Vallejo, Calif.: Readers Shed Light on Wal-Mart
Here we go again! The Wal-Mart defenders are at it, with no less than two opinion pieces in Sunday’s Times-Herald. What I find interesting to observe is these pro Wal-Mart groupies’ minds are impenetrable fortresses that disallow any facts to get in their way and rely only on beliefs.
In reference to the letter from Rosemarie Wilson of American Canyon ("Still the same,” Oct. 14), I will point out fact vs. belief:• Belief: During Wal-Mart’s opening, Caltrans road construction between Donaldson Way and American Canyon Road created a traffic bottleneck.
Fact: During Caltrans construction, all lanes going north and south were open during commute times.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Andrew Yonki on Thursday, October 18 | 0 comments | Permalink
Hawai’i Council Rejects Wal-Mart Ban
Hawai’i County Council rejects Wal-Mart Ban 
HILO, Hawai’i — The Hawai’i County Council yesterday unanimously rejected a proposal to ban retailing “supercenters” on the island, with members of the council citing calls from constituents who told them they want to be able to shop at a proposed new Wal-Mart with a full grocery section.
Keaukaha Councilman Stacy Higa, who introduced the measure to ban supercenters, ended up voting against his own bill.
Higa said he believes the impacts on other local businesses are significant when a supercenter such as the proposed new Wal-Mart opens, but “you need to be able to look at what’s right for your community, what’s right for the people who live in your community.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Andrew Yonki on Thursday, October 18 | 0 comments | Permalink
Op-Ed: Why Isn’t Wal-Mart Begging Our Forgiveness?
An op-ed from the Modesto Bee in Modesto, California:
Op-Ed: Wal-Mart imports China’s problems [Modesto Bee (Calif.)]
Why aren’t more parents and pet owners screaming about Wal-Mart’s lack of concern for our kids’ and pets’ safety? Wal-Mart’s connection to the products made in China is now our problem. Wal-Mart’s use of inferior materials in baby bibs and lead paint toys in inexcusable. Finding traces of melamine (an industrial chemical used in making plastics) in pet treats is scary. How does melamine get into pet treats?
Why has this happened? Why isn’t Wal-Mart apologizing and begging for our forgiveness instead of blaming the manufacturer?
Let’s face it, if a local cannery had skimped on quality and melamine entered our food supply, heads would roll. Hopefully we wouldn’t just shrug our shoulders and say, “Oh well, I only paid a buck for it.”
When Wal-Mart jeopardizes our kids’ and pets’ safety, I cannot sit back idly twirling my thumbs. My kids and my pets are more valuable than shopping for specials at Wal-Mart.
Posted by Media Team on Wednesday, October 17 | 6 comments | Permalink
Wal-Mart: America’s Tax Deadbeat
This article originally appeared on the Huffington Post.
A report released this week by the non-profit group Good Jobs First, concludes that Wal-Mart methodically works to lower its taxes by challenging the assessed value of its stores and distribution centers. Just as the company has become legendary for shaking down its vendors---so the retailer shakes down cities and towns for tax rebates.
The nonpartisan research center in Washington, D.C. documented in an earlier study how Wal-Mart has benefited from billions of dollars in public subsidies to build its stores and site infrastructure. Their new analysis, Rolling Back Property Tax Payments, charges that although the financial take is not as large as its public welfare subsidies---Wal-Mart “drains vitally needed funds from communities by regularly challenging the valuation put on its properties by public officials.” According to Philip Mattera, research director of Good Jobs First, “When the company succeeds in one of these challenges, it diminishes the funds available to pay for education, police and fire protection, and other essential services provided by local governments.”
Good Jobs First reviewed a national sample of Wal-Mart stores and all of its distribution centers open as of the beginning of 2005. Wal-Mart has filed assessment challenges at more than one-third of its facilities around the country. At many facilities there have been appeals in multiple years. Overall, Good Jobs First estimates that Wal-Mart filed more than 2,100 property tax challenges nationwide. “These systematic property tax challenges are part of a larger pattern of state and local tax avoidance by Wal-Mart,” Mattera explained.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Al Norman on Tuesday, October 16 | 23 comments | Permalink
Clovis, Calif.- Environmental Report OK’d
An environmental report for a 492,000-square foot shopping center with a Wal-Mart Supercenter as an anchor was approved by Clovis City Council members Monday night.
Council members approved an environmental report for the center after more than three hours of discussion that included concerns about traffic, pollution and water supply for the center at Clovis and Herndon avenues. Monday night’s meeting was a follow-up to a six-hour hearing on the center last month.
The vote was 3-2, with council members Harry Armstrong and Lynne Ashbeck opposed to the environmental document.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Andrew Yonki on Tuesday, October 16 | 0 comments | Permalink
Ontario, Calif.- Development plan center of controversy
Room for Wal-Mart?
Development plan figures in Supercenter controversy 
ONTARIO - The northwest portion of Ontario was in need of some direction a decade ago.
It was plagued by vacant land, too many parking lots and aging buildings, and businesses were leaving.
So, in October 1997, the firm of architect and urban planner Peter Calthorpe prepared a road map for the area - the Mountain Village Specific Plan.
Ten years later, the vision laid out in that document is subject to two very different interpretations, fueling much of the controversy about a Wal-Mart Supercenter proposed at Mountain Avenue and Fifth Street.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Andrew Yonki on Monday, October 15 | 0 comments | Permalink
Decision nears on big-box ordinance
Decision time in Galt
City Council to weigh limits on planned Wal-Mart 
Sheila Frizzell, who has operated Sheila’s Country Rose Florist in Galt for 17 years, says a Wal-Mart Supercenter, with its low prices and wide selection, would hurt local businesses. “Galt’s retail is made up mostly of local people. ... It just doesn’t seem fair for a big store to come in and take away business,” she said.
Shopping and convenience don’t go together in Galt, where locals have to drive at least 10 miles just to buy children’s shoes or a winter coat. Now the rural town on Sacramento County’s southern edge confronts the same vexing question other cities in the region have faced: Do you want a Wal-Mart?
The answer is coming. One month after the world’s biggest retailer proposed a discount grocery and general merchandise store for the city’s growing east side, Galt’s City Council on Tuesday will consider an ordinance to limit the size of new stores that sell food. Wal-Mart’s planned store exceeds those limits.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Andrew Yonki on Monday, October 15 | 0 comments | Permalink
Clovis, Calif.- Council cautious, wants to hear more
Clovis cautious on retail proposal
Some on council wary of 24-hour Wal-Mart, want to hear more. 
Clovis officials are telling City Council members that the city’s environmental documents are solid and that they can vote tonight on a shopping center anchored by a Wal-Mart Supercenter.
Council members received documentation 31/2 inches thick from city staff and environmental consultants Friday that detailed the adequacy of the city’s environmental reports.
The 4-year-old proposal sparked six hours of testimony and debate at a council meeting last month.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Andrew Yonki on Monday, October 15 | 0 comments | Permalink
View Wal-Mart Watch's videos on YouTube