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From : Lila Hayes
Sent : September 14, 2005
Subject : OFRG weekly update
Meeting Reminder
Our next get together will be on Sunday, September
25 at 2:00PM and will be hosted by Cindy LeClair. She lives at 3515
El Camino.
If you live within walking distance of this
address, please consider taking us on a short walking tour... even if you're
house is not complete. We love seeing the construction process and it
helps us all to know that some people are still working on it!
---
Index
1. SB2 Passes and awaits the Governor's
signature
2. City of San Bernardino to create a
proclamation for the OFRG
3. San Bernardino Symphony Fundraiser
"Out of the Ashes"
---
In the News
1. California Earthquake Could Be the Next
Katrina, Sep 8, 2005, LA Times
2. Workers collect
seeds to boost reforestation, Sep 12, 2005, The Riverside
Press-Enterprise
3. Can history repeat here?, Sep 11,
2005, The Riverside Press-Enterprise
4. A foundation -- and hope
-- takes shape, Sep 13, 2005, The Riverside
Press-Enterprise
5. First Flight Since Katrina Brings Travelers
Together, Sep 14, 2005, LATimes Staff Writer
6.
Figuring out tax relief rules for damages in times of disaster, Sep
11, 2005, LA Times
7. Insurers Say Hurricane Losses Could Be
Worse Than Expected, Sep 13, 2005, LA Times, From
Reuters
8. Tax Q&A for houses destroyed by disaster, Sep 4, 2005, San Diego Union Tribune
9. Experts question
preparedness, Sep 14, 2005, San Diego Union Tribune from
ASSOCIATED PRESS
---
On The Web
1. "Adopt a family" from Hurricane Katrina
area
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1.
SB2 Passes and awaits the Governor's
signature
---
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tracy
Fairchild
September 7,
2005
(916) 651-4008
Speier Bill To Protect Homeowners After Natural Disasters
Passes Final Senate Vote, Moves To Governor's Desk
SACRAMENTO--Homeowners who must rely upon their
insurance policies after a natural disaster would be better protected under SB 2
by Senator Jackie Speier, which passed the State Senate tonight on a bipartisan
25-13 vote. SB 2 now goes to the Governor for signature.
"Anyone watching the aftermath of the Gulf Coast's
destruction on television sees that first you get hammered by nature, and then
you can get hammered by inadequate insurance coverage," said Speier (D-San
Francisco/San Mateo). "Natural disasters cause people to incur huge
additional living expenses, which is why SB 2 would give California homeowners
up to 24 months, rather than the normal 12 months in most policies, to receive
reimbursement for additional living expenses after a declared natural
disaster."
SB 2 is legislation suggested by survivors of
Southern California's 2003 wildfires during Senate Insurance Committee hearings
Speier held in San Diego last year. Fire survivors from San Diego also
came to the Capitol at their own expense to speak passionately in support of the
bill many times during this legislative session.
"I am hopeful that the Governor will sign SB 2,
which will give every homeowner some peace of mind that their insurance will be
there when they need it most-after a major disaster," added Speier.
--
If you'd like to send letter's voicing your
opinion, please send them to:
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
c/o Cynthia
Bryant
Governor’s Office
State Capitol, CA 95814
---
2.
City of San Bernardino to present a proclamation for the
OFRG
---
This Monday, September 19 at 3PM at the city
council chambers, the city council will be presenting a proclamation to the Old
Fire Recovery Group. We'd love to see you there!
---
3. San Bernardino Symphony Fundraiser "Out of the
Ashes"
---
The San Bernardino Symphony
Orchestra is having their 4th annual home tour fundraiser this October
16, 2005. This year it will not only feature the home of Mayor Valles, but
also the homes of three fire survivors.
For more information, call the Symphony office
at (909) 381-5388, or visit
1. "Adopt a family" from Hurricane Katrina
area
Our goal is to connect families in need with those
who can help. When you Adopt-A-Family, you get to sponsor a family in
need. Once you receive information on your family, you are
then able to send care packages and write encouraging letters directly to
them. The affected shelters we have helped, say that "this is exactly what
these families need, a little personal touch from the outside
world."
We are NOT trying to supply their basic needs like
food water and clothing, but we are trying to fill the human need to reach out
and help with care and compassion,
---
In The News (some
links might require free registration)
---
1. California Earthquake Could Be the
Next Katrina
By Jia-Rui Chong and Hector
Becerra, LA
Times Staff Writers
September 8,
2005
U.S. Geological Survey
seismologist Lucy Jones remembers attending an emergency training session in
August 2001 with the Federal Emergency Management Agency that discussed the
three most likely catastrophes to strike the United States.
First on the
list was a terrorist attack in New York. Second was a super-strength hurricane
hitting New Orleans. Third was a major earthquake on the San Andreas
fault.
-
2. Workers collect seeds to boost reforestation
A BUMPER CROP: A
large pine-cone yield is good news for San Bernardino National Forest
officials.
08:20 AM PDT on
Monday, September 12, 2005
By SEAN NEALON / The
Press-Enterprise
It's pine cone season,
and pine trees throughout the San Bernardino National Forest are producing the
best pine-cone crop in 20 years, forestry officials said.
Their timing couldn't be
better.
Wildfire, drought and
bark beetle infestation have killed millions of trees in the national forest
during the past several years. And poor pine-cone crops during the past two
decades have diminished reserves of pine-cone seeds that are used for
reforestation projects.
-
3. Can history repeat here?
Inland Southern Californians know their own Katrina is
possible. Will the region be ready for the epic earthquake, cataclysmic wildfire
or terror attack that may one day come?
01:02 AM PDT on Sunday, September 11, 2005
The Press-Enterprise
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina,
Inland residents and public officials want to know: Is the region ready for its
own major disaster -- earthquake, flood, wildfire or terrorist attack -- that
could kill or injure tens of thousands, flatten buildings, crumple freeways,
silence telephones and snap waterlines?
Survivors would find limited food,
medicine and water and no cash for supplies if ATM's aren't working.
-
4. A
foundation -- and hope -- takes shape
From the
Ashes
11:13 PM PDT on
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
By DEVONA WELLS / The
Press-Enterprise
With barely enough light to see, Steve Ewing
dragged a long, black hose across his Waterman Canyon lot.
He hoisted it to the top of a 9-foot wood
wall he hopes will mold the back edge of the foundation for his new home. Not
even 7 a.m., fog pushed up the foothills north of San Bernardino and settled
over what trees remain almost two years after Steve and JoDee Ewing lost their
home to the Old Fire.
-
5. First Flight Since Katrina Brings
Travelers Together
By P.J. Huffstutter,
LATimes Staff Writer
Sep 14,
2005
NEW ORLEANS — When the pilot of Northwest Airlines Flight 947
advised passengers Tuesday morning that they might be able to see the
devastation of the Gulf Coast from the left side of the plane, Katie Swing
jumped up and raced across the aisle.
-
6. Figuring out tax relief
rules for damages in times of disaster
LA Times
By Kenneth R. Harney, Washington Post
Writers Group
September 11, 2005
WASHINGTON — The cataclysmic losses
Hurricane Katrina inflicted on Gulf Coast property owners shine fresh light on a
murky corner of the federal tax code: write-offs for storm damages to
homes.
-
7. Insurers Say Hurricane Losses Could Be
Worse Than Expected
LA Times, From Reuters
Sep 13, 2005
Insurers assessing their losses from Hurricane Katrina
are now saying damage could be worse than previously expected, and Standard
& Poor's is threatening to downgrade 10 large insurance groups.
Swiss
Re on Monday doubled its expected bill from the disaster to $1.2 billion, and
rival reinsurer Munich Re said Sunday that its claims bill would rise above
initial estimates.
-
8. Tax Q&A for houses destroyed by
disaster
September 4, 2005
San Diego Union Tribune
REAL ESTATE NOTEBOOK ROBERT J.
BRUSS
Fire replacement
You recently replied to a homeowner who bought a house for
$200,000, tore it down, and built a new house costing $400,000 for construction.
You said his basis is $600,000. My question is, when a house is totally
destroyed by fire and the insurance company will pay me the full replacement
cost, which is much higher than my original purchase price, will my basis cost
for my new house be my original purchase price plus the cost of the new house?
No. Taxwise, a fire loss is an involuntary conversion. But tearing down an
existing old house and building a new one is voluntary. The tax result is
completely different.
[more
HERE]
(scroll to middle of page)
-
9. Experts question preparedness
By Erica Werner
ASSOCIATED PRESS (as published in the San Diego Union
Tribune
1:04 p.m. September 14, 2005
WASHINGTON – As many as 18,000 people dead. More than $250
billion in damages. Hundreds of thousands of people left homeless.
That's not the latest estimate of Hurricane Katrina's toll on
the Gulf Coast. That's a worst-case scenario if a major earthquake were to hit
Los Angeles.
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