DOCSLIB.ORG

Koch Millions Spread Influence Through Nonprofits, Colleges

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Koch Millions Spread Influence Through Nonprofits, Colleges HOME ABOUT STAFF INVESTIGATIONS ILAB BLOGS WORKSHOP NEWS Koch millions spread influence through nonprofits, colleges B Y C H A R L E S L E W I S , E R I C H O L M B E R G , A L E X I A F E R N A N D E Z C A M P B E L L , LY D I A B E Y O U D Monday, July 1st, 2013 ShareThis Koch Industries, one of the largest privately held corporations in the world and principally owned by billionaires Charles and David Koch, has developed what may be the best funded, multifaceted, public policy, political and educational presence in the nation today. From direct political influence and robust lobbying to nonprofit policy research and advocacy, and even increasingly in academia and the broader public “marketplace of ideas,” this extensive, cross-sector Koch club or network appears to be unprecedented in size, scope and funding. And the relationship between these for-profit and nonprofit entities is often mutually reinforcing to the direct financial and political interests of the behemoth corporation — broadly characterized as deregulation, limited government and free markets. The cumulative cost to Koch Industries and Charles and David Koch for this extraordinary alchemy of political and lobbying influence, nonprofit public policy underwriting and educational institutional support was $134 million over a recent five- year period. The global conglomerate has 60,000 employees and annual revenue of $115 billion and estimated pretax profit margins of 10 percent, according to Forbes. An analysis by the Investigative Reporting Workshop found that from 2007 through 2011, Koch private foundations gave $41.2 million to 89 nonprofit organizations and an annual libertarian conference. Koch Industries and Charles and David Koch contributed $8.7 million to candidates and the Republican Party in the three election cycles between 2007 through 2012. In addition, Koch private foundations contributed $30.5 million to 221 U.S. colleges and universities and $46.3 million to the arts and other more traditionally charitable purposes during this period. And while Koch Industries’ lobbyists were spending $53.9 million to further the giant corporation’s federal and state policy agenda, the nonprofits it funded were simultaneously “educating” the public and lawmakers about energy, the environment and other issues in public testimony on Capitol Hill. For example, in 2011 and 2012, Koch Industries Public Sector LLC, the lobbying arm of Koch Industries, advocated for the Energy Tax Prevention Act, which would have rolled back the Supreme Court’s ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could regulate greenhouse gases. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., and co- signed by 92 Republicans (and three Democrats), 61 of whom signed an anti-climate tax “pledge.” An economist with the American Council for Capital Formation — a nonprofit group that receives Koch money — testified about that same bill before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Margo Thorning told members of the House in February 2011 that regulation of greenhouse gas emissions “makes little economic or environmental sense,” according to her testimony. There were similar confluences of interest, with Koch foundation-funded, tax-exempt nonprofits and Koch’s commercial lobbyists saying similar things about the same pending legislation on Capitol Hill — such as in 2007-2008 on the proposed America’s Climate Security Act. In 2011 and 2012, Koch Industries and one of its supported nonprofits, the Heritage Foundation, “educated” lawmakers and their staff in their respective ways regarding the proposed New Alternatives Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act legislation. Altogether, since 2007, Koch nonprofit organizations testified before U.S. Senate and House of Representatives committees or subcommittees at least 49 times, according to lobbying disclosure information compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics and testimony available from Congressional Quarterly/Roll Call. Private foundations cannot by law “be organized or operated for the benefit of private interests,” and they are required by law to disclose their charitable contributions to the Internal Revenue Service. But enforcement of potential violations is generally regarded to be sporadic and somewhat mysterious. For example, even if the IRS actually decides to investigate a private foundation or tax-exempt organization grantees, initial communications between the government and the organization in question are private — no formal notice is available in any public record. The Workshop did not find evidence of any pending publicly Koch money disclosed inquiry or action by the IRS against any of the five From 2007-2011, Koch private foundations Koch-funded foundations. contributed the following: Lawyer Gregory L. Colvin of Adler & Colvin in San Francisco, who 89 nonprofits and one annual conference has represented conservative and liberal IRS tax-exempt received: nonprofit organizations for 35 years, told Congress in April and the Workshop more broadly last week, “The tax rules are vague, unpredictable, and unevenly applied. Only the most flagrant violations could be knowing, willful, or deliberate and subject to criminal prosecution.” The scandal-ridden IRS, notoriously 221 U.S. colleges and underfunded and operating under antiquated, decades-old laws universities received: and regulations, has another debilitating limitation. According to Marcus Owens, the former director of the Exempt Organizations Division of the IRS and now a tax lawyer in private practice at Caplin & Drysdale in Washington, “Congress has drafted the rules The arts, humanities, that the IRS must abide by [and the precise extent to which medicine and youth organizations received: nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations can operate politically or legislatively or in the regulatory context of whether activities are for public or private benefit], and that allows a pretty wide array of activities.” Source: Research by And against the backdrop of the current IRS scandal and the Eric Holmberg, based on additional scrutiny of IRS tax enforcement, it now appears that 990 IRS forms; graphic by Cristina Keane, Investigative the Koch brothers are moving toward even less transparency, Reporting Workshop beyond giving millions of dollars to such controversial “dark money” organizations as Donors Trust (whose secret money efforts have been exposed in the past year in detail by the Center for Public Integrity and other news outlets). A few months ago, Koch strategists reportedly set up two new, even more secretive, 501(c)6 money-funneling organizations to further bolster and help underwrite their national network, mimicking the opaque approach of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. According to NPR, now more of the Koch’s considerable largesse will be directed to support a “business league” that will push business-friendly legislation in the states, the Association for American Innovation (which does not yet appear to have a website), and a public “messaging niche” social welfare nonprofit group called American Commitment. Charles Koch, David Koch and Koch Industries Executive Vice President Richard Fink declined to be interviewed for this report. In an email response to our request for these interviews, Melissa Cohlmia, director of corporate communication for Koch Industries Public Sector, LLC, wrote, “Your attempts to silence us and others with whom you disagree are troubling to all Americans who cherish free speech and the First Amendment. You have a right to engage in advocacy journalism and we respect that right. However, we choose to engage with journalists who are balanced, truthful, and fair- minded. We therefore decline your request for interviews.” We contacted officials at some of the nonprofits receiving the most Koch foundation funding during this five-year period — the George Mason University Foundation ($16.3 million); the Institute for Humane Studies ($10.3 million) and the Mercatus Center ($3.7 million), both of which are affiliated with George Mason University; Americans for Prosperity Foundation ($3.6 million); Donors Trust ($3.3 million); and the Charles Koch Institute ($2.8 million). Their sentiments were similar to those expressed by the chief financial officer of the pro- business, libertarian Institute for Humane Studies, Gary Leff, who told the Workshop, “We’re not a political organization. … We have no position on current legislation. We don’t do lobbying of any kind. Our work complies with our status as a 501(c)3. It would be illegal for us to get involved in politics of any kind.” When asked why the institute doesn’t disclose its donors on its website, he said, “I’m surprised you ask that. Nobody really ever asks us that. It is standard practice not to disclose donors on the Web. We have plaques in our office recognizing our contributors.” Others echoed similar sentiments, also stressing the politically innocuous nature of their respective enterprises. Few of the 89 nonprofit organizations to which Koch private foundations gave contributions from 2007 through 2011 disclose the sources of their funding on their websites; we obtained the identities of which organizations received these contributions from Koch foundation annual IRS 990 forms. (To access the IRS 990 annual reports for 2007-2011, for both the funding foundations and the recipient nonprofit organizations, go here.) From 2007 through 2011, the five major Top recipients Koch-funded, private foundations Koch foundations donated to 221 universities during the 2007-2011 period, giving as little as $1,000 to Wisconsin contributed a reported total of $117.9 Lutheran College and more than $16 million to George Mason million. The breakdown by foundation University. The Kochs donated to 89 nonprofits and one annual conference, all of which have public policy and and amount: educational missions synchronous with those of the Koch corporation — deregulation, limited government and free • Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, markets. $52.7 million Top 5 college and university recipients • David H. Koch Charitable Foundation, $41.3 million (includes a non-public, policy-related donation to the Lincoln Center of $35 million) • Claude R.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Congressional Record—Senate S5011
    July 12, 2016 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5011 The clerk will report the bill by title. COMMENDING THE TENNESSEE experienced its warmest June on record The senior assistant legislative clerk VALLEY AUTHORITY ON THE ever. Already this year there have been read as follows: 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNI- eight weather-related and climate-re- A bill (S. 2650) to amend the Internal Rev- FIED DEVELOPMENT OF THE lated disasters that each caused at enue Code of 1986 to exclude from gross in- TENNESSEE RIVER SYSTEM least $1 billion in damage. Globally, it come any prizes or awards won in competi- Mr. COTTON. Mr. President, I ask was found that 2015 was the hottest tion in the Olympic Games or the year on record, and so far this year is Paralympic Games. unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. on track to beat last year. We can’t There being no objection, the Senate 528, submitted earlier today. even hold the record for a year—2016 proceeded to consider the bill. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The has been as hot as Pokemon GO—and Mr. COTTON. Mr. President, I ask clerk will report the resolution by anyone watching the Senate floor to- unanimous consent that the bill be title. night who is younger than 31 has never read a third time and passed, the mo- The senior assistant legislative clerk experienced in their life a month where tion to reconsider be considered made read as follows: the temperature was below the 20th and laid upon the table, and that the century average.
    [Show full text]
  • Accelerated Attacks on Clean Energy by Koch Bros
    Checks and Balances Project Documents: Accelerated Attacks on Clean Energy by Koch Bros. $192 Million to 72 Groups Associated with Opposition to Clean Energy Solutions and Climate Change Denial from 1997-2013 $108 Million to At Least 19 Groups to Fight State Renewable Energy Policies 2011-2013 (Over 18 months, Checks and Balances Project conducted the first in-depth investigation into Koch Industries, Inc. AND what we call the Koch Advocacy Network. Over 350 low-profile regulatory disclosures and more than 8,000 legal disclosure forms drawn from over 60 public agencies, databases and courts were examined. Research was completed prior to the 2016 election.) In August 2015 President Obama singled out the “massive lobbying efforts backed by fossil fuel interests, or conservative think tanks, or the Koch brothers pushing for new laws to roll back renewable energy standards or prevent new clean energy businesses from succeeding.” The President described these anti-clean energy efforts as “rent seeking and trying to protect old ways of doing business and standing in the way of the future.”1 Charles Koch responded that, “We are not trying to prevent new clean energy businesses from succeeding” and warned against “subsidizing uneconomical forms of energy — whether you call them ‘green,’ ‘renewable’ or whatever.” He continued, “And there is a big debate on whether you have a real disease or something that’s not that serious. I recognize there is a big debate about that. But whatever it is, the cure is to do things in the marketplace, and to let individuals and companies innovate, to come up with alternatives that will deal with whatever the problem may be in an economical way so we don’t squander resources on uneconomic approaches.” 2 The defense outlined by Charles mirrors the strategy of the network he oversees.
    [Show full text]
  • The Challenge of Success
    Discovery january 2012 THE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF KOCH COMPANIES The challenge of success For many Koch companies – and for Georgia-Pacic’s gypsum and wood And then there is the age-old problem of Koch Industries overall – 2011 was a products businesses – both of which rely overcoming success. record year. on new building construction – suered Charles Koch, KII’s chairman and CEO, Flint Hills Resources led the way, helped as the construction slump in the United has repeatedly warned about complacency by record results from Pine Bend and a States continued. or smugness aer achieving record results. signicant increase in South Texas crude Similarly, INVISTA’s residential oor- He did so in his 2007 book, e Science oil production that beneted its Corpus ing business struggled. With new home of Success, and in his very rst Founder’s Christi reneries. construction in the U.S. at historic lows, Day video, recorded eight years ago. demand for carpet ber is depressed. FHR’s lubricants business also had a record “It is all too easy,” Koch said recently, “to year, and results for the asphalt and chemi- Prolonged drought in the Midwest and assume that things will keep going your cals businesses improved signicantly. wildres in Texas were serious issues for way, or that markets will remain strong Koch Pipeline was busy expanding its e Matador Cale Company. and your competitive advantages will system, especially in South Texas, where And results for Koch Supply & Trading never erode. the Eagle Ford Shale play is boosting and Koch Minerals were nowhere near “Even worse is becoming arrogant or domestic production and bringing new the record highs seen a few years ago.
    [Show full text]
  • Monetized Hate: Decoding the Network
    MONETIZED HATE: DECODING THE NETWORK THE NETWORK REVISITED The present scourge of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bigotry in our country is rooted in a calculated, insidious effort to contaminate our public discourse. This effort dates back to the early 2000s, when a small, interlaced network of analysts and activists exploited a nationwide climate of fear in the aftermath of 9/11. To be sure, the systemic mistreatment of our Arab American and American Muslim communities did not begin with the new millennium. However, the success of this so-called network to mainstream hateful rhetoric and advance discriminatory policies is considerable, and thus deserves outsize attention. In 2011, The Center for American Progress (CAP) published “Fear, Inc. The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America.”1 The report found that a nationwide rise in anti-Muslim bigotry was traceable to a handful of “misinformation experts.” These individuals and their organizations relied on a syndicate of activists, media partners, and grassroots organizing to radiate bias presented as fact. They also relied on significant financial support from a select group of charitable foundations. This network of donors, analysts, and activists not only distorted millions of Americans’ understanding of Islam and Muslims, it also drove inequitable policies. One example highlighted in the report was that of so-called “anti-Sharia bills”2 introduced in numerous state legislatures. Most of these bills drew from model legislation drafted by David Yerushalmi,3 an SPLC-designated anti-Muslim extremist. CAP released a follow-up in 2015 entitled “Fear Inc., 2.0. The Islamophobia Network’s Effects to Manufactured Hate in America.” 4 While the revelations of CAP’s initial report led charitable organizations, politicians, and the media to sever ties with many of the network’s key members, the 2015 edition also found that individuals within the network had successfully advanced a range of anti-Muslim policies at the local, state, and federal level.
    [Show full text]
  • Greenp Eace.Org /Kochindustries
    greenpeace.org/kochindustries Greenpeace is an independent campaigning organization that acts to expose global environmental problems and achieve solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. Published March 2010 by Greenpeace USA 702 H Street NW Suite 300 Washington, DC 20001 Tel/ 202.462.1177 Fax/ 202.462.4507 Printed on 100% PCW recycled paper book design by andrew fournier page 2 Table of Contents: Executive Summary pg. 6–8 Case Studies: How does Koch Industries Influence the Climate Debate? pg. 9–13 1. The Koch-funded “ClimateGate” Echo Chamber 2. Polar Bear Junk Science 3. The “Spanish Study” on Green Jobs 4. The “Danish Study” on Wind Power 5. Koch Organizations Instrumental in Dissemination of ACCF/NAM Claims What is Koch Industries? pg. 14–16 Company History and Background Record of Environmental Crimes and Violations The Koch Brothers pg. 17–18 Koch Climate Opposition Funding pg. 19–20 The Koch Web Sources of Data for Koch Foundation Grants The Foundations Claude R. Lambe Foundation Charles G. Koch Foundation David H. Koch Foundation Koch Foundations and Climate Denial pg. 21–28 Lobbying and Political Spending pg. 29–32 Federal Direct Lobbying Koch PAC Family and Individual Political Contributions Key Individuals in the Koch Web pg. 33 Sources pg. 34–43 Endnotes page 3 © illustration by Andrew Fournier/Greenpeace Mercatus Center Fraser Institute Americans for Prosperity Institute for Energy Research Institute for Humane Studies Frontiers of Freedom National Center for Policy Analysis Heritage Foundation American
    [Show full text]
  • Protecting Donor Privacy Philanthropic Freedom, Anonymity and the First Amendment
    Protecting Donor Privacy Philanthropic Freedom, Anonymity and the First Amendment www.PhilanthropyRoundtable.org www.ACReform.org Contents 1 Executive Summary 3 Introduction 3 A Rich Tradition and History of Anonymous Giving 7 A Constitutionally Protected Right 9 Activists and Attorneys General Threaten Donor Privacy 13 Legislators Seek to Undermine Anonymous Giving 14 Is Anonymity Still Needed? 16 Confusing Politics, Government, and Charity 18 Ideology and Donor Privacy 20 Donor Anonymity is Worth Protecting 22 Endnotes Executive Summary among them for supporters of unpopular causes or organizations is the reality that exposure will lead to harassment or threat The right of charitable donors to remain of retribution. anonymous has long been a hallmark of American philanthropy for donors both large Among the more prominent examples is the and small. Donor privacy allows charitable harassment of brothers Charles and David givers to follow their religious teachings, Koch, who have helped fund a broad range insulate themselves from retribution, avoid of nonprofit organizations ranging from unwanted solicitations, and duck unwelcome Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center publicity. It also upholds and protects important to the libertarian-oriented Cato Institute, as First Amendment rights of free speech and well as organizations that engage in political association. However, recent actions by activity. As a result of their giving, the Koch elected officials, activists, and organizations brothers and their companies routinely face are challenging this right and threatening death threats, cyber-attacks from the hacker to undermine private philanthropy’s ability group “Anonymous,” and boycotts aimed at to effectively address some of society’s most the many consumer products their companies challenging issues.
    [Show full text]
  • John Mccain: a Third Term for the Bush Agenda
    The McCain U Syllabus Table of Contents Introduction • MEMO: John McCain: A Third Term for the Bush Agenda Chapter 1: Economy • The Winning Argument: John McCain’s Economic Policies • REPORT: McCain Adopts ‘Entire’ Norquist Agenda, Will Double The Bush Tax Cuts • What You Need To Know About McCain’s Economic Plan • McCain Would Give America’s 200 Largest Corporations $45 Billion In Tax Breaks • McCain’s Budget Would Create Largest Deficit In 25 Years, Largest Debt Since WWII • Earmark Accounting Leaves Two Thirds Of McCain Tax Proposal Unfunded • Sen. McCain's HOME Plan: Late to the Party with a Flawed Plan • John and Cindy McCain would reap $373,429 if McCain’s tax proposal were enacted • Income Disparity And Wealth Consolidation Show Eerie Resemblances To 1928 • Ex-Reagan Official: McCain Claim On Corporate Expensing Is ‘So Intellectually Dishonest It’s Outrageous’ • Douglas Holtz-Eakin Vs. Douglas Holtz-Eakin On Corporate Expensing • The McCain Deficit: Douglas Holtz-Eakin Continues To Debate With Himself Chapter 2: Health care • The Winning Argument: John McCain’s Health Care Proposals • Elizabeth Edwards: Why Are People Like Me Left Out Of Your Health Care Proposal, Sen. McCain? • Elizabeth Edwards On The Inequitable Individual Market • What You Need To Know About McCain’s Health Care Plan • REPORT: McCain Plan Doles Out $2 Billion In Tax Cuts For The Biggest Health Insurers • John McCain’s Health Care Plan Means High Paperwork Costs • McCain’s Cost-Containment Plan: Reduce Access to Health Insurance • McCain’s Health Care Death
    [Show full text]
  • Threat from the Right Intensifies
    THREAT FROM THE RIGHT INTENSIFIES May 2018 Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................1 Meeting the Privatization Players ..............................................................................3 Education Privatization Players .....................................................................................................7 Massachusetts Parents United ...................................................................................................11 Creeping Privatization through Takeover Zone Models .............................................................14 Funding the Privatization Movement ..........................................................................................17 Charter Backers Broaden Support to Embrace Personalized Learning ....................................21 National Donors as Longtime Players in Massachusetts ...........................................................25 The Pioneer Institute ....................................................................................................................29 Profits or Professionals? Tech Products Threaten the Future of Teaching ....... 35 Personalized Profits: The Market Potential of Educational Technology Tools ..........................39 State-Funded Personalized Push in Massachusetts: MAPLE and LearnLaunch ....................40 Who’s Behind the MAPLE/LearnLaunch Collaboration? ...........................................................42 Gates
    [Show full text]
  • The Billionaire Behind Efforts to Kill the U.S. Postal Service by Lisa Graves/True North Research for in the Public Interest
    The Billionaire Behind Efforts to Kill the U.S. Postal Service By Lisa Graves/True North Research for In the Public Interest JULY 2020 About Lisa Graves Lisa Graves is the Executive Director of True North and its editor-in-chief. She has spearheaded several major breakthrough investigations into those distorting American democracy and public policy. Her research and analysis have been cited by every major paper in the country, and featured in critically acclaimed books and documentaries including Ava DuVernay’s “The 13th.” She has appeared frequently on MSNBC as a guest on Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell as well as on other MSNBC shows. She has also served as a guest expert on CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNBC, BBC, C-SPAN, Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now!, the Laura Flanders Show, and other news shows. She’s written for the New York Times, Slate, TIME, the Nation, In These Times, the Progressive, PRWatch, Common Dreams, Yes!, and other outlets. Her research is cited in major books such as Dark Money by Jane Mayer, Give Us the Ballot by Ari Berman, Corporate Citizen by Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, The Fall of Wisconsin by Dan Kaufman, and others. About In the Public Interest In the Public Interest is a research and policy center committed to promoting the common good and democratic control of public goods and services. We help citizens, public officials, advocacy groups, and researchers better understand the impacts that government contracts and public-private agreements have on service quality, democratic decision- making, and public budgets. Our goal is to ensure that government contracts, agreements, and related policies increase transparency, accountability, efficiency, and shared prosperity through the provision of public goods and services.
    [Show full text]
  • TEA Party Exposed by ANONYMOUS Political Party
    ANONYMOUS Political Party would like to take the pleasure to introduce The TEA Party /// Tobacco Everywhere Always this DOX will serve as a wake-up call to some people in the Tea Party itself … who will find it a disturbing to know the “grassroots” movement they are so emotionally attached to, is in fact a pawn created by billionaires and large corporations with little interest in fighting for the rights of the common person, but instead using the common person to fight for their own unfettered profits. The “TEA Party” drives a wedge of division in America | It desires patriots, militias, constitutionalists, and so many more groups and individuals to ignite a revolution | to destroy the very fabric of the threads which were designed to kept this republic united | WE, will not tolerate the ideologies of this alleged political party anymore, nor, should any other individual residing in this nation. We will NOT ‘Hail Hydra”! United as One | Divided by Zero ANONYMOUS Political Party | United States of America www.anonymouspoliticalparty.org Study Confirms Tea Party Was Created by Big Tobacco and Billionaires Clearing the PR Pollution That Clouds Climate Science Select Language ▼ FOLLOW US! Mon, 2013-02-11 00:44 BRENDAN DEMELLE SUBSCRIBE TO OUR E- Study Confirms Tea Party Was Created by Big NEWSLETTER Get our Top 5 stories in your inbox Tobacco and Billionaires weekly. A new academic study confirms that front 12k groups with longstanding ties to the tobacco industry and the billionaire Koch Like DESMOG TIP JAR brothers planned the formation of the Tea Help us clear the PR pollution that Party movement more than a decade clouds climate science.
    [Show full text]
  • Koch Industries, Inc. Strategie Corporate Research Report
    Office of Labor Education Research Cornell ILR School Koch Industries, Inc. Strategie Corporate Research Report Patrick Young, Ed Yoo, Robert Wesley Hannah, Iris Packman, and Jordan Wells Under the supervision of Kate Bronfenbrenner Labor Education Research Cornell University School of Labor and Industrial Relations June 2006 1. Executive Sum m ary...................................................................................... .................................. .1 1.1 Description of Firm and its Operations....,,.............................. ..................................................1 1.2 Profit Centers............... ............ .......... ....................................................................................... 1 1.3 Growth Plan................ ................................................................................................................ 1 1.4 Key Decision Makers...................................................................................................... ........... 2 1.5 Key relationships............... ............................................................................................. ............ 3 2. Introduction ............................ ............................ ........... ................................................................... 4 2.1 Basic information................................... ............................................. ........................ ............... 4 2.2 Company history.............................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • SUNDAY Grace Notes Column
    Eagles fall REMINISCE to Santa Rosa SUNDAY Grace Notes column ..........Page A-8 Oct. 5, 2008 ................................Page A-3 INSIDE Mendocino County’s World briefly The Ukiah local newspaper .......Page A-2 Monday: Sunny H 84º L 49º Tuesday: Sunny H 86º L 49º $1 tax included DAILY JOURNAL ukiahdailyjournal.com 36 pages, Volume 150 Number 179 email: [email protected] VIGILANT VOLUNTEERS: UKIAH VALLEY FIRE DISTRICT Governor Volunteers a ‘benevolent group’ signs crab Editor’s note: This is the sixth and final story in a Daily Journal series legislation published this week about local volun- teer fire departments in advance of The Daily Journal today’s fundraising concert with Kris SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Kristofferson at the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds. Schwarzenegger has signed into law Senate Bill (SB) 1690, legislation by Sen. Patricia Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa) By ZACK CINEK to improve safety conditions and pro- The Daily Journal tect resources in Northern California For Ukiah Valley Fire District crab fisheries. volunteer Jose Altamirano, it was SB 1690 gives authority to com- Hopland’s ‘volunteers wanted’ sign mercial crab fishermen to develop that brought him to Ukiah. solutions to problems in the industry Standing in Ukiah Valley’s that stem from increasing competition South State Street fire house, for crab. Altamirano on Friday morning “California has some of the most recalled the events that took him robust crab fisheries in the world,” from San Francisco to Ukiah at a Wiggins said. “But looming pressures, time when he was looking to get such as declining salmon runs, are into fire service.
    [Show full text]