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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
“The report reveals that some fundraising campaigns are wildly successful and others are profound disappointments,” Attorney General Brown said. “In some cases, commercial fundraisers have stunning successes, generating millions for good causes. In others, the overhead costs outpace the dollars raised, and the charities have to foot the bill.”
The Attorney General’s Charitable Solicitation Report found that in 2007, commercial fundraisers collected $370.33 million from Californians in donations.
In total, just $161.6 million – or 43.6 percent of the donations raised actually made it to the charities. The remainder went to commercial fundraisers who receive a percentage from each donation or a flat fee as payment.
These figures, however, are averages and do not provide the full picture.
There are some cases where the vast majority of funds make it to the charity. For instance:
A commercial company raised $15.9 million for the March of Dimes Foundation, which received $11 million, or more than 70 percent.
A commercial company raised $1.2 million for the Alzheimer’s Association, which received $873,606, or 72 percent.
But other cases are not so successful, where the charity can find itself tens of thousands of dollars in the red.
The California Legislature passed a law in 1989 requiring commercial fundraisers to file these financial reports with the Attorney General. This is the 16th year that the Attorney General has published this annual report.
The report also describes and provides statistics for automobile donations and thrift store operations.
The Attorney General also publishes the Guide to Charitable Giving for Donors that provides advice, guidelines and information to help donors in making giving decisions. The guide suggests that donors:
Ask the solicitor how a donation will be distributed.
Ask what percentage of donations pays for fundraising expenses.
Learn about the charitable organization, its activities and its fundraising practices. Research charities by going to the Attorney General’s Web site. Check with the Wise Giving Alliance (www.give.org), Council of Better Business Bureaus (www.bbb.org) and the American Institute of Philanthropy ( www.charitywatch.org).
Ask if the solicitor works for a commercial fundraiser and is being paid to solicit.
Avoid cash donations.
Avoid giving credit card information to a telephone solicitor or in response to a telephone solicitation.
The guide is available on the Attorney General’s Web site at http://ag.ca.gov/charities/ or a copy can be requested by writing to the Attorney General’s Registry of Charitable Trusts, P.O. Box 903447, Sacramento, CA 94203-4470.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Wal-Mart officials met with city of Clearlake staff on Dec. 5, at which time they submitted an application to expand their current store on Dam Road, said City Administrator Dale Neiman.
Kevin Loscotoff, a Wal-Mart spokesman, confirmed the plans.
He said the Clearlake Wal-Mart was built in 1994 and is 109,000 square feet, an “average-sized” store for the time in which it was built.
Loscotoff told Lake County News that the corporation wants to expand the store to about 148,000 square feet. The expanded store isn't being called a supercenter.
Stores are designed specifically for the communities they're meant to serve, said Loscotoff.
The reason Wal-Mart is moving forward with its expansion is that the demand from the community has grown so significantly that “it's actually surpassed the intended original customer demand,” Loscotoff said.
As part of the expansion, Loscotoff said the store's exterior and interior will be updated, with new fixtures and design, and wider aisles to make shopping more comfortable and convenient. The exterior will feature updated but no new signage.
“It is intended to be a store of the community,” he said, noting that the corporation is very excited about the expansion.
Perhaps the most notable changes will be that the tire and lube express services will be replaced by new general merchandise and a full service grocery, according to Loscotoff.
He said Wal-Mart has been expanding its grocery services at stores all over the country due to demand.
Wal-Mart is reported to be the world's largest retailer, with grocery sales also on the rise. The corporation owns a chain called Neighborhood Markets, which are groceries only, said Loscotoff.
Despite the recession, Wal-Mart has continued to show rising profits. Its November sales report shows a 6.5-percent growth rate for its US stores that the corporation said exceeded expectations, and was punctuated by a strong Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.
Loscotoff said they don't have a timeline for the expansion at this point, which he said will be dictated by the city's administrative process.
Neiman also, couldn't specifically outline a timeframe for the expansion.
“What we told them was that they were going to have to do an EIR (environmental impact report),” said Neiman. “They already knew that.”
Neiman said an EIR was completed on the prior project, which city staff is currently reviewing to see if it is applicable here and how much remains valid. Once city staff is done with the review, they'll discuss with Wal-Mart what they've found.
He said he suspects there are a lot of issues from the prior EIR that won't need to be addressed this time. However, Neiman added that he expect Wal-Mart will have to conduct a drainage study and build a retention basin for the site. He believes that the building's current facilities have been sized for full development.
Neiman confirmed that Wal-Mart officials didn't bring up the “supercenter” designation, which he said usually covers much larger stores closer to 200,000 square feet or above.
In the city's review, they also will look at potential square footage limitations. Neiman said that, based on the city's zoning ordinance, there are three factors that affect building size – landscaping, parking and current building size.
“Typically it's those three factors in relation to lot size that tell you what you can do or can't do,” he said.
Loscotoff said the expansion will result in new job opportunities for the community, but he didn't have a projected number of jobs that will be created at this time.
Wal-Mart is carrying on several other store expansions around Northern California at this time, said Loscotoff. “We continue to see strong demand from the customers,” he said.
As one example, the company reported that it is expanding its Willows store to a supercenter.
“We're proud of our ability to be able to allow our customers to save money so they can live better,” Loscotoff said.
Other local businesses were concerned at the news of the Clearlake Wal-Mart's proposed expansion into the grocery business.
Dennis Darling, president of Foods Etc., anticipates the expansion will make it difficult for other area grocers.
The city already has several grocery stores – Foods Etc., Ray's Food Place and Safeway, said Darling.
“Clearlake doesn't need another 50,000 square feet of grocery, I can tell you that,” said Darling.
Darling likened Wal-Mart to the Borg Collective from the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” television series. The collective is made up of cyborgs that go around assimilating everything in its path.
“They're not good for local communities,” Darling of Wal-Mart.
He added that the idea that Wal-Mart will generate more money for the community has been proved wrong time and again. Rather, he said they cannibalize current businesses.
Ray's Food Place, located next door to the Clearlake Wal-Mart on Dam Road, could be affected the most.
Dan Cepeda, director of marketing for C&K Market Inc. of Brookings, Ore., which owns 60 Ray's Food Place and Shop Smart stores in California and Oregon, said they've been affected by Wal-Mart expansions in other markets.
“Wal-Mart definitely impacts local business whenever they bring their stores to a town, either new builds or expansions such as a supercenter,” Cepeda said.
He added, “We definitely would expect to be impacted by that move of theirs,” at the Clearlake store.
Cepeda said Ray's Food Place will continue focusing on its strengths – customer service, clean stores and fully stocked merchandise. Bigger retailers can't quite match them on that level, he said.
Ray's Food Place has six stores in the greater Grants Pass, Ore. area, said Cepeda. In the same area, Wal-Mart expanded a store to a supercenter. “Our stores fared very well,” he said. “Sales continue to be strong.”
Initially, there is always a drop off in sales, and then it begins to pick up again, he said.
Customers usually come back, said Cepeda. “Once the thrill of a new retailer is gone, they decide what it is they really want most.”
Neiman said Wal-Mart's proposed expansion is one of several commercial projects currently before the city, including a proposed Walgreens and Starbucks, a new Rite Aid, a Calvary Chapel project and the ongoing negotiations for the city's airport property.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The quakes began after 1 a.m. Sunday morning, culminating in a 3.0-magnitude quake that occurred at 4:36 p.m. Sunday, according to the US Geological Survey.
Recorded at a depth of eight-tenths of a mile, the 3.0 quake was centered one mile from The Geysers, four miles west southwest of Cobb and six miles west northwest of Anderson Springs.
Over the following hour, a series of smaller quakes – some as large as 2.4 in magnitude – followed in The Geysers and Anderson Springs areas.
In all, 25 quakes hit Anderson Springs, Cobb and The Geysers on Sunday, the US Geological Service reported.
Cobb resident Roger Kinney, who regularly updates Lake County News on happenings in his area, reported that the earthquake activity had seemed to spike about 5:30 p.m. Sunday.
Kinney said the earthquakes usually calm down a bit in winter, but they've continued coming this year.
The quakes continued into Monday. Kinney said he felt a quake shortly after 10 a.m. that he described as “more of a rolling motion than the usual, BANG-SHAKE type of quakes.”
A 2.9-magnitude quake that occurred shortly before 6 a.m. woke up Anderson Springs resident Joan Clay.
Clay said she immediately called Calpine's hotline to report the quake.
She said the severity of the quakes depends on where a person lives in Anderson Springs.
Clay added that the quakes seem to occur when it's raining.
“We have them all the time,” she said.
The last time an earthquake measuring 3.0 in magnitude or above hit that area was on Dec. 14, when a 3.1 was recorded near The Geysers.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The state Employment Development Department reported that Lake County's unemployment hit 12.4 percent in November, up from 11.2 percent in October and well above the 8.9 percent unemployment Lake County experienced in November 2007.
California's unemployment rate was 8.4 percent, up from October's 8.2 percent rate, with 32,000 more people unemployed, and the total number of people out of work across the state now rising to 1,562,000. In November 2007, California's unemployment rate was at 5.7 percent.
Likewise, the United State's unemployment rates climbed in November, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, rising from 6.5 percent in October to 6.7 percent in November. Approximately 37 states and the District of Columbia reported their rates rising from October, and 49 noting higher unemployment this year than last. The state of Wyoming reported growing employment and a surging economy, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
Lake County's November rate is the highest unemployment level the county has seen since March of 1997, according to historical data compiled by the Employment Development Department.
Approximately 3,220 people were out of work in Lake County in November – approximately 980 more than were out of work in November 2007 – a number that hasn't been surpassed locally since March of 1994, when 3,250 people were out of work and unemployment was 14.7 percent.
The county's November unemployment rate ranked it at No. 49 among the state's 58 counties.
Marin County has the lowest unemployment rate in the state, with 5 percent unemployment. Next in the top five were San Mateo, 5.5 percent; Orange and San Francisco, tied for third with 6.1 percent; and Santa Barbara came in at No. 5 with 6.3. percent, the Employment Development Department reported.
Imperial County had the highest unemployment in the state, with 23.4 percent.
Lake's neighboring counties recorded the following rates: Napa, 6.5 percent, No. 6 statewide for employment ranking; Sonoma, tied with Napa for sixth place with 6.5 percent; Yolo, 9 percent, No. 28 statewide; Glenn, 10.8 percent, No. 39 statewide; and and Colusa, 18 percent, No. 58 statewide.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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