Red Bluff Daily News

ByMaryClareJalonick The Associated Press SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew got a first-hand look at the humanitarian impact of Puerto Rico's $70 billion debt, touring an elementary school dealing with limited electricity, little money for repairs and basic services jeopardized by the finan- cial crisis. "It can only get worse," Lew told reporters as he toured Eleanor Roosevelt Elementary School in San Juan with Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla. The Obama administra- tion hopes to jump-start congressional efforts to aid the U.S. territory, and Lew's one-day trip focused atten- tion on how the 3.5 million residents of the island are struggling with the wors- ening financial situation. Puerto Ricans are U.S. cit- izens. In a kindergarten class- room, a teacher showed Lew and Garcia evidence of termites in the walls. The school has problems with electricity, and teachers said they were unable to use laptops and televisions be- cause they cause the power to go out. In a fourth-grade class- room, the fan was bro- ken on a hot day. A science teacher told Lew that she doesn't have a lab for the children to do experiments. "You all keep doing your work and we'll keep doing our work to help you," Lew told the children. Garcia said that Puerto Rico is not asking for a bailout and has not been offered one. "If Congress does not act then we will need a bailout, and it will be very expen- sive to U.S. taxpayers," he said. House Republicans are expected to announce new legislation this week to cre- ate a control board to help manage the island's finan- cial obligations and oversee some debt restructuring. It would be the third draft of the House bill, which has come under fire from some conservatives who worry it would set a precedent for fi- nancially ailing states. The territory missed a nearly $370 million bond payment May 1. The default was the largest in a series of missed payments since last year, and Garcia warned there would be more. Puerto Rico has pay- ments totaling nearly $2 billion due on July 1, in- cluding about $700 mil- lion in general obligation bonds that are supposed to be guaranteed under the island's constitution. In an ominous warning to Con- gress and creditors that in- clude U.S. hedge funds, Gar- cia said the outlook for the next payment is bleak. "We don't anticipate hav- ing the money," he said last week. Garcia said he had no choice but to suspend the debt payment to avoid cut- ting essential public ser- vices, such as schools and medical care. Natural Resources Com- mittee Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, has led ne- gotiations in the House. In addition to disagree- ment among conservatives, Bishop has also faced objec- tions from Democrats and Puerto Rican officials who say they are concerned the oversight board would be too powerful and the re- structuring plan would be too difficult. Bishop has worked closely on the latest version of the bill with Lew and Treasury officials over the terms of the debt restruc- turing. He's said the nego- tiations with administra- tion officials are one of the things holding the bill up. The effort has been par- ticularly complicated by disagreement among cred- itors. While some support the bill, others are fight- ing it in hopes of preserv- ing larger payouts. Some creditors' groups lobby- ing against the legislation have said that it amounts to a financial bailout, even though the bill has no di- rect financial aid. PUBLIC DEBT Treasury chief hopes to jump-start help for Puerto Rico RAJESHKUMARSINGH—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Indians school children line up to look through a telescope the rare transit of Mercury across the sun in Lucknow, India, on Monday. NASA says the event occurs only about 13times a century. By Marcia Dunn The Associated Press CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. For the first time in 10 years, Mercury passed di- rectly between the Earth and sun on Monday, re- sembling a black dot against the vast, glowing face of our star. Many stargazers turned to the Internet as NASA provided close-to-real-time images of the 7½-hour trek, courtesy of the Solar Dynamics Observatory. Although the solar sys- tem's small, innermost planet appeared to be trudging along, it actually was zooming past the sun at 106,000 mph. The cosmic show — which began at 7:12 a.m. EDT — was visible from the eastern U.S. and Can- ada, as well as Western Eu- rope, western Africa and most of South America. Those places were privy to the entire event. The audience grew as the sun rose across North Amer- ica, revealing Mercury's relatively rare transit. In Eastern Europe, the Mid- dle East, central Asia and most of Africa, sunset had the curtain coming down early. Australia, New Zea- land and New Guinea missed out altogether. NASA warned spec- tators to use high-pow- ered binoculars or tele- scopes equipped with special filters to protect their eyes from the glar- ing sun. Eclipse glasses were useless for spotting 3,000-mile-wide Mercury as it crossed the 864,000- mile diameter of the sun. A transit of Mercury oc- curs only about 13 times a century. The next transit of Mercury won't occur until 2019. Then it won't happen again until 2032. "What happens during a transit is really all about perspective," said Jim Green, director of NASA's planetary science division who viewed his first transit of Mercury 46 years ago. He said scientists are taking advantage of Mon- day's transit to learn more about Mercury's extremely thin atmosphere. Little Mercury a black dot as it crosses face of sun SCIENCE By Tammy Webber The Associated Press FLINT TOWNSHIP, MICH. With drab olive chairs and worn carpet, the conference room in the low-slung ad- ministrative building near the Genesee County waste- water treatment plant isn't fancy, but it showcases one of Jeff Wright's great- est treasures: Permit No. 2009-001. Wright, a wiry man with trademark moustache and slicked-back hair, is the county drain commissioner, a title that dates to Michi- gan's early days of draining swamps. The job gives him sway over almost every- thing involving water, from diverting runoff to building major sewer projects. The permit framed on the wall will allow a new 74-mile pipeline to draw water from Lake Huron to the county and its larg- est city, Flint, the realiza- tion of a dream Wright has nurtured for most of his 15 years in office. For months, national at- tention has focused on how children were poisoned with lead-tainted drink- ing water in the onetime auto manufacturing pow- erhouse of 100,000 peo- ple. But without the pipe- line, the Flint crisis almost certainly would never have happened. The contamina- tion occurred when Flint switched from the metro- politan Detroit utility sys- tem to a temporary water source, the Flint River, un- til it could connect to the new pipeline. That is raising questions about the $285 million proj- ect, which is still under con- struction and has yet to de- liver a drop of water. A look at its history shows that the pipeline is rooted in a re- sourceful politician's am- bitions and local officials' long-simmering resent- ment toward much bigger Detroit, an hour away. So far, the project has re- ceived comparatively little notice in the scandal. But a governor's task force re- cently recommended a for- mal review of the pipeline's approval. "Why would it be appro- priate for a several-hun- dred-million-dollar pipeline to be developed in a region swimming in (water) capac- ity and populated by two fi- nancially distressed cities?" said task force member Eric Rothstein, referring to the available Detroit water sys- tem that had supplied Flint for almost 50 years. "It all gives me a tremendously uneasy feeling." Asked about the new pipeline, state Attorney General Bill Schuette, said recently that "no issue is off the table" in his criminal in- vestigation of the Flint cri- sis, though "there are no targets." Speculation is also swirl- ing around Wright and his motives. That's not surpris- ing, some say, because of his long reputation as a polit- ical mover and his color- ful history, which includes being an FBI informant in the corruption probe of a Michigan political consul- tant nine years ago. Wright, 62, scoffs at In- ternet gossip about the project being a power grab by an ambitious politician or about his ability as the pipeline authority's CEO to approve construction contracts. Companies that have received almost $120 million in pipeline-related contracts and subcontracts have donated more than $200,000 to Wright's cam- paign fund since 2008, ac- cording to public docu- ments. "I read where I owned a pipe manufacturer. I owned the engineering firm, and I bought up all the land." None of those reports was accurate, said Wright, add- ing that all contracts were competitively bid. Susan J. Demas, who publishes a Michigan polit- ical newsletter, said ques- tions surrounding Wright are inevitable because of the scope of the project and his past, regardless of whether it's fair. "The pipeline itself is a huge infrastructure proj- ect, so I think there are con- cerns (about whether) ev- erything was done on the up and up," she said. Wright says it's about cheaper, more reliable ser- vice for his county and a fi- nancially devastated city that has lost thousands of auto jobs. Flint will pay $7 million a year for water, half what Detroit charged in the 2013- 14 billing year, according to Wright. Detroit officials say they made competitive offers, but it was clear that Wright didn't really want to negotiate. If this is "about local con- trol, political preference or to serve agricultural pur- poses, then I understand," but not if it's about cost, said former Detroit Water and Sewer Department Di- rector Sue McCormick. Until the 1960s, Flint drew its drinking water from the local Flint River. But with the General Mo- tors plants in town boom- ing and the city's population edging toward 200,000, of- ficials proposed building a pipeline to Lake Huron. When that effort collapsed over a profiteering scandal, Detroit built it instead. Local officials never got over the disappointment. "The minute we started paying for the water, we wanted our own pipe- line," said Wallace Benzie, a 90-year-old retired engi- neer who worked on water and sewer projects for Gen- esee County. "You want to be able to control your own destiny." Wright said building a new pipeline became a pri- ority for him only after a power outage in 2003 left the area without water for several days, and after steep rate increases from Detroit, which was struggling with its own financial problems. His office commissioned engineering studies. He at- tended neighborhood get- togethers and city council meetings, courting Flint of- ficialswithpromisesthatthe pipeline would save the city millionsandperhapslurein- dustries back to the area. And after the state seized control of Flint's finances in 2011 because of grow- ing debts, Wright rescued the proposal by convincing then-state Treasurer Andy Dillon that it was Flint's cheapest option. "To me, it was just a unanimous desire on the part of the locals," said Dil- lon, who acknowledged later that he was "lobbied heavily" by Wright. Former Mayor Dayne Walling said the numbers showed a substantial sav- ings. CONTAMINATED WATER In Flint crisis, questions grow over pipeline quest CARLOS OSORIO — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Hundreds of cases of bottled water are stored at a church in Flint, Mich. TheDarkside 840 Main St. Red Bluff CA 530-527-9700 2032 Pine St. Redding CA 530-246-1773 Darkside The 30% OFF STOREWIDE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20 TH ONLY. 420 522 Antelope Blvd., Red Bluff (530) 529-1654 www.lesschwab.com GreatBuy P155/80TR-13 Starting at FREE PRE-TRIP SAFETY CHECK All-Season Tire Economically Priced Tread design may vary. 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