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ByDarleneSuperville TheAssociatedPress WASHINGTON President Barack Obama on Monday directed the federal govern- ment to come up with a less reactionary and more long- term strategy for dealing with drought. About 12.5 percent of the continental U.S. was expe- riencing drought as of mid- March, said Alice Hill, a key Obama aide on this issue. That translates into more than 39 million peo- ple, or about one-eighth of the U.S. population, living with drought in the lower 48 states, mostly in the West and with much of Cal- ifornia suffering through its fifth year of dryness. Obama issued a presi- dential memorandum and separate action plan Mon- day that sets forth a se- ries of goals for the federal government. They include sharing more information about drought risks with state, regional, tribal and local authorities, and im- proving coordination of federal drought-related ac- tivities. Drought affects the food supply and infrastructure, hurts the economy and in- creases energy costs, ac- cording to the action plan. Drought conditions are also expected to become in- creasingly more severe due to climate change. Combat- ing climate change is a top environmental priority — as well as a legacy issue — for Obama, who has tack- led the matter on a variety of fronts. "With climate change, we know that drought will intensify and continue to cause us significant chal- lenges," Hill said in a tele- phone interview with The Associated Press, explain- ing some of the rationale behind the president's call for a more comprehen- sive and less reactionary strategy for coping with drought. The goals contained in the action plan are to be carried out using existing resources. Federal agencies last year pledged $110 million in drought aid after Obama met with governors and other leaders from seven Western states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Mon- tana, Oregon, Wyoming and Utah. The White House is host- ing a "water summit" on Tuesday, which is World Water Day, to raise aware- ness of the importance of safe, sufficient and reliable water resources. Obama's drought initia- tives were released as he traveled in Havana on a historic, three-day visit to Cuba. LONG-TERM STRATEGY Obama seeks more coordination dealing with drought By Amy Taxin The Associated Press SANTA ANA A federal bankruptcy judge approved Digital First Media's $52.3 million purchase of the Or- ange County Register and another Southern Califor- nia newspaper on Monday after a whirlwind week in the courts triggered by government concerns of a news monopoly. Freedom Communi- cations decided over the weekend to sell the Reg- ister and Press-Enterprise of Riverside to Digital First after another judge blocked a higher bid by the owner of the Los Angeles Times. The move will give Den- ver, Colorado-based Digital First, which publishes the Los Angeles Daily News, a total of 11 daily newspapers in Southern California and more than a dozen com- munity weeklies in a four county-region also covered by Tribune Publishing Co.'s Los Angeles Times. "Ultimately, readers and advertisers benefit most when there is com- petition," Ron Hasse, pres- ident and publisher of Dig- ital First's newly-named Southern California News Group, said in a statement. "We are dedicated to bring- ing stability and a renewed sense of purpose to these two great newspapers." Tribune bid $56 million for the papers last week at a bankruptcy auction. But the Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit saying if the deal went through, Tribune would have a virtual monopoly by owning the four largest daily newspapers in South- ern California. Tribune — which also owns the San Diego Union- Tribune — argued that government regulators have an "antiquated" un- derstanding of the media market in a digital age, but a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order late Friday. In recent years, news- papers have seen revenues dwindle amid rising com- petition from websites for advertising and readers. Companies such as Tri- bune and Digital First have sought to save money by consolidating operations such as printing and dis- tribution. The Justice De- partment position in Free- dom's case — while not fully tested by the courts — raises questions about how much they'll be able to do that, media industry experts said. "It would seem to signal that after not doing much of anything, Antitrust is at least paying attention to these situations," said Rick Edmonds, media business analyst at The Poynter In- stitute. The question for readers is what kind of news cover- age they can expect in the two suburban Southern California counties, which are home to more than 5 million people. Digital First will likely cut news- room staff as the company has done elsewhere to save on costs, though some job losses were also likely un- der Tribune, said Ken Doc- tor, a former newspaper ed- itor and executive who now analyzes media. "It is kind of a no-win process, but in the im- mediate question, I think Department of Justice's narrow interpretation — which clearly tilted the board toward DFM (Digi- tal First Media) and away from Tribune — doesn't end up serving the public interest best," he said. Freedom filed for bank- ruptcy protection in No- vember following a series of layoffs and buyouts. NEW OWNER Ju dg e ap pr ov es sa le o f 2 So ut her n California newspapers to DFM SUSANTRIPPPOLLARD—THECONTRACOSTATIMES,FILE Transit vehicle electric technicians Jay Clemons, le , and Timothy Ryan remove electrical components used in the propulsion of BART cars at BART's Concord Shop in Concord. The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO For com- muters riding BART Mon- day, service between the Pittsburg-Bay Point and North Concord stations was again bridged by buses. Transit officials said they haven't pinpointed a root cause for a track power- surge problem that took out 50 BART cars last week north of the North Concord Station, causing service be- tween that station and Pittsburg-Bay Point to cease to avoid further damage to the cars, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The electrical spikes have been damaging the cars' propulsion system, specifically causing a semi- conductor device called a thyristor to fail. The agency is now run- ning a test train between the stations, periodically with riders, to see how the train cars operate through the area with riders on board, said Alicia Trost, a spokeswoman for BART. Tests over the weekend, Trost said, showed very short spikes of high voltage, and the agency is exploring getting needed spare parts from alternate suppliers. There is no danger to riders, she said. The voltage spikes may not even be noticeable, Trost added. There were also 36 more operational cars in service across the system Monday morning than there were on Friday, boosting the number of cars from 521 cars to 557. Still, the num- ber of cars was more than 40 below what is typical for a commute day, the newspa- per reported. "Crews are looking over the data collected from so- phisticated measurement tools that the test train was equipped with over the weekend. Experts are assisting in this process," Trost said. "Crews have been systematically iden- tifying all possibilities and then eliminating them one by one. While long and te- dious, it will help crews get closer to the problem." BART riders faced another tough commute Monday TRANSIT By Collin Binkley The Associated Press FRANKLIN, MASS. The vis- itors walking up her fam- ily's driveway mystified Maya Wolf. Four wore blue jackets. One was in a lion mascot costume. Then, as it clicked, she reached to her mouth in surprise. "Congratulations on your acceptance," said one of the men, who introduced him- self as Grant Gosselin, the admissions dean for Whea- ton College. He handed Wolf an oversize white en- velope. "We've heard great things about you." Instead of mailing an ac- ceptance letter, Wheaton College had sent its pres- ident, admissions chief, the school mascot and oth- ers to surprise the 17-year- old Wolf on Tuesday. At the same time, nine other teams of employees from the Massachusetts school were scattered across New England delivering letters to a total of 75 students. Af- ter wiping away tears and catching her breath, Wolf thanked her visitors and beamed for a group photo. Wheaton's blitz was re- markable in scope, but it joins a wave of colleges that have started to deliver small batches of accep- tance letters in the style of a surprise television sweep- stakes. For the first time last year, the University of Maryland sent a bus of em- ployees to surprise six stu- dents. A month later, the University at Albany in New York brought members of the marching band to one student's home, while the president of Rowan Uni- versity in New Jersey vis- ited five students. The Cali- fornia Institute of Technol- ogy made its first personal delivery this year. In most cases, the unex- pected visits ended up in flashy online videos pro- duced by the schools. "The message we're try- ing to send is that Wheaton is a place that's intensely personal," Gosselin said. "We certainly won't shy away from any exposure it brings, but the No. 1 goal is to help those students." Experts say the idea is spreading as schools face tougher competition for students. By adding a per- sonal touch, colleges hope to boost the share of stu- dents who pick them, known as the yield. Some schools choose a random sample of students to visit, or limit it by geo- graphic area. Others try to curry favor with top stu- dents who are also likely to get attention from compet- ing institutions. "If a hand-delivered ac- ceptance letter gets a col- lege a leg up on the chance of being able to enroll that student and capture the yield, they're going to do it," said Phillip Trout, pres- ident of the National Asso- ciation for College Admis- sion Counseling. The vast majority of let- ters are still dispatched by mail or email, but in the era of social media, even vis- its to one or two students can be shared with many more. Online videos captur- ing scenes of shocked and overjoyed students have at- tracted thousands of views. "They'rethemostpopular thing that we do in our so- cial media effort," said Kirk Brennan, director of ad- mission at the University of Southern California, which hasmadepersonaldeliveries since2012."We'venowmade it a regular part of our social media strategy." Amid the scramble to at- tractmorestudents,otheras- pects of the admission pro- cess are changing, too. Even the standardized letter, once a simple finale to an anxious wait, has gotten a glitzy up- date at many colleges. Iowa State University sends customized videos to accepted students, starring a news anchor who con- gratulates them in a mock TV broadcast. Others send boxes of merchandise, or mail out letters weeks ear- lier than in the past, hop- ing to reach the best stu- dents first. EDUCATION To woo students, more colleges are now hand-delivering acceptances STEVEN SENNE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Maya Wolf, 17, is handed an acceptance letter by Wheaton College Vice President for Enrollment, Dean of Admission, Grant M. Gosselin, in front of her home in Massachusetts. | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2016 8 A