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ByJulietWilliams The Associated Press SACRAMENTO California's $68 billion high-speed rail project is as much as a year behind schedule in buying the land needed to start construction, having pur- chased less than a quarter of the parcels for the first 29-mile stretch in the Cen- tral Valley, rail officials say. The state has purchased 122 of the 540 parcels it needs for construction from Madera to Fresno, putting it well behind its own 2012 plan to buy up land and turn it over to contractors, despite a high-profile groundbreak- ing with Gov. Jerry Brown last month in Fresno. The High-Speed Rail Au- thority provided the figure as rail officials go before a state panel Friday seek- ing approval to start emi- nent domain proceedings for another 31 properties in Fresno and Madera coun- ties. That land is in addi- tion to 104 parcels already approved for eminent do- main action by the state Public Works Board, al- though the high-speed rail project has yet to actually seize any property. "We had some challenges getting to where we need to be. So we are behind sched- ule," rail spokeswoman Lisa-Marie Alley said. The agency has been be- hind its own land acquisi- tion schedule almost since it was drafted, slowed by a series of legal challenges, federal oversight proceed- ings and political opposi- tion. But with the largest legal hurdles cleared and a secure, although small, state funding stream, the authority has hired more staff in the Central Valley, and property owners are in- creasingly working with as- sessors rather than fighting them, Alley said. "This is an emotional thing, purchasing some- one's property, and having impacts on their life. We're doing everything we can to work with them," she said, adding, "We can't stretch things out for months on end, but we are doing our due diligence." Stan Felipe, a third gen- eration farmer in Kings County, south of Fresno, is among those in talks with rail officials about the 10 to 15 acres the state has of- fered to buy from the 200- acre farm where he grows pistachios, corn and cotton. He said the high-speed rail plans call for a 30-foot vehi- cle overpass that will slice across his land, cutting off water and access to half his farm. After receiving what he believes is a below-value appraisal and hundreds of pages of paperwork, the 65-year-old and his wife, Beverley, hired an attorney. "This is how we live, this is what we do to survive, but it's a mess," Felipe said. "It's scary, real scary." The public works board is expected to approve the 31 parcels for condemnation Friday. They include many along the former state Highway 99 in Fresno, in- cluding empty warehouses, farmland and a former res- taurant. Several property owners there declined to comment. Friday's action is a pre- liminary step. The rail au- thority will continue work- ing with owners to reach settlements, as it has with 23 of the 104 previously ap- proved parcels, Alley said. The rail agency is re- quired to follow state law for property condemna- tions, the same process used to acquire land for other major infrastructure projects such as highways. It provides up to $5,000 per parcel for property owners to get their own appraisals. But some opponents say the rush to acquire land is leading the rail authority to bypass its own rules with "flash appraisals" that do not include talking to land- owners. They argue that such conversations are es- sential for rural properties that may involve compli- cated land- and water-use agreements and the poten- tial for lost income. "You are not just buying real estate," Frank Oliveira, a Kings County resident and member of the group Citizens for High-Speed Rail Accountability, told the rail board this week. "You need to also compensate people for damaging or de- stroying their businesses." Alley said appeals by the group, which has filed sev- eral lawsuits against the project, are an attempt to gain media attention as part of their effort to stop the project. "There's always going to be property owners who aren't going to want to set- tle with us. ... They want to go down the court route, and that is a lengthy pro- cess because we have to fol- low the law," she said. BULLET TRAIN High-speedrailagencybehindscheduleinbuyingland By Justin Pritchard The Associated Press LOS ANGELES It's early for many Americans still sloshing through winter to plan their gardens, home improvements and spring sports leagues, but stores gearing up for warmer weather are fretting that they won't have some prod- ucts to sell due to a labor crisis at West Coast sea- ports. The critical gateways for international trade have become more like parking lots for massive cargo ships that haul a you-name-it se- lection of consumer goods from Asia and return there with U.S. exports. The result: Containers of shovels, fencing, bathroom tiles, shoes, even parts to make summer camp foot- lockers are stuck at the docks or on ships anchored just offshore. So are car parts, medical equipment and furniture. And U.S.-produced perish- ables, including meat and produce, are unable to be sent to Asian consumers. "Someday the snow will melt back East. There's a huge market for those home-improvement and garden articles," said Mark Hirzel, president of the Los Angeles Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders As- sociation, whose members help companies get imports to distribution warehouses and send exports overseas. For now, many of those products are stuck. Dockworkers and their employers have been nego- tiating a new contract since May, but in recent weeks talks have stalled, all but paralyzing 29 ports that handle about one-quarter of U.S. international trade. That's around $1 trillion worth of cargo annually. In the latest twist, com- panies that run marine ter- minals began locking out the majority of dockwork- ers Thursday. Employers won't call crews to operate the towering cranes that hoist cargo on and off ships. The partial lockout also is planned for Saturday, Sun- day and Monday. Each is either a holiday or weekend for which em- ployers would have to pay dockworkers extra — and amid the increasingly dam- aging contract dispute, that is not going to happen. Employers say dock- workers have intention- ally slowed their work for months and won't be re- warded with higher wages. The dockworkers' union de- nies slowing work. Companies still could hire smaller crews that would focus on moving containers clogging dock- side yards onto trucks or trains in an effort to free space amid historically bad levels of congestion. Friday is a normal workday and employers plan to hire full crews. Meanwhile, a backup of ships that extends into the Pacific will only grow. On Thursday, 14 ships laden with containers of goods were anchored outside the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach; another 11 were awaiting berths out- side the ports of Oakland or Seattle and Tacoma in Washington. Among the importers with goods on the water is AICO Furniture, whose manufacturers are in Asia. In total, 70 containers are either stuck or on their way with no obvious way to get unloaded, said Martin Ploy, the company's president. "When Mrs. Jones calls the furniture store and says, 'I've been waiting for months now. When am I go- ing to get this?' they don't have a good answer," Ploy said. "It challenges every- body's credibility. The con- sumer gets angry with the retailer, the retailer gets an- gry with us. And of course, we're angry with this whole situation here." Cargo began moving slowly across the trou- bled West Coast water- front months ago. Contain- ers that used to take two or three days to hit the high- way have been taking a week or more. The Pacific Maritime Association, which repre- sents terminal operators and shipping lines, blames the crisis on longshore- men they say have staged work slowdowns since No- vember. Dockworkers deny slowing down and say cargo is stalled for reasons they do not control, including a shortage of truck beds to take containers to retailers' distribution warehouses. In recent days, the In- ternational Longshore and Warehouse Union said com- panies are exaggerating the extent of congestion so they can cut dockworker shifts and pressure negotiators into a contract agreement. Negotiations resumed Thursday in San Francisco — the first day the two sides have met since Feb. 6. Talks were scheduled for Wednes- day but were canceled de- spite heavy — and increas- ing — pressure from elected officials and businesses to reach a deal. PORT LABOR Retailers fret as products languish on ships, docks NICKUT—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS The Ports of Los Angeles, foreground, and Long Beach, with some cargo loading cranes in the upright and idle position, appear in this view from the San Pedro area of Los Angeles, on Thursday. JOSE LUIS MAGANA — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Demonstrators rally in support of President Barack Obama's pledge to veto any legislation approving the Keystone XL pipeline outside the White House. By Josh Lederman The Associated Press WASHINGTON A looming veto by President Barack Obama of a Republican- championed bill foreshad- ows a key question for the White House: whether the president and Republicans can find areas to work to- gether, even as Obama strikes down many of their top priorities. Since Republicans won full control of Congress three months ago, Obama has issued a flurry of veto threats to Republican bills. Obama hasn't had to make good on those threats, but now a bill forcing approval of the Keystone XL pipe- line is headed to his desk. Although Obama's in- tentions to reject the Key- stone bill are well known, the veto nevertheless marks a turning point in Obama's presidency, as he braces to fend off an on- slaught of GOP attempts to reverse actions he has taken. "This upcoming veto could serve to crystal- ize the situation on Capi- tol Hill," said Jim Manley, a former top adviser to Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid. "Either Repub- licans are going to have to figure out a way to com- promise, or they're not go- ing to be able to get any- thing done the next two years." That's critical, Man- ley and other Democrats said, because Republicans eyeing the 2016 elections need to show they can govern successfully when in power. The Keystone bill, passed by the House on Wednesday on a 270-152 vote, capped weeks of de- bate on an infrastructure project that Republicans declared their top prior- ity after they took control of Congress. A group of 24 Republican governors wrote to Obama on Thurs- day urging him not to veto the bill. Although it's been six years since the oil pipe- line was proposed, Obama has said the U.S. is still de- termining whether it's in the national interest. He vowed to veto any attempts by lawmakers to usurp his authority to make the call. Republicans, embold- ened after having passed a bill they never could get through a Democratic-run Senate, planned a trium- phant signing ceremony at the Capitol on Friday. Yet GOP leaders were ex- pected to wait to send the bill to the White House un- til after lawmakers return from their recess later this month. That way, when Obama vetoes the bill, Republi- cans will be on hand to blast the president for nix- ing a project they say will spur jobs and economic growth. "The more public at- tention it gets, the better," said Sen. John Hoeven, R- N.D., a staunch Keystone supporter. White House offi- cials haven't yet decided whether Obama will veto the bill in private and an- nounce it in a simple state- ment, or whether he'll do it publicly in grander fash- ion, a move that would show defiance against Re- publican attempts to un- dercut him. During his administration, President Bill Clinton took that ap- proach when he vetoed a tax-cut bill in the Rose Garden, serenaded by a brass band. "For us, this is not filled with a lot of drama or an- ticipation because the president's views on this are well known," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in an inter- view. "We're mostly inter- ested in not letting these areas of disagreement be- come obstacles for work- ing together with Con- gress on other issues" such as trade, tax reform and a war powers resolution. Republicans too seemed eager not to let their Key- stone poison opportunities to cut deals with the presi- dent in other areas. Keystone veto: Can GOP, Obama agree on anything? WASHINGTON By Donna Cassata The Associated Press WASHINGTON The Senate on Thursday confirmed President Barack Obama's choice to run the Penta- gon, handing Ash Carter the unenviable task of steering the military as the United States con- fronts Islamic State mili- tants, conflict in Ukraine and other worldwide threats. The overwhelming bi- partisan vote in the Re- publican-controlled Sen- ate was 93-5. Carter will replace Chuck Hagel, the former Republican senator who had a rough relation- ship with Obama's insular group of national security advisers. Carter will be Obama's fourth defense secretary in six years, joining a line of succession that began with Robert Gates and in- cluded Leon Panetta and Hagel. In a statement, Obama welcomed the bi- partisan vote and Carter's return to the president's national security team. One of Carter's first tasks will be helping to win support for Obama's call to Congress for new authority to use force against the IS extremists. Republicans and Demo- crats have reacted neg- atively to Obama's draft proposal, criticizing both its limitations and vague- ness. In endorsing the 60-year-old Carter, Re- publicans expressed little hope that he would have better success in jelling with Obama's inner circle than Hagel did. The for- mer Republican senator and Vietnam War veteran was often the outsider and he announced in Novem- ber he was stepping down. The president's relation- ship with the Pentagon has often been strained. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who backed Carter, said he "needs to have the courage to speak truth to power — to Congress, yes, but also to his commander in chief." Sen. John McCain, R- Ariz., chairman of the Armed Services Commit- tee, alluded to the divide between the White House and Pentagon, saying he had "sincere hope and, sadly, little confidence that the president who nominated Dr. Carter will empower him to lead and contribute to the fullest extent of his abilities." 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