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Saturday, December 25, 2010 – Daily News – 7A San Francisco to enact law requiring local hires SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco is about enact one of the nation’s toughest ordinances requiring city officials to hire locally. Under the ordinance, city contractors and sub- contractors working on city-funded construction projects worth $400,000 or more would be required to hire at least 20 percent of its workers from San Francisco. That percentage will increase until it reaches 50 percent in seven years. Contractors who be forced to pay penalties if they don’t meet the requirement. Neighboring counties objected to the measure, saying it would hurt workers there. Mayor Gavin Newsom declined to veto the mea- sure Thursday, meaning that it will go into effect next year. Newsom expressed his concerns in the letter to supervisors and says the city should work with neighboring counties. MUD Continued from page 1A lars and expected to rise. A state of emer- gency was declared in a total of 11 counties, including Los Angeles, Orange and Santa Bar- bara. The inland region of Southern California east of Los Angeles emerged as among the hardest hit, especially San Bernardino County. In Highland, people were literally chased from their homes by walls of mud and water, leaving behind dwellings strung with holiday lights. They returned Thursday to find their neighborhood inundated with mud. Five homes were destroyed and nearly 70 others damaged. Highland officials estimated the storm caused $17.2 million damage to homes, cars and a bridge that was washed away. Work crews tried to reopen more than a dozen canyon and mountain roads that were closed by slides and floods. Reopening times were listed simply as ‘‘unknown’’ for most. Ibeth Garcia returned to her home surrounded by mud 4 feet deep to retrieve Christmas pre- sents and clothes left behind when her family fled a dirty torrent. ‘‘We left with just our shoes, cell phones and car keys,’’ said Garcia, 26. ‘‘We didn’t have time for anything else.’’ They found a light coating of mud inside the house and consid- ered themselves lucky — some neighboring homes were uninhabit- able. In neighboring River- side County, the damage estimate was nearing $30 million. In Orange County, spokesman Howard Sutter issued a preliminary damage estimate of $23 million. Along the coast in the county, the upscale community of Laguna Beach suffered an esti- mated $4 million in damage to 46 businesses and 20 homes. A section of the city’s JOLLY Continued from page 1A word – often misunder- stood. Usually we don’t believe in things we can’t prove, but we fail to see the tangible outcome of that same belief. Adults claim they no longer believe in me, yet they see the joy on young faces Christmas morning and have no trouble believing in that. We have trouble justifying the cause, but none accepting the effect. The true magic of Christmas lives in the hearts and eyes of those who believe. DN: Powerful stuff, Santa. On a lighter note, you receive treats – typi- cally milk and cookies – at most of your stops on Christmas. Can you speak to those you receive in Tehama Coun- ty over other communi- popular beachfront park was washed away, leav- ing chunks of mud and a gaping open space where green grass had been the day before. Roads also remained a problem. Crews shut sections of Pacific Coast Highway in Los Angeles and Orange counties to remove loose rocks and clean up mudflow from hillsides. Further inland, rock and mudslides forced the closure of five state routes in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The rain also washed trash, pesticides and bacteria into waterways, prompting health warn- ings. Four beaches were closed in Northern Cali- fornia’s San Mateo County, and another 12 miles of beach from Laguna Beach to San Clemente in Orange County were off-limits because of sewer over- flows. Curtis Duran, 45, and his two children strolled the trash-strewn beach in Long Beach and sur- veyed debris carried to the shoreline by the Los Angeles River. Cans, baseballs, plas- tic bottles and even a baby’s high chair sat on the sand mixed with piles of discarded wood and shards of plastic. ‘‘We come down here all the time, and I’ve never seen so much,’’ Duran said. In the Central Valley agricultural region, Tulare County officials said farms and dairies had been hard hit by flooding. About 300 homes were damaged, and 25 roads remained closed. Allison Lambert, information officer for health and human ser- vices, said preliminary damage estimates ranged beyond $30 mil- lion. About 25 homes sus- tained damage in Kern County at the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, while a highway through the Kern River canyon was expected to remain closed through the end of the year after ‘‘truck-sized rocks’’ were washed onto it, fire spokesman Sean Collins said. ties you visit? SC: I always enjoy my time in Tehama County because of the good, old fashioned treats I find. I do appreciate a handful of carrots for the rein- deer, but some homes in other parts of the state seem to care only about the reindeer — offering rice cakes and soy milk. Healthy snacks are great, but it’s a long night and some milk and cookies go a long way. DN: Santa, I want to thank you for your time. I know it’s a busy day for you and I appreciate you carving out a few minutes to speak with our read- ers. SC: It’s my pleasure. And just a note for all the non-believers out there, I hope you have the chance to spend Christmas with a child who still believes. It is in that child’s joy that you will see me. Merry Christmas. Courtesy photos Mrs. Moisey’s Bidwell kindergarten students, three preschoolers and two older brothers ring the bell for Salvation army to kick off the Christmas season. Holiday 2010: The year shoppers came back NEW YORK (AP) — Shoppers came back in force for the holidays, right to the very end. After two dreary years, Christmas 2010 will go down as the moment when Americans rediscovered how much they like to shop. People spent more than expected on family and friends and splurged on themselves, too, an ingredient missing for the past two Christmases. Clothing such as fur vests and beaded sweaters replaced practical items like pots and pans. Even the family dog is getting a lit- tle something extra. ‘‘You saw joy back in the holiday season,’’ said Sherif Mityas, partner in the retail practice at A.T. Kear- ney. A strong Christmas Eve rounded out a great season for retailers. The National Retail Federation predicts that holiday spending will reach $451.5 billion this year, up 3.3 percent over last year. That would be the biggest increase since 2006, and the largest total since a record $452.8 billion in 2007. And a strong week after Christmas could make this shopping season the biggest of all time. Final figures won’t be available until next week. The economy hasn’t drastically improved from last year. Unemployment is 9.8 percent, credit remains tight and the housing market is moribund. But recent eco- nomic reports suggest employers are laying off fewer workers, and businesses are ordering more computers and appliances. Shoppers are spending with more con- fidence. ‘‘I was unemployed last year, so I’m feeling better,’’ said Hope Jackson, who was at Maryland’s Mall in Columbia on Friday morning. Jackson bought laptops and PlayStation 2 games for her three daughters earlier in the season but was at the mall on Christmas Eve to grab $50 shirts marked down to $12 at Aeropostale. Much of the spending growth has been online, driven by more free shipping offers and convenience. So far this year, $36.4 billion has been spent online, a 15.4 increase over last year, according to MasterCard Advi- sors’ SpendingPulse. Taubman Centers and Mall of America have report- ed strong sales in fashion, which were a hard sell last year. Jewelry sales sparkled throughout the season. Stores expect solid profits because they didn’t have to resort to desperate, fire-sale discounts to move mer- chandise, analysts say. Some shopping habits learned from the recession linger. One big lesson taught by the recession: using cash, not credit. Shoppers also hunted for deals, a trend that doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. ‘‘You’re constantly looking for bargains. Anything at a bargain,’’ Danny Colon said as he walked into a Sears in Hialeah, Fla., on Friday. Bargains will abound Sunday, when after-Christmas sales begin. The week after Christmas accounts for more than 15 percent of holiday spending, research firm ShopperTrak says. That business has become more important over the years as gift cards became more popular. The key question is whether the shopping frenzy will continue beyond Jan. 1. ‘‘There will be improvement over 2010, but there’s no reason to go crazy,’’ Mityas said. ‘‘We are happy about the holidays, but it will be a slow climb back to the heyday.’’ Still, stores were encouraged by what they saw in the final stretch of the holiday season. Malls were packed. Best Buy in Union Square in New York had about 300 people in the store Friday morning, said manager Amy Adoniz. And she said more than 100 online orders for e-book readers, laptops and other gizmos were com- ing in every hour for store pickup. ‘‘People are in the holiday spirit. They’re feeling more at ease,’’ she said. Even pets made it back onto gift lists this year. Three Dog Bakery is a pet-supply chain whose specialties include $15.99 jars of banana-nut dog cookies and $65 dog coats. Its Clinton Township, Mich., location, which opened three years ago at the start of the recession, reported its biggest day ever Wednesday. ‘‘We opened at the worst possible time in the world. Everyone was pulling back,’’ said Chad Konzen, who owns the store. ‘‘Gourmet all-natural dog treats are not a necessity — a luxury. But now people are feeling more comfortable. You can only be thrifty for so long.’’ Over 50 years of serving Tehama County Independently owned Telephone: (530) 824-3792