official Chinese view of the midair collision Sun Plane Rom Page A1 mats who visited the crew members They are being well taken care He added goal is to get them home as soon as possible" The Chinese laid down ground rules for the meeting but the diplomats with Chinese officials in attendance were allowed to discuss file crew health file operations during the emergency landing and standard procedures taken to protect intelfignence a senior Uik official in Washington said on condition of anonymity As a result of the talks the Bush administration believes file crew managed to destroy some of the intelligence information on file plane the official said A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said decision to allow the April meeting showed its and desire "to handle this case Earlier he said the tote would be decided in light of a Chinese investigation Asked when file crew would be released Zhu replied: don't The US should face the facts squarely shoulder responsibility and apologize to the Chinese side instead of seeking excuses for Zhu said in an eariier press conference In Washington a US official speaking on condition of anonymity arid it appeared Bek jing would insist on an official US government apology before allowing file crew to leave China But no Chinese official has made any such promise publicly Residentl Jiang Zemin said the EP-3E violated international law and intruded into Chinese airspace responsibility fully lies with the American for the collision Jiang said accord 9-13 neighborhood" But while other council members noted the need to push ahead on widening Los Osos Val-ky Road and getting funding to expand the 101 overpass they orad- were swayed by the need for ditional housing "I think it meets some of our goals regarding infill regarding housing and regarding our jobshousing said Councilman John Ewan The project is the second half of Jwin developments on the ranch land Last August the council voted to pre-zone and annex the other half with the expectation that 269 homes will be built on it On the project approved Tuesday Camarillo developer Richard Komorowski and partners plan to build 77 apartments 19 singlefamily homes and 34 duplexes The plans also allow for 17 so-called granny Arts Home Depot is being built Marsh From Page At fqssor and several groups that oppose foe garage expansion appealed that decision to the council Before pushing ahead with more parking the city should have tried much harder to launch initiatives that would get commuters out of their cars and free up existing parking said appellant Eugene Jud He and other opponents also objected to the new design of the structure which features an exterior mokly of solid walls with fewer open spaces than original- planned Energy From Page A1 tomers the two utilities say they have run up combined debts of about $14 billion in 10 months In other actions the PUC also approved measures meant to encourage more businesses to volunteer for power outages of up to 40 hours per month in exchange for year-round 15 percent discounts on their bills The new program also will expand the power customers exempted from future energy-saving blackouts to include all hospitals Previously utilities were allowed to cut power to hospitals with backup generators or fewer than 100 beds vWith the expanded interruption program the PUC hopes to free up more power and reduce the frequency of blackouts expected to bedevil California during the heat of the sum Television From Page A1 nil The cable company brought viewers the Santa Maria TV station KTAS The station had carried Univision shows since 1984 but lost its contract to air the Miami-based network's programming March 3L The next best thing was to air Tele-mundo said KTAS General Manager Sandy Keefer The distribution rights for Univision and its well-liked novelas went to new Spanish-language station KPMR in Santa Barbara a channel that Charter doesn't carry All Munguia wants is to watch her soap operas again In feet vowed not to view television until her novelas return The TV set is offbecause that's my way of protesting die Munguia said still can't believe they took Univision away It was the only reason I subscribed to cable Next door at file Rizos Colores beauty salon the television was tuned to the English-language soap of Our Although hairstylist Eva Chavez can barely understand English she was watching the show as a last resort T'd rather watch the English Chavez said in between appointments least they don't show Faithful I'nivision viewers are not only objecting to the loss of their novelas which Merrill likened to taking the baseball out of sports network ESPN They also criticize the appropriateness of prime-time shows Chavez and co-worker Aida Gomez said Telemundo's programs have a tendency to be violent and often depict women as sex symbols Their shows which feature scantily clad bombsheDs are cot as family oriented as I'nivision they sail The programming is also dominated by movies and Zf 43 Those who switch will get a $500 signing bonus built in a system where not only do they start at a good wage but they progress Swain said get credit for whatever experience they have so they don't start at foe Silas Lyons covers the city of San Luis Obispo for The Tribune Contact him with comments or story tips at 781-7929 That plan which also includes development in the historic Chinatown area has enjoyed broad support so far But Tom Copeland the developer has emphasized that parking is needed make it happen Tom Copeland may not wish go ahead if he cant get about 250 parking spaces to over tome file ones lose on that said Dave Romero a former councilman Romero spoke twice support of file expansion With file council's approval in hand the city should be able to line up a builder soon said Public Works Director Mike McChtskey have four bidders he said are getting good response to this The PUCs sensitivity to an- other rate increase came as no surprise on the heels of histrionics The theatrics concluded with Mary Bull of San Francisco waving a pair of handcuffs attached a bill as Bhe was hauled out of the hearing along with several other activists No arrests were made by the six California Highway Patrol officers on hand for the hearing The majority of protesters belonged to the Green Party and a grassroots group called Power Now pushing the state to seize control of the regulated utilities and California's plants Brown dismissed file protesters as unruly ao- tivists who were long on rhetoric and short on solutions PUC Resident Loretta Lynch said she believed tile protesters conveyed widespread frustration over the rapidly rising price of power KPMR officials in Santa Barbara to restore Univision programming to local viewers If Charter is unable to rebroadcast a signal transmitted from Santa Barbara because of the distance KPMR staff will send them through microwaves Merrill sad Either way Univision will likely return to cable in the coming weeks he said Telemundo will stay along with another Spanish-language network Galavision absolutely understand that viewers are frustrated" Merrill said have made a commitment to watching novelas Eke reading a book and then having it taken away before you finish OFFICE INTERIORS wwwnisscocom Luis Obispo (SCSI 547-8440 than in past years AH three com-ithatb panies that bid on the contract including Laidlaw were within 3 percent of each other on cost The walls block views into fire structure which opponents say could hide criminal activity structures are not safe said Richard MU-grom a guest lecturer at Cal Poly This has made it even less When file project goes out to bid council members agreed monitoring cameras will be part of the package Beyond the perennial concerns about downtown parking the expansion has become a hot political issue because seen as central to the Copeland decision whether to build a retail and commercial center on a nearby block currently used for parking mer But the program also threatens to worsen the financial condition of the utilities because it doesn't include financing provisions to cover the 15 percent discounts The program will cost about $15 billion annually estimated PUC Commissioner Henry Duque who proposed a new surcharge to finance file plan and SoCal Edison also said the voluntary program will hurt them financially but couldn't provide a specific breakdown on the additional expense PUC Commissioner Geoffrey Brown said the surcharge was a good idea but the timing was bad psychology of (a surcharge) would be disastrous for the commission right he said could just see the newspaper if the surcharge were passed The PUC rejected the surcharge 3-1 sports like soccer and boxing But that's exactly what drew Ramiro Munguia to Telemundo That and the feet that his wife Es-peranza will no longer monopolize file television now that Univision is off the air at their home don't mind girls in Ramiro Munguia said their soccer matches are good Down the street Maria Rodriguez vowed not to pay her bill until cable officials bring Univision back while Sandra Mendoza planned to buy a satellite dish so she could watch her favorite novelas But drastic measures needed yet Merrill said Charter Communications is working with Large Local Showrooms Furniture for Every Budget Modular Systems Furniture Consultations Layout ACAD Design Space Planning Assembly Delivery Installation 3046-A So Kguera Sheet San a to to in to South County Sanitary Service Tri-City Disposal Nipomo Garbage ing to Zhu have full evidence fix that Jiang called for an end to US' surveillance flights off coast as to prevent similar ao-v cidents from happening again" Zhu said Xinhua said file United States'1 should cooperate with China in investigating the incident and compensate loss of and China said its fighter pilot Wang Wei parachuted out after -the collision and was still miss- ing Tuesday despite a massive' search US officials say China" did not respond to an offer to help search for its missing pi- lot -Jl The meeting with the crew'! took place somewhere in of near Haikou the capital of Hainan a1 tropical island about file size of Maryland off southern'1 coast The collision occurred' about 60 miles southeast of" Hainan 'll die following Qean-l'p Week City Disposal 489-4246 I For Single-family Residential Customers living in Arroyo Grande Avila Beach Grover Beach Nipomo Oceano Pismo Beach Shell Beach rural Arroyo Grande Clean-Up Weak Rubbish Limits Each single-family residence is limited to two (2) cubic yards of (lean-Up eek rubbish placed on the curb Plus Your Regular Garbage Excess rubbish sill be left at the curb Only One of rnmMnalfainc Annual Spring Clean-Up Weak A community service provided FREE to single-family residential customers of South County Sanitary Service Tri-City Disposal and Nipomo Garbage You must be a customer of South County Sanitary Service TH-City Disposal and Nipomo Garbage to receive this service On tha Curb Place your Qean-Lp Reek rubbish on the curb no later than 6:30 AM on your regular garbage collection day Container Notaa Qean-l'p Teek Rubbish may be placed in standard trash cans various containers at tied into bundles Mora Container Notes Standard trash containers sill be emptied and left on the curb Boxes and Plastic Bags sill be taken away with your rubbish If you sant your non-standard containers left behind please mark or place a note on them Twelve standard trash cans (33-gallons each) or the equivalent in various containers (Note: 6 standard trash cans equal one cubic yard of trash) Twelve bundles each four feet or less in length and pounds or less in weight Twelve boxes each 75 pounds or less in weight Bulky Items (Please Call First) The following special prices are xlid only during Qean-l'p leek 2001 Items must be on the curb to qualify for these special prices $500 Each Televisions (hairs Viter Heaters ashers Dryers Small Appliances Box Springs Mattresses Refrigerators Couches Osrrstuffed Chairs To arrange for pick up of bulky items (not free) you Must First Call 489-4246 no later than 3 PJf an Thursday April Bulkv items will not be picked up unless you call 489-426 Container Sizes Containers or bundles of rubbish must seigh 75 pounds or less and must measure four feet or less far oierall lench No hazardous materials taken For Information BB Call South County Sanitary Tri Nipomo Garbage mgtiTinnTiin.