Coachella Valley business replay for September 28

Taxi cab operators have until Oct. 17 to decide the future of their business as industry regulators in the Coachella Valley look to revamp the valley's cab service.

The proposal — discussed at both the SunLine Transit Agency's taxi cab subcommittee and full board meetings Wednesday — would move the valley from 17 smaller operators to no more than four franchises that each have more cabs.

Proponents of taxi franchising said it will provide more consistency, better quality of service, newer vehicles and state-of-the-art dispatching and other equipment.

But it also would leave the valley's current cab operators with few choices: Sell out to one of the big new franchises, join co-ops together to become a franchise, or lose the business.

“We want to provide our tourists and residents in the valley the ability to call a taxi for service and get quick, efficient, clean and professional service,” SunLine board president Michael Wilson said.

Larger taxi franchises could result in reduced fare rates, Wilson said.

“Fifty cars absorbing costs is better than 10 cars absorbing them,” he said.

The franchise firms called for in the plan would be required to have vehicles no more than five model years old, computer dispatching and response time measurement, and handicapped amenities on portions of the fleet.

Cab operators expressed their concerns.

James Braico, owner of VIP Express Taxi in Palm Springs, said it appeared SunLine was prepared to “nuke the industry, wipe it out, bring in a whole new thing,” all without much discussion of other options.

“In the end, I think there are going to be a lot of casualties,” he said.

Palm Desert prepares for food and wine primer Oct. 7
The city of Palm Desert last week announced plans for A Taste of the Art of Food & Wine.

The event, which runs from 5 to 7 p.m. Oct. 7 at the Gardens on El Paseo, is a preview to the larger Art of Food and Wine in November.

Tickets for the Taste are $10.

Support for this year's Art of Food and Wine festival tops last year's event, organizers told the Palm Desert Marketing Committee.

“We're excited about where the festival is going,” said Kristy Kneiding, marketing manager.

Ticket sales so far total $20,000. An additional $152,000 in cash, with $53,500 pending, and $700,000 in trade is promised from businesses and sponsors, according to latest figures.

“Eighty percent of those who have bought tickets are from out of the area,” Kneiding said.

Eisenhower employees ‘shape up' for their health
Eisenhower Medical Center is among a growing number of companies who are making their employees' health a priority by helping them get fit.

The Rancho Mirage hospital has signed on with Shape Up The Nation to inspire its staff of nearly 2,400 to adopt healthier lifestyles.

Shape Up The Nation is broken up into six two-week sessions in which participants set personal goals, such as losing a pound a week or walking a certain distance daily.

Cynthia Clipper, the hospital's injury prevention manager, discovered the turnkey program that stresses teamwork and a bit of friendly competition.

“One of our primary goals as a hospital is to keep our patients safe,” Clipper said. “To do that, we need to keep our staff safe, too. This is one way to do that.”

Pedometers were passed out to keep track of every step while an online activity log tracks everything else. There's also access to the Renker Wellness Center, with its state-of-the-art gym, too.

As individual team members achieve their goals, that in turn helps the team toward placement in the competition.

But at the end of the 12-week program (it ends in December), the ultimate goal for the hospital is a healthier staff, Clipper explained.

“It takes 21 days to establish a habit and six weeks to turn it into a lifestyle change,” Clipper said. “In 12 weeks, it becomes part of your life.”

U-Haul company trucks destroyed during explosion
Police suspect a Tuesday morning fire at the U-Haul Co. in Cathedral City may have ben the result of gas siphoning gone wrong.

Three U-Haul trucks were destroyed in an explosion that happened about 12:45 a.m. in a fenced lot at the company, 68-075 Ramon Road, near Landau Boulevard.

“We don't know if it was carelessness, or someone was smoking, or it was intentional,” said Cathedral City Fire Department Capt. Eric Hauser.

Firefighters responded to the blaze within eight minutes; it was extinguished by about 1:15 a.m.

The gas tanks of several other trucks were, “bone dry,” said Hauser, adding that some have a 40-gallon capacity.

Rudy Gabuya, general manager of the Cathedral City-based business, pointed to a long black hose sitting in front of the burned-out truck remains.

He shook his head while assessing the damage, estimated by fire officials at $120,000.

“Nothing like this has happened before,” he said.

Gas thefts are becoming more prevalent, in part because of the economy, Hauser said.

“There's a lot of that taking place on the residential streets,” Hauser said, adding that cars without locked gas caps are easy targets.

The perpetrators likely didn't escape unscathed, he said, but no burn victims had shown up at local hospitals.

Palm Desert's green plan running short of green
Less than a month into Palm Desert's ground-breaking energy-efficiency loan program, the city might be out of cash.

City officials say they have received 60 applications. If approved, they will burn through almost all of the $2.5 million in general fund money the City Council allocated on Aug. 28 to kick-start the project.

“We have about $20,000 left,” said Patrick Conlon, director of energy management for the city.

“I don't want to have an interruption in the program, but it looks like we will,” Conlon said Tuesday. “But we'll continue to take applications so when the program is refunded, we can pick up where we left off.”

The city had originally planned to sell bonds to fund the program, but is now waiting out the current crisis in the U.S. financial markets, he said.

“Given the outside world, (general funds) is more secure than even the outside investments we have right now,” City Manager Carlos Ortega said.

Ortega said he intends to go back to the council in October to request another, bigger cash infusion.

“If you presume we're going to continue at the same rate, we'll need more, maybe $5 million,” he said.

The Palm Desert program is the first in the state to be established under Assembly Bill 811. The law the city sponsored and helped pass allows cities and counties to offer residents affordable financing for high-cost, energy-saving equipment, such as air conditioners and solar panels.

The bill and loan program grew out of Palm Desert's five-year drive to cut energy use by 30 percent. The city is offering the loans at 7 percent for a 20-year term, with repayments linked to homeowners' property taxes.