california are less healthy. do you have an explanation for that? >> i do. if you can bear with me, we will get there. what i do want to mention next is one of the big drivers in health care. if we look at the amount that wages and salaries have grown in the health-care market compared to other industries -- and health care market has grown significantly. we believe a big part of that has to do with the shortages we have seen in the market for skilled labor. here is where we start to go down -- supervisor campos: do those labor costs include health care? health care costs as well? >> yes, all salaries and benefits. supervisor campos: that is an important point. to the extent you are saying salaries are going up, but a reason is the cost of health care, which is the focus of this discussion, and that is an important differentiation. >> actually, i'd think what i said is part of the reason they are going up is because of the shortage of workers. so let's take a look at what california spends. i will drill down into

activity among hospitals in california. we will let the facts speak to the case. we do not represent sutter. we do not represent them legally and we are not taking a position and legally. we do not know the facts. the facts will come out in the judicial system. supervisor campos: i agree with that. we have to allow the court proceedings take place, but we, as policy-makers, are being asked to make important decisions. one of the things that the complaint points out is a certain type of agreement, or agreements, between sutter and the insurance companies -- this is what the complaint says. "contains provisions which prevent health-care insurers, referred to as payers in the agreement, from challenging the reasonableness of the sutter hospital bill." this is accomplished through audit policies. these policies provide that question an opinion regarding medical necessity, reasonable of charges and the propriety of providers's usual and customary practices are beyond the scope of an audit and shall not be part of any audit permi

has benefited california health- care consumers. that consolidation and other actions have reduced that competition and it has led to higher prices and increase spending as a result. policies are needed to restore competition, to the competitive structure of the health-care system. research shows that hospital price competition benefiting california health care consumers, in terms of increased efficiency, lower prices, and ultimately, lower health insurance premium growth. the way that health care price competitions, one of the main factors, that has been used by health plans representing consumers, employers, negotiate with health care providers selectively to negotiate their inclusion in health plans, and that one of the factors included in that negotiation is the price. so the ability of health plans to selectively contract from a range of different providers created this environment of price competition, which encouraged providers to compete both on price and cost efficiencies. that has held cost and prices down for quite a whil

>> california watch did contact mr. vale. he declined an interview but said that he felt that this was sort of an attempt to smear him, this was all in the past and that everybody had moved on interest this years ago. >> in the course of reporting these stories, did anybody on the inside from the state, from the school districts, from the department of education, anywhere say to you, you've got to really look at this, this is a problem? because we hear a lot of excuses being made, a lot of fingers being pointed as well toward others, but who took responsibility? >> as you know, california watch has a team of reporters working on this project so for example, main reporter cory johnson was hearing from people inside dsa, either current or former dsa officials who were saying, look, there are problems but politically we can't get them out there, we can't talk publicly about them. >> what does that mean? >> that they felt like they wanted to talk about the fact that the bureaucracy in many ways was getting in the way of safety. b

california statutes are of father genepos era and thomas king, credited for keeping california in theunion. the state legislature passed a joint resolution to replace the star king statute with one of ronald reagan. star king's admirers say they didn't even have a chance to comment. >> star king was not only a minister but an activist and a naturalist. he wrote wonderful stories back east about taking trips around the bay and seeing the muster flowers in bloom. and about the sierra and he was an activist who really cared about holding california in the union during the civil war and preventing the importation of slaves into the central valley where the growers wanted to bring them to raise their cotton. king raised over half the money that was raised in this country to establish the united states senatary commission which is the beginning of the red cross. >>> when we come back on a second look. raising the war submarine that made history. >>> a bit later, how the civil war played a role in the naming of a san francisco landmark. >>> in august 1863 a confederate vessel made history. t

>> comg up next on "california country.. it's crunch time as we dig up what goes into one of our favorite snacks... and you don't even have to leave your car to see how farming is blossoming in one part of the state this time of year... then we put the "fun" back ifungi with tips from an expert. it's all ahead and starts now. [captioninmade possible by california farm bureau federation] >> welcome to the show. i'm your host tracy llers. we're in the beautiful mountains of el dorado county today, which is just a short drive away from sacramento. andhat brings us to our first story. if you're anything like me, you've probably consumed this next produce item at let once this week. that's because it's been called america's favorite vegeble. but we like to call it a reason to get our hands dirty and meet some real potato pioneers. with their adaptability and versatility, it's wonder potatoes are a fan favorite. bad, mashed, diced, or scalloped, no matter how you slice it, from potato chips to french fries d almost anything in bet

[captionibg made possible by california farm bureau federation] >> coming up on "california country," see how one farmer is breaking bread with his customers, literally. then we offer an ode to olives thanks to this historic company. and see how salads are getting a makeofer thanks to these long-time farmers. plus see how your flowers get from the field to the florist. it's all ahead, and it starts now. nestled into the hills of the quiet little town of ojai is where you'll find the rio gozo farm. "rio," which means river in spanish, and "gozo," which means joy, is run by former chef and now full-time farmer john fonteyn. and if you watch him work long enough, you'll realize just how much gozo is actually flowing around these parts. >> good morning. >> you, too. how are you all? i mean, my first love qith food wap really preparing food and cooking it. i just kind of felt like since food was a relationship i'm gonna have my whole life, and one i check in with 3 times a day, that it'd be good to really kind of explore it deeper. >> and john gets to explore his love f@r food every day, n

i'm dennis newhall for "california country." >> that concludes today's tour of the best of "california country." join us next time for more undiscovered treasures from the most fascinating state in the country. [captioning made possible by california farm bureau federation] [captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--]

welcome to this week in northern california.oining me tonight on our news panel are david bacon, associate editor, new america media. victoria colliver, health care reporter for the "san francisco chronicle." rachel gordon, city hall reporter also with the chronicle. and carla marinucci, senior political writer with the "san francisco chronicle." so carla you heard it. the governor said i'm going to find a way. to get a budget. what is he going to do? >> you heard his youtube message which came out on monday. this situation is just ugly, ugly, ugly. no other way around it. we were here just last week in this very chair. it looked like the republicans and brown were talking and things were going to get done. on monday, he came out with the youtube message. suspended all the talks with the republicans and said i just don't know what they want anymore. they don't seem to know what they want anymore. in fact, the republicans have put out a list of what they wanted. 53 items. seven pages including things like county fair management a

that's what we used in this california assessment. for the scenarios they were all down scaled to twelve kilometers covering california and nevada. it's not totally adequate and i'm not saying this is a solved problem. the premium grape growers want to know what's going on in napa, valley but for a lot of water related problems i think we're okay. [inaudible] >> what's the long-term climate - >> hopefully, we get on to that green emissions trajectory which would have co2 levels leveling off and declining. there's a lot of inertia in the system. we all have cars and you can't change power plants overnight and et cetera, et cetera. but in fact the earth response to climate is not going to make too much difference until about the middle part of the century between all those scenarios. through 2050 a climate model is sort of a climate model no whatter what you do with it. in fact if you stop all , co2 emissions today. fossil fuel is the reason it's increasing because fossil means it's stored in the ground and now we're putting it in the a

cree que esta vez, la ley de los suenos de california tiene posibilidades de ser una realidad? los gigantes dieron cuenta de los dodgers de los angeles al ganar dos de tres juegos... ---4 a tres fue el resultado final del partido que se desarrollo esta noche en el at&t park... ---con estos triunfos los gigantes se prepara a enfrentar a los diamonbacks de arizona. stop open cu --- sabia usted sobre los modernos ultrasonidos a los que les llaman "de 3 dimensiones", y que permiten ver la carita del bebe, en el vientre de la mam? ----- alfonso gutierrez nos habla sobre este tema, y nos va a decir si son buenos o no para la salud tanto de la madre como para el bebe. take pkg ----esta pareja espera ansiosamente los resultados de su primer ultrasonido. ellos estan sumamente felices... no solo porque se van a enterar del sexo de su bebe, sino tambien porque podran ver claramente su pequena nariz, su boquita, y cada una de sus facciones. antes esto era imposible, ya que los ultrasonidos solo mostraban borrosas imagenes a blanco y negro. pero esto ha cambiado gracias al innovador ultraso

our next speaker is the president of the university of california. responsible for a university system that spans 10 campuses across the state and includes five medical centers and three affiliated national laboratories. since taking office in 2008, he has been a great champion for innovation in science and health, and we're very pleased to have him join us here this morning. [applause] >> dean, thank you very much. i want to welcome everyone to this great event today. we have so many distinguished guests today, and it really is an honor to be here. as i look out through the roof of our tent here, it is absolutely stunning engineering and architectural achievements. i'm a lawyer. i'm not sure why it stays up, but it does. [laughter] what is really important is what goes on inside, and i predict that the innovations and scientific brilliance that will go on inside the building will match the architectural and engineering achievements. with all the hand-wringing brought on by california's budget woes, it is sometimes very easy to get -- to forget that

procedente de dor de california el gobernador de california, jerry brown, promulgó una ley fe vanguardiaes uso de compaÑias más detalles. >>> de acuerdo a nueva el s ue islación el 33% de las compañias, podrían venir dilo sol y viento, también crearía más trabajos indicaron. >>> con su firma el gobernador california daba luz verde a una ley única en estados unidos, que da plazo hasta el año 2020 obtener 33% de la energía renovable. >>> el gobernador el gobernador de california, jerry brown, dijo que california es un líder en el país y estados unidos en líder del mundo es un desafío porque china esta en la cabeza de la producción de energía, solar. >>> la ceremonia fue en san power (hablan en inglés) . >>> el senador, autor la ley, manifestó que este nuevo compromiso con la energía renovable es una buenas noticias para california significa hay re más limpio significa que se hará algo en relación al cambio de tiempo y también que se va a crear más empleo. >>> quién apoyan la nueva legislación, dijo que permitirá aumentar la confianza de los inversionistas. >>> con el apoyo del gobierno pod

what's the biggest lesson for california in all of this? >> i don't know. that's up to california. it seems like one of the less lessons we learned is it's crucial to be strong in the sense, do not give out too many allowances for free. that's the biggest temptation here. the industry would like to have a lot of allowances for free. >> sure. >> definitely. and in the first period europe gave out too many allowances for free. that was one of the lessons learned. >> industry would rather not pay for permission to put carbon into the air? >> fair enough. they are business. they want to be able to emit as cheap as possible. the whole idea in this system is that it is not just a tax. that is the difference for just having a tax. that the advantage of a cap and trade system is you also cap emissions. you make it attractive to emit less. you make an incentive for those who are very energy efficient, it pays off to be very energy efficient, whereas it is very expensive to be very inefficient. that is the whole idea behind this system. >> does it make sense, though, for california to go it

-- in northern california between 1990 and 2010. thank you for being here today. >> [inaudible] supervisor campos: [laughter] yes. >> [inaudible] oh, thank you. hello again. in the co-director of the center for policy analysis. i have a doctorate and master's degree in public health. i believe the reason -- the reason i'm here today as i have worked on health care reform at the national level in the u.s. senate and the 1990's and more recently on this effort. also here in san francisco in the 1980's between the master's and ph.d. in the senate, i helped organize a group in san francisco called the community health coalition, which advocated for the department of public health's budget. i share with some of the people in this room is a memory of some of the hospitals and capacity that i'm going to talk to you about. i'm really just going to remind us what hospital capacity use to look like and what it looks like now, largely to make the point that as we started discussing, the issues of cost and quality are not going to be resolved s

one of california's largest industries. but each year, public defenders and private providers of quality defense battle for every dollar needed to protect this constitutional right. the bar association of san francisco is committed to partnerering with, not competing with our public defenders. san francisco fortunate to have a strong public defender and a bar system committed to quality representation for the poor. to best guarantee quality indigent defense, our partnership with the public defender and bar association is essential. they are each other's complements. the sum of the part that makes the whole of criminal defense work so well in san francisco. a challenge for our profession will be to ensure that cities and counties fighting seemingly endless budget deficits do not fall prey to the burgeoning business offered through websites of contract services for criminal defense. our constitution mandates that people accused of crimes be represented by comp at the present time council. not the last expensive council. on a

one is coming to california to make its permanent home.ce shuttle "endeavour" is coming to california to make its final home. the discovery will go to the smithsonian in northern virginia. the enterprise to the intrepid sea air and space museum in atlantic city. and the atlantis will stay in florida at the kennedy space center. the decision comes after the anniversary of the first flight. >>> a human being first traveled to outer space. today marks the anniversary of the historic mission on april 12, 1961. people all over the world are marking the day with celebrations. here in the united states, many are gathering at their local science museums and obser observatories where people are still in awe of the man-made feat. >> it's a huge risk. this was a very brave man who got inside and blasted off into space. >> he is on the books as the only space flight. >>> what is your favorite viral video? we have a look for which one is up for a webby. >>> 150th anniversary of the start of the civil war. we take a look at the unique bay area connectio

bill you heard things like the ride isn't going to end anytime soon for some at least those in california we'll show you just how much the golden state is losing its shine. and the verdict is in a russian pilot arrested in liberia is found guilty of drug trafficking by a court here in the united states so what exactly is the u.s. involvement in the first. first it was libya and now syria finds itself in the middle of deadly violence so what's the criteria for u.s. intervention we'll take a look at cherry picking in the arab spring. is thursday april twenty eighth four pm in washington d.c. i'm christine for is now for watching our team. well our top story today some disturbing numbers out about the economy when it comes to jobs recovery it has been a bumpy ride i know one of those fun rides it's been a slow and unpredictable one last week applications for unemployment benefits jumped to four hundred twenty nine thousand that's an increase of twenty five thousand making it the high. is total since late january while there still is some positive growth it seems to be just going a little too

in california, those laws are pretty heavily regulated. for example, the private screening firms cannot report of arrests -- or they are not supposed to -- and i cannot report convictions going back more than seven years. federal law does not even close, not nearly as good. that is consumer protection law. then, applicants are entitled not to report arrest on an application, so we are very familiar with lots of good laws on the books that are never enforced. the real challenge is to get about enforcing these laws. i do not know if you want to talk about it -- >> tell us about what is next. how can we be successful in taking -- you mentioned there are some good laws on the books. do we -- do they go far enough? how can we take it further? how can we essentially this reform? this seems to be critical. >> we had this huge proliferation of background checks. this huge proliferation of this industry that is collecting all these criminal records, and you have way more people walking around with a criminal record. one in five, as was mentioned. s

i have an exand pl in california that's local to the san francisco, puc, the california commission has listed grant under their renewable fuels program and they are reported to supply several millions of dollars to demonstrate the viability of product that can be commercialized. all the good establishments in urban areas to convert to bio diesel fuel. these collaborative opportunities are available and have been used for many years now throughout the various states and, i think the opportunity is right in front of us to take advantage of these opportunities. in this particular case you have the state of california, you have the region nine, epa, so you have a regulator, san francisco ucuc. all contributing to funds offered by the california commission. so i'd like to suggest that we, as a group here, recognize that those opportunities are out there and that we leverage those opportunitys for the sake of reducing the carbon footprint and if we do that, these are near turn gains we can do as we get to the long-term as far as uncertainties and hydrological issues that might take a longer

california watch reporter mr. johnson. >> there's upwards to 20,000 school projects that do not conform to these field standards. >>reporter: not just small districts like this one. los angeles unified school district finished this new middle school just 6 years ago. yet state records indicate that huge window wall 3 stories high may not be properly anchored and could pose a risk to students in a quake. when california watch reporter went to ask district officials for answers escort them off campus. >>reporter: not a perfect system on any part. dsa officials concede the thousands of school projects lack state certification. spokesman l claims most are simply missing paperwork. >> at this point we don't believe that any of those projects pose a significant threat. >>reporter: but some experts like earthquake engineer consultant peter yarn aren't convinced. >> obviously the system is not doing the job. >>reporter: this report from 2006 said some school project were completed without adequate oversight. sometimes wit

and northern california are real. i just wanted to reassure you that we have seen the same thing. when we look at our kaiser data and to our kaiser rate renewals, those costs are divided between northern california costs and southern california costs, and you see the same variation. there is no coherent rationale for why costs vary between facilities or side of service. as you pointed out in your remarks this morning, you could look at the same procedure in the same locale and see those prices vary from 2.5 to three times more between one facility and another in the same geographic area, and we have found no rationale that allows that to be explained. i want to pause here from my prepared remarks to talk about the colonoscopy benefits. you will probably hear about our hips and knees referenced by saying, and i'll be happy to talk about it, but also in the blue shield plan, we did implement a colonoscopy benefit, whereby if a member seeks their colonoscopy from an ambulatory surgery centers, they do not have a share of

--la multa fue sugerida por la comisin de prcticas polticas honestas de california...o que funcionarios electos acepten boletos gratis de empresas que tienen negocios en la ciudad. stop for open ! take vo ---- una semana despus de que unas 700 organizacione s noticiosas en mxico acordaran lineamientos para cubrir el narcotrafico, el pacto sigue generando controversia.. ----- ste, detalla estndares para mostrar imgenes violentas como cuerpos decapitados, y pide proveer ms contexto a la informacin y evitar glorificar a los capos de la droga.. -- -- la narco-violencia ha dejado 35 mil muertos en los ltimos aÑos. -- -- las principales cadenas de televisin se apuntaron al acuerdo.. pero varios medios, incluyendo reforma, la jornada y proceso se abstuvieron por considerar que se presta para la censura... cu ----muy bien: de esta nota se desprende el tema de opinion de la noche. ----cree que algunas organizaciones periodisticas en mexico se estan censurando al aceptar estos lineamientos? ---o piensa que esta decision est bien? ---- llamenos al 1 - 866 - 229 - 4848 0 escribano

the california economy over the last, say, 20 years has been bigger in california.owth than texas. >> assemblyman said the texas jobs aren't just minimum wage jobs. ebay announced they are hiring pay pal employees in austin, not california. >>> abc7 news. >>> what officials hope will be a new beginning tore a blighted area of san francisco has begun in earn e one day of a supervisors approved a plan to deep toyter from leaving the city. others toured the neighborhood and announced another high profile tenant is also moving in. >> its time for twitter to meet the neighbors. the company is expected to transform san francisco's mid-market corridor, which has been down-and-out for decades. >> it's been a challenge for everybody to activate this area. now we have what i consider a powerful tool. >> the tool is what san franciscos supervisors approved a six year moratorium on payroll taxes for new employees. >> the city has laid out railroad cleanly the benefits that it is going to have for the entire community. the benefits it will have for all businesses that moving to

read california watch report at california watch.org or on our web site. >> law makers in sacramento are considering a bill requiring city and counties to prove that red late camera are installed for safety purposes and not to generate revenue. city and private company that administer red light camera programs are expected to oppose the measure. intersection was those camera would have to be marked and measure would also set up tougher rules about notifying those caught on camera running red lights. also calls for city to test the camera to make sure they are accurate and keep track of whether they actually help prevent accidents. >> tanning bed seen resurgence in popularity. sarah palin put one in the governor mansion in alaska. and then there's reality star snookie jersey j shore fame every home should have one but they increase the risk of skin cancer especially for young people. britain just banned them for teenagers and as lindsay reports, california lawmakers may be set to follow that lead. >>reporter: the bright bold color of prom season are back. when tan skin is often the ac

coming up, we will take you to the northern california cherry blossom festival.stay with us. >>> thousands of people turned out today for the annual northern california cherry blossom festival in san francisco's japan town. ♪ >> this is the 44th year people of all ages enjoyed the festivities, celebrating japanese culture with food, live bands and cultural performances. this is said to be the second largest cherry blossom festival outside of washington, d.c. if you missed it today, you can check it all out tomorrow. there were a lot of people enjoying fine food, wine and music while raising money to help earthquake relief efforts in japan. yoshi abouts jazz club in san francisco teamed up with several other restaurants to host. one of the chefs was in japan when last month's deadly quake and tsunami strong. the general council of japan also attended the fundraiser. all of the proceeds from the event will go to the red cross efforts in japan. is it for abc 7 news. hope to see you back here at 11:00. don't forget for news 24/7, abc7.com. captioned by closed caption

and southern california. in fact, in a recent article, the "los angeles times" reported that where hospitals in san francisco get on average $7,349 per patient per day, hospitals in los angeles county by comparison only receive $4,389. that is about $3,000 in difference. in san bernardino county, the figure is actually $3,931. both aetna inc. and blue shield say they charge higher rates to customers in northern california. they actually acknowledge that. then they do customers in southern california. aetna charges 30% more. blue shield says it charges up to 40% more. that comes directly from them. the issue becomes especially urgent, as the city has before it a proposal by one of the hospitals, by california pacific medical center, to build a 555- bed hospital in the cathedral hill. let me be clear -- the focus of this hearing is not that project. that project is going through the approval process and will duly come before the planning commission and the board of supervisors, and we, as members of the board,

california is serious about going green. governor jerry brown, signing into law a sweeping energy panel while in the south pay. brown toured a milpitas plant that makes sun solar panels. he wants california to green in more ways than one. panels made at this plant can help california meet that goal. the governor says renewable energy is good for the environment and the economy. >> every time you fill your car with oil, you're sending money out of the country. to the middle east, to venezuela, somewhere. every time you invest in a solar plant, you're buying sun, mediated through california industry. >> more good news here. secretary of energy steven choo is offering a conditional commitment. $1.2 billion lone. a guarantee for california solar ranch progress. that will generate 350 new jobs. >>> next at 11:00 the jump at the pump. why your gas prices have taken off. and when they might go down. >>> the first, you know, they got married. it didn't work out. and you move on. and they have kids. >> the changing face of the family

a la educacion propuestos por el gobernador de california. --beatriz ferrari nos cuenta que pidieron hoy los integrantes de la asociacion estatal de maestros para evitar una catastrofe financiera que estrangule diversos servicios publicos.... beatriz. en la conferencia de hoy, lanzaron un llamado de alerta acerca de las serias consecuencias que tendria la reduccion de fondos en el funcionamiento y eficiencia de escuelas, seguridad publica y servicios comunitarios en general coalición de profesores ofreció una conferencia en santa clara ante un estado de emergencia en california si no se mantienen los fondo que habían establecido, anteriormente. >>> la consecuencia de una baja en los ingresos serían serias. >>> tendremoss muchos niños en cada clase. >>> para nosotros es problema para hacer nuestro trabajo. >>> (hablan en inglés) . >>> por su parte un bombero de san josé, decía que si hay recortes la comunidad estaría en un mayor peligro. >>> hoy pormetieron seguir con mano fifestaciones para hacer llegar sumen eje a la autoridades. >>> con vis